This oneshot takes place about six or seven months after the defeat of The Dark Lord, so it's been a while. 

~

Kai hadn't been through an ordinary day in some time, and he was almost unaccustomed to the feeling. For the past several months, everyone had been trying to get back to normal, but all of the homeless former Darks had made that hard. For a few months, it was only Shintaro trying to figure out what to do and how to help them out; but eventually, the others had to pitch in, including Kai. 

But today was a relaxing day, and Kai was very close to uncomfortable with how... ordinary it seemed. In his heart, he was grateful for a quiet day with just his family, but his head was telling him that there were things to do, that he had to get up and busy himself. 

Not that he wanted to do any of that. He was happy to sit down next to Abby and Falte, to let the relaxing air wash over him as he settled into one of the couches in the library. Abby was to his right, leaning her head on his shoulder and toying with her large sweater's strings. Falte was beside him, a book that he'd written and published himself in his hands. 

Everyone else was doing their own thing, but they were all in the library, which made Kai feel at home. In the aisle to the left of the couch, Shintaro was standing idly with a book in his hands, while Gabriel and Zeke were conversing quietly in the same aisle. Rachel and Nanami were sitting together on the new rug in front of the couch, taking turns reading to each other with small giggles. Linda and Cynthia, who had become a good friend of everyone's, were leaning against the wall across from the couch, smiling about something that Kai didn't know. Ozai had placed himself on the floor at the foot of the couch, a thick book resting on his lap. Moon, who had become a trusted friend some time ago, was laughing with Ruby in the aisle behind the couch - Kai could hear her genuine laughs that used to unsettle him. 

A small smile crept onto Kai's face as he absently cracked his knuckles. He was with his family, which meant he was home. This didn't match the home he'd had when he was little - not even slightly - but that didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that his friends - his family - were there with him. 

Then any place could be his home. 

Kai looked up at the sudden movement of a person weaving through the aisles to get to the open area. For a moment, Kai expected to see one of the previous Darks, but that wasn't who was coming toward them. When the tall man stepped through the last aisle and into the open area, Kai realized that he had never seen this man before. 

As the mysterious figure stopped a few paces away from the couch, Ruby, Moon, Shintaro, Gabriel, and Zeke all peeked curiously out of their aisles with skeptical expressions. Shintaro was the first to react, sidestepping out of the small aisle and walking toward the couch cautiously. 

"Hello," he said in greeting, his voice welcoming but guarded with a hint of skepticism. 

"Good afternoon," the man said in a heavy Japanese accent, nodding politely as he spoke. His appearance was strange to Kai - the man wore a black fedora hat casting a shadow over his brown, almond-shaped eyes and a large, dark brown trench coat that reached his thighs. Thick brown pants covered in dozens of pockets were tucked into black combat boots, and a belt was hooked into the loopholes of the man's pants. The belt reminded Kai of Amy's belt - it was lined with pouches and pockets that were undoubtedly full of many trinkets. The man's left hand was shoved into the pocket of his coat, but his right hand was revealed and covered by a black leather fingerless glove. Underneath the hat, his hair was black and thick, just passing his ears with a slight wave. He was lean, yet Kai could tell that he was a strong person. His head reached Shintaro's nose, which meant that he was taller than Kai (and everyone else). 

Falte had looked up from his book, tilting his head up at the man. "Is there something you needed? Because I'm sure we can work something out." He smiled politely and closed his book, rising swiftly to his feet. 

"I just need to ask a few questions," the man replied, lowering his right hand into the other pocket of his trench coat. "And then I will be out of your way, hopefully." 

There was something about the way the man stood that made Kai's mind buzz with familiarity. He recognized the firm shoulders, the straight posture, the feet that not once shifted from their steady position; yet all the while the man looked relaxed and ready. His eyes didn't stray away from the speaker once, but they flew over Shintaro in quick assessment. 

"What's your name?" Falte asked kindly. 

"Kiri," the man answered, turning his brown eyes toward Kai's father and looking over Falte's whole body at lightning speed. "I already know who all of you are, so there is no need to go through your names." 

"Oh?" Falte muttered curiously, leaning back on his heels slightly. 

"What kind of information do you want?" Shintaro asked formally, but Kai could see that he was keeping himself guarded and alert, his eyes narrowed at Kiri cautiously. 

Kiri looked back over at Shintaro, inclining his head almost curiously up at the taller man. "I have heard rumors that Amy Brown is with you. Are these true?" 

Kai saw Linda and Rachel flinch, but only slightly. No matter how much time passed, the mention of Amy would probably remain like an open wound - just thinking of how they lost her, how Kai did nothing to help her when he should have, made everyone's moods crash. 

"Yes," Shintaro said solemnly, the guarded skepticism gone from his voice. "They were true, but unfortunately... Amy died several months back." 

This seemed to take Kiri by surprise, which was the first actual emotion Kai had seen him express. His oval eyes widened slightly, his jaw clenched, and he leaned back on his heels as his look of shock dissolved into a thoughtful and almost disbelieving frown. 

"Nani? Deddo?" he exclaimed in a language that was probably Japanese, reaching up with his right hand and removing his fedora hat from his head. He held it absently in front of him and stared unblinkingly up at Shintaro. "Amy is dead?" 

Shintaro only nodded, his expression remaining solemn but his eyes staying locked on Kiri's face. 

"Did you know her?" Linda asked in a flat tone, but Kai knew she was hiding her longing for her former friend. Everyone missed Amy, and not even Kai wanted to hide that fact. Linda glanced over at Kai with a small frown, undoubtedly hearing Kai's thought about her hiding her emotions. 

"I did," Kiri confirmed with a small nod, his brown eyes trailing down to the hat in his hands as he absently fiddled with the tips. "I wasn't aware that she had passed. I'm sorry to hear that. I figure that you all were close to her." 

"Yes, she was a friend of mine," Linda replied with a little more genuine emotion. "How did you come to know her? She never mentioned anyone by the name of Kiri." 

The man smiled, but just a little. "Of course she didn't," he said almost to himself, but then looked up and met Linda's eyes. "Just before she and I parted ways, we agreed never to speak of each other. But I had heard that she was threatening the Darks - she was always a reckless woman - and I had to come find her; hence, why I spoke about her to you all. Plus, I had already gathered that you knew her." 

Abby lifted her head away from Kai's shoulder and frowned thoughtfully up at Kiri. "Why would she not want anyone to talk about her?" 

Kiri turned to look at Abby, his brown eyes darting over her too quickly for Kai's comfort. 

And then Kai realized why he had a familiar feeling around this man. The way he stood, his alert yet relaxed demeanor, the belt full of pouches, the quick assessment, the seemingly trained footing and straight posture... it all reminded Kai of Amy. 

She used to stand the exact same way - relaxed yet straight, alert yet seemingly harmless. When they had first met her, she had assessed everyone around her before she'd even touched down on the ground from where she'd been hiding. She had seemed to know exactly where to stand and why to stand that way, like she was ready to defend herself in case anyone attacked.

That was exactly the way this man looked - there was hardly any difference. 

"She didn't inform you of any of her past, did she?" Kiri asked genuinely, looking quickly from Abby back to Linda. 

Linda narrowed her eyes skeptically, looking Kiri up and down wordlessly. "No, she didn't," she said finally, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why? Do you know about it?" 

"Most of it, yes," Kiri answered with a small nod. "It is why we agreed never to mention our names around strangers." 

"Well, go ahead and spill it," Linda said roughly. "She's not here to stop you, and I want to know. No matter how much I bugged her, she wouldn't tell me. Now's the chance to find out." She wasn't speaking harshly anymore, and Kai could tell she looked a little guilty about saying that Amy wasn't here to stop him. 

Kiri tilted his head with a faint smile, then lifted his hand and rested his hat back onto his head. "I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. But just a fair warning: The Amy you knew was definitely not the one I did.

"Though I don't know much about her childhood, Amy and I knew each other for several years. We trained together for three years in several different martial arts, until we parted ways for only a few months. During that time, we each... gained a reputation, both very similar. When we met up again, we started working together, until she decided to resign. 

"I believe when she was traveling to find a home is when you found her, Linda," Kiri added, nodding slightly at Linda. 

"What was the job?" Gabriel asked, shifting his weight to one foot and blinking curiously but cautiously at Kiri. 

"That is the part that may surprise or even upset you," Kiri said in a warning tone, casting a quick sidelong glance at Gabriel. "She and I... We worked together as bounty hunters, trained killers who completed requested jobs simply for money." 

Everyone who was standing took a step away from Kiri, looks of shock and wariness and caution returning to their faces. Kai's mouth dropped open slightly, while Abby openly gasped. 

That explains their posture, their quickness, their efficiency, and the belts of knives and trinkets, Kai thought, but he could hardly get past that thought. 

Amy - silly, caring, friendly Amy - a trained murderer? 

"What?" Linda snapped roughly, her gaze hard and her hands now clenched at her sides. 

Abby's hand wrapped around Kai's fingers and clutched them tightly, but Kai hardly felt it. How could Amy have been a bounty hunter, someone that killed and looted just for money? Just for money? 

Kiri's shoulders tensed in a cringe at Linda's outburst, but he didn't show much of his sympathy. "This is likely why she didn't tell you," he said calmly. "She doesn't - didn't like to speak about it because she knew that it was wrong." 

"Then why...?" Abby started, her voice small and wavering. 

Kiri turned his brown eyes to her, this time betraying a small trace of sympathy. "I understand that this is very shocking and hurtful to you, but you have to understand that she allowed herself to be hired for those kind of jobs because it was the only way she found that she could earn money. She was poor even before her family's deaths, but after? She could hardly afford anything. She had to double up on her jobs to earn what she could just to give herself shelter."

He paused, then sighed slightly. "Sometimes I had to give her a portion of what I earned, but I wasn't exactly rich either." He trailed his intelligent, quick brown eyes over the group, assessing all of them this time. "I'm sorry that she never told you, but she took it personally and didn't like to speak of it. As I said before, the Amy you knew was not the one I knew. She hardly smiled - most times I had to fight hard to make her even laugh." 

"Wait, really?" Gabriel said in disbelief. "Amy hardly smiled and didn't laugh? That's... weird." 

"Ah," Kiri said. "I see she changed since the last time I saw her. I wish I could have seen her happy." He smiled slightly at nothing in particular. 

Linda didn't look angry anymore - she only looked crushed and sad that Amy had gone down such a path. 

But Kai was just happy she'd gotten out of that path and become their friend. He was happy they'd known her when she was at her best, not her worst. Kai was sure Kiri had been good friends with Amy and that there was not much wrong about her before, but Kai was grateful he knew Amy when she was resigned from her job. 

"Please tell me you've quit that job too," Falte said eagerly. "I don't like seeing anyone doing the wrong thing, stranger or not." 

Kiri gave Falte a faint smile. "I have found a suitable job, but thank you for your concern. I'm sorry to hear of Amy's passing. I only needed to know if she was here with you. Thank you for telling me." 

He took off his hat and bent slightly at the waist, a polite bow that only lasted a few seconds. When he straightened, his smile was gone - and Kai caught a hint of genuine sadness behind his almond eyes. 

Kiri must have been close to Amy, which made Kai feel bad for the man. He and Amy had parted ways when Amy had been lower than she probably had ever been, and Kiri hadn't been able to see her at her happiest - and now he never would be able to. 

"I'm sorry as well," Linda said, catching Kiri just before he turned around. "I'm sure you were close to her and that she would have loved to see you again. I'm also certain that she didn't forget about you." She gave Kiri a genuine smile, one that Kai had hardly seen on her until recently. 

Kiri smiled back, this time wider than before. "Nor will I forget about her." 

~

So there you have it!! AMY'S ORIGIN!! Do y'all like it?? :D