CLATTONIA

"Hmm?" I raise a brow as I place my hands on my hips, "At this rate, you'll kill him."

"Maybe that wouldn't be so bad," Reece mutters.

"See! Clattonia gets it!" Juniper beams in a relieved manner as I scan the scene before me.

"Aeryn," I say, "Step out. Reece, continue."

"Fine," Aeryn says boredly and walks over to where Juniper is standing and Reece smirks.

"Reece," I say and he looks at me expectantly, "Go easy on him, but don't show mercy, either."

Reece grins at my words and looks back at Jace with a smirk. Reece raises his silver great sword, which has gold trim framing the sword itself and several strips of gold on all the edges of the sword in the design, forming a gold arc around a golden circle with silver rings, and from behind me, Katsuro tosses Jace his red, white, and gold circular shield -- the base being white, with pieces of red trim going around the circle the entire way around, but in patches, and the gold taking the place of the red more towards the center of the circle. Katsuro nods and smiles at Jace, who nods back, a grateful smile forming on his face. I glance back at Katsuro with approval and he folds his arms against his chest, leaning against the wall while keeping his gaze fixed on Jace and Reece. Of course Katsuro would do anything he could to help, that's just who he is. I watch the redhead whose hair is the color of a fire, almost unnaturally red, and sigh. I know what happened back then isn't his fault, and I think that deep down he knows it too. It's not his fault that Kaden died protecting him, but he feels the need to somehow repay what Kaden did for him -- what we did for him. Several years ago, when my group was just forming, Reece, Juniper, Kaden, and I were on a mission to find Misery when Katsuro ran away from home after being abused by his parents and ended up running into Misery. When we found Misery she was attempting to kill Katsuro, but the four of us ended up saving him and Kaden died in the process. To be honest, I never really thought he would get hurt because of his abilities, but seeing the one I was in love with get killed right before my eyes seemed to...change...something inside of me even more than I was already changed. You can't prepare for that. No matter how much you tell yourself you know it's dangerous, that what you're doing is dangerous, that not everyone might walk away from each mission alive, it's different when it actually happens. I remember holding Kaden in my arms and looking down at his face, his emerald eyes seemed full of sadness and love at the same time, as well as anger, frustration that he didn't have more time. But he smiled at me and reached out, pressing his left hand to the side of my face as I held him and tears welled up in my eyes as I brushed my fingers through his blond, honey colored hair.

"I love you, Clattonia," The words ghosted past his lips before his hand fell and his eyes fluttered shut.

That was two years ago, but even still, Katsuro still blames himself for Kaden's death.

My eyes flicker back to the battle and I watch as Reece swings at Jace, his great sword emitting gold rings of energy that come out in waves. Maybe it was unfair to pit Reece against Jace, but I'm curious as to what Jace is capable of. After all, he does remind me of him sometimes, and in those little moments that Jace exhibits behavior similar to Kaden Sakura, my heart squeezes in my chest and the breath seems to leave my lungs for a few split seconds.

"You're a Supernatural, aren't you?" The blond sitting next to me raised a brow and slid his empty glass of Coke down the bar for the bartender at the restaurant to collect.

My breath seemed to get caught in my throat and I paused stirring the straw around in my drink as my eyes quickly glanced over at him, wondering what to say, despite my first instinct being to say "no" immediately. I watched his inquisitive, perceptive emerald eyes carefully before deciding for some reason to actually tell him the truth.

"What's it to you?" I snapped.

"Feisty," He laughed and smiled at me, his charming personality showing through, before extending a hand to me, "I'm Kaden Sakura. I'm Supernatural too."

***

"Don't touch her!" Kaden screamed as he bounded down the street in the pouring rain with his great sword made of silver metal with gold and emerald trim, white waves of energy bursting off of it. Halfway through the street, Kaden leaped up and held his sword above his head, slamming it down into the concrete when he landed several yards away from where he jumped, the ground sending shockwaves of energy and the road cracking into tiny pieces wherever the energy passed through, and a white pulse going off in the air like an explosion. My eyes widened as Kaden quickly picked his sword back up and raced over to me at inhuman speeds, grabbing me when he ran past and jumping between window ledges until he reached a rooftop about a block away from where we were.

"I could've handled myself," I scoffed as he put me down on the rooftop and sheathed his weapon on his back.

"I know," He smiled at me but it quickly faltered, "But I just wanted to make sure you would be okay. After all, if something were to happen to you..."

I watched as he glanced off to the side, watching as the sun began to set, shades of red and orange and a faint pink hue lighting the sky as the rain began to slow and come to a light drizzle.

"Oh, here," He said as he turned back in my direction and took off his weapon sheath before taking off his jacket and putting it around my shoulders, "You're soaking wet."

My eyes widened slightly in surprise and I pulled his white jacket closer around me, my fingers brushing over the dark blue trim.

"Thank you," I smiled at him and he smiled back at me warmly as I felt my heart slowly start to pound faster than usual and my cheeks began to feel warm.

I never did tell him that being soaking wet didn't bother me that day. I still have that jacket too. It's the only one I ever wear.

As I watch Jace and Reece continue to fight, a small smile forms on my face and as Katsuro glances over at me, he smiles sadly, knowing full well what I was thinking about. After all, it's not that hard to see the similarities between Jace and Kaden. But they're different too. And so, somehow, I think that Jace will be just fine here.

"Enough," I say and hold out a hand, stopping Reece just before he attacks again.

"Dammit," Reece scowls before sighing and putting his weapon away, "I didn't even get to use my shift."

"By the way, could somebody explain to me what a 'shift' is?" Jace sighs.

"A shift is a special power that a Supernatural was gifted with," I explain, "Reece's shift is Chrono, meaning the majority of his powers are time based."

"You didn't have to tell him that last part," Reece frowns, "I was hoping to beat him up some before he figured it out."

Jace glares in Reece's direction, who glares menacingly back and crosses his arms against his chest as he leans against the wall, kicking his foot up as he stands next to Juniper, who sighs at the boy who treats her like his little sister.

"And Aeryn's shift is Teleportation, so her powers are mainly teleportation based, right?" Jace asks.

"Nice of you to finally figure it out, peasant," Aeryn scoffs and looks at her nails, "Gosh, how daft and oblivious can you be?"

"You're one to talk," Reece snaps.

"Hey!" Aeryn shouts and curls her hands into fists at her sides while narrowing her eyes at Reece, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Maybe if you weren't so daft you'd figure it out," Reece snorts.

"I'll shoot you to pieces," Aeryn snaps.

"I'd like to see you try, Princess," Reece smirks.

"Guys--" Juniper frowns and tries to keep them from fighting.

"Stop acting like children," I snap and the room goes silent, "We have training to do and missions to go on, so I'd rather not have any of you challenging each other right now. Juniper, could you take Jace on a tour of the rest of the building? I'll read the stats on the BCP."

"Sure," Juniper nods and smiles shyly while Reece narrows his eyes at Jace at the thought of him being alone with Juniper.

Suddenly, Aeryn's phone goes off and she pulls it out of her pocket, glancing at the screen and smiling slightly.

"See ya later, losers," Aeryn says and waves as she goes upstairs to take her call.

"That was probably Valentina," I sigh.

"Valentina?" Jace asks.

"Valentina is Aeryn's best friend. Valentina isn't as annoying as Aeryn though," Katsuro says.

"Or as stuck up," Reece snorts.

"Valentina is a Supernatural from Sweden who moved here to Shibuya with her twin brother Simon. Their parents work for White Rabbit but they're on our side and they get information for us. Their main jobs are actually not within White Rabbit though. Their mom is a fashion model and their dad is an English professor, a CEO, and a business executive for many major worldwide businesses," I explain.

"Sweden..." Jace trails off as he seems to get lost in thought for a few moments.

"I think you'd better get going before Reece decides to snap your head off," Katsuro says and nods at Jace, who just notices Reece's seething attitude towards him because he failed to notice Juniper was trying to lead him up the stairs and on the tour.

"Right, sorry," Jace shakes his head and forces a smile before following Juniper up the stairs while Katsuro smiles at Juniper as she passes by.

Reece sighs and unfolds his arms once they're up the stairs, shaking his head and scowling afterwards.

"You sure know how to pick them, don't you?" Reece says before walking up the stairs.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I raise a brow and follow him up the stairs, Katsuro trailing behind me.

Meanwhile, Katsuro chuckles and a ghost of a smile forms on his face.

Please let my instincts be right about Jace...