Rino Kurayoshi

"How's it feel, kid?" Tokita Niko asked as he sat upon a rock overlooking the training area he had carved out for me. I myself was too busy ensuring the sensation currently coursing through my body to answer, looking upon my blood-red hands and the building pale veins that protruded out from them in wonderment.

This was what I had been working hard towards from the very beginning of my training with Niko. Every harsh beating, every sleepless and painful night, every meal missed and every exhaustive breath had been for this moment. All the pain he had endured, all the hardship had been culminating to this moment. The Niko Style, the Formless Style, as good as they were, they weren't what I had been aiming for.

The Advance.

A technique created by the Other Tokita Niko, my teacher and an aspect of the Niko Style that was specifically tailored to counter the Kure Clans Removal. Which as I had been told, did in fact exist and were no doubt, far more dangerous than their canon counterparts. I had seen Tokita Niko do inhumane feats that surpassed the inhuman feats showcased in the Kengan Universe by a mile.

Did I still have a long way to go?

Oh absolutely, I wasn't so arrogant to not recognise the monumental gap between me and my master. But at the same time, with the Advance, I was that one step closer to closing the gap between me and him.

And once I did surpass him, then I'd kill him. He'd made me feel small and weak, had torn me apart and reminded me of memories I had long since suppressed without even realising. He'd made me feel vulnerable and weak and I would not let that go unpunished. However, that time was still a long way off for now.

"It feels good." I eventually muttered, feeling the power coursing through my body.

It was warm and my body felt like it was vibrating, the feeling you felt when the engine of a car was vrooming. I felt powerful like I could move mountains and split oceans and so, test out my power, I walked towards a bloody boulder, easily six times my height and almost double that in width.

There were dozens of indents from my fists, blood splattered all across it. No matter how many times I had hit this rock, it had stubbornly refused to break and after taking a single moment to centre myself, I thrust my fist forward. I remember that Tokita Ohma found it impossible to utilise the techniques of the Niko Style in conjunction with the Advance until the very end against the absolute monster that was Kuroki Gensai.

And I could feel a similar limitation upon me.

It was difficult to describe, it was more like while I could imagine it, my body just refused to listen. So instead, I threw a simple punch, one with perfect form yet lacking the technique and flair of Niko style punch.

It struck the boulder with a sickening smack and for a moment I remained rooted in that position. Then after a little while, a crack formed.

Then another.

And another.

Wider and wider they spread up till eventually, the boulder crumbled to the ground. Behind me, Tokita Niko gave a short clap of congratulations. "Well done." I heard him land on the ground and turned to look at him, the Advance slowly giving way and exhaustion filled me, my knees giving out beneath me as I collapsed to the ground. "I suppose now is the time to say goodbye."

I looked at him in confusion and Niko smirked. "You didn't really think I'd be here to hold your hand all the time?" He asked and no, I had not expected that. "I've taught you the forms and basics of everything. All that's left now is for you to train them. Whether you become stronger or weaker is up to you."

He gave a little wave over his shoulder and walked away to the distance, I myself kneeled on the ground one eye closed as I staved off my need to rest. As Niko slowly disappeared into the horizon, I then turned and looked back at the Inside.

'I suppose I should finish what I started.'

-X- Line Break -X-

Rino Kurayoshi, CEO of the Gold Pleasure Group looked out the window of her private jet in thought. A lot of things had happened in recent years, so much so that at times she struggled to come to terms with them.

When the newly promoted chairman, Nogi Hideki had challenged the then Chairman, Katahara Metsudo, it had sent a ripple across the Kengan Association. She had never held any intention to become Chairman, her main interest and goal were to ensure a steady and stable income of profit to her business. The position of Chairman was not necessary to maintain that however, she had taken part anyway, it was a good way to secure more profitable business ventures and had worked out quite well.

The fights themselves as always were a spectacle to see and had showcased many fighters of varying talents and skillsets fighting it out for the enjoyment of the crowd. Eventually, at the very end, it had come down to two fighters, Motorhead Motors affiliated fighter, Kuroki Gensai and her own fighter, Mikoto Hyoudou.

Turning away from the mirror, she looked to the young teen in question. He was reclined comfortably in his chair, feet propped up and eyes closed, breathing even as he slept peacefully.

He was her most prized possession for a multitude of reasons.

Coming across him so many years ago when he was but thirteen had been pure happenstance. However, one that she would never forget after all he had saved her life. Unknowing to her at the time, an assassin had been dispatched that from what Mikoto had told her, was from the Mikazuchi family.

Mikoto before that had been interviewed by her father, the then CEO of the Gold Pleasure Group as a possible reserve fighter. That night, he had saved her life, killing the assassin with some measure of difficulty, it was perhaps only a momentary lapse of judgement in the case of the young assassin that enabled Mikoto to emerge victoriously. Once he had, that had been the end of it all, Rino had decided then and there she would keep him for herself.

She had always found the younger teen to be quite the cute figure and the fact he saved her life made him much like a little pet to her. A vicious and dangerous pet, but a pet nonetheless, of course, Mikoto didn't like to be referred to as such.

His fights in the Kengan Matches and later the Kengan Annihilation Tournament had only showcased just how terrifying his prodigious talents were. There were many skilled and dangerous fighters, but Mikoto had emerged victorious against all but one, his final opponent, Kuroki Gensai. However, Takakaze Kirimi had in a shocking twist forfeited the position of Chairman and as the second-place winner, it fell to her.

Rino had never desired it and so, in return for certain favours had handed it to the man who desired it most, Nogi Hideki.

"Rino-sama." Tearing her gaze away from the sleeping form of Mikoto, she looked towards one of the first benefits she had gained from Nogi, Akiyama Kaede. She was quite a hard worker and also seemed to be able to balance the hardships of the Kengan Association well. Considering the expansion of her own business, having someone like Kaede working for her would be quite a boon. "We will be landing soon, what should we do about the reporters?"

"Have security handle them. Today is Mikoto's day." Kaede bowed her head and pulled out her phone.

-X- Line Break -X-

Honestly, becoming the fighter of Rino was both a great positive and a great negative. For the former, well she was not only incredibly beautiful which was always a positive. But also, she had connections to the Kengan Association, something which could provide me with a stable source of income with which to draw upon.

The downside, however, was the way in which she viewed me. I was younger than he, by quite a significant margin, ten years to be exact and as a result, I was viewed more as an adorable little pet/brother as she had often referred to me as. That I didn't like at all, I wanted her in every way, but I had underestimated her.

That little ability she had to control men, was very real and it even worked on me. Not that she used it very often, even so, it was frustrating nonetheless. Seducing a mature woman like Rino Kurayoshi was not easy at all and in fact, I doubted I had made any progress whatsoever.

And unfortunately, my time with her was being cut short as a result of a recent scandal that had made headlines in a few countries. About Rino, a woman ten years my senior being overly affectionate with me, a young teen with pictures of me as far back as when I was thirteen being released. It had caused quite the scandal and brought intense scrutiny to Rino and her various establishments around the world.

So, in order to deal with them, it had been decided that it would be best for me to return to Kuoh. My training with Saechōrō had ended some time ago and I had simply gone about my life doing what I wanted to do.

Eventually, I would have to return to Kuoh in order to get closer to the catalyst that would be arias Gremory and her connection to my brother, Issei. But until that point, I was content to simply live how I wanted. Unfortunately, that had now come to an end and so, under the claim of amnesia subsiding allowing me to regain my memories, I was returning to Kuoh to reunite with my family.

I honestly felt a little bad for Issei, Gorou and Miki as well. I had nothing against them personally, it had just been annoying to be treated as a child and all the baby talk had only made that worse. Miki herself seemed like a loving and caring mother but at the time whether I refused or not, Saechōrō had made it clear that she along with everyone on that plane was going to die so there was nothing I could have done to stop it.

At the end of the day, while I did feel a little guilty for robbing fictional characters of a wife and mother, at the end of the day they were just that, fictional characters.

"How do you feel?" Opening my eyes, I turned to see Rino looking at me, her tight-fitting dress doing little to hide her killer figure beneath. God, I wanted to fuck her and my seventeen-year-old hormonal body did little to help with my desires.

"Fine," I replied simply because really, I wasn't.

"This is only temporary," Rino told me and I nodded my head. I could understand the scandal, it wouldn't mean much if the pictures released were of me now, well there still would be, but it would be nowhere near as bad as it was now. However, the fact was, the pictures released were of me when I was thirteen and fourteen and considering that Rino was incredibly affectionate, well it was no wonder there was a scandal.

As far as everyone else was concerned, Rino was taking advantage of me as a young child, completely unaware that was far from the truth. I'd love it to be the truth, but alas it was not.

"Already we are working to solve this situation. In the meantime, Kaede will be setting up an establishment here in Kuoh so she'll be in constant contact with you." Rino told me and I looked to the woman in question.

She was beautiful as well, not as busty or as curvaceous as Rino, but she had the hot secretary look down. Yet, much like every older woman, they weren't as easy to seduce as I would like. Honestly, porn and anime was not a good way to get seduction tips because they were shit. Women weren't portrayed as they were in anime and to be entirely honest, it was disconcerting.

These were anime characters so shouldn't they act and react like anime characters? I thought so but that was not the case which raised a question I had been asking myself on a number of occasions, what was this world I found myself in?