Keep your cards close

As the sun rises for a new day, things have been tense. People have been talking to one another about what they saw last night, and who killed the flock of Grimm.

I was confused about why they said that, but my mother spoke to me. Saying she made sure to use her illusion before she saved Sienna and Ilia.

I was grateful that she did that, because not only were they safe, they didn't need to know about my semblance just yet.

"Aiko, we need to talk." Sienna said and she dragged me to a more private area, as the two of us were out of sight she sighed grabbed her flask, and took a swig.

"Relax, it's not alcohol. I just want to know, what was that?" She asked, I stayed silent at her question and was nervous.

"Look, I get it, you're scared and confused. But it's not a bad thing, what happened yesterday stays between the two of us." She said,

"I-I think it's my semblance." I stuttered, this made her spit out her drink and cough profusely.

I rushed forward to pay her back to comfort her, but she just coughed until she was done. She took a deep breath to calm herself and sighed once she was done.

"What do you mean, it's your semblance." I wanted to answer her question, but I felt a hand was placed on my shoulder.

"It's as he said, I am a part of his semblance." Sienna looked at my mother in shock, her eyes were wide and the flask she held in her hand dropped.

"Hello, I am Sakura Kurosaki." She said with a bow, Sienna on the other hand was shocked to see what was happening and looked at the flask she dropped.

"What did I just drink?" My mom giggled at her words and patted her shoulder, Sienna panicked and fell onto the floor.

"It's quite alright, and no you didn't drink anything." Sienna was looking at me and raised her finger in my direction.

A-are you a ba..." Before she could finish the word, a chakram embedded itself in the wall next to her head.

"Say that word, and I'll make sure you eat through a straw for the rest of your life." Sienna paled at what my mother said, and her entire body was shivering.

"I-I-I." She kept reaping herself over and over, I placed my hand on my mother's hand, and she instantly calmed down.

"Apologizes, I am not easily angered. But with what you were about to say, it is an offense to the rest of our family." Sienna just nodded her head and stood up.

"S-so, does that mean your Aiko's semblance?" My mother nodded her head at her question, and Sienna placed her hand on her head.

"T-this is amazing, your summons are sentient, and they are more powerful than the Schnese!" She said in excitement.

"Please, do not make such a fuss. We don't want every person to hear us." Sienna placed her hand on her mouth and nodded her head.

"D- Does that mean you know what your trait is?" I nodded my head and scratched the back of my head.

"Yes, the trait I have is to create illusions." I replied and created an illusion that we were back on menagerie.

She approached to one of the stands and held the fruit, the vendor began to start a conversation with her, making it look like she was at the market.

"I-It's all too real, I know you said this is an illusion, but I can feel the heat of the sun, how smooth this apple is." She then took a bite of it and widened her eyes.

"Even the taste feel's real." I nodded my head at her reaction and cancelled the illusion, everything around us disintegrated and the two of us were now back on the boat.

She then gripped my shoulders and made sure I looked into her eyes, her eyes showed worry and fear, but at the same time, I could see kindness inside them.

"Aiko, you must never tell anyone about this, only Blake, your family, and Ilia are an exception." I nodded my head at her words and she sighed in releife.

"How long can you use your illusion?" She asked me, I just shrugged at her question.

"I don't know, I only found my trait today, so I can't tell you." This caused Sienna to hum, but an idea appeared in her head.

"Miss Sakura." My mother then cut her off by raising her hand.

"Please, call me Sakura, i feel old when someone calls me miss." Sienna just shook her head and coughed.

"R-right, is it possible for you to disguise us when we arrive at the mainland?" My mother nodded her head.

"Of course, it's a trait every Kitsune has." Sienna smiled at her words and was yes to ask something else.

"Sienna, I think we need to go back before Blake and Ilia ask where we were." Sienna nodded her head and began to guide me back to the other two.

My mother then disintegrated and returned into my body, while walking back, I heard my mother speak.

'That was wise of you to not tell her everything my son, remember, you may be friends, but you'll never know when you turn into enemies.' I nodded my head subtly and kept walking.

As we arrived, I saw both Blake and Ilia playing with one another, ilia was teaching Blake a game of cards, while Blake struggled to understand anything.

"Ilia, Blake, hurry up and finish with your food." This made the two of them jump in fright and turned toward Sienna.

They stayed silent after a few seconds they began to watch their food as fast as they could.

Once we all had breakfast, the four of us returned to the deck of the ship to start todays training.

"Alright, basic streatches." The four of us began to stretch our bodies so that we could be loose and have an easy time to fight.

"Good, now, you two against each other, but I want Aiko on the defense." I nodded my head and raised my hands and shifted my legs to prepare for the fight.

While I waited, Blake rushed towards me and threw a punch. Seeing her try to hit me, I guided her hand away from me and spun behind her.

Blake lost her balance for a second and dropped to leg sweep me, I instinctively jumped to avoid it, but she instantly jumped back up and threw a kick.

I was caught off guard at first, but I used my tails as shield to soften the blow. But it wasn't enough to stop the blow, sending me on my back onto the floor.

I then sprung my body up and then bent backwards, barely avoiding another kick from Blake.

As she flew past me, I spun around to face her so I could prepare to defend myself. The past few minutes, Blake continued her relentless attacks.

"Stop, during those ten minutes, Blake was able to hit you seven times, you improved Blake." Blake was panting heavily while she laid on the floor, but she was able to give a thumbs up.

"Aiko, you'll be facing Ilia now. Don't hold back." She said to Ilia, who looked at me with guilt.

"Sorry Aiko, but it's to help you grow." She said with regret, I just smile and shook my head.

"It's fine, I have to expect the unexpected so then I can expect it." This caused them all to look confused, but they shook it off.

Ilia rushed towards me and jumped into the air for a flying kick, she was faster than Blake since she had more time to train, I barely avoided it.

Ilia kept throwing multiple punches and kicks every second, I had to use my whole body to deflect and avoid each hit.

But I was slowly getting exhausted, one of her punches grazed my face, while a kick was able to connect to my arm.

I had to jump back to create some distance, but she jumped higher than me and wrapped her legs around my neck.

She then rolled to the side, bringing my body to the floor. She then began to tighten her legs to try to make me tap out.

'Shit, I know she's thin, but it had to be thighs! At least it wasn't the ass!' I thought and quickly tapped out.

After she released me, I began to breath heavily, and not because of the smell, but the lack of air.

"Not bad, lasted ten minutes, you've improved ever since we left." I just laid they're on the floor, wondering how I was still alive after touching thighs.

'Don't be a simp, focus on grinding!' I mentally shouted and forced myself up, seeing me get up, Sienna nodded in approval.

"Good, make sure to rest up." Was all she said and began to spar with Ilia, as the two of them focused on their spar, I stayed with Blake.

"Sis, you need help?" I asked her, she raised her head to look at me, and nodded her heads, I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"Please, I don't think I can stay awake." She said while sniffling. I just sighed and sat next to her and began to rub her head.

The second she placed her head on my leg and my hand began to run across hair, she began to purr in satisfaction.

'How adorable, she's like a new born kitten.' Said my mother, I smiled at her words and kept rubbing her head.

'She is, I'd do anything to protect her, for now all I can do is be by her side to face anything.' I replied.

Looking closer, I could see bruises starting to appear. On the island, the people had given us some numbing ointments to ease the pain, but I wanted to save them for later.

'If you only want to heal her, their is a way.' I was curious on what she meant, so I decided to ask.

'How?' Her arm appeared from my body and touched Blake, her flames burned, but no harm was done to Blake.

Instead, she sighed in satisfaction and fell asleep. As soon as my mother retracted her arm, the bruise was gone.

I was surprised at what she did, but I made sure to keep quiet to not attract any attention from Ilia and Sienna.

'When will you teach me to do this?' I asked, she chuckled at my question and replied with a playful tone.

'After you tell me if you are attracted to one of the girls.' I blushed at her words and wanted to hide my face, but I remembered that she could see everything.

'Maybe another day, thank you for healing Blake.' I replied.

'Ah, ah, call her your sister, she may not be related, but that doesn't mean she isn't family.' I smiled at her words and looked up.

'Thank you for healing my sister, mom.' She hummed in appreciation and patted my head with her hand.

'Anything for my little boy, now go, it's your turn to spar.' I looked up and saw Sienna making her way towards me.

"Aiko, looks like you rested enough." I nodded my head and made my way towards Ilia, who was sweating.

"Are you ready?" She asked, I raised my hands and shifted my feet into the correct stance.

"Come at me." Ilia nodded my head and soon rushed towards me, but this time I was prepared for her attacks.

'Direct approach is out, so I'll have to resort to tricking her.' I tried to use my illusion on her and stepped to the side.

But she threw a punch towards me, I knew I failed and had to duck, but what I didn't expect next was for her to jump back.

"Good counter Aiko, you're learning quickly." She said, I wanted to tell her I ducked instead of countering her, but I kept my mouth shut.

She kept rushing towards me and threw punches, kicks, and even tried tackling me. But each time she did so, she would act like something happened to her.

'Is it because I have a range?' I thought, but I was brought out of my thoughts when I barley dodged an attack.

I rushed forward and jumped up above to attack her, while at the same time I tried to use my illusion to make me look like I was attacking from the side.

Ilia raised her arms to her side, proving that I had a range limit to my illusions. As soon as I struck her head, Ilia looked at me in confusion.

"H-how, I saw you try to attack me from the side!" She exclaimed, but I didn't let her figure it out and kept attacking.

She would raise her arm's from one side, while I attacked her exposed side. I would mix it up so that she wouldn't know if I was attacking her, or it was an illusion.

After a few minutes Ilia was on the floor groaning in pain, while Sienna looked at me with a raised brow. But she didn't say anything and nodded her head, she then made her way towards her and soon lifted her over her shoulder.

"I know what you did, but don't always rely on it." She then left me and Blake, who was still asleep, alone on the deck to heal Ilia.

"Wish I could follow that advice." I muttered, I sat on the floor and my mother appeared in front of me.

"So, you want me to train you while she is gone?" She asked while holding a fan, I nodded my head and she smiled.

"Fine then, but I won't go easy on you." She then created multiple targets around us, I was confused at first but she spoke once again.

"For now, we shall focus on your control over flames." She held her hand in front of her and a blue fireball appeared.

(A/N) Hey, hey, here's Wednesday chapter, send them power stones to show support.

If not, I'll have Blake knock over a mug.