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to think, i was once aspiring to be a great Paladin
i would always look up to these "noble and pure warriors" thinking they were doing humanity a favor
>these thoughts went through my head as his mace came crashing against my shield
>the sudden deflection of his weapon came as a surprise to him
>he staggered but regained his balance
>"i shouldnt be surprised that a heretic would be using demon magic!
this isnt demon magic, hell i dont even know if you could call it magic at all
>the broken black shield i was holding vanished as fast as it appeared
>"no matter, ill kill that monster and ill make you watch before killing you too"
>he swung his mace again in an overhead strike this time, aiming for my shoulder
>it clanged against my sword
>the head of his mace fell to the floor, just the hilt was left in his hand
>he was speechless
>turned around and bolted away
welp, those are Paladins for you…
>i turn to the lost inari child
are you okay?
>with tear filled eyes she meekly nods
alright then, lets get you back to your parents
do you know the name of your street?
>in a shaking voice she says"vine"
>vine street wasnt too far away from here, but it was close to this shit neighborhood where paladins hung out for purge runs
>i gave her my hand and we walked back
>on the way back we came across her father who was frantically looking for her
>"daddy!" with the generic scene of them running and embracing eachother
>i used that moment to book it on out of there
>daddy! that man over there saved m- eh?

>iv never really been much of a social person
>i got home just in the nick of time to get ready for work
>i work the night shift at IPS stacking boxes into trucks, not the best job but it pays well and supplements my workout schedule
>the night goes by fairly smoothly. just that i kept getting a chilling feeling that someone was watching me
>i shrug it off as my annoying manager spying on me to point out my fuckups and continue working till the end of my shift
>i clock out and get to the parking lot, not many cars there at 3 in the morning
>still that feeling of being watched
>kinda frustrated now
> i quickly get to my car, start it up and drive towards the freeway
> i stop at the light at the entrance to the freeway, why it flicks between red and green at 3 am ill never know
>it turns green, i accelerate
>just as i begin to move i hear an extremely light tap on the hood of my car
>at this point too tired to give a fuck
>drive home
>get to my apartment building
>paranoia tells me to give a quick scan around the area
>find nothing
>go home
>go to bed
>wake up
where the fuck am i?
>"good morning my lord"
>i look to my left where the voice came from
>a kunoichi sitting on her knees next to me
>white hair in a short ponytail and bangs, the works. Gorgeous silverish eyes. wearing standard black female ninja gear, a black mask covering her nose, mouth all the way down to her neck. Petite physique and wasnt very well bestowed… like im talking A cups…
yeah yeah good morning
>was super groggy and thought i was dreaming, went back to sleep
>wake up again
>"good morning my lord"
!!!
THE FUhhK?!
>i let out while pushing myeself into a seated position, not breaking eye contact

for what seems like forever she stares at me and i stare back expecting an explanation. realizing that im probably not going to get one i begin to compile my feelings and try to understand my situation. i look around to see that im in a washitsu, i didnt take a detailed look but it looked pretty Japanese-y, it felt claustrophobic and cozy at the same time... weird.
i turn to the kunoichi and ask "hey... umm... so i noticed that this isnt my room... why am i here?" without missing a beat she informs me that im the target of her mission.
    "okay, woah hold up! if i remember right from paladin school, kuoichi only assasinate men who are influential and a threat to monsters right? im neither of those"
    "my mission isn't just an assassination mission. my lord, your life is in danger as well"
    "oh... i see, so im guessing im in a shinobi village right now?"
    "yes"
    "well that explains the room, oh! umm hey i forgot to ask your name, im anon"
    "Nao”
    “so… Nao, can you tell me who is trying to kill me?”
    “the paladins have begun to take a keen interest in you for continually intervening in their purge runs. they have labeled you the black heretic”
    “very creative… but they’re just paladins, they arent really something to worry about”
    “its their generals we need to worry about”
    “we?”
she begins to explain but I fall into thought. Thats weird, “we”? It almost didn’t register in my head.
    “my lord? my lord!”
    “huh? Oh, sorry… hey Nao, can I go out for a walk or something?”
    “of course”
    “kay thanks” I say pushing myself up from a seated position
I walk to the door on the side of the room, thinking about how im taking all of this so much more compliantly than I normally would. I open the door and enter a hallway, more paper screen doors all the way down to the rooms on the opposite ends of the hallway. I make my way towards one of those end rooms absolutely oblivious to where im going. Luckily however this one I entered had a door leading outside.
    I walk into the room give a quick look around because im fascinated by the style, when I notice something in the corner of my sight.
    “guuah!” I turn around to face it.
It was Nao, right next to me, she had been following me the whole time and I hadn’t even noticed. Now this is a big deal considering how my senses are significantly more sensitive than a regular persons. Its no super power or anything, iv just always had it. I have always been more cautious about my surroundings too, taking little mental notes about every little detail comes as second nature to me.
    “goddamnit Nao, you scared me!”
    “my apologies my lord”
    “could you stop the my lord thing? Its getting a bit cringy now… just call me anon”
    “ah, my apologies m- …anon”
    “much better” I say giving a faint smile
    “also you’re standing a little too close to me”
    “but my- anon, I need to protect you” she says coming even closer than before.
    “I- I get that, but… I mean we are in your village right? Arent I safe enough?”
    “safe from paladins but not from other threats”
    “alright, you know best I guess?”
    “in that case” she leans in and wraps her arm around mine
    “h-hey!”
    “this way we wont be separated easily” she said in a serious way but her blush betrayed her tone

at this point I didn’t know how to feel anymore. It was like everything I had never felt before, everything I had given up on feeling was hitting me all at the same time. Falling out of my methodical, simple and predictable life and into… whatever this is? And on top of all of that someone actually giving a shit about me? Maybe I was subconsciously dismissing this as a dream still?

    “anon?” she says giving my arm a gentle tug.
    “huh? Oh sorry” I snapped back to.

Going through the door and stepping outside I was greeted with an ineffably beautiful sight. Lush trees and foliage surrounding multiple ponds of varying sizes spread through the village, the biggest pond jab in the middle of my view, seeming to be the middle of the village as well. There was a grand, multiple story building built on top of it with one bridge connecting to it on each of it’s four sides. There was a white pebble path that spread through the village. To my left there was another large pond and behind it was what looked to be a large open area with training dummies, to my right were five more buildings like the one I was in, so I figured this village wouldn’t be very populated despite it’s size; besides I didn’t really see any other kunoichi while I was ogling the natural beauty of the area.
Nao decided to give me a tour of the area, we started walking to the left
    “wow, this is really something”
    “im glad you like it anon, you will be staying here from now on”
    “wait, Nao, you know I cant do that, I have to go to work”
    “we provide food, water, and a place to sleep”
    “i need money too you know... what about leisure?”
    “i can provide that for you” giving me a seductive glance and pressing her (flat)chest up against my arm.
I respond with a nervous laugh and pull back a bit
    “a-anyway, what about for my workouts and training?”
    “here we are” she says gesturing over to the flat area.
as we walk into it, to my right were the training dummies I saw before, and to my left were a few weights and other related items. In the middle were two kunoichi sparring, their movements were surprisingly quick and precise; they were hardly making any noise either, the best metaphor to describe it would be two feathers fluttering in the wind.
As their knives meet with one final clash when they notice Nao and me approaching them.
They stop what they were doing to face Nao and give a bow.
    “so chief ya finally went on a mission eh?” said the one on the left after pulling down her mask. “i mean I know its rare for the others in this village to take an interest in a man, but I would expect the head to already have been married. At least before me.” she then looks toward me and walks in for a close up inspection. While shes eying me up and down, I analyze her too. Dull red spiky hair with a thin ponytail in the back, green eyes, a rather robust physique for a female, rather tall id guess at 6’2, sizable breasts, wearing similar looking ninja gear to Nao’s only in a dull shade of green with white trim.
    “well he doesn’t look like too much of a weakling” she scoffs “and hes got a nice ass at that” she says reaching down for an ass grab. I reflexively slap her hand away, kinda frustrated and offended with how shes treating me.
    “huh? I guess he really isn-” she looks up to see Nao glaring daggers at her while pulling me closer.
    “o-oi, chief I was only teasing” she lets out a nervous laugh. “anyway, im Aki. Nice ta meatchya!” we shake hands and I introduce myself but I notice the white haired kunoichi to the right was still standing there, just staring at me with a deadpan stare.