Third Person POV, Saga

It was a normal day as Saga had left the building of the public school she was more or less forced to go to because the idiot who claims to be her father insisted that being homeschooled was not the right path for her, despite her more than excellent grades from such. Even though she had not lived under the same roof as him, he still found ways to harass either her or her aunts that let her live with them. So in order to at least shut him up, she continued going to the school he more or less keep dumping her at ever since the conclusion of her mother's funeral. Though that never stopped Saga from becoming a problem child, as she often got into fights with other children, both her age and older, as they always picked on the Quirkless like the shitheads they are. And since she was no slouch in various forms of self-defense (plus the fact she can proficiently wield her dual katanas rather well for someone her age) she was the arguable victor in each battle she engaged in. At least the ones where the teachers didn't intervene in time...

Though what nobody knew at the time was that this was gonna be the last day she was going to attend this public school, making it the last public school she could go to given her expulsion record.

The school she attended to, one Aldera Junior High, was by far the shittiest one by far. Her father had long run out of the fancy private schools he kept sending her to as she had developed a track record for getting kicked out of them in record time. It came to the point that he sent her to the ones low on social food chain. The hallway lockers were dented, the kids have sucky attitudes, and the teachers and the principal are just as bad. While she was not the only Quirkless student, she didn't exactly let that bring her down. Rather, unlike the other resident Quirkless student, she makes her statements clear by both her words.... and her fists. Swords optional. She had tangled with the school's star student, a kid with an explosive Quirk she didn't bother remembering his name, and always bested him with just her bare hands. With Saga getting into fights with such a "promising future hero" she was on thin ice as suspending her wasn't doing anything and neither was detention as she always skipped out on it in favor for practicing her martial arts or her breathing techniques.

Today marked her fate when she came across a group of boys (ones she often seen hanging around that explosive kid) were gathered around something, or rather someone, with sticks, beating them.

Upon closer inspection, Saga's curiosity turned to shock and rage as she saw who they were beating up. A sickly kid with green hair and slightly oversized clothes was hunched over on the ground, almost as if they were protecting something from the bullies' blows.

She recognized the kid as she sees him a lot in the nurse's office when she is brought in after having a brawl with one of the other students so they got to know each other, making him her only friend and vice versa. His name is Wally, a foreigner that transferred to the school around the same time as Saga did. She also knows he doesn't have the best constitution, as he often got sick and was absent from school. She never knew if it was because of a Quirk he had or it was something else. He revealed to her it was a condition he was diagnosed with. She didn't know the finer details; regardless, they formed a bond of sorts, agreeing on certain things like how society in general sucks. She even showed him her friends that Arceus gave her and he was instantly intrigued, saying his parents and grandfather had creatures similar to them. He also showed her a smaller-than-average male Ralts he was taking care of on the sly outside the school grounds.

Only now it would seem that his little secret was exposed as Saga recognized the small shape shielded by Wally's body, protecting the small creature.

"Oi!" She barked, picking up the pace as she ran over to stop this senseless violence. "Stop that!" She tried to get between the boys and her green haired friend, only to be shoved aside brutally.

"Get lost!" A guy with red bat-like wings snapped at her, hardly sparing a glance in her direction as he and his friend, a scrawny kid with stretchy fingers, continued their "fun."

Snarling to herself, Saga pushed her glasses up her face before she gripped both of her katanas' hilts and drew them out of their dual scabbards, the slight shiing catching the attention of the bullies, making them turn around and pale as Saga charged at them with rage in her eyes and her blades glowing a bright white-yellow. Her glasses glinted in the fading sunlight as she leapt at them with the intent to maim the perpetrators.

"Total Concentration: Arceus' Judgment!"

Screams were heard from across the city, the impact of an attack shaking the ground and making birds take to the skies in fear as one girl doled out holy punishment to the evil-doers.

Later that evening....

Saga sat on top of the roof of her aunts' apartment, stroking the fur of her Zoroark beside her.

She had been up there for about two hours now. Two hours since the incident outside the school playground was reported and someone had to call an ambulance for the two boys that got injured by Saga. Thankfully, the boy Wally wasn't hurt too terribly and so was his friend the little Ralts, which his parents were grateful for and they thanked Saga for protecting him despite the unorthodox manner of doing so. However, thanks to a teacher that was staying after hours witnessing Saga's "violent fit", her future at the school was more or less nonexistent as this was the last straw. Even if the real perpetrators were at fault for bullying a kid, a terminally ill one at that, and animal cruelty is frowned upon even though the issue is not widely addressed as it should be.

Regardless, Saga was not apologizing for any of it. Even if the bullies' parents do press charges, she is not the least bit repentant. She knew what she did and she has no regrets. They can go to the Reverse World and let her friend/surrogate half-sibling Giratina, affectionately nicknamed Volvagia, deal with them himself (A/N: in this story, Giratina identifies as a he/him/his). And if one thing was true about Giratina, is that he is a wrathful deity and a pissed Giratina equates to disaster for the one who had aggravated him to begin with.

Okay she had one regret, and that is she probably won't be seeing much of Wally after this (though after the events that transpired, his parents plan to either transfer him or just simply homeschool him in order to avoid another situation like that). That, and her glasses got cracked while fighting.

But if it meant possibly saving his life and his new little friend as well, Saga considered both a small price to pay. And besides she has back-up glasses for cases such as these.

If only everyone else was more understanding about the incident...

The window next to her on the roof suddenly opened, making the Zoroark, nicknamed Keaton, lift his head up in attention from Saga's hand as her aunt Shanti, the younger sister of the Chawla aunts, stuck her head out.

"Saga, come on inside, there is a storm coming and the temperature is dropping quick. You'll catch your death out here." Shanti called out to her.

She was right; Saga had long noticed the distinct nip in the air and had resorted to snuggling into Keaton's fur to acquire warmth as she did not want to go back inside the house. Especially with what is waiting for her just downstairs...

"No..." Saga unconsciously clung to the Normal/Ghost-type's bushy pelt, her new glasses fogging up. "I don't wanna..."

Shanti sighed; she didn't blame her cousin. She took this opportunity to get her as things downstairs between her sister and their late sister's ex-husband were getting a bit nasty. But it was either she gets Saga downstairs to see her quote-unquote father or he went to get her himself. And given how Saga's Pokemon, even though the breeds she has had never been seen before in Japan compared to the usual ones to anyone's knowledge, reacts to him, it was gonna be a bloodbath.

"You are not in trouble." Shanti tried to assure her. "Just come in here. You need to eat at some point, right? And the sooner the idiot sees you, the sooner he will hopefully go away..."

Saga sighed; her aunt had a point. The sooner she deals with the sperm donor herself, the quicker he'll leave. She tapped Keaton, giving a light scratch behind his ear. "C'mon, big guy. Let's go see the old bag of bones..." The bipedal fox sighed; he is as big of a fan of her father as much as everyone else living in the house is. Same goes for Saga's other Pokemon, as they too harbor feelings of great dislike for the fool. They don't see him as her father, much less a parental figure; rather they see him as an incompetent fool who claims to share genes with their mother/sister/best friend. Many is the number or times her Pokemon have at least attempted to intimidate her old man. And let's just say it is rather amusing to watch the Number One Hero spaz out in the presence of one of her Alpha Pokemon.

With that, Saga slipped back through her bedroom window, her Zoroark lumbering right behind her. She didn't bother returning him to his Pokeball, as she felt she was gonna need all the support she can get when dealing with her old man. And hopefully with Keaton's intimidating appearance and demeanor, he will leave faster.

She sighed as the air from her heater enveloped her like an invisible blanket.

"You might as well go ahead and change," Shanti suggested, deciding to leave the room to give her niece some privacy.

"Right." Saga said, as Keaton began to rummage through her clothes as she began to strip out of the dingy school uniform, finding something comfortable to wear. He found her favorite Hisuian Growlithe kimono set and her comfy house shoes. Being a seamstress and working for a prominent fashion studio as one of their models has it perks, such as being able to have access to exclusive clothing lines and being able to keep some of the things she models in, and sometimes her own finished products. Not to mention it pays rather well too. Not that Saga is hurting for cash thanks to her getting a good chunk of the inheritance her mother left behind. Saga basically felt bored one day and her boss happened to have seen her looking at some of her kimonos that were being sold in one of the city's shops and trying them on; which led to her being offered a job as one of her models, and then later a fashion designer/seamstress when Saga presented some design ideas for their fashion lines. 

Pulling on the outfit with the comfy shoes, she then began making her way downstairs with Keaton right behind her, her fox-like bodyguard at the ready. Keaton is always one of her most intimidating Pokemon, aside from her Basculegion, Gyorg, and her Ursaluna, Grizzlemaw (especially when the former was just an Ursaring. Imagine her father's surprise when his own child was able to tame the Hibernation Pokemon despite the man's frequent and often spoken lack of faith in her being able to accomplish a feat). Add in the fact that Keaton is bigger than his other Zoroark brethren, thus acquiring the Alpha status, he makes for a rather formidable opponent. And we haven't even factored in his typing as a Normal/Ghost-type, making only Dark-type moves be the most effective against him in battle.

She found her Aunt Shanti with Aunt Rakshata, sitting across from her father, who sat alone in the sofa opposite of them. Aunt Rakshata looked ready to tear the skinny man a new one as she pulled out her favorite pipe to take a few puffs.

Judging from her older aunt's stormy expression as she took a long drag on her hookah pipe and her father's sunken face that showed nothing but disapproval, Saga deduced that they were butting heads once again. Her hand drifted to her dual katanas held at her sides, feeling the hilts giving her some sort of encouragement. She fingered the Arceus protection charms wrapped around the hilts, one of them being called a shiny charm (though Saga had actually found that in a shop and thought it looked cute as a decoration on her katana's hilt) and the other three being a purple Warding charm (Y), a green Tempting Charm (Y), and a blue Survival Charm (Y).

Inhaling and then exhaling, Saga stepped into view, mentally preparing herself for a fight that not involved fists, but with words.

Shanti moved a little bit so that Saga could sit between her and her older sister Rakshata, where Saga leaned her head against her older aunt's arm, having her place her arm around her in return. Saga took note of the look of irritation on her father's face when she basically ignored him. Too bad. Not everything revolves around that fool. Honestly, why the hell did Nana choose him of all people to take up the mantle of being the Number One Hero, when he can't even be the number one dad....

Rakshata pulled the hookah pipe from her mouth to look at her niece. "Don't worry. You are not in trouble." She assured her, not that it helped the tense atmosphere.

"She's not?" Toshinori asked incredulously, his sunken black/blue eyes wide with disbelief.

Aunt Rakshata shot him a fierce look. "She's not. She was only defending someone who couldn't defend themselves. Basically, your job as a hero." She tacked on with a scathing look so heated, she could light the bonehead ablaze on the spot. Sadly, she does not have that as a Quirk, as much as she would think it be handy, especially with the current situation.

"But," Toshinori opened his mouth to argue. "She put those boys in the hospital-!"

Shanti cut him off. "Not that much different when you beat those criminals into submission." She smarted off with her signature lazy look. "And they're lucky to be alive after what they did."

"That's no excuse!"

"Neither is what those delinquents did," Rakshata shot back. "Yes, I agree that she might have went overboard," -that's a lie, she honestly thinks that they deserve worse than what they got, but don't tell him that- "but she was doing it for the right reason. And besides, none of those lazy-ass teachers were going to do anything, so naturally Saga here took the initiative and put a stop to their foolish acts."

"She could have talked it out-"

"I did try talking to them!" Saga finally decided to speak up, having quite enough of hearing her old man's grating voice. "They wouldn't listen. They made their choice. Ergo, they had their chance to back off and they blew it the second they literally shoved me aside. And it is not my fault the school you have had to pick out for me to go to had so much incompetent staff. Though I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since this is you we are talking about."

Toshinori's eyes narrowed angrily. "And just what do you mean by that remark, young lady?" He was practically daring her to say what she meant. If Saga didn't know any better, she'd think that he's trying to intimidate her.

Which, would be intimidating if he were, you know, intimidating.

"What I'm saying is," Saga met his gaze head on without a shred of hesitation, "that you are an idiot and I'm ashamed to know that I share even a shred of DNA with the likes of you. Out of all the people with testicles, I had to get you for a father."

Shanti clamped a hand over her mouth to smother her laughter while Rakshata, on the other hand, did not bother hiding the smirk that appeared on her face.

Toshinori glared even harder. "Excuse me?"

"I'm calling you a failure as a father. God, learn to take criticism, you talentless brainless baby-dicked troll." At this Shanti just broke down laughing, nearly falling off the couch as she tried to hold her sides as she laughed her heart out. Rakshata watched in amusement, letting out a few chuckles herself.

Toshinori glowered at Rakshata. "See how you have been raising her? She has no respect for authority figures-"

"Correction," Saga interrupted, "I have no respect for idiots."

"She has no manners-"

"Says the guy that lacks tact himself."

"She is unruly and undisciplined, she is always getting into fights and breaking the rules, and as her father, I say it is high time that she should be corrected in her rebellious ways." Toshinori continued as if Saga had not said a word, though you could see the irk marks that kept appearing every time she cut him off.

"That's rich coming from you, Toshinori," Rakshata sneered at him, taking a drag on her hookah pipe and blew the smoke that came out into his face, making him cough. "Given that you have never been there for her, even before my sister died."

"Oh c'mon, you are seriously holding me against that? I thought we-"

"Well you thought wrong." Rakshata snapped, cutting him off rudely. "You never cared for her before, even when her mother was alive. And when those idiots at that clinic said she didn't have a Quirk, you began to ignore her some more, if that were even possible. Hell, the only time you actually paid attention to her is when you wanted something from her, basically treating her like she is your own slave in her own house. And you have the gall to wonder why she didn't want to go with you after her mother passed away?"

"Now you listen-"

"No, you listen," Shanti recovered enough by now to add her opinion. "Saga is right. You do not have what it takes to raise her. I would say you have tried and failed, but to be frank there was hardly any effort in trying on your part."

"Even so, the police at the station agree that she would be better off living with me." Toshinori made his point, making Saga tense at his words.

"No." Saga said bluntly.

"Whether you want to or not is not up to you, young lady." Toshinori spoke firmly. "You should have thought of that before you hospitalized those kids and getting expelled once again."

"Bull-fucking-shit!" Rakshata leapt to her feet, almost throwing her hookah pipe down on the floor. "She is not going with you. She hates you, and just because you have buddies in the police force doesn't mean you can do what you want here."

"I'm still her father," he argued back, getting to his feet as well.

"You may be her father, but you are not her dad." Shanti was on her feet now, her lazy look gone, replaced with an equally angry expression as she stood next to her older sister, wrapping an arm around Saga. "And the only times you actually pay attention to her is when she gets in trouble. Not when she does something great. When was the last time you went to any of her kendo matches or martial arts tournaments? Better yet, where were you when she graduated elementary school? Oh yeah, you were sitting on your scrawny ass in your shitty boring upscale condo bragging about the amount of crime you have stopped that week to your colleagues. And you have never went to any of her science fairs when she was nominated to show off her projects at universities, nor any of her talent shows at school. You don't even know about any of the extracurricular activities nor any afterschool hobbies she is involved in. I mean, when was the last time you attended one of her runway shows. Oh yeah, never! Face it, you don't know jacksquat about your own daughter."

"I do too know my daughter!" Toshinori argued back.

Rakshata snorted. "Yeah, right. You don't even know her favorite food."

"Yes I do!" Toshinori faltered for a second before answering with confidence. "It's gyudon!"

Queue the facepalms. "Baka." Shanti tsked. "She doesn't eat beef, you dumbass. None of us do, as a matter of fact."

"And why not?!"

"Because it is against my family's culture." Saga snapped, as she is a Hindu believer like her mother was. So she always tried to stay away from all forms of beef and other certain red meats. Though she does indulge in mutton, eggs, some poultry (mainly chicken), and fish. As long as beef is avoided she is fine.

"My family doesn't-" Saga cut him off again, in a savage tone.

"I'm not part of your family, you dolt. I meant my mother's family." This caused another glare to appear on his face.

"Now you listen here, young lady," Saga rolled her eyes at him. "You will not disrespect me like this!"

"I'm only giving you the amount of respect you deserve: none." Saga sassed, crossing her arms defiantly.

Toshinori took a step toward her, which proved to be a big mistake.

Keaton, who had been tense ever since the altercation started, sprang forward, getting between Toshinori and Saga, landing on all fours on the low coffee table between the two parties. Toshinori barely had time to pull away as Keaton tried to swipe at him with his dark claws, barely missing him by a hair. Keaton bared his fangs at the blonde skeleton man, making him step back as the menacing aura around the bipedal fox grew.

"I think we are done here." Rakshata spoke with a touch of smugness in her tone.

"You have long outwarmed your welcome here." Shanti added. "Now leave. Unlike you, we don't have to have friends in the police force to do our dirty work."

A tense moment of silence passed, before Toshinori gave up and began to leave. Before he left through the door of the apartment, he spared one last glance at the three. "I'll be back in a week. She better be ready then." With that, he finally left, slamming the door behind him.

"Like I would go anywhere with him." Saga snorted in derision. She turned to her aunts. "Am I right, aunties?"

Her expression fell when she saw the crestfallen expressions on both of their faces. "Guys?" She spoke unsurely.

"Well, I'm afraid we have to tell her..." Shanti spoke with regret.

"Tell me what?" Saga had a sinking feeling in her gut as dread filled the air now.

Rakshata sighed. "Sweetie. I'm afraid we are going to have to make you live with him, if only for a little while."

"Wait what?!" Saga raised her voice.

"Please listen," Rakshata said, taking her niece by the shoulders. "While we do have our share of powerful friends on our side, he too isn't without his share of supporters." Saga wanted to argue only she couldn't; her aunt does have a point as her father has more than the lions' share of friends, and not just in the police force. "Rest assured though, he will not be having you in his custody for long."

"What are we going to do? I cannot go back to living with him again! I'll go crazy!" Saga protested.

"You won't be alone, remember?" Rakshata nodded to Keaton. "You'll have your Pokemon with you. Just remember that you don't have to shoulder all of this alone. And he can't tell you they can't be with you, especially since you are licensed to have them to begin with. Ergo, by law he cannot confiscate them for whatever the reason may be, especially since you also carry species under the 'Protected' status."

Saga blinked, taking all of this information in. That is true. And if he tries making her into his personal housekeeper again, at least she will have her friends by her side to help her out with the workload.

"And don't forget, you also have your job and career with us and Valerie-chan," Shanti added. "Meaning you won't be in his house for many hours of the day. And I'm sure if you ask, Valerie-chan and your colleagues can help you out with having more excuses to be out of the house when he is there. And I'm sure Korrina-chan and Bea-chan can squeeze in some extra hours at the dojo for additional spars. Though they will have to make sure you get rest in between your gigs at both places. Though you might want to find another place to practice your swordsmanship skills."

Saga nodded. While she loathes the idea of being under the same roof as the sperm donor, there were many ways she can stay out of his place for extended periods of time. Not to mention, the bathhouse and the dojo are both great places to retreat to when things get too unbearable. And besides, it is not like she can't see her aunts outside her old man's place, especially since they own the bathhouse. So maybe they can rendezvous whenever Saga can get away from him and find time in her busy schedule. School isn't an issue anymore being as she is expelled now, and it is not like she has a lot to worry about since she had excellent grades despite her constant cutting classes and being suspended on a frequent basis. Though now that she is thinking about it, since her old man is hired as a teacher at UA, she might just end up being babysat at his workplace when she does not go to the bathhouse or the dojo. While she is not looking forward to that possibility, she was certain she can handle it as her father may be too busy fumbling with his cue cards to teach a single class to pay a lot of attention to her. Which will lead to opportunities to slip away. Even if he assigns one of his coworkers to watch her, she's betting the net worth of her Uncle David's support item company that they will not do a good job of keeping an eye on her. Eraserhead may be a slight challenge, but the second his head hits his sleeping bag, she can easily get away without worry.

"Okay fine." Saga relented. "But don't let me stay there for longer than a week. Two weeks is my max limit. Any longer and I'm sure to go bonkers and probably kill him by suffocating him in his sleep."

Rakshata nodded. "Right. Rest assured, we will get you out of this. One way or another. Even if we have to make a deal with the devil themselves we will get you out of his custody. I only wish we had done this when your mother's funeral concluded..." Her eyes filled with regret at her own carelessness. Despite being a good surrogate maternal figure to her niece, she still has her laziness from her younger years...

Saga took her hand, retrieving her aunt's hookah pipe and placing it into her hand. "Please don't blame yourself. While I'm not apologizing, I wish I thought things more thoroughly, especially if he was gonna involve himself in our matters." Rakshata hugged her, clenching her eyes shut to keep the burning sensation of tears at bay.

Pulling back, Saga let Shanti hug her next. "By the way, are we still on for next week?"

Rakshata smiled, wiping away the few tears that managed to escape her eyes. "Of course, you cheeky brat. We wouldn't miss your birthday for anything. We will have an entire day to ourselves. Just us girls."

Saga smiled. She always liked it when she and her aunts have their girls' day outings. It helps her forget the shitty aspects that goes on in her life.

"Okay." Saga sniffed, her own set of tears surfacing as she reached up to wipe them away.

"C'mon." Both aunts took both of her hands. "Let's go get some curry going. You have had a long day and you are no doubt cold and hungry after all of that..."

She nodded in agreement, her own stomach rumbling at the thought of eating some curry.

While she may be dreading what will occur come within the following week, she is still gonna make the best of the time she has now before she meets with her father next week.

AAAAANNNNNDDDDD Fin!

Next part coming up soon! Don't go away!

This is the ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!