Kousuke stood before the greatest challenge he had ever faced since he became a knight. In front of him stood the door to his father's collection. It was a steel vault that could probably handle a blast from several pounds of C4. Kou had no idea what the combination was until now, but upon asking his father he had been given it along with the words "You're a man now, and the time comes when any man needs to risk his life for what he believes in."

Kousuke did not know what to think of his father's statement, but as he stood before the door he felt a jolt of fear and wrongness come over him. This door had been closed to him ever since he was a child. Going into it now felt, wrong or at the very least like some kind of betrayal.

However he needed to do this. The Earth knight transformed and then stepped forwards and used the combination to open the door.

"Here I go..."

Within dad's cache of archaeological finds are many, many pieces of his work. Some obviously valuable like statues from the earlier times of Japan. Others seemed more of the less valuable and 'junk' category. In one corner of the room was a computer at least a decade old along with a few boxes used for paperwork along with a single 'racy' magazine on top.

Some things are best not explored further.

As Kousuke wanders into the vault, he would feel the slightest tug of energy in the room. Of course among the myriad boxes, crates, and larger pieces, finding was going to be not the easiest task. A single rat runs across the room, ducking under one stretch of racking before beady eyes stare at Kousuke.

Kousuke looks through the room and notices the 'racy magazine'...being 18 years old and curious he decide to go take a look at what kinda magazine it is...one must have priorities after all. After checking it out he returns to his search.

As Kousuke sees the rat running across he moves with lightning like speed and scoops it up,a glove of sand appearing around his hand to protect himself from being bitten. "Where'd you get in here from?" He asks not really expecting to be heard, but legitimately curious due to how large and thick the walls were.

The rat squeaks helplessly in Kousuke's grasp. If he took the time to look around, he would notice that the area where the wires to the computer fed in was gnawed at and opened slightly, showing how Mr. Squeaky infiltrated the otherwise inaccessible vault.

As his fist of sand manifests though, it disperses. The sand floats through the air as if drawn by something, the sand and Earthen energy swirling in the air as it weaves it's way around and through the racks until it covers something.

A pile of sand would greet Kousuke on the second shelf up from the bottom fairly deep into the vault. When the inevitable unburying happens, he finds an ornate box with a symbol of the Earth inscribed upon a topaz near the lock. It was more subtle, and would have been just considered a generic nod to eras of the past. Of course, the locked box contained something somewhat heavy, thudding around inside.

The box itself seemed particularly valuable. Very old, and adorned with gems along the corners and edges, which might give pause to the initial thought of 'smash it open!'.

Kousuke walks over to the mouse's entrance a seals the hole. There were way too many strange and mystical things in here for it to be safe for a mouse to be wandering around. He looks at it and wonders. "So are you a normal mouse or are you going to start talking or trying to kill me?" he asks curiously...man he had gotten used to some strange stuff.

As the sand leaves his control he lifts an eyebrow curiously. This was not a reaction he had ever seen before, but then again there was a lot of strange stuff here. Maybe there was a sand magnet. He follows the sand and eventually arrives at the ornate box. His first thought is to pry it open by main force but after considering this for a bit he decides it is probably best to as an expert so he picks it up and heads for the door, still carrying the rat.

"Well lets get out of here and find out what the hell this is." He says.

"Squeak." the mouse protests, offering no indication that it was evil, youma flavored, or otherwise anything other than your run of the mill rodent. Leaving the vault, there is no further incident. The object in the box seemed to feel warm to Kousuke, the energy forming a bond of sorts with it. Other than that, Kousuke would be off to his on devices to figure out what to do with the box and the fate of Mr. Squeakers.

As Kousuke gets out of the room he walks upstairs and calls out. "Hey Mom, I found a rat in Dad's room of magical relics can I keep it as a pet?" He calls as he lays the box out on the counter. "Also do you know where Dad put the key for the gem encrusted box of magical energy?!"

Kousuke's mother shrieks and screams at Kousuke to get the rat out of the house, albeit incoherently and scrambled. When Kousuke passes by the kitchen, he would see his mother on the chair with a heavy book in hand with clear intent to smash the rat.

Apparently, not a fan of rodents.

When Kousuke handles the rat and gets it out of sight one way or another, she looks at the box that he would bring to her and tilts her head just a bit.

"Your father never found a key to that one, he was so excited because he thought it was a new cultural relic but he was highly reluctant to break it open to figure out what was rattling about inside."

As Kousuke's mom screams he frowns and concentrates. A ball of stone with several breathing holes formed around the rodent, giving it enough room to move around in and air to breath. "Oh hey~" He looks at the ball in surprise, he had manifested his abilities outside of transformation before, but never to this level.

"Hmm if he never found the key huh?" Kousuke stares at it curiously and then attempt to form a stone into the shape of the lock to see if that would open the box.