Lets not call it Fate…..
"I love you Kumiko." Shin looked at her from across the table, the remains of his "Good-Luck & Sayonara" party littering the table. The rest of the family having left hours ago to sleep off the large amounts of sake they had consumed in his honor.
Her response didn't surprise him. Her eyes wide, and her soft pink mouth opened slightly in surprise. "What?!?"
"I know I am being foolish in telling you this, but I couldn't leave without saying it out loud." Shin stood and walked to the other side of the table, and slowly, as if afraid of startling her, helped her to stand up. The little space between their bodies felt like it was burning him.
He looked into her eyes and said it one more time. "I am in love with you" he leaned in slowly, and gently as if she was a precious blossom, he kissed her.
His heart was pounding like if he was running for his life, but the rest of him was calm. This was the one he belonged with. No matter what anyone else had to say.
"I am leaving tomorrow, I don't know when I'll be back, but I wanted you to know that. Please take good care of yourself." Shin turned to leave the Ooedo Clan's house, not knowing what the future would hold.
2 years later....
The night was cool, the New York air felt good on his face as he walked home from the library. The light and noise of the city fading into the background as he walked briskly, immersed in his thoughts.
Tomorrow was the last test for the semester, and in less than a year he would graduate from NYU, 2 semesters earlier than expected. Not bad for a Shirokin Gakuen graduate.
Who would have thought that his volunteer work in Africa would lead him to a scholarship from NYU in America? All because he helped shed light on a cowardly operation.
He was working with a volunteer group to bring drinkable water to the village, and help the women devastated by their country's ongoing wars build homes for their families.
The men from the volunteer company he was there with was exhorting money from the local businesses. Helping to keep the people poor and using their poverty to continue receiving donations from across the world.
Thinking about the abuse of power that lead to so many people's misery made him angry. It was thugs like these that gave the yakuza a bad name.
Kumiko….it was impossible to think of the yakuza without thinking about her. After all this time, his heart felt the bruise she left, and he doubted that would ever change. "I wonder if she got married…"
That thought stopped him short.
"No, I didn't think that." He had resolved to let that door stay closed until he could return to Japan as her equal. He took a few deep breaths to loosen the knot in his stomach. It was then that he heard the scream.
"No, don't touch her!" The desperation and anger in the man's voice was tangible.
"Dad!"
The sounds of fighting could be heard in the alley, and his instincts screamed for him to help. Shin took off in a sprint, and there at the end of an alley, was a man surrounded by three men and by the look in their eyes they were intent in taking the girl by force. The only thing stopping them was the father, with a death glare in his eyes and a katana in his hands.
"Just give us the girl and no one gets hurt." The tallest thug demanded from the father.
"I'm not going to do that, so just leave before I cut you to pieces" The dad held tightly to the sword, meaning what he said, but by looking at him, Shin could tell that the man had no idea how to use the sword. He was about to use his phone to call the cops, when out of the shadows, a rock flew fast and hit the man on the head, rendering him unconscious.
It happened so fast that even the thugs were surprised, and they were as startled as Shin when a man stepped out of the shadows, smirking at them.
"Fools, you can't even handle a simple snatch job." He stopped under the light and Shin recognized the type. He was en enforcer – probably freelancer – and working for the highest bidder; a thug that knew nothing of honor, or the value of life. Without any further thought, Shin walked into the alley, his blood boiling with rage. It was people like this that he hated.
"Hey," Shin said, none of the rage surging through him tinted the tone of his voice, "leave those people alone."
He looked at the thugs, all four of them looking at him like if he was a mirage. The girl, no older than ten, was still unaware of him, she was sobbing over the prone body of her father, calling him, begging him to wake up, but there was no response from him.
Shin walked calmly to the dad and checked for a pulse on his neck. It was strong, but he wasn't going to get up anytime soon. He picked up the katana and stood in front of the men. Then finally he got a reaction from them.
"Don't make me laugh kid, a wimp like you is willing to get killed for playing hero?" The rock-throwing thug laughed at him. The other three began moving in closer, the smirks in their faces told him they were already celebrating their victory.
"We are going to take her, do what we want, and there is nothing that you can do about it." The rock-man lined up with the other three, and as if that was their cue, they rushed him.
Shin barely had time to bring the sword up and slash it across their faces. That was the quickest way to let them know he meant business.
"You will not hurt them, I wont allow it." Shin stood his ground.
"Who are you?" The rocky man said.
"Like you said, I am a kid playing hero." Shin widened his stance and held the sword ready for their attack.
The thugs saw that he was serious, and took out their weapons. Fortunately for Shin none of them seemed to have any firepower, but the serrated, Rambo looking knives they brought out would rip him to pieces if he dropped his guard.
It was four to one, and he hadn't used a katana in years, but he knew, with all that was in him, that he couldn't allow the little girl to be taken.
"OK, hero," the rock-man said "if that's how you want it."
All four of them attacked again, but Shin was ready this time, and went on the offensive. The katana slashed through the thugs like a hot knife through butter. The back of his mind registering that this was a real Samurai Sword, made of the "Jewel Steel" called Tamahagane. Useless information at the time, but yet it made him feel better knowing he had one of the best weapons of the world.
The fight was fast, he slashed through the three thugs fast, and they laid bloody and unconscious at his feet, but rock-man was still hanging back; the insufferable smirk still on his face. Shin looked at him, knowing things were about to change.
"Stupid kid, you think that you can protect someone with that knife? Don't you know what guns are for?" Saying that he took at a pistol and aimed it at him, but Shin, ignoring the threat of the gun looked right at him.
"If you don't put that away, you are going to regret it." His voice as calm as ever, a contrast to the determined glint in his eyes.
The screeching of tires, and the thumps of men running, distracted rock-man. It was the moment Shin needed, and he sprang.
Like a lion on a pray.
The impact of the sword slicing through skin jarred his arm, but he held tighter to the sword, pulling it out in one swift move, his focus already on the men that had just arrived.
The light was shining behind the three of them, Shin standing protectively over the child and her dad, and his red hair wild, waving like a flag in the night air. He took a deep breath and met the gazes of the newly arrived men. "I will not allow them to get hurt, leave now and take this trash with you."
None of the men moved, but from the back, and incredulous voice was heard.
"Young Master Red Lion?!?"
Shin hadn't been called that in years, but the voice was unmistakable. "Kyo-San?"
The men parted, and into the light stepped the scared chief of the Ooedo Clan. Neither of them could believe what they were seeing.