Disclaimer: I do not own the Ikki Tousen franchise, or the Histories Strongest Disciple franchise. I am writing this purely for fun and to see reader responses, no financial profit is made.
Chapter 2 – Convictions and Seito
Ryuubi felt slightly delirious from the happiness radiating from his chest. It felt like some piece of his soul he hadn't been aware was missing had just clicked into position. Too bad the moment had to be ruined by the gang members they had just beaten the ever loving bejesus out of. Their groans of pain finally cut through the heady feeling of triumph and reunification.
"I guess we have to call the police for these four…I am not looking forward to their questions." Out of the corner of his eye he spots Kanu's weapon. "…Especially since you're carrying around a huge bloodied Guan Dao! Oh we are so going to jail aren't we?"
Kanu had an amused smile on her face, watching Ryuubi nearly tear his hair out in his panic. "We're not going to jail Gentoku. Everything is fine, we'll call the police, they'll come take these four to the hospital, and then they'll be put in jail or a morgue."
Ryuubi stared for a moment, glancing from Seiryuto to her face. "…You're not going to threaten them are you?"
"You must not be aware of one of the functions of our Magatama." She lightly flicked her own, "They indicate the general level of skill, power and experience of its bearer, but they all also have a hypnotic effect on any non-Toushi." Ryuubi struggled and failed to avert his eyes when she bent over to tear a piece of cloth from the silver haired Toushi's shirt to wipe the blood from her blade. If she noticed she didn't say anything. "As long as any crime committed by a Toushi is made against another Toushi, the Magatama will make sure any thought of retribution from the authorities or behavior that is normally conducted by the authorities, such as questioning people around a crime scene," She gestured at the current scene, dropping the rag next to the girl she took it from, "Is ignored. Neither will the people think to call the police should they see Toushi attacking one other. So we Toushi have to police ourselves.(1)
Chouhi walked back over to them, having been contacting the police while Kanu explained things to Ryuubi. "Just got off the phone with the cops, they'll be here in a bit." She reached over and poked Ryuubi's shoulder playfully, "You didn't know that? Jeez, some Toushi you are."
"No! Why didn't you tell me? And who told you?"
"Suikyo-Sensei." Kanu and Chouhi said in unison.
"Well, why didn't he tell me? I trained with him just as much as you Ku-Chan."
Chouhi let out a sheepish laugh and rubbed at the back of her head. "I knew I was forgetting something, ehehehe."
Ryuubi face palmed, "Oh you did, did you? Well I can see why, it's not like it was anything important." Chouhi knew he wasn't too upset with her by the light and sarcastic tone. Then it became more concerned. "Are you alright though? It seemed like that Abe person tagged ya good there. You had me worried, speaking of which, thanks so much for rescuing us Kan-Chan."
"Of course I'm alright! It's just a few new bruises. And if Kan-San hadn't interrupted I would'a taken that bitch apart!"
Ryuubi only half listened to Chouhi's vehement proclamations that she had everything under control. The blood at her lips and the prone position she had been in earlier were reminding him of a time he hadn't been able to protect her before, and consequently why he had decided to learn how to fight.
*Flashback*
A ten year old Ryuubi and a nine year old Chouhi were sneaking back to their neighborhood. Chouhi had somehow convinced the normally reclusive Ryuubi to sneak out at midnight to see a new and very violent movie their parents refused to take them to see. Of course they also had to sneak into and then out of the theatre. Which was made all the more difficult by Chouhi hauling a rather large sack of candy and snacks with them. And what a battle it was trying to get her to share.
"Did you see all those explosions!? Best. Movie. Ever!" She loved her action movies, though Ryuubi wished she'd lower her voice. He normally didn't mind it, but they were trying to be sneaky here.
"Well wha'da we have here? A couple of kiddies up past their bedtime?" A gang of teenagers with badly dyed hair that looked to have been hacked at with a dull knife approached them.
Ryuubi winced hoping that Chouhi wouldn't make things worse for them. "Well Wha'da we have here? A bunch of losers with nothing better to do than bother children?" Of course, he should know better than that. She would never back down from people like them. Their moms? Sure. Their dads? Probably. The teachers at their school? On occasion. A gang armed with rusty pipes and bats? No way in hell.
A look of shock plastered itself to the lead gang member's face. Ryuubi didn't blame him. How often could this sort of thing happen? What nine year old girl, at this time of night, with no adults around to help them, would have the guts to do something like that? Chouhi Ekitoku of course.
Before anyone knew what was going on, one of the gang members had snatched Chouhi's snack bag while her eyes were on their leader. Ryuubi had a very good idea what was going to happen next.
"Hey! Give that back ya jerk!"
"Make me!"
Uh oh…She had that look in her eye. The look that you were in for extreme pain if you didn't make restitutions very quickly. 3…2…1… too late.
Pow! Chouhi just punched the guy straight in the testicles. He went down with a high pitched squeak.
After a moment the gang burst into action. Chouhi hadn't just breached their point of tolerance, she'd nuked it into oblivion.
There wasn't much the two kids could do. They tried to defend themselves, but they were outnumbered and outgunned. The only thing Ryuubi could focus on was Chouhi, bleeding and shouting in pain. She didn't cry of course, she'd never let these guys get that satisfaction. The beating went on for about three minutes. Ryuubi was grateful that they seemed to have some small degree of morality because after a while they focused most of their attention on him and the two were still alive. He knew very well that if these guys truly wanted to, he and Chouhi would be dead.
The beating didn't stop because the gang thought they'd done enough, or they'd gotten too tired, but because an old man had shown up and saved them. He had dark, leathery looking skin, some bandages wrapped around his head that didn't seem to serve much of a purpose, a black kung-fu uniform, and orange tinted sunglasses.
Ryuubi's ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton due to all the hits to the head so he couldn't make out what was being said. But he knew the gist of it from the context. The old man was telling them to stop, and the punks from the gang were crudely telling him off. But then the coolest thing happened. The old man completely dominated the gang. No matter what they tried to do he'd continue wailing on them all like it was nothing, flowing around their attacks with a fluidity of motion no one would expect from an old man. Within one minute the whole gang was on the ground groaning. This was Suikyo-Sensei. He was the man who would teach Chouhi and him how to fight. The last thing he saw before he finally lost consciousness was Chouhi's bleeding face.
He woke up later in a hospital with Chouhi in the bed next to his. Suikyo-Sensei was speaking with a nurse. When the nurse left Suikyo-Sensei turned his attention to Ryuubi.
"Good, you're awake. We were worried about you two."
"As if a gang of losers like them were going to keep us down!" Well, Chouhi was awake.
Suikyo-Sensei quickly rapped her over the head drawing a yelp from her. "You're in a hospital, have some respect." Moving so he could look both of them in the eye he introduced himself. "My name is Suikyo; I brought you here after dealing with those young hooligans. You were lucky I was in the area or you might not be here."
"Can you teach me to fight, er us?" Ryuubi spoke before his mind could catch up, amending his question at hearing Chouhi's indignant 'Hey!'
"You want me to teach you how to fight? So you can get revenge?" Ryuubi didn't realize it at the time, but Suikyo was searching for something.
"Because I won't ever be able to respect myself if I can't even stand up for and protect what's important to me."
And apparently he'd found it. As soon as they were out of the hospital, Suikyo-Sensei began training them. Around their punishments from sneaking out so late of course, and in between whatever adventures Suikyo went on.
Ryuubi was shaken from his memories by the sound of police sirens. That was their cue to continue on to Seito Academy. They grabbed the bags they had tossed aside earlier and were well out of sight by the time the cops arrived on scene.
Kanu and Chouhi ended up on either side of Ryuubi, none of them even thinking about it. "So Kan-San," A mischievous smile spread on Chouhi's face, "What exactly were you doing all the way out here? I thought you were going to meet us at the Academy entrance."
A light blush burned across Kanu's face and she stuttered out her reply. "I-I uh finished my duties quicker than I thought, so I decided to meet you halfway."
"Could it be that the calm and cool Kan-San was just so excited to finally meet her precious Gentoku-Sama she couldn't bear to be away from him any longer?"
"Oh quit teasing Kan-Chan." Ryuubi decided he'd better come to Kanu's rescue before she decided to use Chouhi for target practice. "I'm glad she came all the way out here to meet us. I would be a complete wreck by now if she hadn't." He was careful not to mention her role in keeping Chouhi's head firmly attached to her neck. That would only exacerbate things.
"Yea, you should've seen him. Before those girls showed up he was totally freaking out, like a virgin on his first date."
Ryuubi covered her mouth with his hand, but the damage had been done. "Ah-h-h, don't listen to her Kan-Chan. She's delirious from being hit in the head. So how's Seito doing?" Not the most graceful of topic changes, but it'd do.
Kanu gave a knowing smile before replying. "I've taken care of the majority of these gangs that have been ruining Seito for the last few years, but some of them managed to escape before I caught them." She gave small scowl, annoyed at that. "There are still two more gangs from Seito to take care of, and another two gangs in the surrounding city areas that I want to deal with. I won't tolerate such a thing so close to our school."
Something Kanu said earlier just occurred to Ryuubi. "Wait, Kan-Chan, earlier you said that those girls would be in jail or a morgue, but didn't you say Toushi crimes on other Toushi didn't get punished like normal?"
"These gangs haven't been restricting their activities to Toushi. They've been mugging, breaking and entering, and vandalizing non-Toushi establishments in addition to harassing Toushi."
Just as she finished explaining the group finally passed under the arch leading into the Shrine courtyard. The buildings were all very traditional as expected of such a place, made of wood and with paper screen doors. There were a total of three buildings on the Shrine grounds. One was directly across from the stairs leading into the Shrine; this is the biggest building and functions as the primary place for prayer and meditation. Behind it were two smaller buildings meant for storage of ceremonial equipment and tools and supplies for maintaining the Shrine.
Well off to the left was another hill away from the Shrine grounds. This was where the academy was built. It had two separate dormitories, one for the upper classmen and one for the lower classmen. Both were capable of housing 100 students, although they are very rarely filled to capacity, and are placed on either side of the Classroom Center, named Dragon Hall, and they extended slightly behind it into the backyard of the academy. There was plenty of space for group activities and campus events with lots of healthy green grass and designated sporting areas. All in all, Seito was rather huge considering its tiny class size.(2)
Ryuubi let out a sigh of awe, "Wow, this place is beautiful." Turning to Kanu with a huge smile, "And Kan-Chan was able to kick every gang out of the school all by herself? Kan-Chan is amazing."
"Ah, it wasn't difficult. Most of them were untrained brawlers with no clue how to really fight." She had a very pleased expression despite her modest words. Ryuubi would have to make sure to praise her often.
"Kan-Chan, can you take me to the Headmistress' office? I was told to report there immediately upon arrival. Something to do with this whole Coed test run thing I'm sure."
"I'd be happy to. Ryuusho-Sensei's office is on the third floor of Dragon Hall. Will you be okay on your own for a bit Chouhi?"(3)
"Yea I'll see you two later. I wanna go find my room and unpack real quick. Meet ya in front of Dragon."
The three split up, Chouhi heading towards the lowerclassmen dormitory and Kanu taking Ryuubi into Class Hall.
"So anything I should know before meeting the headmistress?"
"She arrived a little earlier than I did, and she's probably not what you're expecting if what Ekitoku's told me about you is true."
"Nothing bad I hope?"
"No. In this particular case that you've been studying the Romance of the Three Kingdoms regularly ever since you learned about Toushi and their fate."
"Right. I intend to break this cycle. It can't be natural, and there doesn't seem to be a point to it." Ryuubi's eyes had sharpened, sending shivers down Kanu's spine. "By studying that work I can have a good idea of what to expect. Things won't happen exactly the same of course, but the general flow of events can be watched. Something happened 1800 years ago to start this. If I can identify it, then I can end it. If I end it, then every Toushi will be free to finally move on, and this grief will stop repeating."
Kanu had become flushed and was feeling much warmer than usual. "Ryuubi Gentoku…What a marvelous man. This is my leader, the one who will free the fates of Toushi everywhere."
"Kan-Chan are you okay? You've stopped moving."
Kanu smiled brightly, "Never better Gentoku, never better."
Kanu grabbed his hand and pulled him along soon reaching an oak door with a brass plate reading 'Headmistress Ryuusho'. She knocked firmly three times and called out, "Ryuusho-Sensei, I've brought Ryuubi Gentoku to see you as requested."
There was a short pause before a woman's voice called for them to enter. Behind a large mahogany desk that had several small stacks of paper, paperweights and photos was a middle aged woman with dark brown hair pulled into a professional looking bun. She had kind brown eyes behind a pair of small eyeglasses. She wore a light pink blouse and a black skirt that went down to her knees. Her legs were covered by black nylon stockings and white low heeled shoes. The chair she was sitting on was a huge and incredibly comfy looking brown leather office chair.
"Hello Kanu-San, thank you for escorting Ryuubi-San here." She noticed their still linked hands and smiled a little wider, "You can stay if Ryuubi-San doesn't have a problem with it, but I think I already know how he feels." She already knew that he and Chouhi-San were in a relationship, and she had a feeling that he'd be getting a lot of attention from some famous names in the near future.
"Uh, yea, Kan-Chan can stay." Neither had apparently noticed they hadn't let go of each other yet.
"Okay then. There are a few things to go over before I let you get settled in here. First, restrooms. As the first and currently only male attending Seito Academy you will have a room with its own bathroom attached. The public buildings already have male restrooms so there is no concern there. So I better not hear about you sneaking into the women's bathrooms or locker rooms okay?" Her head tilted lightly to the side and the smile on her face although benevolent looking sent a chill of fear through him.
"Of course not sensei. I would only ever enter those places if I heard someone calling for aid."
"Good. Second, here is your schedule and room assignment. You will be with the first year classes like normal, and you will be living among them as well. I hope you will exercise the proper discretion Ryuubi-San." It wasn't an outright rule not to flirt with the female students, but more of a, 'Don't let it get out of hand' warning.
"I understand sensei."
"Third, our Toushi relationship." This one made him stand up straighter.
"Sensei?"
"I was a History Professor before I became Headmistress here. I am well aware of what our previous lives interactions were. I know that you're something of a Three Kingdoms era buff, and I want to assure you that you will have my full support to lead Seito as long as you don't do anything to prove yourself unworthy. I know you have the charisma to inspire my students and the conviction to do great things, and I look forward to seeing what you can do."
Kanu certainly hadn't been lying. Ryuusho-Sensei wasn't the weak and spineless leader her predecessor went down as. She was a shrewd and talented woman. What a pleasant surprise.
"I won't let you down Ryuusho-Sensei. Seito will flourish."
"Great, then the last thing is attire. Even though you are a boy, you must wear a school uniform!" She held up a clothes hanger with a copy of the Seito schoolgirl uniform hanging on it.
Ryuubi and Kanu went wide eyed and his jaw dropped. "…You're kidding me."
"Of course not! It is required for all students to wear a Seito Academy uniform during classes. Here put this on, I want to see if it fits. You can use my restroom." She gestured at the door to their right.
"You're seriously telling me that I have to wear this?" Her only response was pointing at the bathroom again.
Hesitantly he grabbed the outfit and very slowly entered the restroom, as if he was going to his death.
"I can't believe I'm doing this. I should just get a transfer or something! Why am I doing this? This is horrible! And I'll have to do this and stay like this for every class!? I might as well kill myself now, it'd be more merciful." He sighed despondently, "Well, let's get this over with." He turned the knob to enter the office again.
As soon as the door to the restroom clicked shut Ryuusho opened the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out an old Polaroid camera and cackled quietly.
"Ryuusho-Sensei, what are you doing?"
"Having a little fun at Ryuubi-Sans expense of course."
"Does he really need to wear the Seito schoolgirl uniform?"
"Nope. I just told him that he needed to wear a Seito Academy uniform. We put together a male uniform. Nothing I said was a lie if you consider my words carefully." It was true, she never said he had to wear the schoolgirl uniform. Just that she wanted to see if it fit.
"Oh oh the doors opening, shh!"
As soon as Ryuubi opened the door he was blinded by a series of flashes that sounded suspiciously like a camera. After blinking the spots out of his eyes he saw that it indeed was a camera, held by a widely grinning Ryuusho-Sensei. Kanu was staring at him wide-eyed with one hand held tightly over her mouth.
"What-bu-wha-why-but…HUH!?" Ryuubi paused in his sputtering before thinking about what had just happened. He'd just been pranked by the Headmistress of his school. And he'd fallen for it spectacularly. At least he hoped it was a prank. If he did actually have to wear this every school day he was going to transfer, Toushi expectations be damned.
His right palm smacked straight into his face and he began shaking in contained laughter until he couldn't hold it in any longer.
After clearing up the fact that he indeed did not have to dress like a schoolgirl for classes, he was given two sets of the newly designed male Seito Academy uniform for being a good sport about it and they set off to find his room, leaving their Headmistress to her own devices.
The uniform consisted of a dark blue button up light jacket with gold colored buttons, which he would leave undone outside of class, a white t-shirt tucked into a sturdy pair of dark blue slacks with a brown belt and brown shoes. Ryuubi planned to order a few more sets just in case.
They found Chouhi waiting for them just outside the front door of Dragon Hall.
"There you two are, how'd it go?" Chouhi noticed the two holding hands and immediately had to keep herself from drooling at the fantasies that shot through her mind. She had her first target. She would have to cultivate this carefully - Kanu smiled affectionately at Ryuubi - Okay, maybe not so carefully. Their level of comfort with each other was probably a result of the bond the three already shared.
"Well, turns out our Headmistress has something of a mischievous side to her. But it went very well, we got the ground rules set up and cleared up some issues that were up in the air."
Kanu let out a small chuckle, causing Chouhi to raise her right eyebrow. "Mischievous how?"
Ryuubi grinned. He had learned to laugh at himself long ago. Harmless pranks like this didn't bother him much. He just hoped she wouldn't be distributing any of those pictures to any enemies he might make in the future. "She tricked me into putting on the Seito schoolgirl uniform and took pictures when I did it. Yes, before you ask I got some for you. She was very surprised that I reacted so well." He quickly held them over his head before she could snatch them, "But, you have to promise to keep these only to yourself and those you trust absolutely to not use them to hurt me. Deal?"
"Yea duh! Now Gimme!" She was in the process of climbing up his body to reach the pictures.
"Okay then, enjoy."
When he handed them over Chouhi immediately doubled over, completely overcome by mirth. "Oh my god! That is so great!" She managed to gasp out between bouts of laughter. "Oh my ribs! I can't breath!"
Once Chouhi had gotten control of herself, the three tracked down his room so he could finally put his stuff away. When that was done he collapsed into the chair at his desk, and Kanu and Chouhi sat on the bed, Chouhi deliberately maneuvering her hand to land on top of Kanu's. She didn't seem to mind.
"So Kan-Chan, these remaining gangs. Do we know where they are?" Ryuubi was anxious to get to work. And clearing out the remaining gangs that had been running unchecked sounded like a good place to start.
There's chapter two. Let me know what you think, feedback and constructive criticism will be appreciated.
(1) This is my excuse for the complete lack of law involvement in Ikki Tousen. I mean seriously, the Toushi are constantly starting street fights, killing each other, kidnapping and raping one another, and yet there is no response from the police.
(2) I have no idea if this is a small student body for a Japanese private academy. For the purposes of this fic, assume it is.
(3) Ryuusho AKA Liu Zhang, was the ruler of Cheng Du, which is Ikki Tousen's Seito, before he surrendered to Ryuubi. He was depicted as an incompetent and spineless leader, but my fics version is a woman of great intelligence and administrative skill. She probably won't make many appearances.