Now back to the story of our ghost like hero. Soon he will become known by the criminals of Japan and will soon be confronted by one. We still haven't come to a conclusion of the love interest, but I decided to go with Freya since I've already wrote one with Shigure as the interest and she is actually pretty hard to get in character. So congrats to Freya. Now back to the action!
Chapter 4
It had been several weeks since I had gotten set up at my apartments. During that time Death had changed, I buzzed my hair so that no strays would fall at crime scenes. I now wore a black hood and carved in the symbol for death into the forehead of the mask. My name had become more famous too. I was now known as Shi no Kage or Shadow of Death. I completed many missions and set up a phone line that was untraceable and safe for me to use as Shi no Kage. I also set up a phone for me to use as myself, instead of Shi no Kage. I was now very rich and had well over two million dollars in my weapons room downstairs. So you'd expect me to be able to afford better things. I decided to stay in my apartment, but I also bought many houses across the city. Were my main base to get compromised I would simply retreat to my other locations. I also bought better gear. Pretty much the only thing I kept of my old uniform was my mask since it made the structure of my face harder to notice. I now wore a black hoodie with an armor vest that I made myself. My boots had been replaced with tabi boots and my cargo pants were replaced with kung fu pants for flexibility. I put in mirror glass lenses over the eyes of my mask to protect against anything that would get into my eyes. I kept my weather gloves and made a pair of black arm guards to go over them. The scabbards of my swords were replaced with small metal loops on the back of my hoodie to make carrying my swords easier.
Death had evolved into a dark destroyer to be reckoned with. But it turns out someone else had further plans for the silent killer. He spied on me during my missions, and surprisingly I didn't notice him being right under my nose. He made himself known quickly though. One day I received a strange phone call for another mission. I sat in my apartment making sure to keep a low profile to keep from being too suspicious or becoming a surprise suspect by the police.
I answered the phone without saying anything. I always let the employer talk first to avoid any friendliness.
"Is this Shi no Kage?" the man asked.
"Maybe." I replied.
"I have a job for him." He added.
"I'm listening."
"Meet me down at the docks tonight at midnight by the big crane." He said, "You'll get the details there to avoid any spying. See you then."
I hung up the phone and looked at the clock, 5 PM. As usual I would go two hour earlier to spy on the employer when they came. I took no time to pack my tools and plan the meeting. I had been at the docks before at a meeting so I had a good idea of the layout. Once ten o'clock came I dressed in my uniform and gear and left on foot for the docks. Going on my motorcycle would be too loud and would probably give away my true identity. Once I got to the docks I left a walkie talkie next to a tool box with a small flashing light next to it then climbed on top of the giant crane with a pair of binoculars. I sat perched on top of the giant place for a two hours waiting for someone to come. I looked behind myself at the ocean that was withing jumping distance from the crane.
The time flew by quickly before I saw a figure approach the docking area. To my surprise it was one man, on foot! He dressed in a strange white hood and I could see long purple hair. I waited for him to pick up the walkie talkie and sure enough he approached the blinking light and picked it up.
"Hello?" Said the walkie talkie I had, "Is this the guy?"
"Yes." I said quietly.
"Where are you?" He asked.
"I'm watching." I replied.
"From where?" He then looked right at me, "Like on top of the crane?"
Suddenly the man was gone. I looked around for him but saw no one in sight. Suddenly I felt a light tap on my shoulder and I reached for my sword, but they were both gone. I then elbowed the man in the face and jumped off the crane toward the water below. Before I knew it I was lying face down on land. The employer had snatched me out of the air! Whoever this guy was he sure was powerful, I was getting skeptical of weather or not I would survive this.
"Just wait a minute, friend." He said, "Just hear me out."
I reached for my tanto and chain knife and held them defensively then nodded for him to continue.
"Well you see I've been watching you." He said, "And I must say I'm impressed."
I did not reply.
"I would like you to join my team. "He said.
"I refuse." I quickly replied.
"Now now don't be difficult." He said, "You need to join me."
"Why?" I asked.
He laughed hysterically, "Because I know your master. Hahaha! Wow you sure are slow for his top student."
I cautiously dropped my guard, "You know my master?"
"Yes." He replied, "He speaks most highly of you. And I now see why. You are quite remarkable for your age. But back to the point. Your master wants me to train you in the ways I know."
"How?" I asked without question, "You have to join my Ragnarok team. Do you accept?"
If Master wanted it then I was prepared to do whatever this man wanted.
I put away my weapons, he handed my back my swords which I put away, "I accept."
"Good," He said kindly, "You can call me Kensei. You will meet my student Odin tomorrow night at the old abandoned warehouse down the street from the hospital. After that all you have to do is follow his orders and or mine, and you will be training in no time."
I now knew why Master had left me alone. He wanted me to get a feel for what it felt like to be on my own. He wanted me to find this Kensei guy and train with him. It was easy to tell that Kensei was not lying because only people who knew my master personally would know how to find me. I was just worried how much Kensei knew.
"What's my last name?" I asked not expecting a truthful answer.
"I don't know." He replied to no surprise.
"Liar." I growled.
"Why would you say such a thing?" He asked trying to act innocent.
"If you know my master." I replied, "Then you know I'm not an idiot. In fact I'm probably more intelligent than you."
"I bet you don't know about Ki." He replied grinning.
It was obvious that he was right. For some strange reason my master never taught me about Ki, but I knew what it felt like. He made sure to train me to ignore the intense affects that Ki and killing intent has on a person's fighting spirit.
"Exactly." He added, "Meet Odin at the warehouse tomorrow. And just so you can show them your skills they will be there all day and don't know when you'll be coming. And to make things more interesting, they've been ordered to attack anybody that enters. So use discretion and please don't kill anybody."
"Yes sir." I said back in to the robot mode burned into my instinct by my master.
"And Give them this." He said handing me a recording device, "It has my orders on there."
Suddenly Kensei was gone and I was left alone. I listened for any sounds of movement afterwards, but heard nothing. All I heard were the restless sounds of the city. Then I decided to go home once I knew it was safe and I wouldn't be followed.
(Scene change) Warehouse the next night.
Odin and the other fists of Ragnarok all sat on the second floor of the warehouse awaiting their master's orders. Only Odin knew that the great sage fist wanted them to go there. And only Odin received direct orders from him.
"Odin we've been here all day." Loki said, "Any reason why that is or do you just like to give out pointless orders?"
"He wouldn't have given them if they didn't have meaning." Berserker calmly replied.
"That's right Loki." Odin added, "There is a reason for all of us being here. We just have to be patient until we know what that is."
"I'm getting tired of waiting here." Hermit said.
"Me too." Thor said, "Why don't you just tell us why you dragged us here. It's almost midnight."
I had already long since infiltrated the warehouse and had been spying for hours on the rafters above. I saw right now as the perfect opportunity to make myself known. From what I had gathered, the people before me were the eight deadly fists of Ragnarok. They all wore numbered gloves to indicate their ranks. And the one I was supposed to meet with, Odin, was the first fist. He was also in the hardest position to sneak up on.
Which made it easier and safer for me was that this group was a martial arts group. Which meant they probably had morals not to kill me if I made myself known. Losers. But nonetheless it was almost midnight which meant it was time for action. In what looked like a black mist I dashed from the rafters above to the middle of the floor below. All eyes were on me. The dark clothed and obvious assassin who out of no where stood before them and created a hostile silence.
"Finally." Hermit said standing up, "I haven't had any action all day."
Loki however put his arm out to stop him, "This guy isn't worth our time. My shadows will take care this guy."
Suddenly six people all dressed exactly like the mesh goggles wearing fist surrounded me. All the fists looked at me with hostility. Except for Odin, he was more looking at me with interest than hostility. Nevertheless all the clones attacked me at once, but the dumbasses only hit a cloud of black as I disappeared to the other side of the crowd. They all turned around and charged at me. The first one that got close to me got a kick to the groin and three hard punches to the face, dropping him to the ground. The next swung and missed at my head and a second joined him in rapidly and frantically attacking me. I flipped backward then kicked both of their legs followed by a hard kick to each enemy's face. One of the last three enemies grabbed onto my hood and pulled out something holding it hard against my leather covered armor plate. It turned out to be a tazer. However I made sure to add the leather covering to prevent such attacks. I simply looked the failed attacker in the eye then punched him across the face. Another Loki charged at me screaming like a mad man from behind. He swung at me with a baton but I kicked it out of his hand and knocked him out with it. I then turned to the last one and disappeared from his line of sight to behind him in the shadows.
"Where are you!?" He shouted frightfully.
I got in his ear closely and whispered, "Here."
He swung around with a wide punch. I caught his arm and twisted it making him shout at the ceiling. I then silenced him with a chop to his neck then I thew him over my shoulder and kicked him in the arm breaking it and finishing him off. The still conscious Loki tried to grab my ankle as I walked by but got a boot to the face and I continued.
"Odin?" I said looking at the suit wearing first fist, "I have a message from the great sage fist."
I pulled out the audio recording and threw it to him. Odin peered at me then played the recording.
"Attention my students of Ragnarok." Kensei's voice said, "In recent weeks I have been looking for another student. Someone who has more power than anyone I've seen of their age. Someone who ignores morals and does what is necessary to accomplish their goals. I have found that person. I give you the ninth fist of Ragnarok and the first assassin fist of Ragnarok. Shi no Kage or Death. I expect all of you to welcome him. And as for his orders. They are only to follow mine or Odin's. That is all."
All the fists looked down at me skeptically.
"You can't be serious." Hermit grumbled, "We're supposed to welcome this guy just like that."
Odin fixed his glasses then walked down the stairs and approached me. I could feel a large amount of Ki radiating from the other fists above. Before I could get into a defensive stance Odin held out his hand.
"Welcome Shi no Kage." He said to everyone's surprise.
"What!?" The eighth fist, Valkyrie yelled, "I had to work my ass off and He just gets handed the job on a silver platter. He wasn't even a member of Ragnarok until now."
"Hm." Odin fixed his glasses again, "What experience do you have and what style to you use?"
"I'm a well known assassin in the underworld." I replied, "I practice many forms of martial arts that put together make the deadliest assassin ninjutsu."
"Have you ever killed someone?" Loki blurted out.
I peered at him through my mask which already appeared to be peering, "Many times. Yes."
"Well." Odin said stepping back, "I guess you're our newest member."
"Thank you sir." I said in my robotic way, "What are my orders?"
"I'll call you when we need you." He said, "Just stay available."
I nodded and pulled out a card with Death's number on it then disappeared from sight and went home.
There you have it. Finally some Kenichi stuff gets introduced. How will Death coexist with the other members of Ragnarok and more importantly Ryozanpaku? Well just have to find out during the next chapter.
Things to address:
Kensei knowing Hadji's master.
There is little known about Hadji's master. Since of him being an assassin he obviously can't trust anyone not even his own pupil. But Kensei knowing them kinda hints at Hadji's master being in Yami.
Getting into Kenichi stuff. How will Kenichi survive this encounter. Luck? Medical majic from Akisame? We'll just have to wait and see.
