Disclaimer: Okay you all know the drill. xxHolic is clamps. This story is mine as are my OC.
AN: Time to meet the last swordsman.
Chapter 24 - Prizes
Several of the officials were clearing the field of the archery targets and setting up for last event of the tournament while others set up the stage for the presenting of the prizes afterwards. Doumeki had finally managed to get his wriggling giggling cheering section up off the ground and they were dusting themselves off when Mokona suddenly went…. MEKKO.
"Oi."
"Mokona, do you sense the Item? Where is it? Do you know which one it is?" Watanuki asked the Black Manjuu and was spinning around trying to look everywhere at once. Aya spotted a large table with several items being placed up on the stage, in the middle was a very tall dome shaped item covered with a heavy cloth, she suspected the grand prize was under that cloth.
"Yes, Mokona feels an Item very close by, over that way." He pointed up to the stage and the covered dome that held the Grand Prize. So it 'was' the Grand Prize that went to the Tournament Champion just as they had suspected all along. Being covered as it was they were still unsure of which Item they had discovered, but the Tournament was coming to an end there was only one event left and it was time for Aya to face her opponent. They would find out soon enough.
As the others returned to the sidelines, Aya walked to the middle of the field and joined the swordsman waiting for her. He was of slightly less than average height with a kind face surrounded by long auburn hair tied back with a ribbon, green eyes and a cross shaped scar on his right cheek. For all that he appeared to be a cheerful man she could sense both blood and intense sorrow on his hands and soul, far too much for one of his age he didn't appear to be much older than his mid twenties though he might be a little older, his small frame hid his age well.
"Oro."
"Hi, I am Suboshi, Aya, I have been watching your fights you are a truly skilled swordsman, I am looking forward to our contest."
"An honor Aya-chan, I am Himura, Kenshin and I have watched yours as well. Shall we begin?" Using the thumb of his left hand Kenshin inched the blade of his sword out of its sheath. His main style used the speed increase of drawing the blade as he stuck.
"Yes, lets." And the opponents bowed to each other, formalities now over the warriors contemplated each other in silence, the crowd held its collective breath. Then without warning the warriors flew across the field at one another…
Clash
Separate.
Aya skidded hard, crouched low, one hand touching the ground, the other holding Ryu behind her, she quickly regained her balance and then the warriors rushed to meet again.
Clash
Separate.
Clash
Separate.
This time both warriors broke from the attack and returned to their original stances.
"So, do you have it now?"
"I do. Win or lose you will explain afterwards, yes?"
"Absolutely, I fully intended to anyway." And with a slight shake of his auburn head the wandering swordsman was gone, in his place stood Battosai the Man Slayer and in a slightly deeper and far more serious tone of voice he said. "Let's get on with it." Eyes gleaming, the Knight Mage ignited her fighting spirit and her sword flared to life and the Warriors met upon the field of battle once again, this time for real.
They used the whole field for their fight, rebounding off the obstacles and targets from the earlier events, occasionally destroying them in the process. A single back slash from the swordsman cut one of the solid archery targets in two neat halves, hay bales and fences crumbled under the force of their onslaught, meeting and separating again and again.
On the sidelines Doumeki was holding Watanuki by his collar to keep the frantic Seer from running out onto the field and getting in the way of the committed fighters. Even the Elderly Psychic was chewing one of her knuckles as she watched the fight unfolding before them. Shizuki-san realized he had gotten off rather easily these were no ordinary master swords fighters.
Things were getting even more heated upon the tournament grounds, the former assassin was going all out now against the Knight Mage. They didn't hear the sounds of the crowd, only the beating of their own hearts, the world had narrowed down to the two of them and their swords. Neither was one to give up willingly. Their skills honed by protecting the innocent and their Important People, Aya's people just happened to be on the sidelines, it gave her an edge. In a final effort to end the fight, she reached inside of her and joined with the blade.
"DRAGON FLAME!"
Blue Flames of power ripped from her blade and tore open the ground (and everything in its path) in a wide swatch from the end of her blade to the swordsman. He was only just barely quick enough to escape its full wrath, but he lost his blade in the process, ending the fight. Aya had won, she sank to the ground trembling. On the sidelines Watanuki fell back against the silent Archer as battle ended, momentarily stunned. Then breaking free at last of the male holding him (Okay Doumeki let him go) he ran out onto the field to the shaken Knight, the Archer and the rest of the group following him closely.
Kenshin picked up his blade and had reached her just a moment before the rest arrived having been the closer, he stretched out a hand to the Mage.
"You learned even more quickly than Yuuko-san said you would, not only that, you developed a new technique on the spot. I wasn't expecting that." The gentle swordsman smiled at the Mage, all signs of the deadly killer gone now. She took the offered hand with thanks. The others had heard the swordsman remark, no one was really surprised Yuuko was behind all this.
'30 minutes to the awards ceremony, will everyone please head to the main stage for the awards ceremony'
Heralds moved thru the crowds announcing the coming awards ceremony. Team Mokona headed to their place at the base of the main stage, with the addition now of the wandering swordsman Kenshin Himura, they still had some time before the awards ceremony began and he had said he would tell them the story. Aya queried the swordsman for the information he had promised her during the middle of their fight, he began…
"Oro." Oh this is just great thought Watanuki, another idiot with his own special word.
"I'm paying a price you see, to Yuuko-san. I'm no more from this world than you three are, Yuuko-san sent me here for the Tournament. I only arrived the morning it started and join with an incomplete team." Pulling his Blade from its scabbard he handed it to Aya, the others all looking over her shoulder. Examining it she noted that the blade was backwards. Well that was definitely different.
"You were never in any real danger this is a Reverse Blade Sword the second of its kind, the first was broken in a battle protecting those who cannot protect themselves." Kenshin began his tale.
"Once a long time ago, I was an assassin, a killer of men during a very long and brutal war. I was known as Battosai the Man Slayer. Near the end of that war I... well something happened to change me, I threw away my killing sword vowing to never kill again, but the only skills I possessed were those of the sword. I went to the man who had made the blade I had once carried, I found he was as sick of the killing and dying as I was. He had sworn to never make another blade that could be used to kill men again. Instead he created for me the reverse blade sword, a sword to be used to protect, not to kill. When that 1st sword broke I was devastated, I didn't know how I was going to protect my friends and all the other innocent people anymore."
"Let me guess you met a Witch?" Watanuki said knowing that must be the case.
"Yes, I meet a young Witch named Yuuko Ichihara, but she told me that the price for her to repair that particular sword would be far too great. I would have to give up all the friends, happiness and peace I had managed to achieve since the war. That in fact, I would return to being the Battosai which would sort of defeat purpose. But that for a much lesser price one that she would claim at a later date, she could direct me to the village where the family of the man who had forged the original lived and from there I would find a replacement. I thought she meant I would find the smith himself and that he would forge me a new blade, it turned out he had died a few years earlier, but before he died he had made this, a second Reverse Blade Sword. I always wondered if he knew that someday I would need a replacement."
"So your price was to fight in the Tournament?" Watanuki always as curious as any cat asked the gentle swordsman.
"Not exactly, my full price was to not only come here for the duration of the Tournament but to show the young Mage here my style of fighting. Watching her I noticed that she quickly learned and then absorbed the fighting styles of her opponents especially when they added to her abilities. I only had to wait for us to meet upon the Tourney field for me to complete my price."
"Ah, so that explains why you held back, so I could grasp your style before going full out."
"Exactly. I had never thought to train another in the Hiten Mitsurugi Style but as you will use it to protect those who are important to you. Then it is well taught." He gave her a cheerful smile that reached every part of his face, in fact it seemed to radiate out and touch everyone who saw it. It was hard to imagine the gentle wanderer had once been a feared assassin, that is unless you saw him let go and truly fight as he had done today.
'ATTENTION EVERYONE THE AWARDS CEREMONY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN'
It was no surprise that Team Mokona won the Team award as their participants had won all three of the events. They had appointed Watanuki to be their Captain and he accepted the gold disks that were the prize money for the winning team. Next the prizes were handed out to the runners up in each event those were disks of silver, finally it was time for the winners of each event to receive their prizes. Mokona was cheering madly as he recorded the whole ceremony for Yuuko.
As the winner of the Running event Watanuki received more of the gold disks as prize money and a book made of precious paper. He didn't look at it to closely, but figured Yuuko-san might be interested in it as it came from a different world and she had such a large library. Doumeki received a new quiver packed full of high quality arrows and several of the gold disks as well. Aya's prize was a gem studded belt along with some of the gold disks. It was finally time for the Grand Champion of the Tournament to be announced, who would it be? Odds rode heavily on the swordswoman Aya, some were convinced it would be the handsome Archer, the Lord was rather fond of tall dark handsome men, or at least so it was said. But Hitsuzen had other Ideas.
'AND THE GRAND CHAMPION OF THE TOURNAMENT IS….. WATANUKI, KIMIHIRO!'
Huh?
"Kimi, Kimihiro! You have to go get the 'Prize'." No one, especially not Watanuki, Kimihiro had expected for 'him' end up as the Champion of the Tournament. Aya tried to get a response from the startled teen, Doumeki was very glad now that he had gotten the Seer to change earlier as the Lord himself was presenting the Grand Prize and was currently waiting for the Spirit Magnet to come up on stage before unveiling it. Finally Watanuki roused himself from his stupor and went back to the stage to retrieve that which they had ALL worked so long and hard to get, the first of the three Magical Items.
"Ah, there you are Young Watanuki-kun, well as you can guess the final decision was very difficult." The Lord said, snapping his fingers several assistants removed the heavy cloth and the glass dome covering enclosing the prize. "Both of your companions did marvelously well in the finals as did you, but you scored better in the preliminaries and in the all-around. So I present to you this, the 'Staff of Clow', it is said to have once belonged to a Great Sorcerer."
The staff was white, tall and smooth and at the top there was a crystal set in the material of the very staff itself, it was clearly magical in origin. Mokona almost dropped the camcorder when the Lord had told everyone the name of the Staff. That it belonged to Watanuki was obvious, the Staff was always supposed to go to Watanuki, but that it had once been Clow's… Maybe Mokona could edit out this part of the video, it would only hurt Yuuko, but then again, perhaps it was best if she found out now before they got home and the knowledge of the staffs previous owner hit her full force. Poor Yuuko thought the Black Manjuu she had been thru so much already.
Ut-oh.
"Doumeki, grab the bags!"
"Oi." Slinging the bags over his broad shoulders, the Archer was feeling a little smug that he had thought to bring them to the Tournament just in case. Watanuki was slightly distressed.
"Wait!"
Whoosh
The first Item has been retrieved and it's on to the next world, which item will they find next?
AN: Well this ends the Hokan Arc. I hope your enjoyed the Tournament and the special guest appearance by Kenshin Himura. BTW Kenshin was sent home in the same moment the others left for the next world. His Price paid in full and the silver disks as his runners up prize money in his pocket. Karou met him at the door of their Dojo with some very good news of her own, she was pregnant. Kenshin had better not even 'think' to start wandering again or she was going to make him really really sorry.
