Fault

Kenichi slid the window to his room open silently. Dropping to the floor inside, he winced as the muscles in his left cheek throbbed where Takeda had gotten in a lucky cross. Biting back a wince, he began to put together a emergency pack. He had maybe 15 minutes before someone from Ryozenpaku found him, and he couldn't be caught. Throwing extra cloths, a change of underwear, several books and a extra gi in his rucksack, he began to go over everything that had happened in the last few hours. He didn't know how badly he had hurt Takeda, or badly he had been hurt. His ribs still screamed when he tried to shift his weight, and his eyesight still wavered slightly when he moved too quickly.

He dropped to the bed suddenly, bile rising to his throat as he realized what he had done to Miu. He had made her cry.. he had done the most shameful, horrible thing that one person could do to another, and he was running away from it. What did that tell him about himself. What was he going to do now? He wasn't even able to run away properly, most of his money still being at Ryozenpaku.

Kenichi began to laugh, first as just a snicker, then working its way up through a chuckle until finally he began to laugh out loud in full unencumbered hysterical peals of laughter. He didn't even realize he was crying until his father came through the door, the commotion drawing him from behind his daily paper at the kitchen table.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" Kenichi's father, Motosugu demanded hotly, his ever present shotgun popping out of one of the wall hangings in the hall as he skidded to a stop.

Kenichi tried to see his father through his streaming tears, and one choked out word at a time began... "Dad you won't believe what happened..." Kenichi suddenly lost all semblance of control and gushed out with what the situation had devolved to, his fathers open mouth gape becoming more grim with every word. Soon, Kenichi's words flowing, he explained everything that he had kept quiet from his father and family for these last years... He couldn't help himself. The story spilled like tears to a river... unstoppable. All the fights, all the training, all of it. He recounted everything, not stopping with his last disastrous training with Miu, nor knocking Takeda into the river...

*****

"I... see." His father was shocked. His sheltered, quiet son had just bared all of his secrets, all the training, all the trips, all the fighting, nearly dying..." his surprise at his sons condition turned to amazement further in, then to sorrow as his son recounted the death of the young man at the the D of D tournament. As the secrets came out, his anger at these people who had put his son through this... horror... grew. He wanted to kill someone. He wanted them in jail, he wanted them dead. His anger continued unabated until his son wound down to what had happened when his son. He knew that there had to be more to the story, but Kenichi faltered and finished, he felt he needed to fill the silence.

"This... Miu, tell me son, how are you going to take responsibility for this? From what you have said you must have hurt her quite badly..." For all of his bravado and silence, Mototsugu was quaking inside. Damn these martial artists and their stupid training. They needed to be taught a lesson. His knuckles tightened as Kenichi began to recount more of the extreme training involved in this foolish Ryozenpaku Dojo. He realized suddenly that his son had stopped speaking, only quietly sobbing.

"Son, from what you are saying, you don't really know what happened. You are running for no good reason. As powerful as these people seem to be, the law can be brought to bear to protect you from the worst of their vengeance. As for Miu, I don't have any good advice... You hurt her, and it appears you will need to bear that responsibility for the rest of your life."

"I know dad. I just need to get away, I need to clear my head before I go back and face them... her. I don't know what to do..." Kenichi began to break down again, obviously overcome by what had happened. Motosugu was about to hug his son when the front door was opened.

"Honey, I am home, is dinner ready?" Kenichi's mothers voice seemed to wake Kenichi from whatever trance he had been in. HE stood suddenly, his pack on his back and the window opening before his father could stop him. "Kenichi, WAIT."

"I can't face mother, what would she say? What can..." his statement carried off as Motosugu interrupted him. "I know what you need to do, but you need money to go where you're going." He strode out of the room, coming back a moment later with a small leather book and a long package bound up in sackcloth. "Take these, the gun you can pawn, the dealer in Nerima knows me, the book, read it, perhaps it can help..."

"Thank you father... Please don't tell anyone that you have seen me, I don't want to be followed.

"I understand son..." With that Kenichi bounded out the window, the darkened night air chill as it blew over his fathers face "Be safe..."

Unknown to father and son, quietly sitting on a rooftop nearby, a set of eyes and keen ears listened and watched everything. One Fist would need to know about this. Yomi had a way to destroy Ryozenpaku's disciple... all they needed to do was push the right buttons.