Next chapter of Ryouzanpaku no Yami

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"Techniques/extremely loud shouting/emphasis"

Last time

The masters all glanced at Shigure silently worried "Shigure…it was an accident right?" Akisame asked referring to what had happened in the morning.

Shigure idly glanced at him "Yes…it was." She stated in her usual drawl.

Everyone accepted it as truth as they all turned their attention back to Yami who was still limping. 'It hurts it hurts it hurts' he kept repeating in his mind every time he took a step. 'Sleeping with her is dangerous.' He concluded as he kept limping.

The genius

It was a normal day in the Ryouzanpaku, relatively that is. Yami, Miu, and Kenichi all stared at the additional two medals that had arrived. "They…they were sent over? These two medals…" Kenichi muttered as he broke out in a cold sweat.

Miu smiled giddily as she twirled around once in joy "Yes…this morning adding two, we have three!" she looked just about ready to squeal as Yami glanced at her in confusion. "White gold…" she trailed off as she started to drool.

Yami slowly inched away from her. "Right…these are announcing intent to challenge you right?" he asked for confirmation as he turned back to Kenichi who nodded his head.

"Yeah…this is YOMI's method of issuing a challenge." He stated nervously as he stared at the two medals.

Chuckling Yami slapped him on the back "Don't worry about it so much you just need to keep training." He announced in a mirthful tone as he broke out into a wide grin. Kenichi of course didn't share his optimism as he tried to run away only to be stopped by Yami who had grabbed onto his collar. "Come on Kenichi man up and face the challenge head on."

Kenichi paused as Miu seemed to be doing some calculations "Actually, these are the ones I've already faced…"

Yami's eye began to twitch "You mean you were freaking out over someone, whom you already defeated, sending you a medal?" he paused as Kenichi nodded his head "You're an idiot."

Miu suddenly turned towards them with a blazing smile that left Kenichi temporarily stunned "Kenichi-san, if we sell them, we can settle Ryouzanpaku's bills for a year." She began in a quivering voice, obviously excited by the whole thing. "What are you going to do with these, heaven sent gifts? Hee, hee"

Yami seemed to stare at her blankly for a moment before muttering "Penny pincher."

"What was that?" Miu screamed as she launched herself at Yami who responded in kind as the two dissolved into a comical dust cloud as the occasional limb could be seen as the two fought.

Kenichi still in thought ran a finger over each medal "Boris Ivanov, Radin Jihan, Kano Shou…" he muttered softly as Miu and Yami paused mid-fight to glance at him in surprise. Neither bothered to get up as Miu, sitting on top of Yami had a fist raised in order to punch him as her other hand gripped his collar. Yami had one arm up to block as the other was reared back in order to punch Miu's stomach. All in all a very comical sight indeed.

Kenichi seemingly did not notice them at all as he continued to speak "These are all proofs of my duels with them."

"But we can't live off those proofs why don't we sell them?" Sakaki asked with his back turned towards Kenichi as Kensei stood next to him.

"Besides…that kid called Kano, he'd happily say 'Sell them!' for Miu's sake." Kensei's statement seemed to drive an arrow through Kenichi's head as he thought 'He might really say that!'

Yami raised an eyebrow "Kano?" he asked having never heard of the person…technically he had never heard of Radin either but the story around Kano sounded more interesting. "Who's that?"

Kensei grinned "A YOMI member who was crushing on Miu for a while and almost stole her from Ken-chan." He paused as he became sullen "He died at the D of D tournament."

Meanwhile Apachai and Shigure stepped in front of the others as they held their arms out in defense. "You can't! You cannot take away Kenichi's memories!" Apachai screamed as he warded off Sakaki and Kensei.

Chuckling Miu spoke "Everyone is just kidding right?" she questioned as she held a hand against her cheek.

Yami stared at her again. "You…really wanted to sell them didn't you?" he asked rhetorically as she glared at him. "Wah…such a scary face." He mocked as he jumped away from her with a grin plastered onto his face.

Kenichi glanced at Akisame "Speaking of which…when Boris and I fought, Koetsuji-sensei defeated his master in Russia, right?" he asked as Akisame nodded his head.

"Yep, now Alexander Gaidar is in the special prison facility for YAMI members. We plan to send all of YAMI there eventually."

Kenichi suddenly let out a breath as he seemed to relax "Great the plan is progressing, I can relax." He muttered tiredly as Yami frowned.

"You really think so?" he asked as he jumped behind Kenichi. "There're still two more YOMI members at school. Add the fact that it's probable for every master in YAMI to have a disciple how many more YOMI members does that leave?"

Akisame nodded his head in agreement as he stared at Kenichi "Exactly, you are still targeted."

Kenichi sighed "I guess…" he mumbled conceding to Yami's point.

"It's true you mustn't only pay attention to what you see." Everyone turned to see the elder standing there with his arms crossed "Everything is like an iceberg, the main part is concealed underwater. Don't let your guard down!"

There was a pregnant pause as everyone processed what had been said. "That is right." Akisame finally muttered as he turned his head towards Kenichi. "If you're careless…"

Yami nodded his head "If you're careless you end up in unfavorable situations." He finished as he frowned and crossed his arms. "However…if you're too careful you tend to overlook the small things. For example there could be a YOMI member who entered school as a freshman right?" he asked

There was silence as they all mused over the possibility. Miu sighed "It's possible…" she admitted having not thought of the possibility. "I guess you're right Yami-san."

Yami nodded his head "Yeah…let's go to school." He muttered as he stood up.

AS they walked to school Kenichi noticed Niijima walking away throwing a piece of bread up into the air and then catching it. "What did he do this time?" he muttered darkly as they entered hearing range.

"That'll teach that super genius to mess with me!" Niijima laughed out loud as Kenichi rushed him.

"You…IDIOT!" catching Niijima by the neck Kenichi performed a perfect Harai Goshi and slammed Niijima into the ground.

Matsui the flag bearer called out "General!" as he turned his head in surprise.

Yami followed the food that had flown out of Niijima's grasp and jumped after them, grabbing each one he landed softly only to glance at a young girl who was staring at him intently. "This is yours right?" he asked as he handed her the food. He ignored the arguing between Kenichi and Niijima behind him as Miu tried to calm them down.

The girl held out her palm in the universal sign to stop "This was a challenge, he has won his prize!" her eyes seemed to bore into Yami as he twitched ever so slightly at the sudden aura.

"Well then…" he began as he shook off the aura. "If you say so…" He continued as he threw the food at Niijima's head hitting him and knocking him off his feet. "YOMI." He finished as he glanced at her.

To her credit she didn't visibly react like the others did. "You know?" she asked more surprised that he could tell right away then by the fact that he knew at all.

"Please…it's so obvious a child could tell. What kind of genius goes to a second rate school like this?" he asked as he gestured to the school building. "The school is mostly a bunch of delinquents with a few honest people here and there."

Kenichi moved to stop Yami but Yami held up a hand to stop him "Kenichi are you that blind? Even if she weren't as smart as she is, you'd be able to tell by her presence. She carried herself like a martial artist trained in the Satsujinken."

The girl turned towards Yami slowly "It seems that you are superior to the rest of the lower beings here." She stated in her monotone as she continued to stare at Yami.

Yami smirked "Oh am I now?" he asked mockingly as he bowed to her. "I am Yami pleasure to meet you."

The girl suddenly attacked him as she gripped his arm and with now visual show of effort tossed him over her shoulder. Twisting his body Yami landed on his feet, un-phased by the attack. "Now that was uncalled for." He stated as he dusted himself off.

"You expect me to believe you're one of the nine-shadow fists?" she asked icily as she glared at him "Don't make me laugh." She charged him again as Miu rushed in to stop her. "I Kushinada Chikage will kill you!"

Yami lightly jumped over her. "I do believe there has been a misunderstanding…" he muttered as he kept just out of her reach. "Yami is my name…I have no affiliation with the organization YAMI." He lightly stepped into her guard and pushed her backwards.

Chikage stared at him. "Fine I accept your answer, red hair."

"I have a name you know." Yami muttered in an annoyed fashion as he once again dusted himself off. "Cheeky brat." He continued as he walked over to Kenichi.

Miu who had been too slow to stop the two stared as Chikage walked away without so much a glance at them. "That girl is YOMI?" she asked quietly as Kenichi began to speak with Yami.

"What was that all about Yami?" he shouted as Yami lightly rapped him on the head. "And what was that for?"

Yami sighed in annoyance "That was for being an idiot and she was YOMI I thought you had heard that part." He paused as he started to walk towards the school building forcing the others to follow after him. "Either way, we know who the fifth YOMI member is."

The day passed quietly as the trio of Ryouzanpaku residents merely kept an eye out for YOMI attacks. When nothing happened the trio made their way home without much urgency. "Well now…today was boring." Yami muttered as he placed his hands behind his head. "Then again that's not necessarily bad." He continued as he gazed at the clouds.

Miu frowned in thought as she leaned towards Yami "We have to keep Chikage-san away from Kenichi-san, he won't lift a hand against her because she's a girl and a child." Yami only nodded his head knowing full well that Kenichi was still adamant that Chikage wasn't part of YOMI.

"Right…" he mumbled as they pushed the doors open to the dojo. "Good luck with that." He mumbled as he walked away leaving a confused Miu behind.

"Miu-san what's wrong?" Kenichi asked as he stepped in front of her. "You're spacing out."

Miu shook her head as she smiled at him "It's nothing Kenichi-san, don't worry."

Kenichi seemed to hesitate to do so, but he nodded nonetheless as he walked away. "If you say so Miu-san." He called back as he dove into his training with Akisame.

Miu watched for a few moments before deciding to go do her chores as she fretted over the whole thing. When everything was finished she headed towards the hot spring where Shigure was taking a bath…with Yami. "Shigure-san, what are you doing?" Miu asked shakily as she stared at the scene in front of her.

Shigure glanced at her as Yami washed her back a blush visible on his face. "Bonding." She muttered in her usual slow manner of speech. When she felt the warm water pour over her back she turned around as Yami did so as well as she began to wash his back. "Want to…join?"

Miu stuttered as she entered the water. "I'll pass." She muttered being mindful to face away from Yami.

When Yami felt the warm water on his back he quickly made his way into the water as far away from Miu as possible. "The water feels nice." He mentioned as he sighed in relief.

"Good." Shigure had entered the bath as well as she sat next to Yami and rested her head against his shoulder. "Miu are you worrying about something?" she asked as she cracked an eye open to stare at the busty blonde.

Miu stared in surprise "Do I look that way?" she asked as she settled down.

Shigure, with a completely straight face, answered "When you're nervous your mole turns red." Miu suddenly sat up straighter as she stared at Shigure in shock while Yami looked away. "Just kidding…we've been together for so long I can tell."

'Shigure made a joke…' Yami mused to himself as he wrapped his arm around Shigure's shoulders.

Miu paused as she tried to explain herself. "When I saw that girl's eyes…it felt like I was looking at myself at that age, or rather what I could've looked like."

Yami saw where this was heading and forcefully entered into a meditative state so that he wouldn't be prying in this heart to heart between two girls. He was eventually awakened by Shigure's consistent shaking as she rocked his body back and forth. "What, I'm awake, I'm awake…" he muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

"Time to go." Shigure mumbled as she tilted her head. Yami nodded his head and stood up and walked over to his towel where he proceeded to dry himself off before putting on his clothes.

"Night Shigure." He called out as he left the area. She waved at his retreating back with a smile.

The next morning at school found Yami leaning against the wall as he watched Kenichi and Chikage squatting in front of a flower bed as Kenichi would ask Chikage the various scientific names for the plants. "What is the tea tree's scientific name?" Kenichi asked with a smile as Miu walked into the area.

Chikage blinked once before she answered "Camelia Sinensis."

"Ken-Kenichi-san! What are you doing?" Miu screamed out as she leaned forward to yell at him giving Yami an eyeful.

"Ah…well…watering the flowers." Kenichi suddenly stood up and pointed at Chikage "This kid is really knowledgeable with greenery!" he paused as he considered something "Only her personality is a bit over board."

Chikage scoffed "Don't treat me like a child, knowing this is nothing special."

Yami chuckled nervously "Right…to make things worse he's the one who approached her." He explained as Miu turned on him.

"WHAT!" She screamed as Kenichi explained.

"Because Niijima took her lunch yesterday I gave her our school's most popular chocolate as an apology."

Chikage merely stared forward "I didn't ask you to." She mumbled causing Yami to chuckle again.

Yami watched the whole scene in interest as Niijima called Miu over and the two began to converse with each other. "What's the freak talking to her about?" he wondered as he kept an eye on Chikage.

Kenichi picked up one of the plants and showed it to Chikage "Creeping Wood Sorrel has a string, if you pull it out…look."

Chikage looked surprised as she turned her head away. "What are you trying to say?" she asked bitterly as Yami raised an eyebrow.

Kenichi smiled as he split it in two and handed Chikage the other string. "Make two out of it and then pull like this…" he suddenly pulled as hard as he could "YA!"

Caught off guard, Chikage lunged forward as she shouted "Ah! It's breaking!"

"Right this is the game to see who wins!" Kenichi explained as he continued to pull on the string. "Ha, ha you don't seem to know this game!" Kenichi called out as he laughed.

Yami watched in interest as Chikage, for the moment at least, acted like a regular girl. "Interesting." He mumbled out loud as a smile wormed its way onto his face. He smiled as he watched the two interact. "Well…they seem to get along well enough." He muttered as he continued to watch the rather comical scene in front of him.

End

I hope you all like this chapter. I tried to fit Yami in without taking away from the story so I'm hopeful for positive responses form you the readers!