Disclaimer: I don´t own anything from the Senran Kagura Universe except my own OCs
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It was quite the harsh night for Asuka. Almost 24 hours had passed since Kenshiro was taken by Daidoji for a special training session and there was no minute she wasn´t thinking of him. It was not like she didn´t believe in her male classmate but that didn´t mean that she could stop worrying.
Sitting on her bed, wearing her cat-pajama she hugged her pillow, holding it tight to her chest while looking through the window of her room up to the crescent moon in the night sky before letting out a big sigh and falling back so that her gaze went straight up to the ceiling.
At the same time she had to think about what Katsuragi told her the day before she showed the black-haired boy through the city. Maybe she was right. Maybe the brown-haired girl was feeling more for him than just normal friendship. Maybe she really...
She imagined how it could be with Kenshiro. Always having him by her side. Holding hands. Hugging each other. Going on dates. She even imagined things like kissing him and what comes after that what made her face turn bright red before she panicked and shoved her face into the pillow while turning from side to side.
"What the hell am I thinking..." she muttered to herself before sitting up again and putting down the pillow a bit so that her hazel colored eyes were showing itself. Once again she locked outside into the dark night. "Please come back safely, Kenshiro-san..."
At the same time on the ground of Hebijo Academy Yomi was everything but happy about how things were going in relation of their mission including killing of the black-haired boy from Hanzo. Ever since she came back from her bout with Kenshiro she literally begged Homura that they should attack the students of Hanzo and finally bring an end to the boys live. But every time her leader told her that they need to wait for the right time.
Now the shinobi-student with the long platinum blonde hair was walking through the corridors of the school building as she finally had decided to take care of things herself. She tried to be as stealthy as possible. But it didn´t took very long until she was found out.
"It´s not usual that you ignore the orders of our leader."
Yomi turned around to see Hikage, arms crossed in front of her while leaning at the wall with her back. But she wasn´t alone. Right next to her stood Mirai with her hands on her waist as she looked at her blonde classmate with a wide grin.
"I am not going to let you two stop me." Yomi told them.
"Who said we are here to stop you?" the green-haired girl asked to her suprise.
"We see it like you do." Mirai explained to her. "Things are going way to slow right now. And we won´t accomplish anything by waiting."
"So you want to come with me to finally fulfill our mission?" Yomi asked while smirking.
"You couldn´t have said it better." Hikage answered before the three girls took off.
As they left the building running into the direction of the forest Homura watched them leaving from the window of a room in the second floor of the school. She wasn´t alone, too as Haruka was standing right behind her.
"You don´t won´t to stop them?" the girl with the shorter hair asked.
"If they want to go that badly let them." her leader told her before turning around and walking to the exit of the room. "But make things ready if something goes wrong and we have to retreat them."
"And where might you be going if I am allowed to ask?" Haruka asked with a playful tone in her voice.
"Getting ready for my rematch." Homura said before she left the room.
Kenshiro there while was still sleeping. Inside of his dream he stood right next to the woman with the long white hair, his mother as she tried to calm down a younger version of himself in front of her who was crying loudly.
"You don´t have to cry, my little hero." she told her son with a warm smile while stroking his cheek with her right hand. "Everything is fine now."
"But... But..." the boy tried without stopping to hold his hands in front of his eyes. "I thought I was able to fight it. But that thing was too strong for me."
The older Kenshiro didn´t have to think very long before remembering this scene. This wide meadow was a place right next to the house on the mountain he used to live at while his parents were still alive. And he also remembered that scene.
It happened while he was training in the forest. He found a little rabbit being chased by a warthog and he thought that he could help that cute little animal as foolish as he was at that time. Of course that led to the little boy being smacked around and hurt pretty bad by the bigger animal before his mother showed up to save him. That led to the moment he saw at that moment in front of him.
"You fought a battle you were not meant to win to save someone that needed help what is an honorable thing to do." she told him. "You have no reason to be ashamed of yourself. You just still need to learn a few things."
"Learn a few things?" the young Kenshiro asked finally calming down a bit as he moved his hands down a little and looked up to his mothers face with his two-colored eyes.
"Your still young so it´s not unusual for you to make mistakes." the white-haired woman said. "But these mistakes can help you to learn for your future. So that you can make it better the next time." She laid her hand on his head and ruffled his black hair what made him giggle a bit. "You have a bright future in front of you. I know you will be strong enough to protect every person that is important."
"Yes..." he finally said and whipped away the last tear before showing his mother a big grin. "And I will be strong enough to protect you."
These words send a shock through the body of the older black-haired boy. But his mother could only chluckle.
"That´s what I want to hear." she told him replying his grin with her own. "Now hurry home. Your father should be back very soon."
The little boy nodded before turning around and running into the direction of the house, leaving the two people from different times alone. Kenshiro´s gaze lowered itself while he thought about the last words his little self said before going away.
"The first promise I wasn´t able to keep." he told himself frustrated.
"A lot of time past since then." his mother said to his surprise before she turned around to face the older version of her son with a smile. "You haven´t changed."
He thought that this was just a dream about his past. But that wasn´t too bad itself. Even if it was just a dream. It was a chance to talk to his mother after many years.
"I think I grew a bit since then." he told her with a small smile.
"But other things haven´t." she continued. "You still are not able to see that making mistakes is an important part of your life."
"Things are a bit different." He avoided her gaze by looking to the side. "In the past a mistake could cause a few bruises. Nothing heavy. Now a mistake can mean the death of another important person because of me. I need to fight. And I need to win."
"And that´s the part which haven´t changed since then." she told while walking slowly at him. "You still believe the only way to do the right thing is to fight by yourself. To become stronger so you won´t lose. But thinking like that only makes you close your eyes from the best things this world can offer you."
As she stood right in front of him he laid her hand on his shoulders making him look into the face of his mother with a warm smile on her face. The smile that he missed so much since he lost it.
"You haven´t even told them about it. Why?"
"Because I´m afraid." he answered. "I wasn´t sure about leaving being alone behind me. But now I don´t want to lose it. I´m afraid of how they will react when I tell them the truth. That I will be alone again."
"Is this really how you think of them?" she asked him. "Ask yourself. How will your friends really react?"
That was a question he had to think about first. But as soon as he thought of every single of his five female classmates one by one the answer almost automatically left his mouth.
First Hibari.
"She would ask me a lot of questions."
Then Yagyu.
"I don´t think she would even care about it."
Then Katsuragi.
"She might tease me a bit about it."
Then Ikaruga.
"She might want to learn about it."
And last but not least Asuka.
"She wouldn´t stop carrying about me."
Then he imagined them all standing in front of him to welcome him back with a smile.
"Kenshiro-san." Hibari said with a playful tone.
"Kenshiro-senpai." Yagyu said almost emotionless but still smiling.
"Kenshiro." Katsuragi said with a big grin on her face.
"Kenshiro-san." Ikaruga said with a formal tone.
"Kenshiro-san." Asuka said friendly as ever.
"No one of them would."
Now he was finally able to put on a warm smile himself. Something his mother noticed directly and got her to widen her smile even more.
"I think I should tell them." he told her to which she nodded in agreement. " You were right.I haven´t grown as much as I have thought... Or I wanted."
"That´s all right. Everyone has their own way of growing and learning. Sometimes it´s good to be open even with the greatest secret. And sometimes avoiding a difficult fight is bringing you closer to victory than actually fighting it. You have to know when and where to choice the right path. But know that you will never be alone while doing that."
At that moment her body started to fade away. Starting with her feet and going up from there. Slowly but steadily. He could have said something about not wanting her to go even though it wouldn´t change things. But he knew that it was the right moment.
"And never forget. I will always love you."
These were her final words before she disappeared completely and left him alone on the meadow. A single tear appeared from his left eye which he wiped away with his right hand. But the warm smile on his face didn´t leave as everything around him started to turn white.
"I know. I love you, too."
A second later he opened his eyes after waking up. He sat himself up and looked around to notice that he never left the cave he found after falling down. The fire he made was already out and only a bit black smoke rose up to the ceiling of the cave. His weapon, his backpack and everything that was inside was still lying where he left it. Through the entrance he was able to see that the night was over. He wasn´t sure about how long he slept. But that didn´t matter at that moment.
First he started to pick up everything that was inside the backpack to put it back. The last thing was Asuka´s note which he read one more time before putting on a smile. As he also put that inside the bag and stood up he decided for himself that he would tell them everything as soon as he returns. But until then he had a few things to do.
With the bag on his back he returned to his blade that was lying on the ground near the wall. Exactly where he dropped it. He picked it up with his right hand and watched his reflection on the steel as he remembered how he got it. It was a birthday present from his mother which he got a few days before her death.
For a few second he remembered how happy his parents were, when they were watching their son unpacking the blade with glittering eyes. Then he put it back into its scabbard on his back. He made a few last checks that he was fit again, like making a few small jumps and stretching his body before he left the cave.
"Let´s go!"
It took a few minutes of walking the small passage beside the cliff. But after a while he finally came back to the place where he had the fight the day before. And it didn´t took long until he was welcomed but a well known growl.
A few steps away from him was the same big wolf he was fighting the day before. And guessing from the growl it was making it was eager to continue where the animal was forced to stop.
"Seems like you can´t wait to get at it again." Kenshiro said before drawing his blade out of its scabbard. "Then let us do it."
The wolf didn´t need to hear that twice because it was already making its attack. Like in the fight before the animal tried to tackle its opponent with a fast dash.
As his opponent made his way to him the black-haired boy remembered once again his fights against Homura and Daidoji. But this time it was quickly replaced by thoughts about his friends waiting for his return and the words his mother told him in his dream.
"Know when to fight and when to avoid fighting."
He waited for the very last possible moment while not moving even one part of his body an inch. Then as the animal was directly in front of him, ready to fling him away one more time he jumped to his left using his blade, not to attack but to help his body move faster by pressing it against his opponent to avoid the attack.
As the wolf slid on top of the snow ground trying to stop after missing its attack, he hadn´t as much trouble to stop moving before he turned around to face his opponent. He was a bit surprised about how easy it was. But that surprise didn´t last long as he didn´t have the time for it.
The big wolf attacked once again rushing at him. But once again he used the same way as before to avoid the attack. And the next one. And the one after that. This continued for quite a time and he was already losing count of how often he evaded the beast. But he didn´t need to count it because no matter how much he did it he seemed to not lose enough stamina to grow tired. It´s the opposite. It became even easier.
The reason for that is because the wolf wasn´t as fortunate. It started to grow tired with every time it tried to tackle its opponent. So after failing to hit him again and again it started to use a different attack.
After a loud bark he got on his hind legs, raising his forelegs high into the air before letting them down again fast. As they made contact with the ground again, that contact was strong enough to cause a quack. It wasn´t enough to disturb its opponents balance. But what happened afterwards was a different thing.
Kenshiro suddenly heard something to his side and as he looked in that direction, up the mountain wall he saw masses of snow crashing down, threatening to crush him. He jumped around to avoid most of the snow before the last mass a way bigger and unavoidable one came down and he had to think about something different.
"Secret Ninja Art!" he said while running along his blade with the fingers of his left hand to make it glow in its usual purple light before he attacked the snow above him. "Crescent Moon Cut!"
The attack cut the mass of snow as it landed on the ground around him while not even touching him. But soon after he saw the wolf in the air after it jumped while he was distracted with the snow to prepare a devastating by crushing him under itself.
He could have easily evaded it by jumping back. But at that moment he got another idea. So instead of jumping backwards he jumped forward to avoid him so he was behind his opponent as it landed on the ground.
It tried to turn around again. But before being able to completely face him the boy started a jumping attack himself before the sole of his right foot landed in the side of the animals face. Because it was tired it couldn´t keep itself on his legs and its body flew back before landing on the ground and sliding on top of it only to come to a stop right before the cliff downwards.
It tried to get up directly. But as it move his head into its opponents direction he was already standing right in front of him, pointing the tip of his blade at its face. He know he couldn´t hurt the rest of its body. But the face was a different story. Especially with weaker parts of it like the mouth or the eyes.
The fight was over. The boy knew it. So did the wolf. The only thing the animal could do was close its eyes to wait for its destiny. And Kenshiro was ready to deliver it as he moved his katana back for the last attack. But even after seconds pasted nothing happened.
Instead of dealing the last blow he decided to lower his weapon and to take a deep breath before he withdrew his blade back into its scabbard. After that he laid his right hand on top of the animals head which is why it opened its eyes again to see the boy smiling at it.
"That was certainly a interesting fight."
There was the possibility that the animal would attack him again. But he knew that it wouldn´t. He could feel it. And he was right about it. Because instead of attacking him it panted shortly at him before he slowly got back to his feet and started moving away along the path which he took to get back at this place.
After a few steps the wolf stopped and looked back for a few seconds to nod at him with its head before continuing his way downwards the mountain. He wasn´t sure if it was a sign of acceptance, a sign of respect or simply its way to say goodbye. But he was sure that he was just able to make another new friend. And a very special one on top of it.
Kenshiro waited until he was no longer able to see the animal before he turned around to face the way up the mountain. He thought for a few seconds about his way here. Not only the last few days. But every day of his life. The time with his parents and the notice he got after they had been killed. The time he spent alone and the many people he killed. The time he entered Hanzo Academy and got to meet his new friends, new foes and new opportunities. He remembered everything and noticed that he never felt like he had accomplished so much in such a short amount of time than at the last few days.
It took almost another hour to finish the last part of the mountain before finally reaching the top. Upon laying his first gaze on it he was quite surprised. Because it was the only place in the mountain that wasn´t covered by snow.
He took a step on a wide plateau made out of white stone. It was as big as a baseball field and in its middle he could see a small shrine made out of the same type of stone than the ground. His goal.
He slowly went to it before stopping in his steps and opening his eyes in shock of what he saw right in front of him. Inside the shrine was the small bronze statue of a wolf looking just like the animal he fought. But that wasn´t what shocked him. It was what was around of it. A white colored scarf. The scarf of his mother.
"How is that possible?" he asked not excepting to get an answer which is why he was surprised when he got one.
"She left it here for you." He turned around only to see Daidoji standing behind him. "I must say I am surprised that you made it here that fast. It took me double the time at my first try."
"I... don´t understand." he stated confused. "What does that mean?"
She didn´t answer at first but stepped forward and stopped right beside him. She looked at the scarf before she started to speak again.
"Your mother... Himari knew that one day you would be would be needing to take this test. So she left it here for you. Normally the test would end with reaching the shrine. But for you she left a little present." She turned around to look at the path he took to get there and so did he shortly after her. "The wolf you faced was Himari´s Guardian. His name is Fenrir. He must have noticed who you are. Because he wouldn´t let anyone touch him so easily without tearing those who try apart."
"Guess I can consider myself lucky." he said slightly nervous about the fact that he touched him so easily before she continues.
"With this the test is over. I guess I don´t have to ask you if you learned. But if you still have questions..."
"My mother." he interrupted her. "Did you know her?"
She looked at him concerned as if she didn´t really want to talk about it before letting out a sigh. She and shortly after he turned back to look at the scarf which ends are moving because of the cold wind and then started tell her a bit about her past.
"Himari was like an older sister for me. She did more for me than any true family could have done. She trained me. She helped me up when I was not able to do it myself. She showed me a way I could walk on while holding my head high."
She took a quick breath before continuing.
"You know. I never was the formidable shinobi you see right now. Before getting to Hanzo Academy I was nothing more than a little bandit with a few combat skills. I thought at that time that it was more than enough. But after meeting your mother I was able to see how big the world really is. You could say she released me from my little cage."
Her gaze lowered itself in sadness.
"After I heard about her death I wasn´t able to believe it at first. No. I didn´t want to believe it. I lost the most important person in my whole life. The person who saved me so many times. Just gone like that. I wasn´t sure what to do from then on until I decided to take a bit of her role. I returned to the school from time to time and help the students there with their training."
She looked from the scarf to Kenshiro.
"After I heard that her son entered the school I saw that as a chance to redeem myself for what Himari did for me. Even if just a little."
"And the reason for attacking me and saying these words about my mother that you respected so much?" he wanted to know.
"I wanted to see your real strength." she told him. "And be true to yourself. Would you have faced this test the same way if I did tell you everything?"
He awaited his eyes from her. He knew she was right with what she said. But there was no way he would say that out loud. So instead he took the last steps that are left before he stood directly in front of the shrine and in front of the statue.
"Are you sure about that?" she asked him.
"A few hours ago I wouldn´t have been sure about this." he told her before taking the scarf from the statue. "But now I can make a decision. No more hiding. No more secrets. I´ll open myself."
"Do you think the girls will accept it?"
"You really don´t know?" he asked her while chuckling. "It´s them."
"I guess you´re right." she said chuckling, too.
After that he put on the white scarf of his mother around his neck. Like he remembered how she did it he let the two ends of it fall down behind his back before he faced Daidoji again.
"And?" he asked while presenting himself.
"Not as bad as I thought." she told him. "But she was looking better."
"Oh ha ha." he sarcastically said before walking to her. "Now. If you could bring us back. I have a few things to talk to my classmates."
"I´m sorry." she suddenly said to his surprise when he was beside her. "For what I said about your mother in our fight, Kenshiro."
"It´s all right." he said with a smug smile. "I will get back at you in our next bout." She returned that smile. "Now like I said. I would appreciate if you bring us back fast."
"Well. You know the way." she told him and pointed at the path he came from.
"You´re kidding. Right?" he asked with a nervous grin after looking at it for a second. But she only smiled at him before reaching to her back and bringing forth long ropes which is why he let out a big sigh. "I hate you."
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Another chapter ended. Kenshiro finished his training, found a special new friend and even got to know Daidoji a little bit better. They won´t be friends that fast. But it´s a nice first step. Unfortunately they don´t have much time to increase their bond further as something bad happens with the rest of the group. But that is for another chapter. Now let us get to the reviews from last time.
Shadow Joestar: Well. Things certainly got rough for our male shinobi and he dream certainly helped him to deal with everything.
TigerWarrior1998: This is just a little part of it. In the next chapters I plan to reveal even more about Kenshiro´s past.
yu narahiko: I´m glad you loved it and I hope you like this chapter just as much.
So. That´s it for this week. Just the usual preview and... See you next week.
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While Kenshiro is occupied with ending his training and getting back, things are getting rough for the girls at Hanzo. Suddenly three new shinobis from Hebijo appear in front of them and are making clear what their goal is. Will the students be able to prevent defeat against their new foes? Will Kenshiro be able to get back in time?
Next time: Night Assault