Summary: Set in feudal Japan, a king summons four warriors to stop a thief who stole a precious item from the royal palace. A castle guard, a traveling samurai, a ninja and a village protector are put together in a group, so they can find the precious item. (AU, KaiRei, slight TakaoMax, KyoujuHiromi; Inspired by a fan art)
Disclaimer: Beyblade characters are © to Takao Aoki
Warnings: Swearing, bits of violence, shounen-ai, a bit of corniness and some characters are a bit/really ooc...
Excuse No.1: Hello again! Sorry this one is late...that's because recently, my computer with ALL my files in it just suddenly stopped opening so I had to find someone to fix it and the only way was to delete all the files. So I lost the already half-written chapter...
Excuse No.2: Hahaha, when I open this document to write something, my mind goes blank and I don't know what to write. I hope you forgive me because this chapter is 5 pages long!!! (I bet others write longer chapters, but whatever ;P)
Anyways, please enjoy this chapter aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnddddddddd...
I LOVE ALL MY REVIEWERS! HUGS THANK YOU ALL!
Under a Cherry Blossom Tree
Chapter 11: Izukashi; Part 2 – Someone new
Long before when the sun had rose; Kai, Rei, Takao and Max were already up. Kai and Rei were already packing while Takao tried to molest Max, who was trying to pack his things (xD).
It has been three weeks since they arrived here. They were planning to go the next day 3 weeks ago, but Kai insisted that they trained a bit before they went to the hideout, because on that day, he had realized that they had not fought anyone since the Izukashi puppets. Monsters didn't count.
Everyone was packing their things because they all agreed to set out for the hideout tomorrow morning. Today would be the last day they'd train, so they'd have to work extra hard today.
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"Kai, when are we going to the Izukashi?" Rei asked Kai when they were eating supper that night.
"Tomorrow morning." Was all Kai said. The table was silent again. Everyone was deep in thought again.
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Before they knew it, the sun had risen and it was time to set out.
Everyone thanked the inn that they were staying in and left.
"How far is the hideout from here?" Max asked. Kai pulled out his map and looked carefully at it.
"It should take us about an hour or so to get there. Once we're close, you guys will rest a bit while I go check something." Kai explained as everyone nodded.
"Wait, so you're not going to rest?" Rei asked worriedly.
"Don't worry about me." Kai said as he turned around to keep walking.
"Alright..." Rei frowned.
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Kai was right. They had left the village only 1 hour ago.
"Everyone stay here and don't go anywhere else." Kai told them.
With Kai
Kai stopped when he faced the front gates of the Izukashi hideout. He looked around and then jumped up, pass the gates and landed softly on the ground. 'If memory serves me right, the entrance should be...here!' Kai smirked when he saw a hole. "Grandfather, you sure are stupid. I can't believe you forgot to destroy the tunnel that got me out of there..."
Kai turned around and went back to the forest where everyone else was.
With everyone else
"Aaaahhh! So thirsty..." Takao sat down and leaned against a tree.
"Here." Max said as he handed Takao a bottle of water.
"Thanks!!" Takao gave toothy smile as he chugged the whole bottle of water.
"Hey Rei," Max began as he sat down beside Rei on the rock Rei was sitting on; "Do you think we'll retrieve the treasure?"
Rei smiled, "Yeah, I do. I feel that we've all improved since we arrived in that village."
"I do too!" Takao said as he walked over to Max and Rei, "I've been wielding a sword since I was 7!"
"I've been wielding one since I was 5." Kai's voice was heard as he walked towards everyone.
"Ah! You're back." Rei smiled.
"We're going soon. Get ready." Kai sat down on a rock close to the group.
"Hey, Kai, do you think we'll retrieve the treasure?" Max asked.
Kai was about to say something, but then paused. He then opened his mouth again, "I—don't know..."
Rei stood up, "I think we will. You have done a great job of training us after all." Rei smiled.
Kai gave a small—but sincere—smile, "Heh, thanks."
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On their way to the hideout, Kai told them about the secret entrance found. He told them also that it was the entrance they would use to get in and out of the hideout.
Takao and Max congratulated Kai for finding the tunnel. Slowly, all four of them got in the tunnel, Rei being the first and Kai being last.
Takao, Max and Rei were fascinated at the way that the hideout looked. It looked so...clean...it was the total opposite of what they thought it would look like!
The walls were made of bricks, so were floors. There were torches here and there to light the hallway.
"C'mon! This way." Kai said as he began to walk in one direction. Everyone began to follow him once they realized that they were going to be left behind.
Soon, they reached double doors that had many designs on it. Kai and Rei pushed one door while Takao and Max helped pushed the other. When the doors opened, everyone gasped at what they saw.
That room was a HUGE arena! Kai began walking forward.
"Hey Kai...don't you think it's weird that we haven't seen any members walking around...?" Takao asked as he began to follow Kai. Kai was about to answer when a voice was heard.
"Aah! Very smart!" 5 people in black cloaks landed in the middle of the arena all of a sudden. All five of them took down their hoods.
"Aku-Tenshi!" Kai, Rei, Max and Takao shouted at the same time.
"I'm glad you remember us." One of them came forward.
"Hey, that woman wasn't there before..." Max pointed out. Before, back in the forest, there were 5 men. Now, there were only 4 men and 1 woman, and the leader was nowhere to be found.
"It's a pleasure meeting such cute boys..." The woman stepped forward, "My name is Cecilia."
"What happened to Yasuo?" Kai demanded.
'Who's Yasuo...?' Rei looked at Kai. Rei was even more suspicious now. Before, Aku-Tenshi had called Kai their 'precious heir', next, Kai had known about all the trap doors and traps, and knew the way around the hideout. Who was Kai really?
"Aah, that Yasuo..." another man stepped forward, "That foolish man had held back when he was fighting that cutie over there. Master was angry so he got rid of Yasuo and made me the leader."
"Anyways, let's talk about important matters instead. Kai—oops, I mean, Kai-sama you must be pretty pissed that the treasure room changed into an arena, right?" Another man stepped forward. Kai frowned.
"Anyways, you all must be wondering why there is an arena here?" the woman gave a fake and sweet smile, "Well, that's because we're here to fight you."
The leader began to speak, getting straight to the point, "It's pretty obvious that we're Lord Voltaire's underlings. That's why we came here to stop you from taking back the treasure. So, who wants to go first?"
Takao was about say something when Max stepped forward, "I'll go first!"
"Oooh!! I want to fight him! He's cute!!" Cecilia was about to step forward when another man did.
"No, I need to settle scores with him..." the man who had stepped forward had a scar across his left eye, "Ey, kid! Do you remember me? You're the reason why my left eye can't see anything."
Max was about to say something, then paused, then opened his mouth again, "You're Minami, aren't you?"
A memory came back to him.
Flashback, 2 years ago
In a forest, two young and bloodied men were standing away from each other. One was a blonde, holding a sickle with a chain at the end. The other man had white hair and had 3 swords on each of his hands.
"Heh, little boy, you're pretty good." The white-haired man complimented.
"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." Max gave a cheeky smile.
"It's too bad you're going to die...you're so young, too."
"C'mon! Quit this chit-chat and fight me! I got to be home in time for dinner!"
"Fine." The white-haired man charged at Max with amazing speed. Before Max knew it, the white-haired man was already in front of Max. If Max were an amateur, he would've been dead by now.
Every now and then, Max would get hit by the blades or the man's leg, but he'd also return the blows with the chain on his sickle.
Max, wanting to end the battle soon, decided to use the last of his strength to give a final blow.
Max threw his sickle as far as he could. It soon hit the white-haired man. Max had hoped it would it the man's heart or stomach, but he didn't expect it to hit the man's left eye.
"AaAAHAAAAGHHHH!" The white-haired man dropped all 6 of his swords as he put his hands in front of his left eye.
"D-DAMN YOU KID! I, UCCHIYAMA MINAMI WILL COME BACK AND TAKE REVENGE!" the white haired man ran away, leaving his 6 swords behind.
End Flashback
"Heh, you still remember me, eh?" Minami stepped forward.
"Let's see if you've gotten better or not." Max stepped forward.
"Hey, let's make a deal." Minami suggested.
"Sure." Max answered, very interested.
"If you loose, I get to stab your right eye."
"And if you loose?"
"You decide."
"Fine. If you loose, you can either leave Izukashi or you will commit seppuku (1)." Max said bravely.
"Alright. Let's begin." Minami took out 6 swords, 3 on each hands.
Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke and a short and old woman appeared. "I'll be your referee, my name is Yuri." Yuri raised her hand, "3, 2, 1..." her hand went down, "GO!"
Errm, sorry for stopping there... I'm REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY sorry!!!!!!!!! I'm VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY sorry that this was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY late! Please forgive me!
This chapter revealed A LOT! I hope you enjoyed it!
NOTES:
(1) Seppuku – it's when you stab yourself with a knife on the stomach.
-Ja Ne