Chapter 11

Kenichi hung up the phone with Niijima and headed off to find some food. He hoped that the leader of those pushovers wouldn't take too long in surfacing. He was ready to get back home and rest for a while.

It wasn't long before he found himself on a street with some restaurants. In front of one, he saw a young child looking in the window. He walked up closer and the child looked at him. It was a young girl. She had a mess of unruly brown hair and violet eyes. Kenichi looked around and didn't see any adults nearby.

"Hey there... you're not alone are you? It's not too safe out here at night."

Kenichi's sudden speaking made the girl jump to the side and look up at him surprised.

"N-no... my m-mommy is..." She broke off, looking around as if she had just realized she was alone.

"She must be nearby... but I'm not afraid of danger. I'm strong!"

The girl made a muscle as if to show him her strength. Kenichi smiled.

"Well you sure look strong, but I still think you should be with your mommy. Do you know where she might be?"

The girl looked up at the rooftops and shrugged. She opened her mouth to say something, but her stomach interrupted her with a loud growl. She blushed. Kenichi looked inside the restaurant she had been staring into and realized she might be hungry. About the same time his stomach growled as well.

"It sounds like we're both hungry. I'm not sure where your mommy is, but I'm sure she would feel better if you waited inside the restaurant. I'll get you something to eat while you wait."

The girl's face lit up. "That sounds good!"

They both went inside the restaurant and Kenichi ordered food for the both of them.


"And you're sure it was him?"

The voice came from the large chair that was facing the other way. The boss hardly bothered to face people when they came in, and it seemed this time would be no different.

"Y-yeah... He took out the rest of us and our group leader with ease. He acted bored the whole time..."

Suddenly the chair swiveled around and the boss leaned forward on his desk. His normally short black hair had grown long and was now pulled back in a ponytail. He had a serious look on his face that made his scar stand out even more.

"The fact that he didn't kill any of you makes me think it's not him. There's plenty of people out there who could make short work of you guys."

The first speaker looked at the floor. It was all he could do to stand. His face was severely bruised where his chain had hit him and he had hit his head hard when he fell. His head felt like it was simultaneously split down the middle and on fire.

The boss shook his head and waved him out of the room. He was already deep in thought by the time he was alone.

"Could it really be him? Coming here?"

He thought back to five years ago when it all happened. He had sent one of his top fighters to Ryozanpaku to challenge them. It had been a while, but he would send people there once in a while to gauge the strength of his men. The masters of Ryozanpaku were widely regarded as some of the strongest masters in the world, but they were also sworn against killing so it was relatively safe to send his men there. Plus, who would suspect that one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Asia would be sending men to challenge them in non-lethal combat?

At least that's how it was supposed to be... He hadn't realized that he had sent someone so mentally unstable. There had been rumors that he was quick to snap, but he never suspected it could go so horribly wrong. Then the other two... They had reported back with what had actually happened. He had shown up and for some reason gone crazy... He killed all but one of the masters and then somehow their disciple had killed him. They had learned this from some other kid who called himself Hermit after explaining to him that they just wanted to know what happened. They went to meet the surviving disciple, but it went horribly wrong. The disciple had killed them in some act of misguided vengeance. Fearing further damage to his organization, he stopped pursuing him. If this kid was strong enough to kill three of his top fighters, then he could really do some serious damage. Now five years have passed. He had kept an eye out for one named "Kenichi", all the while gathering more men and training them to replace the ones he'd lost.

"Shit... I need to get ahead of this before it really becomes a problem..."

The boss picked up his phone and started to dial...


Some time later they stepped back outside.

"Thanks mister! That was yummy!"

Kenichi smiled. She had had quite an appetite, polishing off the food that even he hadn't wanted.

"It looks like your mommy still hasn't showed up. I wonder where she could be... leaving a child like this..."

He was starting to get worried. He didn't want to babysit this girl all night until her mom decided to show up, especially considering more thugs could show up at any time. He turned and was about to speak to her again when he was interrupted.

"Kou... What did I tell you about... running off?"

Kenichi turned to the source of the voice and froze.

"Mommy! I was hungry, so I followed the smell to this restaurant! This nice man bought me food!"

Neither of them moved. They just stood and stared at each other speechless.

"Mommy? Are you ok?"

Kenichi snapped out of it and looked from the child and back to her.

"M-mommy?" Kenichi stammered. He couldn't believe it... Her? A mom?

Shigure stood silent for another moment and then got down on her knee and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Kou... I told you to wait... I know you were... hungry but... It's dangerous by yourself..."

Kou looked at the ground sheepishly and nodded. Shigure stood back up and faced Kenichi, her face slightly red.

"Hello... Kenichi... It's been a long time."

Kenichi nodded but didn't speak right away. He was still shocked that Shigure was a mother. It had been a long time since they had seen each other, but he hadn't expected something like this.

"H-hey... It's good to see you."

Suddenly all his emotions came flooding back to him. The ones he had been holding back these last five years. Tears began to fall down his face. He wanted to tell her... tell her he was sorry... He had done something unforgivable, but he still wanted to apologize...

"I... sorry..."

He wasn't able to speak properly. Before he could try again Shigure turned and started to leave, leading Kou by the hand. He stood and watched as they were leaving.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" He heard Kou say as she looked up at her mother's face.

He wanted with all his being to follow them, but he knew that right now no good would come of it. He sank to his knees and put his face in his hands. He sat for some time like this, unable to get complete control over his emotions.

"Hey you! We've been looking for you!"

Kenichi looked up and saw some men standing in front of him. His emotions swiftly turned to anger and his hands started to shake. No... this was bad... he couldn't get control... it was going to happen again! He stood up slowly and he could see the edges of his vision starting to fade. Suddenly he felt a terrible pain on the back of his head and he blacked out completely.


Shigure wiped the tears from her eyes and got control of herself. It had been harder than she thought it would be to see Kenichi again. Just hearing his voice had brought all her feelings rushing back.

"Mommy... are you ok...?"

Shigure looked at Kou. She had never seen her cry and was probably worried. She knelt down and took her in her arms.

"Yes Kou... I'm fine..."

Suddenly Shigure felt the air change. She started to get a bad feeling, and then Kou gasped.

"Mommy! That man is in trouble!"

They had not yet walked out of sight of Kenichi, and Shigure turned to see someone sneak up behind him and club him over the head. Kenichi fell and the change in the air disappeared. Shigure stood up and watched as a group of men carried Kenichi's limp form into a dark alley. This was bad. She didn't know where they were taking him, but she knew it was nowhere good. She looked down at Kou and back to the alley. She didn't have time to take Kou back home first and she couldn't just leave her alone.

"Mommy, what's going to happen to that nice man?"

Shigure took a deep breath and led her by the hand towards the alley.

"Nothing... We're going to... Help him..."