AN: Sorry this chapter took a while to be posted, but I wanted to make sure it had as much action in it as possible. So, sit back, relax, and please enjoy this one!
Twisted Fate
Chapter 26
It was fairly amusing to see Hiroshi practically jump out of his desk seat upon seeing a very angry Yukishiro Enishi open the door and step into the office. Flanking the white-haired man was Kenshin and Saitou, and the senior officer even closed the door behind them after everyone was inside the room.
"What're you doing with him?" Hiroshi demanded, indicating to the 'escaped convict.'
"Where's Koishi?" Enishi demanded, but with a strange, subtle calm to him; a dangerous calm.
Hiroshi looked from Enishi, to Kenshin, who was unusually angry, and it takes a lot to make him angry, and then to Saitou before he sputtered, "From what I understand, she's missing."
Enishi promptly unsheathed his watou and jabbed the blade down on the oak desk where it stuck in a vertical degree and he almost shouted, "Do not play games with me!"
Hiroshi jumped when the blade struck his desk, and the spineless man stuttered, "T-The two men….Feng and Huang, p-paid a very high price f…for her."
Enishi leaned a little closer to the senior investigator and asked, in a very low, dangerous voice, "What do you mean? Like the way I paid for her, or for a different purpose?"
"For a different purpose…" Hiroshi gulped. "For…for drawing you out to save her…again."
"With me out of way, in jail, it would solve all of Huang's problems." The white-haired man voiced his thoughts aloud. "Why would he pay for Koishi, just to draw me back out?"
"I—I don't know." The senior investigator trembled.
"And why would you let them take her?" Saitou now interrogated.
Now Hiroshi glared at the investigator and answered, "Because you took away his death sentence."
"And you let them take the girl for that?" Saitou sighed and got ready to light up a cigarette to steady his frenzied nerves.
"Because I know that you would release him." He answered. "That would give me the perfect chance to put the death sentence back into place."
Saitou calmly flicked his match and it lit up before he informed, "Well, your job status is pretty much over, so you don't have to worry about Yukishiro's well-being."
"What was Koishi doing here, anyway?" Kenshin finally spoke up.
Hiroshi dared to sneer before he said, "She came here to see him."
Frustration overcame Enishi as he turned to the redhead behind him and declared, "Well, damn it, Battousai, I'd say you're daughter has the worst fucking luck."
"Sessha can't help but think so, too." Kenshin muttered.
Enishi then turned back to Hiroshi and demanded again, "So where did they take her?"
Hiroshi looked from the white-haired tiger to his blade, now on his ruined desk, and back to the tiger before he informed, "Even with Fujita on your side, you'll end up back in the execution line again if you leave this building. Why do you bother?"
In an instant, Enishi got his watou sword out of the wooden desk and pressed the blade against the investigator's throat and demanded, "Last chance; where is Koishi?"
Hiroshi trembled and pretty much pissed his pants, but he answered, "They said…well, Feng said that there's a family you once knew, who had property here in Tokyo. They said you would know where it is."
Enishi stared at the soon-to-be former investigator and murmured, "I know where it is." He lowered his tachi, re-sheathed it, and put it back into his rucksack. Then he informed, "I know where she is."
As he started to leave, Kenshin asked, "What family did you know that has property here in Tokyo?"
Without turning around, he simply answered, "The family that cared for me in Shanghai."
O~O~O~O~O~
Yukishiro Enishi knew everyone did not trust him. It was apparent when he went to save Koishi, again, only to be followed by that irritating redhead, that amber-eyed posy, and that man with the gravity-defying blonde hair; but he never cared. They could go to the deepest level of hell for all he cared.
"Enishi." Kenshin said to his former brother-in-law, and the younger man's eyebrow twitched.
"I already told you," Enishi reminded as he kept his eyes ahead. "I will bring her back to you; not a moment later after I save her."
"Don't hold this against Koishi." The redhead pleaded. "It's not her fault she happened to come into your life. She didn't know about me, about you…and Tomoe."
"Don't hold this entire mess against her." the white haired man stated. Without a backward glance, he calmly continued to lead the three men to their destination; his watou sword in a rucksack cloth slung behind his shoulder.
The four men stopped and turned behind them when they heard footsteps approaching. Enishi allowed himself a perplexed expression upon seeing a young man who looked exactly like Battousai when he first met him.
"Kenji!" Kenshin said with a surprised look. "What're you doing here?"
"I saw you leaving the police station." Kenji simply stated. "I'm going to help you save Koishi."
"No," his father practically ordered. "Stay at the dojo; we can handle this."
Not wanting to embarrass his father with an almost public argument, Kenji simply remained silent but stared defiantly at the older man. They had a silent stare-down for a brief moment before Kenshin gave a sufferable sigh and permitted, "Fine; but you stay out of any fighting. Understood?"
"Aa." Kenji simply agreed before his sapphire-blue eyes flicked to the white-haired man.
Enishi simply turned back around and headed in their original direction. He heard the footsteps approach and sure enough, when he looked beside him, he saw the young Battousai copy walking a few paces away from him, but looking up at the taller man.
"So you're Yukishiro Enishi?" Kenji started.
"Aa." Enishi simply answered.
"Koishi spoke of you."
"Oh."
Still walking, Kenji turned and raised an eyebrow at the taller man, but otherwise introduced, "I'm Himura Kenji, Koishi's older brother."
"Koishi spoke of you, too, but not by name." Enishi said and then asked, "Is it true that, for the longest time, you convinced her she was adopted?"
Kenji blinked in surprise, chortled, and then started to laugh while Kenshin, behind them, gave a sufferable sigh. No doubt it was true, and Battousai had to convince his daughter that she really did belong to them, and she was not adopted.
"Kenji." Kenshin simply scolded as the young man continued to laugh.
"Come on, Ottotsuan," Kenji chuckled. "It's just part of growing up with a sibling." He chuckled a few time before he grew serious and said to Enishi, "So, I introduced myself as Kenji, Koishi's older brother."
"...Aa." Enishi simply replied, not understanding where this conversation was going.
"As I said, Koishi did talk about you, after you showed up, and, after this is over and we get her back...I don't know why my father isn't the one doing this, but I will; I demand that you marry Koishi."
Enishi literally stumbled to a halt in his pace and turned to the young man. Kenji stared back without any sign that he would retract his words, and Enishi almost found it amusing that the young man, noticeably shorter than him, would stare back in a challenging manner.
"Kenji!" Kenshin scolded.
Still, Kenji stared up at Enishi in a defiant, challenging way, as Saitou and Chou had enough common sense to keep their mouths shut. As Enishi continued to stare down the younger redhead, he could not help but feel a level of respect for the young man, who was man enough to make such a demand.
"If there's no reason for you to marry her, then marry her for her lost honor." Kenji stated.
Enishi relented, but did not promise, "I will no longer cause her dishonor."
Kenji pursed his lips, not satisfied with the older man's response, not knowing if that man was going to marry his sister or not, but at least he swore that he would no longer cause her dishonor.
"Fine." he agreed before adding, "Ani-san." (older brother-in-law)
Enishi blinked at that before he continued with his lead. Kenshin sighed as they continued to their destination, and he warned, "That's Kenji's way of saying he's not done hounding you until you completely agree with him."
"Stubborn, isn't he?" Enishi allowed himself to say without directing it at the redhead.
"Very." The man agreed.
"I can see where he gets it." The white-haired man murmured.
An irritated Kenji then asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Almost."
O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Kidnapped again... Koishi thought to herself and mentally shook her head. This is starting to get very, very old. I think I'm gunning for the world's "most kidnapped woman" award.
Feng herded Koishi towards a very grand, but very condemned, house. It was a Japanese styled mansion that reached two full stories and stretched a few acres. It looked like the mansion would have been very grand in its youth, but now looked very old and decayed.
The shingles on the roof were cracked and falling off. The hard plastered body of the mansion was cracked and looked like it would fall apart at any moment. It looked so weather-worn. The foliage on the property grew wild and overgrown from apparent years of neglectful upkeep. There were leaves all over the property grounds and they were all dead, dark brown in color, and the leaves crunched under the duo's feet as they walked towards the condemned mansion.
Without upkeep, the dead foliage from seasons past still littered the ground.
Feng paused for a brief moment and Koishi looked up at him as he stared at the mansion with a look of stricken sadness and she blinked as if she could not believe what she is seeing. A twinge of pity bled within her and her curiosity was heightened.
His face then hardened, as if nothing had fazed him, and he proceeded to steer the young woman towards the mansion.
"Stay at the gate and wait for him." Feng ordered.
Huang stayed where he was ordered as the duo made their way towards the decaying mansion.
"Matte!" Koishi protested. "Wait! We're not going in there, are we?!"
"Why not?" Feng asked with a smirk. "She may not look it, but she's still sturdy and, if you're very careful, she won't fall apart on you."
The young woman still protested with vigorous shaking of her head. Still outside, she practically had a coughing and sneezing fit from years upon years of neglect, but still, she did not want to go inside.
"I don't blame you." Feng agreed. "She's seen better days."
He finally released her upper arm and blocked the front gate.
"He will be coming soon." Feng stated in a quiet voice. "You wait over here."
"Where?" She asked.
As an answer, Feng once again grabbed Koishi's upper arm and led her to the engawa of the property where she was forcefully made to sit. When her bottom made hard contact from the wood under her, she hissed from the pain, but otherwise, made no more protests.
She looked up at him and was vaguely surprised when she felt wetness on both of her cheeks, and she wiped it away. With a shaky voice, she stated, "Enishi won't come."
"Yes, he will." He reassured. "He came for you when Ju-Long and Huang took you, and he will come for you now."
"I don't believe that Tokyo police will just release him just to have him save me."
Feng simply chortled and informed, "A father's love for his daughter is something marvelous to behold. Fathers would do anything for their daughters; walk on hot coals, fight vast armies, and even...release their enemies out of jail to save their daughters."
Her eyes widened at that, for she never believed her own father would give Enishi any excuse to see her again. She then realized just how much her father cared for her, to send his former enemy to save her, not knowing if he would fulfill his duty.
"Fathers are always immensely devastated at their daughters' deaths." Feng murmured.
Koishi knew that was a warning, but to offset her anxiety, she asked, "Surely fathers are devastated at their sons' deaths, too?"
"Oh, of course." the vindictive man agreed. "I don't personally know, but I would imagine that parents don't take their children's deaths lightly...nor do the children take their parents' deaths lightly."
Koishi slightly frowned and asked, "What's this about, anyway? You were his right-hand man; what changed?"
"He is on his way." He said with confidence, ignoring her question.
"How can you be so sure?" she asked. "He could just easily run away and forget about me."
"I have never seen him so passionate towards saving someone, that being you. He will save you, without a doubt."
"Are…you going to kill him?"
A wicked smile followed by a, "Of course!" was her answer.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O
Enishi walked towards the Japanese house with an easy troll as if he were casually walking during a sunny day. He stopped outside the property and stared while his eyes roamed all over the place. Huang stood in the middle of the property with his Chinese sword in his hand. Emishi calmly walked forward, passed the iron gate, with the three other men in tow, while his eyes were trained on his former business partner.
His blue topaz eyes never once glanced towards Koishi.
She was seated on the engawa, the vindictive man's katana a hair's breath away from her throat. She kept her face calm, so as not to distract her lover with tears and cries, but inside, her heart pounded with anxiety and distress.
"Feng," Enishi said with his soft baritone voice. "Whatever this is about, it is between the two of us. Let the girl go."
Feng frowned in confusion and stated, "You had to bring four others to help you?"
"No," Kenshin answered. "We're just here to apprehend you, that we are. We will not fight, that we will not."
"No," Kenji disagreed. "I will fight." Everyone stared, wide-eyed at the young man as he placed a hand on the sakabatou at his waist and glared and said, "I will fight you." He indicated towards Huang.
The Chinese man, Huang, looked back towards Feng, who also shared the same puzzlement, but he shrugged his shoulders as an answer.
"Kenji!" Kenshin scolded, but the fear in his voice was evident.
"You humiliated my sister." Kenji calmly stated, ignoring his father. "And I swore to myself that you will apologize to her. So, I challenge you first."
Huang once again looked at Feng, and the vengeful man shrugged again and said, "Whatever the kid wants; and if anyone interferes, you will see her head half decapitated." He tilted Koishi's head back some more and pressed his katana blade closer to her throat to emphasize his point.
The Chinese man smiled wickedly and beckoned the young man to come face off against him. Kenji made his way to the middle of the courtyard and stood in Mugyou stance with his sword still sheathed.
Huang raised an eyebrow at that and even asked, "Are you that confident, boy?"
Kenji did not reply, and Kenshin demanded, "Kenji, don't you dare fight!"
"You need to have more faith in your son." Enishi murmured to the older man, although he kept his eyes trained on the scene before him. "From what your woman told me, the boy has immense strength."
"Kenji has never fought someone from another country." Kenshin hissed. "He might not know the other man's sword style. There's always that possibility that he won't make it through this fight alive; but I don't expect you to understand."
"No, Battousai, I don't understand." Enishi agreed. "Being that I don't have any children, I don't understand your level of panic. I do, however, tell you to have more faith in your son; if you keep your children sheltered, and they will always get into trouble."
Kenshin said nothing further as Huang and Kenji took their respectful places in the courtyard, which was covered with brown, dead leaves. Kenji looked Huang over, and especially his weapon.
Huang wore traditional changshan, blue in color and embroidered with gold dragons. His weapon of choice was some sort of Chinese sword, shorter than a katana, but longer than a kodachi, as if it was a weapon in between the katana and kodachi. There was a white tassel at the end of the handle, just like Enishi's watou. When Huang unsheathed his weapon, Kenji could see the blade was not like a katana, but was double edged with a narrow point, like a Western blade.
"It's a Jian." Enishi informed.
"I said no interfering." Feng warned.
"I'm not interfering." Enishi calmly fired back. "I'm merely informing the boy of what the weapon is. If he doesn't know how the Jian is used, then my information is invalid."
Huang dropped his sheathe to the ground and Kenji took a battoujitsu stance, and both men never moved as the tension mounted. Finally, the Chinese man rushed while Kenji unsheathed the sakabatou in a speed that would rival his father. Huang held his tachi upright as Kenji brought his sakabatou around to strike, but his was blocked by the Chinese Jian.
Still blocking the battoujitsu attack, Huang frowned at the sakabatou blade before he jumped back.
"I don't know if you know this," Huang informed. "But your blade is on the wrong side, boy."
"It's a sakabatou." Kenji fired back. "It's supposed to be on the 'wrong' side."
Huang merely shrugged and held his tachi as if in gatou form, only with both hands on the tachi's handle, but still caused Saitou to frown indignantly. Kenji lowered his tachi and when Huang came charging, still holding his tachi as if in gatou form, but Kenji swung his tachi with incredible speed and force.
The debris, being the dead leaves on the ground, flew forward and Huang barely had time to block the dead foliage from causing damage to his eyes, but he blocked it all with his arm shielding his face. Even though he was temporarily blinded, Huang swung his tachi upward, which he somehow knew Kenji was, and the young man saw the blade coming towards him. So, he moved around in a spiral motion, but the narrow tip struck his upper arm; however, he made it through, almost unscathed, and landed on his feet easily.
Kenji looked down at his arm and saw a small trickle of blood flowing down from the small wound, but it was already clotting, so it was not life-threatening. Huang still stood in the same position when he countered Kenji's attack; his arm still shielding his face, but his tachi was held at his side by his hand.
There was a brief pause before Huang straightened up and said, "Dou Ryu Sen and attempted Ryu Tsui Sen."
Kenji's eyes widened, as did pretty much everyone else as well, upon hearing the names of the attacks come from a Chinese man's mouth. How did he know about Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu?
As if to answer everyone's inner thoughts, Huang turned to face Kenji and said, "You fight with the power of the dragon." When Kenji merely frowned, the Chinese man continued, "You Japanese are so disconnected from the continent that you think your sword styles are your own origin. I know about Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu because we Chinese also have a form of it; we call it Lei Long Gonji."
Koishi blinked at that information; Lei Long Gonji was the Mandarin translation of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, both fight with the power of the dragon, as Huang so imminently stated.
"In legend," Huang continued. "In order to become the greatest warrior, a man went out into the deep mountains of China, and slew a dragon. He received all of dragon's power and speed, and this man became the greatest warrior ever known, but it came at a high cost; when this man, the greatest warrior, took in a pupil, and in order for the pupil to be given all of the dragon's power, the master had to be killed in order to obtain it. So there is only one master of the Lei Long Gonji at one time."
Kenji could not help but be in awe by the utter similarities between Lei Long Gonji and Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Only one master at one time, just like Hiten...and then he chuckled.
"Well," Kenji informed after he chuckled. "Here, in Japan, there are now three masters of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu."
Huang only lifted an eyebrow at the young man and stated, "Then it is not the same as Lei Long Gonji; yours would be imperfect, boy."
"Imperfect?" Kenji repeated before he re-sheathed his sakabatou. "If my 'Lei Long Gonji' is imperfect, without the ougi, then come at me and see if it's imperfect, old man."
"Then I will." Huang agreed and after he said that, he swung his Jian in a continuous circular motion that had no end, just like a windmill. It would be an attack hard to block, so Kenji settled on offense.
When Kenji rushed towards Huang, the young man sidestepped his opponent in a full circular motion, and used the centrifugal force to swing his sakabatou in the same motion aimed for Huang's back; the Ryu Kan Sen.
Huang, with his tachi still in a circular motion, swiftly turned around to block the Ryu Kan Sen and both blades clashed with sparks from the friction as the both came to a halt at their hilts. Now it was a battle of strength and both opponents were matched for height, weight, and strength.
"Lei Long Gonji," Huang informed with a strained voice. "Is not meant to be wielded by a boy as small in body mass as you."
Kenji, also straining against Huang equal strength as both of their sword blades shook in effort to overpower the other, stated, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is mine because I've made it my own."
Huang would have laughed, but that would have made it more difficult to overpower the young man. Instead, he clinched his teeth, and because his tachi was shorter, it made it easier to sweep his leg under the young man's foot closest to him, and Kenji would have gone down to the ground, but he caught himself.
His sakabatou, however, almost hit him on the head, but he quickly held the tachi with his left hand, on the bladed side. Kenji hissed as the sharp, burning pain shot through his left hand and blood flowed from the palm down his arm.
"You are not worthy of the dragon's power, boy." Huang hissed, his always pleasant smile now gone. "So I will kill you now."
"Kenji; think!" Kenshin whispered with high panic in his voice.
Kenji frowned in anger that someone would think him unworthy of Hiten, and with that anger, his strength grew; he sidestepped his opponent in the blink of an eye, and swung his blade around to hit the back of Huang's head with a very light form of Ryu Sho Sen: Garami, since he did not have enough momentum to make it powerful.
Finally, Kenji drew blood on his opponent, and Huang blinked in surprise when a trickle of blood came down his forehead. It was powerful enough to draw blood, but not powerful enough to render Huang incapacitated.
"The dragon is mine." Kenji simply informed. "You say my Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is imperfect. Well, I say your Jian is imperfect."
"Good eye, boy." Enishi murmured and Kenshin spared him a glance.
Huang frowned very deeply at this. How dare that Japanese boy declare his Jian to be imperfect! What does he know?!
"Imperfect?!" Huang hissed. "Explain yourself, boy!"
"If you defeat me," Kenji reasoned. "Then I will tell you how your Jian is imperfect."
"Then let's finish this!"
Huang charged, as did Kenji, and with Shinsoku, he swung his sakabatou with immense speed at all nine vital points for a perfect Kuzu Ryu Sen. Huang swung his tachi around in a circle to block the first five attacks, and then sunk low to the ground, almost laying on his left side, to dodge the last four attacks.
"Kuzu Ryu Sen will not do any good," Enishi murmured. "If the user lacks the physical strength."
"You would know." Kenshin murmured back, for Enishi was the first of his opponents to affectively counter his own Kuzu Ryu Sen.
Kenji, knowing his Kuzu Ryu Sen was defeated, jumped high into the air, somersaulted twice, and brought his sakabatou down hard for a Ryu Kan Sen: Arashi attack. Huang barely had time to block it with his tachi, and he did block it, but the sakabatou still struck his left shoulder. The Chinese man winced at the pain that overtook his shoulder, however, he ignored it and their blades scratched together as Kenji came down from his upward position in a diagonal angle.
The sparks created by the friction between the two blades burned the left side of Huang's face as Kenji passed over and landed easily behind him. Before Kenji had time to come to offense, Huang turned around, his hand on his handle's tassel, as he swung his tachi like a whip in a circular motion.
Kenji blocked and dodged as best he could, and there were times when the opponent's blade would scratch him like cat as Huang almost danced in deadly multiple attacks of San Cai Jian. Once, Kenji hit Huang's tachi away, but because the Chinese man's hold was on the tassel, and even though his sword was swung away, and he was wide open for attack, he swung his tachi back like a deadly weapon swinging randomly without a master to wield it.
Kenji jumped out of the sword's path, re-sheathed his sakabatou, quickly stood in battoujitsu form, and unsheathed his sword just as Huang charge. Huang jumped out of the sword's path, quickly held his tachi by the handle just as Kenji completed his swing, leaving him vulnerable, and Huang thrust his deadly blade at the wide open young man.
Kenji grabbed Huang's discarded sheathe off the ground faster than anyone could process the fight, and jabbed the sheathe, open side, towards Huang's tachi, and it re-sheathed. Kenji then swung the blunt side of his sakabatou at Huang's side, and there was a resounding crack, and the Chinese man fell to his knees, unable to stand with his ribs broken.
Kenji stood, breathing hard from excursion, his hand still on the Jian's sheathe, Huang still held the handle of his sheathed sword, and the young man requested, "Will you apologize to my sister now?"
Huang stared up at the young man, despite the immense pain in his left side, with an, "Are you serious?!" expression. As an answer, he tightened his hold on the handle of his sheathed tachi, and unsheathed his blade before anyone could react.
Koishi, who saw it first, screamed, "Oni-san!" and Kenji jumped away upon hearing his sister's voice. He used Shinsoku to sheathe his sakabatou, take up the battoujutsu stance, and he unsheathed his sword in a millisecond just as Huang threw his tachi towards the young man. With his sword unsheathed, Kenji stepped out with his left foot and swung his sword out with a rapid pace with a loud, long warrior's cry.
It was as if time stopped...
The sakabatou struck the Jian, and the blade shattered in pieces and the initial, shattered sword went blazing passed Kenji. The shrapnel, however, struck him all over his body, but he still completed his swing. It was as if he caused a sonic boom and every seasoned warrior, even Koishi, had to cover their ears from the high pitch of it.
Huang's eyes widened as he saw a vacuum-like void come towards him, and behind it stood a sapphire-blue eyed, red dragon; his teeth already shattered his useless tachi, and now his claws were poised and ready to shred him to pieces. And he did. All he could do was gasp when he felt as if he was being struck all over his body by razor-sharp talons as he was blown backwards.
When Huang landed on his back, he could not breathe and he could not move as he stared up at the immense blue sky above. He hurt all over, and he knew if the boy had used a regular katana, he would be good as dead several times over.
That was the power of the dragon.
There was a very long pause from everyone observing. It took that long to process such speed and majesty as everyone took in the awe from it all. Kenshin breathed rapidly as if he had been holding his breath the entire fight. Koishi, who had her hands over her mouth from the nail-biting experience, slowly lowered her hands down to her lap as relief overtook her since she had been tense the entire fight.
Kenji, who had been breathing rapidly, slowly straightened up, for the fight was done, and he was the victor. His slowly re-sheathed his sakabatou and it clicked when the hilt came to the entrance and could go no further.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Ougi," Kenji said as Huang slowly and painfully sat up. "Amakekeryu No Hirameki. I only used it once before, and this is my second time. The first time I used it was against the fourteenth master of Hiten. I was such a brat back then, and this man, who lives deep in the mountains, brought me to my senses. Before he unwillingly taught it to me, he said, we swordsmen are powerful, but we are not gods; we can still die. Wielding the sword takes much thought and appreciation; the thought comes from valuing the lives of those we fight, and have respect for the lives that belong to them. The appreciation comes from the fact that we are alive ourselves, and we must value it.
"Are we to become destructive, like ones who lead destructive lives; or will we become like those who protect others from those destructive people? We Japanese are not completely isolated and ignorant of The Continent, and I know of the Jian. Your Jian is imperfect because it takes a high level of spirituality and morale to wield it, which you do not have either."
That was all Kenji had to say as he walked passed Huang, who fell back to the ground, passed out from the pain, and was then apprehended by Chou. The young man crossed the courtyard to the other observers, and upon his return, Kenshin wrapped relieved arms around his son and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Ottotsuan…" Kenji complained in a whisper, embarrassed that his father would embrace him in front of everyone.
After he released his son, Kenshin asked, "Do you need medical attention now?"
Kenji turned around slightly and looked at his sister. She smiled at her brother, despite the vindictive man beside her, who still held his ominous katana.
"No," Kenji answered. "We still need to focus on Koishi. I can wait until the next fight is over."
Kenshin raised an eyebrow at his son as he looked him over. Kenji had blood trickling down his forehead, various puncture wounds from the Jian's shrapnel, which made him appear to be bleeding all over, and his left palm had a wound that would definitely need stitches, while dried blood encrusted his arm. Otherwise, he could say nothing to deter his son from watching the next sword fight.
Enishi calmly took his watou out of its rucksack and unsheathed it. He tossed the sheathe aside where it landed close to Koishi. Feng glared at his enemy and asked, "You really don't know what this is about, do you, Hu?"
The white-haired man did not give any response, so Feng smirked and asked, "This place looks very familiar, doesn't it?"
Enishi did not answer; his eyes fixed on his now new enemy.
The other man shook his head and replied, "Let me explain then. Twenty eight years ago, there was a nice family who lived here. A man, dealing in rare books, his wife, their young son…and their baby daughter, before they temporarily moved to Shanghai. They happened to find a little Japanese boy, so close to death and they took him in.
"They kindly fed him, clothed him, housed him, and brought him back to full health; but they didn't know they were caring for a rabid dog. That dog soon turned on them, and he killed them all; the man, his wife, young son, and even the infant daughter. The staff within the household was all killed along with the family.
"It was such a bloodbath. What the boy didn't know, however, was the family had another son who was in boarding school in Japan at the time of their murder. That elder son was given the horrible news, and worst of all, the boy was completely untouchable, for he had acquired the family's entire wealth."
Koishi knew what that meant; Enishi did not face any repercussions from his actions because he had an enormous amount of money. Wealth was always above justice.
"So the elder son had no choice but to let the boy have his family's wealth, but he never forgot the injustice. He started to fester an immense hatred of the boy, and when he grew up, he moved to China, learned both dialects, and even changed his name to a Chinese name, just to find that boy who had stolen his family from him.
"He found him, living peacefully and well in Shanghai, without a care in the world. That boy had grown in wealth, at the expense of more people's lives, and again, he never cared. So the eldest son wiggled his way in through the mafia, just to become the boy's right hand man. The eldest son hated him even more, but could never find a weakness within that boy, now a grown man.
"Then the fates gave him a wonderful gift in the form of a young woman." Feng stated and gently patted Koishi's head. "That boy had fought for the young woman, saved her several times, grew close to her; he had grown to love her. Finally, there was the weakness within that boy, and the eldest son will have his revenge."
Koishi inwardly flinched as hurt for her lover filled her heart as she remembered him crying and incredibly regretful for killing the same family his now-enemy was talking about.
Enishi's void expression never changed while Feng told his life story, involving the white-haired man. He simply pushed his sunglasses back up his nose, and brought his watou in front of him.
"You won't believe how much I understand how you're feeling, Feng." He said as he straightened up and unsheathed his watou. "I understand the hatred and thirst for revenge more than you think. There was a man who killed my sister, even if he didn't know she was there when he swung his sword, even if she purposefully placed herself between the enemy and his sword, he killed her nonetheless."
"It was no accident that you killed my family!" Feng yelled as he pointed his sword's blade at his enemy.
"No, it wasn't an accident; it was intentional." Enishi agreed. "And I will not make excuses for what happened. I killed your family, I stole them from you, and I need to answer to you for it. You do not have to involve Koishi."
Feng grabbed a fistful of the young woman's ebony hair and yanked up, forcing her to her feet with a small, short cry of pain. Kenji moved forward to attack the other man, but Kenshin, although just as dangerously angry, placed an arm in front of his son. He shook his head; Feng had the upper hand with Koishi so close to him and no amount of god-like speed could save her.
"No," he disagreed. "She has everything to do with this because I say so! I will take the person most important away from you!"
Enishi raised an eyebrow at the utter déjà vu of the situation. Now, he will know what it is like to try to save a loved one with every fiber of his being. He nodded once and commanded, "Let her go."
Feng let Koishi's hair go and pressed his katana blade close to her throat and ominously stated, "You move, you die." With that said, he pushed her away, caused her to stumble, and she fell.
He gripped his katana with both hands, and posed to attack. The opposing man flipped his watou blade up so the blade was vertical, and he gripped the handle with his one hand.
"You have your anger and your hatred," Enishi said. "I must answer to it."
Koishi got up on her feet as the tension between Enishi and Feng built. Both were poised in their own unique way, ready to fight to the last breath.
Enishi kept his watou in his left hand, blade up. Feng kept both hands on his sword's handle, the blade pointed straight at his opponent.
When Koishi inhaled deeply, she only then realized she had been holding her breath when a small wave of dizziness overcame her. She stayed steady, however, and noticed her lover offer the briefest glance at her. She nodded once to him, and he moved.
He threw his sword up in the air, and Feng moved forward to swing his sword. Enishi moved around the strike, caught his watou in midair, and brought the tachi's blade down. His opponent blocked the attack with his katana and moved away.
"Hm," Feng said. "I see now. You did that on purpose so you could stand between me and the girl."
Enishi did not respond to the observation; instead, he threw his watou to the ground, blade in the ground, jumped, stepped on the pommel while he grabbed the red cord in his hand, and jumped into the air.
The force of the jump brought his blade out of the ground; however, in midair, Feng grabbed his ankle, and threw him to the ground. Enishi lay on his back, with the other man swinging his katana blade to and fro, and he could only block the attacks with the blade of his watou.
Enishi shifted his body to his immediate right, moved his watou so the pommel was up, and hit Feng's wrist with it. The other man temporarily lost grip control in his wrist, and that gave his opponent ample time to turn around and get back to his feet.
Feng stared at the man he once served and finally noted, "I know your sword skills are far greater than mine. Why is it you won't make the final killing blow?"
Enishi raised an eyebrow and answered, "I'm not trying to kill you."
"If you won't kill me, then I'll kill you."
After that statement, Feng charged, his katana sword raised, and he swung down, but Enishi easily blocked it. The vengeful man then turned the sword around so the pummel was towards the white haired man, and he jabbed it forward, striking his opponent on his right eye.
Enishi's glasses broke on the rims and the fell off his face while small pieces of shrapnel were left on his cheeks. The taller man jumped away from his enemy as small streams of blood came out from the cuts. He paid no attention to the stinging pain on his face as he poised once again.
"You will have to kill me." Feng informed. "Otherwise, I'll just kill you…or her." He completed with an indifferent shrug.
When Feng rushed forward to attack, Enishi turned his blade forward, sharp side up and blunt side towards himself. When Feng was within reach, Enishi kicked the blunt side of his tachi and Feng barely had time to block, and when he did, the momentum of his opponent's kick knocked his katana away, and he was nearly impaled by the watou.
Still, the ki from the force of Enishi's kick struck his face, and a thin line of blood flowed out of Feng's face, from his chin to the top of his forehead. Feng smiled as he felt the copper-smelling liquid drip down his face.
"Very good," he complemented. "Attacked like a true tiger. However, what does a tiger fear? I would say fire, wouldn't you? That is what a phoenix deals with; fire, and that is why I renamed myself Feng, because I fight like a phoenix."
"A phoenix is still a bird." Enishi finally said as he held out his tachi in front of him; one hand held the handle while the other hand held the blade.
He rushed this time, and thrust his tachi forward for the Kaishi Tousei technique, which Feng block by bringing his katana upward to protect his body; he then balanced on one foot and swung his sword out and used the other leg he brought up to step forward.
As soon as Feng stepped forward, Enishi crouched and then spun around for a Senran Tousei. Feng blocked the whirlwind-like move, except for the last, and he got nicked in the side from it. When he looked down, he frowned to see more blood than he would like flowing out from his wound. Feng then sidestepped Enishi, their blades scrapping along the way, and Feng was once again between his opponent and Koishi.
"Let's do a one strike." Feng suggested. "And make sure you make it a killing blow, as I will do the same."
Enishi nodded once and this time, he sank low to the ground, sword blade above him, and his feet spread wide apart. As soon as Feng rushed, he brought his katana down just as Enishi brought his tachi up for the Zetsugi technique. Their blades clashed and they both stumbled back from the force of it. Enishi hissed as blood flowed from his chest down to his midsection.
"You finally did the Zetsugi." Feng noted as blood once again spilled out from his chest to his midsection from the simultaneous hit. "However, that technique was made to dodge and attack the dragon. The phoenix has no such techniques; only fire from anger. Let's make this one more time; either you or I, and I will try everything to let it be you."
Koishi's heart pounded in her chest as she saw her lover poise once again and recognized the pose as Enishi's final, strongest technique, the ougi, Zetsugi. The strike alone would tear Feng into two halves, and he would be instantly killed. However, Feng said he would try everything to kill Enishi, even if he had to go down with him.
Either way, Enishi would be killed.
Feng smiled wickedly like a man with a death wish, and that wish was about to be fulfilled. He all but ran as fast as he could towards his opponent, and the white-haired man charged, but kept low to the ground. He swiveled around, grabbed his useless sunglasses, and struck.
He held his fist around the broken spectacles in his hand, and struck the smaller man in a stabbing motion where the neck and shoulders meet. That vital point was very bruised, and Feng's nerves went numb all along his right arm, and his now useless hand dropped his sword.
However, being a persistent person, Feng quickly picked his sword up with his left hand and swung like a crazed, defeated man. Enishi, in the middle of his Zetsugi swing knew that he was going to die, for Feng's left hand would easily score a fatal wound into him, and Enishi's right hand would not be able to stop his Zetsugi swing in time to block it. Enishi gasped when, in mid-swing, his mind barely registered what happened next.
Cherry…blossoms…
It was as if Feng lost his footing and he fell left to his left, only to have his neck make contact with Enishi's tachi. He did not have time to stop the momentum of his swing as his Zetsugi decapitated his opponent, and he barely registered the young woman behind his fallen opponent with his watou sheathe in her hands, held up in front of her as if to protect her from the tiger's claws.
Only after Enishi completed his Zetsugi swing, did he realize that Koishi was really there, and that she had hit Feng on his left leg with Enishi's watou sheathe, which caused Feng to fall and get killed, rather than both of them killing each other simultaneously.
Enishi was still poised in his completed Zetsugi form, shocked, and staring wide-eyed at the young woman in front of him, as she also stared, wide-eyed, up at him. It was only a split second after Enishi completed his attack that it happened in an instant, but it felt as if it lasted longer.
There was a resounding crack, and the sheathe in Koishi's hands split into two; the sheathe that was not in her hands fell to the ground with a loud, wooden clank. In shock, she also dropped the other half just as she coughed and blood spit out of her mouth. A split second after that, she brought her hand up to her chest just as an angry flow of red blood began to seep through her purple kimono, turning the clothing into a deep maroon color.
"SHIT!" Enishi cursed as he instantly dropped his watou sword and caught the young woman into his arms as she fell over. "Koishi!"
The young woman breathed rapidly as if she was trying to catch her breath as she clutched her wounded chest with her hand and cried out once in pain. Her father and brother watched with pale faces and shocked expressions as if they were frozen in time. She coughed again before she brought her bloodied hand up to Enishi and clutched his silver changshan where his chest was before she went limp in his arms.
"KOISHI!"
To Be Continued…
AN: Surely most of you predicted this would happen, right? Right? If not, I'm sorry to leave everyone on a cliffhanger like that, but I will post the next, and I think, last chapter as soon as my busy life will allow me to.