Ankoku Bujutsukai VI : Hokage versus Ishimaitsu :: Recca versus Shiryo
Chapter Six
Hokage versus Ishimaitsu :: Recca versus Shiryo

Recca turned at the sound of his name, and the smile immediately disappeared from his face. He bounded up the ring and stopped when he felt someone tap his shoulder and saw Korogi appear before him and smile. "Good luck Recca-san," she said, her voice coy. She batted her eyelashes slowly at him.

Yanagi saw this and immediately frowned. She's flirting with Recca... she glared fiercely at the woman as she bandaged up Fuuko's wounds after healing them. It was quite obvious. The fluttering of eyelashes, the casual touches... "Mikagami-sempai," she called out, still irked at the referee, "Would you and Fuuko-chan kindly go to the clinic? Arigatou." As Mikagami and Fuuko left the arena, her eyes watched the referee's futile attempts to flirt with Recca. Her brow furrowed.

At that moment, Recca turned towards the crowd, his eyes searching for Yanagi. As his eyes landed on hers, he smiled widely and waved at her. Yanagi felt her anger melting away as she timidly waved back. She knew her thoughts were foolish. He was hers, as she was his. He would never leave her for anyone. He was a ninja, her ninja. I just hope that he takes care of himself. Fuuko's badly hurt and Mikagami-sempai is injured... the man Recca is about to fight with looks worse than the rest of them. She clasped her hands in prayer, her fingers slipping due to the sweat on her palms. "Oh Recca..."

Korogi glanced at the direction in which Recca was staring at and frowned. Of all the luck... the cutest guy has a girlfriend! She sighed. I guess you can't have it all. She grabbed Recca's arm and dragged him to the center, Recca crying out, "Itai!" When they finally reached the center, Korogi dropped Recca and smiled widely, "Ladies and gentlemen, the opponents for the third match of the first round of the Ankoku Bujutsukai!" She switched hands with the microphone, "Mikoda-san has informed me that if in case Shiryo wins, he gets to battle the last Hokage member. If not, Team Hokage wins the first round!"

"So without further ado," she backs away from Recca and Shiryo, "Hajime!"

Shiryo and Recca had a stare-down. "Please," Shiryo said, "Don't force yourself to fight with me. It is unfair; you will surely come off worse. It is best to forfeit this battle so I may attend to my siblings' needs." He said all of this without a hint of malice in his voice, yet Recca swelled with rage. "Who the hell do you think you guys are?" he seethed, "I'll show you power!" He lifted his arm and called out, "Nadare!"

A fiery orange figure flew out of his body, Nadare the dragon. Stretching her long, scaly body, she awaited Recca's orders, her eyes narrowed. Recca snarled, "Shooting fire!" Almost immediately, Nadare shot several large fireballs out of her mouth and they all spiraled towards Shiryo, who stood unmoving, his head held high.

Recca stared at Shiryo's form, his mouth wide open, aghast. As the fireballs hit his body, Shiryo's face was neither contorted with pain or surprise. He simply raised his palm and he absorbed one fireball. Raising his other hand, he absorbed another fireball, and another, until all the fireballs were gone.

The crowd let out a gasp.

"Oh no!" Korogi whined, "It seems as if Recca's supreme power of controlling the seven fire dragons is useless in this fight." She clutched her microphone and wailed into it.

Yanagi wrung her hands, "Recca..." she whimpered again.

Recca forced his jaw to close and clenched his fist, "Nadare. Return," he ordered quietly. Nadare frowned and returned into Recca's body, hissing. Recca's form glowed a bright orange before the aura diminished.

"I warned you Recca-san," Shiryo said simply. He stared stolidly at Recca. "My power is of the smoke. And smoke is the symbol of dead fire. I am immune to flame, fire or any heat whatsoever." He shook his brown mane out of his eyes, revealing their deep wine color. They beheld years of fatigue and tiredness, yet they were deep with experience and knowledge.

"So I can't defeat you," Recca murmured in a low voice. He clenched his fists again, tighter this time. His nails dug into his skin, practically cutting through. Shiryo saw his disappointment and shook his head, "I'm afraid not... but please listen to me first."

"We all have very special powers, my siblings and I. My brother's power is of the mist, and my sister's is of the wind, just like Fuuko-san's. We have definite strengths and hidden weaknesses. Matiyo is cunning and sly, but very very smart. His fog ability had the dangerous power to choke people in just a few seconds. He used it against Mikagami-san, but Mikagami-san had found the weak link in my brother's extraordinary power. Mist is mainly water vapor, and Mikagami-san's sword can absorb water, thus proving Matiyo's power useless. He had underestimated Mikagami-san because he knew of his own power's strength."

"Soshi, however, is less headstrong than my brother. She is usually calm and reserved, thinking out a plan before a battle starts. But she was blinded by rage that Mikagami-san had hurt her smart, unbeaten brother, her closest friend and playmate. The dagger that she had used was a desperate attempt to defeat Fuuko-san. It works like the Ensui, but uses energy as its source. The dagger gave her the power to become invisible and move with the wind. When she used it in the match against Fuuko-san, it took half of her energy. She struck Fuuko at the back of her left shoulder. But when Fuuko-san used physical exchange as her means, my sister lacked the strength to deal with her blows, and lost."

He smiled wryly. "Gomenasai Recca-san, but my siblings are seriously injured. They need someone to take care of them." He shook his head, "This fight has gone on long enough." He signaled to Korogi, who was at his side in a flash. "Hai, Shiryo-san?"

He glanced at Recca and smiled, "I forfeit this fight in favor of Team Hokage." With that, he walked away from a stunned Korogi and an even more stunned Recca. Recca couldn't believe it. Shiryo had forfeited the round. When he had the obvious advantage. "Well, it seems that Shiryo of Team Ishimaitsu had forfeited his fight against Recca of Team Hokage," she announced. A smile crept onto her face, "Team Hokage advances to the Quarter-finals!"

Yanagi, Domon and Ganko jumped up and cheered, Kondo bouncing on top of Ganko's head. Kagerou smiled demurely and left her seat in the audience to join in the celebration.

Recca stood there, watching Shiryo's form. He was leaping off the ring and walking towards two limp figures on the other side of the arena. He smiled. There really were such things as noble warriors after all.

* * * * *

Shiryo landed softly on the grass and approached his siblings. Soshi was leaning against the wall, eyes closed. Matiyo was breathing heavily and clutching his wound subconsciously. He smiled and shook his siblings awake.

Soshi was the first to awaken, "Niisan..." she mumbled, "Did we win?" He stroked her hair gently, "Gomenasai imouto... I lost." Matiyo wrenched his face in pain and panted, "Aniki, I don't –ow!- understand... how could we lose?" Shiryo shook his head, "I'll explain later. First, we have to get you both to the clinic." He lifted their arms and placed them on his shoulders. Walking carefully, they left the arena, arms around each other.

As they approached the clinic, two figures were seen leaving the area. Tokiya and Fuuko eyed the limp figures with contempt. "Fuuko-san, Mikagami-san," Shiryo smiled warmly, "Congratulations. Your team has advanced to the quarter-finals." The wariness on their faces transformed to glee as Fuuko jumped up to hug Tokiya. "Y'hear that niichan! We made it!" Tokiya smiled and hugged Fuuko back, "Hai, Fuuko..." He released her and grinned, "It seems we're missing quite a celebration! Iku zo, Fuuko."

Fuuko turned back to Shiryo, "Arigatou," she said smiling at him, before following Tokiya out the door. Shiryo bowed his head and entered the clinic. After admitting his siblings, he stood watch over them and chuckled. "The things I do for the both of you."

Soshi looked up at him and frowned, "I don't know why you forfeited the match when it was obvious you were stronger than him." She crossed her arms, "I mean, it's not your fault that you were immune to fire." Matiyo sat up and glared at his older brother, "Yeah... at least that would have given us a good chance at winning. You had to go and forfeit! Naze da?"

Shiryo sighed. "I understand you're angry right now... but had I stayed there any longer, Matiyo, your wound would have become infected. That was an ice sword I care to remind you. And Soshi, you are fatigued and need your rest. Do you think I could have stayed up there any longer, with my only family unconscious, wounded and tired, and needing immediate medical attention? Do you?"

Soshi lowered her head, "Gomenasai, oniisan. I know what you did was for our safety," her eyes brimmed with tears, "But I really wanted Kaasan and Tousan back. I don't want us to be orphans anymore." She jammed her palms into her eyes and willed herself to stop crying. But the pain and frustration, building up for over fifteen years, yearned to be released, and she finally yielded, her chest racking with heavy sobs, as she buried her face into her pillow. She had always tried to put up a tough façade, but whenever anyone mentions her parents, she always felt like a knife was stuck in her heart. She cried all the knives of her heart out.

Shiryo stroked her hair until she calmed down. Matiyo bit his lip. He hated seeing his sister cry. Being her older brother, he had a duty to protect her from any harm. They were always together, and although she insisted that she could take care of herself, he still made sure that wherever she was, he was close behind. Once, a long time ago, they were playing on the swing-set in a neighborhood playground, when a local bully came up to her and put his fist in her face. She didn't budge; but just frowned at him. Matiyo had chuckled softly. His sister knew how to handle herself in these situations. Before the bully knew what happened, he was on the ground with an aching eye.

The kids in the place were laughing, Matiyo rolling on the floor. The boy stood up, red in the face from embarrassment. He wagged a finger in Soshi's face saying, "You better watch it, little girl!" Soshi raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh yeah?" He scowled at her, "You... you... Little Orphan Annie! Mommy and Daddy ain't there to protect you anymore!" Matiyo watched his sister's face change from arrogant to completely devastated. Her eyes watered and she immediately ran out the playground. "Ain't so tough now, are you? Run home to your mommy now! Oh! I forgot! You got no mommy!" the boy cackled, slapping his knee.

At this point, Matiyo was seething. He marched up to the boy, who was a few inches smaller than him, and grabbed his collar, "You are a son of a bitch, and you're gonna pay for what you did to my sister!" He punched the boy in the face until he was sure his nose was broken. "You better not show your ugly face to me anymore, or you'll be going home worse than that!" He spat on the ground next to the shaking bully, and left the playground, running after his sister. After that incident, they heard word that the boy's family moved to the States.

Matiyo stood up, ignoring the pain he felt in his stomach where Tokiya's sword had pierced him, and sat on Soshi's bed, where she lay crying. Carefully, he lifted her off the pillow and embraced her tightly. Soshi buried her head on his shoulder and cried again. "Shh," he shushed her, "Daijobu desu, imouto... I mean, don't cry anymore. I'm sure they're very proud of us for even joining this contest, even if we never made it past the eliminations. Even though we lost, I'm still here for you. Shiryo is still here for you." Shiryo sat on the bed on Soshi's other side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Together forever, no matter what," he whispered into her ear. When he said those words, he joined their embrace and they were a family.