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.