Bloody Roar III: Reunited by Chance, a Reflection of the Past
By Tiger5913
Chapter 8
Forced By Obligations - Uriko's battle
She faces him in battle without
Her consent or approval; to her,
It seems to be a battle of the will.
Listen to her heart and prevent it…
Or cast aside her feelings and fight?
I, I have to face him… don't have a choice…
Standing alone in the chilly area, the young woman carefully backed away as her opponent started edging closer to her, clenched fists held up in front of his face. The tall shadows danced around his black-clothed body, appearing to attach themselves to his body and strengthen his aggressive attitude towards her. As the heel of her foot touched the bark of a tree, Uriko stopped, shivering when the cold wind brushed against her bared skin. The blue long-sleeved Chinese shirt paired with tight blue shorts that she had changed into was a thin barrier to the cool weather.
"Please… Don't make me do this Kenji…" she whispered, looking mournfully at him.
"If you don't fight, then the only other option is for you to die." The ninja replied with a blank, unemotional expression on his face as he calmly started walking toward her again.
I can't do this…I care about him too much to hurt him… But if I don't fight, he's going to attempt to kill me… Uriko thought, biting her lip as her mind contradicted what she should do.
Without waiting for her confirmation, Kenji dashed at her and jumped with his leg outstretched, kicking her in the chest. As she fell back with a groan, he kicked the side of her thigh harshly and hissed at her, "Get up!" When she didn't respond, he slipped out a shuriken and aimed it threateningly at her. Spotting the small projectile, the Kenpo student rolled a few feet away before shakily standing up, grimacing.
"So what is your decision?" the ninja asked crudely. "Are you going to fight or cower before me?"
Gritting her teeth at the last part of his statement, Uriko straightened up into her five foot and seven inches tall posture. "Such a nasty attitude that he gave you," she commented.
"Shut up about my master," Kenji told her, snarling.
"I have a right to my own opinions," the young woman retorted.
"Foolish little girl." He said, tossing the shuriken at her.
"Hrmp, you're only three months older than I am, so don't act so cocky," Uriko shot back, agilely dodging the small object.
"Well, I have a reason to be cocky…"
"Oh, really," she said, deciding the bite the bullet. "And what's that?"
"You're too weak to defeat me." Kenji stated bluntly, an evil smile spreading over his lips.
"You, you little arrogant…" she huffed, annoyed with his attitude.
"I'm an arrogant what? Come on, shouldn't you finish the events that you start?" He goaded with a laugh.
"Kenji…" the name was a whisper as Uriko's face softened. "I know it's not really you saying those things…"
"Then you obviously do not know me as well as you think," the ninja concluded. "I will not be judged by the likes of you."
I'll get the real you back, Kenji… she promised silently, while out loud she growled, "Grrrr… Let's just stop this useless chit-chat, shall we?"
"You are going to fight me, then?" He laughed bitterly. "Well, it's your funeral…"
"It doesn't appear as if I have much of a choice," Uriko told him, clenching her fists. "What, are you afraid of me or something?"
Glaring at her, Kenji replied in a low tone of voice, "So that's what you think? Hrmp… Don't waste your breath."
Slowly and maliciously, his arm reached around to his back; she eyed him cautiously. As his hand retracted partially, holding something furtively, the young woman caught a glimpse of a long thick handle. While she wondered what that was, the male zoanthrope sprinted foreword, keeping his other arm blocking his face. Leaping up to kick her again, Uriko quickly ducked and he went over her head, landing swiftly behind her.
She turned around to face him just in time. Latching the mysterious object under his dark brown ninja gi outfit; Kenji delivered numerous punches at her face. Uriko held up her arms in defense so he changed his target and kicked at both of her legs hard, tripping her. As she was starting to fall, the brown-haired girl quickly leaned back, stretching her arms over her head and back flipping safely away.
Annoyed, the ninja took out a few shurikens and tucked them into his fingers, then threw them all at her. Three of them dove past Uriko and etched themselves into her long white sleeves and also into the bark, pinning her pretty firmly to the tree behind. Kenji smiled wickedly at her situation and slowly slipped his other weapon into his hand.
While she struggled to get the small projectiles out and free herself, her opponent tossed the object at her. The second Uriko got away from her imprisonment, she suddenly saw something large flying toward her. While her body shrunk back, her hands instinctively went to the heavy pouch hanging from her waist. Unhooking the clips, the young woman yanked out her weapon and brought it in front of her face.
The chain of her weapon clinked with the ninja's sharp, double-headed axe just in time, stopping it from viciously cutting into her flesh. Letting out a raspy breath of relief, the female zoanthrope put her arms down, shaking visibly, and gripped tightly in her hands was a nunchaku. Two pointy mace balls were attached to both ends of the black bars, which were linked together by a long, ash-colored chain.
Growling in irritation, Kenji quickly ran by the young woman and snatched up his axe, then pushed off the trees with his feet and landed before her. His knees bent and spread apart, the ninja held his weaponless hand in front of his face, keeping the other one holding the axe behind his head. He looked at her, his dark red eyes silently indicating his challenge.
Looking back at him cautiously, Uriko whipped her nunchaku around and over her head several times. Letting it come to a stop, she took a hold of each bar with both of her hands, stretching it out in front of her face. Slightly bending her knees, she kept one leg in front and the back for firmer balance as she stood still, watching the ninja with her wide, light brown eyes.
Making the first move, Kenji swung the axe around in a circular motion as he stepped foreword, clearly showing his experience. When he was only a few inches away from her, he jerked toward her with his weapon, faking a move. She expectantly twisted, dodging it and taking advantage of that, the blue-haired young man grabbed a hold of her arm. As she struggled, he managed to turn her around, and then he drove his foot into her back, kicking her away.
Putting her hands out in front of her, Uriko fortunately fell to her knees, as opposed to her face. Whirling around to face her opponent, she ran at him, then turned and knocked her back into his face. As the ninja fell and she bounced off, the young woman looked back down at him as he quickly flipped up into a standing position.
Angered, he precisely lashed his axe out at her; she countered that by kicking it away with her foot and twirling her nunchaku, hitting him in the cheek. His hand went up to cover the injury as he glared coldly at her, fury glowing in his narrowed maroon-colored eyes. Unwavering at his glare, Uriko gritted her teeth and swung the nunchaku at him a second time, aiming lower. But Kenji had seen that coming and grabbed one end of her weapon, yanking it roughly toward him.
Keeping her hands gripped tightly on it, the brown-haired girl tugged back, murmuring angrily, "Let go of my weapon!"
Giving her nothing but a chilling smile in response, he dragged her close and kneed her in the stomach. Her grip loosening as she groaned involuntarily, the ninja took the opportunity to snatch her weapon and fling it aside into some nearby bushes. Uriko looked toward the direction where he threw the nunchaku and while she was distracted, he forced her down with his elbows, causing her head to bang against the ground.
Running over to his weapon, Kenji plucked the axe from the ground and turned his attention back to her. As she shook her head free of the dizziness, he pounced on her, pinning the Kenpo student to the floor with the weight of his body. Smirking coldly, he leaned toward her face level and held down her arms with one of his. She squirmed against her entrapment, trying to get him off of her.
"Don't you wish that you could take your words back?" he asked, his breath fanning hotly against her cheeks.
On the ground, Uriko struggled harder, and unknown to him, managed to wrench one of her hands free. Keeping it low, she inched it near her sheath while Kenji raised his arm and brought the axe down toward her throat. Feeling her fingers close around the coolness of a thin long object, she whipped it out and jabbed the butt of it on his hand forcefully. Not expecting her counterattack, the ninja lost his grip on the axe and it fell limply to the floor.
Turning the tables, Uriko leapt up, throwing him off and in turn, she yanked him to his feet by grabbing a handful of his navy blue top. Lifting him into the air, she took her sharp, silver bladed katana and slashed his blood red scarf off of his neck, revealing the thin black ring encircling his neck. Dropping the blue headed teenager, she jumped back as he fell to the floor, holding her weapon in a defensive position.
After he stood up, Kenji back flipped several times, finally coming to a landing atop a tree branch a couple feet away. Following him, Uriko ran toward the branch and jumped up; as she did the ninja quickly leapt at her, yelling out, "Not so fast!" Grabbing a hold of her, he slipped his hands underneath her armpits and locked them together. The two of them spun around in the air and as they started falling downwards, Kenji threw her to the ground. Landing smoothly, he folded his hands together while Uriko winced in pain, but she recovered quickly.
Crawling to her weapon, the female zoanthrope grabbed it and then swung her leg around to trip him. The ninja fell back but turned his stumble into a flip, like she had earlier, and regained his posture. Fixating an angry glare on his opponent, he went to her and began striking menacingly at different spots of her body with his axe. With expertise, Uriko quickly met every one of his blows, blocking them as he forced her to step backwards.
Breaking the close chain of contact, she shot a leg foreword and kicked his abdomen hard, letting a few inches come in between them. Gripping his stomach, Kenji waved it off and lashed out at her again, this time, his axe brushing against her arm. The young woman stifled a pained cry as the sharp blade cut through the fabric of her sleeve and sliced her tender skin.
Gritting her teeth in determination, she twirled her katana over her head and then brought it near him. It connected with the middle of his chest and the blue-haired teenager grimaced, showing signs of pain. With his brief distraction in place, Uriko reared her leg back and then thrust it strongly at the mole zoanthrope's face, knocking him in the chin.
Rubbing his jaw with a brown-gloved hand, Kenji shook off the attack, merely looking irritated. Shrinking back a little, the brown-haired girl raised her arms up defensively, starting to feel a bit fearful. Noticing her change of mood, he smiled maliciously and taunted, "What's the matter? Are you cowering now?"
"Shut up…" she muttered bravely.
"Poor confused child," he continued. "And just when I was starting to have fun… You are almost a formidable opponent…"
Man, that's it - I have my limits. "You sure that I'm really the one who is confused and misled?" She retorted. "What about you, working for a madman, doing all his little dirty work?"
"Don't even go there!" Kenji yelled angrily.
"Why don't you grow up and quit acting so arrogant!"
"Stay out of my life, you nosey bitch." The ninja hissed.
Her mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes aflame in anger. How dare he-all right, now he's really gonna get it!
An angry fire igniting in her wide brown eyes, Uriko slowly sheathed her katana for a temporary period. As soon as her hands left the weapon, Kenji hooked his axe back to the belt of his outfit and smiled coldly at her. Closing his eyes, he held up two fingers in front of his face, a resemblance of his former trademark move. Swaying them for a few seconds, he opened his eyes and pointed his fingers at the young woman as a trail of fire shot out from the tips.
"Play with fire and you're gonna get burned," he smirked.
The flames flew toward her, but she glanced unwaveringly at them while a chilly blue mist began swirling around her slim body, making her feel strengthened. When the fire was a few inches away, starting to flicker at her skin, it was immediately diminished as a small trail of the morning sky-colored mist countered it. A look of astonishment came over Kenji's face, but he quickly wiped it off and growled, not wanting to show his surprise.
"You think I'm that stupid?" she asked in a cool, emotionless tone of voice. "I recall telling you that if you were to ever use your fire technique on me, I would put it out with my own ice tech."
Shutting her eyes after saying that, Uriko limply lifted her arms at him as he started sprinting toward her. The mist gathered at the palms of her hands and soon shot foreword in a thin blue beam. Coming into contact with the ninja's body, it surrounded him and then solidified, both injuring and freezing him. With her opponent momentarily disabled, she ran and jumped up with her legs outstretched, kicking him into the air.
She waited a few seconds for him to descend, then punched his still-airborne figure four times. Bringing her leg up to knock his body down so that his feet touched the ground, the Kenpo student positioned herself over him for her combo. Striking him sixteen times in the head with her clenched fists, she paused briefly and put force into her final seventeenth hit, knocking Kenji to the ground.
By that time, her ice tech had already worn off; following the previous attack, she acted quickly and slid out her katana. Bending on her knees over him, Uriko raised her arms up over her head and brought it down hard at the ninja's neck. The blade of her weapon slashed through the thin ring, breaking the small object into several pieces. A moan escaped from the male zoanthrope's mouth and his head jerked involuntarily while the rest of his body shuddered briefly; squeezing his eyes shut, his head lolled to one side.
Losing her rough posture, Uriko's expression softened considerably as she arose and put her katana away. Kneeling once again, she slipped her hands under the back of the ninja's head, cradling him. Gently brushing his dark blue bangs away from his foreword, she lightly traced his facial features while looking down at him in concern.
Oh… I-I hope I didn't hurt him too badly… "Kenji…?" she whispered, daintily touching his forehead. "…Are you okay?"
Suddenly, she felt a change in the climate and a burst of chilly air swished around the two of them. Getting a strange nagging feeling in the back of her mind, Uriko looked up by instinct and saw a levitating figure clothed in the black of the night.
"I'll be back later for just the two of you…" came the low threatening hiss that reached her sensitive ears as Xion disappeared into the darkness.
"Jerk," she muttered, the word being carried along into the wind. Just then, her hands felt a stir and she immediately turned her attention back to the person lying before her. "Kenji?"
Her response was a low moan.
Firmly but with gentleness, the young woman shook him a little. "Please… Open your eyes…"
His eyelashes fluttered for a few seconds, and then they slowly lifted up, blinking open while trying to focus. "Uriko…?"
Spotting the familiar light brown pupils flickering upon her face, she smiled, beaming. "You're back!"
The ninja winced as he hoisted himself on his elbows, lifting up a couple of inches from the ground. Shaking her head, Uriko gently eased him back down, saying in a slightly shaky tone of voice, "Nu uh, take it easy…you're hurt…"
"Ugh… migraine…" he protested weakly.
Nodding sadly, she replied, "Yeah, I understand… I-I'm…really sorry about that…"
"Let me sit up…please," he requested.
"O-Okay…" Holding a tight grip on each of his arms, the young woman slowly lifted him up, leaning him against her body in support. "Better?"
"Yeah… thanks."
Her arms went to loosely wrap around his abdomen and she gently hugged him. "Are you hurt really badly?"
"No… I can take it," Kenji answered, not wanting to make her feel any guiltier. Trying to convince her, he reached for her hand and squeezed it affectionately. But even as he said that, the Kenpo student placed her head atop his while tears slowly dripped from her eyes. A lone tear fell onto the ninja's dark blue hair and he could faintly feel it; he asked gently, "Are you crying?"
"No," she fibbed.
"Uriko… don't, or you'll get me started too…" the young man said.
"Oh, Kenji, the last time I saw you cry was almost three years ago…" she remembered, a small smile playing about her lips. "It was that first night-"
"-I stayed over at your house in the guestroom." Kenji finished. "I'll always remember that, trust me."
Dipping her head, Uriko whispered, "Talk about déjà vu…here I am injuring you again…"
"But you can't forget that both times, I wasn't myself; besides, I attacked you first," he reminded. "If I was, I would never be fighting you. Unless we were just practicing like at Ryan's party, but even then, I said that neither of us would morph."
"Ryan… Erika…" the names were barely heard. "Erika's still my best friend, you know…"
"I'm not surprised," the ninja replied, smiling weakly but then choked on a cough.
"Ugh, I should be checking your injuries, not sitting here rambling…" the brown-haired girl scolded herself. "Can you stand?"
"Um, yeah, sure…" he assured her. "But… uh, can you help me please?"
"Of course." She answered. "Wait, let me get up first…"
After loosening her grip on him and letting go of his hand, Uriko got to her feet and stepped in front of him. Reaching both of her hands down, she took a hold of his arms and slowly lifted him into a standing position. On his feet, the ninja felt a little off-balance and fell back against her; she quickly went to help him. All of a sudden, she remembered something and picked an object up from the ground.
"By the way, here…" the young woman said, handing Kenji his axe. "Just curious, where'd you get that? And the 'endless supply' of shurikens?"
"I got the axe while I was on my little 'vacation'," he answered, emphasizing on the last word as he tucked the weapon away. "And the shurikens were a present from Yugo before I left; he said it was in case I needed some kind of weapon. What about your sword?"
"My katana was a gift from Master Long on my seventeenth birthday," she told him. "The nunchaku came from Mother and Alice."
Kenji winced. "Um, I think it's in the bushes somewhere… sorry for taking it from you…"
"That's okay," Uriko said. "I'll look for it tomorrow when there's better lighting."
All of a sudden, they heard several voices call out, sounding a little distant, "Uriko! Uriko, where are you?!"
Recognizing her friends and sister, she shouted back, "Right here!! And Kenji's with me!"
A few rustling noises were sounded near the two teenagers and they turned toward the direction. Out from the bushes came four of their compatriots; Alice was leaning on Jane, and Yugo was being assisted by Long.
"Alice!" the cat zoanthrope exclaimed.
"Uriko! You're okay!" The nurse slowly hobbled over to her younger sister with help from the blonde tomboy.
"Kenji!!" Yugo shouted, going toward the ninja with the Kenpo master beside him, but then hesitated and turned to Uriko; "He's alright now?"
She nodded.
Noticing a couple of his brother's bruises, the boxer stated matter-of-factly, "You two had to fight."
The young woman and Kenji nodded silently in unison.
"Oh, look at this!" Alice examined a particularly vicious cut on Uriko's arm through the slit in her long white sleeve, where the ninja's axe had slashed her.
"I-it's nothing," her sister said absentmindedly, then gestured her head at Kenji. "What about Kenji? Is he going to be okay?"
Taking a look over him, the nurse nodded. "You both will recover soon, don't worry."
"It helps being fast healers," Jane commented.
"Where is Xion?" Long asked, suddenly taking notice that the villain wasn't around.
"Ran off right after Yugo left," his disciple replied. She started to tell them about what Xion had threatened her after she had destroyed Kenji's black ring, but decided against it.
"Coward." The boxer sneered.
"We need to get you two home," Alice said, indicating toward the teenagers. "Jane, Long, go to Alan and Jenny and tell them we're taking Uriko and Kenji… wait… Uriko, would your mom mind if we went to your house?"
"No, I don't think so," the brown-haired girl answered with a negative shake of her head.
"Okay, we'll go there then," the rabbit zoanthrope decided, then looked at the others. "Is that okay with the rest of you?"
"We'll get right on it," the Kenpo master told her, answering for both him and Jane.
"It's fine, but we better hurry," Yugo said as the other couple ran off.
"Do you feel strong enough to walk, Kenji?" Uriko asked her companion, looking at him questioningly.
"Yeah… I'll be fine… don't worry…" he managed to weakly answer before going unconscious.
End of Chapter 8