Bloody Roar III: Reunited by Chance, a Reflection of the Past
By Tiger5913
Chapter 10
Beginning The Explanation
Some of the truth gets revealed
And they're no longer completely
Left in the dark; but still…
There's an ever-deeper secret,
That has to be uncovered.
Walking into the living room, the two of them saw their friends. A few of them were sitting around on the couch and the others were standing while they conversed amongst themselves. Upon seeing the couple's arrival, Alice looked a little surprised as she said, "Oh, I didn't know that Kenji was here too…"
"Were you both upstairs?" Mitsuko inquired.
"Yeah," her daughter answered.
"But we didn't do anything except talk," Kenji added. Well, that and getting engaged… he thought silently to himself, grinning as the hard bump from Uriko's ring reminded him of the event.
"That's fine; I trust the two of you," Mitsuko told them with a warm smile.
"Thanks Mother," the cat zoanthrope said gratefully. "Oh hey, I have a question… Alan, Jenny, what happened to Ste-Mr. Goldberg?"
"He's being taken care of at my hospital," her sister replied with a faint smile. "He's in good hands."
"That's good," Uriko said. "But… what about Busuzima and Shenlong?"
The twenty-five year old frowned. "I… I'm not sure… Yugo and I didn't really check…"
"After taking care of Steven, Jenny went to go take a look at them. She found the both of them gone," Alan informed them all.
"Well, that's just wonderful…" the ninja said sarcastically, a wary expression on his face.
"Kenji, are you feeling all right today?" Yugo asked, looking over his younger brother carefully. "We want to know if you feel up to explaining what happened-"
"But if you're not doing so well, no pressure." The blue-haired nurse finished while the others nodded their agreement.
"Don't worry about me… I'm fine," he told them. "Let's get started, then?"
Descending to the light gray carpeted floor, he and Uriko sat down, facing everyone else. On the couch, Jane and Jenny immediately got up from their spots and gestured toward the seat. The couple shook their heads firmly in unison and the two women seated themselves back slowly. Mitsuko and Alice sat across from the teenagers while Yugo leaned against one arm of the couch. Long and Alan remained standing on the two opposite sides, each next to their significant other.
"Everyone comfortable?" the ninja questioned, glancing around as they all nodded.
"How about you?" Uriko countered.
He turned to her and smiled. "I'm okay; thanks. …Well, quoting from my dear older brother," he paused and grinned at Yugo. "'Here we go!'"
Looking at the others with a serious expression on his face, Kenji admitted, "First of all, I have something to confess. I know that I told Yugo I was going to the capital to visit a friend, but…"
"You really went to look up your hospital records." The boxer finished for his younger brother.
"…How did you know?" the blue-haired ninja questioned, appearing a bit surprised.
"Uriko told us that was what you said to her three years ago," Jane answered. "But you'd better not blame her or anything; she didn't know that you had told Yugo a different story."
"Why did you lie?" the wolf zoanthrope inquired in a gentle, un-accusing tone of voice.
"I knew that you'd want to come along, but I wanted to do this by myself," Kenji told him. "I had to take care of this alone."
"It is dangerous to travel by yourself to a place that you don't know very well," Long commented. "I'm not saying you could not have handled the situation solo, but perhaps you could have asked Yugo to go with you."
"He was busy so I didn't want to disturb him," the ninja countered, then turned to grin at Yugo as he joked lightheartedly, "Besides, I'd most likely ask Uriko first if I wanted anyone to come with me."
"Gee, I feel honored now," the brown-haired boxer replied, rolling his eyes in exasperation, but then winked at Uriko while her cheeks flushed pink at what her fiancé had said.
"I don't mean to interrupt…" Alice chimed in suddenly. "But what happened after you arrived there, Kenji?"
"I first went to an inn to rent a room and drop off my belongings," he replied. "The hospital was my next destination."
"But how did you know where to begin?" Jane piped up. "I mean, it's complicated to look up a record if you don't know your birth name."
"Yeah, I found that out pretty soon," the ninja said a bit sheepishly. "However, as I was leaving the receptionist table, feeling kind of dejected, a woman came up and stopped me. She asked what I was looking for, and so think that perhaps she could have helped, I told her all that I knew about myself."
Pausing briefly, he looked around at the raised eyebrows of his companions, and quickly added, "Don't worry, I didn't mention any names, or reveal my zoanthrope abilities. But the interesting thing is that I had sensed the woman to be a zoanthrope herself."
"Really…?" Uriko asked softly, surprise glimmering in her large brown eyes.
Kenji nodded. "Yeah, and after a short while, she asked if I was 'one of us too'."
"Rather straight-foreword," Alan commented.
"I know," the mole zoanthrope replied. "But I just didn't answer. The woman smiled and told me that there were special files stored away for zoanthropes because people didn't want our information 'mixed in' with theirs."
"'Normal' beings probably won't ever truly accept us," Long remarked. "People are afraid of what they don't know…"
"You're right about that, Master," his disciple said. "Even after Alan gave his speech at the conference, people were only barely reassured on the subject of zoanthropes."
"…Well, you won't believe what kind of information I found on other zoanthropes like us," the ninja continued. "The woman brought me this secret room in the local library and showed me a lot of file cabinets containing data.
"At first, I didn't really know how to look anything up myself, but she told me that they all went by way of different animal beast forms, followed by the names in alphabetical order."
"What does that mean?" Alice inquired.
"I think, for example, our documents would all be separated by our beast forms," her younger sister offered. "Like yours would be in 'rabbit', Yugo's would be in 'wolf', Kenji's would be in 'mole', and so on." She frowned slightly. "I'm not sure where I would fit in though… I doubt there's a cat category…"
"Oh, trust me Uriko," her fiancé assured. "There were a lot of different animal categories. Besides," he grinned. "I looked everyone's up first before my own, just to get the hang of it."
"But Uriko…" Mitsuko chimed in. "You weren't always a cat… do you remember back when you were nine years old?"
"Tylon…" her daughter and Kenji hissed disapprovingly in unison.
"I don't even know what I was myself," the Kenpo student admitted. "Some kind of grown woman… then that large, hideous red beast…" she bit her lip.
"I still searched under cat for you though," the blue-haired teenager said. "I found your file."
She sighed. "That's good…"
"Uh… I found everyone else's too," he informed, looking around the room at the others. "I Xeroxed copies for you all."
The brown-haired young woman smiled and squeezed his hand. "Thanks… can you bring them down later?"
"Sure," he answered, smiling back at her.
"Go on, continue…" she urged. "What information did you find on yourself?"
"......" the ninja cast his eyes to the carpet.
"What's wrong Kenji?" Yugo questioned.
"…I didn't find any files on myself, but on my parents," he said finally.
Uriko slightly tilted her head to one side in curiosity. "You mean, there's no information on you?"
"No, not a damn thing," Kenji told her, shaking his head in negativity. "I also found and read a few articles on this interesting couple though."
"Why did they appeal to you?" Jenny asked.
"Because the woman died at the birth of her child and her husband was assassinated several years later."
The nurse gasped. "Really?!" The young ninja nodded his reply numbly. "By who?"
"I don't know; they didn't say," Kenji said with a shrug. "But something interesting is that he was killed the same year that reports of kids being snatched and taken away had started.
"According to the last article that I read, " he continued. "The house was put on fire after the man was assassinated. Nearby neighbors reported it at around after midnight. Reporters also found out that his six-year-old son, Bryan, mysteriously disappeared."
"He wasn't found in the fire?" asked Uriko.
"Nope."
"Did you find any other info on him?" she persisted.
"Well, I just found a bunch of pictures on the family," Kenji informed her. "But other than that, nothing else."
"So… why did they interest you?" his fiancée questioned, whispering into his ear and looking into his light brown pupils.
"… Let me go upstairs and get those papers for you all…" the ninja said, glancing away as he arose from the ground.
A bit of confusion in her eyes, she got up along with him and told the others, "Let's take a break. Meet back here in about ten minutes?"
After her companions nodded, the Kenpo student followed the blue-haired teenager as he slowly walked toward the stairs. Their friends all resumed standing positions, stretching their muscles out comfortably.
"Oh, one more question Kenji," Alice started.
The two of them paused and he turned around. "Yeah?"
"What was the name of the man?" the nurse asked.
"…Adam Takiyo," came the quiet answer before he and Uriko disappeared up the stairs.
*****
At the name, the dark-haired Kenpo master felt an jolt of surprise go through his body. Noticing his reaction, Jane cast a questioning look at him as he ducked his head and went toward the door leading outside. While the others were oblivious, the blonde tomboy followed and shut the wooden frame after her. Sitting down next to him on the front porch, she took note of his face looking at the ground and his hands dug into his long black hair.
"Is something wrong?" she asked somewhat timidly, bringing her face nearby his, her cool blue eyes watching his closed eyelids.
"Adam Takiyo…" was his soft whisper.
"Long?"
"I… know of that person…"
"Oh… I'm sorry." Frowning sadly, Jane placed an arm around his figure in compassion.
"No, you don't understand…" he said. "Jane… remember about two and half years ago… when I told you about my past…"
"Yes, I remember…" she replied quizzically.
"He… he's the last person I was… assigned to kill before I quit. And his son was the one whom I turned into an orphan…" Long looked up at her with a pained expression in his eyes.
"Are you sure??" the leopard zoanthrope asked.
"Of course; Tylon told me the names of the people I were to assassin beforehand."
"But how does Adam Takiyo relate to Kenji?" Jane wondered.
"I don't know," her boyfriend said softly.
"If he's special to Kenji… do you think you should tell him…?" she questioned softly.
"It is my responsibility to," he replied. "After he's done with his story. But… do you think you could accompany me, Jane?"
"Oh… sure," she said, nodding her confirmation.
Giving her a small smile, the tiger zoanthrope wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "Thanks."
I wonder if you know how much you mean to me, Jane… he thought to himself.
*****
Upstairs, the young couple had reached the peak and Kenji walked across the hall. Stepping into her room, he flipped on the light switch and proceeded to a blue duffel bag that lay on the ground, next to her bed. Unzipping it, he reached inside and pulled out a stack of papers; as he turned around to leave, Uriko stood stubbornly in front of him.
"What are Adam and Bryan Takiyos' relationship to you?" she inquired.
"......" He looked silently at her, then cast his eyes away.
"Tell me, Kenji," the brown-haired woman persisted.
"I'll let you all know downstairs… after everyone reads their documents…" was his quiet reply.
A small frown nipped at her eyebrows but she nodded anyway. "You promise?"
He smiled faintly and told her sincerely, "You know I won't lie to you, dear Riko."
"Don't worry, I trust you…dear Kenji," she grinned at him.
"Let's get going," the ninja said, linking his right hand with her left.
Flipping the light switch off and shutting the door behind her, the Kenpo student followed his lead and the two of them stepped softly down the stairs. Going into the living room, their friends looked up and reverted their attentions to the teenagers.
"Everyone here?" Kenji asked.
"Um…" Uriko scanned the room. "Where are Master Long and Jane?"
"I think they went outside." Jenny gestured toward the front door.
"Uriko, can you give these to them?" the blue-haired ninja asked, handing two manila folders to her.
"Sure," she replied, taking them with one hand and reaching for the knob with the other.
Stepping outside, she almost walked into the couple, who were both sitting on the stone steps in an embrace. Spotting Uriko's arrival, they straightened up and arose from the porch.
"Um, hi," she greeted timidly. "Kenji told me to give these to you two."
"Thank you," her martial arts instructor said, taking both of them and passing one to Jane.
"Do you want to come back in?" the brown-haired girl questioned.
"Yeah, it's getting cold," Jane commented, shivering while the cold air swept past her bare arms.
Nodding, the young woman went back in, followed by her friends. In the living room, they saw each person hunched over their own file, with the exception of Kenji; he was sitting silently in the same spot as before. Uriko joined him, leaving Long and Jane to glance at their own documents, still standing by the door.
"Here's yours," Kenji said, handing her a beige-colored folder.
"Thanks…" his fiancée replied, accepting it.
Looking down at the file, she hesitated before opening it, feeling a bit nervous about what she might see.
"Rest assured, there's nothing bad in there," the ninja informed her.
"You already read it?"
"Um, yeah…" he replied sheepishly. "I don't mean to invade your privacy or anything, though…"
"No, it's alright," Uriko said, pulling back the cover. Scanning her eyes over the document, she skimmed past her birth information, parents, and settled upon one of the latest files:
At nine years of age, young Uriko Nonomura was previously recognized as one of the many innocent children being controlled by the Tylon Corporation. With help from her mother, Mitsuko Nonomura, and other close companion, Alice Tsukagami, the young girl luckily managed to escape the binds of Tylon.
A small shadow of a smile started to form over Uriko's lips; placing the paper down, she browsed the rest of the folder. Just as she was shuffling through a few articles, a flat, square-shaped object fell out from the pile. Picking it up, the young woman peered at it and found out that it was a colored picture of a person from neck up.
Looking down closely at the person in the photograph, her curious brown eyes saw the image of a young boy with ebony black hair staring back at her and the long, stringy bangs dancing in front of his forehead. Appearing about six or seven years of age, she noted the slight look of sadness and an emotionless tone in his wide, almond-shaped eyes of light brown and the faint shade of orange flashing in the midst of the pupils. Scrawled at the bottom of the picture was the name, "Bryan Takiyo."
After seeing that, Uriko lifted her head up to ask Kenji a question when she suddenly felt a nagging feeling as she caught sight of his facial features that seemed a bit familiar to her… Studying the ninja's dark blue hair and looking into the depths of his eyes, she realized something.
"K-Kenji…?" she whispered in wonder.
Hearing his name being called, he turned to her. "Yeah?" Spotting the picture being held loosely in her hands, he thought, Oh crap… I completely forgot about that!
Before Uriko could ask anything, Kenji made a grab for the photograph. Reaching it out of his grasp, she questioned a bit loudly, "Is that you??"
"Shhh!" he shushed her quickly, but it was too late; the couple had gotten the attentions of their friends.
"What?" Yugo asked. "Is Kenji who?"
"This is you, isn't it!" the Kenpo student persisted to her fiancé, ignoring the boxer.
Man, why does she have to be so perceptive… and smart… Letting out a low growl, Kenji glared sideways at her in silent response. Her eyes widening in the realization, she let the picture fall from her hands. Before it hit the ground, the ninja snatched it from the air and clutched it protectively to him.
Their companions had witnessed the entire scene; Alice questioned, "Hey, hey, hey! What's going on?"
"Nothing." The mole zoanthrope said.
"Kenji…" Uriko looked meaningfully at him. Lowing her voice to a barely audible whisper, she asked him, "Is Bryan Takiyo really you? Tell me please…"
Turning his face to look at her, he replied very softly with sincere intensity, "I admire your intelligence…"
Uriko gasped. "…I, I'm… right??"
"Hey, what's that?" Yugo interrupted, pointing at the photograph.
"W-what, this?" Kenji looked down at the picture. "Um…"
"Tell them…" his fiancée whispered encouragingly, gently placing her hand on his arm.
Sighing heavily, the blue-haired ninja looked up into the questioning faces of his companions. "T-there's something you all need to, to know…"
"Kenji… what's wrong?" his older brother asked, concern in his voice.
"Um… you know… about Adam Takiyo?" Kenji started.
Across the room, unknown to the others except Jane, Long cringed slightly at the name. Glancing down briefly at him, his girlfriend said, "Yeah… what about Adam Takiyo?"
"He's… he's…" the teenage boy trailed off, but then his voice grew stronger as he confessed, "Adam Takiyo is… was… my father."
"What?!" Alice blurted out.
It was Long's exact reaction. Adam is his what?!
Immediately, he felt a warm hand curl around his; weakly looking up, he saw that it was Jane.
"H-he's my father," Kenji repeated as he linked arms with the cat zoanthrope sitting next to him.
This has to be a dream… no, a complete, utter nightmare… the Kenpo master thought to himself.
"Wait… then that means you're…" Yugo trailed off.
"…Bryan Takiyo." The ninja finished for his brother.
End of Chapter 10