Bloody Roar III: Reunited by Chance, a Reflection of the Past
By Tiger5913
Chapter 17
The Period Of Reckoning
A secret, hidden deep, is about
To be revealed; a heavy conscience
Hangs over the teller.
Caution lingers in his eyes, fearing
The reaction of his compatriot.
I hope she'll be done soon…
Slowly pacing around the porch outside of his fiancée's home, Kenji absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair while he mind doted on the possible reactions from their friends when they saw him back.
Geez, they aren't going to sit there for ten hours and drill me with questions, are they? He wondered, sighing. No, I know our friends better than that…
"…Good morning," a voice piped up from behind.
Hearing that the voice was masculine, he turned around, knowing that it couldn't be Uriko. The ninja's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the couple standing nearby him but he gave them a small grin and answered, "Oh, morning to you too, Long, Jane."
After displaying a shaky smile, the Kenpo master quickly looked at Jane before he asked Kenji, "Are you preoccupied with anything at the moment?"
"Uriko and I are planning to go visit our friends and shock them with the concept of my coming back," the other male replied, his voice in a lighthearted joking manner at the last part of his sentence. "Do you need something? Are you having trouble?"
He could sense unease in Long's mood. "I… was wondering if I could speak with you about something… We could discuss it later, I suppose, however-"
"-It's rather important…" The lone female finished for her beau.
The blue-haired teenager raised an eyebrow. Important? I wonder what could it be about… "Well, I'm just waiting for Uriko to get ready, so I guess I'm free right now."
The tiger zoanthrope eyed him warily, choosing his next words with delicate caution. "I am not sure that this matter could be resolved in a short period of time…"
But now Kenji was curious as to what the discussion was going to be about. "If it that's important, I would like to know now, if you don't mind my saying."
The couple exchanged a brief look. "I'll keep the runt preoccupied if she comes down early," Jane whispered to her companion. "Just inform Kenji about… you know…"
Long nodded a bit uncertainly. "If, for any reason, I need to acquire your assistance…"
"Then call out," she responded. "Don't worry, I'm not going to desert you or anything like that."
He nodded again, glancing at the dark-haired ninja out of the corner of his eye. "Wish me luck."
She smiled faintly. "Good luck, and come back in one piece."
Please don't remind me… the Kenpo master thought wryly to himself. "Kenji, is it alright with you if we go to the backyard?"
His compatriot shrugged and replied, "I don't have a problem with that." Even with that answer, he regarded Long with weary curiosity in his light brown eyes.
Crossing her arms over her chest, the blonde tomboy carefully watched as the two young men walk around the corner of the house. Good luck, she thought, willing her boyfriend.
Reaching the backyard, the blue-haired ninja slowed down to a stop, standing in the middle of the area. Nearby him, the tiger zoanthrope stopped upon seeing his action. Kenji turned to look at him but his eyes eluded his gaze, flickering over the other aspects and objects in the yard.
"What's going on?" He asked when his patience began to wear thin, breaking the silence.
"…Kenji-or, Bryan," Long started to say, bringing himself to look at the person he was speaking to but hesitated.
"Yeah?" The young man inquired cautiously. "And Kenji, please." What is up? Did something happen to Jane? "I'm sensing that something's wrong… What is it? Are you and Jane getting along okay?"
A bit taken back by the last question, the Kenpo master's eyes widened in slight surprise. "No… we're fine."
"Then… what's wrong?"
"Kenji, do you…" He stopped again. "…Do you remember anything at all about your parents? I mean, regarding their…deaths."
What…what a strange thing to ask… The mole zoanthrope glanced at him. "No… I don't even remember what they looked like, or anything about them. I can barely recall the events Uriko and I shared in our childhood."
His companion raised a hand to rest against his own forehead. "I don't know how I am going to explain this…" he muttered to himself.
"Why…why do you ask?" Kenji questioned. "Do you… I mean, did you know my parents or something?"
Long gave him a rueful smile. "I suppose you could put it that way."
"What's that supposed to mean…?" Frowning in slight confusion, he walked over to casually lean his back against a wall.
"I…" the black-haired man seemed to have difficulty getting the words out. "I did indeed know your parents… your mother quite well, as a matter of fact."
The ninja glanced at him strangely. Were he and my mother old friends… did they used to have a relationship… what? "May I request a more sensible explanation?"
He received a small grin from his companion. "You must have inherited that from us-I mean, from Ivy."
Who? "Ivy?"
"That was your mother," the Kenpo master informed him.
"Oh…" Kenji's eyes fell to the floor. Then I guess Long did know my mother… "So how do you… Why do you know her?"
Over at the front of the house, Uriko walked out of her front door and shut it, proceeding down the porch. She scanned around for her fiancée, but upon spying Jane instead, she gently tapped the blonde-haired woman on the shoulder and greeted, "Hi, Jane. Have you seen Kenji around?"
A bit startled, the leopard zoanthrope quickly recovered from her surprise and smiled. "Hey, runt. Sorry, but he's a little busy right now."
"With what? I thought that he and I had plans…"
"Kenji's speaking with Long right now," she told the brown-haired female. "They should be done in a little bit."
"…? What does Master Long need to tell Kenji?" Uriko inquired curiously, glancing at the other woman's face carefully.
"I… am not really sure," Jane fibbed. "It's none of my business, so I didn't ask." I don't need to ask… I already know.
"You… don't know?" The cat zoanthrope tilted her head slightly to one side, raising an eyebrow. "What could be so important that they need to talk in private?"
Long should be the one to tell her himself…or Kenji. The tomboy thought to herself. But still… the runt kind of has a right to know… She said to the young woman nonchalantly, "Your guess is as good as mine."
Uriko regarded her silently. "I'm not accusing you of lying or anything, Jane, but I think that you know what their topic of discussion is…"
Hrmp, she's pretty damn perceptive. "Why do you presume that?"
The brown-haired girl eyed her carefully. "I…just have a really strong feeling that you do. If you know, can't you please tell me? I mean, I'd like to know about an important issue that involves my fiancé-"
Jane's eyes widened. "Excuse me…?"
"Oh, I mean, Kenji!" Uriko blushed fiercely, her gaze quickly darting away as she tried to cover her previous statement; "I-I misspoke…"
"You two are… engaged??" Her friend looked at her incredulously.
One hand went up to rest upon her cheek, burning from embarrassment. "I, uh… Um…"
Taking note of her immense flushing, Jane said gently to the other young woman, "I won't tell."
She coughed a laugh. "Heh, tell about what…?"
The cat zoanthrope received a knowing look from her friend. "Uriko…"
Giving up her cover, the Kenpo student sighed. "…Yeah, we are." Fingering the engagement ring tentatively, she hastily shot her hand behind her back, out of her companion's sight.
The blonde tomboy grinned and inquired in a joking tone of voice, "So he got you a ring, huh?"
Her face flushing a deeper shade of crimson, she managed a shaky smile and a small, quick nod.
Hmm, how sweet, A smile of her own touched Jane's lips. "You're not getting married anytime real soon… are you?"
Uriko shook her head. "No. We haven't really discussed the date or anything, but we agreed to wait a while."
"I assume that neither your mother or Alice know, right? Or any of the others?"
"Uh huh. You're the only one that found out."
"Hmm…"
The seventeen-year-old glanced at her friend, seeming a bit worried. "You're not going tell…"
Jane chuckled. "I promise I won't. I'll leave it up to you and Kenji to do the task."
She let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jane…"
"It's not a problem, runt." The leopard zoanthrope replied, smiling as she used the nickname with fond affection.
"So, um… Can you please tell me what it is that Master Long is discussing with Kenji?" Uriko looked a little wistful.
I don't know how I'm going to tell her… Jane thought with a frown. "If you promise to stay quiet…"
"Yeah?" the young woman asked hopefully.
"… …I'll go with you to the backyard. That way, you can hear for yourself…"
"Really? Thanks!" Smiling, the brown-haired girl gave her friend a hug before peering around the corner of her house in vast curiosity. I wonder what all this is about…
Starting to walk toward in the direction of the backyard, Jane let out a small sigh as she motioned for Uriko to follow her. I hope that Long won't be too mad at me, if he should find out about this…
*****
Appearing to be in another world about something, the tiger zoanthrope looked thoughtfully at the blue-haired ninja. "Do you remember having any siblings?"
Kenji shook his head, indicating his negative reply, temporarily distracted from his previous question. "From all I know, I was-or am, an only child. …What about you?"
"I… had just an older sister."
The male teenager smiled wryly. "That's more than what I had. I don't even know if I have any other relatives, such as cousins, aunts, or uncles. And I assume that my grandparents are… I mean, passed away."
Trust me, you have more than that… Long thought wearily, then told his friend, "I received a brother-in-law when my sister got married."
"Really?" The younger man seemed to perk up and take interest at the mention of in-laws. "How did it feel, having a brother? Did you two get along?"
Huh… I wonder why he is so delved into this topic? "It felt different, I suppose. Having a brother was a new experience; I'd never had one before. But as for getting along with him…" He paused to let his eyes dwell upon the ground. "No, unfortunately, we did not."
Kenji frowned slightly, a sympathetic meaning behind it. "Sorry to hear that."
"It's alright," the Kenpo master replied, a half-smile forming on his face. "It is good to see that you get along with Yugo."
"Yeah, well…" the ninja took on a far-off look in his eyes. "He's more than my 'brother'; he's also my caretaker. I feel like I owe a lot to him, rescuing and taking me out of the Tylon laboratory, then just adapting to a whole new world of responsibilities, bringing in a child to take care of…"
"You were… nine, right?"
He nodded. "Yes."
Long gave him a full smile. "Thankfully, things turned out for the best."
"Uh huh, with the exception of Busuzima… and Xion…" the mole zoanthrope's face expression hardened at the two names and his hand tightened into a fist.
"I hope that later tonight, you'll be willing to let us know how you… encountered Xion."
Kenji forced a somewhat sadistic-looking grin. "…The last meeting was quite a show, huh."
His companion appeared pained. "Kenji…"
He shook his head firmly. "No, it's okay. I actually apologize if anyone thinks I deceived them, not telling about the discovery of my parents earlier."
An exasperated expression replaced Long's previous look. No, no, he shouldn't be feeling guilty, I should! "No one should feel… obligated to tell others a secret that they'd rather keep to themselves…" Hrmp, I should be one to talk about keeping secrets…
"Uriko figured it out," the dark-haired ninja admitted. "Heh, she's very intelligent… Took one look at the photograph of a little boy and realized that it was a younger version of me."
"Perhaps my disciple knows you so well that she's memorized your features by heart," his companion joked lightheartedly.
He chuckled good-naturedly. "We have known each other for over nine years…"
"Oh, really? That's quite a while."
"Yeah… ever since we were eight years old."
We're getting really off-topic… The black-haired man cleared his throat. "If you don't mind me changing the subject…"
Kenji glanced at him. "What? Oh, go ahead, I don't mind. Speaking of a subject change, can I inquire about what happened to your sister and brother-in-law?"
"… …They have both passed away."
Damn, stupid question! The ninja scolded himself silently. "Er, sorry for asking that…"
"That's not a problem; it's been almost eleven years now… for my sister, anyway…" Sounding a bit wistful, Long closed his eyes upon finishing his sentence.
I wonder how they passed away… But I'm better off not asking. "…Um…"
As if reading his mind, the Kenpo master informed, "…My sister died of illness. She had an incurable form of pancreatic cancer."
Wow, that must have been hard on his family… The blue-haired teenager then asked somewhat stupidly, "…How come you're trusting me like this?"
"Well, why not?"
He flushed as he tried to explain, "It's just that I don't think we've ever interacted very much… I never thought that you would chose me to confide in about your family. You're not doing this out of pity or anything… are you?"
The tiger zoanthrope fixated his dark brown eyes on his ally. "No, of course not. I don't like pitying others, or having other pity me. Sympathy, compassion, I will offer, but not pity."
"Okay, that's good," Kenji grinned. "You've read my mind."
The other protagonist smiled. "ESP?"
"Hah, wouldn't that be freaky?" was his reply, followed by a soft chuckle. He became solemn as he asked timidly, "So, um, what happened to your brother-in-law after… after…"
"…After my sister's death?"
"Uh, yeah…"
"…He took on a better, more responsible attitude. He actually had the decency to take full custody of the child that he and my sister had propagated."
"Hey, that's a good thing; him behaving better." The ninja grinned, but discarded it quickly. "Wait, then… then what was the cause of his death?"
"…Murder."
Standing silently around the corner of the house, out of the two men's viewpoint, Uriko let out a small gasp at what her martial arts instructor had just said, then hastily covered her mouth with one hand. Her face set in a grim expression, Jane's lips thinned into a slit, feeling sympathetic for what Kenji was going to find out.
"W-What?" He hadn't expected a response like that.
A stormy look ignited in the Kenpo master's eyes and his facial features turned into a look of immense anger and deep resentment. "My brother-in-law was assassinated. By a weak-minded fool whom had their senses blinded by a hungered lust for power."
That is intense… Hrmp, that assassin…what an atrocious thing to do. The mole zoanthrope commented silently, a slight frown forming over his eyebrows. "Did you ever find that cold-hearted bastard?"
To his surprise, Long looked at him with a wry smile on his face, his fists clenched tightly together, dangling freely on both of his sides. "Funny you should ask that."
"H-huh?" Kenji raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"
"Because… Right now… you are looking at that cold-hearted bastard," he confessed softly, sounding remorseful. "He stands before your eyes at this moment."
Holy-! What the-! The ninja's eyes widened intensively. "What the hell are you talking about?! What do you mean?!"
"I… I was the one who killed him." His companion looked away. "Yes, the spouse of my own sister."
"M-Master…?" Uriko murmured softly, shocked by the admission. "H-how could that be…"
"You… I knew that you didn't like him, but to kill him…?" Subconsciously, her fiancé took a step back.
"Kenji…" Long continued. "Did you know that I used to be… an assassin?"
"I-I think I remember Yugo mentioning it to Alan sometime back when I was a few years younger, like ten. But I thought it was just a rumor or something…"
"I used to work for Tylon," Kenji was informed. "Starting around when I was nineteen. I finally stopped seven years after that, at twenty-six. But by then…"
"It was… too late?"
"Yes. By assignment from the Tylon Corporation, I had ended the lives of many others in the seven-year period…"
The dark-haired ninja's gaze fell to the ground. "I… was also sent out to hunt you all down and…and end your lives."
"You did that with reluctance… unwillingly." Long remarked sensibly. "Busuzima forced you to-"
"But I feel that I should have been able to fight it!" Kenji blurted out angrily, interrupting him. "Prevent all of that somehow! I mean, I was fourteen, not a mere five-year-old or something of the sort."
"That's true; however…" The tiger zoanthrope tapped the teenager on the shoulder, getting him to look up. "The influence of mind-control is powerful, very seductive in a way - although I'm not implying anything. Even strong-willed people can easily succumb to brainwashing… which will then leave them vulnerable to being mind-controlled."
"I… guess." He answered a bit uncertainly. "Still, I hope… I hope that wherever he is, your brother-in-law understands that you're not really a sardonic killer or anything, not like the way Fox was."
The Kenpo master sighed. "Hans was… misguided. He is still responsible for his own actions, but he shouldn't be detested."
"I suppose you're right," the mole zoanthrope said softly. "That's pretty admirable of you…"
"…Pardon? What is admirable?"
"That you seem to have the ability to find a good side to people," Kenji told him. "I bet you even have something nice to remark about Shenlong… despite what he did to you."
Appearing a little uncomfortable at the claim, Long said hesitantly, "Well, I cannot say that I hate him or anything of the sort… He was confused; his mind had been toyed with, provoked."
"Heh, I was right…" the ninja commented with a grin. "But if you say something positive about Busuzima, then I'm gonna ask Alice to have your head checked."
"Hmm, thanks for your moral support…" his friend kidded.
The younger man suddenly adapted a serious look on his face. "Hey… um, regarding your sister and brother-in-law's child… Whom would be your…niece or nephew, right?"
"Hrmp, although it sounds a bit peculiar… You are correct."
"What happened to him or her?"
Well… this is it… Long thought to himself, at the same time Jane that was thinking, Here comes the moment of truth…
Noticing that the blonde-haired woman had a far-off look in her sky blue eyes, Uriko whispered, "What's wrong Jane?"
"You'll find out soon enough, runt…" was her solemn reply.
"It's a he, my… nephew, I guess you could refer to him as," the black-haired man said to Kenji. "He was taken away by Tylon the same night I assassinated his father. I…turned him into an orphan."
Oh, man… "Where is he now?"
Not answering his question, the tiger zoanthrope stopped and glanced intently at Kenji, silently boring into the light brown pupils of his eyes. A chill shot down the ninja's spine at the intense look he was receiving and he repeated a bit shakily, "W-where is he now, Long…?"
"All I know is that he was artificially infused with zoanthrope abilities by lab technicians at Tylon shortly after he was brought in."
Kenji looked outraged. "What, they injected zoanthrope abilities to a-! How old was the kid??"
"Around six or seven years old."
"How utterly preposterous…" the corresponding teenager mumbled, clearly upset by the acknowledgment of the information.
"Yeah…" Unknown to him, Uriko mumbled in agreement, her large brown eyes filling with a combined emotion of sorrow and anger. "Like what Tylon did to Kenji and I when we were kids…"
"Didn't you try to, well, help the kid get out or anything like that?" her fiancé queried.
"I hate to admit it, but no," Long answered. "I was preoccupied with Tylon's other assassins when they decided to play 'cat and mouse' and hunt me down the day after I left the corporation."
"Huh, that must have been fun, being chased…" Kenji commented, his voice tinted with heavy sarcasm. "Did you ever find out what happened to the boy? I mean, up to now?"
He received a perceptive, yet peculiar look from his friend. "Actually, I found out several years ago…"
"Really?"
"Yes. The child was kept captive at the Tylon up until he was nine years old, when the corporation was destroyed, thanks to Yugo and Alan."
The ninja fell silent, a thoughtful expression overtaking his face. "What… what happened to the youth prisoners after the destruction? Did they all get sent to an orphanage?"
His companion grimaced slightly as he told him, "Those who were auspicious enough to survive the explosion…probably were sent to an orphanage. But that is just an assumption; it's not based on any proven facts. I found out a little later that he'd been rescued by… by another older zoanthrope who had searched the remaining premises of the Tylon ruins."
"Oh…"
"But one thing that perhaps may be of interest to you…" the tiger zoanthrope continued, his voice low and cautious-sounding. "I met up with him five years later."
The blue-haired teenager grinned. "That's good. So how was he?"
"The child, or at that time he should reasonably be referred to as a teenager, was having some… tribulation, I suppose you could say, at the time."
"How come?"
"Disinclined affiliation with the Zoanthrope Liberation Front."
Kenji's expression darkened at the mention of the organization and he responded with a simple, "I see."
"The key word there is disinclined," the Kenpo master notified quickly. "Don't think badly of him."
"Anyone asinine enough to get themselves entangled with the ZLF doesn't have my respect," the young man said firmly.
Slightly shaking his head in negativity, Long sighed, sounding a bit exasperated. "I keep telling you, desist from blaming yourself."
"…? Myself?" He glanced up in perplexity. "What do you mean by that…? I was talking about the boy."
His comrade stayed quiescent, avoiding eye contact.
What does he mean…? The seventeen-year-old wondered, feeling a part of his memory nagging at the statement. My…self…?
As Kenji frowned and was just about to open his mouth and question him further, the something irked at his subconscious mind until the truth hit him in a sudden jolt of comprehension. "Wait-wait a minute - are you saying that… that I'm the boy?"
When the dark-haired man didn't answer, the inquisitive ninja persisted with his question; "Are you saying that I'm the boy?? Answer me, damn it!"
Remarkably curious to hear the answer herself, the cat zoanthrope discreetly peeked her head around the corner to witness the response, just in time to see the slow, hesitant nod that was needed to confirm Kenji's inquiry.
The End