Hokuto couldn't say she ever truly hated her brother but she didn't particularly love him either. Still, she didn't think it would of come down to this. Breathing in the cool night air, she mechanically checked herself over one last time. As Hokuto needlessly re-adjusted her bandanna she kept her eyes on the abandoned shrine she was approaching. She was certain he was inside even though he was better at avoiding detection than she ever was at finding him. That meant he either wanted to be found, was too far gone to disguise his trail, or it was a trap.
Still, it seemed appropriate that they meet at the shrine. This was where Kairi had met her when he told her that he was leaving home, where many of their sparring matches had taken place, and where she had nearly been beaten to death by her own brother. She still felt hesitation about what she was about to do and she was certain that she needed to be fully focused if she was going to have a chance. As she tried to clear her mind of the doubts that were plaguing her, Hokuto began to recall memories of times she had spent with him- long hours training, the sometimes friendly competition... Hokuto frowned. There would be time enough afterwards to think about things like that. If she allowed herself to become sentimental now she would never be able to finish her task but she couldn't help herself.
The shrine was an abandoned Shinto shrine that once housed the scrolls that Hokuto's family -a branch of the Bushin ninja- was pledged to protect. The scrolls were said to grant incredible powers to anyone who dared to look upon them. Rival clans and others seeking power had once tried to steal the scrolls in the hopes of controlling the energy supposedly contained inside them. As far as Hokuto was concerned the whole thing was foolish. Not only did she doubt that there was anything supernatural about the scrolls, no one had tried to disturb, or even inquire, about the scrolls since before her father had been born. The rigorous life of everyone in the family revolved around protecting a set of scrolls that had been forgotten by the rest of the world. The scrolls were currently hidden inside the family house and the shrine now sat abandoned on the edge of the land owned by Hokuto's family. In recent years the only visitors it received were Hokuto and Kairi.
Most all of Hokuto's memories of the shrine involved violence. She remembered one of the rare occasions when she and Kairi weren't in direct competition was when he snuck her out to see a Street Fighter tournament. Their father had insisted that a violent street fight was no place for a thirteen year old boy and his ten year old sister, but Kairi assured her that it would be good for her to go. Claiming they were going out to explore the shrine the two of them doubled back once they were out of sight of their house and headed down the main road to town.
At first Hokuto was thrilled with the idea. Not only was it the first time that she had directly disobeyed her father, it was one of the few times she and her brother had conspired on something. Her elation lasted until she actually saw the fights. While Hokuto was terrified by the brutal violence of the fights she did her best to watch since her brother told her that -because of their family- it was very possible she would be competing in battles like the ones she was watching in a few years. She found it hard to believe that she would be expected to take part in something so awful.
"Hey Hokuto, why do you think those two guys are fighting?" Kairi asked her during one of the matches. Feeling a bit sick to her stomach from seeing so much brutality for the first time, all Hokuto could do was shake her head.
"I don't get it," Kairi said, "You're supposed to fight for a reason, right? They're not part of any special school and they're not going to get famous from fighting in an alley, so why do it?" His dark brown eyes fixed on the fight, Kairi continued to watch the two fighters as if he might understand them the more intently he watched.
The sight of one of the fighters spinning away from a punch, a spray of sweat and blood flying from his face, was finally too much for Hokuto to take. Taking her eyes away from the fight, she looked at the crowd that had gathered to watch the violence.
Most of the crowd was men, ranging from high school boys to office workers, who were absorbed with the spectacle. The only break in the all male throng was a small cluster of schoolgirls who had been attracted by the crowd. Instead of watching the fight they were looking in Hokuto's direction. They would whisper to each other while shooting quick glances toward where she was and doing their best to stifle their giggling. At first Hokuto thought the girls were looking at Kairi; he was about the same age as they appeared to be. After a moment, however, she realized they were making fun of her. Instead of being dressed in a school uniform with all the latest fashionable accessories, Hokuto -who had dressed as if she was going to explore an abandoned building- was dressed in clothes she had inherited from Kairi after he had outgrown them. Home schooled by their mother, Hokuto's family was one of the few in Japan who didn't send their children through the public school system and she was suddenly very aware of the difference between her and other girls her age.
She spent the rest of the match staring at the floor, feeling both embarrassment and resentment toward both her father for making her so different from the norm and her brother for bringing her to the fight, for giving her such horrid clothes, and for not noticing her mood. On the trip home that evening Hokuto and Kairi were silent, both lost in their thoughts.
As Hokuto walked through the shrines gates she was amazed to discover there were no signs of the struggle that had happened between her and her brother. The grass that had been uprooted by their fighting or burned by the blast of energy Kairi had thrown at her had all grown back. Even the bloody imprint Hokuto made when she had been thrown against the weathered wooden gate had washed off.
It wasn't long after their trip to the tournament that Kairi became even more distant. Against his father's wishes he began to attend tournaments in order to test himself, or he would simply disappear into town. Whenever he spent too long away from home Hokuto was sent to fetch him. Hokuto became very well acquainted with the people who frequented the local Street Fighter tournaments, pachinko parlors and other haunts of her brother.
Even though he was disobeying their father, Kairi was never seriously punished for his actions. Hokuto didn't know the reason for this, but she suspected it was because Kairi was expected to settle down later in life so he was allowed to be more rambunctious now or perhaps it was because he was favored simply because he was the eldest son. The only thing that Hokuto was certain of was that if she ever tried anything similar the punishment given out to her would be severe. She occupied herself by thinking about this and other double standards she had to endure when she was out on her searches for Kairi.
While it was nearly a weekly affair for her to hunt down her brother, one event still stuck in her memory. After checking all the usual places where Kairi was often found she still couldn't find him. None of the local toughs had seen Kairi, so with no leads and no idea what to do she ended up methodically going up and down streets hoping to bump into him. It was late in the day, nearly time for the last train back home, when a very tired Hokuto finally spotted Kairi at an outdoor restaurant. Glad that she had found him, Hokuto ran up to his table without noticing he wasn't alone. Sitting with him was a girl about Kairi's age who was in the middle of telling Kairi a story when Hokuto stumbled up to the table. Seeing Hokuto, Kairi just laughed and told the girl he was with that "his date" had finally arrived and that he had to leave.
"I keep telling Dad that he really shouldn't make you come looking for me," Kairi said as they headed to the train station. "A girl your age shouldn't be hanging out in some of the areas I go to."
Hokuto didn't respond. All she could think about was the girl that Kairi had been dining with. Hokuto recognized her as one of the girls who had once laughed at her when she was with Kairi at a street fighter tournament. Two years had passed since then, but Hokuto still looked like a grubby little tomboy who followed after her older brother and she still felt embarrassed about it.
"Besides," Kairi continued when he noticed that Hokuto wasn't speaking, "you have your own life, just like I do. Dad should know that there's more to life than just training." Hokuto could tell Kairi was watching her, but she continued to stare straight ahead as they walked. "Maybe dad's right," Kairi finally said, "maybe the two of us were born unlucky. Did he ever tell you that's what he thinks? He's convinced himself that something awful is going to happen to both of us. Truth is, the only awful thing that's happened to us is that we were born into this family."
Hokuto stood at the door to the shrine. The rotting wood of the floorboards creaked slightly as she shifted her weight with indecision. She remembered the last rational conversation she had with Kairi was where she was currently standing. Instead of the sparring match she thought they were going to have, he told her he was leaving.
The only other time Hokuto saw her brother when she wasn't bringing him home was when they were sparring. While most of their matches were lopsided battles -Kairi was older, stronger, and a more experienced fighter than she was- he was nevertheless ruthless with her, often beating Hokuto until she was bleeding and sore.
"You do know why I'm so rough on you, don't you?" Kairi once asked her after a particularly vicious training session. The look of smug precision he had while in combat was gone as he knelt by his sister. "It's not just about us trying to improve our skills." From the sound of his voice it sounded as if he was asking Hokuto for the answer because he wasn't sure of it himself. At the time, however, Hokuto didn't think about his questions; it was all she could do to fight back tears as she tried to stand up under her own strength.
While her sparring matches with Kairi could be rough, they were preferable to her matches against her father. The fights with him were more structured but he would berate her with a constant stream of critiques, instructions and advice if Hokuto didn't immediately prove herself in the fight. Her father's training method was to teach his children only the most basic of attacks, forcing them to improvise and create their own techniques and style. It was a difficult way to learn to fight and wasn't made any easier by their father's stern, impatient personality. She remembered one match where her father had countered a hold of her's with a move he had never taught to her. After tossing Hokuto to the mat he stood over and chided his daughter.
"You need to expect the unexpected, even when doing something you think you understand," he said. "Only constant vigilance will keep y-"
Kairi's diving kick caught his father on the top of his closely cropped head.
"What are you doing giving advice if you can't even watch your own back?" Kairi laughed. Kairi had directed his comment at his father, but for a split-second he glanced down at Hokuto, as if to make sure she also appreciated seeing their father humbled. His father tried to respond, but coughed instead, choking on the blood coming from his cheek after he had accidentally bitten into it due to Kairi's kick.
While Kairi's behavior was brash and disrespectful, Hokuto knew her father approved of it on some level. Kairi had managed to enter the training room and land an attack before anyone noticed him; even as young as he was he was already an excellent student of Bushin. His attack on his father was an act of defiance but it was tolerated along with his other transgressions due to the belief that his independent spirit would be a benefit when he took up the lonely job of overseeing the family's charge.
Kairi's independent spirit also meant that he spent increasingly long periods away from home, either in competition or enjoying himself, until Hokuto was eventually sent to bring him back. While her family was concerned when she was unable to find him immediately the final time he disappeared, Hokuto wasn't particularly bothered. Kairi had told her -and only her- that he was leaving behind their family, but in spite of the cryptic reasons he had given her for his decision, Hokuto suspected Kairi had simply met a girl who he felt was more interesting to live with than his family. The only thing that kept Hokuto searching was her sense of obligation to the family and that searching for her brother had become a routine part of her life by then. When the days of Kairi's absence stretched into months, for lack of another outlet the other family members began to shift the blame for Kairi's disappearance onto Hokuto for her seeming disinterest and her inability to find him. Even though Hokuto found the accusations unfair and insulting she continued her efforts to locate her brother, eventually leading her into the world of street fighting.
While searching for her brother Hokuto heard rumors that someone matching his description had been seen at various fighting tournaments throughout the country. Certain her family would object, Hokuto didn't tell them the only way she felt she could find her brother again was to enter a Street Fighter tournament herself. It only took her a few decisive wins for her to go from being known as Kairi's silly little sister to being another fighter. Ability was respected in the world of street fighting, everything else was secondary. The public attention was a new sensation; now she understood why Kairi sought out the company of others so much. During this time she also realized that she enjoyed being a Street Fighter.
A number of fighters she encountered were slow witted, violent men who's faces were permanently distorted with cauliflower ears and broken noses. They were sailors, drifters, or others for whom the lure of quick money or the chance to prove how tough they were was enough to make them risk bodily harm. There were other fighters, however, that Hokuto began to notice. Whether it was the thrill of competing against others or something in their personality that drove them to fight, they were there because they enjoyed being fighters. Having spent all of her young life training, Hokuto felt a sense of kinship with these professional fighters. If she had been more outgoing she suspected she could of become friends with some of them.
When Kairi had left he had told her he was leaving to find out whom he was when he fought. At the time Hokuto found his comments as inexplicable as his explanations for his violent sparring. She finally began to understand what he meant when she was competing. All her doubts and insecurities were gone when she fought, replaced with the desire to win. Was this the feeling he had been searching for when he repeatedly left home? It wasn't until she fought Kairi after he had gone mad that she saw another aspect of what he had meant. Lost for months, his body now as scarred as his mind, Kairi attacked her with a savagery that terrified her. She was certain that instead of helping her brother she was going to be crippled by Kairi and left to die in an alley in Tokyo. No. She had fought Kairi here at the temple, so why did she suddenly think she had fought him in Tokyo? As clearly as if it was before her eyes Hokuto could see the dark alley they had fought in, could smell the air thick with both industrial exhaust and her sweat, could feel the cement and slimy rainwater against her palms as she caught herself after being knocked off her feet yet again. Hokuto ran her fingers across her eyes to the bridge of her nose. It was the temple they had fought at, she knew that was right. The temple, not Tokyo.
Hokuto's hand rested on the shrine door but she didn't open it. She remembered the time that she had asked Kairi if there were ghosts in the shrine. It was right after their first sparring match in the shrine. She had become so fussy after losing to Kairi that he had to agree to carry her home on his back before she settled down. He assured her there were ghosts and that they would try and catch her when she was sleeping. She didn't believe him then, just as she didn't believe him when he told her he knew what was written on the scrolls that their family fanatically hid or when he first told her that he was leaving the family. She remembered one occasion shortly before he disappeared where he asked her to leave with him. She had thought he was only being foolish or that he was upset with their parents. His grumbling about how useless he felt their charge to protect the scrolls was made her think that was his actual complaint. Upon reflection Hokuto felt she should of listened more closely to Kairi; it was possible that he had been telling her about what was overcoming him.
Even though Kairi had lost his mind and nearly killed her, Hokuto still felt closer to him than the other members of her family. While they had grown up together in the same house, her younger sister Nanase was a stranger to her. Nanase had managed to turn her outsider life to her advantage and had become very popular with others her age as someone who got to lead an exciting storybook life. She was outgoing, gregarious, cute, and she annoyed Hokuto to no end. After her defeat to Kairi, Hokuto was forced to train with Nanase while she recovered.
"Oops, sorry," Nanase said. Even when she apologized she still had a trace of a giggle in her voice.
Nearly doubled over, Hokuto tried to fight off the pain. She had suffered a hairline fracture of her collarbone during her fight with Kairi and while the pain from the injury had mostly died down getting hit by Nanase's staff had aggravated it. When they started the sparring match a second time Hokuto felt a bit better when she managed to easily counter Nanase's attack and throw her off balance. As Nanase stumbled past her Hokuto felt the urge to lunge at her sister with a killing attack. It wasn't a tactical urge to follow up on an opening or was it a petty desire to get back at Nanase for her misplaced strike; rather she felt a brief but certain need to snuff out her sister's life. At the time Hokuto dismissed it as fatigue, but now that she thought about it the feeling scared her. She was never overly fond of Nanase but she had never thought about doing anything that violent to her. Hokuto had been trained with the belief that while killing might be a necessity; it should never be taken lightly and certainly not done in a burst of emotion.
Was she losing her mind? Was Kairi's madness affecting her as well? She knew she had become increasingly confused since her fight with Kairi but her condition was becoming worse now that she was going to confront him again. Shoving the door to the shrine open, Hokuto decided that her problems were secondary to her task at hand. No one was certain just what had happened to Kairi either, but her family felt it was necessary to stop him before he could go on a rampage. If she survived this fight she would have plenty of time to worry about her current mental state.
Looking into the dark shrine, the burst of resolve Hokuto had drained away. She did not want to fight her brother. She knew he had nearly killed her and had quite possibly killed others, but she did not want to fight him. While she was certain she was going to be killed there was the chance that she might end up killing Kairi. She didn't know what it was that had forced her into such a horrible decision, but she hated it. Cursing the fate that had put her into a situation like this, Hokuto headed into the shrine.
"Kairi?" Hokuto ground her teeth at the sound of her voice, which sounded hollow and weak in the empty shrine. "I'm here, Kairi, come out."
"Hokuto," Kairi's deep voice called out.
Unable to locate where Kairi's voice was coming from in the temple, or even how close he was, Hokuto became that much more nervous. "So you remember me?" she said, hoping to stall until she could figure out where Kairi was in relation to her.
"It's good to see you are well." Kairi's voice seemed to be coming from three different directions at once.
"No thanks to you," Hokuto snapped back automatically. She knew it wasn't the place for it, but she was too used to the small arguments she always had with Kairi for her to talk to him in any other fashion. "Do you remember the last time we saw each other?"
"Yes. Do you?"
"I remember you nearly killed me," Hokuto replied. How much did Kairi know about her mental condition? Was he somehow responsible for it?
"You're here because of father's orders?" Their family was supposed to operate as independently of the clan as possible, so even something as extreme as Kairi's disappearance had to be dealt with internally. As long as someone -like Nanase- was still able to carry on the family's charge both Hokuto and Kairi could be sacrificed for the sake of maintaining secrecy.
"Partially," Hokuto tried to locate Kairi but it sounded as if his voice was ringing inside her head. As Hokuto took a few cautious steps into the shrine she heard a rustling above her. As she looked up a blinding flash of purple energy exploded in her face. She heard Kairi land in front of her but all Hokuto could see was the afterimage from whatever Kairi had thrown at her.
Hokuto waited for Kairi's attack; since she doubted she could recover in time she hoped he would at least kill her quickly. She felt Kairi's hands clamp onto either side of her head. Thinking he was about to snap her neck, Hokuto slid her arms between his and tried to push his hands off while trying to pull away from Kairi. It only took a slight bit of pressure for Kairi to release his grip, allowing Hokuto to frantically back away from him. Her back against one of the walls of the shrine, Hokuto eyes cleared up enough for her to get a good look at her brother.
Although she had known him her entire life, Hokuto could barely recognize Kairi. His black hair was now ghostly white and had grown out wildly. Scars criss-crossed his body, including one gash that gouged through his left eye. His other eye had a red glow to it. Energy flickered across his outstretched hands, manifesting itself as white flame. In spite of the fire Hokuto could see that the tape covering Kairi's hands was soaked in blood. This wasn't her brother; this was a monster that needed to be stopped.
"How do you feel?" Kairi asked.
It took a second for her to realize it, but for the first time since she had fought her brother Hokuto felt fine. The confusion that had been increasingly overcoming her was gone. As her mind cleared the actual memory of her first fight with Kairi flooded back to her. She remembered the two of them standing nearly where they were now. Hokuto had her kireneki technique aimed at the shadow that Kairi was in. The energy of her attack swirled and grew around her outstretched hand until it became dangerously large. Hokuto continued to hold it. As Kairi ran out of the shadows towards her, yelling at her to release her fireball, the overloaded kireneki exploded in her face.
Why had she held her attack until it backfired? Had all her injuries had been caused by herself? Dozens of questions racing through her mind, Hokuto tried to speak but found she was so weak she could barely mumble.
Kairi pulled something out that he had tucked into the belt of his ragged pants. Even though they were tightly rolled together Hokuto immediately recognized them as the scrolls that their family was entrusted with guarding. Hokuto's scream only came out as a slight gurgle as she saw the scrolls burst into flames in Kairi's hand.
"The scrolls were meaningless, there was never anything hidden in them," Kairi said. "Instead it's... something... that draws its energy from violence. It seems this shrine is haunted after all. The attempts to capture the scrolls have kept it satisfied, but because the scrolls have been undisturbed for so long it needed some other way to find the violence it needed." Kairi placed his hand on Hokuto's brow. "While I don't quite understand it all, I didn't know about any of this until it tried to take over both of us."
Hokuto was going to question Kairi but before she could try to speak she felt the palm of Kairi's hand grow warmer. The flames on Kairi's hand ran down Hokuto's head and shoulders. What little strength that was left flowed out of Hokuto's body. As she began to swoon Kairi caught Hokuto and lowered her to the ground. Hokuto felt herself breaking out in a cold sweat as she tried to pull herself up off her knees. Looking up at Kairi, she saw him pressing both of his hands to the side of his head, the look of pain on his face illuminated by the glow from his hands. Whatever had been in her had been burnt out by Kairi.
"Hokuto, there's nothing holding you to the family anymore," Kairi said through gritted teeth. "I know I haven't been the best brother to you, but I hope this makes up for it." Pulling himself up, Kairi extended his arms and floated back into the shadows.
Hokuto tried to struggle to her feet but found she could barely crawl. It was all happening so fast, but Hokuto realized that whatever it was that had caused so much grief for so long was now fully inside Kairi. Not only that, but it seemed that Kairi was planning on either defeating the possession on his own or would try to keep the energy contained inside himself. Finally finding her voice she yelled out his name into the empty shrine.
This wasn't the Kairi who would leave home whenever the mood suited him or who felt the duty of their family was pointless, this was the Kairi who had rigorously trained her since that was the only way he knew to help her become stronger, the person who had stood up to her father for her, and the person who, she could dimly recall, had carried her back to their parents' house after she had injured herself with her own kireneki. Even when delirious he was still looking out for her in his own fashion.
Having finally found something to fight for, it seemed Kairi hoped to make up for his years of apathy by taking the family obligation fully into himself. But how well was Kairi thinking? Hokuto had become disoriented with even the small bit that had tried to take her over; how irrational would Kairi be with the entire spirit inside him? How many of his scars were self-inflicted?
Groaning, Hokuto pulled herself to her feet, took one last look around the dark shrine, and slowly headed out of the shrine back to her parents' house. Hokuto knew Kairi had to be stopped; the power inside him was certain to tear him apart. In some way he thought he was freeing her from the obligations they were born into. Instead she was now more resolved to find him than ever. It wasn't her sense of obligation to her family or a need to put Kairi out of his misery, rather it was a desire to rescue her brother from the fate he had chosen for himself. In spite of everything he was her brother and she still loved him.
Still, it seemed appropriate that they meet at the shrine. This was where Kairi had met her when he told her that he was leaving home, where many of their sparring matches had taken place, and where she had nearly been beaten to death by her own brother. She still felt hesitation about what she was about to do and she was certain that she needed to be fully focused if she was going to have a chance. As she tried to clear her mind of the doubts that were plaguing her, Hokuto began to recall memories of times she had spent with him- long hours training, the sometimes friendly competition... Hokuto frowned. There would be time enough afterwards to think about things like that. If she allowed herself to become sentimental now she would never be able to finish her task but she couldn't help herself.
The shrine was an abandoned Shinto shrine that once housed the scrolls that Hokuto's family -a branch of the Bushin ninja- was pledged to protect. The scrolls were said to grant incredible powers to anyone who dared to look upon them. Rival clans and others seeking power had once tried to steal the scrolls in the hopes of controlling the energy supposedly contained inside them. As far as Hokuto was concerned the whole thing was foolish. Not only did she doubt that there was anything supernatural about the scrolls, no one had tried to disturb, or even inquire, about the scrolls since before her father had been born. The rigorous life of everyone in the family revolved around protecting a set of scrolls that had been forgotten by the rest of the world. The scrolls were currently hidden inside the family house and the shrine now sat abandoned on the edge of the land owned by Hokuto's family. In recent years the only visitors it received were Hokuto and Kairi.
Most all of Hokuto's memories of the shrine involved violence. She remembered one of the rare occasions when she and Kairi weren't in direct competition was when he snuck her out to see a Street Fighter tournament. Their father had insisted that a violent street fight was no place for a thirteen year old boy and his ten year old sister, but Kairi assured her that it would be good for her to go. Claiming they were going out to explore the shrine the two of them doubled back once they were out of sight of their house and headed down the main road to town.
At first Hokuto was thrilled with the idea. Not only was it the first time that she had directly disobeyed her father, it was one of the few times she and her brother had conspired on something. Her elation lasted until she actually saw the fights. While Hokuto was terrified by the brutal violence of the fights she did her best to watch since her brother told her that -because of their family- it was very possible she would be competing in battles like the ones she was watching in a few years. She found it hard to believe that she would be expected to take part in something so awful.
"Hey Hokuto, why do you think those two guys are fighting?" Kairi asked her during one of the matches. Feeling a bit sick to her stomach from seeing so much brutality for the first time, all Hokuto could do was shake her head.
"I don't get it," Kairi said, "You're supposed to fight for a reason, right? They're not part of any special school and they're not going to get famous from fighting in an alley, so why do it?" His dark brown eyes fixed on the fight, Kairi continued to watch the two fighters as if he might understand them the more intently he watched.
The sight of one of the fighters spinning away from a punch, a spray of sweat and blood flying from his face, was finally too much for Hokuto to take. Taking her eyes away from the fight, she looked at the crowd that had gathered to watch the violence.
Most of the crowd was men, ranging from high school boys to office workers, who were absorbed with the spectacle. The only break in the all male throng was a small cluster of schoolgirls who had been attracted by the crowd. Instead of watching the fight they were looking in Hokuto's direction. They would whisper to each other while shooting quick glances toward where she was and doing their best to stifle their giggling. At first Hokuto thought the girls were looking at Kairi; he was about the same age as they appeared to be. After a moment, however, she realized they were making fun of her. Instead of being dressed in a school uniform with all the latest fashionable accessories, Hokuto -who had dressed as if she was going to explore an abandoned building- was dressed in clothes she had inherited from Kairi after he had outgrown them. Home schooled by their mother, Hokuto's family was one of the few in Japan who didn't send their children through the public school system and she was suddenly very aware of the difference between her and other girls her age.
She spent the rest of the match staring at the floor, feeling both embarrassment and resentment toward both her father for making her so different from the norm and her brother for bringing her to the fight, for giving her such horrid clothes, and for not noticing her mood. On the trip home that evening Hokuto and Kairi were silent, both lost in their thoughts.
As Hokuto walked through the shrines gates she was amazed to discover there were no signs of the struggle that had happened between her and her brother. The grass that had been uprooted by their fighting or burned by the blast of energy Kairi had thrown at her had all grown back. Even the bloody imprint Hokuto made when she had been thrown against the weathered wooden gate had washed off.
It wasn't long after their trip to the tournament that Kairi became even more distant. Against his father's wishes he began to attend tournaments in order to test himself, or he would simply disappear into town. Whenever he spent too long away from home Hokuto was sent to fetch him. Hokuto became very well acquainted with the people who frequented the local Street Fighter tournaments, pachinko parlors and other haunts of her brother.
Even though he was disobeying their father, Kairi was never seriously punished for his actions. Hokuto didn't know the reason for this, but she suspected it was because Kairi was expected to settle down later in life so he was allowed to be more rambunctious now or perhaps it was because he was favored simply because he was the eldest son. The only thing that Hokuto was certain of was that if she ever tried anything similar the punishment given out to her would be severe. She occupied herself by thinking about this and other double standards she had to endure when she was out on her searches for Kairi.
While it was nearly a weekly affair for her to hunt down her brother, one event still stuck in her memory. After checking all the usual places where Kairi was often found she still couldn't find him. None of the local toughs had seen Kairi, so with no leads and no idea what to do she ended up methodically going up and down streets hoping to bump into him. It was late in the day, nearly time for the last train back home, when a very tired Hokuto finally spotted Kairi at an outdoor restaurant. Glad that she had found him, Hokuto ran up to his table without noticing he wasn't alone. Sitting with him was a girl about Kairi's age who was in the middle of telling Kairi a story when Hokuto stumbled up to the table. Seeing Hokuto, Kairi just laughed and told the girl he was with that "his date" had finally arrived and that he had to leave.
"I keep telling Dad that he really shouldn't make you come looking for me," Kairi said as they headed to the train station. "A girl your age shouldn't be hanging out in some of the areas I go to."
Hokuto didn't respond. All she could think about was the girl that Kairi had been dining with. Hokuto recognized her as one of the girls who had once laughed at her when she was with Kairi at a street fighter tournament. Two years had passed since then, but Hokuto still looked like a grubby little tomboy who followed after her older brother and she still felt embarrassed about it.
"Besides," Kairi continued when he noticed that Hokuto wasn't speaking, "you have your own life, just like I do. Dad should know that there's more to life than just training." Hokuto could tell Kairi was watching her, but she continued to stare straight ahead as they walked. "Maybe dad's right," Kairi finally said, "maybe the two of us were born unlucky. Did he ever tell you that's what he thinks? He's convinced himself that something awful is going to happen to both of us. Truth is, the only awful thing that's happened to us is that we were born into this family."
Hokuto stood at the door to the shrine. The rotting wood of the floorboards creaked slightly as she shifted her weight with indecision. She remembered the last rational conversation she had with Kairi was where she was currently standing. Instead of the sparring match she thought they were going to have, he told her he was leaving.
The only other time Hokuto saw her brother when she wasn't bringing him home was when they were sparring. While most of their matches were lopsided battles -Kairi was older, stronger, and a more experienced fighter than she was- he was nevertheless ruthless with her, often beating Hokuto until she was bleeding and sore.
"You do know why I'm so rough on you, don't you?" Kairi once asked her after a particularly vicious training session. The look of smug precision he had while in combat was gone as he knelt by his sister. "It's not just about us trying to improve our skills." From the sound of his voice it sounded as if he was asking Hokuto for the answer because he wasn't sure of it himself. At the time, however, Hokuto didn't think about his questions; it was all she could do to fight back tears as she tried to stand up under her own strength.
While her sparring matches with Kairi could be rough, they were preferable to her matches against her father. The fights with him were more structured but he would berate her with a constant stream of critiques, instructions and advice if Hokuto didn't immediately prove herself in the fight. Her father's training method was to teach his children only the most basic of attacks, forcing them to improvise and create their own techniques and style. It was a difficult way to learn to fight and wasn't made any easier by their father's stern, impatient personality. She remembered one match where her father had countered a hold of her's with a move he had never taught to her. After tossing Hokuto to the mat he stood over and chided his daughter.
"You need to expect the unexpected, even when doing something you think you understand," he said. "Only constant vigilance will keep y-"
Kairi's diving kick caught his father on the top of his closely cropped head.
"What are you doing giving advice if you can't even watch your own back?" Kairi laughed. Kairi had directed his comment at his father, but for a split-second he glanced down at Hokuto, as if to make sure she also appreciated seeing their father humbled. His father tried to respond, but coughed instead, choking on the blood coming from his cheek after he had accidentally bitten into it due to Kairi's kick.
While Kairi's behavior was brash and disrespectful, Hokuto knew her father approved of it on some level. Kairi had managed to enter the training room and land an attack before anyone noticed him; even as young as he was he was already an excellent student of Bushin. His attack on his father was an act of defiance but it was tolerated along with his other transgressions due to the belief that his independent spirit would be a benefit when he took up the lonely job of overseeing the family's charge.
Kairi's independent spirit also meant that he spent increasingly long periods away from home, either in competition or enjoying himself, until Hokuto was eventually sent to bring him back. While her family was concerned when she was unable to find him immediately the final time he disappeared, Hokuto wasn't particularly bothered. Kairi had told her -and only her- that he was leaving behind their family, but in spite of the cryptic reasons he had given her for his decision, Hokuto suspected Kairi had simply met a girl who he felt was more interesting to live with than his family. The only thing that kept Hokuto searching was her sense of obligation to the family and that searching for her brother had become a routine part of her life by then. When the days of Kairi's absence stretched into months, for lack of another outlet the other family members began to shift the blame for Kairi's disappearance onto Hokuto for her seeming disinterest and her inability to find him. Even though Hokuto found the accusations unfair and insulting she continued her efforts to locate her brother, eventually leading her into the world of street fighting.
While searching for her brother Hokuto heard rumors that someone matching his description had been seen at various fighting tournaments throughout the country. Certain her family would object, Hokuto didn't tell them the only way she felt she could find her brother again was to enter a Street Fighter tournament herself. It only took her a few decisive wins for her to go from being known as Kairi's silly little sister to being another fighter. Ability was respected in the world of street fighting, everything else was secondary. The public attention was a new sensation; now she understood why Kairi sought out the company of others so much. During this time she also realized that she enjoyed being a Street Fighter.
A number of fighters she encountered were slow witted, violent men who's faces were permanently distorted with cauliflower ears and broken noses. They were sailors, drifters, or others for whom the lure of quick money or the chance to prove how tough they were was enough to make them risk bodily harm. There were other fighters, however, that Hokuto began to notice. Whether it was the thrill of competing against others or something in their personality that drove them to fight, they were there because they enjoyed being fighters. Having spent all of her young life training, Hokuto felt a sense of kinship with these professional fighters. If she had been more outgoing she suspected she could of become friends with some of them.
When Kairi had left he had told her he was leaving to find out whom he was when he fought. At the time Hokuto found his comments as inexplicable as his explanations for his violent sparring. She finally began to understand what he meant when she was competing. All her doubts and insecurities were gone when she fought, replaced with the desire to win. Was this the feeling he had been searching for when he repeatedly left home? It wasn't until she fought Kairi after he had gone mad that she saw another aspect of what he had meant. Lost for months, his body now as scarred as his mind, Kairi attacked her with a savagery that terrified her. She was certain that instead of helping her brother she was going to be crippled by Kairi and left to die in an alley in Tokyo. No. She had fought Kairi here at the temple, so why did she suddenly think she had fought him in Tokyo? As clearly as if it was before her eyes Hokuto could see the dark alley they had fought in, could smell the air thick with both industrial exhaust and her sweat, could feel the cement and slimy rainwater against her palms as she caught herself after being knocked off her feet yet again. Hokuto ran her fingers across her eyes to the bridge of her nose. It was the temple they had fought at, she knew that was right. The temple, not Tokyo.
Hokuto's hand rested on the shrine door but she didn't open it. She remembered the time that she had asked Kairi if there were ghosts in the shrine. It was right after their first sparring match in the shrine. She had become so fussy after losing to Kairi that he had to agree to carry her home on his back before she settled down. He assured her there were ghosts and that they would try and catch her when she was sleeping. She didn't believe him then, just as she didn't believe him when he told her he knew what was written on the scrolls that their family fanatically hid or when he first told her that he was leaving the family. She remembered one occasion shortly before he disappeared where he asked her to leave with him. She had thought he was only being foolish or that he was upset with their parents. His grumbling about how useless he felt their charge to protect the scrolls was made her think that was his actual complaint. Upon reflection Hokuto felt she should of listened more closely to Kairi; it was possible that he had been telling her about what was overcoming him.
Even though Kairi had lost his mind and nearly killed her, Hokuto still felt closer to him than the other members of her family. While they had grown up together in the same house, her younger sister Nanase was a stranger to her. Nanase had managed to turn her outsider life to her advantage and had become very popular with others her age as someone who got to lead an exciting storybook life. She was outgoing, gregarious, cute, and she annoyed Hokuto to no end. After her defeat to Kairi, Hokuto was forced to train with Nanase while she recovered.
"Oops, sorry," Nanase said. Even when she apologized she still had a trace of a giggle in her voice.
Nearly doubled over, Hokuto tried to fight off the pain. She had suffered a hairline fracture of her collarbone during her fight with Kairi and while the pain from the injury had mostly died down getting hit by Nanase's staff had aggravated it. When they started the sparring match a second time Hokuto felt a bit better when she managed to easily counter Nanase's attack and throw her off balance. As Nanase stumbled past her Hokuto felt the urge to lunge at her sister with a killing attack. It wasn't a tactical urge to follow up on an opening or was it a petty desire to get back at Nanase for her misplaced strike; rather she felt a brief but certain need to snuff out her sister's life. At the time Hokuto dismissed it as fatigue, but now that she thought about it the feeling scared her. She was never overly fond of Nanase but she had never thought about doing anything that violent to her. Hokuto had been trained with the belief that while killing might be a necessity; it should never be taken lightly and certainly not done in a burst of emotion.
Was she losing her mind? Was Kairi's madness affecting her as well? She knew she had become increasingly confused since her fight with Kairi but her condition was becoming worse now that she was going to confront him again. Shoving the door to the shrine open, Hokuto decided that her problems were secondary to her task at hand. No one was certain just what had happened to Kairi either, but her family felt it was necessary to stop him before he could go on a rampage. If she survived this fight she would have plenty of time to worry about her current mental state.
Looking into the dark shrine, the burst of resolve Hokuto had drained away. She did not want to fight her brother. She knew he had nearly killed her and had quite possibly killed others, but she did not want to fight him. While she was certain she was going to be killed there was the chance that she might end up killing Kairi. She didn't know what it was that had forced her into such a horrible decision, but she hated it. Cursing the fate that had put her into a situation like this, Hokuto headed into the shrine.
"Kairi?" Hokuto ground her teeth at the sound of her voice, which sounded hollow and weak in the empty shrine. "I'm here, Kairi, come out."
"Hokuto," Kairi's deep voice called out.
Unable to locate where Kairi's voice was coming from in the temple, or even how close he was, Hokuto became that much more nervous. "So you remember me?" she said, hoping to stall until she could figure out where Kairi was in relation to her.
"It's good to see you are well." Kairi's voice seemed to be coming from three different directions at once.
"No thanks to you," Hokuto snapped back automatically. She knew it wasn't the place for it, but she was too used to the small arguments she always had with Kairi for her to talk to him in any other fashion. "Do you remember the last time we saw each other?"
"Yes. Do you?"
"I remember you nearly killed me," Hokuto replied. How much did Kairi know about her mental condition? Was he somehow responsible for it?
"You're here because of father's orders?" Their family was supposed to operate as independently of the clan as possible, so even something as extreme as Kairi's disappearance had to be dealt with internally. As long as someone -like Nanase- was still able to carry on the family's charge both Hokuto and Kairi could be sacrificed for the sake of maintaining secrecy.
"Partially," Hokuto tried to locate Kairi but it sounded as if his voice was ringing inside her head. As Hokuto took a few cautious steps into the shrine she heard a rustling above her. As she looked up a blinding flash of purple energy exploded in her face. She heard Kairi land in front of her but all Hokuto could see was the afterimage from whatever Kairi had thrown at her.
Hokuto waited for Kairi's attack; since she doubted she could recover in time she hoped he would at least kill her quickly. She felt Kairi's hands clamp onto either side of her head. Thinking he was about to snap her neck, Hokuto slid her arms between his and tried to push his hands off while trying to pull away from Kairi. It only took a slight bit of pressure for Kairi to release his grip, allowing Hokuto to frantically back away from him. Her back against one of the walls of the shrine, Hokuto eyes cleared up enough for her to get a good look at her brother.
Although she had known him her entire life, Hokuto could barely recognize Kairi. His black hair was now ghostly white and had grown out wildly. Scars criss-crossed his body, including one gash that gouged through his left eye. His other eye had a red glow to it. Energy flickered across his outstretched hands, manifesting itself as white flame. In spite of the fire Hokuto could see that the tape covering Kairi's hands was soaked in blood. This wasn't her brother; this was a monster that needed to be stopped.
"How do you feel?" Kairi asked.
It took a second for her to realize it, but for the first time since she had fought her brother Hokuto felt fine. The confusion that had been increasingly overcoming her was gone. As her mind cleared the actual memory of her first fight with Kairi flooded back to her. She remembered the two of them standing nearly where they were now. Hokuto had her kireneki technique aimed at the shadow that Kairi was in. The energy of her attack swirled and grew around her outstretched hand until it became dangerously large. Hokuto continued to hold it. As Kairi ran out of the shadows towards her, yelling at her to release her fireball, the overloaded kireneki exploded in her face.
Why had she held her attack until it backfired? Had all her injuries had been caused by herself? Dozens of questions racing through her mind, Hokuto tried to speak but found she was so weak she could barely mumble.
Kairi pulled something out that he had tucked into the belt of his ragged pants. Even though they were tightly rolled together Hokuto immediately recognized them as the scrolls that their family was entrusted with guarding. Hokuto's scream only came out as a slight gurgle as she saw the scrolls burst into flames in Kairi's hand.
"The scrolls were meaningless, there was never anything hidden in them," Kairi said. "Instead it's... something... that draws its energy from violence. It seems this shrine is haunted after all. The attempts to capture the scrolls have kept it satisfied, but because the scrolls have been undisturbed for so long it needed some other way to find the violence it needed." Kairi placed his hand on Hokuto's brow. "While I don't quite understand it all, I didn't know about any of this until it tried to take over both of us."
Hokuto was going to question Kairi but before she could try to speak she felt the palm of Kairi's hand grow warmer. The flames on Kairi's hand ran down Hokuto's head and shoulders. What little strength that was left flowed out of Hokuto's body. As she began to swoon Kairi caught Hokuto and lowered her to the ground. Hokuto felt herself breaking out in a cold sweat as she tried to pull herself up off her knees. Looking up at Kairi, she saw him pressing both of his hands to the side of his head, the look of pain on his face illuminated by the glow from his hands. Whatever had been in her had been burnt out by Kairi.
"Hokuto, there's nothing holding you to the family anymore," Kairi said through gritted teeth. "I know I haven't been the best brother to you, but I hope this makes up for it." Pulling himself up, Kairi extended his arms and floated back into the shadows.
Hokuto tried to struggle to her feet but found she could barely crawl. It was all happening so fast, but Hokuto realized that whatever it was that had caused so much grief for so long was now fully inside Kairi. Not only that, but it seemed that Kairi was planning on either defeating the possession on his own or would try to keep the energy contained inside himself. Finally finding her voice she yelled out his name into the empty shrine.
This wasn't the Kairi who would leave home whenever the mood suited him or who felt the duty of their family was pointless, this was the Kairi who had rigorously trained her since that was the only way he knew to help her become stronger, the person who had stood up to her father for her, and the person who, she could dimly recall, had carried her back to their parents' house after she had injured herself with her own kireneki. Even when delirious he was still looking out for her in his own fashion.
Having finally found something to fight for, it seemed Kairi hoped to make up for his years of apathy by taking the family obligation fully into himself. But how well was Kairi thinking? Hokuto had become disoriented with even the small bit that had tried to take her over; how irrational would Kairi be with the entire spirit inside him? How many of his scars were self-inflicted?
Groaning, Hokuto pulled herself to her feet, took one last look around the dark shrine, and slowly headed out of the shrine back to her parents' house. Hokuto knew Kairi had to be stopped; the power inside him was certain to tear him apart. In some way he thought he was freeing her from the obligations they were born into. Instead she was now more resolved to find him than ever. It wasn't her sense of obligation to her family or a need to put Kairi out of his misery, rather it was a desire to rescue her brother from the fate he had chosen for himself. In spite of everything he was her brother and she still loved him.