- TOH SHIN DEN II: Thicker Than Water -

a Battle Arena Toshinden 2 fanfiction by Athena Asamiya and Kasumi Todoh


CHAPTER SIX: Deception



Translations:
otousan - father
okaasan - mother
hai - yes
-san - honourific used for politeness; similar to our "Mr." or "Mrs."
musuko - son
kodomo - kid
meifuku o inoru - "may your soul rest in peace"; one of Sho's TSD2 win quotes
doshita no? - what's wrong?
oi, kisama! - hey, bastard!


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Why...? What is it that I was told...?
Eiji Shinjo was standing silently in the middle of his cabin, his red-and-gold jacket slung over one shoulder. Rather than leaving, he was staring at his ceremonial katana, the Hyakko no Tachi, which was sheathed and lying on his bed. It looked as though Eiji was only staring at the sword, but he was actually deep in thought. About what Ellis had said today about dreams from the past, ones that were tried so hard to be locked away. Eiji had more than his fair share of those, and he wasn't completely sure he even understood what he had told Ellis himself. More or less, their conversation had reminded him of the one particularly painful memory from childhood that Eiji had spoken to no one about after it happened, not even to his friends, the police, anyone...
You can't always forget...that part was true, at least. But why...I still didn't understand why... Eiji looked away from the sword for a moment, clenching a fist. "Otousan...okaasan..."
Eiji made his decision. Buried memories were often brought back for important reasons, as he himself had said. This one was part of his destiny. It's hard...but I know, I remember hearing the name Shitennou, and everything else...how could I ever forget...that day started it all.
He regressed, letting the recollectance slip forwards and engulf him in the former sadness and mourn, the longing and the trauma, all of which he had tried so hard to let go.


In a small thatched house in a village called Aizu-Wakamatsu in Japan, there lived a happy family. It was an archetypal one, a mother, a father, and their pride and joy, their two young sons. They all loved each other, and looked to be the average Japanese family, but deep behind them lay a secret known only to the father. It lay with the old story of the Byakkotai, the White Tiger clan of the samurai who committed harakiri so many years ago, for a false truth. One samurai had survived. He was their ancestor. The father, and the two boys, were the only remaining descendants of the Byakkotai. The father knew all of this, but kept it hidden, for it was told of the Byakkotai's spiritual powers that defied belief. He knew his sons may harbor the power, though only one of them could receive the clan's sacred katana, the Byakko no Tachi, passed on for generations from father to the oldest son in the family. However, the father felt the time was not right to even mention swordsplay training to his eldest yet. He was still a child, only twelve years old. And yet, he could feel a power from him...an odd one, hauntingly powerful and not understandable yet. Unawakened...
Though his swordsmanship was renowned throughout Japan, the father hid the secret that he was a descendant of the Byakkotai. Because he knew what would come. He knew that THEY would come. He had already been forewarned by an old friend, so he knew to keep quiet. In any event, in the case that something did happen to him, his friend, another unmatched swordsman, promised to train the eldest son in the ways of ki and swordfighting.
However, the peace was not to last. One otherwise-quiet summer night, there was a knock at their door. The mother, Keiko, rose to answer it, but the father, Satoshi, got up to get it instead, as the two sons watched to see who it could be. Satoshi grimaced, for he, as a warrior himself, could feel the ki, the power and force of the ones who were behind the door.
"Hai?" Satoshi asked, glancing at the four darkly-cloaked figures. Their faces were half-shadowed as well, and only their eyes were visible. Cold and evil. Keiko saw them too and gasped, quickly hearding her children into a separate room so they would be out of the way should danger arrise. One of the figures stepped forward and only said, "You are Shinjo-san, are you not?"
"Hai, I am Shinjo Satoshi. What business have you with my family?"
Another one of the shadows came forward as well. "We wish to discuss a matter of great importance with you."
Satoshi examined them curiously. "And that would be?"
The first one spoke again. "Your sons."
He frowned. "Why?"
One of the farther figures to the back spoke out, "Have you heard of the Toshinden, Shinjo-san?"
"I believe I have. It is one of the old sacred legends, telling of the stories of many brave warriors and their destinies."
The second character nodded. "Yes. And we are from the Himitsu Kessha, a secret government who have read the sacred legend itself. We are governed by the Shitennou, who read into the future of the legend, and it appears both of your sons will play a vital role. You see, Shinjo-san, were you to give them both to us now, we will treat them with care and teach them ourselves."
Satoshi ground his teeth. "I am perfectly capable of teaching swordsplay myself. What you are talking is nonsense. No one can read the future, not even through the old legends. The Shitennou was a myth."
The final person spoke out at last. "But they can. They are special. And the Shitennou will teach your sons how to awaken their powers as well--for the benefit of the world, of course."
Satoshi was silent for a moment, as he examined them again. He could roughly see the outlines of sword-sheaths hidden under their cloaks. Satoshi finally turned around and reached for a sheathed sword hanging on the wall. He pulled it off and unsheathed it with unspoken fluidity. The Byakko no Tachi's blade shone. "If you want my sons to become some sort of test projects for your experiments, then you will have to go through me first."
The original figure snickered quietly. "With pleasure." He lept into the air, removing a sword from its sheath and attempting to land a flying axe kick. Satoshi dodged, then flew forward with a thrusting slash. He only managed to cut a bit of his opponent's cloak. Meanwhile, the other three unsheathed swords joined in the fray, and Satoshi soon found himself fighting for his life. Dodging, blocking and parrying attacks from four different opponents, it shouldn't have been too hard for him, but these fighters--seemed more than human. Immortal, maybe...?
One of the figures threw a feint, and Satoshi blocked, which proved to be a fatal error. Another jumped in from the side, and thrust his sword right through Satoshi's back. The blade shot through to the other side, dripping with crimson blood. He pulled the sword back out, and Satoshi fell to the ground.
"Otousan!!" the eldest son cried out in concern. He tried to run out to his father, but his mother held him back. "No, musuko, protect your brother," were Keiko's words to him.
"But, okaasan..."
It was too late. Keiko had already run out and had her arms around the now-still body of her husband. "You monsters!!" she screamed at the four shadows. "Why?? Why would you do such a thing? What have we done to you?"
Their cruel smiles were hidden by their cloaks. "Not you. What your sons WILL do. Your sons are fated to destroy our great organization in the future. Only we four know of this. We will take them and this information back to our leader, who will decide whether or not to execute your children now or keep them as our own warriors."
"No!! You will never do that!" Keiko lunged at the man, but he simply smacked her aside to the floor. Keiko cried out in pain, and the figure placed his sword on the small of her back.
"We will have to take your sons by force then. Gomenasai." He shoved the sword downwards, severing her spinal cord. The two sons could only watch in horror, but the eldest couldn't take it anymore. He dashed out to his mother's side, as the younger watched in tears from the doorway.
"Okaasan! Okaasan!" the son called again and again, trying to wake her up. Keiko finally opened her eyes; tears were gathering in them as she wiped away her son's. "You...and...your brother...you must be brave...from now on...Please, my son, Sho...look after Eiji...protect him..." With that, she closed her eyes, and like Satoshi, was gone. The eldest son of the Byakkotai descendants gasped, then turned away, eyes closed in pain. "Otousan...okaasan..." Eyes flaming, he grabbed the Byakko no Tachi from his father's lifeless body and held it out in front of him in a makeshift fighting stance, tears streaming down his face. The lead intruder laughed.
"So, it is the Kesshoku no Tenshi, the so-called--heh--Blood-Red Angel. You plan to challenge us at such a young age. You think you can beat us, kodomo? Try it! Let's see how much power you have now, before the Shitennou get through with exposing your true abilities!"
Gritting his teeth, the words were growled out. "Meifuku...o...INORU!!"
With that, ki, pulsating and flaring, exploded from his hands and flew up the length of the sword-blade, lighting it up with a power that glowed and lit the whole room with its fury. The intruders backed off slightly, unexpecting this show of power. "What the hell is--?" The leader never got a chance to finish the sentence. The boy raised the sword, and with a scream of fury, swung it down again in a slashing motion. The ki blasted out of the blade, surging towards the four and smashing into them with the force of a brick wall. They were blasted out of the house and into a nearby alley, the lifeless bodies smashing into some trash cans before falling silently to the ground. And the channeler of such tremendous power stood there, exhaling hard, a hard look of stone on his twelve-year-old face. Finally, he dropped the sword, then turned back to his seven-year-old little brother, his only remaining family, who was watching him with big, tearful eyes. He crouched down to his brother, and whispered, "Don't worry, Eiji. As long as we have each other, everything will be all right."
Sniffling, the youngest cried out, "Niisan!!" and hugged his brother. The two held each other for a long time, but only the little brother cried. The eldest found that he couldn't. The tears were gone, only a coldness remained, remorse replaced by the immense power he had just awakened. From then on, his emotions were locked away to the world, with little to no hope of retrieving them. And it was true, their destinies were far from over...

After that, the two Shinjo brothers, Sho and Eiji, tried their hardest to put the traumatic event behind them and to try and make it living on their own. The eldest son, Shinjo Sho, was to later be trained by the father of Kayin Amoh in swordsplay, as was decided before his own father died. After Sho himself became a skilled master swordsman with the Shinjo clan's sacred katana, at age twenty, eight years after that fated day, he took on both his younger brother, Shinjo Eiji, as well as his own sensei's son, Kayin Amoh, as his own students. It was for an unknown reason, however, for he had no previous intentions of becoming a teacher himself. Though it all had to do with the secret letter that had arrived one day, as well as the invitation to fight in the Toshindaibukai tournament soon after...

When Sho mysteriously disappeared around three years later, and Kayin's father was murdered in the Toshindaibukai tournament, both Eiji & Kayin had reasons to represent their clans themselves at the Toshindaibukai. Then would come the fated day, when they would meet up again at the tournament...

Falling back forwards again, with nowhere to see or land, Eiji opened his eyes, tears filling them and blurring his vision. Quickly wiping them away, he reflected on some of the details that he had forgotten in his young age. They were sent by the Shitennou. I saw the kanji for that name on the Himitsu Kessha building. Does that mean that they...
Coming upon that startling realization, Eiji snatched up his sword and fastened the sheath to his belt. He pulled on his jacket and started to leave the cabin, but once he threw open the door, Ellis was there, looking out of breath.
"Ellis-chan! Doshita no?" Eiji asked, surprised.
"Eiji-kun! Something's wrong! Come on!"

***************

The other Eiji pulled out his sword and threw a Rekkuzan at Kayin, who barely got his sword up in time to block the attack. Then Eiji charged, and before Kayin had any time to make sense of what was happening, the two were locking swords, with Kayin pinned to the floor. He struggled, but Eiji seemed to have more strength than him.
"What the hell are you doing??" Kayin shouted angrily. "Have you gone loony!?"
He got no response from Eiji, but managed to kick him off. Eiji immediately jumped into the air and shot back down with a Ryuseikyaku, but Kayin quickly dodged with speed that was legendary. Once Eiji landed, he swung a sharp kick right into Kayin's midsection. While he was still staggering from that, Kayin received another, this time in the face, winding up on the floor again. Suddenly he felt himself being picked up as Eiji lifted him over his head and threw him to the ground. Kayin got back on his feet, shakily though, and resumed his blocking position.
"C'mon, this is me you're fighting," Kayin tried again. "We're supposed to be best friends, remember? I mean, of course there WERE those couple little incidents I played on you back a few years ago, but I didn't think they'd make you that angry--"
Still nothing. The only response Kayin got was Eiji sliding towards him with Shugekidan and following with a Hishouzan. Kayin was knocked into the air and hit his head on the ceiling. He hit the floor hard, but got up nonetheless, trying to shake the darkness off. He determined not to fall until he got some answers out of Eiji. That, however, was going to difficult, because for some reason Eiji was determined to beat him, and was refusing to listen to a word Kayin said. He came at him again with a leaping slash, but once again Kayin moved out of the way.
Finally, it became clear to him that Eiji probably was going to beat him, unless he did something and quick. Eiji needed to be knocked back to his senses, anyway. As Eiji charged again, this time he was hit by Kayin's Scottish Moon. Then Kayin began to channel what energy he had left, building up for one of his most powerful attacks. He wasn't planning to inflict the maximum number of hits, just enough to keep him down long enough to get some answers.
"Hell's Gate!!" Only, as Kayin started into the attack, he noticed that Eiji was just standing there, looking calm and not even blocking. Then, as Kayin rushed towards him, ki flowing off his body, Eiji merely stepped aside! Kayin suddenly realized he'd made a fatal mistake. Not only was his attack going to miss, he had left himself open to a counterattack from Eiji. As he started to come down, he saw Eiji gearing up for his Jigokumon attack and Kayin knew he was in trouble. The attack hit over and over, with sparks and slashes all over the place as Kayin was lifted into the air by a number of slices from Eiji's sword. Both finally landed, but this time Kayin didn't get up. The final attack had proved too much for him.
Dark Eiji bent over his unconscious victim. After determining that Kayin was out cold, he readied his own sword, a replica of the Hyakko no Tachi, to give the final blow. Suddenly he looked up. There were footsteps, several of them, off in the distance but getting closer. He could also hear a young girl calling Kayin's name. Better not risk getting caught. Dark Eiji quickly opened the window, climbed out, and disappeared into the surrounding forest.

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"Kayin! Kayin, wake up. It's me, Ellis."
"I don't think that's going to work, Ellis-chan. Here, let me try something...Now if this doesn't wake him up, nothing will."
"Uh, I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Eiji-kun."
"Trust me. It's justified, because he did it to me last year, so now it's payback."
The next thing Kayin knew, he was being drenched as a bucket of water was dumped over his head. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the faces of Ellis and Eiji. Eiji was holding the still-dripping bucket. Sofia and Tracy stood nearby, surveying the wreckage of the cabin with curiousity. Tracy shook her head. "Looks like there was some heavy-level shit goin' on here."
"I agree," Sofia answered. "Kayin, what--" No time for an answer. In one lightning-quick motion, Kayin was on his feet, grabbed Eiji by the collar of his jacket, and had him pinned up against the nearest wall. "What's the big idea, huh?" he yelled.
"Hey, take it easy," Eiji replied, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I was only getting you back for doing it to me last year."
"I'm not talking about that! What's the big idea trashing my cabin and beating me up? What did I ever do to you?"
Eiji looked shocked. "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do this."
"Don't give me the old 'innocent' routine, Eiji! I know it was you. I knew your jokes were kind of deranged, but this ones tops them all!"
Eiji knocked Kayin's grip away angrily. "Are you sure you didn't take a really hard blow to the head or something? I'm telling you, I didn't do it!"
The three girls were just staring him, open-mouthed. Finally, Ellis put her hand on Kayin's shoulder.
"Kayin, we don't know who broke into your cabin and attacked you, but it couldn't have been Eiji. I know it!"
Kayin loosened his grip on Eiji's collar. "But if it wasn't, then who?"
"You are absolutely sure it was Eiji?" Sofia asked.
"I'm sure. Same clothes, same hair, same voice, same height and looks. He had all the same attacks, and even his sword looked like the Byakko no Tachi."
"Now that's impossible," Eiji replied seriously. "There's only one Byakko no Tachi, and it only belongs to me."
"Well, then there is only one explanation that I can come up with," Sofia murmured.
"An imposter?" Ellis suggested. Sofia nodded.
"Come to think of it," Kayin mused, finally letting go of Eiji, "there did seem to be something different about him."
"But why would anyone want to impersonate Eiji?" Ellis asked.
"Who knows?" Sofia replied. "I would not have expected the Himitsu Kessha to try something like this."
"I'll just bet the Himitsu Kessha's behind this too," Eiji said with grim determination. "Having someone break in disguised as me sounds like something they'd come up with."
"Nothing's been taken," Tracy observed. "I checked. Looks like he was jus' lyin' in wait for ya, boy."
They were all quiet for a few minutes, then Tracy added on, "We needta go somewhere and discuss in private. How `bout that restaurant I mentioned earlier?"
"Sure," Kayin agreed. Then he added with a grin, "I guess that guy couldn't have been you after all, Eiji. He actually had some talent."
"Oi, kisama!"
Sofia, Ellis and Tracy just laughed. It sounded like, despite all that had happened, Kayin was just fine.

***************

"Well, you sure botched that one, didn't you."
Dark Eiji stood in the main office of the Himitsu Kessha, in front of Master and Vermilion standing by on the side. Dark Ellis was also in the room, leaning against the far wall with her arms crossed. Master looked disapproving, but surprisingly calm, given the news she had just received. As usual, it was hard to tell just what Vermilion was thinking.
"Failure is not something we accept in this organization," Master continued. "Not only did you fail to seriously hurt Kayin Amoh, you allowed him to see you."
"I almost had him," Dark Eiji replied, head hung in a respective bow, "but then I heard other people coming. I couldn't risk the chance of being seen again. As for Kayin Amoh, you need not worry. He thought I was the real Eiji Shinjo. He had no idea who I really was."
"Those five aren't stupid!" Master argued back. "Now they'll suspect something. And they'll try even harder to find and destroy us. Which is why we must be extra careful not to expose ourselves again."
"Give me another chance, Master-sama, please," Dark Eiji begged.
Vermilion spoke up for the first time. "You will get another chance, but not right now. I think we should let Dark Ellis give it a try this time."
Dark Ellis bowed to them. "I promise I won't let you down. I already have a plan for dealing with them."
"Oh?" Vermilion cocked an eyebrow in curiousity. "Might we ask what it is?"
"I plan to pose as the real Ellis and infiltrate their group."
"Then you had better make sure Ellis doesn't interfere with your plan."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of that first thing."
"Very well. We'll leave the details up to you." Vermilion turned around, surveying both Dark Eiji and Dark Ellis. "Now leave us. Both of you."
After the two clones had left, Master turned to Vermilion. "Do you think she'll be able to pull it off?"
"Let the girl have her chance. If she fails, we can always deal with fighters ourselves." He grinned. "And we'll be sure to finish the job right this time, correct?"
"I...suppose that would be something along the lines of my thoughts."

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