PART ONE

 In the Radiance of the Dark

Tokiya

"Type two, Saiha, fire blade!!!" Recca began to call upon his dragon, ready to cut my throat off.

I drew my Ensui. "If you wish to fight with me, then do so. But I warn you, Hanabishi. Bear in mind that I was not the one who lost when we first fought."

"That was when we first fought, Mikagami! But I'm much stronger now, specially since I've gathered all my eight dragons and placed them under my control!!!"

"Hn, I don't care whether you have them or not, because I'm going to take you down even before you get the chance to summon them all!"

"Why you---" He jumped up and charged Saiha towards me. I lifted my Ensui to block his attack and pushed him back.

"You might have gotten stronger and defeated Kurei, but don't you forget that I've gotten stronger, too!!!"

Recca gave me an angry smile. "Ha, shut up and just fight!"

"Wish granted!!!" I began to position my sword. Cheers from onlookers roared louder, obviously wanting Hanabishi and I to fight until the whole street went down.

Then I'll give them what they want--

"What the--?" Someone had clutched my arm and made me lose my guard.

"Freezer Boy, you idiot, don't fight with him anymore! Remember what almost happened at the tournament because of you and Hanabishi's arguments?!? You guys almost lost to Neon back there!!!"

"Darn it, Fuuko, this is not your fight, so stay out of this," I looked away from her.

"But---"

"Here I come! Nadare, shooting fire!!!" Recca aimed.

My eyes widened. Kuso! I had lost my lookout!

I jumped up and began to make a counterattack, when I realized that Nadare wasn't aiming at me, it was aiming at Fuuko!

"Fuuko!!!" Recca warned. Obviously he didn't expect Nadare to disobey his orders.

Fuuko wasn't wearing her Fuujin; she was unarmed.

I jumped back down and pushed her away.

"Damn it! Fuuko, get the heck out of the way!!! Ugh--!!!"

Overwhelming pain surged through my body. Blood…

I felt the blood making it's way out of my mouth, and soon I was lying on the ground, the pain of Nadare's flames still invading my body. I kept my eyes shut, willing the flames and the pain to go away so that I could continue my fight.

But a soft, warm hand touched my cheek instead. "Are you alright?" the person said. I did not recognize her voice, no, it wasn't Fuuko; it wasn't Yanagi either.

Slowly, I lifted my eyelids up. A pair of worried, light purple eyes met mine, her light blue hair reflecting my eyes.

I blinked. She was…

"Are you okay?" she repeated worriedly.

"Um…I…"

"Hey, Mikagami!!! Are you just going to sit there all day?!? Get up and let's continue!!! Or maybe you're chickening out!!!" Recca's mocking voice broke through in the faint background.

Oh yeah, the fight!

"You shouldn't go back there, you're really badly injured. The wounds might deepen if you continue to fight," the woman said in full concern.

Concern? Concern?!? She doesn't even know me!!!

"Hn," I began to sit up. "Stay out of this, lady. I've got more important things to worry about."

"Wait," she clutched my shoulder.

"Damn you! What do you----" my eyes widened and I was frozen in place.

She had placed her hand on my forehead, just beneath my bangs.

"You're in really bad shape. Please don't go out there again," she told me, her lavender eyes pleading.

"But…I…uh," her soft touch had left me bewildered. Who was this woman? Why was she so concerned about my safety?

"Please, let me heal you before you go back there," she raised her hand over my head, and took mine in the other.

"Wha…what're you---"

"Shhh….." she smiled at me. Somehow, I stayed in my position, letting her do what she willed.

I could feel the pain of Nadare's flames beginning to lessen, until they were gone.

She has…she has the same power Yanagi possessed…how come that blasted Kouran Mori didn't have her hunted down?

"There, that should help you temporarily," she gave me another one of her smiles, a smile that made me want to stay and gaze at it more. She was being so nice…why had she bothered to use her chi in order to help me, someone she didn't even know? Why did she want to be involved in this, when she didn't have to be at all? Any ordinary passer-by could've just ignored our fight or called the proper authorities. But she…she was different.

"Who…are you?"

She smiled at me once more.

"Botan," she replied, her melodious voice calming my very soul. "But it wouldn't be fair if I didn't know you, would it?"

"Tokiya. Mikagami Tokiya," I unbelievably heard myself say.

Her eyes sparkled and her smile widened in delight. "You're a member of the Hokage team, aren't you?"

"Hai," I felt at ease with her. I felt as though I could pour everything out to her without a hint of hesitation.

She giggled. "Ah yes, I've read about you in Koenma-sama's files---oops, I mean, um…"

"Mi-chan!!!"

Huh? Fuuko was running towards me, with Domon beside her.

I shook my head to clear away all the stupid, nauseating sparkly thoughts about some crazy woman I didn't even know and stood up, straightening my shirt. My Ensui shortened back in place.

"Mi-chan! Daijoubu?" Fuuko checked me out.

"Hn. Where's the fire brat?!?" I looked around, searching for Recca.

"I'm right here, Mikagami," he approached me, "so how did Nadare fare against you?" he asked smugly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You idiot! You almost hit Fuuko back there, fool! What was your stupid fire dragon thinking? What were you thinking?!?"

"Hey, it's not my fault Nadare disobeyed my orders, you know!" he glared.

"Well, then why don't you teach your dragon a thing or two? Obviously you haven't been getting along with it."

"What did you say?!? You take that back, Mikagami!"

"Hn, you wish," I snapped, drawing my Ensui again.

"Mikagami-san…" Botan had grabbed my hand.

"…" I looked back at her.

"Please, Mikagami, as much as possible, I don't want you to fight yet," she pleaded.

"Botan, I'm not going to get hit again," I assured her, not exactly knowing why I was bothering to do so.

"But…" she began.

"She's right, Hanabishi," Fuuko said to my opponent. "You both have to end this now. You guys always take things too personally. This is not how team members treat each other," she continued.

"Aw, c'mon, Fuuko, the battle's getting good!" Domon remarked.

"You stupid hunk of an idiot!!! We're supposed to be stopping them, not encouraging them, you fool!!!" Fuuko snarled at him.

"Very well, Mikagami. We'll end this now. In fact, I think I'll end the whole teaming-up-with-you thing," he smirked. "Consider yourself kicked out."

I smirked back. "I wouldn't say kicked out. I'd rather say I quit your stupid team."

"N-nani?!?" Fuuko and Domon said at the same time.

"I'll leave you alone now, but should you make one more false move on me, I'll surely have my dragons feed on you!" Recca turned to leave.

"Your dragons might even feed on you, since you barely get along with them," I mumbled to myself, watching Recca leave.

"I'm glad that was over," Botan beamed at me. I turned to look at her.

"Why did you bother to heal my wounds and cease our fight?"

"I simply don't want people fighting for no valid reasons," she grinned.

I looked at her, narrowing my eyes in the way that always scared off anyone I ever gave it to. But she just grinned at me again. Like crazy. She obviously didn't know whom she was talking to. But somehow, I liked the way she smiled. She smiled like she didn't have a single care in the world.

And that made me feel comfortable. In an unbelievably weird way.  "Botan…" I began, speaking almost inaudibly.

She looked past me at the setting sun in the horizon. "Well, I'd better get going, I really need to look for a place to stay before it gets late," she said.

I cocked an eyebrow. I didn't exactly know why, but knowing that this…this…stranger had nowhere to go made me unexpectedly worried. "You don't have a place to stay?"

"Um, well, that's because I'm just on a vacation right now… I'll be staying here for only three months, you know," she smiled once more.

Part of me wanted to give even just a small smile back, but another bigger part of me wanted to keep my cool, distant reputation of not cracking the slightest grin to anyone if not needed. So I just plainly nodded. "Naruhodo."

"Well, I'll see you again sometime!" she grinned, turning to leave and waving at me.

Hopefully, I will, I thought, watching heaven's beauty slip away.

Botan, huh…

Ken

Where is that stupid orb??? I complained, searching for it in the dead man's pockets. In the background, I could hear Yoji's battle cry, slaying out all of the thugs blocking his way. Apparently, he wasn't done with his group of assailants.

Damn! Still no orb! And this is the twentieth man I've killed and searched! Where is that blasted thing?!?

"Ken!!! Have you found it yet?" Omi came running towards me.

"No stupid luck, you?"

He shook his tired head. "I've searched all the idiots that came my way. Still no orb."

"Where do these fools hide it???" I groaned, looking around for more men to search. Nope, all clear, except for Yoji's group.

"Aaaaagh!!!" Yoji approached us, furious. Obviously he hadn't found the orb either.

"Darn it all!!! We've been failing all of our stupid missions lately!!! What the heck is wrong with us?!?" he snarled.

I sighed. He was right. We had been failing all of our recent missions.

"Maybe, we're getting sloppy," Omi remarked. He turned to face Yoji. "And you're getting older."

"What?!? You say that again ya little brat!!!" he grabbed Omi's collar.

Oh great, there they go again, I shook my head. But then I realized something: Aya hadn't returned yet.

"Hey, hey you guys, where the heck is Aya?" I interrupted their bickering.

Yoji dropped Omi back down. "Beats me, Aya goes wherever he wants to without notice. I thought you already got used to that," he said.

"Yeah, but, what if something's happened to him?" I predicted.

"Something's happened to Aya? You've got to be kidding," he snorted.

"Yoji's right, Ken. Aya' d kill whoever' d touch him. Whoever would come near him even," Omi countered.

"Yeah, but… you never do know what the future holds, right? Aya needs our help. He can't do this alone. That's why we're a team, remember?" I told them.

Yoji sighed. "You know, Ken, sometimes you're too nice for your own good."

I smiled to myself. That was a sign that they agreed to what I had said.

Omi looked around, searching for a sign of Aya around the park.

"How are we supposed to find him?" he asked. "The park's too big and we don't even have a clue----"

"Uggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!"

My eyes widened in alarm. That was…

"What was that?" Yoji asked.

"That was Aya!!! C'mon!" I ran towards the direction where the groan had come from. Sure enough, it was Aya, and he was fighting with a guy clutching a sword of ice. Aya's left arm was bleeding from a pretty big cut, probably caused by that guy's sword.

I lifted my claw and began to charge for the guy, when Omi held me back and pointed to the handle of the guy's sword.

"What the---" I began.

"Check it out!!!" Omi's eyes widened.

"It's the orb!!!" Yoji exclaimed.

I looked closer at the guy's sword. Yes, the orb was indeed attached to its handle. It said "WATER".

"Is that the stupid orb we're supposed to get?" I asked.

"That probably is," Omi confirmed. "What else would it be?"

"Looks like Aya here hit the jackpot, huh," Yoji grinned. "Go for it, Aya! This guy's got the orb!!!" he cheered.

Aya's opponent, now distracted, turned to face Yoji, just when Aya jumped up and charged his katana towards him. He successfully cut the guy in half.

"Alright, Aya!!!" I pumped my fist into the air. Looks like he didn't need our help after all.

"It's too early to celebrate, Ken. Take a look at that," Omi pointed to the guy Aya was fighting with.

The guy dissolved into water and appeared as a whole person again behind Aya!

"What the heck was that?!?" I exclaimed, my eyes wide.

"Hn, you guys don't know anything about the Hyomon Ken techniques," he said smugly.

"Shut up!" Aya turned around and started to attack again, when the guy struck his sword on the ground, saying, "Tsurara Mai!!!"

Suddenly little icicles started appearing all over the park, gashing our bodies until our wounds were not countable anymore. We had managed to break off some of the icicles, but new ones kept coming.

"Aaaargh!!!" Omi screamed in pain.

"O-Omi…aaagh…" The icicles were too much, too fast, too sharp. I couldn't block them off.

"What the heck a-are these things?!?" Yoji winced.

"Damn you!!!" Aya growled, unable to move because of the continuous attacks.

"Do you wimps still wish to fight? This is what you get for attacking me for no reason at all!! I do not even know you---what the---? Ugh!!!" the guy winced, and he clutched his left shoulder in pain. The icicles fell down and ceased. I glanced at him: Omi had thrown one of his darts at the back of the guy's left shoulder.

"I'm going to kill you for sure!!!" Aya leaped and lunged his sword at the unaware swordsman.

Yoji got up from his position. "Wait, Aya!!!" He drew his wire and blocked Aya's attack.

"Damn you, Yoji!!!" Aya dropped back to the ground. "What the heck do you think you're doing?!?"

"You can't kill him, yet, Aya! He's got the orb!!!" Yoji insisted.

"Well, who cares if he has the orb? Why can't I just kill him and then take the orb?" Aya protested.

"This kid's got potential!" Yoji continued. The guy narrowed his pale blue eyes at Yoji at the mention of "kid".

"Hey, watch your mouth, Yoji," I warned, straightening up as well.

Omi nudged him. "Told you nobody wants to be called 'kid'. So why don't you quit calling me 'kid' as well?" he smiled.

"Shut up, Omi. And don't take advantage of this situation," Yoji faced the fuming Aya once more. "Think about how we've been failing our missions recently!!!" he said to him.

"Well we wouldn't be failing this one if you didn't stop me from killing this jerk!" Aya snapped.

Yoji shook his head. "No, no, no, no. Don't you get what I'm trying to say?"

Oh, I get it, I smiled, "So what you're trying to say is that this guy here could be our---"

"Exactly!!!" Yoji gave me a little pat. "Ken, my man, finally you're catching what I'm getting at."

Omi cocked an eyebrow. "Hmmm, we do need some help around here…"

Aya's eyes widened in surprise. "What?!? Are you guys nuts?!? You mean we have to let this freak into our team?!? You guys have got to be kidding!!!"

Yoji shook his head. "Nope, ain't kidding here," he turned to the injured swordsman. "So, sir, you put up quite a show here. You've got great power."

The guy slowly stood up, staggering a bit. "Shut up!!! You attack me for no reason and now you're giving me compliments?!?  You think I'd be fooled that easily??? There's gotta be a catch," he clutched his shoulder tighter, wincing a bit. Omi's dart had pierced his skin rather deeply.

"U-um… no catch! No catch!!! What makes you think that?" Yoji replied nervously.

"Hn, I'm not as stupid as you are," he reached for Omi's dart on his shoulder, and pulled it out with a little groan of pain.

"Hey, man, we're sorry about that, okay?" I said, approaching him. When he noticed this, he narrowed his eyes at me and gave me a look of death.

Oh, great, this guy's as bad as Aya, I concluded, taking a step back.

"Hey, how do you actually plan to get the orb away from this guy?" I whispered to Yoji.

"That, my friend, is just a piece of cake. We get him to join us, sweet-talk this guy 'till he begins to like us, then we snatch his orb away when he's asleep," Yoji whispered back.

"What?!? I don't think that's a very good idea, Yoji. This guy's not going to fall for that trick. He's too cautious and not to be underestimated," I countered lowly. "And besides, I thought you said you wanted him in our team to help us out in our missions."

"I know that. He'll continue helping us out and then when the time comes, we'd take away that orb," he continued.

"Yoji, that's not going to work," I insisted.

"Hey, trust me, okay?" he cleared his throat and faced him again. "We made a mistake in attacking you and we apologize for that, right Aya?" he nudged him.

Aya pushed Yoji's elbow away and gave him the very same Look of Death this swordsman gave me. I had a feeling that these two would get along very well.

"So anyway," Yoji turned back to the water guy. "We were just wondering if you'd like to join our team. You know, you get to enhance your skill in killing."

I watched the guy's reaction. His eyes widened and he looked at Yoji questioningly like he'd just sprouted some leaves on his head. "What?!?"

Yoji gave him a smile. "Like I said."

The guy blinked in surprise. Then he gave a sly smile and soon he began to laugh.

"Was there something you said?" I turned to Yoji. He just shrugged.

"So," the guy gave us another sly smile. He raised his sword and the ice blade shortened. Soon, it disappeared into its handle. "Is this what you're after?" he held up the handle and turned the orb towards our sight.

What---how--? I positioned my claws. If this guy knew what we were up to, he might just refuse and resume his attacks. I was better off prepared.

"Hn," he smirked. "This Ensui keeps the memories of my dead sister and it is my most prized possession. I do not simply give it away to the likes of you. So if you fools think you can take my psychic device away that easily, well!" he gave an angry smile. "You're dead wrong."

"That's it, why don't I just kill this freak?" Aya raised his katana.

"Wait," Yoji waved his hand in front of Aya.

"However," the guy continued, "it really is a great stupidity to refuse such an offer."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"

"If you really wish to gain my Ensui, then so be it. Since Recca has practically removed me from the Hokage team then I will join yours. You may still attempt to achieve my psychic device, because who knows, right? So try and get it, if you can."

So, I guess the battle doesn't end, even though we're now teammates, I nodded.

Yoji smiled. "You're on, pal," he gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Name's Yoji."

"Omi here."

I just nodded at him. "Ken."

"And, of course, Aya," Yoji clapped him on the back.

He looked away from us and mumbled something like 'I don't believe this.'

"You gotta excuse Aya here, he's just a little bit too grumpy," Yoji said.

"So who're you?" I raised an eyebrow at the stranger.

"Tokiya."