Chapter 17: Who is Bakuryu?

Okay, I guess I'm just going to post this, but this chapter feels very wrong. Nothing really happens in it and it seems I have reverted back to "too much dialogue," phase. Anyway, the next chapter will be a bit better hopefully, and it probably won't just be you-know-who popping out of nowhere repeatedly, so bear with me. ^_^;;

Oh dear.

I STILL don't have the plot worked out! I thought I would by now _. Yes, I know this is fanfiction, but it should be conceived from the very beginning, or at least early on. I mean, I have all the events resulting, but I just need the reason.

~~~~~~~~~

The martial artist Long Shin retrieved a small pair of glasses and slid them onto his face before tending to the whistling kettle. He poured the boiling water into a fine ceramic teapot after dropping in a metal tea ball before returning to the table where his guests were seated. He had an extra chair for the very small dinner table to be polite in the rare event of a visitor's arrival, but otherwise his house suited one person, though it had enough room to house a few. Long lived alone at the end of a stretch of houses that were spread rather far apart. The back of his home was right up against a rock formation, in which there was a small grotto where he would meditate, as he was doing when Yugo and Alice arrived.

"Thank you for your patience," he calmly said with lowered eyes. Finely controlled and graceful hands poured aromatic tea into the small and delicate cups set before his guests. Yugo, who was seated in a chair that had to be brought from elsewhere in Long's home, took a big gulp and nearly choked when he scalded his mouth. Alice cast an angry glare his way and gently took a small sip from her cup.

She put it down and told him, "Gado says you know a lot about Tylon."

"Indeed," he whispered, pain showing up on his face, "So how does the elder Nonomura sister become mixed up in Tylon's affairs? Has little Uriko... died?"

"You think she's dead?!"

"Has she... vanished, Miss Alice?"

When he saw in Alice's face that his assumption was correct, he closed his eyes and continued, "'Vanished' and 'dead' can mean the same thing, especially with Tylon and the people they hire."

Yugo became angry at how he was playing with Alice's emotions. "Look," he told him, "My brother was missing for about a year, he shows up one night with this girl, who just so happens to be Alice's sister. They stay the night and they disappear without a trace the next."

"It would seem your brother is a delinquent."

An enraged boxer thrust his hand across the table and grabbled Long by his shirt. The older man let himself be pulled forward and seemed unfazed when Yugo yelled in his face, "Don't you dare dis my brother like that! Kenji wouldn't do such a thing!"

He gently placed one hand on Yugo's and lightly pushed it away. "You would be surprised what your own brother would do to you." Yugo went back to his chair, crossed his arms, and looked away, sulking.

He continued to ask, "Is Tylon hunting for more subjects? The two of you have a very strong zoanthrope aura. Have your powers recently been awakened, Miss Nonomura?" She nodded and he stated, "That would explain it. I had a feeling you were a sleeping Zoanthrope."

"Well, I am adopted."

"Uriko, on the other hand..." He stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Alice asked.

"I fear for the worst. Your sister definitely let off a faint aura not unlike the one a dormant zoanthrope emits, but it was a very peculiar aura I could never quite figure out. One of the days not long before her absence, she was carrying a mole in her bag. Its scent and energy were unmistakable. It was a soil dwelling assassin."

Yugo stopped sulking a moment to grumble, "That must have been Kenji."

"What was that you said?"

"When Kenji came back, he told Uriko 'n me about zoanthropes and how he could turn into a little mole."

"A small, regular mole..."

"Yeah."

"You're telling me your brother is one of the Clan of the Soil...."

"That's what Gado says."

"Yugo found Kenji a few years back and raised him for about five years, "Alice informed him. She retrieved a photograph of Kenji and Uriko together and showed it Long.

"Has it been that long?" he sighed, "I suppose he would be that age about now. He seems to be blind..."

"Uriko found this mole in her yard and made a pet out of it. She even took that thing with her when mom took us with her on a business trip. We went to the mall while mom was at work and that's when she disappeared."

"This boy is not a killer. When I saw him, I knew he was hiding, so I let him be. If I am correct, he is an heir to his clan of ninja, so someone came back for him, and that someone probably took Uriko as well."

"What do you think happened to Uriko?"

"I musn't say. Merely thinking of this pains me. She was one of my favorite students. I even taught her Kenpo, despite the fact I once declared my skills would never be inherited. Your sister changed my heart, Miss Alice. I never thought I would ever again feel the way I did when I was with her. Such youth... Such energy, such hope. I felt as if I was being pieced back together again."

"Long..."

"Hm?"

Now Alice was the one who jumped up and grabbed the man. "What did you do to Uriko?"

"Excuse me?"

"If you touched her in any way, shape, or form I swear I'll... I'll..."

"......Meep?"

"Woah, Alice!" Yugo said aloud in wonder. He edged his chair away from her slightly.

"Rest assured, I did no such thing to the child." He got her back into her seat and then turned to the younger man and asked, "What relationship did Uriko have with 'Kenji?'"

Yugo scratched his head and came out of his rotten mood. "Gee... I think Kenji had a crush on her. I remember hearing say he was stuck as a mole most of the day except for around midnight, and that's when he'd talk to her in her sleep. The kid seemed to want her to accept him. Poor little guy. He never had that many friends."

Long nodded. He was the one who had destroyed the device controlling his transformational powers.

"I wonder if she made him feel the same way. Alas, such a cruel world this is."

"EEEEK!"

Long immediately shot up from his seat and whipped his head about. "Tylon?" His head along with Yugo's turned to Alice, who was panicking in her seat.

"Kenji... That mole she slept with... HE'S the pervert I saw! I DID see a naked boy looming over her that night!"

Yugo chuckled. "Well, I guess he did like her, huh?"

"This isn't funny," she shrieked, "If Uriko's alive, she might be pregnant... or have AIDS or something!"

"AIDS?! My Kenji doesn't have any AIDS!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"He... He doesn't, alright!"

Long made a slight sound in his throat, and it stopped them only so they could briefly turn to him and yell, "You stay out of this!" While they continued to bicker, he silently rose from his seat and turned to the window. He lightly placed one hand on the glass.

Shall I hope you live? Would prayers for well-being be blasphemies from a mouth such as mine?

Long's eyes relaxed and he continued to stare at the leaves fluttering in the breeze, once again letting anything at all bring him back to reflecting on his life and his sorrow in a world apart.

~~~~~~~~

"Uriko, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing!" She stammered. The girl almost pushed him out of her way in her race out of his quarters. She ran until she saw she was alone. Uriko thrust her back against the wall and started panicking. Had she been seeing things?

"Relax, Love," a voice purred from the darkness, "I am indeed real."

She turned around and came face to face with those narrowed eyes and that relaxed smirk. Once again, a strong musk flowed from his straightened hair and numbed her mind.

"You look tense. Were you hoping I was merely a fantasy?" As those words fell from his mouth, the brought up his hands by the sides of his head as if to showcase his face. He tilted his head so he could look down on her with his confident and cool gaze.

She stared at him and tried to speak through her gaping mouth. Uriko shook her head and brought herself to her senses.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Hmm?"

"This... This isn't like you."

His expression became dark. "So you were using me."

How did the conversation suddenly turn to this?

"What? No!"

He tightly gripped her wrists and shoved her against the wall.

"You were, weren't you?"

"Kenji, you know I wasn't!"

"Bakuryu!" He barked into her face, "My name is Bakuryu, and I am no weakling. Nobody falls in love with the weak. I am merely marking what is mine, as anyone would."

"Kenji, where are you getting these ideas?"

He glared angrily at her once more and rose one hand above her. Just then a voice echoed through the halls.

"HAJIME!" Shenlong roared, and as soon as he had finished doing so, the ninja disappeared once more in a flash of green. The much larger man stormed through holding up a lavender bottle, yelling, "You've been swiping my hair oil, haven't you, Busu-frea-"

He stopped and sniffed the air. The, he grabbed Uriko and leaned over to smell her hair. He sniffed the air once again and then stormed off in the manner in which he had arrived.

I don't get it... Is this brainwashing?

Uriko decided to pull herself together. She ran off to find the man who had so rudely interrupted them. "Umm..."

"My name is not 'Umm.' I am Shenlong. Do not forget that."

"Right, Shenlong... Do you know Kenji, I mean, Young Dragon?"

He blinked, "Ryu? That immature ninja? I guess so. What about him?"

"Does he act... you know... strange every now and then?"

Shenlong cocked an eyebrow and scratched the back of his head. "Whaddaya mean? He's either in 'normal,' 'normal,' or 'grimey killah ninja' mode."

"Huh?"

He looked at the ceiling and tried to explain with much waving of his hand, "I guess you have to know him for a while to notice it. He's either in one of two different moods, know what I mean? Sometimes, he's more... I don't know... serious? Depressed? Most of the time, he's pretty much the same, but he's got this little kid mentality. It gets kind of annoying after a while."

Uriko put one hand to her chin and thought. Perhaps she had seen these two moods. "What about the other mode? Does he suddenly get overly confident?"

"Hell no! There's no personality at all there! He just flies across the floor and kills people like crazy like some sort of robot. He's rarely like that and he stays that way for a few minutes at most. It's crazy. He just phases out, you know? Sometimes he'll wind up running into a wall or something."

She had definitely seen that before.

"Aaaanyway," the man continued, "HAJIME!"

Uriko jumped.

"You've been stealing my hair shit, haven't you?"

A flush was heard and the scientist came running back into the room, still buttoning his pants. "Why would I want your stinky hair oil?"

"Well, somebody's been sneaking a little from my bottle, and he's been using a lot!"

"Shenlong. Do I smell like shit? No. I haven't been taking your stinkin' hair oil."

He walked over so Shenlong could examine him with his nose and the bulky man frowned at the absence of any of its stench on him.

"No... So who-"

"The PERVERT!" Uriko shrieked.

"Huh?"

With a savage yell, she brought up her foot for a devastating kick to his face. Busuzima clapped one overly large hand to his nose and, muttering muffled curses, rushed off to find a first aid kit.

"Kid..." he commended in a voice that tried to conceal his surprise at the sudden attack, "That was a good shot."

He then continued to say, "Could you do me a teensie little favor? Tell me if you come across anyone who smells like my hair."

"Excuse me?"

Shenlong stooped down to her level, lightly cupped her chin, and explained, "Combined with the right actions and looks... This scent makes me ready to seduce, doesn't it?"

Uriko found a bright red flush coming to her face against her will. She could remember the lonely nights filled with fantasies of well built older men, like her literature teacher, coming in the night for her. Thought it was more faint so she may not be aware of its control over her senses until it was too late, she noticed her mind was being numbed by a familiar scent.

Kenji?

Shenlong laughed and drew away from her. Nobody could match his looks and charm, as far as he was concerned, simply because he was Shenlong. "Damn, I'm good..." he told himself while bringing up his hands to showcase his face. Uriko walked away, still in somewhat of a daze.

"Is she gone?" asked a nasal voice.

"Yeah, yeah..."

Busuzima nervously stepped into the room. A large bandage was now over his nose.

"Hajime."

"What is it now?" he moaned.

"I crave something sweet."

The doctor reached into his pocket for a snack he was saving for himself. He tossed the pink daifuku wrapped in clear plastic onto the table. Shenlong snatched it up and tore off the wrapper.

"Hah! Dai, fuku, dai!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alice and Yugo, panting, leaned over the table. Both had one arm around the shoulder of the other and the free arms shared a box of chocolate covered cookie sticks.

"I'm sorry I hit you over the head..." Yugo apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry about your foot."

"Hey, feet get smashed. What are you gonna do? Want another?"

The nurse reached into the box, sighing, "Yes, thank you. What do you think Mr. Long is doing?"

Yugo looked over to the window, where Long had been in the exact same position for their entire fight. "I dunno. He looks kinda phased out." The boxer got out of his seat and walked over to him.

"Long..." he whispered. He snapped his fingers around him and still got no response.

"Yo, Long!" Yugo waved one hand on front of his face and yelled, "Earth to Long! Are you on drugs or something?"

The teacher blinked and turned to him lazily, asking, "Hm? Did you say something?"

"Nevermind..." he moaned.

"Whatever the case is," Alice told them both, "We need to get our information straight so we know what's going on and why Gado sent us to you."

Long lowered his eyes to the floor and suggested, "Perhaps it would be best if I said as little about myself as possible."

"I didn't come all the way here just to tell some guy my problems," Yugo snapped in frustration, "We want some information, too!"

Before he could stop it, Long's hand came out for the boxer's shoulder and held him up against the wall. He hissed, "Would you really like that? Do you have any idea of the things I've seen, the thing's I've done?"

The younger stared back in silence and was let go after a few seconds. "Forgive me," the older man muttered, "But you must tell me your stories from the very beginning. I shall tell you from what I do know of what might have happened, if it is not something too terrible."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uriko."

The voice interrupted the train of thought passing through her mind as she walked back to the quarters she shared with the prince.

The girl spun around. "Why do you-"

Her voice was cut off by lips meeting hers. Slender arms held her tightly should she have decided to struggle.

"I'm seducing you. Isn't it obvious?"

He brushed back a lock of her hair and chuckled, "Your nervous act makes me laugh. You are begging to be ravished."

"Now wait a minute," Uriko stammered, "I wanna know why you're so-"

Once again, he silenced her with a kiss, now taking advantage of an open mouth. The girl cringed and pushed herself away.

"Gross!" She squealed. His smile wavered.

She yelled, "You don't just stick in your tongue and hold it there! I felt like I had a slug in my mouth!"

"Hmm... So you want me to try it again?"

"N-no! That's not what I said, I-Mph!"

Meanwhile, the old master's head turned when he heard muffled moans and the sounds of squirming and movement as he passed through the hall. A site of misery and suffering was a very strange place to hear these noises. It was then, among the pheromones and too much musk, he caught the scent of the Young Dragon.

With silent motions, he approached the missing youth, who had a certain girl pinned to the floor underneath him. Without turning around, he growled, "Do you mind?"

"Young Dragon-"

"Bakuryu. My name is Bakuryu.

"The heirloom!" the master exclaimed when he saw the armor, "How dare you defile it in this way?"

"Shut up, old man. Your precious heirloom was going to waste locked up in that shrine, so I decided to put it to some good."

"I demand an explanation," he ordered, "You will march to your room right now."

"You know what, old man? I won't. Screw this."

The younger ninja waved his hands to drop a flash of light to make yet another mysterious disappearance. The elder was not fooled. His focus darted around the room. Instead of following the heir, he turned to the panting girl on the floor. She looked up at him with the same expression he was giving her and was about to ask the same question.

"What the hell is going on here?"