Shio's Mission

"Sounds like you and I went to Kyoto for similar reasons." Shio stated after Kiriko finished her story.

"Really?"

"Yeah….You went to find out things about your father. I went to find my father and to pay my respects."

Kiriko didn't know what to say, "Oh I'm sorry to hear that."

He continued. "You asked me why I'm going to Tokyo. I'm going to find my father's murderer ………….and kill him."

Kiriko gasped. "Shio, are you serious?"

Shio looked her straight in the eye. "I've dedicated my life to finding my father's murderer. I couldn't be more serious………Kiriko let me tell you a little bit about myself……..I was born in Kyoto but my grandmother brought me up in China. My grandmother hated my father for what he did in the Revolution and for what he became after. She told me many stories about him. I was two when she told me he died. I could still remember her exact words 'He was sent back to hell were he belongs.' Funny………. I was only two but I can still remember that………She was glad he was dead but not me. I think she wanted me to hate my father, but since I didn't she decided to hate me as well. So I left her at the age of twelve in search for any information about him and my mother. I learned that he was once a man-slayer during the Revolution but after his services were done, instead of the higher officials praising him for his hard efforts they decided to burn him alive…."

Kiriko swallowed hard.

"…..They thought he was died until ten years after the Revolution and two years after my birth he rose up with an army of his own. He wanted revenge on the Meiji Government who made him out to be a monster. He was going to rule Japan and make it the strongest country in the world. I found out from a guy named Soujiro what his favorite quote was…… 'The strong shall live and the weak shall die'…….

Kiriko looked down at her hands and started to fidget. She didn't like the way Shio sounded. He was actually starting to scare her for the first time.

"……. I know it's a very powerful statement but it has great truth to it. The strong are here to prey upon the weak. It's a fact of nature and I've come to believe it. Those words inspire me to always be strong.………… He would have been a great leader until the coward government became frighten of his power. So they recruited a man known as Battousai the man-slayer…."

"Battousai?" Kiriko said more to herself then Shio. That name sounds familiar.

"….He was famous during the Revolution. He killed many men. He was unstoppable. They said that even his eyes could slice your heart into pieces. From what I found out, my father was his successor. They fought in a duel to the death but not even my own father was a match for the Battousai. To honor my father, I've learned his technique and have become stronger than he ever was. Battousai the man-slayer will pay for what he did…… I will avenge my father death."

Kiriko was quiet for a few minutes. Finally she had to ask him something that didn't fit right with his story. "Why are you doing this?"

"Didn't I just explain that to you." Shio answered slightly hurt and annoyed that she wasn't paying attention.

"That's not the question I wanted to ask…" Kiriko struggled for the right words to say, "…what I mean is, I can see you love your father very much but what does your father's past have to do with you?"

"It has everything to do with me because I am his son. I must follow in his footsteps even though I never met him. This task makes me feel…….closer to him some how."

"Your father was a man-slayer and so was the Battousai. So what makes you think you're a man-slayer? Have you ever killed anyone before?"

"No." He mumbled. "But you don't understand. I have to do this for him. This man destroyed his dreams and hard work. I want to honor my father. This is the only way I know how."

Kiriko sighed. "I don't see how killing a man is honorable…..I've learned that when to warriors fight in an agreed duel to the death, that the loser's soul doesn't seek revenge because he died honorably. You'll dishonor his death if you seek revenge on the Battousai….and…let's say you…….fail….."

She thought she would get a bad reaction from that but he said nothing so she continued.

"Then you will really disgrace your family. It's also hard for me to believe you follow such a horrible notion as 'The strong shall live and the weak shall die'. If you truly believed that then you would have left me with that goon, to be raped because I was in a weakened state. However you helped me… and just before we got here you helped that little boy with those bullies. I'm positive that you've helped many people throughout your travels. Am I right?"

Shio stared at his sword. Stone faced. He didn't answer.

"Well anyway, if you truly believed that statement then you wouldn't have helped me, that little boy, or anyone else you've come across…..so, you see why I'm confused when you say that you believe in it so strongly…..Shio, I would have never agreed to go with you if I felt that I was in danger. I don't detect the soul of a man-slayer in you. You're not your father. You are your own person and you don't have to follow in your father's path because you're not a murderer. It's just not in you-"

Shio got up. "You're wrong. I WILL kill the Battousai…..I don't have it in me, huh?………..I have it…… RIGHT HERE!" He pointed to his chest "…You know what; I don't know why I'm explaining myself to a spoiled little brat who runs away from a father who loves her." He picked up his sword and walked out the door.

Kiriko jump when the door slammed behind him. She sat there for awhile and just stared at that the door. She finally got up, changed back into her other clothes and put her hair back into its usual ponytail. Then she went to her futon. She laid awake for most of the night. Listening and hoping he would return.

When she woke up the next morning, he still wasn't there. She packed her things and went to the desk to pay for the room. To her surprise, the room was paid for in full.

"Who paid for it?" Kiriko asked.

"Why the young man that came in with you. He paid for it last night before he left." The old man behind the counter replied.

"He did?…oh…..Thanks. Goodbye." Kiriko walked outside and stood in the middle of the road. It was still earlier. Most of the shops and stands were just opening. She went into her satchel and pulled out her map. She stood there staring at it but wasn't really reading it. She couldn't get over the fact that Shio paid for the room. He was angry last night yet was still kind enough to do that…..He's so wrong about himself. He's not a murderer and he doesn't have it in him like his father…. But I really have no right meddling in something he spent most of his life to achieve. Kiriko finally focused her concentration on the map. She was relieved to find out that she was only a thirty miles from Tokyo. I'm so tired of this trip. I can't wait to get home…..I hope they're not too mad at me. Kiriko looked up the road and saw a tall man with long black ponytail standing by a fruit stand.

SHIO! She thought as she ran towards him. "SHIO!" She called out. The man didn't turn around. Kiriko caught up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shio?"

The man turned around, "Huh?"

It wasn't him. "Oh I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else." Kiriko turned the corner and walked out of the town.

After a couple of miles, Kiriko pulled out her map again. Am I lost?, she thought as she read through it over and over again.

"You know you're going the wrong way."

Kiriko turned around to the familiar voice. Her eyes lit up at once when she saw his handsome face smirking at her.

"Shio." She walked over to him and gazed up into eyes.

"Kiriko, I sorry for the way I-"

She placed her finger on his lips. "No please let me apologize first….. I have no right meddling in your business,especially when you spent so much time and dedication to it. I still don't think you should kill someone………. Maybe I don't understand but it's really not my business……I…Iguess I just don't want you to get hurt either……. I-I mean if something happened to you ….I……" Kiriko looked away from him. She didn't want him to see the tears stinging in her eyes.

Shio stared at her with a slightly surprised expression on his face. Is she really that worried about me? He gently turned her head back to face him. She avoided looking into his eye as a tear slowly spilled down her cheek. She is! …………I've never had someone worry about me so much.

"Kiriko, please don't worry. I know this doesn't sound right but I must do it……….And another thing…..we'll need to spilt up before we get to Tokyo. I've already said too much to you…… I don't want you to become more involved in my mission. Do you understand?"

Kiriko nodded in compliance.

Shio took her hand and playfully tugged her. "Come on. I know you can't wait to get home."

Kiriko grinned. "Not necessarily."

Shio grinned back at her in the way that made her heart melt. They walked back in the opposite direction from the way she was going. To Kiriko's dismay, Tokyo was only a couple of miles away.

They didn't talk much as they travelled. Kiriko couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence between them but what could she say to a person that was planning on becoming a murderer. Even worse was the fact that she cared for him greatly. She just didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask him more questions. Try to desperately talk him out of this stupid mission but he was so headstrong. So determined. For eleven years he's wanted to do this. Eleven years. It made her three weeks looking for her own father's secrets seem like a flea on an elephant. My own father secrets, she thought. Now that she really thought about it, she felt like a hypocrite; telling Shio that his father's past has nothing to do with him while she really should have been telling herself that all along. Just as Hiko said, what did his past matter as long as he loved her and she loved him? And that's when Kiriko started to wonder, maybe Shio wasn't doing this to honor his father, maybe he was doing it for his father's love. A father that abandoned him as a baby, both parents and even his grandmother shunned him from their love and care. She remembered what he said when he left the room the other night;

(…" I don't know why I'm even explaining myself to a spoiled little brat who runs away from a father who loves her."…)

Could that be it, she thought, Is that why he really wants to destroy the Battousai so badly? For his dead father's love?

Kiriko looked up into his face as these new questions plagued her mind. Now I REALLY didn't know what to say.

Shio felt her stare so he looked down at her. "What? What's wrong?"

She looked away. "Oh…nothing."

"There's obviously something on your mind. I would suggest you ask it now. We're getting closer to Tokyo and you probably won't get another chance to do so." Once the words came out his mouth, he totally regretted saying them. His heart sank at the thought of not seeing her ever again.

What he said wounded Kiriko deeply. Tears stung at her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "So…..I won't ever see you again." She said more as a statement then as a question.

Shio couldn't lie to her. "The truth is……when I killed the Battousai I will become a murderer and I'll be running from the cops for probably the rest of my life, so, no you won't see me again."

Kiriko stared at the road. Shio must really trust me. He's openly admitting to me that he will be a fugitive and yet he doesn't even think for a second that I'll tell the cops…... OH I CAN JUST HIT HIM!……He knows good and well I won't tell-

"I'm glad we travelled together." Shio interrupted her thoughts.

Kiriko looked up at him again. "What?"

He was staring at the road. "I said I'm glad we travelled together. I must admit. I really had a wonderful time with you."

Kiriko blushed, "So did I."

He continued. "You know…..I don't ever remember laughing so much in such a short time…….The best part was the mouse thing-"

"HEY! Let's not bring that up again." She said with a smile. Now that she thought about that horrible ordeal, it did seem a little funny to her.

Shio chuckled a little. "Okay, okay…….Basically what I'm saying is……. I'm glad we met each other and got to know one another better."

Kiriko couldn't erase the smile from her face. "Yeah, I'm glad you were in the tree….ahem…..'bird watching'."

"HEY! Let's not bring THAT up again." He smiled at her.

She giggled.

Shio became serious again. "I'm saying these things because…" he stopped walking and took her arm to make her stop too, "….this is where we must part." Then he slowly pulled her into his strong arms and hugged her tightly.

Kiriko eyes widened. She was completely speechless.

He spoke softly into her ear. "I've known nothing else but this mission my whole life. It's consumed my time so that is why I never had a chance to make any friends…When you told me that I was your friend, I was a little shocked…..but mostly honored that you would think of me that way…… And even though I've only known you for a short time.……… you have truly become the only friend I've ever had………….I thank you for that and I'll never forget you." When Shio felt her warm tears on his shoulders, he squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his hold on her.

Kiriko slowly wrapped her arms around him and hugged back. They stood that way for a few minutes. Shio sighed then finally loosen his arms from around her however he didn't release her from his embrace. She started to cry harder. Kiriko kept her head down, trying to hide her tears.

He gently placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head. Tears streaked down her face like small rivers. He took his thumb and wiped away a tear that was cascading down her left cheek then stared deeply into her eyes; "Tokyo is only three miles from here. Keep going in this direction and you'll be home in no time." He stared at her for a moment.

"Shio…you…you don't have to…"

"Kiriko, I'm sorry but must do this. Please try to understand." She closed her eyes and nodded. Since he knew he would never see her again, he figured this was his only opportunity to fulfil the desire he'd been having ever since he first met her. Shio took a deep breath, leaned in and gently placed is lips on her tear soaked mouth.

Kiriko's eyes shot open. She was so shocked that she was about to pull away but when his strong arms pulled her in closer she could help but to melt into his soft lips. So she closed her eyes again and kissed back. Shio deepened his kiss slightly, gently parting her lips. Since Kiriko was inexperienced, she just followed his lead and opened her mouth slightly. Her knees almost gave away when she felt his tongue lightly graze across hers. Just as she was beginning to feel more comfortable about her first kiss she felt him hesitantly pulling away from her. Please don't go. Stay with me, but just as she was thinking this his warm lips separated from hers. He slowly removed his arms from around her waist and softly said,