Chapter Four: Confidence
I blinked as I looked upon the large grassy area outside Kagero's house. Domon was missing. Where did that gorilla go? I thought, walking up to Mikagami.
"Ey, Mikagami-nichan, where did Domon-nichan go to?" I asked, looking at him. He didn't reply. I blinked. What's his problem…what's that in his hand…? A small handle of a sword was gripped tightly in his right hand, a small bottle of water in his left. Ensui…? Mikagami finally looked up after a few minutes and seemed surprised that I was there.
"He went to pick up kuchibashi-o." Mikagami said, slowly pouring out the bottle of water onto his madougu. I nodded and watched as ice slowly formed from the water. "Ensui…." At least Mikagami can still use his madougu… I don't know about the rest of them though…
"Hey, Ko-chan!" a voice shouted at me. I blinked and looked towards the voice. Ko-chan…? Thought I freakin' outgrew that name a while ago… I saw Fuuko's grinning chibi face and sweatdropped. Guess not. I walked over to her with kougon anki gripped in one hand.
"What's up Fuuko-nechan?" I said, grinning at her. Ko-chan…am I always a little kid in her eyes…? Can't she see I've grown up? She put the madougu crystal of onitsume in the empty main core of fuujin and three wind claws came out.
"Kazetsume!" Fuuko looked up at me grinning. "How's that, huh? I haven't lost my touch, right Koganei?" Haven't lost your touch…but haven't improved at all…she can control her madougu…can she use it properly? Can she fight with it still…? I blinked and nodded back at her, grinning. The weight of kougon anki in my hand sent a sudden feeling of guilt through me. I'm judging her…can I still use kougon anki? Can I still fight?
I had no time to think as Fuuko ran straight at me. Slower than before, but still shockingly fast compared to the punks I'd been fighting. The deceptively see through blades of wind aimed at my face. I stood shocked for a moment then quickly brought up kougon anki to deflect the claws. The moment knocked me flying backwards. Fuck it!!! She's still freakin' fast!! And strong! I rolled to my feet and jumped up to barely block her next attack. It sent me tumbling again, head over heels, to roll more slowly to my feet.
"Koganei I'm not messing around here." Fuuko said, looking at me with a serious look. "We need to fight to protect Yanagi-chan again, remember? So come on and fight me!" Protect Yanagi…? "That shadow guy wants to kill her? REMEMBER??" The orb of onitsume glowed as the three claws detached.
"Whatever." I said, looking up and glaring at her. Yanagi again? Can't she damn get it, Yanagi's gonna die one day, we're all gonna die one day!! What the hell's the point of fighting to protect her?? "I'll take you on." A genuine grin came un-called onto my face. What…? I remember this…this rush of adrenaline. Fighting with punks doesn't bring it… I looked at Fuuko. Fighting people of high caliber…people with madougus…
The three claws flew at me, the first one right at my face. I dodged it by ducking and rolling forwards. Gripping kougon anki in both hands, confidence seemed to radiate from it into me. Changing it to its second form, ryu, I flung the blade backwards to knock away the blade flying towards my back. The feel of the chains in my hands was different than normal metal; it glided from ryu to kyoku easily, as if it was part of my body. My smirk widened as I smashed the last claw away and shot towards Fuuko, who fell over to dodge the attack. I feel alive…
Fuuko rolled back upright to jump to the side to dodge a slash from kyoku. She sent a blast of air from Fuujin at me in response. "Try this Koganei!!" she shouted. I smirked, a fanged grin, and leapt over the attack. Kougon anki… It slid back from kyoku to ryu.
I threw the bladed end of ryu at Fuuko, who blasted it aside with another gust of air. Landing on the ground I stopped to catch my breath, Fuuko did the same. "Damn, this is more tiring then it was before, ne Koganei?" she said, sitting down on the grass. I sprawled onto the grassy floor also and nodded.
"Ah…I think I'm out of shape at doing this…" I changed kougon anki back to Kiba and laid it on the grass. Kougon anki…sorry for neglecting you…Heh I feel better than I have in days… I smirked to myself then turned to look at Recca's training. "Ey, how you doing Recca-nichan?" He looked back at me and turned chibi.
"Shut up! Concentrate on your own training Koganei!!!" he shouted, then turned his back to me. What the fuck is his problem?? Heh, maybe he's having problems training alone I guess… I looked to Mikagami who was practicing moves with ensui. Still don't get along too well I guess…? Anyway… I tried to glare a hole through Recca's back. What the hell's his freakin' problem??
TBC
Koganei got back his confidence in fighting, so maybe there's a chance for him to become back to 'normal' and become part of the Hokage again. Next chapter will be from Recca's POV (point of view) because it's about the flame dragons.
Forms of kougon anki: 1) kiba – fang (this is the form koganei usually uses, it looks like a halberd)
2) ryu – chains (a sickle at the end of a chain)
3) kyoku – scissors (literally, big scissors)
4) mikizuki – boomerang (spelling may be wrong, a big boomerang)
5) an – bow (bow and arrows)
6) mu – nothing (only talked about in the anime, the kougon anki breaks into pieces. Koganei then throws the orb at the enemy and tells the anki to reform…)