This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own Teen Titans or any DC comics alluded to in this story. Kenkaku and his swords are mine, however.


Waves of Fate
"text": spoken English

"text": spoken Japanese (translated or flavor text)

"text": war cry, English

"text": war cry, Japanese.

text: thoughts

-text-: stressed word

text: printed or typed English

text: printed or typed Japanese

'text': sound effect

Japanese flavor text will be in a glossary at the end of the chapter.


Raven dashed down the hill. The mental cage she had constructed for Trigon was little more than twisted wreckage. Competitive Spirit was lying, beaten like a Technicolor doily, across the cold faux-Azarath mindscape. And a -red- Raven was tending to her.

Her immediate thought was of Trigon, but the demon lord tending to one of her aspects? Especially Competitive Spirit. If any of her aspects would stand against Trigon, so would CS. Besides, Trigon radiated an aura of deep hatred. This red-robed aspect, while not calm and serene, had an aspect that was all together…nice.

"I had a feeling I would be running in to you soon," said Raven in Japanese.

"You admitted to my presence rather quickly. I would have expected you to deny me for years." The red-robed aspect looked up at her with a slight smile.

"I'm of a mind to keep my emotions under control, not a fool," said Raven, slightly annoyed.

"Now that's denial. Need I draw your attention to any number of other incidents with the other aspects? Never me before, shame that."

"I've learned," said Raven, frowning, "Shouldn't you be blind?"

"You aren't one for clichés. Well, one or two, but…"

"Shut up," commanded Raven, irked. "What happened here?"

"Trigon decided to leave your mind, obviously. And violently, it would seem."

"That, I can see. Why? I know you've been lurking around ever since I met Kenkaku-kun. You should know something, Love, especially since you are like CS in nature."

"Sorry, I've been trying to find you. Get you to accept that I exist. CS did mention that Trigon said something about brother blades."

"Kanesada and Muramasa."

"Your boyfriend gets more and more interesting."

"He is not my boyfriend."

"Oh, good, I get to argue with you over something."

"Look, I'm not saying I wouldn't like it, but he isn't. And it could never be."

"This is the guy who you spend almost all your time with."

"I'm the only one who can speak with him!"

For both of us, I think. Remember those words?"

"Wishful thinking."

"The Raven-CHAN incident."

"Well, it worked, didn't it? Look, I like…"

"Ahem."

"…love him. But nothing can come of it, and it looks strictly one-sided."

"You're forgetting honorifics."

"He calls me Raven-kun. So what? I started that."

"Yes, but the rest of the Titans are his friends, and he uses -san with them. Come to think of it, so do you."

"True…" she shook her head. We're losing sight of the problem. Trigon is loose."

"It's related but…Trigon has left your mind. Rage is still here, but Trigon is no longer trying to use you to take over Earth."

"He wouldn't just give up like that. He must be trying something else."

"Brother blades, remember?"

"Right. Take care of CS." Raven dashed off for the door out of her mind.


Kenkaku tightened a bandage with his teeth, then snipped off the excess with a kozuka before tying a low-profile knot. He grimaced as he probed his head, finding a very tender spot just above his ear. Reminder to self. Do not ever spar with a Justice League member again. He looked at his fingers, sighing at the little flakes of dried blood on them. He walked across the medbay, being careful not to disturb the sleeping Robin and Starfire. Robin had passed out about an hour back, and was draped across Starfire's stomach.

The ronin gave a slight smile to the scene as he turned to the sink, running a little water onto a clean cloth, moistening it. He hissed as he started to clean the wound with it.

At least it isn't too big, thought the wave man as he reached for a roll of clean bandages and a wad of soft padding. He checked his fingers for blood. The wound wasn't bleeding. He positioned the padding on the wound and made to wrap the bandages around his head to hold it in place.

He promptly dropped both the bandages and the padding when Raven shadow-warped into the room, right beside him. "Hello Raven-kun." He bent down and picked up the bandages, starting to reapply them.

"What are you doing?" asked the sorceress.

"Patching myself up," replied the swordsman.

"No, that's not what I meant." Raven put her hand on his arm and concentrated, gritting her teeth. "I have a limited healing power." Her breath hissed out. "You got hurt a lot worse than you let on."

"Drifting and martial arts teach you to not notice it until it's important. That's really good. So why didn't you use it on Starfire-san?"

"Her damage was too extensive. I wasn't feeling up to it."

"Huh?"

"I have to deal with some pain to heal a wound. About half of the pain of the original wound."

Kenkaku instinctively grabbed Raven's hand to break the connection, but paused just as he grabbed her hand. "Eh…sorry."He shook his head. "You should have just left me with the bandages."

"No. I don't think so. These nuts with blades keep on assaulting you. You need to be in top form." Raven cursed her traitor fingers as they curled around the long-haired swordsman's.

"You didn't need to go through pain for my sake. I would have been just fine."

Something is going to break soon, thought Raven, barely holding onto her powers.

Something did. A chain shot out of the darkness, a weight attached to the end. It hit Raven's wrist full on.

'Ccckhak!'

"AHHHH!" screamed Raven as the pain from her broken wrist registered.

"RAVEN!" yelled Kenkaku, forgetting the honorific in his momentary panic.

'SHING! CH-THANGK!'

Kenkaku drew Kanesada and stabbed it through one of the chain's links, into the floor, pinning the chain. Muramasa appeared in his other hand. "Come out, you son of a bitch!"

"Just a bitch, wave man," said the attacker as she stepped from the shadows, holding onto a short-handled sickle, the chain attached to the base. "You may call me Kunoichi. I fight with a kusari-gama. It is just as immutable as your swords, so don't try to cut through the chain."

"Another one of the little organization after Kanesada?"

"Yes. Your girlfriend had the right idea. Keep healthy. You are the only one that can truly fight us."

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven's eyes glowed pure white as she shot Kenkaku's kozuka across the room.

'TSSICK!'

The sickle-wielder gritted her teeth as she pulled the kozuka from her bicep. "That hurt, bitch. Here, you can have it back! HYOH!" She threw the knife back, catching Raven in the thigh. "Just wait. I'll deal with you once I'm done with your boyfriend."

Damn, thought Kenkaku, glancing at the sleeping Robin and Starfire. Help would be an extremely good thing.

Kunoichi caught his glance. "Don't bother. He's out with a sleeping drug, and she's in a stasis field until the nanobots are ready, remember? Security systems are out in this room. It's just us."

"In that case…"

'Wheooom!'

Kenkaku went accelerated and pulled Kanesada out of the floor, yanking on the chain. The chain pulled on the sickle attached in turn. Kunoichi did not release the handle, and was pulled across the room a ways, off balance.Kenkaku slashed downwards with Muramasa, hoping for a quick end to the fight.

Unfortunately, Kunoichi was very fast. In fact… "Very nice try, ronin, but when you accelerate, so do I. A gift from the one who wants Kanesada."

"And if I decelerate?"

"So do I. Keeps us even for the prophecy."

'Whoooet!'

Kenkaku released the chain from Kanesada, and hopped back, Muramasa held forward with Kanesada held back. Kunoichi started to spin the chain, getting ready for a throw.

With so much clutter in here, and a ceiling, the chain is limited. I can't use aerial attacks, but neither can she. If she can trap my swords, it's over. I've got to neutralize her chain!

Kunoichi threw her chain, the weight striking like some venomous serpent. But it struck only air as Kenkaku dove to the side, interposing a sick bed between him and the ninja.

Kunoichi swung the chain in a wide arc above her head, the chain coming in at about throat level for Kenkaku. He instinctively raised Muramasa to block.

The chain wrapped around the bokken, taking control of it. Kunoichi tugged hard, pulling Kenkaku forward, trying to slam him into the sick bed.

No such luck. Kenakaku hopped up onto the bed and pushed off, adding to his momentum. He shot at her like a javelin, Kanesada stretched out in front of him.

She jumped, and Kanesada struck her tip first in the calf, not cutting, but imparting a great deal of force. The hit spun her in mid-air, letting her bring the sickle down into Kenkaku's back.

"AHHH!"Blood spurted from the swordsman's back, and a number of his hairs fell to the ground. He landed sprawled on the ground, sickle still embedded in his back.

"Hah! That was far too easy, ronin!"

"Look again." Kenkaku got to his feet, sickle still in his back, and chain wrapped around Muramasa. "Never give up your weapon, ninja." Kunoichi looked down at her empty hands. "Surrender."

"Never!" Kunoichi dove towards Raven, grabbing a scalpel, to fast for the sorceress to put up a shield.

But not too fast for Kenkaku.

"KIAI!" Kenkaku dashed across the room as the kiaijutsu force blast staggered the female ninja, bringing Kanesada down in a vicious slash.

'FSSSHGLCH!'

Blood sprayed all over the room from Kunoichi's barely in one piece torso. Kenkaku was drenched in the liquid, looking at Kanesada in disbelief. Or rather, the blood that ran down its blade.

Raven got to her feet shakily, speckled with gore, robes streaked with ichor. "Ken…Kenkaku-kun?" She knew death, but it had been years upon years since she had seen a body split open in violent death, lifeblood spraying out in a crimson fan.

"No…no. I don't kill indiscriminately. I'm a hero, not a murderer. I don't kill! I didn't wish her dead!" He slashed Kanesada violently, the enchanted blade shedding the blood as easily as a duck's wing sheds water. Running on autopilot, the ronin sheathed the katana and put his bokken on his belt and started to walk out of the room.

"Kenkaku-kun, wait!" Raven held her arm up to grab his shoulder

"No. I must leave."

"Where are you going?"

"Where I belong."

"What?"

"I just killed someone when I could have knocked them out. I'm going where a murderer should be." The door shut behind the blood-drenched swordsman, sickle still in his back.


Raven frantically shadow-warped through the tower, trying to find someone still awake. She found Green Lantern sitting in front of one of the Titans' computers. "Green Lantern!"

The ex-marine spun around in his seat, ring glowing. "Don't surprise me like that. What's wrong?"

"We had an intruder in the sickbay and Kenkaku is gone."

"An intruder in the tower? You have very good defenses here. How'd they get through?"

"They were a ninja."

"I've heard stranger. I'll accept that. So, did they kidnap Kenkaku?"

"No…they're dead."

"Kenkaku?" asked GL in disbelief

"He didn't seem to mean to do it…" said Raven, quietly.

"And he's where now?"

"Walking off somewhere. And he has a sickle embedded in his back! I think he's headed to the police station to turn himself in."

"He didn't break a law considering that he's registered. But I can understand him being guilt-ridden. Okay, let's find him." GL stood up. "He couldn't have gone far with a sickle in his back."

"He just may surprise you."

"He already has."


Kenkaku stumbled along a stone passageway, delirious from loss of blood, and tired from the previous swordfight. He had absolutely no idea where he was. About all he knew was that he was headed downwards. As he stumbled, he pulled out Muramasa and used the bokken as a cane.

Murderers belong in the ground. Dead in the ground. Wonder what this was used for? Like it matters. I'll be dead soon.

What for? You did nothing wrong.

Look, I don't need a hitokiri aspect. I do just fine on my own and I'm going to be dead soon. And I killed someone.

Hardly your fault.

I know how Kanesada works. I had to want her dead for it to cut. Murderous intent when I could've knocked her out? That's wrong in my book.

Mine too, but some things are out of your control. You could not stop yourself from wanting Kunoichi to die in that situation. Just by virtue of your nature and Kanesada's, Kunoichi could not live.

What the hell do you want with me? Fuck off.

You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so why don't you talk to the nice blonde who followed us down here for some reason.

Kenkaku spun around to see the blonde metahuman he met in the park.

"Soothsayer-dono?"

"You do realize you have a sickle in your back, right?"

"I had actually forgotten about it. Kiaijutsu."

"Right. Well, as that sickle is in your back, I see I'm a little late to give you another fragment of the prophecy. Maybe I can keep you from committing suicide like I gather you want to, at least."

"I'm not committing suicide, I'm letting myself die."

"I'm not here to argue the finer points with you. Kenkaku-san, are you familiar with the term soul mate?"

"A person that if you meet, you will fall in love with, and no other love will satisfy like them?"

"Yes. And there is always a chance for soul mates to get together in any prophecy that involves them."

"Yay. Get on with it, will you?"

"The prophecy tells me quite a bit about who your soul mate is. They're a half-demon."

"So? I've been friends with a couple of full demons. In fact, I think there's a little demon somewhere in my bloodline. Heck, I think Raven-dono is half-demon."

"Uh, by any chance, were you defending Raven-san when you killed the person who put the sickle in your back?"

"Yes…how did you know?"

"Prophecy. It says that a ninja will try to kill your soul mate, and that like all others that Kanesada tastes, that threaten your half-demon soul mate, the ninja will die."

"Your argument for my seeking medical attention is that Raven is my soul mate? She's a nice person, but my soul mate? Interesting argument, but rather unlikely. Besides, it's too late for me to head back. I'd never make it in time. Thanks for trying, but I'll just die under the statue of this girl here. Hey, this statue has a k…"

Kenkaku slipped into darkness.


Japanese Flavor Text:

I'm not going to define the honorifics outside of -dono, as you should know them by now, but a lack of an honorific is very significant. It implies very deep friendship and more often than not, when used between members of the opposite sex, romantic involvement. It can also be rather insulting if used by a person that does not have such a relationship with the subject.

-dono: Derived from the word 'tono' (lord), this is extremely respectful, even more so than –sama. It is very old Japanese, and is not often used unless a person thinks that they are scum.

kunoichi: Female ninja.

kusari-gama: Sickle and chain. The chain is used to neutralize the opponent, then the sickle finishes the job.

kozuka: Small utility knife, forged of sword steel.

hitokiri: Literally, 'manslayer'. Common usage is 'assassin'