This chapter may seem a little odd. Some blood and disturbing mental imagery. Happy reading.

Chapter 5.

Yahiko burped loudly as the small group walked out of the restaurant. Kaoru scowled at him but said nothing. The planet's sun was slowly setting. Its dying rays painted the clouds in brilliant reds, oranges, and purples. Shinta sighed and stared up at the sky. "You know, Kaoru-dono, I never tire of seeing the sky." He spread his arms wide to the distant heavens. "When I was a child, it seemed as if the skies were as elusive as the wind." He looked at Kaoru, his eyes dancing. "My mother once said that the sky was God's canvas. She said that He took a celestial paintbrush and dipped it in the cosmos." He smiled at the memory.

Kaoru smiled as well. "It does look beautiful doesn't it?" Yahiko muttered something about 'sissy, girly-men'. He turned around and faced the two adults.

"Thanks for the dinner but I'm gonna get lost." He grinned disarmingly and ran off. Shinta calmly turned to Kaoru. "Kaoru-dono, please check your purse." Kaoru stared at him nonplussed but did it anyway. "What the...That little ingrate took my wallet." From the wide sleeves of her shirt, Kaoru pulled an ornate dirk (half sword, twice the size of a dagger). Shinta stared at it in shock. "Do you always carry around deadly knives half the size of your arm?"

"Pretty much," growled Kaoru. "I'll meet you at home." She took off after the small boy as fast as her legs would take her. Shinta sighed and turned to go the opposite direction.

Kaoru grinned wickedly as she spotted Yahiko's yellow shirt in an alley. He was still running. After running through a maze of back streets and alleys, he finally stopped in front of a cardboard box, which he promptly crawled in to. Kaoru skidded to a stop. "Is this where he lives?" Just as she was about to step forward to reclaim her wallet, a large group of men came up from behind her.

"Well, 'ello there. Wot would a pretty little flower like yerself be doin' in the back ways? Lookin' fer fun, mayhap?" Kaoru gasped and held her dirk defensively. The men laughed. "Would ya lookit that. She's got a knife, she 'as." The men suddenly stepped closer. Kaoru back away slowly, still holding the knife up. Yahiko suddenly got up from the box. "Can't a guy get any rest around here?" he yelled loudly before noticing Kaoru. "What are you doing here, hag?" Looking up at the men, his eyes widened.

"Lookit, mates. The girl's got 'erself a lil boyfriend." The tallest man among them stepped forward. "I'll have a lot of fun wit you, I will." He grabbed Kaoru roughly. Instinctively, she slashed at him. He pulled away, his face covered in blood from a cut on his forehead. He touched it gingerly before pure rage clouded his countenance. Without warning, he pulled out a laser pistol and fired blindly at her. She groaned as a stray shot went through her leg. The acrid smell of blood and burned flesh slowly reached her nostrils.

"Hey," yelled Yahiko. "Don't hurt her. She only gave you a little nick. Griph, come on, put the gun down." Kaoru looked at the men, her vision blurring as a wave of nausea hit her. The tall one, Griph, knocked Yahiko out of the way, slamming him into a brick wall. He lost consciousness instantly. The remaining men chuckled as the man put the gun to Kaoru's forehead.

"Excuse me, but that is no way for a gentleman to treat a lady." Kaoru looked up to see Shinta lounging against the alley wall, his sword half out of the sheathe. It glinted duly in the afternoon sun.

Griph seemed to recover his pride and temper quickly. "And I'll listen to a girl-man because...?" He let the sentence trail, sarcastically awaiting a response. Shinta sighed and pushed himself off the wall. Pulling out the sword, he dropped into a formless stance. "You are wasting my time. I still have to go home and do the laundry. Can't very well do that if I'm here fighting you." His expression remained soft, almost jovial.

Griph nodded to his men, who surrounded him holding bats, knives, and the occasional chain. Shinta sighed. His image flickered slightly but otherwise remained perfectly still. Suddenly, the men fell, each clutching a different flesh wound. Griph's arrogant smirk quickly vanished. "What did you do to them?"

Shinta glanced at his blade, as if looking for something. "Eh, all I did was smack them up a little. I just swung my sword a little." He did an elaborately slow stroke with his sword. "The police will arrive shortly." As he spoke, the loud blaring of police patroller's air bikes sounded as they landed beside the thugs. Griph just watched in shock as the police read him his rights. Shinta walked over to Kaoru and helped her to her feet. "What just happened? What sword style was that?"

Shinta grinned as Yahiko blinked and got up. "That was a simple Eastern European style of broadblade combat. You basically swing the sword around. I saw the group as you ran off and went to find a payphone. Forgive me for not getting here earlier." Yahiko groaned and glanced at Kaoru. "You all right, hag?"

Kaoru glared at him fiercely. "Yahiko, why are you sleeping in a box? Don't you have anywhere better to go?"

Yahiko looked at the ground, his toe scuffing the pavement. "Not really, no." Kaoru's expression softened. "Don't tell me you ran away from your parents, kid, because I will personally see to it that they find you."

Yahiko sighed. "I wish I did run away," he mumbled. "They threw me out. Didn't want me, I guess. Couldn't stand the orphanage, so I get by out here."

Kaoru shook her head. "No, I won't allow you to stay out here. I've got some rooms I don't use. Come stay with us."

Shinta smiled softly to himself. His benefactor had a very big heart. Kaoru glanced up at him. "What? I can't just leave him here. Stop smiling."

"Yes, right away, Kaoru-dono," Shinta remarked airily, his smile refusing to budge. "Let's go get you fixed up."

A swift visit to Kaoru's personal doctor, Dr. Genzai, left Kaoru refreshed and able to walk again. The doctor warned her that the tissue in her leg would take a least another day to heal completely, but Kaoru didn't care. She had to teach a class tomorrow. Shinta and Yahiko decided to go watch her.

The military camp was nothing more than a small outpost on the edge of town. Young boys who wanted to join the army had to have at least one's year's training. Kaoru happened to be the only qualified instructor. Kaoru clapped her hands, quickly gaining the attention of her twenty-some students. "O.K. class, today we will learn a few extra judo moves before we begin our evaluation. Sergo, you're up first."

Shinta and Yahiko watched as Kaoru demonstrated a simple judo throw, before ordering her students to try and mimic it. "Wow," Yahiko said. "I wish I knew how to fight. That big guy tossed me like a sack of used holo-disks."

"Why don't you ask Kaoru to train you? She seems to be able to handle a blade fairly well." Shinta watched as yet another student went sailing. Yahiko snorted rudely. "I'd be too ashamed to ask a girl to teach me."

"Well, then it's a simple matter of pride. I will ask her for you." Shinta began to get up. Yahiko pulled him back down and scowled. "No, I'll ask her."

After the lesson, Kaoru blew out a breath and mopped her forehead with a towel. She noticed Yahiko watching her. "Whew, what is it, kid?" Yahiko muttered something to the floor. Kaoru looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"I said, will you teach me how to handle a blade?"

Kaoru chuckled. "Oh, is that it. Well, if you think you're up to it. Of course, you realize that I'll have to teach you more than just to handle a knife." Yahiko nodded. "And you do know that it'll be hard work. No backing out on me." Yahiko nodded again. "Good, I have a training room at home. We start tomorrow."

Since Kaoru's house wasn't that far away, they had walked. Now, night had fallen completely, nothing could be heard but an odd noise coming from the direction of the grassland. The planet's three moons stared down at them, each in a different phase. As they walked into Kaoru's yard, Shinta stopped and looked up at the tall man waiting silently, something massive wrapped in cloth thrown over his shoulder. The man grinned, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight.

"Hello," said the man in a gruff drawl. "My name is Sagara Sanosuke, and I'll be your assassin for tonight." He chuckled at his own joke and pulled the cloth binding off of a giant, metal axe. "This is my little friend 'Sekure Nenoracheeta'. It's Romanian for 'Wretched Axe'." (The e in Sakure is said like the e in 'che'. The u is said like 'oo'.)

The axe was massive. The blade itself was bigger than Shinta. Shinta, however, was unimpressed. "I do not wish to fight. There is a child and a young lady here."

"Suit yourself, but I'm not going to go hungry just because you don't want to fight." Turning to Kaoru and Yahiko, he shrugged almost apologetically. "Sorry I have to take away your little slave. You should probably cover your eyes." Kaoru stared at him angrily, while Yahiko was still amazed at how easily the strange man seemed to handle the enormous weapon. Sano shrugged again and swung it at Shinta with tremendous force. The weapon connected solidly. Shinta seemed to stick to the axe's blade before the momentum slammed him against the wall. Bones cracked and blood flowed as the impact literally shook the stone wall. Kaoru yelled in surprise. Yahiko stared in horror at the mangled corpse. He could see Shinta's body had been nearly cut in half. Yahiko suddenly felt very sick.

Sano sighed and growled softly. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was dead." He threw down the axe and kicked Shinta solidly in the head. "Get up, Man-cutter, I'm not that easily fooled."

"Have you no respect for the dead, you monster," Kaoru yelled, horror cracking her voice. Shinta suddenly sighed. Standing up, he carefully touched his ripped abdomen and cracked skull. Yahiko screamed something about ghosts while Kaoru simply fainted. "So, you've done some research, have you?" Shinta's body almost instantly healed, leaving only ragged scars and a ripped, bloody shirt. He looked at his clothes. "Good thing we went shopping today." He glanced up at Sano, who was hefting his axe. "Very well, then you must know my weaknesses as well. I shall finish this fight quickly. The laundry still needs washing."

Sano glanced over at Yahiko, who was slapping Kaoru to wake her up. "Yep, I do." He pointed the axe at Shinta's head. "A quick decapitation, am I right?" Shinta said nothing, but grinned. Sano readied for another swing. "That first one was just a bit of a test. This one won't miss." He swung powerfully, hoping to catch the small man off guard. However, Shinta wasn't there. He glanced around before hearing a sharp metallic ring. Shinta was crouching on Sano's axe, his sword firmly imbedded in the axe's blade. Sano stared in shock at the sword, half of it sticking out the other side of his axe. Shinta smiled calmly at the assassin and twisted his sword sharply. A single resonating crack could be heard, as the axe's blade slowly separated into two pieces.

"Bu-but, that was reinforced Bethelium," stammered Sano. "H-how did you did you do that." Shinta inspected his sword. Not a scratch. "My sword is made specifically for me. See the pink tint?" asked Shinta, pointing to the blade. "It's made of ruborium, the rose metal. Discovered on Sal Martees of the fourth vector in the Killium galaxy. The specific native materials can only be found there and cannot be reproduced. Ruborium is the hardest known metal, only shapeable by using incredible amounts of pressure. Did you think such a common metal as Bethelium even stood a chance?" He lifted an eyebrow at the defeated man. "Sanosuke, you have a fighter's spirit. Why did you degrade yourself by accepting such a job?" Sano looked uncomfortable. "I have to eat too and fighting's the only thing I'm good at."

Shinta sighed. "Yes, you've mentioned that. Sano, please, turn away from this idiocy. I cannot bear to watch another fighter humiliate himself." Sano nodded. "Heh, I guess your right. Without my Sakure, well, I'm just another street fighter. What would mom think of me now?" Sano picked up his shattered blade and sighed. "No, I'm going to go find some other job."

Yahiko started clapping after helping Kaoru to her feet. "That was sweet, you read-headed lunatic." Kaoru still looked unsteady but smiled. Sano began to walk away when he felt Shinta's hand on his shoulder. He turned around. "Eh, don't tell me. You want to press charges."

Shinta grinned. "You fought well. Won't you join us for some dinner?" Sano looked surprised but grinned back. "Well, that's mighty decent of you, considering that I tried to kill you." Kaoru looked shocked. "Shinta, you can't just invite an axe-swinging maniac into my house."

"Ah, but I can invite a little pickpocket? I don't think we have to worry about Sano anymore." Sano slapped Shinta on the back, nearly toppling him. "Heh, I wish my gambling buddies were trustful as you. Maybe then they wouldn't catch me cheating." He laughed gruffly and followed Shinta into the house.

Ruborium- not a real metal. Just the latin word for red with an -ium at the end.

Formless stance- sword held loosely and pointed at the ground, ready to be gripped and swung quickly at and hint of attack.

Do you think Shinta accepted Sano too quickly? If so, I'd probably have to redo the chapter. NEXT CHAPTER: Revealing of Shinta's past. I have it written out, but I have to pace myself. Don't want to bore my readers, eh?

I'm not introducing characters to fast, am I? That always makes a story seemed rushed and lacking proper forethought. Eh, just tell me what you think

-Razvanor