Dokyusei
by
Nana
Chapter 13
Incentive
*********************
Disclaimer: Inu Yasha ain't mine (although I wish he were! He and Kagome and Miroku and Sango!).
Author's Note: This chapter is still in Inu Yasha's POV. Well, his and Sesshou Maru's, so expect lots of strong language. Kendo rules are going to be broken here, so the mess and the illegal moves that will turn out are not reflective of the sword art, but rather the tumult that is going on inside this author's head!
A glossary of Kendo terms as well as Internet sources are at the bottom of the page, although I must stress that all possible mistakes in Kendo are mine.
Majority of the scenes here are patterned after Inu Yasha's first encounter with Sesshou Maru, way back in book two of the manga. Please read and review! ^^
***********************
The hours passed by.
Practice was finally over; the kendoka had all gone their separate ways as the end of the day drew near.
Outside, the rain continued to fall.
In the brightly lit, nearly deserted Kendo Club, the stage was set for the final round.
Sesshou Maru stood on one the center of the practice mat, wearing no armor and carrying nothing more than a battered shinai.
In determining the end for Inu Yasha as far as Kendo Club was concerned, he could not be bothered to use better equipment to beat a useless opponent. Before he was through with him, Inu Yasha would end up as battered as the shinai before him now. And if he knew anything about this estranged half- brother of his, Sesshou Maru would also have the pleasure of beating him with nothing less than their father's sword.
Inu Yasha stood before him, stripped of armor, his new shinai in hand.
In the last couple of hours, he had been summarily dumped into one corner of the club and been made to endure the same humiliation as Kamigata by practicing beginner's subari strokes.
Not that it really mattered, Inu Yasha had thought as he practiced away. After all, he was new here, and Kamigata, on the other hand, was a sophomore. Stealing a look at his previous opponent, Inu Yasha thought Kamigata was going to cry from the shame of it all.
Inu Yasha had shifted his gaze to Sesshou Maru as he delivered a particularly savage shomen, effectively sending his opponent sprawling on the ground.
It had been a long time since he had last seen Sesshou Maru practicing kendo; when their father had been alive, Sesshou Maru would come for kendo practice every Saturday afternoon at his father's new house. Inu Yasha supposed Otousan had meant to make them at least friends, although of course, even then the two brothers had nothing much to say to each other.
Sesshou Maru, even at that age, had perfected the mask he wore and never gave anything away. Whole afternoons would pass by without his speaking a single word. Whatever tenuous ties Inu Yasha had with this strange entity disappeared since their father died three years ago.
Inu Yasha felt a distinct chill run down his spine as he realized his older brother had improved greatly since then.
And now, after three long years, here they were, standing on one end of each other, ready to fight, it seemed, to the death. What would Otousan have said if he knew things would turn out this way?
"Prepare yourself, Inu Yasha," said Sesshou Maru as he tipped his body into chuddan position.
Inu Yasha held out his shinai so that the swords barely touched each other.
And there, in that brief moment that seemed like a lifetime, the fragile balance of the match was tested as the two opponents began their search for a possible avenue of attack. The minute, trembling movements the shinai made were the only things to testify to this great struggle already underway.
To get pass the other's shinai was to clinch the round.
The two shinai appeared only to tremble, belying the tension, the battle of wits and wills that lay behind the whole smooth façade.
There were no pure motives to be found in this Kendo match--no philosophical aspects to be discovered, no self-improvement to be had. This match was deeply and desperately physical, with one kendoka desiring to destroy, and the other one resisting with all his will. Inu Yasha's might remained to be tested.
For one split second, Sesshou Maru's shinai went still, then…
WHISSSHHH…!
What the--???
Before Inu Yasha could even register what was happening, Sesshou Maru had gotten past his shinai, was suddenly there right in front of him, filling his line of vision, shinai raised, ready to deliver a blow to his head.
Sesshou Maru had developed his skill to the point where sound was beyond him.
It was all Inu Yasha could do to hold his shinai in reflex above his head.
SSHHAPP!!! WHAP! THUD!
Dammit! Thought Inu Yasha as the blow came down, sending him to his knees seemingly without effort.
His shinai shook with the effort of holding off Sesshou Maru's. Shinai locked together, the two kendoka stood seemingly immobile, striking another balance in the match as neither refused to give way. Above him and terrifyingly near him, Sesshou Maru's face remained as bored and emotionless as it had always been.
"Pathetic." He murmured, before raising his shinai to deal the last blow.
Inu Yasha seized his chance and rolled away from the path of Sesshou Maru's sword, coming to his feet a few paces away, panting. Sesshou Maru's shinai met empty air.
How the hell had Sesshou Maru been able to do that??? How was he able to move that fast?!
Sesshou Maru turned leisurely, regarding Inu Yasha from the corner of his eyes. Slowly, as if he were just getting warmed up, he spread his arms sideways before bringing the shinai back at dead center before him.
"Rusty reflexes," he said, before gliding off to the next phase of his attack.
There were no pretensions now. No chuddan positions, no Kendo restrictions. Nothing to stop Sesshou Maru from having his way.
"No focus," observed Sesshou Maru as Inu Yasha backpedaled from the force of his onslaught. "After all these years, it seems that you have not learned even this, the most simple and important of all Kendo principles. I am amazed Otousan would even think to let you practice with him."
Dammit, he was right. Inu Yasha fought desperately to maintain focus, but he could not muster it. Not when Sesshou Maru was making it so damn difficult.
"FEH! Is that it? Is that the only thing behind this whole farce?" Inu Yasha spat. He was having an extremely difficult time warding off the series of blows from Sesshou Maru, but apparently, the blows were not enough to keep his mouth shut.
So this was all about Otousan--the whole, complicated issue had boiled down to the almost-universal reason behind the phenomenon of sibling rivalry.
Sesshou Maru frowned and with one final, well-placed hit, managed to smash Inu Yasha's shinai from his hands.
A totally illegal move.
Inu Yasha winced as the pain lanced through his hands. "What's the matter?" he said, nursing his hand. "Afraid you might not win when you make your moves all legal?"
Before he could even blink, Sesshou Maru was there before him. Without even so much as changing his deadpan expression, he sent a fist through Inu Yasha's cheek. The force of it sent Inu Yasha sprawling.
Sesshou Maru calmly sidestepped him and continued along the edge of the room. He stopped and picked up the package Inu Yasha used to keep his swords.
"Just as I thought," murmured Sesshou Maru as he unwrapped the other sword Inu Yasha had brought along. "I knew you'd find it hard to leave Otousan's ken behind. Although I have to say it adds to your impertinence. What could possibly make you think you deserve to wield it at this stage?"
"Look, I can't afford to buy another shinai just yet, okay?" Inu Yasha flung at him.
"So you think you can bring a bokken along?" Sesshou Maru regarded him with raised brows, holding up the wooden sword. "Do you really think you can use it for practice? Do you really believe I will allow it?"
Inu Yasha slowly sat up, wincing.
"Or have you thought far ahead to anticipate using it against me?" Sesshou Maru asked quietly, correctly interpreting Inu Yasha's sudden silence. "You've got your work cut out then. We haven't even begun."
He paced around Inu Yasha.
"I cannot believe that Otousan would pour in all his time and effort in making you a kendoka just so you'd end up like this," said Sesshou Maru. "Surely, you can do better. What incentive do you need, Inu Yasha?"
For a moment, Inu Yasha did not get it. What the hell was this shithead talking about?
"Get up," said Sesshou Maru said, softly. "Answer my question."
"What the hell kind of answer do you want?" shouted Inu Yasha.
"What kind of incentive do you need to show me what you've got?" repeated Sesshou Maru, implacably.
"Why is it so important to you all of a sudden?"
But before Inu Yasha could get another word out, a wet Moriyama Jaken stormed in, looking breathless, but triumphant.
"I got her, Sesshou Maru-sama, I got her!" He exclaimed.
??!
Inu Yasha turned to see Kamigata enter, hampered by an exceedingly noisy and violently flailing package that he dumped unceremoniously on the mat before Sesshou Maru.
It was a girl--a girl with her head and upper body covered with a hood.
"Oomph! Ouch! Let me go!"
Inu Yasha's eyes widened at the familiar voice.
No…! Sesshou Maru could not…he could not possibly think to…
Jaken stepped forward and whipped off the cloth from the girl's face.
And there, right before Inu Yasha, was a wet and disheveled Kagome.
Sesshou Maru turned to Inu Yasha. "Will she be incentive enough?"
********************
It was definitely not Kagome's day.
No sooner had Sango and Houjo-kun left that she began to regret her rash decision to make them go away. There was just no way she could finish fixing up the apparatus on her own.
And after a while, just when she was going to give up and leave, there came these two bozos, still in their practice clothes.
In the quiet of the rapidly darkening laboratory, with the rain pouring non- stop outside the windows, the sudden appearance of the ungainly Moriyama Jaken had startled her considerably.
"You, come with us," he had ordered without preamble.
"Who are you?" Kagome had shot back.
"It doesn't matter. You've got no choice. It's either you walk out calmly with us or we take you by force. It's all up to you," the upper classman had said. As if to accentuate his point, a big hulk appeared right behind him.
But of course, however futile she knew it was going to be, Kagome did not give in quietly. In the end, it took some time and quite a lot of scratches before the two could corner Kagome to throw the hood over her face and sling her over Kamigata's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
And now, as she looked from one face to another Kagome felt she had landed right in the middle of a nightmare. Where was she? The Kendo Club? And Sesshou Maru?? Was he the one who gave the order to bring her here?
Her gaze landed on a stunned Inu Yasha.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome cried in disbelief.
"Heh! You were right, Sesshou Maru-sama!" gloated Jaken. "She was still there in the laboratory when we found her!"
He…Sesshou Maru had been keeping a close eye on Kagome's movements???
"You--you bastard!" shouted Inu Yasha at Sesshou Maru, not even bothering to look at Kagome. "Leave the girl alone--she's got nothing to do with this!"
"On the contrary," said Sesshou Maru, flexing the knuckles of one hand as he slanted a look at Inu Yasha. "If I am not mistaken, she will be of great assistance to your cause. With your companion at stake, you cannot afford to lose to me, Inu Yasha."
With that, he moved to Kagome, pointing the bokken at her.
"Stand up, girl."
"What are you planning to do? Beat me up?" Kagome spat, meeting the older boy's disturbing gaze without flinching.
Sesshou Maru did not bother to answer her. Instead, he moved to raise the bokken in position above his head, ready to strike down at Kagome.
"NOOOOOO!!!"
With that, Inu Yasha lunged for his discarded shinai and made for Sesshou Maru.
Sesshou Maru turned to meet his attack, wood blocking bamboo in an unfair fight from the very beginning.
Kagome screamed and tried to get out of their way.
"What IS this all about?!" She cried. "You drag me all the way here just so I can witness THIS?!"
"Get down, you BAKA!" Inu Yasha shouted as he let down a series of blows.
"Who's the BAKA!" shouted Kagome as she tried to scramble away.
This…this was soooo undignified!
"Much better," remarked Sesshou Maru, effortlessly blocking Inu Yasha's maneuvers, "and all it took to bring this out of you is the girl."
Kagome began to sputter in indignation as the words sank in.
"Why you…you JERK!" She yelled.
So this was what it was all about! She was being used as a pawn in a dim- witted plot staged by an idiot who never got beyond the age of five, maturity-wise!
It was unforgivable!
"Gambatte, Inu Yasha!" Kagome found herself yelling. "Beat that jerk up to a bloody pulp!"
"Ehh…?" Inu Yasha could not help but say.
"Go, Inu Yasha! You can do it!" Kagome cheered on.
"Looks like your girl has quite a mouth on her," said Sesshou Maru, an annoyed look crossing his features. He swerved away from Inu Yasha at the last minute and headed over to Kagome.
"KAGOME~~~!"
Kagome dodged Sesshou Maru's blow and ran for it along the rack of practice swords on one corner of the room. She could feel the rush of wind behind her, knew that Sesshou Maru was closing the distance fast. Without thinking, she grabbed a shinai at random and turned to face him just as he let down another blow.
WHAAAAAACK!!!
The shinai flew out of Kagome's hands. Quickly, without even thinking of the consequences, Kagome took hold of the end of the pointed bokken in front of her and held on.
Sesshou Maru's eyes widened. "Let go of it!" he snarled, wrenching the bokken savagely from Kagome.
"Let go of it, you fool!" cried Jakken as he tried to cut his way in to help Sesshou Maru. He crashed into Kagome's legs and rolled away.
"No!" Kagome felt her arms being wrenched this way and that as Sesshou Maru struggled to recover the bokken from her grasp, but she stubbornly clung on.
She gasped as she suddenly felt Sesshou Maru pull the sword back sharply, dragging her forward onto him. For one brief, horrifying moment, she came face to face with him, saw the anger in those cold amber eyes, and then she felt him lift a hand and shove her away roughly.
Kagome landed with a thud on the floor.
"You bastard! I'm your opponent here!" yelled Inu Yasha as he caught up and lunged at Sesshou Maru with his shinai.
SHAAAPPP!
With that one single blow, the bokken flew out of Sesshou Maru's grasp.
Keeping his shinai pointed at Sesshou Maru, Inu Yasha said harshly, "Kagome! Are you alright?"
"I--I thought I was a goner!" Kagome said as she rubbed her sore arms.
Sesshou Maru regarded Inu Yasha's stance, unimpressed.
"You move pretty fast where that girl is concerned," Sesshou Maru said, sounding as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
"Shut up!" yelled Inu Yasha. "It's not over yet!"
"Damn right it's not," said Sesshou Maru grimly and charged at Inu Yasha.
Using the same technique as Kagome, he took hold of the shinai and sent a foot crashing up against Inu Yasha's chest, sending him sprawling.
"Sesshou Maru-sama! I've got the bokken!" cried Jaken, picking up the sword and rushing to his senpai. "I've got the--"
"Oh no, you DON"T!" Kagome thundered as she landed on the small sophomore, squashing him to the mat and grabbing at the bokken.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome cried, running over to him as he picked himself up from the floor. Even as she knelt beside Inu Yasha, she pointed the bokken at Sesshou Maru.
"Hey you! You didn't have to shove me that hard! You really meant to hurt me, didn't you? I'll make you regret that so prepare yourself!" she cried.
She turned back to Inu Yasha. "Here," she said as she proffered the bokken to him.
"Wha--?" Inu Yasha stared at her, unable to keep his admiration down.
"That's your bokken, and don't you forget it," said Kagome forcefully. "Do your best, okay?"
"What's gotten into you?" said Inu Yasha, wondering how she could still look like she was having the time of her life at a time like this. "There's no way I can win over Sesshou Maru, and you know it!"
And it was only then that he noticed Kagome trembling. The smile faded from her lips as tears slowly gathered in her eyes.
"A-after everything I had to say," she said. "It's still no good?"
Inu Yasha froze.
Well, damn it all to hell!
On top of everything else that's happened, why did she have to cry now???
"Don't cry!" He yelled, unnerved.
"Well, should I be laughing?!" Kagome yelled back.
"Shut it!" spluttered Inu Yasha as he stood up. "I mean--I mean, I'm going to protect you, dammit!"
Kagome stared at him, agog.
Inu Yasha suddenly looked flushed. "I mean…yeah. I will. Seriously," he said, as though he needed convincing himself. "So you just sit back and watch this, okay?"
For the first time since the match started, he felt a ripple of calm wash through him. Everything was coming back into clear focus.
"For what reason do you want to practice Kendo?" His father had asked him that a long time ago, when he was just starting.
"Honestly, why do you want to join Kendo?" Kagome had asked him that only that morning.
And he had always thought that although he had none for the moment, the reason would come sooner or later.
Now the reason was here, sitting on the mat, looking up at him with eyes wide with surprise.
The reasons for practicing Kendo were surely not limited to just one; people practice the sword art for a myriad of reasons, some more noble and important than others. For the immediate present, he would do this to protect Kagome, and that was reason enough.
"Enough of this insipid interlude," cut in Sesshou Maru as he pointed the shinai at Inu Yasha. "Make your move, Inu Yasha. This time, I guarantee it will be your last in this Club."
"Ha!" snorted Inu Yasha. "You are so full of shit!"
He could feel it--the spirit, the spontaneity that had been missing. It was coming back to him in a rush. And Sesshou Maru had been right, in a way. It could not have happened if he had not been given any incentive.
When the mind and body are one with the sword, then you shall not miss…hadn't Otousan always stressed that?
And with that, Inu Yasha took aim and let go.
SHHAP! WHAP! SHAPPP!
And now it was suddenly all Sesshou Maru could do to keep up.
Stroke upon fluid stroke issued from Inu Yasha, and the last one found its mark--at least it would have found its mark on Sesshou Maru's chest had he not dodged it halfway. The blow landed on his left arm, and Sesshou Maru dropped the shinai.
He staggered a few paces back, disbelief in his eyes, his right hand coming up to his injured arm.
A heavy silence ensued.
"Sesshou Maru-sama," Jaken finally squeaked as he made his way to the injured kendoka. Sesshou Maru shoved him roughly aside with his good hand.
Jaken threw Inu Yasha a look of pure venom.
"Congratulations, Nishi!" he spat. "You just guaranteed yourself a one-way ticket out of this club for good!"
"I think not," said an elderly voice mildly.
They all turned around, startled.
There, framed against the doorway, stood the club's coach.
"To--Totosai-sensei!" Jaken said faintly. "Wha--what are you doing here at this late hour, sensei?"
The thin, elderly coach made his way slowly to the center of the mat, tutting blandly, surveying the scene with wide eyes. "Three days," he said, ignoring Jaken and looking straight at Sesshou Maru. "I go away for three days and I come back to find…this."
"It--it was a test," Jaken stammered.
"I was not aware that we subject newcomers to this kind of shiai," Totosai- sensei said, his tone still bland.
"Nishi Inu Yasha is no ordinary applicant!"
"Indeed, he's not," agreed Totosai-sensei. "Most impressive, I would say. And because of that, I shall expect to see him next practice session."
Sesshou Maru glared at the sensei but found he could not say anything to that.
"He--he has injured Sesshou Maru-sama!" Jaken was beside himself. "Sensei, you just cannot--"
"Sesshou Maru has not received anything he has not brought down upon himself," Totosai-sensei observed, indicating that he may not have been present long enough to witness everything, but he had seen enough. "And because he is captain of this club, he will answer personally to me."
He turned to Inu Yasha. "You will continue your practice with us, Nishi Inu Yasha, but no more episodes with the bokken. At least, not yet. And now, you shall leave us."
This Inu Yasha and Kagome gladly did, and they quit the Club in a hurry.
*************************
Back in the laboratory…
"Aww! I said quit it!" Inu Yasha winced as Kagome plastered some band aid into place on his cheek.
"Keep still!" said Kagome as she fished another band aid plaster from her bag.
She had refused to leave the school until she had a good look at his injuries, and the only room available had been the laboratory where she had been forced to leave a while ago in disarray.
Inu Yasha was thinking of hurling another comment when he noticed her hand was shaking.
"Hey, come on. It's all over now," he said, exasperated. Kagome did not look up.
"Oy," Inu Yasha said, peering down at her. "What's the matter with you?"
"You…are so STUPID!" yelled Kagome, and Inu Yasha was astonished to find tears welling in her eyes again. "You could've gotten hurt--things could have gotten out of hand! Why did you have to bite into his bait?!"
"FEH!" Inu Yasha shot back. "If I didn't, where would you have been?! He was ready to hurt you, you idiot! And don't you dare cry!"
Kagome bit back a sob.
"I hate it when girls cry," he mumbled, looking away. "Besides, you handled yourself very well back there. And things had turned out unexpectedly well, so why should you break down like this now?"
"Because!" Kagome said, beginning to cry from exasperation more than anything else. "Because I thought you were not going to make it!"
Inu Yasha turned to stare at her, startled.
"I got so scared," whispered Kagome, "because I thought Sesshou Maru was going to hurt you badly."
Inu Yasha continued to stare at her. He had been scared, of course he was, because he had thought this girl was going to get hurt on his account. And yet, she had not thought of it that way at all. Instead…
"You're crying," he said, a note of wonder in his voice," because you were worried about me?"
"Baka! You make it sound like it's a bad thing," said Kagome. "And, if you dare to pull a stunt like that again, I swear I will kill you myself!"
Inu Yasha backed off, his eyes wide.
Well, so much for her concern.
He turned away gruffly. "You are so stupid," he said again, for want of anything else to say. "C'mon, let's get out of here."
Out in the rain, walking under the roof of a single umbrella and with the darkness enveloping them, Inu Yasha came to think of the puzzle that was the girl beside him.
Man, she was so stupid…!
And yet, he had never seen anyone as strange and wondrous as she. Never had he met anyone as stubborn, as annoying, as brave…and as kind as she was. What was it with this girl, that she was so full of surprises?
"Kagome…"
Kagome turned to look at him, surprised.
Inu Yasha blinked. "What?" he demanded.
"My name," she said.
"What about it?"
"You--you just said it…for the first time," said Kagome.
"So?"
Kagome looked away, a deflated look on her face. "Never mind. What was it you wanted to say?"
"…Arigatou," said Inu Yasha, softly.
Kagome looked back at him sharply, and there, only inches away from her, Inu Yasha stood looking down into her face.
He was not wearing a mask now, thought Kagome, her heart racing as she looked into his eyes. What went through his face then was a multitude of emotions Kagome could not completely decipher, but she knew she was looking into the real Inu Yasha at last.
From now on, he will never be able to distance himself from her by masks. Not anymore. This was something he could not take back.
And they stood looking at each other for a long time, with nothing more than the rain and darkness enveloping them…and the sweet certainty that something irreversible had happened at last.
*********************
Vocabulary:
baka- stupid
bokken-wooden sword (used in more advanced classes in Kendo)
chuddan-the basic position of Kendo-- The shinai is held two-handed in
the middle of the body with the arms in a relaxed position; the left
hand is behind the right. The tip points to the opponent's throat. The
back is straight, the hips are cocked and the kendoka faces his opponent
squarely.
kendoka-students/players of Kendo
kendogi-a heavy cotton tunic that serves as the upper garment that kendoka wear (hakama would be the divided, pleated skirt that serves as the lower garment)
men-helmet (more terms are used to describe the various parts of the Kendo armor--for more info, pls. check with the website below)
otousan- father
senpai- upper classman
shinai- the basic sword of Beginner's Kendo, made of bamboo
shiai- sort of a combat practice with an opponent
shomen- Kendo has only one basic technique - shomen, the cut to the head. The shinai is raised over the head with both hands and then brought forward as the body moves forward. Very little muscle is used. Speed and powerare attained with relaxed shoulders and a whipping motion of the tip.
This large technique is the "real sword" way, and is the first technique
taught. All other strokes are variations on shomen.
subari-basic practice strokes done with the shinai as part of warm-up or (to insult Kamigata) Beginner's practice
*************************
Sources lifted from (1) interesting discourses entitled "A Kendo Primer" by Neil Gendzwil and "A Kendo Tutorial" by Sarah Winters--lifted from an internet search.
(2) a more extensive Kendo glossary at http://www.rain.org/~galvan/kndohome.html
by
Nana
Chapter 13
Incentive
*********************
Disclaimer: Inu Yasha ain't mine (although I wish he were! He and Kagome and Miroku and Sango!).
Author's Note: This chapter is still in Inu Yasha's POV. Well, his and Sesshou Maru's, so expect lots of strong language. Kendo rules are going to be broken here, so the mess and the illegal moves that will turn out are not reflective of the sword art, but rather the tumult that is going on inside this author's head!
A glossary of Kendo terms as well as Internet sources are at the bottom of the page, although I must stress that all possible mistakes in Kendo are mine.
Majority of the scenes here are patterned after Inu Yasha's first encounter with Sesshou Maru, way back in book two of the manga. Please read and review! ^^
***********************
The hours passed by.
Practice was finally over; the kendoka had all gone their separate ways as the end of the day drew near.
Outside, the rain continued to fall.
In the brightly lit, nearly deserted Kendo Club, the stage was set for the final round.
Sesshou Maru stood on one the center of the practice mat, wearing no armor and carrying nothing more than a battered shinai.
In determining the end for Inu Yasha as far as Kendo Club was concerned, he could not be bothered to use better equipment to beat a useless opponent. Before he was through with him, Inu Yasha would end up as battered as the shinai before him now. And if he knew anything about this estranged half- brother of his, Sesshou Maru would also have the pleasure of beating him with nothing less than their father's sword.
Inu Yasha stood before him, stripped of armor, his new shinai in hand.
In the last couple of hours, he had been summarily dumped into one corner of the club and been made to endure the same humiliation as Kamigata by practicing beginner's subari strokes.
Not that it really mattered, Inu Yasha had thought as he practiced away. After all, he was new here, and Kamigata, on the other hand, was a sophomore. Stealing a look at his previous opponent, Inu Yasha thought Kamigata was going to cry from the shame of it all.
Inu Yasha had shifted his gaze to Sesshou Maru as he delivered a particularly savage shomen, effectively sending his opponent sprawling on the ground.
It had been a long time since he had last seen Sesshou Maru practicing kendo; when their father had been alive, Sesshou Maru would come for kendo practice every Saturday afternoon at his father's new house. Inu Yasha supposed Otousan had meant to make them at least friends, although of course, even then the two brothers had nothing much to say to each other.
Sesshou Maru, even at that age, had perfected the mask he wore and never gave anything away. Whole afternoons would pass by without his speaking a single word. Whatever tenuous ties Inu Yasha had with this strange entity disappeared since their father died three years ago.
Inu Yasha felt a distinct chill run down his spine as he realized his older brother had improved greatly since then.
And now, after three long years, here they were, standing on one end of each other, ready to fight, it seemed, to the death. What would Otousan have said if he knew things would turn out this way?
"Prepare yourself, Inu Yasha," said Sesshou Maru as he tipped his body into chuddan position.
Inu Yasha held out his shinai so that the swords barely touched each other.
And there, in that brief moment that seemed like a lifetime, the fragile balance of the match was tested as the two opponents began their search for a possible avenue of attack. The minute, trembling movements the shinai made were the only things to testify to this great struggle already underway.
To get pass the other's shinai was to clinch the round.
The two shinai appeared only to tremble, belying the tension, the battle of wits and wills that lay behind the whole smooth façade.
There were no pure motives to be found in this Kendo match--no philosophical aspects to be discovered, no self-improvement to be had. This match was deeply and desperately physical, with one kendoka desiring to destroy, and the other one resisting with all his will. Inu Yasha's might remained to be tested.
For one split second, Sesshou Maru's shinai went still, then…
WHISSSHHH…!
What the--???
Before Inu Yasha could even register what was happening, Sesshou Maru had gotten past his shinai, was suddenly there right in front of him, filling his line of vision, shinai raised, ready to deliver a blow to his head.
Sesshou Maru had developed his skill to the point where sound was beyond him.
It was all Inu Yasha could do to hold his shinai in reflex above his head.
SSHHAPP!!! WHAP! THUD!
Dammit! Thought Inu Yasha as the blow came down, sending him to his knees seemingly without effort.
His shinai shook with the effort of holding off Sesshou Maru's. Shinai locked together, the two kendoka stood seemingly immobile, striking another balance in the match as neither refused to give way. Above him and terrifyingly near him, Sesshou Maru's face remained as bored and emotionless as it had always been.
"Pathetic." He murmured, before raising his shinai to deal the last blow.
Inu Yasha seized his chance and rolled away from the path of Sesshou Maru's sword, coming to his feet a few paces away, panting. Sesshou Maru's shinai met empty air.
How the hell had Sesshou Maru been able to do that??? How was he able to move that fast?!
Sesshou Maru turned leisurely, regarding Inu Yasha from the corner of his eyes. Slowly, as if he were just getting warmed up, he spread his arms sideways before bringing the shinai back at dead center before him.
"Rusty reflexes," he said, before gliding off to the next phase of his attack.
There were no pretensions now. No chuddan positions, no Kendo restrictions. Nothing to stop Sesshou Maru from having his way.
"No focus," observed Sesshou Maru as Inu Yasha backpedaled from the force of his onslaught. "After all these years, it seems that you have not learned even this, the most simple and important of all Kendo principles. I am amazed Otousan would even think to let you practice with him."
Dammit, he was right. Inu Yasha fought desperately to maintain focus, but he could not muster it. Not when Sesshou Maru was making it so damn difficult.
"FEH! Is that it? Is that the only thing behind this whole farce?" Inu Yasha spat. He was having an extremely difficult time warding off the series of blows from Sesshou Maru, but apparently, the blows were not enough to keep his mouth shut.
So this was all about Otousan--the whole, complicated issue had boiled down to the almost-universal reason behind the phenomenon of sibling rivalry.
Sesshou Maru frowned and with one final, well-placed hit, managed to smash Inu Yasha's shinai from his hands.
A totally illegal move.
Inu Yasha winced as the pain lanced through his hands. "What's the matter?" he said, nursing his hand. "Afraid you might not win when you make your moves all legal?"
Before he could even blink, Sesshou Maru was there before him. Without even so much as changing his deadpan expression, he sent a fist through Inu Yasha's cheek. The force of it sent Inu Yasha sprawling.
Sesshou Maru calmly sidestepped him and continued along the edge of the room. He stopped and picked up the package Inu Yasha used to keep his swords.
"Just as I thought," murmured Sesshou Maru as he unwrapped the other sword Inu Yasha had brought along. "I knew you'd find it hard to leave Otousan's ken behind. Although I have to say it adds to your impertinence. What could possibly make you think you deserve to wield it at this stage?"
"Look, I can't afford to buy another shinai just yet, okay?" Inu Yasha flung at him.
"So you think you can bring a bokken along?" Sesshou Maru regarded him with raised brows, holding up the wooden sword. "Do you really think you can use it for practice? Do you really believe I will allow it?"
Inu Yasha slowly sat up, wincing.
"Or have you thought far ahead to anticipate using it against me?" Sesshou Maru asked quietly, correctly interpreting Inu Yasha's sudden silence. "You've got your work cut out then. We haven't even begun."
He paced around Inu Yasha.
"I cannot believe that Otousan would pour in all his time and effort in making you a kendoka just so you'd end up like this," said Sesshou Maru. "Surely, you can do better. What incentive do you need, Inu Yasha?"
For a moment, Inu Yasha did not get it. What the hell was this shithead talking about?
"Get up," said Sesshou Maru said, softly. "Answer my question."
"What the hell kind of answer do you want?" shouted Inu Yasha.
"What kind of incentive do you need to show me what you've got?" repeated Sesshou Maru, implacably.
"Why is it so important to you all of a sudden?"
But before Inu Yasha could get another word out, a wet Moriyama Jaken stormed in, looking breathless, but triumphant.
"I got her, Sesshou Maru-sama, I got her!" He exclaimed.
??!
Inu Yasha turned to see Kamigata enter, hampered by an exceedingly noisy and violently flailing package that he dumped unceremoniously on the mat before Sesshou Maru.
It was a girl--a girl with her head and upper body covered with a hood.
"Oomph! Ouch! Let me go!"
Inu Yasha's eyes widened at the familiar voice.
No…! Sesshou Maru could not…he could not possibly think to…
Jaken stepped forward and whipped off the cloth from the girl's face.
And there, right before Inu Yasha, was a wet and disheveled Kagome.
Sesshou Maru turned to Inu Yasha. "Will she be incentive enough?"
********************
It was definitely not Kagome's day.
No sooner had Sango and Houjo-kun left that she began to regret her rash decision to make them go away. There was just no way she could finish fixing up the apparatus on her own.
And after a while, just when she was going to give up and leave, there came these two bozos, still in their practice clothes.
In the quiet of the rapidly darkening laboratory, with the rain pouring non- stop outside the windows, the sudden appearance of the ungainly Moriyama Jaken had startled her considerably.
"You, come with us," he had ordered without preamble.
"Who are you?" Kagome had shot back.
"It doesn't matter. You've got no choice. It's either you walk out calmly with us or we take you by force. It's all up to you," the upper classman had said. As if to accentuate his point, a big hulk appeared right behind him.
But of course, however futile she knew it was going to be, Kagome did not give in quietly. In the end, it took some time and quite a lot of scratches before the two could corner Kagome to throw the hood over her face and sling her over Kamigata's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
And now, as she looked from one face to another Kagome felt she had landed right in the middle of a nightmare. Where was she? The Kendo Club? And Sesshou Maru?? Was he the one who gave the order to bring her here?
Her gaze landed on a stunned Inu Yasha.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome cried in disbelief.
"Heh! You were right, Sesshou Maru-sama!" gloated Jaken. "She was still there in the laboratory when we found her!"
He…Sesshou Maru had been keeping a close eye on Kagome's movements???
"You--you bastard!" shouted Inu Yasha at Sesshou Maru, not even bothering to look at Kagome. "Leave the girl alone--she's got nothing to do with this!"
"On the contrary," said Sesshou Maru, flexing the knuckles of one hand as he slanted a look at Inu Yasha. "If I am not mistaken, she will be of great assistance to your cause. With your companion at stake, you cannot afford to lose to me, Inu Yasha."
With that, he moved to Kagome, pointing the bokken at her.
"Stand up, girl."
"What are you planning to do? Beat me up?" Kagome spat, meeting the older boy's disturbing gaze without flinching.
Sesshou Maru did not bother to answer her. Instead, he moved to raise the bokken in position above his head, ready to strike down at Kagome.
"NOOOOOO!!!"
With that, Inu Yasha lunged for his discarded shinai and made for Sesshou Maru.
Sesshou Maru turned to meet his attack, wood blocking bamboo in an unfair fight from the very beginning.
Kagome screamed and tried to get out of their way.
"What IS this all about?!" She cried. "You drag me all the way here just so I can witness THIS?!"
"Get down, you BAKA!" Inu Yasha shouted as he let down a series of blows.
"Who's the BAKA!" shouted Kagome as she tried to scramble away.
This…this was soooo undignified!
"Much better," remarked Sesshou Maru, effortlessly blocking Inu Yasha's maneuvers, "and all it took to bring this out of you is the girl."
Kagome began to sputter in indignation as the words sank in.
"Why you…you JERK!" She yelled.
So this was what it was all about! She was being used as a pawn in a dim- witted plot staged by an idiot who never got beyond the age of five, maturity-wise!
It was unforgivable!
"Gambatte, Inu Yasha!" Kagome found herself yelling. "Beat that jerk up to a bloody pulp!"
"Ehh…?" Inu Yasha could not help but say.
"Go, Inu Yasha! You can do it!" Kagome cheered on.
"Looks like your girl has quite a mouth on her," said Sesshou Maru, an annoyed look crossing his features. He swerved away from Inu Yasha at the last minute and headed over to Kagome.
"KAGOME~~~!"
Kagome dodged Sesshou Maru's blow and ran for it along the rack of practice swords on one corner of the room. She could feel the rush of wind behind her, knew that Sesshou Maru was closing the distance fast. Without thinking, she grabbed a shinai at random and turned to face him just as he let down another blow.
WHAAAAAACK!!!
The shinai flew out of Kagome's hands. Quickly, without even thinking of the consequences, Kagome took hold of the end of the pointed bokken in front of her and held on.
Sesshou Maru's eyes widened. "Let go of it!" he snarled, wrenching the bokken savagely from Kagome.
"Let go of it, you fool!" cried Jakken as he tried to cut his way in to help Sesshou Maru. He crashed into Kagome's legs and rolled away.
"No!" Kagome felt her arms being wrenched this way and that as Sesshou Maru struggled to recover the bokken from her grasp, but she stubbornly clung on.
She gasped as she suddenly felt Sesshou Maru pull the sword back sharply, dragging her forward onto him. For one brief, horrifying moment, she came face to face with him, saw the anger in those cold amber eyes, and then she felt him lift a hand and shove her away roughly.
Kagome landed with a thud on the floor.
"You bastard! I'm your opponent here!" yelled Inu Yasha as he caught up and lunged at Sesshou Maru with his shinai.
SHAAAPPP!
With that one single blow, the bokken flew out of Sesshou Maru's grasp.
Keeping his shinai pointed at Sesshou Maru, Inu Yasha said harshly, "Kagome! Are you alright?"
"I--I thought I was a goner!" Kagome said as she rubbed her sore arms.
Sesshou Maru regarded Inu Yasha's stance, unimpressed.
"You move pretty fast where that girl is concerned," Sesshou Maru said, sounding as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
"Shut up!" yelled Inu Yasha. "It's not over yet!"
"Damn right it's not," said Sesshou Maru grimly and charged at Inu Yasha.
Using the same technique as Kagome, he took hold of the shinai and sent a foot crashing up against Inu Yasha's chest, sending him sprawling.
"Sesshou Maru-sama! I've got the bokken!" cried Jaken, picking up the sword and rushing to his senpai. "I've got the--"
"Oh no, you DON"T!" Kagome thundered as she landed on the small sophomore, squashing him to the mat and grabbing at the bokken.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome cried, running over to him as he picked himself up from the floor. Even as she knelt beside Inu Yasha, she pointed the bokken at Sesshou Maru.
"Hey you! You didn't have to shove me that hard! You really meant to hurt me, didn't you? I'll make you regret that so prepare yourself!" she cried.
She turned back to Inu Yasha. "Here," she said as she proffered the bokken to him.
"Wha--?" Inu Yasha stared at her, unable to keep his admiration down.
"That's your bokken, and don't you forget it," said Kagome forcefully. "Do your best, okay?"
"What's gotten into you?" said Inu Yasha, wondering how she could still look like she was having the time of her life at a time like this. "There's no way I can win over Sesshou Maru, and you know it!"
And it was only then that he noticed Kagome trembling. The smile faded from her lips as tears slowly gathered in her eyes.
"A-after everything I had to say," she said. "It's still no good?"
Inu Yasha froze.
Well, damn it all to hell!
On top of everything else that's happened, why did she have to cry now???
"Don't cry!" He yelled, unnerved.
"Well, should I be laughing?!" Kagome yelled back.
"Shut it!" spluttered Inu Yasha as he stood up. "I mean--I mean, I'm going to protect you, dammit!"
Kagome stared at him, agog.
Inu Yasha suddenly looked flushed. "I mean…yeah. I will. Seriously," he said, as though he needed convincing himself. "So you just sit back and watch this, okay?"
For the first time since the match started, he felt a ripple of calm wash through him. Everything was coming back into clear focus.
"For what reason do you want to practice Kendo?" His father had asked him that a long time ago, when he was just starting.
"Honestly, why do you want to join Kendo?" Kagome had asked him that only that morning.
And he had always thought that although he had none for the moment, the reason would come sooner or later.
Now the reason was here, sitting on the mat, looking up at him with eyes wide with surprise.
The reasons for practicing Kendo were surely not limited to just one; people practice the sword art for a myriad of reasons, some more noble and important than others. For the immediate present, he would do this to protect Kagome, and that was reason enough.
"Enough of this insipid interlude," cut in Sesshou Maru as he pointed the shinai at Inu Yasha. "Make your move, Inu Yasha. This time, I guarantee it will be your last in this Club."
"Ha!" snorted Inu Yasha. "You are so full of shit!"
He could feel it--the spirit, the spontaneity that had been missing. It was coming back to him in a rush. And Sesshou Maru had been right, in a way. It could not have happened if he had not been given any incentive.
When the mind and body are one with the sword, then you shall not miss…hadn't Otousan always stressed that?
And with that, Inu Yasha took aim and let go.
SHHAP! WHAP! SHAPPP!
And now it was suddenly all Sesshou Maru could do to keep up.
Stroke upon fluid stroke issued from Inu Yasha, and the last one found its mark--at least it would have found its mark on Sesshou Maru's chest had he not dodged it halfway. The blow landed on his left arm, and Sesshou Maru dropped the shinai.
He staggered a few paces back, disbelief in his eyes, his right hand coming up to his injured arm.
A heavy silence ensued.
"Sesshou Maru-sama," Jaken finally squeaked as he made his way to the injured kendoka. Sesshou Maru shoved him roughly aside with his good hand.
Jaken threw Inu Yasha a look of pure venom.
"Congratulations, Nishi!" he spat. "You just guaranteed yourself a one-way ticket out of this club for good!"
"I think not," said an elderly voice mildly.
They all turned around, startled.
There, framed against the doorway, stood the club's coach.
"To--Totosai-sensei!" Jaken said faintly. "Wha--what are you doing here at this late hour, sensei?"
The thin, elderly coach made his way slowly to the center of the mat, tutting blandly, surveying the scene with wide eyes. "Three days," he said, ignoring Jaken and looking straight at Sesshou Maru. "I go away for three days and I come back to find…this."
"It--it was a test," Jaken stammered.
"I was not aware that we subject newcomers to this kind of shiai," Totosai- sensei said, his tone still bland.
"Nishi Inu Yasha is no ordinary applicant!"
"Indeed, he's not," agreed Totosai-sensei. "Most impressive, I would say. And because of that, I shall expect to see him next practice session."
Sesshou Maru glared at the sensei but found he could not say anything to that.
"He--he has injured Sesshou Maru-sama!" Jaken was beside himself. "Sensei, you just cannot--"
"Sesshou Maru has not received anything he has not brought down upon himself," Totosai-sensei observed, indicating that he may not have been present long enough to witness everything, but he had seen enough. "And because he is captain of this club, he will answer personally to me."
He turned to Inu Yasha. "You will continue your practice with us, Nishi Inu Yasha, but no more episodes with the bokken. At least, not yet. And now, you shall leave us."
This Inu Yasha and Kagome gladly did, and they quit the Club in a hurry.
*************************
Back in the laboratory…
"Aww! I said quit it!" Inu Yasha winced as Kagome plastered some band aid into place on his cheek.
"Keep still!" said Kagome as she fished another band aid plaster from her bag.
She had refused to leave the school until she had a good look at his injuries, and the only room available had been the laboratory where she had been forced to leave a while ago in disarray.
Inu Yasha was thinking of hurling another comment when he noticed her hand was shaking.
"Hey, come on. It's all over now," he said, exasperated. Kagome did not look up.
"Oy," Inu Yasha said, peering down at her. "What's the matter with you?"
"You…are so STUPID!" yelled Kagome, and Inu Yasha was astonished to find tears welling in her eyes again. "You could've gotten hurt--things could have gotten out of hand! Why did you have to bite into his bait?!"
"FEH!" Inu Yasha shot back. "If I didn't, where would you have been?! He was ready to hurt you, you idiot! And don't you dare cry!"
Kagome bit back a sob.
"I hate it when girls cry," he mumbled, looking away. "Besides, you handled yourself very well back there. And things had turned out unexpectedly well, so why should you break down like this now?"
"Because!" Kagome said, beginning to cry from exasperation more than anything else. "Because I thought you were not going to make it!"
Inu Yasha turned to stare at her, startled.
"I got so scared," whispered Kagome, "because I thought Sesshou Maru was going to hurt you badly."
Inu Yasha continued to stare at her. He had been scared, of course he was, because he had thought this girl was going to get hurt on his account. And yet, she had not thought of it that way at all. Instead…
"You're crying," he said, a note of wonder in his voice," because you were worried about me?"
"Baka! You make it sound like it's a bad thing," said Kagome. "And, if you dare to pull a stunt like that again, I swear I will kill you myself!"
Inu Yasha backed off, his eyes wide.
Well, so much for her concern.
He turned away gruffly. "You are so stupid," he said again, for want of anything else to say. "C'mon, let's get out of here."
Out in the rain, walking under the roof of a single umbrella and with the darkness enveloping them, Inu Yasha came to think of the puzzle that was the girl beside him.
Man, she was so stupid…!
And yet, he had never seen anyone as strange and wondrous as she. Never had he met anyone as stubborn, as annoying, as brave…and as kind as she was. What was it with this girl, that she was so full of surprises?
"Kagome…"
Kagome turned to look at him, surprised.
Inu Yasha blinked. "What?" he demanded.
"My name," she said.
"What about it?"
"You--you just said it…for the first time," said Kagome.
"So?"
Kagome looked away, a deflated look on her face. "Never mind. What was it you wanted to say?"
"…Arigatou," said Inu Yasha, softly.
Kagome looked back at him sharply, and there, only inches away from her, Inu Yasha stood looking down into her face.
He was not wearing a mask now, thought Kagome, her heart racing as she looked into his eyes. What went through his face then was a multitude of emotions Kagome could not completely decipher, but she knew she was looking into the real Inu Yasha at last.
From now on, he will never be able to distance himself from her by masks. Not anymore. This was something he could not take back.
And they stood looking at each other for a long time, with nothing more than the rain and darkness enveloping them…and the sweet certainty that something irreversible had happened at last.
*********************
Vocabulary:
baka- stupid
bokken-wooden sword (used in more advanced classes in Kendo)
chuddan-the basic position of Kendo-- The shinai is held two-handed in
the middle of the body with the arms in a relaxed position; the left
hand is behind the right. The tip points to the opponent's throat. The
back is straight, the hips are cocked and the kendoka faces his opponent
squarely.
kendoka-students/players of Kendo
kendogi-a heavy cotton tunic that serves as the upper garment that kendoka wear (hakama would be the divided, pleated skirt that serves as the lower garment)
men-helmet (more terms are used to describe the various parts of the Kendo armor--for more info, pls. check with the website below)
otousan- father
senpai- upper classman
shinai- the basic sword of Beginner's Kendo, made of bamboo
shiai- sort of a combat practice with an opponent
shomen- Kendo has only one basic technique - shomen, the cut to the head. The shinai is raised over the head with both hands and then brought forward as the body moves forward. Very little muscle is used. Speed and powerare attained with relaxed shoulders and a whipping motion of the tip.
This large technique is the "real sword" way, and is the first technique
taught. All other strokes are variations on shomen.
subari-basic practice strokes done with the shinai as part of warm-up or (to insult Kamigata) Beginner's practice
*************************
Sources lifted from (1) interesting discourses entitled "A Kendo Primer" by Neil Gendzwil and "A Kendo Tutorial" by Sarah Winters--lifted from an internet search.
(2) a more extensive Kendo glossary at http://www.rain.org/~galvan/kndohome.html