Kazuki
"Right this way Mr. Riroshi." A woman said as she walked an older middle-aged man through the building.
"Thank you Miss." The man said smiling. He was a man of the shorter variety. He was bald on the top of his head and he had long smooth dark brown facial hair. It was starting to turn gray but still kept rather nicely.
The woman led him into a room where young children were playing. There were different assortments of toys scattered against the room. The man looked down at his foot, which was currently being attacked by an RC car. He laughed jovially at the young boy who came over to retrieve his lost toy. He laughed again.
"Why may I ask do you wish to adopt sir?"
"Well, you see, my only son was recently killed in a car accident."
"You mean the one with the drunk driver?" The woman questioned.
He looked at her and nodded. "Yes…but the one with the drunk driver isn't very specific. But yes there was a drunk driver involved." The man looked at some children playing on an indoor slide. "That drunk man somehow managed to hit two cars and even managed to kill the people in both cars. One car had my son and his wife…and my grandson…he was three…they never did find the remains of the drunk man…"
"I'm very sorry for your lost." The woman said sympathetically. "The other car had a man and a woman in it too right?"
He nodded.
"Too bad that their son was left with no one."
"Their son?" The man blinked.
"Yes, the two other people, they had a son. He's right over there." She pointed to a boy sitting in the corner by himself playing with a ball.
"Doesn't he have any relatives?"
The woman shook her head. "No, his grandparents are dead and both his parents were only children…well, at least that's what I thought I heard. The thing is he didn't have anyone to go to…sir?"
The elderly man walked over to the boy and knelt down to him. The boy looked up with his bright violet eyes confused. He scooted back slightly and dragged his ball with him. Mr. Riroshi chuckled softly. The boy blinked then puffed out his cheeks fuming.
"What's your name young man?"
"Ima…"
"Ima?"
"Ima Poophead"
"I'm a poop head…" He stopped for a moment and stared at the small child who was grinning from ear to ear. "You little…"
The boy grabbed his ball and ran to another corner of the room before the man could finish his sentence. The woman ran over and immediately began to apologize.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Riroshi!" She bowed in apology. "He's not exactly the most sociable young man." She looked over at the boy in pity. "He isn't getting along with any of the other children."
"Can I adopt him?"
"What?"
"Can I adopt him? What else would I be here for?" Riroshi snapped jokingly. "I didn't come here check one out for a few days then return it." He looked over at the boy. "He's a peculiar looking boy as well." He noted.
"Yes, red hair and violet eyes aren't exactly a common site."
"Well, I want to adopt him. What's his name?"
"Kazuki…"
Later that week…"Well Kazuki this is it!" Mr. Riroshi said as he opened his apartment door.
The boy stepped into the apartment. The first thing they walked into was a small kitchen. There was a small room across from the kitchen that was to be his new room. Kazuki quickly scurried into the room past the kitchen, which was a living room. Along the walls of the living room was a wide assortment of swords. Each one had a unique design to it. Kazuki stood in awe and watched the walls with wide eyes as Mr. Riroshi shut the door behind him. He set down the box of Kazuki's stuff on the ground.
"So you like them 'eh?" Mr. Riroshi said while stroking his fine beard. "Maybe I'll teach you when you're older. I used to be quite the swordsmen back in my day."
Kazuki looked at Mr. Riroshi confused. "How old are you Mr. Riroshi?" He opened up the box of his things and pulled out the ball he had played with before.
Mr. Riroshi was startled by the boy's bluntness. He laughed awkwardly. "That's rude to ask but I'm 55. That's quite abrupt for a four year old." He smiled at the boy and picked up the box. "Please call me anything but Mr. Riroshi. Now let me show you to your new room."
"Kay…" Kazuki said as he bounced his ball. "Can…I call you poop head?"
"No…"
"Okay…" Kazuki blinked again.
The man got done putting some of the things away in the room and walked back out. "First things first—haircut."
The boy's eyes went wide with horror and he grabbed onto his precious ponytail. "NO!" He ran past Riroshi and darted himself under the bed.
"That was pretty quick scamp." He looked under the bed and Kazuki came dashing out. "Okay okay! I won't give you a haircut! But you got to do me one favor though."
"And that is…" Kazuki asked while peering out behind the couch.
"Call me Dad…"
Three Years Later…A Kazuki now at the age of seven peered out of the window of his apartment and carefully watched like a hawk as his new neighbors moved in. He kept a close eye on everything and anything that went past his window.
Ring
Kazuki fell off his bed and did a face plant onto the floor. He lifted his face and picked himself up. He quickly ran over to the door and opened it suddenly fuming.
The woman on the other side jumped a little. She had dark brown hair and chocolate colored eyes. She smiled gently and went down eye level to Kazuki. "Hi there, are your parents home?"
Kazuki puffed out his cheeks and turned his head. "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD! It's for you!"
The woman covered her ears but smiled. Mr. Riroshi came stumbling in and sighed when he saw that no one was hurt. He walked over to the woman and smiled.
"Good evening, what can I do for you?"
"Um, well you see I just moved in next door." He pointed at the apartment right next to them. "I just came to say hi to my new neighbor." She bowed. "My name is Mrs. Kitakawa."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Mrs. Kitakawa." Mr. Riroshi bowed. "I'm Mr. Riroshi. This young fellow is Kazuki." He elbowed Kazuki gently and Kazuki forced a smile.
A man came tumbling up the stairs.
"Ow…" The man said rubbing his rear. "That smarts…" He glanced down the stairs. "Well…that's the first time I've fallen up the stairs."
A boy of eleven came up the stairs carrying a box. He had messy black hair and was wearing shorts and a white T-shirt. He set the box down and shook his head at his dad. "This is why I made you carry the couch cushions."
The dad frowned and narrowed his eyes. "And why are the couch cushions in a box?"
The boy picked up his own box and headed into the apartment. "So you had something to carry."
The man let out a sigh and sat down on the box. There was a slight tearing noise and the man fell through the top and onto the cushions. He let out yet another exasperated sigh.
The woman laughed nervously and ushered her hands towards her husband. "This is my husband, Mr. Kitakawa." She then ushered to Mr. Riroshi with her hand. "Honey, this is Mr. Riroshi and Kazuki."
Mr. Kitakawa smiled and sat up. He picked up the box and while walking to their new apartment he yelled back. "It's very nice to meet you both…"
Mr. Kitakawa had stumbled through the door and they could hear various clanging noises.
Mr. Riroshi let out a soft chuckle and smiled. "Well, it's very nice meeting your entire family…"
Three Years Later…"Kazuki, your father didn't want you home alone so before he left for the hospital he asked for us to take care of you until you're back." Mrs. Kitakawa explained as she gathered some of Kazuki's clothes.
Kazuki, now at age ten, helped her and tried to force a smile but it didn't last very long. "What's appendicitis?" He asked worryingly. "Dad's not gonna die is he?"
She finished putting Kazuki's clothes in a laundry box and ruffled his hair. "Of course not, they're just going to remove his appendix. Don't worry, he'll be just fine." She ruffled his hair some more. "You need a hair cut you know that? How about we go to the barbershop this afternoon? How does that sound?"
"Oh yes! And afterwards let's all go get STDs!" Kazuki shouted dryly.
Mrs. Kitakawa frowned at him. "That's not funny and you are getting a haircut. You're starting to look like a little girl!" She grabbed his hair lightly. "How long has it been…I know I've never seen you with short hair." She started to braid it. "If you're going to look like a little girl…" She ruffled his hair again. "I'm just kidding—I won't braid it." She frowned again. "But really dear, you were adopted at…4? Yes, four. So it's been six years…Honey your hair is 20 inches long! You're getting it cut!"
Kazuki grabbed the laundry basket and ran. "It's only 18 inches long! You ain't touchin' it!"
Mrs. Kitakawa sighed and snapped her fingers, "So close…" She threw some more of Kazuki's things into a laundry basket and headed back to her apartment.
Meanwhile Kazuki was already making himself comfortable in Kisho's room. Little did he know that eyes were watching him from above. A chill went down Kazuki's spine and he turned to where he thought eyes were watching him—he saw nothing.
"BOO!" Someone shouted from behind him.
Kazuki jumped and fell to the ground with a thud. He glared while Kisho continued to point and laugh. Kazuki growled lightly and stood up continuing to glare.
Kisho laughter finally started to subside and his eyes met the harsh gaze of Kazuki's. "Staring at me isn't going to make me blow-up twerp." He flicked Kazuki on the nose and continued to laugh.
"WHAT THE FU…"
"KAZUKI RIROSHI YOU FINISH THAT WORD AND I'LL SHAVE YOUR HEAD!" Mrs. Kitakawa shouted.
"Hell…" Kazuki finished.
Kazuki laid his stuff on the guest bed that they had put in Kisho's room. It was located right under Kisho's loft bed where he had been spying from earlier. Kisho's room was a pretty dull room. Mrs. Kitakawa took away his decorating privileges after an incident last year where Kisho had put up some dirty posters that he had received from a friend. Now the walls were ordinary white and the carpet was an ordinary wood floor. He was already familiar with the Kitakawa house though. He would stay there when his dad was at work. Mr. Riroshi was a teacher; he taught students how to use swords and some basic fighting mechanisms. Unfortunately for Kazuki Mr. Riroshi refused to teach Kazuki anything until he was a tad bit older or showed more maturity.
"Hey Kazuki!" Kisho said to get his attention. "Wanna see what I got for my birthday?"
Kisho lead Kazuki out to their garage beneath the apartments and opened the garage door. He walked to the back of the garage to where there was a tarp draped over something. Kisho snatched onto the edge of the drape and yanked it off like a magician.
"And here we have my new ride!" Kisho bragged.
"No…way…that's your dad's…"
"Correction—was my dad's." Kisho continued to brag. He sat upon the motorcycle he had revealed moments before and leaned back on it. "See…big high-schoolers like myself get big toys like this; whereas little…well…whatever grade your in people like yourself barely can ride a bicycle by themselves."
"Oh ya…!" Kazuki snapped. He inched closer to the bike. "Looks like a piece of junk to me…"
He kicked the bike leaving a huge dent.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…" Kisho wailed.
Later that night…Thump…Thump…
Kazuki opens one eye.
Silence…
Kazuki closes his eye.
Rattle…Rattle…Click…
Kazuki's eyes snap open.
Creak…Thump…Thump…
Kazuki sits up and swings his feet over the bed.
Clang…random curse…
"What the fu…heck…" Kazuki muttered. He jumped up off the bed and peered out the doorway. There was nothing out in the hallway and not a thing was out of place.
Thump…Thump…Click…Creak…
"Wait?"
Thump…Thump…
"That noise was coming from my place…" Kazuki mutters as he went out into the hallway with nothing but a T-shirt and sweatpants.
Thump…Thump…
Kazuki opened up the door to the Kitakawa's apartment and walked out onto the balcony.
Creak…
Kazuki peaks over the balcony only to see someone peaking into the Kitakawa's garage.
"HEY YOU DOWN THERE WITH THE UGLY FACE!" Kazuki screams. He jumps onto the balcony railing but loses his grip. He falls down right onto the garage door. Luckily he was able to grab onto the very top edge of the door causing it to slam onto the burglar's head.
"HOLY CRAP I KILLED HIM!" Kazuki yelped as he landed onto the ground with a thud.
"You…wish…" The burglar grumbled. He easily lifted the garage door off of him and somehow even threw into the garage. The burglar was wearing a ski mask and black clothes so Kazuki wasn't able to recognize him. He picked up Kazuki and held a blade to the poor kid's neck. "Now…where's Riroshi."
There was a loud slam and Kazuki could hear Mr. Kitakawa's voice. "What the hell? Who's out here?"
"I'll be back kid…when you least expect it…" The man taunted. His voice sent chills down Kazuki's spine and he hit the ground with a thud only to be knocked out cold.
The Next Day…Kazuki had various band-aids on him and some bandages on his head. He was sitting on the counter in his own apartment while the police checked things out. He swung his legs back and forth while the police fingered printed anything and everything to try and get fingerprints.
A policeman walked in and shook his head in dismay. "We couldn't find any fingerprints Ma'am." He said to Mrs. Kitakawa who was behind Kazuki gently rubbing his back. "We couldn't find anything."
"That's so odd—what did they take?" She asked.
"That's the weirder part Ma'am. They didn't take anything." The man turned to Kazuki and held onto his shoulder. "Can you tell us anything that happened?" When Kazuki didn't say anything he turned to Mrs. Kitakawa and asked. "Does he have head trauma?"
Mrs. Kitakawa shook her head. "No, he just doesn't deal with stress well." She gave Kazuki a gentle smile. "Go on, tell them what you saw."
"What did he look like son?" The policemen asked.
"I don't know…he had on a mask." Kazuki grumbled.
"I see…" The policemen muttered. He stood up and ushered Mrs. Kitakawa out of the room. When they were out of hearing range he frowned. "I think the kid does know something. This kind of thing can be really damaging thing on a kid. From all the scratches and stuff I think the man did hurt him so maybe he's in a bit of shock." He patted her on the back. "If you could try and get some stuff out of him okay? You're a psychologist right?"
"Yes…but I don't really want to interrogate him." Mrs. Kitakawa muttered. "Let's drop the subject. I'll try and get something out of him that might help. Though if you want my opinion I think it was just a common thief."
"Maybe…" The police officer muttered doubtfully. "…Though Mr. Riroshi has plenty of antique swords. Those could sell pretty damn high if you ask me. With a completely empty house he would've taken something..."
"Was anything damaged?" Mrs. Kitakawa piped in.
"Well…he did leave a big dent in a motorcycle in your garage."
A Month Later…
The commotion from the theft incident had settled and all was back to normal. Kisho's motorcycle was fixed without his parents' knowledge of how it actually got a dent in it but that was probably for the better. The burglar hadn't returned and so far all was good and Mr. Riroshi was going to return that day.
Kazuki sat in front of a mirror with a complete look of despair on his face. He gently patted the end of his hair with its new length. Mrs. Kitakawa didn't cut it short but the trim that she said she was going to give him turned out to be six inches more then he expected. Well…at least no one was calling him a little girl anymore.
"I'm home!" Mr. Riroshi shouted as he came through the door.
Kazuki immediately ran to go greet him. He ran up to him and immediately gave him a hug.
Mr. Riroshi stiffened a bit and gently hugged Kazuki back. "My, did you miss me?" When Kazuki let go he gently patted his side. "I'm not as young as I used too, if I was younger I would've been out there right after surgery."
Mrs. Kitakawa came walked in from outside and smiled. "Did you see Kazuki's hair? I finally talked him into cutting it."
Kisho walked passed the door with Mr. Kitakawa, "More like tricked him…" Both of them walked down to the garage.
Mrs. Kitakawa laughed nervously. "He needed a trim anyways." She shut the door behind her and sighed.
Knock, Knock, Knock
"Um…I'll get that?" Mrs. Kitakawa stuttered. She opened the door and outside stood the policeman from a month earlier.
Mr. Riroshi stepped forward and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you officer?"
"I'm here to talk to Kazuki sir."
"May I ask why?"
Before the police officer could respond Mrs. Kitakawa jumped in and covered the police officer's mouth. "Well, Kazuki helped stop a burglary in our garage a month ago. Lucky Kazuki heard something and chased the man away!" She gave the officer a crooked smile. "Isn't that right Mr. Officer."
"Um…yes?" The police officer responded.
"Good…now right this way Mr. Officer…" Mrs. Kitakawa ushered the man out of the building and stepped outside. "I don't think anything happened. The man was probably looking for something particular. I don't want to give Mr. Riroshi anymore stress."
"Fine…but if the kid says anything call the police station." The man groaned. He grabbed a piece of paper from a notepad he kept in his back pocket. He gave her the number and left.
Mrs. Kitakawa sighed and put the number in her pocket. She came back in the apartment where the two were waiting and she forced a smile. "What a nice man to come check up on Kazuki."
"Indeed." Mr. Riroshi smiled; he looked over at Kazuki. "But next time let's see you get him with a sword." Mr. Riroshi got up and walked over to his various swords. He picked a lighter one off the wall and walked over to Kazuki, handing it to him.
Kazuki looked at it and his eyes got wide and excited. "Really?"
"Of course!" He turned to Mrs. Kitakawa and smiled. "I knew this kid was special 'eh?" He grabbed Kazuki's hand and changed how he was holding it. "A real kid to be proud of…"
"Ya, he really is…" Mrs. Kitakawa commented.
2 Years Later…Mr. Riroshi and Kazuki had transformed the living room into their own personal training station. All furniture had been removed, as had the carpet. The swords still remained in their rightful place on the walls.
Mr. Riroshi had now turned fully gray and Kazuki was nearly out of his puny stage. Years of soccer at school had insured that and since he started junior high recently he was out for track as well. His fighting skills were well for his age but he was far from being a master. He knew only basic techniques and maneuvers, nothing extraordinary. That was something Mr. Riroshi was going to teach him when he was much older.
At the moment Mr. Riroshi was teaching Kazuki some blocking techniques. Unfortunately with Mr. Riroshi now in his 60's he isn't as great with a sword as he used to be. By the time he was 65 he agreed to retire from teaching anyone sword fighting except for Kazuki.
While Mr. Riroshi was striking Kazuki he thought he heard something and he stopped. Mr. Riroshi nearly sliced his head off but luckily he stopped when he saw that Kazuki wasn't paying attention.
Mr. Riroshi groaned and rested the tip of his sword on the ground. "What's wrong with you? You're not going to get better if you keep on spacing off."
"I…I thought I heard something…" Kazuki inched opened the door to the living and peaked out to find…
Nothing.
He shook his head and closed the door. "I must be imagining things. Want to just stop for today dad? I need some sleep."
"Sure kid." Mr. Riroshi agreed. Both he and Kazuki began hanging their swords on the wall.
Creak…
Kazuki turned around to see the door was slightly left ajar. He cautiously walked over to close it.
When he reached the door hands clasped around his neck lifting him up into the air.
"Hello Riroshi." The man taunted. He tightened his grip on the poor boy's fragile neck. "How are we doing this evening?"
Mr. Riroshi nearly had a heart attack when he heard the voice. He turned around and growled, "Put him down now Yutaka." Mr. Riroshi grabbed for one of the swords on the wall.
The man kept his mask on and smiled. "I'm glad that you remembered me Mr. Riroshi. Most people wouldn't remember students."
"Yes—well, most people remember terrible students." Mr. Riroshi hissed. "Now put him down! He has nothing to do with you!"
"That's where you're wrong. Anybody that has anything to do with you has everything to do with me." The man used his other hand to rub the back of his head. "Also this kid gave me a bit of a scar on the back of my head a few years ago."
"I told you eight years ago I wanted nothing to do with you and that still applies today! You were a horrible and reckless student!"
The man laughed. "I was also a reckless driver…" The man mocked. "Remember that accident a few years back? The one with your family?" The man dropped Kazuki and held his hands up in a victory pose. "All me, I left some bottles to make them think it was just another drunk accident." He laughed. "My job is to make you miserable old man. Don't worry, I have no intentions on killing you." He went to step on Kazuki to hold him down but the boy was now gone. "Huh? What the hell?"
"YOU BASTARD!" Kazuki screamed as he slashed his sword at the man.
The man dodged and kneed him in the gut. Kazuki fell to the ground writhing in pain.
"Just stay out of my way kid…" He kicked him again. The man smiled and walked over to Mr. Riroshi grinning viciously. "As soon as I get done with you I'm killing the boy."
"You touch him and I'll make sure you burn in hell." Mr. Riroshi warned as he held up his sword.
The man laughed and grabbed the sword out of the old man's hands. He punched him in the stomach and he fell to the floor.
Kazuki's vision was getting blurry now. What happened next was blurry and hard to make out. He could hear the man knock out his dad then check the body. He heard loud cursing then Yutaka kicked Mr. Riroshi's body. When Yutaka took his sword to Mr. Riroshi he could clearly see the sword and blood but everything was blurred out. He remembered Yutaka walking over to him and grabbing his hair pulling his head back whispering something.
"He's no use to me now, I'll just make your life miserable and you won't even remember it…"
All Kazuki could see was the blade and it coming down…