Reminder, I have a pat reon, look up azndrgn making fanfic. Donators get perks!
This story has been beta by ZShaq and TheReader2011. Enjoy, leave a review for me to improve!
Also, a small A/N at the end of this chapter.
Looking out into the ocean stood a well built teenage boy with silver-blue hair and heterochromia with unique eye colors of icy blue on the right and red on the left, looking out an ant that was crawling away while trying to carry its food.
"Look at the ant, giving his all to carry that food," said the teenager as he stared at it, the tattoo on the left side of his face noticeable, "Looks like you have it tough."
He turned around when he heard a motorboat come nearby, with his karate teacher and Sakaki's personal rival, God Fist Akira Hongo.
"What are you doing?" asked Hongo as he pushed his sunglasses up, but not before touching the large scar on his face, "Come over here quickly Sho."
"Ok, sensei," said Sho as he looked down to the ant before stomping it to death, "For wingless bugs like you that crawl on the ground, it would be better for you be to stomped on!"
With that, Sho jumped off the pier he was on and landed on the boat before crawling up on his teacher and sitting on his shoulders. Soon, they were on a disguised passenger ship, going down to the meeting room where they met Ogata. After a brief greeting, the One Shadow Nine Fist meeting was underway, though the One Shadow was absent from it. Ogata and Hongo were the masters on the ship while everyone else was scattered across the globe, using computer screens to communicate with live feed. As they discussed some plans, Ogata decided to bring up the subject about Ryozanpaku's strongest disciple, Shirahama Kenichi.
"Though three disciples, two from the Zanshin Taisha-ryu and one from Chishoken, were sent to fight him, they were defeated by what I believe is to be Ryozanpaku's 'reserve' army, the Shinpaku Alliance," stated Ogata, "Curiously a group of disciples who practice martial arts. Quite like Yomi, except only a few have masters while the others are self-trained. Nonetheless, they show potential."
"Oh," smiled the Laughing Fist, Carlo Diego, "Do tell me more! I'd like to see if they would be good cannon fodder for the Desperate Fight of Disciples!"
"Hmph, foolish," huffed the Bewitching Fist, Mikumo Kushinada, who despite being roughly the same age as Hayato Fuurinji, appeared to be in her mid-20s with a well-endowed and firm chest. She did not even seem to care that her nipples could be seen from her clothes. "I am more interested in this so-called 'strongest' disciple."
"Indeed, our goal is to defeat the strongest disciple with our disciple. If we kill him before he becomes the 'strongest', the world won't accept it," stated Jum Sai Agaard, the Sovereign of Fists and Elbows, "Of course, we will not interfere in our disciple's fight."
"That's actually what I wanted to talk about," said Ogata. He had been debating about whether to tell this information to Yami long and hard before deciding to go with a few... half-truths.
"The boy is a prodigy for sure," continued Ogata, causing quite a few masters to scoff, "He is a direct disciple of the Invincible Superman Hayato Fuurinij himself, as well as disciples of all the other Ryozanpaku masters. He seems to be mastering not only hand to hand combat, but also weapons usage, no doubt from the Prodigy of Swords, Mistress of all Weapons Shigure Kosaka."
"Hmph, so he uses weapons," scoffed Alexander Gaider, the Fist of Destruction, "Perhaps he needs it to compensate his lack of skill in CQC."
"That is far from the truth," said Ogata, "Though skilled with his choice of weapon, he has shown greater mastery in using his fists and legs instead. Truth be told, judging by his skill, I have to say that only some of our direct disciples can challenge him…. and that is by working together in a group."
This was met with uproar, some insulting Ogata, saying that just because his disciple, who was the weakest of them all in their opinion, was defeated didn't mean theirs would.
"I've only stated my opinion based on how he has fought," said Ogata as they calmed down, "But if you don't believe me, feel free to send your disciples in."
Ogata had opted to not tell them all about the boy being able to use Ki no Shouka, nor his fight against Christopher Eclair, as it would draw unwanted attention from the Demon God Fist, Jenazad Silkwat and perhaps Kushinada. He had no desire to have Kenichi taken by them, as he wanted to have the first chance himself.
It was then that Sho found a female spy in their midst, who had copied precious data into a disc. Sho allowed her to escape, but not before stealing the disc.
"So this is Ryozanpaku's disciple," noted Sho as he saw a knocked over the screen with Kenichi's face on it. He raised his foot and crushed the screen, "I don't know why, but I really want to smash him to bits." As the discussion went on, they never noticed a small blip.
"Kekeke, so interesting!" giggled Niijima as he eavesdropped into the conversation. He had managed to safely hack into their network. Though he could only get bits and pieces of the conversation, it was enough to know that Ogata had not told Yami everything about Kenichi.
"I can work with this!" cackled Niijima before looking up a few topics. He had a rough idea on what to do to help Ukita.
Today was the day. Today was where everything began and changed. The day Miu's chance of a family, of having a loving mother and father disappeared. The day where she would never be able to have her parents watch her grow up. The day her mother was killed and her father framed for such a crime.
"You ready?" asked Kenichi, wearing normal clothes instead of his school uniform like last time. Though he chose to wear a black robe over his shirt to join in the mourning process, similar to the Elder's.
Miu merely nodded as the Elder checked his pocket watch before declaring it was time. They ran through the long path up towards the mountain, with Kenichi doing his best to catch up. Despite all his training and experience, Miu was still the faster of the two. The Elder... well he just didn't count. Still, Miu had already taught him Nanba Hashiri to improve his speed. They soon made it to the cemetery and were standing in front of the Fuurinji family grave, where they prayed.
"I'm going to meet up with the head priest, you two head back by yourselves when you're done," stated the Elder as he left to give his greetings.
The two stayed there in silence for a bit longer until Miu began talking to the grave.
"Mom. Grandma. I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Shirahama Kenichi," began Miu, "A lot of things have happened, ones I never thought were even possible. Still, we've been given another chance to help others, and Kenichi has been my rock in these rapid tides. I only wish you two could be here to meet him."
As Miu let a tear fall out of her eye, Kenichi stepped up, "I know that I may not seem like much, but I promise I'll protect Miu. I will always protect her, this I vow."
A small distance away in the tree stood Fuurinji Saiga, leaning on some trees while he paid his respects to his dead wife and mother. Truthfully, he had not visited the grave in years, as the guilt of his failure still ate away at him. But his father had pushed him to come visit, to which he finally obliged. He had heard what Miu said, and was confused by what she meant by another chance, but pushed that off for now. Instead, he was more focused on Kenichi, who had been introduced as her daughter's boyfriend. Hearing his heartfelt promise, Saiga felt like he could trust this boy, though not by much. He had still yet to prove himself.
"I'm sure your mother and wife wouldn't want you to be so distant from your daughter," stated the Elder as he revealed himself to Saiga.
"I know...," sighed Saiga, "But every time I see Miu's face, Shizuha's dying face is etched into my dreams. It doesn't help that Senzui disguised himself as me when he killed her. Who knows what my wife thought before she died? Did she know it was Senzui, her best friend? Or did she think it was actually me? And what of Miu? To this day, I still don't know why Senzui spared her, if he found her. Will Miu remember me at all? And if she does, will she remember Senzui in my disguise, drenched in the blood of my wife?"
Saiga began to shake as the tree he was holding onto started to crack under pressure. His Ki was beginning to leak out and would've notified Kenichi and Miu if the Elder hadn't suddenly moved and hugged his son.
Saiga froze in shock as the Elder held him. It had been so very long since his father had done this to him.
"It's alright," whispered the Elder, "I'm sure Shizuha realized that you would never harm your own family. As for Miu, I'm sure she'll trust you if you just reach out to her."
A moment of silence passed between them as Saiga allowed tears to drop out of his eyes as the Elder continued to hug his son.
Meanwhile, a mile away stood Kano Sho, observing Miu and Kenichi with his binoculars.
"Hoo, looks like the information was correct," murmured Sho, "Looks like I found the bug. But I lost track of the old one when he walked away. Lucky me, though, that he left those two."
Miu and Kenichi were walking towards a park, arms hooked as they chatted.
"Perhaps I should take the chance and get a closer look," mused Sho before getting on his motorcycle, following the couple right to Dokokano Botanical Gardens.
"Hoo, a botanical garden as a date? He's pretty cool for a bug," complimented Sho, "Still, gotta scout them, and see what's this whole strongest disciple is all about, especially to make Ogata-sensei say to have most of us avoid him."
"Sho-sama!" yelled two voices.
"Urg, how'd you two find me?" asked Sho wearily as Hayami Nauma and Seto Koya, his fellow brothers in discipleship under Akira Hongo.
"Hongo-sensei told us to keep track of you after hearing Ogata-sama's warning," replied Hayami,
"So to do so, we recently had a tracker placed within your motorcycle," finished Seto, fishing out a GPS device, "So why are you here?"
"Err... to see the flowers?" lied Sho, not wanting to 'die' as he did not have permission from Hongo to spy on Kenichi.
"Ah, yes Hongo-sensei has been telling us to slow down and meditate a bit," nodded Hayami, "What perfect way to meditate than to be in the flower gardens, around nature!"
"I have already taken the time to purchase tickets for us," said Seto, reappearing before them, "Let us go in."
The trio walked in, and both Seto and Hayami began to admire the flowers.
"This is a pleasant activity you have chosen, Sho-sama," began Hayami as he turned around to him, just to see him missing.
"Ah, Sho-sama ran away again!" exclaimed Seto, "We must find him!"
The two began to panic as they rushed off to find their missing master, rushing right past a bush. After they turned a corner, Sho's head popped out of the bush.
"Geez, didn't think I'd lose them that easily," grumbled Sho, "Oh well, better for me. I can scout out the target better alone."
"You know, this place was our very first date," giggled Miu as the two of them strolled within the gardens, "It's so nice to come back here. Especially when it got cut short."
"And who's fault was that?" teased Kenichi, "You ran off by yourself, and then almost ran off to join Yomi just for information."
"Moouuu, don't remind me," pouted Miu, "I was so desperate after visiting the grave. But now that I know the truth, I'm not as desperate. My only wish now is that he would just come clean and spend some time with me."
"I'm sure the day he does won't be far," said Kenichi as the two watched two hummingbirds hovering around a flower.
Miu nestled in closer to him, as if leeching his warmth, as the two continued their stroll in the gardens. "But for now, I'll just have to stay close to you, Ryozanpaku, and your family," murmured Miu, "I'm glad I got to know your mom on a more personal basis than last time."
"Hopefully she didn't say anything embarrassing about me," gulped Kenichi nervously.
"Oh she shared a few stories," grinned Miu.
They had been walking through the forest area of the gardens when they saw Sho looking up a tree, gazing at a sparrow who's leg had been caught on a fishing line. When they saw him, their minds could not help but flash back to their old timeline, where Sho's last act was to save Miu, and the words he spoke of.
"Promise me you'll protect her! Protect her from anything evil from Yami!"
It was the promise made before he died.
"Stand up. You promised me you'd protect Miu. Gather your strength, you're a martial artist, aren't you? Protect her. Protect her from falling into darkness and everything evil."
The same promise that revitalized Kenichi, giving him strength to land a solid hit on Miu, who had been brainwashed, and snap her out of it while saving her.
"Poor thing," murmured Sho, snapping both of them out of their trance.
"Ah, the bird," commented Miu, remembering why he was looking up.
Sho froze at the sound of someone right behind him while berating himself.
'Crap, crap, crap, I did it again. I have the bad habit of completely losing focus whenever I get distracted. Sensei always lectured me to get rid of this habit, but I just can't seem to do so, especially when it comes to birds. I hate bugs that crawl on the ground, but I just love birds! What do I do?'
"Seems like the bird got caught in a fishing line," added Kenichi, "Though I'm not sure why that's even doing there in the first place."
'If sensei finds out I made contact with someone from Ryozanpaku, especially Shirahama Kenichi, he'll kill me,' gulped Sho, 'I'll just save that bird and then disappear!'
As Sho quickly jumped, hopping off the tree trunks towards the bird, so did Miu. Sho witnessed Miu's moves as she seemed to effortlessly dance in the sky. As soon as they both landed on the tree branch, Sho swore that Miu had wings. The two of them quickly freed the bird, watching it fly away into the sky. Miu turned to Sho, not sure what to say exactly when Sho went first.
"I found you! I've been looking for somebody like you!" exclaimed Sho with stars twinkling around his excited face, "My name is Kano Sho! Come, let us fly together to the wide and dark sky together! I'm sure Yami would surely accept you!"
He moved towards her, only for Kenichi to suddenly appear between them.
"That's my girl," stated Kenichi with a serious face. As much as he respected Sho, he also remembered the constant rivalry for Miu's affection.
Sho moved back, more shocked about the fact that Kenichi managed to move so fast in between them than the fact the two were dating. As he moved back, he blinked as he swore he also saw wings around Kenichi, wrapping around Miu as if protecting her. Except these wings seemed... familiar to him. Almost as though it was his own, and that he had given it to Kenichi, which confused him greatly, as he had never met him... had he?
Shelving those thoughts for later, he focused more on the fact that the two were a couple. And yet the girl simply resonated in his heart. Kenichi's existence suddenly welled up within him.
"I don't suppose I can convince you two to break up?" asked Sho.
"NO!" shouted Kenichi.
"Eh, worth a shot," shrugged Sho, "But still, I can't exactly let you go now that you've seen me. So do me a favor and die."
Sho suddenly accelerated forward, intent on stabbing Kenichi in the stomach at speeds that would have caught many disciple class by surprise. Sho, however, would be the one shocked as Kenichi halted the attack by grabbing his wrist before his attack could hit home. Quickly reacting, he shifted himself so he would be under Kenichi's center of gravity, lifting him up in the air and getting ready to strike once more, only to quickly take evasive maneuvers as Kenichi simply let go of the hand and spun in the air before lashing out with a kick, barely missing his head.
"Hoo, you're better than I thought," said Sho, "Guess I'll take this more seriously."
The two of them glared at each other on the tree branch as the wind began to blow between them, scattering leaves.
Crack
All three quickly looked down to the source of the sound, which was behind Miu, to see the branch starting to break.
"Hey, you kids get down from there!" shouted an attendant, "No climbing on trees! You're breaking precious private property!"
The three of them quickly jumped down and apologized to the attendant, who was still busy scolding them. After he finished scolding them and left, the trio glanced at each other.
"So...you sure I can't change your mind?" Sho asked Miu once more, "I can tell you all you want to know! Perhaps you want information on say...your father?"
In the old timeline, Miu would have been severely tempted by this offer. But now she knew the truth, and with the Elder freely telling her all about his past, this offer no longer tempted her.
"Thank you, but I will not join Yami. I am happy with my current situation with Ryozanpaku and my boyfriend," stated Miu clearly.
At this, both Kenichi's and Miu's existence grew even bigger within Sho's mind. Miu was the perfect girl that he wanted, and Kenichi was the bug blocking that path.
"Sho-sama!" shouted Hayami, suddenly appearing before them.
"Please don't run off like that," heaved Seto, "Sensei told us to keep track of you."
Sho started to sweat bullets as his two escorts appeared before them all, knowing that if they knew who he was with, sensei would surely punish him. Still, there was a chance that they wouldn't know.
"Ah, you are Shirahama Kenichi!" shouted Hayami.
Scratch that, he was screwed. His only hope was to have Hayami and Seto keep quiet about this, or go out on an all-out attack. Before he could decide, a familiar voice popped over.
"Hmm? It's been a while, hasn't it Kano Sho, or the leader of Yomi, one of Yami's martial artists, 'Suparna'."
Tanimoto Natsu came waltzing out on the path, standing in between them.
"Ah, Hermit, it's been awhile," waved Sho, "Don't try to stop me, I'm going to crush that bug."
"To be truthful, I don't know if you can," admitted Natsu, "But other than that, won't godhand be pissed off right now?"
Sho shivered in fear, remembering that he was clearly breaking the rule that Hongo had told him personally not to do.
"Right, I should get going," shivered Sho, "But let me try one more time. Are you sure you won't come with me and fly together in the dark skies Fuurinji Miu?"
"Ok, I have to interrupt you there," sighed Natsu, "I would suggest you not pursue that line of thought. Do you want godhand and the Invincible Superman to be pissed at you for taking her without order or consent?"
"Ah, good point," nodded Sho, "Well no matter. I'm sure that you'll see in time Miu that you'll find your true place is with us. By the way, why are you here Hermit?"
"Ah, that's...," stuttered Natsu, starting to sweat.
"Hey! You can't just leave without me!"
Renka showed up with two drinks in her hands, wearing what seemed to be a cleaner red Cheongsam mini Qipao than compared to what she usually wore, though a clear window of her chest could be seen, as well as her legs.
"Ooh, a date?" asked Miu, forming a heart with her hands.
"It's not a date!" shouted both Natsu and Renka.
"Oh really? I thought you liked girls who wore those Chinese dresses like this one," commented Sho, "I mean, you had magazines of girls wearing those things in your bag."
"I was looking at articles of a company I had planned to expand into!" denied Natsu hotly before turning to Renka, "And you! Weren't you supposed to be helping watch my little sister!?"
"I have Ryu and Koan doing that right now," pouted Renka, "I came to see where you were going and also investigate who was throwing out all this killing intent. I'm guessing it's him?"
"... Just leave Sho," sighed Natsu, "Stay here longer, and I can't guarantee you'll escape safely."
"Perhaps we should listen," urged Seto, "Hongo-sensei did tell us not to engage in any fights for now."
Seeing no choice, Sho turned around and left, but not before giving a wink to Miu once more and then telling Seta and Hayami not to say anything.
Miu turned to Kenichi, proud that Kenichi had managed to defend himself. For a slow starter, he had handled it calmly and perfectly. Then she almost laughed when she could see Kenichi shaking. If he opened his mouth, people could see a face on his uvula screaming.
"... So you two are dating?" asked Kenichi as he managed to calm down.
"NO!" screeched both of them again.
"Kaede managed to convince Renka to come with us to the gardens," sighed Natsu, "I promised to take her here when she recovered from her chronic asthma. She's pretty much cured, but I still don't get how Renka somehow came along. Your sister is here with us, though."
"Yea I'm not sure how your sister convinced Uncle Hakubi to let me have the day off," nodded Renka, "Granted we have more workers at the store now thanks to Niijima introducing us to some low wage workers, it's still a mystery."
Truthfully, the low wage workers were members of the Zanshin Taisha-ryuu. For you see, they had landed themselves in quite a bit of debt with all the medical bill and the dojo challenge fee when fighting Ryozanpaku. They argued that they should not be responsible, but then Akisame showed them the bill and laws pertaining to their dojo, mainly that any form of physical attack aimed at any member of Ryozanpaku in the name of a martial arts school would be held responsible for paying all fees. Seeing as Yami refused to financially support them, they were about to declare bankruptcy when Niijima intervened with a contract.
In summary, the Zanshin Taisha-ryuu was now under Niijima's control, as he bought the debt from Ryozanpaku, and was now their debt collector. Niijima allowed them to exist under a few conditions, such as turning over to Katsujinken and actively working to reduce their debt. Niijima contacted Uncle Hakubi and managed to get some of them working over there.
As for allowing Renka to come...Kaede may have challenged him to a Mah Jong match.
"Hohoho, I heard that you're quite skilled young one," chuckled Hakubi, "But take in mind that I am much better at this than my nephews."
Despite that claim, he was still annihilated by Kaede and joined the ever-growing group of the defeated.
"Oh well, it's something to think about later," stretched Renka. Now that they had a lot more talented workers, she could work on her other plan that she made with Niijima.
"Now come, you should join us!" cheered Renka, grabbing Kenichi and pulling him towards Kaede and the others. Miu and Tanimoto could only sigh and quickly catch up.
"So Ukita, ready to meet your new master?" asked Niijima as Ukita dragged himself into the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters. Takeda was at his master's training while Kisara was sparring with Freya. Siegfried had gone back into his room to continue spinning on a boulder for two weeks straight now. Thor was still up in the mountains training his combat sumo, and Tsuji, who had finally decided to join Shinpaku, as punching some wooden posts that Niijima had set up to toughen himself up.
"Ah, I didn't tell you, I already found one," grumbled Ukita, trying to feel his muscles. His training with Taiki and Naoki Yamamoto was no joke. Every morning before school, he had to wake up early for morning training which usually involved scaling a nearby cliff that Taiki had somehow found while dragging his master and several weighted tires. After school involved constant sparring with the brat, to which to his chagrin he would keep losing. Then at night, they would fight the Tengu. Ukita, of course, laughed when he heard Naoki telling him all about the Tengu, up until when they had to fight it. Ukita obviously could tell it was just Taiki in a disguise, but he couldn't tell that to Naoki due to the fact he was usually taken out first before anything else. Ukita later learned to just let Naoki believe it was real. He had already lost several of his sunglasses to him, and during their spars, Taiki would wear his sunglasses over the Tengu mask, as if to mock him. That, or he liked the sunglasses.
"Ah yes, I am quite aware of that," nodded Niijima, "But tell me, are you diverging from the path of judo and into jiujitsu now?"
"...Not like I have much of a choice," grumbled Ukita, "I don't know any good Judo masters out there."
"Ah, but I've found you one!" grinned Niijima, "Come, follow me."
Curious at what Niijima was saying, Ukita followed him to into a room where Matsui and Kimoto were playing video games... and taking notes from it? There were multiple television sets as well.
"Meet your master!" cackled Niijima as Matsui and Kimoto stood up and saluted Ukita.
"... You're joking right?" asked Ukita, "Those two are my masters?"
"No sir!" said Matsui, "We are merely tools, a means to convey lessons from your master, for you! Your true master is here!"
Ukita looked to where Matsui was pointing just to see... a video game console. It was a shiny PS2, one of the latest gaming console, along with a Gamecube.
"Are you fucking messing with me!?" roared Ukita, grabbing Niijima by his shirt.
"Nonono," stated Niijima calmly, "Let Matsui and Kimoto show you."
Getting a nod from their governor-general, they turned back to their game systems and loaded up the games to reveal King of Fighters and Street Fighters. They chose judo type characters and began playing, doing combos to AI opponents.
"This is what I wanted to show you," said Niijima, "These moves, although some may be impossible to do, are all effective judo moves that you can incorporate in your style."
Ukita didn't respond as he watched Matsui's character grabbing his opponent, swinging her around for a bit in a whirlwind before slamming her into the floor, as well as doing some combos. He switched over to Kimoto to see his character grab someone in midair and judo throw them into the floor. He looked over to the shelves to see plenty more fighting games, all with judo based characters.
"Maybe," murmured Ukita, "But who's willing to practice with me?"
Niijima merely chuckled before bringing out a realistic dummy he had bought from Gauche's donation sales, "You can practice using this!"
Ukita nodded before attempting one of the moves he saw with Matsui using on the dummy.
One week later
Kano Sho parked his motorcycle on top of an unfinished building in the middle of the night, waiting for Boris Ivanov, a direct disciple of Alexander Gaidar and a member of Yomi. His mind went back to Miu, whom he happily thought of, and Kenichi, whom he wanted to squash. Sho also shivered when he remembered telling his sensei where he had been truthfully. There had been no need to lie, as he was a horrible liar anyway, and his sensei could easily sense lies. Punishment had been brutal. Sho snapped out of his musing when he heard the telltale signs of a helicopter approaching the building.
"Helicopters may be able to fly, but they don't have wings," frowned Sho, "I don't like them."
The helicopter hovered in the air above Sho as ropes were dropped from it. Suddenly, six people dressed in army clothes began to descend down quickly from the helicopter.
"Geez, can't you guys arrive to Japan in a more ordinary fashion, Boris?" chuckled Sho.
"That would be troublesome," replied the identified Boris Ivanov, who was wearing a gray camouflage suit along with warpaint. He had silver hair that was spiked in the back, and wore a serious face when addressing to Sho. "We are not part of the army, nor are we regular citizens."
It was clear that out of the group of seven that had come, he was the leader.
"So, what do your require of us?" asked Boris, "It's clearly too early for our regularly scheduled meetings of Yomi."
"I have a direct order from the leader Yami," grinned Sho, "I need you guys to go wild for a bit."
"Hmph, I have no obligation to follow any orders except from my master," stated Boris, "I only came here because my master ordered me to do so, and will not move until further notice."
The winds blew between them as Sho glared at them, "I've wanted to say this for a long time..."
Suddenly, Sho comically pointed at Boris, "Boris, that camo uniform would make you stick out in a crowd! It stands out! It stands out!"
Sho had repeated the last part twice to make his point, but it was calmly ignored by Boris, who had received a phone call from his master from a military grade satellite phone, one which was attached to a backpack that allowed the phone call to be scrambled if anybody else tried to hack into the phone.
"I understand master," saluted Boris, "We shall be returning to Yomi's chain of command at 2300 hours until further notice!"
With his phone call done, he handed it to one of his subordinates before snapping to attention back at Sho, "Leader Kano, we await your orders."
"Boris Ivanov," said Sho calmly, "I really hate you."
Days later
"So... what are you doing at my house?" asked Natsu calmly as Kaede and Honoka were at Kaede's room playing.
"Now don't be so cold," smiled Kenichi, "We only came to visit while also making sure Honoka gets home safely later."
"I can accept that as a reason," nodded Natsu, "But what I can't accept is that you're currently in my home drinking tea when the pickup time is two hours later! And that fact that she's here to!"
"Nya what's wrong with me checking up on my uncle's disciple?" stated Renka.
"And you're the one who provided tea," added Kenichi.
'Shit, that's right,' thought a shocked Natsu. It had been ingrained in him to serve tea to visitors to their home, thanks to Kaede, who pointed out it was rude not to.
"Ah, perfect, you're all here," grinned Niijima as he suddenly popped in, "Wait, where's Miu?"
"Oh, she's at home right now," stated Kenichi, "She's busy checking on the current states of stocks as well as balancing the checkbook of Ryozanpaku. I asked if she wanted me to help, but she insisted on doing it herself. I think there's a chance she wants to be an accountant in the future."
"Mmm, oh well," shrugged Niijima, "Right now, all captains and vice captains of the Shinpaku Alliance are undergoing heavy training. As for you, Renka, the plan is going well. We should be able to get you in tomorrow."
"Yaa!" cheered Renka.
"Wait, get her into what?" asked Kenichi curiously.
"Oh you'll find out," cackled Niijima before turning to Natsu, "As for you, I've already got some info about your master."
"Wait, he's still alive?" asked Renka.
"Of course he is," snorted Natsu, "Ba Sogetsu is not one to die from a mere burning building."
Natsu also didn't include that fact he knew his master was still alive due to the fact he actually visited Kaede and left him scrolls. Only Kenichi and the members of Ryozanpaku knew of this.
'Not to mention I left a few tools for him to use,' added Niijima mentally before speaking, "Anyways, here's the latest update."
Natsu scanned and grinned, as his own investigators he had hired had failed before realizing something important, "Hey, wait, how'd you get in here!? I didn't hear a doorbell ring, nor did Kaede come downstairs to open the door!"
"Eh? A spare key," replied Niijima, showing his own own key before getting smacked in the head by Natsu.
"My head is starting to feel weird," stated Natsu as he snapped the key in half, only for Niijima to brag he had more.
This caused Natsu to grab Niijima and shake him roughly until Niijima promised that he would not give any spare key to anyone. There were still people in his company that would love the chance to get one and grab Kaede.
"Also, I have more info on Yami and Yomi," smirked Niijima.
"Do you have a death wish?" asked Natsu frostily, "Not to mention any information about them is deeply protected."
"And yet I've already got information about some of them," grinned Niijima, "Including a conversation they were having a few days ago."
"What!?" screeched all three of them.
"Ogata has told the rest of Yami about you, Kenichi," nodded Niijima, "Though I could only get bits and pieces, he did not tell anyone about your mastery of Ki. I theorize he doesn't want to let the others to know to get a shot at you as a disciple. That, or he wants you to owe him a favor."
"I suppose that's good," mumbled Kenichi. He had used Ki no Shouka to fix Ryuto's Ki network, and knew the risk of revealing it. To hear that the majority of Yami did not know this information for now was a welcomed boon.
"Fine, then what about Yomi?" asked Natsu.
"I've gotten details that several members of Yomi have already arrived," said Niijima, "And this information was actually quite easy to come by. They've already started to conquer multiple dojos and raising hell."
"So I can expect them at my place soon enough," huffed Renka, "I'll show them what it means to mess with the Ma family. Pervert, it's time to train!"
"Stop calling me that, exhibitionist!" shouted Natsu as Renka dragged Natsu to the backyard to spar.
"I feel like since we jumped back in time, we somehow jump started a relationship that didn't exist before," chuckled Kenichi as soon as he knew they were out of earshot range.
"Dangers of time travel," nodded Niijima, "Some things are bound to change out of our expectations. Still, it's not so bad. Once I get the Taninmoto Corporation into the Shinpaku Alliance, it will grow even bigger. And if Renka does end up with Natsu, I can easily expand into China even faster. My company will become known worldwide, and my dreams will soon be fulfilled. Kehehehehehe!"
Kenichi had to smack Niijima in the head to stop laughing.
The next day, they all received a rather large surprise at school.
"I'd like to proudly present to you a new transfer student, all the way from China herself!" cried homeroom teacher Fukujiro Yasunaga, his bald head gleaming in the sun, "May I introduce to you... Ma Renka!"
"Ya ho! I'm from China!" smiled Renka, wearing a modified uniform with a vest over it while giving a peace sign.
Natsu, Miu, and Kenichi almost face faulted in shock while Niijima merely cackled.
"Principal, do we have enough room?" asked their homeroom teacher Kyouko Ono, "Oh wait, there's a seat that's actually empty over there!"
Conveniently there was an empty seat right behind Natsu. Renka skipped over to the empty seat, happy to be near Kenichi.
"Hello. Let me be one of the first to greet you here at Koryu High," greeted Natsu with his fake smile and princely charm.
"Eh, what the hell?" said Renka with a head tilt, "What's with all this flowery attitude per-,"
Renka didn't get to finish her sentence as Natsu quickly covered her mouth, but the damage was done.
"Eh, pervert?" filled in one student, "No way, kyaaa!"
"She meant personnel," said Natsu, salvaging the situation, "I forgot that I met her on one of my business trips."
He then hissed at Renka, "Please, shut up."
"Mmmm, fine," mumbled Renka through his mouth, "But you're buying me lunch. Now get your hands off me or I'm going to start yelling."
Natsu quickly did so and sat down, feeling a sense of dread wash over him as Renka took a seat behind him.
"Oh yea, team meeting after school," said Niijima, "I already contacted Ryozanpaku to allow you to come."
Meanwhile, at a Yami base, Kano Sho was greeting three other Yomi members who had arrived. Rachel Stanley, Ethan Stanley, and Radin Tidat Jihan calmly sat on the benches, awaiting further orders.
"Hey wait, where's Boris?" asked Sho.
"Er, leader, did you send the order to end the mission?" asked Rachel in her Lucha Libre suit, which revealed her assets quite a bit, "Because he's just going to keep going forever."
"Shit!" cursed Sho, "What's his radio frequency!?"
"Dunno?" they all replied.
"Does he at least have a cell phone?" asked Sho, "He should have one, right?"
"I don't think he would," shrugged Jihan, "Would be a security risk, in his opinion."
As Sho racked his brains, Boris had finished off 58 dojos. Luckily, Ukita's dojo had not been part of it.
"What's next!" demanded Boris to his subordinate.
"Sir, all 58 dojos from the lowest rank have been conquered! What shall we do next?" asked the subordinate.
"... We conquer them again!" ordered Boris until realizing something seemed off and quickly demanded to see the list.
Upon scanning the list, Boris noticed there was one more dojo's address on the list, and quickly backhanded his subordinate for his mistake, as it would have meant they failed the mission if they didn't complete everything on the list.
At the Shinpaku headquarters, Miu and Kenichi whistled at the many improvements Niijima had already done. He had renovated a few rooms for practice and improved the décor already.
"Why am I here?" grumbled Natsu, "I'm not even part of the Shinpaku Alliance."
"Ah c'mon," cheered Renka, "You can't be a loner all the time. And you can remove your fake mask that you use in school here without worry! Plus, Kaede told me to have you hang out with more friends!"
"Whom I choose to partake company with is none of your business," shot back Natsu.
Soon the two began bickering once more while Niijima began to discuss with Miu and Kenichi about the future development of Shinpaku.
Boris looked up at the what seemed to be a rather old dojo gate, arriving at their destination. Though it seemed to be the most run down of all the dojos they faced, it seemed to still be in quite good quality.
"What's the sign say?" asked Boris before complaining, "Why does Japanese have katakana, hiragana, and Kanji? I can't read a single word of Kanji yet!"
Boris had only learned how to speak Japanese, as it was much easier to do so than read and write. Luckily, he knew one of his subordinates was more fluent in the language and pointed to the dojo sign written in Kanji.
"Yes sir! I believe it's pronounced...Hakuzanryou," declared the subordinate.
"Hakuzanryou... sounds familiar, but I don't know where," murmured Boris, "Whatever. Let's go. Mission start!"
Sadly, the subordinate had forgotten that in the Japanese language as well as several other southeast Asian countries, they read from right to left, not left to right as he had just done.
Boris and his crew charged into Ryozanpaku without realized they were heading to the heart of their enemies base.
They first opened the doors, discovering that they were heavier compared to the past doors, but nothing of challenge yet. One of the subordinates commented on how all of Japan's dojo seemed weak, but Boris corrected him saying that it was because they were strong. As they charged in, a log trap suddenly came swinging towards them. Boris managed to dodge it, as did several others, but one of them took the full brunt of the hit. One of the other subordinate had been ready to help free their trapped comrade, only for Boris to stop him. After careful examination, Boris managed to find the key spot to dismantling the trap. Trying to do so any other way would result in more traps activating, which caused a shiver to go up Boris's spine.
"Finally, a dojo with some backbone," grinned Boris as he tossed a grappling hook to the roof after disabling the trap. The man was knocked out unconscious, leaving only six of them now. Once they made it to the roof, Boris carefully scanned the area, noting four more traps before using hand signs to convey the plans. They would split into three teams of two, and their mission priority was to take out any targets within. Once done, they would meet up at the building in the middle to rendezvous.
"Ah, a trap activated," noted Shigure from the main dojo.
"Relax, it's probably Kenichi and them," said Sakaki as he drank from his beer bottle, "We did warn him to be prepared for anything. Akisame and the others agreed that putting these traps was the best way for them all to prepare themselves for going into the world of martial arts."
"Oh... ok," said Shigure, plopping back down to the floor.
It was the truth as they did want Kenichi and the others to prepare by setting up traps for them. However, they did not know that Boris Ivanov was the one who was currently invading. Niijima had told them that he would be invading, but had not given the specific date as it when. It was impossible to predict such a thing with the timeline changing. Kenichi had phoned them saying that the majority of the Shinpaku Alliance people would be coming over.
"Ahh, it's so boring," grumbled Sakaki as he sipped on his beer.
Shigure then plopped onto Sakaki, surprising him.
"Then do you... want to do something... with me?" asked Shigure.
Sakaki almost choked on his beer before pushing Shigure off him.
Subordinate A, codenamed D3 and the one with a bandanna, was approaching a barely opened door. Hiding from the side, he used Cornershot to peek around the edge. However, upon rounding the corner, all he could see was pitch black, which was curious as the room was clearly lit. He looked down before freezing in shock to see another Cornershot camera looking right at him.
"I wonder who's here?" said Kensei with a grin before opening the door.
D3 quickly back flipped away to avoid being caught before landing on something that triggered one of Akisame's machine. Several wooden dolls quickly sprung up, electricity crackling in each hand. D3 began to punch them down, only to have them spring back up with even more power. Suddenly, the floor beneath him began to move. D3 began having to fight and run for his life.
"Ah perfect, I see that you've acquainted yourself with our newest machine," said Kensei with a smile, "Akisame was actually running out of ideas when he thought, why not combine some machines? So we decided to not only train how to fight multiple enemies, but also run while doing so. Afterall, an opponent isn't going to stay still all the time. So, what are your thoughts?"
"Gyaaa!" screamed D3 as he failed to hit a target and was promptly tazed.
"D3, what's wrong?" asked D4, who was bald and wore a headband, "D3 respond!"
All D4 could hear was screams before falling silent.
"He couldn't have been defeated... right?" said D4 to himself as he cautiously hugged the wall while sneaking around. He stopped when he suddenly saw Tochumaru standing in front of him.
"A mouse?" D4 voiced out loud.
Tochumaru whipped out his nunchucks before showing off his moves. The sweat drops progressively grew on D4's head as Tochumaru finished showing off, his eyes glowing as he motioned for D4 to come at him.
D4 promptly turned around in time to see Noir the cat pushing a wooden post clealry bigger than him. Before D4 could question this, Noir promptly stood on two legs and unsheathed his claws in his forelegs. He turned to the wooden post and began attacking it. Noir slashed at it twice before jumping in the air, continuing to swipe at the post. He weaved and dodge, going around the post, zigzagging as he did so until finally stopping. The wooden post, which had been a block of wood, had been carved into a blocky version of Tochumaru while Noir's claws still gleamed sharply.
[Impossible] said D4 to himself as he turned back around and tried to avoid touching Tochumaru.
Tochumaru squeaked in anger as he jumped towards D4's face while Noir hissed in anger and jumped towards his butt.
[Stay away from me you nightmares!] screamed D4, [I'm allergic to you both!]
D5 and D6 heard noises emanating from and room and charged in, just to get slammed a swinging stone statue that Akisame had been using to strengthen himself.
Boris and his right hand man, D2, made it to the center dojo before radioing the others about their status.
"D3-6, respond!" stated D2, "Commander, nobody is responding."
"They've been taken out," concluded Boris before giving a small chuckle.
'Excellent! From the first dojo ever since this mission started, I felt like a machine just going through the works, doing everything that was ordered. But today... I can feel my heart beating! I can feel the excitement!'
Boris decided the time for hiding was done, and opened the dojo doors.
"Dojo master! I request a fair and square bat..."
"Quit making so much noise!" shouted Sakaki, currently in a grumpy mood "I'm trying to drink in peace here!"
"tle," finished Boris as he endured a KI blast from Sakaki. His subordinate did not fair as well as he was knocked unconscious.
Shigure, noticing that the intruder was someone that they didn't know as well as wearing shoes on the dojo mats, quickly responded. She dashed towards the two, her sword unsheathed. Boris, fearing for his life, quickly backflipped away from Shigure. He soon found out that despite his actions, Shigure could have easily knocked him out, or worse, kill him. Instead, she had precisely cut both his subordinate's shoes and his without a scratch.
"In the dojo... you take off your shoes... dojo," said Shigure as she sheathed her sword. A/N: the joke works better in japanese. When you say please, it's dozo, but she made it a pun.
That caused Sakaki to break out into giggles, making Shigure blush at this.
'These people aren't normal,' thought Boris before standing up, "I am Boris Ivanov of Yomi! I have been ordered by Yami to conquer this dojo!"
"Then you're in quite the predicament," said Akisame from behind him, causing Boris to freeze up before jumping away.
'I didn't even notice him!' thought Boris before noticing all his subordinates being laid in front of him unconscious. He was curious why D4's face was wreathed in fear while his pants was in shreds.
"... Who are you people?" questioned Boris.
"Didn't you read the sign?" asked Kensei, "This is Ryozanpaku. The place where those who stand at the pinnacle of their martial arts gather."
Boris wanted to slap his forehead at this screwup. He had forgotten to remind his subordinate to read right to left, not left to right. Not only that, but he was at the heart of the enemy territory with no real victory in sight. Still, he had a mission to fulfill, and he would not fail! Before he could issue a challenge out, multiple things happened.
Akisame suddenly rushed towards Boris, forcing him to fall back to avoid getting hit. As he fell down to his rear, a pillow tossed by Akisame suddenly appeared underneath his rear, and Boris found himself in a sitting position. Akisame slammed his palm into the floor, where a peculiar tatami mat suddenly flipped out of the way to reveal a small hole.
Tochumaru quickly bought snacks while Noir grabbed cups, and Akisame had a teapot suddenly placed in between them.
[Haha, why don't we hear what you really want first? We can fight later,] suggested Akisame in perfect Russian.
Boris warily looked at Akisame for a bit before accepting the tea cup from Noir.
A few minutes into the tea ceremony, Boris certainly seemed to have relaxed.
[So your master is Alexander Gaidar. I've heard of him. A master of Combat Sambo, if I'm not mistaken.] praised Akisame.
Suddenly, the emergency phone that D2 carried began to ring. Boris glanced at Akisame, who merely gestured for him to pick up, before picking up the phone.
"This is Boris," said Boris.
"Withdraw immediately," commanded Sho.
"What!?" shouted Boris.
"Your subordinates contacted me," continued Sho, "It sounds like you're in quite the predicament."
Boris growled at that statement, though it was true. There was no way he could battle these masters, and the disciple did not seem to be in today.
"Fine," growled Boris.
"Oh good, I was afraid I was going to have to threaten you," said Sho, "Come back to base. The others are already here, and took out a few dojos already."
"How many did they get?" asked Boris.
"Eh, the average between them all was roughly 13 before I recalled them," shrugged Sho.
"If you recalled them before completing 59 on the list... then why didn't you give the order earlier?" asked Boris.
"..." All he got was silence.
"You forgot my number didn't you?" asked Boris.
"SHUT UP AND COME BACK HERE!" shouted Sho before hanging up the phone.
"Well then, it seems like you have to go back," gestured Akisame.
"Indeed," said Boris, giving Akisame a polite bow, "Thank you for the tea."
With all his subordinates back up, Boris and his crew began to walk towards the gate. Just as they did so, Kenichi and his friends came in. Boris, of course, recognized Kenichi as Ryozanpaku's disciple, and would've challenged him if it wasn't for the orders to retreat.
'If I can't fight him, then I'll analyze him instead,' thought Boris as he stared at Kenichi. As the two passed by, Boris's eyes widened in shock. Kenichi seemed like a fangless, clawless animal, but something deep inside showed otherwise. But what it was, he couldn't tell. Martial artists above a certain level always had something different about them. Each member of Yomi that he analyzed had some sort of deep darkness that emanated from their eyes. He had been taught that greater strength could be obtained from this darkness. But yet within Kenichi's eyes, he saw no tint of darkness at all. Even the blonde girl hanging off his arm beside him as well as the others had some darkness. Instead, it was as if Kenichi had discarded that darkness, and found something else. His eyes... they radiated with light instead!
It wasn't just Kenichi, noted Boris. They more he looked at Kenichi and his friends, the more he noticed that each one of them seemed to push the darkness, all of which seemed to be affected by Kenichi. Except for the weird one with pointy ears. He seemed steeped into something else, something elderith like, to which he had no interest at. Especially since he didn't seem to be a martial artist anyway.
'I'll have to take note of this,' thought Boris to himself before he and his men dashed away.
"What was all that about?" asked Takeda curiously.
"That would be Yomi," snickered Niijima, "Looks like they chose the wrong day to invade."
Of course, Niijima was glad that Kenichi didn't fight Boris. The longer Yomi and Yami were kept in the dark about Kenichi's skill, the better. He couldn't let his most valuable piece/friend be harmed.
As the masters of Ryozanpaku watched Boris leave, they knew the shots had been fired, and soon the battle would begin.
And here we go into to Yomi/Yami! It's gonna be fun writing the next few chapters out for sure.
Honestly, with Ukita, I was confused on how to make him stronger until I thought of the video game idea and the Yamamoto family. I was even considering making an OC, but that wouldn't feel right. Though if I had to make one, I definitely would've made Abel from Street Fighter as Ukita's master. Seriously, I'm surprised nobody's attempted a Kenichi/Street Fighter Cross over. Feel like it would be interesting to try. Could have Juri as Kisara's master, too, or Chun Li, thought Juri makes more sense, as they both Tae Kwan Doe. E Honda would be Thor's master. Possibly Duddley as another master for Takeda. Nanase as Freya's master. Quite a bit of potential.
And now for the bad news... kinda. Next month, I will NOT be updating ANY of my stories. The reason for this... is basically because I'm going to be spending pretty much all my free time playing KH3. No life threatening crisis or anything, but let's face it, I'm not going to have time to write, nor will I want to, when I got KH3, which I have been waiting for ages.