Hello Everyone! I'm still alive, thank you very much! Hope you enjoy this new chapter.
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, heads up in this chapter as there will be people talking in different languages. So by default, they speak Japanese. Anything like this: [Dialogue] Means that the people are talking in a different language
Ogata was just humming to himself on a ship when a Hurricane Class Submarine suddenly appeared on the port side of the ship. Sighing, he decided to go down to visit whom he knew was in the submarine. Upon entering, he saw rows of beautifully sculpted marble statues and Alexander Gaidar, the man known as the Fist of Destruction, was delicately sculpting another statue with a peaceful visage on his face. That instantly changed when Alexander slammed his unfinished sculpture against Ogata, who destroyed it while wrecking quite a few other statues at the same time.
"All members of Yomi had 58 dojos on their list! So why did mine have 59!?" accused Alexander before calming down and turned back to painting, "You're the one that sent my disciple to Ryozanpaku, aren't you?"
"I was merely following orders as caretaker of Yomi," smiled Ogata, "I was the last one to join Yami, after all. Plus, I thought you would be happy that your disciple would get the opening shot. It's an honor, isn't it? Not to mention he returned safe and sound."
While Alexander refused to comment and ended the conversation, Ogata sighed as he jumped back to his ship. Truth be told, he had wanted to see more of Kenichi's skills. He was very interested in how such a young boy was already capable of kneading Ki at a Master level. Despite all of Kushinada's bragging about how her disciple was the prodigy, to which he would admit she was, it was nothing compared to Kenichi.
"Oh well, there will be other chances," shrugged Ogata, "I'm sure Fortuna and Deigo will come up with something."
Meanwhile, Kenichi and Miu were walking home, holding hands together as they did so.
"It's been a while since we just did this, hasn't it?" asked Miu as she smiled, "Just holding hands while walking. Your hands feel so big and safe."
"Yea... and slightly bloody," commented Kenichi as he glanced back at the three unconscious bodies. The three of them had challenged Kenichi to a fight, only to be swiftly knocked out by both of them. Miu had been displeased as one of them had almost stepped on a stray cat's tail, and so her hands... were currently not the cleanest.
"What was that?" asked Miu sharply.
"Nothing!" squeaked Kenichi, "I mean, yeah you're right, it's been a while since we just did this!"
They continued on the path home when Kenichi remembered their homeroom teacher, Fukujiro Yasunaga, mentioned about the upcoming class trip to the mountains.
"Miu, will you be alright?" asked Kenichi, "The trip is coming up. Do you still..."
"I …. should be fine," sighed Miu, "At this point, it's psychological now. Even despite knowing the truth, I still get a small fever during blizzards. I'm trying to break out of it, but it's still something that eats at me."
"Miu, no matter what happens, I'll be by your side," said Kenichi softly.
"Kenichi," whispered Miu back.
The two of them began to lean close to each other for a kiss when...
"Ahem!"
The two quickly jumped back to see the Elder glaring at them. The couple blushed and separated from each other less they annoy the Elder further.
"Come," said the Elder, "We have guests."
The guests were other dojos that had challenged Ryozanpaku before who wanted to join them in their fight against Yami. It was heartwarming to see more dojos who embraced Katsujinken instead of Satsujinken. Kenichi was especially glad to see the Tanaka family standing in the dojo as well as the Yamamoto family. Each one pledged to help support Ryozanpaku when they could.
Back at one of Yomi's base, Boris threw himself into training once more. While practicing Combat Sambo, he couldn't take his mind off of Kenichi. How that mysterious light that seemed to radiate strength while his other senses told him that Ryozanpaku's Strongest Disciple was a weakling. It was a paradox to him.
"Perhaps I should ask Tirawit Kokin," mumbled Boris, "His analysis is just as good as mine."
"Hoo, I see you're still here," commented Radin Tidat Jihan as he entered the room, "It's been awhile. I heard that you rushed straight into the enemy's main base, and was put under house arrest because of it."
Boris ignored him as he swiftly got his dummy into a choke hold, slowly crushing its fake neck.
"If it had been me, I would've ignored the orders and waited for the strongest disciple to come back and take his head," continued Jihan.
"Orders are absolute!" replied Boris before swiftly decapitating the dummy's head with a forceful chokehold grip, "Besides... despite not even raising a fist, I could tell that I would most likely be no match for him."
"With just a glance?" questioned Jihan, "Have you been smoking something weird or eaten something ?"
"I take no drugs and always maintain a healthy diet to perform at my best," shot back Boris, "But the truth is, that mysterious light in his eyes when I first saw him... I can't understand what that light is. But I can tell that he is most likely above all of us in Yomi. Only Sparna, Satomi Kajima, Ethan Stanley, Tirawit Kokin, and perhaps you yourself could possibly match him."
'And that's a very low estimate,' added Boris to himself, 'They'd have to team up.'
Jihan scoffed but made no comment about the choice of members that had been given. As much as he hated to admit, the four names given were the powerhouses of Yomi. They were the strongest in their group, though Jihan would have placed himself a bit higher in that group, possibly above Ethan and on par with Tirawit.
"Hmph, I'll fight him, and I'll certainly win," proclaimed Jihan as he took off his hood, "After all, though you are good at fighting, you are just a soldier, while I am a king."
The day of the snow trip came, and while Miu was absolutely shredding the advance course in snowboarding, she wasn't the only one that was catching attention.
"Whoa look at Fuurinji go! Look at that air time!"
"What about the transfer girl!? She's doing just as well as Fuurinji!"
Indeed, Renka had joined them in the trip and was also doing tricks on the snowboard despite it being her first time snowboarding.
As for Kenichi... he ate the snow once again.
"You'd think that you have more experience in martial arts you'd be better at sports," commented Niijima.
"Hey, I was doing well until my board hit a rock!" shouted Kenichi.
Indeed, Kenichi had been doing decent on snowboarding, having a better understanding of his center of gravity, but as he was going down, he hadn't noticed a rock jutting out and tripped on it. Then they both heard their teachers commenting about how some rich important foreigners that had rented half of the mountain.
"Is it him?" whispered Kenichi.
"From what I gathered, the employees were talking about a rich foreign person with dark skin, and there was the mention of Tidat. So yes, it's most likely him," replied Niijima, "How do you want to play this out?"
Kenichi frowned as his mind flashed back to the first time he met Jihan. Though it was a rocky start and a rather still rocky finish, Kenichi knew Jihan learned and grew after their fight. A kind old man showed Jihan a new path that he had never seen before, according to him. But could they risk putting Jihan through another avalanche? There was no guarantee he would live through it again.
"I'll... see how it goes," sighed Kenichi, "But I'm not going to get myself caught in a trap again. Miu seriously fell ill just trying to rescue me. I won't risk her life again."
"Should you even be here?" snarked Natsu as he slid to a stop next to them, "With Yami and Yomi's open declaration of war, why are you so carelessly taking part on this ski trip?"
"Relax, we got this," smiled Kenichi, "My masters gave me permission to come. Plus, they promised to have at least one master on the lookout while I'm here.".
Back at Ryozanapaku
"Weren't you supposed to go with them!?" shouted Sakaki.
"No, I said I would definitely go if they were headed to the hot springs!" fired back Kensei, defending himself.
Shigure and Apachai were about to volunteer when Akisame stopped them, saying it was pointless.
"Plus, the Elder already left to watch over them," added Akisame.
"Ah, that explains why he hasn't said anything," blinked Sakaki before turning to Kensei, "You're lucky he has you covered. Remember what they told us that happened to this trip? Especially with Miu and Silkwat Jenazad? It's no wonder the Elder left without saying anything, he must be worried that he'll try to kidnap her even early. You best hope he doesn't have some sort of punishment for you when he gets back."
Kensei blinked before paling at the thought. He had let his perverted sense take over again.
Indeed, the Elder was watching Miu and Kenichi from a distance inside the community lodgings.
"Sir, would you like something?" asked a waitress, slightly unnerved by how tall the Elder was.
"Just a cup of hot water will do," replied the Elder politely as he pulled out a small pouch that was filled with tea leaves.
"So I have full confidence in my masters," Kenichi finished off.
"Hmph, must be nice to have masters that stick with you," huffed Natsu as he thought about his own master, Ba Sogetsu.
"Hey, hey, what are we talking about?" piped up Renka as she landed near them.
"Nothing, but I'm surprised you're not half naked despite the snow," snarked Natsu.
"Mm, you would like that wouldn't you?" smiled Renka as she leaned forward, pulling her red snow jacket down a bit to reveal her chest, "Finally going to admit you're attracted to me?"
"Not in the least," fired back Natsu, though slightly blushing. When Renka pulled down her jacket, he saw far more than he wanted to, as Renka had either forgone wearing a bra or was wearing a very skimpy one. He mentally cursed Sho for that comment about Chinese dresses, as Renka was now teasing him more about that. It was only for a few topics that the magazine had about... he would deny everything else.
While they were talking, a small foreign girl named Sham was analyzing the situation before her. Her initial plan was to feign innocence before tricking Kenichi off a cliff. Her allies would distract Kenichi's friends so they wouldn't notice her. However, there were far more people that were stubbornly sticking around him. Not only that, but each one of them were martial artists, which raised the difficulty. Except for the weird pointy ear person, he was just weird.
[Fall Back.] muttered Sham to her allies, [Situation has proven difficult to use plan A. Tell his majesty that Plan B may be required.]
[Acknowledged.] nodded her allies.
"Weird," muttered Kenichi as night fell upon them, "I was supposed to have been ambushed already."
"Did they change their minds?" pondered Miu, sitting in the same bedroom with him.
"Who knows?" shrugged Niijima, "Isn't this better? Last time was very risky. We were lucky that a search party found us pretty quickly despite the avalanche. Can't depend on that happening to us again."
Kenichi, Niijima, and Natsu were all sharing the same room while Miu and Renka had their own. However, Natsu was currently at the gift shopping looking to buy a small souvenir for Kaede while Renka went along with him for some reason.
"Maybe because Boris didn't challenge you back at Ryozanpaku, that caused Jihan not to be interested in you?"
"But why rent half the mountain still?" argued Kenichi.
The three continued to contemplate the reasoning until Niijima detected someone coming to their room with his 'Niijima senses'.
"Excuse me, but someone left this letter for you," said one of the staff, presenting a letter for Kenichi.
"Thank you," thanked Kenichi as he took the letter, glancing at it to see elegant handwriting addressed to him. Taking a deep breath, he opened the letter.
Dear Peasant,
You are hereby invited to come to my manor. Be grateful, as I do not invite anybody to just come. Participation is mandatory, otherwise, your classmates will suffer the consequences. I will graciously allow you to have four other people with you if you feel unsafe. Just come out to the entrance of your current lodgings, and my servants will escort you to my current residence.
From, the supreme king of Tidat, ruler of all his subjects,
Radin Tidat Jihan
"Urg, still a jerk as usual," groaned Kenichi as he finished reading the letter.
"I guess we have no choice but to go," frowned Miu, "Otherwise we'll be putting the others in danger.
"Hold on, I'm not going!" Niijima frantically waved his arms, "I'm not a fighter! I go there, and I'm just extra baggage for you!"
"Would it be safer to leave you here then?" asked Kenichi curiously, not disagreeing with Niijima, "Don't they know you're the governor general of Shinpaku, and therefore a viable target?"
"Maybe," admitted Niijima, "But I don't think they know it's me specifically. From my wiretapping, Ogata didn't mention the members of the Shinpaku alliance by names, only my organization in general. And I doubt that Jihan would bother looking into my organization and its members."
After a small debate, it was decided that Niijima would stay behind, but not before passing out communicators that could fit in their ears as well as a tracking device hidden in their clothes.
"How did you get these stuff?" asked Kenichi suspiciously as he put the device within his shirt pocket while Miu put hers... between her chest.
"When Gauche put all his items for sale for charity," replied Niijima honestly, "I should thank you for that opportunity."
Kenichi facepalmed at this before muttering about his worst best friend taking advantage of the situation before preparing to leave with Miu, with Niijima accompanying them out of the room.
"Going somewhere?" sniped Natsu just as they left the door.
"Uhh," started Kenichi, starting to sweat a bit.
"I saw the foreigners," said Natsu as his eyes narrowed, "They're from Yami, or more specifically, Yomi, aren't they?"
"You're going to a fight... without us!?" grinned Renka, "You can't leave us out of the action!"
"Who says I want to be involved?" scoffed Natsu, "I just don't want to get in trouble in a school trip due to your recklessness. And how do you expect to go out with the teachers watching the lounges? Especially when they are going to do a roll call later on this evening?"
"Urgh," groaned both Kenichi and Miu. The last time, after the trip was done, the two had been forced to serve detention for not returning before the curfew. Despite the fact that it hadn't been their fault at all, they were still punished severely.
Natsu sighed before motioning them to follow him. When they reached the lounge, Natsu went to their homeroom teacher, and after a brief discussion, came back to them with a note.
"There," said Natsu, flipping the note over to Kenichi, "I told the teacher that a respectable foreigner with ties to the business world wanted to have a discussion with me and my company. I told him that I would be bringing you lot with me, so the teacher already excused us from the evening role on the condition that we be back before noon tomorrow."
"Whoa, I'm not going!" insisted Niijima once more, "If I go, I'm just a target for them to pick on! Plus I can render assistance from the outside if needed!"
Natsu scoffed and called Niijma a coward, but let it go as Niijima wasn't a martial artist like them. Soon enough, the four of them left the building just to be surrounded by several male Indonesian natives.
"Our prince demands your presence," stated one of the foreigners.
Instantly, the four of them were on a sled being pulled by a snowmobile, followed by several others surrounding them. They traveled to the reserved area of the mountain and pulled up to a hotel manor with the red carpet and petals waiting for them.
"Are you alright Miu?" asked Kenichi softly, as while they had been traveling, a blizzard had started to kick up.
"I'm fine," insisted Miu, though she started to breathe heavily and was lightly sweating.
They soon entered the manor, taking a relieved sigh as the heated air hit them, and followed the servants into a room where Jihan himself was sitting on an elevated stage and couch to look down on them while Indonesian female dancers/servants attended to his whim and entertainment, wearing rather skimpy clothes that would be very ill-suited for the blizzard outside.
"Ah, welcome to my temporary residence," greeted Jihan, "I see you decided to take up my invitation."
"Not much of an invitation when you threatened other people lives," muttered Kenichi to himself.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable here," continued Jihan, "I bought a bit of my kingdom's paradise here."
"From the Tidat kingdom, right?" stated Natsu as he narrowed his eyes.
"Ah, you know of my kingdom," smiled Jihan while Renka tilted her head in confusion, having never heard of that kingdom, "Though your female companion seems to be uncultured in it. Such a shame, as it should be in the center of the maps."
"Uncultured?" growled Renka, "I'll show you un-"
Natsu promptly placed his hand on Renka's mouth, glaring at her to shut up. Despite Tidat being a small kingdom and smaller culture in terms of China, Natsu just wanted Jihan to hurry up and state what he wanted.
"For now, please, warm yourselves up and rest for a little. What I have to say can wait," proclaimed Jihan as he snapped his fingers. The female servants began to present them with hot towels and drinks, even offering Renka and Miu clothes to switch into, though they were the same dancing clothes they were wearing.
A few minutes later, Miu began to feel a bit faint. Renka frowned before putting her hand on Miu's forehead.
"Geez, you're feeling a bit hot!" yelped Renka, "You weren't like this earlier today! Maybe take off some clothes to cool down."
Suddenly, each female dancer and male servant drew out weapons, ranging from short curved swords to a variety of poles.
"Ah, don't worry," smirked Jihan, "It's just our culture's dance for entertaining guests."
Renka narrowed her eyes as she observed the dance movements, "Hmph, in the Qing Dynasty of China, martial arts were once banned. To hide and escape the persecution, techniques were passed down through the hidden movements in dances. We can all tell that these aren't dances, but real martial arts!"
"Hoo, so you're not an uncultured swine like I thought," stated Jihan as he stood up, "I suppose I should introduce myself properly. I am the crown prince of Tidat, Radin Tidat Jihan, also known as Nagaraja of Yomi, the King."
The servants all began to surround the four as Jihan continued, "The original plan was to lure the Strongest Disciple by himself here. Unfortunately, luck would seem to be on your side as my agent could not do so. So plan B was formed instead. Show me your skill, strongest disciple and friends."
As one, Jihan's servants all attacked. As the fight went on, Jihan began rambling about how 99.9% were commoners, and that there were only a chosen few that could be kings. He stated that out of the four of them, only Miu, Natsu, and Renka were the possible few while Kenichi was a peasant. Unfortunately, Jihan had not noticed the key detail that the ones attacking Kenichi were females, to which he would not attack.
Miu was starting to feel dizzier and dizzier when she made a mistake. When one of the servants attacked her from behind, she resorted to using Supreme Silat to counter.
"STOP!" shouted Jihan, causing the servants to stop in confusion, "You, Furinji Miu. That was Silat, wasn't it? And not just Pencak Silat, but Supreme Silat! Who taught you!? There's only one man who I know that knows that, and that is my Guru."
Miu could only cough in reply as her fever had turned for the worse.
"Hmph, no matter," said Jihan as he shrugged off his cloak, "The crime for using true Silat, Supreme Silat, without the consent of my people is punishable by death, even if your grandfather is the Invincible Superman. However, seeing that you are one of the few chosen ones, I will offer you another choice. Become... my wife!"
Jaws dropped from Kenichi, Renka, and Natsu while Choju Giga animals bounced around their heads.
"Yes, you would be a perfect candidate. Strong, elegant, beautiful, and most likely intelligent. Suitable for a king. Yes, I shall lay my claim upon you! Become mine, and I will let the others go! Whatever you desire, I can provide! Servants, capture them!"
Suddenly, he felt a cold chill shoot through his spine. Scratch that, he felt two cold glares shooting at him. One was obviously from the peasant, Kenichi. The other one seemed to be glaring from outside the manor, and was the more worrisome one. However, that flew out of the window as he quickly had to move his head left to dodge a flying body that went flying past him.
Kenichi, for all his patience, had finally reached a snapping point. He had to deal with other schoolmates trying to hit on Miu, he had to deal with the Elder always keeping an eye on him, though not as much recently, he had to deal with Sho hitting on his girlfriend... again... and now Jihan wanted to claim her. A man could only deal with so much shit.
Kenichi pummeled all the male servants unconscious, sending them flying into various parts of the walls. As for the female dancers... well since most of the ones still standing had a cloth that was attached from their wrists to their waists, Kenichi managed to pull those clothes loose and tie up their hands. Despite his anger, Kenichi still kept his principle and did not hit women. Though he did secretly learn some... interesting techniques when he told Kensei about his rope tying skills.
"So this is the 'mysterious light' that Boris was talking about," blinked Jihan.
Both Renka and Natsu also had to blink in surprise. They both knew Kenichi was strong, but they didn't know to what extent. But just now, they just barely saw Kenichi move in a blur.
"Heh, looks like Boris wasn't wrong," stated Jihan before getting into a fighting position, "But you will become prey to my fist! I, crown prince of Tidat and Nagaraja of Yomi, shall be your opponent for the hand of the fair lady Mi-"
Jihan didn't get to finish as his instincts screamed at him to move. Jihan jumped back just as Kenichi missed an overhand hammer smash, crushing the floor where he once stood. Yet Jihan couldn't take advantage of this as Kenichi dashed forward, tackling him in the stomach.
"Bastard," coughed out Jihan as he tried to scratch Kenichi's eyes out with his fingers, only for Kenichi to slap away the offending hand and landing a punch to his stomach.
Jihan felt the wind blown out of him, barely registering the fact that Kenichi had grabbed his arm and performed a perfect overhead throw, hurling him right into his servants. Kenichi jumped off the stage and tried to stomp Jihan, only for his servants to quickly pull him away to safety. Before Kenichi could rush at Jihan, Miu's voice cut through the haze.
"Kenichi!"
Kenichi immediately stopped as he blinked, trying to shake off the sudden anger that coursed through him.
"What just... what did I just do?" asked Kenichi, shaking his head to clear up his head, "All I remember is Jihan declaring something stupid and then... did I just use purely Dou Ki in anger?"
Miu wasn't able to respond as she collapsed onto the floor, having used all her strength to snap Kenichi back into reality.
"Miu!" cried out Kenichi as he quickly dashed towards her, cradling her in his arms.
"Her fever skyrocketed," analyzed Renka as she felt Miu's forehead once more, "Did she eat something before coming here? She wasn't like this before!"
"Doesn't matter, we should get out of here," snapped Natsu as more servants came rushing in now.
Kenichi lifted Miu bridal style and nodded to Renka, who understood what he was going for.
"We're getting out of here!" shouted Renka as she charged towards the group. Kenichi almost face faulted at that, as it was not the message he wanted to send out.
Luckily, Natsu understood what Kenichi wanted, and managed to yank Renka back.
"Idiot, he means to break through the windows!" shouted Natsu as he grabbed a random servant's body and hurled him out of the window, breaking the glass, "Going through the mass will only be a waste of time! Faster we get out, faster we get Furinji to a doctor!"
"Boo, that's boring," pouted Renka.
Nonetheless, Natsu jumped out first to secure the landing, followed by Kenichi and Miu, and then Renka taking up the rear. After landing, the three of them began to run, hoping to find their way back.
"Your majesty!" shouted the servants, quickly helping Jihan up, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," grumbled Jihan before shouting, "Go after them! I will not let the strongest disciple and a potential queen escape from me!"
"Yes sir!" shouted the servants, quickly leaving to get the snowmobiles up and running.
"Shirahama Kenichi," growled Jihan as he rubbed his stomach, "It seems there is more to you than meets the eye."
The group trundled through the snow, the blizzard slowing growing worse.
"I can walk," insisted Miu, though still breathing heavily.
"Not now," replied Kenichi, "You can barely even stand."
Suddenly, they heard the roar of engines in the air. Seconds later, four snowmobiles came flying through the air, and Radin jumped off one of them, attacking Kenichi once more.
'I have you now!' thought Radin as he saw Kenichi's hands were occupied holding his future queen.
He was in for a surprise as Kenichi jumped up high off the ground, despite the snowy terrain, and met Jihan with a kick. Jihan quickly put his arms up to block the kick, just to feel his arms almost break from the force of the kick. Stuffing the groans of pain, Jihan managed to recover in the air, landing softly on some rocks covered in snow before assuming a Pencak Silat stance.
"I won't let you run away with the title of strongest as well as my future bride," declared Jihan, "For the title of strongest belongs to my martial arts, Pencak Silat, as well as the most beautiful one of all. A bride who already practices such art is the most suitable for me."
Kenichi felt a muscle tick on his forehead once more as he faced Jihan. Knowing he was limited, he was about to hand Miu to Renka when a rope suddenly came flying in, roping Miu around the waist. Before any of them could react, the male servant was already driving away with his prize.
"Miu!" cried out Kenichi as he began to rush forward to chase after Miu.
"Shirahama, look out!" shouted Natsu.
Kenichi turned around to see Jihan leaping towards him. Kenichi quickly put up his guard up, catching the attacking arm with his hand.
"We'll save her, you focus on your fight!" shouted Renka as she and Natsu dashed away.
"Hmph, useless," sighed Jihan as he managed to jump back, "They won't be able to catch up. My men should be taking her to my private helicopter, where we will take her to one of our bases. You might as well say your goodbyes. Perhaps I'll let you see her again... if I send you a wedding invitation."
Jihan blinked as he looked to where Kenichi was... just to see an empty outline of where Kenichi had been.
"MIU!" shouted Kenichi as he ran, managing to rush right pass Renka and Natsu, who looked quite surprised at his burst of speed.
Whether by coincidence or not, when Kenichi had been carrying Miu, Miu had started to recover a bit. Despite the blistering cold and the psychological effect on her, being close to Kenichi allowed her to be able to smell his scent and feel the warm, protective and loving aura he exuded. It chased away the nightmares that plagued her. So as soon as one of the servants tried to pull Miu up onto his snowmobile to tie her up some more, Miu quickly struck. Knocking out the man, Miu quickly took control of the snowmobile and turned it around. The three other snowmobiles also turned around, chasing after Miu to capture her once more.
"Kenichi, jump!" shouted Miu as she steered closer to him.
Kenichi, with no hesitation, jumped off the cliff towards Miu.
In the old timeline, Kenichi had jumped off and completely missed his target, undershooting it, resulting in him faceplanting into the snow, followed by Miu running him over by accident before going around and successfully grabbing his hand.
This time, the good news was that Kenichi jumped and successfully landed on a snowmobile!
The bad news, he overshot and landed on one of the other three snowmobiles chasing after Miu.
The servant made a noise of surprise and tried to throw Kenichi off, but before he could do so, Renka landed behind the man and threw him off. Giving her a look of thanks, Kenichi jumped once more and managed to land behind Miu while Natsu jumped onto Renka's snowmobile. Together, they drove off while the other two followed after them.
"Hmph, stubborn to the end," scoffed Jihan as he signaled his some of his other men to ready up the other snowmobiles to chase after them, "Always struggling. But there are things that can't be won just by struggling alone."
"Hoo, you're fighting an interesting enemy," said a voice behind Jihan.
Jihan turned around before politely bowing to the newcomer, "I have not been in contact with you for a while, guru."
The shadow let up to reveal Demon God Fist, Silkwat Jenazad, who was currently enjoying an apple while still wearing his trademark demonic mask.
"In the past... I fought a man who smells just like that boy," mused Jenazad as he watched the four getting farther away. He sent a frighteningly cold glare at Kenichi, who shivered before looking back to see Jenazad. All four of them felt chills up their spines as Jenazad flared his Ki.
Sensing the Demon Fist's Ki, Kenichi unconsciously flared his back to fight against it while also soothing Miu and the others. His mind couldn't help but flashback to when Miu had been brainwashed. To the uncaring Jenazad, who only wanted to kill. To the last image that he remembered was Jenazad standing on the tower, already dead while a brainwashed Miu was trying to bind his wounds, and yet he stood there strong and ready.
For Miu, she had to fight off the fear that she had for Jenazad. The memory of Kenichi almost dying due to Jenazad's interference during Sakaki and Hongo's duel. The pain as Jenazad forced amnesia upon her and brainwashed her. The fact that she attacked Kenichi with the intent of killing him because of Jenazad.
Then, she felt Kenichi's Ki wrap around her, as if protecting her. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the matter on hand, escaping back to their class.
"Hoo, interesting," mused Jenazad as he felt Kenichi's Ki flare back before he reigned it back in. Jihan was still shaking off his own master's ki and hadn't noticed Kenichi's Ki.
"Make sure you kill him," stated Jenazad as he nonchalantly tossed the apple core away. The wind picked it up and made it fly towards Kenichi, who caught it before tossing it away.
"Even if it kills you," finished off Jenazad, knowing that it was highly improbable that his disciple would win. Though it didn't matter, really. If Jihan died, then there would most likely be a civil war in his country, which would mean he could kill again. Though Jihan was reasonably talented, Jenazad didn't care and had always secretly boasted he could raise another disciple just as well as his current one within a short time span.
"As you wish, guru," acknowledged Jihan before hesitantly adding, "Ummm guru, did you have another disciple that you taught Supreme Silat?"
"Hmm?" responded Jenazad as he tilted his head, "As far as I'm aware of, there is nobody alive whom I taught anyone of my fist, Supreme Silat."
Which was true, as most of his disciples/followers all used Pencak Silat. There only one currently alive that was Supreme Silat was the brainwashed disciple that he kidnapped from the Yami armed division, and he used weapons, not his fists.
"Guru, I only ask because the Fuurinji Miu used Supreme Silat when fighting," Jihan quickly explained, not wanting to draw in his Guru's ire.
"Fuurinji you say?" asked Jenazad, pondering about this.
The fact the granddaughter of his most hated person and ex-friend had Supreme Silat mixed into her martial arts was intriguing. How could she have learned it? Perhaps the grandfather had used some of his moves and taught it to Miu? Perhaps the father was secretly still in contact with her. There were quite a few possibilities, as he had fought the Elder in what would've been a death match if it wasn't for the fact that the Elder proposed to stop as he had a boat to catch. The reason for such a fight... Jenazad didn't remember why, just something happened, and he really didn't care. The father was another possibility as there was also a chance that the Elder taught him directly. He hadn't fought Saiga before, but there was no reason not to suspect him. Especially since he had a feeling the 'Furinji Saiga' that was currently sitting as the leader of One Shadow Nine Fist was not who he claimed to be.
"I have already sent orders to capture her," continued Jihan, "With your permission, I intend to take her as my wife."
"... Yes, yes that would be excellent," grinned Jenazad, "Then go my disciple. Kill that 'strongest' disciple and bring me the girl. Kill any others who get in your way."
Kenichi and Natsu were driving the snowmobiles with Miu and Renka hugging their driver's back, trying to head down the mountain as quickly as possible towards their cabins. They had a feeling that if they made it back, then Yomi would be forced to back off due to their agreements with the government. Meanwhile, Miu was trying to calm down and regulate her breathing, fighting the fever that threatened to incapacitate her once more, taking in Kenichi's warmth.
"Are you sure we're going the right way!?" shouted Renka, making sure her voice carried through the blizzard, "I think we were supposed to make a left back at the trees!"
"I know where I'm going exhibitionist!" snapped back Natsu, causing the two of them to squabble once more.
Suddenly, their engines died on them for no apparent reason. Renka whacked the engine a few times, hoping that it would kickstart it, but in the end, they had to abandon the vehicles and escape on foot. Before they could get far, though, they were quickly surrounded.
"It seems like it was a good idea to have our snowmobiles equipped with a tracking device as well as an electronic disabling device," grinned Jihan as he showed up once more, "I'll only say this once more. Give me the girl and the strongest disciple. I'd rather leave this country as soon as possible with my future queen and show off to my master. All this nonsense of the four seasons, getting hot then getting cold. In my country, there is only one weather."
Kenichi took a deep breath and then exhaled. He did it again three more times while slowly walking forward, leaving Renka and Natsu to take care of Miu.
"Come now, stop resisting," spouted Jihan, "I've heard of your relationship with the girl, but surely you can see she will be better off with me. I can give her anything she wants while you can't peasant."
Seeing Kenichi just standing there now, Jihan decided he was tired and got into a fighting position, his hands clasped together as if praying.
"I will finish this in a few Juls," bragged Jihan before deciding to go on the attack. He didn't want to, as he wanted Kenichi to crawl up to him like peasant to a king, but Kenichi was seemingly refusing to go on the attack.
Jihan attacked, aiming to blind Kenichi with his finger swipes, when everything went wrong, or rather according to himself. Before his fingers came close, Jihan felt his world turn upside down quite literally, his whole body in pain. He felt something soft and cold behind his whole back while white lights with a black background filled his vision. Jihan took a second to realize that he was flat on his back on the snow while he was looking at the night sky. The sky looked quite beautiful in his mind before he realized he was in the middle of a fight. Jihan quickly flipped away, which was an excellent decision as Kenichi's stomp missed him barely. If it had landed, it would have surely knocked Jihan out.
Jihan shook his head, trying to figure out what had just happened. To the other's point of view, though, they saw what happened, though only Natsu and Renka were able to truly see everything.
Jihan's swipe to Kenichi's eyes had been blocked by a left forearm guard before it reached its destination. In that same breath, Kenichi had punched Jihan in the face with his right fist. Before Jihan could flinch, though, Kenichi swiftly changed stances, using the left arm he had used to block to suddenly grab Jihan's arm, not allowing Jihan to fall back yet. He quickly clinched Jihan's head, forcing him still before kneeing him twice in the stomach. Then, he swiftly turned the clinch into a takedown throw, hurling Jihan into the snowy floor.
Kenichi then raised his leg, ready to stomp Jihan on the head to knock him out before Jihan managed to snap back to reality and flip away, recovering back near to his servants while trying to figure what just happened. All he knew was that he tried attacking... and then pain. Jihan glared at Kenichi as he slowly registered what Boris had meant. There was clearly more than meets the eye with Kenichi.
"You damn revolutionist," growled Jihan, "That's what you are. Always fighting against the system, wanting to break the balance and annihilate the preordained social standings. You bugs are the scum of humanity! I will stomp such impudent thoughts by any means necessaries!"
Jihan quickly placed his pinky and ring finger to his mouth and whistled into it. The servants nodded and took out their weapons. One of them hurled his weapon at Kenichi, who managed to catch it in mid-flight with his hand.
"Hey, that's cheating!" shouted Renka, "You can't just call your men in the middle of a duel!"
"Hmph, all that matters is that I stand above him," declared Jihan, "A king can never lose. He must not lose! I will have my way, one way or another!"
With a flick of his hand, Jihan's servants all jumped at Kenichi, their blades gleaming in the snow. Though Renka and Natsu shouted out warnings, it wasn't needed. Kenichi had already set up his Seikuken and began repelling all the attacks with ease. He grabbed one of the attacker's arm and swung him into another attacker while hitting another attacker behind him with a reverse roundhouse kick. Another servant tried to jump above and stab him in the back, only for Kenichi to suddenly dodge by flipping to a handstand and launching a vertical kick to the chin, knocking him out.
Though Kenichi was still a bit scared of weapons, one thought overrode all of those fear. One promise made him face his fears. One emotion conquered them. To protect Miu.
Just as Kenichi knocked out the last of the servants, he was tackled by Jihan himself in desperation. Kenichi tried to pry Jihan off him, but the tackle coincidentally carried them over a cliff.
"Kenichi!" shouted Renka as the two fell out of sight.
"Damn idiot didn't pay attention to this most important enemy," scoffed Natsu, "C'mon, I'm sure he's too stubborn to die. We need to get Furinji to safety."
Renka pouted but nodded, turning around to where they had left Miu just to find her missing.
"Where'd she go!?" exclaimed Renka.
Natsu narrowed his eyes and slowly tracked the snow trail Miu had left. He saw it leading towards the cliff... before ending there.
Natsu and Renka quickly followed the trail and looked down the cliff to see several rock juttings that could allow them to descend the cliff safely.
"She must have followed them," stated Natsu.
"In her state!?" screeched Renka, "She has to be insane!"
"Well what do you want to do then?" asked Natsu.
"Follow them of course!" exclaimed Renka, preparing to jump down, only for Natsu to pull her back.
"Why did I even bother asking?" said Natsu in an exasperated voice before dragging Renka to the nearest snowmobile. He took a quick glance to find the device that disabled the snowmobile and destroyed it, as it wasn't integrated into the snowmobile's engines.
Kenichi and Jihan tumbled down the cliff before finally separating from each other. Jihan had gotten a good knee in the tumble, but Kenichi managed to get more powerful blows during the tumble.
"There is no way this is happening," growled Jihan in anger, "How dare you look down on me! I am a king! I will not have some seemingly self-entitled peasant stop me from my path!"
"I don't care," replied Kenichi as he stood up, "I made a promise to protect her!"
"I can do it better than you!" shouted Jihan, "I, who have the riches, could do it better! I, who am the disciple of the Silkwat Jenazad, a man who is practically a god in my country and a fearsome martial artist!"
"Yet if your master demanded her death, you would do so," replied Kenichi calmly, "I made a promise not only to myself but to her and others. And I will continue to do so no matter the time, past or future!"
Jihan bit back a retort. What Kenichi said wasn't something he could easily deny. If his master wanted Miu dead, he would do so without hesitation. Still, it galled him that he had only landed one hit on Kenichi, and that was out of pure desperation.
"Then let our fists finish the conversation," declared Jihan as he stood up, getting into another stance. He would use the 18th Juls stance. Going for the vitals hadn't worked as planned, so he planned to disable Kenichi first. Get rid of the legs and hands, and Kenichi would be open for a vital strike. He dashed forward, going low, barely dodging a thrust from Kenichi.
Jihan then feinted going for his throat before switching over to his left arm, ready to dislocate it. He grabbed it and was about to break it when Kenichi took a deep breath a launched a simple karate thrust with his right hand. Suddenly, the left arm became impossible to break as Kenichi's whole body contracted, forcing Jihan to lose grip.
'That move! It's similar to the time when I tried to break Kano Sho's arms, only for him to use a simple karate move to break out of it!' thought Jihan as he flipped back to the snow, 'What connection does he have with Suparna? Or is it a mere coincidence?'
He, of course, did not know that this move had been inspired by Sho's master himself when he fought Jenazad in the future timeline.
Still, Jihan had a mission to complete! He went at Kenichi with everything he had, attacking low, aiming for vital points, including the groin. Yet he was stopped cold by Kenichi's attack, who seemed to be staring into his eyes and reading his moves.
Kenichi had already activated Ryusui Seikuken and was using it to his advantage. He thanked the heavens his spars with Miu helped him get used to Pencak Silat's style, as she mixed it in with her martial arts.
Soon enough, Jihan was breathing heavily, his face bruised while Kenichi was seemingly uninjured and only slightly heaving.
"This... is... impossible!" grunted Jihan as he tried to lift his arms up, "Is this your revolution!? Your attempt to topple down the hierarchy?"
"I could care less," stated Kenichi, "I promised to protect Miu, and I will uphold that promise, no matter what!"
"Kenichi!" shouted Miu as she stumbled on the snowy ground, making her way towards him.
Both boys heard her and turned to her when Jenazad suddenly struck!
In slow motion, Kenichi turned his head towards Jenazad, his eyes widening in shock and fear. Miu tried to run forward to save him, but it was futile. She wasn't fast enough nor close enough, especially with her fever still hindering her.
Boushinha Shougeki (Amnesia Fist)
Jenazad bought both his fists towards Kenichi's head, intent on forcing amnesia upon Kenichi. Ever since he felt Kenichi's Ki, he really was curious about him. Not to mention that he was apparently a direct disciple of his hated friend, the Elder. It would be sweet revenge, as the last battle they had, though it was interrupted, he had to admit it would've ended in his loss. And then, perhaps he would do the same to his own granddaughter!
Then he noticed that his fists had certainly impacted on something, but it definitely didn't feel like it had hit someone's head. A second later, Jenazad had to jump back as a kick almost took off his head. Instead, the kick nicked his mask, shattering a good portion of the right side of his mask.
"This Ki... there's only one man I remember having such a Ki, and only one man who could infuriate me as such... Fuurinji Hayato!" growled Jenazad.
Right before his attack could land, the Elder had intervened just in time, sticking his hands right in between Jenazad's attack and catching it perfectly, saving Kenichi.
"Hmph, to think you'd sink so low to interrupt a disciple's fight," frowned the Elder.
"You and I both know that that brat isn't within the disciple class," sneered Jenazad, "I doubt anyone from Yomi could handle him. As for the other brat, I can easily raise another disciple to his level in a short amount of time. He's a disgrace to Silat! However, your brat seems really interesting. I want him!"
"Get your own," shot back the Elder, "He's not just mine, but all of Ryozanpaku's."
"Hmph, we'll see about that," said Jenazad, analyzing the situation. Knowing the Elder, he would most likely just take the kids and flee to the populated area. Despite the fact that he could easily follow him, it was not the time for Yami to be publicly known yet, much to his displeasure.
"Guru!?" said a shocked Jihan, unable to believe his master would interfere in a fight as well as dismiss him.
For Miu, though, she was suddenly having flashbacks. The snowy blizzard that was going on while her mother tried to escape for their safety. The attempt to hide her. The sight of witnessing her mother die to someone whom she had considered to be best friends with. Then, when Senzui raised his hand to kill Miu, he found himself unable to. And then Miu saw it, clear as day. Senzui's disguise as Saiga had been ripped in half to reveal Senzui's true face. Her mother's face as she laid in the snow dying as she clearly saw the truth, that it was never, that it would never be Saiga. Then Senzui quickly escaping, only for Saiga to appear half a minute. Her father's wails of angst as his wife was dead, her eyes glassed over. Her father's face as he debated whether to take Miu with him, only for him to decide Miu would be safer away from him. The tears as her father carefully hid her within the snow, leaving a feather to guide the Elder whom he knew would be coming soon.
Jenazad took a deep breath, as if getting ready to scream.
"Silkwat, don't!" shouted the Elder, but Jenazad refused to listen.
With a fierce bellow, Jenazad roared, his voice carrying over to the mountains. Seconds, later, the snow began to tumble, forming an avalanche that was heading towards them.
Jihan frantically asked why his master was doing this betrayal, and Jenazad snapped back that it didn't matter that he was the prince because he was the demon god. The Elder quickly collected Miu and Kenichi, and was about to attempt to save Jihan, only to stop when Jenazad glared at him. The Elder knew that if he attempted the rescue, Jenazad would attack, and with his arms occupied, there was a good chance Jenazad could kill one of them. The stare off continued on as the avalanche got closer and closer until Jenazad finally decided to escape first.
"Jihan, grab my hand!" shouted Kenichi as he reached out his hand as far as he could.
Jihan looked at Kenichi and actually raised his hand towards him. For one moment, Kenichi thought Jihan would listen... until Jihan slapped the hand away.
"I'll use dirty plans. I'll betray others, and keep scheming until I have no strategies left! But I will never allow myself to accept help from my enemies," stated Jihan as he stared at the incoming avalanche.
As the Elder quickly jumped away, knowing Jihan would never accept help, Jihan gave one last statement.
"Because I am... a king!"
The avalanche washed over Jihan as the Elder quickly ran away from the avalanche, actually outrunning it, which was deemed rather impossible... for normal humans anyways. The Elder also snatched up Renka and Natsu, who were quickly trying to drive away from the avalanche. Then the Elder did the impossible once more. He jumped on top of the avalanche and began running up the snow before finally stopping on a log to allow them to rest.
"That was close," shivered Kenichi, remembering how Jenazad almost got him.
"Wait, were you losing to Jihan?" asked Natsu.
Kenichi shook his head, "His master suddenly attacked me and almost got me if it wasn't for the Elder. He's the one who caused the avalanche."
"Children, let's discuss this in a... safer environment," declared the Elder as he was concerned about Miu. Not to mention Jenazad could possibly strike once more.
Hastily, they managed to make it back to their lodgings far past midnight, almost hitting two in the morning.
"We'll talk more in the morning. For now, go to sleep," ordered the Elder, "I'll be here to watch over you all."
Knowing the Elder would be guarding them, the four of them eagerly went to their rooms to sleep, with Renka carrying Miu to their room.
"I'm taking a shower first," stated Natsu, booking no argument from Kenichi. As soon as they entered the dorm, Natsu swiftly took off to the showers while Kenichi plopped himself onto the bed. After such a harrowing experience, he doubted he had enough energy to take a shower, as much as he would love to.
"So how'd the fight go?" asked Niijima, suddenly turning on his own bed to Kenichi while yawning.
"Definitely not like the old timeline," murmured Kenichi, "Jihan wanted to make Miu his wife."
Niijima blinked a few times before his eyes bulged out in shock, "What?"
Kenichi then began explaining what had happened, from beginning to end, with Niijima now wide awake and taking notes. By the time Kenichi finished, Natsu had come out of the showers.
"Get some sleep idiot," said Natsu as he 'gently' whacked Kenichi on the head, "You can't afford to relax, especially after this."
"Yea, yea," grumbled Kenichi as he picked himself up and headed to the showers.
Seeing no point in continuing the conversation, Natsu himself went to bed. But not before contemplating when Kenichi had said. Before he had closed the bathroom door, he heard Kenichi's words. Old timeline. What did that mean? Did Kenichi meet Jihan before, and in what way? Kenichi had been too tired to notice Natsu had not completely been out of earshot. Did that mean that Kenichi was a reincarnation of someone in the past? Or was this something else? Mulling it over, Natsu decided he would shelve the topic for now, and perhaps ask once more somewhere down the timeline. Right now, he just wanted sleep and to get back home to make sure Kaede was safe as usual.
Morning came upon them, and the whole class was already boarding the bus to return back to school. Despite all the hustle and bustle from the other students, all still talking about the trip, Kenichi, Miu, Natsu, and Renka were sound asleep on the bus. Miu had her head on Kenichi's shoulder while Kenichi had his over her head, both using each other's body part as a pillow. Renka, however, had inexplicably chosen Natsu's lap as a pillow, giving off small nya's as she snoozed. Natsu had fallen asleep before Renka had fallen into his lap, and so did not notice this, though his hand somehow wandered to Renka's head, lightly stroking her hair as he did so. Quite a few of Natsu's fans glared at the scene with jealousy burning in their eyes. Niijima merely cackled as he snapped a few photos of both pairs. Though he wouldn't use blackmail as he promised Siegfried, he wasn't above teasing them.
"Niijima-sama, what were you doing earlier with your PDA?" asked Matsui curiously, who was sitting next to him.
"Oh just making sure some investments are safe," grinned Niijima as he tapped a few more buttons on the PDA, activating the tracking device. The screen showed that the one Miu merely a few inches away from him. The other one Kenichi had... was currently back in the mountains. Though the most interesting part of that was that it was slowly moving.
[So cold.] shivered Jihan as he managed to unbury himself out of the snow. How he had managed to live was beyond him, though he counted on the fact that he was a king, and thus he would not die so easily.
[Jihan-sama!]
He heard a voice call out and peaked out of the trees he was leaning on to see his loyal servants looking for him, along with Sham. Jihan contemplated about revealing himself but decided against it. If he was found alive by his servants, Yomi would know he was alive. And if Yomi knew, Yami would also know, thus alerting his so-called master. Then Jenazad would make sure he finished the job. Jihan had no intention of dying now, so he began his slow trek down the mountain. As he did so, he almost collapsed several times. If he had not been beaten black and blue by Kenichi, then perhaps he would've had enough energy to make it down. Sadly, his strength was leaving him, leaving him with only his will.
'Is this how it goes then?' thought Jihan as he leaned back on a tree, using the time to rest and perhaps restore his strength, even if it was just a little. Then he noticed something panting near him. His eyes snapped open to see a Goberian, a Golden Retriever and Husky hybrid, panting right next to him. On the dog's neck seemed to be small barrel while on the left side of the dog's flank was a small box.
"What are you doing here?" said Jihan, more of asking the question for himself.
The dog merely nudged his nose at Jihan, offering him a small amount of comfort. Jihan observed the dog for a bit, not knowing exactly what ….. he was doing here after he checked the gender. The Goberian nudged at Jihan once more before baring his neck at Jihan.
"Do you want me to take the barrel?" asked Jihan curiously, reaching out for it and taking it. The Goberian then shook his body, dropping the case off his body before giving a loud bark and ran off.
Jihan frowned as he watched the dog run off. Despite being a dog, he would've enjoyed the company. Still, he was curious about what the dog had dropped off. Opening the small barrel first, he found hot mint tea that would warm up his body. Take a small sip, he opened the box to reveal some medicine to help soothe the bruising as well as a small ration bar. He eagerly tore into the food, not caring how horrible it tasted. It gave him enough energy to walk down the mountain now. Though he would never accept help from an enemy, the dog wasn't his enemy. Jihan considered it to be a stroke of luck as well as the will of the heavens, proclaiming he must continue on. As he continued down his trek, he never noticed Kenichi's tracking device stuck on his clothes. Nor did he notice the small Shinpaku sign on the dog's collar as he ran off.
During the fight, Kenichi had managed to stick the tracking device onto Jihan without him noticing. Then, when Kenichi arrived back, Niijima had activated one of his many contingency plans. Now that Niijima had a good idea where Jihan was, he cackled as he imagined the future. Back in the old timeline, Jihan had transformed a small ramen shop into a multi-million corporation within a year and a half. Niijima would not let such a golden opportunity escape him. As long as he kept track of where Jihan would end up at, he could be one of the early investors and become richer than ever while gaining even more connections. Having one connected to a monarch would certainly expand his company.
"So... Nagaraja or Jihan has fallen," chuckled Sho as he sat on a handrail inside a rather luxurious house, looking towards his fellow members of Yomi. Boris, the Stanley siblings, Chikage Kushinada, Tirawit, Cho Enshin, and Ryuto Asamiya.
Ryuto, despite being stuck on a wheelchair for now, still retained his purple hair. His confinement to his wheelchair had made him lose a little muscle, giving him a more slender frame, but still a competent fighter. He was paralyzed from the waist down, but from what he could tell, he would be regaining control of his legs soon enough. He could still feel them, but his ki network was still recovering. Both sclera in his eyes retained their usual white color. Kenichi had managed to prevent the worst from happening to Ryuto.
Sho looked around and gave a slight frown. Despite ordering all of Yomi to gather, he did not see Satomi Kajima. That man was the direct disciple of the One Shadow, and also the eldest of them all. For some reason, he did not fall under Sho's orders as much, despite being the disciple of all ten masters of Yami. When he asked where Satomi was, Senzui, who was still wearing his disguise as Saiga Furinji, told him not to worry about him, that he would arrive later.
It did rattle Sho a little that Satomi was learning directly from the Kuremisago Clan, a clan that he was from. Though the said clan did complain that Hongo wasn't being strict enough, which rankled Sho. Still, he would choose to be with his first master no matter what.
Shaking off that train of thought, he gazed towards the others once more. Cho Enshin was staring out of the window as usual. Out of their whole group, both Cho and Satomi seemed to be the furthest from their group, though Satomi would at least drop by from time to time with two other girls from the Kuremisago Clan and talk with them. He recalled their names being Hikari and Hikaru, Hikari being the slender one.
"Any opinions, ladies and gentlemen?" continued Sho, "His master said that he could easily raise another disciple on par with Jihan straight away.. but that doesn't matter. What's more interesting... is who's next?"
As each one of them kept their faces stoic, each one had their own thought processes. Tirawit, Cho, and Chikage didn't really care as they would take care of the situation when it presented itself. Rachel was pondering where to go to attract attention as usual, and her younger brother Ethan was more concerned about where Rachel was going to go and hope not to get in trouble as usual. Boris, however, pondered about the light that resided within Kenichi. Just how strong was Kenichi? Just defeating Jihan wasn't enough information to go by. His gaze fell upon Ryuto as he looked around the room. Perhaps asking someone who had actually fought Kenichi and was currently alive would give him some more information, even if he did look like he lost terribly.
As for Ryuto... he could only sigh as he pitied the next person to fight Kenichi. Being in Yomi now, he could tell that he was probably the weakest member of the group, even before his fight with Kenichi. Still, the fact that Kenichi not only completely overwhelmed him despite using Seidou Gouitsu, but even he could tell with his inexperienced eyes that Kenichi was levels beyond them. It frustrated him that he was so far behind, but he was thankful that Kenichi managed to fix his Ki network during the fight. Ogata hadn't cared about the consequences, just the results, which made Ryuto lose some respect towards him.
Still, he wouldn't say anything that would give Yomi the upper hand, as he wanted to fight Kenichi once more when he was recovered.
And done. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter. DFOD coming up soon, and I promise you, it will not be like the original canon muhahaha! Butterfly effect to its fullest!
As for KH3, well I beat it in two days. Spent the rest of that time getting 100% on my trophy list. Also got a quite a bit of guest reviews 'spoiling' the ending for me. Luckily, those came AFTER I beat the game. I deleted those because I didn't want the unfortunate chance of someone who hasn't beaten the game, going through the reviews, and getting spoiled, though at this point it's highly unlikely.
As for the ending... well let's say I might do another one-shot about KH3, about how the final battle SHOULD have gone. Look forward to that... if I get the time to do so.