Disclaimer: I own Loren, Castor, Pollux, Arato Kazuyoshi, Guiderius, Nagano, Tomori, Dr. Mason, the lot. Tom and Elin are real people that own themselves. All other stuff belongs to the people to whom they belong.

Schizo 2: Arato Kazuyoshi

Chapter 3: Nagano

"So what do you do?"

"What do you mean?" Arato Kazuyoshi looked confused at my question.

"I mean as a stone bearer. How do you deal with the challengers and such?"

"I should think that is obvious. I am ninja. I am highly proficient in numerous styles of martial arts and in other useful skills."

"What do you do when you're not ninja?"

"I am always ninja, but if you mean what I do when I am at home, I am a farmer of my own crops. I am self sufficient. I also train my combat skills."

I nodded. We were still on the meadow that we had fought the bandits on, but we had moved away from the bloody corpses and were now sitting down on the grass, discussing things.

"So, Mr. Kazuyoshi, what weapons do you use? Apart from the ones we just saw?" Tom asked him.

"Tom." I addressed him quietly. "He's Japanese. The Japanese say their family names first. Kazuyoshi is his first name."

"Whatever. Mr. Arato, then," Tom corrected himself.

"Please, call me Kaze." Kazuyoshi said with a slight bow.

"Kaze." I said. "Wind. Silent and invisible, yet fast and deadly. Nice choice for a nickname."

"Indeed, I like it very much. Now, to answer your question, I am proficient with what you have seen, the katana, shuriken, the fukiya; or blowgun, smoke bomb, and in addition, I am skilled with kama; or sickle, kusari-kama; or chain-sickle, sai, tonfa, bow and arrow, ono, bo, jo, hanbo, tessen, small darts for use with both the fukiya and in pressure point acupuncture, nunchaku, and two handed combinations of all the fore mentioned, to mention a few. As tools I have shuko and ashiko; or spikes on the soles of my feet and similar, bear-claw like spikes on my palms for traction and climbing, and many more that I cannot mention for lack of time. I also use many custom made weapons of my own."

There was a pause. "I didn't really catch all the names of those weapons, but I got the main idea. Very good."

"But we are running low on time. Night will be here soon. You must come with me to my home."

"Sure, we'll come, but not quite yet. There's still one of us you haven't met. He'll be back soon. In fact, here he is." I said as I looked toward the returning Mewtwo, hovering over the hilltop and coming our way.

Kaze looked there to see the new arrival, only to see no-one. "Where is he?" He looked to me, but I didn't notice. He soon turned to look that way again, still searching for someone. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He detected no evil chi from behind him, so he restrained himself from breaking that hand. He turned to see Elin. "You can't see him. We can't, either. Only Loren can. He'll show you soon."

"Welcome back. Sorry to disappoint you, but he came here while you were gone. Hope you didn't meet any trouble."

-How could I, I am a spirit.-

Mewtwo re-entered our body and I felt the feeling of security and wholeness returning. Having the capability to do so again, I reached out with my telepathy and detected signs of boredom from Tom, anxiety from Elin, and confusion and anxiety from Kaze.

I turned around to see the signs of just those feelings on their faces. I looked to Kaze. "Right. I'll demonstrate in the easiest possible way." I let Mewtwo take over, and doing so, he transformed our body into that of his, now standing taller than anyone around, even though Kaze had previously been taller than me. The transformation only took about three seconds, and at the end of it, the look on Kaze's face was one of surprise, but not complete bafflement.

-Kaze,- I telepathed from my 'standing back' position; -Meet Mewtwo. Mewtwo, meet Arato Kazuyoshi, nicknamed Kaze.-

Mewtwo seemed to recognize Kaze as being Japanese, for he made a slight bow instead of shaking hands like in the west. Kaze returned the friendly gesture, taking on a slightly less surprised expression. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I have seen much in my inter-dimensional travels, but this resumes a high post on the incredibility list. Would someone care to explain?"

Kaze certainly seemed to have travelled a lot, considering he took all the Mewtwo/Schizophrenia info so well. Everyone else had been absolutely flabbergasted. He took it all in and nodded. "Wow," was all I could say.

"You may stay at my home for as long as you want. Judging by your clothing, your dimension is in the late 20th century, yes?" Kaze asked as we walked through the woods on the way to his house.

"Early 21st, actually, but good judgement." I answered.

"What country, may I ask?"

"Finland. I'm half English, though. I don't suppose you speak Finnish?"

"No. I can speak Japanese, English, and a kind of Elven fluently. I have some knowledge of various languages, but I have never been in contact with anyone from Finland. It is located in Scandinavia, if I am not mistaken?"

"You're not. I think I'm gonna take a nap now, so Mewtwo's taking over. Wake me up when we get there." I turned passive and let Mewtwo take control.

(3rd person perspective)

Kaze watched the teen's body mutate and grow into that of the two meter Pokémon, who then turned to look at him, gave a small bow, then continued in the same direction again.

"You are a Pokémon, are you not?"

-Yes.-

"I believe I may have been to that dimension at some point in my travels. I find it strange that people run around catching other creatures in order to use them in combat to prove themselves stronger than others. The way I see it, the only way to find out who is a better fighter, is in a one-on-one fight."

-As do I. I do not let myself be manipulated by others. I fight my own battles, should I choose to do so. But I have nothing to prove to myself. I know that I am the most powerful Pokémon to exist. Others only have to prove it to themselves.-

"I know what you mean. Now, I can seldom find a challenge in the fighters of my day. I am content with living by myself and perfecting my skills, even if I do not need them. The portal stone keeps my life interesting." Suddenly, Kaze noticed that Mewtwo's walking was incredible smooth, without much vertical motion. He looked down at Mewtwo's legs to see that he was, in fact, not walking at all, but levitating. "What else can you do, in addition to telepathy and levitation?"

Mewtwo paused for a moment, then lifted up his hand, palm upward, and a black ball of psychic power materialized just above it. Without looking away from the path ahead, he tossed it away, and after a few second's silence, there was a tremendous explosion. Nothing hit them, though, for a blue bubble of power had appeared around Mewtwo, Kaze, Tom and Elin, protecting them from harm. Once the smoke cleared, Kaze saw a crater, 40 metres in diameter, around their current location.

Mewtwo then turned to a tree, pointing his arm toward it. He lifted his arm, and with it, the tree was ripped, roots and all, from the ground. A blue aura appeared around Mewtwo, looking like blue fire. The aura pulsed, then shot forward to the tree. It totally incinerated the tree in a matter of seconds.

Mewtwo turned to Kaze, who had his hands tucked into the sleeves of the opposite hand, nodding his head. -To demonstrate only a few. My abilities are, however, mostly destructive, for I was created to be a machine of destruction. My creative powers are neither as numerous nor as ample.- He turned again, and WALKED along on the path, that seemed to reconstruct itself before him. Before anyone knew it, all the damage that had happened had vanished, and the forest was as it had been. He turned to the others again. -But still existent.- And with that, he turned to the path again.

(1st person perspective)

Darkness. Silence. Peace. Warmth. I was sleeping. Oh, no, I noticed. No! I'm waking up! No! Go back to sleep! I can't.

As I felt myself being forcibly pulled back into consciousness, I noticed also that I was missing a pillow. Pulling my blanket around myself once more, I searched for my pillow, reaching out 'above' my head. No luck, no pillow. Probably fell off again. I then noticed that the edges of my bed were missing. In fact, my whole bed seemed to be a lot larger than it should be... And what's that smell?

I opened an eye, seeing that I seemed to be sleeping on the floor. Well, a floor. It certainly wasn't mine. I opened the other eye, too and lifted my head up a bit. I was sleeping on a weird looking mattress, on a floor I didn't know, in a room I didn't remember having ever been in before. I opened my eyes completely and had a look around. There were two more mattresses with thick blankets covering all but the heads of who seemed to be Tom and Elin. The room itself seemed very large, with a wooden floor, white paper walls supported by wooden frames.

"Japanese..." I said as I recognized the place as an old Japanese house. I looked over and saw that my pillow, which seemed cylinder-shaped, had rolled out of my reach and beyond my early morning energy. I strained to remember what had happened the previous day. I remembered coming to a new dimension, bad guys, a ninja... A ninja! Kaze! Now I remember!

I looked around again and sew that I still didn't remember the place. I guess Mewtwo didn't wake me up after all... Well, I guess I ought to get up...

I suddenly noticed that I didn't feel anything between my skin and the blanket. I looked under and noticed that I was naked. "Hmmmm... I wonder whose idea this was...?" I then remembered that it had been Mewtwo walking in. "Ah, right... Mewtwo doesn't wear clothes. I didn't feel Mewtwo anywhere around, and I didn't see my clothes anywhere, either. "Damn..."

I stood up, wrapping the blanket around my chest, considering it was so wide that it would have been dragging otherwise. I went to what seemed to be the door, and slid it open, cringing at the bright sunlight. After taking a few seconds to get used to it, I looked around, finding myself in an exceedingly beautiful garden, with a small pond, stone slabs for steps, and a few odd trees and bushes here and there. (Think Tendo garden in Ranma 1/2, but bigger.) The whole place was on a hill- or mountainside, overlooking a green valley, with a small creek flowing through the whole yard. Probably where Kaze gets his water.

I looked around and spotted Kaze sitting on a large boulder, seemingly meditating. I walked over as best I could, considering the huge blanket I was wrapped in. Once I got over, he spoke to me before I could say anything. "Ohayō, Loren-san. Did you sleep well?"

"Like a log, arigato." I answered, joining in on the language mixing. "I woke up this morning and didn't know where I was. I guess y'all didn't wake me up when we got here."

"No, we were all going to sleep, so we saw no reason to wake you. Is Mewtwo here?"

"No, he's off somewhere, which brings me to my next point. When I transform into Mewtwo, my clothes are usually teleported elsewhere, and since it seems that we went to sleep in Mewtwo's body, I have nothing to wear."

Kaze laughed at that. "I think I have something that will fit you quite nicely."

"Oooh, nice!" I looked in the mirror, (which Kaze had portalled there from somewhere), at the set of clothes that Kaze had provided me. Basically, a black gi and hakama. (Japanese swordsman's clothing). "Very nice." I took a few slamming kendo steps, getting the feel of the garment. "I got a request."

"Ee?"

"Would you spar with me?"

"I don't see any reason against a little morning training."

"But there's just one thing."

"Nani?"

"I might need something a little more appropriate for kicking."

"Just one restriction. Nothing lethal or permanently disabilitating."

"Of course. I wouldn't want anyone to die in training."

"Well, then. Here I come."

I ran forth, executing a vertically circular aerial kick, which he sidestepped. I landed sideways, facing him, proceeding to punch him in his open spots. The open spots, however, seemed to close as soon as they opened. He either intercepted or misled all my attacks, including my kicks and elbow attacks. I went for a low swipe kick, he jumped. A high jump kick, he ducked. He backed up a bit, allowing a little space between us.

"C'mon, fight back!"

"Fine."

He kicked, I parried. I kicked, he blocked. I delivered a series of punches, he sidestepped and kicked, I jumped over, bending backwards. I landed on my hands, legs horizontally on top. He went for a low swipe kick; I pounced over it, then punched. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it in an unpleasant fashion, sending me to the ground in a circular motion.

I looked up at him, and he looked down. "Aikido" He said.

"But of course." I pounced up again, and so the battle lasted for some 10 minutes, finally ending in me falling over in exhaustion. "You're good. I could learn a lot from you."

"I have devoted my life to my training. And there has already been plenty of that. For someone your age, you are also very skilled. However, you expend too much energy on your attacks. Conserve your energy and you will be able to outlast your enemy."

"'Zat so?" Suddenly I felt a certain presence, and looking over, surely enough, there was Mewtwo, floating over in his insubstantial form. Suddenly I had an idea.

I turned to Kaze. "Kaze," I said. "Howsabout a rematch?"

"Come at me." I said calmly, standing in a casual position.

Kaze looked to be studying me. My eyes, any twitching muscles, my stance. "How?"

"Any way you like." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Kaze looked amused. He approached slowly, then took an offensive stance right in front of me, a few meters away. My eyes remained shut. He took an interest in the fact and took a step to the side, using his ninja sneaking skills to avoid making even the slightest sound with his feet. I turned my head as he moved, constantly facing straight at him, despite the fact that my eyes were still closed.

As I thought, Kaze thought to himself. He executed a circular kick around his back, sweeping it millimetres from my face, but I didn't flinch. I felt a bit of air brushing against my face. Kaze looked impressed. He launched into a barrage of attack, including punches, kicks, chops, finger stabs, attempted locks and twists, which I evaded with a certain amount of effort on my part, considering he was a master martial artist. I brought my hands into the game, using them to sidetrack, block and evade all his attacks. We ended up in a tie situation, neither being able to move much.

"Chi?" Kaze asked, looking at my closed eyes.

I opened my eyes, glaring maniacally into his eyes. "ESP." There was a flash of blue, then I was a few meters from Kaze, looking at him with a slight smirk.

Kaze made a smirk of his own. "Very original, but it still needs work."

"That's why I'm here." I gave a slight chuckle.

"Is it just my imagination or are you guys training without me?" came a voice from the door front door of the house. I turned to look at Tom, who had obviously just woken up.

"Ohayō, Tom-san," Kaze said to Tom, bowing. "Did you sleep well?"

"Sure. Those futon things're actually pretty comfy." He said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the house.

"Indeed. Would you care to join us in training?" Kaze asked Tom, motioning with his hands toward the training area.

"Hell, yes."

After breakfast, we all went to inspect Kaze's array of weapons, which was, to say the least, huge. There were swords, spears, axes, sickles, staffs, bladed staffs, whips, flexible weapons, projectile weapons, small knives, big knives, throwing knives, bows and arrows, and various others which I could either not see or not recognise. There were vials on a shelf, which I went to inspect. I picked one up, and attempted to read the label, realizing to my dismay that it was in Japanese. "Poison?" I asked Kaze.

"Hai. That one is cyanide, and there are many here that are even more poisonous."

I put the vial back and went to inspect a three-section staff. "Been to China, have you?"

"Hai, I went there to find new and effective skills and weapons, but my skills are mostly Japanese heritage, with a pinch of Chinese weaponry sprinkled on top.

"I see what you mean." I put back the staff as I felt Mewtwo returning from a wandering trip. I turned to greet him, when I noticed the expression on his face was more serious than usual. (And that's saying something ;)) "What's up?" I asked.

-There is a group of humans approaching.-

"I presume they're hostile?"

-I was unable to use my powers, but it would seem that way judging from their behaviour.-

"Lovely." I turned to Kaze and my friends. "We have company. There is apparently a group of people heading this way. Apparently they seem hostile."

"I see..." He seemed to think for a few seconds, before: "Kuso..."

Not really wanting to pry into his thoughts, I asked him what was going on.

"Some...old friends, come for a visit." He headed for the door. He stopped short just before it, picking up a few things from his arsenal. He turned his head slightly, speaking over his left shoulder: "Wait here, and stay out of sight." With that, he left, leaving us alone in his storehouse.

"Hmm... That was weird..." I said, wondering what Kaze was up to.

-We could listen in.- Mewtwo suggested, putting the plan into action before I could say anything. We listened in on the thoughts of the men outside, reading their minds, not their mouths, so we were able to understand despite the fact that they were speaking in Japanese.

I battled the will to say, to Mewtwo,that I was rubbing off on him.

(3rd person POV)

"Arato Kazuyoshi"

"Nagano-san. What brings you here?"

"The usual, Arato-san, the usual."

"I told you before, I'm not doing it."

"Ah, what a shame that would be, what with you knowing so much. We wouldn't want you blabbing to the officials or anything, now would we?"

"What you're doing is wrong. You should just give it up. It doesn't pay."

"Oh, but it does. I'm getting mounds of money from this. Now, we're here to offer you your last chance to join us. If you refuse, we'll just have to send our folks to... silence you. Tomori-sama is getting quite irate."

"You know whatever you send here will not come back."

"Oh, but these are special forces. and even if they're not as skilled as you might be, their numbers make up for them. One man, even a ninja, cannot hold off such a force.

"Send what you want, but you have been warned. If you endanger my home, I will show no mercy."

"You have just signed your death warrant, my friend." He turned to leave, then swiftly turned again, executing an unsheathing slash, aimed at Arato's head. To his surprise, it wasn't there. He was nowhere to be seen. He heard two thumps behind him, turning to see his two companions dead on the ground, with Arato nowhere to be seen. He felt someone grab him from behind, holding his arm in a lock behind his back. Feeling a cold piece of metal pressed against his neck, right on top of his artery, he decided not to press his luck by trying to escape, he simply cringed as Arato twisted his arm into an even more uncomfortable position.

"If this is all you have, send your troops. I shall kill them all before you will have time to count them." He spoke slowly, emphasizing every word. "Tell Tomori-sama that I will not join you, no matter what you send." He pulled the blade away from his neck and gave him a kick in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground.

He turned to Arato once more, looking enraged. "Then you will die." He said calmly, turned around and walked away.

(1st person POV)

We stopped relaying the happenings to Tom and Elin when we noticed the other man walking away. I peeked out of the door of the weapons shed, seeing Kaze still at the site of the events. We approached him, noticing that he was saying a silent prayer to the two dead men, closing their eyes.

"We must bury these men."

We looked at the newly made graves of the two men. Kaze had an area where he buried the enemies he killed hear his house, where there were tens of graves already. He was saying a prayer, which I presumed to be a Buddhist one, but I couldn't be sure, because I never asked him about his religion. I said my own Christian prayer, and when I finished, I turned to Kaze.

"Who was that?" I asked as he turned to walk from the graveyard toward his house.

"Someone I worked for when I was younger. I was a ninja for hire, doing assassinations, spying missions, you name it. However, even I have moral limits. Their crimes are too many and too vicious to list. I quit after I learned about their deeds. I know about them. They know I know about them. They won't let it go, even after so many years. They want me to join them, because they want my skills in their gang. I will not join then, so they threaten me. They will attack here with the intention of killing me." He went silent for a few moments. "You should probably return home. It will be very dangerous here, and this does not concern you."

"No way."

Kaze looked at me, puzzled.

"We're gonna help you. Firstly, you demonstrated that they're not much of a challenge, and secondly, we've all been pretty bored recently, so we could use the fun."

"You... would help me in this battle?"

"Sure."

"Arigato."

"Oh, it's no big deal."

"It is for me. Believe it or not, but most people show very little kindness toward ninja. We're the kind of folks that don't get much attention. We just get hired, get paid, then disappear."

"I see what you mean. How long will it take for them to arrive here?"

"A few days, depending on whether they have already immobilised."

"Well, we'll go on a scouting mission tomorrow."

"Yes. And we will have to train a lot."

"That we will."

Sa! Chapter 3 of Schizo part 2! Sorry it took so long.

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