Disclaimer: I don't own it okay? I don't own Shirako, or Vert or Nolo… I JUST DON'T. But… laughs maniacally NEITHER DO YOU! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Warning: Character falls in coma.
Thanks to the reviewers, I've replied the signed ones; here are the anonymous ones' replies:
Luna: 1. Karma and Tone… yeah, it just came to my mind… don't know from where… 2. Of course, KawaiiYamato can't just leave a story going without a dead person, right? It's against my motto! 3. Of course not. Karma shouldn't be perfect. No one is. It wouldn't be fair to us, average people here. Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it. 5. My minds just not ready for another lemon… well, there'll be one in Forgotten Pleasures okay? It's okay ) don't cry. Jokes. 6. Glad you don't hate me! I would cry if you did!
Shaman Queen: Yeah, I know I am... and PROUD!
Well, enjoy, though I doubt you will…
Chapter 7 Fearful Past
Shirako woke up to find Karma lying on the floor beside his bed. He saw the tears in her eyes and knew that she'd cried herself to sleep. The question was… why? He knew it couldn't have been himself; he had already made her cry once.
Karma Eiss never cried twice.
Shirako reached to smooth a loose lock of chocolate hair from her face, and awoke the young woman, who looked up at the 19-year-old, smiling longingly. She looked away, and then looked back at the Asian with tears in her eyes. Her eyes moving to the gold locket she wore around her neck. The Teku male reached down and opened it, revealing the photograph of the late Tone.
No wonder.
The Asian held her chin, what's wrong?" He demanded.
The woman looked at him and the waiting tears brimmed over. "You… Tone… Tristan… Taro…" She covered her mouth. That was supposed to be heard…
Shirako's eyes widened. "Oh… Karma… I see" With just those for words… he understood all of it. Every little detail. After all, they used to be close before…
That had changed…
After Tone…
"I'm sorry…"
"It's okay." She looked at the 19-year-old, and forced a smile. "Don't fret…" She kissed his cheek, something she hadn't done since he was 15. Shirako smiled gently at her. "You're scared Karms" He stated with an obviousness she couldn't hide from.
"So many things…" Karma whispered. Shirako used as much strength as he could and held her close to him… in his arms, as she cried her eyes out.
"I'm sorry"
"You didn't do anything…" He tried to comfort her.
Karma looked, lost, into his eyes. "I don't want to lose you"
Shirako held his loosely. "Karms…"
"I know…"
"It wasn't"
"I should've listened"
"Huh?"
"Mother once told me… don't love a racer… you'll lose him… I should've listened…"
"Karma…"
"I lost Tristan… just like Tone… please Shirako… I can't bear losing you too"
"So it's true," A voice softly said behind her. "You might be calm and confident on the outside, but in reality, you never got over him and Tristan." It was Flame at the door, looking at Karma, "You've changed Karma… Nolo was right… you really have changed."
Shirako coughed, then began to breath in short, quick gasps, Karma, get everyone in here… you need to know something…"
" Flame…"
"I'm on it, but we're talking later."
"Hmm…"
"Oh yes we will," And with that, Flame left her friend with the sickly Asian.
Soon, everyone including Taro and Dr.Tezla was in the room. Karma avoided the angry gaze from the earlier. Instead, she focused on the Teku Asian.
Dr.Tezla gazed at the 19-year-old expectantly. "Shirako, why have you called us here together." He asked.
Shirako looked pale. Paler than usual.
So colourless that Karma thought he was barely breathing… till she felt the burning hot skin. A random thought entered her mind. He was such a rosy baby… just like Shizuka…"
Her grip on the pale hand tightened as she thought about the missing girl. Shirako had told her that she was missing a few years ago. He hadn't even told Nolo, who was as close to her as Shirako was.
"Shirako… tell us all of it" Karma heard her usual, calm voice ask. It was unbelievable, how she hadn't broken down right then. She stared at the boy with pale desperation.
"My sister… some of you know her… Shizuka… I only told Karma but… Shizuka was captured by a drone… well, I didn't know that then…" He looked away from Nolo as he gazed with fury at the dying one. "We were young then… I was like… 8 or 7… I don't remember…"
Karma soothed the quickly panicking Nolo. "I got a call from some people saying… Shirako coughed that they knew where little Shizuka was… I should've been more careful… I forgot… the third rule… trust only in you… Kakashi-sensei was right…"
Flame touched Shirako's hand. "Tell us all you know" She said to him with an almost hard voice.
"I went there… there were… there were hundreds… just waiting down there… I got through… but when I reached the last one… he was waiting…"
"Who?"
"Hitokiri Battosai"
"WHO?" Now they were even more confused. Shirako looked away, deaf to the others. "He took over after I left Japan 5 years-ago… when one leaves…another must come… Remember Karms? I was there after mother…"
"Yes, child…" She called him by his childhood pet name.
Shirako froze. She never did that anymore. Unless… unless she knew where this was going.
"Wait…" Lani's soft voice stopped him from going on. "Ko… who is Hitokiri Battosai… what is Hitokiri Battosai…"
"The Assassin Most Powerful"
Even Karma's eyes widened. "You mean…"
Suddenly all the others caught on. "But Shirako… why?" Vert asked the question that they all wanted to know.
Shirako ignored the question and went on. "I knew him… father had made us study together at the tournament for Battosai… to see which Hitokiri had most power…it was Kakashi…Uzumaki Kakashi…"
(A/N: In case you're lost, Hitokiri is a name given to an Assassin, it means assassin and so… when Shirako was one… his name was Hitokiri Takamoto. Battosai is the name given to the one who is the most power warrior… one that has not been defeated…ever… so his name was Takamoto Battosai… or more commonly, Battosai. Also, since Shirako was both, he received the title, Hitokiri Battosai, meaning The Assassin Most Powerful.)
"I won… and from then on…he hated me…" Shirako looked out the window, at the nearby tree and saw a bird. Flyaway birdie… The random thought entered his mind.
"When he attacked… he used a Katana, it was not just any Katana, it was the double edged one… my sword is different… my Sakabato was no match…it was just too much for a sword that has it's only sharp side facing me… he crushed it… saying he'd have my revenge…" Shirako's eyes widened, and then closed, the pain was just too much… he fell unconscious, into Karma's lap.
000000000000000000000000
After about 4 hours, he woke up, drenched in sweat, and found everyone still around him… "Shirako you're awake… how do you feel?" Lani asked. "Head hurts…"
"Okay…"
"Stay… let me finish…"
"Wait…"
"Karma?"
"We already know."
"How?"
"Later, now… answer me, why were you Hitokiri Battosai for these people…"
"They were the Yakuza…"
Karma's eyes widened but she went on. "…Why were you Hitokiri Battosai who worked for the Yakuza when you could have broke free?" Taro, being the other Asian, had told the other about how Asian custom and power worked.
"Because…" The boy took a few short breaths. "The man… who's in charge of the entire Yakuza…"
"Yes?"
"He's my father"
Sakabato: A sword with its sharp edge reversed.
