It was a crisp, cool morning that greeted Ren as she finished her instant ramen before checking the small kettle of water perched over the coals of the small fire. Kai had already finished his breakfast and was trying to work through some fancy swings and thrusts he had seen Ren use while protecting the her client's cart on the road before trying to jumping back and tripping over a tree root, falling onto his backside with a thump.
"Maybe you should keep you're feet on the ground."
"Nope! I want to be as good as you so I can earn my keep!" The small boy jumped back up to his feet to try again. "The faster I get better, the faster I can really help out!"
Ren laughed, "Kai, it took me seven years to get this good and I'm nowhere near mastery."
Kai paused mid-swing, Ren laughed harder as his face settled into looking like he had been hit by a cart.
"Nice of you to think I'm amazing though."
"I never said amazing!" Kai sputtered as he brought his staff into the ready position. "I just said good."
"Same difference on bandit ridden roads," Ren wiped her eyes and drank down the warm broth from her ramen before picking up her spear and rising to her feet to stretch. "Good or amazing you can get knifed the same way."
"What do you mean?"
Ren continued stretching, lifting her arms over her head before twisting her torso, wincing as she heard her back crack loudly. "Lesson one: Assume there is someone who's better then you and prepare for the day you meet them in battle." She twirled her weapon slowly, checking the balance with the lacquered wooden sheath. While Kai was a beginner just learning forms, Ren did not need to accidentally cut him. She stopped spinning her weapon and pulled the canvas protector over the sheath before tightening up the bottom of the cover cloth and tying it tightly before speaking again. "Any idiot can swing a weapon around, but they usually die quickly. The people who are really skilled, learn how to think, you have no choice but to become so skilled because you're to small to be stupid."
Birds chirped loudly in the trees, it was still to early for any sane, sensible person to be out of bed. The sunlight was just beginning to filter through the trees reflected of the early morning dew. As long as they could hear the birds, Ren figured everyone else was still in bed. The caravan Ren had escorted in yesterday had asked her and Kai to come help them set up their stands this morning, if they could come by the family said they would be happy to pay and give them a bit extra for lunch. It was still to early to leave.
"Anyway, if you want to learn how to use that weapon then I need to make sure you don't actually kill yourself in the process. I know it's a bit heavy, but it's good for you."
Kai examined the staff reverently like he had many times since she gave it to him. It was carefully sanded, so smooth it was like handling glass when it was made of wood. Carefully weighted at the ends to simulate a blade weight to easier simulate Ren's fighting style of graceful stabs and heavy bone shattering hits with the heavy iron at the base of her spear. The weight at the bottom seemed to be a unique addition to Ren's own spear to help balance the weight from the spearhead. "I still think it's beautiful. Thank you so much."
"Glad you like it, now let's get started."
Ren eased into a ready stance, her feet apart and her spear in both hands, one at the base with her remaining hand at the center. Kai was quick to copy her, Ren loosed her grip to nudge his feet apart with the base of her weapon until she was satisfied and resumed her own position. She swung upwards, Kai followed. Downwards, Kai was paying close attention. Repeat.
Up and down, followed by a midlevel thrust. This would work better with a training dummy but it would be very noisy for such an early hour. She tapped Kai gently at the back of his knees to remind him to keep them bent before she led him into a guard position with a quick rotation to a high thrust to an invisible opponents neck.
Ren had not felt this good in a long time. Kai was an eager, attentive student fixing the mistakes Ren pointed out in his stance and grip quickly and efficiently. Keep your grip firm, but flexible so some swordsman doesn't cut off your fingers. Hit the vital points and back off for another assault, the spear is a thinking man's weapon, it's not for those with excruciating blood lust.
He was quick to learn how to block incoming strikes, and immediately flow back into his ready position.
Teacher and student repeated each step slowly and carefully, Kai was soon becoming more comfortable with the staff as they practiced and moving faster as he memorized the steps. The spear was on the surface a simple weapon, stick your enemy with the pointy end. The casual users of this ancient weapon said there were three basic core steps to mastery.
Ren saw five basics and numerous combinations, but nobody listened to her about that, they would just claim basic spear work was different from the chakra flow techniques she liked to use with her weapon. Those who claimed three steps were only seeing the three primary stabs with the blade, not the slashing or bone breaking attacks with the other end.
They continued for an hour before Ren turned to face Kai and told him to get ready to spar.
The pair crossed weapons, tapping them together to test each others grip before stepping back into their stances with their weapons raised. Kai's face was set and determined while Ren just smiled serenely.
"You first," Ren adjusted her grip.
Kai lunged forward with a squeaky battlecry, moving his staff up to Ren's chest as he ran forward. Ren stepped aside, his staff moving past her as she did so. Kai rotated the staff and took a broad swing towards Ren's head; the girl leaned back, causing the swinging staff to barely miss her nose. Ren moved back up and swung the sheathed blade of her spear at Kai's midsection. The boy moved his staff into the guard position to block the incoming strike, wincing at the loud clashing noise as the weapons banged together.
Ren stepped back to give her student a chance to recover as she noted the tremble in his shoulders that moved down his arms. Kai gave a wordless shout as he leapt forward; Ren blocked his staff with a quick swipe of her spear before dropping to one knee and knocking Kai's feet out from under him.
The boy dropped into the damp grass, his staff landing in the grass next to him. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he caught his breath.
Ren twirled her spear before pressing it into the dirt with a stern expression.
"Every hurt is a lesson. You need to work on your stances and how to dodge attacks before I can put a real spear in your hands. Without form or basics a weapon will not help you survive a battle."
"I may have noticed."
"I was hoping you would, easier for you to feel it then have me tell you upfront," Ren chuckled, "but keep that staff with you. I want you be comfortable with the weight."
Kai nodded as he sat up, wincing as he bent his knees.
Ren was sure she did not hit him harder then intended, but sometimes it was hard to be sure. Though, if his legs were still attached, she was sure he was fine. Ren was a honorable fighter with a liking for dirty tactics as she was in the habit of fighting more then one person at a time, something one got used to if they traveled alone.
"So, how do they perform jutsu?"
Ren laid down in the grass, "Chakra. The way it was explained to me by my teacher is that they manipulate the life-force inside them to perform powerful feats, like manipulating the earth, starting fires or creating windstorms. Everyone has it, we're just from a culture that uses it differently then the five elemental nations, it connects everyone across the borders of nation and bloodlines."
Kai nodded, "Samurai use it to extend the reach of their swords and make them sharper, right."
"Exactly! I borrowed that idea for my own jutsu." Ren puffed up at the admission, "No hand signs required."
"Hand signs?"
"It helps focus chakra is the short version. I do it one handed, most people use two because it's easier."
Kai's mouth fell open. "What?"
Ren shrugged, "That's the only way I learned out to do it. As a spear fighter, I've usually got one hand tied up, it makes my life a bit harder, but people underestimate you for carrying what they see as an impractical weapon." Ren scoffed, "They just can't see the spear is the root of modern weaponry, I'll teach you if you're committed to using a weapon, it's not as hard as it looks. I rely on my chakra natures and the ability to send the chakra flow through my spear change the field of battle."
"Natures?"
"Earth and a bit of lightning. I can alter terrain and use lightening to sharpen my spear in battle. Not showy, but useful. Earth is easier, because it's everywhere so I don't have to waste my own chakra to make it."
Kai looked starry-eyed in a way that made Ren laugh.
"You change the field to suit your needs, disorient your opponent and then cut them down! Can you show me?"
Ren smiled and twirled her spear a couple of times to make Kai sweat a little. In the week she had known this kid, she had realized he was quite fun to pick on. Ren stuck her spear into the dirt and brought up her fists as she stepped into a fighting stance before slamming her fist into the dirt. The ground beneath them shook and Kai was lifted into the air on top of a small two-foot earth wall.
"I can make it bigger."
"This is fine!" Kai squeaked as he gripped the edge of the wall of rock and dirt.
"You okay?"
"This is just very different from the Land of Iron."
Oh. "Yeah, yeah it is." Ren stepped back gracefully and the wall beneath Kai sunk back into the earth. The boy breathed an audible sigh of relief that made Ren feel a bit guilty. The silence between them seemed to echo in the still morning air. "If you want to go back home-"
Kai shook his head. "No. Never. I don't have a future there."
No, he really didn't. Ren could not think of anyone who could have a future in their village at this time.
There was a sudden crashing noise from the woods around their camp. Ren weaved a sign before punching the dirt to throw mud over the embers, hurling her kettle into the trees in the process. She scrambled over to Kai to tuck him under her arm and run up the tree where they had set up camp to wait quietly. There was the snapping of twigs and the increasingly loud birdsong of the local wildlife. Ren watched a couple of squirrels fight over a nut before they scampered further up the tree trunk before turning her attention to where she believed the source of the noise was coming from.
Kai's voice was a very soft whisper, "Why are we up here?"
"I'm not spending the day in jail," Ren whispered, "Cuts into my profits."
"What guard would be out at six in the morning?"
"A crazy one," Ren peered through the branches suspiciously as the noise grew louder. It definitely sounded like two people, probably heading to another part of the training grounds. Ren had grabbed the one the furthest back by the village wall, she thought the other two were too close together.
There was more excited yelling that Ren was not sure she was hearing correctly. Something about… Youth?
Ren and Kai exchanged looks of equal confusion.
"You think someone's being kidnapped?" Kai muttered, his grip on the tree branch tightening as the voices grew closer. "Should we help them?"
"Nobody gets kidnapped at six in the morning. Besides, I don't do rescues until eight."
Kai gave her a look so disapprovingly grown up it made Ren feel something almost like shame.
"You're such an old man."
The shouting enthused shouting grew louder and closer before seeming to change directions away from their grove of trees on the training ground as suddenly as they passed through the training grove. The two of them stayed in the tree a while longer until the shouting faded away before coming back down to the grass below.
"What is up with this village?"
It was noon before Ren and Kai were able to head into the festival. The elderly matriarch of that caravan had taken a liking to the pair of orphans and kept them to talk and exchange news. Most villages were still in recovery after heavy casualties during the war, mercenary groups were on the rise to hassle and terrorize travelers who were looking for places to settle. The matriarch thanked Ren again for defending their livelihood from that little group of mercenaries.
Though, Ren never told her those people were not after the wares.
Those three men were after Ren.
It would have been an awkward talk, Ren had made a few enemies over the years, most of them within the months after the war as she took up defending villages from those who sought to take advantage of the distraction of the five great nations. Gangsters never liked getting thwarted by a girl with a smart mouth and a spear. Especially if they were beginning a market in trading children with bloodline abilities out of port towns.
Ren liked three things in general, the first being fighting, the second was ruining a jerk's day and lastly was setting boats on fire.
Flaming boats where just so pretty in the night, especially if they belonged to gangsters who liked to kidnap children.
Ren was beginning to regret being talked into this, but doing weird stuff for money was kind of her job.
Still…
The crowds were stifling!
She did not like overcrowded villages or crowds and the two seemed to go together.
The women wore beautiful clothes that made Ren feel uncharacteristically self conscious about her haggard, vagrant appearance and crooked haircut. She could feel some of the suspicious looks from passersby drill into her back. Travelers anywhere in the world were regarded with suspicion. She hunched over stuffing her hands in her coat pockets as she stepped back behind Kai who was moving through the crowds with a look of awe as he stared at the booths, food and people around him.
Their home village was no where near this size, perhaps only half and most lived on ancestral lands outside of the town proper. It was always to to cold to have outdoor festival celebrations like this and the travelers never came over the mountains where their village was, to far away from proper towns and cities if they could even find it to begin with. Lantern lights would not keep people warm. Ren adjusted the hood of her coat and kept her eyes on Kai's messy russet hair.
Shoulders were constantly bumping into each other in whirls of color and apologies under a cool cloudy sky. The smell of food filled Ren's nose with spices and warm thoughts.
Bread! Fancy bread! Ren felt herself instinctively drifting towards a stall before Kai grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the arena that peeked over the tops of the buildings.
"Kid, we have plenty of time and I need a bite to eat."
"You sure?"
"We have an hour," Ren shrugged and walked over to stand in line, "and I can't win on an empty stomach."
"Okay," Kai grumbled, "but make it quick, you've got people to beat!"
Ren snorted, "If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be."
Ren watched the crowds as the line moved forward, she noticed how peaceful this village was. The people clearly felt safe and protected from the darker heart of the world beyond the walls and were welcoming visitors with open arms. Stalls with wares from across the elemental nations lined the streets, carrying fine fabrics, trinkets and books that would catch eyes and start discussions for price. Ren's fingers itched to caress the pages of a leather-bound tome, but they were to heavy to carry on the road. Another stall was selling jewelry made of beautiful stones to match the silks in the next stall. Ren had no need for jewelry, it was a silly thing that could quickly become a hindrance in combat, but still…
Maybe it was time to settle down somewhere and live like a person and not a vagabond?
How would she make a living though? The only thing she knew how to do was fight and she was a bit old for an apprenticeship. Her knowledge was that of a traveler, not a settler. Ren took another few steps forward and rested her arm on the top of Kai's head thoughtfully as she reflected further back on her experiences she could turn into an actual job.
"Ren? Why are you using my head like a table?"
"I'm thinking."
Making clothes? Out of the question, Ren treated her sewing needles like tiny swords so her work was… disastrous and sloppy.
Owning a business was an intriguing prospect, but she needed money and paperwork and she was short on the former.
Ren had some knowledge of blacksmithing from her father and small weapons repairs over the years. That idea seemed to have some weight to it.
Kai was paying for a small special plate and leading her towards a long table where they took a couple of seats at the far end and sat down quietly.
Ren quickly popped a piece of fancy bread in her mouth, sagging at the warmth and spice flavors that filled her mouth. Kai was working on some soba noodles and sharing Ren's red beans while they both looked at the crowds of people. Ren was placing their country of origin by some of the clothes they were wearing and the wears being hawked from the booths for her and Kai's amusement.
"Suna's the only place with those kind of exotic spices," she pointed at a booth with her chopsticks. "Kiri's got an amazing fish market but it's not worth going to far in there because of their volatile stance on blood lust and the sake is made here locally."
"How do you know that?"
"It's on the back of the bottle."
"No, the blood lust thing."
Ren stopped halfway across the table, her chopsticks in Kai's soba noodles. She bit her bottom lip nervously before relaxing into an awkward smile.
"Have you ever heard of a kekkei genkai? I know they're much rarer where we're from, but down here, they're a bit more common. These people with those special abilities are used as tools of war, and in places like the Land of Mists, blamed for the conflicts." Ren paused, glancing around before lowering her voice. "They did nothing but exist, it's sometimes just easier to blame people who are different."
"Do you have a kekkei genkai?"
Ren froze, her face unmoving and her eyes widening for a brief moment before everything relaxed into her typical grinning expression. "That would make my life a bit complicated, wouldn't it?"
The boy fidgeted as Ren spun a few soba noodles around her chopsticks before lifting them into her mouth.
The server came by with a bottle of sake and a few small glasses on a tray; Ren made eye contact and batted her eyes sweetly with a playful smile.
"Any chance I could get a shot of that?"
The server smiled, "Do you have your identification papers?"
Ren's smile widened as she ran her fingers through her boyish, crooked hair in a way she hoped was passably flirtatious, "What if I left them at home?"
There was a guff of laughter from the server, "You're not that cute sweetheart."
Ren's jaw dropped as he gave her a wink and carried the tray over to the packed table behind Kai where there was a small group of older people, possibly late twenties to mid thirties gathering. One woman with short black hair was holding a pig, a man with silver hair and a mask was reading a… porn novel. In public.
This weird village kept getting weirder.
"Hey, you didn't ask for their papers."
"That's the Hokage!" The server hissed, "Her staff and the man who's going to be the sixth Hokage!"
"Tsunade? The sannin? The legendary sucker?" Ren tilted sideways to peer around Kai's rather large head. She knew from descriptions that Tsunade was the young looking blonde woman. "I thought she was supposed to be a super old woman?"
"We don't talk about that," The server whispered as he eyed the table nervously.
There was a rather interesting aura coming from the hokage's table. The Hokage specifically. Ren elected to ignore it.
"So, is there anything else going on in town for the weary traveler set?"
Ren and the server talked for a few more minutes about the rebuilding of Konoha over the winter months, how it was rumored that some of these travelers would be willing to move here for good if there was enough interest in their wares over the course of the festival. The Hokage seemed to be hoping that this would be an economic boost for her village.
As they spoke, Ren noticed a man in a black cloak watching peering out from between a couple of local shops. They made eye contact. Ren turned away as if she had seen nothing, turning her attention back to Kai and the server.
The server quickly said goodbye as he was called away to another table.
Ren looked back towards where she had seen the cloaked man, finding only empty space. Her guts turned and twisted as rested her hand on her spear, she told Kai to finish quickly so she could go sign in at the arena.
The two travelers walked steadily through the crowded streets towards the arena, weaving through the crowds passing by hawkers and pretty girls handing out free samples. Ren did not spare a passing glance to admire their clothes the way she usually would, she was turning to look behind her periodically to check for the cloaked man. She doubted it was one of the men from the road, but one could not be to careful these days.
Kai pulled her wrist through the thicket throng of people and towards a banner that claimed to be the way to the registration center inside the side entrance to the arena. Kai pulled Ren into a short but fast moving line where she continued to look around as she fiddled with the hood of her coat before checking for the mask in her inner coat pocket, the kodachi at her hip and the shaft of her spear.
"Ren, what's wrong?"
"I don't like crowds is all," Ren clenched and unclenched at her sword hilt under her coat. "Bit scared of them actually, all those eyes."
"Yeah, our village would never be this big."
No, in the old days, the elders would never allow it. All of their holidays revolved around the mountain and tales of the old god at the peak. A hard, complex tradition to explain to an outsider. Ren's father was from the Land of Earth and had only been welcomed for his exceptional blacksmithing ability; he had a near instinctive understanding of weapons craft that had paved the way for him into this reclusive community.
He had gotten killed for it.
The line moved forward, Ren could see the sign in table with a rather tired looking ninja running the process and heaved a sigh. Waiting around was boring.
A few minutes later they arrived at the little table where Ren quickly wrote her name down, her handwriting was regarded widely as a notch above chicken scratch causing her to rewrite it at the ninja's request before he gave up and wrote it down for her so it could actually be read by the announcers. He gave her the key to a locker where she could put her personal belongings and her weapons. Teacher and student stepped through the door and looked at the competition.
Kai spoke first, "It's a bunch of old men."
Ren sighed, "Wait, I think that one's about forty."
Kai snickered, "Easy win then?"
"I wouldn't go that far."
The competitors were mostly older men from roughly their forties to early sixties, only two others appeared couple years older then Ren. There was also one very old woman who seemed surprisingly muscular for her age. Ren noted to watch out for her and the older man waving a champions belt from a previous contest around. Those two were the most dangerous people in the ring until proven otherwise.
Ren found her locker and began to put her things inside. Her spear went first, followed by her kodachi and her belt, she did not want to give an opponent anything extra to grab. Ren's hair was too boyishly short to fuss about and too crooked to do anything with for the time being. Ren closed the locker door and spun the dial a couple of times before giving the combination paper to Kai.
"Hold on to this for me?"
Kai nodded and put it in his money pouch.
"Oh, there's one more thing I need from you…" She reached deep down into her coat pockets again, her hands moving about in what Kai believed to be the world's deepest coat pockets.
"What is it?"
"Got it! Here you go," Ren gave Kai a small bundle of what appeared to be business cards that she had pulled out of the very bottom of her coat pocket. "If you want to casually drop some of these in front of weary travelers-" She winked and smiled covertly- "Travelers love ramen. Especially a family discount." She put a hand on his shoulder and led him away from the rest of the people in the waiting area, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Do not give these to those people in headbands."
Kai tilted his head like a confused puppy. "Headbands? I don't know what that word means."
Ren slipped her arm over his shoulders and pointed to the man running the signup for the contest. "See that shiny thing on his head? That's the village symbol, he's a shinobi. They don't need to know I'm trying to drum up business on a lower cost in their own village. They don't like that. So, don't get caught."
"If I do get caught?"
Ren smiled, "Just tell them some strange man outside the entryway gave you forty ryo to do that for him or something." Ren gave Kai a friendly shake by the shoulders before passing him a second packet of business cards.
"Have fun! Meet me by the front gate after I win."
Ren took off to see the bracket with the other combatants, giving Kai a chance to read the business cards.
'First come first serve for the services of the best caravan guard in the business! Red Ribbon Protection Services! Look for the spear at the city gate. Cheaper then your local hidden village! Ask about our family discounts!'
Ah, if one of those headband people got their hands on this, Ren would definitely have more problems then she could handle.
Kai said a quick prayer to the mountain god back in his village for good luck as he went out the side door and into the crowded arena.
He hoped the mountain god could still hear him with how far Kai had wandered in recent weeks.
There was a roar from the crowd as Ren flipped her first opponent out of the ring. Kai took the opportunity to scatter some of the cards over the balcony to the cheap seats below as he walked by the railing. Watching Ren fight left Kai with feelings of awe. She was graceful, fluid and it felt more like a dance then real combat, though this was hand-to-hand, and Ren's movements with her spear were more brutal.
It was odd to watch her fight barehanded, she was in constant motion, but never threw a punch and rarely raised an arm to block. She just kept stepping backwards and weaving away until she put them in a throwing position. It was quite strange to compare her to the other combatants, Ren's style was soft and avoidant in a way he had a hard time affiliating with his hard, steady teacher.
Actually, she had done a similar thing during their sparring session that morning.
Kai was beginning to think that there were some things about his sensei that did not add up with what he already knew about her. He did not think she was a liar, but there were some things she was definitely not telling him.
He fidgeted, moving his hands in and out of his pockets. This was much different then picking pockets for Masaru, he could see flurries of emotion in Ren's eyes while Masaru was too cold and above it all to let something become noticeable to the other members of the resistance. It was what made them such a good team, the warrior and the leader. Kai was proud to serve his village under Masaru's orders, Kai and the other children would run messages around the village and into the countryside, it was easier to hid in rocky outcroppings if one was already small or undersized.
He wished for a few places to hide right now, Kai had never seen so many people before in his life. His village was walls of ice and stone with the number of people dwindling within its walls every year. The cold of winter came for its elderly children, calling them back to warmth in a world of summer according to the last remaining elder. Even with multiple clans at the mountain's base, numbers continued to shrink, their traditions were now just stories around the hearth if they were remembered at all.
As he was jostled by the crowds, Kai thought it was almost a relief to leave his home village. The rest of the world, judging by what he had seen of it, was a much livelier place.
Kai closed his eyes and leaned against the railing. If he focused on the noise and the crowd he could feel the bright lights of the crowds energy tingle along his skin until the each person was illuminated by a white energy. That must be chakra, Ren said it was inside of everybody but they all felt so different. He focused on the door Ren was walking through to go back and wait for her next match.
Ren's energy was hot like the inside of a smith's forge, it seemed to sing with each pound of the hammer on the anvil, the sparks flying in all directions. It made Kai feel safe, like even her own soul was crafting weapons and plans for survival.
The lights disappeared and Kai felt his shoulders sag as a kind of spiritual exhaustion overcame him to match his newly forming headache. Having no idea what he had just done or how he did it, Kai rolled his shoulders and walked on down the stands, his hand trailing along the railing as he did so.
His eyes trailed over the crowd and stopped suddenly at a familiar shade of green and bowl cut. It was the martial artist from the teahouse! With someone who appeared to be his… father? Was dressing like one's parent a thing in this country? Kai looked down at his clothes for a moment, wondering if he could pull off Ren's practical vagabond attire. He shook his head to come back to reality as the two men continued to talk and gesture loudly about stuff that was being drowned out by the roars of the crowd watching the match.
Kai backed away slowly, hoping he would not be noticed.
He should tell Ren!
The boy turned on his heel away from the two green men and adjusted his shirt collar, trying to look inconspicuous as he moved into the crowd, his head down to look at his feet and hide his face as he did so. Kai walked towards the staircase at the other end of that section of the arena. His focus being on the stairs and escape, he did not see the woman until they collided. Popcorn, business cards and snacks flew in all directions as he tumbled to the ground, his staff making a loud, echoing noise as he did so. Kai winced as it dug into his back.
"I-I am so sorry!" Kai sputtered as he leapt to his feet at the woman's startled gasp, giving a deep bow to the trim woman as he righted himself. "Let me help you!"
Kai looked up slowly, from her sandal clad feet, pink pants and unusual shirt to the two tightly wrapped hair buns on her head, Kai felt more dread bubbling in his guts as he met her eyes.
Ren was not going to be happy.
The woman picked up one of Ren's business cards.
It was only a couple seconds but it felt like an eternity of Kai thinking he was going to be sick as she turned it the card over in her hands as recognition filled her eyes.
"Wait, you're that boy who was with the spear woman at that teahouse."
"What's a spear?"
The woman's eyes narrowed as she leaned closer to Kai to look directly into his eyes. Kai tried to look as disarmingly sweet, but dumb as he could manage.
"Okay wise guy," She held out the card she picked up that had Ren's information on it. "What's this?
"A business card?"
"What does it say?"
Kai shrugged, "Dunno, I can't read."
The woman seemed to snarl. Kai continued to smile sweetly, hoping it would be enough to not get him thrown into the ring.
"Are you aware it's illegal to advertise third party protection services within our village?"
Kai shrugged, sweat was starting to form on his back.
The woman's hand flew up to cover her face in exasperation with a matching sigh. She pulled herself back together for a final question. "Fine, then answer this for me," she turned the business card around to show Kai the back which had a picture of a spear that looked just like Ren's. Kai felt his stomach drop, but maintained his innocent smile with effort. "You claim you don't know the woman I saw you with, then how did you get her business cards?"
"She dropped them at the teahouse after she got sent through the wall," Kai's sweet smile faltered into a crooked smirk as he felt himself give up on this runaround of questioning. "I'm just trying to do a good deed. Why are you so interested anyway?"
"She tried to break my friend's ribs with the most beautiful spear I've ever seen!"
Kai's mind went completely blank.
This bun-headed woman sounded like she would love to take a swing at his teacher, but spoke of his teacher's weapon like it had defended the heavens. Her eyes seemed to glow and sparkle with the thought of the weapon.
"Yeah, your friend has a drinking problem and ruined her dinner first!" Kai took a couple of steps back while peering about for a way out of this.
"That was the waitress's fault!" The woman's face was blistering red at the recollection. "She brought us sake instead of water! Lee's got no alcohol tolerance!"
"He still knocked her through the wall with a table!" Kai puffed his scrawny, undersized body up as much as he was able, swelling like a frog to try and make himself a bit scarier as his temper rose. "Ren was right to try and crack his head open!"
"So that's her name," the woman smiled.
Kai's hands flew up to cover his mouth.
The staircase was right behind her.
Perfect.
He inhaled deeply through his nose.
"STRANGER DANGER! HELP!"
The crowd around them stared at the commotion, they began to whisper and point at the bun headed woman as Kai took the opportunity to slip into the crowd, dodging the grasps of concerned people as he slipped under seats, and behind a group of old women who seemed to move in front of him like a protective wall to shield him from the view of the crowd.
As he fled down a nearby staircase he flung the rest of the business cards into the air before leaping over the stair railing and into the crowd below, the cards fell around him like cherry blossom petals before being blown into the upper reaches of the stands or down into the cheap seats below.
END CHAPTER TWO
A/N: I also like to write about the effects of modernization on more secluded cultures like the mountain village Ren and Kai are from. They're beginning to lose grasp on their traditions and their understanding of the world, partially through trauma, culture killing through death of elders and seclusion. That's what happens when you study globalization.