Chapter 14 Mercy is Greater

"M…Mitarai?"

Touya blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The image of Mitarai did not vanish.

"Hello again Touya," Mitarai said with a cold smile. "Bet you didn't expect to see me again, did you?"

Touya shrugged. "All things considered, it was inevitable that our paths should cross again. I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon."

"You're an all right guy Touya," Mitarai said. "It's a shame I'm going to have to kill you."

Touya stared as Mitarai drew a switchblade from his hoodie. This was quite unexpected; he didn't remember Mitarai being so aggressive before. Mitarai flipped the blade of the knife up and ran it across his index finger, drawing blood. Touya watched as the blood dripped into a nearby puddle, but instead of being washed away, the blood coagulated and mixed with the water. He took a step back as something rose out of the puddle. After a few moments, Touya realized that it was a barrier made out of water. It surrounded him and Mitarai and formed a canopy over their heads. The sky darkened and it began to rain.

"Welcome to my Territory," Mitarai said.

Suddenly, Mitarai's nickname made sense.

Of course, Touya thought. That's why he's called 'Seaman'. He's a water user. Should have figured that one out a long time ago.

He tensed up as Mitarai raised his hand, but stood his ground. He needed to be cautious. He was still not at full strength and he was pregnant. He didn't know the full extent of Mitarai's powers and though he had an advantage over him as an ice user, he still needed to be careful. Experience had taught him that an advantage did not necessarily guarantee a win. He had been at an advantage before and it had made him overconfident and nearly cost him his life.

Half a dozen water monsters rose from the numerous puddles that had formed on the ground. Mitarai held out his hand in Touya's direction and the monsters charged. Touya, who had been anticipating this, leaped backwards, dodging the monster's attacks. He landed neatly on his feet, but not for long; the monsters attacked again. He dodged them easily.

"What's the matter? Too cowardly to attack?" Mitarai called as Touya continued to dodge the monsters' attacks.

"You're one to talk! Sending monsters to fight on your behalf," Touya called back.

Mitarai frowned; Touya's comment had stung. Touya took advantage of his distraction and summoned his ice sword. He took a swipe at the nearest water monster and he sliced it in half. But the monster not only reformed itself, a second one rose from its remains as well.

Well, that's not good, Touya thought.

"Nice try, but my monsters are indestructible," Mitarai taunted. "If you destroy them, they come right back and another one rises to join it!"

So I noticed, Touya thought dryly.

"Admit it, I've got the upper hand," Mitarai said. "There's no way you can defeat me! I have superior numbers!"

Numbers don't mean anything, Touya thought. However, it's a pain that these things reproduce every time they're destroyed. That's problematic. I wonder…

When Mitarai directed his water monsters towards Touya, he held up his hand and froze two of the seven monsters in midair.

Huh. I'm getting rusty, he thought.

He leaped out of the way of the other five monsters, easily dodging their clumsy attacks. They were large, but not very agile. Touya had the advantage there. The two monsters that Touya had frozen exploded, sending shards of ice everywhere. To Touya's immense relief, the monsters did not reform.

Well, that worked, he thought. Of course, it's only a temporary solution because as soon as I destroy all the monsters, Mitarai will just summon more. He has the advantage because of his Territory. Not only does his water barrier limit the space we have, it seems to boost his attack, not to mention he can summon those damned water clones. And I do not have the capability to freeze this entire area at once. I need to take down his Territory. But how…?

He tried to remember what he had learned from the Psychic trio studying under Genkai about Territory. It only worked as long as the Psychic was conscious; as soon as they were knocked unconscious, their Territory faded away.

All I have to do is knock Mitarai unconscious. Right. That should be easy, Touya thought sarcastically.

He dodged another attack from Mitarai's water monsters and froze two more of them. He landed and stumbled slightly, leaning against a nearby building for support.

"What's the matter Touya? Not getting tired are you?" Mitarai taunted. "Now we can't have that. Why don't you have a drink?"

He raised his arm and his remaining water monsters came together along with the water raining down to form a massive wall of water.

Well this sucks, Touya thought as the wall of water came at him.

He reacted purely out of instinct and froze the wall of water.

Huh. I didn't know I could do that, he thought. It took a great deal of energy to do, but it was worth it to see the look on Mitarai's face.

He tensed up, ready to spring as soon as the wall of ice shattered. Before Mitarai had a chance to react, Touya launched himself forward, using the building to help him gain momentum and he slashed at Mitarai. The blonde stumbled out of the way, but Touya was already coming at him again and pinned him down with ease. He gasped as Touya held his ice sword to his neck. All it would take was one swing and he would be avenged for all the pain and suffering he had endured. It was easy. And yet…

And yet he could spare Mitarai.

Vengeance was easy, but mercy was greater. Kurama had said that. Touya hadn't understood what he meant at the time, but now he did. It was so easy to lash out at someone who had wronged you, to pay them back for all the pain and suffering they had caused, and cause them more pain and suffering. To have complete power over them, hold their fate in your hands. And yet, mercy had its own power. Forgiving and moving on was harder to do, and yet it could break the cycle of violence.

"Yield," Touya said.

There was a moment's hesitation and then Mitarai nodded. The rain gradually stopped and the water barrier vanished. Touya withdrew his sword from Mitarai's neck and got to his feet.

"Come," Touya said gently, extending his hand.

Mitarai stared up at him for a few moments and then took Touya's hand, allowing him to pull him to his feet. Both of them were quiet for a bit, trying to catch their breath. For the first time, Touya realized that Mitarai was panting as hard as he was. Clearly, this fight had taken a lot out of him.

"We have to…find the others…warn them…danger," Mitarai said.

Touya frowned. "Warn the others? Why? What's going on?"

Mitarai shook his head, unable to speak. Touya realized that he was shaking. He gently touched Mitarai on the shoulder. Mitarai flinched away from his touch.

"Mitarai, please. I know it's not easy, but I need your help. Why are the others in danger?" Touya said.

"I'm scared," Mitarai whispered.

"I know," Touya said soothingly. "But it's going to be all right."

"No, you don't understand!" Mitarai said, wrenching his hands.

"Help me," Touya said. "Help me understand. You have the power to make things right. Be brave, Mitarai. I know you can be."

Mitarai took a deep, shuddering breath and seemed to overcome whatever internal struggle he was having. "It's a trap," he finally said.

"W…what?" Touya stammered.

"A trap," Mitarai repeated. "Sniper and I were sent as distractions and help split the group up so Black Angel could achieve his true purpose—obtaining Kuwabara."

"Kuwabara? What? Why?" Touya's head swam.

"There's no time," Mitarai said urgently. "We have to get to the others. We have to warn them before it's too late!"

"Right," Touya said.

He sprinted off in the direction Urameshi and the others were heading in before he got waylaid by Mitarai. Fortunately, it was not hard for Touya to track them. Being an ex-Shinobi had its perks.

Touya turned the corner and was nearly run over by a pickup truck that blew past him as he was stepping off the curb. He did a double-take as he realized the pickup truck was being driven by a boy who looked far too young to be driving. In addition to that, he was accompanied by a larger man whose fingers were long and thin like spaghetti and were wrapped around the waist of…

"Kuwabara," Mitarai groaned.

Kuwabara sat in the pickup truck's bed bound by the man's spaghetti fingers, a cloth gag covering his mouth. There was a flash of movement out of the corner of Touya's eye and in the next instant, a tall, thin man had joined Kuwabara in the truck bed.

"Black Angel," Mitarai said.

It only took a moment for all of this to happen; Touya blinked and the truck was gone. Then there was another blur of movement and Urameshi blew past on a bicycle. Touya shouldn't have been surprised that Urameshi could utilize a bicycle so fast, but it was still a bit absurd.

He turned when he heard footsteps running toward him. He tensed, but it was only Kurama, Genkai, and Koenma.

"Ah, there you are, Touya," Kurama said in a relieved voice. "We wondered what had become of you when you failed to follow us."

"I got…detained," Touya said. Kurama's gaze turned to Mitarai, carefully scrutinizing him. "You don't need to worry. I can vouch for him.

Kurama nodded thoughtfully. "He could be very useful, if his intentions are true."

"They are," Mitarai said forcefully. "I…I owe my life to Touya. And besides, I…I…"

"It's all right," Kurama said in a gentler voice. He glanced around. "Perhaps we should continue our conversation indoors, where it's safer."

They trudged back to Urameshi's apartment where Kaito, Yana, and Kido waited. Touya could tell that everyone's morale was dropping fast, especially now that Kuwabara was in the hands of the enemy and Urameshi had run after him. There was no telling what was to come, but Touya knew it would be disastrous if they didn't stop Sensui's plan in time.

.o.O.o.

Author's Note: This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I used Kuwabara's two episodes where he fights Mitarai to get a sense of the blonde's fighting style. It is different from the anime in a few ways, but it was easier to write this way. I really enjoyed Touya's snarky inner monologue; he strikes me as someone who can be snarky (i.e. when Kurama downplays the training he and the others go through in season 3, he's the first one to call him out on it). I'm also a huge sucker for redemption stories.