Disclaimer: All Kim Possible characters are the copyright of Walt Disney Corporation. I'm just borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. All other characters in my stories, that Disney doesn't own, are mine. :)
Time and time again, I couldn't say enough for all the help campy gave me for providing great proofreading work. Thanks, man! You're the best! (big grin)
Big thanks go to all who read and left reviews for Chapter 20: Joe Stoppinghem, milordo-z 2.0, AtomicFire, my guardian HaruHara, Bubbahotek, warlord-xana, Goinghome, ZK Chromedragozoid, Mr. Average, and Etherelemental.
And thanks go to all who read Chapter 20. :)
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A Bond of Honor
Chapter 21 – Inner Demons II
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)
The hallway lights were at half-bright illumination when the figure reached the second floor and began walking down the aisle toward a specific part of the building. It was past 10 PM, thus there were very few people still awake by this time.
Yet for Yori Takana, she was used to this kind of silence around this time of the night. It was this way at Yamanouchi most of the time, given many had to be up by 5 AM to start the day, and given most were used to the cycle; it had carried over here to the American branch of the organization.
Oh, there were a few of the elder Yamanouchi graduates who managed to break the cycle, thus they were able to stay up late and sleep-in later, but they were a select few, especially those who were attending the nearby Middleton College or Upperton University. They came to enjoy college/university life and wouldn't bother much to change their new lifestyles to return to the Yamanouchi sleep cycle.
An amused smirk came to the kunoichi's face. She knew of one Yamanouchi student who no doubt would fit in America easily and wouldn't have any problems adjusting to a new sleep cycle. Given his love for motorcycles and the American lifestyle, Hirotaka would perhaps hang out late and sleep until 12 noon the next day.
Giggling at the mental image of a drunken Hirotaka sleeping in his underwear, Yori approached two double doors at the end of the hallway. They were the only double doors on the entire second floor of the Mochizuki Estate's living quarters, and the young woman knew what lay beyond them.
Ever since the conversation with Ron-kun during the lunch period at Middleton High, the Japanese teen's head was spinning with questions. Questions to which only one person she knew was capable of providing the answers. After doing her chores, eating dinner, and finishing other things to be done, she now faced the entrance to Master Mochizuki's bedroom, and with a sigh, her fisted hand rose to knock on one of the wooden doors, crafted with elaborate Japanese designs in the wood.
Hearing the calm voice of her master bid her entrance, Yori opened a door and entered before closing the door behind her. This was not the first time she had entered these quarters, and by now, she knew them as well as her own bedroom.
It was obviously the master bedroom of the estate. To the left of the entrance was a large four-posted king-size bed, crowned with Japanese style drapes, sheets, and pillows, and nearby the bed were Japanese wooden dresser drawers and cabinets while two night tables were on either side of the bed. The entry to the master bath was to the left of the bed, while a small living room with a couch and a couple of lounge chairs were to the right of the main entrance. Straight ahead, one could make out several regular windows aligned along the length of the room with a single bay window in the center. For a first time viewer, the room looked and felt like it was made for royalty.
As of now, all the electrical lights in the room were off, leaving only the candles situated around the bay window for illumination. Along with the faint moonlight shining through the windows, Yori could see the outline of Master Mochizuki kneeling on a cushion in front of the bay window, which was turned into a small personal shrine for religious worship.
Approaching the ninja master, Yori softly spoke an apology. "Forgive me, Mochizuki-shishou, for interrupting your nightly prayers, but I want to speak to you about something."
She couldn't see his face, given he was facing the small Buddha statue in the small shrine, but the Japanese girl saw his candle-lit form shake a bit, so she knew he had chuckled. "There is no need to ask for forgiveness, Yori-chan," he said as Yori knelt down on a cushion behind him, her eyes on his back. "You are free to come to me when something troubles you or if you have questions to ask. People who do not question the world around them are doomed to be ignorant and deceived. You are neither."
"Arigatou, Mochizuki-shishou," Yori replied with some pride to his compliment. Yet the small grin on her face was brief as she reminded herself why she had come here.
"So, what is on your mind?" he asked, his eyes still resting on the Buddha statue.
A sigh escaped Yori's lips before she answered. "It's about Ron-kun." Her eyes saw her teacher tilt his head a bit to the right, telling her she had his full attention. "Today at school, I found out that several months ago Ron-kun turned evil and became a villain known as Zorpox." Mochizuki's shoulders slumped a bit, and she saw him release a sigh. "Mochizuki-shishou, was Yamanouchi aware of this?" Her voice rose a bit, sounding agitated. "Why was I not informed?"
"Because," Master Mochizuki immediately responded, voice soft and firm, "it was not your place to know." The elder Japanese turned his head enough so he could see his student, and his face showed softness of compassion. "Also, Sensei knew you formed a bond with Stoppable-san, thus he knew you would not have taken the news lightly, which no doubt you are showing now."
Yori swallowed, doing her best to calm down. She was perfectly fine and accepting at school after knowing the Attitudinator was locked up tight and would not pose a threat to Ron-kun ever again. Yet it seemed that her feelings, which she felt upon first hearing about Ron-kun turning evil, had come back to bite her.
With a kind, caring grin, Master Mochizuki turned his body so he was fully facing Yori, his hands resting on his kneecaps as he sat on his knees. "You care for Stoppable-san deeply, Yori-chan, and it is quite understandable why you feel troubled upon hearing this news. Knowing a person with a noble, generous heart, you can not fathom him ever turning evil."
"Hai," the ninja girl confirmed. "I know Ron-kun will not ever turn evil again, yet I still feel scared for him knowing he did turn evil."
Yori's sensei nodded, understanding her feelings. He sighed before he started explaining. "The first sign that Stoppable-san had turned to the darkness was when Sensei noticed the Lotus Blade had gone black." A gasp came out of Yori's throat. "Hai, it was true, Yori-chan. As keeper of the blade, Sensei was the only one to see it turned black, thus he knew something horrible had happened to Stoppable-san.
"Knowing this, Sensei called me and told me what had transpired, and thus he ordered me to immediately find out what had happened to Stoppable-san. It didn't take long for our operatives to find out about Stoppable-san's transformation into Zorpox. Sensei, I, and the other masters feared the worst, for Zorpox possessed great cunning and intelligence not seen in a person of evil in ages. It was a good thing that Stoppable-san didn't know how to use the Mystical Monkey Powers or was trained in ninjitsu or Tai Shing Pek Kwar at the time."
Mind whirling, Yori's eyes went wide at what Master Mochizuki was conveying. The mental pictures of Zorpox with such powers were beyond frightening.
Seeing her scared expression, Master Mochizuki bobbed his head in agreement. "Hai. We thank Kami for good fortunes, Yori-chan. Zorpox was very powerful by himself, yet if he had the ability to control the Monkey Powers and gained ninja skills, he would have been a force nearly no one could stop. Furthermore, if the Lotus Blade had fallen into his hands, the world was doomed to fall into darkness for the duration of Zorpox's lifetime."
Many pictures of a bleak world rolled around in Yori's head. A world ruled with an iron fist by one man. A world without hope, love, happiness, or peace. A world where the light was diminished and darkness shrouded everywhere. A world where the young man she knew was dead and in his place stood a dictator far worse than other would-be world conquerors ever were.
It was indeed a world of evil.
Master Mochizuki didn't like seeing Yori this way, but he knew she was strong enough to endure this. She wanted to know, and this small emotional cost to her was part of the price.
His voice brought Yori back to reality; her ears listening despite her downcast eyes. "It was a relief to all of us upon hearing Possible-san had transformed Stoppable-san back to his former self, and Sensei confirmed this when he noticed the Lotus Blade had turned back to normal. A few weeks ago, after Load-san became aware of Yamanouchi's existence, Sensei asked Load-san to make sure the Attitudinator was locked up tightly or was destroyed. We cannot take chances of Zorpox returning from the dark regions of Stoppable-san's mind, and Load-san agreed wholeheartedly after seeing what Zorpox was capable of doing."
Lips forming into a reassuring grin, Master Mochizuki pressed on. "So do not fear or be concerned, Yori-chan. Now that you know, your fears will dwindle. Think of Stoppable-san as who he is today, not what he was then. Let your heart speak for you on what you know of Stoppable-san."
Looking inward and letting her heart speak, Yori slowly let a warm grin of gratitude spread on her face. As she knew in school, her heart told her the young man she cared about was still the same person regardless. The young woman knew she had nothing to fear. Her dark orbs lifted to focus on the gentle, warm ones of her master. "Arigatou, Mochizuki-shishou."
The owner of the Yamanouchi American Branch was glad to see her eyes were calm and bright again. There was still a bit of fear in her, but it was expected, given it would take time for Yori to fully come to terms about this brief event in Stoppable-san's life. He imagined that his student would be happy to be back in Stoppable-san's company on Wednesday, seeing he was indeed the same boy she came to like profoundly.
After a minute or so of comfortable silence, the teenage lady broke it. "So it was for the best no one else knew about Ron-kun's transformation."
Master Mochizuki kindly dipped his head for a moment in acknowledgment. "Hai. Only the Yamanouchi masters were informed due to the special connection Stoppable-san has with us." A knowing grin came to his being. "Yet it was good that Stoppable-san told you about Zorpox." Seeing her curious expression, the elder Japanese elaborated. "It showed that he trusts you, Yori-chan. To confess to you, his girlfriend, about a dark moment in his life proved he has confidence in giving you the truth."
Yori snorted with an amused smirk. "Actually, it was Felix-san who slipped."
Raising an eyebrow, Master Mochizuki eyed her curiously. "Did Stoppable-san try to cover it up and lie at first?" Watching her shake her head with a warm grin, the older man smiled. "Then it does not matter whether Felix-san slipped. Stoppable-san didn't lie to you, and he provided you the truth about Zorpox. It is testimony to the growing bond between you. A relationship built on trust and truth will endure compared to one where one or both partners offer deceit and lies."
Her heart swelled upon hearing this. She couldn't deny what Master Mochizuki said was accurate. Ron-kun's confession spoke volumes, and Yori could not help but feel pride in him trusting her with the truth. The pretty Japanese girl could not really describe what she was feeling with her heart aching at it was doing now, but it certainly felt like love to her.
Oh, yes, her heart definitely was feeling a burst of love for that goofy, freckle-faced, blond boy.
With a radiant smile, the young shinobi placed her hands together and bowed with honor and respect to her teacher. "Arigatou, Mochizuki-shishou, for your wisdom and guidance has helped me greatly tonight."
"You are very much welcome, Yori-chan," Master Mochizuki replied with a grin, seeing the sparkle in her eyes and the glow on her face. It seemed he was wrong that it would take some time for Yori to eradicate totally the bad feelings the revelation of Zorpox had created. Mentally chuckling, the 50-something man had a strong hunch that Stoppable-san was going to get a nice, big welcome from his girlfriend Wednesday morning at school, one that required pressing lips together for some time.
Rising to her feet, a joyful Yori once more bowed to her guardian. "Good night, Master Mochizuki."
"Good night, Yori-chan," the ninja master replied.
Her face still radiant, the Japanese teenager righted herself before strolling out of the quarters to journey down the hallway to her own room. Tonight had ended wonderfully for her, and she had one wise man to thank for it. From this point onward, Yori, with a warm heart, gladly placed one Hiroshi Mochizuki as her second father next to Sensei, who would forever be her first father in her heart.
After watching Yori leave, Master Mochizuki, his grin still on his face, turned to face the small makeshift shrine and the calm moonlit night outside the windows. Closing his eyes, his mind thought good thoughts about Ron Stoppable, for the young blond man was slowly and steadily shaping to become the destiny Sensei knew he would grow to be… The Chosen One.
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TBC (End of Chapter 21)
A/Ns:
1) For anyone's information, 'kunoichi' is Japanese for 'female ninja'. I'd picked it up from the anime and manga of the Naruto series, and since it's used often in Naruto fanfics, I presumed it is correct. If this word is not true Japanese and only created for the Naruto series, please let me know and I'll correct it.
2) Yeah, this brief chapter is an extension of the previous chapter. I was about to start the story, which originally suppose to be for this chapter but will now be Chapter 22, when my mind came across the idea for this extension. Kim was surprised that Yori didn't know about Zorpox, thus she wondered whether the Yamanouchi network was aware of Ron's transformation into the villain. I couldn't leave this question go unanswered, and given Yori didn't know of Zorpox, there's no doubt she would wonder the same thing about Yamanouchi's knowledge of the villain and directly asked Master Mochizuki whether Sensei and others knew about this.
Is this really important to the overall story? Not really. Just we know Yori is dating Ron, and given she cares about him, she would want to know the answers to questions regarding her boyfriend and this particular brief time he went 'bad'. It makes sense given it was a shocker for her to learn this, even though she knows Ron would not ever likely become Zorpox again. But least she now knows Ron trusts her for him to reveal about Zorpox. :)
3) If no one is aware, I do admit that the idea for the Lotus Blade turning black wasn't original. It came from Sestren NK's great fanfic "Acts of Desperation". I think it's a good concept that the blade, being link to Ron, would change if he was to turn 'evil'. After all, the Lotus Blade responds to anyone who has Mystical Monkey Powers, and if Ron is indeed 'The Chose One', the blade would respond to him more than Monkey Fist or Rufus.
So I give credit to Sestren NK for this idea. If you have not yet read "Acts of Desperation", I recommend it. A great dark fic full of drama, suspense, and love, especially feeling it from Kim on her quest to save Ron. Check it out! (big grin)