Redemption's Birth
These replies will go in order of the first person to the last, and will only reply to those of the chapter immediately prior to the chapter the replies are on. And I'm glad that I got so much positive feedback, it makes me wonder if all my fics should be like this, lol. Finally, I will neither confirm nor deny stuff that I choose. You will just have to read on to find out.
Review Replies:
unclejoex3: You are, in fact the first reviewer, and yes it was short, but going to far with a prologue would most likely be considered overkill. Yes there will me focus on the romantic aspects, but it is also how he perseveres and tries to cope with his disability of walking. You also need to remember that they have history, however brief, it's still there, and Kenichi still remembers that he traded his badge for a cat badge that was forced on him. Finally, it wasn't Kenichi's strength, skill, looks or their history that got her attention, it was his perserverance, his kind heart and his desire to do right in a situation where no one else could do anything.
Shou-kun: Highly unlikely, because Ryuto had years of training before he ended up seated for life, Kenichi has barely fallen off the cliff, that and the fact that his master developed him to be able to use the abilities of sei and dou at once. Not only that but Ryuto himself said that he would take up boxing as and had already taken up karate. Although I have to say that I'm disappointed in you, Shou-kun, you took my idea and added another twist of your own, and all without my permission. lol, jk. The initial chapter idea of him being able to save Takeda without anyone else being close or fast enough to save him is up for adoption without exception, I'm just disappointed that no one came up with this idea sooner.
ryuken-sogetsu: You'll just to read and find out for yourself.
Wan Shi Tong: That's all a matter of perspective, because not everyone likes fics where everything goes wrong in the first chapter.
seadra01: That's kind of redundant. I like reviews, but I like them even more when they show a bit more insight of how a story can go, that way I can properly reply as such.
King Kubar: Both are true, but the fact of the matter is that none of the masters save for maybe Shigure and Hayato could teach those styles to Kenichi, and we all know where Kenichi stands as far as weapons usage.
Audentous: Why thank you, as I've said before, this idea just wouldn't leave my head, and trust me I've tried. I wondered what would have happened had Ukita not been there quick enough to catch him as he lost consciousness. I'll try, but remember that angst is necessary to develop a plot, as are quite a few other details. The creator was the one who made the characters and their personalities, I'm simply taking advantage of how each of them are and get them to work in their own unique way.
DISCOV1: I thank you for that. Everyone's reaction will depend on who they are and their connection to Kenichi.
Winter Knight: No, I'm not ending it now. You'll just have to read and find out.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Flashbacks and Notes
Disclaimer: I don't own History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, because otherwise I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter 1: Coping with Circumstances
Everyone in the dojo was silent as they heard the news about what happened save for the sniffling coming from a huge man in a training gi and sweat shorts.
"Why do the good die young?" one extremely muscular man with a rugged scar across the bridge of his nose said.
"He's not dead, Sakaki-san," Akisame told him as he kept in solemn face.
"He may as well be, his inability to move will keep him from being able to train," Sakaki told the jujitsu master.
This comment made every master quiet for a bit.
"How's Miu doing?" Akisame asked.
"She's been in her room for the past two day, hasn't stopped crying every time she's been awake," the biggest person there said. He had long blonde hair and an exceptionally long beard. "I've seen her crying in her sleep as well." He had a tear in his eye as well, the circumstances certainly could have been better.
They heard a knock on the door and Akisame walked to answer. The panting form of Takeda Ikki was on his knees.
"Onegai, I need a master," Takeda said to them.
"I would think you wouldn't want to fight after the whole incident," Akisame said to him. "Besides, this dojo doesn't have a boxing master"
"I owe Shirahama-san too much to just let his business go unfinished," Takeda said to him as tears started rolling down his cheek. "It's still my fault this happened."
"Don't blame yourself, Kenichi would say that it was worth the injury if another would survive," the jujitsu master told him. "However, if you're so dead set on this, I do know someone who can train you."
"Really!" Takeda exclaimed to him. This was the best news he had heard since Akisame restored his left arm.
Akisame simply started walking. toward the gate. He turned around and called to Takeda, "Are you coming?"
"Hai, sensei," Takeda said as he followed with a jogging speed.
The rest of ther masters were still sulking in the dojo.
"What exactly are we going to do?" Sakaki asked as he looked at everyone else. "Kenichi kept us all busy."
"I have to leave to clear my head for a bit, I'm going to Yokohama," a man wearing a green tunic and a bowler hat said as he walked out of the room.
"I still have a few things I need to do," said a beautiful woman with long black hair wearing her hair in a ponytail with a slim, pink ribbon and a dark pink shinobi gi. And she left the room.
"I need to do something, I'm going to the race track," Sakaki said as he left, the giant, bronze skinned man following him, not wanting to be alone.
"This is difficult for all of us," the elder said, another tear going down his cheek. He went up to see his granddaughter.
He walked up and opened the door.
Miu looked up to see her grandfather, Furinji Hayato stepping in.
Hayato had brought up a glass of water to help Miu with her dehydration.
"Miu," he offer her the glass, which she accepted whole-heartedly and downed it in one gulp. "I'm glad you don't drink."
Miu shot her grandfather a look.
"All joking aside, I think we need to visit Ken-chan," Hayato said with a solemn expression.
Miu just looked down, "Jii-chan, I don't think this is a good idea, through cause and affect I'm the reason he's there in the first place. If I hadn't taught him anything, he wouldn't have had to face all of those delinquents, and he wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. I should have been quicker." With that Miu started breaking down in tears again.
"Now now, none of that," Hayato told her as he took her by the hand. "This is best thing right now." Hayato had quite a few years of experience so he knew the best remedy for circumstances.
Miu just stood up slowly.
Shirahama Residence...
Kenichi was just sitting in his bed, he really couldn't do much else given his condition.
A young girl that looked like a female form of him walked in, trying to liven his spirits, "Cheer up, onii-chan, at least you don't have to worry about delinquents."
"That may be true, Honoka, but now they'll start harassing other people, at least I was being trained," Kenichi said, not looking in his sister's direction.
"I said you shouldn't have been drawn in by that big breasted girl," Honoka told him.
Kenichi looked up at her and spoke with a dead serious tone, "It wasn't Miu-san's choice, nor was it yours, so don't go badmouthing others about the results of my decisions. No matter what kind of influence I had, heavy or not, the choice was still mine."
Honoka felt a chill go up her spine at the look in her brother's eyes and the tone of his voice. "Hai," was all she could say.
Kenichi just looked down and said, "Gomen, please just leave me be for now."
Honoka only nodded as she walked to the door, she took one last look at her brother before stepping out and closing the door.
Kenichi pulled a book from his shelf and started reading.
Front Door of Shirahama residence...
Hayato knocked on the door and waited while keeping his hand on Miu's shoulder.
Miu herself still wore a distraught look with tears in her eyes.
A middle-aged man opened the door and was surprised to see who was standing.
"Konnichiwa, my name is Furinji Hayato," Hayato introduced himself. "This is my granddaughter, Miu. We're here to visit Shirahama Kenichi."
"Unfortunately, Kenichi isn't able to come to the door at the moment," the middle-aged man said as he motioned for the two to come inside. "He has been bedridden since an unfortunate accident."
"Miu and I are well aware of his current condition, and Miu has been quite depressed since said accident," Hayato said. "May I have your name?"
The middle-aged man nodded and said, "My name is Shirahama Mototsugu, and Kenichi is my son."
"I figured as much," Hayato said. "You certainly look like a good father figure."
"Arigatou," Mototsugu said as he brought them upstairs. "Kenichi hasn't exactly been in the best of moods since the accident, although he doesn't seem to regret his actions. Occasionally I find him staring out the window with a longing look."
Mototsugu knocked on the door and a response was made, "Come in."
"Kenichi, some people have come to see you," Mototsugu said as he walked in.
Kenichi looked up from his book and was surprised to see Hayato and Miu walking in. "Miu-san, Elder, what are you doing here?"
Motostugu, now confirmed that his son knew these people stepped out.
"Unfortunately, you weren't the only victim of that accident," Hayato told the boy. "Miu hasn't stopped crying since Akisame told her. Speaking of which, I'd better get her some more water," and with that the blonde man stepped out of the room.
Kenichi looked at the girl, and his heart just broke at seeing her like this, her cheeks were puffy, eyes red, bags in her eyes indicating lack of sleep, she wasn't even facing him, and the worst possible Kenichi saw was that her eyes lost the fire and sparkle she usually carried. Kenichi looked like he wanted to cry himself when he saw her in this state, he called her name, "Miu-san."
"Gomen nasai," the blond said to him.
"Why are you apologizing?" Kenichi asked. "You didn't push me off of that roof, you didn't choose this life, in the end all I can say is that I'm sorry for being such a fool, but if it meant that I would have saved another life, then I would have gladly give my life up."
"Don't say that," Miu told him. "You don't know how much that would affect everyone around you. Do you know how many people would miss you?"
"Probably not many, Nijima might, though that would be more because he needs protection, my parents and Honoka definitely, the masters might as well, but that was because I was probably their main downtime," Kenichi sighed. "I don't know about the last person, I swore that I would become stronger to protect them and I end up paralyzing myself trying to save someone else in fool's nobility," he looked out the window with a sad smile on his face. "And the sad part of it all is that I don't regret any of my actions, I only regret that I wasn't stronger to pull Takeda-sempai up faster."
His words only made more tears come out of Miu's eyes and she said, "Kenich-san, if only I had been faster, if only I hadn't brought you into this world, if only I hadn't taught you one technique, if only I hadn't met you, you would still be able to lead a normal life, you wouldn't have had to fight all of those delinquents, you would still be able to walk."
"Miu-san," Kenichi said her name. He took her hand and pulled her over to his bed. He put his hand under her chin and made her look at him square in the eyes, "I don't regret the means that caused me to end up in this condition, because I saved a life in doing so. I don't regret all of those fights, because I fought to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. I don't regret the hellish training the masters put me through because then I could protect others. I don't regret you teaching me anything, because that's what started my path to being a martial artist. But, most of all, I don't and will never regret meeting you, you showed me a world I never knew. If given the opportunity to do over everything within the past few months I would do everything exactly as I had done before, including the accident, because in the end, it's because of how unfortunate my life has been that I ended up meeting you."
Kenichi took a close look at her face and said, "Did I really cause such tears from you?"
"Iie, Kenichi-san, it's just your condition is so depressing, the masters have been taking it hard as well," Miu admitted to him.
"The masters aside, maybe we shouldn't have met," Kenichi told her.
Miu just gave Kenichi a horrified look as she asked, "But you just said..."
"That was before I saw how distraught you were, anything that happened to me, regardless of the magnitude, is nothing compared to the pain of seeing condition you're in, it's especially painful knowing I'm the one that caused it," Kenichi said to her with a sad look on his face.
Miu couldn't help but stare at him, and take a long hard look. The condition he's in, the trials he had to go through, the people he faced, all of these problems and the only thing he regrets is seeing her cry. Her eyes started tearing up.
"Miu-san, what's wrong?" Kenichi asked, wondering why she was crying now.
"You're such a good person, Kenichi-san, and seeing you in this state just causes so much pain, especially knowing that I caused it," was all Miu told him.
Kenich looked at her with wide eyes. 'She's feeling the same kind of pain,' he thought. He took one of her hands and pulled her onto the bed with him. He then wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her head to his shoulder for her to cry on.
Miu was a tad surprised by his actions, but followed through and copied his actions.
They stayed in this embrace for a few minutes. Both broke the hold after a bit and looked at one another.
Miu just stared into the boy's eyes and she couldn't help but be entranced.
Kenichi was staring himself, lost on the blond's eyes.
What they didn't realize was that they were drawing closer to one another. Their lips met and their eyes closed and for that moment nothing else mattered, not Kenichi's paralysis, not Miu's sadness, not the reason they were there, not even their dreams mattered. All that mattered was them and this moment.
When they parted, both were flushed. Miu stood up and bowed to him.
"Gomen," both said instantly.
"Why are you sorry?" they both asked.
"I took advantage of you in your depression," Kenichi said to her.
"You didn't take advantage of me, if anything I did that to you, in your current state you wouldn't be able to resist," Miu replied, moving her arms to explain.
"Miu-san, despite my condition, resistance of the situation was the last thing on my mind," Kenichi stated bluntly and without thought.
Miu just blushed at Kenichi's reply.
Kenichi pulled Miu back onto the bed with him.
She didn't resist.
"Miu-san," Kenichi said to her.
"Kenichi-san," Miu said back.
They both leaned in again.
Neither noticed the door opening slightly and closing, or the clinking sound that came right after the door opened.
End of Chapter...
I know, kind of short, but it's a work in progress. This manga isn't nearly as silly as some of the ones that I read so the likeliness of an Omake occurring is exceedingly low, so don't ask for them. It seems now we have a new relationship in bloom. Some of the masters are trying to find a means to distract themselves from the current predicament. Shigure is weapon hunting, Sakaki is going to the race track with Apachai in tow, Akisame is guiding Takeda to a boxing master and Kensei went to Yokohama. Anyone who has read far into the future chapters knows the identity of the boxing master. This event may just cause quite a few new revelations. Hell, with this story, I might even do a crossover with another one of my fics. Anyway R&R and please give constructive criticism. I like knowing what I did wrong.