SailorStar9: Chapter 18 goes up and no review. You guys don't love me anymore. *Wails*
Disclaimers: I don't own Sailor Moon and Flame of Recca since if I did own them both, the Planetary Senshi will have equal footing as Sailor Moon and the Domon/Fuuko pairing would be canon. But you don't see that happening do you? However, I do own the pairing, I hope.
Chapter 19a: A Schoolyard Paradise
The Buto Satsujin has finally come a a close. After all the hard-fought battles had ended, the Hokage emerged victorious. However, their battle is over yet. Fate has thrown them onto the battlefield once more. And a new story is beginning.
Late that night...
"Now, what's so interesting about the night sky?" Mikagami asked the female ice wielder as he stepped out of the shower.
"The stars..." Anhara replied. "They tell of a new battle."
"Never knew you were into fortune-telling." Mikagami remarked, hugging her from behind.
Feeling her stiffen in his arms, he added, "That was Neptune's power, right?"
Her glare pretty much answered his question.
"You never did have the time to mourn for them, did you?" he realized.
Anhara glared harder.
"Sorry." the ice wielder muttered an apology.
"Tokiya, shut up and hold me." Anhara requested.
Mikagami blinked for a moment before pulling her close into his embrace, Anhara sobbing quietly on his chest.
The next morning in Recca's house...
"Huh... ah... just gimme me five more minutes..." Recca muttered, smashing his alarm clock.
"Phoenix Smash!" Koganei crashed into the sleeping Recca. "Yo, it's already morning, Recca-nichan."
"Ahhh... yeah, ok Koganei." Recca mumbled, getting up. "Ummm, who is it we fight today?"
"Hey! Wake up! Get it together!" Koganei fumed.
"Hey Recca, pull yourself together." Kagerō chided. "Pretty soon, Kaoru-chan's going to laugh at you."
"Ahh, I gotcha, ka-chan." Recca replied, still dozy. "Huh? Where are Mikagami, Kimura, Domon and Fuuko? Still sleeping? It can't be helped.?"
"Ah! Wake up, wake up!" Koganei tried to wake Recca up as Kagerō fumed.
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot." Recca noted at breakfast. "Koganei will be staying with us for a while."
"That one is way better that you!" Shigeo remarked.
"Is that so...?" Recca twitched, seeing Koganei in an over-sized school uniform. "Hey that sure does fit you, too! Are over-sized clothes back in style?"
"That's really mean!" Koganei shouted.
"That's Fuuko-chan's brother's old uniform." Kagerō supplied. "Kaoru-chan is in middle school."
"What, you mean you're not still in elementary school?" Recca joked.
"You're mean!" Koganei fumed.
"Both of you, shut up and get out!" Shigeo shouted.
In school...
"Yo!" Recca declared, dashing through the door.
"Recca!" his female classmates beamed. "You survived, you bastard! What was that, Hanabishi! We were so bored without you! You never even called me!"
"You beat me in that last ball game!" another girl fumed. "I've been waiting all this time to get you back!"
"Without you to get all the answers wrong, we started to look bad!" one of the delinquent male students teared.
"Oh! Hanabishi!" Talsako-sensei beamed. "What's with that attitude?"
Somehow... all of this feels strange... Yanagi mused. Just a while ago, we were still at the coliseum. Now, all the fighting just seems like a dream... the school... the classroom... the classmates...
"Hey someone!" the female teacher hollered. "Beat up our sleeping fool!"
The peace... Yanagi continued.
"Well then... let's go." she added, on the rooftop, showing Fuuko and and Domon her drawings. "And so finally Recca-man finally gets to fight with the evil leader! He can't lose! He has to win! BANG! BAM ZAP! FIRE DRAGON ATTACK! To be continued next time! That was Rose Yanagi's Recca Man, Volume 6!"
"Ah! You're terrible!" she fumed after Fuuko and Domon remained silent. "Could my stories really be that bad?"
"Ah! Very entertaining!" Fuuko noted nervously.
"Yeah, really interesting!" Domon added, fearing the healer's wrath.
"Ah, it's just really hard to focus today." Fuuko added.
"Yeah, me too." Domon admitted. "The normal life is messing with my mind!"
"Really... things are being weird lately." Fuuko remarked. "I am running with, like absolutely no sleep. Ever since we got home, Ganko just wouldn't leave me alone."
"For me, when I got home, my Mom beat the shit outta of me." Domon complained. "She's even stronger than Noroi... and then when I got back to class, I had skipped so many times that no one had noticed that I left."
"Hey Hime!" Recca burst onto the rooftop. "Your loyal ninja has arrived bearing baked goods! Let's see, I got the three favors, along with curry and some others."
"I'll leave the pork one for Recca-kun." Yanagi beamed.
"Wow, he sure converted back to usual fast." Fuuko sweatdropped.. "He is extremely adaptable.
Fun... this is really fun... Yanagi smiled. Always.... I've always wanted this... please god... this moment... I wish that it could last forever...
"Hey Frankenstein, where's Mikagami?" Recca asked. "And Kimura for that matter."
"I'm not Frankenstein!" Domon fumed. "I didn't see them today! And I don't know anything about the second year classes."
"I didn't see them either." Fuuko added. "But yesterday, Mi-chan mentioned something about going somewhere... where do you think he went?"
In the mountains...
"This is a mess..." Anhara noted, the two ice wielders looking at the demolished dojo.
"What was your first clue?" Mikagami deathpanned.
What exactly... just what exactly happened here...? he mused. Master Meguri Kyoza... you are where and what...
Somewhere else...
"The time has come for you all to take the spotlight." Mori told his newest fighters. "In order to accomplish this, we must work through our plan in the correct order. First, we must acquire the strongest madōgu, Tendou Jigoku, which is hidden dead in their territory. I will take Renge with em to accomplish this. Second, we must make sure that Kurei is dead. Find him! I can't rest until I have his head! And third, we must keep an eye on the Hokage's healing girl and the last Celestial Star."
"Hihihih..." he chuckled. "Even if Kurei is still alive, all of his Uruha members have either died or deserted him. Furthermore, the old Jyushinshu member, Rasen, is now the leader of my Mori Koran's Ura Uruha. Rasen, you are a smart man. Staying loyal to Kurei will only result in your own death. The Hokage have been marked! Get them alone, and kill them off, one by one!"
Chapter 19b: The Other Shinobis
"We've been living normal lives for a few days." Recca narrated. "And it seems that we are finally used to the way things used to be..."
"Ah, welcome back. Dinner will be ready soon." Kagerō told her returning son.
"Sure." Recca beamed hand headed straight for his room.
"Ah. Sorry, Recca-nichan." Koganei apologized when a stuffed toy hit Recca smack on the nose.
"That's Kaoru-kun's big brother?" one of Koganei's female classmates asked.
"I guess they do look kinda similar." her companion replied.
"Hey Koganei." Recca pulled the younger teen aside. "You're pretty popular."
"Eh?" Koganei blinked.
"No, they just wanted to come over and play!" he protested.
"Hahah! That's what makes you popular!" Recca teased. "Heheh! One man surrounded by women!"
"Making fun of Koganei-kun..." the leader fumed, the three girls hitting Recca. "We won't forgive you even if you're his brother."
"You... sick... little bitches!" Recca fumed.
"Sorry..." Koganei stammered. "Oh yeah, you should watch your back, Recca-nichan. Something has been strange lately."
"Strange..." Recca echoed. "What?"
"Well, for two days now, I felt like being watched." Koganei admitted.
"Watched?" Recca echoed.
Somewhere on a rooftop...
"Well! Finally the five of us have been gathered together. And we're a scurvy lot if I've ever seen one." Kirin started. "Soukakusai, Kamui, Gaou and our leader, Rasen!"
"You dare say that?" Soukakusai demanded. "To think that you're calling us troublesome, Kirin!"
"It seems like the other Ura Uruha haven't appeared." Gaou added. "Like Aoi... where are these freaks of nature?"
"They're out looking for Kurei and the rest of the traitors." Kirin replied.
"The traitors?" Gaou echoed. "Oh, you must mean those three ninjas."
"It's fine to just leave them." Kamui noted. "I mean, do they really pose such a threat to the Ura Uruha? They are unimportant."
"Regardless, your target is the Hokage!" Mokuren barked. "So get your asses moving! You don't have time to fool around!"
"EH? What?" he demanded upon seeing Rasen's stare.
"Watch your mouth, Mokuren." Kirin warned. "There's no need to tell us when to do our job."
With that, the fours disappeared.
In a park...
Fuuko was walking through the park, licking her cone when Soukakusai materialized behind her.
Near an abandoned building...
"Just who do you think you were messing with, idiots." Domon snapped at the defeated men on the ground. "Remember this. Remember this. From now on, you will bow when you walk past me!"
"What's this..." he grinned, when Gaou appeared behind him. "Looks like I missed one."
On his way back...
"Everyone run away." Koganei told the girls behind him.
"What?" the girls blinked. "Eh?"
"Hurry!" Koganei barked, revealing the Kōgan Anki.
It's no good... I'm too late! He thought as Koumi appeared on top of a lamp post.
In school...
"Sorry Recca-kun." Yanagi beamed. "I was too caught up in drawing! But I'm glad you came to pick me up."
We've been living normal lives for a few days. She mused.
"Well, it's dark here, so I thought you might get lost." Recca replied.
"Ah! That's mean!" Yanagi fumed.
And it seems that we are finally used to the way things used to be. Until... they came. She added.
"Who's there?" Recca demanded to the shadows.
Chapter 19c: Rasen and Kirin
"Um..." Yanagi stammered.
"Don't get too close, hime." Recca warned, recalling Koganei's warning. Watch your back. It feels like we're being watched.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Ahh... umm..." Yanagi blinked.
"I'm not sure why you're at my school at a time like this." Recca started. "But we're leaving. Move."
"The moon is quite pretty tonight." Kirin remarked. "We've met in such a romantic atmosphere. It would be a pity if you just left. Stan and chat a little longer! Hanabishi Recca-kun!"
"Nadare!" Recca summoned his fireballs to counter the throwing knives.
"Kyaah! Amazing!" Kirin gushed. "You got all of them! So you still know how to fight..."
"Oh no, I got cut!" she panicked. "Miscalculation!"
"I know about it!" she told Rasen, having read his thoughts. "Just a small mistake!"
"Don't run!" she hollered. "You have nowhere left to run. The other Hokage have already met their partners for our moonlight dance party."
In the abandoned building...
"Hey, hey." Gaou chided, having pummeled Domon into a wall. "You are Ishijima Domon right? When do you plan on getting serious?"
"Who the hell are you?" Domon snapped, getting to his feet. I was able to beat Noroi in the Ura Buto... this guy is more than he seems!
"Gaou." Gaou introduced himself. "And I have a little bit of unfinished business with you."
On the street...
"Uh.. .sorry but I don't have any weakness." Koumi remarked, gripping Koganei by his shirt. "Those little girls affect your concentration? I can tell because your temperature has been rising. You're small yet quite brave... and I used that against you."
"Stop it! How cruel!" the girls shouted. "Let Koganei-kun go! Take us instead!"
"I don't think so..." Koumi tsked. "I have grown fond of this boy."
In school...
"We are the 'Ura Uruha'." Kirin introduced. "Though we were once assassins working under the Uruha, now we work under Mori Koran's leadership."
"Mori Koran?" Recca echoed. These guys.. they don't work for Kurei?
"Kurei's 'Uruha' has been disbanded." Kirin replied, reading his thoughts. "And that's the truth. Kurei is dead."
"Eh..." Yanagi blinked.
""He's dead." Kirin added. "He fell into the ocean after sustaining multiple wounds all over his body. Honestly, the body has yet to surface, so we don't know all the details... but if you take all those holes and the salt in the water, the odds are that he died."
That's... no way! That... Kurei...! Recca gaped.
"Done." Kirin looked at her weapon. "We'll try this today. Oh, and there is a 'way'."
"Yahoo!" she declared, sending a whip-like drill from her weapon.
Yanagi pushed Recca out of the way.
"Ah! Another miscalculation! I forgot all about the healing girl!" Kirin cursed.
"Run Recca-kun!" Yanagi shook the fire wielder to his senses. "Get up!"
"Yes..." Recca blinked, the two taking off. Hime's amazing. That's right. If we fight in an enclosed area like this, sparks from my flame could get on hime! Plus, the strength of the enemy is unknown. To keep hime safe, we must move from here!
"They're so cute!" Kirin chuckled. "They both worry about each other!"
"I'm sorry..." she corrected, reading Rasen's thoughts. "Un, I'll stop messing around."
"Don't get mad at me, Rasen." she snuggled against him. "I'll get serious this time. There won't be another mess."
"Damnit! This is no good either!" Recca fumed, kicking the fire escape door. "No matter what, it won't open!"
"Instead of a door, we could try the window." Yanagi suggested.
"Hime! Good thinking!" Recca noted. I just can't believe that Kurei's dead! That dumbass is too stubborn to die... it just can't be true!
I told you it was the truth. Kirin's voice entered his mind. Kirin isn't a lair.
Wha...? Recca was stunned. This girl... I've been wondering for a while now... could it be...
"Yes, it's the 'could it be'." Kirin replied.
Chapter 19d: A Temporary Withdrawal
"Kuh!" Recca fumed, Kirin's weapon missing them a second time.
"We're running for it, hime!" he grabbed Yanagi and fled.
"Auh." Yanagi exclaimed.
"Hmm." Kirin noted, the pair running to the rooftop.
"Goddammit... this is a school." Recca cursed. "These guys picked a really shitty place for this!"
"Hey, are these people bad guys?" Yanagi asked.
"Of course they are!' Recca retorted. "A good guy wouldn't try to kill you the moment he met you!"
They say they aren't from Kurei's 'Uruha' but Mori's 'Uruha'. He noted. Their target is the Hokage... so that means that Fuuko, Domon, and the others as well...
"Bastard... did you think I'd be running forever?" he growled at Rasen who had appeared before him. "Don't underestimate, you albino asshole!"
"Say something, damnit!" he shouted at the silent Rasen.
That's impossible. Kirin told him mentally. Rasen, for some reason, has lost both his expressions and words... but don't think that he is a lonely man unable to express his thoughts.
"What is this voice?" Yanagi gasped, clutching her head. "It's like she's talking into my head..."
He has someone around that understands him. Kirin added. Someone to act as his voice, expression and heart...
"'Shingan no Kirin'." she introduced herself. "With this madōgu, 'Shingan', I can read people's hearts and allow them to read mine. Recca-kun seems to have figured this out along the way... and to think that your file had you labeled as 'extremely stupid'!"
"Who?" Recca fumed. "Tell me who said it!"
"Stay back, hime." he raised a hand to hold Yanagi back. "Hey, you said you were Kirin, right? I hope you don't think you were chasing us to the roof. This is the most open this school gets. So our fight will be here!"
"Wow, that's cool!" Kirin grinned. "Now then, Recca-kun! Can you handle my 'Houkishin' now?"
"Here ya go!" she fired her weapon at the fire wielder.
"The leader of the Hokage ninjas, Hanabishi Recca! At your service!" Recca declared, having severed the whip with Saiha's flame blade.
On the street...
"Alrighty then." Koumi noted. "Koganei-kun, shall I ask once more? I mean you're just too cute to kill. so... join up with the 'Ura Uruha'! You're a traitor anyway."
"I am..." Koganei started.
"Hm? A little louder please?" Koumi blinked.
"'I am a Hokage.' is what I said." Koganei replied. "I hope you understand, you perverted bastard."
"Looks like we need a few more lessons." Koumi noted. "It'll be fine, Koganei-kun. You'll just be as cute minus one hand."
"No..." the girls shouted. "Stop it!"
Koumi's assassination attempt was stopped by two ice blades through his chest.
"I... see there were two more Hokage..." Koumi remarked as the two ice wielders appeared. "So it was you two."
In school...
"Kuh!" Kirin charged.
This man... he really is strong! She mused. But...
"That just makes this more entertaining!" she declared. "I still have a couple of the Houkashin's crystals left... Uhyah..."
"'Koku'..." Recca summoned his seventh dragon.
"Wait!" Yanagi panicked. "Hey Recca-kun! Kokū blew up the dome and you're using it on one little girl?"
"It ends here." Recca grinned evilly. "We had better stop this now, assholes! If you don't clear outta of here, I'll fire!"
"Gah!" he was stopped by Rasen's sudden punch.
Allow me to introduce myself, Hanabishi Recca. Rasen's voice sounded in his head. I am Rasen of the Ura Uruha.
Whe... when was it that he got in front of me? Recca thought. I couldn't... I couldn't sense hi mat all!
"'It would be simple to kill you here. However, I shall leave that pleasure for later. It may have been an order, but I still don't agree with such tactics. We will fight in another place.'" Kirin voiced Rasen's thoughts.
"Ah, you're a gentleman." Recca remarked. "Where and when? But please do spare the school."
"'You will have your answer soon enough, and you will go to a place you must be.' Kirin quoted from Rasen's heart. "And those were the words of Rasen, spoken through myself."
"Sure." she beamed.
On the street...
"Alright, roger that, Kirin." Koumi remarked after receiving Kirin's order. "I'll see the three of you again. Especially you, Koganei-kun. I love you."
"Since when did you have a stalker, Kaoru?" Anhara quirked a brow.
"I don't know, honestly!" Koganei exclaimed.
"Koganei-kun!" the girls glomped their classmate.
It seemed as though he had no pain at all... that man... who was he? Mikagami mused.
In the abandoned building...
"What was that?" Gaou demanded. "What do you mean 'withdraw'? I am so close to killing him! Just let me kill him! I'll...!"
"I understand..." his protest was cut short. "I'll do what I'm told... tell Rasen I said that. Ishijima Domon... the next time, you die!"
In school...
There is a place where you must go... the hint is... Kirin passed her mental message to Recca.
"'Tendou Jigoku!" she shouted. "Your mama should know something. See ya!"
I'm looking forward to the day we meet again, Hokage! She passed Rasen's message to Recca.
Chapter 19e: The Two Craftsmen
In the Hokage hidden safe house the next day...
"Like.. I... said..." Fuuko started. "Who the hell was that!"
Everyone, minus Mikagami who was napping on Anhara's lap, sweatdropped at the fuming Fuuko.
"Ura Uruha... is what they said." Recca replied.
"So that was a bad guy!" Fuuko shouted. "Damnit, that pisses me off! Last night..."
"Fuuko's scary..." Yanagi blinked.
Flashback
"Who're you?" Fuuko demanded, dodging Soukakusai's attack. "I don't have time to play with strangers."
"My name is 'Soukakusai'." Soukakusai introduced himself. "You were able to sense my presence easily... you are just as I have heard, Kirisawa Fuuko. Very well done, kuku, kukukukuk."
"Ah! You took Fuuko-chan's ice cream!" Fuuko exclaimed, noticing that her cone was gone. "Bastard!"
"Hehihi, that would be an indirect kiss." Soukakusai chuckled, dodging Fuuko's outraged punch. "And the next time, I will take your lips... here's my prediction. The next time we meet, all of you will belong only to me."
That declared, he disappeared.
"So, now you all know what happened." Fuuko noted. Just thinking about it makes me shiver.
"Calm down, it was just indirect..." Recca tried to sooth her.
"Say that again, monkey boy!" Fuuko fumed.
"Angyaaah! You bastard!" she turned her attention to the sleeping Mikagami as Anhara had wisely exited from the impeding 'battle'.
"Stop sleeping, Mi-bou!" Fuuko stomped on Mikagami.
"Ah, she's finally lost it... Fuuko." Kagerō sweatdropped.
"Of course I'm like this Kagerō." Fuuko started. "I hate being treated like some stupid little girl..."
"Koku..." Anhara sighed as the group saw Kokū hanging onto Fuuko's back. Mayhem assued as Kagerō slapped Kokū away and Recca punching him away from Yanagi, sending him flying across the room, past Koganei and Ganko.
"My, hello, hello, hello." Kokū greeted the group. "Long time no see, you all."
"Screw the hellos, stupid old man." Fuuko growled.
"If you do that again, I'll kill you." Kagerō threatened.
"How, you're one of the eight dragons right!" Recca asked. "Tell me how the hell you can leave the seal without me calling you!"
"Yet another one of my super and wonderful powers!" Kokū beamed.
Turning serious, he added, "Anyway, yesterday, when Recca called me out, there was a girl named 'Kirin' who was quite cute... er... strong. And there was one more... 'Rasen' was it? That one... he is not as simple. To be honest, that man gives me the chills. It's different from Kurei, who is always radiating his intent to kill! That man has no murderous intent. Or anger... or presence... I feel no life... it's like he's nothing but a puppet."
"Didn't... that person say that he lost his emotions and voice?" Yanagi noted.
"Yeah, yeah." Recca nodded. "That girl who could read his heart was speaking for him. They mentioned something about a place we had to go... the hint was... I think they said 'Tendou Jigoku'."
At that, Kagerō, Kokū and Anhara paled.
"'Tendon Jigoku'?" Domon mistranslated.
"You can eat it alone." Fuuko deathpanned.
"Baka." Ganko agreed.
"Hey, do you know about it, ka-chan?" Recca asked his mother.
"I don't know much... but..." Kagerō replied.
"Tendou Jigoku." Kokū started. "That is... the most powerful and most evil of all the madōgu! Long ago, when the Hokage was still very young, the village possessed two genius weapon makers. And the weapons that they created were the Hokage madōgus! Both of them competed for the same reason. 'I am the greatest madōgu maker.'. However, the two of them had very different principals. One of them said, 'I make weapons not to kill, but in order to protect the lives of our loved ones.'. The other said, 'They are to kill. Don't spew such petty words! Weapons are ultimately used to kill people, so I make weapons solely for that purpose!' One of them made the shikigami (for paper), the other made the shikigami (for hair). One of them made Tetsugan, the other answered with Sekichuu. For the two of them to be born into the same time, fate... with the two craftsmen competing to be the first to create the 'ultimate madōgu'... it is only natural that their skills would have been honed to perfection."
"Now I get it!" Domon noted. "The rivalry increased both their skills!"
"So that's why some of the madōgus are really similar." Fuuko realized. "Like Ensui and Hyōma Ken."
"Using these two as an example," Kokū continued. "A weapon such as Ensui, which contains no inherent evil, was made by the first master and the far more dangerous Hyōma Ken was created by the second master! And the one 'who creates weapons to kill's final work was... Tendou Jigoku."
"And of all the madōgus that the Hokage people have guarded throughout the centuries," Kagerō added. "The Tendou Jigoku is the only one considered truly dangerous! It is in this country... sealed in a place where no one can reach it."
"So..." Recca started. "Where is it, old man?"
"Haven't a clue! Uhya! Hyahya! Hyahya! Hyahu!" Kokū laughed.
"Recca." Mikagami arose from Anhara's lap. "When Rasen and Kirin appeared in front of you, do you know why they didn't attack Yanagi-san? We have no way of knowing what they want. However, they did say that Kurei had been killed by Mori. If that's true, then Mori no longer had a need for Kurei. But why would that be? Could I be that he has stumbled across an even greater power? Here's my conclusion."
"Mori wants to get ahold on the Tendou Jigoku." Anhara added. "And he has already found the location of its seal."
Mikagami gave her a 'how-the-hell-do-you-know-what-I-was-about-to-say' look.
"Great minds think alike." Anhara replied.
"Don't say stuff like that!" Recca scolded. "If he... if he got it that would be the worst possible thing!"
"And Kokū, you appear to know where it is." Mikagami added. "No matter how much you hide it, the truth can be seen on your face."
"I can't..." Kokū replied. "That place... only that place, you mustn't go! It is far too dangerous! I refuse to tell you!"
"Damnit, so you did know!" Recca hissed. "Where?"
"I can't!" Kokū shouted.
"You'd better think this out. When Mori manages to get 'Tendou', that's when the real danger starts." Joker remarked from the door.
"Who's there?" Fuuko demanded.
"That Kansei-ban..." Domon blinked. "No way!"
"If you would please, allow me to tell you." Joker slid the door open. "Hello everyone! I hope everyone's feeling good!"
Chapter 19e: A Return to the Field of Battle
"It was tons of trouble finding this place." Joker admitted.
That's... Mikagami frowned.
"Who the hell are you?" Recca cracked his knuckles. "One of Rasen's pals?"
"Who?" Joker stammered. "You already forgot? Look closer! It's me, Joker!"
"Joker?" Recca exclaimed after a while.
"Ah! Look at that face!" Joker fumed. " You still don't believe me? Then just wait a sec!"
"There!" he reappeared with his helmet on.
"I was wondering where the hell you disappeared to." Anhara noted.
"Ok, so we believe that you're really Joker." Fuuko remarked.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Domon demanded.
"Now you ask why I'm here..." Joker sighed. "I already told you. I'm here to tell you the resting place of the Tendou Jigoku."
"How do you know of it." Kokū demanded.
"Oh! You're the old guy who was in the dome." Joker looked at Kokū. "Ah! I thank you for the sake, young lady."
"It's only water." Kagerō deathpanned.
"Well, I saw that Mori-san was beginning to move kinda of strangely, so then I decided to do a bit of spying. He had this girl that I've never seen before next to him., and they were going to a rather specific place!" Joker replied. "That's probably where the Tendou is hidden."
"I don't trust you!" Recca snapped. "You're our enemy! What do you plan to do?"
"That's true." Fuuko agreed.
"He lied about being an Uruha when we first met him." Domon added.
"Well, you can believe me or not, it's up to you." Joker replied. "Actually, I kinda of liked you guys, not to mention that this is looking interesting, so I thought I'd help out."
"So, you call that 'helping the enemy'?" Recca echoed.
"Joker!" Koganei started. "I believe you!"
"Koganei-kun..." Joker blinked.
"Even though Joker may be part of the Uruha, I don't think he's that bad of a guy." Koganei added. "That doesn't mean I think you're a good guy. At least that's how I feel after fighting with him. Of course if you lied, I'll just bust the sixth stance out again."
"Ah, sorry, I'll pass on that one." Joker sweatdropped.
"Old man," Recca started, after taking a deep breath. "I will go to the hiding place of the Tendou Jigoku. I know this is really dangerous and that you're worried. But, even an easy-going guy like you has gotten too serious to try and stop me. If that freak bastard Mori Koran manages to get the Tendou Jigoku... hime... all of us will be faced with a far greater danger!"
"We must find the strongest madōgu before Mori and destroy it." Fuuko added.
"It looks like this'll be a race!" Domon added.
"Do what you like! I give up!" Kokū exclaimed. "The one time I feel like being serious and no one listens! Humph!"
"Kyah!" Kagerō screamed when Kokū touched her butt.
"Move with all your heart! That is a place not even the native Hokage dare enter!" Kokū warned, re-entering Recca's seal. "The Ura Uruha... they will not be your only enemies."
"So, it's been decided." Joker concluded. "Well, we should get going."
"Before that, Joker." Recca started. "If you know the answer to this, please tell me. Kurei... is he really dead?"
"As for now, the organized 'Uruha' with Kurei-san's at its heart no longer exists." Joker replied. "In the Ura Buto, Kai, Genjuro, Jisho, Noroi... four of the Jysuhins have perished. Raiha-san disappeared during the final match. In her attempt to save Kurei-san, Neon-san fell into the ocean with him. All of the soldiers that were led by Mokuren have joined the Ura Uruha. But the worst of it is, one of the two Jyushinshu that have yet to show themselves has taken the lead of the Ura Uruha! And that man's name is Rasen!"
He's one of the Jyushinshu? Recca was stunned.
"I don't really know anything about Rasen. He is a man with many secrets." Joker added. "Kurei-san may have lost his Uruha, but..."
"He couldn't have lost his life!" he shouted. "That guy couldn't have died so easily!"
"Wh... what has me all worked up, it's not like this has anything to do with me..." he stopped after his outburst. "Hm, well, whether he's alive or dead, I suppose we'll be finding out soon enough."
"For your peace of mind, Joker." Anhara interjected. "Your Kurei-san isn't dead."
"Eh?" Joker blinked.
"Do you know that everyone of us is born under a star?" Anhara started. "The star Kurei was born under hasn't died out, though its light has dimmed considerably."
Yeah, that's true. Recca agreed. That fool, a strong body is all he has going for him.
"Hey!" Fuuko started. "Isn't there a little something about this that's getting you excited? Just a little? Do you suppose we love this excitement?"
"Looks like this is the end of it." Domon agreed. "Our peaceful little vacation."
"Count me in. I like this way more than pushing a pencil." Koganei added.
"You're going too, Mi-chan!" Fuuko grinned.
"Who... who said I wasn't going to go..." Mikagami deathpanned. "Why only me..."
No... not... not again... I'm going to have to wait for Fuuko at home again... Ganko whined.
"Alright! Let's go, Hokage!" Recca declared.
The Hokage have moved into the battlefield once again... their goal... destroy Tendou Jigoku!
SailorStar9: Yeah, I continued from the manga from now on. Now that's done, read and review.