Chapter Nine – Tetsujin Juusan

Author's Note: I do not own the Buso Renkin series and the characters of the original series. I own only the original characters of this fic, Sakuya Mutou, Kaworu Jounouchi, their siblings and friends, Phalene, some members of the Alchemist Army, and the enemy, the Tetsujin Juusan. Buso Renkin is the creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

–

"Yata…" Kaworu muttered as he glared at the shinobi-like character with wings of kunai knives. The man was like a crow, as his name sake, for he was stealthy in the night and dangerous towards his victims. Kaworu knew this man wouldn't hesitate to tear them apart. But the name of his organization, the Tetsujin Juusan…that meant the "Thirteen Philosophers." Why "Philosophers?" "Let me ask, Yata-san," Kaworu said with such formality, "what is this Tetsujin Juusan that you spoke of?"

"A shinobi never reveals his secrets!" Yata exclaimed and flapped his wings, releasing more kunai knives. But Kaworu deflected them all with a swing of his Garden of Eden. He charged at Yata, slashing at him while Yata deflected with his knives. "Oh ho! You are angry! Is it because I hurt the girl? How angry will you be if I kill her?"

"Do not lay a hand on Sakuya-kun!" Kaworu roared as he stabbed toward Yata. But Yata dodged and stood on the tip of the blade. The bottoms of his feet were made of steel! "You…"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Yata grinned and somersaulted Kaworu on the chin, sending him flying back. "I am not your average Homunculus. No…I transcended FROM a Homunculus! I am a Philosopher Being now, one who was drenched in the liquid of the Philosopher Stone!"

"The Philosopher…Stone? You mean you're…"

Then Yata deactivated his Buso Renkin. In his hand was a Kakugane, a Kakugane made of crimson. It was like the color of blood. It had the number pXIII on it. He grinned as he reactivated it. "We who are blessed with these Kakugane will live forever! No matter how you strike at us, we will persevere and wear you down until you can no longer stand!"

"That red…that Kakugane…" He remembered the red light from the footage of the incident. "That's the Orichalcum, the lost, but greatest mineral ore in the world! It is said that it can even break a diamond!" Kaworu leered at the man and stood up. "How did you get that? Were you involved with Muto-sempai's disappearance?"

"I will not say, for this battle has been dragged on long enough." Yata spread his kunai-covered wings, ready to flap them. "I will drag you down into the shadowed hell with your girlfriend! For Kami-sama!" Just as he was about to flap his wings, a pair of circular blades flew through the trees, slicing off his legs. "Wh-what?" He began to flap his wings to levitate off the air, but he couldn't stand without his legs.

The circular blades flew back to a blonde-haired man standing behind Kaworu. Kaworu turned to him, and his eyes widened. "W-Warrior Chief Gouta!" he gasped. The droopy-eyed Warrior Chief stepped forward, smirking. "Then…" He turned to where he left Sakuya. She was in Tokiko's care, the girl's Kakugane on her leg. Tokiko looked up at Yata and glared at him. "You guys…you came…even though I told you not to…"

"We heard everything," Gouta calmly replied, twirling his gear-shaped chakrams on his fingers. "This man definitely had something to do with Kazuki-kun's disappearance. I'm sure of it."

"That red Kakugane was the same red light in the incident," added Tokiko, standing next to Kaworu. "That man…and the Tetsujin Juusan he spoke of, they're related to my husband's disappearance!"

"Warrior Chief Tokiko…" 'I've never seen her so angry before…' Kaworu gazed at Tokiko's glaring eyes and shuddered. He turned to Yata, who reattached his legs and was healed by his Homunculus powers.

"So you have Warrior Chiefs on your side!" Yata chuckled, crossing his arms. "Then I'll have no problem thinning the numbers of the Alchemist Warriors! Shadowed Assassin!" He flapped his wings once more, but Kaworu and Gouta deflected them using their Buso Renkins, Garden of Eden and Motor Gears. "Hmph! Looks like I'll have to change tactics!" He wrapped himself with his wings and hid in the leaves of the trees.

"In this darkness, we'll never catch him…" Gouta muttered. His Gears started to spin, and he held back his arms. "I remember fighting a ninja before, but I never said it was the easiest battle fought…"

"What are you going to do, Gouta-san?" Kaworu asked. Tokiko waited for a response.

"Simple…make sure he has no place to hide! Motor Gears!" Throwing his gears into the air, the pair of chakrams ran though the trees. Leaves started to fly everywhere. Soon, the trees were bare, and Yata was exposed, his wings still wrapped around him.

"What?"

"He's mine! I'll make him pay for what he did to Sakuya!" Tokiko jumped up the trees and towards Yata. "Buso Renkin of the Execution Scythe! Valkyrie Skirt!" From her miniskirt was a pair of thigh wrappings containing two scythe-like weapons extending outward. They slashed out at Yata.

"Did you forget? I have a Philosopher Kakugane! I can't die, and I am stronger than you!" He extended his wings and was prepared to flap them, but he was left wide open for an attack from Kaworu. His Garden of Eden was flung at the Homunculus, striking through his chest. "Aaagh!" he gasped, blood dripping from his mouth. This forced a deactivation of his Buso Renkin.

"Garden of Eden…" Kaworu began to explain with Gouta listening intently; this was the first time Kaworu had done something like this, "does not protect me from enemies. It repels anyone from touching me, rejecting them completely." He glared at Yata with his purple eyes, and Yata shuddered. It was those eyes again. "Garden of Eden! I reject!"

The blade began to glow, and flames covered the entire sword. It forced apart Yata's body and split the upper half of his torso from his bottom half. He coughed out blood as Tokiko drew closer. "B-But I'm a Philosopher! I can't be defeated!"

"I'll splatter…YOUR GUTS!" Tokiko roared as her blades sliced up Yata's body to pieces. His arms, legs, even his head fell off the tree and rolled to Kaworu and Gouta. He was gasping in pain. "Hmph…you're not so strong without your Kakugane…" Tokiko scoffed as she picked up the Crimson Kakugane.

"K-Kami…-sama…" groaned the beheaded Yata. It was amazing! He really was immortal, but in so much pain. "Help…me…"

"Kami-sama?" Gouta knelt down to Yata and held him up by the older man's spikey hair. "Oi, who is this Kami-sama? Your boss? Answer me!"

–

Elsewhere, the Tetsujin Juusan, shadowed figures, all except for Sasori and the young man with black hair, watched from a hexagonally-shaped screen. "Your usefulness is at an end, Yata," the man sitting on a throne-like chair said. "After all, you are the weakest of us." Then he snapped his fingers.

–

Yata's eyes widened. He felt so much pain that he started to scream, "KAMI-SAMA! KAMI-SAMA! PLEASE! FORGIVE ME! FORGIVE MEEEE! AAAAGH!" In an instant, he turned gray and crumbled into dust, falling through Gouta's fingers.

"Hey, wait!...Shit!" Gouta slammed his fist on the ground. "We…didn't get enough information from him!"

"That's not important, Gouta-kun!" Tokiko scolded her fellow Warrior Chief as she looked at the healing Sakuya, then at Kaworu. "These kids are safe…we'll take them back to the dorm and try to assess everything there."

Kaworu nodded and walked to Sakuya, who was breathing heavily. "Did…did we win?" she asked weakly. Kaworu brushed her cheek with his hand and nodded, smiling. But that man…he saw Kaworu with familiarity…does that man know anything that Kaworu doesn't?

–

Back at the dorm, "Nurse" Mahiro patched up Sakuya's leg, even though it was completely healed. She couldn't help sob over the wellbeing of her only niece while Souta sobbed with her. Sakuya couldn't bear this much attention and screamed at them to get out, leaving her with Kaworu, Gouta, and Tokiko alone. "I was…totally weak…" she muttered, biting her lower lip. "Against a guy like that, I couldn't do anything…Kaworu-kun…okaa-san…hentai-san…"

"H-Hentai-san?" Gouta exclaimed. "It's Gouta! Gouta Nakamura!"

"You all did your best to protect me…and I laid there, crying like a little baby…" She began to tear a little, holding her chest once more.

Tokiko placed her hand on Sakuya's shoulder, sitting on her bed. "It's not having to defeat the enemy that proves how strong you are," she lectured. "But rather, it is the drive to protect and use your power for the greater good. As long as you have that, no one will be stronger than you." Gouta smiled, crossing his arms as Kaworu nodded.

"But the Tetsujin Juusan…if that Yata person was that difficult to fight, then we may have a powerful enemy on our hands." Gouta rubbed his chin, trying to think. "Tetsujin Juusan…Thirteen Philosophers…Tokiko, what happened to the crimson Kakugane you found?"

Tokiko took the Kakugane out of her pocket. "You mean th-oh!" she watched as the luster of the crimson faded into silver, then gray, and the Kakugane broke into dust. "The Kakugane!"

"It appears that these Kakugane share a bond with its user. If the user dies, the Kakugane crumbles as well." Kaworu thought a bit, looking at the pile of dust. "Its number…pXIII, correct?" Gouta and Tokiko nodded. "Then it is safe to say…if there are only thirteen of them, and Yata was easily defeated by two seasoned Warrior Chiefs who claim they had a hard time fighting with, then…Yata is the weakest of the thirteen."

"No way…" Gouta gasped.

"Are you kidding me?" Tokiko added, rubbing her forehead.

"This just means…" Sakuya was lost in thought, looking at the pile of dust. "…the rest of the twelve will be even stronger than him…maybe stronger than both okaa-san and hentai-san."

"Hey!"

"And that means…I have to start training even harder. Nonstop!" Kaworu looked at Sakuya's eyes. She was filled with determination. "And Kaworu will be with me all the way!" Surprised by his mention, Kaworu stared at Sakuya. He smiled and nodded in agreement.

"In any case, you'd better rest for now," Tokiko smiled and kissed Sakuya's forehead. "You be good in school tomorrow, okay. And if anything, don't hesitate to call, okay?"

Sakuya nodded and waved goodbye to Gouta and Tokiko. She saw that Kaworu was still there. "What's up, sensei?" she teased.

"Your Buso Renkin…" Kaworu started. "You've…never given it a name yet, have you?"

Sakuya looked up. "Now that you've mentioned it…" She had realized that with all that went on, she never had time to name her Buso Renkin. "Oh, I know! How about Super Ultra Mega Heavy Crusher? It's big, bad, and totally dangerous!"

Kaworu looked at her with distaste at the thought and shook his head. "The cloth at the hilt of your blade…it radiates a golden energy, as golden as the earth. It's strength is as massive as its size…how about Grand Gaia?"

Now Sakuya looked at Kaworu with such distaste. "Hmph…Super Ultra Mega Heavy Crusher sounded better…but I guess Grand Gaia sounds shorter and easier to memorize." She smiled at Kaworu. "Thanks."

Kaworu nodded and smiled back, walking to Sakuya. He extended his pinky to her. "Promise me…from here on, we'll do our best. In training and in battle."

Sakuya looked at the pinky, then at Kaworu's violet eyes. She smiled at him and hooked her pinky with his. "It's a promise."

–

"Yata has been defeated. A shame." The black-haired man grinned deviously with his hands in his pockets. "What now, Kami-sama?"

"Hmm…our main problem is to take care of the only two Warriors at Ginsei Academy…" the man on the throne crossed his legs, and then pointed to two of the shadowed warriors. "I'm sure you two will handle the job correctly this time? Kabuto? Kuwagata?"

"Ya-hooo!" yelled one of the two. "Finally, some action, baby!"

"Shut up, Kuwaga," the other muttered and forced him to bow to the man on the throne with him. "It will be our honor, Kami-sama."