Sorry for the delay you guys. It's just been a crazy 2 years for me. Lots of things happened to me that were mostly bad and I lost a lot of my motivation. Well I'm back for now and I'm gonna keep on trying my best. We're gonna explore Renka's world a bit more and find out some new things about some of the old characters. Without further ado let's begin Chapter 35.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of Senran Kagura's characters. But I do own the story.
Warning: Nothing too bad really. Maybe some innuendos but most of it is pretty tame.
Chapter 35: Provisional Licenses
After getting Haruka to go out to Kat's house, I asked her where I'd be able to find Yomi since she didn't seem to be at school today. In fact, I couldn't find Murasaki either. Haruka informed me that they were both at home still recovering. So after receiving their addresses, I decided to stop by Yomi's place first. Which took me near the docks in the most northern part of town near the ocean. The address took me in front of this giant ship sitting on one of the docks. I was in awe at the sheer sight of its size.
'Was this the famed ship of the Sadistic Berserker Pirates?' I thought as I walked up the walkway to board the ship. The ship's deck was humongous. It was decked out with cannons, rope and cannon balls besides the cannons. The mast was huge and extended clear across the ship and very high up into the sky. I was too busy looking around when I heard a female voice call out to me, "Renka, what're you doing here?"
I turned to the source of the voice to see Yomi up the stairs on a higher part of the ship looking down at me. I waved. "Hey, Yomi! Come on down, I've got something I want to talk about!"
Yomi smiled at my cheerfulness. "Alright. I suppose I could oblige for a few minutes." She said, giving a playful wink. I blushed from the wink as she descended the stairs. Once she was in front of me, she gave a cute curtsy. "Welcome to my humble home. Famed ship of the Sadistic Berserker Pirates."
I smiled and looked around. "I thought that's where I was! I've never seen a pirate ship up close before so I wasn't sure."
Yomi opened her arms up wide with a wide smirk on her face. "Well, drink it all in! This is the same ship I grew up on! The same ship that was owned by Hinata Kurusu at one point!"
I smiled at her excitement. "It's really amazing, but that's not why I'm here, Yomi. I'm here on official business."
Yomi tilted her head in confusion. "Since when has anything been official with you Renka?"
I sighed. "I did make Leader for the Elite Class, you know?"
Yomi smiled and waved her hand dismissively. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just not used to the whole you being a leader thing yet. So what does the Leader of the Elite Squad of shinobi want with me? Did you come here to tell me that I failed to make the cut?"
I frowned at her. "Fail? Why would I be here in person if you failed Yomi? No, you completely passed and made it into the Elite Squad of our school!"
Yomi's eyes went wide in shock. "A-Are you serious!? I passed!?"
I nodded and gave Yomi a thumbs up of approval. "Yup! I need you to come with me! I need to gather the rest of the team and we've got a few more stops to make."
Yomi cheered in excitement. "Wait, I'll grab my gear and we'll be on our way!"
I saw Yomi run back up the stairs and I smiled at the fact that she was so excited. Personally I had hoped she would make it after all she's been through in her life. Homeless and practically starving from a young age, enduring all that pain she had to go through. She was too young to be made to suffer like that.
Following her up the stairs and seeing this same girl strapping on her gear and twirling around in the mirror happily. I couldn't be more proud of her than I was of myself. She deserved this as far as I was concerned.
As we left the ship we made our way across town to a giant mansion with a wide open garden stretching for miles in front of it. I pressed a button on the intercom and some maid appeared on screen. "Saito Mansion. How may I help you?"
I smiled and waved. "Hello. We're here to see Murasaki Yahagi."
Yomi looked over and gave this look that seemed to say "No way! She passed!?"
The maid stared at me blankly. "Is she expecting you?"
I shook my head and frowned. "No, but we're here on official orders from the 31st Kagura."
The maid's eyes then widened in surprise. "Alright. I'll send our butler there to pick you up in a second."
I nodded and Yomi tapped me on my shoulder. "So, who's the 31st Kagura?"
I looked to Yomi. "You'll find out soon enough. We're going to go see her after this. I'm kinda on a strict time schedule here. We need to assemble by the time of the end of the school day."
Yomi flinched in surprise. "That's not too long from now. Are we gonna make it?"
I quickly nodded. "We should be able to. Our next stop is the hospital, then Kat's house, then we'll be on our way after I check on Kat's condition."
Yomi raised an eyebrow. "Kat's condition? What happened to her?"
I sighed. "She checked herself out against the doctors orders and reopened all of her wounds from her battle with Yagyu. She's now at her house with Nurse Haruka tending to her wounds."
Yomi frowned. "Good lord, has she never heard of rest? I swear she's gonna kill herself before she graduates."
I felt a nasty chill go down my spine from Yomi's words. Luckily, this is where a golf cart pulled up and a distinguished gentleman got off. He bowed after he opened the gate to the garden. "Hello, ladies. My name is Barnes and I shall be the one escorting you to Lady Murasaki today."
We both nodded and we both boarded the golf cart and Barnes started driving off. Making his way towards the mansion. As we drove Barnes looked at me and smiled. I tilted my head slightly. "What?"
Barnes chuckled. "My apologies, Milady. It's just that we are not used to receiving visitors for Lady Murasaki. She doesn't have many friends you see and she tends to be a shut in most days. In fact, she rarely even shows up to school most days. So it was quite a surprise you see when she started going to school for those few days a little while ago. After that, she came back with some minor injuries but after a bit of rest she recovered in no time."
I chuckled in embarrassment. "Yeah, that whole week was crazy for a lot of us."
Barnes quickly turned so fast I had to grip onto something with the force of the turn. "Yes, especially with the passing of the late Sayuri Hanzo. The master wasn't pleased after arriving home that day. He hadn't been home in a while but he seemed rather unhappy that the whole situation had occurred. He doesn't talk much to his daughters anymore either. Not since the incident occurred."
Barnes pulled up to the mansion and parked the cart, he helped us both off and opened the door. "This way, ladies. I'll also answer any questions you have regarding Lady Murasaki."
I swallowed harshly. I thought it was best not dig into Murasaki's father with their being bad blood between them. "Can you explain why Murasaki and Imu have two different last names despite being sisters?"
Barnes didn't even glance my way but still spoke. "Of course. Saito is the family name, and the owner of the mansion used to be Lady Murasaki's and Lady Imu's grandfather Hattori Saito. He arranged for the manor and everyone and everything in it to be passed down to his daughter, Lady Hikari Saito."
Yomi chuckled. "Ironic given that Murasaki's powers are that of darkness."
All Barnes did was continue walking leading us upstairs. "Trust me, the irony is not lost on us either. One day, Lady Hikari had gotten involved with one of the servants of the house. She ended up bearing his child, all the while Lord Hattori put the servant to death for daring to touch someone of royal blood. Lady Hikari gave birth to Lady Imu around that time. So naturally she bore the family name. Once Lord Hattori had passed, he left everything to his daughter. One day she got involved with and married an evil shinobi named Noboru Yahagi. Lady Hikari eventually gave birth to Lady Murasaki soon after that. I trust that that answers your question."
I nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Barnes."
As we got to Murasaki's room, Barnes opened the door. "Lady Murasaki, you have guests."
Murasaki was huddled up in the corner of her room, laying in the fetal position holding her giant doll. I walked over to her and waved. "Yo, Murasaki."
Murasaki pushed up the doll near me holding it right side up and spoke in a funny voice, "Well, well, well! Look at what we have here! If it isn't Renka Mikagura! Come to gloat about your victory over poor Murasaki here? Well, go ahead, she deserves it anyway."
I stared at the baffling scene before me. W-Was she making her stuffed bear talk for her!? I didn't know what to say. I looked back to Yomi, who shrugged and made the "I don't know" pose. Apparently Yomi was even more dumbfounded than me. In the end, I had just decided to play along. "We've come to give Murasaki a message. She needs to come with us."
Murasaki continued using the bear to speak for her, "Why would you even want that? Don't you know how useless Murasaki actually is? She's stupid, useless, lazy, no help in a fight. She'll probably just slow you down to the point where it'll get you all killed. She has no talent as a shinobi whatsoever. I mean, you'd be better off with the substitution log than her as a partner."
I saw tears hitting the ground after Bebeby-tan finished. Her soft cries filled the room as she whimpered and moaned in despair. I looked at the crying girl below me and thought, "She really let her loss get to her, didn't she?"
I get down on my knees and lift Murasaki up and put my arms around her. "It's alright, Murasaki. I'm so sorry I ever called your powers nothing special. After fighting you, I've realized the opposite actually. Murasaki, you're an amazing shinobi!"
Murasaki looked surprised that I had actually said that but soon broke down and cried even harder than before after that.
After we attended to Murasaki we left the mansion and made our way to the hospital where Minori should've been done with her rehab. The three of us headed up the elevator. As the doors closed and we started going up, Murasaki finally spoke up. "Renka, what did you need me for? And why did I have to bring all of my shinobi gear?"
Yomi sighed. "I don't know if we should tell you yet or not. We don't need you crying while we're going through the hospital. It'll just make a scene."
Murasaki jumped out of her skin scarring both me and Yomi. "A-Are you gonna feed me to the bear god?"
Yomi tilted her head. "Bear god? You shouldn't talk about such strange dreams when you're with friends, Murasaki."
Murasaki chuckled darkly. "Strange dreams? That doesn't even scratch the surface of how weird my dreams can get. I once dreamed I was in a bear outfit and pretending to be a bear looking for meat, until Asuka handed me my Bebeby-tan doll. Then I think we played a strange pinball game."
Yomi sighed and I chuckled. "Now that's a strange dream, eh, Yomi?"
Yomi shrugged. "Not as strange as dreaming you found your soulmate, but he seemed to be trapped behind a TV screen. With him playing some strange and suspicious games with you. Using some rather strange objects and touching you."
I felt my face burn red while looking at the ground. "You two, have some strange dreams, I fear."
When the elevator hit our floor, we walked over to Minori's room. We walked to the doorway and I knocked as the nurse was putting down food in front of Minori. Minori shot her hand up immediately, waving. "Renka! How are you!?"
Minori was beaming at the sight of me, but her smile soon faded when she saw both Yomi and Murasaki traveling with me. "Oh, hey. I didn't know you three all started hanging out."
I gave a little laugh. "No, Minori, we're not 'hanging out.' We've been given a mission and need you to come along with us. Nurse, you think she could make a little journey?"
The nurse sighed. "I don't know. You'd have to push her in a wheelchair the entire time as she's still not as steady on her feet as we'd like her to be at this stage."
Minori shook her head aggressively. "But my mom said that I was just taking my time to heal and that I'd be back on my feet in no time."
The nurse scoffed. "Yes, but even so, we still don't want you doing anything too strenuous for the moment. Then your spine can have the chance to heal back fully rather than giving you anailment like scoliosis or anything."
I shook my head. "Don't worry. We'll keep her confined to her wheelchair and have back before evening."
The nurse's brow furrowed. "How important is this?"
I gave a sincere smile. "It was ordered by the 31st Kagura, ma'am."
The nurse sighed, fixing her golden locks. "Fine. Just have her back before the evening."
I gave the nurse a salute. "Will do, ma'am!"
After that, we all helped Minori out of bed, into the wheelchair and,and made our way towards Mt. Orochi.
No sooner had we arrived than Nurse Haruka came out of the house, leaned against the wall and giving a sigh of relief. A lot of blood on her hands and apron. My hair stood on its end witnessing this sight. I quickly ran over to her. "Nurse Haruka! Is Kat okay!?"
Nurse Haruka sighed. "She'll live but I gave her a stern scolding for checking herself out of the hospital ahead of time. She tore open a lot of her old wounds. I was surprised she hasn't died from blood loss yet. She's on very thin ice right now, so I'm putting her on strict bed rest and gave her a dose of antibiotics to help with the healing. If she doesn't listen and continues to reopen her wounds, she really will die."
My eyes widened at what she said. "S-She's in danger of dying!?"
Haruka rubbed her aching temples. "Not at this moment, but if she keeps doing this, yes she will be. Need I remind you that she's supposed to be in the hospital after all. I'm not nearly equipped enough to deal with serious injuries like this. I'm just the school nurse after all. That's what hospitals are for after all."
I looked at the house, almost ready to burst into tears. "Kat…"
Haruka took off her gloves. "Something is driving her to get stronger, even at the expense of her health. Whatever that is, you need to put an end to it. Otherwise, you'll end up burying Kat a lot sooner than you'd expect."
I looked down at the ground sheepishly. "I'll do my best."
Afterwards, Nurse Haruka gathered up all of her things and departed back to the school. I took the other three inside Kat's house and had them wait in the living room while I went upstairs to check on Kat. Sure enough, she was out like a light after that dose of antibiotics that Nurse Haruka had given her.
Once I had gotten downstairs Murasaki spoke, "Renka. Now that we're not at the hospital, would you mind telling me what I was needed for?"
Minori raised her hand from her wheelchair. "Yeah me too! What did you need Minori for? What's going on? What does the current Kagura want with us?"
I got to the center of the room as Murasaki and Yomi had taken a seat. "You guys know that after winning the tournament, I was appointed the leader of the Elite Team right? Well, I was tasked with gathering the remaining four students who passed and were promoted to the Elite Class with me."
Murasaki and Minori both had the 'what does that have to do with me?' looks on their faces. So I cleared my throat, "Murasaki, Minori, you both passed. You two and Yomi and Kat are a part of my team."
No sooner than this information had been processed did Murasaki burst into tears crying loudly. Minori even shed a few tears herself. "R-Really!? Even Minori?!"
I laughed. "Yes, even Minori."
Yomi raised her hand. "What do we do about Kat? If you were tasked with gathering up all of us, then she is in no shape to go anywhere at this moment. Wouldn't that mean that you failed before you even started?"
I flinched at what Yomi said. Had I already failed or would they forgive the fact that Kat was not supposed to be moved at this moment? I put my hand to my chin in thought. "Well we'll just have to explain the situation to them and hopefully they'll understand. We'll fill Kat in on any details she missed later."
Yomi sighed. "Well, it seems to be our only option at the moment. She seems to be quite the hassle lately."
I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "She usually means well. She truly does. Anyway, we should get to city hall before we lose any more time."
Everyone nodded in agreement and we made our way to the Grand Council offices at city hall. As we walked in I waved. "Yo, Soji!"
As we passed her I heard her shout back, "I said we're not friends, you little brat!"
All four of us arrive at Homura's office. Homura smiled at all of us. "Glad you all can make it!" But then she looked around at all four of us. "Wait, we seem to be missing one head. Where's Katsuragi Kobayashi?"
I looked away. "Kat had gotten placed on strict bed rest as she checked herself out of the hospital too soon and reopened all her worlds heading back to her home."
Homura rubbed her aching temples. "Well, if it can't be helped, then we'll just have to fill her in later once she's in better condition."
Yomi raised her hand. "Grand CouncilWoman Homura. Are you surprised to see that I have passed?"
Homura gave a hearty laugh. "Not at all, Sprouts. In fact you're just like your mother was when she was your age."
Yomi blushed. "I-I don't think so. I mean, Hikage-sensei, or rather Mother, was a lot stronger than me at my age. You both went to school together so you should know."
Homura got up and patted Yomi on the head. "You're right, I know how strong Hikage was in her prime, and you're definitely just as strong as she was in school."
Yomi smiled brightly. "Th-Thank you!"
Suddenly we heard a knock on the door. "Enter."
The door opened and Ikaruga came through. She bowed. "You wished to see me, Grand Councilwoman Homura?"
Homura nodded. "Yes, thank you for coming, Ikaruga."
I crossed my arms. "So what's going on? I'm assuming Ikaruga-sensei is here for a reason."
Homura chuckled at my input. "And people called you the idiot, inaccurate claims if I do say so myself."
I smirked. "Thank you, Lady Homura."
Ikaruga interjected. "So now what am I here for? And do you know who the new Kagura is, Lady Homura?"
Homura gave a little chuckle and puffed out her chest. "You're looking at her, Ikaruga!"
Ikaruga's jaw dropped so fast that I could've sworn I could've heard the metallic clanking when it hit the floor. The others had their jaws on the floor too. I laughed loudly. "Yeah that was my reaction too."
Homura clapped her hands together. "Let's cut right to the chase, shall we? Every year, once we chose our Elite class, we would then chose one teacher to put incharge of them."
Ikaruga's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, why me!? I thought you would've chosen a teacher who has less connections with the students."
Homura crossed her arms. "But you're the one who has the least connection with them. Hikage is Yomi's legal guardian, Kafuru is Renka's sister, and Imu is Murasaki's sister. So it's not wise putting them In charge."
Ikaruga took a step forward. "But I've trained Renka, Kat and Minori before. I believe Yozakura-sensei would be a better fit for the girls."
Homura sighed. "But Yozakura turned us down. Said something about not wanting to consort with the type of shinobi Renka and Kat are."
My ears perked up at that information. 'The type of shinobi Kat and I are? What the hell did she mean by that?' I thought angrily.
Ikaruga looked exasperated. "She still has those beliefs?"
Homura nodded. "Unfortunately. But she did recommend you for this. You said it yourself, you trained them, so you'd know what's best for those three. All you need to do is find out where the other two are in their training. You are in the best circumstances to find out how to train them."
Ikaruga shifted her weight on one foot from the other. "But, Lady Homura, I really don't agree. I don't think I'd be a good choice for them. I'm sorry but I'm going to decline too."
I went over and took a hold of Ikaruga's hand. "Ikaruga-sensei, please help us."
Ikaruga snatched her away. "You know how I feel about you touching my hands, Mikagura!"
I retook her hands. "I know you don't like it. But please guide us. Don't abandon us in our moment of need, Ikaruga-sensei."
Ikaruga sighed, "Alright. I'll try, Mika- I mean Renka. I will guide you girls to the best of my abilities."
Homura smiled. "Well, now that that's settled. It's time to get you girls signed up for the Provisional Licensing Exam."
I looked at Homura. "Provisional License? What's that?"
Homura put her hands on her sides. "Got your attention, did I? A provisional license allows you to partake in work as a shinobi and get paid for it. It's required by law for all shinobi to have one if they wish to get paid for their work."
Ikaruga took a step forward. "Usually they hold the exam here in our home, but with the death of Mistress Sayuri, they're going to hold it on the island nation of Hawken."
I crossed my arms. "Why don't they host it here? What happened to Mistress Sayuri wasn't our fault."
Homura cleared her throat loudly. "It was just safer to hold it at Hawken rather than here. I'm still concerned that the Crimson Shadows might return so our best bet was to hold it out of home this year."
Ikaruga nodded. "I'll sign you girls up. All you have to do is get to training. The exam takes place in December. So you've got two months to get as strong as you girls possibly can."
We all nodded. After Yomi and Murasaki took Minori back to the hospital. I was about to leave too until Homura called out to me. "Renka, wait!"
I looked back. "Yes, Lady Homura?"
Homura pulled out a blade in its sheath. "Renka, when I have to send in my main sword, Engetsuka, to get its coating of Galaxynite Obsidian on it, would you like us to coat your weapons as well?"
I looked at her shocked. "I-I would be able to have that!?"
Ikaruga jumped in. "Lady Homura!"
Homura smirked. "I think you could have a lot to gain from gaining your own Nebula form."
Ikaruga spoke up again. "Lady Homura! Might I interject!? Getting your weapon coated in Galaxynite Obsidian should only be reserved for our newest Kagura only! They shouldn't go to a student, much less one who can't control her own powers."
Homura sighed. "Listen, Ikaruga, you're too uptight. Also this might be her ticket to controlling her powers better. I saw her matches and it would be better if she uses as much ki as she can instead of conserving it like we usually do. So just think about what she could do with ten times her usual ki. She could be one of our strongest Shinobi of all time."
Ikaruga looked away. "I can see where you're coming from Lady Homura but…"
Homura chuckled. "You worry too much! It'll help her with her ki training too! The more she gets used to it, the stronger she'll become!"
I summoned both of my Rei Tei. "Would this really help me with my training?"
Homura turned to me and nodded. "But it's all up to you. If you truly want this then we'll do it. But we won't force you if you don't want it at all."
I nodded and held out both of my weapons, "Here, Homura! Take good care of them!"
Homura reached out and took a hold of them. "I'll treat them as respectfully as I treat my own Engetsuka. You have my word."
I released my weapons. "Thank you, Homura. With this new power boost, I'll carve out my own path 'til I take the seat of Kagura."
Ikaruga's eyes grew wide at my declaration. "Renka, you want to become the next Kagura?"
I nodded happily. "Yup! I'll be the one taking the seat of 32nd Kagura, Ikaruga-Sensei."
Ikaruga just looked shocked while Homura just gave a hearty laugh at my declaration. "Well, get your ass moving then, Mikagura! Train that body of yours! You've got two months before the Provisional Licensing Exam!"
I nodded really eagerly. "Right, and I know just how to do that!"
As I headed out I ran down the stairs and ran back past Soji again. "Hi, Soji!"
Soji got up once again. "Yeah, we're still not friends, you little brat!" Which earned a chuckle from me as I ran down the street in the direction of Mt. Orochi.
As I ran by the park, I could've sworn I saw my sister Kafuru in a dress and it looked like she was talking to a male Shinobi. Suddenly I remembered what my mother was saying something about this. Something along the lines of, 'if my sister was so worried about our family's honor, then she knew a few boys who would be over the moon to have a pretty girlfriend like her.' I chuckled at that thought. "I can't believe mom was serious about that! Maybe Kafuru shouldn't have protested so vehemently about Kat and I."
I laughed really loudly as I made my way straight towards Mt. Orochi. With nothing but seeing Kat and training on my mind.
Chapter End
Well that's that for this chapter. Next up comes the two month time skip Chapter. With some shocking revelations. I hope you enjoy and till next time everyone, Ayame out!
