Flying in the Wind

by WingzemonX

Ayaka and Kazuha were engaged as children, and a sweet young love blossomed between them. But Kazuha's family fell into disgrace, and the engagement was undone. Several years later, and at the height of the Vision Hunt Decree, Ayaka's path crosses Kazuha's again, and she quickly realizes that her feelings for him still linger.

32. 32 Wanderer vs Oni

Chapter 32
Wanderer vs. Oni

Genta and Mamoru were having little luck with the dice that afternoon. They had joined three more of their usual gambling partners, and the five sat in an alleyway in Hanamizaka, forming a small circle with a porcelain plate in the center where they rolled the dice in full view. By those hours, the two young men had already lost at least two-thirds of their meager salaries. But if there was one thing they still hadn't lost, it was hope.

"Do you still want to continue?" one of the other men questioned them with a sly smile on his lips. He moved one of his hands with delight, shaking the dice between his fingers. "A little more, and we'll leave you just in your breeches."

"Stop talking and shoot!" Genta exclaimed in exasperation. "Don't be so conceited; you can't be so lucky all the time."

But, apparently, he could. The man tossed the dice onto the plate, and they bounced and rolled, leaving just the number the gambler needed to outdo the others. Genta and Mamoru let out a high-pitched groan of disbelief and annoyance.

"Cannot be!" Mamoru snapped. "You must be cheating on us! They sure are loaded dice!"

"What are you accusing me of?" the man he had just thrown coldly muttered, standing up quickly. His rigid, aggressive gaze was fixed downward on the two men seated before him, and his hand came dangerously close to the sword at his waist.

The two men, clearly identified as members of the Arataki Gang by their black hats and red kanji on the front, nervously backed into place.

"Well…well…" Mamoru muttered with a stammer. "I just said…"

The man with the sword was definitely not happy about being smeared as a cheat. His fingers pressed firmly against the hilt of his weapon, more than ready to draw it in one fell swoop, depending very indeed on the following words that were about to come out of those two's mouths.

Luckily for everyone present, before anyone could say anything more, for or against the accusation, someone suddenly appeared at the mouth of the alley and jumped into it in a hurry.

"Here you are!" the newcomer yelled vigorously, drawing everyone's attention. "Where have you gone? I've been looking for you everywhere!"

The two members of the Arataki Gang turned to look over their shoulders at the young woman with green hair and the black mask standing behind them.

"Ah, hi Shinobu," Genta greeted her hesitantly. "How are you? We were just hanging out… with some friends…"

Shinobu looked up, immediately sensing the tension in the alleyway, ready to explode at any moment.

"Come with me," Ms. Kuki muttered, reaching out to the two members of her gang to take them firmly by the collars of their suits and then pulling them out of the alley.

"Hey, this useless pair still owe me a hundred more moras," the man with the sword warned sullenly.

"Really?" Shinobu muttered, turning to look at him hard. "Because it does not seem to me that this complies with the official regulations established by law for games of chance. Should we involve the Tenryou Commission in this matter?"

"Hey, it's not that bad, Kuki," added another of the bettors, raising a hand to her as a sign of calm. "This was just a friendly game between colleagues..."

"If it was all friendly, then you won't mind us leaving, will you?" Shinobu concluded curtly. "Since we have an important matter that requires our attention. You understand, right?"

The three gamblers looked at each other, hesitating, and this silence was the right opportunity to continue their flight.

"Perfect," Shinobu said, pulling her two friends out of the alley. "So if you'll excuse us, we'll leave."

"Sorry, guys," Genta said with a shrug.

"You heard; there's an emergency," Mamoru added, following his two friends.

"We'll settle accounts tomorrow! Did you hear?!" the man with the sword snapped loudly for them to hear.

Once out of the alley and walking down the street, Genta and Mamoru felt much more relieved and safe.

"Well done, Shinobu!" Mamoru pointed out happily.

"You saved our lives!" Genta added. "If it weren't for you, we would surely have had an awful time."

"Now I think we can go and have a drink with the money we didn't pay that guy," Mamoru proposed, and without waiting, he began to move quickly towards the bar on the next corner. Genta soon followed him more than agreed to the idea.

"No drinks!" Shinobu exclaimed in a commanding voice, grabbing the two of their suit collars again to stop them. "I wasn't making this up when I said we had important business to attend to! Where is the boss?"

"Itto?" Genta muttered, a little confused. "I'm not sure. He said something about being hungry, and I think he and Akira went to eat something."

"Where?" Shinobu questioned seriously.

"They didn't say it specifically," Mamoru replied with a shrug. "Why are you so upset? What happened?"

Shinobu hesitated a bit before answering. She shifted her gaze to one side and then the other, scanning the people on the street as if expecting to see a suspicious observer in the crowd. Still saying nothing, she took both men by the arms and yanked them quickly into another alley before either could utter a complaint. Once out of sight of the rest of the passersby, Shinobu felt confident enough to finally speak, albeit very slowly.

"Shikanoin Heizou intercepted me earlier when I left my house."

"Shikanoin?" Genta questioned dismissively. "What did that presumptuous brat from the Tenryou Commission want?"

"That's the problem, I'm not sure," Shinobu answered seriously. "But he asked me some very strange questions about whether I knew anyone around here who still had their vision or whether I had indeed turned mine in when requested. He didn't make any direct accusations, but I think he was insinuating that… he suspects I still have my electro vision."

Shinobu turned to the side and shifted the shoulder pad she was wearing on her left shoulder just enough so her two friends could catch a glimpse of the purple orb vision hidden there. Her precious and secret treasure, which not even her mother knew was still in her possession, instead of serving as just another decoration on the Statue of the Omnipresent God.

"But that's impossible," Mamoru pointed out sternly. "Everyone knows that you gave up your vision like the others. Well, rather which you gave up a fake vision…"

"Lower your voice," Shinobu scolded harshly, coming close to lunging at him and covering his mouth with his bare hands. Their reaction was, perhaps, a little over the top since it was unlikely that anyone would listen to them, but not impossible. "That is the case; it seems to me that he is probably justly suspected that the vision I gave was false."

"It can't be," Genta muttered worriedly. "Do you think they are also suspicious of the boss's vision…?"

"I honestly couldn't tell what that guy or the Tenryou commission is up to," Shinobu clarified. "But while we don't know, the boss, I, and everyone we know who used one of those fake visions had better try to attract as little attention as possible."

"So, shouldn't we report this to Yoimiya?" Mamoru questioned. "She needs to know that the Tenryou Commission might be getting suspicious, don't you think?"

Shinobu took her chin with one hand, meditating for a moment on her partner's proposal.

"I suppose," she answered in a low, somewhat hesitant voice. "But the most important thing is to inform the boss so that, for the love of the Archons, he doesn't do anything that might draw unnecessary attention from the Tenryou Commission."

"Don't worry, Shinobu," Genta laughed nonchalantly. "The boss knows that there are many people in town for the upcoming festival and that when that happens, the guards want to lock up anyone who causes trouble. I assure you, he won't do anything to attract attention just by going to eat with Akira..."

---

The other members of the Arataki Gang were unaware that this dangerous activity, which could draw unwanted attention from the Tenryou commission, was in fact being carried out right at that very moment while they were conversing. Arataki Itto, who had just proclaimed himself at the top of his lungs before everyone present in the restaurant, not only as the leader of the gang mentioned earlier but also as the Hero of Hanamizaka, was now the center of everyone's attention; from the confused looks of the customers and assailants, the horrified look of the owner, and the expectant and curious look of Kaedehara Kazuha from the door.

"Arataki Gang?" one of the raiders murmured slowly. "I had never heard that name at all..."

The comment brought a slight show of anger to bloom in the huge oni.

"Ha, obviously, that's because you're pretty dumb and ignorant, as well as ugly. If not, there's no way you wouldn't have heard the name of the mighty Arataki Gang before, the most feared and respected group in all of Hanamizaka."

"I've lived here all my life, and I've never heard about them either," one of the diners muttered to his companion, though not low enough so that the oni a couple of meters from them couldn't hear him.

"You guys keep quiet!" he exclaimed out of mere reflex, making the two men jump and turn away. Itto seemed to immediately notice his outburst, so he cleared his throat a bit and, in a calmer voice, added, "I mean, don't be afraid of Hanamizaka's good people. As long as I'm here, scoundrels like these won't get away with it. Akira! My mace!"

"Are you sure about this, boss?" the oni's companion whispered unsteadily.

"Do I look insecure?!" the oni responded with slight hostility, extending its right hand towards him. "Throw me my mace!"

"Okay…"

Still clearly not convinced, Akira grabbed the long, heavy weapon leaning against the table with both hands and tossed it in the direction of its owner as best he could. Although he didn't actually manage to lift up or move it very far, it was enough for the oni to catch it in the air with a single strike, flip the mallet over on his head, and hit the ground with it right after, causing the entire place to shake a bit.

"Alright," he mumbled with a confident smile, looking attentively at the three ronin. "Do you want to leave the good way, or do you want me to get you out of here the hard way?"

The two raiders fell silent, holding their weapons firmly in front of them.

"I think we should go, Mugen," one of them murmured slowly to his companion.

"Don't be scared," the other replied with annoyance. "It's just an oni. Everyone knows they are just talkers who want to intimidate with their size, but in reality they are dumber and more useless than stone."

Those words did not improve Itto's noticeable lousy mood.

"But you already saw what he did to Souji," the first of the assailants indicated nervously, pointing his sword towards the third of them, knocked down on the ground after receiving that direct punch.

"That idiot confided," the ronin named Mugen declared, raising his weapon high. "If we both attack him simultaneously, he will get confused and probably won't even know what to do."

"You think so, friend?" Itto whispered very slowly, outlining a half smile. "So I want to see exactly how you are trying to confuse me, please…"

The two ronin got into position, grasped their weapons firmly, and with a battle cry, they charged at their opponent at full speed. Halfway there, their routes split, trying to attack from different directions.

"Wow, that seems a bit confusing, indeed," Itto whispered. "However..."

The oni gripped his club tightly in both hands, exerting such pressure that the veins in his muscular arms bulged. He pulled his weapon back so quickly that the movement created a rush of air that rattled the plates and silverware on some tables. Then, when the two assailants were close enough, he pulled it back with even more force than before, drawing a long circle around him. The thick, hard end of the mace came straight for the first assailant, striking him full in the side. Then the weapon continued on its way, pushing through the air and the first ronin until it met the second in the same way. And when the movement ended, both swordsmen's bodies were thrown into the air like two baseball balls ready to go out of bounds. Shouting and spinning in the air, they headed straight for the front door.

Seeing how those two human projectiles were heading in his direction, Kazuha reacted quickly, jumping towards the street to get out of their path. The two assailants, however, did not exactly exit through the door but instead crashed through the wooden wall less than two feet to one side of it, creating a large hole and falling face-first to the ground very close to Kazuha's feet.

The wandering swordsman stared in surprise at the two men, beaten but still conscious enough to start trying to get up, despite the pain that engulfed their bodies.

He's really strong, Kazuha thought, stunned by such an impressive scene.

"Itto!" was heard as the owner snapped from inside the local. "Do you know how much it will cost me to repair all this?! You better have let them take the damn money!"

"Nonsense!" Itto's voice called out right after. "This is not over yet!"

Kazuha turned at that moment, just to see the huge figure of the oni leap out, not through the door but through the same hole that the assailants' bodies had created, enlarging it even more.

"Itto!"

Feet planted on the ground, the oni's intense eyes focused first on the two men on the earth but almost immediately on the third, in traveling cloak and kasa, standing not far from them.

"And who are you?" Itto questioned seriously. His eyes invariably took note of the hilt of his sword, protruding slightly from within the dark cloak. "Are you a friend of these guys?" he asked accusingly.

Kazuha was slightly startled upon hearing this. The scene was already beginning to attract the people's attention, who inevitably began to gather around them. Before Kazuha could reply, the two assailants managed to look up at him. Looking at his face, they inevitably ended up recognizing him.

"Master Kazuha?" mumbled one of them reflexively, immediately drawing the boy's attention, but also that of the self-proclaimed hero oni.

"Master?" Itto snapped, clearly confused.

The ronin named Mugen's gaze moved from Kazuha to Itto repeatedly. Despite the situation and the pain from the blow received, his mind began to race at full speed, especially when he clearly remembered the confrontation he had seen the night before between Katsumoto and that boy. That was, without a doubt, their best chance to get out of it.

So, before anyone else said anything, Mugen hastened to exclaim in a high-pitched, over-the-top tone:

"Ah, master Kazuha! Good thing you came to save us!"

"What…?" the wandering swordsman whispered, clearly confused.

"Now, he will give you what you deserve! You stupid oni!" Mugen yelled out loud, pointing a finger at him. "Our boss will give you what you deserve!"

"Your boss, huh?" Itto exclaimed scornfully. He raised his club, resting it on his shoulder. "So you are the leader of these rascals?"

"Of course n…" Kazuha tried to explain, but Mugen quickly stepped forward to interrupt him.

"Of course yes! You don't know who you messed with, idiot. Master Kazuha has killed hundreds of oni just like you before."

"He has done what…?" Itto muttered with contained fury, slurring his words.

"He'll take care of kicking your ass! Come on!" He quickly grabbed his partner, practically forcing him to stand up. "Let master Kazuha take care of this jerk…!"

And throwing that challenge into the air, the two ronin began to advance rapidly, as fast as their injuries allowed them, to leave the combat area behind.

"Hey!" Kazuha exclaimed in annoyance as he watched them leave. For a moment, he had the reflex to use his elemental energy to stop them, or at least reach them, but he instantly remembered the looks of everyone around him. He took the initiative instead to run after them, but the oni behind him evidently had other plans.

"Don't think I'll let you run, scoundrel!" Itto snapped like a bolt of lightning into the air, and with his mace held steady in his hands, he charged like a bull at the swordsman.

Kazuha was forced to give up his pursuit attempt, instead leaping swiftly to the side to dodge the oni's charge an instant before his club hit the ground at the exact spot where he had been standing. When his feet touched the ground again, he felt something flutter inside his outfit, and suddenly the small white figure of the kitten that was hiding there jumped out and ran away, perhaps somehow anticipating the imminent danger.

"Tama!" Kazuha exclaimed in concern, but he couldn't even take a step behind her either since Itto didn't stop his attack just there. As soon as he saw where Kazuha had moved, he pulled his weapon fully in his direction again, forcing his target back to manage to escape unscathed.

For her part, Tama slipped between the observers' feet, losing herself from the young Kaedehara's attention.

The oni's movements were fast, but not faster than other opponents Kazuha had faced, so his agility was enough to dodge them. However, the attacks were constant and erratic, making it difficult for him to even stand firmly enough on the ground before having to jump again. Furthermore, even without being directly touched by them, he could tell the great strength that each one carried. If he was hit by even one, it would likely not end well.

"Stay still!" Itto exclaimed in frustration after several of his attacks were dodged by that swordsman who moved from one side to the other like a grasshopper.

"Listen to me," Kazuha uttered as he kept moving. "Things are not how you think. Those guys have deceived you. I am not their boss, nor am I with them."

"Oh no? I clearly heard how they called you master Kazuha. Isn't that your name?"

"No... Well, my name is Kazuha, but..."

"Aha! See?! I'm not stupid enough to fall for your tricks!"

More determined than before, he attacked violently, striking the air and the ground with considerable force. It was evident to Kazuha at that point that he couldn't reason with him with words alone, but he still refused to draw his sword and use it due to a mere misunderstanding. He would have to opt for another strategy.

After one of Itto's attacks slammed the mace into the ground, Kazuha's dodge movement was slightly different. Instead of moving backward or to the sides, he rushed forward, his body almost glued to the floor, then literally slid across the ground and went under the oni between his legs. Itto, confused, completely lost sight of him for a few moments due to the suddenness of the movement. Kazuha, already behind his opponent, took advantage of this momentary confusion to stand up and jump against Itto's back.

The body of the Kaedehara clan samurai clung tightly to the oni's broad back like an insect. He then withdrew his sword, still sheathed from his waist, and taking it with both hands, passed it forward from Itto's neck, beginning to press the sheath hard against it while leaning his legs against his back to apply more pressure. Itto reacted to this in an aversive way, letting out a yell into the air, and directing his hands to his neck to try to shake it off, but Kazuha held firm in his place. He wasn't trying to suffocate him or anything like that, but he exerted enough force to try to subdue him.

"Calm down, please," Kazuha muttered sternly, still holding his sheath against the oni's neck. "You have to listen to me..."

"Never!" Itto snapped into the air, as high as the obstruction on his neck would allow. "I won't listen to anything!"

And with that statement thrown into the air, he made his next move that certainly took Kazuha by surprise. Instead of trying to throw the samurai off of him, Itto opted to flex his legs and then do a long backward leap with tremendous momentum, practically dropping backwards to the ground. Kazuha, still holding Itto firmly, couldn't react fast enough before they both ended up falling flat on the ground, and the oni completely crushed him against it with the full weight of his body.

A long, high-pitched wail of pain came from Kazuha's mouth, accompanied by a gasp of astonishment and awe from the surrounding audience. Due to the blow, the wanderer man's hands inevitably ended up loosening the pressure of the scabbard against Itto's neck, so he managed to break free and jump to his feet.

"Ha! What did you think about that?!" the oni exclaimed triumphantly, pointing to Kazuha on the ground. He was coughing and holding his stomach, trying to catch his breath. "That was Arataki Itto's special move! The Destroyer Comet! I bet now you can't even get up..."

He was just in the middle of those words when to his surprise, the crimson-eyed swordsman began to recover enough to start getting back on his feet. Although, at first, he kept his torso bent, his hands resting on his knees, and his face lowered as he continued to pant slightly.

"Wow, you're tougher than you look, dude," Itto pointed out sardonically.

Kazuha looked up at him at that moment, and among the blond hair that fell over his face, the harshness, almost aggressiveness that overflowed from his eyes was palpable. Without saying anything, he retook his sword, placed it at his waist, and got into position, spreading his feet apart and bringing his right hand closer to the hilt, keeping it a few centimeters from it but more than ready to draw instantly.

Itto couldn't help but smirk upon seeing this.

"So you're going to fight seriously now, huh? I like that..."

The oni walked calmly to where he had left his club, taking it by the handle and raising it high.

"Let's see what you're capable of, master Kazuha!" he released with a hurtful tone just before launching himself into the attack again like the previous times.

Kazuha stood his ground, watching him approach like that. He inhaled deeply through his nose, letting the air fill his entire body, and then slowly exhaled through his mouth. When he felt ready, he began to move as well, moving quickly to meet his opponent.

As in the past, Itto dropped the mallet against him with tremendous force, and as in those other attempts, it ended up hitting and cracking the ground. However, this time Kazuha jumped up to dodge, just high enough to get out of the mallet's reach, but an instant later landed on his feet right on top of it and then jumped off again, but now in a straight line into Itto's face before he could even react.

It would have been very easy to simply draw his sword at that moment and make the edge of it do its work against that man's face. Even, if he moved his weapon lower, he could easily reach Itto's neck and slit his throat… or even decapitate him. And though his right hand felt ready and eager to do just that… Kazuha caught himself. In less than a second, his mind raced a thousand miles an hour, and he managed to ponder enough to move his hand to the side.

He could not, nor should he, let himself be carried away by anger like that. He wasn't that kind of swordsman; the life of any living being was not to be taken so lightly.

Thus, instead of drawing his sword, and while the oni was still trying to process that last move, Kazuha turned his body fully in the air quickly, landing a strong kick with his left leg straight into the side of the white-haired man's head.

Startled, Itto's body rocked to the side, pushed by the kick, threatening to fall to the ground. Halfway through that fall, however, the leader of the Arataki Gang managed to come to his senses enough to plant his feet firmly on the floor and hold on. He turned his eyes to his opponent, who was still suspended in the air from that kick and was now beginning to descend.

"It will not be so easy!" Itto exclaimed forcefully, pulling his weapon against him quickly.

"How stubborn," Kazuha snapped with slight frustration. He twisted his body still in the air to avoid the club and then plunged headlong to the ground. Once standing on firm ground, he could see out of the corner of his eye how the oni's huge weapon charged at him again, so he didn't think twice before pulling his sword outwards in a wide circular motion.

Having seen how far that man's physical strength reached, superior even to Katsumoto's, Kazuha knew well that in a normal situation it would be impossible for him to stop his attack with just his sword and the strength of his arms. However, if he didn't, this time he would really end up crushed under the heavy weapon, and he had no intention of letting that happen...

I do not have any other option, he told himself once he reached his resolution.

Before finishing his move and the blade of his sword meeting against the mallet, he caused a small amount of elemental energy to cover it. Only a little, hoping that it could go unnoticed by the eyes of the observers and, with some luck, also by those of that individual. But in this way, he managed to give his own weapon more significant momentum and force, pushed by the concentrated gust of wind that followed the trajectory of his movement.

When the blade collided directly with the oni's weapon, the anemo energy exploded in the form of wind that blew in all directions but managed, to everyone's surprise, to stop the accurate attack against him. Itto watched that in amazement, in addition to the fact that he also felt that wind hitting him almost directly in the face... and he also perceived that small turquoise flash that accompanied the edge of the sword.

"But... that's..." he mumbled, totally astonished.

Kazuha saw it in his eyes; he had realized his elemental energy. However, he couldn't let that thought distract him. The important thing now was to get out of there before someone else saw it. Then he took the weapon from its hilt with both hands and thrust hard, applying a little more elemental energy, just enough for the dangerous edge to go through the material of the mallet from side to side, splitting it in two. The top half of the weapon flew to the side, landing heavily at the feet of the onlookers, while the other was left in the hands of a very confused Itto.

"That was enough!" Kazuha declared in a commanding voice, coming to a firm halt after completing his move, and glaring sharply at Itto.

The oni remained silent, regarding the swordsman still in bewilderment. His hands were still clenched on his broken weapon, and he seemed undecided about what to do next. Kazuha considered that this moment of confusion, not only for his opponent but for all the observers, could be the right one to flee.

Before Kazuha could move, however, the sharp whistles of the approaching Tenryou guards could be heard in the distance. This quickly drew the attention of Kazuha and Itto alike. In the distance, the hats and spears of several guards could be seen trying to break through the crowd.

"Are they!" was heard right after the restaurant owner's voice yelled from the door, pointing directly at Itto and Kazuha. "These were the vandals that damaged my place, arrest them!"

That put the two fighters even more alert.

"Boss!" exclaimed the frightened young man who had been accompanying Itto at his meal. He had apparently been watching the match along with everyone else. "What should we do now?!"

Itto's face turned serious.

"It is not obvious?" he muttered slowly, standing up firmly and letting go of the half of his weapon still in his hands so that it fell to the ground. "What every hero would do in such a situation…"

And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he moved as fast as he could, starting to run in the direction Kazuha was in. This surprised the swordsman; at first, he thought it was coming to attack him... disarmed? Instead, however, Itto took him firmly in one hand, and like a sack of rice, he slung Kazuha over his shoulder.

"Huh?" Kazuha muttered, totally lost, even still not fully processing how he got to his new position.

"Flee from here as soon as possible!" Itto proclaimed at the top of his lungs, pushing his way through the crowd to run terrified down the street, complete with a still confused Kazuha.

Akira was slow to react, but as soon as he could, he ran after his boss, unable to keep up with him but moving away fast enough so that when the Tenryou guards arrived at the center of the chaos, none of those directly involved were in sight.

Author Notes:

I won't lie to you, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope reading it was the same for you. It's unlikely that the first meeting between Kazuha and Itto was like this, but I like to imagine that it "could" have been like that, hehe. As you may have noticed, I like to describe sword-fighting scenes. It reminds me of my first years writing Rurouni Kenshin fanfics (which, if anyone knows that manga or anime, you may notice that there is a certain influence of it in how I narrate some things).

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has given me their words of encouragement with this return of the story and has let me know their interest in knowing how it continues even though we are already so far from canon. I will try to respond in a way due to your interest and your nice words. I hope you like everything I have prepared from here on out.