The Colour Purple Chapter 17: The Pathetic Faith of Lovers, a king of fighters fanfic

The Colour Purple... The King of Fighters '95

pointblankassassin . com

This (chapter) fanfiction was originally written circa: [XX.96] (Thank you)

"Which Character are you?"

HELPLESS;

Everyday, we look for the same answer.

Tomorrow, what will fate have in store.

Some day, destiny will answer ambition.

Today – but I am afraid to walk any more.

What good deed did you do today to contribute to the world?

No excuses, did your actions enrich your own life?

I don't believe in "There was nothing I could do."

Because, we are ALL free. Free to make choices…

…and these choices influence our constantly changing future.

"We cannot walk backwards to the future."

-Chinese fortune cookie.

-02.08.05

Chapter 17: The Pathetic Faith of Lovers

A middle aged man swung his shoulders to the left then to the right – long sweeping motions parting the chaos in front of him and arranged the pink cherry blossom petals neatly to one side.

It was another afternoon. Another afternoon. He would sweep the front of his yard diligently, despite the fact that the cold wind would clutter the pathway once again. It didn't matter though. This was his routine. He would sleep, he would clean his house, water his small vegetable garden, then make dinner. Tomorrow he would bring those vegetables to the nearby town and trade it for medicine, meat or fresh fish.

Another day. JUST another day.

He wondered, just out of sport and amusement, what other men just like him. Men of his age would be doing now. In the bustling towns, amidst the lights and glamour. What would they do as they smiled – what greatness made them smile so brightly. He had no answer but smiled. It was true. [If a man can smile so fearlessly, then surely…]

He had no answer to his question. The question he asked himself this and every everyday.

Everyday when the warm rays of the sun awoke him from his frigid slumber and when the same frigid cold would bade him to sleep. There is nothing left for me, but these [days]. With sincere pause he was content. He was content with his everyday, and maybe that was okay.

He wore a white kimono decorated with navy blue flowers covered his eyes from the sunlight as he looked up from his chore. He held a bamboo broom in hand and was busily sweeping the leaves from the front yard of his simple house in the back forest, away from the worries of the busy streets of that town.

"Anata... (Darling)" came a faint voice from behind. He turned around and saw a lady running over with her arms open. A smile cracked the man's face but slowly the image disappeared, and he was left looking at his open door. A mirage...

Without warning, a flock of birds came out from the treetops. The man held his sweeps, gripped the bamboo shaft of his broom firmly in one hand and waited, listened to the trees and the wind.

With their cover blown, three ninjas exposed themselves from the high branches. One wearing a black uniform came down first, and the other two, wearing dark green and brown fatigues followed. Before the last two could even touch the ground the lead sped off to attack. The steel caught the light and flew towards the gardener. The man tightened his grip on the broom and used it as a vertical block, and when the blade was half way into the bamboo he twisted it, making the hollow bamboo clip down, preventing the blade to cut all the way through. The first ninja was stunned and with his momentum broken, the gardener had a few seconds of confusion to his advantage.

"K'sama... (damn you) Kisaragi!" The black ninja spat, but before he could say any more, Kisaragi was up and moving. He still had the blade lodged in the bamboo with his left hand, so he pushed it wide and the blade followed, leaving his enemy open. Kisaragi swerved his left foot around the broom and kicked mid height, the blow hit the ninja's gut and forcefully dropped him to squat. Kisaragi put the same left foot on his opponent's knees and like a staircase, stepped up and kicked the man's throat with his right heel. With that, the first ninja was driven backwards, immobilized and gasping for breath.

Without even a breather for Kisaragi, the two remaining ninja descended. The one on the right hacked his sword down. Kisaragi, much too perceptive switched hands, and now the broom was in his right. He sidestepped to the opposite direction, raised his elbow up and put the broom perpendicular to the ground, next to his shoulder. As Kisaragi had planned, the katana (sword) missed his head and the side of the blade slid down the bamboo like a train on a bamboo rail.

As he had done a dozen times before, Kisaragi bent the broom in an arc and the blade skidded down quick and harmlessly to the ground. Before the ninja could take his eyes off the tip of his blade that embedded itself into the earth Eiji switched hands again, his left was already holding the broom and he let his right hand free in a quick jab. The center joint of Eiji's middle finger stuck out from his fist and jammed itself into the ninja's temple. Instantaneously, his enemy's eyes rolled back into his skull leaving only white orbs.

"Owari da! (It's over)" came a voice from the side.

The last ninja came running with a stab. Eiji just looked on. The ninja's eyebrows met in glee, but his joy was stolen at the last moment. The assassin tensed his grip for the slash and measured the distance between himself and his target. It was just a meter or two away, and the ninja cocked the sword back, but to his surprise Eiji suddenly appeared in front of him, just a foot away.

"Ba..bakana... (impossible)" The ninja mumbled.

With one swing, Eiji slapped the ninja, sending him to the ground.

"What do you want Yagami..." Eiji mumbled to the awe-struck Yagami ninja.

A new opponent dropped from the treetops and landed in a kneeling position. A female ninja, Eiji noted. She took off her dark purple mask and looked up at Eiji. Eiji, had his hands up when the air was disturbed, but slowly put down his guard.

"Kaori?" Eiji said...

"Yamashita. A captain for the Yagami ninjas." She said. "Yagami-sama sent me to deliver a message."

We want to live forever – we had to stay together… A cold breeze drifted through the two, making the pink petals by his feet shift to the side.

"You are indeed Eiji Kisaragi," she started. "Downed three of my best men, yet you didn't kill them."

Eiji's eyes didn't break from her gaze. He held his place, looked her up and down.

"I was told it might catch your attention." Yamashita answered as she put her hands behind her neck and threw up her hair. She tossed a bundle of wrappings, which Eiji caught without a thought.

Eiji let his eyes drop onto the neatly bundled package in his hand. He untied the string and undid the cloth. Inside was an arrow cut in half. The arrow was in two pieces, as if someone had taken a blade and starting from the arrowhead tip and cut through the very center of the shaft. "Yagami has come for your services."

"Eh?" Eiji grimaced, and stared menacingly.

"You do remember the promise you made that night." Yamashita came back unfazed. "In exchange for your comrades' bodies. I was there."

Eiji turned around and looked down at his feet. "I do not kill anymore." Eiji said bluntly. "It was not me who was talking."

"You know it was you innermost desire, Kisaragi. What your body and mind refuses to accept, your heart..."

"You know nothing."

"You have no say in the matter, Eiji Kisaragi." Yamashita said coldly. "But do not worry, it not an assassination Yagami-sama requires... A bodyguard..."

"A WHAT?!" Eiji spat back, taking it as an insult.

"No sarcasm..." Yamashita followed closing her eyes as she hunched back at ease. "Yagami is aware of your new life... A farmer?" She smiled widely. "Still, your skill cannot be overlooked."

Eiji tensed his fists and faced her again. "Who?" he said in a deep tone.

"You know of him... Iori Yagami." Yamashita answered.

Eiji's grim visage cracked - he started to snicker, then chuckle, and finally Eiji fell into a fit of laughter. A laughter of caused by both humour and irony. "Yagami Iori..?" Eiji laughed. "I don't think my services is needed for a killer like that." Eiji spat back quite frankly.

"The young master is scheduled to join the King of Fighters Tournament a few years from now. Yagami-sama merely wants you to escort him since he is not familiar of the world outside the Yagami palace walls." She explained.

"I am sorry, but don't you think my abilities would just be wasted baby-sitting a spoiled brat like that?" Eiji came sarcastically. "Doesn't Yagami have a better favour to ask of me?"

Yamashita smiled and chuckled to herself, all the while keeping her eyes closed and her arms crossed. Eiji didn't like that look. It was a visage that said she knew something he didn't, that she had some hidden hand to play. "Yagami-sama expected as much, so he told me to tell you this... Eiji Kisaragi..." She began,

…

To sacrifice the pathway to the future - silence as he willfully allowed the world to stop.

Interjecting ridiculous thoughts in our minds, we just wish that the future would guide us there. When all we wanted; was you close to me… I want you close to me.

Eiji looked at Kaori, and tomorrow didn't matter to him. She tipped her head low and refused to make eye contact, but she couldn't hide the bright smile on her face.

Oh what a wonderful woman you are. Eiji smiled as he put his hands on her shoulders. She gingerly let her gaze rise to meet his. The most wonderful woman in the world.

"I want you to be close to me. Tomorrow doesn't matter."

…

"Yagami-sama expected as much, so he told me to tell you THIS... Eiji Kisaragi..." She began, "You are familiar with Rugal Bernstein...?"

Eiji's laughter instantly ceased and he stared intently at the female ninja as the word R-u-g-a-l formed on her lips. She smiled when she got his attention.

"He is the sponsor of the King of Fighters Tournament... If you and Iori-sama won the KOF 95, then you would be able to call a meeting with him… surely..." She said with a poison tipped tongue.

"KAORI IS DEAD." Eiji shouted, throwing his broom down, and staring angrily at the lady tempting him.

"Oh? Maybe I have said too much already? Don't you want her? For Kaori Kusanagi to live again?"

"Kono ama! (you bitch)" Eiji cursed. "She's dead. They killed her a long time ago. These rumours can't be true!"

"True, Yoshiki Kusanagi did kill his own daughter because of her defiance, but it is still your choice. Can you bring yourself to believe that the rumours are false? I think I know your answer already."

"Sore dewa, Kisaragi-san (then, farewell, Kisaragi-san)" Yamashita called as she disappeared in a flash, along with the rest of her soldiers.

...

Eiji went into his hut and knelt in front of an iron chest, covered all over by cobwebs and dust. With a few firm sweeps of his sleeve, Eiji dusted it until he could once again see the lack luster, once golden, now plain brass hinges and edges, as well as the brunt red of the rosewood.

"So it has come down to this." Eiji whispered to himself.

Eiji pulled out his metal pipe from his robe and wedged it between the padlock and the iron clasp. The rusted lock broke free instantly and the corroded metal crumbled as it hit the ground. {Suman... (forgive me) Masa, Mikaido.} Eiji said in deep thought. The hinges creaked with a hollow eerie echo as they twisted, and Eiji dug into the chest that had not been opened in fourteen years. Inside was Eiji's old ninja uniform, as well as Mikaido's mask which was cut to show his hair, and Masa's katana (sword).

"Sashiburida na... O-tomo yo... (Long time no see, my friends)." Eiji smiled. The sword had a long piece of cloth wrapped around the sheath and hilt area, just by the finger guard, which prevented the sword from coming unsheathed. At the end was a lump of red wax, still whole and crimson after so many years. Eiji held the blade in front of him, his right hand on the hilt and his left on the sheath. With one tug, the cloth shred to stringy tatters and the sword came free. The sunlight from the window seeped into the dark room, and the blade caught the light, amplifying it, and with a simple twist of Eiji's wrist, the light was gone, as if the blade had eaten it.

[Put your hand, in my hand. I will show you the way.]

Eiji took a blanket and put as much of his clothes in a bundle, as well as any other things he needed for his journey. When all was done and packed, he took out the sword one last time.

Eiji was in the dark room, and a candle stood on top of a tall iron rod. The room was dark save for the candlelight, and the only other thing in it was a low table with a picture of Eiji's deceased wife, Kaori. With his thumb, Eiji pushed the finger guard of the sword an inch and like the wind, the blade flew - before you knew it, it was back in the sheath. After a few seconds, the candle slid a bit from the precise cut in between it. The flame still flickered and Eiji smiled at Mikaido who was not with him anymore.

"Dewa, (good-bye) Kaori-chan." Eiji cried bowing halfway to the picture.

"I hope to see you again, if I cannot bring you back to this world, I will join you in the next."

…and with that, Eiji stepped out of the house. He opened three tins of gasoline and doused the house all over. In one toss, a torch came twirling into the house and set it aflame. Eiji looked at the picture one last time and made his way into the city.

The wooden frame caught fire almost immediately and quite slowly but surely, the hungry fires devoured Kaori's picture bit by bit. Eiji had broken his vow, all for his love, and if he failed, there would be no more reason to continue living. He had lost everything, his pride, his honour, all for love.

So now all he can do is hope, for the future, and maybe his desire can lead him back to happiness again.

"Kaori..."

...