The Colour Purple Chapter 57: HERE, a king of fighters fanfic

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

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

"Which Character are you?"

Note to self: Legacy chapter numbering (32- - -), does not match. [Original chapter written 2013]

ORIGINAL CHAPTER.

The crisp sensation of the morning dew filled the boy's lungs as he took in one breath, then two. No, this was not right! On instinct the ninja jabbed forwards with his left hand and immediately followed through with a right cross. However, as his fists flew forward, there was absolutely no power in his attacks. He didn't feel the world under him, and his legs flailed wildly up and down and sideways.

He couldn't feel the hard Earth under his feet, and his splayed legs went back and forth wildly. As he convinced himself he was awake, he was just drowning and gasping for breath horizontally.

An easy but FIRM wrist wrapped itself around his own and with the other hand placed a comforting palm over his chest. "Easy. Calm down, 1." His comrade, 4, pinned his body down and did his best to ease the mounting anxiety. "Calm down, please, 1…" He said. "It is over." 4 said. "You lost."

4's palm pushed 1's body into the ground to ease and calm his companion. As 1 looked up to the bright clear sky, he soon realized that his back was to the ground and looked up to a peaceful heaven up above. "What?" 1 said.

"Easy, brother." 4 reassured his comrade. 1's pupils dilated open and closed to match his once rapid breathing, now slowing down to keep pace with the warm breath of the boy who loomed over his body to keep him from going absolutely insane. Though their kind was always formal, proper and reserved perhaps this one time number 4 let a grin slip and for once could not help but rib his friend while he was helpless. "Eiji just wiped the FLOOR with you, brother."

1 bent his body at the waist and heaved his body up from the ground. Right then and there it became real, whether it was 2 minutes or 20. 1 realized that he had just awoken after being totally destroyed by that old man.

"Tsugi!" NEXT! Eiji's face was now rendered in a sketchy charcoaled portrait – for all those boys to behold, fear and maybe admire - even if today was simply another day in a sequence of momentarily wales of insignificance.

…

"Ah! Mister Kane. Good morning, Mr. Kane." A cute mannered, familiar girl beamed with a warm innocent face. Perhaps there was no better way to start the morning.

"Ah." Billy repeated absent-mindedly. "Good morning, Oh-Joe." Billy greeted meekly, slowing down at the end for fear of totally mutilating her name.

All the same, the slave girl turned around shyly and smiled so bubbly that the deep dimples on her cheeks popped sharply. She hung the now clean plate on the drying rack next to her and wiped her hands thoroughly on her apron. When she turned around to face Billy once again, the look on her face radiated so brightly that she had to cover her smile for fear that she would simply faint from glee.

"Augh." Billy groaned helplessly, feeling a slight weakness in the knees. She was still so overcome by the nickname that Eiji had given her that she, so innocent, could hardly function.

"It is still early, Mr. Kane." She asked. "Were you not able to fall back asleep?"

"No. No I couldn't, Oh-Joe. It's too early and I'm tired, but I just couldn't." Billy scratched his head, frustrated. "…and you can call me Billy. Mr. Kane sounds strange." Billy said to her. He, unlike her, was far from flattered by being served and moreover, being addressed by such an unfamiliar, honorific title.

"As you wish, Mr. Billy."

"No… That's not what I mean… agh."

"If you give me a moment I can prepare tea and breakfast for you." She offered, and before Billy could reply, she was off, opening cupboards and carefully laying out small white cups in neat order by the plastic tray next to her.

Ah. Oh how long had it been. Had it only been a handful of days since they trapped themselves in this house. Passing the time with idle chitchat. Watching television, sitting down and musing on about sweet nothings, and on occasion, if the boredom was too much to bear, step outside and pick a fight with each other so as not to let their bodies atrophy and grow weak.

As their sleeping beauty, Iori Yagami slept peacefully upstairs in his dark room, Billy wondered, despite an existence fraught with violence and chaos, right now, he was blessed with a quiet moment. Trapped within a sequence of uneventful mornings.

One day, the days that he and Eiji exist for would return. This was ofcourse just a simple story. Of two men hired to escort a hero to the King of Fighters tournament, to slay the dragon, then to leave. Nothing more and nothing less. Violent fighting – seasoned with small intermissions of sadness, anger and if they were fortunate, slight, fleeting happiness. Then Eiji and Billy would return to the world from where'd they once came. They were simply supporting characters that came from a sad existence, and after, would return to that same dismal place.

However, just for a moment. As Billy watched the slave girl, a woman, who's family HE was supposed to serve instead, empty the whistling kettle of water into a short porcelain pot, Billy imagined fondly about a boring, uneventful life that was made up and strung together a sequence of dreary mornings. She filled a small, steel mesh pod with loose tea leaves and dropped it in the pot before putting it in front of the man, next to small jars of sugar and milk.

A sequence of dreary, boring, meaningless mornings… as we waited for our sleeping princess to awake. After a slight pause, 6 minutes passed before Ojyou laid a small porcelain teacup in front of Billy. "Yes, please, Mr. Billy." She smiled, bubbly cheeks and cute slit eyes barely open. "This is just for you. I think Kisaragi-sama prefers coffee."

"Ah…" Ding! The oven called out to punctuate Billy's thoughts.

Ojyou turned around and quickly emptied the oven with strange lumps of dough that seemed foreign to most people, but all too familiar and nostalgic to the young Englishman. The sound of a hard thump caught her attention and made her swing to the side. A feverish rumble of voices crept through the window from the outside. Despite being so early in the morning, they could tell that Eiji was likely having his way with the gang of Yagami ninja soldiers outside. "Eiji knocked him out!" was what they heard when the commotion subsided.

"Excuse me, did you say something?" She asked, returning her gaze to Billy.

"No…" Billy just grinned weakly, his smirk hidden behind the white cup as he took a small sip that ran down his throat and warmed his once cold body from the inside out. From the core of his heart he could feel the radiating glow reach outwards and put his body at peace.

MEMORIES of cold, dark mornings, of a battered body, and memories of children who reveled in a feeling of worthlessness and uncertainty. Those things – were not to be found. Here.

"No…" Billy just grinned weakly. "Nothing. Thank you, Oh-Joe," he said as he took another careful and gentle sip.

…

It was okay for Eiji to smile, brushing off his chest and massaging the back of his neck, the familiar, violent feeling his body craved. It was okay for Yamashita, the Ninja captain to forget for a moment as she pulled down her mask with her finger, to, for a moment, pull down that wall that had suddenly appeared, so she could breathe in the humid air without fear.

To those of us who subjected ourselves to a strict life of hardship and pain, it seemed like a crime to smile, so much that we did it, only, when we were certain that nobody else was watching. …but we could do it here, in these sequence of uneventful, plain mornings.

Chapter 57: HERE - a Sequence of Uneventful Mornings part 3

…

"Tsugi." Eiji said again, directing his gaze outwards, inviting his next opponent.

"Eiji-san." 1 breathed deeply with both arms propping his upper body by his thighs. "Eiji-san, thank you." He said as he curled his shins under him and twisted his position into a humble kneel.

"Do not thank me." Eiji retorted, not even turning around. "We are just passing the time, BOY, nothing more."

"Eiji-sensei." 1 switched his tone to a more purposeful honorific, addressing now, a teacher instead of a mere comrade. "You were once from Kusanagi Palace, were you not?" He asked. "I never would have thought – that Kusanagi would be able to produce such skilled fighters …"

Eiji didn't reply immediately, but he hunched forward with his fists on his hips, grumbling. The old man tilted his head to the one side and furrowed his brows. His slouch held a strange look, pouting, confused, perplexed, or perhaps simply caught in between comedic stupor and frustration. The yard outside the house remained silent as Eiji tried to string together his thoughts into a coherent array of words, yet despite his usual terse eloquence, this one was beyond his easy reach.

As 1 stared at the back of Eiji's head waiting for a response, he heard the old man say, "Tell me…" Eiji paused, biting his lower lip, "just… how long have you been alive?"

"Me? I…" 1 was about to speak but,

"No No No, wait…" Eiji turned around to face the kneeling ninja in front of him and with his eyes closed snobbishly and his right index finger pointing upwards. "No wait, do not bother answering." Eiji's index fingertip touched his right temple making a screwing, twisting motion one would do if they were in the process of plugging a hole in a large dam with their sole finger, trying to prevent himself from suffering an aneurism. "I just realized that it does not matter what you say, I will STILL call you an idiot."

"Eh… Ei… Eiji-sen…" 1's flustered face immediately leapt up but before he could even begin to respond, 4 who sat next to him blurted out laughing and all he could do was put both hands over his cloth mask to prevent him from splattering more saliva recklessly over himself.

"4!" 1's pupils shrank in embarrassment and his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

Almost immediately, the silence that was once suspended up in mid air, like shattering glass, exploded into uncontrollable hysteria as it hit the cold floor below. While two of them who stood behind were able to catch themselves and diverted their gazes in order to maintain some semblance of dignity, the other two boys dropped to their knees and wrapped their arms tight around their bellies to keep themselves from exploding into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Even 6, who had earlier been so easily defeated by Eiji no longer reminisced about his shoddy performance and instead lost himself gleefully at 1's expense. For the many years these nameless ninja boys had known each other, harboring looming feelings and perhaps petty annoyances amongst each other silently – but for this one moment – they couldn't help but let go, especially at 1's misfortune, the boy who was easily the most arrogant of all of them.

"Sorry, I'm sorry." 4 apologized while wiping the tears in his eyes. He exhaled then took in a heavy breath to replace the ghastly amount of laugher that he had violently expunged from his lungs. "Get up." 4 took 1's hand in his own and pulled him on his feet.

"Ghaaaa…" 1 couldn't even form a comprehensible word as he stood.

"Hee hee…" It was a slight and dainty sound, but to 1 and the chorus around him, it was probably the LOUDEST of all.

"OH! My… God, not the captain too?!" 1's head shrunk into his shoulders as he stammered clumsily, the expression he once heard from a TV movie with emphasis on the wrong syllables.

As she walked closer, she pried her index finger into the side of her mask, slithering it left and right until it stopped perched under her nose and pulled it down to speak unobstructed. "You freely insult a man's family, what did you expect?" Yamashita sneered when she ran her hand on the back of her neck and straightened her long hair behind her. For as long as the boys knew their captain. For as long as they had been alive, as much as they tried to remember, imagine and recall, this was probably the only time they had seen Yamashita smile so defenselessly. The only evidence, it would seem was the soft relaxed feeling on her drooping brow and what one might call a sweet wistful gleam in her eyes. Soon it would fade away… however, it did exist at least once. "Thank you for training with these weaklings." She said.

"Good morning." Eiji greeted unenthused, not even a care in his voice.

Yamashita crossed her left arm over her body and clawed her right shoulder as she rotated her neck in its socket cracking it as her bobbing head reached its axis' limits - left and right. Crack and pop, she further rolled her shoulders and back to loosen and relax them further. In her mouth, she bit into a felt covered elastic band while with both hands, collected her long hair into a ponytail, and tied it as she looked back up to face the old man once again.

"If my ladies bore you, would you care to test me?" She challenged, her slit eyes now held a viciously sinister invitation. Atai wo, tameshite miru ka?

4 stepped back a bit and steadied himself on 1's shoulder. He was not sure if it was his imagination but the boy felt the bottom of his back curl into a ball. He was quite unsure if that look she flashed was some sort of strange flirt or something more sinister in disguise.

"Ugh..." Eiji didn't even censor his disdain when he broke eye contact with the woman and turned around refusing to face her again. Eiji waved his open palm up. Up – up he waved with his four fingertips. "Fine, if you want to fight – but I do not want to see your face…" He said flatly and coldly. "…Captain, oh my Caaaptainn." Eiji slurred, almost just like the movie.

What was once a soft glowing feeling within Yamashita had all but disappeared now. She pinched the crumpled ninja mask that hung by her neck like a gaiter and pulled it up and over her nose, completely covering her scowling face that had suddenly turned sour and bitter, as Eiji had requested. "I told you before, Eiji-san." Yamashita's voice turned cold and terse now, "You need not address me by that title if you will not respect it."

"Sure. Whatever you say, Yamashita." Eiji blurted out, his droopy eyes looked almost half asleep. "You can come at me anytime you want." He instructed. Eiji's lethargic eyes rolled up in its sockets slowly, making at least a semblance of an effort to wake himself up. As his vision of the world turned, he noticed in front of him six ninja boys stare directly at him, no THROUGH him. All six of their gazes stopped dead in their tracks and focused at one spot.

Each individual vertebra in Eiji's spine tensed, and on instinct the old man threw his right foot behind him and twisted his entire body around by the balls of his feet. Eiji's arms rocketed upwards and crossed themselves over his head with a fleeting panic.

…

"Hey old fart!" Billy walked up and shouted with his open palm by his mouth. "You're making too much'v'a racket! He said – with his typical trashy slang and contractions that seemed so far out of place in a ballroom filled with only prim and proper talk.

Billy stared outwards trying to single out each individual thug dressed in pyjamas in front of him. Alas, but to him they all simply looked the same. "Oi, Eij…" Billy was about to call out when his companion's body tumbled heel over heads under him, only to roll sidewards when Eiji was unable to maintain his curled reverse recovery. The old man did his best to soften the impact but it was not enough and his back hit solidly onto the tree behind him. Eiji groaned painfully as he bolstered himself onto the wooden trunk, and all the while Billy's face was still poised upwards, taking tens of seconds to realize that Eiji had helplessly flown past him without him even noticing.

…

As Eiji's vision of the world turned, he noticed in front of him six ninja boys stare directly at him, no THROUGH him. All six of their gazes stopped dead in their tracks and focused at one spot.

To greet him were both of Yamashita's feet kicking him squarely in his cross block that he had put up in defense just in the nick of time as the turned to face his assailant – and behind the double legged flying body kick, was the entire weight of the Ninja Captain's 150 pound pure hard concrete muscle body.

For someone as small as Yamashita, a whole head shorter than Eiji, someone whose standing attacks Eiji didn't expect to have any semblance of power at all, it was hard to imagine her kick to totally overcome Eiji who was now helplessly stumbling backwards. Each foot staggering behind him, almost running backwards, Eiji did his best from totally crumpling in defeat. You didn't expect her to have any semblance of power, until you realized that muscle is denser than fat, approximately 18% denser and moreover, it wasn't just a single punch or kick that Eiji had to hold back, it was the entire mass of her flying body – in essence, the power that a completely chiseled 5 foot 3 inch tall woman could very well have the same impact as an average female of 6 foot height – and she had propelled a 150 pound single opening attack.

"Hik.. HiKYOUna…" Eiji snarled as he was already racing backwards trying his best to return his center of gravity forward, and not simply fall back and pummel himself headfirst into the ground.

"That was fighting dirty!" 6 said.

"But, Eiji DID say to come at him anytime." 4 was quick to cut in.

…

Despite your manly strength – despite your burning confidence that you could overcome it all – just imagine being thrown a hundred fifty pound barbell without so much as a warning. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO US? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO OUR LOVE?

Eiji's shoulders and elbows seemed to want to dislocate from their sockets – his lower back threatened to snap backwards with irreparable damage. This was because a hundred and fifty pounds was far too much to defend against.

Without so much as a warning, Eiji's left ankle grew weak and twisted the wrong way and now his body was stumbling back. As each foot raced back to bolster the former - the old man Eiji was unable to slow his quick panicked retreat.

{YOU…} Eiji snarled under his breath. {You GOD – DAMNED – BITCH!}

Do you hate me so much that you would attack me from behind? Eiji's vision crept up from in between the crack in the intersection of his cross X block that was the only thing that protected his face from Yamashita's flying double kick. Slowly, surely, cautiously, and perhaps fearfully, Eiji looked up. There he could see it.

HERE. He could see it. As Eiji perched above the X frame obstacle in front of him – Yamashita's pair of feet, up her shins, her knees, thighs and waist – Eiji's gaze ran up her body quickly and efficiently – to her belly, her chest and at last – in all finality as the bangs of the woman's hair parted from her face violently when the wind rushed past her torpedoing body.

It wanted to burn it all… and I am SO SICK OF IT. It happened in an instant yet to Eiji who only stood gazing, it felt like time stood still once again and once more. The clumps of hair in front of the female Ninja captain's face were like flames that danced and roared in the gusting wind that rushed, and finally revealed her eyes – the only thing that laid exposed above her ninja mask that Eiji had painstakingly demanded she pull up.

Even if half her face was covered – it was impossible for Eiji to cloud his mind and pretend to hide in a veil of ignorance. Pasting together pieces of a picture. A pretty picture.

Eiji knew – that even if he arrogantly commanded Yamashita to cover her face, just seeing those eyes. Looking back at me, just like staring at old pictures, everything began to dissolve. Her mask - that covered her face and protected me from a lifetime of regret was beginning to draw clear. The pictures pieced together one by one. Even if her face was covered Eiji could see a familiar memory. However, now that face was twisted, contorted – the anger unleashed. Oh. DO you hate me so? Ah – I understand it now…

Day by day – why must this woman share the same face as my wife who left me?

Ah! Her face that looked at me without a care of regret or remorse. I understand just by looking at you. YOU TRULY want to KILL me don't you? Ninja captain Yamashita?

…

I am so SICK of it. Everyone reading my story is SO SICK of hearing about my dead wife. SO much like a best friend who is so sick of you talking about your old girlfriend who left you behind for another man. You are probably so sick of me talking about Kaori Kusanagi – aren't you? Eiji asked… Am I a one-dimensional man with such a simple life story?

{Whenever…} Eiji thought. Whenever I feel upset, or overcome with unbearable stress – I think of HER. I think of Kaori Kusanagi. As the fleeting panic rushes through my body I retreat to a fetal curl and simply remember her smile. Mayhaps I do so – because it was that smile from her beaming face that made me whole and helped me stand up fearlessly?

I sometimes wonder. I wonder… What would possess a woman, a princess like Kaori – she, who was born in a pedigree of luxury – even consider marrying a peasant like me? I AM SO SICK OF IT. Despite all that I had done to her. I was so arrogant – I was so insensitive. I thought myself the greatest. A young ninja boy who considered himself above it all. Those many evenings she waited for me. She who spent her life being served by slaves – she would cook me dinner and waited at the table while I took my time on the day's chores and training.

"It is going to get cold. You did not have to wait for me, Kaori." A younger image of Eiji said as he put the back of his hand over his forehead and curled the short cloth curtain above his traditional Japanese door. She slept her teenage life in a warm palace, yet now I had subjected her to a simple straw hut in the middle of a cold, putrid forest. "Do not worry." Kaori smiled. "I still had to clean our house, Darling. I am not hungry, and do not want to eat so early without you," she smiled purely, innocently – so brightly. "I prepared something special for you tonight… my… my love."

My love… The only man I ever loved.

NEVER. Never did I once see a face other than her smile. I oftentimes wondered if she was insane, because I never once saw her scowl. Kaori never became angry, nor became sad…

"Where shall we go today, Kaori?" Eiji recalled that day, even when in a few seconds he feared that his spine would snap and his body would break in two at Yamashita's will. Eiji's body wailed in immeasurable fear and pain. Kaori only shrugged cutely and grinned so deeply her pretty dimples popped into her cheeks. "No, you don't need to, Darling." Kaori said.

She said…

"Well," Kaori stopped herself, blushing, "Maybe, you can go with me to see the ocean."

Just the two of us. Take me away, so far away. Just the two of us.

I am so horrible. I am SUCH a horrible man. The bubbling warmth would begin to rupture his insides and rush up despite his wails of defiance. Once again the feeling… A wretched, horrible, EVIL being. I finally realize – Even when you smiled so fearlessly. I want GOD to kill me – without MERCY – KILL ME. I want him to crush me under his heel. A lifetime of smiles and happiness – maybe you blindly sacrificed it all for ME. JUST FOR ME. Why, I couldn't understand why a princess, she, of a pedigree would forsake a life of luxury, of comfort and happiness – only to suffer with a despicable bastard like myself. As he stumbled backwards, Eiji bit his trembling lip under his cloth mask, but it was not enough to prevent the pools of salty liquid from bubbling at the endless corners of his eyes. When subjected to a sudden stressful situation, this old, horrible man always thought of this time, HERE.

This is the last time I want to hear it. I want this to be the last time anyone has to hear it.

Why did you exchange your guaranteed happiness for me? A man who didn't even spare a moment to care for you?

"What do you want for your birthday, Kaori?" Eiji asked so long ago, so far far away.

Kaori shook her head sternly and wrapped both arms around Eiji's left bicep lovingly and tenderly. With eyes closed and a beaming immortal smile. She never once scowled or frowned. "I don't need anything, Eiji." She said so perfectly. SO honestly and innocently. "Maybe… Eiji," she said. "Maybe you can take me to town, for a moment I can visit the library and read a book with you." Kaori looked downwards and murmured her request with a shy blush.

The TEARS. The hot salty emotion ran down his face once again, burning though. Once ever again. Eiji grit his teeth wildly under his mask but it was not enough to hide the flaccid curl in his eyes. His mushed up brows and sobbing look on his face was plain to see.

Ah! Yes. This is it. Whenever I feel myself overcome with an unbearable stress. Whenever I feel my mind panic wildly – I – I think of you, and only you. Why I was a man who only gave you sadness. Why I was a man who took you away from luxury. How I robbed you of happiness because of my arrogance, because of my selfishness. And… and… in the end. With everything, all the pleasure and joys you have given a poor boy like me, I could give you NOTHING. In the end, I couldn't even protect you PROTECT YOU FROM DEATH.

Day by day – why must this woman share the same face as my wife who left me? As the fleeting panic rushes through my body I retreat to a fetal curl and simply remember her smile. I understand now – it was NOT because the smile from her beaming face made me whole. It was because I cannot block it away, and am overcome with such a great feeling of REGRET.

I am so sorry, Kaori. I AM SO SORRY. Whatever happened to us? I am so sorry. I am so sorry, Kaori. Eiji's teeth gnashed – they wanted to crack and destroy each other. The TEARS now gushed rupturing by all sides and ran down his cheeks. The rancid tasting liquid dripped down his cheeks and even his nose ran with viscous mucus.

"It is okay. Eiji." It is okay. "Eiji, I love you." This is the true meaning.

…

Swirling rancor, a savage madness stared back at Eiji though his cross block. She is gone. The reason I am so ANGRY is because I want to believe that this Ninja captain could somehow be able to absolve my sins and give me a second chance to make amends. However, I recall… she said it herself.

Yamashita is NOT Kaori!

Kaori never scowled, never became angry, and she lived and loved her life in order to make me happy.

Mayhaps, those so few years that I knew her and experienced her warmth. Kaori hid those true feelings from me. Smiling, laughing, grinning with her crisp dimples. Now, as I see this, Yamashita looked at me with such fiery anger.

Mayhaps my meeting you, Ninja Master Yamashita, has meaning – for every time Kaori smiled instead of scowled, another day was gifted to you. Therefore, you must be - YOU are the embodiment of Kaori's RAGE. And… you have come to face me now…

Ah. I will not think of her anymore. I will not think about what happened. This is the last.

Yamashita disappeared from view and at the next instant her double footed flying kick planted themselves deep into Eiji's unprotected midsection. At first she was flying head height only to disappear and suddenly come at a different line of attack to his stomach. Eiji gawked when he felt himself expel his insides after the sudden, clean hit.

Mayhaps my meeting you, Ninja Master Yamashita, by some cruel God orchestrated poetry, your existence is the embodiment of Kaori's RAGE. Of all the times she smiled but instead hid a venomous killing emotion.

Ah – I understand it now… you have come to face me now…

…to punish me.