Disclaimer: I do not own Taimanin series.
The Vengeful Blade - 04
Carefully, he peeked out from behind the door. The school ground stretching from the main building to the gate was empty. After confirming that Onmyoji Specialist with the metal club had already left, Kotaro breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fuuma is not making sense."
With that remark muttered softly from her lip, Rinko-senpai walked past him and left the building. Kotaro followed in a hurry while he scanned around just to be sure.
"Rinko-senpai."
"Hmph."
He called out to her, but Rinko didn't meet his gaze. Kotaro was worried, for a different reason. He'd gave her the full story of what happened. It was up to Rinko to decide whether or not the validity of his words was deserved. He hoped it wasn't going to be the opposite, since he's got no proof to prove that he wasn't some kind of a weird pervert who likes to flaunt his naked abs around the school at night.
While he was following from behind, the popular senior moved ahead in a fast pace. He couldn't fully see the expression on her face. Though, from another glimpse, her cheeks seemed to puff out. Was she pouting?
"Could it be that...you're still mad about what happened?"
"What do you think?" She questioned without turning around.
"I'm so sorry!"
Kotaro had put on the tracksuit which nearly came at the cost of his own life. Believe it or not, he didn't exaggerate. Rinko's signature katana returned to the sword bag she was carrying. If he didn't apologize properly, guarantee that weapon would become brutal in the upcoming training session.
"I'm sorry, Rinko-senpai. I didn't mean to do that, it wasn't a frank."
He didn't expect that split-second substitution technique to backfire on him in this way. It wasn't like Kotaro had had any other option at the moment, Azuma's vice grip was on his shirt.
"*Muttering*...*Muttering*...if I...dreamed about those abs...it'd be your fault..."
Hm? Rinko-senpai was saying something, he couldn't hear it.
"Y-Yes?"
"Nothing. I'm not going to forgive you, Fuuma."
Her ears turned red, Kotaro didn't catch that as he solely focused on her words. That sealed the whole ordeal, Kotaro's heart was broken. It's over. His head dropped in despair, he wobbled like his soul's already left the body. Kotaro was now officially a stain called pervert to his senior.
"But, I guess..."
Rinko stopped as they went past the school gate. There was more to what she wanted to say.
"I guess what happened is partially my fault too." Spoken softly, she gave him a brief glance. "It's because I made you wait for me."
"No, I should have been more careful. It's not Rinko-senpai's fault."
Kotaro wasn't going to let her take half the blame upon herself. He'd accept the full responsibility. With a broken heart and the nickname pervert, there was nothing left in him to lose.
"I'll head home, repent in my room and accept the new role I'd just engraved into my entire existence."
Kotaro kept going, no longer bothered to think about anything else. Rinko watched on with a surprised look.
"Eh? H-Hold up!"
She reached out, caught his hand and stopped him right there. That seemed to knock Kotaro out of the negative trance to notice the tender grasp. Rinko startled at her own action, but it was too late to retract that decision.
"...et tu, I actually...don't think of it as unpleasant. It's just I'm still in quite a bit of shock, I can't help it. I admit I failed to act properly instead of listening to your reason."
Rinko tried to find words that didn't slip out her true embarrassment. As she couldn't bypass the awkwardness in the air, her hand continued to linger on his. The rising boldness that came in the spur of moment had somehow froze her grip, she couldn't - she didn't want to take it back.
"Fuuma, are you really going to head home now even though I'm here?" She looked at him in the eye. A complicated emotion was swelling inside the pair of glittering purples. "Didn't you wait for me all this time?"
His face lightened up.
"Rinko-senpai, does that means the promise is still up? I didn't break it?"
"Of course! We're going to buy that phone charm for Yukikaze. Why would you think you're the one breaking it? I-If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you." She clarified, hints of guilt filled her voice. "I had no idea you were keeping our promise to this extent and chose not to participate in the briefing."
Kotaro was listening. The expression on his face quickly darkened again when the last part sunk in like a sucker-punch to the gut.
"...huh?" The left eye widened.
"I should have sent you a text to let you know Murasaki-sensei informed me to take the meeting. She said it's mandatory."
"...HUH?!" Kotaro's jaw dropped in dumbfound.
The briefing Su mentioned to him this morning. Did that mean...? The reason why Rinko-senpai wasn't there in their meeting place...No. No way! Rinko-senpai was at the briefing?! She attended it?!
Since it was Murasaki-sensei who requested her to participate in a meeting discussed about the Blue Guardians' next activities, Rinko had to oblige because she was also a part of the dispatched team that stopped them.
The Task Force's previous mission was a success thanks to her impeccable intervention with the terrorist's deadly sabotage. With her Ninja Art and skills, Rinko-senpai basically cut down an evil scheme no one foresaw in time. It actually made more sense she should be in that briefing in the first place.
As part of the Code, a Taimanin must fulfill their duty first and foremost, anything outside that scope including their personal life will be considered as secondary as long as it doesn't affect their performance. This also applied to those who retired from the life of a Taimanin and still sticking by their role as humanity's protectors in case of emergency.
In another word.
For a promise that has nothing to do with a Taimanin's duty and poses zero issue to her performance, Rinko was right to prioritize her role as a member of the Task Force by attending the meeting.
This is how Taimanins operate. By all means, Rinko-senpai was never in the wrong.
Kotaro profusely sweated. Which also mean...
"I dropped the briefing for no reason at all?!"
The realization drained all the blood on his face. He made a fool of himself in front of Su and the popular senior.
"C-Calm down, Fuuma!" Rinko reassured. "I overheard that Su recorded the meeting for you. You won't miss out the important details."
Kotaro could almost see shining lights of hope from those words. Su Jinglei! The best Vice-Captain he could never have, she truly listened to his unreasonable request!
"Guess I'll buy her a phone charm too." Kotaro decided to show his gratitude through the gift.
"Well, she did help covering your absence. Knowing Su-san, I'm sure she would be delight with a proper gratitude in return. Anyway, let's set that aside for now. Fuuma, my apology." Rinko spoke in earnest. "I should have reached out to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have to miss the briefing."
"It's alright." Kotaro gave her soft hand a gentle squeeze. "I did this to myself, Rinko-senpai doesn't have to worry about me. I'm prepared to meet the consequence anyway."
"You're aware of the disciplinary measure?"
"Probably a full report about my reason of absence and more than twenty laps around the Academy in a week." He shrugged. "I'm willing to take that much to keep my promise with Rinko-senpai."
"Y-You don't have to go that far for me." Rinko flustered, playing with a strand of her hair. "But...thank you."
The two continued on, walking together. Their hands entwined, this level of intimacy brought a familiar sensation to both. They'd done this before, and they welcomed it.
"If something like this happens again, we can send each other a text. I forgot about it that one time and made you wait for me." Kotaro chuckled while recalling his mistakes. "This time, we had a meeting together but I didn't know you were also required to attend it. It really went over my head."
"I wanted to send you a text though." Rinko said. "But Murasaki-sensei didn't seem to be in a good mood when Su reported your absence, she ordered us not to contact you until the meeting is over. Murasaki-sensei also said she would deal with you in private."
Kotaro raised an eyebrow. To be honest, that explained the quiet during his wait, no one in their right mind would dare opposing the Immortal Yatsu. Since this one was about him, it sounded worrisome too.
"What did Su tell her?"
"Since there were lots of noises in the room, I'd only heard a few words though." Rinko touched her chin, remembering. "Something about being heartbroken if...trying to take the briefing...well, I wasn't able to catch it all so the context doesn't make sense."
"..."
No. It actually made sense. It made so much sense!
My heart would break if I broke this promise.
Suuuuuu! What the heck?! Why did she have to repeat the exact words coming from his mouth?! It was true he ditched the briefing in fear of breaking his promise with Rinko-senpai. But...But! Oh come on! Those words were the whole reason why Murasaki-sensei's mood turned sour!
Ting!
Kotaro jolted. That ringtone warned a new message from his phone.
Sender: Yatsu Murasaki
Here it is! The timing was too good to be true!
[I heard you decided not to participate in the briefing because you would be heartbroken. An interesting reason you got there, Fuuma. This is the first time I heard of it.]
His hands were shaking.
Ting!
[Is your heart still broken now? If it does, go the gym starting by tomorrow and I'll help you mend it back. If it doesn't, still go to the gym, I'll break it then mend it back for you.]
Somehow that made him feel nauseated.
Ting!
[You've got five minutes to reply.]
Reluctantly, Kotaro typed yes against his will.
He turned to Rinko, expecting a couple comfort words to cheer him up. Rinko had a dried smile while looking away. She understood too well what it meant for Kotaro, there was no way to save him from an ill fate impossible to avoid.
This was happening because he brazenly dropped the Task Force meeting.
Because he is the Captain, Kotaro hugely misunderstood the disciplinary measures reserved for those in his position.
"Fuuma, g-good luck!" Rinko finally gave him the encouragement.
But after seeing her nervous reaction, Kotaro realized how big of the price he has to pay.
"What have I doneeeee?!"
Lamenting his own idiocy, Kotaro broke down in helplessness. Rinko offered her consolation with a light pat on the back.
They arrived at the shopping district.
Today was neither a holiday nor weekend, it wasn't as crowded.
"Fuuma, you need to cheer up." Rinko said in concern. "If you keep being like this, I will feel bad."
"I'm trying, Rinko-senpai."
Kotaro's face had a ghastly pale shade after the shenanigan with Murasaki's text messages. His leg felt like jelly just by thinking about the disciplinary measure tomorrow, he needed to walk with a support cane again.
"Don't forget that you're still healing. I believe Murasaki-sensei won't be so strict to someone who's on recovery."
At first, that sounded convincing. Kotaro used to think about it like that.
Rinko-senpai had only sparred with Murasaki-sensei a few times. His popular senior had no idea since she was personally trained by the Headmistress' Advisor, Shiranui.
Murasaki would ready to toss him over a bridge if it meant whipping him into shape to compensate for the lack of Ninja Art. He might have it now, but it stayed a secret. The same harsh trainings will repeat in the gym.
"I hope so." Kotaro feinted his respond.
"You don't look lightened up at all." Rinko didn't feel convinced by his words. "Does getting trained by Murasaki-sensei turns out to be such a bad thing?"
Kotaro scratched the back of his head, he wouldn't go that far in describing it. If he had to answer this truthfully, the whole thing didn't sound bad at all.
"Roughed as hell. Though it's exactly what I need, My physical strength and stamina improved a lot since she's in charge of me."
He was grateful. But! It's not like Kotaro can endure everything she tried to throw at him! When it became too much, he wanted to run away during breaks.
"Well, it's good that you realized the benefits from it. Even I had to endure so much from the Elite Training Course, since it's been bringing out the best result I felt more respect to those who made it before us."
Their eyes made contact, Rinko showed a teasing smile.
"Perhaps you should stop slacking from time to time in order not to disrupt the momentum of your training."
"Senpai, it's not slacking if you're dealing with paperwork. The Task Force has dispatched missions every day. Recently, there're requests for support from other independent troops. I have to find the right person for the jobs based on their skillset and mission descriptions, those things can't be done within an hour."
Nowadays, the Task Force has been busy as a result of the Great Ashen Tree incident. When the data of the operation went public in Gosha, students and Taimanins on duty were both impressed and wary of the threatening nature of such malicious existence. With an S-ranked danger like that being subjugated, Task Force's reputation received a major boost. Requests and permissions to seek help from the official members started to pile up on his desk.
"Since we are relatively a small organization, I'm not exactly thrilled. It comes to the point I have to be nitpicking, you know. Nearly half of those requests made zero sense, I can't just send out our teammates to only collect materials, fight any A-ranked danger or fill in the numbers for the Exchange Program. I'm not going to accept any solo mission either, the team works best when there're more than one person on the job."
If anyone got a problem with his decision, they would have to thoroughly convince him the reasons for their request are legit. So far, none of the owners' requests had tried to approach him. Thus, effectively cancelling out the unnecessary missions for his team.
"Fufuh~. I see how it is." Rinko giggled sweetly. "Now I know why we rarely get solo missions these days."
The tender grasp on his hand became much more prominent. She was showing a deeper layer of her feeling without the need to express by words. Despite her rosy cheeks was on full display due to lights around the district, Rinko continued to look straight into his eye.
"You've been looking out for us."
"…..et…."
Cute.
He had a split-second freeze, Kotaro wouldn't lie about his heartbeat missing a beat. That expression on her face could be weaponized mid battle and it wouldn't be strange if the enemies began to feel butterflies flapping in the stomach.
Alright, let's not get ahead of yourself, Fuuma Kotaro. You are here to help the popularly beautiful senior get the phone charm for Yukikaze.
This was just an afterschool date….okay, that reason didn't help.
When Rinko-senpai was looking at him like that with a pair of alluring eyes, he couldn't help wanting to indulge in the moment. It was only a natural reaction.
But let's also not forget that Fuuma Kotaro was raised a gentleman by his big three sisters. He won't compare the meaning of this expression to one of the traffic signals.
He did take a bath together with Rinko-senpai at a secret hot spring.
He did dance together with her at a Christmas party.
He did see her womanly charms while she was wearing a certain idol outfit. Seriously, that attire helped her reveal so much emotions people don't normally see from her perfect image.
They held hands a lot before this.
Which! Making this moment literally another casual occasion in comparison to what they experienced together!
Rinko-senpai loves to tease him, sometimes she did. With his analytical mind rolling the gears, Kotaro deducted this to be the very same case. One shouldn't be overthinking over this kind of gesture.
As she went out of her way to express that, he was willing to choose an appropriate respond in kind to get the mood going. He squeezed her soft hand lightly, blending that lighthearted closeness to her touch.
"Mmgnh?!" She flinched.
Kotaro got thought, his action lit that rosy tint on her face. He braced himself for the next tease which surely didn't involve an improvisation with her katana.
"We're here!"
Rinko suddenly let go of his hand and rushed towards the phone charm stand in front of a game store.
Kotaro's thought went blank midway. The respond was unexpected.
…
…
Doki! Doki!
Her chest was beating fast.
She intentionally created a distance from him just so she could calm herself down.
She deliberately had her back facing him so he couldn't see the heat packing her cheeks.
She rubbed her hands together. The residue feeling from it brought a pleasant warmth to her body.
Even though it was just a gentle squeeze of his hand, the way he looked at her in the eyes nearly caused her thoughts to go wild.
"How come my mind…...got so bold….." Rinko muttered quietly with a blush.
They arrived at the game store where the limited phone charm was available. Yukikaze had sent her the picture of it, she was glad the special item didn't run out of stock when it caught her sight.
There was only a few customers in the store, none of them was here for the same intention as Yukikaze's. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe Rinko hadn't needed to worry about it as much as Yukikaze's concern about the competition.
Only…
Had she walked slower with Kotaro, hand in hand and felt more of the warmth coming from his grasp, what would happen? From time to time, the amber in that left eye becomes so charming for no reason.
"Wait, I know this design." Kotaro recognized the limited item. "It's that top one streamer's customized handgun from the famous FPS game, BulletRain!"
"Eh?" She was surprised that he knew so much about this. "Fuuma, you also know this game? Have you played it?"
"I don't. I only watched Sakura playing it some time ago. There was this global tournament where gamers online joined in a five-stage battle royale. Sakura lost since her opponent was the number one star streamer in FPS games. The winner of first place would have their in-game customized weapon made into a real-life decoration item, I have no idea they would make a phone charm out of it."
He picked up the item, mesmerized by its appearance.
"Kind of an underwhelming prize considering the players' effort. But in a way, this is nice. Y-kazeX-chan really earned it through her skills alone."
Rinko tilted her head in a mix of understanding and confusion. She wasn't into gaming like Yukikaze or Sakura. Kotaro might have explained it in simpler term, some technical words were still lost on her.
"Rinko-senpai, looks like there're only two of these left. " He took two identical phone charms off the stand and brought them to the counter. "You have one for Yukikaze, I'll get one for Sakura. I'm sure they'll be thrilled."
Rinko nodded and followed him in eagerness. She could almost picture Yukikaze's smiling face when she finally returned from the mission.
"Oh, Su-san!" She recalled. "Fuuma, what about your gift for Su-san?"
"I'll pick something else for her." He looked over the shelves. "Hm. That panda plushie might work."
"Are you sure she would like that?"
Rinko made a good question. Su's never shown interest in stuff like these.
"To be honest, I'm not sure." He thought for a moment. "Maybe I can invite her out for a meal….can't do that in front of Noah, though. Should I just go with the phone strap? She doesn't have one on hers anyway."
"Why don't you try asking her?" Rinko suggested. "It's no use if we keep guessing about what she really wants."
Kotaro agreed, he sent a text to Su.
[Su. Thanks for covering my place at the briefing. I'm at the shopping district, is there anything you would like for me to buy?]
Seconds later, the incoming message icon displayed.
[For now, I have nothing in mind.]
Well, that would be difficult. He had no idea what to buy as a gift for her now.
[But there's something you can do for me.]
There was the opportunity! Kotaro quickly typed back.
[Sure! Anything!]
[Good. I would like you to give words to Murasaki-sensei that I want to participate in her training sessions. You and I will have mock battles at the gym daily, this is to re-evaluate your performance post-treatment.]
"…"
Kotaro fell silent at the texts. He stopped replying, put the phone back into his pocket and covered his face. The squealing voice echoed dramatically.
Rinko looked on in worry, wondering if she had gave her junior a bad advice.
Needless to say, he dug himself a hole with this one.
…
…
Rinko smiled at the small box containing Yukikaze's phone charm. The store clerk even wrapped it with a cute ribbon, which came along with the limited edition item. This felt like a nice little present for the tanned-skin Taimanin.
Kotaro just about to finish his pay while she waited for him outside the store. When he walked out, she noticed that he actually bought four gift boxes.
Sakura'd get the limited phone charm. For Su, he decided to buy her a phone strap as a thank you gift. In that case, who were the other two whom he bought for?
"This is for you, Rinko-senpai."
"Eh?! For me?"
Kotaro gave her one of the boxes. The surprised Rinko received the answer to her question right away.
"You can open the gift now if you wanted to."
"Okay, I'll open it." She untied the ribbon and lifted the cap inside.
It was another phone charm. The appearance was similar to the Ninjato, the most basic katana which all Taimanins had used once in their first trainings. Somehow, it continued to be Asagi-sensei's weapon of choice.
Since this was a decoration item, the design had been tweaked a little bit.
"This was made during the advertising campaigns for the Taima-Five TV Shows."
The show became a big hit even now, followed by an astonishing rise in demand for merchandise.
"This phone charm here came all the way back to the first season of the show. Pretty sure you've heard of it."
"I have." She nodded.
It was an attempt to make the Taimanin's presence familiar to the general public. Gosha didn't anticipate people to warm up so quickly to the story about a group of ninjas fighting against monsters.
"Fuuma. I'm the one asking you to accompany me here to search of Yukikaze's item. You really didn't have to go out of your way to buy another one for me." She smiled. "I appreciate the thought, though."
"Well, Rinko-senpai was the MVP on that mission against the Blue Guardians. Without your skills, my instructions would be useless. So, as you know…" Kotaro pointed at himself. "Being the Captain, I ought to do something to further encourage the best kind of support I can continue to receive from you. I'm thankful to have you on the team."
"…..support…?" Rinko repeated.
Kkssh...K..I...L…..L….
In a flash of her memory, the unsheathed sound of the blade and an ominous word rang like a reminder before overlapped by Kotaro's voice.
"Rinko-senpai?"
She clutched her charm tightly.
"N-No! That's not it, Fuuma! If anything, I should be thankful of your support. Without…" Her gaze shifted to the ground. Her bangs covered the eyes. "…..without you being there in time, I'm not sure what I would have done."
It could have turned into something she would come to sorely regret.
"No no." Kotaro waved off her solemn mood. "Again, it was mostly thanks to Rinko-senpai the village was saved from the terrorists."
"No. It was thanks to you that I was able to do such."
The well-earned gratitude constantly being passed back and forth between the two.
"Thank you!"
"No, thank you!"
"You're the MVP!"
"Not without your help!"
"…."
"…."
Since none of them wanted to give in, they gave each other a long hard stare. Rinko shot him a sharp gaze of her Savage Hunter persona.
"Are you refusing to accept my gratitude, Fuuma?"
"Says the one who won't acknowledge your junior's appreciation."
"Grrr!"
"Grrrrh!"
By now, they just communicated with their eyes. Neither wanted to give up on denying the appreciation they believed the other person should have.
Rinko decided to leave. Kotaro walked by her side with a calm look. They continued to give each other side glances.
She was walking with a slightly quick pace, he adjusted his to suit hers.
She briefly glanced at his free hand. After a short moment, Rinko realized Kotaro had been noticing where she was looking. She faced the road, cheeks turned red from embarrassment.
Then.
Silently, he grabbed her hand. She slipped a soft gasp and quickly composed herself. When she took a sneak peek at his face, he turned the other way. He tried to hide the same expression she was having.
The seemingly casual gesture of an afterschool date was pulling on their heartstrings.
After minutes passed, Rinko decided to speak up.
"Fine. You're welcomed. Please continue to have faith in my strength." She accepted his gratitude. "Thank you for the gift, by the way."
"You're welcomed too. Rinko-senpai. Please continue to support me." He replied. "I'll be sure to come up with the absolute advantages for the team."
They shared a smile.
"Say, Fuuma."
"Yes?"
"You bought a gift for me, Su and Sakura. Who is the fourth?"
Rinko beamed him a curious look. In return, he showed her a cheeky grin.
The genuine interest in her eyes sparked the moment he'd been waiting. Kotaro opened the anonymous gift box to reveal the same Ninjato phone charm.
"This one is for myself." He said, taking out the item. "Look, Rinko-senpai. We're a match!"
"Eh?!"
They had a matching pair of the phone charm.
To her, this came out of nowhere which was a surprise, a pleasant one at that. But she won't let him know that. Not now. Not when this could be a little prank he pulled up to tease her. She was definitely not going to be swayed so easy by a gift.
"Fuuma, are you teasing me?"
"No way! There were only two of this charm left on the stand. I kind of wanting them to go in pair, you know."
"Hah. How cheeky of you!"
"Whatever do you mean?" He shrugged with a smirk. "Maybe it's Rinko-senpai who's being cheeky about the implication of having a matching item."
"Do not get me wrong." She returned the same gesture. "It takes more than this to persuade me. This is nothing compares to the anonymous confessing letters in my locker."
"You're saying like going incognito behind a no named letter is better than being there truthfully. Come to think of it, how do you even deal with that much confessions anyway?"
"I read them all, regardless of the no named identities."
"That must have been awkward for you, Rinko-senpai."
"A little." She made a dried smile. He hit the nail on the head. "Even so, I couldn't afford to discard those letters which someone had put the effort to express their feelings through words."
"I see. Rinko-senpai has always been thoughtful like that." Kotaro nodded at the explain before making a deadpanned face. "But the leftover space in our storage just keeps getting smaller! Quoted Tatsuro!"
Rinko'd got shocked by his quote.
"Wha-What?! My brother told you that?!"
"People with a popular phase sure have it roughed."
"Like you are one to-!…...never mind."
She almost slipped.
His remark about her reputation in Gosha irked Rinko. She did bring the letters home and keep them instead of throwing it away. She won't deny the strange looks and ideas others had about her. But it sounded like Kotaro himself has never realized that out there truly existed a group of people carrying their own intangible emotions towards him. She'd nearly gave away that.
Sigh.
What was she doing, falling for him….for his teasing!
"Seriously though, I would like Rinko-senpai to have it. One hundred percent a gift from this kouhai, zero ulterior motive."
She cleared her throat.
"Well, since Fuuma have put it like that, I will gladly accept it wholeheartedly."
They walked in silence for a moment.
"Now that we got the phone charms, I guess this wraps up our afterschool date nicely, doesn't it?"
"It does."
"But, Rinko-senpai. Don't you think something is missing?"
She turned to him and his left eye met her, both glanced down at each other free hand. They had let go and forgot about the casual gesture of a date during the talk.
At the same time, their once again reached out and met together by a tender squeeze. Such boldness left enough room for two hearts to be on the verge of melting.
They continued to indulge themselves in that warmth.
All the way home.
Her hunt was fruitless.
Toshiji managed to escape from death, but she would find her way to him and deliver it again for sure.
Now, there was an urgent matter she must resolve.
In no time, she sneaked past the traps placed around the ancient forest. Some were expected, some were new much to her knowledge.
She didn't recognize the bushes growing by the tall trees and an open area ahead. What made it strange was this area had looked most likely the same in her memory. She didn't doubt about a missing gap in her knowledge, this wood used to be a familiar place to her before she decided to become a Rouge Taimanin.
Carefully stepping into the open, her hands drew to the sword on her waist. Nothing suspicious detected, she saw no threads, no landmarks of a death trap.
This path seemed to be the only way leading straight to the destination ahead. After all, she realized the bushes in this part of the forest were placed here on purpose, they were poisonous plants containing spikes. One mistake and she could be paralyzed or suffer worst. The dense trees left no gap for her to jump through. This type of security tended to leave its targets without a choice to move forward and they would eventually walk right into a hidden trap.
She made sure her steps were light enough not to spread a vibration in the ground.
But that would not be enough.
By a stroke of luck, the moonlight shone bright instead of a gloomy downpour. Through it, she saw strings extending and spread thin within the low grass.
As she came here using Void Art multiple times, her depleted Taima energy pool needed some time to recover.
In order to reach that place, she would have to walk into this trap.
Her breath kept steady, focused her hearing on any distinct noises among the trees and leaves. Tense muscles loosened in exchange of a lightning-quick reflex, her vision observed the faintest movements within the shades.
Then, she began to move.
At the first step, bamboo logs rose from the bushes and fired darts towards her. While keeping her feet firmly on the exact spot, Her hip spun accordingly to the aim, knocked off all the projectiles using the hilt of her katana.
At the fourth step, more bamboo logs appeared, the next wave of poison darts came much quicker with stronger firepower. She evaded with her full body twisted back in forth between the two steps she'd made inside the trap.
Just when the wave ended, a hidden dart shot forward. Her head zipped to the side, sharp point traced the flow of her long hair and struck the ground.
At the seventh step, something snapped above her. A giant wood swung down, its length covered the entirety of the open area. Her katana left the scabbard, cuts shot through the air in a single swing. The giant log split in half and turned into pieces as it past her.
At the eleventh step, multiple automatons rose from the gaps hidden among the grass field. With the sword already drawn, she held her position by throwing quick slashes. The automatons were cut down one by one, some hit on the threads as they fell, triggering the next traps.
She stepped on their bodies and moved across the open area to her advantage. A group of kunais launched towards her, she jumped out the way, landed and nearly lost her footing over a collapsed pit. In that instance, a jarring gleam seen beneath that trapping hole. One more kunai slung upward by an automaton's arm buried between the bamboo spikes. It was a trap within a trap!
The kunai struck the Noh Mask she was wearing. By a sheer luck, she survived that one. But the mask had been damaged, it obstructed her vision. She had to put it away. Whoever set up the traps in this place really knew how to challenge the infiltrators' capability. Making a single minimum mistake beyond the fifth step would be costly.
She nearly got out. There was one crossbow came up at the end of the path. The arrow fired off, she wiped the air with her finger, drawing a shining line which enlarged enough to get in the way of the arrow. As it hit, the arrow leaped through a small portal behind her, missed its target.
She came close to the end of the trap.
The crossbow in front of her bended out, revealing a second arrow like a shocking twist. She noticed something different about that second arrow, a paper seemed to wrap around the shaft, unidentified scribble written on it.
No matter, she would do the same thing to it. She quickly flicked a leaping bubble towards the arrow. When the point struck, the arrow didn't leap. To her surprise, it broke through. The Void Art technique didn't work!
"Kuh!"
Her face avoided it by a hair's breath. The pointy head contained a needle, it grazed her cheek. Ack! She couldn't feel the muscles around the cut! Poison?!
Barely overcoming the last trap, she pressed forward with a dash and a clean cut through the crossbow.
Gasp! Gasp!
She finally got out.
The paper wrapped around the second arrow. It was a talisman, a tool commonly used by the Onmyojis. It was infused with a spiritual incantation that can dispel Taima energy.
Truly a dangerous moment.
The trap in this area was cleverly set up with shock factors combined. As if it was made with the intention to trap those on the level of an Elite Taimanin.
Plus, there was that talisman.
To use it together with the booby traps, the one who designed it must have been quite the schemer, cold and calculative. She had no idea there was such an individual in Gosha.
"...m...ah..."
It was no good, she couldn't feel her jaw anymore. That needle contained paralyzing toxin, only a small amount and it had become worst like this.
She could still feel the rest of her body, including the tingling ache from that mark on her chest. She must get a move on to that secluded place between the ancient forests and mountains.
She has to make it, to confirm the truth with her own eyes.
After moving in the darkness for so long as the Vengeful Blade, she finally experienced a glimmer of hope. She desperate wished this whole world wasn't a fabricated lie.
When her earpiece stopped working, she'd tried to make contact with the other rouges who also participated on the raid in Yomihara.
To her confusion, all the comm links didn't work.
When she made it back to Yomihara, no fire was breaking out, no operation was taking place. The underground city remained the same without any incident.
To her utter shock, the name Under Eden no longer existed. The brothel had been shut down years prior, taken over by casinos and hotels. However, Palace of Darkness was still running, Nomad was still around. The Vampire King Edwin Black is alive and currently active in the Dark World.
When she found out that the Rogue Taimanins' hideout in Amidahara was non-existed, she had met a certain sorcerer to seek advise.
It was then, she came to a realization.
Akiyama Rinko the Vengeful Blade (VB) is now a stranger in a familiar land.
"...Go...sha..."
Standing atop the hill that looked over a broad plain, the town came into view. Its name left her trembling lip.
Rinko (VB) knew of a new secret establishment undisclosed and in the process of building back in her own world. It was found in the aftermath of Kanda Brigade's attack on the old village and Edwin Black's defeat. However, after becoming a Rogue, Rinko (VB) never had the chance to see it.
The new Gosha Village of this world, fully built and thriving. A better version of the old village located in the ancient valleys, where the forest spirits and the Land Gods dwelled.
Her eyes swelled up, watered as Rinko (VB) hardly suppressed the tears.
In this world, positive changes occurred.
Carrying that belief in her heart, Rinko (VB) walked over the edge and dropped down the cliffside.
Yukikaze...Tatsuro...Shiranui oba-san...
She wanted to see them again.
/
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed that Kotaro/Rinko moment.
Thank you for reading. Take Care!