“Good
morning, mi-chan,” greeted Fuko , tossing her purple hair to one side. Tokiya
merely nodded his head and sat down on a bench.
“Hey
morning Fuko!” shouted Recca who is holding Yanagi’s hand.
“And
a very good morning to you, lovebirds,” smiled Fuko. She patted Tokiya’s
shoulder. “Mi-chan. Recca and your little sister, Yanagi are here.”
“Good
morning, Tokiya,” said Yanagi, smiling at Tokiya.
“Huh.
.. ah .. oh
.. good morning, Yanagi,” murmured Tokiya, giving a faint smile.
“Kogenai
will be meeting us this afternoon after school. We are going to do some
training. Hey, Tokiya, wanna train with us? .. Tokiya? Tokiya?”
“Huh?
Sure, Recca. This afternoon will be fine.”
Fuko
rubbed Tokiya’s head. “Yo, Tokiya. Are you all right? You keep on staring
into space or something. Are you sick?”
“Tokiya,
are you sick?” asked Yanagi, placing her hand on Tokiya’s forehead. “You
don’t seem to have a fever..”
“I’m
okay, really. I’m fine, “ replied Tokiya. He stood up. “ I just have lots
of things on my mind.”
Patting
Yanagi’s head, he walked towards the school library, leaving the others to
stare at him.
“Something
is wrong with Tokiya,” said Recca.
“Yeah.
It’s almost like he is becoming cold as ice again. Like he was before.”
The
memory of his first encounter with Tokiya Mikagami is still fresh in Recca’s
mind. He was the first one to injure Recca’s pride and caused him to lose his
self-confidence. Yes, he was as cold as ice. No emotion. Untouchable. Despite
that, he was the one to help them to rescue Yanagi from Kurei’s mansion,
fought with them in the Urabutousatsoujin and defeated their archenemy, Mori
Kougan. During these times, the Tokiya’s cold exterior slowly melted away,
revealing his true inner self but there was something. Something, that is
preventing him to reveal his inner self completely.
“Recca?
Recca?”
POW!
“Darn
you, Fuko!” yelled Recca, rubbing his head. “ Why did you do that for?”
“Have
to,” Fuko grinned. “You are just stand there like a statue. Don’t you know
that Yanagi & I were screaming right into your ears?”
“Recca,
what were you thinking about?” asked Yanagi.
“Oh,
nothing. I was just remembering the first time I met Tokiya. I was almost killed
by him but you saved my life, Hime.”
Yanagi
nodded.
“Stop!”
The
tall young man stopped and turned around. He stood still and stared at the
tear-stained face of a girl who looked so much like Mifuyu. The girl looked at
him for a few seconds before running towards the lying figure on the ground.
The
young man continued to stare at her. “ Who.. who are you?”
“
How .. how could you do such a thing? Don’t you have a heart?”
There
was silence for a while, followed by the sound of cold laughter.
“The
heart of the human soul. Yes, it’s true that I’ve forgotten what it is like
to have a heart. Recca Hanabishi, this will save your life. But I’ll reveal
your true self and kill you in order to find the one who killed my sister.”
“But
he means what he says…”
“Listen,
little ninja. You have to commit suicide. When I found out that you are not able
to protect Yanagi, I will cut you in half myself.”
“I
guess that Tokiya is not his self recently is that because he haven’t got over
the truth that Meguri Koyaza is actually the one who killed sister. Remember
what Shadow said.”
“The
moment that he learnt that his teacher, whom he respected & trusted the most
is the one who killed his sister. His emotion, confidence and mental strength is
completely mixed up. Anger, fear, distrust, hatred, suspicion, disbelief …
Right now, he’s really confused mentally. Sometimes, he falls into a state of
depression or frustration. If he doesn’t get out of his pain, revenge will
consume him completely. As much we wanted to help him, he is the only one to
overcome it.”
~
~ ~ ~ ~
“Nadare,
shooting fireballs!” yelled Recca.
Fireballs
flew towards Tokiya, who remain calm and composed as ever. Within seconds, he
nimbly past each fireballs while destroying them with his Ensui.
“Darn!”
cursed Recca.
“Ice
shower!”
“Huh?”
Recca looked up and saw ice darts aiming towards him. “Mudoka!” A bright red
light surrounded him, protecting him from the ice darts. Dust and smoke
appeared.
“Recca!”
cried out Yanagi.
“I’m
fine, Hime,” smiled Recca, rubbing the blood from his face. “Tokiya and I
are just training.”
“I
know .. but.”
“It’s
alright, Yanagi,” chipped Kogenai. “We have to train ourselves to be fit and
ready for any unexpected attacks.” He gave a yawn. “Still, it has been a
very long time since we defeated Mori Kougan. Sigh! My body is aching for a good
fight. Recca! Tokiya! Will you two guys hurry up? I’m tired of fighting with
Fuuko and Domon. They are a bunch of losers!”
“What
did you say, you little monkey!” yelled Fuko.
“Yeah!”
agreed Domon.
“If
you want some more, Koganei. Then come on. Fujin!” A gust of wind appeared
around Koganei’s feet. He smiled, his brown eyes shined with excitement.
“Let’s do it, Fuko! Well, at least you are better than ring-nosed pig.”
Recca
panted heavily as he dodged Tokiya’s violent attacks. Blood spurts out from
Recca’s arm. He staggered for a moment and looked at Tokiya.
Tokiya
was panting too. He remained composed as ever. But there was something wrong
with his eyes. They don’t look focused. In fact, they looked angry, confused..
.
“The
one who killed your sister is actually our master, Meguri Koyaza.”
~
~ ~ ~
It
was night and the moon was shining its faint light upon a boy who was kneeling
at a grave. Tears of great pain and sorrow fell onto the cold stone ground.
“Tokiya!
Look out!” screamed Mifuyu, who threw herself in front of her little brother.
A flying dagger struck her at the back. Bright red blood spurts out followed by
a terrified scream.
“Sister
… sister,” cried out Tokiya. “ I’m so sorry. I should have done
something instead of being scared. I should have protected you from them. I
should have … “
“Don’t
blame yourself, kid.”
“Huh?”
Tokiya turned around and saw a man, who was dressed in some martial art clothes.
“Even
if you try, you will also end up dead. Then your sister will have died for
nothing.”
The
boy shook at the words while holding the dagger-like object tightly.
“But,
you can still make up for your sister’s death.”
“How?”
Tokiya’s greenish grey eyes pleading for a answer.
“By
taking revenge.”
Tokiya’s
eyes widen at the word ‘revenge’.
“Revenge
.. but .. how? I don’t even know who killed my sister. Not even the police
know who did it. Furthermore, I don’t even know how to fight.”
The
man looked sternly at him.
“Tell
me, Tokiya Mikagami. What’s that object that you are carrying?”
Tokiya
looked at the dagger-like object. “My sister calls it Ensui. She told me that
it is our family treasure. She told me to protect it like she did..”
“Do
you know what Ensui is?”
“No”,
murmured Tokiya.
“Ensui
is a madough made by the Hokage Ninja Clan. The clan was destroyed during a
civil war. Ensui controls the element, water. Its power lies within this
element. It’s a powerful madough that your family possessed.”
“Ensui
is made by the Hokage Ninja Clan. Its power laid within the element, water,”
murmured Tokiya.
“If
you don’t believe me, Point Ensui towards that small pool of water.”
Tokiya
slowly point Ensui towards the small pool. Within seconds, water flew out from
the pool and towards Ensui, forming a crystal blue sword. The Ensui sparkled in
the moonlight.
“Did
.. did I do that?” said Tokiya who stared in awe of the beautiful sword. The
man smiled.
“It
seems like Fate has allowed you to take revenge for your sister.”
“Revenge
… revenge for Mifuyu,” thought Tokiya.
“Protect
Ensui and it will protect you. Learn how to use Ensui. … Learn how to use it
.. Learn how use it.”
“Mifuyu
told me to learn how to use Ensui before she died. Revenge. Yes.” He looked at
Ensui. “Yes, If I could master Ensui, I will find the bastard who killed her
and have my revenge.”
Tokiya
looked at the moon, “ Now, I have a goal to continue my life. Revenge. Revenge
for Mifuyu. I will find the bastard who killed Mifuyu and killed him. But …
does that man know about Ensui?”
He
turned around and said, “ How do you know about Ensui? Mister
.. Mister..”
“Meguri
Koyaza.”
“The
one who killed your sister is actually our master, Meguri Koyaza.”
“Meguri
Koyaza. That’s my name.”
“Revenge
for Mifuyu. Die, Meguri Koyaza! Die!”
TO
BE CONTINUED | MAIN
PAGE | COMMENTS? |