An
unconscious figure lay on a bed. Darkness filled his mind. Slowly, flashes of
light appeared followed by the sound of voices.
“Don’t
worry, Yanagi. Tokiya is going to be alright.”
“I
know but .. but he was bleeding so much blood.”
“But
you healed him remember?”
“His
major injuries were healed so he should be gaining conscious soon.”
“My
mum is right, Hime. Tokiya will be just fine.”
“It’s
your fault, Recca. Why do you have to use Resshin? You could have use some other
dragon.”
“But
I have no choice. Tokiya somehow called up some monster that I haven’t seen
before. What was I supposed to do? Let it kill me!”
“Maybe
you should, bakas!”
“Over
my dead body, Fuko!”
“Will
you two kids shut up? We should let Tokiya rest. ..”
“What
do you mean by the word ‘kid’, Kogenai? As your senior ..”
“Quiet!
He’s waking up!”
Tokiya
gave a soft groan. His eyes flickered for a few seconds before opening up.
“What happened?” asked Tokiya weakly. “Where am I?”
“At
Recca’s house,” answered Fuko. “Hey! Don’t get up. You had a nasty blow
on your head.”
Tokiya
groaned again as he placed his hand over his bandaged head.
“Lay
still,” said Yanagi. “I’m going to heal you.” A soft white glow appeared
from her hand, which spread across Tokiya’s body. “It’s done,” She
smiled.
“Thank
you.”
“Now
that you are okay, Mi-chan. What was that thing you created? I never seen that
move before,” said Kogenai.
“How
did it look like?” questioned Tokiya, taking a sip of water.
“Well,
it look like a serpent. But its size is almost like the fire dragons,” replied
Domon.
“Water
serpent?” repeated the confused Tokiya.
“Maybe,
we should let my mum use her Eikai Ball. It should be able to show us what
really happened. Would you, mum?”
Kagero
took out her Eikai Ball, which shined brightly. Its purple rays formed
themselves into a screen-like shape…
The
screen showed Tokiya raising Ensui towards the sky. His eyes were closed and his
face filled with mixed emotions. Waves of water vapour swirled around Ensui. The
force of water vapour grew stronger and stronger that the surrounding trees were
blown over.
“My
goodness,” gasped Fuko. “I didn’t know that Ensui could do that.”
Tokiya
looked at the screen silently. He slowly recalled what he was thinking about.
…
~
~ ~
“Meguri
Koyaza. That’s my name.”
“Look
here, Meguri Koyaza! How did you know my name and about Ensui?” demanded
Tokiya, holding Ensui, really to defend himself.
Meguri
Koyaza gave a grin. “Even though you are in great pain and sorrow, you are
still sharp enough to notice this. That’s good for a swordsman. Come to think
of it, you have the blood of a swordsman like your father.”
“You
know my father?” exclaimed Tokiya.
“Yes,
I know about your parents and your sister, Mifuyu.”
“But
… but if that was so, how come my sister didn’t tell me about you?”
“That
is because she never seen me before. The last time I saw her was when she was a
baby.”
Tokiya
stared at him in shock. There was finally someone who knew his father and mother
whom he could barely remember. As long as he could remember, Mifuyu was all he
had. There were questions that he always wanted to ask Mifuyu about his parents
but he never dared to since such questions always made her sad. Finally, there
was someone who knew about his parents. Finally, his long-yearning answers will
be given.
Meguri
smiled in amusement. “I meet your father when I was in university. Your
father, Yuji, loved sword fighting as much as I do. He also loved to travel the
world as he often dreamed of having adventures. So, after finishing university,
we worked as explorers for a man, named Mr Oliver Stone from the society –
International World Explorers. Since then, we travelled the world like there was
no tomorrow. Ah! Those were the good old days.. ,” He chuckled. “Even
thought we found some amazing discoveries, Yuji wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to
find his own treasure. So, we traveled to northern Japan, Hokkaido. It was there
when he found Ensui. We were both amazed by its beauty and began doing research
on it. Soon, we learnt how to master it.”
“However,
an organisation wanted Ensui as well. Yuji and I decided to separate so that
they couldn’t find us. We both thought that they would give up eventually. But
it seems like we were wrong. I didn’t believe that they would still track us
down for 16 years.”
“Then,
the bastard who killed my sister belongs to the organisation. What’s their
name? I want to know!”
“I
wish I could but I don’t know.”
“WHAT
DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!”
“We
tried but couldn’t find a single clue. All we know that they will kill us as
long they obtained Ensui. So, we were forced to lay low. Besides, your mother,
Yuki, was pregnant with your sister. Yuji didn’t want to risk their lives.”
“Listen
to me, Tokiya Mikagami. The fact that they could find your sister means that
they could find you as well. I think that it’s best that you come with me. I
will teach you how to use Ensui. When you have mastered Ensui, you can take your
revenge for your sister. However …”
“However
what?”
“However,
it depends on you. Taking revenge for Mifuyu will change your life forever. The
path is hard. Moreover, you must watch for anyone who worked for the
organisation. When you go to school, you must not trust anyone since they could
be working for the organisation. Your classmates, teachers and even the
principle could be working for them.”
“How
can you be sure that they are working for organisation?”
“Well,
didn’t they find you and Mifuyu after your parents’ death?”
“I
know but.. but ..”
Meguri
looked at the trembling boy. His face softened. “Perhaps, it was not a good
idea to tell you everything at one shot. After all, you are still mourning for
Mifuyu. You must be feeling all mixed up now. I’m sorry if I have frightened
you.” He bent down and hugged Tokiya. “As your father’s sworn brother, I
promised to look after you until you are old enough to take care of yourself.
But you have to make a decision as soon as possible.”
Tokiya
was still trembling. “This man is my father’s sworn brother. He promised my
father that he would take care of me. Teach me how to use Ensui.” His
trembling body slowly melted into the warmth of hug. “It’s so warm. So warm
and caring. It’s like hugging my own father.” Tears formed around the eyes.
Faint memories of his father appeared in his mind.
“Daddy,
Daddy,” laughed a little boy, who was running towards his father.
“Tokiya,”
smiled Yuji Mikagami, lifting him onto his shoulders.
“Daddy,
daddy. What are you looking at?”
“Oh
nothing, just admiring the beauty of the river. Every time, I looked at a river.
It reminds me of someone.”
“Who,
daddy? Who?”
“A
close buddy of mine,” smiled Yuji. “More like a brother, actually. We made a
promise to each other at a river like this one. We promised to each other that
if anything were to happen to one of us, we will take care of each other’s
family or relatives or close ones.”
“How
does he look like, daddy?”
“Ha,
you will see. If anything happens to me, I’ll send him to you. But that
won’t happen, Daddy will always be here for you.”
“If
anything happens to me, I’ll send him to you.”
“Then
he must be the one.”
“Listen
to me, Tokiya. I don’t want to force you into this. You are still young and
besides I don’t think that you are in danger yet.” Meguri slowly released
his arms, patting Tokiya’s head lightly. “You better go home and get some
sleep. It’s going to be morning and it’s not good if people see you carrying
a sword. I will be back soon.”
Meguri
Koyaza turned and walked for a few steps before disappearing. Tokiya blinked his
eyes and wondered whether what he just saw was for real or he was imaging things
due to his sleepiness.
“As
your father’s sworn brother, I promised to take care of you.”
“If
anything happens to me, I’ll send him to you.”
~
~ ~
The
swirling water vapours circled around Ensui. Then, a huge water serpent shot
out. Tokiya opened his eyes, which turned blue. Like a possessed person, he
aimed Ensui towards the stunned Recca.
“Die!
Meguri Koyaza! Die!”
“RECCA!”
screamed Yanagi.
“Argh!
.. RESSHIN !!!” shouted Recca.
Resshin
appeared and flew towards the serpent. They circled and attacked each other
violently. Then,
both creatures crashed into each other, causing an explosion. The impact was so
strong that it threw both fighters off their feet. Recca managed to protect
himself with Mudoka but Tokiya crashed into a huge tree. Blood spurts onto the
ground. He fell facedown onto the ground. His right hand holding Ensui tightly.
Ensui has run out of water.
“TOKIYA
!!” screamed the others, running towards the bleeding Tokiya.
“What
a powerful move,” said Kagero. “I never thought that Ensui could be do
something like that. However, it seems that you have lost control of yourself in
the mist of it, Tokiya. If you were in the right state of mind, you could have
defeated Resshin.”
“WHAT
!!” yelled Recca. “THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE!!”
“Yes,
it can,” said a voice.
“WHO
SAID THAT!” Recca turned around. “KOKU!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
Koku
just smiled at the surprised group.
“You see, Hanabishi. The moudoughs that I have created have powers that
are beyond imagination. It all depends on the users whether they want to.
Mikagami, I see that you have the potential to make Ensui the most powerful
moudough after the Heaven and Hell. However, this will only happen if you stop
thinking about revenge and your sensei, Meguri Koyaza.”
“Is
that true, Tokiya?” asked Yanagi. “Is that why you look troubled
recently?”
Tokiya
looked into her worried brown eyes. He gave a sigh. “Yes, it’s true. I just
can’t stop thinking about him. Ever since Kai told me that he is the one who
killed Mifuyu, my whole life is shattered. I don’t know what to do. I don’t
know whether what he told me about my parents are true or not. I feel so
frustrated,” his voice began to tremble. “That everything I know is just a
lie.. I .. I …”
“It’s
okay,”said Yanagi as she hugged Tokiya (much to Recca’s annoyance).
“It’s alright.”
“Listen
here, Mi-chan. I wish that you could tell us earlier about this,” chipped in
Fuko, placing her head on Tokiya’s shoulder. “You are not alone anymore, you
have a family. You have us, right, guys?”
“Yeah!”
agreed Kogenai and Domon.
“Yeah,”
said Recca, who is trying not to feel jealous. “We are a team. And every one
is important. Your strength is our strength. Your weakness is also our weakness.
Just remember that,” He reached out his hand. “Buddy?”
Tokiya
looked at the grinning Recca. He smiled and grabbed Recca’s outstretched hand.
“Yeah, buddy.”
Yanagi
laughed and hugged Recca. She then grabbed both Tokiya’s and Recca’s arm.
“I’m so happy that we are a family.”
“Hey,
don’t forget to count me in,” said Fuko.
“And
us too!” echoed Koganei and Domon.
“You’re
not alone. Your strength is the Hokage’s strength, Your weakness is theirs as
well,” Koku whispered into Tokiya’s ears before disappearing.
Tokiya
looked at his friends’ smiling faces. “Even though they are right, I don’t
want them to be involved in this. I can’t. I have to face this alone.” Then,
he felt an aching pain deep down in his heart.
TO
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