07 Byakukishin

  It’s early in the morning, and I barely had any sleep thinking when sensei’s father is going to behead me! Rei-sensei knocking on the door.

  “Oi! Wake up! TOSHI!!!”

  The way she screamed, I thought he’s here.

  “HE’S HERE!!!! KIRAAA!!”

  Kira behind the entrance door, her tail burning on her white flame, sharp claws covered with her silver metal, standing in a stance. I slowly tuned the doorknob and pulled it behind. It was something worse than Ryuusuke!

  “Wake your asses up! It’s time to get into shape!”

  Hands on her hips, A headband tied on her forehead, It was Drill Sergeant Rei! She threw a real sword from her sword collection at me.

  “Aren’t we supposed to train with wooden swords first!”

  “We don’t have time for that! Now come at me”

  I know she won’t be hurt even a little by my sword handling. So, I lunged in with full strength in her range. She leaned forward, used the back of her handle to hit the charging sword left. With her light tap, my weight shifted to the left as well, she used the momentum and spins to land a kick on me with her heel.

  “Yeah!!! More! More!”

  Kira sitting on the sides spectating it like a football match.

  “Why isn’t she in this training!”

  “She is already strong enough to kill without touching him”

  “So why aren’t we doing that?”

  “Because I'm not killing my only father! Now get up, again!”

  I got up and this time, I must be aware of not only her sword but also her martial arts as well. The moment I was on my feet, she lunged in for the first strike, I instinctively held the sword in front of me. Our blades connected, her force was heavier like a car squashing me to death. Then…i know this is pretty cheap but…i remembered a move i watched on TV, I brought her sword down with mine, making her lean down with her force and tried to make an attack from above.

  CHNK she easily grabs me blade with her finger

  “Moves from TV do not work in real life! That opening could’ve cost your life!”

  She ends it with an elbow strike on my stomach.

  “Your swing is too light”

  One mistake could’ve cost my life! I can’t be reckless like this anymore. Rei-sensei, she was way stronger than I expected. The reality of how basic I am, the frustration hits me harder.

  “I want to become strong enough not to be useless Sensei”

  “THEN ON YOUR FEET! TAKE YOUR SWORD!”

  She places her hand gently on my head while im picking the sword

  “I’ll make you stronger Toshi”

  ***

  She returns inside her room and brings a long metal bar on her shoulder, it was a long cylinder metal on the top and the handle wrapped in rubber . She drops it on the ground with a huge thud, it created a small crater beneath it. How heavy even is that bar?!

  “Pick this up”

  If she can carry it like nothing, I can do it too! I held the bar and tried to lift it with one hand, it didn’t even budge. Veins appearing from my forearms, I used two hands to lift the bar and held it in a sword gripping style. The weight is mainly focused in front, making it hard for me to hold it.

  “Swing it 100 times daily! At night, we will do combat training!”

  “Hundered! I can’t even do one!”

  “No excuses! If you can’t lift it! Train enough to lift it!”

  Kira jumped in, with a confident smirk, she stood in front of me with her towering height.

  “What’s with that smug face!”

  She picks it up like a pencil and spins it.

  “I AM WORTHY OF THE BAR!! Am I the next heir of the Akabane clan?”

  “Being worthy comes with pure of heart, a dumpster cat can’t be the next king of Akabane!”

  “No one is becoming the Heir of Akabane! Quit slacking and train, both of you!”

  Rei-sensei left me with it and went inside her room. If i have to continue further with the training, i should really become able to lift the bar faster, we don’t know when he’s coming.

  “It’s time for the training montage Toshi! Want me to sing a background song for you? oh wait, the author is already broke to handle copyrights”

  ***

  Toshiro did weight training like his life depended on it (literally), his arms couldn’t lift the bar properly, his arms wobble, his legs shake. Rei forces him to drag her in a cart tied on him and run for 10 kilometers , and then he gets to catch his breath and rest for one hour, she jumps back into combat training both hand to hand and with swords.

  Akane is frustrated with the cafe’s customers dropping low because of both Kira and Toshiro's absence, Harumi is the only charm she have left to show off. Toshiro called both of them on the phone not to drop by and he pleaded for 1 month holiday to Akane, He lied to her that the three of them are on house arrest because Kira and Rei sprayed tags all over the town while being sober.

  “Oh my god Toshi-Kun! How about food? You want me to cook for you?”

  He really loves Akane’s cooking, but he could not involve her in these kinds of things anymore. Rei didn’t slack around, she trained inside her room, training all the techniques her father taught her without rest, coming up with counters, imagery training. But she knows who she’s up to is way above her league.

  The reps and distance increases as days pass, Toshiro’s training becomes intense. His body is getting used to it. He learns close combat such as dodging, striking and vital points, both Rei and Toshiro learn from each other by going for the kill without pulling back.

  “THE COUNTDOWN STARTS! ONE! TWO! THREE!”

  Kira counts as Rei pinned Toshiro down.

  Toshiro feels his arms are getting stronger than before, he could now lift the metal bar and hold it in a stance. As he swings, he could feel like every fibre of his muscles are ripping. He grabs his shoulder and rolls in pain, but he continues swinging the heavy bar.

  His shoulders are now refined, forearms are sturdy, grip is stronger, his endurance has gradually increased as well. But Rei was not satisfied by the results, with more time and his potential, he could've become greater than this. Which was the thought that has been running through her mind.

  ***

  While I was dragging both Rei and Kira on the cart, Harumi walked across the street with a bag full of steaming pork buns. She waved and ran towards us

  “Toshiro-senpai!!? I thought you’re on hou-”

  KAAAWWWWW!!! Shuryu shouts from above, fluttering its wings and heading directly at us.

  “SHIT! GET DOWN!!”

  Rei-sensei screams as Shuryu signals, SHHIINGG a sword flies towards Harumi, nearly grazing her cheek, She drops the bag out of shock. The whole street went silent, the footsteps of a leather shoe was the only sound coming at us.

  A man with white suit, his long hair tied behind with a lotus crest hairpin, was eating a freshly made Taiyaki walked toward us. Rei-sensei immediately unsheathed her sword.

  “Ryuusuke..”

  The cars behind him swaying left to right, struggling to avoid hitting him, the crowd panics and starts running scattered. The whole scenario changed in a second as if every step he takes causes chaos around him.

  My heart is beating faster and faster, adrenaline pumping all over my body. He walked past us, crunching and chewing his taiyaki, he grabbed the handle of his sword stuck on the wall behind them.

  “run…KIRA! TAKE THAT GIRL AWAY AND RUN!”

  Rei-sensei shouted at her, Kira transforms her hands into paws, Harumi gets more shocked after seeing her change. Kira throws Harumi on her back and starts running on fours, her blazing paws placing deep melted marks on the road. Ryuusuke’s eyebrows slightly went up.

  “Interesting..”

  SWISHH Ryuusuke swings his sword towards Rei from the wall, Rei-sensei immediately blocks him with her sword. The sound of their swords clashing together was so heavy, it could cut each other’s blade into half. The road beneath them cracked like spider webs.

  KAWWWW Shuryu shouts again, the raven always acted as an aerial surveillance for Rei this whole time, a few black cars arriving at the area, “BYAKUKISHIN-SAMA!!” they shouted, the men quickly got down from their vehicle, running at us with lethal weapons like swords, knives and some of them even had guns on them.

  “How do they know that name?!”

  Rei-sensei asked Ryuusuke with desperation.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Ryuusuke sighed, with a powerful kick to her gut, he made Rei-sensei fly afar from the street, she landed near the train crossing bridge.

  “I’ll handle this sensei!”

  I shouted to her. The past kept flooding on my mind as they came at me with full speed. Akane-san’s terrified face and the three guys back at the alley…Kira is also not here…i’ve had enough. One of the men lunged at me first, I was unarmed- he swung his knife at me. I’ve had direct combat with ‘Insta-Kill Mode Rei-Sensei’ every day, barely clung to my life, dodging her sword with all my might and forcing my reflex to work even though my body is aching like crazy.

  And now, his knife seems slow to me, this new sensation…this new confidence…I can actually figure out what I should do next. I grabbed his wrist quickly, striking the middle of his chest with my elbow, he coughed as his grip on the knife loosened. I took the knife from him and pierced his throat. His blood sprayed on my face, my hands trembling, my heartbeat getting faster and faster…with an instinct to survive, I actually killed someone…

  Ryuusuke walked toward the direction Rei-sensei flew. He paused for a moment after one of the men got killed by my hands, he did not turn behind or do anything, he just continued walking with his sword on his shoulder.

  ***

  Rei groans holding her stomach on the asphalt, the impact of Ryuusuke’s kick dealt like a three ton sledgehammer. She got on her knees and picked up her sword BOOM! SHUUUU- With a bang, a bullet train crosses the bridge with incredible speed, piercing through the air behind her. Rei’s hair blew on her face, covering her vision. RING The sharp sound of a vibrating metal closes in to connect to her neck.

  Ryuusuke, never tries to drag a fight, always goes for the quickest possible way to kill. His blade closes Rei’s neck, she blocks his strike with her sword within a hair’s breadth away, continuing with a kick to his rib from the ground. He easily uses his forearm to absorb the impact, Ryuusuke grabs her ankle and is about to toss her. She quickly uses him as an anchor to bring herself upwards, landing her knee to his nose.

  “Hngh! You did loved thrashing more than swordfight before”

  Ryuusuke was shocked by her growth in strength.

  “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!”

  As she clenches her fist to punch, he grabs her fists and twists it

  “Remember who taught you to fight”

  ***

  The knife is very short ranged, it doubles the risk of me getting grappled by these men. I need something else that can make me maintain distance. Rei-sensei told me, when we are fighting a group, striking one of them would raise other’s primal instinct to survive, thus they lose coordination, focused on stopping the threat in front of them by launching in a group together. But I don't think that would work on them, they’re used to this.

  Now, they’re all coming at me not by instinct, but to fulfil Ryuusuke’s command. My brain and body are looking for every possible way to get through this alive. One of them dashed at me, swinging his katana , but not as fast as sensei- SCREEEECH the edge of my knife scratched his blade as I quickly lifted it to cover myself.

  However, he’s experienced. His sword easily broke the knife and landed a cut on my hand. It burns like hell, the wound is spreading and closing with my hand movements. But I need to survive this, thinking about the next move, being aware of my surroundings… there is too much to focus on. “A calm mind creates a path to victory” her words flow to my mind.

  I took a deep breath and let it out, he makes another swing aimed at my chest, and another guy charges behind me with a gun, his bullets are flying astray BANG! He shot my back, the bullet pierced through my hips. I could not feel the pain at that moment. I grabbed the sword wielder’s triceps with both index finger and thumb, clawed it and punched his armpit really hard. His grip on his sword loosened, I stole the sword from his hands and threw it at the gunner which impaled him on his stomach, however, it was not deep enough, I pounced on him- twisted and took the sword upwards, cutting his pancreas and lungs.

  I turned to the sword wielder, my right hand was wounded, only my dominant left hand remained to use. I swung my sword unbalanced, but thanks to Rei-sensei’s metal bar training, the swing felt lighter, my blade sliced through his throat but not stable enough to cut clean off his head. He started choking, clutching his throat.

  The metallic smell and taste, I could not believe I turned into what I feared of. Blood spraying, guts dropping on the floor, the scream before death, everything reminds me of the alley incident. I want to run away…but one slip could cost me life. My clothes drenched in blood, The wounds… I can’t make quick movements, I can't grip my weapon tighter. There’s more…I could hear the men marching towards me.

  ***

  The blades clashes, each strike roaring like thunder. Rei starts to breathe heavily, Ryuusuke standing unscathed. Every attack of his is handled with precision, each swing cutting through air. As she slips away from his attacks, his blade cuts her thigh and makes her hard to move quickly. The scene was compared to a hare being hunted by a wolf

  “Why! After all these years, why are you after me all of sudden!”

  He did not answer her, Rei gripped her sword with both hands, shifted all her weight to the tip of the sword and twisted her hip. SWISHH swung her sword to Ryuusuke, the swing was strong enough to send a shockwave that sliced the metal poles and signs behind him. The speed of his steps increases, the footsteps are soundless, he phases through the waves. After pouring her strength to her swing, she gets immobile for a moment because of the wound, she drags herself on the ground.

  “How do they know that name!”

  “Ryuusuke is long dead, only Byakukishin remains”

  “How could you use it for this insanity you’re in right now! It was…a special name given by mother…

  ***

  “I'm stronger than you Ryu! Let me show you what I learned!”

  Young Hanabi stands before Ryuusuke who was eating her freshly made food.

  “What are you up to? Come (try this okonomiyaki, it’s good!”

  “Of course it’s good, because that’s my lunch! Fight me Ryu! I’ll wipe the floor with that smug face of yours”

  Ryuusuke wipes his mouth and takes the sword and places on his shoulder

  “If I win, I want a tight warm hug”

  Hanabi blushes and looks away.

  “Y-yeah alright, but im going to win this!”

  Both of them faced each other, Ryuusuke was highly confident of his abilities. Meanwhile, Hanabi takes a deep breath and stands on a stance same as Torashige, both her hands were held onto the handle and lifted to the top left of her head. Her legs were in a wide placement covering a balanced base.

  Ryuusuke lunged at her, but he was not serious. His blade hits hers, she could feel the weight of his sword landing on her. But it was not what she wanted.

  “BE SERIOUS RYU!”

  She shouted at him, she parried his sword and started advancing on him, her swing and her speed increased. Ryuusuke was shocked by her sudden change in strength, he began fighting her seriously, his attacks landed with precision. He directly went for the vital points, but her movement was like water, she dodged every hit, parried every strike of his.

  His eyes filled with disbelief.

  He threw away his pity and empathy for her, he knew that she was on par with him and deep down, he wanted to be embraced by Hanabi so badly. He felt that he had to earn what he needed right now. His stance changed, the tip of his sword pointing directly at her, his stance lowered like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey. Hanabi felt the weight of the situation increasing, but she did not waver. His eyes opened wide- focusing only on her.

  Ryuusuke lunged at her, she swung her sword directly at his shoulder. At a split second, he thrusted the tip of his sword on the small chipped area of her sword- it broke into pieces.

  “My sword!!!”

  He snaps back to normal after losing himself in the zone.

  “Too bad, it seems I remain the strong”

  He was aware that the Torashige’s Akabane sword style is a counter for his offense-only sword style, and he needed to sharpen his skills more.

  Hanabi playfully hits him continuously on his chest, as he stands like a rock. He placed his hand on her back and pulled her closer to him, feeling her thoroughly.

  “Now, for my prize..”

  She smiles and squeezes him with her hug and murmured

  “…”

  “Sorry what?”

  “You fight like a Demon”

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Not at all, I love my demon~”

  Years after Rei was born, Hanabi and Rei still called him that name to always tease him. He steals all the Taiyaki Hanabi makes for Rei

  “Father No! stingy!!”

  She struggles to take one from him as he tries to defend them

  “You Byakukishin! Give it to her already!”

  “Yeah! Father is Byakukishin!”

  “Your mother’s cooking is all mine!”

  ***

  Rei struggles while standing up, the memories of Hanabi killed before her floods in. Once a kind and loving father turned into someone filled with hatred, standing in front of her. She holds onto her sword, swinging desperately

  “I taught you better than this”

  “Shut up!”

  “One cut already makes you weak?”

  “I SAID SHUT UP!”

  Rei loses her composure, her swings becomes wild, every hit becomes heavier. Ryuusuke’s eyes showed, not anger- but quiet pity and disappointment. He makes a final parry of her swing, it makes her sword fly away from her hands. Black smoke from the chaos created by him covering the sky, damaged cars burning, the public running amok in panic.

  Rei barely catches her breath, regret and rage clouding her head. She looks at her own reflection on the puddle, how much she’s changed, how much he influenced her. She cries out loud, clenching her fist tightly till her knuckles become white.

  “I reject you…I REJECT YOUR TEACHINGS! FATHER!!”

  Ryuusuke looks at her below. She picks up the sword once again, Rei takes a deep breath and widens her stance, both her hands were held onto the handle and lifted to the top left of her head. He could not believe his eyes- something he had never seen since decades ago. His eyes widened, stunned by the sudden change of her stance. A splitting image of his wife.

  “…”

  Ryuusuke murmured, tears building up in his eyes

  “You did teach that to her… without me knowing”

  “Give me strength mother…i will somehow, bring him back”

  He smiles at her with a soft gaze as she uses the Torashige developed-Akabane style. With a newfound strength, she lunges at Ryuusuke. SHHH He swung his sword directly at her neck, Rei blocked his attack and got beneath his sword to counter him. He immediately responded to her move and used his end of the handle to push her, she used her palm to redirect his handle’s momentum.

  She was like flowing water, her movements were fluid. Every strike of his was blocked by her sword. Torashige style is mainly focused on defense, Ryuusuke’s direct charge was not working - so he did it once again.

  His eyes were wide opened, his stance was also lowered, pointing his sword directly at her, the full potential of his own altered sword style. His duel with Hanabi keeps flashing on his mind. Tears kept rolling on his cheek as he lunged at Rei. His focus increased, he started to calculate every single possibility, every swing and thrust made with utmost precision.

  “

  His smile widens as he strikes Rei’s blade, she feels his attacks become hard to defend, he crouched down quickly and swiped her leg, she placed her hand on the ground to maintain her balance and swung her leg in full force at Ryuusuke.

  “

  He thinks to himself while confronting Rei using his “zone”. somewhere a voice only he could hear-

  “”

  Rei jumps in to attack him, Ryuusuke throws away his sword and was ready to take the strike head on. Her swing stopped, her sword inches away from him

  “I concede my defeat”

  The whole place felt silent for a moment. Ryuusuke went on his knees. Rei grabbed his collar

  “Why…you mess up with my life, you put my friends in danger, you nearly killed me…now you surrender…”

  “I am…sorry..”

  “I did all of this because..”

  “I was…alone…”

  “You feel that now?”

  “I did all of this just to protect you! YES! I was blinded by revenge and resentment…but I regret my actions. I did not want the underground people to trouble you, so I made them focus only on me.”

  “SO YOU THROW AWAY YOURSELF JUST LIKE THAT! Killing everyone will not bring my mother back! ”

  Ryuusuke’s voice cracks

  “I know…i wanted you back…to be with me”

  “Then leave all of this, I want my father Ryuusuke Akabane. Not Byakukishin”

  She drops her sword and loosens her grip on his collar, Rei jumps on him with a tight hug and cries out on him. Ryuusuke’s arms hesitate before wrapping around her. His hands tremble, then tighten as if afraid she might vanish again.

  “Why are they being chummy all of sudden?”

  “And you still didn’t get any action sequence..

  Kira stood on the side, carrying Toshiro all worn out on her back.

  ***