Kiri: Chapter 6

Chapter 6:  The Battle Unseen

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Carey's body quaked in fear and pain, and she felt as though she was being strangled by some force that she could not see.  "Yokei, you won't get away with this, and you know it!  Toshiro will find me, and he will kill you!"

She heard a snicker just behind her.  "I have no doubt that Toshiro will kill Yokei, or maybe it will be the other way around...  Either way, he will not get to me."  Yokei's new master had managed to sneak Carey through the gates of the temple and into the darkness of the sleeping town almost a mile away.  Even she did not know how she had been swept away so quickly.

"Just who are you anyway?"

"Not of this world, and from that I'm sure you have a good idea as to who I am.  It has indeed been a royal pain trying to track you down these past years.  I'm still shocked that those eyes of yours have not gotten you into a world of trouble."

"Vincent," Carey gasped.  "You...  do you know the hell I went through to get away from you?"

"Yes, I do," he replied, stroking her neck with invisible hands, "and it makes it all the sweeter that I have at last found you again."

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Toshiro was pinned to the floor of Carey's bedroom.  The fight against Yokei had been one-sided, as he had been using methods that Toshiro had never been up against.  The former student had never been honorable enough to allow for a fair battle, and it looked as though this method would remain unchanged.  "How do you like me now, Sensei...  I have finally done what every teacher wishes their students to do, I have surpassed you greatly!  I can finally see past every move that you could make!"

"But there is no true sense in what you are doing.  You are cheating, Yokei."  Toshiro paused.  "Yet, you have learned a new style that most definitely surpasses my own...  So in all harsh reality, you truly are defeating me without any fault."  He pushed Yokei away from him and ran to the wall, where rested his father's most valuable sword.  "A few minutes ago, I thought I would give you the satisfaction of beating me without a bit of honor in your victory, but now I know that an unfair fight, as long as each fighter knows that the battle is still going, is still fair.  To each his own...  Now, let me see if this magic of yours survives the taste of an ancient steel."

Just as Toshiro finished his thought, he realized that he had been talking to himself for a good long while.  "Yokei, do you accept this challenge?"  There still was no answer.  "You are indeed a coward..."  Toshiro ran out of the room and down the hallway to where his more faithful students were sleeping.  As the door flew open to their room, they sprung to their feet.  "I applaud you all.  Your reflexes are definitely improving.  But this is the night where they will prove the most useful.  Our newest student, who was injured during our sunrise training this morning, has been attacked by our newest traitor."

"Yamada, you mean," a student asked.  "That is almost blasphemous.  Yokei cannot have tried to come back so soon."

"He tried," Toshiro answered, "and succeeded.  You all have two assignments tonight to make up for the missed training today.  First and foremost, Yokei must be stopped at all costs.  I will warn you now, he has been practicing some martial arts that none here have been exposed to.  Be on your most cautious guard.  Secondly, find Kiri before something happens to--"

"Kiri, sir?"  The same student grinned.  "What does that girl have to do with anything?"

Another chimed in.  "Don't tell me you somehow stayed in contact with that girl we found?"

A third student stepped forward, bowing his head and hiding his face.  "Of course he did...  And to think I was the only one who recognized those green orbs..."  Vincent, his fists clenched, at last showed his face.  "I'm so glad you kept her safe for me.  She has proven to be invaluable, now more than ever thanks to you."

"I do not know who in hell you may be," Toshiro threatened, "but you obviously know more than you should about this girl.  Tell me where she is, or suffer my father's blade."

"Go ahead," Vincent taunted.  "See just how invulnerable I can be."

Ordering his students to stand aside, Toshiro rushed down the room, sword at the ready, positioned to thrust into Vincent's ribcage.  It was not until the blade had pierced its target that he knew something was amiss.

Every student in the room stood still, aghast at the scene before them.  This mystery student had vanished, leaving Kiri, still in her training gi, in the path of the sword.  Not only had their master betrayed their trust, but he had killed an innocent woman.

Kiri's eyes pleaded for something.  "Toshiro, please, save me...  Don't let me die...  It will just make it easier for him to get me back again..."

He gently removed the sword from her sternum, and looked around at his pupils.  "I am sorry to have betrayed you like this, but I will explain when I can.  In the meantime, watch out for any sort of strange movement or sounds."

Carrying her body out the room, Toshiro knew he had lost the trust of every person there.  A revolt was emminent.