Chapter Two

    "Hmmmm...so you are the Hime."

    "Sorry, what?" Just before I was about to place a dango^[1] into my mouth, a youth leaned forward, his face only a few centimetres away from mine, staring straight at me in curiosity with those yellow topaz eyes of his. On his forehead showed a red pearl, which matched the flaming scarlet shade of his hair. Another Hakkenshi, I see. By now I have figured whoever comes roaming freely into my residence must be a Hakkenshi (unless said otherwise). After Akaya and I have settled into our new environment a little more, Sakuno called for a meeting today together with the five Hakkenshi we have gathered so far.

    "Hi, my name is ." I greeted with a polite smile, wanting to give our new member a good impression of their Hime. "And you are—ah!!"

Not waiting for me to finish my sentence, the red-headed boy, in a blink of an eye, snatched the dango out of my hand. As if it was as natural to eat other people's food as to take in air, the youth placed the entire dango into his mouth without hesitation nor guilt. While I was still stunned at his actions, his eyes moved immediately onto the next target, the plate of mochi^[2] in front of Akaya.

Sensing danger, Akaya immediately placed his hand over the plate in protection, but only seeing a shadow sweep pass, the plate of mochi was suddenly no longer in his possession. Comfortably setting himself down on the tatami floor, the scarlet-headed Hakkenshi spoke while munching down Akaya's plate of mochi, "You know, you probably could go and get some training to help speed up your movements."

Unfortunately, Akaya did not seem to take in the advice well, for with a roar, he jumped onto the guy screaming and yelling, "You ate my mochi!!!!"

    "Calm, children!" Quickly running up to the wrestling pair, I tried to pull them apart, but discovered that it was only a useless attempt because when Akaya have switched on his demon mode, no one can stop him.

    "Halt." A calm voice appeared beside me, and upon his word, the two tussling boys froze in their pose, as if someone pressed the pause button on the video remote controller. Turning to the peacemaker, I found it to be Yanagi, and still unstirred by the scene before him, Yanagi sat calmly down into his allocated seat.

    "Oi, Yanagi! Unfreeze me, damn it! And get off me, I don't like having a man on top of me!!" The red-haired boy shrieked in complaint, obviously feeling uncomfortable in his current ridiculous position, with the latter comment directed at Akaya.

As if deaf to the complaints, Yanagi only calmly took a sip of tea from the cup in his hands, enjoying the peaceful silence he had created. Although sympathising with the boys, curiosity got the better of me as I poked at them in amusement.

    "Wow, you guys really can not move at all, but can you feel this?"

    ", stop it! It tickles!" Akaya protested while laughing uncontrollably to my poking.

    "Sanada! Don't just stand there, do something!" Knowing he was not going to be able to persuade Yanagi into freeing them, the red-haired boy sought help elsewhere. Unfortunately, like Yanagi, Sanada ignored his cry for help and continued to stand guard outside in the courtyard, making sure he maintained full concentration onto his role.

    "Yanagi," Knowing it was about time I stepped up, I asked the quiet youth who was still calmly sipping his tea, "Can you free them now?"

    "No." To my surprise, Yanagi declined my appeal, the request of the Hime, without the slightest hesitation.

    "Why not?" I could not help but ask, since I was under the impression that all Hakkenshi had to fulfill the request that came from the Hime.

    "A Hakkenshi's battle is against the Oni, not against each other." Calmly, Yanagi replied.

    "Hey, Yanagi! I didn't attack him! I am the victim here, so unfreeze me!" Still not giving up the red-haired Hakkenshi called.

    "Free me, Yanagi! Or else you will be the next person I attack!" Not sure if he knew threatening people was not the best way to convince someone into obligating, Akaya growled. As expected, Yanagi chanted a quick spell and waved his hand over the two boys, and like magic, the two not only could not move, but could no longer make one single sound.

With the two noisy boys shutting up, the room returned to its peaceful serenity again. Knowing that while Yanagi's emotion did not stir, and how he remained as calm as the deepest depths of the blue ocean, I have learnt that he would be the last person I want to be offending. With this unnatural stillness in the room, I felt that it was hard to even just breathe normally, frightened that it might ruin the calmness created by Yanagi, and that I too, would become the next victim.

    "My sincere apologies for arriving late, Hime-sama," Coming to our rescue, by breaking the uneasy silence, was Sakuno, entering the room with Niou. "We shall start the meeting immedi...Kirihara and Marui?" Sakuno called in surprise when she finally noticed the absurd view of the two boys dead still lying on top of each other.

From the members present in the room, Niou had pretty much figured out the reason to this ridiculous picture. However on purpose Niou teased, "Geez, boys, get a room. There are ladies present you know?" Upon Niou's mocking, I could tell Akaya and the other boy wanted to leap on Niou instead and yell and screech, however, they were still frozen and silenced by Yanagi's spell. Knowing Akaya could not touch him, Niou sat himself down intimately next to me and once again with charm greeted, "We meet again, Hime."

Seeing his attractive countenance close to mine, I quickly pinched my leg to sombre myself from his enticing allure, and greeted with a most mild expression in return. "Nice to meet you again, Niou."

Chuckling gently, Niou held up my hand and placed a tiny fragrance bag in my palm. "A little gift for my Hime-gimi, I do hope you like the scent." Sensing the subtle seducing touch from his hand, the blood circulation in me headed uncontrollably towards my face, causing my ears and cheeks to turn red.

    "We have wasted enough time already," Yanagi calmly interrupted our little flirtation and brought us all back to the original reason we came for. "Explain to us the mission, Sakuno."

    "Yes, of course." Quickly nodding Sakuno sat down at her seat, although still could not help but question whether we should just leave the frozen boys be. "Hime-sama, as you might have known already, the person with Kirihara over there is our fifth Hakkenshi, Marui Bunta. He is our first Hakkenshi of the South Pair."

    "Hi," I greeted, waving at the poor boy on the floor introduced as Marui Bunta. Turning back to Sakuno again, I asked, "If he is the first of the South Pair Hakkenshi, who else are missing their partners? What will happen if the rest never show?"

    "They will show," Yanagi affirmed, showing the pride and absolute belief he has for why we were here, "No one can decline the honour of being selected as a Hakkenshi."

    "How can you be so sure?" I asked again, not able to understand why people would come forward to claim the extra chores and unnecessary labour added onto their lives.

Quickly taking out a scroll, Sakuno placed it on the table and explained patiently, "According to the sacred writings, unless the pairings are complete, even with the power of the Hime, we will not be able to retrieve the four Hime Houseki."

    "Hime Houseki?" I blinked at the term.

    "Hime Houseki are four sacrosanct gems that are required in order to call forth the guardian creature—Kirin^[3]." Yanagi replied calmly, "The hostilities between this country and the race of Oni have been battling on for many centuries. It was unfortunate that every time a Hime and her Hakkenshi managed to win the war, they were unable to exterminate the Oni race."

    "So who is the Oni race?" Knowing I probably was annoying everyone with my endless questions, I could not help but ask again. After all, this was way too unreal for me. I mean, calling out a spiritual being from four stones? Yeah right...

Luckily, Yanagi did not seem to be bothered by my non-stop queries as he continued to clarify, "They are a race that have, for centuries, united themselves with the demons of the middle world, neither belonging to earth, heaven or hell. As you have seen the other day, the monster was one of the many the Oni race sent to attack and harm the people of our land.

    "Currently led by their most powerful leader, Atobe Keigo, the Oni race has once again declared war against us. Unlike in the past, Atobe Keigo now desires to keep the Hime to himself knowing by controlling the Hime, he will also be able to direct the three wishes the Hime makes, once she calls forth the Kirin."

    "I see..." Nodding along to Yanagi's explanation, I tilted my head and concluded. "Why in the world does he think I will make the three wishes for him?"

    "Your will and preferences does not matter to Atobe," With his face still emotionless and calm, Yanagi answered, "He will probably harm you until you would obey."

    "You're saying he will torture me?!" My face turned white and blue in horror with the scary thought. Wait, why me? I don't understand. I am just a normal everyday student! I am not particularly beautiful, not extremely sporty, so why has the stupid creature chosen me?!

    "Not to worry Hime-sama," Sakuno quickly comforted me. "That is why you have the Hakkenshi to protect you. We must make the three wishes before Atobe does."

Still couldn't believe that I have got myself involved in such a complicated situation, I gave a sigh. "How are we going to do that?"

    "Most important thing now is to find the other three warriors as soon as possible, because without the complete pairing; the Hime Houseki will not appear for that pair." Sakuno's eyes moved around the people in the meeting, "So far only the East Pair is complete with Kirihara and Sanada. General Niou belongs to the West Pair, Yanagi belongs to the North Pair, and Marui to the South Pair." Finally turning to me again, Sakuno concluded, "The decision is up to you Hime-sama. Would you like to retrieve the first Hime Houseki with the East Pair, or would you join the other Hakkenshi to find their respective partners?"

With Sakuno's question, my eyes looked around the room and realised, it would probably be less awkward if I started my first mission with someone I am familiar with, that is, of course Akaya. "I guess I don't mind starting with the East Pair first, meanwhile like Yanagi said, the other three Hakkenshi might come forth without us having to spend time looking for them anyway?"

With my decision Yanagi interrupted, "Before that, I would actually suggest a military training session for Kirihara. We all know he is still unable to fully control his power, with that the Hime might be in danger." Turning to Niou, Yanagi added, "As the military general of this country, I am sure you could have that organised without trouble."

Niou shrugged his shoulders to Yanagi's suggestion, "I guess so, if that is alright with our Hime?"

    "Okay, it makes sense." I nodded and looked to Akaya, "Don't slack off on your training okay?"

However when we saw Akaya stared at us not making a sound, we were finally reminded that he was still under Yanagi's spell. With his hand held out before him, Yanagi removed the spell he cast on the two boys.

    "Yanagi! I am so going to kill you!!" Both Akaya and Marui jumped up from the floor, but collapsed again due to the pins and needles they felt all over their legs and arms.

Sakuno giggled, hearing the two boys moaning away, however knowing laughing at other people's miseries was not a nice thing to do, quickly clearing her throat, Sakuno turned to the quiet swordsman Sanada, who stood guard outside the entire time while we were having this meeting. "Sanada, would you be able to accompany Hime-sama and Kirihara onto the first mission?"

Surprisingly, Sanada did not respond to Sakuno, instead he seemed to be deep in thought, while his hand held tightly onto the katana by his waist. A little amazed with Sanada's reaction, Sakuno asked again. "Sanada, can you accompany Hime-sama and Kirihara to retrieve the first Hime Houseki?"

Instead of reacting to Sakuno, without warning Sanada pulled out his katana in one swift, lightning action and send a sharp piercing wind towards the tree ahead of us. Upon such force produced, to my surprise a person jumped off the tree and landed on the ground soundless. Immediately following that, the tree crashed onto the ground due to Sanada's attack.

"You could sense my presence, not bad." From the moonlight I saw the intruder to be an extremely stunning woman, her painted face so natural, her dark navy hair flowing with the night breeze. Holding two Kodachi^[4] before her, her beautiful honey-golden eyes stared straight at Sanada while she challenged. "Last time, I could not fight you because I only had a dagger, but now, you might not be able to enjoy the same advantage you had before."

Knowing his opponent was not an easy target, Sanada kept silent to her provoking as he stood in the position just the right distance from her; not far enough for her to escape, and yet not close enough to lose his ground.

    "Yukimura Keno, you have come back to visit us." Smiling charmingly, Niou stepped forward into the garden. "Wanting to assassinate Governor Udagawa again?"

Not at all mesmerised by Niou's deadly sweet lure, the beautiful lady, Yukimura Keno, returned Niou with an even more strikingly attractive smile. "Are you ready to arrest me now, since you were unable to do so last time?"

Shrugging his shoulders lightly, Niou replied, "I wouldn't need to arrest you if you give up your job as an assassin. I am sure you would make a fine dancer instead, I have seen you perform." Yukimura's perfect eyebrow lifted a little upon Niou's 'kind, friendly' suggestion.

    "Sounds tempting, but this profession gets paid more. Besides," Pausing her eyes moved once again back onto Sanada, "there are more opportunities to encounter stronger fighters if I am an assassin."

    "I guess I have no choice then," To my surprise, the smile vanished from Niou's face. I thought he would do anything to charm all the women in the world, especially with such a beautiful girl before him. However, with a stern, hard voice, he instructed Sanada instead, "Arrest her."

Upon Niou's command, Sanada swung his katana at the gorgeous intruder. Although Sanada was fast, Yukimura was also incredibly quick. Leaning aside she dodged the attack, and with the turn of her wrist hooked her kodachi onto Sanada's katana. Sensing the force pulling the weapon from his grip, Sanada remained calm and purposely let go of the Katana, as the drawing force shot the sword forward at Yukimura's face.

Seeing the sword coming straight at her face, as a reflex, Yukimura hit it away with the other kodachi in her hand. Unfortunately, that was the opportunity Sanada was waiting for, stepping forward, Sanada's palm once again regained possession of his katana, and without turning, swung it up against Yukimura's shoulder.

With a ripping sound, Sanada's sharp blade still sliced passed her sleeve, pulling off a piece of fabric, since Yukimura managed to quickly duck aside. Astonishingly, unmoved by the situation, Yukimura remained composed, and that beautiful smile never left her face. Playing with the two kodachi amongst her fingers, she once again sent a hit at Sanada.

    "Wow, she is really pretty..." I heard Akaya exclaimed when he saw the indescribable beauty before us. Unnoticed, I nodded in agreement; it was amazing to see a female fight so valiantly, yet her every move was beautiful, smooth, artistic.

    "Oh man," Marui also gaped at the fight between Sanada and Yukimura, "I thought I was fast until I saw this. Akaya, you'll have to work hundred times harder than now to match their speed."

Blushing in embarrassment, Akaya growled in defence, "It is none of your business, and it's not like you could do it either!"

Although Yukimura managed all the swift attacks from Sanada, from the corner of her eyes, she noticed even if Niou stood aside and watched them, it was not guaranteed that he will not aid Sanada. Adding to that, there were three people also observing the fight, one with red hair, another with black wavy hair, and from Yukimura's instinct, the third person with the calm, emotionless face, appeared to be the most dangerous one. Knowing that the best way to ensure her own safety was by keeping the other four occupied, a whistle sounded from her luscious lips, and dozens of poisonous snakes fell from the trees, crawling up towards us upon Yukimura's command.

    "Here we go again," With a sigh Niou reluctantly took the bow off his back, and placing three arrows on the bow at once, pinned the crawling snakes onto the ground with the arrows released. Unfortunately, to my horror, many more kept coming and in fear, Sakuno and I fled into the room, making sure that we were nowhere near those scary crawling reptiles.

    "Do something! It's coming towards us!" Akaya yelped shaking Marui's shoulder madly.

    "Alright, alright! Let me show you the work of a genius." Hitting Akaya's hands off, Marui turned and from his hands released blasts of flaming balls at the snakes. Roused by Marui's performance (and possibly because he was getting all panicky from the nearing snakes), Akaya pulled up his sleeves too, and magically, like how he destroyed the beast last time, ghastly powers were released once again from his hands. With the impact, the poisonous snakes immediately vanished into smoke.

While everyone engaged themselves in the fight, there was all but one person who stood aside and watched coldly, uninterested. Seeing that, I looked up and asked in curiosity, "Yanagi, aren't you going to help?" As usual, without the slightest stir of emotion, Yanagi replied. "This is not the duty of a Hakkenshi. My only mission is to assist the Hime and exterminate the Oni race."

Yukimura Keno noticed the snakes she sent to attack the other four did not seem to work as well as she had thought. Obviously these people were no normal human beings, but warriors who inherited special abilities. Once again, she knew she had to abort the assassination.

    "You think you can escape this time?" Unfortunately, Niou had already seen through her plan, placing another arrow onto the bow, Niou released it towards Yukimura before she could leave. With the arrow coming straight at her, Yukimura Keno was forced to spare a hand and hit the arrow away. During these seconds of break, Sanada came around the other side and his katana landed against Yukimura's neck. In haste, Yukimura Keno quickly placed her kodachi in between Sanada's sharp blade and her neck in defence.

This is the sixth Hakkenshi...

Coming from no where, I heard a voice echoed in my ears accompanied by a humming sound. Responding to the sudden occurrence, the pearl on Niou's fore chest started to shine reacting to the same shining the came from a pearl on Yukimura's left wrist.

"Wait! Don't hurt her!" Impulsively, I called out, "She is the sixth Hakkenshi we have been looking for!"

Upon hearing my words, Sanada immediately let go of Yukimura and stepped back, once again back to his position as a guard. As unbelievable as it was, everyone knew I was telling the truth, because no one can deny what they saw, there was indeed a pearl on Yukimura's wrist, shinning and responding to the pearl on Niou.

With the outcome, Sakuno quickly came forward and greeted Yukimura with a polite smile. "Thank you for answering the call, Hakkenshi of the west pair." Turning back to Niou, Sakuno added, knowing that like Akaya and Sanada's first encounter, the West Pair didn't seem to have the best introduction either. "General Niou, this is your partner."

    "What a pleasure," Niou mocked and placed the bow back onto his shoulder. "Yukimura, I guess we are stuck with each other for a while. You can't attack me anymore, and neither can I arrest you." Ignoring Niou's sarcasm, Yukimura came forward and crouched down in respect before me. "I have come to answer the call, Hime-sama. My name is Yukimura Keno, although an assassin, my loyalty shall be yours."

Quickly helping Yukimura back onto her feet, I greeted too. "Thank you for coming. My name is , just call me , if you like?"

Unlike the attitude she had towards Niou and Sanada, Yukimura replied to me a gentle smile. "I must not, Hime-sama. I am a Hakkenshi selected to protect you, I must not cross the line."

I felt my heart skipped a beat when I saw her stunning smile. It was unbelievable that I could be moved by a woman's beauty. With the thought, my eyes looked to Niou, puzzled. Why, unlike his usual attitude towards women, did he seemed most reluctant to be anywhere near this most beautiful lady? At the same time, it was baffling as well, that Yukimura did not seem to notice Niou's fatal charms. Come to think of it, Akaya and Sanada do not like each other and neither do Niou and Yukimura. Was it purposely arranged this way that the pairs will not like each other?

    "Excuse me, is this the meeting of the Hakkenshi and the Hime?"

While my head ached with the discovery, a voice interrupted. Standing by the entrance was a noble gentleman looking at us with a kind smile. Immediately, upon the entrance of the new person, everyone present except me, Akaya and Yanagi, all suddenly fell onto their knees and bowed their heads to the ground with extreme humbleness to the guest, and called in unison, "Your Majesty!"

Your Majesty? My head turned back to the gentleman again. Were they telling me that this person is the emperor, the man who needs my help to protect his country?!

Heading quickly towards us, the gentleman waved his hands to everyone's reaction. "Please don't do this, I didn't come here as the emperor." Lifting his head in surprise, Niou asked the man whom he protected everyday. "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

This is the seventh Hakkenshi...

Once again I head a voice echoing in my head, pointing out to me, the new visitor was apparently the seventh person we were looking for! Wait, it doesn't make any sense, I thought the emperor needed the help of the Hime to protect his country, and yet, he had been selected to be a Hakkenshi to protect the Hime? Immediately following my discovery, the pearl on Yanagi's cheek shone and responded to the pearl on the emperor's right palm.

Walking calmly up to the emperor, Yanagi asked. "So you are the seventh Hakkenshi, my partner?"

    "Yes, sorry I am late." The emperor replied politely.

With his arms crossed, Yanagi asked again in a tone which obviously did not treat the emperor as the ultimate leader of the country. "You should have already known that you were selected as a Hakkenshi, what took you so long to show?"

Horrified with Yanagi's tone, Sakuno quickly reminded. "Yanagi, you can not talk that way to His Majesty. He is the emperor!"

    "Emperor or not, a Hakkenshi is a Hakkenshi, he is no different to us." Unmoved, Yanagi answered once again stating the logical fact, even though it was somewhat offensive.

    "Yanagi is right," The gentle emperor gave a sigh to Yanagi's accusation. "I had known I was a selected Hakkenshi and I did not step forward until now. I must admit it was because I did not consider myself worthy and powerful enough to protect anyone."

    "Your Majesty..." Sakuno called with concern.

    "My entire life, I have been sheltered and protected. On my own, I could never accomplish anything." The calm, placid ruler gave a sad smile as he continued. "When I first received the call, I did not know how to react. However, I believe the reason I was chosen was to protect my country, by not being served, but to learn to serve."

    "Your Majesty has grown." Niou smiled to the person he protected everyday, the kind gentle leader who now showed the strength and determination of a warrior. The emperor blushed again with shyness as he turned to Niou, "I am only a fellow Hakkenshi, so just call me Yagyuu." Everyone exchanged a look at each other upon their superior's request. Apparently, Yagyuu Hiroshi was the emperor's real name and no one has been allowed to call him that, ever.

    "Yagyuu, it's time to continue the meeting. Next time, don't be late." To our surprise, Yanagi was the first one to grant the emperor his request. And be stern about it. Which would normally be punishable by death. Yanagi was truly admirably...or insane.

However, Yagyuu nodded and apologised once again, then followed Yanagi back into the room. I smiled secretly inside me, definitely the partners were meant to dislike each other! If anyone else was Yagyuu's partner, he will still be treated as an emperor, a superior, but only Yanagi will not buy that, being the logical man he was. Looking once again at the members we have so far, we only now need to find one more Hakkenshi to complete! In a way, I felt a rush of adrenalin run through me; it was was more exciting than it seemed.

Return to [ Chapter One ]
 

+ + + + + + + + + +
Iori
30.September.2006

Notes:

I have not yet made Sanada spoken a word! XD