Through the fire and Flames

Itazura didn’t know why he trusted the words of that eccentric Toshie. His head had been ringing from his sparring session with Mariko when he’d met him, and then it was sent ringing again when the bastard knocked out his final milk tooth with the back of his hand! The way he shouted instead of talking hadn’t helped any either. He deserved the kick and punches he’d been given though, even if they hadn’t harmed him at all. He did recall the zanpakutō shutting him up though. Yeah, that had felt good.

He was running across the rooftops with three of the Heisekian guard giving chase. But they’d heard his conversation with Toshie, so in truth they weren’t following him to stop him having free run of the palace. They where running to help him and Tomoko. Or so he hoped.

‘C’mon, if there’s any chance she’s in trouble, then we need to get there quick!’ The guards nodded and Itazura put all hands to the pumps.

He leaped over roof slates and flash stepped over gaps. He rolled as he touched down and was immediately away again. Then faint sounds of combat drifted up to him from below. Shit! They really where after her! Rapid usage of Gomakashi carved a fair bit of the distance between him and the royal apartments. He hadn’t been near them since his first time getting lost. But he knew the rooftops. That had been Fujimoto’s doing. It was him that also manoeuvred him into a meeting with Tomoko for the first time. He had been completely ignorant to her station then, and she had said nothing to enlighten him. When he saw her the morning next flanked by royal guards with a golden circlet on her head, walking beside the Queen, he had smiled and shook his head. He performed the royal greeting then – having learned what it meant from Sojiro. He’d also given her a single sunflower, which was another Heisekian tradition that was symbolic of spiritual attainment, flexibility, and opportunity.

‘You can sneak out the back gate tonight,’ he whispered as she stopped to accept it. ‘I’ll take care of the guards.’

And he had. They’d been too busy watching his coin trick that they failed completely to see Tomoko slipping out the gate into the night. She wasn’t brought back until the early hours of the morning. In the distance was her raised bedchamber that looked out over the city. When he had seen that for the first time he’d thought it somewhat cruel. Tomoko yearned for freedom and adventure, and the view stood as a reminder that she’d never have it.

There wasn’t even any smoke and the sounds of combat had silenced themselves. ‘Be quiet,’ he whispered back to them and strangely they listened. Leading the guards – how did that happen again? – He ran to the edge and looked at the connecting corridors that he could see. Royal guards lay dead and men and woman robed in Shinigami garb stalked through the corridors. They were only three turns away from her room if he remembered right.

‘We’ll slow them down Master Kori.’ One of the guards told him. ‘You get her highness to safety,’ as suddenly as that his leadership was forfeited. He nodded, clapped them on the shoulder, and made his way back across the rooftops towards her bedchamber as the three guards leapt from the roofs. It was the last he seen of them.

‘Come quietly, bitch.’ Itazura cringed. The words came from her bedchamber.

‘I will not,’ Tomoko replied. She didn’t even sound like she was afraid.

‘I wasn’t asking you.’ Their voices sounded closer together now…

The window loomed before him and he dove through! He felt for their signatures but found only one – Tomoko! From the sound of their voices he concluded her attacker was close to her, so he drew his zanpakutō, twisted in the air, and struck opposite where Tomoko stood! Steel collided with steel and the figure trailed backwards as Itazura lunged forward.

‘Who the hell-’ the figure groaned, and Itazura took advantage of his confusion and swept him from his feet, before slicing him horizontally across the chest. It wouldn’t kill him but it would certainly slow him down.

‘Come on!’ He turned, saw she wore nothing but a nightgown, and swallowed a lump in his throat. ‘You don’t have time to get dressed.’ She nodded and dove through the window as he worked the jacket off his back. The figure lunged as he did so, and Itazura suddenly remembered his sparring session with Shiro. He allowed the man’s blade to pierce the material, where Itazura then gave a sharp jerk and twist! Zanpakutō flew from his grasp and Itazura landed a quick spin kick to the side of his head! ‘How’d you like that!?’ He followed her out and threw her the jacket which now sported a hole.

‘What are you doing here!?’ She shouted at him as they began to run across the rooftops to safety.

‘What? No thank you?’ He shook his as though her where hurt.

‘He’s following us,’ amazing how calm she sounded.

Itazura looked over his shoulder and cursed. The man was taller than he was by a fair margin; easily five-foot five-inches. He hadn’t really got a good look in the bedchamber. He’d just attacked and moved. He wore a black kosode and hakama with padded knee-high boots that exposed his toes and heel. The kosode had little red clouds spread across it randomly and the fellow himself looked ready to do murder. One hand gripped his guard-less zanpakutō and the other held his bleeding side.

‘He’s a persistent bastard, I’ll give him that.’

Itazura performed a single flash step that brought him to face their chaser, who intercepted his slash easily. Itazura’s second step took him back towards the window, and the chaser ignored him in favour of Tomoko. Oh, how stupid of him. Taking a deep breathe, Itazura accelerated his speed and shot forward like a bullet from the chamber! Semi-sentient after-images broke off from his person, and each moved in different patterns and directions. Quickly Itazura performed the final step of Gomakashi, which took him to his attacker’s right flank.

‘Rei…’ silver energy blossomed on the blade of each individual after-image, ‘… Furashuu!’ The man was sent flying amidst a veil of silver energy, and before he even touched the ground, Itazura rushed past Tomoko, caught her bridle-style, and rushed off at full speed. ‘I’m sorry, but we need to move!’

Fujimoto cut down the final attacker and shook his head angrily. He would not let this become another civil war.

They’d already put the majority of the rebels within the sewer to the sword. Hiei had led a detachment down and struck in tandem with Fujimoto’s soldiers. The flanking attack brought Fujimoto back to the war. Shuhen had always neglected his flanks, so the manoeuvre was always popular amongst the Jōren back then.

‘Shiro should have struck beneath the docks by now,’ Hiei was saying.

The two were alone so Fujimoto took this moment to speak his mind. ‘… Why do I get the feeling that this is only the beginning? That Shuhen’s not even close to being beaten.’

‘It doesn’t matter if he is or not,’ Hiei said quickly. ‘We’ll protect Heisekai regardless.’

It was what he needed to hear. ‘It’s time to get out of here then. Lead another run through the sewers and ensure that we haven’t missed anyone, just to be safe… and look for survivors too. I kinda promised her Majesty there’d be some this time, you know?’

‘I’m sure I’ll find one or two,’ then he left Fujimoto alone with his thoughts.

Kusaka perked up immediately!

‘That was…!’

Kusaka vaulted over the balcony and disappeared with Sojiro hot on his heels! The little lying bastard! He’d promised he wouldn’t get involved in the battle, and here he was loosing Rei Furashuu about the place? Just fantastic!

It didn’t take Kusaka long to find his young cousin, who was running with the Princess carried in his arms as though they’d just been married. Chasing him where an assortment of Shinigami, and none of them friendly. ‘Itazura, get down!’

Kusaka appeared amongst the chasing group and drew Shagetsu from its sheath. ‘You’ve made one big mistake!’ He roared as the first fell. ‘No one attacks MY cousin!’ Another died as Kusaka struck. ‘Rei…’ and Itazura threw himself over Tomoko as though to shield her, ‘… FURASHUU,’ the blast was immensely more powerful than the one Itazura had loosed, and the energy engulfed the entire section of roof they where on!

‘What are they doing here?’ Sojiro asked as Kusaka sustained the gigantic wave.

‘They came to kill me,’ Tomoko said as Itazura got off her. ‘So before you scold your cousin know that he probably saved my life today.’

Kusaka lot the wave die and he spat in disgust as he turned. ‘You promised.’

‘Actually… he promised he wouldn’t go near the battle in the city,’ Sojiro said quickly. ‘He said nothing about a battle we knew nothing about in the palace.’ Kusaka gave his brother a withering stare. ‘Let it go, Kusaka. He did a good job today.’ And Sojiro ruffled his younger cousin’s hair with a smile on his face.

‘I suppose he did.’ and Kusaka’s anger melted away. ‘Your Majesty, I ask that you stay with us, at least until the palace is safe again.’ She nodded her agreement and Itazura heaved a sigh of relieve.

When news of the attack reached Kaede she had been livid. Now that Itazura could really blame her. How did they enter the palace? Why wasn’t there a guard posted at Tomoko’s room? Why had it taken a young man she had earlier forbid to join the combat to keep her daughter safe? Not that she wasn’t ungrateful she’s said to him later. It just made her guards look bad.

At the celebration dinner held in the glamorous throne room Itazura was the subject of every eye and the subject of every conversation. Fujimoto slapped him on the shoulder and hoisted him into the air for all to see like he was a baby being declared to the world!

‘Today Heisekai gets a new hero! One trained by the Sansōzoku themselves!’ Cheers of Shinsōzoku went up throughout the hall, and suddenly Itazura was a Heisekian in all but birth, known as the New Heir.

‘You deserve it,’ Shiro said as Itazura took his seat. ‘But I’m curious. How did you stumble on those assassins?’

‘Toshie dropped a few hints,’

‘Are you sure?’ Hiei asked, and suddenly he, Shiro and Fujimoto looked gravely at him. ‘I thought he was dead.’

Fujimoto nodded. ‘I’d heard he’d taken a ship to sea and was never seen again.’

‘I heard he retired and became a hermit living in the Human World.’

‘… Could he be a different Toshie?’ Itazura asked. He was suddenly very confused.

‘Did he shout at you?’ He nodded. ‘Did he backhand you at all?’ He nodded again. ‘Did he look like a woman?’ He nodded again. ‘Then it’s Toshie,’ Fujimoto concluded.

‘Don’t go killing me off!’ and there he was in the flesh! Toshie – the man who’d trained the Sansōzoku personally. Itazura punched him hard enough he nearly break his own hand, Fujimoto kicked him in the ribs when he was down, Shiro head-butted him as he got to his feet, and Hiei finally split him open with a book!

‘Old bastard,’ the three Sansōzoku whispered in unison with Itazura.

‘Now, what kind of greeting is that!? I trained you all!’ Apparently he saw Itazura as his student now. ‘All of you will come to the training field tomorrow morning!’ Then he left.

‘Zura, buddy, I pity you. That guy is a phenomenal teacher, but he’s an utter tyrant as well. And he seems interested in you.’

‘Perfect,’

What Fujimoto, Shiro and Hiei couldn’t fathom was how their old teacher had known about the attempt on Tomoko’s life…

‘Perhaps you’d like to dance?’ Itazura raised his head to see Tomoko dressed in a golden cheongsam with red lining that left little to the imagination, with her short cut blond hair bound by a hair net encrusted with glittering gems. He got to his feet, took her hand, and followed her to the dance floor where people where really starting to let loose. ‘It seems I find myself again in your debt.’

He waved it aside and twirled her twice, before dropping into the steps of a jive. ‘I gave my help freely, so don’t worry about it.’ The jive changed into a dance he didn’t know, so he lot Tomoko lead and stepped nimbly to avoid her feet. When it came back to a step he knew he took the lead again and surprised her greatly.

‘You can dance,’ she said in amazement.

‘My mother taught me,’ he blushed at that.

‘But you are clearly practiced.’

He needed to be careful now. He couldn’t blurt out that he flirted with almost every pretty girl he seen. She might get the wrong idea. ‘My mother and father are important figures in the Gotei thirteen. That makes for a lot of parties, with lots of people willing to dance. If you don’t learn how to then you’re made to look the fool.’ He felt strangely proud of himself.

They danced through three tunes before Kaede called Tomoko away. ‘Imagine,’ he heard someone say, ‘what mother would say if she saw you now.’

He hugged his sister and shook his head. ‘I don’t know if she’d be proud, enraged, or some weird mixture of the two.’ He spun his sister in place and began to dance again. ‘I miss them.’

‘She'd be proud. But me too,’ he led her by the hand and spun her twice. ‘But we’ve still got more than two weeks to spend here.’

‘And we’ve still got plenty to do. If its fine with you we’re going to shake some answers out of Kain tomorrow.’ Just the news she’d been hoping for.

Fujimoto, Hiei and Shiro watched from the sidelines. ‘… I’ve got twenty Jiku on Itazura trying his luck with Tomoko soon.’

Shiro looked at Fujimoto and grinned. ‘I’ll take that bet and raise you thirty.’

‘Hey, don’t leave me out of this… but we might as well make it an even one-hundred. Winner takes all. I say he doesn’t.’ Hiei put the money on the table.

‘I bet he does.’ And Fujimoto put his money in as well.

‘I bet she learns he’s a womanizing little shit.’ and Shiro followed suit. ‘This is gonna be good.’

Next Story > Another Side, Another Story.