06 The Weight of Weakness, Chained Lotus

  My view is getting blurry and clear again and again, I can't breathe…something’s on my chest…feels heavy. A-Akane-san?...HUUOGHH it hurts! His boot swung at my face at full force. Stop! Stop pulling Akane-san away…STOP!! Dont touch her!! His hands roaming all over her, my legs… WHY I CAN’T STAND!!! AAHHH it hurts!! Punches landing on me continuously, this is too much! Why can’t I fight back!!!

  NOOO!!! Stop ripping her clothes off! AKANE!!!!! I'm trying to swing my fists, they’re dodging them easily. I’ve worked so hard on my body! Why can’t I land a single punch! Why are they so ...so…strong…AAAHHHHH!!! STOPPP!!!! Akane’s scream, i can’t hear it any longer

  “TOSHIRO!!! TOSHIRO!!!!!!!”

  She’s pleading for me till her throat dries out. The alley is stretching… it’s getting longer and longer…she’s getting far away from me.. AKANE-SANN!!!!!. My back, it burns! My skin peeling away from my body, my flesh burning away, I CAN SEE MY BONES!! The burned residuals of my skin and flesh dropping like a burned slime! Beast Kira jumps over my head, her white flames surrounding and burning around her aggressively, her screeching and beastly screams… SHE’S RIPPING ME OFF!! STOPP!!! AAAHHHHH!!!

  …

  my whole body drenched in sweat, my breathing feels heavy. I'm still in my bed.

  “Toshi! Toshi!! Oi!! Wake up!”

  Kira grabs my shoulders tightly and keeps shaking the life out of me

  “Im awake! I'm awake! Stop shaking me! I'm going to puke on your face!”

  The hopelessness still haunts me till this day. Akane-san is fine now, but still…if only I did something other than just roll on the ground.

  “Why the hell are you screaming in your sleep? It’s already late for work! Or should I just leave you here…”

  “Give me five minutes!!”

  ***

  The cafe is now stable thanks to Akane-san’s newfound leadership. The staffs are doing their jobs as given and she chased away all the bad ones which have been infecting the cafe.

  “You’re late senpai! You made me sweep the whole cafe by myself. I even skipped my second breakfast!”

  “Give a rest to your mouth already, braids”

  A 3rd year highschool girl with round glasses, red haired with long twin braids, a mole beneath her lips. Clinging on her broom while crouching on the floor.

  “Harumi-chann!!~”

  Kira pinches her cheek and starts pulling it, saying it feels like mochi. Harumi buries her face in Kira’s…ahem…upper body… telling it gives her cravings for big sized mochi. I’m having a hard time eating Mochi after hearing these comparisons.

  “Oi, stop snuggling and get back to work!”

  Akane-san towering above them. Looking back at her, the wounds of her’s healed completely without leaving any scars. I'm glad that she’s doing great, but the regret of not being able to do anything at that time is killing me slowly.

  “Quit zoning away, and help me sweep the floor, Senpai!”

  Harumi gets a hold of my arm and shakes me. A customer comes in, it was…i don’t know how to call “that person”. let’s stick with master!. Master was a bearded guy who’s into makeovers, a tryhard girly tone and a weird idle position. Master saw me serving the other tables. With a knowing grin, he sat on a table

  “Boy~ order please~!”

  Even if I was creeped out by him, this world is vast, people have their own style, thoughts and decisions. I have no choice but to approach him

  “What would you like to order, master!”

  “Ah~! Such a cute and sexy boy!”

  He traced his finger on my forearms, I am really grossed to the core, i can’t be rude OR VIOLENT! So I kept my distance from him. Master orders chocolate milk.

  “Will bring your order right away master! Added with my love to make it more tasty!”

  I’ve gotten used to these kinds of lines so I don't mind, but the face of ecstasy he’s making right now is really unsettling. Kira and Harumi stood at the kitchen looking at my confrontation and enjoying every seconds of it

  “As expected, Toshiro-senpai! He handles customers like a pro!”

  “Hehehe, Toshi’s getting assaulted is another genre I enjoy personally. Yo! Sexy boy! Order at table 13!”

  Stop embarrassing me already!, I placed his order on his table and as usual-

  “!”

  “Aah!~ maid-kun’s so cute!”

  Master wears a napkin in his collar before drinking it, he spills some of them on himself, but it surprisingly lands on his napkin. It’s the cafe’s rules that if a customer drips or drops some on them, we have to clean it for them. So, I took a tissue and went closer to master to wipe them off. HE SNIFFED MY HAIR AND MOANED AT MY EAR. At this point, I did not care about anything, I bowed and walked away as fast as I could.

  WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS CUSTOMERS LIKE THIS!!

  “Why did you walk away Toshiro senpai!!”

  I returned the same medicine to Harumi. So i came closer to her and sniffed her hair, and waited what her reaction would be

  “AAHHH SENPAII!!! I'M FILING A CASE ON YOU!”

  *her stomach groans*

  “Getting worked up makes me hungry again, i’ll take a quick bite before manager-san comes”

  Harumi has a Black-hole for a stomach. I don’t even know where everything goes after she consumes it.

  My shift finally ends, Harumi waves at me from the window, her face filled with sweet buns. I can't help feeling down in the dumps because of that nightmare. I thought maybe, if I could go to a different place than just work and home. Rei-Sensei’s workplace ‘Enso’ bar came to my mind. That elegant yet soothing place would be a nice relief, I could also hangout with sensei. Kira went home first, she said she wanted to catch up to a soap opera she’s been watching recently.

  I arrived at the bar, it sounded merry from outside, there's a performance going on? A dancer maybe? I opened the door and entered.

  Rei-sensei is surrounded by Red and black suited men pointing guns at her. A man with a full white suit, Katana standing still, shoved on the ground, long black hair with a lotus crest hairpin, clean shaved face. Sitting on a chair with legs crossed in front of Rei-sensei, he looks like a middle aged man, but my dear he is handsome for sure!

  The place went immediately silent without wasting a second. The moment I entered the bar, all the heads turned in my direction. Only the recorded jazz playing faintly behind, he snaps his finger to the beat. Rei sensei’s face looks distressed and irritated by him for some reason.

  “Rei-”

  “Catch him”

  “Bad timing Toshi!”

  As the guy in the white suit said with barely audible voice, I can already tell he’s wayyy stronger than Rei-sensei. she lunged at me with incredible agility, KRRRRRR guns shooting at her continuously. The way she handles her sword was out of the world, her steps dodging every bullet, her sword slicing each bullet clean like butter. She grabs my collar and runs across the counter.

  She threw me outside, wanting to make a great sacrifice or something, but I had enough. I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me.

  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TOSHIRO!”

  She saw me dead in the eyes, her gaze filled with anger.

  “HE’S DANGEROUS REI! THEY HAVE GUNS!! YOU CAN’T CUT EVERYTHING”

  I continued running with her, the gunshots firing everywhere, the white suit guy’s men starting their vehicle. Yet, the white suit-guy remained inside sipping his drink slowly. Rei-sensei grabbed a moving motorcyclist and threw him on a puddle, he rolled, grunting in anger. She got on the motorcycle

  “GET ON! GET ON!!”

  Fully twisting the accelerator, the motorcycle roars, the tire screeches, sliding left to right. I held on to her hips as the bullets grazed my hair. With a sudden pick up, the motorbike stands on one wheel, we took off. A pack of black cars behind, hunting us like wolves locked on its prey. His men sprouted out from each window of their cars like mushrooms, aiming and continuously showering us with bullets.

  The whole street was filled with roaring vehicles and gunshot sounds. Rei-sensei goes through the traffic, but she’s a nasty driver, she scratches cars and nearly hitting people. The pedestrians panics, screaming and running cluelessly because of the uproar.

  “Here, hold this”

  Her voice barely enters my ears, she hands me her sword. We entered the most crowded site of the city where there are lots of malls, shops and restaurants

  She’s not reducing the speed, the accelerator stays fully twisted. She keeps spamming the horn. Reinforcements joined, the bikers of their gang gets through the alleyways and caught up to us.

  “They’re going to catch us sensei!!!”

  Suddenly, it felt like the whole world held its breath, Rei-sensei inhales deeply-

  “SHURYUUU!!!!”

  She shouted from the bottom of her throat. FWEEET FWEEET she leaned her head down and whistled as loud as she can.

  A mild high pitched air sound nearing us, an oval shaped silhouette passed over my head at an incredible speed, darker than the night sky, lights of the city gets eaten by it’s darkness SWISHH it’s cutting the very own air and THWACK! One of the riders falls from his motorcycle, his fallen vehicle tumbles and hits the other riders. There are more coming at us, I turned back and looked in confusion, how could’ve she done that! A black missile-like object striking them, piercing through their throat and body. KAAAWW!!! It screams.

  Her pet raven!! Where did he go for the last few chapters!!!. That’s not a bird, that’s a weapon. It’s attacking with precision, piercing easily like a needle in a cloth.

  Half of the bikers are wiped out thanks to her feathered artillery attack, the guns pointed upwards, showering all their bullets at Shuryu. He made us lose the bikers on our tails enough for Rei-sensei to ramp up the gas, she pushes forward.

  As we were riding on top of a bridge, Two persistent black cars kept up with our speed, they were planning to sandwich us with their cars.

  “PUNCUTRE THEIR TIRES TOSHI!”

  “WHAA!!!!-”

  I clenched my thighs tighter to the seat, the ferocious air keeps pushing me back. I unsheathed the sword as the two vehicles closed in, she reduced the motorbike’s speed enough to get in the middle of the cars.

  “NOW!!”

  My hair gets into my eyes as it flies insanely the moment I turn, I stab their tires left and right, dragged the sword down enough to make it flabby and unable to move. Both the cars unstably sways side breaking the bridge and falling in the river. The driver and the shooters inside the cars jumped out before it flies away from the bridge.

  “CAN YOU SWIM TOSHI?”

  “WHAAT?”

  The air and the engine sounds clogging my ears, I could barely hear her speak

  “CAN YOU SWIM YOU IDIOT!!”

  “I GUESS I TOOK CLASSES WHEN I WAS- WHAT ARE YOU DOING REI SENSEI!!!!!”

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  She turns the motorbike, breaking the bridge again and jumps on the river as well. I hugged her and made sure I was beneath to take the impact.

  We fell deep inside the river, holding our breath. The men stopped their vehicles and looked from above. We stayed for 40 seconds inside, I couldn’t hold my breath longer, I was at my limit. Rei-sensei looked fine, she dragged me by swimming under, I flapped my legs to propel to the front better.

  The men cleared out from the bridge, probably reporting back to the boss. We both reached the land, taking heavy breaths.

  “F*ck you Ryuusuke..”

  She grits her teeth and mumbles in her. We both dripped wet, and booked a taxi. The driver’s face was sour as hell till we reached the apartment. Well of course, who would like it when someone just floods your car with river water. We bowed to him and paid him extra for the soggy seats.

  “* WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS !!”

  Kira held our shoulders and started shaking. Rei-sensei stick to her body

  “Fire…dry me Kira, please it’s freezing!”

  PSHHH Kira slightly activates her heat around her body. The wetness from Rei-sensei’s body steams away. She pulls my hand to dry on “Kira the heater”, and trust me, she’s the best heater you could ask for. Kira with an unwilling face gets sandwiched by me and Rei-sensei.

  ***

  Sitting around the table, facing each other. Kira paused the soap opera, unable to hold her suspense of what’s going to happen next in it. Rei-sensei with a towel on her head, fresh out of the bath. I explained everything that happened after my shift ended to Kira.

  “You just had a whole action packed sequence to yourself Toshi!! How could you do this to me, author?!!”

  (Quit stealing the spotlight all the time, you Heater cat!)

  “THE TITLE IS LITERALLY MY ROOMMATE'S NINE LIVES AND TWO EARS!!”

  “Who asked you to run off and watch TV? More importantly, who was that white suit guy Rei-sensei?”

  “Ryuusuke Akabane”

  “Akabane?...I've heard that name somewhere. The staff actually talk about that name involving assassinations and illegal weapons supply.”

  “And I am Rei Akabane”

  “YOU’RE HIS DAUGHTER!!!”

  Me and Kira said at the same time.

  “I always thought you were some kind of rebellious runaway emo girl, Rei”

  “What kind of image do you have about me in your mind?”

  “So sensei, that makes you an underground Princ-”

  “Call me that and i’ll slice your tongue off Toshi”

  Rei-sensei bows down on the floor.

  “Rei, what are you doing?”

  “Im asking for both of your forgiveness, for things that happened today and things that’s going to happen in the future”

  The room fell silent, I could feel my heart beat faster. Just listening to her words made me sweat instantly.

  “What are you talking about Rei?”

  Her eyebrows tilted upwards, her eyes filled with worry and slight fear. She wakes up halfway, glaring on the floor. Her narrow and composed eyes became wide and round.

  “Now he knows I'm not alone anymore, he must’ve probably marked down this place by now”

  “Is he coming like, right now?”

  “We never know…he attacks when he feels like it’s ‘The right time’ That’s what makes you go insane”

  What is this, this sounds like death is inevitable! And Rei the Gallant apologising to us is really not helping! Her father sounds super creepy! I want to go back home to my parents!!. Rei-sensei took deep breaths and slapped her own cheeks.

  “I know this is sudden and everyone is confused, i’ll tell you both everything from the start”

  “Here comes the Rei Origin Story!!”

  Kira lifts her hands and cheer on

  “Wait, lemme get a instant noodle-”

  “Too late, shift the POV to me author!”

  ( This story is not within my hands anymore!! i feel like a hostage now)

  ***Switching to Rei’s POV and narration***

  We’re taking a trip to Takayama where the remnants of the Edo period still lives on. Akabane is a clan of a famous samurai who was also the right hand man of the emperor. With that, his legacy and his sword style was passed down generations after generations.

  Raizen Akabane, Akebara Akabane, Ryuusuke Akabane… my bloodline was always born of only men. They took great pride in their genetics and were also relieved that their clan lives on. My great grandfather and grandfather were exceptional swordsmen, they endlessly train and handled beheading criminals for the shogunate.

  My grandfather, Akebara Akabane had two children; Torashige and Ryuusuke. Torashige was a kind man. He would never involve in killing but he was skilled at handling the Akabane Style. Ryuusuke was the opposite of him, he handled assassinations and other affairs that involved killing, precisely.

  “This is absurd, it has so many openings”

  Ryuusuke complains about the Akabane style to his father.

  “This is what our ancestors carried for centuries! The true potential of this style depends on how the wielder uses it!”

  “Come on Ryu, Akabane sword style is really great when you use it properly”.

  Torashige tries to comfort Ryuusuke when his father lashes out at him.

  As years passed by, Torashige mastered the Akabane sword style. People were talking that he would be the one who would carry the next generation to its glory. He opened a dojo where he teaches the sword style as an art of defense. Akebara Akabane, his father thought maybe the Akabane clan could change ways from being a bloodline of a killer into a protector. Ryuusuke did not like it, he continued following the old ways but he refined the sword style in his own way. A style with no openings, no weakness, only absolute strength and precision. After all, the original sword style was focused on precision cutting, that’s what made it deadly.

  Ryuusuke walks on the street with a chipped sword on his shoulder, after training so hard in the field nearby, he came to get something to eat. His father never let them have a taste of their fortune, as money will taint one’s heart and morals, so he was always given a small amount of money to spend. He wandered around the shopping street looking for good food with low price.

  “Taiyaki! Sweet Taiyaki here!”

  He turned to the young woman calling out for customers. She had long black hair, beautiful narrow eyes, a radiant smile, and was wearing a pink kimono. The food cost was a little higher than what he had. His stomach growling, a kid bought one from the store and ate it. The satisfied sounds the kid made intensified Ryuusuke’s hunger, so he approached the woman. Hunger won over his pride

  “So…uh…i only have this much on me, can i get one”

  “Ehh?~ how would this be enough?”

  “I’ll pay the rest after I get home”

  “Hmm im not sure~what’s the magic word?”

  “I promise?”

  “Yes, and another one?”

  “( you dare toy with me woman?”

  “Oh, talking big? Then no taiyaki for you”

  His face turned red, he never said the word before to anyone, the aroma and the crunchy texture made him lose his mind, he had no other choice.

  “Please..”

  She laughed silently and gave him a taiyaki, he quickly took it from his hand and stuffed his face from it.

  “Mmph, it’s so good!”

  With warm eyes, she took pleasure in seeing Ryuusuke enjoying every single bite of it. He returned to the store the next day after he trained, but this time, he had enough money.

  “Oh, you’re back!”

  “Give me one”

  “You’re forgetting something”

  “What?”

  “No taiyaki until you remember it!”

  He grit his teeth

  “One taiyaki please..”

  She laughed and gave him the taiyaki. His dark gaze turns colourful when he takes a bite of it.

  As days passed he came to the stall everyday, they talked and laughed together. He found something to look forward to everyday. One day, he walks across Torashige’s dojo and finds the woman training under him. She becomes stunned after seeing Ryuusuke.

  “Taiyaki?!”

  “Eh!!??”

  She gets hit by the bamboo sword on her head by Torashige

  “Do not let your focus astray”

  Ryuusuke laughed at her reaction, Torashige was quietly surprised that he could actually smile. Ryuusuke was training his own refined Akabane sword style at the field as usual, the woman came to him with a basket.

  “So you’re always slacking off over here huh. What were you doing in the Akabane household!”

  “I can’t live in my own house?”

  “You’re the Ryuusuke master told about?!”

  “What are you talking about taiyaki? The Ryuusuke? I'm not a demon or something”

  “My name is not taiyaki! It’s Hanabi! Hanabi Yukimura!”

  Ryuusuke smells the flowing aroma coming from the basket, knowing it’s freshly made taiyaki.

  “So… what’s in the basket?”

  She hands out the basket, presenting it to him. They both shared the meal, talked about the dojo and Ryuusuke telling weird stories of Torashige when they were a kid. As months passed, they fell in love with each other and got married. And then, I was born! We were living like a normal happy family, but father would always train his own sword style everyday. Mother would teach me the original Akabane style taught by uncle Torashige.

  It’s about time when I was 6 years old, it was night with a cool breeze. My mother and I visited Uncle Torashige, we had a great time visiting him and grandfather.

  “What are you going to become when you grow up?”

  Uncle Torashige asked me

  “Im going to become as strong as father!”

  “Your father is indeed stronger than any of us, but remember my little lotus, the heart must not go astray from morals and discipline. Then, the Akabane style would become nothing but a weapon of destruction.”

  “That’s scary Uncle Torashige”

  Mother and I were returning home, suddenly a heavy rain hit us. We decided to stand beneath a shelter, waiting for the rain to calm down.

  “When we go home, I'll make you Maguro Tataki! Your favorite!”

  “When will the rain stop! I can’t wait to eat it!”

  Uncle Torashige saw mother forget the lotus crest hairpin in their house. It was gifted by grandfather, the symbol of the Akabane family passed down to the wives of their son. He brought it under an umbrella while walking in the heavy rain.

  He saw both of us sheltering under a roof and waved at us.

  As he came to us

  “Hanabi, you forgot this. How can my student be so careless hmm? Hahaha”

  “My bad master~-”

  A sword created a gap between them, it was so close, a small step would’ve caused one of us to lose our head. A group of skilled swordsmen approached us, each of them wearing a kabuki mask. Uncle Torashige was weaponless, they started to swing their sword, aiming for direct kill.

  SWISH Uncle Torashige dodge the blade at a hair’s breadth

  “MATSER!!”

  Mother screamed and wanted to get in to protect him, i held on to her sleeve

  “Mother, don't go!”

  “Your father will be on his way by now, go bring him!”

  She gave me the umbrella and pushed me away. I screamed for my father, fell on the watery road. Moments later, I stumbled on him.

  “Rei, what happened? Why are you crying?”

  “M-mother…she’s fighting lot’s of bad guys!”

  In the heavy rain, he carried me and ran to them, his face filled with worry and fear of what might happen to her. When we reached, there was no sound, father was on his knees screaming, crying uncontrollably, holding my mother’s lifeless body. A huge slash on her chest, blood spilling out from her mouth

  “HANABI!!!!!!”

  He screamed again and again. He saw his brother’s body on the floor as well

  “AAAAHHHHH!!! NO NO! NOO!!!”

  His screams echoed through the street, the lotus crest hairpin laying on the floor, soaked in her mother’s blood. That was the moment I lost my mother…and my father.

  He began to lose himself. Hunting everyone down, searching for info about who did this. He showed his wrath to others involved in his underground assasination business. Every night, he comes with names on his tongue, blood on his hands. He lost his humanity and became a beast killing everything in his sight. Every moment was scary living with him. He never let me outside to play, he forced me and taught his own sword style, saying the Akabane style was so weak that took his wife away from him.

  I was 18 years old, he finally found the one who killed her wife and his brother. An underground mafia who also had a lineage of a famous samurai. They seemed to have a dojo as well, at that time, Uncle Torashige’s dojo was famous among the people for its precise sword style and his gentle teachings. Lots of people began to learn under him, even from the mafia’s dojo. This upsetted him so much, he sent assassins to kill Uncle Torashige and shut down his dojo for once. And mother got caught in their affair.

  Knowing this truth, father was like a demon, without hesitation he launched at them, it was one man vs his whole army that had around 50 people. He slashes them into half, a dance of death in a pool of blood. Heads falling on the ground, he reached the mafia boss and placed his feet on him, father sliced his chest open just like mother’s.

  He took the mafia’s place and became top at the underground business. Revenge is never the answer for everything, what we lost was lost forever.

  I could not take the isolation anymore, everyday was hell. People knocking on our door, screaming in pain, it was unbearable. I wanted to run away from it, I wanted a good sleep and a peaceful life. I took the sword passed down for generations by the Akabane clan. It was given to me by Uncle Torashige when I was a child, the sword was the only memory I had of them. I ran away from the house, jumping out of the window. When I was mid air, I faintly saw father at back just stood there and watched me going.

  I worked part time jobs, stayed in rundown rooms. He never came looking for me. I decided to move away from that place, but I did not had money on me for a flight. So I sneaked into a lorry where they import mandarin fruits, and I ended up here. This apartment looked decent compared to the old one, so I made up my mind to move in here. After many years, he comes again.

  ***switching back to Toshiro’s POV***

  “Wow, Rei-sensei…you’re a princess after all”

  Rei-sensei pins me down and started to triangle choke me to near death while Kira starts to sob, she clings on her shirt ,weeping

  “YOU’VE BEEN GOING THROUGH A LOT! AND HERE I AM, STEALING TUNA FROM YOUR FRIDGE WHEN YOU’RE NOT HOME!”

  “Move! I just took a bath! And no wonder I always run out of tuna!”

  Rei-sensei rolled up her long sleeve, showed a tattoo on her whole arm to her neck with Koi fishes, waves and lotus.

  “You’ve got a tattoo!”

  “I can’t believe you’re a delinquent sensei”

  “I'm in the middle of revealing my deep vulnerability over here!”

  She smacked both me and Kira’s head and made sure we listened without interrupting. The tattoo must be worn by the heir of their clan. The lotus on the top of her shoulder represents their lineage and below that, the koi fish represents the other clans and people trying to reach the apex by swimming on the strong wave beneath the lotus.

  “It means our strength is unreachable. Hehe, how arrogant can my ancestors get, right?”

  “What should we do now? Now he knows where we live and all”

  “I’ll handle him, but you guys have to be careful too”

  “I’LL BURN EVERYTHING TO THE GROUND!!”

  Kira releases white flame from all over her body with overflowing emotion.

  “YOU’LL KILL US TOO! Besides, this is my thing to solve and i dragged you guys into this”

  Rei-sensei turns to me with eyes filled with motivation.

  “I’ll become the ‘sensei’ you always called me Toshi!”

  I don’t know what she means by that, but now, every second feels like sitting on a time bomb!