Disclaimer: These characters belong to me... Yes! They're all mine, mine, MINE!
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| Budoka no Jinsei:
| SIDE STORY 5:
| Mercy
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| This sad WWII love story brought to you by:
| opaj
| He who didn't even bother editing this time is:
| opaj
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***Naha, Okinawa. 1946***
It was early spring as the youth, appearantly 20 or so, walked down the road into Naha. He was wearing a ragedy military uniform, and carried an old brown suitcase. His hair was cut in a short, but slightly grown out, army fashion, and around his waist was wrapped a black, tail-like belt. Following him in shadows was a black panther, large, but still somewhat small compared to its species.
He tensed as he walked into the city, seeing American marines, the very enemies he had been trained to kill. Not that he needed the training.
After a half hour of walking, he finally reached his destination: an old hut, traditional style, situated in a residential district. It had been a long time since he had been here; after settling down to live a real life but five years ago, he had been drafted to fight in the war. He had always known that assuming a name, and becoming a real person in the eyes of the government, would have that risk; but the girl he did it for was worth it, in his opinion.
He finally knocked, after what seemed an eternity of uncertainty. Did she wait for him? In the four and a half years that he had been gone, why didn't she even send one letter?
She answered. She was twenty-six years old now; she had once worn her hair unbraided; it was now in a ponytail at her back. Behind her stood a little girl, her own hair in a bowl-style cut. The man took a moment to look at them both, before finally taking the woman in a great bear hug.
"Kenji, you're back!" the young woman said breathlessly.
"Kimiko," Kenji replied, "I've missed you."
After letting her go, he looked down to the little girl. "Who's this?" He looked back up at Kimiko. "Is this your neice?"
Kimiko averted her eyes to the floor. "Kenji, didn't you get any of my letters? This... She's your daughter..."
Kenji stared at Kimiko for a few more moments. "I... never got any letters." The panther came out of the shadows and trotted to the little girl. "Then... Our last night..."
"Yes." Kimiko looked down to the large feline, who was now sniffing at the little girl's face. "Her name is Mitsuko, after your mother..." The little girl giggled, and started playing with the cat's wiskers. "How did they let you keep Tiger?"
"They didn't. He met up with me when I landed. He's a very clever animal, you know..." He looked at his daughter again, and noticed something for the first time: out of the bottom of her kimino, there was the tip of a black, cat-like tail...
"She was born with it, just like you," Kimiko answered Kenji's unspoken question. She looked up at Kenji. Then she looked past Kenji, and her eyes grew wide, a strange, unknown and unfounded fear filled them. "K- Kenji..."
Kenji spun around, and came face-to-face with a elderly Russian man. The man's eyes narrowed and his mouth pulled into a large grin. "It has been a long time, Kenji Nakamura," he said.
Kenji looked uncertainly at his wife. "I- I don't know what you're talking about. I'm Kenji Ueno..."
Mirsky broke out into a fit of laughter. "Hah! I see how it is. Kenji, this young lady must be your wife! Does she know anything about you?" He disappeared, and rematerialized between the two lovers. "Does she know the truth about your tail? Does she know why this infernal creature must follow you always? Does she know..." He edged up closer to Kenji. "Does she know that you were in your prime when she was in diapers?"
"Kenji, what is he talking about?" Kimiko inquired.
"It's... nothing. He's just a crazy old fool who thinks I'm somebody else."
"Crazy old fool?" Mirsky retorted, black energy seeping out of his body. "Would a crazy old fool do... THIS?" He swept his foot backwards, into Kimiko's stomach. She crumpled to the floor, coughing up blood.
"KIMIKO!" Kenji backhanded Mirsky, and Mirsky went with the blow, rolling sideways several feet.
"You're too late to save her," Mirsky laughed. "I've been training in the secret technique of the poison strike!" He got back to his feet. "She'll be dead in a matter of minutes... And the worst part is, probably, the pain." He stepped closer to his opponent. "You see, the energy that I charged that kick with is slowly but surely eating away at her body... Soon, all you'll have left of her is a pile of dust!"
Kenji glared at his sworn enemy. "Why must you plague me like this? Did you not learn your lesson last we met, in Nagoya, was it?" He stood up as well, and, turning his head to the side, said, "Tiger, guard Mitsuko."
Mirsky smiled. "Don't underestimate me, Nakamura." With that, he let forth his full aura, and charged.
Kenji was ready for this, and swung his foot out to intercept Mirsky's cheek. Mirsky ducked down, and swept Kenji's feet from the ground.
Kenji somersaulted back ten feet, then catapulted back to meet Mirsky's energy. The two fought for what seemed like hours, but was, in actuality, minutes. They seemed rather evenly matched; when Kenji finally sent forth an uppercut that left Mirsky drained and confused did it seem that there was a winner.
Kenji stepped forth to complete a job that he should have completed twenty years ago. Dark power started to form at Kenji's palm. He was going to avenge the love of his life, and he was not going to let Mirsky get away this time. This was the end.
Suddenly, he felt a little hand tug at his tail. He turned to see Mitsuko. "Help mommy!" she said, in a tiny, helpless voice. "Help mommy!" Kenji turned to see Kimiko, skin turned to ash, holding her stomach, writhing on the floor in pain. He had to find a way to save her! He rushed to her side, scanned over her with his sixth sense. The energy was in every part of her body; there was nothing he could do. Tears filled his eyes as he remembered how he met her, their marriage, the two elders that he had hired to act as his long-dead parents... It was all going now, slipping through his fingers, as his one true love slowly passed...
"Kimiko..." He said, the last thing she would hear, "I love you." He ended it for her, before she could feel any more pain.
He turned around, only to find that the cause of his suffering had, once again, vanished.
*****
About a month later, Kenji sat on a beach in Thailand. He had just swam across from Japan, after he finally dissolved every last connection that he had with the real world. He couldn't bear to continue living in the house that he had once shared with her, and a life on the road was no real life for a child of Mitsuko's age. He had given her up for adoption, and decided to continue the vegabond life he had always known. This was the only mercy life afforded him.
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