Hell Of A Good Day To Die

[ThatGuy]

Touji walked alone through the Akari compound, heading back home after a hard day’s work. While his shinobi status had recently been reactivated, he had yet to be sent on his first mission, so he’d been taking up carpentry work to make some money on the side. The thought of having to rely on his uncle’s money still did not sit well with him, so he decided to do what he could to minimize his dependence on the bastard. He’d put up with it for now, but only until he was strong enough to avenge his father. As he turned the corner, Touji ran straight into someone, sending them falling backward.

“Sorry.”

”Not yet, you aren’t.”

The man he had knocked over was Hiroshi, someone who used to bully him in the past. They were a couple of years older than Touji and had always looked down on him for his Melashiin. Touji watched the man get back to his feet and sighed as he noticed a look of recognition in their eyes. He didn’t recognize the two men that flanked Hiroshi, but they looked ready for a fight. This was obviously not going to end well.

”Touji? That you?”

”In the flesh.”

”Low-caste trash like you should know to watch where you’re going.”

”Mid-caste trash like you should probably stop getting knocked over so easily.”

Knowing that a punch was coming, Touji weaved his head and threw a punch directly at Hiroshi’s nose. After the counter landed, Touji swept the man’s legs, once more dropping them to the ground. The other two reached to grab and subdue him, but he kicked the smaller of the two men in the stomach before the other got a hold of his haori. Spinning around, he threw a wide hook and hit the man grappling him on the side of the head. Hiroshi had gotten back to his feet and manifested his phasmashiin in the form of a blade. Realizing that things were about to take a turn for the worse, he manifested his melashiin but the larger man he had kicked earlier grabbed hold of it and refused to let go. Touji found himself regretting his choice to leave Judgement at home.

Refusing to let things end here, he thrashed about, throwing wild punches and ultimately breaking the nose of one of Hiroshi’s friends before the one who was grappling his melashiin reached around his neck and put him in a chokehold. Touji bit down on the man’s arm, and to his surprise, the man’s grip did not falter. Hiroshi cut Touji across the chest and brought the bone-like blade up to his face.

“You’re going to pay for that.”

Blood trickled down Touji’s chest as his vision started to fade. Even as he tore the flesh from the man’s arm, they refused to let go. Faced with the serious possibility of dying, he dug deep and lashed out with the last bit of strength he could muster. Kicking Hiroshi in the chest as hard as he could, Touji turned and barely managed to wriggle his Melashiin free and wrap it around the arm of the man that was choking him out. Gasping for air, he managed to pry the large man’s arm from his neck, but before he had a chance to fully escape, he was struck across the head.

All three of the men proceeded to gang up on him and beat him viciously. No matter how much fire Touji still had in him, he was no match for the combined might of the three. They broke his ribs and some of the bones in his hands, but not once did he beg for forgiveness. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. Covered in blood and bruises, Touji looked up to see a boot coming towards his face before everything went black.

The next thing the Akari remembered was waking up to find that he was being dragged somewhere. Despite not being able to form a truly coherent thought, he still found himself thankful that he wasn’t dead. At least not yet. Blacking out, he found himself in a building he didn’t recognize. The three men were still dragging him, speaking amongst themselves, but their voices were still far away. Just what the hell were these guys planning?

[Kao]

"Respectfully, my lord, please reconsider."

The sound of drumming fingers was the only response to the woman who kneeled with her legs pulled under her. She kept her gaze firmly on the floor as the tap tap of fingers was the only sound that permeated the tense silence. Her gaze flickered upward, careful not to raise it high enough to meet the gaze of Akari Kotaru. The man sat behind a long ebony table, the same table that the Akari Elders once gathered behind. The four extra chairs had long been removed, leaving only the ornate throne-like seat in the center. Kotaru looked down at her, his head resting on the high back of the chair while his fingers tapped the armrest. She took his silence as an invitation to keep talking. "We must rebuild the Arena. It's been over three months. The people are becoming...they need somewhere to release their frustrations."

"No." The syllable was heavy. Final. The woman gave a defeated sigh and nodded, wringing the skirt of her dress in her hands to keep herself from pushing. Kotaru stood up, ignoring her as she bowed deeply as he passed her and left the room. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the newly self-appointed leader started to make his way out of the building. So far dealing with the clan's issues amounted to a much smaller headache than he anticipated. But it was still a headache. He sauntered through the hallway, hoping he could slip out of the compound without running into any nonsense.

Unfortunately the nonsense found him before he could even leave the building. "There he is, that's him." Kotaru's ears piqued at the muttered words floated towards him. Sighing internally he watched as a trio of Akari dragged a fourth man towards him. Expression steely, the bannin waited for one of them to speak. The trio bowed shallowly at the waist and the leader, Hiroshi, cleared his throat. "We brought you a present. Already violating your order to not pick fights." Kotaru simply stared, lowering his gaze to Touji as he awaited an explanation.

[ThatGuy]

Slowly, the ringing in Touji's ears died down enough for him to be able to hear what was going on around him. His vision started to refocus as he took in his surroundings. It wasn't a place he recognized, and it certainly looked far too high-class for a melashiin-born like him to enter. The trio had noticed someone and started dragging him in their direction. It wasn’t until they reached this mystery person that they finally released Touji, tossing him in front of the group.

"We brought you a present. Already violating your order to not pick fights."

Touji’s face twisted in anger as he heard Hiroshi speak. He tried to shoot up back to his feet, but the dizziness of his concussion took hold and caused him to fall back over. After grunting from the pain of the impact on his broken ribs, he yelled out.

“Bullshit! You threw the first punch!” He turned over to the mystery man and continued his retort, not paying attention to just who he was talking to. “I was defending myself! I broke his nose, and he sent his goons after me. The bastard even manifested his shiin! You can’t believe this shit!”

It was only after his outburst that he noticed the green eyes of the mystery man. Horns barely peeked out of their teal hair. Touji muttered a curse under his breath as he noticed their blackened fingertips. The young Akari gritted his teeth and lowered his gaze.

“High Lord Akari…”

Touji’s father must have been rolling in his grave, knowing the situation he’d gotten himself into. The brawl was one thing, but to speak so plainly to the leader of the Akari without so much as a bow was courting death. Touji had never respected the hierarchy of the Akari, but even he had to temper his rage in the presence of the man who killed over a third of the clan.

"He knocked me over!"

“I ran into you, and I apologized!”

“High Lord Akari, he’s trying to weasel his way out of this. It’s a lie!”

“You’re the fucking weasel!”

Touji wanted to leap forward and tear out Hiroshi’s throat. He’d have manifested his shiin already were it not for being in the presence of the second-most dangerous Akari to walk the earth. If he died here, he’d never be able to avenge his uncle. Seething with rage, he did his best to bite his tongue for the moment.

[Kao]

Kotaru still stared, his expression impassive as the trio's captive regained his senses and began defending himself. The kid's recognition and respectful pause was fleeting, and the four Akari quickly fell into a bickering match. The bannin quietly took a steadying breath and released it through his nose. He could handle most things that came with leadership, even though he usually hated every minute of people management. But this was far more irritating than anything he'd had to deal with so far as leader of the clan. When the kids finally quieted down Kotaru looked at them one by one, levying a heavy glare to each of them.

The state of the fourth kid told a story. It was clear that the trio had ganged up on him based on the simple fact that they barely had scratches on him, whereas their captive looked as though he'd been through the ringer. "You three," he began, nodding to the trio even though it was obvious he was speaking to them. The way they all bickered in front of Kotaru suggested any sense had been knocked out of them during their tussle. "What are your names?"

"Hiroshi."

"Gohei."

"Jin."

"Hiroshi, Gohei, Jin. If I reached into your minds and pulled out the truth, would it match what you're telling me?" All color drained from the boys' faces. In their eagerness to turn in Touji, distracted by the high emotions of their conflict, they had forgotten just exactly who they were talking to. They had forgotten that he could do more than burn and rip his way through people. This man that they had approached casually could toy with their minds with powerful genjutsu at any given moment and he would enjoy every second of it. The realization that Kotaru could and would punish them for lying to his face made them balk. Their hesitation was confirmation enough, but Kotaru still turned to Touji with a raised brow. "What about you? Are you a lying weasel like your friends?"

[ThatGuy]

Touji scoffed at the reaction of the three other Akari as Kotaru mentioned reaching into their minds. What idiots. Admittedly, he didn’t know that the High Lord was capable of such a thing either, but he wasn’t the one lying to the man. A quick flare of anger appeared in Touji’s eyes as his character was called into question, but he quickly doused those flames as he reminded himself just who he was talking to. With a look of determination that bordered on arrogance, he stared directly into the High Lord’s green eyes.

“My name is Touji, and these are not my friends. If you have means of reaching into my mind to verify the truth, then by all means, please do. You can look back to earlier today and see that I did not throw the first punch. You can go further back and see Hiroshi and I’s previous fights. Like the time my father had to pull me off of him because he said that my mother should be put down instead of wasting resources on melashiin trash. Search as much of my mind as you like, because unlike some people, I have nothing to hide.”

He shot a glare back at the three men. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any secrets, everyone did, but his father had raised him to be as honest as possible. Obviously, this did not extend to the enemy, but living a life of honor within the walls of the village was an admirable but very difficult goal to achieve. The only thing he had to hide from others was the truth of his father’s death, but it wasn’t likely that someone such as Kotaru would even give it a second thought. He turned back towards the High Lord before speaking again.

“I have many flaws. I’m hot-headed, I don’t always give my superiors the proper respect, and I’m weak for a shinobi of Iwagakure no Sato, but I’m no liar. I’m sorry your time is being wasted settling a petty squabble such as ours.”

What Touji neglected to consider is whether or not Kotaru’s method of reading his mind would leave it in tatters. He was too headstrong to consider such things, plus, genjutsu was never his thing. It was hard enough trying to keep up with ninjutsu training while doing carpentry work and taking care of his sick mother. So the blissfully ignorant Touji bowed his head as he waited for Kotaru’s judgment.

[Kao]

To Kotaru's amusement, this Touji kid took his threat quite literally. The bannin had ways of garnering the truth, of course, and each of them were more unpleasant than the last. But he'd definitely gone for more of a theatrical flair to get his point across. He didn't miss that flash of anger, nor did he misread the look of arrogance in Touji's eyes. It was a familiar look, one he was sure he'd also levied against his superiors when he was much younger. He hummed at Touji's honesty. It wasn't a sound of approval, but merely of acknowledgement. A certain phrase stood out and Kotaru latched onto it, his eyes momentarily glazing over as the words settled within him.

Slowly and deliberately, the bannin turned his attention back to the trio, all of them still standing as if paralyzed. A mixture of disgust and rage burned in the man's gut. "Oh? 'Melashiin trash,' huh? Is that what you said?" Jin gulped, sweat dripping down his face as he averted his gaze. Beside him Hiroshi bent sharply at the waist, suddenly remembering the shiin that the High Lord had been born with. He started sputtering that of course he didn't mean it in that way, that the woman just happened to have a melashiin and that was a long time ago. Then, to his horror, he watched as a single dark tendril came into view, snaking down from behind Kotaru and settling in between them. Hiroshi had never seen one that shade of red, so dark that it was almost black. "How many people do you think I've killed with such 'trash,' hm? With this one tendril alone?"

It was a miracle that Hiroshi didn't collapse to his knees. "Still feeling superior?" All three shook their heads, the movements restrained and unexaggerated, hindered by fear. The young bully watched as the tendril raised to touch his cheek, and he recoiled at the contact. "Remember that feeling, Hiroshi. We melashiin users aren't usually so gentle, and if you fuck around like this again you'll find that next time I definitely won't be. Now." Kotaru's melashiin deflated and retreated into his lower back. "The three of you have to the count of three to get the hell out of my sight." They didn't give the man the chance to begin counting before bolting.

Kotaru waited until the sounds of their scampering footsteps faded before turning to Touji. He raised his brow and looked the younger Akari up and down. Eventually he just shook his head. "If you know you're weak, why didn't you just run?"

[ThatGuy]

A grin grew across Touji’s face as the High Lord confronted Hiroshi about his treatment of melashiin-born Akari. It was one thing to have someone low-born like Touji break his nose, but to have Kotaru himself teach him a lesson... It might actually stick this time. The young Akari couldn’t help but admire his High Lord. One of the most powerful Akari had clawed his way up from the lowest caste, not letting his supposed destiny get in the way. Touji hoped to do the same one day. But he had a lot of work to do before he could start worrying about that.

Letting out a laugh as the trio fled the building, he slowly got back to his feet. He was still dizzy from the concussion, but he was adjusting to it. The real killer was the pain from his broken ribs. With a grunt, he looked over at the High Lord, surprised that the man had more to say to him. When Kotaru asked why he hadn’t just run away, he let out a slight chuckle as he realized he didn’t have a good answer.

”Warrior’s spirit, I guess. I got it from my father: Akari, Isamu, much to his disappointment. He was afraid that I’d start charging into fights that I couldn’t win. Obviously, his fears were warranted. The way of the warrior is an admirable path, but most who walk the path are sent to an early grave. But what better way to go out than a warrior’s death? Even if people won’t remember his name, my father died a hero.”

Touji sighed as he realized he was starting to overshare. Kotaru was simply wondering what his rationale was, not his life story. But he had a lot to say on the matter, and the further he seemed to get from a proper answer to the question. It was difficult to find the words.

”I’m not afraid to lose a fight. Pain is a great teacher, and embarrassment is a good motivator. But I wasn’t expecting them to use their shiin, let alone drag me all the way to the High Lord. Dying in an alley is not much of a warrior’s death, I suppose. I have a bad habit of throwing punches first and thinking later.”

With a small smile, he shrugged. All he was doing was outing himself as an idiot, but it was the truth. If he was going to improve as a shinobi, then he needed to acknowledge these issues and endeavor to fix them.

”Besides, when has anyone gotten stronger from running away?”

[Kao]

He hummed softly, another non-committal sound in reaction to the younger Akari's explanation. It wasn't a surprise to learn that was Touji's reasoning. How many times had he heard something similar from his subordinates after they did something stupid in the field? It was a fine mindset in theory, but in practice Kotaru had seen it often end poorly for those who had the spirit but not the skill to back it up. The man very nearly rolled his eyes. But that wouldn't have been very befitting of a High Lord. So he simply stared in that way he tended to do when a simple look could say all that he needed to convey. His brow furrowed while his eyelids squinted slightly, and his lips tightened and sloped downward into a frown. The frightening displeasure was not as potent as usual, though a sliver of it coiled within his heavy gaze.

The name Touji mentioned didn't ring any bells. Kotaru didn't keep up with the goings on in the clan before he took over, and that name hadn't come up at all in recent months. He simply tucked it away in a pocket in his mind in case he needed it later.

He shrugged one shoulder at what may have been a rhetorical question, the gesture almost imperceptible. "I can name a couple times I ran away from fights I knew I couldn't win, especially when I was outnumbered. I wouldn't be standing here if I had that 'go out like a warrior' attitude. I can think of just as many times where I should have run away and only made it out because my allies saved my ass." Kotaru paused again to look Touji up and down. "By the looks of you, I assume your allies are few and far between. Walk with me."

Kotaru wasn't done talking, but the air in that building was stifling. He hated being there any longer than was necessary. Only after they had stepped outside did he continue. "Take it from someone who knows, Touji. With the way you are now, 'throwing punches first and thinking later,' you won't last long if you're not afraid to lose a fight. Especially not in this clan."

[ThatGuy]

Touji was surprised to hear that Kotaru had run away from battles in the past. It didn’t make him think any less of the High Lord, it was simply unexpected. It shouldn’t have been, however, at the end of the day, the man was a shinobi. There were very few shinobi that shared Touji’s sentiments, and for good reason. As much as he wanted to hold onto his ideals, Kotaru was right. It was only a matter of time before his mindset got him killed. Normally, he would have embraced that death, but he couldn’t allow himself to die until he got revenge for his father.

When the High Lord made a comment about Touji looking like his allies are few and far between, he gave the man a look that said, ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’ but he dared not take it further than that. Especially considering that Kotaru was not finished speaking. Walking with the man, he did his best to ignore the pain in his ribs. Touji took the lecture in stride, it was one that he needed, but he couldn’t silence the nagging voice in the back of my mind.

“On the battlefield is one thing, but what am I supposed to do within the compound? It’s all too easy to track down your enemies here, and without the arena, you never know where or when someone will try to take your shiin. For scumbags like Hiroshi, running is only going to make him more bold, isn’t it? If I went so far as to kill him, then I’d just become a target for his family. It feels like my only option is to throw punches, even if I’ll lose.”

Touji let out a sigh after speaking. Why was he bothering the High Lord with his frustrations? Kotaru had been humoring him up to this point, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear all about his problems. The last thing the man needed after babysitting an entire clan all day was for some random genin to start asking him for life advice. It was something that Touji should have been going to his father for, but unfortunately, that was no longer an option.

“I don’t mean to question you, High Lord. I just don’t get it. I’ve never been that smart, and I’ve only recently reactivated my shinobi status. I’m years behind everyone, and the only thing I have to show for it is the ability to identify what kind of wood something is made out of at a glance.” As they continued to walk, Touji pointed to a nearby bench. “Birch, if you were wondering.”

The young Akari buried his head in his hands upon realizing how much he was rambling. Of course, the HIgh Lord didn’t care about the bench. Even through the concussion, Touji was full of too much nervous energy to keep his mouth shut. Despite technically being taller than the man, Kotaru was such a large and imposing figure in his eyes. It had nothing to do with the title, it was the legend of the man who held it.

“I’ll shut up.”

[Kao]

There it was again, the mention of that damn arena. Kotaru knew deep down that he had to find a solution to that problem, and quickly. But every time he thought about it, the urge to burn down everything around him threatened to consume him. So instead he focused on the kid next to him who harbored the same fear and uncertainty that plagued the less blood thirsty members of the clan. It was the same kind of fear that Kotaru had been all too familiar with as a child before he had cast it out and embraced his hellish proclivities.

Kotaru mulled over Touji’s words and was seemingly losing himself in thought. But the random comment about birch wood pulled the bannin out of his mind, and he snorted in response. Amusement was nowhere in his features, however, when he started speaking again. “Hard to say. You’re right - you probably shouldn’t kill anyone with the way you are now. My strategy back then was to stay out of sight and out of the compound as much as possible until no one dared to even think about fucking with me. But obviously that doesn’t work for everyone.”

The pair walked down the cobbled path leading out of the building, stopping just outside of the low gate that separated the building’s grounds from the courtyard beyond. The bannin sniffed the air subtly, and his eyes briefly drifted to the low roof of a nearby house. The three scents that wafted toward him on the chilled breeze were easily recognizable. After all, he had only just dismissed those three from his presence.

”Like I said before,” Kotaru droned on as he patted Touji’s shoulder, “having the right allies can make your life a lot easier. It never hurts to have people - friends - who are bigger or stronger than you when you’re still a scrawny kid.” He paused to look Touji up and down once more as he considered the younger Akari. “I don’t usually train people outside of Jousai. But with this new…title and responsibility,” he said the last few words with enough vitriol that they sounded like slurs, “I guess I gotta start making exceptions. But only if you’re up for it, kid.” The gesture along with his rare offer of mentorship had the desired effect. Those three scents still lingered on the wind, but the High Lord could tell that the owners of those smells had finally sauntered away. “Otherwise, who’s to say how much longer you survive here.”

[ThatGuy]

Doing his best to keep himself from waffling, Touji simply took in the High Lord’s words as they walked along the cobbled path. Unfortunately, staying out of the compound wasn’t a choice for him. He had to get home to drop off money as well as take care of his mother. Touji’s uncle had hired a caretaker for her, but it didn’t sit right with him, leaving her in the hands of a stranger all day. While he was eager to get stronger, he was not going to leave his mother completely alone. Things were getting worse by the day, and he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible while still getting stronger.

Touji stopped in his tracks as Kotaru’s next words sank in. Surely the man didn’t just offer to train someone as lowly as Touji. Doing his best to shake the stunned expression off of his face, he met the High Lord’s gaze.

“I would be honored! I don’t care how difficult the training is or how much I destroy my body. I’ll do everything I can to keep up with your demands. Truth is… Hiroshi and them are the least of my problems. They’re pests that keep getting in the way. Getting strong enough to put him and his goons in their place is only the first step. I have to get way stronger. There’s someone I need to kill, and I’ll never be able to do that at this rate.”

Keeping eye contact, he hoped to show the High Lord the fire that burned within him. He might have been weak, but he wasn’t some soft-handed Genin who got by on natural talent. Touji knew what it was like to work hard, and the determination to avenge his father only pushed him further. It didn’t matter what he had to sacrifice. Well, except for one thing.

“The only thing I ask is that I be given some time with my mother. She’s really sick and has been getting worse, and while my uncle has paid for a caretaker, I still need to spend some time with her while she’s still here. When she passes, I’ll have nothing left. I’ll sacrifice whatever I need to, except for her. Not while she’s still with us.”

Touji bowed his head apologetically. It hurt him to say it, but his mother was one of the biggest things holding him back. He never once thought less of her for it. If it weren’t for his parents—both of his parents—he wouldn’t have the confidence to even try. Hell, he’d have melted into a puddle under the harsh gaze of Kotaru like Hiroshi. So the least he could do to pay his mother back was to stay by her side. Even if she kept insisting, he stopped worrying about her.