Koichi Part 3
Chapter 3
"Making Peace"
Kygeto and I ran faster to Yukio's cave. My senses were combined as one. I could feel the energy of the world flowing through my body. The strength of the earth was in me. The fluity of water was in me. The courage of fire was in me. The knowledge of wind was in me. All that was good, all that was pure, was in me. All that was evil was in Yukio.
We came up to the cave and stopped at the mouth. "Yukio! I challenge you!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. A cold wind blew at my back, forshadowing the outcome. Then, slow crunching of sticks and leaves. Someone was coming to us. I held my sword at the ready. "Koichi... you came to me. Just as I foresaw." He drew his sword. "I also forsaw your defeat." I turned to Kygeto. "My love, prepare yourself. This shall be an epic battle." Yukio crouched and then leapt into the trees. "An epic battle indeed. Good versus evil. Lies versus truth. Light versus shadow. This very battle is just one of many in this war, one of the most gory wars that shall ever exist." He stood on the branch, holding his arms out. "May you be the first to fall! Let us water the ground with your blood!" He jumped. His body upsetted the air, making it whistle. I jumped back, flipping in the air. "Now!" I yelled. Kygeto threw the sake bomb at Yukio. He yelled as it hit him. "GAH! What have you done, you dumb whore?" I focused. The smell of my sake flowed into my "vision" creating an image.
"Now we begin." I ran and sliced at him. He barely dodged it, but I felt my sword slide through his fur. "Damn you!" He yelled. He ran to me. I jumped and twisted my body. I landed behind him and sliced his back. A solid hit, cutting through his flesh. Blood coated my blade. I smiled. "May you be cleansed by my katana." I jumped again. I focused all my strength into one, giant axe slice. I never saw what happened next, for there was no way for me to predict it. My katana was blocked by his long sword, and a dagger stuck in my leg.
The pain was incredible. The dagger was almost hilt deep in my leg, barely missing my major arteries. It was stuck in the bone, slicing right through the muscles.The smell of my blood mixed with my sweat. I landed on the ground and immediatly collapsed. I could hear Kygeto's breath catch, as she watched on in horror. "Now you are crippled tenfold!" Yukio stated loudly. "Now Koichi, you shall die. Just as you left me to die in Hsi-Sen's lair!" He pulled his sword up. "When you get to hell, tell King Enma to keep the flames nice and hot for me." I hopped onto one arm and swept his paws out from under him. He flipped over and landed. I flipped and landed on just one leg, the one that wasn't injured. "You forget, I was taught every aspect of the martial arts by the greatest swordsman in Japan, Jubei." I held my katana in one paw and brought the other up to my face, index and middle finger together. Yukio stepped back. "Oni-Giri-no-jiutsu? You also learned the forbidden swordsman's style? The Art of the Demon Slash? How?" I smiled and chuckled lightly. "I'm a quick study, Yukio. While you have just been battling, I've been studying your moves. Quite simple actually. No mercy, no holding back, aim for the vital points." Before he could react, I jumped and sliced. He
screamed as his right arm split open, the guts seeping out. "Now we are both crippled, Yukio!" He turned and held his sword in a defense position. "Why do you fight me Koichi? We are brothers. We played in the fields of Kyoto twenty-six years ago. We were friends." He's breathing hard. The wounds must really be hurting him. "You're right. We were friends. But you are no longer Koji. You are Yukio, the killing samurai. Koji died twenty-six years ago, when you were born." I held my katana up. "For your crimes, you shall die." I rushed him, ignoring the pain in my leg. He rushed me, ignoring the pain in his arm. We both sliced at each other. As we stood at opposite ends, I could feel victory and grief intertwine. Yukio fell to his knees. "I... I.. l... lo... lost?." He gasped as the gash on his chest leaked blood. I stood up straight. "It is finished. With your death, justice will be found." I turned and walked to him. He could no longer hide his heartbeat. It was beating slowly, and growing slower. "K... Koi..Koichi... help me..." He gasped, air coming hard to him. "No... I worked so hard... waited for so long." He coughed, and I could hear his blood splatter on the ground. "For... what? T..t...to fail?!" He forced himself to get up. His heartbeat picked up. He was going to rush me. A final shot. The exertion will kill him. "I'm... not going... to hell.. ALONE!" He rushed me with his sword thrusted straight out. I jumped and twisted in the air. And just as he zoomed past I landed in the same spot. He fell to the ground. His sword fell to his side. "You're right. You aren't going to hell alone." I turned to him. "You are taking the spirits of all whom you have killed." I drew myself closer to him. "When you get to hell, tell Koji I love him, and that I'm sorry that I never searched for him." I rose and sheathed my katana. "Goodbye Yukio. I hope you make your peace." I limped off, feeling a burden in my chest lifted. No longer did I feel guilty for Koji's death. Koji was responsible for his own death. Kygeto ran to me and wrapped my arm around her neck. "Come my love. We must pay our respects to your fallen comrades. And I must make my peace with my demons."
Three weeks later, we arrived in Kyoto. We travelled to a hilltop on the outskirts. When we reached the top of the hill, I knelt in front of a set of tombstones. "Hello father, hello mother. It's me, Koichi. I... came to say hello, and goodbye, in sorts. I have always blamed myself for your deaths, and I still do. If I was not foolish enough to seek revenge, father, you might be alive today. I have gained the wisdom you wanted me to find. I've become a master of myself. A master of my enviroment. All to make you happy." A tear came to my eye. "Even from my sightless eyes, I cry. I've never forgotten what you taught me. All the lessons. They paid off. 'Believe and you shall overcome.'" I laid my katana on the ground. "I'm returning what you gave me. I have no need for it, anymore. My fighting days are over." I turned to Kygeto and smiled. "I have a family to tend to now. I will raise my child as you have raised me. With responsibility and love." I stood up, my staff supporting me. "Thank you, father, for everything." I started to walk away but stopped. "And... I love you father. I may have never said it, but I always thought it and kept it in my heart." Kygeto came up to me, placing her arm around mine. "Koichi..." I kissed her and held her paw in mine. I had finally made my peace.
"So..." I started as we walked towards the city. "What do we do now?" Kygeto sighed and squeezed my paw. "I guess it's time to meet my parents." I froze, like a deer before a predator. "Meet... your parents." I picked up my staff and started to run. "Get back here!" She cried as she ran after me. I was at a disadvantage. My leg was still throbbing, and she was faster on flat ground. Inevitably, she tackled me from behind. She pinned me to the ground, her tail twitching. "Not getting out of it that easily." I smiled. "Can you blame me?" We got up and walked on. "Daddy will like you. He likes all great martial artists." I squeezed her paw. "So... if he doesn't like me... will he eat me?" We laughed as we set out for Tokyo. But what Yukio said, about a war coming, stuck in my mind. A war of immense terror, of deadly force. Even I could see the darkness on the horizon. But in that darkness, stood a light. So small, yet so important. A light of hope. Hope for Japan. Hope for the future. Hope for my child.
The End, for now.
Koichi Morisoti, Kygeto, Yukio and Hsi-Sen (c) 2003 Donald Moore