The soft murmur of several people talking filled the air as Rin walked alongside Kondou-San through a large training ground belonging to another dojo. Many other dojos had gathered here along with the Tennen-Rishin Ryu dojo for the much anticipated tournament.
"Ahhh...my muscles are really sore. I don't think I can do this today" Shinpachi sighed as he rubbed his right forearm.
"Idiot. We warned you not to over do it yesterday, but you hardly seemed to pay heed to what I said" Hijikata said angrily as he recalled the previous day's training.
"Hijikata-San. Please calm down. You're drawing attention to yourself." Sannan-San said calmly, smiling.
Hijikata sighed, then shifted his gaze to an unusually quiet Rin, who barely seemed to be fazed by Souji, who also happened to notice her absentminded behavior and started poking her cheek every now and then to try to get her back to reality, but failing.
"Rin? Rin....RIN" Hijikata called out as everyone stopped walking.
Rin, who was slouching and had a lost expression on her face, suddenly snapped up. "Did...Did someone call me?" she asked, confused as she looked at one person at a time.
Sonosuke raised an eyebrow at her in a worried manner. "Rin. You zoned out really badly back there. Is something wrong?" he asked the expressionless girl.
"She doesn't really look fine." Heisuke said to Sonosuke. "Look at those dark circles under her eyes" he added.
It was Kondou-San's turn to fuss over Rin. "Did you get enough sleep Rin? We told you not to tire yourself out during yesterday's practice."
Rin scanned everyone's faces before sighing.
"I didn't get any sleep last night at all" she declared. "I felt nervous about today. It's the first time I'm taking part in something like this. And besides, this event is supposed to be really important for you guys to establish this group you keep talking about. Sponsor's are going to be here...What if I screw up during my spar against Fukushima?" Rin said, pouring out her thoughts.
Everyone stared at her in silence; they had all experienced a similar feeling of nervousness during their first time in a tournament, and they knew it would only last until right before the spar. After that, their natural instincts would take over and their nervousness would immediately become non-existent.
"You'll be fine" Sannan-San simply stated.
Those three words of reassurance was all Rin needed. Although they were three simply spoken words, they had a deeper meaning behind them; it showed that everyone believed in Rin's strength and abilities.
A smile crept upon the pale girl's face as she nodded with a revived confidence.
The tournament started after an hour or so. One by one, the pairs chosen for the spars faced each other in the middle of the training ground as the others sat by the side as the audience in a much anticipated silence, waiting eagerly to see the standing victor.
Shinpachi ended up sparring with a man twice his size, however, he looked prepared to take his opponent down.
"I didn't build these beautiful muscles to only show off old man" Rin heard him say at the turning point of the spar between the two.
After a bit of more efforts, Shinpachi emerged victorious from the spar, later followed by Sannan-San, who easily struck his opponent down with a deadly calm look on his face and pure skill.
Hijikata was up next. Watching him fight strengthened Rin on the inside; every move the future vice-commander made was precise and accurate, as if his moves were saying how sure he was of himself and his life.
The next fight really caught Rin's attention: Souji vs Some unknown guy who seemed extremely skilled.
Only, in front of Souji, this guy seemed to have wasted his time with fruitless practice.
Souji's strikes were more accurate than Hijikata's. Rin watched in awe as he worked his way towards victory.
Each strike was powerful yet precise.
Gentle yet deadly.
Swift.
Graceful.
Beautiful.
A loud announcement of "One hit in" snapped Rin out of her state of awe and admiration.
Souji was panting slightly. His gaze shifted to the audience and met with Rin's. A playful smirk wavered on his face before turning into a smile as he walked away, victorious.
"He made it look so easy..." Rin thought, her heart racing at the image of Souji's smile, which was now printed at the back of her eyelids.
She dismissed the feeling as nervousness.
Rin caught sight of Kondou-San speaking to an aggressive looking man with a beard and hair that were slightly whitening. He held a harmless looking metal fan, but he held it in a way that made it look like the most dangerous weapon one could wield. Both the men were engrossed into a deep conversation and the man with the fan occasionally glanced back at the training field to see the progress of the match.
A loud 'CLACK' of the bokutos forced Rin to snap her head back in the direction of the grounds. Heisuke was doing brilliantly against a tough opponent. After about a minute or so, the turquoise hued boy flicked his bokuto and disarmed the guy, getting one hit in at the same time.
"Rin. You're up. Give Fukushima hell from us." Sonosuke said cheerfully. He wouldn't be participating in this tournament since there was no spear wielding event during this particular year. Ruffling Rin's hair in a friendly and encouraging way, Sonosuke wished her luck as she got up and walked to the battling ground, passing Souji on the way.
"You can do it kitten...you better do it, it else i'll cut you~" he whispered, mischief lacing his voice.
Rin turned to retort back to the comment, only to freeze.
Souji's smirking face melted into a gentle smile as he placed a hand on Rin's head. "We all believe in you, Rin" he said softly as he tucked a strand of stray hair behind Rin's ear. Rin felt the blush slowly crawl onto her cheeks as she stood there, gaping slightly and speechless. Chuckling slightly to Rin's reaction, Souji walked away with his hands behind his head.
It took Rin a moment to realize she had been standing there for a full 20 seconds, looking like an idiot. Snapping out of her shock, she walked towards the training ground, a small smile etching onto her face as a new burst of confidence flooded through her.
They believed in her.
Trusted her.
That's all she needed to know.
Rin stood out on the open training ground, which was a battle field for her at that particular moment.
An unusual feeling of uneasiness that had nothing to do with her nervousness settled in. She hadn't seen Fukushima the whole day; she had expected him to corner her and jeer while she sat in the audience, but that hadn't happened. "Which is very unlike that bastard" Rin added to her train of thoughts.
She waited for him to appear on the training ground, ready with a bokuto and all.
Then suddenly, there he was.
A shudder ran up Rin's spine.
Something was up.
Something wasn't right...
Fukushima walked towards her, a smirk on his face, but the way he walked, the way he carried himself...was different.
Rin always knew he had the potential to look handsome, but was too much of a git to manage it, but now, it seemed as if he was put through a filter. She could finally make out the exact colour of his hair [which was normally covered in a layer of grime and dirt]: a dark chocolate brown. His acne covered skin was suddenly clear and his eyes-
Rin squinted her eyes with confusion.
Were Fukushima's eyes always that shade of red? Weren't they more of a reddish brown? How did they seem so mesmerizing yet...familiar...
"Asai" he said simply as he approached her, a smirk playing on his lips.
"And the bastard arrives." Rin mumbled, not bothering to hide her disgust as if he was a piece of gum stuck to her shoe.
Fukushima cocked an eyebrow at her. "Oh, the bastard is gone...I'm here instead" he said quietly, his voice clearer than usual, his accent more regal than usual.
Another shudder ran up Rin's spine.
"Let's get this over with Fukushima." she said, barely keeping her voice stable. An unusual yet familiar atmosphere lingered around them, as if something Rin didn't want to know was about to be revealed.
The referee approached them. Both sides shifted into a starting stance. "You're more beautiful than I remember Rin..." Fukushima said quietly, only loud enough for Rin to hear.
This threw Rin off guard.
"What the f-"
"BEGIN" The referee suddenly announced, bringing his hand down.
Fukushima moved at an unearthly speed and hit Rin's bokuto with so much force that she went flying back and tumbled onto the ground.
Coughing due to the force, Rin stood up, one eye closed due to pain.
"How...How the hell did you do that? Only an oni-" she stopped abruptly.
A grin etched onto Fukushima's face.
"I told you...that guy is gone Rin..." he said as he closed in on Rin.
Rin's eyes widened. "Who...are you?" she asked quietly, yet calmly.
Fukushima sighed sadly. "That question again? So it's true then...they really did wipe your memory clean after that incident"
A small wave of panic hit Rin.
Who was this guy?
What was he talking about?
Rin looked around, suddenly aware of the people watching.
A gasp escaped the teal hued girl.
Something that looked like a thin sheet of solid purple mist created a translucent dome around the circular ground. Everyone else on the other side of the dome seemed to be watching something entirely different from what was going on.
Heisuke stood up, looking somewhere else and shouted out something which sounded as if he was talking under water.
"It's exactly what you're thinking. Those humans are witnessing an entirely different spar; an illusion." The imposter said.
Rin tried looking past the purple shimmer of the dome and saw it: a very one sided battle between the fake her getting beaten up by the fake imposter Fukushima. She worriedly shifted her gaze to the audience, where she saw the shocked faces of her comrades. She could see their trust in her slowly fade.
A lump formed in Rin's throat at their expressions.
"Forget about them Rin. I suggest you pay attention to me" Fukushima said.
"You...you aren't Fukushima...you're an oni, aren't you." Rin said more than asked.
"Catching up are we. Yes Rin. I'm an oni. An important figure of your past. Your best friend. The person who wanted to protect you no matter what"
"What...what are you talking about?" Rin asked, her voice finally shaking.
"You really don't remember, huh?" Imposter Fukushima whispered, a sad smile appearing on his face. He then looked Rin straight in the eye and declared "I am Himura Tatsuo." His gaze turned steely.
"Tell me Rin, what was your favorite game to play when you were 7?"
Rin opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
"E-eh? A blank?" she thought.
"What was that one favorite thing you never used to go to sleep without?"
Another blank.
"What are your cousin's names?"
"I don't have any cousins..." Rin said with uncertainty.
"Oh don't you? Try and remember anything before the age of 9 Rin." Tatsuo said maliciously.
Rin did exactly that. Panic filled the girl.
Everything was a blank.
She had never exactly thought she needed her earlier memories, so she never thought so far back, but now...
"You see? Everything is a blank isn't it?" Tasuo said, circling Rin. A blue flame suddenly surrounded Fukushima as his body slowly turned to ashes. Another man stood in his place, not much older than Rin herself.
"Tch...this body couldn't even hold up for such a short time." he said, dusting ashes off him.
Rin gasped as a sharp prick was felt at the back of her head at this man's sight.
A light appeared and as if several more of them were flicked open, memories of her and Tatsuo unfolded; the memory of the day in the woods...the memory of Tatsuo transforming right before her eyes into someone- No. Something more evil and sinister and his assault on her to remove her seal.
Another gasp escaped Rin as she staggered slightly at the sudden memory.
"Your father blocked your memories to keep your powers under control when I took part of the seal off" Tatsuo said in a very matter-of-fact tone as if he knew what memory had unfolded writhing Rin's mind. "I was only trying to help you protect yourself. I couldn't bare seeing you so weak when you had so much potential in you. I only took the seal off because I cared about you...i loved you..."
Smiling softly, he moved his hand forward and shifted the same stray strand of hair Souji shifted. "I've cone back to make you mine, Rin. You can come back to me, now that you have your memories back. I'm not that monster I became anymore"
A shiver ran up the black haired girl.
She harshly smacked Tatsuo's hand away.
A cold glare replaced her shocked expression. "You're right...you aren't that monster I knew...you've become something worse. I'm fine where I am at the moment, thanks." she said with as much hate an spite she could muster up.
And with that, she struck at him with her bokuto, which he barely managed to block in time. A spar started between the two. Constant "CLACK"-ing filled the air.
Tatsuo's expression darkened. "Are you saying you prefer staying here? With those pathetic humans? They won't even be able to protect you. They don't even know the real you is in here with me" he growled as he pushed his bokuto against Rin's.
A smirk appeared on Rin's face. She turned her head on point, as if everything was scripted; once Tatsuo said those words, a scowl etched onto Souji's face as he watched the fake Rin being beaten up. He suddenly stood up and walked onto the training ground, unsheathing his katana slightly.
He stepped through the purple dome barrier.
His eyes immediately widened at the scene before him.
"Who are you?" he asked, his katana out if its sheath completely.
"Tch". Tatsuo threw the bokuto into the ground and stepped away from Rin in a dignified way.
"I don't want a pathetic human interfering. Might as well end it here" he said, glaring at Souji. His eyes flicked up momentarily to the dojo's roof where a figure stood. He sighed with impatience and muttered "Kaoru".
"Hmm? Are you running away?" Souji asked, smirking. "Why don't you come and fight me like a man?"
"I don't find it necessary to entertain you. I'll be taking Rin here with me" Tatsuo said, stepping closer to Rin and grabbing her forearm, which she yanked out of his grip.
Souji's expression darkened more than Tatsuo's had. "If you touch her, I'll kill you" he said his catch phrase more seriously than Rin ever heard him say.
A smirk appeared onto jade haired man's face. "Is that a challenge? If it is, I accept it fully. Let's see if you can stop me from making Rin mine. For the time being, I must leave." Tatsuo looked at Rin. "We'll meet again" and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared.
The purple dome around Souji and Rin shattered.
A serious expression replaced Souji's smirk.
"Who was that?" he asked Rin.
Rin just kept her eyes fixed at the roof as she scowled.
"Someone from my past" she said as she started walking away. " You don't need to worry about him".
"If you say so kitten..." Souji said, suspicious hinting his voice, but disappearing.
Once Rin returned to the audience seating, Heisuke came up to her with an excited glint in his eyes. "That was AMAZING Rin-chan! The way you made that come back once Souji cheered you on was brilliant!"
"I agree" Hijikata said with a smile, appearing behind Heisuke. "I didn't expect you to do that Souji."
Both Souji and Rin cringed, but decided to play along as an unspoken thing had passed between them of not mentioning what had really happened.
"Thanks for the compliments" Rin said with a forced smile.
As soon as Hijikata, Heisuke and Souji left, Rin's smile was replaced by a frown; Something told her that Tatsuo was being serious when he accepted Souji's challenge.
**********************************
"What did you want KAORU?? I NEARLY HAD HER!!" Tatsuo yelled as he paced up an down a room.
Kaoru scowled at Tatsuo.
"Kazama was nearby" he said.
Tatsuo scowled harder than Kaoru.
"Time to get him on our side then..." he said with a tired sigh.
A/N: DONE. I've been typing this chapter up for the past 4 hours ._. Hope you liked this chapter. Comments will be appreciated ^^ Till next time then~ Bai Bai~