Cad
New Member
or Unfinished Business
CadDrag 1919
The back of his right hand parried the hit as the left one released a punch with full force. He lifted his right leg and swung it in an uphill motion. The kick hit his foe right in the head and sent him flying. Eiji went back into a calm stance and waited for his comrade to rise up.
“Hey, you alright?” he yelled out. No answer. He whistled. Still nothing.
“What is he doing?” the assassin asked himself. He had been detained in the Seventh Division for some while now, and just recently they had released him from his cell. He had gotten back a part of his freedom and he figured that it was because they perhaps wanted to ‘rehabilitate him’. Why, he did not know.
As he reached the friendly combatant, he noticed immediately that he was knocked out.
“Tsch... Can’t they set me up with a real challenge?”
A devastating blow landed against Eiji’s stomach. The impact sent him flying back, hunched over from the attack.
Making no announcement of his presence or intent, Okamii Igasho simply turned his attention from the prisoner and began untying his obi. Saying nothing, the former prisoner removed his kosode and folded it neatly. He tossed it to the ground and finally turned his attention back to the young man, though no sign of his reiatsu could be felt, still.
Eiji flew from the hit, unable to react. He landed near the man he had just sent flying, on his head, almost pressed into the tree. A man who could send him flying must have had at least some strength.
A challenge huh? I wonder who it could be..?
Eiji rolled over and rose from his seat. He tried making out the person in front of him and immediately recognized the face.
“Igasho... So it was you. I thought I recognized that ugly mug of yours.”
Igasho showed no reaction to his former subordinate’s remark. He stood, stoically looking on at the young man. In his time in the Seventh, the bearded assassin had seen nothing of Eiji, as if they were worlds apart after the trial.
Guards stood off to the distance, leering at the pair. Igasho nodded in their direction and the group turned away, as if seeing nothing. The assassin turned back toward Eiji. His eyes stayed fixed while he lifted a hand, gesturing for the boy to attack.
Eiji did not wait. He ran towards the reaper in front of him, full speed ahead. As soon as he reached his foe, he started pummeling him. Punches and kicks flew everywhere but not a single one hit its target. The scarred boy took a few steps back to rethink his strategy.
He had known that his former companion was stronger than him but the difference he could see now seemed to be too much.
“You’ve gotten stronger. A lot stronger.”
The small crowd that had gathered started growing with the commotion. The brawny assassin dashed forward, throwing a shoulder into Eiji’s chest. The tackle sent him careening into the wall the stone radiating with cracks from the impact.
“And you’ve remained weak.”
Once again, the scarred assassin was thrown down on the ground. He started to lose his temper, partially because Igasho was right but also because he did not like to be pushed down like that.
“That may be the case, but I can still fight against you.” Without giving him a chance to react, Eiji started to bend his aura and spiritual power to his liking. Within seconds, he had disappeared from sight.
Let’s see how you deal with this.
The former-prisoner’s eyes lowered slightly, unimpressed by Eiji’s move. He was in no mood for the show but he’d endure it, for the time being. A small amount of energy rushed to the surface of his skin, laying dormant.
“Don’t waste your energy, Eiji. Or my time.”
Do not worry friend, i’ll do more than waste your time.
The scarred reaper moved towards his target, taking each step with care not to make any sound. The wind was still fortunately, so no smell could be carried over towards Igasho. With a few quick steps, he was behind his former comrade.
His position was now what he had sought after. With a swift swing of his leg, he tried sweeping his foe down to the ground but failed. The kick was strong and fast but there was something in the way. Something hard enough to block his strike.
“What the fuck?” Eiji yelled out, as he revealed himself to Igasho.
The granite constitution of reishi gathered around Igasho’s body easily blocked the sweep’s impact. As soon as the words had left Eiji’s lips, the assassin turned and grabbed hold of the boy’s kosode. A solid yank pulled him off balance and to the ground, though Igasho’s hand remained form.
“What the fuck?” Igasho repeated, as if to sarcastically quote his former subordinate.
Following through with the take-down, the officer’s free hand balled into a fist and slammed into Eiji’s face.
“Show your ignorance, again, Eiji,” the assailant mocked, dropping the grasp on the younger man. “Make it even more obvious that you would think I would stagnate and get weaker, just like you, just because of a measly 500 year sentencing.”
“Have you gone mad?” Eiji got up on his feet and shoved his assailant. “Do you really think you can compare your stay here with mine?”
The scarred assassin was angry. Never would he have thought that his former higher-in-rank would actually attack him in such a way. Never would he have thought that he would try to put him down in such a way.
“I stayed in this place all alone, locked up in a cell for most of the time. While you were running around doing whatever you felt like. And you think I did this because I was lazy? Are you an idiot?”
“Doing whatever I liked?” Igasho scoffed. “Hardly.”
He took a step back, eyes never leaving Eiji’s.
“I did whatever the Central Forty-Six said. I spent months in isolation, only interacting with the Onimitsukido and the mission targets.”
He started circling the boy, arms loosely at his side, slowly striding across the stone floor.
“I worked my way out of here. not because I needed it but because the Twelfth needed it. It needed me. And yet, you’re still here.”
“You did it all for yourself.” Their eyes were locked at each other, almost bursting into flames from the anger in him.
“You left me at the trial, only thinking of your own interests. Not once did you come to see how I was, to check up on me. I heard nothing from anyone for over a year. I was all alone. And you have the gut to call yourself my superior and friend?”
“And who were you thinking of when you blatantly disregarded my orders? Who were you thinking of when you killed Moeno? There was a reason I gave you that order. Now you want to whine about being left in the dark - that’s ridiculous, Eiji.”
Igasho stepped in toward the prisoner,aggressively, though he stopped just short of barreling over him.
“Everything I do - everything I have ever done, since joining the Gotei - has been for the Twelfth.”
Including this.
The towering warrior threw his head down and forward, headbutting Eiji - hard.
The scarred boy fell down hard, hitting his head in the ground. Both hits left marks, behind his head and on the forehead. Red marks of pain to be more exact. He rubbed his forehead as he rose up and charged at his superior. As he flew at him, he extended his arms, turning the charge into a tackle. They both fell on the ground, the scarred reaper landing on top of Igasho.
“Your orders came after the actual attack. I did nothing wrong when I followed those orders. I took out my target.”
Eiji pushed himself up with the help of Igasho’s chest. He was tired of being thrown around, tired of being accused for something he had not done.
“If anything, we were both at fault. We should not have gone head on against Moeno. We should have done a better job in checking the authenticity of the request.” He turned his back towards against his former companion.
“If that’s everything, I’ll go back now.”
Igasho kicked up to his feet, following through with the motion and lunging a fist into the middle of Eiji’s back. Disappearing from sight, he flash-stepped in front of the boy before he could fully stumble forward. Another punch landed at the boy’s stomach, though the assassin didn’t hold back, as much. The blow would easily knock the wind out of him, if not internal damage - concern that started to fade from Igasho’s mind.
Igasho grabbed the boy’s hair as he leaned over, holding his head up.
“I’m not done with you,” he said, eyes narrowed with the gravity of his tone.
Twisting his hand and kicking Eiji’s thigh, Igasho brought him to the ground again.
“Instead of wasting your time having pissing contests with other prisoners, you should be kissing the Central chambers’ asses and getting your sentence reduced.”
He let go of the boy’s hair, forcefully shoving his head back. He reared back and with an open hand, slapped him, hard, across the face.
“You’re a disgrace to the Twelfth division.”
Eiji was almost losing consciousness from all the blows he was receiving. Never had he been strong enough to fight against Igasho, now even less. He was weaker than he had been in years, that he could agree to. The assassin wanted nothing more than to be free but he could not do anything more than this.
He was tired of being locked up, tired of not being able to do anything. He wanted help but was too proud to ask for it.
“What do you think i’ve been doing. Sitting here doing nothing? The first chance I had, I jumped on it. I did my share. I risked my life. For what? For the Twelfth? When have they ever helped me? When have they ever done anything for me?”
Igasho stared at the beaten prisoner for a moment, a grimace curling up in his lips, for brief few seconds. He turned away, a look of disappointment on his face. Still saying nothing, the barefoot assassin leaned over and picked up his kosode. He was truly let down by the boy’s questions. Was he really so beaten that he thought the Gotei was supposed to provide for him?
“You had only failed yourself,” he said, somberly. He continued, putting his kosode on, again, “Until today.”
He didn’t look back at the boy, as he left him with a final command.
“Get yourself out of here, Eiji.”
Get out of here and back to the Twelfth. You have a bigger role to play, yet...we need you.
What do you think I’m trying to do?
The scarred assassin picked himself up and managed to stay on his feet. The beating he had taken was something he never experienced before, at leat not something being so one-sided. But there was really nothing he could do. He agreed with Igasho, he had let most of the people around him down, because of what he had done.
“I’ll be back soon enough,” Eiji whispered to himself as he made his way back to his cell.