Two Sides of a Sword: Family

Chapter Eighteen ~ Family

Aoshi bolted upright in bed, eyes wide like a child filled with fear. Perspiration dripped down his face and brushed back his hair with the back of his hand, all the while trying to calm himself with deep breaths and muttering to himself words used to soothe him: It's just a dream, nothing but a dream...

He finally took notice of his surroundings. He was back in the Wandon School, in the room he inhabited, wearing the Chinese clothing again. The questions suddenly hit him: how did he get back to the school? Was all he remembered just a dream? And if so...was Misao all right? Alive?

The sound of the door opening stirred Aoshi out of his thoughts, revealing the intruder to only be the school's master, Ling. She seemed to be carrying a tray of soup, or medicine, he wasn't sure. As soon as she closed the door, she looked up to meet Aoshi's eyes, surprised.

"Ara, you're awake," she greeted him, setting the tray on the table in the middle of the room. "Jun wasn't sure if you were going to make it in the condition that Ryu and Isamu brought you in; the poison acted rather quickly." She began to set the table, nimbly working her hands with the objects as if she had done so many times before. Ling ignored the questioning look on his face, patiently waiting for Aoshi to voice the questions. Although he was a grown man, she knew the young former Okashira too well, but the fact was her secret for now.

After a somewhat long period of silence, Aoshi inwardly sighed. The woman was too smart. "...How idd I get back here?"

Ling smiled as she finished setting the table, swinging the seat around and sat facing him. Whether it was a smile of triumph or satisfaction, Aoshi wasn't sure.

"About four days ago, Ryu and Isamu came back to the school, carrying you and Kai Xuan," Ling replied. She nodded at his unvoiced surprise. "They were exhausted from the trip, apparently some more of the Azuma had dispatched and chased after them for some time. We weren't able to scare the Azuma off, but I don't think it will be long until they return."

She spun around to get the bowl and a spoon, carefully handing it to Aoshi.

"I went to tend to Kai Xuan while your sister and Jun began to treat you," she continued as he slowly lifted the spoon filled with the bowl's contents to his lips. "You were in a much worse condition than Kai Xuan; the poison in your body was the same that was given to Misao-chan, but it took much longer for it to affect you because of your size. However, the antidote you had on you certainly helped."

The sound of Misao's name made Aoshi looked up at the older woman as he sipped the soup in, but he let Ling continue, not wanting to let his concern to interrupt what had happened after he lost consciousness.

"Your fever had come down after two hours, but you still remained unconscious. Or so I heard from Ikumi-chan. Kai Xuan recovered much more quickly than you, despite loss of blood and a small infection that developed from the open wound. She's back to normal now, but she can't speak anymore. Her vocal cords are forever severed by the cut, but she doesn't seem to mind," Ling concluded.

Aoshi set the bowl in his lap. Suddenly, fear rose in him again as the inevitable question came to him. He slowly looked back up at Ling, whispering, "Misao?"

Ling stared at Aoshi for a minute, taking notice of the meltdown of his emotional wall. She realized that Misao meant a lot to him, and he was finally admitting it to himself.

"Misao-chan is fine, Aoshi-kun," she answered reassuringly. "We used the remainder of the antidote on her, and she's recovering quite nicely. She's still a bit weak, though, and rests when she can or when we tell her to. Misao-chan's a strong girl, but you came with the medicine just in time. So...don't worry."

Aoshi nodded and inwardly sighed in relief. He was about to ask Ling another question, but his Oniwanbanshuu ears heard shouts outside. Ling had, too, heard it for she wasn't looking at him anymore.

"So they came back," she murmured more to herself than to him. She turned back to him, smiling and standing up. "Do you mind if I use your ni-kodaichi?"

Aoshi was taken aback by the question. He had never let anyone use his ni-kodaichi nor any of his weapons. However, again there was something about Ling that was familiar to him.

"Ie...I don't mind, but..." he slowly replied, watching Ling reverently lift the "long" weapon from its position against the wall.

"Oh, don't worry. I know how to use them," she interrupted him. "Although...it has been quite a while."

Quite a while? he thought as he continued to watch her flip the sheathed weapon behind her like he had always done.

"Why do you need them?" he asked out of curiosity.

Ling looked at him again, still with the smile on her face. "Oh, you can say that I"m much more affiliated with the Oniwanbanshuu than you think. Besides, you're injured and still recovering while the rest of my students still have a long way to go. Ryu, Ikumi-chan, Isamu, Jun, and Kai Xuan cannot take on 150 skilled ninja on their own."

She left his room, adding, "And stay here and eat your food. You're still too weak from the poison."

They were surrounded. Well, not really, but the blur of black and red in front of him made Asarai Isamu dizzy.

"Kuso...what do we do now?" he asked to nobody in particular, feeling the tension in the air. "Take them all on?"

Kai Xuan shook her head while Jun held her husband back. Even without voicing out her opinion, a simple gesture from the former Azuma was enough.

"Kai Xuan's right, Isamu," Ikumi murmured, holding Setsuko close to her. "We can't take on that many, especially with all the injuries we had sustained last time. The majority are just students here, unlike us. They're not used to combat."

"Why don't the meanies go away?" Setsuko murmured mournfully in her mother's hair, turning her head away from the "scary" ninja before them.

"Because they don't want to give up, Set-chan," Ryu whispered soothingly to his daughter. One hand patted her head, the other was the hilt of the Green Destiny.

"Where is Shinomori?!?" a ninja, presumably the leader to Ikumi's eyes, shouted.

"Then what do we do now? We can't exactly just say 'we don't want to fight you' and assume they'll leave," Isamu whispered with annoyance.

"I'll take care of it," a voice replied behind them. Everyone turned around.

Ling walked down the hallway, carrying Aoshi's ni-kodaichi behind her. She looked like an innocent middle aged woman from afar, but Ikumi could see from her master's eyes that she was quite serious. A pathway separated for Ling as she approached closer, each student that moved whispered a word of deference to her.

"They have no right to invade the school with such force," Ling continued as she stopped just in the front of the steps, standing next to Ikumi. "If the Azuma want to try to break the Wandon school down, then they will have to go through the school's master." She glanced at Ikumi.

Understanding her look, Ikumi nodded and set her daughter down, whispering some words to her. Setsuko nodded happily and ran down the hallway.

"Children shouldn't be able to see the blood about to be spilled now," Ikumi announced to the students in Cantonese. "Follow my daughter and go back to your business. It's not your time to fight yet."

The other students of the Wandon stared at one another in confusion and then back at Ikumi, only to reluctantly nod with agreement and slowly filtered out down the hallway until every student disappeared. Ling stepped down the steps of the school, coming closer to the ninja. Wary of the miraculously calm woman approaching them, the group of Azuma took a step back.

"What's Ling-sensei doing? Is she insane?" Jun whispered as she and the remaining others watched.

"I don't think so," Ryu replied, releasing the grip on his katana. "Ling-sensei knows more about the Azuma than we could ever know."

Ikumi turned to her husband, her face filled with curiosity. What's he hiding from me?

Aoshi staggered through the hallways of the school, only to rest from time to time when someone was nearby. He was told to stay, but curiosity got the better of him and he forced himself out of bed and walk. He hadn't realized how weak his body was until the first few steps away from his bed and contemplated on just following Ling's orders but again decided against it. He had to know the true reason for Ling's use of the ni-kodaichi. As he finally reached the main hallway and to where Ikumi and the others stood, what he witnessed shocked him.

"I'm going to ask you one question: why are you here? This is a school that teaches martial arts, not war," Ling said to the ninja in front of her. "I have students who have been injured from your attacks and they are now resting from their usual activities because of it."

"You know who we want!" the ninja leader shouted. "Just hand Shinomori Aoshi over and you won't have to deal with us again."

"I don't house anyone of that name," Ling replied.

"Liar!" the leader exclaimed and gestured for the others to attack.

Ling calmly waited for the ininja above her to strike down, sighing to herself. "Ahou."

And the blood dance began. She removed the ni-kodaichi from its sheath, slicing upwards in a fluid motion and taking down two ninja in the process. Using the speed of the Wandon, Ling moved quickly to the middle of the ninja. She used both kodaichi to her advantage, taking down two ninja a piece with each stroke. The kodaichi's ability as an excellent defensive weapon also took into play, blocking one attack only to counter it with the other kodaichi in hand. From her shocked observers' point of view, it looked as if Ling was in a dance, using a mixture of the Wandon school and a bit of sword practice from her own past. In what seemed like a wind's passing, Ling had taken down all 150 Azuma ninja without a single scratch on herself.

Ling sat down with the rest of them, the people who had watched her effortlessly take down a large portion of the Azuma. Isamu and Jun sat at one end of the table, Jun's hand over her stomach and leaning against her husband for support. Kai Xuan sat next to Ling, eyeing the older master carefully. Ikumi, Ryu, and Setsuko sat on the other end. Ikumi didn't dare look at her husband, feeling betrayed by a secret that she didn't know. Aoshi sat next to his sister, watching Ling suspiciously as she sipped her tea.

"I suppose you want me to explain what exactly is going on," Ling said as she set down the cup of tea. "How I can use the kodaichi so well when I am just a mere master of the Wandon arts."

Silence answered. Ling sighed.

"My real name isn't Ling..." she began hesitantly, looking at Ikumi and Aoshi. "My real name is Shinomori Kachiko, your mother..."

AN: Uh...hehehe, you finally get to see that she tells the others! Ling, no Shinomori Kachiko, that is ^^. I'm thinking of writing a little prologue to this story, following the eyes of our newly revealed character, Kachiko, from her marriage to Aoshi and Ikumi's dad to her finding of Ikumi when Ikumi is around only 8 years old. Anyway, sorry for the lack of detail on the mini fight scene...but I wanted to make it as if "Ling" is a very strong fighter, which she is. So...yeah ^^;; Hope you liked it!