(non-FMP fic) Homecoming Chapter 4
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 4:15 am
Return Home Chapter 4
Belisarius, Return Home Chapter 4
The next day
Suzahara residence, Okayama, Japan, Sol 3 (Terra)
I woke before the sun had risen above the horizon. I had slept for some time and need to stretch my muscles, so I decided to take a jog up the mountain and greet the sunrise while exercising. The sky had cleared, but the wind had picked up. It was crisp and cool this morning; winter was just around the corner. When I reached the summit, I started to do the exercise that Kagatoshi had taught me, clearing my mind of stray thoughts and concentrating on breathing. I stopped as the sun broke over the horizon and mused about the similarities between the Southern Honshu region and my native Northeast Georgia Mountains. I was stunned by the beauty of the sunrise. I finally returned to my exercises when I realized that I was squinting from the bright glare of the sun. Again I lost myself in trying to achieve the perfection of body, mind, and soul that Kagatoshi said existed.
I spent about an hour and a half there before my stomach decided to announce its displeasure. I went back down to the residence and was greeted by a very groggy Melissa; she was trying to find something in the kitchen and was not being very successful at it.
“What are looking for, Melissa?” I asked.
She jumped and turned towards me, grasping her chest. “Damn it, Bel. You could give a girl a heart attack!”
“Sorry, but I did make some noise. You were so engrossed in your search that it didn’t matter,” I said to her.
I approached her as she decided to tell me what she was looking for. “I was looking for some silverware. You know--spoons and forks. Mariko left some chicken noodle soup and can’t find any silverware.”
“That is because normally there is no need for them. They use chopsticks here.“ I had taken a bowl of soup and demonstrated the Eastern way of soup eating. I downed the entire thing.
This disgusted her. “How barbaric. How can modern society not use silverware? What are these people, Avatar wannabes?”
“ No, Melissa, it is tradition. However…” I trailed off as I went under the island and opened a cabinet door and pulled out some plastic ware, “This is where the Western wares are.”
She looked at me incredulously as I poured some more soup. “Could have told me that.”
“We’ve eaten like this before, Melissa,” I said.
“But that was under combat conditions. It’s just not proper to not have your soup without a spoon. How do they handle the noodles without a fork?” she continued as she started to drink her soup. And how can they use those chopsticks?”
I smiled as I downed another bowl of soup. I wiped my lips with the back of my arm. “Easy, they take the bowl up to their mouths, open it, and shovel it in. Here it is not bad manners, here it is proper tradition. Hell, Melissa, even Western Europe was doing the same thing until the Byzantines gave the West the fork. Try not to let it go to your mind. You sometimes get so hung up on the little things,” I said to her.
She again gave me the look of disgust. “It’s the little things that make the difference. But you’re right. I just don’t want to be looked on as some barbarian to these people. I’ve heard stories of how they treat foreigners.“
I rolled my eyes at this. “I haven’t had any problems from their treatment of me or my family when I was here. There won’t be any problems, Melissa. Mariko and Kagatoshi have been across the Pacific, and they know about Western society. Just try to relax.”
A loud burp came from my friend. I couldn’t hold my laughter at this unexpected display of inappropriate behavior from her. I fell on the floor because I was laughing so hard. I looked up and found out that she was laughing, too. It took a good five minutes to return to intelligent conversation.
“Melissa, how would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?” I asked.
She stopped sipping her soup and looked at me. “What did you say, Bel?”
“I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight as thanks for the support you’ve given me this past week. Would you give me the honor?” I asked.
Her eyes lit up; she couldn’t say anything.
“I guess I should take that as a ‘yes’.” I smiled. “Well then, there is this--”
She cut me off with a big kiss while I was trying to tell her of where we going.
We both fell into the other’s embrace as we kissed; unfortunately, we hadn’t accounted for the sudden shift in weight, nor we were really paying attention until it was too late. I fell backward and took her along with me; we broke the kiss when her forehead connected with my nose.
We were trying to untangle ourselves when I heard a familiar old chuckle.
“You still have the grace of a drunken monkey, Belisarius. I would suggest the next time you do that to do it in your bedroom. Mariko would not approve of your attempts at lovemaking on her counters,” said Kagatoshi as Melissa and I were getting up.
“We were not making love, Master Kagatoshi,” said Melissa as she desperately tried not to redden from embarrassment.
“Could have fooled me.” said my sensei as he went to the chicken soup and took some of it.
Melissa nearly ran out of the room and bumped into Mariko. She apologized quickly and went upstairs. Mariko turned to see me and my sensei.
“Why is she so red? What did you do, Bel?” Mariko questioned.
“Why, he was trying to make the moves on her, Mariko. I give him a nine on the verbal portion, but the physical I give a five,” Kagatoshi said with a chuckle.
“I only asked her out for dinner, and she thanked me by kissing me. She caught me by surprise, so I lost my balance and she landed on top of me,” I protested.
Mariko decided to go upstairs instead of inquiring about her grandfather’s voyeurism, while I decided to find out how long he had been listening. “How long, old man?” I asked.
“’Old Man’. I daresay that I can still tan your hide.” He smiled.
“Just answer the question.” I was starting to tire of his attitude towards me; he wasn’t usually so insistent upon challenging me. Something was up.
“Long enough. Mariko isn’t exactly correct about you--you are not an idiot, just unobservant.”
“ What do you want, Kagatoshi?” I asked as I drank some orange juice.
“Come up to the shrine this afternoon and all be revealed,“ he said as walked out to the shrine.
At this time, both Mariko and Melissa walked down the stairs and greeted me.
Melissa looked to make sure that Kagatoshi had left. “Is that dirty old man still around?” she asked.
“Nope, just left. I’ll have to see him before our date tonight. “
She blushed as Mariko walked over and, to my surprise, quickly slapped me. I was astonished by the pain in my left cheek.
Melissa and I were shocked and both started to protest when Mariko gave me a small kiss on the same cheek she had just slapped.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Melissa was walking over to me as Mariko went to the sink.
“The slap was for walking out on our conversation last night, and the kiss was taking the advice I gave him,” she said as she began to wash the dishes.
I decided to go outside onto the dock that was adjacent to the house. Melissa followed me.
“When are your sister and her partner coming back here from Tokyo?” she asked as sat beside me on the dock.
“Supposed to be sometime today. They should make some sense about the information that Melshia had gotten.” I gazed into the water as I spoke.
“So where are we going?”
I moved to look straight at her when I bumped her head with mine.
“…ouch.”
*How come whenever we try to be more forthright with our feelings, we physically hurt each other in someway?* I wondered.
“I’m sorry, Melissa.”
She placed her finger upon my lips. “Don’t worry about it, Bel. No harm, no foul. Now tell me more about the place you’re taking me to.”
“Well, it’s this steakhouse in the city near the river,” I explained to her.
“What else you can tell me about it?”
“It’s very similar to steakhouses everywhere else in human space. It has chairs and tables. Oh yeah, and silverware.” I grinned at her.
She laughed and shook her head. “Sounds good, Bel.“ She looked around and then got up, straightening her slacks and offering her hand. “Come on, Bel. Show me around the shrine. I’ve never been in Japan, and I’ll bet you know lots of stories about the area.”
I took her hand and stood. When I tried to retract my hand, she refused to let go and maneuvered her hand into my arm. “Oh no, you are going to show me this place, and I am not going to let go.”
*Better to be in love and lose it…* I thought as I took her up the trail to the shrine and the cave. I told her about the origin of the shrine and of the battle between the oni and the samurai, about the cave that was supposed to hold the oni, about the Second World War and the reconstruction of the shrine during the occupation that was done by an engineering battalion led by Jonathan Mackenzie. We got up to the shrine and went over to the viewing area.
“Look like home, doesn’t it, Bel?” she asked as she nestled her head against my shoulder.
When I hissed in pain she looked up at me in surprise and immediately realized what she had done.
“Oh, Bel, I‘m so sorry. I had totally forgotten the wound,” she apologized, clearly very hurt.
I took her hand and swung her to my right. “It’s all right. I deserve it for the bruises you have on your forehead from earlier.”
“Can the two of you take it somewhere else?” asked a gruff old voice.
*Will that old man ever leave me alone?*
Melissa turned to face the peeping tom but still held on to my hand. “Bel is showing me around the shrine grounds, Master Kagatoshi. If you fear for the sanctity of your charge, maybe you should leave it to someone else. You’re not exactly a paragon of virtue.”
I heard a hearty laugh. “Oh, you wound this old man with your words. I fear that I have met my match in parleying. I shall leave the two of you to sight-see. However, Melissa, if you need a more detailed history of the shrine grounds, I’d be more than happy to give it to you.”
“Belisarius will suffice. However, I do have a question--in all the stories I have heard about the legends, a powerful demon was apparently entombed here. What was its name?” she questioned.
“I can only give that answer to the one who defeats me in combat. It is one of the rules passed down since the original shrine keeper, Katsuhito,” he answered.
“I see. Come on, Bel. Show me this cave that holds the not named demon,” she said as she led me off.
I, however, did not allow myself to be led away from the shrine. I looked at the old priest as he walked away. What was he getting at? He was extremely playful with Melissa, but he seemed almost impatient with me. Something didn’t quite add up.
I finally took her up to the cave entrance. It was barred by the iron gate that had stood there since the beginning. I never had the key to it, as it was always in the possession of the old man, so I never had the opportunity to explore the cave and its supposed occupant. I was always intrigued by the story, but I never had a chance to prove it one way or another. Melissa went up to the gate and tried to force it open.
“It won’t budge, Melissa. While it looks rusted and worn out, if you look at the joints, the grease is relatively fresh. The lock is cleaned, too.”
She stopped trying to force the gate loose, then looked around and tried to figure out if there was another way in. After a moment, she looked at me and threw her hands up. “You could have told me that it was useless to try to enter.”
I smiled as she came back to the cave entrance. “I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. I’ve tried to get through that gate since I’ve been here. I’venever been on the other side to look in there.”
We came out and saw Kagatoshi waiting for us. “The only way for you to enter the cave is to defeat me,” he informed us.
“Will the two of you please come with me? I have some thing to show you.” He began to make his way back down the trail to the shrine.
“What is it?” I asked.
He continued down the trail and soon was out of sight. Melissa looked up at me. “Do you have any clue what he’s doing?”
“I have no clue, Melissa,” I said. “I do think that it’s important, so we should probably follow him.”
We both walked down the trail and soon came upon the shrine and the field behind it. This was the training field where I learned martial arts from Kagatoshi.
He stood there waiting for me to enter the field. I stopped Melissa from entering the arena.
“When you enter, be ready for an attack from him. Never let your guard down,” I said as I grabbed one of the bokken from the rack.
Melissa in turn stopped me. “Your arm hasn’t even stopped bleeding. Do you think it’s wise to enter the arena right now?” she asked, concern in her eyes.
I turned to see Kagatoshi waiting fro me. “What do you want, old man?”
“To see if you are worthy of hold the sword of your ancestors, Mackenzie!” he called out to me.
“What are you talking about? The DNA match concluded that I’m not related to the Mackenzie line from at least five hundred years ago. They ‘re not my ancestors,” I said.
“But you are considered to be one of the family by James and Rebakah. You were adopted by their family, and so you are part of their family by the most important part, spirit.”
“What are you talking about, sensei?” I called across the arena.
“You know that the Emperor of Japan gave a daisho to your family for saving his life at the cost of your ancestor’s life. That sword was entrusted to me by your grandfather to make sure you are worthy of holding it. I shall determine today if you are,” he said in an authoritative voice.
Melissa yelled her response. “The hell he is, Kagatoshi! The wound in his left arm is deep, and it hasn’t had the time to heal properly! If you want to test how well he’s learned your lessons, this is not the time to do it. No matter what he says, he’s not up to it!”
“This is the right time to test his abilities, Melissa. It is easy to fight when you are at 100 percent, but that really doesn’t test you. You both know the measure of a warrior is when he is hurt and tired. That is when you have to find that inner strength that gets you through to the next day. And since you are here, Melissa, if he does get hurt badly from the ass-kicking this old man is going to give him, then you can heal him.”
Melissa looked at me with concern on her features. “You’re not going out there, are you?”
I quickly kissed her on the cheek. “Wish me luck,” I said as I left to enter the arena.
I continued until I was two meters away from him. I stood at attention and saluted him as he bowed to me.
He started his attack immediately with an iai strike, but I anticipated this and the bokkens struck one another. I went to my left and tried to strike him but he deftly evaded the blow. I continued to assault my sensei with a series of quick strikes that he was able to engage but continued to force him back. I was trying to use my height and reach advantage to dictate the fight, but the old man employed an underhanded trick, kicking up some dust. *How could there still be dust when a monsoon happened yesterday?* I thought incredulously. It of course hit me in the eyes and temporarily blinded me.
I moved laterally to my right when he struck me on my left arm. The pain that rushed from the wound was incredible as I tried to strike where I thought he was. He then hit at the back of the knee, making me fall onto my back. I rolled to get out of the way of the expected attack when he hit me again on the arm. The pain was quickly becoming unbearable.
I managed to get away from him and forced my eyes to focus once more. There was a serious expression upon his face as he was pacing from his left to his right. I could also tell that Melissa was very concerned; she wanted to help me but knew that I had to do this alone. I grabbed another bokken and put it into my left hand. I decided that I should fight using the Minamoto style. I had not learned this technique from Kagatoshi, but rather from a book on the style. It was difficult to learn and even more so to master, but I decided that Kagatoshi was not familiar with it enough to know all the techniques that were used. I charged him and swung both in sequence. My left arm was screaming in protest against the abuse, but I continued the assault. *Keep up the pace, Belisarius. You have the advantage of being in better shape. Make this a contest of stamina and willpower, not of skill and technique,* I thought as he tried to use a tree to escape the assault. I finally got a hit on him as he landed behind me. He continued to rollback to the center of the arena and stood waiting for me as I stalked him.
“I did not teach you that style, Belisarius. Good. Never think that one style is enough. Always experiment, always try new ways to defeat your enemy. Never do what is expected of you, because he will not,“ he said as I again attacked with both bokken. This time I used the right one to thrust similar to a style that the Spanish developed for the foil during the Age of Exploration. The style was again one I had acquired from studying records of the period. He was surprised by the attack and again scored a hit on his chest. This caused him to fall backwards but he rolled with it and launched an assault himself. The style had the other weapon in defense so he struck my other bokken as my first tried to connect. He tried to go back, but I stood my ground. We came to a point where we locked in combat. I could tell that he was winded, but I forgot about his knee as he connected with my groin. This was painful to say the least, and I was on the ground immediately. I refused to succumb to the reaction as I rolled to my injured left and got up to a defensive position as he assaulted me. I was able to make sure that he did not connect as I gave ground. I was starting to become angered as he relented in order to find a way to get through the defense I put up.
“Do not allow anger to cloud your mind, Belisarius.”
* Damn it. He’s over a hundred years old, and he’s still giving me better then I give him! I can take on Avatar assassins but I cannot beat an old man,* I thought.
“If you do, then I have won.”
“You shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch, old man!” I said as I launched at him.
This time I didn’t try to evade his blows as much I wanted to punch right into him. I blocked one of his attacks as he evaded to his right. He tried to say that was clumsy until he ended on his backside as I dropped and leg swept him, then launched at him as he got up. He tried to use my momentum to continue my flight a lot longer then I wanted, but I grabbed his arms and dragged him along the flight. I got up as quickly as I could and again quickly closed the distance. We both had lost our weapons, so it became a hand-to-hand fight for awhile. He tried to kick me but I kicked the other leg out and hit him as he was going down. He hit the ground hard. I picked him up and threw him to the edge of the arena where the building was at. I had decided now that I had to throw him out of the arena, as this would grant me a victory. He landed next to the wall and got up just a little more slowly than I expected. I tried to close the distance before he grabbed on the bokkens along the wall, but he was too quick.
He swung at me and hit me hard, but I continued with my momentum and threw myself at him. He couldn’t evade the assault and was sandwiched between the wall and me. This caused the bokken to fall from his hand. I grabbed another one and held it to his chest.
“Concede,” I said as I breathed heavily.
He tried to get away from me, but I struck him hard on cheek.
“Concede. Do not make this harder then it should be. Don’t let your pride get in the way of a good showing.”
He tried to escape but again I did not let him as I grabbed him by the neck with my left arm. I lifted him up of the ground.
“You stubborn old man. Concede! “I yelled at him.
He still couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t see that he had been beaten. I was disgusted. The only way I could get him to concede was to beat the hell out of him, or maybe take him to death’s door.
“No, old man,” I said as I dropped him, “your pride will not allow you to say it, will it?” I shook my head and left to rejoin my friend. “You said not to allow anger to cloud your mind, but pride is just as dangerous.”
I finally got to Melissa without any ill effects from the fight. I had finally beaten Master Kagatoshi, and no matter what he would say later, he knew it, too.
I continued to around the building that was the shrine office and sat on the porch. Melissa had followed and helped me down when she observed the odd way in which I began to lower myself.
“Here…let me help you, Bel.” She pulled up me sleeve and saw what I had already known--the wound had reopened and was bleeding. She looked at me, clearly concerned. “What did that accomplish, Bel, other then reopening this wound?”
“Respect, Melissa. I have beaten him. He now should treat me as an equal--not as a student. And now I know that I am his equal,” I said earnestly.
She removed the bandages and inspected the wound. “Doesn’t seem to be that bad…do you know if there’s a first aid kit in the office? “
A first aid bag appeared next to her. “This should suffice, Melissa. I always have many people visit the shrine, and many of them are far older than the two of you. I never know when one of the will get hurt or have some kind of accident, so I am always prepared,” Kagatoshi said as he sat down gingerly.
“After I take care of your arm, Bel, I’ll take a look at you, Kagatoshi. Your cheek is pretty bad right now,” Melissa observed as she tended to my wound.
He nodded his assent. Melissa retrieved some spray disinfectant and sprayed it upon the wound. I flinched at the burning contact. She then dressed the area and gazed at the old man.
“I know that you cheated…but why?” she asked as she looked at his cheek. She cleaned and disinfected the scratches with the same stinging spray, but he did not flinch.
“Because he would never have learned to be on guard. He would have fought someone else according the ‘rules’ and gotten himself killed; I could not allow myself not to teach him to expect the unexpected,” he said as he held a towel against his wounds.
She tried to put some bandages on the cuts, but the old man resisted.
“I will wear these wounds proudly. Today, one of my students has beaten me. Today is the day that I will call Belisarius an equal.” He stood up and went inside.
I couldn’t believe what he said. I looked at Melissa, and even she couldn’t hold back her genuine smile. I had gotten what I wanted out of the duel--his respect.
The door to the office suddenly slid open, and the old man walked oujt with a katana within its saya. He held it with great respect as he spoke.
“Today I have tested you, Belisarius Mackenzie, and found that you have learned the lessons I taught you well. I was given this sword with the charge to give it to the next generation of your line that I deemed most worthy. You have shown all the qualities of a samurai and have lived following the code of bushido to the best of your abilities. I am quite certain that those who have held this sword would agree with me that you are worthy to carry it into the unknown.” He then kneeled and offered the sword.
I stood up, nearly falling over in the process, and said, “I cannot accept this sword, Master Kagatoshi. Rebekah is the rightful heir to sword, as she has the blood to back up any claim. I already have been given a gift beyond recognition being accepted into their family. I believe that she is far better than I in holding the tenants of bushido and would bring greater honor and glory to it than I would.”
Melissa chuckled as Kagatoshi said, “That you would defer to your sister again shows to me and to all the bearers of this sword and to all the people witnessing living and dead, that you are the one who should be the bearer.”
I again spoke. “I cannot be the bearer of this sword because have done things that are not honorable. I have already stained my soul with those actions, and I believe that I would stain the sword with what I have done and will be required to do in the future.”
Kagatoshi again offered the sword and tried to speak before Melissa broke in.
“You just don’t get it, do you? Everybody in your family thinks that you are the one who best exemplifies the qualities that first earned the sword. I firmly believe that sword deserves you. You’ve already received a Medal of Valor from the UFP. If the former bearers of that sword believe you are not worthy of it, to hell with them,” she said vehemently. She took the sword from Kagatoshi and offered it to me. “You’ve been through so much these last few days, more then anybody should bear, but you’ve endured it. I’m glad that you’ve allowed me to see those moments that only your family has seen. And I believe that nobody in this galaxy is more deserving of this sword than you, Belisarius Khursau Wallace-Mackenzie. Nobody is more deserving of this gift than my best friend and confidant.” She kneeled as she offered the sword.
I was taken aback by the fact that Melissa was doing this. It was tradition to decline a gift twice to show your sincerity; however, I could not allow her to bow before me. She was my best friend and, if all went well tonight, my girlfriend, but I always thought of her as an equal to me. She had been through everything I had, and I had always been amazed at her strength of will.
“No. I can not accept this gift.” I heard Kagatoshi’s astonished gasp at my statement. Melissa looked up, clearly confused by my actions. “Please stand up, Melissa.”
She did so, a look of utter confusion still upon her features.
“I could not accept it the way it was offered. You have always been there, whether I thought I needed it or not. You have stood by me when I buried my family, my friends, and my comrades. You have always been there, standing beside me, and I will not allow you to offer my family’s honor kneeling before me. I will accept it as you stand, for you are now and will always be my friend and ally,” I said as I took the handle and slid the sword out, “and there is no one else in this world who should be offering me this sword.”
I grabbed the saya and put the sword in it, then placed it upon the ground and hugged her. It was the best of times.
We broke the embrace as Kagatoshi clapped. “Very good, both of you. I was quite surprised that you picked up when you did, Melissa. I was thinking that he would not accept the sword.” He gave Melissa a hug, then turned to me and said, “I am very proud of what you did, insisting that she give you the sword standing, to show that you viewed the two of each other as equals.”
“I believe that we have a dinner date, Melissa. I’m famished,” I said with a smile.
She then looked at me as if I were out of my mind. “I haven’t gotten even dressed, and you need a shower. You think you’re going into an upscale restaurant looking like that? You’ve got to be kidding!”
She dragged me down the trail to the house to get ready when I heard Kagatoshi whistle.
I turned around and caught the sword in the saya, then turned back and continued down the trail.
The next day…
“I honestly cannot believe that two got into a fight,” Mariko said incredulously as I approached the house in which we were currently residing.
“You were supposed to be on your best behavior on a date, Bel. What happened?”
My sister decided to join in the conversation. “Three people out of ten still in the hospital, ten thousand credits in damage. What were you thinking when you got into that fight?”
Mariko stood with her hands on her hips. “I think that our knightly friend was thinking with the wrong head last night.”
“If you two will kindly stop this, I am certain that Bel will explain this dreadful behavior to us,” Kagatoshi said.
I looked at the three of them and sighed as Melissa went up to her room. “I wasn’t thinking, Kagatoshi. They insisted upon being ignorant, and I took the time to increase their knowledge in various arts of self-defense. I am sorry if I brought any shame to your house,” I explained as I bowed.
“Considering that you can still walk means that no dishonor was received. I shall leave at that,” Kagatoshi said with a smirk as he attended to his duties. He had obviously deduced the answer.
After a few more minutes of scolding from my sister and the patriarch of the Suzaharas, I was finally able to go upstairs to my room. As I entered the room, I saw Melissa sitting on my bed. I entered and slid the door closed, then went to sit by her.
“What are you thinking, Melissa?” I asked as I gazed at her face.
She was looking down at the floor. A long silence permeated the room.
“Why did your sister do that?” she asked.
“What? Blame me for starting the fight?”
“You never started a fight back home. Never. You would always leave a potential confrontation. We both knew that you could win any fight back home with minimal effort, but you always found a way to avoid conflict. You even allowed those boys to call you a coward to avoid it. Why does your sister think that you would start a fight now? “
“Because she can’t even think that our southern belle, Melissa, would start the fight. Remember how you’ve always tried to cultivate that image? The prim and proper woman…”
She turned and smiled at me as I continued.
“...that won’t take any shit from anyone. She sometimes forgets that you have been in just as many fights as I have and have similar training. “
She stood and tried to leave but was stopped as I grabbed her hand and pulled her into an embrace. “Now where do you think you’re going?”
She looked up and frowned a little. “I’m going to apologize for not speaking up earlier and for starting the fight…“ she said as she tried to break the embrace.
“Then I’m going to get scolded from the two of them for not starting one in the first place.” I said as I relented.
Her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s a quandary of being male that I’ve learned. They’ll find out what happened to you at that point when you kneed that first boy and insist that I should have protected ‘your honor’ before you took action.”
“That is such archaic thinking. You took all their insults the entire time we were there at the club and continued to try to have a good time. You were determined to have such a good time with me that you wouldn’t allow yourself to spoil it. You again showed that you are the better person than them or me.”
“That still won’t excuse me in their eyes. Also remember that I had no time to react when they pulled you from my embrace before the first one sang soprano,” I noted.
“I know. I just wished I had more control over my anger.,” she said with a frown.
“Anyway, Melissa, Kagatoshi knows,” I said.
She chuckled. “I should have figured that.” She gave me a quick kiss. “Thanks for the great night. We need to do that more often.”
“How about tonight?” I asked. She looked up, surprised by my words.
“This time we can go into Osaka. It’s not that far by the rail, and the authorities won’t know us by name.” I smiled.
She laughed. “Sure thing. As long as you don’t start any fights, Bel.” She left my room to go to hers.
I decided to change and go down stairs to meet with my sister. She was in the kitchen washing the dishes as I came in.
She was clearly angry when she turned to see me. “You should have told me that Melissa started that fight. I would have…”
“You were spying.”
“You forget that this is a traditional Japanese house,” she said as she tapped against an inner wall.
“She felt bad about it all that time we were in the cooler.”
“As well she should. The both of you could get seriously hurt. That could have easily been a set-up like the one back in the ATL. She needs to think with her head more,” my sister said disapprovingly.
“She can handle herself against a bunch a punks. I was just there to keep her from being swamped by their numbers. She was letting off some steam. If there was any real problem, I could have gotten her out of trouble.”
She smiled at me. “So you finally got the guts to ask her out after seven years.”
“Mariko kind of pointed that out.”
“Good. The two of you have been chasing each other for far too long.”
“We’re going to Osaka tonight. We’re going try not to get into any fights.”
At this point a call came in through Rebekah’s comm unit.
She accepted it just as the home line rang. Mariko quickly answered it, and it soon became apparent that there was bad news as her face turned ashen. I looked at my sister as she took the news.
“ Mishtahl?” I asked Mariko as she left the home line.
“ Bel, go get Melissa.”
“What’s…?”
“DO IT!”
I went upstairs to Melissa’s room and entered without knocking. She was stunned, as she just gotten out of shower and was only wearing her bathrobe.
“ Bel, I you wanted to see me you could have waited, unless.. “ She trailed off, a slow smile creeping along her features.
“You got a call on the land line. They want to talk to you.”
“Who could it be?”
“Not a clue, but I don’t think it’s good.”
Her smile faded as realization dawned on her. She nodded and headed downstairs, where she waited for me before she answered the phone.
She went white as the news was delivered to her; it was clearly devastating, as she soon burst into tears. She tried to fall to the floor, but Mariko and I caught her. She dropped the receiver and put her hands to her face. I caught her in a hug to show her that I was there just as she been there for me earlier.
She cried on my shoulder for what seemed hours. I looked up at my sister and my friend. My sister was talking into her comm unit, still trying to get answers as I looked at Mariko. She mouthed the answer I was looking for.
My girlfriend’s family was dead from another accident. From space junk landing on her home. I couldn’t believe this. How could this be happening? Who wants to kill all that is dear to me? And for what? What was worth this much? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.
I looked at Melissa and promised to find out who did this, and to make them pay. The time to hide was gone. Time to go on the offensive. Time for Belisarius to return home.
Now that I got my laptop back, I can write agian. this was written before it went into the shop.
Thank you, Anysia, for your hard work in beta reading this.
Belisarius, Return Home Chapter 4
The next day
Suzahara residence, Okayama, Japan, Sol 3 (Terra)
I woke before the sun had risen above the horizon. I had slept for some time and need to stretch my muscles, so I decided to take a jog up the mountain and greet the sunrise while exercising. The sky had cleared, but the wind had picked up. It was crisp and cool this morning; winter was just around the corner. When I reached the summit, I started to do the exercise that Kagatoshi had taught me, clearing my mind of stray thoughts and concentrating on breathing. I stopped as the sun broke over the horizon and mused about the similarities between the Southern Honshu region and my native Northeast Georgia Mountains. I was stunned by the beauty of the sunrise. I finally returned to my exercises when I realized that I was squinting from the bright glare of the sun. Again I lost myself in trying to achieve the perfection of body, mind, and soul that Kagatoshi said existed.
I spent about an hour and a half there before my stomach decided to announce its displeasure. I went back down to the residence and was greeted by a very groggy Melissa; she was trying to find something in the kitchen and was not being very successful at it.
“What are looking for, Melissa?” I asked.
She jumped and turned towards me, grasping her chest. “Damn it, Bel. You could give a girl a heart attack!”
“Sorry, but I did make some noise. You were so engrossed in your search that it didn’t matter,” I said to her.
I approached her as she decided to tell me what she was looking for. “I was looking for some silverware. You know--spoons and forks. Mariko left some chicken noodle soup and can’t find any silverware.”
“That is because normally there is no need for them. They use chopsticks here.“ I had taken a bowl of soup and demonstrated the Eastern way of soup eating. I downed the entire thing.
This disgusted her. “How barbaric. How can modern society not use silverware? What are these people, Avatar wannabes?”
“ No, Melissa, it is tradition. However…” I trailed off as I went under the island and opened a cabinet door and pulled out some plastic ware, “This is where the Western wares are.”
She looked at me incredulously as I poured some more soup. “Could have told me that.”
“We’ve eaten like this before, Melissa,” I said.
“But that was under combat conditions. It’s just not proper to not have your soup without a spoon. How do they handle the noodles without a fork?” she continued as she started to drink her soup. And how can they use those chopsticks?”
I smiled as I downed another bowl of soup. I wiped my lips with the back of my arm. “Easy, they take the bowl up to their mouths, open it, and shovel it in. Here it is not bad manners, here it is proper tradition. Hell, Melissa, even Western Europe was doing the same thing until the Byzantines gave the West the fork. Try not to let it go to your mind. You sometimes get so hung up on the little things,” I said to her.
She again gave me the look of disgust. “It’s the little things that make the difference. But you’re right. I just don’t want to be looked on as some barbarian to these people. I’ve heard stories of how they treat foreigners.“
I rolled my eyes at this. “I haven’t had any problems from their treatment of me or my family when I was here. There won’t be any problems, Melissa. Mariko and Kagatoshi have been across the Pacific, and they know about Western society. Just try to relax.”
A loud burp came from my friend. I couldn’t hold my laughter at this unexpected display of inappropriate behavior from her. I fell on the floor because I was laughing so hard. I looked up and found out that she was laughing, too. It took a good five minutes to return to intelligent conversation.
“Melissa, how would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?” I asked.
She stopped sipping her soup and looked at me. “What did you say, Bel?”
“I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight as thanks for the support you’ve given me this past week. Would you give me the honor?” I asked.
Her eyes lit up; she couldn’t say anything.
“I guess I should take that as a ‘yes’.” I smiled. “Well then, there is this--”
She cut me off with a big kiss while I was trying to tell her of where we going.
We both fell into the other’s embrace as we kissed; unfortunately, we hadn’t accounted for the sudden shift in weight, nor we were really paying attention until it was too late. I fell backward and took her along with me; we broke the kiss when her forehead connected with my nose.
We were trying to untangle ourselves when I heard a familiar old chuckle.
“You still have the grace of a drunken monkey, Belisarius. I would suggest the next time you do that to do it in your bedroom. Mariko would not approve of your attempts at lovemaking on her counters,” said Kagatoshi as Melissa and I were getting up.
“We were not making love, Master Kagatoshi,” said Melissa as she desperately tried not to redden from embarrassment.
“Could have fooled me.” said my sensei as he went to the chicken soup and took some of it.
Melissa nearly ran out of the room and bumped into Mariko. She apologized quickly and went upstairs. Mariko turned to see me and my sensei.
“Why is she so red? What did you do, Bel?” Mariko questioned.
“Why, he was trying to make the moves on her, Mariko. I give him a nine on the verbal portion, but the physical I give a five,” Kagatoshi said with a chuckle.
“I only asked her out for dinner, and she thanked me by kissing me. She caught me by surprise, so I lost my balance and she landed on top of me,” I protested.
Mariko decided to go upstairs instead of inquiring about her grandfather’s voyeurism, while I decided to find out how long he had been listening. “How long, old man?” I asked.
“’Old Man’. I daresay that I can still tan your hide.” He smiled.
“Just answer the question.” I was starting to tire of his attitude towards me; he wasn’t usually so insistent upon challenging me. Something was up.
“Long enough. Mariko isn’t exactly correct about you--you are not an idiot, just unobservant.”
“ What do you want, Kagatoshi?” I asked as I drank some orange juice.
“Come up to the shrine this afternoon and all be revealed,“ he said as walked out to the shrine.
At this time, both Mariko and Melissa walked down the stairs and greeted me.
Melissa looked to make sure that Kagatoshi had left. “Is that dirty old man still around?” she asked.
“Nope, just left. I’ll have to see him before our date tonight. “
She blushed as Mariko walked over and, to my surprise, quickly slapped me. I was astonished by the pain in my left cheek.
Melissa and I were shocked and both started to protest when Mariko gave me a small kiss on the same cheek she had just slapped.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Melissa was walking over to me as Mariko went to the sink.
“The slap was for walking out on our conversation last night, and the kiss was taking the advice I gave him,” she said as she began to wash the dishes.
I decided to go outside onto the dock that was adjacent to the house. Melissa followed me.
“When are your sister and her partner coming back here from Tokyo?” she asked as sat beside me on the dock.
“Supposed to be sometime today. They should make some sense about the information that Melshia had gotten.” I gazed into the water as I spoke.
“So where are we going?”
I moved to look straight at her when I bumped her head with mine.
“…ouch.”
*How come whenever we try to be more forthright with our feelings, we physically hurt each other in someway?* I wondered.
“I’m sorry, Melissa.”
She placed her finger upon my lips. “Don’t worry about it, Bel. No harm, no foul. Now tell me more about the place you’re taking me to.”
“Well, it’s this steakhouse in the city near the river,” I explained to her.
“What else you can tell me about it?”
“It’s very similar to steakhouses everywhere else in human space. It has chairs and tables. Oh yeah, and silverware.” I grinned at her.
She laughed and shook her head. “Sounds good, Bel.“ She looked around and then got up, straightening her slacks and offering her hand. “Come on, Bel. Show me around the shrine. I’ve never been in Japan, and I’ll bet you know lots of stories about the area.”
I took her hand and stood. When I tried to retract my hand, she refused to let go and maneuvered her hand into my arm. “Oh no, you are going to show me this place, and I am not going to let go.”
*Better to be in love and lose it…* I thought as I took her up the trail to the shrine and the cave. I told her about the origin of the shrine and of the battle between the oni and the samurai, about the cave that was supposed to hold the oni, about the Second World War and the reconstruction of the shrine during the occupation that was done by an engineering battalion led by Jonathan Mackenzie. We got up to the shrine and went over to the viewing area.
“Look like home, doesn’t it, Bel?” she asked as she nestled her head against my shoulder.
When I hissed in pain she looked up at me in surprise and immediately realized what she had done.
“Oh, Bel, I‘m so sorry. I had totally forgotten the wound,” she apologized, clearly very hurt.
I took her hand and swung her to my right. “It’s all right. I deserve it for the bruises you have on your forehead from earlier.”
“Can the two of you take it somewhere else?” asked a gruff old voice.
*Will that old man ever leave me alone?*
Melissa turned to face the peeping tom but still held on to my hand. “Bel is showing me around the shrine grounds, Master Kagatoshi. If you fear for the sanctity of your charge, maybe you should leave it to someone else. You’re not exactly a paragon of virtue.”
I heard a hearty laugh. “Oh, you wound this old man with your words. I fear that I have met my match in parleying. I shall leave the two of you to sight-see. However, Melissa, if you need a more detailed history of the shrine grounds, I’d be more than happy to give it to you.”
“Belisarius will suffice. However, I do have a question--in all the stories I have heard about the legends, a powerful demon was apparently entombed here. What was its name?” she questioned.
“I can only give that answer to the one who defeats me in combat. It is one of the rules passed down since the original shrine keeper, Katsuhito,” he answered.
“I see. Come on, Bel. Show me this cave that holds the not named demon,” she said as she led me off.
I, however, did not allow myself to be led away from the shrine. I looked at the old priest as he walked away. What was he getting at? He was extremely playful with Melissa, but he seemed almost impatient with me. Something didn’t quite add up.
I finally took her up to the cave entrance. It was barred by the iron gate that had stood there since the beginning. I never had the key to it, as it was always in the possession of the old man, so I never had the opportunity to explore the cave and its supposed occupant. I was always intrigued by the story, but I never had a chance to prove it one way or another. Melissa went up to the gate and tried to force it open.
“It won’t budge, Melissa. While it looks rusted and worn out, if you look at the joints, the grease is relatively fresh. The lock is cleaned, too.”
She stopped trying to force the gate loose, then looked around and tried to figure out if there was another way in. After a moment, she looked at me and threw her hands up. “You could have told me that it was useless to try to enter.”
I smiled as she came back to the cave entrance. “I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. I’ve tried to get through that gate since I’ve been here. I’venever been on the other side to look in there.”
We came out and saw Kagatoshi waiting for us. “The only way for you to enter the cave is to defeat me,” he informed us.
“Will the two of you please come with me? I have some thing to show you.” He began to make his way back down the trail to the shrine.
“What is it?” I asked.
He continued down the trail and soon was out of sight. Melissa looked up at me. “Do you have any clue what he’s doing?”
“I have no clue, Melissa,” I said. “I do think that it’s important, so we should probably follow him.”
We both walked down the trail and soon came upon the shrine and the field behind it. This was the training field where I learned martial arts from Kagatoshi.
He stood there waiting for me to enter the field. I stopped Melissa from entering the arena.
“When you enter, be ready for an attack from him. Never let your guard down,” I said as I grabbed one of the bokken from the rack.
Melissa in turn stopped me. “Your arm hasn’t even stopped bleeding. Do you think it’s wise to enter the arena right now?” she asked, concern in her eyes.
I turned to see Kagatoshi waiting fro me. “What do you want, old man?”
“To see if you are worthy of hold the sword of your ancestors, Mackenzie!” he called out to me.
“What are you talking about? The DNA match concluded that I’m not related to the Mackenzie line from at least five hundred years ago. They ‘re not my ancestors,” I said.
“But you are considered to be one of the family by James and Rebakah. You were adopted by their family, and so you are part of their family by the most important part, spirit.”
“What are you talking about, sensei?” I called across the arena.
“You know that the Emperor of Japan gave a daisho to your family for saving his life at the cost of your ancestor’s life. That sword was entrusted to me by your grandfather to make sure you are worthy of holding it. I shall determine today if you are,” he said in an authoritative voice.
Melissa yelled her response. “The hell he is, Kagatoshi! The wound in his left arm is deep, and it hasn’t had the time to heal properly! If you want to test how well he’s learned your lessons, this is not the time to do it. No matter what he says, he’s not up to it!”
“This is the right time to test his abilities, Melissa. It is easy to fight when you are at 100 percent, but that really doesn’t test you. You both know the measure of a warrior is when he is hurt and tired. That is when you have to find that inner strength that gets you through to the next day. And since you are here, Melissa, if he does get hurt badly from the ass-kicking this old man is going to give him, then you can heal him.”
Melissa looked at me with concern on her features. “You’re not going out there, are you?”
I quickly kissed her on the cheek. “Wish me luck,” I said as I left to enter the arena.
I continued until I was two meters away from him. I stood at attention and saluted him as he bowed to me.
He started his attack immediately with an iai strike, but I anticipated this and the bokkens struck one another. I went to my left and tried to strike him but he deftly evaded the blow. I continued to assault my sensei with a series of quick strikes that he was able to engage but continued to force him back. I was trying to use my height and reach advantage to dictate the fight, but the old man employed an underhanded trick, kicking up some dust. *How could there still be dust when a monsoon happened yesterday?* I thought incredulously. It of course hit me in the eyes and temporarily blinded me.
I moved laterally to my right when he struck me on my left arm. The pain that rushed from the wound was incredible as I tried to strike where I thought he was. He then hit at the back of the knee, making me fall onto my back. I rolled to get out of the way of the expected attack when he hit me again on the arm. The pain was quickly becoming unbearable.
I managed to get away from him and forced my eyes to focus once more. There was a serious expression upon his face as he was pacing from his left to his right. I could also tell that Melissa was very concerned; she wanted to help me but knew that I had to do this alone. I grabbed another bokken and put it into my left hand. I decided that I should fight using the Minamoto style. I had not learned this technique from Kagatoshi, but rather from a book on the style. It was difficult to learn and even more so to master, but I decided that Kagatoshi was not familiar with it enough to know all the techniques that were used. I charged him and swung both in sequence. My left arm was screaming in protest against the abuse, but I continued the assault. *Keep up the pace, Belisarius. You have the advantage of being in better shape. Make this a contest of stamina and willpower, not of skill and technique,* I thought as he tried to use a tree to escape the assault. I finally got a hit on him as he landed behind me. He continued to rollback to the center of the arena and stood waiting for me as I stalked him.
“I did not teach you that style, Belisarius. Good. Never think that one style is enough. Always experiment, always try new ways to defeat your enemy. Never do what is expected of you, because he will not,“ he said as I again attacked with both bokken. This time I used the right one to thrust similar to a style that the Spanish developed for the foil during the Age of Exploration. The style was again one I had acquired from studying records of the period. He was surprised by the attack and again scored a hit on his chest. This caused him to fall backwards but he rolled with it and launched an assault himself. The style had the other weapon in defense so he struck my other bokken as my first tried to connect. He tried to go back, but I stood my ground. We came to a point where we locked in combat. I could tell that he was winded, but I forgot about his knee as he connected with my groin. This was painful to say the least, and I was on the ground immediately. I refused to succumb to the reaction as I rolled to my injured left and got up to a defensive position as he assaulted me. I was able to make sure that he did not connect as I gave ground. I was starting to become angered as he relented in order to find a way to get through the defense I put up.
“Do not allow anger to cloud your mind, Belisarius.”
* Damn it. He’s over a hundred years old, and he’s still giving me better then I give him! I can take on Avatar assassins but I cannot beat an old man,* I thought.
“If you do, then I have won.”
“You shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch, old man!” I said as I launched at him.
This time I didn’t try to evade his blows as much I wanted to punch right into him. I blocked one of his attacks as he evaded to his right. He tried to say that was clumsy until he ended on his backside as I dropped and leg swept him, then launched at him as he got up. He tried to use my momentum to continue my flight a lot longer then I wanted, but I grabbed his arms and dragged him along the flight. I got up as quickly as I could and again quickly closed the distance. We both had lost our weapons, so it became a hand-to-hand fight for awhile. He tried to kick me but I kicked the other leg out and hit him as he was going down. He hit the ground hard. I picked him up and threw him to the edge of the arena where the building was at. I had decided now that I had to throw him out of the arena, as this would grant me a victory. He landed next to the wall and got up just a little more slowly than I expected. I tried to close the distance before he grabbed on the bokkens along the wall, but he was too quick.
He swung at me and hit me hard, but I continued with my momentum and threw myself at him. He couldn’t evade the assault and was sandwiched between the wall and me. This caused the bokken to fall from his hand. I grabbed another one and held it to his chest.
“Concede,” I said as I breathed heavily.
He tried to get away from me, but I struck him hard on cheek.
“Concede. Do not make this harder then it should be. Don’t let your pride get in the way of a good showing.”
He tried to escape but again I did not let him as I grabbed him by the neck with my left arm. I lifted him up of the ground.
“You stubborn old man. Concede! “I yelled at him.
He still couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t see that he had been beaten. I was disgusted. The only way I could get him to concede was to beat the hell out of him, or maybe take him to death’s door.
“No, old man,” I said as I dropped him, “your pride will not allow you to say it, will it?” I shook my head and left to rejoin my friend. “You said not to allow anger to cloud your mind, but pride is just as dangerous.”
I finally got to Melissa without any ill effects from the fight. I had finally beaten Master Kagatoshi, and no matter what he would say later, he knew it, too.
I continued to around the building that was the shrine office and sat on the porch. Melissa had followed and helped me down when she observed the odd way in which I began to lower myself.
“Here…let me help you, Bel.” She pulled up me sleeve and saw what I had already known--the wound had reopened and was bleeding. She looked at me, clearly concerned. “What did that accomplish, Bel, other then reopening this wound?”
“Respect, Melissa. I have beaten him. He now should treat me as an equal--not as a student. And now I know that I am his equal,” I said earnestly.
She removed the bandages and inspected the wound. “Doesn’t seem to be that bad…do you know if there’s a first aid kit in the office? “
A first aid bag appeared next to her. “This should suffice, Melissa. I always have many people visit the shrine, and many of them are far older than the two of you. I never know when one of the will get hurt or have some kind of accident, so I am always prepared,” Kagatoshi said as he sat down gingerly.
“After I take care of your arm, Bel, I’ll take a look at you, Kagatoshi. Your cheek is pretty bad right now,” Melissa observed as she tended to my wound.
He nodded his assent. Melissa retrieved some spray disinfectant and sprayed it upon the wound. I flinched at the burning contact. She then dressed the area and gazed at the old man.
“I know that you cheated…but why?” she asked as she looked at his cheek. She cleaned and disinfected the scratches with the same stinging spray, but he did not flinch.
“Because he would never have learned to be on guard. He would have fought someone else according the ‘rules’ and gotten himself killed; I could not allow myself not to teach him to expect the unexpected,” he said as he held a towel against his wounds.
She tried to put some bandages on the cuts, but the old man resisted.
“I will wear these wounds proudly. Today, one of my students has beaten me. Today is the day that I will call Belisarius an equal.” He stood up and went inside.
I couldn’t believe what he said. I looked at Melissa, and even she couldn’t hold back her genuine smile. I had gotten what I wanted out of the duel--his respect.
The door to the office suddenly slid open, and the old man walked oujt with a katana within its saya. He held it with great respect as he spoke.
“Today I have tested you, Belisarius Mackenzie, and found that you have learned the lessons I taught you well. I was given this sword with the charge to give it to the next generation of your line that I deemed most worthy. You have shown all the qualities of a samurai and have lived following the code of bushido to the best of your abilities. I am quite certain that those who have held this sword would agree with me that you are worthy to carry it into the unknown.” He then kneeled and offered the sword.
I stood up, nearly falling over in the process, and said, “I cannot accept this sword, Master Kagatoshi. Rebekah is the rightful heir to sword, as she has the blood to back up any claim. I already have been given a gift beyond recognition being accepted into their family. I believe that she is far better than I in holding the tenants of bushido and would bring greater honor and glory to it than I would.”
Melissa chuckled as Kagatoshi said, “That you would defer to your sister again shows to me and to all the bearers of this sword and to all the people witnessing living and dead, that you are the one who should be the bearer.”
I again spoke. “I cannot be the bearer of this sword because have done things that are not honorable. I have already stained my soul with those actions, and I believe that I would stain the sword with what I have done and will be required to do in the future.”
Kagatoshi again offered the sword and tried to speak before Melissa broke in.
“You just don’t get it, do you? Everybody in your family thinks that you are the one who best exemplifies the qualities that first earned the sword. I firmly believe that sword deserves you. You’ve already received a Medal of Valor from the UFP. If the former bearers of that sword believe you are not worthy of it, to hell with them,” she said vehemently. She took the sword from Kagatoshi and offered it to me. “You’ve been through so much these last few days, more then anybody should bear, but you’ve endured it. I’m glad that you’ve allowed me to see those moments that only your family has seen. And I believe that nobody in this galaxy is more deserving of this sword than you, Belisarius Khursau Wallace-Mackenzie. Nobody is more deserving of this gift than my best friend and confidant.” She kneeled as she offered the sword.
I was taken aback by the fact that Melissa was doing this. It was tradition to decline a gift twice to show your sincerity; however, I could not allow her to bow before me. She was my best friend and, if all went well tonight, my girlfriend, but I always thought of her as an equal to me. She had been through everything I had, and I had always been amazed at her strength of will.
“No. I can not accept this gift.” I heard Kagatoshi’s astonished gasp at my statement. Melissa looked up, clearly confused by my actions. “Please stand up, Melissa.”
She did so, a look of utter confusion still upon her features.
“I could not accept it the way it was offered. You have always been there, whether I thought I needed it or not. You have stood by me when I buried my family, my friends, and my comrades. You have always been there, standing beside me, and I will not allow you to offer my family’s honor kneeling before me. I will accept it as you stand, for you are now and will always be my friend and ally,” I said as I took the handle and slid the sword out, “and there is no one else in this world who should be offering me this sword.”
I grabbed the saya and put the sword in it, then placed it upon the ground and hugged her. It was the best of times.
We broke the embrace as Kagatoshi clapped. “Very good, both of you. I was quite surprised that you picked up when you did, Melissa. I was thinking that he would not accept the sword.” He gave Melissa a hug, then turned to me and said, “I am very proud of what you did, insisting that she give you the sword standing, to show that you viewed the two of each other as equals.”
“I believe that we have a dinner date, Melissa. I’m famished,” I said with a smile.
She then looked at me as if I were out of my mind. “I haven’t gotten even dressed, and you need a shower. You think you’re going into an upscale restaurant looking like that? You’ve got to be kidding!”
She dragged me down the trail to the house to get ready when I heard Kagatoshi whistle.
I turned around and caught the sword in the saya, then turned back and continued down the trail.
The next day…
“I honestly cannot believe that two got into a fight,” Mariko said incredulously as I approached the house in which we were currently residing.
“You were supposed to be on your best behavior on a date, Bel. What happened?”
My sister decided to join in the conversation. “Three people out of ten still in the hospital, ten thousand credits in damage. What were you thinking when you got into that fight?”
Mariko stood with her hands on her hips. “I think that our knightly friend was thinking with the wrong head last night.”
“If you two will kindly stop this, I am certain that Bel will explain this dreadful behavior to us,” Kagatoshi said.
I looked at the three of them and sighed as Melissa went up to her room. “I wasn’t thinking, Kagatoshi. They insisted upon being ignorant, and I took the time to increase their knowledge in various arts of self-defense. I am sorry if I brought any shame to your house,” I explained as I bowed.
“Considering that you can still walk means that no dishonor was received. I shall leave at that,” Kagatoshi said with a smirk as he attended to his duties. He had obviously deduced the answer.
After a few more minutes of scolding from my sister and the patriarch of the Suzaharas, I was finally able to go upstairs to my room. As I entered the room, I saw Melissa sitting on my bed. I entered and slid the door closed, then went to sit by her.
“What are you thinking, Melissa?” I asked as I gazed at her face.
She was looking down at the floor. A long silence permeated the room.
“Why did your sister do that?” she asked.
“What? Blame me for starting the fight?”
“You never started a fight back home. Never. You would always leave a potential confrontation. We both knew that you could win any fight back home with minimal effort, but you always found a way to avoid conflict. You even allowed those boys to call you a coward to avoid it. Why does your sister think that you would start a fight now? “
“Because she can’t even think that our southern belle, Melissa, would start the fight. Remember how you’ve always tried to cultivate that image? The prim and proper woman…”
She turned and smiled at me as I continued.
“...that won’t take any shit from anyone. She sometimes forgets that you have been in just as many fights as I have and have similar training. “
She stood and tried to leave but was stopped as I grabbed her hand and pulled her into an embrace. “Now where do you think you’re going?”
She looked up and frowned a little. “I’m going to apologize for not speaking up earlier and for starting the fight…“ she said as she tried to break the embrace.
“Then I’m going to get scolded from the two of them for not starting one in the first place.” I said as I relented.
Her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s a quandary of being male that I’ve learned. They’ll find out what happened to you at that point when you kneed that first boy and insist that I should have protected ‘your honor’ before you took action.”
“That is such archaic thinking. You took all their insults the entire time we were there at the club and continued to try to have a good time. You were determined to have such a good time with me that you wouldn’t allow yourself to spoil it. You again showed that you are the better person than them or me.”
“That still won’t excuse me in their eyes. Also remember that I had no time to react when they pulled you from my embrace before the first one sang soprano,” I noted.
“I know. I just wished I had more control over my anger.,” she said with a frown.
“Anyway, Melissa, Kagatoshi knows,” I said.
She chuckled. “I should have figured that.” She gave me a quick kiss. “Thanks for the great night. We need to do that more often.”
“How about tonight?” I asked. She looked up, surprised by my words.
“This time we can go into Osaka. It’s not that far by the rail, and the authorities won’t know us by name.” I smiled.
She laughed. “Sure thing. As long as you don’t start any fights, Bel.” She left my room to go to hers.
I decided to change and go down stairs to meet with my sister. She was in the kitchen washing the dishes as I came in.
She was clearly angry when she turned to see me. “You should have told me that Melissa started that fight. I would have…”
“You were spying.”
“You forget that this is a traditional Japanese house,” she said as she tapped against an inner wall.
“She felt bad about it all that time we were in the cooler.”
“As well she should. The both of you could get seriously hurt. That could have easily been a set-up like the one back in the ATL. She needs to think with her head more,” my sister said disapprovingly.
“She can handle herself against a bunch a punks. I was just there to keep her from being swamped by their numbers. She was letting off some steam. If there was any real problem, I could have gotten her out of trouble.”
She smiled at me. “So you finally got the guts to ask her out after seven years.”
“Mariko kind of pointed that out.”
“Good. The two of you have been chasing each other for far too long.”
“We’re going to Osaka tonight. We’re going try not to get into any fights.”
At this point a call came in through Rebekah’s comm unit.
She accepted it just as the home line rang. Mariko quickly answered it, and it soon became apparent that there was bad news as her face turned ashen. I looked at my sister as she took the news.
“ Mishtahl?” I asked Mariko as she left the home line.
“ Bel, go get Melissa.”
“What’s…?”
“DO IT!”
I went upstairs to Melissa’s room and entered without knocking. She was stunned, as she just gotten out of shower and was only wearing her bathrobe.
“ Bel, I you wanted to see me you could have waited, unless.. “ She trailed off, a slow smile creeping along her features.
“You got a call on the land line. They want to talk to you.”
“Who could it be?”
“Not a clue, but I don’t think it’s good.”
Her smile faded as realization dawned on her. She nodded and headed downstairs, where she waited for me before she answered the phone.
She went white as the news was delivered to her; it was clearly devastating, as she soon burst into tears. She tried to fall to the floor, but Mariko and I caught her. She dropped the receiver and put her hands to her face. I caught her in a hug to show her that I was there just as she been there for me earlier.
She cried on my shoulder for what seemed hours. I looked up at my sister and my friend. My sister was talking into her comm unit, still trying to get answers as I looked at Mariko. She mouthed the answer I was looking for.
My girlfriend’s family was dead from another accident. From space junk landing on her home. I couldn’t believe this. How could this be happening? Who wants to kill all that is dear to me? And for what? What was worth this much? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.
I looked at Melissa and promised to find out who did this, and to make them pay. The time to hide was gone. Time to go on the offensive. Time for Belisarius to return home.
Now that I got my laptop back, I can write agian. this was written before it went into the shop.
Thank you, Anysia, for your hard work in beta reading this.
