Atsuko Tadeshi - The revenge

Chapter 2 - A New Samurai

Atsuko knocked on the door of Nakao's house. Together, they walked to the Dojo where Atsuko trained. As they walked in, Atsuko saw that someone put a rug on the ground, and the men that trained together with him stood alongside it. In the middle of the dojo, someone placed a table. On it was a sword holder with a Katana. Atsuko requested, dark blue like the night. As he and Nakao kneeled at the table, the other people kneeled as well. There was 15 to 20 seconds of silence, but then, a drum started and in the back of the dojo, a door opened. 4 men walked through it and Atsuko recognized them as the other Kendoka's. He quickly stood up and bowed for them as they approached the table and together they kneeled.

"We think you are ready, Atsuko." One of the Kendoka's said. Atsuko nodded as a thank you. Another kendoka said: "you adapted the ways of the samurai and you know how to fight like a samurai." Atsuko looked at all the kendokas. he knew that these were 4 of the best kendoka's of this region if it weren't for all of Japan. He said: "I am honored that you all came here for me." As he looked all of them in the eyes, one said: "We all have seen your progress since the day you came here. We know what happened with your family and we are sorry." Nakao said: "We all think you are ready to wield a katana, made by the best blacksmith of Japan, and as you requested, dark blue." Nakao grabbed the katana with two hands and raised it from the sword holder. He turned to Atsuko and gave it to him. As he felt the handle in his hand, Atsuko bowed his head and said: "thank you. I trained very hard for this."

Atsuko looked at the katana and slide it out of the sheath. He looked at the beautifully crafted blade. not only the handle was dark blue, but also the blade. He put it back in the sheath, bowed to all the Kendoka's, and said: "I thank all of you for this wonderful gift." As they all stood up, Nakao said: "you are ready to protect yourself. Good luck Atsuko."

Atsuko put the katana in his belt and walked home. He knew he would eventually find Hebi, and he would finally get revenge. As he came home, he walked directly to the back of the room where a cabinet stood in the corner. He lighted some candles, that enlightened photos of his family. After lighting the candle, he kneeled, put the katana in a sword holder he made and started praying. He talked to his family like they were there, and he promised that he would get Hebi.

After his prayer, he blew out the candles, grabbed his sword, and went outside. In the last weeks, Atsuko collected some ropes and bamboo. He grabbed his katana and started practicing on the bamboo. His first swing immediately cut right through the bamboo cane. He inspected the blade for damage, but there wasn't even a chip. He then hewed at a rope and sliced it in two. He checked his blade again and again found nothing. He admired the sharpness of the blade and kept training a little. At first, he took it easy, not too wild and he didn't give full power, but at the end of his training, he gave it his all. After he had grabbed some lunch, he started to practice drills he also did with his training katana. This katana was way thinner and because of that, it weighed less, and moving with it was easier. It almost felt like dancing when he moved with the katana.

He kept training until it started to get darker, and he noticed that he was hungry. he cleaned the blade, used a sharpener to make the katana extra sharp, and put it back in the sheath. He put it safely on top of the cabinet and grabbed dinner.

As he was eating some noodles, he heard a noise coming from his front door. He put his noodles down and grabbed his katana. As quiet as he could, he sneaked to the front door. He slammed it open and as he stepped outside, on the ground was a note. on it was one word written: "congratulations." Suddenly he saw someone staring at him from a distance. At the other side of the street, under a light, Atsuko saw Hebi standing. He pulled his katana from his sheath and kept looking at Atsuko. Atsuko quickly looked to the other side of the street to see if someone else saw Hebi but there was no one out at this time. And as Atsuko looked back at Hebi, he was gone. Disappeared in the night, without a trace.

Atsuko locked the door behind him and walked to the Living room. He put his katana away and finished his noodles, but the noodles didn't taste as well as before. After he finished, he cleaned a little. He was looking for one specific box. he knew that it was in a separate room. He knew that there was one thing in there that would help him cover his scar and after 5 minutes he found it. A box with "Toyama" on it was placed at the back of his storage room. He never came here because of the memories of the day he lost them, and today was the first time since he put all the stuff in there. he grabbed the box and took it to the Living room. In the Living room, he opened it and stared at the stuff in it. Old pictures, notes, and clothing of his father brought back memories. pushing back the memories, he started digging until he found a smaller box. On it, was written: "for you Atsuko. when the time is right." Atsuko opened it with shaking hands and in it was a mask. The lower half of a dark green demon's face, with a slightly opened mouth that showed some golden teeth. As he tried it on, he noticed that it fitted perfectly. It covered the scar Hebi gave him. He walked to the mirror and looked in it. After a second or two, he grabbed his cap and put it on. He pulled it down so he could just look under it, but it seemed that he couldn't see by anyone looking at him. The combination of the cap and mask made him almost unrecognizable. He kept looking for a brief moment and then put the cap and mask next to the door. With the black clothing, black cap, and dark green mask, it wasn't easy to recognize him. He put the box with his father's stuff back in the room and closed it. From now on, he wouldn't leave his house without the cap and mask. if he was going after Hebi, he wouldn't want to be recognized.