Atsuko Tadeshi - The revenge

Chapter 15 - Doragon no Guntai

Atsuko was shocked to see that the room he just entered looked like a dojo. On the other side of the room stood a man. The man Atsuko had been after all this time. The scar on his left cheek was still visible, just like the yellow eyes. The face that stood for Atsuko's anger, smiled at the sight of Atsuko. "Here you are again," Hebi said as he slowly unsheathed his katana. "Do you think, you can defeat me this time?" he asked as he stepped towards Atsuko. "Ask your men outside," Atsuko replied as he jumped forward. The sound of steel on steel echoed through the room. They stood face to face as Atsuko whispered: "Today, I will revenge my family. The family you killed!" He pushed Hebi's swords up and kicked him in the chest. Hebi rolled back but didn't drop his katana. He stood up with a quick move and immediately swung his sword towards Atsuko. He smoothly ducked under it and sliced at Hebi's knees.

Hebi managed to step back in time but had to block the next series of attacks from Atsuko. Left, left, right, up, right, and left. The swords reflected the light of the rising sun, coming through the windows. Hebi jumped back. "You made progress." He said a little bit out of breath. Atsuko noticed a small move in Hebi's left hand. He quickly raised his sword, two shuriken's fell on the ground after Atsuko managed to block them. "You haven't lost your tricks, I see?" Atsuko said. Hebi stepped forward and swung overhand to Atsuko's head. The quick reaction with his right sword saves his life. As he held the sword above his head, he tried to kick Atsuko's knee, like he did before. But Atsuko stepped back quickly. As Hebi's leg was almost on the ground, Atsuko kicked it to the side, causing Hebi to spin and almost fall on his face. His hand with the katana rested on the ground. Suddenly he jumped forward, and almost sliced Atsuko's leg in two, but again a quick step back saved Atsuko. This time, it took him longer to stand up than usual. Atsuko had hurt the leg he kicked to the side earlier. Atsuko knew he hadn't won yet, but now Hebi's leg hurt, it would make it a little bit easier. Atsuko jumped forward. The first attack, with the intention to pierce Hebi, was deflected, and so was the next horizontal slice to Hebi's neck. Even though his leg was hurt, his arms functioned as normal. Atsuko stepped back and said: "You got a problem with your leg?" Hebi stepped closer and his vertical hew was caught by Atsuko's swords. "You think that you are funny?" Atsuko again stepped back and grabbed two shurikens. Atsuko threw both and Hebi managed to deflect one, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the second one. The shuriken dug itself in a wooden beam behind Hebi. "Did you just really miss?" Hebi asked as he started laughing. "I didn't miss. It landed exactly where I wanted it." As Atsuko said that, a red stripe appeared on Hebi's neck.

"You think that that will kill me?" Hebi laughed. "No." Atsuko said as he dashed forward and swung both swords at Hebi. "It will weaken you." Hebi blocked the left sword, ducked under the right, and swung at Atsuko's leg. He barely hit but the small cut started bleeding. Without paying attention to it, Atsuko kicked Hebi in the chest. Atsuko saw the pain of his leg on his face. Atsuko jumped forward and hit Hebi's katana with a vertical swing up. The sword flew from his weakened hand and landed 10 feet away. He tried to get something from his back pocket, but Atsuko again kicked him in the chest. As he fell back, 2 shurikens fell on the ground. "You're finished." Atsuko said. "No more tricks. You lost." Hebi looked into Atsuko's eyes and said: "Indeed, you won. You made progress since our last fight."

Hebi slowly reached for the tanto, he carried. "It is my time." He said as he unsheathed the knife. But before he could do anything, Atsuko hit the tanto from his hands. "You don't deserve to die with honor. Not after what you did to my family, to me! You know that damn well." He said while sheathing his swords. He wouldn't let the man that killed his family die that easily. He wanted answers first. "Why did you kill them? They didn't do anything wrong!" Hebi looked at Atsuko and said:" It wasn't my decision. I got ordered to do it. To prepare you for a big task." Atsuko hit Hebi on the head with the pommel of his sword. "What kind of big task requires my family to be killed?" Atsuko yelled. A little bit of blood came down from Hebi's head. "I don't know. I just followed orders." Atsuko stepped back. "So you followed the orders to kill the family of a 17-year-old and keep him alive? That doesn't feel weird at all? Don't you have any moral?" "It was ordered." Hebi replied. "Well," Atsuko said, "Your services won't be needed anymore." He unsheathed one katana. "This is for my family!" he wisered and with one mighty swing, he decapitated Hebi.

While Hebi's head fell on the ground, Atsuko kneeled down and used Hebi's clothing to clean the blood from his katana, before sheathing it with a quick move. He finally did it. He finally avenged his family. As he was looking at the headless body, someone started clapping behind him. within a flash, he turned around, grabbed his sword, ready to battle, only to relax a little after seeing the one that was clapping.

Nakoa looked at Atsuko and stopped clapping. "I see that you have changed your wardrobe?" he said. "Sensei," Atsuko said. "What are you doing here?" as Nakoa walked forward, he said: "I'm here to review your progress." Atsuko was more confused than ever. "Review my progress? What are you talking about?"

"Have you ever heard of the Doragon no Guntai?" Nakoa asked. Atsuko sheathed his sword. "Only in fairy tales from long ago." Nakoa came closer. "We are not a myth. We've followed your quest for revenge and think that you are ready. You just showed that you won't let anyone or anything stop you from finishing your quest and we can use someone like that." As he turned around and walked towards the exit, he said: "It's time for you to meet Toshi-shita."