The Hinomoto Rebellion (14 page)

Andrea laughed. “You think you have a chance of winning? Now this, I have to see. Fine, I accept! Just don’t get mad at me when you’re in a body cast.” Andrea turned and started walking, heading for the courtyard in the middle of the rundown temple. Kanjou followed her, dragging his feet a little. Behind him were the rest of the Aka Ryuu. They had all dropped what they were doing as soon as Andrea had started yelling at Kanjou.

A soft wind blew across the courtyard as they entered it, rustling the blades of grass that had grown up between the paving stones over the years the temple had been left unattended. Andrea stopped at one end of the open yard and turned on her heel to face Kanjou. She glared at him angrily as he sighed.

“I hope you know that I won’t get any pleasure from it,” he sighed.

“ Well, isn’t that too bad? I’ll get plenty of pleasure out of kicking your ass.” Quickly, she snapped into a ready stance, her bangs falling over her face.

I know why I’m so angry with him, she thought, It’s because I’m mad at D! I should be taking it out on him, but I just can’t seem to help myself. This is wrong and childish but I’m in too deep to stop now. Plus, he claimed I’m weak! After all I’ve done for them already?! I just can’t allow it!

Kanjou sighed again. “Fine. Don’t forget our bargain though.” he readied himself and waited, not wanting to make the first move.

A few seconds later, Andrea rocketed forward with a battle cry, her fist pulled back in preparation to slam into Kanjou’s solar plexus. He stepped back calmly, unworried about the attack. The silver-haired girl’s punch missed its mark by a half an inch. She was not swayed, however, and immediately unleashed a front kick.

Kanjou hopped to the side and once again Andrea’s attack hit nothing but air. She tried a few more times to hit him and each blow he avoided with a mere inch or two. With each miss, Andrea’s anger rose visibly. She let out a scream, the air around her becoming electrified as her fist glowed blue.

“Koroshiya Dan Ha!”

Kanjou sidestepped twice, avoiding the encounter. “You ready to talk this over yet?” he asked after the ki energy stopped crackling between them.

Her ice cold eyes focused on him. Sweat was dripping down Andrea’s face and her breathing was ragged. “I’ll... kill you...!” she said between breaths. She quickly stepped forward, then twisted on the ball of her left foot with her right leg extended, trying to clip Kanjou with her she. The kick was slow though and he avoided her foot without effort.

The rest of the Aka Ryuu watched quietly from the sidelines as Andrea chased Kanjou around the courtyard. Roni clung to 26’s leg, obviously worried about the outcome of the fight. Every once in a while Fushi would mutter advice under her breath. Behind everyone Aki leaned against the ivy-covered wall, uninterested in the conflict that was tearing around the plaza.

Andrea’s fist just missed Kanjou’s face as he leaned back, eluding a blow that would have bloodied his nose. He had to admit, Andrea was very good. She’d had him worried until she’d tried to use that ki attack. But just as he suspected, she was slow to recover from the expense of energy. It was hard to notice, but her strikes were slower. He could also tell that soon she was going to try to use her ki again because he could feel it building in the air around her.

Sure enough, Andrea attempted two kicks and a punch, then charged up her fist once more with blue energy and tried to strike him with it. Instead of dodging, Kanjou reached out and seized her wrist, halting her forward motion and bringing her to a stand-still, her eyes wide with shock.

“Should have tried a different attack. I could feel you charge your ki.” he said, his expression serious.

Andrea’s bangs were sticking to her face, sweat dripping off her chin and making her clothes cling to her muscular frame. She could barely breathe, her legs were trembling and her feet felt like lead weights. She had to admit to herself that she hadn’t fought this hard in a long time. The fools at the tournaments weren’t a challenge anymore for her- they hadn’t been in a long time. But this was an even better workout than she’d had with Ryoku.

Wait... I didn’t have nearly as much trouble with him as I am now..
Andrea thought.
I didn’t try to use ki attacks on him... And I wasn’t nearly this angry.
she realized as she ripped her arm from Kanjou’s grasp.
I can’t admit defeat!
Once her arm was freed she took two steps back, trying desperately to come up with a strategy and catch her breath at the same time.
I was pissed off at D too when I tried to hit him after Ryoku left... and he dodged me easily. What he’s saying... it can’t possibly be true, can it?

Come on, Andrea. Just calm down and punch him in that smug face of his!

No matter how hard she tried, the more she stared at his calm face the angrier she became.
I’m better than him, dammit! Why can’t I hit him!?
she tightened her fists until her knuckles were white. Her jaw hurt from clenching it, and her leg muscles protested as she raced forward again, launching into a series of punches, kicks, and open palm strikes.

With no more effort than he’d already been exerting, Kanjou dodged the onslaught, ducking under her arm and coming up behind her before she could even register what was going on. He whipped his left arm up to the point where Andrea’s neck and shoulder met and grabbed the flesh.

Andrea wasn’t quite sure how she ended up on her knees on the broken paving stones but she was acutely aware of the terrible pain being shot in to her skull from the nerve that Kanjou was gripping. It took every fiber of her being to keep from screaming. She remembered this particular nerve pinch. It was one her own sensei had used on her more than once.

“ Give up?” there was no malice or mocking in Kanjou’s voice. It was a sincere question, which just made Andrea’s blood boil more. Unfortunately, his grip on her neck was keeping her from getting up, and her own fatigue was making it particularly hard to move. She wanted to lash out and fight back to prove that she was better than him.

But,
her own mind answered,
maybe he has a point.

“ Well?” The rest of the Aka Ryuu were watching, except for Aki, who had gone back inside as soon as Kanjou had brought Andrea to her knees.

Andrea tried one more time to get her body to move and lash out at him but her body still protested any action. She let out a snarl. “Let go,” she said.

Kanjou did so and stepped back as Andrea collapsed backwards onto the stone, gasping for breath. Roni bolted over immediately. If Andrea had been able to move she would’ve no doubt punched the girl at once just to stop the onslaught of concerned questions from her. Fushicho and 26 stood by as D helped Andrea up and made sure she didn’t fall over.

“You okay?” he asked her, pretending that Roni wasn’t circling around them.

“ I’m fine.” She snatched her arm away from D and turned to walk away. She moved Roni out of her path and headed back inside, each determined step taken in an attempt to salvage her wounded pride. Once she was completely out of the courtyard, Roni, D, 26, and Fushi turned to Kanjou.

“ That wasn’t as easy as it looked.” he said, knowing the question they were about to ask. “She’s like a sprinter– great for short distances. The more I kept her fighting, and the angrier she got, the easier she was to read. Don’t worry; she’ll be fine once she gets her dignity back.”

“I want to learn that grab thing!” Roni said, tugging on Kanjou’s jeans.

Kanjou smiled and leaned down to show her how to do it. From just inside the doorway, Andrea slumped against the wall and listened to snatches of conversation as they came in on the wind. As the others laughed, Andrea grimaced, then turned and stumbled off to her room.

Chapter Five
Self-reflection

Andrea lay in her room for quite some time, breathing heavily and gently stretching her screaming muscles. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to look at the spider’s web above her that was gleaming in the sunlight like strands of polished silver thread. The fat black spider lay in the corner of its deadly home, waiting for unsuspecting prey to fall in to its trap.

After a while Andrea felt well enough to struggle to her feet. She went over to the window and stared out of it, noticing that the sun was slipping below the trees. She looked at the windowsill on both sides of her, then hefted herself up and slipped through the small hole in the wall. She wandered across the grass and in to the trees, slipping in to the deepening shadows.

Birds sang in the branches of the towering trees, tending to their nests of babies and fluttering around in search of food. Two rabbits ran out on to the path in front of Andrea, causing her to jump back a step. She watched them disappear into the underbrush before allowing herself a thin smile.

Andrea wandered, making sure not to get herself too far away that she would get lost. She found a tree and climbed it, stopping on a thick branch with her back against the trunk. She looked down at the ground 30 feet below her and quickly looked back up. She’d climbed things in the dojo or at the bar and had even gotten herself on to the roof of the temple, but this was higher than she’d ever been before. The branches under her seemed less stable than even the rotting temple roof, and it made her bit nervous of falling. She set her jaw and decided to face the fear of falling, sitting back against the tree trunk and stubbornly staying right where she was.

She sat there for a long time, watching the shadows around her grow darker and darker as the sun continued its journey toward the horizon. She tried not to think but couldn’t seem to help berating herself for losing to Kanjou.

I’ve worked so hard my entire life to be strong! How could I have been beaten so easily!?
She reached over and ripped a clump of leaves off the tree. She began to shred them into tiny pieces as she scowled.
Men! I hate them... Always having to prove that they’re better than a woman! Dammit, I worked so hard! Now I have to bend and scrape to his will! What makes him think he’s worthy of training me in anything?! I bet he cheated, there’s no other way he could have won!

She threw the pieces of the leaves out and watched them flutter to the ground. For the past three days it seemed like she hadn’t done anything right. She’d abandoned the only person that had ever cared about her, then had burned down the place that had been her home. Then, to rub in the fact that she’d run like a coward, she had to go tell Foxfire’s family that he’d probably been captured by the government and was even now being tortured or murdered. And, as the final crescendo in her symphony of mistakes she’d allowed Kanjou to not only con her into training the other Aka Ryuu, but had also managed to get herself roped in to training under him.

When will you learn, Andrea!?
She suppressed a scream of rage. The silver-haired woman sat in the tree and contemplated her fate, trying to make some sense out of what her dysfunctional life had become. Tony had been the only person who ever understood her and the only one that accepted her for what she was and didn’t try to change her.
He knew me... he knew why I am the way I am and he accepted it. I guess it was only right though that he did.
Andrea sighed and rested her head against the trunk of the tree, gazing up at the dying light of day as it filtered through the green canopy.

She stared for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I can’t believe I lost,” she said to herself, her voice cracking. Tears appeared at the corners of her eyes, making it only inches down her cheeks before she wiped them away with the backs of her hands. She frowned and opened her eyes, glaring up at the sky above her. “Oh no you don’t! I’m not a weak little cry baby, Tony! To Hell with you and your tears! I don’t care if you’re not here! You wanted to make me weak and emotional, just like you! Well I’m not! I’m not!” She was shouting at the clouds, her hands balled in to tight fists of anger as she screamed. More tears worked their way down her cheeks, unbidden and unwanted and wiped away in denial as Andrea sniffled.

She looked down at the branch below her, her hair cascading down around her as her shoulders drooped. “I’m not weak... I don’t need any emotions but my own anger. Anger makes me strong, it keeps me safe... I can’t let anyone in...” She put her hands to her face and leaned forward as her shoulders shook, hiding herself from the slowly darkening sky.