Changing Masks

by Nicholas Metelsky

  'Shall we go say hi?' Rydon asked.

  'Who is he anyway, this fiancé?'

  'Sate. The son of our daimyo.'

  'Mm, son of a daimyo? A fiancé? Is he aware... Will he mind that I invited Aniko to the party?'

  'He might,' Shina said suddenly. 'I don't know anything for sure, but grandpa told me that this guy is a rare type of psycho.'

  'Not a psycho but a rotten individual,' Ren said. 'My father advised me to stay away from him. That was a couple years ago, but I doubt he's changed.'

  'Ladies...' grimaced Rydon.

  'Whoever Sate is, he's my sister's fiancé.' Miki, who had been listening to our conversation, also decided to add her word.

  'Rydon, why would your father let this guy marry your sister?'

  'The wedding arrangements were made when I was born. Sate then was only seven years old. Who could have known.'

  'Terrific,' I said. 'This Sate is famous, I see.' Everyone winced at my words. Everyone but Miki. He couldn't care less.

  'Poor sister. She has to follow him around all night. Oh, I think they're coming our way.'

  Sate must have noticed our group and, it seemed, he could not resist. It wasn't surprising: the members of four great clans in one place. Whoa, I was carried away. It's not a fact that he knew all of them personally. Most likely, he had decided to approach his future wife's brother. He whispered something into her ear, and they headed towards us.

  'Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Aniko, dear, please introduce us.'

  'Sate Shinichi-san of the Sate line, daimyo of the province of Shimōsa,' Aniko slightly nodded towards her companion. 'This is Nagasunjehiko Miki-kun, Sakurai Shinji-san, and Koyama Shina-san.' It appeared that she didn't know Ren.

  'Allow me to introduce to you, Sate-san,' Rydon took over, 'Fujiwara Ren is the daughter of the head of the Fujiwara clan.'

  'It's nice to meet you all,' Sate said bowing slightly. 'We are actually deliberating whether I should participate in a fight in the ring.' He said with a smile. You twenty-three-year-old walking corpse.

  'That wouldn't be fair towards the others, Sate-san,' Ren said.

  'I'd tangle with you,' Miki said, his eyes lit up with fire.

  'I'm afraid my honor won't allow me to take such a young opponent to the ring. I'm sorry, Miki-kun.'

  What a creature. Chasing a child in the slums was okay though. Accepting a challenge from a high-born descendent in public—his honor didn't allow. That rat knows that people will spit at his back if he wins. Calm down, Max, don't let out Yaki. I have to get out of here before it’s too late.

  'Well, ladies and gentlemen, Shina and I will probably go. We aren't cheering for anyone, and I can't let my lady watch the meat being minced.'

  'The meat?' the son of daimyo rose up. 'In your opinion, a noble fight is mincemeat?'

  'Fighting without Bahir is almost always mincemeat. Especially if it takes place among children, who don't know how to fight. I haven't seen any protective equipment here.'

  'True, forget about the ring. Let's go, I'll have you acquainted with Ami closer. The impressions at the entrance were too short. You'll like her, you'll see. Are you coming, Fujiwara-san?'

  'Let's switch to names, finally. At least, you can call me by my first name.'

  'Hm. Good point,' Sate said, deliberating. 'Fighting children—that's what it is. I haven't seen Ami-chan in a while, too.' What scum! I could understand him though: so many new connections, good ones too. 'Are you coming, Miki-kun?'

  'Of course!'

  'Shall we? Let's go find my little sis.'

  We didn’t rush to find Ami-chan.... We stopped and talked to other guests, mostly high aristocracy. During this time, I managed to get acquainted with the parents of Ren and Miki and was introduced to the members of the great families Otomo, Takeda, and Minamoto. I even said a few words to the Princess Fusako, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Prince Naruhito, the eldest son and heir of the emperor.

  Finally, we found her. A gaggle of twelve and thirteen-year-old girls were playing darts, accompanying each hit with a loud squeal. I didn't know what was so special about the game, but the children were captivated by it, so much so, in fact, that Rydon had to approach his sister himself and draw her away from it.

  'Meet my sister if you don't know her yet,' he glanced at Mickey. 'Okhayashi Ami. She, of course, greeted everyone at the entrance, but the entire ceremony cannot show how dear she is. You're my cutie,' he said, squeezing her cheeks.

  'Rydon, stop it. Enough of your affection,' she said waving him away.

  For the next 30 minutes, I felt as if it was a real birthday party, not some noble gathering. Everything would have been great if it had not been for Sate. And Chesuje. The punk came up to us 36 minutes in. He greeted Ami and wished her a happy birthday. Before he left, he made the comment that I should have fought harder for Okhayashi Aniko. Beast. Lousy beast.

  'Fight harder, Sakurai-kun? It looks like I missed something while I was gone.'

  'Not too much, Sate-san,' I said. 'Yesterday I needed a companion for Crystal Eve, and I couldn't ask Shina-chan for certain reasons. Aniko-san honored me with her company.'

  'Crystal Eve?' Well, that’s alright. I started to think...' Will he leave me alone? 'What did Chesuje-san mean then?'

  'Nothing, Sate-san,' Aniko said. 'He just wanted to make you argue.'

  You shouldn't have, Aniko. If you want to explain something, don't leave any cliffhangers. It sounded like we really had something going on, and he's just a child that doesn’t understand.

  'Hm, well, in that case, that's okay. I have no claims.' Phew. 'Actually, it's nothing. I think a formal duel will solve the issue.' I'll just go with the flow. 'We even have a ring for it.' It's fate.

  'I don't think you should react to the words of a man who is looking for a fight,' Aniko said.

  'Woman, let the men solve it.' Not only Aniko frowned, but Shina and Ren too. And Rydon. And even Miki. I smiled too.

  'That's right, Sate-san. In men's conflicts, women should only serve as a cause.'

  'I agree with you completely, Sakurai-kun.'

  If the truth be told, I was not against our fight. It appeared to be our fate. So why look for excuses? Moreover, this battle was almost the ideal way of getting rid of the bastard. I had one technique in my arsenal, that was essentially useless to me. I learned it for fun and never thought that I'd ever need to use it. It's called a 'stroke of delayed death.' One of my friends, Eraser, taught me it, and he never used it for anything himself. The fact is that all serious warlock tricks are designed for battle with their own kind. For regular people, just a blow to the head would be lethal. For Destroyers like me, a 'strike of delayed death' is not necessary at all. If the target is gone, the Destroyer's mission has failed. The technique doesn't work against warlocks either. It causes internal microfractures in the region of the heart; they slowly increase over time and 'explode' one day, killing the target. The microfractures are so tiny that the natural regeneration of a warlock can deal with it. We don't even notice it. Of course, I am monstrously far from Wolverine from the 'X-Men,' but that is just nonsense. The later stage might even kill me. However, that won't happen. Bahir users don't have regeneration at all. There are healers but no regeneration. It's worth noting that the death from a 'hit' is the same as death from fear. On the physiological level, the symptoms are identical. The funny part is that the second person out of the five died of fear. The first one died from a brick dropping on his head—I just couldn't resist it as he was standing in the perfect spot. The second one went to the bathroom and died right there, with his pants down. It was the perfect amount of Yaki. Death by 'strike' is almost instantaneous, so nobody would have had time to save his life.

  There were crowds of people at the ring now: children, teenagers, adults, both men, women. We finally saw Rydon's brother in the crowd and headed towards him. At the moment, Hikaru was talking to a scruffy guy, who was a little younger than me, then he slapped him on the should
er as he was saying goodbye to him, and turned to us. He looked sideways at Miki, who was holding the young Okhayashi's hand, and then his gaze fell on me and Sate.

  'Wow. Okay, the rules are easy. You can't use Bahir or hit to the eyes or groin. No tearing of the nostrils or mouth. Don't finish up a fighter who's down and out. If a player is down for the count—defeated by being knocked to the ground and unable to rise within ten seconds—he loses. I repeat: no Bahir. The battle will be closely watched by two Knights, and hiding Bahir control will be impossible. Do you understand?' He waited for us to nod and continued, 'Wait for your turn then. You're next. Over there,' he waved in the direction of a big tent, 'you can change your clothes for the fight.'

  'That won’t be necessary,' Sate said, blowing his bangs away from his eyes, 'I'm not planning on getting dirty.'

  'It's up to you. What about you?'

  'I don't really feel like it,' I answered.

  'Ha, khm. I see. As you wish.'

  The fight before us didn't last long. Ten minutes in the ring and both were sent to the healers. There was no blood, and the fight wasn't that big. Actually, I didn't expect anything more from the kids. When they finished, I dropped my scarf and haori into Shina's hands. I encouragingly smiled at the girls and winked cunningly at the guys; after that, I came up to Hikaru. After receiving permission, we finally came into the ring. Looking around, I thought of Chesuje and how he would get it too. God, I felt like a monkey in a cage. Okay, Max, get yourself together. Killing the enemy is easy; competently losing is a challenge.

  'Come on, Sakurai. I'm giving you the right to strike the first blow.' What did he just say? Did he say ‘Hurry up and kill me?’ That was doable.

  'Whatever you say, Sate-san. Whatever you say.'

  His translucent white shirt, white trousers and groomed face were asking to get messy with blood and snot. However, if I do that, he might want to get even more thoroughly. In the few days he has left, he might cause some trouble.

  Taking a boxing stance, I took three steps closer to my opponent. A kick with my right leg just above and to the right of his heart must have been a surprise for him. Goodbye, Sate. I had to play out my performance to the end.

  He protected himself with an elbow block from my left blow to the side and instantly reacted with a hit to my temple. I bent and hit his right side this time, which he didn't have time to protect. I used a force of impact that wouldn't hunch him up too much. I wanted him to feel it, but I didn't want to inflict dangerous injuries. Immediately after the right blow, I hit with my left in the temple, in response, he again put up a block. I matched his speed. He jumped out forward, at the same time, shooting his knee into my chest. The block protected me from his knee, but it exposed me to a short right uppercut. That was the perfect moment to finish the fight. I had showed myself to be a worthy fighter, and I hadn't hurt him too badly. It was okay that the fight was short. It happens.

  The uppercut was good. It was so good that I almost blacked out. It almost knocked me out, me, a warlock in the rank of Absolute! If I weren't used to it, I'd have fallen from his fist making contact with my jaw. The mind won over instincts and reflexes. As a result, I took a few steps back, and the mind that had been turned on didn't fail me. Stepping back a bit more, I dramatically fell to his knees, portraying prostration as well as I could. Clapping my peepers shut, I turned my head towards the judge and collapsed sideways. The referee who ran up to me started the count down. I turned over on my back and, still playing the inadequate, I found the second judge with my eyes. Either I'm blind or Sate and I came within the sensitivity area of at least one Knight.

  I turned to my stomach and somehow rose to my knees. At this moment, the referee called out 'ten' and waved his arms above me, signifying the end of the fight. I was worried about Shina and where she was. I found her with my eyes and made sure that the girl was still with the same company and no suspicious strangers were around.

  'Excellent fight, Sakurai-kun,' Sate said, approaching me. 'Hopefully, this will suffice for the understanding of everyone.'

  Is he hinting at me? I didn't answer. I had to finish playing my role. Right now, Sakurai-kun could not comprehend anything.

  Sate snorted and walked away while I was taken to the healers. While they were putting some turquoise energy elixir all over me, Shina and our entire company stood nearby and stared at my face intently. Sate wasn't there. He was taken inside the house by some long-haired guy, apparently, the oldest Okhayashi brother. At least, he resembled the others. I was brought here to have a conversation, but for some reason, no one was making an attempt to start it. Should I go home now? They didn't want to talk to me anyway. I didn't want to get entangled in this anyhow.

  Finally, the local healer announced that I was okay and turned me over as Shina's responsibility. I put on the haori and waited for the girl to put the scarf around my neck.

  'Should we go home?' I asked Shina.

  'Shin, what's up?' Rydon rose up. 'You got a little beat up, so what? That’s no reason to miss the most interesting stuff.' I didn't say anything in response, just gave him a gloomy look.

  'There is nothing shameful in losing to a stronger opponent,' Ren said. 'You wouldn't be able to...'

  'Why did you take a dive?' Shina couldn't resist. Ren almost choked. After her words, complete silence took over. Everyone stared at me, astonished. Everyone but Shina, who looked at me waiting for my response. Fool. Why didn't she ask me when we were alone?

  'I just wasn't that lucky, Shi...'

  'Come clean. What I saw there was a third of your speed. You intentionally came under his hit.'

  I got a little mad after her words. I was sick of her sticking her nose in where it didn't belong all the time. Even if it concerns her, the timing is always wrong. Plus, these constant requests: Come clean. She was not my wife to be demanding anything from me? I would have gotten a divorce a long time ago. We were in the den of the potential enemies of the Koyama line. She should have been quiet and only answered questions vaguely.

  'I had to.' If I started explaining the fundamental ideas of not wanting to make enemies, it'd put her in a bad light. Why am I always worried about her reputation? She can stand up for herself.

  'I don't like it that you...'

  'I don't care what you like or don’t like.' I am so sick of this.

  'Whatever you say, Shinji,' she said through gritted teeth.

  'I'm sorry for this,' I told everyone. 'The last couple days were hard, and things just snowballed.'

  'It's alright. We understand,' Rydon answered for everyone. 'Maybe you should change your mind about going home? You haven't even met my father or my oldest brother. And the youngest one, too.' He has a younger brother too? Oh well.

  'Shina, what should we do, stay or go home?'

  'It's up to you.' She snapped back.

  'Then let's stay. Not for long, Rydon. It's getting late, and I have to take Shina home to her parents.'

  'Pft.'

  There were fewer people there by now. Miki and Ami flew somewhere to get their children's things done; Aniko went to look for her fiancé, and the four of us were stuck at the ring, where nobody was fighting anymore.

  'How are you doing, brother? Entertaining the guests?' the guy who took Sate inside was here now.

  'I'm having a pretty good time. By the way, this is my older brother, Okhayashi Sen.'

  A tall guy with long black hair and a Chinese suit bowed briefly.

  'I know Ren-chan and her parents. You must be Sakurai Shinji. And Koyama-san, of course. I wouldn't have recognized you, lady,' he said, half-smiling.

  I was prepared. They were either going to attack Shina or invite me to have a conversation with the head of Okhayashi clan. I doubted they were going to attack Shina.

  'Good evening, Okhayashi-san,' Shina bowed. 'This party is undoubtedly one of the ... the most memorable of my life.'

  'We tried, Koyama-San, we tried. Sakurai-kun, what do you think about meeting my father? Additio
nal connections won't hurt, right?' Is that a hint? Kind of vague.

  'With great pleasure, Okhayashi-san,' I bowed once again. 'It'll be an honor to be introduced to the head of the Okhayashi clan.'

  'Please follow me,' he stretched his hand out in the direction of the house. I was sick of bowing by now. Oh well.

  'Rydon, be so kind, keep my beautiful companion entertained while I'm gone. Such beautiful flowers like her and Ren-chan shouldn't be left alone. Someone might pick them.'

  'Sure, Shinji. No problem.'

  'You don't trust our guards, Sakurai-kun?'

  'I do. I don't trust the reasoning of some aristocrats.'

  'Hm. That makes sense. The beauty of these beautiful ladies can make anyone go crazy. Be persistent and avoid fighting, brother.'

  'Have no doubt,' Rydon answered.

  'Let's go then.'

  The office of the Okhayashi head wasn't very big. It's all relative of course, but a five by ten room wasn't much for such a personality if you ask me. There was a bookcase covering the entire wall. There were small tables to the right of the door, a window to the left, and a desk across from the door. The owner was sitting in one of the room’s four chairs. When I entered, judging by the smell, I gathered he was holding a cup of coffee.

  'Good evening, Sakurai-kun. I don't think we need to be introduced. Have a seat.' He pointed at one of the chairs across from him.

  San's choice of chair would illustrate the tone of the conversation. If he took the seat next to his father, that will imply aggression. If he took the seat next to me, that would mean goodwill. These rules would only apply if they didn't consider me an unintelligent commoner, lacking any knowledge of aristocratic manners.