by Honie Jar
“That is an internal matter,” Higashi responded.
“You are not in a position not to cooperate,” emphasized the agent.
“Very well. We are getting confirmation as we speak.”
“And then you returned to Erito?” the second agent asked.
“Correct,” answered Hikari. “That’s when I arrived here.”
“I have noted the whereabouts of this student,” said the first shinobi agent.
“I apologize for asking, but did I do anything wrong?” Hikari asked, confident that they had no clue where she had spent her time early in the morning at Shinobu’s cave and then later finding her way into the Clan of the Black Harvest’s summoning ceremony. This was a bold action by Hikari, to confront the shinobi agents of the Crown Prince, but she would rather know what they were after, proving they told her than just return to Erito not knowing what this entire thing was about.
“I suppose we can share with you what we know since none of it is classified and we will be asking you to report any information that you come across,” answered the first Himitsu Agent.
Hikari nodded, her mouth and jaw now gaping open as she was eager to find out what in the world was going on.
The second agent continued, “It turns out the real owner of the Bushido Jewelry Casket reported his item missing. He is a wealthy businessman who appears to have gotten into some trouble.”
“The real owner?” Hikari asked. “We thought Lady Rose was the real owner than she would have been the heir of the casket.”
The first agent picked up where the second one stopped. “Let me continued. This wealthy businessman is very good friends with the Crown Prince. It seems as though this rich man got into business with the wrong crowd and ended up owning them money. They were going to kill him until the Crown Prince stepped in and loaned this guy the money,” explained the first Himitsu Agent.
Hikari’s face turned stark white from the shock of all of this. She could not recount a time when she was not permitted on the Erito campus until she underwent a line of questioning. “That is horrible,” interjected Hikari. Hikari, unlike Ayuka, did not have a chip on her shoulder regarding wealth and classes. She became a ninja to help others. Not to mention, learn really could acrobatics and flips.
The second agent started again, “Well, the rich guy was intending on paying the Crown Prince back. He decided to sell the Bushido Jewelry Casket and then give the money from that sale to the Crown Prince. He had searched for a verified buyer. Someone who could be discreet regarding the sale and who understood the value of this jewelry box.”
Hikari hung on their every word in shock about this entire thing. She was under the impression that she and her troop were going to be completing a C-Level mission and it was an opportunity for advancement.
“Right. The businessman had found a person who was interested in purchasing the jewelry box. Everything was set, and they were going to do the exchange. But days before, the Bushido Jewelry Casket went missing,” the first agent explained.
“Oh, no!” Hikari interrupted, realizing what had happened. “We know this guy is telling the truth?” Hikari’s palms began to sweat with the thought she and her clan had assisted in the robbery.
“We have undeniable proof that this wealthy business owner was indeed the original owner of the Bushido Jewelry Casket and that story is accurate,” assured the second agent. These two seemed to be in tandem the way they told the story. Hikari had wondered how long they had been partners.
“So what about Lady Rose?” Hikari asked.
“Yeah. We are uncertain what role she played in all of this. We are still sorting her out,” answered the first agent.
“When I left to go back to the Hildebrandt House, the troops were on their way to assist with the sale at the market,” probed Hikari. “What happened after I left?”
Higashi answered Hikari’s question, “We assisted Lady Rose with the sale of the Bushido Jewelry Casket and escorted her on her family’s boat. We successfully completed the mission, so we received our compensation. Hence the Honor Beads I awarded you when you arrived.”
Hikari nodded in response. “I see,” she muttered.
“Your new armor is waiting for you in your dorm,” added Higashi.
Hikari watched what flashed across her line of vision:
Hikari received the Cloak of the Shadow Armor
Defense increased to 10 (+0)
Covertness increase to 14 (+2)
Armor Class increase to 6
Higashi added, “It is black coated chain mail. Lightweight, yet highly protective. I know you will like it.”
The first agent interrupted Higashi, “Well, you may have received your compensation for completing the mission they hired you for, but now you are enemies of the Crown Prince by assisting with the sale of a stolen good from the Prince’s close friend.”
“I realize,” retorted Higashi. “And we are assisting and cooperating with your faction, are we not?”
“You have done everything we have asked,” the second agent affirmed.
“So, you must understand, Despite us receiving our compensation, our clan does not like to be used. Obviously, we were hired because the thieves knew we were the clan to complete the job,” rebutted Higashi, his white beard wiggling as he refuted the Himitsu Agencies assertions that Erito knowingly became an enemy of the Crown Prince because they received their compensation. “We used manpower for this effort and we needed to compensate our ninjas even though we were betrayed as well.” Higashi was a lion with protecting Erito, the students and its reputation.
“You have consequences for your actions,” interjected the first agent. “The Crown Prince does not care if you knowingly or unknowingly sold his friend’s ancient jewelry box. All he wants is its return. The Crown Prince decided that he would like this piece in his collection rather than the money and will accept it as repayment for the loan.”
The second shinobi agent picked up where the other had left off, “The Crown Prince is prepared to shut down Erito Preparatory Academy and jail all the instructors, administration, and students if you do not return the Bushido Jewelry Casket.”
“Yes, you mentioned that before,” argued Higashi, his nostrils flared with anger. Higashi turned to Hikari, “We have to get the jewelry box back,” he admitted. “We are deploying our troops on another mission at midnight.”
“Very well,” answered Hikari trying to figure out how she would meet Cain for dinner at sundown and then Sho with the Kanga Clan.
Higashi added, “You will lead a small troop Hikari. Your first mission after your promotion in rank.”
“I will?”
“Yes, you will get your orders after you make up the blade class you missed with Hitachi. He is waiting for you in his training room,” explained Higashi.
“Is she free to go?” Higashi asked, humoring the two agents.
“Yes, she is free to return to campus,” the first agent confirmed.
“Well, go on,” said Higashi. “We don’t have all day.” Higashi flashed a smile at Hikari who returned the grin. She was excited to be leading her troop on the mission tonight. At a brisk pace, she made her way to Hitachi’s training room.
“Don’t let your left side drop!” Hitachi shouted. His black hair moving as he moved his arms which held his Ninjatō, coming toward Hikari’s head with a strike of the blade.
Relying on her training from earlier, Hikari was quick to meet his sword with her blade, negating the attack. Both Hitachi and Hikari maintained their square stances as their blades clashed, the metal clanging as they made contact.
Gaining control of her blade first, Hikari made a slashing advance, attempting to cut through Hitachi’s training armor. He dodged the advance as if he saw the attack coming before Hikari even thought about it. Hitachi then raised his Ninjatō overhead and propelled himself toward Hikari with wind-like speed, fluid as he advanced toward Hikari in the air.
This advance had almost caught Hikar
i off guard, but she spun in a 360 to maintain the distance between her and Hitachi. Hitachi swung his Ninjatō, missing Hikari. “Very good!” Hitachi commended. “You’re much quicker on your feet. You used to be so flat with that advance.”
Hikari nodded in acknowledgment, knowing how she improved. Hikari came with an advance on Hitachi, but he blocked it with his blade. Gathering his arms above, he countered her attack with a swing for Hikari’s head, making Hikari duck the blade that moved over her head. “Good again! You are much more agile than you have been,” confirmed Hitachi.
Hikari returned the advance with a strike to the backside of Hitachi but was quickly met with his blade that he positioned over his shoulder to guard the side he left exposed. “You fell for it!” Hitachi exclaimed as he reached behind his back with his free hand. He secured his palm around the blade of his Ninjatō and struck Hikari in the face with the hand that once held the blade.
“Ouch!” Hikari shouted, dropping her blade and grabbing her nose, giving Hitachi a dirty look.
“Your skills have increased,” said Hitachi, putting down his Ninjatō, signifying the training was over. “I will prepare you for defending techniques such as that,” he continued. “With time, you will learn more.”
Hikari continued to hold her nose, afraid that it might start to bleed. The burning from her nose absorbing the blunt force of Hitachi’s open palm brought tears to her eyes. As she moved her hand from her nose, she saw she was, in fact, bleeding from Hitachi’s strike.
“Oh dear. I must go tend to this,” said Hikari, holding the bridge of her nose to stop the bleeding. With her free hand, she put the shinobigatana back in the strap on her back.
As she made her way to the entryway of Hitachi’s training room he said, “Oh, by the way.” Hikari turned to look at him, directing her attention to his face as she held her nose. “Nice blade.” Right then, alarm bells went off inside Hikari. Her heart raced and her stomach felt as she struggled to maintain control of her body’s response. The tone that he used alluded that he knew where she got her new blade.
“Right. Thanks. Thanks for the training,” answered Hikari, backpedaling to the entryway. “Must take care of my bleeding nose now,” she said as she scampered off, dashing toward her dorm room.
While Hikari made her way down the hall, she watched while she received updates from her vision:
Training with the expert practitioner has increased Agility to 14 (+2)
Tactical Combat 13 (+1)
At least getting punched in the nose wasn’t in vain. The blood ran down her forearm, and Hikari needed to return to her dorm to tend to it and wash up.
While Hikari made her way to the residential side of the academy, she turned down one hallway and instantly ran into Jiro and Rika.
“Hikari!” Rika shouted, appearing excited to see her friend. “Oh dear, what happened to you?” she asked, looking concerned. Rika was like the mother of the group of friends. She always checked in with everyone and made certain they were protected and taken care of. Rika’s mother had passed away while she was young and she was responsible for raising her younger sisters.
Hikari spoke, her fist that clenched her nose, “I trained with Hitachi since I missed class this morning.”
Jiro, looking concerned said, “Yeah, where were you this morning? I had expected you to be back by breakfast.” Jiro was one of the most honorable men that Hikari had ever met. He always did what was right, well at least what he saw was right. He was more than willing to lie to his Jonin if that meant Hikari could go see her ailing father.
“Yeah, I visited my parents. My dad is getting worse. I’m afraid he’s not meant for this world much longer,” fibbed Hikari, regretting lying to her friends.
“We were worried about you,” said Rika. Her black hair moving while she spoke. Hikari treasured these two friendships along with the rest of the group, Karin and Yoshi. The five of them were initiated into the Erito Preparatory Academy clan together. They even belonged to the same troop.
“Right! Shizue Jonin was irate!” Jiro confirmed. “He would blow a fuse.” Jiro was taller than both Rika and Hikari, essentially towering over them. His size lent him to be protective of whoever he was with. Growing up in a large family, he was the tallest and strongest. During his teenage years before he enrolled in Erito, he had experienced a grave trauma. After a break-in during the night at his house, while his family slept, he was the lone survivor after the assailants torched his family’s home. He had gotten out after he smelled the smoke in his sleep an odd thing that he could do. He did not have anywhere to go, and he vowed that since he did not protect his family, he would spend the rest of his life protecting others.
Enrolling in Erito proved to be a good decision for Jiro, as he picked up ninjitsu techniques at a rapid pace. As he saw it, his life was purposeless before they murdered his entire family, and now his life had a driving force, to not only avenge their deaths but to protect everyone he could along the way. As the years had gone on while he had been at Erito, he had figured who had robbed his family belongs and set fire to his home, killing all but him. He was uncertain what he would do with the information now that he knew.
“When he saw that you did not return with everyone, I think he had a cow right in the quad while the administration handed out our Honor Beads and new armor for completing the mission,” added Rika. “But we are glad that you are all right but so sorry to hear about your dad.”
“Yeah, that must be tough. We will cover for you if you need to keep getting away to see him,” empathized Jiro.
“Oh, thanks, guys. I appreciate that.”
“We went back to the Hildebrandt House before class this morning,” started Rika.
“Yeah, after we saw how furious Shizue Jonin was after he found out you didn’t come back, and the cover we gave him would not hold water if they went and checked. We went back to the house and helped the keeper clean up,” explained Jiro.
“You guys did what?” Hikari said, deeply touched by the gesture.
Emotional bond to Rika Miyoshi- Adoration
Emotional bond to Jiro Momchi- Adoration
“We did it for you,” answered Rika. “So Shizue Jonin wouldn’t find out.”
“We didn’t want to get into trouble either,” added Jiro. “The keeper of the house was grateful that we cleaned everything up. They destroyed a lot of the artifacts in the fight, but we fixed what we could. Then we made it back just in time for Hitachi’s blade class.”
“He was furious at you too.”
“Well, he took it out on my nose.”
Jiro started, changing the subject, “I’m sure you’ve heard of the incident.”
“Yeah, the little quandary our clan finds itself in,” added Rika.
“That we sold the Crown Prince’s friend’s stolen goods? Yeah, got that memo. They questioned me before I was allowed back on campus. The Himitsu Agency wanted to make sure that their investigation wasn’t compromised by allowing me to enter without being interrogated.”
“Oh, good, so you know about it,” said Rika.
“I do. Looks like we be retrieving the Bushido Jewelry Casket, and giving it to the Crown Prince?” Hikari asked for clarification.
“Right, or risk our clan being shut down and us going to prison,” explained Jiro. “We are meeting at midnight to start our new mission.”
“But that’s why they think the Senshi Clan attacked us at the Hildebrandt House. Perhaps the Senshi Clan knew they or maybe we stole the artifact, and they were trying to get it back to the Crown Prince’s friend,” said Rika.
“Maybe. No one knows for certain,” added Jiro.
“Did you get your orders from Hitachi?” Rika asked.
Hikari said from under her clenched hand, “Uh, no. I had to dash out of there because of my bloody nose.”
“Oh, right? Well, you will have a troop of Genins tonight. I think four or so,” started Jiro.
“Genins? They’re barely trained! Are they appr
oved to go on a mission such as this?” Hikari asked, mortified that she would lead a group of Genins.
“Everyone who was promoted last night has Genins assigned to them. Help them improve,” said Jiro. “You will train and mold them into the soldier you desire. Remember that.”
“Right, right,” dismissed Hikari.
“We are meeting in the quad with our newly formed troops,” added Rika. “There we will get further orders. But from what I gleaned so far, we are headed to the headquarters of the Kagaku Clan.”
“The Kagaku Clan?” Hikari asked. “They’re in this too?”
“We believe that they are the ones that Lady Rose sold the jewelry box to,” answered Jiro. “It makes sense,” he added while he shrugged his shoulders. “I just hope this isn’t too hard for Karin.”
“Oh, right,” Hikari said before stopping herself, realizing that Karin’s dad was the disgraced Kage of that clan.
“Yeah, this might be difficult for her,” confirmed Rika. “I hope she will be able to cope with it all right. I’m sure she knew several members of the clan will engage with.”
Jiro continued, “Despite her being the daughter of the disgraced Kage, those members were like family to her. The clan members helped raise her. I’m certain this will be difficult.”
Hikari understood the conflict that Karin would soon face as they would begin on their next mission later that night. “So we believe the Kagaku Clan has this jewelry box?”
“That is the information we were given. So far, the powers that be believe that the Crown Prince’s wealthy friend may have hired the Senshi Clan to get the jewelry box back. That is when they attacked us. Then the person who bought the piece from Lady Rose, we believe is from the Kagaku Clan who wanted the jewelry box to use the precious gemstones from the box in one of their inventions.”
“That makes sense,” affirmed Hikari, finally putting the pieces together.
Hikari could still taste the blood in her mouth as her nose was still bleeding. “Guys, I’m glad I ran into you two. And thanks for covering for me and even going so far to help clean up the Hildebrandt House to ensure my alibi was sound, but I got to stop the bleeding from my nose.”
