“Betrayal By Blood”
Part 17

Later that day after lunch, Soji sees Nori setting in front of her room on the walkway. He walks over to her and sits next to her; he looks down at the ground and says in a saddened tone, “Help me understand Nori… help me understand why you want Hijikata dead. I know you have been carrying a lot of pain and grief inside of you for a very long time, but you are not a killer you do not have the look or even the smell of blood on you. Why now do you want to kill?”

Nori whispers, “I do not, and who said I was going to kill him? The only thing I know is it must be done.” Nori gets up and starts to walk away from Soji.

Soji looks at her, shocked with the answer she gave him and that she is walking away from him with only that statement. He jumps up grabbing her shoulder spinning her around he yells at her, “I deserve an answer from you, and you will give it to me!!” Soji exclaims.

Nori pulls away from Soji pushing his hands from away from her; she backs up, turning and starts to walk away again. Soji quickly gets in front of her and stops her looking into her eyes.

“Just remember what you told me the night of the festival, Soji.” Nori tells him.

“That is not the answer I am looking for!” Soji exclaims, “What does that have to do this anyway?”

Nori smiles at Soji as a tear trickles down her cheek, “I will call on you to do me a favor one day. I just hope you are up to it when I ask you to do it.” She steps around Soji and starts to walk away again saying. “I hope you are a true friend to me, for you are my only friend.”

Soji stands there confused by what she said to him, he thinks to himself, “What she is talking about? What I told her at the festival?” Soji just then realizes what she is talking about “SHE WANTS ME TO KILL HIJIKATA?!” As he spins around yelling, “NO!! NORI!! I CANNOT DO THAT!!” He sees that Nori has done left his sight.

The night comes and goes. Shades of orange illuminate the sky as the morning sun rises to start a new day. Nori hasn't slept all night. Instead, she has been seated in a cherry blossom tree just a half mile away from the compound. Tears run down her cheeks as they have been since nightfall. She knows what she has to do... and what may become of her in the end. Her somber silence is shattered when a loud voice yells to her. It sounds familiar and is not a voice that she wanted to hear. It is the voice of Oukami.

"Nori, you say that you will kill Hijikata, yet the man still breathes," he says to her. Nori looks down to see him standing with Mizuto. Mizuto is holding the bag that Sawaka had given him earlier.

"I told you before, Oukami. Hijikata will die on MY terms. I'm not in the mood to deal with you. Now go."

Mizuto shakes his head. "Tsk, tsk tsk. The mistress has grown tired of waiting. I have something here that may you speed you up..." he says as he reaches into the bag. Nori watches as he pulls out a small wooden sign. Mizuto tosses it to the ground. The words "TEA SHOP" run across it. Nori leaps down from the tree.

"Bastards! What have you done to my grandfather?" Nori shouts.

Oukami grins at her. "We've done nothing. This is our mistress's doing. If Hijikata doesn't die by your hands soon, we cannot guarantee that your grandfather will survive."

Nori raises the sign to her chest and hugs it. She turns her attention back to the men before her. "Is this how desperate she has gotten? Resorting to petty kidnapping? If she hurts him, I swear--"

Mizuto cuts her off. "You'll do NOTHING! You know that you're no match for her. Now be a good girl and kill Hijikata, okay? If not, your grandfather will get a one-way ticket to Hell."

"ENOUGH!" A voice proclaims from behind the two Supaidas. Mizuto and Oukami turn and see Hijikata himself. He speaks again. "I heard the whole thing. That wench Sawaka is getting to be a real pest. If she wants me dead, why doesn't she come herself? In fact, I am here now. Why don't you two kill me?"

Mizuto laughs at him. "She has her reasons for wanting Nori to be the one to finish you."

Hijikata draws his sword. "And I have my reasons for finishing you both. Nori, stay back."

Nori gets into her fighting stance. "What do you take me for? These guys have my grandfather and you expect me to sit back and do nothing?"

Hijikata smirks. "I shouldn't have expected anything less. You take Oukami. Mizuto is mine."

Oukami unsheathes his two weapons. Mizuto pulls out his blade as well. He looks to his comrade. "Remember... don't kill them. It'll ruin the mistress's plan."

"Right, we'll just slice them until they wish they were dead." adds Oukami before dashing forward to battle Nori.

Hijikata engages Mizuto in a swordfight.Their blades clash, forcing sparks to fly into the air. The sounds of clanging steel echo throughout the forest surrounding them. The heated intensity of the struggle upsets the balance of wildlife around the area, making animals flee for safety. Mizuto slides back from Hijikata and tosses his sword into the air.

"Supaida Transformation Technique... Rain of Ice Needles!”

The sword transforms into water and then freezes into ice. Hijikata ignores it and lunges at his now wide-open opponent. Mizuto is very calm, not moving from his ground. The ice sword spins around rapidly and is broken into thousands of needle-like weapons. They fall from the sky and towards Hijikata. Hijikata quickly avoids the first wave, but is not so lucky with the second. Several of the needles embed themselves into his flesh.

He drops his sword before falling to his knees. All of the ice needles rejoin and revert back into Mizuto's original sword. He stands over the wounded Hijikata with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Outclassed, outdone, and outmatched. Pathetic." he says.

Meanwhile, Nori is holding her own against Oukami. She easily dodges most of his attacks, which frustrates Oukami. Nori quickly ducks from an oncoming swipe and raises her leg up to kick one of Oukami's blades from his hand. She grabs his other arm and rolls him over. Oukami reveals a hidden dagger and jabs it into Nori's side. She cries out in pain. As she does, Oukami kicks her away and grabs his sword from the grass.

Nori has been slowed down because of her injury. Oukami knows this and takes advantage. He repeatedly swipes his swords at her. Nori does her best to avoid being turned into ribbons, but cannot avoid them all as a few graze her. She falls over onto her back. Oukami holds a sword at her throat.

"I could kill you now, but you have your orders. Kill him... or your grandfather dies. AHH!"

A shuriken strikes Oukami in the back. He falls over and lies next to Nori. Nori mounts him and delivers a series of punches to his face until she eventually renders him unconscious. She, Hijikata and Mizuto turn to see who threw the shuriken. It was Soji.

"Soji..." whispers Nori.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" he screams while he wields his sword. Mizuto laughs at him.

"You? HAHAHA! You've got to be kidding me. Run along, little boy. The adults are trying to have a conversation."

Soji runs towards Mizuto. "Boy? I'll show you just how much of a boy I am!"

He furiously swipes his sword at Mizuto. Their blades meet with each other numerous times before Mizuto starts to sweat nervously. Hijikata's eyes widen as he thinks. "He's like a man-possessed... I've never seen Soji like this before..."

Mizuto is being pushed backward, a position he doesn't like to be in. He rolls away and tosses his sword quickly into the air.

"Supaida Transformation Technique... Rain of Ice Needles!"

Once again, the sword turns into water and then into ice. The needles fall from the sky above and towards Soji. Soji swipes his sword feverishly to repel all of the needles without them touching him. Mizuto cannot believe it. Neither can Nori or Hijikata. Soji runs again, advancing closer to Mizuto. He eventually catches Mizuto and tackles him to the ground. Soji gets on top of Mizuto and starts to choke him.

"You and your boss... leave Nori alone! Leave us all alone!" he shouts at his fallen adversary. Mizuto smiles... the ice needles have taken flight again and hover dangerously over Soji.

"SOJI! LOOK OUT!" screams Nori.

The ice needles plummet and Soji barely manages to avoid being hurt. The same cannot be said about Mizuto. The needles have stabbed him all over. The face, the neck, the chest, everywhere. They melt and turn into water along with Mizuto's body. It evaporates into the air, gone forever. Soji breathes a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad that's over." he says.

Nori looks at Oukami. "He's still alive. When he wakes up, I'll demand that he take me to my grandfather."

Hijikata brushes off his wounds. They aren't as bad as they were before; Mizuto's death seems to have undone the effects they caused. Soji picks up Oukami and carries him back to headquarters. Nori follows after.

She doesn't say a word to Soji. Soji wants to talk to her, but with Hijikata present, he finds it very difficult to say anything that may upset him.

Hijikata looks back at Nori and stares for a moment. He knows that Nori was sent to kill him. It is just a matter of time until they are forced to face each other.