7th Moon

When the team got back to the Seventh Moon, Hidariude was escorted to the brig. It was a little known dungeon used for disciplining insubordinates. There was nothing there, nothing to describe, just four walls and a toilet. Hidariude was charged and sentenced with treason and would be kept here until President Han Toromi could decide his final fate. This imprisonment included wearing a magnetic glove that restricted his use of his blades so that he couldn’t use them to hurt anybody, which presumably reduced his overall fighting ability since most of his skills involved using the blades. Unfortunately it also interrupted the whole circuitry of his cyber arm, so he effectively only had one arm, which added to the punishment.

While Hidariude waited for his former comrades to get out of the infirmary and decide his fate, he sat there in the brig, thinking about what happened. The boy’s name was Douji and his mother had said something about the Shrine of the Golden Dragon and someone named Ryu. He had no idea what the shrine was, but Ryu, he recognized was the name of a trainer he had once. He tried to remember the last time he saw the man, three years ago on his fifteenth birthday. He had just gotten his complete cyber arm, and he was meeting Ryu for a training session to test it out. The cybernetics team wanted to make sure everything was in perfect working order before sealing his arm in a synthetic skin, the tedious final touch, but as soon as he showed it to Ryu, he walked off and never came back. Could this be the same Ryu? What was he doing on Earth? Why had he abandoned his trainees at such a critical time?

The door finally opened and a cat girl walked in carrying a tray with a bowl of tofu and a glass of water. Instead of normal human ears, she had pointy feline ears on top of her head, sticking out through her thick long hair. She also had a tail that reached just below her knees when fully extended, though she seemed to keep it curled up. She was slender, yet curvy, with very full breasts, and wore nothing but the fur which was another side effect of her feline DNA. The patches of fur didn’t cover much, some fur across her large chest, and also around her pelvis, it made her look like she was wearing a sort of fur bikini. Otherwise she looked like a normal girl, not that Hidariude had ever seen a girl before. She set down the tray and said “Here, eat, you have to keep up your strength. We don’t want to lose our best fighter.”

Hidariude let out a small laugh. “I’m the best fighter? Then why am I in here?”

“You were outnumbered. Rumor is you took on five soldiers alone. You’re in trouble for fighting against your own comrades, but the fact that it took five of them to bring you down has to count for something.”

“And I didn’t even have to use my cyber blades. Yes, I’m dangerous, which begs the question what are you doing here? Isn’t it dangerous for you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just a slave. You were made to fight and I was made to serve. Right now my service is to feed a prisoner and if I die, they charge you with another killing and replace me with another.”

“Aren’t you at least afraid of me for your own sake?”

“No. This isn’t the worst assignment I’ve ever gotten, you don’t scare me. In your case, I admire your strength, I can’t tell you how many times I wish I had the strength to fight five men, but I gave up on that a long time ago.” She turned to leave.

“What’s your name?”

“I am called Keisei. What’s your name?”

“They call me Hidariude.”

“Well, Hidariude, I hope you get out of this one.”

“Right back at you Keisei.”

Keisei smiled at Hidariude, then left the room and closed it behind her. As Hidariude watched her leave, he could see the shadows of guards outside the door. He stayed still until the door shut. When he was done eating his tofu and drinking his water, he felt surprisingly reinvigorated. He felt the weight of his cyber arm and knew Keisei was right about him keeping up his strength, his left arm was heavy and he would have to work that much harder to make sure his right arm kept up with the weight. He slung his left arm behind his back and began doing one-handed pushups. He counted about a hundred, and then just kept going until he passed out.

* * *

Kichiku ran from the village. He ran into the forest beyond the village. He ran towards the mountains. He ran until he couldn’t run anymore. He set Douji down and then collapsed from exhaustion. As he caught his breath he looked up and saw a streak across the sky. It took him some time to recognize that the streak was the jet that had brought him and his comrades to earth and now they had left. His second clue was that Aka was no longer following him. “Good, the fire wall blocked them and they retreated, just as I had hoped. I just hope Hidariude is okay. Stay safe my brother, may we meet again someday.”

Douji lead Kichiku to a mountain in the distance and directed him toward a trail so they could hike up the mountainside to the shrine. It was long and boring and uneventful. Every now and then Kichiku would stop and look around. There was a great view from the mountain, but not much to see. Beyond the forest there were the still smoldering remnants of the village, thankfully the fire had been stopped by the water in the rice paddies. Aside from that, there was nothing but the overgrown ruins of older villages in the distance, which actually just appeared to be more forests and mountains.

Douji was surprisingly adept at moving up the mountainside, and Kichiku had a hard time keeping up. It took all day to get up the mountain, and around sunset, just when Kichiku was ready to give up, they finally reached the gates of the shrine. Douji knocked on the door, “Sifu! It’s me Douji!”

The gate creaked open and out came a somewhat elderly looking man, but three years hadn’t changed him so much that Kichiku couldn’t recognize him. “Master Ryu…it’s me Kichiku! Where have you been?”

At first Ryu had reached down to hug Douji, but then suddenly he looked up at Kichiku. “Kichiku? What are you doing here?”

Kichiku hung his head in shame, “Master, I would rather not discuss this in front of the boy, I’m afraid it’s too soon.”

“Come in then, come in.” Ryu ushered in both of his guests and closed the gate. Ryu directed them to his house within the shrine grounds. It used to be an administrative office, but since Ryu was the only administrator left, it became his home. He made a dinner for them, tea with rice and daikon, a white radish-like vegetable unique to Japan, served with a bowl of cherries for dessert. Ryu had questions, but knew far better than to ask them in Douji’s presence. He encouraged them to eat quietly and then put Douji to bed. There were three rooms, one for the priest of Kyutsume, one for the head monk, and one for the miko. For now, Douji would sleep in the miko’s room.

Ryu returned to see Kichiku. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the village was visible from here. I saw the burning. I would have gone to help, but I’m afraid I’m too old to do much good and by the time I could see it, the situation was far out of my control. I prayed for Douji and his mother to survive and bring any others here. I’m afraid my prayers were not completely answered. When I left three years ago, I wanted to protect Douji, I was afraid I was too late for you and my other students. I know what was going on, my only question is, what happened with you to separate from the others and come here.”

Kichiku could barely speak, he was overcome with such shame facing his master. However, Ryu’s tone had set him enough at ease that he was able to answer, “I killed his mother. I destroyed his home and secretly hoped nobody was inside. Then I found his mother in the wreckage, and he crawled out from somewhere safe and began to cry over her. She told him to come here, and then our commander found us and said he would take Douji back to Seventh Moon, but he also said that he would need to be tested to be sure he wasn’t a threat. I didn’t know what that meant, but he was already scared.”

“Listen, I still have one more room. You may sleep there tonight, and you may stay as long as you want. I just have one condition, I am an old man and it has grown harder for me to take care of the field behind the shrine where I grow tea, daikon and rice, could you help me with that?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, then it’s settled. Now go get some rest, we have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Kichiku went to the last room. It was empty except for a sleeping mat and some saffron robes that looked like they had been sitting there for a long time. He pulled off his uniform and put on one of the robes. He found it surprisingly comfortable. In fact so comfortable that he gave in to physical exhaustion and fell asleep.

The next morning Kichiku awoke to the smell of freshly brewed tea. He came out to the common room to find that breakfast was more rice and cherries. It occurred to him that Ryu had not mentioned any other crops and so it would stand to reason that this would be his entire diet unless Douji could forage up some good food. Thinking of Douji, he couldn’t get the images of the raid out of his mind. He sat across the table from the boy and ate his breakfast in silence.

After breakfast, Douji went out to play and Ryu took Kichiku around the grounds to learn about his new home. There was one large shrine with three smaller shrines built in front. Ryu explained the significance of the shrines, “The large shrine is the Shrine of the Golden Dragon, Shinryuu. Around eight hundred years ago, the dragon appeared in this very spot, and by chance his appearance was witnessed by three travelers, a samurai, a ninja, and a monk named Nyudo. Nyudo had been a monk at a very strict temple dedicated to Buddhist discipline. Feeling a desire to connect with his Japanese heritage, he built a small shrine to Shinto kami on the temple grounds. This was a fairly common practice, but this temple belonged to a very purist sect of Buddhism and they did not approve of how Nyudo put his worship of Shinto kami above Buddhist discipline. He insisted that he did not mean to place one faith above the other, but ultimately the leaders of the monk felt he was a bad influence and destroyed his shrine and exiled him. As he wandered Japan he found himself in the mountains and happened upon a ninja and a samurai who were also there by chance or fate as at the very moment their three paths crossed the Golden Dragon Shinryuu appeared here. Accepting the blessing of the dragon, Nyudo helped to create this shrine. Locked in the main shrine is a statue of the dragon, the Yoshiro of the shrine. Nyudo, the samurai, and the ninja held vigil here in honor of Shinryuu, praying that he may return, inhabit the Yoshiro and make it shintai, blessing this shrine and all who gather here. When the founders grew too old to perform their duties, they passed on their responsibilities to a new generation of apprentices who made sure to honor the founders by entombing them in these smaller shrines. According to the teachings of Nyudo, each of the founders ascended to become bodhisattvas to whom we appeal for enlightenment as we request the kami Shinryuu to return and meet us here.”

Ryu directed Kichiku to a wall of the shrine of Nyudo. “This is where we used to put prayers to Nyudo. Unfortunately, nobody has minded this shrine in nineteen years and the old prayer slips have all worn away. Perhaps you may have some prayers you would like to post here to request of Nyudo.”

Kichiku asked, “What about the main shrine to Shinryuu?”

“I sealed the shrine with the miko and the head monk nineteen years ago, before I left for the Seventh Moon. The seal can only be opened with a monk, a miko and a swordsman, and right now I’m the only one left. I imagine I could train you to be a monk, but we still need a miko, so until a woman comes to take on those duties, the shrine remains sealed.”

Kichiku paused, closed his eyes and whispered “Bodhisattva, take care of my brother Hidariude. Keep him safe, and may we meet again under better circumstances than when we parted.”

Ryu tried not to listen, but he did hear when Kichiku stopped. “You may make a fine monk someday, but even a monk must eat, let us go to the fields.”

Ryu brought Kichiku to the back of the shrine and showed him a big field on the plateau between the mountains. It seemed to go as far as the eye could see. The farther half of the field was actually a series of rice paddies, while the closer half was a daikon field, the entire field was framed by a hedge of tea plants that also divided the two fields with bridges going over the hedges.

Ryu handed Kichiku two buckets. “First you will collect water from the rice paddies to water the daikon and tea plants. Once you have watered the crops, you will prune the tea plants and collect the leaves. Then you will search through the paddies and the field for the largest plants and collect enough for meals. There are three of us and each plant should be enough for each of us for one meal, so collect nine daikons and nine plants worth of rice. Go ahead and get started with the watering, and then come and get me when you have watered the whole daikon field. I will be on the far side of the fields attending to the cherry trees.”

“We have cherry trees?”

“Three. I grow them myself, and as long as I live I will never be too old to attend to them.” Ryu said with a wink and a smile and walked off toward the cherry trees.

Kichiku spent the entire morning watering the daikon. At first it seemed easy enough when he was pouring water from the nearest paddies to the plants on the other side of the hedge, but when he realized he needed to water the daikon farther from the paddies and that he would need to collect the water from the paddies farther away from the daikon field, it became more difficult. Finally he got smart enough to go to the farthest paddies first so that he could reduce the distance he would have to carry the water to the nearest dry daikon. Ryu peeked through the cherry trees and smiled when he saw the strategy that Kichiku was employing.

Just a little after noon, Kichiku came to get Ryu. “So you finished watering the daikon? Now we move on to the tea plants… But first, lunch! Let’s go get Douji, he should be back at the house.”

They took the long walk back to the shrine grounds and entered Ryu’s house where Douji was getting the table ready for lunch. Again, rice, daikon, tea and cherries, Kichiku was definitely noticing a pattern.

As they were eating, Ryu asked Douji about his morning. “So, Douji, did you find anything interesting this morning?”

“Not really.” Douji answered, “I just chased some bunnies around the side of the mountain. I couldn’t find any good herbs or anything.”

“Well we wouldn’t want the rabbits to starve because you collected all of their food foraging.” Ryu said to Douji, “Perhaps you could share daikon with your furry little friends.”

Kichiku simply ate in silence, looking down at his food. When he was done eating, he took his dish and cup to the wash basin and went outside. Ryu grabbed some shears and a basket and followed after Kichiku. Ryu approached the tea plants and started trimming. He was very careful and deliberate about what leaves he trimmed, only cutting the outliers, keeping the hedge neat and straight, only placing the finest leaves in the basket. He made sure Kichiku noticed his method, gesturing to the leaves as he cut so that he could see. After a few plants, Ryu handed the shears to Kichiku. “Here you go, now I will hold the basket while you cut.”

For a good portion of the afternoon, Ryu followed Kichiku in silence. Although Ryu said nothing, he made Kichiku very nervous, constantly fearing that he was doing something wrong. Once they had gone around the entire perimeter, Ryu declared they were almost done, “We just have to collect a few daikons and some rice and we can call it a day. But first, I want you to come with me.” Ryu lead Kichiku to the compost heap, a small pile of old tea leaves, cherry and daikon stems and deseeded rice plants. There were very clearly flies buzzing around the odorous pile. Ryu instructed Kichiku to swat the flies. “Using only your bare hands, strike the flies down from the air.”

“Why?” Kichiku asked.”

“Because the flies are very pesky. They buzz in my ears all night and they may infect the crops. You never know what diseases they may carry. Mostly I just want to see how good your aim is.”

Kichiku took a few swats, but the flies dodged every strike. He looked at his hands and he hadn’t made contact with a single one.

Ryu dug up a few rice plants and daikon stems out of the heap along with a bucket full of raw compost. “I’ll go harvest the vegetables for today, and I’ll plant these in their place. Keep trying to hit the flies and I’ll check in on you in a bit.”

It took about an hour for Ryu to harvest, plant, fertilize and return to Kichiku. In this time, Kichiku continued to try hitting the flies, but completely failed. When Ryu returned, he brought with him a wooden sword. With one swing, he brought down all of the flies but one.

“You missed one.” Kichiku noted.

“No,” Ryu corrected, “I left that one for you. You were able to follow my lead when I showed you how to trim the tea plants, and before that, you followed my fighting training perfectly. I know you can learn, now let’s see if you can learn from me now. Bring down the last fly yourself.”

Kichiku continued this training until sunset. The fly was still flying. Ryu finally stopped Kichiku “He’ll still be there tomorrow, you’ll get him then.”

They went home for dinner as the night before, and as the night before, Kichiku ate and went to bed in silence. This cycle continued for days, breakfast, prayers at the shrine, tending to the fields, lunch, fly swatting, dinner, and back to bed to start over the next day. Kichiku did not speak much, only when he had to, and he never succeeded in hitting a single fly.

Finally one day, Ryu interrupted Kichiku’s fly swatting. “Kichiku, give the flies a break and spar with me a bit.”

Kichiku was hesitant to fight Ryu as he seemed much older and weaker, and in any case, Kichiku knew he had natural strength far beyond what Ryu could have possibly had at his peak. He threw a punch that was steady but light. Ryu blocked it without any difficulty.

“Is that all you’ve got? Remember, I have trained you before, I know you can do better than that.”

Kichiku threw a few more punches and kicks, hoping some speed would wear out Ryu before he got himself killed.

“More, faster, harder!” Ryu demanded.

Kichiku continued to strike faster, putting more force into his attacks. Eventually it became clear he was fighting too hard for Ryu to simply block, so Ryu started dodging. Ryu was very subtle about the transition from blocking to dodging, carefully guiding his blows away from his body.

“Come on Kichiku, focus!”

Kichiku started giving it his all striking at Ryu with full force. Ryu could sense that this needed to end, but despite the force behind Kichiku’s fighting, he was missing the will to end the battle. Kichiku threw a full force kick and Ryu saw the opportunity he needed. Ryu ducked down to the ground and did a sweep kick tripping Kichiku. In the same movement, Ryu kept turning, stood up, and kicked again placing his foot on Kichiku’s throat. “You are an elite warrior of Seventh Moon! You have the strength of ten men and then some! I trained you myself! You could have easily defeated me, and yet you failed. Do you know why?”

“Master, why do you want me to fight?” Kichiku replied, “I came here because I don’t want to destroy anymore and that’s all that I was good for. I want a new beginning.”

“And I was more than willing to give it to you, but you choose to remain in the past. You could not focus on fighting me because you are still thinking of what you did in the village. If you want to put that behind you the first step is letting go of it yourself.”

“But what I did was unforgivable.”

“Before anyone can forgive you, you must first forgive yourself.” Ryu advised Kichiku. “Douji is hurting too. He lost his mother. Every day his first stop is to go to the main shrine and pray to the golden dragon for her. After that he runs around playing, but he is alone up here. He needs someone to fill the void.”

“You think that someone should be me?” Kichiku asked, “Why not you?”

“Douji already has me. I am sifu, and I have always been in his life. But he does not need a grandfather, he needs a father.”

“I killed his mother, how could I possibly be a father to him?”

“You want a new beginning. You do not want to destroy. What is the opposite of destruction? Creation, nurturing, parenthood. This is the new beginning I offer you, and you already took the first step on that journey when you brought him here. You made a decision to change from the man who took his mother to the man who saved his life. And then, you stopped. You haven’t spoken to him since you came here. He doesn’t just pray for the mother he lost, he prays for the father he never knew, and he hopes that is you. He is scared and you are all that he has now.”

These words hit Kichiku hard because it made him think of how he did not have a father either. He knew the pain and emptiness Douji felt. He still felt emptiness, and when he realized he had prayed for Hidariude every day, he realized he needed that void filled just as much as Douji. Ryu was right, they did need each other. But this was easier said than done.

As he paused in thought, Ryu tried to simplify things for him. “Now, the task at hand, is to swat a fly. Do you know why you cannot hit the fly? It is because the fly sees you coming. A fly can see behind itself. It can see forward, backward all around. You need to open your senses to do the same. You fail to hit the fly for the same reason you failed to defeat me, you lack focus. You have a lot of strength, but no idea how to direct it. When you are able to open your mind and your heart to focus on what you are doing now, instead of what you have done, then you will achieve success.”

Kichiku went back to trying to swat the fly, but again, sunset came and the fly yet lived. They went home for dinner, and again Kichiku ate in silence, still unsure of just what to say to Douji.

The next morning, Kichiku awoke to find that it was raining. Ryu surprisingly had a smile on his face. “It seems you have the day off, the rain will water the crops just fine.”

After breakfast, Kichiku sat by the window, watching for it to stop raining. Douji came up behind him. “Shinryuu granted my wish.”

“You wished for rain?” Kichiku asked.

“I wished for you to have the day off, Kichiku-san. You are always so busy working in the field so we can eat, and then you’re so tired you can’t play with me. But today you are well rested and you can’t go out so we can play go.” While he was talking, Douji went and got a go board with the pieces and showed them to Kichiku.

Kichiku realized he didn’t have anything better to do, so he sat down and started to play. Douji placed his white stone on the grid first. Then Kichiku placed his black stone on the grid. They went back and forth for a few turns, and then Douji stopped Kichiku. “You can’t place your piece there. It won’t have liberties and I will capture your pieces.”

Kichiku tried to place the stone on the other side of the board, mimicking Douji’s last move, sure that this would work. “No, ko rule, that’s the same move I made and it will just be the same as last turn.”

Kichiku tried one more time, “Is this spot okay?”

“Yes.”

Kichiku placed the stone. Douji placed another stone. “I win!”

Kichiku looked at the board. He realized he really had no idea what he was doing. “Master Ryu, can you come here, I think Douji might be cheating but I’m really not sure.”

Ryu came over and looked at the board. “I’m afraid he beat you fair and square. But the rain stopped, so it’s time for you to go pick some daikon and rice for dinner.”

“Aw…” Douji sighed.

Ryu laughed, “I’m sure there will be time for another game later.”

The daily routines continued with Kichiku tending to the crops and then fly swatting training again. This time Kichiku closed his eyes and listened to the buzzing sound. He felt the subtle wind of the fly’s wings. He sensed it’s presence until he knew exactly where it was and then clapped his hands around it. The buzzing stopped. He opened his eyes, then opened his hands, and the fly flew away.

“The power to capture the fly, and yet the restraint not to kill it.” Ryu said, “Now you are ready to be a monk of Nyudo.”

That night at dinner Douji asked Kichiku, “Can we play go after dinner?”

With a big smile on his face, Kichiku replied, “Sure Douji, we’ll play until I’m good enough to win.”

“Um… How about we play until just one game before that?” Douji said, and they all had a big laugh.

They did play after dinner while Ryu cleaned up, until the candles almost burned out. “Okay boys,” Ryu interrupted, “You’ve got a big day tomorrow catching up from what you couldn’t get done today during the rain.”

“Aww…” they both said in unison.

Ryu laughed, “If you get some rest you’ll have time to play tomorrow too. Maybe you can take Kichiku out to chase rabbits, maybe you’ll even see a raccoon dog.”

As Kichiku’s training began in earnest, the days went by faster. He had a newfound energy and burned through his chores faster. He spent the extra time in his day practicing kung fu with Ryu and playing with Douji. He found the emptiness in his heart finally filled, he had found a family.

* * *

Almost a year had passed since the raid, since Hidariude and Kichiku had been separated. Hidariude had been in the brig the whole time, serving his sentence for treason, and Keisei had been the only person he had contact with. Over the course of the past year, they had bonded, at least enough to make an escape plan. The first step was Keisei getting Hidariude some access to files on the Shrine of the Golden Dragon so he could finally sate his curiosity over the woman’s dying words. They made their plan for her to get into his cell after hours and get him out while security was down.

He returned to the cybernetics lab and looked around to find the computers where they were keeping records of his progress in using his cyber arm. He thought about getting the information from Han’s computer, but it was far too risky to invade the boss’s office, at least here his experience made it somewhat easier to get around. Fortunately there was little security on the computers because nobody could even get to Seventh Moon without being authorized personnel, so passwords seemed to be just a hindrance to the scientists.

Hidariude did a search to see if the company had any files concerning the Shrine of the Golden Dragon. He was surprised to find that there was one file that not only mentioned the Shrine of the Golden Dragon, but actually appeared to be relevant to him as it was filed under “Hidariude” which he realized referred to the project he was named for rather than himself directly, but still, definitely a point to start at.

The file specifically stated that his blades and the exterior of his arm had been acquired from the Shrine of the Golden Dragon. The items were all relics being kept at the shrine to commemorate a samurai that helped to found the shrine. It also stated that it was Gaki who had procured the materials and that he was also supposed to investigate if there were any other valuable relics, but that this investigation was impeded by some sort of security system that kept the main shrine inaccessible. The record went on to state that the last resident of the shrine attempted to interfere with Gaki’s mission and to neutralize the threat, Gaki bit him and attempted to exsanguinate him. As a result, the individual was infected with a degenerative mutation of the viral vector that had initially granted Gaki his special abilities. In the case of the individual, he become psychotic and attacked any human he came across. Gaki had successfully returned before the full results had been witnessed, though it resulted in the Kanagawa Plague of 2091 that was credited for triggering World War III. Seventh Moon volunteered to help contain the viral outbreak, quarantined the area, and treated the infected and eliminated carriers beyond treatment. As a result Seventh Moon managed to mitigate any political fallout. Unfortunately, the war itself was much more difficult to contain and had to be waited out, although the aftermath created a niche for Seventh Moon exports allowing for a virtual monopoly among major cities.

Hidariude found this to be a lot to take in. According to this document, Hidariude had been indirectly responsible for World War III. As he let that sink in, he noticed the coordinates of the shrine and hastily recorded them and the other relevant information he could find pertaining to Gaki’s mission so that he might be able to follow the directions to recreate the mission and perhaps find out the truth right where it happened. He wasn’t sure when this was ever going to happen, but he wanted the information in case an opportunity presented.

He went outside to get together with Keisei and head to the docking bay before anybody caught them. Suddenly, Keisei caught a whiff of somebody and noticed Aka as he tried to attack them. She knocked him down and wailed on him until he was unconscious. Renzokuken came up behind them and tried to shoot her, but just as he cocked his gun, her ears moved as she picked up the sound and spun around and attacked him, then ran off down the corridor.

The remaining soldiers gave chase, but they seemed to lose her at an intersection. Then Paku fell to another sneak attack as she once again came from nowhere and disappeared just as quickly. They followed her again, getting closer to the docking bay. Finally they got to the door to the docking bay and they thought they had her cornered, but they could not find her. They looked up and saw her as she attacked Kappa, leaving only Gaki, who took advantage of the moment to grab a hold of her, coming from behind he put his arms under hers and then reached behind her head locking his hands.

“Gotcha.” Gaki said.

“Help me, Hidariude!” Keisei said.

Hidariude extended his blade and put it to the back of Gaki’s head, “Let her go.” Gaki let her go and held his hands up. “Now, I know you have access to the docking bay, let us in and help us launch a jet so we can get out of here.”

“Where do you think you’re gonna go?” Gaki asked.

“Don’t you worry about that, just get it launched.”

Gaki used his access code to open the door and got them to a jet. Hidariude directed Keisei to board and kept his blade to the back of Gaki’s head the whole time. Gaki started the launch sequence, “There, you have thirty seconds to board. But you’ll never…” Hidariude quickly retracted his blade and hit Gaki over the head causing him to crumble to the floor. Hidariude quickly boarded the jet, closing the door and sealing the airlock with just seconds to spare, which he used to buckle in the pilot seat and Keisei curled up in the co-pilot’s seat.

As they were shot into space, Hidariude tried to steer the jet toward the earth, aiming for Japan. He was directing the jet towards the coordinates he had for the Shrine of the Golden Dragon. Once he thought he had the course set straight, they entered the atmosphere and the jet started to shake. Hidariude expected this, but then he lost control of the jet. He had underestimated the difficulty of piloting the jet and the entire system locked down. The engine cut out, the jet was crashing into the Earth. “Brace for impact!” Hidariude shouted. He saw the Earth coming closer through the cockpit window, There was the island of Japan, and there was Ocean, and they were heading dangerously toward one of them, though Hidariude could not be sure which as he closed his eyes. The last thing they heard before passing out was a splash.

* * *

At this same time, Kichiku was praying and said “Kami, thank you for giving me my family. I appreciate them so much. The only thing that could make my life more complete is to have my brother Hidariude here as part of this family.”

As he spoke these words, there was a streak across the sky as something fell past the shrine, down the mountain, to the lake below. Kichiku ran down the mountain as fast as he could, but nothing could prepare him for what he found.

A jet from Seventh Moon had crashed into the lake and just a small part of the tail was sticking out the water, the rest of it submerged. Kichiku, in his usual sense of concern for others, Kichiku dove into the water to check for anyone who survived the crash. As he pried open the door, bubbles poured out, revealing that some air had been stuck inside, hopefully buying some time for the passengers. Kichiku found that there were two people inside, a cat girl and a man he couldn’t get a clear look at. He picked up the man and saw that it was Hidariude. Without wasting another moment Kichiku grabbed both of them and took them to the surface. Once they got ashore, Kichiku checked both to make sure they were breathing. Once he was sure they were alive, he hoisted one over each shoulder and hauled them up to the shrine.

Ryu saw Kichiku bringing the two people up and recognized Hidariude immediately. He saw something familiar about the girl as well. “What happened?”

“They crashed in the lake below.”

“Quickly, get them inside.” Ryu said with urgency, “Let’s get them dry and change their clothes.”

They pulled off Hidariude’s clothes, dried him and redressed him in Ryu’s spare kendo robes. Keisei was also dried, but had no clothes to remove, so they put her in a kimono so she could stay warm. Kichiku took Hidariude to his room while Ryu took Keisei to the miko’s room.

Now all there was to do was wait until they woke up and pray that it would be soon.