Kagu-Tsuchi was already late to stop the collision when he realised that they were holding the star against his sword strike. As the sword clashed with the Star, it radiated a blaring sound, followed by the appearance of cracks within its hypercubic structure. As the cracks continued to form, it was only a matter of time before it emitted an aura of multiple colours, which Kento and the others identified to be the ones that formed the star. Kento yelled out to his parents along with his siblings, but couldn't possibly do anything to stop it.
As the mosaic of colours lasted for a few seconds, it abruptly exploded with a violent surge that threw everyone in its vicinity off to the ground. Kento and his gang along with Keiichi too were affected by the rift, causing their sights to black out for a few minutes. Kento could only remember hearing the scream of Kagu-Tsuchi before he fell unconscious for the third time.
Even after a few minutes of time, Kento’s senses were functioning barely after regaining consciousness. His eyes refused to open. His ears almost felt like he had fallen deaf, unable to pick up any sound. He could feel his sense of balance had gone awry. Kento made desperate attempts to trigger his muscles to awaken himself, yet he felt like his inner self was betraying his will. But as he was struggling in his anguished state, a few vibrations soon passed through Kento’s body. Determined to figure out the source of the pulses, Kento forced his will to reopen his senses. The ears soon picked up the lines of nearby individuals, appalling him from within.
"...His physical condition is not looking good. We ought to take him back into his hometown."
"Don't tell me that the merging protocol failed? The invigorator confirmed that…the procedure would function accordingly."
Despite being scared to open his eyes, Kento’s curiosity only grew after hearing the unusual sentences. He promptly struggled to catch a glimpse of the mob with his semi-transparent eyes, but unfortunately, the only things that he could see were some weird-looking contours, which he then began analysing whilst being in a semi-paralysed state.
"Ahh!"
The mob heard the abrupt grunting of Kento. A dominating sense of discomposure soon spread through him as his faint eyes saw a silhouette walking up towards him. Kento was deeply afraid as he had no idea about the intentions of the unknown. He then pretended to be maimed as the figure crouched in front of him.
The figure then tapped Kento's body in a few different locations, as if it was to examine a dead body. Kento patiently pretended to be still, while carefully listening to the dialogues of the gang.
"What's the current condition of that teen ninja?"
A different person replied from afar, "We should just obscurely veer off course and neutralise all of these Igas as soon as possible. These teenagers are sure to turn hostile at any moment."
"Hey, my Bakeneko are sensing that some enemy military forces are headed to this site. We ought to escort ourselves out of here before they make any contact with our forces...Don't leave any trails around. Stay cautious."
Understanding that they were about to evacuate, Kento's eyes slowly opened up to catch a glimpse of the unknown person who had been examining him for quite some time. After a few seconds, he pushed himself to stand up, while replying with a sentence that bewildered Kento from his head to the toes.
"I will see you soon, Kento."
“Wait what? How come he knows my name? I just…can’t…hold…”
His eyes gradually closed off, along with his ears. Kento lay motionless for a few more moments until his ears caught the voices of a few familiar people who had been calling out his names. Some familiar person then progressed to rush towards him, after seeing him and his team lying on the ground.
"Kento! Kento! Are you okay?"
Kento's ears began sensing the voice to belong to someone well known to him. He was then instantly pushed up onto his feet, only to realise that it was none other than General Tamemoto Takeshi, who had been asked to provide backup to face the Arcane Scarletshades.
A samurai soldier then appeared at Kento's location with Kumiko. She then asked Kento about his condition, but Kento quickly changed the subject.
"Kento, oh thank god! You are doing okay. Are you fine?"
"Where are my parents?"
Kumiko's entire body then froze. Her mouth began trembling. She then nervously kept staring at Kento's face for a few seconds. Her mouth chanced to speak out the words, but the only thing that Kento could interpret was mumbles.
"Kento...uh….um…"
Kento then felt a numbness spread throughout his entire body. He felt a strong sense of pulsation scouring inside him. He then comprehended the same situation that the others around him were facing. The chill became unimaginably strong. Anxiety slowly stiffened his facial muscles, disabling him from talking or blinking. This bewildered state of Kento finally encouraged him to turn his head upon the site where the explosion took place.
"Oh no!!"
Skipping a breath and a blink, Kento rushed up towards his parents with unimaginable momentum. Crawling up towards Miyuki and Katsuro, Kento helplessly called out for them.
"Mother, Father!!"
When his callouts didn't work, he then attempted to shake their bodies, only to realise that their faces had gone pale and their figures had gone motionless.
“They are…gone.”
Kento lost his breath...he lost his mindset. His eyes rapidly produced tears that overpowered the pain rumbling through his battle wounds.
"No!!!!!"
Kento screamed with a deep sensation of sorrow, grief and loss.
The battle was over, Kento sat by the bodies of his parents. This time there was no hope of bringing them back. The feeling of remorse and heart-ache was overwhelming and it numbed each and every bit of life inside Kento.
Kento had lost his mind. He picked up his sword.
"You bastards!"
He screamed and started to run in the direction where he presumed Keiichi and the mysterious gang went. Takeshi immediately grabbed onto Kento’s shoulder tightly in an attempt to calm him down.
"Kento, Kento-san calm yourself! Your misery is their ultimate victory, don't let them win!"
He said this while he held onto Kento tightly. Kento fell onto his knees. It took a moment for him to calm down. Then he felt something quite heavy clenched in his left fist. It was the pouch his father had handed over to him. He clenched it tighter. A few seconds passed by and an entire Iga ninja squad took over the scenario. Kento didn't want to leave but he and his friends were forced into Kyoto. After which they were taken into a boat set in the town of Kizugawa which let them to Iga. It was smooth sailing through the rivers and even though everyone was tired and deadbeat from the mission, not one of them even thought of closing their eyes.
Everyone just sat around silently, looking at the wooden floor. Kyuzo eventually gave up and sat next to Kento and rested his head on his shoulder. Everybody was feeling emotional but without knowing what to say, they sat and waited until they came home.
Unaware of the recent turn of events, an electrified crowd stood eagerly by the docks awaiting the arrival of the Teen Ninjas. It was only a matter of time before the story of the Star of Izanagi and the Hattori family spread like wildfire, not only in Iga but all across Kyoto as well. All the elders, children, working men and women clustered by the roads awaiting to give the victors a hero’s welcome. But the look on Kento’s face was a clear indication that things had not gone right. There was a murmur going about the crowd. Kento didn't want to face his people. Kagu-Tsuchi and Sensei Keiichi's plans had been defeated and the Star of Izanagi was protected from falling into the wrong hands, but at what cost? Kento thought. At the cost of the lives of his own parents. The battle has cost him everything, and Kento felt as if he has nothing. The crowd kept thickening around Kento and his friends. Kento turned around and took a detour to his home and vanished for a week.
His siblings, Kyuzo and Hinako alongside the rest of his teammates were incapacitated and admitted to the hospital. Kento didn't feel like meeting his own friends because he felt as if he could have lost more than his parents on that day. As time went by, Hinako was allowed to go back home, but Kyuzo was kept by the doctors while some Igas volunteered to guard during his treatment sessions. Even though Kento felt good because of the presence of Hinako, things would never be the same for him again. He did nothing to deserve it. All he did was stand by and watch his parents die. He couldn’t feel the warmth of their parents for once after they were revived, nor could receive a proper goodbye.
These feelings took over Kento's body and he grew weaker. His skin had gotten paler, the skin around his eyes was dark from all the sleepless nights and his face had begun to sink into his bones. Hinako tried to convince him to have some food, but he resisted. The only time Kento went out was to pay his final respects to his parents at the funeral. He dressed himself in black, and Hinako wore a black kimono. Kyuzo, who was relieved by the doctors temporarily upon his request, came to the funeral with an outfit matching Kento’s. The three headed out to where the cremation ceremony was taking place. He looked around and there weren't many people around. He caught a glimpse of Kumiko and Yamazaki who were seated in the back. Nakamura and Isoko were also there standing next to them. And of course, the Emperor was seated in the front holding a drink, as if he came to watch a musical show.
“At least this bugger remembered to come to the funeral.”
Kento thought to himself.
Kento, Kyuzo and Hinako were summoned to another room. Inside were a few more familiar-looking elders. There were a few of the Hattori family’s close relatives and allies present. The man who looked the eldest spoke a few words about the lives of Miyuki and Katsuro, followed by the only remaining Hattori elder, Akio. Then he announced that it was time for the procession to begin. Kento tried to blink back his tears as he attempted to take one last look at his mother and father as their bodies were slowly cremated. Kento and the rest waited until all of this ended. Then their ashes were taken out and spread onto a table. The same old man announced that this was the final part of the cremation ceremony. That was arranging the urns of the deceased family members. When the man announced this, Kento saw Hinako leave the room. But they carried on.
The relatives picked the bones out of the ashes and transferred them to the urn using large chopsticks. Kento had never done it before. But as he was picking out the bones, he felt a surge of emotions. All the good moments and all the sunsets Kento and his parents enjoyed materialised in his mind. Each and every moment he cherished with his parents flashed before him. From the day when his father punished him for stealing sweets to the day he made his parents tear up with joy by becoming a ninja and being selected into the Teen Ninjas. Kento was reminded of how much of his life was burned away with his parents. As the entire process came to an end, Kento looked around and even Kyuzo had left the ceremony. He waited. Twilight was on its way and the shadows seemed to haunt him. He took off his robe and sat down recollecting what had happened today.
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The townsfolk and the emperor hadn’t been quite welcoming of him since his arrival. After all of these incidents, there was quite an outcry among the people living in Iga; they had no knowledge of what had happened. And they wanted answers. To hide their faults, and flaws inside the management of the imperial palace, the officials compiled reports while covering up their own mistakes and giving out a very detailed cock and bull story. In their report, it was mentioned that The Star of Izanagi was nothing but a family heirloom the Hattoris valued, and Kento went on a wild goose chase to collect the gems whilst also labelling it as a “Useless symbol of wealth and ego”. While not considering the danger of the entire mission, Kento was framed as an antagonist who put the lives of his friends on the line to search for the gems, which ended up risking the lives of his own parents. To make matters worse, he was framed as a betrayer of the Iga province as he assisted in resurrecting Kaga-Tsuchi, the god of fire. The name of the Hattoris was tarnished faster than how long it took iron to rust. The reputation of the Teen Ninjas soon suffered the same fate. However, to Kento, the lines which defined whether he should accept the consequences of his actions, or whether he should stand up for himself and say the reports were lies were quite blurry. Either way, Kento didn’t have the strength to do anything. He hadn’t eaten in days and sleep seemed like a distant memory.
Every day, Kento pretends to sleep until Hinako dozes off, then he gets up from his bed, slides through the shoji door and leans next to it still. He just stares at the night sky, counting the stars, thinking how his instincts missed the final moments of the fight. Time flies, and the cold spring breeze hits him, telling him the sun is coming up.
Days went by and one day there was a light rap on the front door. At that time, Hinako had headed out to Iga town. Kento, annoyed by the notion that Hinako was knocking on the door to enter her own house said,
“Wait a second…”
He slowly creeped up to the door before sliding the front door and he saw a familiar face. A familiar face which he hadn’t seen in a long time; Kumiko.
He thought that none of his friends wanted to see him after all that had happened. He felt disgusted to even look into Kumiko’s eyes. Kento, quite surprised by the sudden arrival, took a step back and welcomed Kumiko in. But she kept standing by the door, looking at Kento. Kento summoned his strength to look Kumiko in the eye. He looked at Kumiko, nervously twitching his thumbs. Kumiko’s eyes were glistening with tears. Kento didn’t expect to see his friend like this.
“Kumi-”
Before Kento could say anything, Kumiko leaned and hugged him. Kento’s heart skipped a beat. It was the first time in forever, that he had got the slightest amount of affection from anybody. He felt warmth, and Kento felt reassured. They didn’t speak a word and held on for really short twenty seconds or so before letting go.
Kento, who was insanely stupefied, and didn't know what to say. He awkwardly welcomed her into the house.
“The shogun forced the Bakufu to put us under probation. We weren’t allowed to leave our houses, let alone visit you. Isoko-chan’s mother allowed me to stay in her house with Isoko to help her recover from the injuries. He also put spies from the Bakufu around the clock to track our movements,” Kumiko finally spoke.
“Talk about a person having trust issues.” Kento thought.
The silence created an unhealthy void.
“Why didn’t they put spies to keep an eye on me? It’s me whom he has trust issues with. It’s me that everybody in Iga hates. You shouldn’t be going to all this trouble for me.” Kento croaked.
“He couldn’t possibly afford to. He is scared that if you find out that he’s spying on you, you might tell everybody that the reports are fake. Now that you are not going outside, he is happy to keep it that way,” Kumiko replied, not even thinking about addressing the last part of Kento’s statement.
“That’s quite illogical. If the shogun and the emperor wanted to make sure I didn’t expose their blunders, they SHOULD have put a spy team to observe me. Kumiko never says anything without being absolutely sure about it. After all, since the management is run by the shogun and the emperor. I can’t fathom a single thing logical about him.”
For most of the time, Kento remained in silence while Kumiko progressed with a heavily one-sided conversation.
“Yamazaki-kun was called on by Sensei Akio to give a briefing about our mission. I gave mine three days ago. We both went to Kyoto to deliver our reports along with Nakamura-kun’s and Isoko-chan’s. I was worried for once that we might get bombarded by harassment. Thankfully, nothing really went wrong.”
There was no reply from Kento. He was not interested in taking the path of a ninja, let alone giving mission briefings to his sensei. It felt like ages since he actually heard anything from his grandfather. After coming for a brief moment for the funeral, he had to leave abruptly without opting to spend any time with his grandparents. This act of inhumane behaviour had left a really bitter taste about Akio in Kento’s mind. And the fact that he hid so much information about the Star of Izanagi from the Teen Ninjas only made it worse.
“Kento-kun, I don’t mean to be mean but, are you alright?” the concerned friend of Kento asked.
“I have put all of your lives in danger. I almost watched you die from poison a few weeks ago. The entirety of what I used to call home and familiar now hates me and wishes I was dead. And on top of all of this, my parents were killed by a Kōga and some other supernatural abomination. I suppose apart from all of those incidents, I can be somewhat alright,” Kento said in spite.
“Kento-kun, I know this is a very hard time for you. I can only imagine what you are going through. I want to help you, please…“
“Oh…what did you just say, Kumiko? You want to help me? Kumiko, you almost died the last time you tried to ’help’ me.”
“Kento-kun, please don’t say that. I’m always here for you. I’m here for you now. Do you want anything?”
“I NEED YOU TO LEAVE NOW!” Kento’s voice boomed through the empty house.
Kumiko was shocked. Her eyes were wide open. But she wasn’t scared. Her eyes started to appear a little glistening.
“Alright, if you need anything, please let me know. Okay?”
Just as Kumiko was about to leave, Kento finally spoke in a calm and monotonous voice. Throughout this entire mission, Kento had had a big question. He strangely felt as if now was the right time to ask it.
“Why, after all this time, after all I have put you through, do you still want to be with me?“
Kumiko stopped at the doorway for a moment. Now her breath was shaky. Kento couldn’t figure out whether she was crying or not because she had turned the other side.
But she slowly turned into Kento’s side, this time however her eyes were full of tears. But holding her tears tightly inside her eyes, Kumiko spoke, in the most soothing voice, with a tiny smile on her face.
“If I was in the same position, you would do the same for me, wouldn’t you?” Her voice broke off during the last part.
Kumiko's words opened the eyes of broken down Kento. [https://i.imgur.com/UGMEhOV.png]
Kento felt bad. If there was anything Kento valued over his life, it was love and bravery. Kento had saved Kumiko from her cruel stepmother three years ago. Kumiko hardly knew much about the boy, but she had seen Kento a few times on the streets of Kyoto when he was the talk of the town. It was when he was the first candidate to be selected for the Teen Ninjas. But fate took a different turn when Kento was struck with a difficult choice. And they became training partners, before ended up being caught by Tanuichi, the ghastly woman who had brought so much pain to Kumiko's life. Kumiko almost died from that incident, if not for Kento’s bravery and kindness that saved her life just in time. Even though Kumiko and Kento had been sharing time before the incident, she didn’t know too much about Kento’s life. Yet, when she stood behind Kento’s shade against Tanuichi’s evil, Kumiko could finally tell that he was kind and benevolent. You don’t need to know a name or address to know that one person deserves to be called truly human. Kento, similarly saw that same light in Kumiko’s eyes, when he was kind enough to help her escape the straws of poisoned family ties. Ever since then, they have been inseparable friends. But time has torn them apart and only now does Kento realise how much he missed her. Kento went near Kumiko and went outside with her. He sat on the steps near his front door, then he motioned Kumiko to join him. She sat beside him. They didn’t speak a word the entire time. But there was no void, nor any awkwardness holding them apart. They sat next to each other for hours.
In the distance, they saw the silhouette of a cart slowly approaching them. a few minutes later, two familiar-looking shadowy figures got out of it. It was Kyuzo and Hinako. They both steadily approached the house. Kento got up, elated to see his brother. To both Kyuzo’s and Hinako’s surprise, Kento went forward and gave a familiar smile to Kyuzo, then gave him a big brother hug. Moments later Kumiko left, leaving Kento with his siblings. Hinako took the lead in kitchen duties while the brothers helped to make her some miso soup. Kyuzo still wasn’t in his best health yet, so he took off early and went to bed. After finishing up the dishes, Hinako also went to her room.
After both of them went to sleep, Kento spent the next half an hour wandering around the Hattori residence. He finally found himself sitting inside his parents’ room. All of the things he took on the mission. His katana still had stains of blood and dust on it and his pouch was there too. The other item caught Kento’s attention. It was the worn-out velvet pouch his father had given to him moments before the fateful duel occurred.
He gently took it into his hands and shook off the dust, before cautiously opening it. Inside were seven small round discs, which looked quite worn out and irregular around the edges. Some were in poor condition as they appeared to be burnt or subjected to explosion. They were also in different colours, although Kento couldn’t truly figure out whether he had gone colourblind as everything in his eyes seemed desaturated and depressing. Kento was puzzled by why his father would leave some coins as his final gift to Kento. Inside was another item which took Kento completely by surprise. It was a tightly rolled piece of parchment.
“It’s a LETTER!”
Kento’s mind screamed with anticipation. But still, he was quite anxious to know what the letter’s contents may be. He slowly unrolled the small piece of parchment which produced a long letter in the familiar handwriting of his father.
Kento,
If you are reading this, it means that we are triumphant. The Iga ninjas have acted upon perseverance for centuries so that power and control do not fall into the wrong hands.
My son, if you are reading this, it also means that there are some drastic changes happening around you. When you are a warrior it’s not always about fighting to keep things as they were. But it’s also about how one adapts to the changes that happen around him. That is the art of a true shinobi, and it is without the slightest doubt that I say that you are certainly one of the greatest this clan will ever see. Trust me, it’ll actually be the case.
Inside this pouch is the greatest marvel and the greatest weapon, we Igas have. They are called ‘The Elemental Controllers.’ Give them to the people you trust, and value.
Finally, I will also say one thing. Things will never get easy for the Hattoris. But both Miyuki and I feel that you, Kyuzo, and Hinako will be resilient. And nothing pains us more than the thought that we won’t get to live to see what great people you all will become. And we both have to be honest. We might have not been the best parents to always be around you when we could. I have to give you and your siblings our sincerest apology for that. But I am certain that all the friends you made through your kindness and goodwill will be by you, guiding and walking along this path. Even though we won’t be there by your door to check on you, we will always be watching all of you. Hattori Kento, my little hero, the saviour of Iga, the person who’ll finally bring peace and connect the broken bridges. Your time is now. The best is yet to come. You will see the light, your mom and dad bet your hat on it.
Darkness is the ultimate contingency for the light to shine.
Godspeed.
Katsuro and Miyuki.
Kento reread the entire letter twice. His parents had left him a letter and a relic sacred to the Hattori family. At that time when he was reading the letter written by his father, he felt their presence. Their love and their warmth. Kento took a closer look at the oddly shaped tokens. They had one Japanese character on each of them. He had no idea how to use these. He thought that it might be a key to a really deadly weapon. However, he found himself calm and composed. He thought about the letter and what was said about him and his friends.
Histories will be changed forever; Enemies will be defeated. Hearts will be broken and mended. Love will thrive. Epic adventures and heroic conquests awaited his arrival.
But for now, the only thing that awaited him was his long-gone but much-needed sleep.