Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Twenty-two: All Sorts of Trouble ( Chapter 22 )

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Twenty-two: All Sorts of Trouble

 

For three days, Kurama had scoured the city of Kyoto looking for absolutely any information he could find on either whether any of his companions had been sent to this era with him, or on any means he could find to get back to his own time. For the latter, he had found less than nothing, he couldn't even think of where to begin to look for such a thing. On the former, his luck was slightly better in the sense that he at least knew how to go about searching for anyone that had been flung into this era with him. Unfortunately, that still wasn't going very well.

 

The first place he had tried asking was the local police station, but he had been informed that finding missing persons was an almost non-existent priority, at least for those without either a wealth of money or status. The next logical place to ask around, he figured, was the local bars. Even in this era, that was where all the gossip took place. At least, that's what Kurama was hoping. However, after three days of asking Kyoto bartenders, he was beginning to think that this was a very poor theory. Spotting a bar that he hadn't been to yet, he decided to try his luck at least until he could come up with a better plan.

 

Since it was midday, the bar was mostly empty save a drunk in the corner and the bartender, who looked incredibly bored with his elbows resting on the counter. Kurama approached the man and sat down in front of him, catching his attention.

 

“Can I get you somethin'?” asked the bartender standing up fully and stretching out his back a little.

 

“Yes, but I'd prefer information rather than alcohol,” answered the fox coolly. “Tell me, where does one go in this city if they want someone or something found.”

 

“Well, if you're rich, you go to the police,” replied the bartender, clearly pleased that he both had something interesting to talk about and didn't need to work at the same time. “But if you're not…well, then you need someone else.”

 

“Meaning…?” prodded Kurama, not letting his hopes get up.

 

“Well, this is just a rumor…but some smart people I've talked to seem damned sure that it's true,” began the bartender, lowering his voice despite the fact that only the drunk could possibly hear them, and he'd soon pass out and forget about it. “They say that the Oniwaban ninjas are back.”

 

“And just who are they?” inquired Kurama, though his knowledge of history made him think that he recognized the name from Meiji Revolution, though the name was all he remembered.

 

“Heh, guess you're not as smart as you look. OK, I'll tell you who they are,” continued the barkeep jokingly. “During the revolution, they fought for the loyalists, both as their best informants and as tough fighters. When the war was over, their side had lost, but a bunch of them were still around, and they still had a pretty big information network. No one had any idea whether any of them were still in Kyoto until just recently when a group of terrorists tried to attack Kyoto. Some people said they might've been trying to burn it down, but that's way too classifieds for me to ever find out about for sure. Anyway, the Oniwaban Group supposedly showed up and helped stop the terrorists, meaning that some of them are still in Kyoto.”

 

At this Kurama's spirits were raised greatly. A ninja information network was just what he needed. It would allow him to search for his friends while at the same time look into something that could send them all, if there was anyone else, back to their own time.

 

“I see…and exactly where could I find this Oniwaban Group?” questioned Kurama.

 

“I'm afraid I can't help ya' there,” answered the bartender, shaking his head. “They are ninja, after all.”

 

“Thank you, I appreciate the information. Good day to you,” the fox demon stated, standing and walking out of the bar, leaving behind a bartender who was clearly expecting a tip of some kind.

 

Suddenly, Kurama felt a small lurch in his stomach. He hadn't had consumed anything but water from an abandoned pump for three days, and, unlike Hiei, hunger was a human limitation that his body forced upon him. As with all problems, Kurama decided that it would be best to deal with this quickly and efficiently. He had not gone far when he saw a solution: a very large building that looked to be a hotel and restaurant with the by the name of “The Aoiya”, as inferred by the sign over its entrance. The one noticeable feature, other than its size, was that it looked like it had received extensive repairs made to its front recently.

 

`If they can afford such repairs, than they shouldn't miss a handful of food,' Kurama reasoned as he began to circle the building, looking for an entrance into the kitchen. `I hate to resort to stealing, but I don't really have a choice until I can find some money.'

 

After circling the building a little, the stranded demon found a door marked “Employees Only” with the smell and sounds of fresh cooking drifting out of a nearby window. Judging by the sounds, the kitchen was occupied, meaning that opening the door would be noticed immediately. Unfortunately, the windows were so small that it was really the only way he was going to get in there. However, as he was thinking, he noticed a small rock lying on the ground in front of him, and this gave him an idea.

 

Picking up the rock, he quickly judged the angle he had at the window when he stood next to the door. Taking a deep breath to focus, he then hurled the rock through a hole in the window. As soon as he heard the sound of the rock hitting the far wall of the kitchen, he slid the door open. Fortunately, there were several meat buns on a counter right next to the entrance, and he snatched two. However, as he looked up from the table, he realized that his plan had failed. While the two women who were working at the stoves, one taller with her hair let down and the other slightly shorter with her hair up in a bun, had turned to look at the noise, there was a young girl with a long braided ponytail standing in the kitchen entrance looking straight at Kurama. She looked oddly familiar, but Kurama had no time to speculate, quickly darting back out of the kitchen, even as the girl began to yell some rather unflattering things in his direction.

 

He quickly pocketed the meat buns as he sprinted down the alleyway at what would be superb speed for a human. Unlike Hiei or Kuwabara, Kurama knew the precise strength of his physical body without spirit energy, as he had decided that it would be useful information to have if ever he was caught in a fight with humans. Admittedly, that was a slightly paranoid thing for him to do, but as of now it was looking like a wise decision. After ducking into several alleyways in a zigzagging pattern, Kurama finally stopped, positive that he had lost the three females. A very irate voice soon proved him wrong.

 

“You stole from the wrong restaurant, jackass!” yelled out the girl with the ponytail as she rounded the corner just behind Kurama, causing him to whirl about to see that she was closely followed by the two women working in the kitchen.

 

`They're quite fast for humans,' noted Kurama. `I'll have to try more advanced methods.'

 

Before the women could reach him, Kurama leapt upwards and forwards towards the wall opposite of where he was standing, and then sprung off of that wall onto the roof of the building he had been standing next to. Thinking he had at last escaped his pursuers, he began to casually walk along the middle of the roof, hands in his pockets. He was about to take out one of the meat buns when suddenly, the woman with the let down hair leapt up several yards in front of him. He turned his head to find that the woman with her hair in a bun had landed behind him, and the girl with the ponytail immediately landed to his right.

 

“Surely, this isn't worth the trouble for just two meat buns, now is it?” asked Kurama with a small smile, refusing to let them see his shock.

 

“Trouble? Who said that this was trouble?” retorted the woman with the long hair held out of her eyes by a headband as she smirked slightly.

 

“Nobody steals from the Aoiya without getting their butt kicked,” added the girl with the ponytail. “We've got a reputation to uphold!”

 

With that, all three of the women leapt at Kurama with surprising speed. Since he did not know the strength of his new foes, Kurama opted to be on the defensive, dodging and blocking all of the punches and kicks thrown his way. The three women were very skilled for humans, and they were well versed in the martial arts, of this Kurama was soon certain. However, Kurama's knowledge in this area was unmatched, and he proved quite capable of avoiding any damage whatsoever with considerable grace. After several moments of staying in relatively the same spot, Kurama suddenly flipped backwards as he avoided a spin kick from the girl with the hair-bun, and then promptly turned and leapt to another building in retreat. While he realized he could defeat the three women, he was quite unsure of whether or not he could do so without injuring any of them. Thus, he chose escape as his best option.

 

Instantly, his three opponents gave pursuit, and as he turned his head and saw them dart gracefully across the roof, a thought occurred to him.

 

`The way they run...that fighting style…those are similar to ninja techniques,' he realized, suddenly stopping and turning to face the three women. `Could they be the Oniwaban ninjas?'

 

The one taller one with the long hair was the first to arrive, landing a few feet in front of him and punching at his face with her right arm. Deftly, Kurama moved slightly to the right and caught her wrist in his left hand she tried to attack with her left fist but it was caught in the same manner.

 

“Tell me something,” Kurama said, drawing a little closer and smiling disarmingly. “I wouldn't have happened to stumble into the famed Oniwaban Group, now would I have?”

 

“Wh-What?” stammered the woman, blushing slightly at the proximity of her face to that of the admittedly handsome thief's.

 

The woman with the hair-bun interrupted by landing behind Kurama and trying to kick him in the back of the head, to which Kurama responded by letting go of the woman's left wrist and slipping his hand to her waist before bowing down while still holding the long haired woman as though he were waltzing with her. He then quickly raised himself and his “partner” up before spinning and releasing her towards the other woman with relative gentleness, adding to the waltzing image. The long haired woman stumbled backwards into the other woman, looking quite flustered, and, although she was caught and stabilized easily, neither of them had the confidence that they had shown before. He then flipped backwards in the air over the flying kick that the girl with the ponytail had aimed at him and artfully landed at the edge of the roof that they were now standing on.

 

“Well, are you or are you not the Oniwaban Group?” asked Kurama once more, startling the two women that hadn't heard him before.

 

“How did y-” began the girl with the ponytail before quickly clasping her hands over her mouth as she realized too late that she had said too much.

 

Kurama felt deeply satisfied as he looked at the three Oniwaban ninjas standing before him. At the start of the fight, they had been supremely confident, but now they were all obviously quite flustered by Kurama's antics. Nothing had ever entertained Kurama more in a fight then when he was able to play mind games with his adversary. He had suspected that this was do with having the king of thieves trying to influence him ever since he had been born, but this didn't stop him from enjoying it.

 

“Well, it appears that it was a good thing that I became so hungry when I did,” remarked Kurama, still sporting his disarming smile. “You are exactly the people I have been looking for.”

 

“What do you want?” asked the woman with the hair-bun, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

 

“I have some people that I need to find, and I heard that you could help me in this regard,” explained Kurama. “Now then, I'm sure that you're needed back at your restaurant, so I'm sure that it would be of benefit to all of us to go back and work things out peacefully over there.”

 

After glaring at Kurama for several more moments, the woman with the hair-bun motioned her colleagues over to her, and they huddled together to discuss the offer while keeping their eyes on Kurama. Seconds later, they broke the huddle and the girl with the ponytail stepped forward, apparently the leader, which was odd considering she was clearly the youngest of the trio.

 

“Okay, we'll head back to the Aoiya and talk to you, but don't think that we're gonna' let you off the hook so easily,” stated the girl, though her voice was still quite hostile.

 

“Very good, although I'm afraid I won't be able to return the meat buns,” Kurama replied, taking out a disfigured white lump out of his pocket. “All that fighting wasn't very healthy for them.”

 

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The walk back the Aoiya was tense, to say the least. The girl with ponytail was leading the group while the other two women remained behind Kurama, apparently making sure that he wasn't going to break for it. Kurama smiled inwardly at this. Surely, as fighters, they must know that Kurama could easily defeat all three of them and walk away if he so wished. The formation was likely out of habit. Eventually, they did reach the restaurant, and upon entering the kitchen, were greeted by two young men, now tending to the stoves. One was an ox of a man, with small eyes and hair so short he was almost bald, although that is not to say that the other, a man with unkempt spiky hair, was not athletic looking, for he was large and muscular enough to look rather big compared to Kurama. Both wore blue uniforms similar to those of the women Kurama had just fought, and both sported a rope tied around their head like a headband.

 

“You guys are lucky we heard the commotion and came back here, or the whole place might've burned down since you left the stoves on,” said the smaller of the two men as he focused moving on a pot of soup before looking up. “Did you at least kick th-”

 

“Who's your friend?” asked the larger one before the smaller one could ask for him.

 

“He says he's a client,” said the girl in front of Kurama. “Yeah, that kind of client.”

 

Kurama wisely stayed quiet when the girl and the big man had a whispered conversation that he could not detect. After they had finished, the big man motioned to the smaller one, and then to Kurama, clearly meaning for him to follow. The two other women took up their positions in the kitchen, although Kurama could feel their eyes on him until he exited the kitchen. Now, it was the girl that was behind him with the two men leading the way out of the kitchen, and then out of the restaurant area and into the building's courtyard. As soon as this happened, Kurama felt something sharp press gently into the small of his back.

 

`A kitchen knife. She's not bad, I didn't see her pick it up.' He thought not bothering to respond to the action as the four of them walked down the inner porch.

 

Eventually, they reached a room at the far end of the courtyard that was apparently their destination, for the larger man at this point opened the door and stepped inside.

 

“Okina, we have some company,” he said as everyone else waited to enter.

 

“What kind of company?” came the voice of an old man from within the room.

 

“What kind of company would it be if we bothered showing him to you, gramps?” said the girl from behind Kurama.

 

“Ah, very well then, send him in,” replied Okina from within the room, and the smaller man motioned for Kurama to enter, which he did so with the girl still pressing the knife against his back.

 

He found that it was indeed an old man in the room, now sitting facing the door to greet his visitor. He had graying hair, as one would expect, which was both on his head and in the form of a bushy mustache, but more notably, his head and left eye were covered in bandages. He motioned to the two men at the door, and they promptly closed it with footsteps of them leaving quickly following.

 

“Let him sit down, Misao. I don't think anyone would want to do business with a knife against their back,” requested Okina, to which the girl, Misao, begrudgingly complied and went to stand next to the old man. “Now then, sit down. What exactly do you want of the Oniwaban Group, Mr…?”

 

“Minamino. Shuichi Minamino. I have heard that when it comes to information, you are the best. I have people that I need found, and I would like your help in this regard,” Kurama stated, getting straight to the point.

 

“We're not gonna' help you with any kind of assassination, if that's what you mean,” cut in Misao harshly. “The Oniwaban are no one's thugs.”

 

“No, nothing like that, I can assure you,” replied Kurama, shaking his head. “If you must know, they are my friends, and I am quite concerned for their safety.”

 

For a moment, the two Oniwaban ninja just stared hard at him, and after a moment, apparently judging him honest, Okina spoke.

 

“These services will cost money, you know,” Okina stated.

 

“I'm afraid that I cannot pay you up front, but, if you allow me, I can pay off the fee by working here at the Aoiya if that will suffice,” Kurama responded politely.

 

“Well, I suppose th-” began Okina, before Misao quickly cut him off.

 

“Hold on, gramps! I'm the leader of the Oniwaban Group now, this is my decision,” said the girl, then moved forward towards Kurama, toying with the knife in her hands. “I'm gonna' let you do this, but if you so much as steal a rice ball, I'll give you the beating of a lifetime, got it?”

 

“Of course,” said Kurama, smiling warmly. “I do apologize for stealing those earlier, it was just that I hadn't eaten in two days, and your restaurant looked profitable enough that it could spare a meat bun or two. I normally don't resort to stealing, but it was a last resort, I assure you.”

 

The look Misao gave him told him that she would prefer he was less polite so that she could have an excuse to cause him some pain, which of course only made Kurama smile more. Scoffing, Misao then found some blank parchment and a writing utensil and asked for Kurama to describe the people he was looking for. He described everyone in detail, although he left out some things for his more…fantastical companions. Hiei's Jagan and Inuyasha's ears, for example, were left out. Eventually though, he had finished describing everyone, and as the parchment was being rolled up, he suddenly realized that he needed to mention something else.

 

“There is one thing…” he said with a little hesitation. “I'm not exactly sure how many of them are well…exactly here, so to speak. It may be that none of them are around now…”

 

“Oh…well, don't worry,” said Misao, her hostility giving way to sympathy a bit. “If they're out there, we'll find them for you.”

 

“Thank you very much, I truly do appreciate it,” Kurama responded, bowing his head low to the floor in thanks and then rising to his feet.

 

After bowing politely once again to Okina and Misao, Kurama exited the room, and heard Misao leave immediately afterwards. He turned to see her still fiddling with the knife. He waited for her to fall into step beside him before they headed back towards the restaurant section of the Aoiya.

 

“You still think I might require a knife in the back, then?” Kurama said, flashing another smile. “It would be quite hard to work here if you're always pressing something sharp into my back.”

 

“Oh…sorry,” said Misao, and then quickly flicked the knife across the courtyard where it implanted itself in a wooden pylon with rather startling accuracy. “I guess you have to be telling the truth, otherwise there's no way you could have given such detailed descriptions of your friends.”

 

“Either that, or I have the best imagination in the world,” replied Kurama jokingly. “At any rate, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot like that. I'm normally not one for such poor first impressions.”

 

“You mean you're a kiss ass,” retorted Misao with a small smirk. “Don't worry about it. I'm more mad that we didn't even touch you than about the food. What style of fighting do you use? It's not like anything I've seen before.”

 

“A great martial artist once said: When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style,” answered Kurama, prompting a confused look from Misao.

 

“Huh, I've never heard that before,” she thought, although Kurama knew this, since the man who said the quote wasn't born for quite a few decades. “Sounds smart,, though. Anyway, what kind of work can you do?”

 

“Anything, basically,” Kurama answered. “Cooking, cleaning…”

 

“That one, cleaning,” cut in Misao, suddenly grinning. “We're gonna' make you a maid, pretty boy.”

 

“Well…I wouldn't say maid…” began Kurama, suddenly feeling as though he was receiving a final payback for the meat buns.

 

“Oh, but I would,” said Misao, grinning. “And we'll make you wear a girl's apron while you do it.”

 

Kurama sighed in exasperation as Misao bounded off, presumably to get his new effeminate uniform. Unfortunately, even with this humiliation, he found that he was in a better situation then he had been before encountering the Oniwaban Group. He could only hope that he would get on Misao's good side as soon as possible.