Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger! ❯ Heart of Sword ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

___________________________________________________________________________ _________________

Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger!
By SSJ Heero
________________________________________________________________________ ____________________

- OPENING SONG: SOBAKASU -

Daikirai datta sobakasu wo chotto
Hitonadeshite tame iki wo hitotsu
Hebi ikkyuu no koi wa migoto ni
Kakuzatou to isshoni toketa
Mae yori mo motto yaseta mune ni chotto
"Chiku" tto sasaru toge ga itai
Hoshiuranai mo ate ni naranai wa

Motto touku made isshoni yuketara nee
Ureshikute sore dakede

Omoi de wa itsumo kirei dakedo
Sore dake ja onaka ga suku no
Honto wa setsunai yoru nanoni
Doushite kashira? Ano hito no namida mo omoi dasenai no?
Omoidasenai no
Doushitenano?

---- Recap ----

[Chibi characters of the five appear in the foreground as scenes from the last episode play
in the background. Though, you can't see 'cause this is text. =P]

SSJ: Last time! On Ginga GIRI GIRI!

Amiko: You never thought you'd see a recap ever again, huh? HUH?

TM: Last time, we were caught in the middle of the terrorist organization known as the "Aku
no Tsubasa".

DDT: Kino Tsumuji and his army- the Gemini project- slaughtered most of the members,
and went after Tsubasa.

Cindy: And then Dark left with the fabled weapon- the Atma Weapon.

TM: And now there are BANANAS!

Amiko: Random plots! Bishounen! YES!

Cindy: YAY! BACK TO HOW WE STARTED!

---- Chapter 21: Heart of Sword ----

The five wandered through the forests of Mount Ueno. They brushed past trees, dodge
thickets of plants and try their best not to get scratched by the leaning wood towers.
Various wildlife animals skittered through the forest, and the five dodged their path
around rocks. Finally, they came to a small riverbank, and sat down for a while. Amiko
sighed, "So, what if Dark didn't come to this island, anyway? Maybe he went to a different
one"

SSJ spoke, "Maybe," as he was looking out across the river.

Cindy turned to SSJ. "Why do you want to follow him anyway? He's stronger than you. You
know it. You'll kill yourself if you follow him!"

SSJ sighed, hugging his knees and looking at the ground. "He didn't just defeat me in
battle. He spat on me. He stepped on me. And then ran away so that I would never catch up."

TM called out, holding a banana in his left hand. "So," he thought aloud, "It's all about
your AZN pride. He destroyed it, and you want to save face."

SSJ was silent and glared at TM, but the other four took the hint.

"Blunt," Amiko began, "are we, TM?"

TM took a bite out of his banana and swallowed. "Hey! It's the truth-"

SSJ interrupted, "It's alright, Amiko. He's right. It's just for my selfish reasons." He
shifted his glances away from the four. The five were silent, and DDT stood up, his feet
hurting from all that walking.

"Maybe I should have gotten shoes while we were on that boat to here," he complained.

SSJ smirked and sarcastically spoke, "Then we'll go and leave you while you're here whining
like a baby."

DDT drop kicked SSJ. His face was twisted in anger. SSJ was dazed and disoriented from the
pain, and simply muttered "Oro..."

"That's what you deserve!" DDT yelled.

***

:: Several Miles Ahead ::

Sometime later, the five reached the edge of a city in the middle of the island. The
buildings lining the dirt roads of the city seemed to be of old Japanese fashion. The roofs
were connected into one long network of shingles. People crowded the streets as the five
entered, trying their best to not crash into the moving crowd. Eventually, the four stopped
at the bottom of stone steps that led into a large imperial building. They sighed as the
people pass by without looking.

"Geez," TM spoke with annoyance. "This city is crowded."

Cindy looked about and thought aloud, "This place looks familiar..."

DDT was twisting his head around and glanced at several places around the city. "It seems
to be old-fashioned... Like... Medieval Japan."

SSJ sat at the top of the steps in silence, leaning on his bent knees. "Yeah," he added.
"It sorta looks like..."

Amiko looked back at the towering building, and noticed a small sign in front of it,
written in kanji. She read it, "Kyoutou..." Her eyes widened. "We're in Kyoto?!"

Cindy's eyes shot open in surprise as she looked back at Amiko. "Kyoto?!"

TM was in the background, muttering with his eyes wide open. "Kyoto, Japan?" he asked.

SSJ spoke with an annoyed face. He realized just how much they walked. "So, that means
we've been wandering from Osaka Harbor?!"

DDT sighed, not quite knowing the layout of Japan, "I'm gonna guess that's far..."

The five sighed, for they are exhausted. They sat, silent, for what seems like ten minutes.
Finally, TM spoke, "Well, what shall we do while we're here?"

"I'm tired of walking," whined Cindy.

TM looked at Cindy. "Well, let's get to an inn, everyone!"

***

It was 11:59 PM in Osaka Harbor that night. The skies were dark, and the stars dimly shone
from far away. The seas were calm, and the winds slowly blew. The streets were empty, and
the boats floated and rocked in the sea.

Except for one, which had its sail up and was about to leave port. A large wooden vessel
slowly drifted away from the land, as a figure moved up to the side of the ship. The figure
was covered with bandages, and beside him, was a young woman. An army of underlings dressed
in black listened to orders shouted from a tall man wearing a brown coat. The figure,
Shishio Makoto, said to his companion, of course, in Japanese, "Aa... Meiji no chikoku wa
ore no doki ga shiru naa."

For easy reading, subtitles ran across the screen with none thinking the wiser.
[Subtitles: Ah... The Meiji Government will know my hatred.]

And the mummy man continued to rant on and on and on for the next few minutes as the ship
slowly moved away from land. His lover, Komagata Yumi, came around and hugged him tight.
"Dare mo wa anta no ikkei ga zutto wakaranai ne, Shishio-sama..."

[Subtitles: No one will ever understand such a plan as yours, Shishio-sama...]

The mummy man pressed Yumi close to him. "Sou da. Nozoite... Ore no senpai wa..."

[Subtitles: That's right. Except... My predecessor...]

There was the sound of a horse's hooves in the background. The entire crew of the ship
turned to see a carriage moving fast towards the port. The carriage slowed to a stop, and a
short, red-haired man, followed by a taller black haired cop and a wily haired ex-gangster
stepped out of the carriage. From inside the ship, the brown-coated person, Hoji, yelled,
"Himura Kenshin da!"

[Subtitles: It's Himura Kenshin!]

The red-haired man, Himura Kenshin, yelled, making his declaration, "Shishio! Omae-"

[Subtitles: Shishio! You-]

At that point, a carrier pigeon flew to Shishio, and handed him a letter. Everyone stopped
and looked at Shishio. Shishio raised a hand and said, "Senpai, matte naa."

[Subtitles: Predecessor, wait for a bit.]

Kenshin nodded, and Shishio picked up the letter, reading it carefully. He then murmured in
English, "Ah... The author's commanding us to speak in English..."

"Oh," Kenshin replied. "Is that so?"

Sano was quite annoyed with the author's antics. He began, "Now, why would that asshole of
an author make us do that?!"

Saitou took a breath of his cigarette, and then insulted Sano, "Isn't it obvious, jackass?
He doesn't want to type out all our dialogue in Japanese and then subtitle it."

Sano fumed, and attempted to strangle Saitou. Shishio returned the letter to the pigeon,
which flew away. "You were saying?" Shishio inquired.

"Okay," Kenshin started again, clearing his throat. "Shishio! Stop the plan to destroy
Tokyo!"

"Heh. You really are naive, Kenshin. The world is all survival of the fittest. The strong
live and the weak die. The Meiji government is weak, and I am strong. The Meiji government
must die, and I must rule."

At this point, another carrier pigeon flew down and landed on Shishio. Shishio picked up
the letter attached to its foot, and read it quietly. He muttered, "Ah... Rantmon wants us
to find that five. He says they're in Kyoto." He was silent for a bit before turning to
Kenshin again, "See ya."

The boat quickly sailed away and almost left the three in surprise.

Saitou yelled in anger, "HEY! WHAT ABOUT US?!"

"What about your plan to take over Japan?!" Kenshin asked.

"Forget all that!" Shishio answered. "I'd rather give up my plans then get on Rantmon's bad
side." With that, Shishio disappeared from the scene, and Kenshin, Saitou, and Sano sighed.

"Ugh," Kenshin groaned.

"How shitty," continued Saitou.

"He said Kyoto, right?" Sano asked. The three looked at each other, and immediately forced
the carriage to drive them back to Kyoto with all its speed.)

***

Meanwhile in Kyoto, the sounds of footsteps and screams filled the sky. Ninjas leapt from
roof to roof, intercepting various henchmen of Shishio and preventing the Great Kyoto Fire.
With great force, a weasel girl, Makimachi Misao, wearing blue, kicked a black-wearing
henchman into the wall of an inn. The wall shattered, sending splinters and little bits
into the room. She laughed with pride, "Hah! Take that ya stupid lackey!"

She ran past the inn, searching for more enemies. She stopped and turns back upon hearing
screams from the inn. She turned back in time to see the henchman fly through the wall of
the inn, and through the building opposite it. DDT stepped through the hole and looked
around the city. "Now, what the HELL is going on?" he yelled.

From inside the inn, SSJ and Amiko stepped outside to follow DDT. SSJ looked around and saw
a group of black-hooded lackeys run up from behind. He quickly grabbed his sword and
knocked them all out with the backside of his sword. He then glanced at Amiko. "Is this the
Kyoto Fire they plan to begin?!"

"If so..." She trailed off. Amiko pulled out her all-but-forgotten makeup kit and puts on
her blue makeup. A bright light enveloped her and she emerged as Blue Bird Shadow Lady. She
soared up into the sky and searched through the town.

Meanwhile back on ground, Misao was confused as she stared up at Amiko. She then turned to
SSJ and DDT, asking rapidly, "HOW did your friend do that?!"

"I'm not really sure myself," SSJ explained... Well, he didn't really explain anything, huh?

"And that was the first time I saw it," said DDT.

After a while, Amiko landed on the ground in front of them, and informed them all, "There
are a lot of black ninjas gathering in the North and Southwest part of the city!"

Misao heard this with eagerness, "Seriously?!" she replied. "Damn! I have to go, now!"

Misao then dashed off, leaving SSJ, DDT, and Amiko alone in the narrow alley. SSJ then
turned to run after her, yelling over his shoulder, "I'm going to help stop this, as well!"

SSJ disappeared around the corner. The two would have been chasing after him if not for a
gunshot heard behind them. Amiko and DDT turned around and see Cindy with a smoking gun,
and a guy on the ground screaming in pain. Blood gushed from his shoulder, with a
smoldering bullet inside. Cindy spoke, "This is just like Rurouni Kenshin..." She looked
back at them with the corner of her eyes.

Amiko meekly smiled. "Yeah. This world is strange," she explained. "I never did explain
about the anime worlds or where the bishounen came from."

***

A small black bird beat its wings in the night sky. It was a freezing night, without sign
of flames or smoke throughout all of Japan. It landed on a rather large battleship, a
Rengoku. More specifically, Shishio Makoto's Rengoku. The wood of the cover was destroyed,
as to drive the ship all the faster. Shishio was muddled in thought as he read and reread
Rantmon's letter.

'Kyoto... This completely ruins my plans,' he thought to himself, 'Not only that, but this
would severely annoy Rantmon if I were to fail. Damn it, all!

Yumi pressed close to Shishio, comforting him. She ignored the heat emanating from his body
as she encouraged, "You don't need to torture yourself in your thoughts, Shishio-sama...
Every one of us would do the same. This is Rantmon, after all."

The small black bird landed in front of Shishio, a letter tied to its leg. Shishio sighed
again with frustration, struggling not to pull out his palm trees for hair. "Not another
letter!" he yelled with complaint.

Shishio grabbed the letter and set the bird on fire, letting its ashes fall to the sea.
Shishio opened the letter and read it. He sighed once more, "I'm to report to Rantmon's
palace once I get those brats. The council is meeting again."

Yumi's eyes widened as she listens to Shishio, and bursted out loud, "THE COUNCIL?! IT
HASN'T MET FOR YEARS!"

"I know," Shishio replied, "That is why I'm confused. Is it all because of those damn kids?"

Everyone was silent. The winds blew as the ship moves onward, with the sea glittering and
sloshing about. Finally, Hoji declared, "We are near land. Kyoto isn't too far off."

"Fetch me a carriage, then," commanded Shishio.

Hoji saluted Shishio, who was stepping off the ship to a ramp which connected to a small
boat. The wind howled once more, and Shishio's small vessel rocked in the wind as they head
for shore. "We'll prepare," Shishio began his command, "and in three days time, we will
find those five.

***

It was a success. The Great Kyoto Fire had been thwarted. With the help of Misao, SSJ, and
his bishoujo, the North is clear. Amiko, her bishounen, along with Cindy and her guns had
taken the West side, easily defeating the rather primitive enemies. (I mean, there was
Squall and Cloud 'Omnislash'-ing and 'Lionheart'-ing most of them.) TM and DDT used their
Zero Slash and Fireball respectively, easily cleaning out the Southwest. It was all and
well, except now, they have to deal with quite a few of the Juppongatana.

Kamatari and Hennya met Amiko and Cindy at the West wall of Kyoto. Usui and Anji met TM and
DDT at the Southwest corner. Fuji and Saizuchi met SSJ and Misao at the North.

SSJ raised up his sword, blade pointing to the sky, ready to fight the giant monstrosity
that was Fuji. Saizuchi only laughed at the boy, "You think you can defeat Fuji?! What an
insolent twerp you are!"

SSJ's glare did not fade, however. His determined glare shown through the night, with the
torches burning on the ground. SSJ stood, feet far apart. Both his hands gripped his weak
sword as tight as they could, with veins showing clearly on his skin. He panted with
fatigue. Blood dripped from his blade. He then thought, 'None of those people I fought are
going to die, are they? ...Bah. What does it matter? I don't know them. I don't care about
them. Just think of the problems at hand.'

Saizuchi then smirked, and pointed a finger at SSJ. He laughed once more, and commanded
Fuji. "Fuji! Why not have some fun?! KILL THE BOY!"

Misao stood a distance back, witnessing SSJ as he held his ground. He was a boy none older
than her, yet, he was standing up against this freak! Fuji raised his sword in the air, his
powerful muscles showing clearly in the dim light. "What courage he has... ...Or is that
just stupidity?" Misao muttered to herself, with plenty of Oniwabanshuu ninjas surrounding
the scene.

Fuji then raised his sword higher. His left hand came forward to balance himself. Then he
let a slash down on where SSJ stood.

***

Meanwhile, Amiko and Cindy confronted Kamatari, the proud and scary fag, and Hennya, the
bat-shaped, bony fighter. Kamatari stood, supporting his giant scythe on his shoulders.
Hennya stood with his cape covering nearly every inch of his body. They were shadowed in
darkness. Amiko stood, unarmed, but with her bishounen surrounding her. Her bishounen stood
as well, armed to the teeth, and ready to pounce on the two. Cindy stood, armed with ten
guns (SSJ *still* hadn't returned her two guns, yet), aimed at the two.

Kamatari only smiled, and Hennya seemed to grin under his mask. "It seems that we are
outnumbered, ne," Kamatari calmly said.

Amiko raised up her fists, ready to fight the fairy dressed in a kimono. The sad thing
would be that all of that about Kamatari was literally true. "Obviously," she agreed. "You
won't stop us like we have stopped you, Kamatari!"

Kamatari's grin grew. "So it seems a cute girl like you already knows my name."

Amiko facefaulted, and her bishounen gritted their teeth. They glared at Kamatari as Amiko
murmured, "I'm too damn sexy... But anyway... Aren't you in love with Shishio?!" She yelled
this as she pointed to Kamatari.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with having two loves." Kamatari then looked at Cindy,
scratching his feminine chin with his feminine hands. "Or three, at that."

Cindy facefaulted as well, and responded with a volley of bullets. Kamatari defended the
fury, spinning his scythe around to block the many bullets, he then counters with a sweep
with his chain. "You two are cute and all," he commented, "But that won't stop me from
proving my love for Shishio!"

And over in the corner, Hennya stood, sulking off a distance away. He was only visible by a
spotlight from nowhere, and he muttered to himself, "Well, I'm in the background again..."
With that, Amiko and Cindy began their fight with Kamatari, while Amiko's bishounen quickly
ganged up on Hennya, defeating him easily.

***

TM and DDT stood, facing the blind spearman Usui and the rebel monk Anji. TM, with his
bloody sword in hand, held his position, ready to fight. DDT stepped up to TM, and then
asked, "So... Who are these people?"

TM restrained himself from facefaulting, and muttered back, "You never saw Rurouni
Kenshin?!"

DDT shook his head, wondering what the heck a "Rurouni Kenshin" was. TM then went on,
ignoring Anji and Usui, explaining the basic plot of Rurouni Kenshin. He outlined the Kyoto
Arc, and the priest arc which will not be discussed, since it is not in the manga.

DDT nodded in apprehension as TM explained all the battles and how everyone was defeated.
He then asked, "So, how does it end?"

TM was silent. "I don't know," he said after a pause. "The anime doesn't go to the end. It
was cancelled before it could. Ask SSJ for the end of the manga."

Usui interrupted with a cough, and Anji sneezed in the background. TM and DDT finally
noticed the two again. And then their fight would've begun, if not for a loud call
throughout the city. It sounded like a bullhorn, sounding through the city and interrupting
all action. Anji and Usui looked towards the direction of the sound, and back at the two.

"Feh," Usui murmured with conceit. "You kids aren't worth the effort. Let's go."

Anji was silent, still. The two left, with TM and DDT in the dust of their stances. TM's
curses echoed through the city.

***

SSJ stood in place. He saw the towering Fuji walk away, thundering footsteps echoing
through the dirt. His right hand throbbed in a violent pain. He wasn't bleeding, thankfully
enough, but he stood, glaring at the hulking giant. He was defeated and useless. He looked
at his sword, or what was left of it. It was torn to pieces from the large impact.

When Fuji attacked, SSJ was fast enough, luckily, to jump to his left. Unfortunately, the
dodge wasn't fast enough, and the attack came down on his cheap, useless, mass-produced
sword. The impact was too great for his arm, let alone his hand.

So now, it was numb. He was not able to do anything about it, but he didn't care. Another
sword was wasted. Its scattered shards spread along the ground. All because he lacked any
skill whatsoever.

"Damn it all!" he swore. "No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I'll always
fail... I lost against the androids, and only won against the last one because it was
severely weakened. I couldn't defeat Jallopsimon where DDT could with ease. Dark utterly
destroyed whatever pride I had left in myself. And now... Once more..."

SSJ gritted his teeth, grinding them against each other. His eyes were wide, and his pupils
tiny. Hatred ran through his veins.

'DAMN THEM!' he screamed in his mind. 'DAMN THEM ALL! HOW DARE THEY SHATTER MY PRIDE, AND
THEN RUN AWAY!'

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Misao,
looking absolutely cute as she walked up to him. His eyes widened as she came closer; her
eyes seemed to reflect pain.

...But then she jumped and gave him a kick straight to the nose. His nose bled from the
impact, and he held it in pain. "WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!" Her scream echoed through the
area. "CRAZY LITTLE ASSHOLE! THINK OF ALL THE PROPERTY DAMAGE YOU CAUSED BECAUSE YOU WANTED
TO FIGHT THAT THING!"

SSJ fell to the ground in a heap of pain. Misao sighed, and then looked down on SSJ's
unconscious body. She turned around, and walked back to the Aoiya restaurant. SSJ lay on
the floor, with swirls for eyes. "Oro..."

Later, Amiko and Cindy approached the body of SSJ. Amiko could only sigh as she and Cindy
dragged him back to the room.

***

TM and DDT returned to the room the next morning, finding that the wall was already fixed.
It had been a long night. All they did all night was fending off ninja hordes for Shishio
after the two Juppongatana members ditched them. They returned to the room to find only
Cindy and Amiko, sitting and leaning on the wall opposite the door they entered, half
asleep. The futons on the floor were tossed away from the center, and a puddle of melted
wax and a black wick lay in a small bowl in the corner.

They saw that SSJ wasn't in the room. TM inquired, "Where's SSJ?!"

Amiko opened her eyes, and looked at the two, then at Cindy, on her right. She looked
around the room, and replied, "Gah. How should I know?!"

"Well," he began asking, "if he's not here, WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"

Amiko put her hands in her hair and nearly pulled it out. "LIKE I WOULD KNOW?!"

Cindy woke up from the yelling. She yawned, and drowsily muttered, "What's going on...?"
She rubbed her eyes to find Amiko and TM grappling with each other. She sighed when she saw
Kamui appear and psychically run TM into a wall.

She saw DDT sigh and speak, "We should find SSJ... Who knows what he got himself into NOW."

"You mean like that time on Christmas?" said Cindy.

DDT nodded, and Cindy stood, following DDT as he stepped outside. Amiko returned Kamui, and
followed as well. TM crawled close behind.

***

SSJ sat over in the forested mountains. He sat under a tree, a little ways from a small hut
he found. He sat with bent knees, hugging them and sighing. Depression tore away at his
heart, and hatred resided in his soul. He was slowly weakening. He muttered under his
breath, "Tired... So tired... Of losing... Why can't I win? Why?! Why am I fighting,
anyway?! Just for my ego? If I am fighting for myself, why can't I win?"

A shadow and voice interrupted his thoughts, "You can't win because you're weak."

SSJ's eyes opened, and he looked up to see the giant Hiko Seijuurou. His large manto seemed
to block out the sun as he stood over him. He held a jug over his shoulders as he stood.
SSJ quickly rose to his feet, and still had to look up to Hiko. "Then, how do I become
strong?!" he asked. It was the one thing he needed to know.

Hiko sighed, and began to walk away towards his small hut. He talked over his shoulders,
"If you want to be strong, then you have to work at it."

"Then, why not train me, Hiko?!"

Hiko stopped in his tracks, and turned back at SSJ. "How the Hell do you know my name?"

"It's a long story, and it'll make your head explode."

Hiko turned around and stepped towards his hut once more. He spoke again, "Come with me.
We'll get some basic techniques down."

SSJ smirked. He was finally going to get powerful!

But that smirked was wiped straight off when he received a kick straight to his side. He
flew into the forest in pain, and turned around to see Amiko, hair full of leaves and face
red with anger.

***

Sometime later, SSJ, Amiko, Cindy, TM, and DDT were gathered in front of Hiko's hut. SSJ
had his lower torso covered with bandages from Amiko's attack. He glared at Amiko, who
glared back at him. She simply advised him, "You've got to stop running away, you know
that?"

SSJ turned away. "Tch. What do you care?"

"Y'know, we aren't the kind who doesn’t care. You're our friend, and we worry about you,
damn it! You've got to stop abandoning us for yourself!"

SSJ rose to his feet, and so did Amiko. "Well, if you care so much," he challenged, "how
about we fight?! Mano a mano! Man to man!"

SSJ only got a fist to his left cheek for that, because after all, she wasn't a man. Hiko
could only sigh as SSJ lay on the ground. Hiko then noticed the sword and sheathe on TM's
belt. "Boy," he commanded TM. "Show me a stroke."

TM looked up at Hiko, and rose to show him how he struck with the sword. He raised the
sword up, and sliced downward. Hiko facefaulted, and said, "Damn it, that's horrible form!
Is that how you really attack?!"

TM nodded. Hiko grabbed TM by the shirt collar and dragged him to the waterfall. With the
other hand, he grabbed SSJ as well.

DDT could only mutter aloud as they were dragged away, "I guess they were really that
bad..."

"Yeah," agreed Cindy. "And I thought they were pretty good."

The two followed the strong master to the waterfall, and saw SSJ and TM's harsh training.
Amiko, along with them, returned to Kyoto.

***

Amiko, Cindy, and DDT returned to the city to find Misao and the Oniwabanshuu waiting for
them. Aoshi was missing, of course, and Misao walked up to Amiko. Amiko smiled, along with
Misao. "Thanks," said Misao as she bowed. "I heard you all helped a lot- Hey, where're your
friends?"

Amiko sighed, and looked back towards the mountains. "Hiko's training them."

"Ah! Kenshin's master!"

Amiko nodded. Misao sighed. "Well, since you helped us, I'm inviting you to the Aoiya. Come
on, we've heard a lot about you. Shishio's out to get you."

Amiko and Cindy's eyes shot wide open. "SHISHIO?! WHY?!" screamed the two.

Misao smiled. "I'll tell you along the way."

***

A small carriage appeared in Kyoto. Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Saitou both rushed out of the
cart, searching for any sign of Shishio. Of course, there was none, and they all faulted
onto the floor. Boy, they were tired, and so was the horse and driver. Dead tired. Driving
from Osaka to Kyoto in a little over six hours was a feat. Especially when they had to
fight through swarms of ninjas and random battles. But in any case, they were finally in
Kyoto.

Saitou announced his plans, "I'll search for whatever information I can find on Shishio."

Saitou began to walk away, if not for Sano yelling at him, "Hey! What about *us*?!"

Saitou glanced at Sano. "What *about* you?"

Sano sighed, and Saitou walked off. He then turned to Kenshin. "Looks like Shishio is in
Kyoto," he stated the obvious.

"Indeed, Sano."

"Any idea on where we will find information?"

Kenshin began to walk away from the tired carriage. He spoke over his shoulder, "Aoiya."

***

Cindy, DDT, and Amiko sat on mats opposite from Okina, Misao, and Kaoru. They all wore new
kimono and yukata, for their old clothes were bloody and dirty as Hell. So, they discussed
about SSJ, Shishio, Kenshin, and the like. Cindy was eating a rice ball when Misao spoke,
"When will your friend return? I think I forgot to thank him for the help."

"SSJ?" Amiko thought aloud. "Who knows when he'll get his act together."

Cindy swallowed a rice ball, and then spoke, "It might take a while. I mean, he's been
really depressed recently."

"Really?" Kaoru inquired. "Then it might be a good thing that he's training with Hiko."

DDT started a flame inside his fist, and quickly made toast. He stuffed it into his mouth
as they all heard footsteps. Within a few seconds, Kenshin and Sano enter the room. Both
Amiko and Cindy instantly swoon.

"KENSHIN!" screamed Amiko.

"SANO!" screamed Cindy.

Kenshin and Sano turned chibi for a bit. "Oro?" both managed to mutter.

Less than a second later, before even Kenshin knew it, Amiko and Cindy had their arms
around Kenshin and Sano respectively. Amiko's bishounen weren't too happy, of course, nor
was Kaoru.

"Even though I shouldn't care at all," Squall complained, "but don't you already have
enough bishounen?!"

"Aren't you my fiancée?!" echoed Kamui's voice.

Trowa whined, "What about me?!"

And finally, Kaoru yelled, "KENSHIIIIN!"

Amiko sighed, and peeled herself off Kenshin. Cindy didn't follow suit with Sano. Kenshin,
Sano, Kaoru, and Misao turned and saw DDT.

Sano asked, "Is your friend always like this?"

"Pretty much, whenever they see a bishounen."

Sano and Kenshin sighed. Kaoru fumed.

***

Three days passed, and SSJ and TM were still training with Hiko. Their training had been
intense, but it was all worth it. TM lay on the ground, full of fatigue and sweat soaking
into his clothes. SSJ sat on a rock, panting loudly from the training. He had a bruise on
his left arm. Three days ago, his defense was poor, and his offense was even poorer. Not
even Arashi's skill could salvage the wreck that was form. TM, similarly, had horrible form.

Over the last three days, the two had trained extensively with Hiko, learning basic
maneuvers, defensive techniques, and many other escapes. Hiko even went ahead to teach them
every technique before the Kuzu Ryuu Sen. They were always progressing; he saw it in their
eyes. He couldn't teach them the Kuzu Ryuu Sen, however, because of SSJ's weakness. He
wanted SSJ to find it on his own.

Hiko sat in his hut, drinking sake as his students rested and chatted. TM lay on the dirt,
panting as the sun hit his eyes.

"Why won't he teach us the Kuzu Ryuu Sen?!" TM complained.

SSJ sighed, and muttered under his breath, "Because of my weakness..."

"What could that be?"

"I don't know... It's that something that always made me lose. Was it the fear of losing
that caused me to lose?"

"That would have been ironic."

"Yeah... I don't know why."

Then the realization hit him. "Wait, you weren't depressed after you lost to Dark. How did
you deal with the fact you couldn't have defended your friends? Dark could have killed us
at any time!"

TM smirked. "One word explains it all: "Could"."

SSJ's eyes shoot wide open as TM continued, "He didn't kill us. We're still alive. You
dwell too much on the past. You once said yourself when we were in school, 'Just deal with
today. There's no good dwelling on yesterday.' What happened to that? You can't change
yesterday, but you can change today. But, you can always learn from yesterday to make today
better."

TM paused, and SSJ was as silent as he could be. "Was that the answer? Don't let your
bitter memories cloud your mind."

TM turned to SSJ, and saw that SSJ's frown finally turned into a smile. TM smirked as he
realized he said something right. The two were silent before SSJ spoke, "Thanks. For the
advice. You've been a great friend throughout this adventure."

And at that point, Hiko approached the two. He grinned, and spoke, "Looks like you two are
ready for the Kuzu Ryuu Sen."

***

Amiko, Cindy, and DDT were helping in the Aoiya when they heard giant, thundering
footsteps. They rushed outside to see a giant shadow cast over them. Misao, Kenshin, and
Sano followed close behind the three. Amiko and Cindy couldn't have resisted themselves
again as they jumped on Kenshin and Sano.

DDT sighed as Fuji came into clear view from afar, "Dear Lord... Looks like this'll be
problematic."

"Sounds like Shishio is finally attacking," announced Kenshin.

Cindy grabbed her hair and tugged on it. "SSJ AND TM AREN'T DONE, YET?!"

The group then ran towards the giant. They ran into Saitou on the way, who had information
aplenty on Shishio and his Juppongatana. Soon after, Shishio came in sight, only a carriage
behind Fuji.

Kenshin yelled at the mummyman, "Shishio!"

Sano noticed the monk riding on top of the carriage. "ANJI!" he yelled in surprise.

"Aoshi!" yelled Misao as she saw Aoshi.

Fuji stopped, and Shishio stepped out of his carriage. The rest of the Juppongatana
appeared, and Shishio smiled. "Senpai... Looks like we meet again. However, I'm not after
you or Japan." Shishio looked at Amiko, Cindy, and DDT. He sighed, "Three out of five? Oh
well. Good enough for Rantmon, I guess."

With that, Shishio commanded his Juppongatana to attack. Hennya was first up, and faced off
with DDT. It wasn't a very long match, for DDT quickly launched a fireball at Hennya.
Shishio's face twisted in surprise as he sees the ball of flames raced towards Hennya,
catching him on fire. All of Hennya's explosives quickly caught on fire as well, and with a
great boom, Hennya was thrown into a building, nearly rendered dead. One down, nine to go.
(Chou is in prison, and Aoshi joined Shishio, remember?)

"Well," began DDT, "That was simple."

Aoshi's voice called through the group, "Battousai. Get up."

Kenshin quickly took on Aoshi. With a lightning fast Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki, Aoshi was
quelled, and his senses returned. With a Zero Gatotsu, Usui was impaled right through the
heart by Saitou. With a great Futae no Kiwami, Sano took out Anji.

"I didn't even get a line..." was all Anji said in the entire fic.

Then, there were six Juppongatana left. Kamatari quickly went forward to face Cindy, Misao,
and Kaoru. It wasn't a hard fight. With a volley of bullets from Cindy, the staff
shattered, and the blade flew into Iwanbo. With a loud tearing noise and the clink of
armor, a person inside Iwanbo was revealed. Everyone looked at the person, Gein, who
quickly ran away as fast his legs could take him. Misao and Kaoru quickly took out Kamatari.

"No!" he screamed as he as knocked away. "Shishio-sama!"

Yumi only laughed at Kamatari. Next, Amiko and Ranma quickly got rid of Saizuchi and Houji
in a gigantic team-up technique a la Rival Schools. Now, only Soujirou and Fuji was left.
Fuji roared as he took a giant step forward, causing everyone to disperse. Everyone looked
up at the gigantic monster. No one had any technique capable of defeating it. Cindy
exhausted all her bullets. Amiko's bishounen couldn't even touch it, since they were all
quickly knocked out. Kenshin, Sano, and Saitou failed to do any damage whatsoever. Shishio
laughed as Fuji dominated them all. Not even Ifrit could cause harm to the monster, Fuji.
Shishio laughed louder as his enemies could only run away from Fuji.

That was, until a voice rang out through the air. "ZERO SLASH!"

A razor sharp wave of red flew through the air, striking Fuji in the chest. Fuji was
knocked back, and his giant sword split in two. The tip of the sword flew away and landed
in the middle of a nearby abandoned street. Yumi, Shishio, and Soujirou were all taken
aback by the surprise attack, and Amiko, Cindy, and DDT turned around, knowing who to
expect arriving in cliché anime style.

They saw TM, clad in new clothes, landing behind them. He wore leather shoulder pads and
chest armor. Underneath that was a black shirt, loosely tucked into blue pants. His pants
were tucked into new boots, with two straps on it. On his right side, rested his sheathe.
In his left hand, Hiko's sword was clearly visible in the light. "It's showtime!" he yelled.

"TM!" exclaimed Cindy.

Amiko grinned. "Finally back!"

"YES!" DDT yelled.

Fuji regained his ground, and yelled in fury. A large cut was seen in his armor, and TM
smiled at his handy work. He ran his hand through his hair. "Yes, I rock."

Fuji took another step forward, but this time, two large waves flew at Fuji. They were
invisible, being nothing but currents of air circulating around a void. The attack struck
Fuji at both shoulders, and Fuji was thrown into the air. Shishio's mouth dropped open, and
Fuji fell into a block of houses. Houses were crushed under Fuji's weight. Everyone turned
to see where the attack came from. SSJ was seen falling to the rooftops, still without a
sword. He jumped to the floor beside TM. "Sorry for being late, Amiko-chan," he said with a
smirk.

Cindy and DDT quickly restrained Amiko as she shouted in anger, "DAMN RIGHT, YOU'RE LATE!"

Shishio's voice cut through Amiko's yells, "Kid. What was that?!"

Amiko shut up, and turned to Shishio. SSJ smiled, "That was one of my less original
attacks, the Wind Slash."

"A copy of my Zero Slash," added TM.

"How the Hell did you two perform these techniques?!" Shishio yelled.

TM smiled, and explained, "Well, the sword is not only a channel for your attacks, but for
your soul and ideals. The Zero Slash is nothing but a void created from my swordsman
spirit, or kenki. I use the void, nothingness, Zero, the cut through objects, made sharp by
my sword."

SSJ continued, "The Wind Slash is a different form of the Zero Slash. Not only do I create
a void from my own kenki, but mine is crystal clear. I learned to gather my spirit in my
fists, and I managed to do the Wind Slash barehanded and without a sword. Heh. It's not as
sharp and concentrated as TM's Zero Slash, but it does the job."

Shishio's mind was filled with doubt. He muttered quietly, 'Oh no... These kids... They're
impossible... Not even I would be able to beat them, with attacks as powerful as those...'

Shishio got up, and commanded Soujirou to run away. Soujirou tried to rebuke, but Shishio
explained, "There's no way we can win, now. We've lost. Just get going."

He then faced Kenshin. After a harsh battle which shall not be discussed, since most people
know how that battle went, Kenshin won, and Shishio exploded in flames along with Yumi. The
Juppongatana was defeated. All of them. Amiko ran to help Kenshin, knocking Kaoru into a
wall. "Are you okay, Kenshin?!"

Suddenly and randomly, the Fox lady, Megumi, appeared from out of nowhere. "Ken-san!" she
said as her only line was used up.

And then, one more day passed.

***

After a day, Kaoru wouldn't stop complaining about Amiko hanging around Kenshin. It took TM
capturing her in order to make her shut up. Needless to say, it surprised everyone.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Misao yelled at TM, pointing at the bishie ball in his hand.

TM didn't want to bother explaining, so he said simply, "Well, she'll be fine inside my
bishoujo's waiting room."

The group then explained the entire concept of catching bishounen and bishoujo. How they
could capture bishounen, and they'd wait in a waiting room of sorts until they were called.
Megumi looked over everyone's wounds, and Kenshin inquired to Hiko, who had visited from
the mountains, "Why does TM have your sword?"

"Well," Hiko replied, "He was the best pupil I ever had, and it would be bad for him to use
a mass-produced sword."

An imaginary dong sound called in the background. SSJ turned his head around, looking
around for the source of the sound. Kenshin's expression became lifeless. "B-b-best
s-student you ever h-had?!"

Hiko nodded, and Amiko comforted Kenshin. Her bishounen got tired of complaining, and were
busy with a Gamecube in their own waiting room. SSJ then turned to Misao, who sat next to
him, "Well, I guess I'm sorry for the property damage I caused."

Misao sighed, "I guess it's okay, as long as that thing was defeated."

"Heh."

After a silence, Misao spoke, "I guess I should apologize for kicking you right in the
face."

"Well, it was my fault for challenging the thing."

"If it helps I'll come along. I need to find Rantmon one of these days."

SSJ smiled. "Heh. Thanks."

Amiko stood up. "Well, I don't think we should stay here long. Rantmon could be coming at
any moment." Everyone agreed. TM convinced Megumi to join him, and she disappeared in red
to join his bishoujo in the waiting room. Amiko managed to use her cuteness on Kenshin and
Hiko, and they both joined her ever growing army of bishounen.

Cindy yelled to Sano, latching onto him, "SANO! YOU'LL BE MY HUSBAND!"

Sano grinned and Saitou sighed, muttering something like "Aho" under his breath. "Well,
it's good enough for me," Sano simply said at last to Saitou.

Amiko lended Cindy a bishie-ball, and Sano disappeared into Cindy's waiting room. Just for
fun, she captured Saitou and Aoshi as well. Subsequent screams could have been heard from
her bishie ball. Misao disappeared in red and joins SSJ's ranks of Relena, Arashi, Suzuka,
Yuzuriha, and et cetera. DDT was left bishoujo-less, but it was not like he knew any of the
bishoujo, anyway.

From there, the group said good bye to the Oniwabanshuu, and then left Kyoto. With a
carriage, they reached Osaka harbor again.

DDT smiled as he began, "Well, that was a nice five days."

Cindy nodded. "Yes, it was! I got me Sano!"

Aoshi and Saitou's voices called through the bishie balls in her pocket.

"What about me?" Aoshi muttered, feeling dejected.

"...Aku? Soku? Zan?" The author needs not emphasize who said that.

A boat arrived, and the crew boarded. One more step forward for them. SSJ sniffed the ocean
breeze, then turned to Amiko. "Well, here we go again."

Amiko smiled as she looked at SSJ. She nodded, "Yep. Another adventure."

And all the while, TM had to lean over the rail, vomit flying from his mouth. The boat
sailed further from Osaka, leaving the little island of Japan behind them.

---- To Be Continued ----

- ENDING SONG: TACTICS -

Gira tto shita kimi no me ni Doki tto shita hirusagari
Shakki tto shita ore no karada marude tamesareteru you ni
Tsun tto shita kimi to kuuki ni zoku tto shita koigokoro wa
Zara tto shita suna wo kami sareru ga mama yoru ni naru

Sorosoro jiman no kuchibiru de wain wo nomasete kurenai ka
Mangetsu no yoru ni musubareta otoko to onna wa eien sa

Hageshiku Lady Ah Give me your love
Ayashiku Lady I need your love
Tama ni miseru samishige na me ga
Uso ka hontou ka wakaranai
Sunao ni Lady Ah Give me your love
Kanjite mite Lady I need your love
Kimi no shigusa ni furimawasarete
Muchuu no ai wa ore no naka de odoru

---- Preview ----

[Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! Preview music plays in background. The five appear as chibi style, and
random scenes from the next episode play, though you can't see because this is text. =P]

SSJ: WHOA. DEAR LORD THAT WAS LONG.

Amiko: NO THANKS TO YOU!

TM: Okay! Next! On Ginga GIRI GIRI!

Cindy: We find a deserted mansion off in the middle of nowhere.

DDT: Now, this isn't just any ORDINARY mansion... There's a secret to be had in it.

SSJ: And in there, we find more than we ever bargain for.

TM: With 100% more wackiness. That, and killer zombies.

Amiko: Next! On Ginga GIRI GIRI! "The Mansion of Nightmares".

Squall: ...Whatever.

----