Fan Fiction ❯ Little Flower ❯ First Lessons ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Little Flower

Author: Chisha

Category: General

Warnings: This fic contains an original character, created by the author herself cause she's such a pathetic person. If you do not like possible pairings with this character, do not read any further and press that cute little Back button on your browser. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except Kohana. The rest of the characters is owned by Tecmo. (Too bad…)

Author's Note: Well then, this chapter is a pretty long one, but I didn't feel like cutting it off somewhere in the middle of meetings. More meetings will come, but for now, these are the first people.
Hope you like and thanks for your support!

Chapter 2 - First Lessons

When they reached the house, she opened the back door and the ninja carried her uncle inside.

'Lay him on the couch, there,' she pointed out to him, and he did as she said.
Then he turned around. 'I suggest you call a doctor to confirm his death.'

'I was planning to, yes.'
The ninja nodded, spun on his feet and turned his back to her as he walked back to the back door.

'Where are you going?' Kohana inquired loudly.
He didn't answer her and walked out the door.

He couldn't just leave without giving her a chance to ask him for training! She wasn't just going to attend her uncle's burial and live her life as an innocent good-for-nothing college girl! She didn't even know what she was going to study!
With firm footsteps, the ticking of her shoes clearly audible in the quiet house, she followed the man.

'You come back here, ninja. I haven't even thanked you yet.' That was only part of her reason to follow him, though. Her eyes became slits as she calculated how she would convince him to take her with him. 'Do you even hear me?'

He stopped in his path, and without looking over his shoulder he said, 'I did hear you, miss.'

Kohana smiled slightly about her small triumph. Her words would become poison to his ears. 'Good.' She approached him and walked around him until she was finally facing him. She looked up into his brown eyes. 'Thank you, sir.'
Calmth was upon him as he looked back. 'I was merely doing what I thought was right, miss. Now if you'll excuse me…'

'No, as a matter of fact, I have something else to say.'

'You do.' His eyebrows arched into a frown as he waited for what was coming.
Now was her chance. She had to convince him before he chose to leave or even worse. 'I think it was an assassin who killed my uncle.' She tried to give him a piercing look, so he would have to answer her.
Still not impressed, he did answer her. 'Yes.'

'I feel that I'm going to have to be responsible for his punishment,' she continued straight-forward.

'I have a request for you.'

One of his eyebrows went up slightly.
'I'm asking you to train me in your style. I need to have revenge on the man.' Kohana gave him a fierce look from her slitted eyes, hoping to impress him this way.
'I will not train you.'

She felt her anger rising to a slightly dangerous point. She knew that her uncle had had to treat several of her wounds from getting into fights with bullies in the past, and she knew she didn't want to get into a fight with a ninja, but at that moment, all that occupied her mind was her uncle's death and her craving for revenge. 'You will have to.'

'I do not, miss,' he answered without any changes in his voice or eyes. 'I do not have to train anyone.'

'You do. You'll have to train me so I can have revenge. Have you never heard about family honour, sir?'
He wouldn't budge. 'Have you never heard of codes, miss?'
'Yes, I have. It does allow people to be trained, does it not? I'm not stupid, I've read something about ninja,' she said forcefully.
The man shook his head. 'You have no idea who you are talking to, but I cannot blame you. Even though you have read something about the ninja, I cannot train you.'

'Yes you can. There's nothing in your way, sir,' she retorted quickly. 'I will have my revenge!'

The man's eyes flashed with annoyance, 'That is not a very good reason. I still won't train you. I may be able to find out the man's identity, but I don't owe you anything.'

Kohana bit her lip. Of course, he was right; in fact she owed him for saving her life and taking her uncle back to the house. 'But I owe you.'

'That you probably do, but I have no need of any help,' he replied, still not convinced even the slightest bit.

'You saved my life, you took responsibility, did you not? You could at least allow me to return the favour.' Kohana couldn't believe how she babbled on about it, but this guy just had to be convinced. Else she could not have her revenge.
'And how would I be assured of your loyalty to me as a ninja? How would I be assured that you wouldn't stop being loyal and obedient as soon as you have this revenge of yours?' His strict voice angered her even more. Why would he not allow her to be trained? She thought for a while. Would she really stay a ninja forever? Getting her family honour back as the last heir of that family was pretty important to her; it was part of her pride. But then again… joining a ninja group just for revenge? She would fade into nothingness, she would be unknown to the outside world. But as a ninja, her pride would be restored if she could prove herself and have revenge. After that revenge, she'd be one of those proud people that called themselves ninja. 'That doesn't matter to me. I will do anything you ask of me to show you my loyalty. I will try to earn my place, wherever that may be, and even after I have my revenge I will remain loyal to you or your leader, if you want me to,' she finally said slowly. That answer would have to please him. The expression of his eyes and eyebrows was thoughtful now, as if he was seriously considering it. Then he looked back at her. 'Are you willing to give up any contact with others?'

'I barely had any.' He just had to take that as a yes if he'd wanted further explanation. Of course she still had some friends from college, but she hadn't seen them in a few months anyway. Adventure was calling, and she was willing to give up the few friends she barely spoke to for that adventure and the reclaiming of her pride.
Apparently he did take it as a yes, too. 'Follow me, but leave any possessions behind.'

'Hai!'
She couldn't believe it had worked! Her last idea finally convinced him! She would get her revenge, and the feeling of triumph made her smile broadly as she watched his back when walking after him.
Though after a walk of about twenty minutes, her feelings of triumph subsided and she felt the first sting in her heart. Makoto was dead. Gone. Forever. And here she was, walking along with a man she didn't know, a very dangerous man in the least. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting the grief pass over her, but not allowing herself to cry. She couldn't in the presence of this man. As she thought of the ninja again, she opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at him from behind. Even from behind he seemed calm and fearless. She silently regretted that she had been lying a bit to him, but at least he had decided to take her with him now. Of course the biggest reason for joining him was her want for revenge. But she would stay. There was no turning back now.
After more than an hour of walking - which was not much of a problem for the young Kohana - he finally looked over his shoulder and let her catch up with him.

'What is your name?' he asked her; his voice sounded soft but strict at the same time. No emotions at all, Kohana pondered.

'Kohana,' she answered softly.

The man nodded. 'Little flower.'

'What's your name, ninja?' If he had to know her name, she wanted to know his too. She didn't want to be the only known person here.

***

'Hayate.' A tall man dressed in black with his long hair tied in a ponytail waved his hand to Kohana's new teacher.

'Ryu.' Hayate didn't really move. 'I brought someone with me.'

'So I've heard… and so I see.' This 'Ryu' looked at Kohana. 'She looks just a tiny bit like Kasumi.'

'You do not have to mention her, Ryu, so don't.'

Kohana was surprised about the pain she suddenly saw in Hayate's eyes. Who was this Kasumi? A lost love? Was that the reason mentioning her hurt the ninja? As soon as it had come, the pain in his eyes disappeared.

'Gomen, Hayate. I wasn't thinking.'

'You're excused. This is Kohana, I am going to train her.' Hayate gestured to Kohana.

Ryu gave her a formal bow, and she replied with a bow of her own. 'A pleasure meeting you, Kohana. My name is Hayabusa Ryu.'

'A pleasure to meet you too,' she answered softly.

'How did you get Hayate to train you? I'd say it's a miracle. Hayate never takes on anyone unless they can find his headquarters.'

Kohana swallowed as she lifted her head bravely, but lucky enough for her, Hayate decided to answer for her. 'I heard her screaming and there was a fight going on. Makoto, the old jiu jitsu master, has been assassinated, Ryu.'

Hayabusa seemed surprised at this. 'Do you know who the assassin is?'

Hayate shook his head. 'I was able to prevent a second death,' he answered, nudging his head in Kohana's direction.

'And why have you decided to train her?'

'I can't leave any witnesses behind.'

'Interesting.' Hayabusa looked at Kohana, who felt a little uneasy because they were talking about her right where she was standing near them. 'I hope you will get enough chances to develop your potentials here, Kohana-san. If you two will excuse me, I think I'll go get some sleep. We all should.' He said this last thing as a command, and slightly louder than necessary.

'Shut up, Hayabusa.' A lilac-haired girl with eyes that came closer to pink, who dressed in black, stepped out of the shadows. 'I see you've taken on a little ninja-wannabe, Hayate-sama. I thought you were a smart man, but this proves that I was wrong.'

'Be a little more friendly, Ayane. You must have overheard our conversation. You will see that I'm right. I cannot let evidence of the clan's existance be spread. It's worth it.' Hayate's voice was strict and demanding.

'I will believe it when I see it. No sooner. Goodnight.' Ayane walked past them and shot Kohana a look that promised trouble from this woman. Kohana started feeling a bit insecure. Was she invading the woman's territory? Was that why Ayane had such a hostile attitude towards her?

'Don't worry about Ayane,' Hayabusa said, with the same tone of voice he had been using for the entire conversation. 'She's not quite the friendly type.'

You people aren't either, Kohana thought, but immediately ignored that, because she feared it would become visible on her face if she thought that for too long; they would most probably be able to read her like a book.

Hayate nodded for a reason unclear to her, and started walking toward one of the bigger buildings, further into the ninja village and almost the highest building within the walls. They followed him silently.

'Would you like something to eat before we all go to sleep?'

'No thanks… I think I'd rather have some sleep right now, thank you.' Kohana didn't move one bit, impressed by what she'd gotten herself into this time.

Hayabusa greeted them and left for another place somewhere in the village. Hayate took her inside the building and directed her to a room. 'Here. I will come and wake you in the morning for your first lessons. Sleep well.' He raised a hand in greeting and left the room.

There was a bed, a table and a few small windows with thin white curtains in front. There were two traditional Japanese doors leading to some sort of wooden floor outside. Kohana closed the doors and sat on the bed to get her shoes off, then looked around the room for a moment. It wasn't big, but bigger than she would have expected for such a big order as she had guessed it was. The building was a very traditional one, and she somehow liked the nostalgic feeling it gave her. It was comforting after the loss of her uncle whom she had once loved and cherished. She would have to forget about him now. Kohana lay down, her eyelids getting heavier by the minute. Before she knew it, she sank into a deep sleep, forgetting to get under the covers.

***

The early sun entered the room as soon as the door opened. She moaned, still sleepy, and shielded her eyes from the sun with her arm.

'Rise and shine.' Hayate's voice was soft and calm as the day before, but the demand was still made of her. He stood in the door opening, waiting for her to get up. Only now she noticed how deep his voice was.

Kohana moved and sat up straight, then stretched and yawned. 'What time is it?'

Hayate looked at the sun behind him. 'Six in the morning.'

'Do you always get up this early?'

He nodded. 'You'll get used to it. It's time for your first lessons.' He walked to the bed and put down a pile of clothes. 'You will get more like this, but this is just for now. I expect you to put these on and come outside. Hayabusa will wait for you there and take you to the spot where I will train you.' Then he left.

'Wow, official.' Kohana yawned again and looked at the clothing. White and a nice shade of dark red, almost black. This would look good on her, with her red hair. For some odd reason Hayate seemed to have spent some time on finding suitable clothing for her. And how did he know her size?

She spent some time putting the clothes on. There was a ninja sword that went on her back diagonally - she knew how it was to be tied to the back - but also something that confused her. A white ribbon. What was she supposed to do with this? Tie her hair back with it or something? No, that didn't seem very ninja-like. She decided to just hold the piece of clothing until she would get an explanation for this, and went outside.

'Ah, there you are. I see you managed to find out how the attire of the ninja works.' Ryu Hayabusa was leaning against a wall, looking straight in front of him. 'Ready to start your training?'

Kohana frowned, but nodded, and followed Hayabusa to a small staircase, which they followed until they came on the highest platform around, that was at the height of the roofs of the other buildings. There were two small house-like blocks on here, but for the rest it was more of a training area. Some of the tiles were broken; probably from previous fights. Hayabusa let Kohana go first, and as she stepped through the doorway - which had no real door, it looked more like some sort of a garden gate, with the fence opened - she saw that Hayate was standing there, looking at the sunrise, with his back to them.

Hayabusa stood next to Kohana, with his hands behind his back. The silence remained unbroken, and no one spoke to break it. Only the birds started to sing softly, but they were only heard. No one moved a muscle. Kohana wondered what she should do now, as Hayate remained standing there with his arms crossed, looking at the morning sun shining its first rays onto them. Suddenly Hayate spoke; Kohana almost jumped when the silence was suddenly no longer among them.

'I see you know how the katana fits in, Kohana,' he said calmly, just loud enough for the three of them to hear it. 'Though I also see that something has confused you.'

How in the world did he know what she was holding in her hands? He must have taken a quick look earlier.

'Hai.'

Hayate turned and walked to her, taking the thing from her hands. She looked at him, waiting for what was going to happen, as he carefully brushed her bangs away from her face without asking, gently placed the middle of the cloth on her forehead, let her bangs fall back and turned to stand behind her. There he tied the edges together, still careful and gentle, seeing if it was not too tight around her forehead. Hayabusa only looked, but didn't move. Hayate moved around her again and looked at her critically. Kohana was sure she was giving him one of the most surprised and shocked looks he had ever seen. He hadn't even asked if he could do that!

'It keeps your hair out of your face while you fight,' he simply stated.

Plus it's probably a habit, Kohana added in mind.

Then the ninja leader made a small gesture towards his friend, to let him know they were going to start and he should leave the space open.

Hayabusa nodded and stepped back to lean against the gate.

'I must warn you; I will be very strict in teaching you.' Her new teacher turned his back on her again.

'I understand.'

'Good. Try to attack me.'

'You mean… Er… How?'

'Try that kick you delivered the assassin.'

Kohana drew in her breath, ran at him and kicked. Her kick would have hit his spine right in between the shoulderblades if he hadn't turned around and countered. Immediately she understood the strict part; he grabbed her leg, turned and threw her on the floor in the middle of the spin. She supposed the kick would not even have done much if she had hit him.

'That was lesson one,' he concluded as he stood up straight again. She leaned on her lower arms as she got up slowly. That had certainly hurt her, but it only made her more determined. She really had to learn this; the hard way was always the best way. 'Did you understand this lesson?'

Kohana shook her head to get the force of the blow out of her body. 'I… am not sure.'

'Then I will teach you again until you are. Try and attack me again.'

She was sure he would pull the same trick on her again, although he was now facing her, so she tried a punch instead. He grabbed her arm and twisted it, sending her sprawling on the floor again.

'I think I understand…' She got up again. 'I think you're trying to tell me that one must always be aware that a foe can also use your own attacks against you.'

Hayate kept quiet for a while. 'You're fast. It took you only two times to learn that lesson. Now that you know this, everything will become easier. Always be aware, and keep this first lesson in mind.'

***

They returned six hours of heavy training later to have lunch; Hayate was a strict teacher indeed, but he had his reasons for this. Kohana thought she understood; she remembered hearing him say that she had "talent". She thought he wanted to force this talent out. Or maybe he had just mentioned her talent to get her hopes up. Though he had been right; after that first lesson she tried to remember the most important part: the foe can always do things you don't expect. Try to anticipate. Her entire body seemed to hurt, but after those six hours of excessive training she had gotten used to it, and didn't feel it as much as the first hard blows. She didn't know if she had made any progress; Hayate and Hayabusa hadn't said anything to each other or anyone else about the training.

Lunch was in one of the larger buildings, and it was a mystery to Kohana how the food got there and who prepared it, but she ate it and drank the fresh water. It was a welcome treat after the training in the sun with Hayate. He was strict indeed, and a very powerful man. Only now she discovered that Hayate was the leader; just something for her to immediately meet the leader of an entire ninja organisation… and probably insult him, too. There must be thousands of ninja around here, she guessed.

'Say… Kohana, how old are you?' Hayabusa seemed to want to know this for some odd reason. His voice was still toneless, like she had gotten used to now, after having listened to Hayate giving her pointers for six hours.

'I turned twenty-one this spring.'

'Ah, so you've barely reached adulthood.' It didn't sound as if he thought very highly of her.

'I suppose you could say that.'

'You're still too old,' Ayane interrupted. 'If you wanted to become a ninja, you should have started earlier.'

Kohana decided to ignore this and continued her lunch. They couldn't all be that much older than she was.

***

Kohana stayed with the ninja clan and trained under Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa, and after a few months she had learned a lot more. She had also found out that she'd been right about Ayane - the woman absolutely didn't seem to like her, and made it very clear to her. Though not when Hayate or Hayabusa were around, and Kohana didn't tell them anything. It was none of their business.

Ayane was Hayate's half-sister, she found out later on, and a very good ninja in the group.

Kohana kept improving and after four months she was already very good; better than most of the younger ninja. Ayane probably thought she was trying to push her away from her position, and got more hostile. Still, none of the men noticed. Her daily routine was getting up early to train with Hayate, then have breakfast, train on her own for a few hours and then with Hayabusa as soon as he found the time - if he was even present, which wasn't very often - and in the evening another training under Hayate. It was very tiring at first, but she slowly got used to it.

One night she discovered something that gave a new twist to her entire thoughts about Hayate. She thought he was a calm, strict person, totally in peace with himself. That night she found out that he wasn't always. She was walking around as she liked to do, when she landed up on a roof and saw Hayate down on the stones in front of an entire group of ninja. Quickly, she counted them, and saw they were with thirty. She sat on the edge of the roof top to listen and watch.

Hayate was giving instructions about the location of something or someone, and the ninja were all listening in their crouched positions. Kohana watched, intrigued as she was by this new development. So that was what he did every night. Telling them to find a certain person?

Then he went quiet again and turned around, his back to the ninja, his face to her. She could see him from above and was surprised. The expression on his face was so full of sorrow that it was painful for her to watch, but still she kept watching from curiosity, and out of sympathy. Then Hayate extended his arm, and the ninja all got up simultaneously and left quickly. What was this about? The pain was still present in his eyes as he closed them.

She didn't understand. What was that man so worried about? It had awakened her curiosity, and she promised herself to ask him one of these days, if she didn't forget.

~~~

Author's Note: I was right about the long part! Hope it was to your liking guys!

Kochan: I hope you like! I edited this with your comments on the draft in mind so I'm really curious to hear what you think. Personally I think it's more in character now ^_^

TigerEyes: Thanks for the kind words! I'll try to keep you on your toes as much as possible, neesan! *hug*

Ownerizer: My fight scenes could use a little work indeed, but that was not a fight scene. Fight scenes will be described in more detail. No fight scenes so far, though. You'll see.

Japanese words used:

Some of you may already know what this means, but for the newbies I'll put the translations down here. Not that these words are very hard to understand! ^_^;;

Hai: Yes

Gomen: Sorry

This list will of course grow because I'll write down the translations for each chapter. Well you get the point. ;)