Love Hina Fan Fiction / Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Limitations of Bushido ❯ A Conspiracy and Imprisonment ( Chapter 2 )

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm soooooo late with Chapter 3, but my university work got the better of me for quite a while! I'll try my best to get chapter 4 out ASAP to make up for it! This chapter contains a reference to the Nausicaa manga and anime movie. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Chapter 3: A Conspiracy and Imprisonment

Naru paced back and forth outside the gates to the Hinata apartments.

"Dammit!" she thought to herself, "They don't realize what they're doing. There's no way this demonic thug could be as harmless as what they say. I'm sure he's got a sinister plan. I've got to find a way to free the so-called `companions' he brought here. He must've manipulated them. There's no way a sane human being would willingly follow around a demon like him. He must have found a way to get around Motoko's attack. If only I could find a way to expose him to the rest of the residents here…"

At that moment, Naru saw a lone angel walking nearby out of the corner of her eye. Knowing their destructive capability, Naru grabbed a loose brick and threw it squarely at his head. Having incapacitated the intruder, Naru rushed up, grabbed his throat and slammed him against a wall. The angel came to, and Naru commenced her interrogation.

"Just what the bloody hell are you doing here? Tell your friends to stop harassing the world and interfering with free will and go back wherever the hell you came from!"

The angel gargled incomprehensible syllables, so Naru decided to loosen her grip slightly and allow him to speak.

"Please…I know you detest us for what we did, but please, don't worry. Our leader, Trias, has ordered us to…"

"Wait," interrupted Naru. "Your leader told you to stop?"

"Yes. He usurped leadership from Gemma and told us we could visit this world so long as we do not harm anyone."

"So, the war ended because of infighting, not because a demon overthrew you?"

"Yes…that's right…"

"Excellent. You may go now."

Naru released the angel from her iron grip and went back to the lodge with a look of devious cunning usually only possessed by Kitsune. She rubbed her hands together - she was going to outsmart a demon!

Meanwhile, Motoko had shown Hugh the temple he could use as an outpost to keep demons at bay from the apartments. Kaolla Su jumped on the roof and clung on to his neck as if he were a fluffy teddy bear.

"Demon-sama, can I have a look at your sword for a bit?"

"Sure."

He took his blade out of its scabbard and held is out to Kaolla. She noticed two eyes and a mouth near the hilt.

"What is that? Is it alive?"

"Yeah. Kushana is a sentient blade. She's lived in my chest for three years. I'll let you two get acquainted."

Hugh went down from the roof and investigated the interior of the temple. As he did so, Kaolla was chatting with Kushana.

"Wow! A talking sword! I never thought it was possible! Still, the more friends, the better! What powers do you have?"

Kushana's voice echoed in Su's mind like a gentle whisper. "I control powers of life, electricity and holy energies, child."

"Amazing. I hope you won't get offended by this, but your owner…"

"Oh, Hugh's not my `owner'. Only my friend and partner."

"I see. It's just that, well, you control holy and life energies, and he seems to control death and all sorts of dark energies. I don't understand how - "

"How we can coexist?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, he wasn't always like that," replied the sword, "but it doesn't matter in the end. I knew of his capacity for both holy and dark energies when I first met him three years hence. Usually there would have been conflict, but I was like a newborn kitten living with a puppy - they get along well if they have been together from an early age. He wasn't young, but he did not try to push me away. And he is a good person - he's not a demon or a fiend, despite his appearance. He does not usually wish to hide his true form from the world - he is no charlatan, and so he shows his skeletal appearance at most times. The more I lived with him, the more I understood the need for life and death to work together - after all, death cannot rule in a world without life."

The conversation between the two continued into the evening.

Naru had returned and found Motoko sparring with Cody. To her surprise, Motoko was actually having some difficulty with her opponent.

"You see now?" said Cody. "Cunning does have its advantages over conventional fighting."

"Cunning does have its advantages over conventional fighting."

"Maybe so, but honour will always defeat anything else! Zankuusen!"

Motoko unleashed her ki and the energy pushed Cody back into the wall of the dojo.

"Don't worry, Cody," Motoko said as she lifted her sparring partner to his feet, "I don't use fatal skills against humans. Hope you're all right."

"No problem, Motoko. It seems that my skills need a lot of work to be at your level."

"Still, for your age, you did exceptionally well. I'm impressed."

After their post-match banter, Cody left to rejoin his friends inside the lodge. When he had gone, Naru took Motoko aside and explained, "There is an inconsistency between what Hugh told us and what I've found out. He said that he drove off the angels by himself, right?"

"Right. So?" asked Motoko.

"Well, I `interrogated' an angel that stayed behind…he said that the reason they left was because of internal backstabbing - their previous leader was overthrown."

"I see," replied Motoko. "So…one of them is lying." Motoko held her chin and walked around, deep in thought for some time. Eventually, however, she turned to Naru and said, "We need a way to see who is being truthful here…although I must say that it seems more likely that Hugh is deceiving us, since he implied that the angels would not be back…I will have a duel with him. My honour shall be the judge. Should he survive, then we shall trust him. If not, then the threat shall be eliminated. Until tomorrow, we will lock him in the basement and inform him of this issue."

"I agree, Motoko," agreed Naru. Yes! she thought, the threat will be gone, and these children he manipulated will be free! And they won't waste their attention on him instead of on me…but that's beside the point.

Motoko left the dojo and found Hugh leaving the basement where Kaolla had buried her robot turtles. Motoko drew her sword and placed the sharp tip of it inches from where Hugh's throat would have been if he was still flesh and blood. He appeared slightly shocked, but calmly said, "Is something the matter?"

"Yes," replied Motoko, narrowing her eyes with suspicion, "Naru found an angel, and his account of the war conflicted with what you said."

"Oh, I see. So, I suppose you want proof of my innocence, then?"

"Yes. I challenge you to a duel tomorrow at dawn! If you refuse, then we shall know that you are guilty! If you defeat me, then we will believe you. But first - your sword - where is it? Usually it is in your empty chest cavity."

"Oh, you mean Kushana?"

"You have a name for your ken?"

"Why, yes. She is a sentient being, and the least she deserves is a name. Kaolla is conversing with her at the moment."

At this point, all the residents of the Hinata-sou, including the new guests, had turned up due to the commotion. Motoko explained to them what was going on, and led Hugh to the basement. Kitsune, Naru and Mutsumi agreed to keep an eye on their prisoner during the night, as Motoko would need her rest for the trial-by-battle early the next day.

Kaolla was told to keep an eye on Hugh's sword. As they were both young, they got along well and had no trouble thinking of things to talk about throughout the evening. At no point did Kaolla feel that her life was at risk - no - when she was with Kushana, she felt even safer.

Yolei, her friends and Sara-chan went to visit Hugh after dinner. Kitsune, who had the first watch, allowed them a little privacy…or so they though - she was actually using a glass to listen through the wall! ^_^

Kari shook Hugh and said, "Why don't you break out of here? Show them your true potential and they'll never doubt anything you say - just like the way we trust you now!"

Hugh surprised them all with his next reaction - he laughed. A deep, sincere and booming laugh was heard in their heads. It was the first time he had ever laughed. When he had finally calmed down, Sara asked him what he found so humourous.

"What do you mean? It is funny!" came the reply. "If I escaped, that would be proof positive of my guilt! And if I were to use my power to scare the wits out of them, sure, I could get them to believe me, but that would be through fear, which breeds hatred. I would rather have them believe me of my own free will, or not at all."

Yolei gasped, slightly shocked at hearing her own words echoed back to her.

"Oh, before I forget…" Hugh removed a remote control from his robe and offered it to Sara. "…Sara, please give this to Kaolla. Tell her to press the green button near the graves of the Mecha-Tamas."

"Why'd you mention the green button? There's only one button here!"

"Oh, gomen! Sorry, yes, that was my mistake."

"We all believe you're innocent," said Kari. "No, that's not quite right…we all know you're innocent - apart from Sara here, we've seen the good works you've done! Let us convince them!"

"I'm sorry, Kari, but if you did, they would claim that I manipulated you. I shall prove my innocence on their terms, and their rules. Then they cannot complain."

"I see. Well, thank you. Don't go too hard on Motoko, now."

Hugh reassured them of that, and they left to retire for the night, although they had trouble sleeping - their minds would not stop nagging them about the small possibility of Hugh's possible defeat.

Later that night, Kaolla came to the basement to visit Hugh. Kitsune had decided to help Mutsumi with her job, because of her anemia. Kaolla was followed by her small army of Mecha-Tamas, Kushana close behind. She ran up to Hugh and gave her a big hug.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, senpai!" She yelled, with tears in her eyes. "You fixed them! Thank you so much!"

"That's all right, I'm just glad I could make you happy. These turtles are different. I've given them a soul, so they can be described as living beings inside a mechanical shell, a bit like cyborgs."

"I've heard that you're going to fight with Motoko. I'm worried for both of you. I believe you're innocent, but I don't want Motoko to be hurt, either."

"Don't worry, Kaolla. I promise you that I won't lose, but neither shall I hurt Motoko."

"Thank you. Would you like your sword back?"

"No, I would like an even match as much as Motoko does, not a one-sided slaughter."

"OK. Ja ne! See you tomorrow!"

Suu was back to her genki self, and calmly left for her room. Kitsune and Mutsumi were both surprised at Hugh's carefree attitude - as though he was not worried about the impending duel…

End of Chapter 3

Well, how was it? I hope to make the next chapter soon, there'll be about 10 chapters in total for this story. Please send feedback to me at winstonjen@yahoo.com