Love Hina Fan Fiction / Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The Limitations of Bushido ❯ The Nature of Justice ( Chapter 4 )

Hi everyone! This is Chapter 5, and the story will be receiving a healthy dose of philosophy from here on in! Hope you like it!Chapter 5: The Nature of Justice "Honour has little to do with what is `honourable', Motoko, and a whole lot to do with controlling others," said Hugh, walking away from his opponent and the battle. Motoko began to bawl, increasing the flow of tears until the hot springs began to have the same saline content of the Red Sea. Despite the truths she had heard, she still clung to her beliefs - after all, that was what sustained her since her sister left her to uphold the techniques of her Kenjutsu school. She attempted a last-ditch appeal to pride in an effort to regain her view of honour. "But you haven't won," she cried, "Neither of us are dead, so you cannot claim victory!" she yelled, like a child who was denied their favourite toy. "Then we shall leave the battle unconcluded," was the reply, "I care not for petty, trivial pursuits such as that. My reason for agreeing to duel was to prove myself to the people here. Like I have demonstrated to you, it would be unfair for me to kill those who do not have the power to kill me. Even if I remained in a prone, vulnerable state, your sword would be blunted a thousand times over before you caused me an itch that was worth scratching. If I do kill you one day, it would not be for something as hollow and empty as pride. If that were my sole motive, no one would be left alive on this earth." Motoko was in a haze for the next several days. She could not believe that her beliefs, her crutch in the world, had been disproved by someone who she would regard as blasphemous, but what really shocked her was the sense his arguments had made. She lay in a semi-comatose like state in her futon bed the entire time, shaking and trembling. Meanwhile, Hugh had been accepted into the Hinata-sou like a member of the family. They were more than willing to involve him in their daily events, and even Naru agreed to take him anywhere he wanted to go in Japan as a way of apologizing. Hugh respectfully declined, however, and instead elected to watch over Motoko and monitor her condition. He gave her meals during rare occasions when she regained her lucidity, and was always there in case something went wrong. His reason was "to look after her life so that you (by that he was referring to Naru and the other residents) can get on with yours." After three weeks, Motoko regained her senses and became herself again, albeit changed from her ordeal. "You…watched after me this whole time?" she inquired, to Hugh. "Yes. After all, it was because of my words that you fell into a terrible condition for all this time. I regret it now. I could have been more gentle with my methods, even if I did have evidence to back up my views." "I see…well, thank you. You are the first person I have met to accept such responsibility for their own actions. Even my parents have put me in the care of others, such as this place, not that I regret it however. Doctors, too, seem to delegate tasks and accountability to their nurses. But you're…different. You aren't worried about getting your hands dirty. You have a great, if a little blunt, honesty about you. But…something you said to me earlier didn't make sense. You mentioned something about not killing me for a trivial reason, such as pride. What would you kill me for?" "Well, I believe in fairness, and absolute justice. So I make it a point that no one is above judgment. However, I do not kill just for the sake of my ego." "Then…why do you kill for? What type of justice?" "I'm glad you asked that. Justice is not a hard-and-fast concept that everyone agrees with. If you will just come with me into the city, I will demonstrate it to you." "Thank you. Which district would you like to see?" "I will be going into one of the restaurants at Chinatown, to spy on a meeting of the local yakuza lords." "Very well," replied Motoko, a little uneasily, "I shall go with you up to the restaurant, but I will not go any further." "Why not?" replied Hugh, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "The great, proud Valkyrie is afraid of some criminals?" "I used to think that at one time. I believed that the teachings of the sword, passed down by my sister to me, would always be enough to protect me…" "Protect you from what, Motoko?" interrupted Hugh. "Keitaro may be a little ecchi at times, but that is certainly no reason to go ballistic on him. Perhaps one of the reasons you are not at your full potential is because you waste your strength on petty `problems' like minor perversions. By doing so, you begin to take it for granted that all of your battles will be that easy." "Well, I can certainly see your point. When you dueled with me, you sure put me in my place. You taught me the hard lesson that there is always going to be someone stronger, and what I perceive to be one of my strengths will be easily defeated by someone else. For those reasons, I will not follow you into the restaurant. I would prefer to watch from a safe distance." "If you are going to watch, Motoko, then do so openly, and do not stray from my side. You will be much safer that way, because it will be easier for me to protect you. They will see us together, and attack you to get to me. It makes no real difference to the end result with me around, but it just saves me a whole lot of trouble." As Motoko and Hugh left the lodge, they bumped into Kistune and Kaolla at the gates. Kaolla thanked Hugh for the turtles again, emphasizing that she could talk to them and understand them. She then controlled one right into Motoko's back. Motoko's back froze, and she was paralyzed by fear. "Now, now, Su, don't go scaring the living daylights out of Motoko," said Kistune, "She has been traumatized for days." "Oh my! I'm so sorry, Motoko, please forgive me." To add emphasis to her apology, Kaolla bowed several times and hugged Motoko before heading up the hill to the apartments. When Motoko had left the apartments and Kistune and Su thought it was `safe' to stalk their prey, the fox-lady led her young companion to the Crimson Corruption restaurant. Her `informants' in the gambling underground always supply her with saucy rumours, among other types - those were the ones she enjoyed gossiping about, twisting the stories to suit her own ends. The quality of a rumour to her was judged by the reaction it got from her friends, and its effect on the reputations of others.

Having arrived at their destination before Hugh and Motoko, they found a bush to hide behind, so that they could see what transpired without fear of discovery.

Hugh entered the meeting of the mafia dons with Motoko close behind. Since they had left the apartments, Hugh chose to take on the appearance that would be more appropriate when dealing with crime bosses. Some of the gang leaders had been drinking sake for a while, and they ogled Motoko with their eyes. Having been around Keitaro for over a year, she had no trouble recognizing this. It only took a sample of her ki to stop those unwanted glares.

Meanwhile, Kistune and Su were waiting outside for any signs of commotion. Kitsune was disappointed at being unable to go inside, but Su convinced her that Hugh would notice them if they were any closer. Even that was an understatement - Hugh knew that they would come regardless, but knew that there was no way to convince them to remain home. There were many ways for him to force them to stay, but he did not want to usurp their lives to that extent. `Persuasion, where force is unjustified', was Hugh's motto.

Kistune and Su did not have to wait long. Mere minutes after their `prey' entered the restaurant, Motoko ran out screeching in a high-pitched wail. Kistune and Kaolla followed her as quickly as they could, but they could not catch up to her. Realizing this, they called out to her, but Motoko's fear blocked out what was going on in the real world. She wandered for several blocks, delving deeper into the depths of dementia, until fatigue caught up to her in a dark corner of an alley. Little did she know of the sordid horrors that took place there. It was not until she had caught her breath and caught sight of a disgusting, decrepit pervert - a real pervert, not a harmless fool like Keitaro - drooling over her and holding her to the back of the alley. Motoko was exhausted from her panicked run and could not do anything to protect herself. Her deep breaths caused by her oxygen debt only caused her assailant to become even more eager to take advantage of her. Suddenly, as her kimono was about to be torn asunder, she heard a whizzing sound cut through the air. A split-second later, her would-be rapist was split in two at the waist. She pushed the sweaty, offensive body off from her, and saw Hugh at the entrance to the alley. He apologized for causing such a scene at the restaurant.

"I must also apologize for taking a while to find you," said Hugh. "It is much easier for me to find someone if they wish to be found. I am sorry I traumatized you, but I had to demonstrate my philosophy of justice. Sometimes, death has to be dealt. You saw first-hand the danger you were just in."

"Yes…but still…did you have to kill him?" inquired Motoko.

"It's better that I did. It removes a source of evil from the world, and makes it safer for those that are left. Two of my edicts are, "Aku. Soku. Zan." Instant dispensation of justice to the guilty."

"But…doesn't that make you guilty as well?"

"Do you complain about the police officer who needs to speed in order to catch a speeder? The irony is that we must lower ourselves to the levels of the criminals if justice is to be done. My second edict is, "Those who deserve to live, live. Those who do not, die." It is tied to my first principle of dispensing justice, but it is tempered with mercy when it is warranted."

Just then, Kistune and Su came to the alley. They had caught up to Hugh, and were surprised at his speed. Seeing Motoko in her condition, they were both extremely worried.

"Motoko! Hugh! What just happened here?"

They then saw the dead body and Motoko's kimono, which was ruffled from the assault, and understood what had gone on.

End of Chapter 5. So, how was it? Please read and review! I'll start the next chapter soon!