Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ X ❯ Equation #3: Tactics ( Chapter 3 )

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Equation #3: Tactics

By: Revamp

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The market place in the middle of town was bustling today. Why did I decide to come here again? There are so many people walking around that I can barely move. The cobblestone streets are littered with merchants, trying to sell their trinkets and other shit for whatever overrated price they can scrounge up. There's a merchant for everything out here, which is good considering I need a few things. The snow stopped falling, but the skies are still an ashen gray. I guess they consider this a good day.

I scanned over the droves of shoppers and sellers and I occasionally catch a glimpse of Nana running to and fro. She is excited to be in the market square. I swear she is like a kid in a candy store. Most children her age could give a fuck less about the market square unless candy or toys were involved, but she was different. There was something about the way the light hit her eyes that gave her a childish charm. It was like she was exploring a whole new world she'd never seen before.

Then again, maybe that was true. After all, she was a slave before she met me. I don't think she's completely naive to the world, but I do think there are parts of it that she's never seen.

She runs past me and I shift my eyes to her small form. “Do you see anything you're interested in?” I hope that she doesn't say everything and anything.

Her eyes light up and I see her face transform into an expression of bliss. “You mean, I can pick something?” She gets so excited over the most simple of things, it's sickeningly cute.

“You can pick your clothing and weapons. You do well to think for yourself, anyway. Just pick something that you can move in, and a weapon you can move with little to no effort. You don't want to be rendered useless in battle and you can always get a better weapon later on.” There will be many opportunities for her to upgrade when she decides that she wants a new weapon. For now, it was good for her to start out on something lightweight and easy to use. I think she's had bigger and better weapons, judging from her prowess back there in the cabin. There's no way in hell that girl is a novice. She's killed people before and she's had blood on her hands more than once.

Her face lights up in excitement. I can see it in those shining, round, innocent eyes. Nana acts like she never had a freedom of choice before. “Right!” She beams, then pauses a little and blinked, “but Mr. Yodomari, I'll need something warm, too, and…I don't have any money.”

“Money isn't an issue,” I tell her. Did she really think we were a couple of street rats? This girl has a lot to learn about the world of the ninja if that's the case.

“It's not?” She cocks her head in curiosity at me. I think she's wondering where I got all of my money from. Shouldn't it be obvious?

I sigh in irritation. “Just go and get the stuff. We can't stay in this town forever.” I won't stay in it regardless. I hate the snow, and the feeling I get from this place bothers me. Besides, if I stay here too long, I know what's going to happen. A ninja can never stay in one place too long, it makes them a sitting target and I have a few things I plan on accomplishing in life before I die. `Stupid kid. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it.'

“Okay!” Nana beams as she turned and darts through the crowds happily. I lose sight of her momentarily through the bustling people as she makes her way to one of the booths and purchases socks and sandals. She then goes to another adjacent booth and purchases a cloak and the rest of her garments before darting across the flooded path and getting herself a suitable weapon.

When she reached the booth that sold arms, her eyes lit up as she laid sights on all of the shiny, sharp objects that were displayed before her. There is a certain excitement in her eyes that I can't describe. I walk closer to her location, eyeing her as she spoke.

“I can't believe that Mr. Yodomari is going to teach me a great skill with one of these weapons. Now, let's see,” she looks thoughtful, “which one do I want?”

`She's ogling over weapons like they're brand new toys or dolls. What a strange girl indeed.' Just what is up with Nana, anyway?

Nana places a finger to her lips as her eyes scan over the assortment of weapons several times. “Should I go with another, different weapon or should I still go with a throwing weapon?” She is conflicted over her choices.

So I offer her an answer. “Why not fight with a kusarigama?”

She looks over her shoulder at me. “Kusarigama?”

“It's a sickle blade with a long chain attached to it. You can throw it, or you can slice people with it,” I offer her something that might give her the best of both worlds. I would have thought that she would have been more familiar with that weapon. I guess not.

“It sounds perfect,” she puts her hands together and closes her eyes, happy. “Is there one here?”

“Look for it,” I'm not doing everything for her. The girl has to learn somehow.

Before the girl can really do anything, the merchant brought out a kusarigama and held it up to the girl. The blade sparkled, even though the sky was so dimly lit. “I believe this is what you're looking for,” he levels her with a friendly smile.

“Oh! It's beautiful!” She gasps in excitement. It is as if she thinks that weapon is meant for her. Nana then looks to me for approval. “Can I have this one, Mr. Yodomari?”

“Once you make this choice, your weapon will act as your friend and guardian. You must understand it, command it with confidence, and trust in its abilities. Are you sure this is the weapon that you want?” I think she needs to be sure that this is what she wants. Just because I suggest something doesn't mean that she has to do what I say. I picked that weapon based on my personal opinion of her prowess. That doesn't mean that she should pick it just because I have that opinion. Nana needs to think for herself and decide what's best for her. Her life will depend on her choice right now.

“I do!” Nana's eyes glimmer as she looks at me expectantly.

“Don't make me regret wasting my money on you,” I sigh to myself.

“You won't regret it at all! I'm going to take good care of my kusarigama. I will polish it every day and it will never leave my side. I want to be just as good with it as you are with your giant blade,” she gestures to the giant sword that is strapped to my back.

Be as good as me, huh?

Is that what she thinks?

“Hmpf,” I close my eyes and nearly laugh at the notion. My blade is unique to only me, a weapon tailored to my needs and desires. Even if someone steals this blade from me, there is no way that they can masterfully use it and most won't be able to lift it.

Like the others, I hand this merchant the desired amount of money. He thanks me with a smile and hands the blade to Nana, who takes it all too gratefully. The blue-haired girl carries it and her newly purchased garments in her arms with a look of bliss etched on her face.

I look to her with cold eyes and frown under my bandages, offering her a simple warning. “Don't screw up or you'll cut your own arm off.”

“I most certainly will not!” Nana looks determined and tells me in a voice filled with promise as we begin to walk back to the cabin that we stayed in. Our footsteps crunch the snow below us as we walk in silence for a while before she looks at me. “I'm really excited about being able to train with you, Mr. Yodomari!”

`I still can't figure this child out. Her interests are obscure and she seems to have some skill from what I've gathered. She has no last name, and I'm not entirely sure that she's being truthful about her first name. Ever since I found her, she's been nothing but an enigma. Where did she come from? Why did she say that phrase to me that snowy day?' Flashbacks of that moment reel through my mind. They come to me in a whirl of vibrant colors.

`That look in our eyes are the same.' That look in her eyes in that moment of time bedazzled me. There was something about her words that caught me off guard and struck me deeply. I couldn't help but allow her to come with me in that moment. I saw myself in her.

I will never forget that moment.

I snap out of my nostalgia to hear the voice of the girl questioning me. I glance down to meet the inquisitive eyes of the girl and I hear her asking me what I am thinking about. With a `hm', I answer her as the thoughts of that snowy day fade from my memories. “Nothing to be concerned with,” I decide that I would rather dismiss the subject.

Nana quirks an eyebrow and cocks her head at me. “Are you sure? You seemed really quiet.”

“Just go back to the house and get dressed. We'll eat and then train,” I instruct her to go and try her new clothes on. It's better than being constantly questioned by her. Whenever she gets like this, it is really irritating and there are other things she can be wasting her time on.

“Alright,” she nods and takes a step before pausing. Her body locks up and she shifts her gaze skyward. Confused at what she was looking at, I looked up as snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

Just great, more snow. I thought I'd get away with one day without that god forsaken frozen water.

Now they are coming down in droves and the sky is flooded with flakes. My skin feels cold now, and the drops of frozen substance melts against it. The faster I get away from this snow, the better off I'll be. My voice is low as I continue to stare at that snow and my mind is flooded with memories I would rather have washed clean. “It always snows here.”

“They're coming down a lot now,” Nana continues to watch the snow fall. The pure, white flakes flutter past her body and begin collecting on the ground as they dust it in white.

“Snow has a meaning,” I continue to be transfixed on those small, floating pieces of frozen water.

“It does?” Nana looks to me in question.

“It's a channel of energy, the symbol of knowledge. Each snow flake has individual properties and no two are alike. They compile and make the white blanket before you, a slow assimilation. Its fall is gentle, and when you wake up and see the one grime-covered streets filled with snow, it's like cleansing of purity. Snow covers all the impurities of life and it can scatter all over this land.” Despite knowing that the deep meaning of the substance, I still hold a dislike for it. The snow is still a wretched thing that floods my memories in a myriad of white. White like the day I was given my namesake, white like the day of my reputation, and white like him. He makes me hate the color even more than I already do.

“So, the snow purifies the earth?” I hear Nana ask. Did I not just say that? Is she truly that dense?

“This world is an ugly place, filled with hatred and sin. It needs to be purged,” and that is exactly what I plan on doing; purging it of one of the evils that haunt it.

“I think snow is like emotional paralysis,” Nana starts to tell me. It is something that catches me off guard and draws my attention to it. “It's colorless and cold, but what is also the color of a new beginning. I think it makes sense that I met you on a snowy day. It's like the perfect equation. Snow can also mean innocence because, like you said, it's pure and white. It's also individual and it can mean hope or wishes being fulfilled.”

I look at her and blink a couple of times. Nana continued to fascinate me and even now this girl continues to wrap my mind in mystery. “You just acted like you didn't know it had meaning.” Did she act that way, wondering what I would say? Is this her creative way to get an answer out of me in order to find things out about me? Nana, you're a sneaky little girl, and I have my eye on you.

“If I told you it did, would I have gotten to see what you think?” She smiles at me and closes her eyes. I squint at her in suspicion. Little girl, if you think you're going to play me, you're dancing in fire and soon you'll be consumed in flames.

“So that's it? It was your way to get to know me?” I thought it was true, and now it's been confirmed.

She nods, solidifying her cause.

I don't think my eyes can narrow at her any more without closing. `I'm going to watch you, Nana. If I drop my guard too much then you'll get the upper hand and find out things no one should.' That is far too dangerous for her to be doing. It's bad enough the girl is with me, I don't need her getting involved in my problems or becoming a hostage.

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When we got back inside of the house, Nana happily ran to the bathroom with her clothes in hand. I guess she's happy not to be running around in a shredded-looking potato sack. She's probably happy to finally have something on those blistered, cold feet of hers as well. I've never seen someone change so quickly. Nana even took a fast shower before she got into her new clothes.

A few moments later, I hear the clacking of her sandals on the wooden floors as she came near. Turning from sitting my weapon against the wall, I took in her new appearance. She is wearing a green hakama with wide, wizard-cut sleeves and a green, wrap around skirt with a white apron. Black, thigh-highs adorned her little legs and wooden sandals were slipped onto her feet.

She twirls around and shows off in front of me. “How do I look, Mr. Yodomari?” Nana asks and waits for my response intently.

“Better than you did wearing shackles and a potato sack,” I give her that much. She doesn't deserve much of a compliment but she doesn't deserve me being flat-out cold to her, either. I decide to stand on neutral ground on the matter.

She takes it as approval anyway and smiles brightly at me. “I'm so glad that you approve. I love these shoes and socks,” the girl says with an edge of excitement to her voice as she glances down at her legs. “I have never worn shoes before. They make my feet feel so nice.” She wiggles her toes and admires the socks on her feet. Nana stares at them as if they are the eighth wonder of the world.

How odd.

“You've never worn shoes before?” That is hard to believe.

“No! Am I supposed to have been able to?” Nana is genuinely confused at that question. Even if she knows how to kill successfully, she seems to be naïve on basic things. What a weird girl she is.

“Who are you?” I want to know the identity of this mysterious girl. I'm tired of screwing around with her.

“I am Nana. Don't ask such silly questions, Mr. Yodomari,” she responds simply, as if the answer was in front of my face the whole time.

Is she trying to mock me?

“You want to know so much about me, but you won't say shit about yourself, you little brat!” I've had it with her and this game. Does she honestly think I'm going to tell her anything about me with that one, blaring mistake in my face? She can go screw herself. I put clothes on her back and saved her from dying. She should be grateful I did anything for her! `Honestly, this is pissing me off! Who the hell does she think she is? She owes me her life.'

“You'll find out soon enough, Mr.Yodomari! No use losing your temper over it,” she assures me that I'm going to learn of her secrets. Doesn't she know that's not what I intended to do at all?

“I have a proposition for you,” I'm going to make things interesting. I want to challenge her.

“Yes, Mr. Yodomari?” Nana asks me.

“Let's test out that new weapon in a sparring match. If you win, I'll show you my face, but if I win, you tell me something about yourself.” This is going to be a fight, one-on-one and the terms will be a piece of our mysterious identity. There can only be one victor, and it's going to be me. There's no way that I'm going to let some pretentious brat get the better of me.

“Only one thing?” Nana asks innocently, too innocently. I feel like she's hiding something from me, something huge and something that is more than one simple piece of information.

“Do you want me to ask for more?” I press the subject. I want to see how she reacts to me requesting more information.

“You're right,” she agrees. “I will do my best to try and beat you, Mr. Yodomari.” Her voice is confident and she appears determined. Does she really think that she can stand an inkling of a chance against me?

“You say that like you have nothing to lose,” I can't help but notice that tone in her voice. It reflects a feeling I've expressed in the past far too many times.

“Well, it's not like I never intended on telling you. I just didn't want to tell you right now. If you're this curious, telling you one thing won't be so bad.” Nana has settled for my proposition. What's with this girl? She's so resolute in her words. Maybe she's going to tell me something trite she's been hiding and save her gritty material for a later time. I bet that's what she's going to do. I think that she has something planned.

“Don't mock me,” she is seriously pissing me off with that bullshit.

“I'm not,” Nana frowned, looking a little dejected. “I really do want you to learn about me, but I would also like to see your face, the face of the man who saved me…so I will gladly do my best to be able to see it.”

Not this shit again.

That little girl really is curious about the way I look for some reason. Why is she so infatuated with my face? I don't get it.

“Meet me outside in the next ten minutes,” that should give her enough time to get her things together. If she says she can beat me so easily, or even implies that she is on my skill level, then she is welcome to try and back up her claims. If she can actually win against me, then I will show her my true identity,

“Okay,” she nods in agreement. Somehow she is happy about facing me. Does she really think that this is a game? I'm going to have to rid her of that idiotic mindset. I'm going to show her just how serious I am. I plan on wiping that happy smile right off of her silly face.

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We walk back outside into the snow. It crunches under our feet and the cold, abrasive winds beat against the areas of exposed skin on our bodies. The snow falls around us heavily, so much so that it can obstruct our vision in the middle of the match. I wonder if Nana can handle these adverse conditions.

After we walk out into an open field with a few, barren trees, we stand a few feet for each other and stare into each other's eyes. It's in that very moment that I notice that a change washes over her. Nana's eyes are no longer soft and gentle, but now they are cold and steely. Her little face is twisted into a frown and the girl was concentrated on my form. She has that look that she had in the fight we got into earlier. It is the look of a skilled killer. Nana is poised, her body taught and ready to attack. I can see my image in her highly polished kusarigama blade.

I stand there, relaxed. I haven't even drawn my weapon yet. In all honesty, there is no reason to put up my bluff. I don't find Nana a challenge at all. What all can a child do to me? Even with her skills in the fight, I can still take her on without a problem.

“On the count of three, we'll begin,” I instruct her on the rules of our spar.

“Whoever goes down for ten seconds is the loser,” Nana's voice is serious as she tells me her terms of the fight.

I nod and accept them to be part of the rules. It's quiet between the two of us for a couple of minutes. I think to myself on how to approach her and I try to recall her move set in the battle we had before. Knowing and assessing her weak points from seeing her fight before will benefit me. Then the word `go' slips through my bandages and the sparring match begins.

Before I can finish the word, Nana charges at me with lightening speed. I can barely react as she tries to slit my throat with the sickle blade of her weapon. Swinging my arm, I smack her out of the way with the broad side of my large sword. The giant blade makes contact with her and I can hear her sharp exhale of breath. Nana is hit in the stomach and knocked off of her feet as I continued to complete my swing, sending her body skidding through the snow. The white, powdery substance stirred through the air like a mist as she came to a stop a few feet away.

I lock my eyes on her form as she lays there for a moment, then she sits up and rubs her head, running her hand through her shoulder-length, blue hair. Nana was coughing as she slowly pulled herself off of the ground. I'm not sure if it was from catching her breath or if she just accidentally inhaled the snowfall but she was hacking up a storm.

I don't give her the chance to attack me again before I'm on her. If Nana thinks that I am giving her a chance to get one over on me, she's sorely mistaken. I bring my sword down on her, trying to pin her body to the ground. Nana's eyes go wide as she sees her impending doom approach her before she quickly scrambles away. Her arms and legs work overtime just to propel her body away as my blade digs into the ground. I barely miss her.

“That was close,” Nana pants as she gets to her feet. Turning she sees my sword boomerang towards her and crouched down as it passed her and stabbed into the trunk of a nearby tree. The tree shakes from the impact and snow rained around her in a white fog. The girl looks up and blinks at the wide blade, then crawls out from under it.

Judging by the look on her face, Nana nearly had a heart attack from that close call. I smile beneath my bandages. I'm far from done with her, and I don't plan on going easy on her at all. As soon as she crawls out, I am on her again and deliver a swift, kick to her stomach, sending her back and rolling across the ground once more.

“I am not going easy on you just because you're a kid,” I make my point perfectly clear before I feel cold metal constricting my ankles. “Huh?” I utter as I glance down to see that the chains were, indeed around my legs, binding them together. I don't have time to look back up before I feel my body hit the ground with great force. I hit the ground with such force that I knocked the breath out of me.

The girl runs up to me with her weapon drawn, I see the sharpened, curved blade come down on me and a split second of shock radiates in my form. I react on instinct, placing my hands on either side of the blade as it got inches from my face, stopping it from ending my life.

“Did you think I was just going to let you end me?” I ask her as I stick both of my chained legs into the air and kick her in the jaw with such force that she is launched off of her feet and into the air. In the process, she loses grip on her weapon, which allows me to get untangled and rid my legs of the restricting chains.

I get to my feet as she lands on the flat side of my blade and runs up the length of it. She wears a look of determination as she draws her foot back and kicks me in the face. My eyes widen before it makes contact. I try to catapult her through the air with my sword by swinging it, but it was too late. Her little body is flung haphazardly through the air after the contact is made and I watch her tumble head over heels before she crashes into a bush. The snow shakes off of the branches. She stays in there a moment before jumping out and landing on her knees in front of the foliage.

“No fair,” Nana pouts, “your weapon is bigger than mine.” She puffs up her cheeks and looks very childish for someone who's been getting flung around like a rag doll.

“You didn't say that to your enemies. Not everyone you encounter is going to be fair,” I retort and resume my fighting stance. I honestly just feel like Nana is playing with me at this point. She's not going to get too far with that bullshit. `If she knew who she was really fighting, she would give up now.'

Pausing for a moment as those thoughts reel through my brain, I speak. “So, do you accept your defeat?”

I don't want to have to kill her, after all.

“I'm not giving up until you pin me down,” Nana is determined to see my face, now more than ever. I have to admire her, she's got gusto.

“I really would give up if I were you. There is no way that you're going to win against me,” I will make sure of that.

“I'm sure going to try!” She shouts as she swings her kusarigama around, spinning like a ballerina and let it go. The weapon spiraled around at light speed towards me.

“The same attacks again?” I ask as I swing my weapon like a baseball bat. I hear Nana scream as her weapon screeches against mine with the contact before ricocheting off of it and launching itself away. It spirals at an angle and digs into the frozen earth.

“You're really good! You must be an elite ninja to have power like that.” Nana is obviously impressed with my skills. As she should be. Her assumptions about my rank are correct.

“I told you, give up,” I press for her to stop her senseless ways. If she doesn't give up then I'll have to beat her into submission.

“I want to see your face,” she's stubborn as always and I sigh as she reached under her apron and grabs her kunais, flinging them at me. I hold up my sword like a barrier and move it around, blocking all of them as I hear the pinks of them clashing against my blade only to get deflected.

I then bend my knees to get down to her level and try to chop her in half, but she jumped and flipped over my head, landing on the ground behind me. Quickly, I twirl around and slam the blade of my sword where I think she is, only to hit the ground. A laceration scars the earth below me as I pull it out of the ground.

I hold the sword above my head once more and dug the blade into the same scar I had previously made. “Dark Art: Earth Splitter!” I call out the name of my attack as the laceration turns into a crack that grows and drives a division of land.

The crack elongates and shoots between Nana's legs, causing her to fall into the crack in the ground. I perform a replacement technique and appear on top of her. Widened, slate-blue eyes are look up at me and the horror registers on her face.

“It's over for you,” my voice is ominous and dark.

“I can't move,” Nana tries to struggle but to no avail.

I swing my blade back as she tries to thrash around. She screws her eyes shut and waits to be hit by the blade.

However, all I do is place it over the hole to keep her down and I begin to count as I pin her under the flat side of my sword.

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…

Six…

Seven…

Eight…

Nine…

Ten…

A smirk materializes through my bandages as I point out her defeat.

“You're out, `Nana.' “

To Be Continued…