Setsuki's Secret ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The contemporary kunoichi stood upright and looked from one side of her location to the other. It was a long corridor. That stretched from a fifty metre long path to a tall slide-door at the other side of the way. Hibuki had told her that following corridors would eventually lead her to Hirotsugu's main place of operation. A place in the shrine called the Room of Fates. So she ran down that corridor as quickly as possible. She had to get to Hirotsugu fast. And she bounded across that long stretch, slid open the door and the end, and moved onwards. The process she repeated with every corridor and following room she came to. She worked her way deep into the halls and passageways of the Shinrin Jinja, not stopping a single second to catch her breath or soak up the Pre-Modern vibe of the place. Eventually she came to a newer section of the shrine. One that was at first marked by the gigantic hall that Shiki found herself in. She bust open the door that led inside it. And stopped as she came to a whole new section of the shrine. This room in particular was different. It was a lot larger. Almost 90x90 metres in size. A training room. Kendo sticks were mounted on the walls on one side of the hall. On the other were a chain of open air windows that poured fresh light into the room. But the difference in the size of design wasn't the only thing that bothered her. This place felt so... familiar... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "...You're going to be very strong... I am going to make... sure of it..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Shiki's sweltering eyes narrowed as she looked around this place. She felt the greatest pang of nostalgia when she looked at it. But that was absurd. She'd never been here before in her life. Why would this place have a... familiar feel to it? Whatever the reason; Shiki ignored those palpable inklings inside that were nagging at her. Just in time to notice that she was not alone in this room. Shiki's green eyes focused on a new issue as they rolled over to the far side of this large training hall. Across from her at a great distance was the Wind Shinobi of the Six Orochi himself. Kugure Setsuki. With a rose in one hand and an unsheathed katana (named Utsukushii, or 'Beautiful') in the other. Shiki anticipated that she'd run into one of the Orochi before she managed to kill Hirotsugu. Setsuki was not the Orochi she had been expecting. In all truth... she was expecting Yagami. But Setsuki, with a charming smile on his face and holding the rose to his nose to smell the fragrant aroma, spoke his piece first. "Once I saw you defeat Zanmaru-san," The slightly older youth started off, "I knew that one day we would have to face each other. I have said it once and I will say it again. You are as deadly as you are beautiful. But even the brightest of stars must suffer the overwhelming presence of night. And yet I would rather not see your exquisite star swallowed up in the darkness. Such a mixture of beauty and death must never go to waste. Especially not by my sword. Will you not end this futile battle? Surely you realize that a fight against the Honshu Koga is a fight that cannot be won?" Shiki had forgotten how much of a poetic romantic this guy was. "Sorry. But I don't think so. I'm not afraid to take a stand against him. I don't care if I have to die to stop him. Because I know that to let him live... would be turning my back on Japan. On the nation that spawned me and my power. His corruption festers in this country like a virus. Him and the other three Koga will bring nothing but calamity. But even more than that... Hirotsugu-yarou is my prey. My target. All shinobi exist as are tools for assassination. Consequently, I'm simply carrying out my duties as a ninja. Those responsibilities are to kill him and kill anyone else who gets in my way. And right now... that includes you." Setsuki smiled, shutting his eyes. "...I also knew that you would be headstrong from the very first moment we met. My glass heart is always drawn to intensity and passion. Even if my eyes cannot quite see it from the surface. But I am also bound to my obligations as the third of the Six Orochi. As you say... we are nothing but weapons in the face of those to whom we pledge our allegiance. My master's wish is simple. The death of the one who opposes him. Such a pity. Such a waste of a beautiful life." It was comments like that that made Shiki wonder why this guy thought she was the one about to die here. But no matter. She had to get past Setsuki as quickly as possible so that she could finish off the Honshu Koga. The Wind Shinobi grasped Utsukushii in a two-handed grip and then held downwards diagonally from his waist. Shiki's eyes widened in realization of that. That was the Kazehashisei (Wind Blade Stance). She remembered that a swordsman she had been fighting a few years back had used that against her. It stuck heavily in her mind because contemporary shinobi who still used the long blade as a weapon were scarce. But from the hakama and that headband... Setsuki appeared to be a master of it. That was a little interesting. But Shiki didn't have much time to think that over. Setsuki swerved Utsukushii into a horizontal grip at his side and ran straight for Shiki in a frontal assault. A seemingly odd move to make. Shiki leaned forwards and reached down to her right shuriken pouch with her right hand. The girl stuck her hand in it and pulled out one of Genryukai's new, swifter batch of shuriken. She then threw it straight at the charging Setsuki. The dark-haired swordfighter looked up at the swirling shuriken. One that moved faster than most customary ones. Probably due to a better design. Setsuki growled and slashed to the right, batting the metal death star out of the way. The star struck the floorboard ground with a small clattering sound; while Setsuki continued to charge ahead. "Shuriken are worthless against me!" He yelled, mid-charge. By now they were too close to each other for Shiki to dodge so she brought out Miyuki from the sheath strapped to her back waist. Two potent blades of steel clashed against each other. The thinner, sleeker Miyuki against the longer, thicker Utsukushii. The clap from the clash rang in the ears of both shinobi. As they battled to outdo the other in a sword lock. Which made Shiki realize that she was not going to be able to out-blade this guy. Setsuki forced all of his weight into the sword lock. Shiki grunted and pushed her foot back to keep herself braced against the floor. The Wind Shinobi was reasonably strong for someone who looked so thin and lithe. Strong enough to win sword locks like this one. Shiki didn't back down from it. But something had to give. Her sandaled feet began sliding backwards. There was little traction that could be gathered over the floorboards of this room. Before she even knew it; her back was pressed up against the back wall of the training hall. Shiki had forgotten how close she was to it. Setsuki leered over her, sporting a distant and romantic smile. "...You know..." His voice sounded strained. Which was no surprise since he was still trying to overpower the Miyuki short sword, "...Your demeanour is enormously attractive... when you make an effort in defeating someone..." Something a bit inappropriate to say in a heated battle. But not as inappropriate as Setsuki's following action. Shiki's mistrusting green eyes glazed over in pure astonishment as Setsuki pressed his full, feminine lips against the outline of own; bound by the facial wrappings over her mouth and chin. The wrappings were thin. So Shiki could feel the kiss almost as clearly as she would have done if she didn't have them on. She blushed a deep crimson and was so stunned by this that she actually lessened the pressure on Miyuki. For an abrupt moment of confusion; Shiki remained stoic. Just feeling the ever so slight force and heat of Setsuki upon her lips. This quick moment faded and she regained her senses after it. Shiki widened her eyes and drew one leg up to her chest. Then kicked with a powerful thrust below Miyuki and Utsukushii, which were still locked together. Setsuki grunted and broke the kiss with the younger girl as her kick forced him backwards, striking him in the stomach. Once Shiki had gotten some distance between herself and Setsuki; she turned around and began running up the wall like she would a street. Once she got close to the top of the wall, she back-flipped off it; using its great foundations as a spring board for the action. Her torso writhed like demon in the air. And she landed down in a crouched position; behind Setsuki, who was now reassuming the Wind Blade Stance. Though the thin wrappings around her face securely hid her acerbic scowl, they could not hide her more than vivid blush. "A-Are you out of your mind?!" "...No," He replied with a smile, "...I'm just thrilled to be fighting someone as powerful and as beautiful as you. Like I told you beforehand, the amalgamation of beauty and death is a uncommon and astonishing quality. Pardon me for indulging myself in it before we conclude this fight." Shiki had actually forgotten that the Third Orochi had a little thing for her. But she didn't want to drag this out. Hirotsugu was the issue now. Yet at the exact same time... Shiki was kind of reluctant to kill this guy. He might have had his head in the clouds but Setsuki was (outside of Uchida Hibuki) the only Orochi she had actually taken a shine to. Despite his flirty nature. But whether or not Shiki wanted to step this up, it appeared that Setsuki was making that choice for her. Using one hand to make the two-fingered sign, the Wind Shinobi brought Utsukushii over his head. Shiki could feel him gathering that willowy Chi of his. "Time for a Kaze-jutsu technique," Setsuki declared, "Your great beauty deserves an even greater power. Thus I will use the best of all my abilities. If you can withstand this attack then nothing can stop you! My special technique! Tatsumaki Ten Shou Zan!" Setsuki brutally slashed through the air, cutting downwards with a one-hand grip. And then brought it back up with the same ferocity as the one before it. A huge howling sound echoed out into the vast size of the training hall. The flowing length of Shiki's facial wrappings flocked behind her head. She covered her face as a gigantic wind awoke in the room from Setsuki's actions. Those seemingly unfocused currents of air gathered together before the poised Wind Shinobi. They circled around and around each other until they took on the shape of a miniature tornado. One that was so powerful it tore up the floorboards beneath it. The chunks and splinters were thrown into the air and danced around the conjured twister which was beginning to inch its way towards Shiki. The Burning Kunoichi blinked at the Tatsumaki Ten Shou Zan (Whirlwind Heaven Rising Slash). It was tall enough to touch upon the wood of the ceiling. And strong enough to tear that wood to shreds. In what way could a person fight something like that? Shiki growled under her breath (which was completely drowned out by the loudness of the Tatsumaki Ten Shou Zan) and reached within her left shuriken pouch. Shuriken would be useless against that compact tornado. But Setsuki had to be distracted by the conjuration of it and the focus needed to maintain it. She then threw one of her shuriken straight at the peak of the twister as it neared her. The shuriken retained its sharp trajectory until it was sucked into the cluster of wind and hurled around inside it. Shiki then made the two-finger sign and took a deep breath. "Damn. This isn't going to be easy. Shunhenkou!" A puff of smoke surrounded her. When it vanished, the shuriken was left there, falling to the ground. And that put Shiki right in the centre of the twisting hurricane. From the outside, the waves of the wind were like knives. Sharp enough to cut and kill. But the weakness of a ninja conjured tornado was that the wind was a lot softer to handle on the inside. Which was why the ripped up planks of pine wood were simply tossed around and not chewed up. Shiki held herself as stern as she possibly could as she was thrown around the innards of the tornado. It was a risky move to make (one obvious reason was that the Tatsumaki Ten Shou Zan was a vacuum and possessed no air; hence the previous deep breath) but she had no choice in the matter. It was the most unlikely place to attack Setsuki and therefore the best. The girl held her breath as best she could and made the sign once more. Then reached into her right pouch and hooked her fingers into three shuriken. She pulled her hand out of the pouch and then held them close to her face. If Setsuki could invoke the power of his spiritual element then so could Shiki. As they were held in her hand, the burst with three individual flames. Time for the San Shuri-Hou. Using all of her strength she threw out the three shuriken which all burst through the walls of the tornado, flaming. None of them were on target. But Shiki closed her eyes and focused all of her mental strength on each of them. "Zanmaru-san left behind a legacy," Shiki thought to herself, struggling to hold her breath, "The Art of Control... Kanri-jutsu..." Setsuki watched all of the three shuriken from outside of the tornado. His eyes widened as all three of them began swerving around in the air and made a b-line for him. Then he looked into the whirlwind and saw Shiki. She was controlling them! The Art of Control's most basic skill, manipulating the route of projectile weaponry (like shuriken and kunai). Setsuki was far too confused to block them. So he acted on reflex. His body dodged the first one. Then the second one. But the third one was too quick and came from a completely different angle. Above. It sliced straight through his headband and the front of the outfit he happened to be wearing. It did no physical damage... but revealed something that Setsuki never wanted others to see. The Wind Shinobi's dark eyes widened with horror and almost immediately, the focus for the Tatsumaki Ten Shou Zan was lost. Setsuki lowered Utsukushii and shrank to the pine wood ground, gripping something at his chest together. Inside of the whirling miniature tornado; Shiki was running out of oxygen fast. But by that point it didn't matter. The winds of the attack were finally starting to subside. Setsuki's concentration had been broken and thus the control needed for the Tatsumaki Ten Shou Zan was gone. Shiki broke free of the rotating rhythm that had been made for her due to the tornado, and slowly began descending to the ground. Her sandals touched upon the pine of the floor again. And all the stray floorboard bark that had been tossed up into the air was falling back down again. Tumbling into the ground bit by bit. Shiki gripped her skull and sighed; her head had been rattled by the force of that twister. Then she looked over at Setsuki. And Shiki visibly gasped. Her facial expression beamed sheer astonishment at the sight. For a good reason. The headband at Setsuki's head had been sliced off. Revealing a lush mane of ebony black hair that splashed upon the ankles in length. But that was the least of it. At Setsuki's chest was a healthy 'bounce' that was suddenly brought to life. Something the Burning Kunoichi was not expecting... ...Breasts. "...Y-You're..." Shiki gave Setsuki a stunned glare, "You're a... woman...? All this time you were really... a woman...?" Kugure Setsuki blushed and looked downwards, covering her exposed breasts as best as she could. The thing that had been cut were the wrappings that kept her breasts close to her chest and therefore hidden from view. They now rested in a shredded pile under her ankles, which blew Setsuki's deep secret straight from security. The young woman gave a hurt expression at herself, self-reprimanding... and at the same time... holding an embarrassment that should not have been as powerful or as frank as it was. Setsuki's eyes lulled. But she couldn't say a word. "..." The side of the Burning Kunoichi that was Hazumaru Yui was shocked. For the simple reason that she had been kissed by older woman in the same way that she had kissed Haruko. But the other part of her that was Shiki had more mature and important concerns. Like why Setsuki had masqueraded as a man. And also an even deeper question than that. Such as...why should she even care? Shiki looked down at the exposed woman, uttering, "...Come on! Don't you have anything to say?" She did, but they were not the words Shiki had expected to hear. "...Kill me." "...What...?" That wasn't an explanation of anything. And considering the fact that Setsuki was one of her enemies, that comment had a chilling ring to it, "...Why are you asking me this? What is the matter with you?" Setsuki's shamed gaze didn't leave the floor. "...A woman like myself can't hope to get the same respect as a male shinobi would. To the shinobi of this day and age... women are nothing but tools for pleasure and reproduction." "That's crap. Ryoko-san was a girl and she was the First Orochi" Shiki replied. "...Ryoko-chan was unusually gifted. That was the only reason she was a member of the Six Orochi. Because of her great powers in Gensou-jutsu. But for me... life is much different. How would you react to a woman who loves women? It just wasn't feasible. Pretending to be male was the easy option and so I took it. The prestige given to me as an Orochi male was worth it. And I still got to express myself. Even if it meant donning a disguise I resent... and serving a man I cannot stand. But you've taken away that guise. Thus I will surely be killed for my deceit. So you might as well take my life now. I would greatly prefer to die by the blade of a woman so beautiful... than to fall someone unworthy of my love." Shiki looked the slightly older woman up and down. Killing her would be easy. Just as it would have been easy to kill Hibuki. But she didn't. And look how well that turned out. Shiki shook her head at the Wind Shinobi and heaved a sigh. "...I'm not gonna kill you..." Setsuki at last looked back up after hearing this. "W-Why not...?" "I don't hate you," Shiki replied, "You're not in my way anymore either. I would be a coward if I were to strike you down now. Besides. You shouldn't be ashamed of what you are. My worth as a shinobi has nothing to do with my life as a woman. It doesn't change my resolve to kill Hirotsugu-yarou. Or my need to protect the ones I care about from his corruption." Then Shiki began walking ahead. To the door that was on the other side of the room. The one that led deeper into the Shinrin Jinja. She strolled past Setsuki; who was still a bit shell-shocked from the revelation of her secret. But before Shiki left the room; Setsuki turned her neck slightly and looked over to the Burning Kunoichi. A smile was playing on her lips. "This room is called the Room of Meeting," She spoke, "The next room along is called the Room of Present. You will face Yagami-san of the Kagayaku Family when you get there. Beyond that room is the Room of Fates. And in there... you will find the Honshu Koga." Shiki looked back at her, winking. "Thanks. Setsuki-san."
Back to Burning Spirit, Kunoichi! Index - Back to Original Fiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction