Mask of Identity: Fleeing to the Unknown

Yukio sat on his window ledge and stared out at the sky as the sun peeked over the horizon. Today was the day that his fellow Isshin would arrive and wreak havoc on his nerves. The pressure of it all would be the death of him! After all, his father had only been a few years older than Yukio when he had…

 

Damn Isshin. Who did they think they were, gathering with Master Anzai and plotting his destruction!? Yukio pressed his palm to his chin as he glared out through the window. The last time he had seen them, they had all been small children. That damn Kyouji had had pushed him over onto the ground when he had been trying to play a decent game of catch. Yukio wondered what they were like now.

 

But not enough to stay. He jumped up from his seat and stared at his bedroom door. It was six in the morning. If he was going to do anything he'd have to do it before Master Anzai came looking for him.

 

His eyes snapped shut and he held his palms opposite from one another. Once he was outside of the complex, he would have to blend in.

 

*****

 

At seven, Anzai pounded his fist against Yukio's door. "Yukio!" he called. "I told you to be in the main hall at six-thirty!" He stopped pounding to glare at the door. This was it. Yukio was purposely trying to drive him insane! "Yukio!" he yelled, pushing the door open and stepping inside, "When I call you, you-"

 

Yukio's bed was made, and everything looked to be in order… only Yukio was nowhere to be found. Anzai felt his heart pounding in his ears.

 

"…answer me..."

 

*****

 

Kyouji held his palms together and slowly pulled them apart, releasing a blue glow of energy. "Master," he said, staring at the glow. "Why must we waste our time with the other Isshin? I already know that I'll be chosen to rule. Why even bother showing off?"

 

"Because, Kyouji," Master Juro said from behind his desk. "These types of things have traditions and procedures. You can't ignore the other Isshin no matter how apparent the outcome might seem."

 

The glow faded, and Kyouji put his hands to his lap. "Whatever," he mumbled, watching as his master signed the bottom of a document. "From what I hear, Satoru hasn't matured, and Yukio isn't even interested in the job."

 

Master Juro looked up at him. "Where did you hear that?"

 

"People tell me things," Kyouji shrugged. "Why does it matter?"

 

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponents. Their potential is just as great as your own."

 

"Yeah, yeah, we all have the same potential, I've heard it a million times. But my determination exceeds theirs. Who wants a ruler who's still a boy? And who would ever want a ruler who doesn't want to be ruler!?"

 

Master Juro put down his quill. "Whatever you say will have no effect on this trip. You're going and that's final. In fact, we're due in ten minutes. Gather your things."

 

*****

 

Yukio reappeared on the other side of the gated property and looked around. It wasn't often that he was allowed to venture into the outside world. Annual visits to Morai's royal grounds were customary, and trips to visit other Isshin were also expected, but wandering off on his own, into the world of average people, was something he had never experienced before.

 

Now that he had to blend in, Yukio had used his primary Isshin abilities to change his appearance, but only slightly. He had turned his hair a sandy brown, and his eyes, chocolate, to match. At a last thought, he slipped his pendant beneath his robes. No one would even suspect that he was an Isshin.

 

He came to a small village that Anzai had taken him to about ten years ago. He remembered all the brown eyes that resembled his mother's, and he remembered how they had stared at him. It wasn't every other day Isshin wandered around villages, and their staring eyes of the civilians unnerved him. But today… no one stared. A few eyes glanced up at him but quickly looked away. Strangers were nothing to stare at when they were not blue haired Isshin.

 

The village was quiet today, and Yukio wasn't quite sure where he was headed, but he just kept walking.

 

No one spoke to him. The wind only blew softly through his hair as he listened to his heart pound in his chest. Master Anzai was probably having a fit by now. He was probably yelling and stalking around the house, demanding for Yukio to come out from his hiding spot.

 

Yukio sighed. He wasn't sure why he ran anymore. Master Anzai always found him… without fail.

But to stay would be worse. At least this way he could escape for a moment. He could be by himself… alone with his thoughts, and-

 

"Excuse me."

 

Yukio spun around to see a girl who looked about his age, maybe a little younger. Her chocolate brown hair flipped up at her shoulders, and her eyes… they were… sapphire blue?

 

He stared at her. Blue eyes? But…

 

"I'm just wondering what you're doing in the middle of my backyard."

 

"Um…" Yukio stammered. Shit, he'd gotten lost in his thoughts again and forgot which direction he'd been walking in. Master Anzai had always said that Yukio's own mind was his greatest weakness. "I'm sorry… I was just passing through, and I guess I wasn't paying attention…"

 

She stood up on her toes to look at his face. "You look kind of out of it. Are you okay?"

 

No. "I'm fine, really. I was just-"

 

"Have we met before?"

 

"Um… I don't think so…" Yukio took a step away from her, but she followed him. Could it be that she remembered him from ten years ago?

 

"Your eyes are a strange color of brown," she remarked.

 

Yukio narrowed his eyes at her. "You should talk! I've never seen a girl with blue eyes before!"

 

She stepped back on her heels. "Look, it's not my fault. They've always been blue."

 

"Don't you find it odd?"

 

"They've always been blue!" she reiterated. "Why do you care?"

 

Yukio glared at her. He didn't even know this girl, and here she was, arguing with him.

 

But then her eyes went from narrow to wide, and she pointed to his face. "Hey," she said in awe. "I know why you care… your eyes are blue, too!"

 

Yukio squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his eyelids with the tips of his fingers. Dammit… he had lost concentration. Again!

 

"You're not a passerby," she accused. "I know who you are!"

 

He dropped his hands and glared at her. "You don't know who I am!" he shot back "No one knows who I am."

 

"You're an Isshin! …but why isn't your hair blue?"

 

Yukio continued to stare at her with contempt. What was it about her that made him so damn angry? "I'm not an Isshin!" he yelled at her.

 

"Then why are your eyes blue?"

 

"Why are YOUR eyes blue!? Who are YOU!?

 

"Yukio!" a voice boomed from behind him, and Yukio froze. He cringed.

 

The girl pointed her skinny finger in his face again. "You ARE an Isshin, you liar!"

 

Slowly, Yukio turned around to meet Master Anzai's horrible gaze. "What!?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

 

Master Anzai was beside him in a split second, and he held Yukio's collar tightly. "Do you know what I just went through because of your sudden disappearance?! Did you have any thought as to what the other Isshin think of your behavior!?"

 

Yukio pried Master Anzai's fingers away from his robes and pulled away. "Does it look like I care?"

Master Anzai's eyes looked like they might pop out of their sockets. "Honestly, Yukio," he fumed. "I'm starting to lose my temper with you."

 

"Starting?" Yukio scoffed.

 

Master Anzai grabbed his robes again and pulled him away from the girl. "Wandering off into the country is not safe for you. You're so bad at keeping your damn concentration that your hair has already turned back to blue. People will spot you in an instant."

 

"Hmph! I can take care of myself," Yukio declared, but couldn't pull away from his master's grasp this time.

 

"If you would just do what I say, you wouldn't be having so many problems."

 

"If you would just leave me the hell alone, I would be completely free of my problems!"

 

Master Anzai narrowed his eyes onto Yukio. "Are you saying that I'm your primary problem?"

 

Yukio glared up at him. "I'm not the one who said it..." He waited for Master Anzai to reply, but the two only stared at each other.

 

"Um, if I may interrupt…"

 

Both Yukio and Anzai turned to see the girl standing there with a small smile on her face, and Master Anzai's fingers slipped from Yukio's collar.

 

She grinned at them. "Yukio was perfectly safe here. You don't have to worry about him."

 

Master Anzai took a few steps closer to the girl until he was only one step away. "What's your name?"

 

She blinked at him. "It's Amai… but I don't see what that has to do with anything…"

 

He grabbed her chin and tilted it up so that he could look closely at her face. "You're coming back with us," he announced. "Go get your things."

 

Yukio stood behind him, agape. "Excuse me!?" he exclaimed. "You're inviting some random girl to the house!? I thought we had already had company!"

 

Master Anzai spun to face Yukio. "Yukio, go with Amai and help her with her things. That's an order."

 

"But-"

 

"Do it!"

 

Yukio looked at Amai, who stood behind Master Anzai's back, staring at him in shock. He was probably scaring the shit out of her. Grumbling, he went over and grabbed her arm, leading her to her small house.

 

"What's going on?" she hissed to him as they reached the front door.

 

"I have no idea," Yukio admitted. "He's usually pretty picky about who comes to the house and who stays far away."

 

Yukio closed the door behind himself and leaned against it. "Hurry up and get your things. The longer we take in here the angrier Master will be with me."

 

Amai turned to look at him. "What are you complaining about? You're not the one being dragged from your home and going to live with hostile Isshin."

 

Yukio glared at her. "What do you know about Isshin!?" he demanded. "And if someone would drag me away from my home, I would gladly go!"

 

She stuffed some clothes into a sack. "What kind of an Isshin are you? Aren't you supposed to live to serve Morai?"

 

"I didn't ask for it."

 

*****

 

Amai stared at Yukio from across the room. He blew the strands of hair out of his eyes and went back to staring at the wall. He had probably been waited on his entire life and didn't know what it was really like to live. She almost felt sorry for him. What kind of an Isshin tried to escape his destiny?

 

"I'm ready," she told him. "And your house better be really nice if you're going to force me to stay with you."

 

"I'm not forcing you to do anything," Yukio told her. "I have nothing to do with this. I'm only doing what my master told me to do… reluctantly."

 

*****

 

"This is your home?" Amai gaped at the spacious entryway that was covered in blue drapery. "It's… huge!"

 

"Yeah," Yukio mumbled.

 

Once they stepped into the main hall, four blue-haired Isshin stood staring at them.

 

"Well, it's about time," the older Isshin with the dark ponytail muttered.

 

Yukio glared at him. "Pleased to meet you again," he muttered when Master Anzai elbowed him. "…and welcome to our home."

 

The two older Isshin nodded their heads, and Kyouji, who stood between them, his forehead covered in a white band, smirked. "Hey, Yukio… who's the girl? Your girlfriend?"

 

"Don't insult me!" Amai spoke up. "We just met twenty minutes ago!"

 

Taken aback, all six Isshin stared at her. Yukio fumed.

 

"Excuse me," Master Anzai said as he stepped in front of Yukio and Amai. "But Juro, Tadao… I'd like to have a few words with you." He turned to Yukio. "Yukio, show our guests to the dining hall. Breakfast should be ready by now. We will join you shortly."

 

Yukio led them all to the dining hall and told them to have a seat. One of the maids quickly made an extra place setting for Amai, and she sat down next to Yukio. While Kyouji and Satoru, the last Isshin in their generation, began their meal, Amai kicked Yukio underneath the table.

 

"What's going on?" she hissed to him. "I've never seen so many Isshin before!"

 

"It's some sort of customary gathering now that we're all nearing the ends of our training," Yukio whispered back. "I have no idea what Master Anzai has planned."

 

"Oh."

 

Yukio took a bite of rice. When he looked up, Kyouji was staring at him.

 

"So, who is she?"

 

Yukio stared back at him for a moment. "I have no idea," he answered honestly. "I met her in the village."

 

"My name is Amai," Amai introduced herself. "And you can stop talking about me as though I'm not here."

 

*****

 

"Who is the girl, Anzai?" Juro demanded. "This conference is supposed to be Isshin only. Kyouji didn't bring HIS girlfriend."

 

"Kyouji doesn't HAVE a girlfriend," Tadao pointed out.

 

Anzai sat at his desk and pushed a few papers around. "Yukio didn't run away," he said. "What I told you before was untrue. Yukio was drawn to the village for a reason."

 

Both Isshin stared at him from their seats on the other side of the desk.

 

"What are you rambling about?" Juro wanted to know.

 

Anzai looked up at them. "Did you not see her eyes?"

 

Both of them froze.

 

"You can't be serious, Anzai," Tadao said, his blue eyes wide.

 

"Yukio has found her," Anzai confirmed. "Now is the time to tell the boys. Yukio already thinks I'm crazy for brining her back with us. We have to tell them soon."