Part 3

Story of the Madness

Yuu wakes up shortly after getting hit by Rumi's second bat. He stands up heavily rubbing his head where he was struck moments ago. As he rubs his head, he notices that it doesn't hurt at all. There isn't a bump on it either. He rubs his eyes then gasps loudly at the sight of where he is. At first, he believes that the village appears dark because it is still night. But after fully waking up, he realizes that he is no longer in Waffle Town.

The last thing he remembers was Rumi jumping off the roof and striking them. Yuu feels that he wasn't out cold for too long, but there are no signs that he was either carried, dragged or moved from where he passed out. All he can see is endless darkness, no colors, walls, buildings, or people in sight. Even the floor that he stands on is pitch black. He then assumes that he was moved into a dark room without any light, but he can see his hands and legs very clearly.

After randomly guessing his location several times, he hears a child crying nearby. He turns around, and sees a young girl sitting behind him hugging her knees. Yuu didn't see her there moments ago, she just suddenly appeared out of thin air. She has medium-long blue hair, and she is wearing a junior high school uniform. By the way she looks and dresses, Yuu assumes that she is about 12 years old.

Yuu doesn't know who she is at first, but he feels that he can at least ask her where they are. Yuu hesitates to do so considering how upset she is. If he makes her any more upset than she already is, then he may attract the attention of Samurai Princess again. He walks up to her slowly, trying his best to avoid any sudden movements or sounds. He stops moving far enough to give her personal space, but close enough to talk to. He then takes a deep breath, and speaks in a clear and calm voice. "Hello? Excuse me, but do you know where are we? My name is Yuu, I really don't know how I got here."

The young girl suddenly stops crying, and turns around to see who is talking to her. Yuu gasps at the first sight of her face. The blue eyes, facial features, blue colored hair matches Kotomi perfectly. However, she is much younger than he last seen her.

"Kotomi? Is that you?" asked Yuu curiously. "What happened to you? Why do you look so young? What's going on here?"

Kotomi sniffles a bit before answering, "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Kotomi is just as confused as Yuu is, but they are that way for different reasons. Unlike Yuu, Kotomi isn't surprised by where she is, rather she is more shocked to see that someone is with her. This gives Yuu the impression that Kotomi has been sitting there for a long time. What surprises Yuu the most is that Kotomi is actually speaking to him normally. In her normal state, she couldn't talk at all, and in her "alternate" state, she only wants to kill him. Rather than exchanging questions all day, Yuu feels that he should just talk to her instead. "I'm a friend of your sister Rumi. I really don't know how she did it, but I think she sent me here to help you."

"My sister did?" said Kotomi in a near crying tone.

Yuu reaches out to Kotomi and asks, "Tell me, why were you crying?"

Kotomi answers, "Because. . . Mother and father died. These bad kids keep picking on me, so I ran away to this dark and lonely place. It happened so long ago, but no matter how long I wait for the bad people to go away, it still seems like it happened only yesterday."

"Happened only yesterday? . . . Kotomi, where are we?" asked Yuu.

Suddenly, the young Kotomi vanishes without a trace. Yuu gasps, then takes a quick look around. He yells to the top of his lungs trying to get a reply from anyone. But all he can hear are his echoes of his voice in the distance. He isn't getting any results just standing around, so he starts to run in the direction he is facing. He has no idea where he is going, but he doesn't care. All he wants to do is find some sort of clue as to where he is.

After several minutes of running, he stops to catch his breath. Taking deep hard breaths, and eyes shut tightly, he feels that he might be dreaming. As far as why is his dream pitch black, and why Kotomi was the only other person in it is beyond him. But a new surprise awaits for him as he re-opens his eyes. All the darkness that he saw only moments ago is gone. He finds himself in a small town, but he is very sure it was not Waffle Town. Yuu remains standing in place, and looks around in all directions trying to figure out where he is now. He sees a lot of cherry blossoms blooming, so he is sure it was Spring. There are no cherry blossoms in Waffle Town, so this was a hint that he is not there, or anywhere nearby.

After some time, he starts to walk down the concrete sidewalk. Soon, he notices a small city in the distance near the horizon. Since he is looking down at it, the town he found himself has to be located near or on the side of a tall hill. To his right, he finds a huge traditional Japanese style house with a tall wall bordering around it. The gates of the house are open, so he lets himself in.

He does say "Hello!" and "Can I come in?" before entering, but no one hears him. Desperate for answers, he walks in anyway. After walking around for a minute, he hears the voice of a middle aged man over at the side of the property. He follows it hoping to find someone who can tell him something. He is shocked at who he finds instead. A hefty powerful looking middle aged man with dark brown hair sitting on a cushion. In front of him is a little girl who looks remarkably like Kotomi.

This time, Kotomi is even younger than the last time he saw her. Based on Kotomi's height and childish features, it was obvious to Yuu that she was about six years old. The man in front of her has to be her father.

As he stands by, Kotomi's Father says, "Kotomi, I have something I have to talk to you about. Since you are now six years old, you are plenty old enough to learn our family's trade."

"Family trade? What do you mean father?" answered young Kotomi.

Kotomi's Father answers, "Our family business has always been involved with tailoring. We make only the finest and highest quality clothing. This has been how our family found success in finances for the last 10 generations. As my oldest daughter, you are the next in line to take over as head of the family business after me. So, your mother and I will start teaching you the secrets of the mastery of tailoring starting tomorrow. Do you understand what I am telling yo Kotomi?"

Kotomi nods and responds, "I understand father. I'll do my best!"

Kotomi's Father is pleased that his daughter has accepted her role in the family trade. So he continues, "Also, I will need to teach you the art of the blade. The shrines in the temple hidden in the forest behind our house is where our late ancestors rest in peace. It is our family duty to protect them from evil as well."

Yuu approaches them, and tries to say something, but no matter how loud he gets, they can not hear him. He even walks up to them, and passed his hand over their faces, but they can't see him either. For a moment, he believes that he may have died and he's watching flashbacks of his life. But he quickly remembers that this is not his life he is watching. All he could do is watch them, and try to figure out what's going on.

There is a sword resting beside Kotomi's father. He picks it up, and places it on Kotomi's hands. The sword is too heavy for her to hold, but she still tries her best to carry it in her arms."Your grandfather passed me that sword when I was your age. I was hoping to give it to you later, but considering that your sister Rumi was born last year, I feel that I should give it to you now. Not only am I counting on you to protect our family temple, but I also want you to protect your younger sister as well. Do you understand Kotomi?"

Kotomi continues to struggle with the weight of the sword, but she still answers, "Yes father!"

Earlier, Yuu learned from Rumi how Kotomi got her clothes, but this is the first time he learns where how Kotomi got her sword. When Yuu met Kotomi for the first time, he thought that it was a fake, or a prop from a bad cartoon show. Now he understands the reason why the sword is so important to her, because it was a precious gift from her father.

Soon after Kotomi receives the sword, Kotomi and her father vanishes from the scene. The setting changes a bit as well, the air gets warmer, and the cherry blossoms are no longer in bloom. In only a moments time, Summer has arrived.

A door opens nearby, and an even younger girl steps out. At first glance, Yuu assumes that it was Kotomi who is even younger. But he quickly realizes that it is not her. Rather than a deep blue hair color, this girl had bright purple hair color which are tied up in twin pigtails, and she carried a black stuffed rabbit in her arms. Soon enough, Yuu figures out that this girl is Rumi when she was a child, not Kotomi.

Yuu then hears the sounds of loud grunts, and the sound of a sword swinging through the air behind him. He turns around and sees Kotomi swinging the sword her father has given to her earlier. She is now wearing a Karate Gi, which is customary for training martial arts in. She is now about three years older than the last scene which makes her about nine years old. Within the last three years, she has already learned how to carry the sword with minimal difficulty.

Rumi walks past Yuu. Just like Kotomi and her father, Rumi can't see or hear Yuu either. She stops near Kotomi with a bored look in her face. "Sissy? What're you doin'?" Rumi asked her sister.

Kotomi stops swinging and finally notices her sister right behind her. "Oh, hi Rumi. I'm practicing the moves our father taught me a little while ago. You'd better step back, you might get hurt if you're too close."

Rumi puts her finger on her cheeck and says, "Is it fun? Can I try?"

Kotomi knows that her sister wants to spend some time with her. She returns the sword in it's sheath tied around her waist. She then checks her watch, and takes a deep breath. She looked at Rumi, and smiled. "It's about lunchtime. I guess it's time for a break. Want to join me Rumi?"

Rumi jumps around happily as her sister shows her boxed lunch to her. Inside the plastic container are a bunch of rice balls that gives Kotomi the energy she needs to train. Rumi grabs two of them, one on each hand and starts eating them. Kotomi laughs at how impatient her sister is. They both move to the same place where Kotomi and her father sat in the last scene.

Yuu was really amazed at how happy and cheerful Kotomi was when she was younger. Usually, he has seen her in her "samurai" self, or an empty shell of a human being. Watching these flashbacks of Kotomi's memory, Yuu almost finds it hard to believe that this was the same person he met back in Waffle town.

Rumi asks with her mouth full of rice, "So, is 'tat knife really that much fun?"

Kotomi laughs and answers, "It's called a sword, not a knife. It's not exactly fun, but I guess it's not boring either. I guess I would rather call it 'challenging'."

Rumi looks down sadly and says, "Really? It must be a lot more fun tan what I do. Daddy teaches me nutin', and you get to do all the fun stuff."

"Rumi, you're only four years old. Father never taught me anything until I was at least six years old."

"But daddy no wanna teach me nutin'. Daddy tells me 'tat 'It's your sister's duty.' or sumthin' else I dun get. It's no fair. . ." responds Rumi kicking a nearby pebble.

Kotomi knows where Rumi is going with this. She places her rice ball back in her box, and lays her right hand on Rumi's head playing with her hair. Rumi giggled at Kotomi's playful gesture. Kotomi then says, "How about if we do this? . . . When you turn six years old, I'll teach you what father taught me."

Rumi gasps cheerfully and says, "Really? Pinky promise?"

Kotomi giggles and says, "Of course! Would I lie to my own sister?"

Rumi stands up, and starts running around in circles, jumping for joy. She is really excited to learn about what Kotomi does every day. Soon afterwards, the both vanish. The setting doesn't change much, it was still Summer, but time definitely has passed.

Yuu then hears some more grunting coming from behind him, this time it was not Kotomi's voice he hears. He turns around, and sees Kotomi and Rumi once again, both dressed up in Karate Gi uniforms. They both have aged a little since the last scene, Kotomi is now eleven years old, and Rumi is now six. The grunting Yuu heard earlier was coming from Rumi who was throwing punches at the air. Kotomi stands nearby supervising Rumi's form.

Kotomi hits the tip of her sheathed sword on the ground and scolds, "Your technique is too sloppy! When you throw a punch, you have to step forward, and turn your fist counterclockwise!"

Rumi then falls to the ground completely exhausted. Kotomi placed her hand on her own head, and shook her head as if she was saying no. She then yells, "Get up Rumi! I thought you were serious about this?"

Rumi takes a deep breath and yells, "Give me a break! I didn't know this was going to be this hard!"

Kotomi sighs and yells, "You only have been doing this for only thirty minutes! When father started training me, he did not let me rest for at least five hours!"

Rumi then stands back up, and continues her training. But after only a few minutes, Rumi becomes fed up, and yells, "What is the point of all this? Punching the air? I thought I was supposed to be learning how to swing a sword?"

"You can't learn how to handle a blade before learning the basics. Father taught me this a long time ago." said Kotomi.

Rumi stamps on the floor and yells, "Basics? What's so basic about this? All you do is wave dad's sword around, what's so special about that?"

Seeing that Rumi needs to be taught an important lesson, she takes the sword, and carries it with one arm parallel to the ground. She holds it out to show Rumi why the basics of martial arts are very important. Rumi walks up to Kotomi, and stares at her serious face nervously. "Take our father's sword, then you'll understand." said Kotomi in a stern manner.

Rumi holds out both of her hands, and waits for Kotomi to place the sword in them. Kotomi gently places the sword in Rumi's hands, and releses it. Rumi then suddenly falls forward on her face, the sword is far too heavy for her to carry.

Rumi rubs her nose that hit the ground and tells, "OWWW!!! This thing weighs a ton! How on earth do you hold this with one hand?"

Kotomi picks the blade up and says, "It took me a year of punching air to get strong enough to carry it. Another two years to learn how to wield it properly. It's not easy, but I did learn how to do this the hard way.

Rumi stands back up, and dusts off her uniform. She then placed her fists on her hips, and looked at Kotomi with an annoyed pout on her face. "Isn't there an easier way to do this? Something a little bit more fun?" asked Rumi.

Kotomi then begins to think for a moment. She runs back inside the house looking for something she created for herself some time ago. She then finds her wooden sword that she made in a chest in her room. Finally she walks out of the house, and hands it to Rumi.

Rumi looks at the wooden sword awkwardly and asks, "What is this piece of junk? It's definitely not a sword."

Kotomi laughs and says, "I used this to develop my my technique a little bit faster. Father always got angry when I used it, but I'm sure he won't mind if you do."

Seeing how it can help her, Rumi waves it around to get a good feel of it. The wooden sword was much lighter and easier to handle than Kotomi's sword. She feels almost powerful wielding it with no effort. She smiles and says, "This feels so cool! It's like swinging a sword, but it looks more like a bat!"

They both laugh cheerfully. But as quickly as they appeared, they vanish again. Yuu quickly turns around thinking that the next scene was going to happen behind him again. But in the blink of an eye, he finds himself in a completely different place. This time, he finds himself in someone's bedroom. He also find Kotomi sitting on the carpet in the bedroom. At this point, she is about the same age as the Kotomi he met when he first arrived into the strange world of empty darkness. Sitting in front of Kotomi, he saw an older woman who resembles her very much. The blue hair, eye color, and facial features matches almost perfectly. He is quickly able to tell that this other woman is Kotomi's mother.

"Kotomi dear, how has your training been coming along?" asked Kotomi's mother.

Kotomi bows gracefully, and answers, "Father has been very strict and hard on me. But because of his diligent training, I have learned so much within the last six years."

Kotomi's Mother smiles and continues, "I'm glad. Your father has been very proud of you as well. If you keep this up, you'll be a great head of family in the future. But now, I have a gift for you."

Kotomi's mother shoves cardboard box that contains some sort of clothing to Kotomi. When she opens the box, both Yuu and Kotomi gasps at what they find inside. It is the Shinto Priestess dress that Kotomi has been wearing when Yuu met her for the first time back in Waffle Town.

Kotomi asked in a shocked tone, "Mother, this is the dress that you always wear when you pray at the family temple. Why are you giving this to me?"

Kotomi's Mother answers, "I'm sure your father has told you already. As the future head of this family, you will also be the future guardian of our family temple as well. With your father's sword and my garments, It will be up to you to guard the temple from evil. And do not forget to protect your younger sister Rumi as well."

Kotomi bows gracefully once again, and says, "Yes mother. I will protect them from evil. This I promise you."