Perhaps in Another Life, Ojou : A Tale of Reincarnation

A Flame's Victory

"For as long as I could remember..."

Yaketsuku is seen laying in a blackened burnt and soot covered field as he himself was covered in the blackened residue. Staring up at the blue sky, he wore his white sleeves rolled button up, black ballistics vest, dark blue khaki pants and dark brown chelsea boots. Blinking a singular time, his image was replaced with that of an image much like Tojuro with older clothing consisting of retro style thigh high red and orange gym shorts along with a white tank top rimmed red.

"Perfect! That was a blazing glory! Now do it again!"

Sitting up, he held a wooden katana in his right hand as sat up a bit to see a rather much older version of himself. Standing with his arms crossed and legs spread proudly in a slayer uniform, this man was none other than his father whose faced adorned a large proud smile aimed at his son. Standing up fully, he patted himself off before getting into position with his right foot forward and his left foot back as his body was tilted a bit. The wooden katana was held backwards as he took a deep breath.

"Flame Breathing! First Form! Unknowing Flame!"

With a big explosion, he sprung forward as dirt was kicked up into the air alongside pebbles and grass.

"-my father had trained me to be adept in Flame Breathing and Total Concentration. Training was so hard and led to me coming back home too dirty!"

The blue sky was now replaced by rain as young Yaketsuku stood in a now muddy version of the field. Around him were torches that despite the rain, remained lit like his father who stood next to him. His father stood there as if the rain didn't hinder his movements since he was swinging a wooden katana much like Yaketsuku's. His movements threw mud straight into the air and landed on himself along with the young boy. Even with all this, he continued to strike forward, downwards, upwards, swirled the wooden blade, everything! And yet, he was in complete control.

"These days were some of the best...but, confusing..."

"Dad?"

"Yes, my tinderbox?"

They now both sat in the safety of their backyard's awning whilst a bento box full of onigiri sat in between them. A towel atop of each of them as they ate the onigiris in relative peace.

"Why do I have to train so much? What for?"

"Ah, my tinderbox. One day, you shall find out. One day, you too will set your heart ablaze the way I do!"

His father said loudly as he then reached over and caressed the top of his son's head. The young one would happily smile as he received the show of affection yet, inside his mind, he was still unsure of what his father meant. To him, setting your heart ablaze was just a way to say to go beyond your natural strength.

"And it wasn't until I met your mother, Tojuro, that I found out just what he meant."

A slightly older twenty one year old Yaketsuku sat in front of the dinner table of the Rengoku estate. His father directly in front of him with his mother besides him and then, a woman right beside himself. His then pregnant girlfriend, soon to be pregnant wife as evident by the ring on her finger and bump on the stomach. All of them laughed heartily with the other as they ate in complete and utterly loud bliss.

Yet...that moment came to a halt when they heard a much darker set of laughter...Standing at the door leading to the backyard stood a male with a disfigure facial expression as he grinned wickedly. His eyes were blood red yet, his irises were an emerald green. His skin paled and his nails like knives as he picked the malformed cuticles. Seeing this, everyone was in shock at this male until Yaketsuku's father stood up with a proud smile. Taking out the Rengoku family blade, he stood defensively in front of his family. Seeing this blade, the Demon grinned even more as it flicked its wrists. His sharp nails springing out just a bit more as Yaketsuku was still in shock as his mother led him and his fiancée back a bit.