Ronin Strike

Chapter 4: A Serpent's Story

Previously on Ronin Strike...

"NOOOOOOOOOO" Miyamoto screamed at the top of his lungs to the point where his voice cracked. as the night sky was lit up from the sun-rise. an old man wakes up from his sleep in a sweat...to be continued.

The old man starts heavily breathing and sweating and has to slowly calm himself down. "Maybe I need to take a walk" he utters under his breath. He then sat up on the side of his bed and reaches out to grab his cane to head for the bathroom and get ready. Putting on his shoes, grabbing his cane, and going outside for a walk - he looked around the bliss area with a smile on his face, "It sure is nice today". The old man walked outside in peace and harmony to calm his mind down. While on his walk, he noticed a boy sitting on a boulder reading a book, he walks behind him and peers over his shoulder to see what he was reading out of curiosity. "Fujita's Scripts of Life? a fine choice of work I must say," he said in a well-mannered voice. "GAH!" the young boy dropped his book out of being startled. "You almost gave me a heart attack," the boy gasped while trying to catch his breath. "You're not supposed to be having heart attacks at this age, that's my forte". The boy gets up from the ground and dusts himself off. "Apologies, here let me get that," the geezer proceeded to lean down to pick up the book and hand it to him. "Damn it I lost my page," the boy struggled as he flipped through his book in frustration. "Try and look for the page that's been recently bent, it'll be the page that you were most likely on" the old man suggested. The boy flipped through to his page and in his surprise, he not only found his page but he saw a leaf being used as a bookmark. "How the... did you?!" he stammered before turning his head to see the old man walking away. "Hey!" the boy shouts, causing him to turn around...

"Like a snake shedding it's skin between the rocks... never try and force yourself too hard in anything or else you might just end up hurting yourself,"

He said with a gray-bearded smile. The boy then posed a confused look on his face for a slight second but ends up slightly smiling and getting back to the book he was reading. Old man then walked away slowly, carrying on with his walk. "Wonder what he just meant by that" the boy said with his eyebrows raised and his nose in his book.

"Kashida": Jikan. 2 years ago.

"Mom! Mom! I passed again" a young girl shouted after barging through the door while holding a piece of graded paper in her hand. "Great work Mikia I'm so proud of you!" her mother gleamed with excitement. In the corner of her eye she catches her son dropping his bag and quickly sneaking behind his sister towards his room. "Keep up the great work hun," her mother says as she looks down and pats her on the head before going to him. She then knocks on the young boy's door and opens it to see him curled up on his bed underneath a blanket. "Kel? is everything alright honey?" his mother asked with a questioning tone. "Just go away" Kel mumbled. "Mind if I ask what's bothering you" his mom queried. he quickly got up out of his wrapped up position with tears flowing in his eyes and with a grunted, suppressed voice said, "What's NOT bothering me, I try and try and TRY and still I get NOTHING". His mom leaned in to hug him while rubbing his shoulder, resting her cheek on his head, and told him - "Sweetie everyone isn't born smart with every bit of knowledge that has reached this world, people are just usually smart with what they find interesting". His Mom then turned to the family portrait. "Y'know, your dad was a true example of that honestly, he wasn't the smartest in certain things, yet he was proud and had pride in his work". "He took his time with what he had and it made him the man he was, you just need to find something you need to be proud of, and don't ever forget that with what you hold close, remember to always take your time with it," she said. Kel wipes away his tears while sniffling, "Thanks mom... I guess... I just really needed to hear that be said out loud for me to believe it," he said while wiping away his tears. "You want anything to eat?" she asked him comfortingly. "No, I'm ok," moving his head side to side. "Alright then, if you need anything I'll be downstairs," she says before leaving. "Mom-" Kel says at the last second before the door closed. "Yes dear" she questioned while peering her head through the door. "Nothing... just wanted to say I love you". "I love you too," she said with a smile. Kel then looks at his dresser to see the framed picture of his family. He looks closely at it and his vision focuses on his father. Grabbing the picture, he started to frown. "How did you ever do it, dad,". He then lies back down on his bed and goes to sleep until sunrise came up.