Apathy's Achilles

The Awakened One Pt. 4

Miharu's POV

I slowly opened my eyes and as the blurriness subsided I found myself looking up at a light. My eyes twitched trying to brush away the grogginess. Suddenly Koichi's face came into view hovering over holding a relief filled smile. I looked at him in confusion and then the events of the day came back to me and I turned away from him irritated.

“uhh,” he started. “Please don't take the stabbing personally. I was just trying to keep the hijutsu from activating,” he whined. Putting both hands together in front of him, he bowed his head and said “Sorry Miharu, but I was careful not to hit any bones or vital organs.”

“I told you to keep her safe! Not run her through with a sword!” I retorted and turned to the girl still sleeping soundly next to me on the infirmary bed.

“I didn't know she was there, she kind of just appeared out of nowhere. We tried to put you on separate beds, but you had an iron grip on her hand.”

I just looking at her hoping she would make some indication of waking up. Mr. Kumohira chose that moment to walk up to all of us carrying a pile of clothes.

“That wasn't an activation. It seems that the wisdom of the hijutsu came spilling out. I am afraid that Rokujo doesn't have enough power to activate it in his current state.”

He then proceeded to throw a clean button up shirt down in front of me to replace the bloodied one I was currently wearing. Lifting up my bloody shirt I realized that the wound from the sword had completely healed.

“Healing is one of the hijutsu's powers as well,” Mr. Kumohira explained.

I put down my shirt and finally asked, “ What is hijutsu?”

He looked at me in shock and scratched his head with his hand. “The Shinra Banshou. It's a powerful ninjutsu technique that was created by the shinobi long ago. The book of Shinra Banshou, the soul of the hijutsu, is hidden inside of you. And although it is referred to as a book it is not written in ink. It has fused itself within your body. It is a part of you Rokujo.”

I put a hand to my chest. “Me?”

“I don't care if there is a book inside him or not. He is still Miharu” I heard a groggy voice say from beside me.

My attention was immediately grabbed and I saw her look up at me tiredly. She struggled to get up so I helped her into a sitting position.

“How are you feeling?” I asked with a hint of worry.

“Pretty great, actually. Like I just took a long nap,” she responded with a smile.

Lifting up her shirt to show me her stomach I saw that her wound had also completely healed. That reminded me.

“Mr. Kumohira, If I have the hijutsu then why is Monique healed? Why did she have those same weird markings?”

Mr. Kumohira's POV

No, I can't talk about that yet. They are not ready. How do I explain this?

“It is almost impossible to handle the amount of wisdom it holds. Since you two are almost inseparable maybe the hijutsu bonded with her too in order to ease the burden.”

I leaned my back against the window, took out a cigarette, and placed it into my mouth.

“It is hard enough to accept the book into your body in the first place, but activating it as a technique is even more difficult.”

I lit up my cigarette and took a hit,

“According to legend, those who previously have tried to activate the hijutsu blew their brains to smithereens in the process.”