The Lost Shadow

Chapter 4 - The Two Face

'The dead yet alive samurai?' Hideaki's mind was in ruins. Was this is even real? Can there really be a person or rather a thing in this world that could be both dead and alive at the same time? Hideaki just started at Isamu, flustered. He didn't even know what to ask this and where to start.

"Hideaki listen to me, keep whatever I tell you between us only. No one needs to know what I am going to tell you, not even Amaya." Isamu spoke to Hideaki in an almost pleading tone. What was so frightening about this secret that no one could be told? However, Hideaki nodded his head in reply. Seeing that Isamu leaned close to Hideaki, but he was still apprehensive and a little distracted.

"Hideaki, there is one thing that I am going to tell you right now. Whether you believe or not will be up to you, but do not speak of this to anyone else. There is a man that exists in the dojo who has lived for over 200 years. However, he was supposedly killed 120 years ago by my great-grandfather." A great storm brew in Hideaki's mind. 200 years? That was almost 4 times the average life of a normal person. Can this even be possible? There is no way!

"Isamu, are you sure that it is 200 years? That's just not possible. I can believe 90 years and maybe even 100, but 200? There is no way. Maybe the person really did die back then and this is just one of his descendants?" Hideaki was very confident that this could not be true. A person living up 70 was already very good. Anything higher was very difficult to comprehend. Hideaki just could not believe this to be true.

"Whether you believe me or not is up to you. At the moment I won't tell you anything else because it feels like someone is watching us from somewhere. I think we should head back to the village and pretend like none of this ever happened." Isamu started looking around making sure no one was listening to them.

"Isamu, before we head back at least tell me the truth about what happened to the kid in the dojo. Is he ok? And whose blood was that? Was that yours or someone else's?" Hideaki asked what was currently on his mind the most. Out of the two kids why was only one brought out?

However, before these question could be answered, Hideaki notice a small light in the distance. It was coming closer at a rapid pace. The light turned out to be a small blade that was aimed right at Hideaki's head. "MOVE!" Isamu quickly pushed Hideaki out of the way. The blade landed on the small table, destroying the candle in the process. Hideaki was bewildered, he didn't even know where that blade came from. Now that the candle was destroyed, the small shack was in complete darkness. Isamu nor Hideaki could see anything, yet at the moment the little shack that could barely stand on its own started to crumble. Little pebbles fell from the roof. Both men rushed out the shack that almost crushed them. Before both of them could even take a breather, another blade fast approached them. Again, from somewhere they could not even tell. Blades were being thrown at them from every direction, luckily there were no serious injuries. Only superficial cuts on their skin. Isamu, however, had it worse, because his body was bigger, he was not as nimble as Hideaki.

"Get out here! Don't be a coward, show yourself!" Hideaki was enraged by the action of whoever this was. Attacking them from a distance and hiding? What kind of despicable fellow was this? Seeing that no one was answering him, Hideaki slowly bent down and picked up one of the blades. After slowly inspecting them, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They were normal blades that were meant to cut and stab. Hideaki grabbed another blade that was to the right of him. Since he was now geared with some kind of weapons, he was less tense. At least he could somewhat defend himself from this hidden attacker.

Slowly Hideaki and Isamu started to walk towards the village. The kept looking around making sure that they won't get attacked by surprise blades again. As the approached the front gate, Hideaki noticed an old man. The old man was standing in front of the gates looking straight at him. Although he could be looking at something in the same direction, Hideaki kept getting this feeling that he was looking at him. Only him. Thinking that this old guy was someone from the village, he was about to whisper to Isamu to ask about him. He looked away only for a second, but when he turned his eyes back again, the old man was gone. Hideaki was tongue-tied. He knew that this old man had some sort of relation towards the attacks against him and Isamu. But what sort of relation? He wasn't that middle-aged man from the dojo, who in Hideaki's mind was the perpetrator.

Isamu noticed that Hideaki was staring at the gates blankly, so he gave him a little nudge to wake him from his stupor. "What's the problem?" Did he see something? "Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw something. Never mind that for now, I might just be hallucinating. Let's hurry back to the village now!" Hideaki didn't think that telling Isamu would be of any benefit. He might just be paranoid or might be seeing things because of the attack. Maybe if he really did see that old man in the village in the future then he might talk with Isamu about the old man being at the front gate.

Isamu and Hideaki finally got back to the village. Luckily, no one was up at this hour. Isamu and Hideaki then went back to their homes. But before Hideaki could even go back, he wasn't sure of where to go back. The room he was recovering in, was not his. "Isamu, where should I go? Do I go back to the same room or should just sleep outside?" Hideaki looked at Isamu with pitiable eyes. He, of course, did not want to sleep outside, if he was forced to then he would continue to pester Isamu until he got proper lodging.

Taking a deep breath, Isamu then pulled Hideaki by the shoulder. "Just follow me. You can sleep in one of the rooms that are for guests." Isamu was only lending this room for the night. He wasn't going to let a man sleep in his house for more than a night. He had a daughter at home.

They got to a large home that had a sign on the front wall. It said 'Go", as in the family name? "Isamu Go? So that's your full name. Was your family created to lead villages? Haha!" Although it hadn't been a long time since Hideaki had met Isamu, he just felt like there was something about Isamu that made him very open towards him. This feeling was very difficult for him to come about to because as a former samurai, he was a very introverted and cautious man.

"What about you? I haven't heard your family name yet. Come on and spill it. I am not going to laugh." Isamu was annoyed that his name was made fun of. He wanted revenge, so he needed to make fun of Hideaki's family name as well. "Well, my full name is Hideaki Tsuji." Isamu who listened to him furrowed his brows. He started to think about some families that had the last name, Tsuji.

Isamu was about to ask him if he was from the Tsuji clan. This great clan produced many samurais and were very influential in northern Acrica. But seeing the smiling face of Hideaki, he didn't think about it any further. With a snort, he dragged Hideaki inside the home. He started to head towards the back side of the house when he saw Amaya standing in front of him.

"Father, what are doing up this late? And why do I see so many cuts on you both?!" Amaya started to panic when she saw the cuts on Isamu and Hideaki. "Amaya, its fine, me and this lad were just doing some small sparring. We forgot the time and so we were late. Hideaki here is new so he will spend the night here. I am just taking him to the empty room in the back."

Isamu started to sweat profusely. Hideaki who was watching this scene was slightly confused. It seemed like he was somewhat scared of his own daughter. But that shouldn't be the case, she seemed like such a gentle person. And this big old guy was her father, so why the heck was he scared?

"Oh OK. That's fine then, but please father next time tell me before you go out. I was so worried." Amaya sighed in relief when she heard the 'truth'. She then looked towards Hideaki, whose shoulder was still in the hands of her father. She smiled gently and then walked towards his direction.

Hideaki who was about to let out a breath of air, stood frozen when Amaya walked by him. "Next time you hurt my father, I will bury your corpse in a dog pit." Hideaki was stupefied. Was this really the gentle girl that he spoke with this morning? There was no way. She was completely different.

When Amaya was finally out of sight, both Isamu and Hideaki stood in their spot in fright. Not daring to move. *Cough* "So Hideaki, let me just lead you to your room, hehe." Isamu trembled slight and lead Hideaki to the back side of the house. There was only one room in the back, plus there was a huge garden. Hideaki Slowly crept into the room and shut it tight. He sat on top of the futon and began to remember the blades that attacked him and Isamu. He pulled one out and looked at it for a few minutes. When he concluded that it was still the same he put it to the side. Feeling exhausted because of everything that happened, he fell into a very cautious type of sleep.