Pilot Episode [Akira, Mura]

A bunch of rocks. Rocks, rocks, rocks. Tibet was rocky, indeed. A very obvious observation. Maybe, hanging around these cliffs and precipices, sleeping in huts by Tibetan villagers, and forgetting about the rest of the world until the occasional traveler with a G-Pro and a smartphone passed by. Such was Mura’s life after leaving the Shaolin temple behind, a wanderer in the steppes of western China…

Until he managed to reach a city again. First Qingpao, and then finally back to the eastern provinces! However, being a wanted man in the most inhabited parts of China meant that he’d have to be cautious, walk on foot, and avoid most interactions with other people… even though it was quite easy to distinguish him.

A greyed-out, orange shirt – tattered and torn in places, with a grey t-shirt underneath in a similar condition. His jeans were of a better condition, and his shoes had no details at this point in time. The stub of bandages covering his left… overarm, or what was left of it, was also a dead giveaway- WAIT!

He just realized… he became wanted when he had both arms! Maybe they wouldn’t recognize him anymore…

…

And upon returning to Beijing, they sure as hell did. What some civilians witnessed was several squads from China’s police force in the city, all heading for the western highways where Mura was sighted and still stood intently, awaiting them to relax a bit more. “… J-Japanese?! I can’t speak Chinese, but I can speak a little English, too… a-anyone?”

Being deafened by sirens and speakers demanding Mura to surrender the rusty jian and the sheath that he was carrying in his right hand… meant that Mura had made a terrible mistake of coming back here. Kyūken, ever observant with his Chain of Fate coiled around the sheath that was once his sword as he floated in the air next to Mura, glared at the cops in disgust. “Can’t you just cut through? It’s not like we’re going back to this damn place… I wanna go home, too. To Japan.”

“I don’t wanna become a global criminal, okay?!”

“But still…”

Mura swiftly noticed something, a white object sharply hitting his retina… visually, of course. It was clear and obvious, so Mura quickly redirected his attention towards what turned out to have been an individual wearing an overcoat – a rather long one – staring him down from among the crowds near the highway.

The Chinese authorities shouted at Mura once more, but that was when they also noticed the individual draw nearer. Before any of them could warn the civilian to stand back, said person uttered one word, and the officers suddenly stumbled around as if in a dizzy haze. Wait, who’s he? How’s he making them drop like that? Mura pondered with a pearl of sweat falling off his face, witnessing each officer suddenly lose all will to be conscious and drop one after another. He’d known of supernatural forces, but… this was absurd. Beyond what Mura had ever gotten used to.

There was something terrifying about the man in the overcoat. As if the entire situation was under his control the moment he entered.

“Wait, wait, wait! I- you can speak Japanese?” Mura asked, waving his right hand from side to side to sort of express his awkward position, “I am, but please, listen… I didn’t take it for myself. That Niten swordsman you mention-“

“Well, technically, I do possess two styles… but Niten rolls off the tongue better.”


“Sir, can you see the individual next to this sheath?” Mura tried to ask, wondering if a man who could cast a literal sleeping spell over such a large group could also see ghosts. Raising the sheathed Harukami, Kyūken’s Chain of Fate clanged in response, rolled around the sheath and the blade and attached to the chest of the floating rōnin’s spirit.

“Who knows if he can… if not, you’ll probably fall asleep in a moment or two.”

“B-But maybe…”

“Look, if push comes to shove, we should just slay him before he can put you to sleep as well… no… he carries a blade, too.”

Spiritually awakened… was he talking about his Reiryoku? The Head Master did inform Mura long ago that many people wandered the world with similar, spiritual powers – this was clearly a confirmation of that notion. But whether or not he was locked to Kyūken’s sword was unclear to him… perhaps Mura’s Spiritual Awareness was different from the other lad’s. Mura glanced at his sheathed jian, kind of left speechless for a moment or two.

He could see the Chain of Fate coil around it, subsequently tied to Kyūken’s chest. Kyūken loved his jian quite a lot.

The lad introduced himself as Akira Tairitsu, a name very Japanese which Mura caught onto. He hadn’t met another Japanese in quite a while, now – maybe China wasn’t a popular tourist attraction, or maybe it was something else.

Akira suggested that he follow him, and since this Akira guy wasn’t a police officer… okay, before anything else, Mura still remembered that he put everyone to sleep here. Then again, he could’ve easily put Mura to sleep as well… but what was his deal, now? Did he know about Mura? Maybe he thought that Mura was a criminal- argh, what the hell! “Argh, alright, fine! Just- I really hope to clear any doubt with the authorities later…” Mura caved in, gathering energy in his leg muscles – in the blink of an eye, his foothold from earlier was exchanged with a crater, and he now stood in front of Akira with his feet dug into the ground a couple inches. Fa Jin was a handy method of ‘point A to point B’ transportation.

“…” Up close, Mura’s facial expression was confused, frowning, distrusting Akira a bit, but… no signs of cunning nor a sense of control. A rather reactionary face, he had.

"Wait, so are you going to help us clear things here, or do you have something else in mind? Mind you, we have killed people befo- well, I have."

"I haven't, but if you try anything with my-"

"My-"

"-His jian, I'll defend myself."

Walking away from all the others made Mura a little iffy. This Akira guy… what was this guy’s deal, now? Mura still had his doubts about how this lad could just help him out like this out of nowhere, but… being a swordsman too, maybe it was a sense of camaraderie bound by that common interest?

“Hmh…?” Mr. Tairitsu thought the Chinese police wouldn’t reason with Mura, apparently. That his only option was to seek a safe haven, which the lad offered himself – as well as an opportunity to teach him about his current… wait, was this guy a friend of the Head Master? That explained everything! His Japanese name, his willingness to help Mura out of nowhere, and his words right now! “I-I see… I do need to learn how to draw more from my power,” he admitted with a hand behind his head, suddenly a lot more accommodating to Akira, which might’ve come off as odd – a result of a misunderstanding.

The sound of his sword escaping its scabbard instantly triggered Mura to grab the hilt of Harukami. A test… of course. Niten practitioners yearned for every next test in their lives, and Mura still lived by that code, didn’t he?

“… Mura,” he replied with an introduction, “Ekashiba Mura. My apologies, I can’t perform a proper drawing without… y’know.” Pointing attention towards his missing left arm, Mura instead flung out Harukami with his right hand and pointed its rusty tip towards Akira. “Even if I can’t clash with your blade… I’ve learned a new trick that’ll compensate for that. Prepare yourself!”

A solid, sword-raised stance with Harukami high up in the air was immediately followed with an overhead strike, causing a gust of Reiatsu to release from his blade and travel as a vertical wind scythe straight towards Akira, digging up the earth that it dug through on its way with debris flying to each side.

Technique Used:

Evaded… but his fancy coat had some of its lower part cut off! Yeah… take that, strange weird man.

However, Mura wasn’t ready for that type of counterattack – even if he’d anticipated that this Akira guy was another… what was the term, spiritually powered individual or whatever the Head Master labeled them, to have their distance closed in as quickly as that was terrifying. Knowing the state of his rusty blade, Mura had no choice but to try and step away from an incoming slash that still… cut his shirt up on its left side.

He immediately stepped away, but… Mura was wide open there. Had Akira intended to deal lethal damage, Mura would’ve likely been missing a kidney then and there. “…” He watched Akira twist around to face him once more, unable to capitalize on the opening that he used to recollect himself – and Kyūken noticed that. “You idiot – you almost got yourself killed.”

“Wha- he’s way faster than I thought…”

“Then be faster. You got skills and my techniques – use them!”

Ever as stern and rude in his lectures, Mura’s Reiatsu began leaking out again, just like when he was about to release a wind scythe. Instead of launching a single, small wave, Mura gathered power in his legs and launched himself towards Akira at high speed, almost emulating a sort of phantom-stepping method… and beginning to circle around the swordsman, with cutting winds forming a large sphere overtime that was closing in.

Technique Used: