LOVELY! Misao's Magic Training!

Once upon a time, in a town somewhere, a girl named Kaoru Kamiya was led by the hand of fate to meet Crown Prince Okina of Seyruun. I never thought seeing the gap between your ideals and reality could be so hard to take. The horror! The horror! On top of that, I got caught up in the Seyruun family problems and things just sort of got out of hand from there. Okina’s super-genki granddaughter Misao, who looks nothing like him, joined up with us and together we took on the bad guys and smashed their evil ambitions – along with a mountain I hope nobody wanted. And so now Okina and Misao have joined up with us as we turn our journey toward Seyruun so we can get paid. Who knows what’ll happen to us now?

“Mou, I’m tired,” Kaoru whined. “We walk and walk and the road doesn’t end! Where is Seyruun anyway?”

“Don’t worry,” chirped Misao. “With a heart filled with love for Justice, Seyruun isn’t far at all!”

“Whatever,” Yahiko grumbled. A bird flew into his face. “Get outta my face ’fore I skewer ya!” He whacked at the offending creature with his shinai, but it flew away unharmed.

Okina peered at a map. “This says we ought to be getting close to a town.”

“A town?” Kaoru cried in delight. “Where?”

Yahiko jumped up and down with glee. “Food! Comfy beds!”

“Baths!” Kaoru enthused.

“Aww, whydya always haft take the fun outta everything, busu?” the boy grumbled.

“Bandits!” Kaoru went on.

“Oro?” Kenshin blinked. Kaoru-dono could be a strange girl, but bandits as a good thing?

There were indeed bandits – a large gang of them surrounding a prosperous-looking traveler, right out in the open.

“This isn’t good, Kaoru-chan,” Okina muttered.

A wind rushed past them – a wind with a waist-length braid.

“Mi – Misao?”

“Heh heh heh,” the bandit leader chuckled. “Taking a deserted road is just like askin’ us to rob ya, so don’t take this personally!” He drew his sword, intent on skewering the terrified traveler.

“Hold it!” yelled Misao.

The bandits turned around and saw nothing. Then they looked up, and spotted her perched on an overhanging limb.

“Who the hell are you?” the leader demanded.

“Misao Makimachi has no name to give to scum like you!” the girl exclaimed.

Yahiko sweatdropped. “She did it again!”

“Oops!” Misao clapped her hands to her mouth. Just as quickly, she recovered. “Never mind that! Villains who prey upon the weak, on behalf of Justice, I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil – and that means you!”

The bandit dropped his jaw. “What the…?”

“The judgment of justice is here for you!” Misao launched herself into the air. The bandits gripped their swords – and the princess smashed right into the traveler. “Oh no!” she cried. “I didn’t want to land here!” She tried to pick the flattened man up. “Are you okay?”

One of the bandits knocked the merchant down with the flat of his axe. “What a winner! Come on, boys, what say we teach her what happens to little girls who get in our way?”

“Okay, okay, hold everything!” Kaoru stalked into the midst of the gang. “What is with you!” she exclaimed to Misao.

“Who the heck are you?” the bandit demanded, and grabbed her shoulder.

“Just keep your hands off me,” she replied. “Otherwise…” she socked him in the jaw, “I might hit you.”

“You just did,” the bandit muttered.

She flashed through the bandits, striking right and left with her bokken – a smashed knee here, a blow across the spine there, a third writhing from a blow to the groin.

“That’s the way, Kaoru-san!” Misao cheered.

“What?” the bandit leader squawked. “Kaoru?!” He gazed at her. “Age about 17, fast tongue, even faster hands, dresses like a kenjutsu-ka and fights with a bokken… that’s her, all right! Kaoru Kamiya, the Bandit Killer!”

“The natural enemy of all who live?” another bandit cried. “That Kaoru?”

“Run! Run for your lives!” The bandits sprinted for the safety of the forest.

“No way!” Kaoru screeched. “There’s no way I’ll let you live after what you said! You want a bandit killer, here it comes!” Her bokken glowed with ominous crimson light.

Darkness beyond twilight,
crimson beyond blood that flows,
in thy great name I pledge myself to darkness.
All the fools that stand before me shall be destroyed
by the power that you and I possess!
DRAGON SLAVE!

Fiery, blazing energy incinerated the bandits – along with half the forest.

“Victory!” Kaoru exulted.

“Kaoru-dono…” Kenshin protested.

Okina beamed approvingly.

“That was cool!” cried a starry-eyed Misao.

The village looked peaceful and prosperous. It nestled against a high hill whose summit was crowned with an ancient stone circle.

The travelers lost no time in finding an inn. “Whew, I’m tired and hungry!” Kaoru exclaimed. “I don’t care what it is, just bring me lots of food!” She was about to collapse into a chair, and blinked in surprise when Misao held it for her. “Huh?” She got another shock when the girl proffered a hot towel.

“Hey, what’re ya bein’ so polite to busu for?” Yahiko grumbled.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to show your teacher a few manners!” Kaoru retorted. “But Misao, what’s wrong?”

The girl poked her fingers together. “Kaoru-san, I didn’t realize you were that famous! You’re such a true defender against evil!”

“Huh?” Kaoru blinked.

“Oro?” Kenshin stared.

“Busu?” Yahiko doubled over with laughter.

“I respect you so much for fighting for Justice!” Misao declared.

Okina beamed and nodded.

Kaoru rubbed the back of her head. “Um, it really isn’t quite like that…”

“Very much not like that de gozaru yo,” Kenshin murmured.

“I’ve made up my mind!” the enthusiastic princess went on. “I’m going to follow you and become an unbeatable ally of Justice! So please, for that, can you teach me the Dragon Slave?”

“WHAT?!” Kaoru and Kenshin toppled into each other.

All the inn’s other customers turned and stared.

“Do you know what kind of technique the Dragon Slave is?” Kaoru squawked.

“Sure!” Misao chirped brightly. “One for punishing bad guys!”

One more example of her ultimate skill at totally missing the point, Kaoru thought.

“Don’t worry!” the girl exclaimed. “I’m ready for any kind of special training it takes!”

“Splendid, Misao!” Okina cried. “Ready to sacrifice your pretty young body for the sake of Justice! That’s my girl! Misao!” He enveloped her in a rib-crushing hug.

“Jiiya!” She embraced him with equal fervor.

Everyone in the inn applauded.

“So anyway, will you do it, Kaoru-san?” Misao asked.

What is WITH those two? Kaoru wondered.

And so, bright and early the next morning, Kaoru went up the hill to the stone circle, with Kenshin and Yahiko following.

Okina and Misao were already there, standing atop one of the stone lintels. “Do you understand?” the prince asked. “The path of Justice is hard and strict! But once you’ve set your heart on the path, you must pursue the true path of Justice to the end!”

“Let’s do it!” cried Misao.

“So why do I have to teach her the Dragon Slave?” Kaoru grumbled.

“Kaoru-dono! You aren’t really going to teach her such a dangerous technique de gozaru ka?” asked Kenshin.

“Of course not!” she scoffed. “In the first place, she probably can’t learn it.”

“Huh?” Yahiko asked. “She can already do fireballs…”

“Well, Misao specializes in white magic. To teach her the most destructive black technique would be asking for trouble.”

“White magic?” Yahiko scratched his head. “You talked about that before…”

“That’s right. White magic is priests’ magic, for healing or exorcism. Black techniques are for attacks and stuff. They’re totally different, understand?”

“But the fireballs…?”

“Lower-level stuff is okay, just like I can use some healing techniques. Fire is a force of nature, it isn’t really either evil or good. But the Dragon Slave draws its power from Shabranigdo himself! Now do you get it?”

“Um… I think so…”

“And besides, what do you think Little Miss Justice would do with the Dragon Slave once she learned it?”

Yahiko thought hard. “With her attitude… she’d have even less sense ‘bout usin’ it than you do! Sheesh, that’s scary!”

“That’s for sure,” Kaoru said glumly. “But she’s so fired up… and so hard to say no to… I’m not sure what I should do.”

“Kaoru-san!” Misao called. “Hurry up and teach me, please!”

Kenshin scratched his head. “Kaoru-dono… once when sessha wanted to learn a technique that was too advanced for my level of training… my shishou simply put me through all the training required to learn it – at an accelerated rate. It didn’t take me long to learn the wisdom of training at a slower pace.”

A slow, evil smile lit Kaoru’s face. “Oh. Arigatou, Kenshin!” She stood up. “All right, Misao, get ready for some serious training!”

“Okay!” the eager girl responded.

“Five thousand squats, on the double!”

“Hai, sen-sei!”

Kenshin sweatdropped. “Kaoru-dono…”

“Five thousand? That’s mean, busu!” Yahiko exploded.

“Well, nothing I say to Misao is going to stop her,” Kaoru explained. “So I’ll just put her through ‘special training’ and wait for her to give up.”

Watching the princess bob up and down doing her squats, it didn’t look like that was going to happen any time soon.

Misao uncomplainingly caught boulders nearly her own size, carried Kenshin and Okina on a bamboo pole slung across her shoulders, and singlehandedly pulled a heavy roller, the kind used for smoothing roads. I won’t lose! she repeated over and over to herself. No matter what the training… I’ll become… a great ally of Justice, just like Kaoru-san!

“It’s been three days since the training started,” said Prince Okina. “So have you gotten a hint of how to do the Dragon Slave yet?”

“No… not yet…” panted Misao, struggling up the hill pulling a heavy cart laden with barrels. “Still… haven’t… quite… got… basics…”

“You buy food for her, cook for her, and still haven’t learned it?” Okina asked. “Something just doesn’t add up here.” He hopped off the cart. “Here, let me do that.”

“No! No, Jiiya!” Misao waved her hands in frantic denial. “This is part of my training! Don’t interfere with it!” She lost control of the cart, which started rolling back down the hill. Okina and Misao managed to get it stopped before it rolled over an elderly woman. “Are you okay?” Misao asked the crone.

“It must be hard for an old woman to climb this mountain,” said Okina. “Why don’t you take a path around it?”

“I know what you mean,” the old woman said, “But going around the mountain would take the whole day! Going over the top is a little hard, but it’s a whole lot faster!”

“I see,” Okina muttered.

“It would be a lot easier without the mountain,” Misao observed.

“WHAT?” Kaoru yelled. “Why should I do something like that?”

“The mountain brings nothing but misery to both towns!” Okina exclaimed. “For all the time it robs by having to go around it – for all the lives it steals by having to go over it!”

Kaoru sweatdropped. “Come on, it’s not that bad!” The hill was pretty big, true… but it wasn’t like the dangerous mountain roads where one misstep could mean disaster.

“But you can’t deny the pain it inflicts on the townsfolk!” Okina was nearly sobbing. “You have a responsibility to use your power to help the people! Use your Dragon Slave peacefully for a change. Remove the accursed mountain and save these people from their days of torment!”

Kaoru blinked. “The Dragon Slave?”

Misao gazed in starry-eyed adoration.

“Suddenly it all becomes clear,” Kaoru said. The old man thinks if Misao sees the Dragon Slave in action, she’ll be able to pick it up just like that!

“Only you can carry out this grand endeavor!” Okina begged.

Oh well, what would it hurt? It’s only a hill, right? And it’s not as if she’s really going to be able to learn it… “Sure, whatever,” Kaoru sighed.

“All right!” Misao and Okina burst into cheers.

“Here goes!” Kaoru pointed her bokken at the stone circle on the hilltop.

The stone circle – and the mountain – vaporized, leaving a smoking crater.

“That was amazing!” Misao enthused.

“So, did you see how it works?” asked Okina.

The girl shook her head.

“Oh no!” the old woman cried. “What have you done? Long ago, Shishio the Red Priest sealed evil ghosts in the shrine at the top of the mountain, and now you’ve let them out!”

Kaoru sweatdropped. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done that…”

Clouds rolled over the clear sky and a bolt of lightning slammed into the crater.

“What… what’s happening?” Okina stammered.

“You don’t suppose…” whispered Kaoru as the crater began to glow.

A pillar of light shot into the sky. From it emerged a veritable horde of menacing ghosts. The villagers shrieked and ran away in terror.

ELMEKIA LANCE!

Kaoru blasted ghost after ghost with bolts of spirit energy. Kenshin’s Sword of Light sliced through astral bodies, cutting down three and four at a time. But as quickly as the malevolent spirits were destroyed, more took their places.

“This is taking forever!” Kaoru fumed.

“Acting without thinking wasn’t a good idea de gozaru yo,” Kenshin murmured.

“You didn’t exactly try to stop me!” Kaoru retorted. “Yaaaah, what are you doing?!” She furiously attacked a perverted ghost who sneaked up behind her and grabbed her breasts.

Misao ran to Kaoru’s side. “Use your Dragon Slave, Kaoru-san!”

Kaoru dispatched the perverted spirit and rounded on Misao in fury. “Listen! If I use the Dragon Slave this whole town, and all the people in it, will be burned to a crisp!”

Misao blinked.

“No technique is any good unless you know where and when to use it!”

Misao stared.

“Everything with you is Dragon Slave, Dragon Slave – it’s like I’m – like I’m – ” A shudder passed through Kaoru’s body.

“Kaoru-dono!” Kenshin cried.

Kaoru sank to her knees in tears. “It’s like you all think I’m stupid! Why is everybody so mean to me?” She sobbed like a little girl. “You’re all mean! Go ‘way an’lemme ‘lone!”

“She’s possessed de gozaru yo!” Kenshin exclaimed. “Kaoru-dono! Kaoru-dono, shikkarishite!”

Kaoru shuddered again. “Whazza problem, baka-yarou?” she demanded in the tough accents of a barroom brawler.

Kenshin blinked. “Oro?”

She rose and grabbed him by the front of his kimono. “Don’t get all pally with me, girly-boy! Who the hell d’ya think I am anyway?” She hiccupped and collapsed against him.

Kenshin sweatdropped. “Misao-dono, can you do something de gozaru ka?”

“Yeah, you’re some kinda priestess, ain’t ya?” asked Yahiko.

She waved a hand at the horde of ghosts. “I can’t handle this many by myself!” she wailed. “Without some kind of spiritual amplifier…” her voice trailed off. “That’s it!” she whispered. The stone circle bound the ghosts… so its stones must have power! If even a shard escaped the Dragon Slave…

Kaoru, meanwhile, had managed to trip Kenshin and was writhing on top of him. “What a hunk!” she cooed in a sexy voice. “You’re just my type!

Kenshin’s face turned a shade of red that clashed horribly with both his fiery hair and his magenta kimono. A trickle of blood leaked from his nose. “Kaoru-dono…” he moaned.

Okina was lecturing to several of the ghosts. “Do you understand?” he asked. “Even if you couldn’t do everything you wanted when you were alive…”

Misao ran past, pursued by half a dozen ghosts. “Jiiya, I need some help here!”

“Sure thing, Misao!” He jumped up and punched the spooks into oblivion – then turned back to his audience, to find them replaced by a new batch. “Do I have to start all over again?” he grumped. “Listen up! The true meaning of life…”

Misao ran into the still-smoking crater. Lying on the ground she found what she sought – a shard of stone from the shattered henge. A Stone of Binding! If the legends are right, then…

Clasping the shard, she knelt in prayer.

You who are not of this world,
pitiful, twisted creatures,
by the Light of Purity I possess,
I bid thee be gone to the nexus of our two worlds!

You can do this, Misao! she said to herself.

MEGIDDO FLARE!

Golden light gathered in her hands and erupted skyward in a blinding, blue-white pillar. It grew to fill the entire crater, then spread outward to engulf the village. Wherever the holy light touched them, the ghosts streamed into it and vanished, up and up, into the peace that lies beyond this world. When the last of the spirits had passed to their final rest the light faded, and clear blue returned to the sky. The villagers looked around, wondering where the miracle had come from.

“What the?” asked Okina. “The evil spirits are all gone!”

A startled Kaoru found herself passionately embracing Kenshin. “What do you think you’re doing, hentai?!” she demanded, and smashed the hapless rurouni over the head with her bokken.

“Oororoooo…”

Against the haze of light at the end of the street, a shadow appeared, growing nearer, clearer… it was Misao. A confident, smiling, triumphant Misao. “Victory!” she cheered.

“Misao, this whole mess was because of you!” Kaoru scolded.

“Well, it’s all right,” Okina soothed. “We all learned a valuable lesson today.”

“You’re the last person who should be saying that!” fumed Kaoru. “So what now, Misao? Don’t tell me you still want to learn the Dragon Slave!”

“No, you taught me something even more important, Kaoru-san.”

“Huh?” Kaoru and Yahiko chorused.

Misao smiled proudly. “No technique I learn, no matter how powerful, will be any use unless I know where and when to use it. That’s why you didn’t teach me the Dragon Slave. You’re so wise, Kaoru-san!”

Kaoru sweatdropped.

“Well, all that’s well that ends well, eh?” asked Okina.

“Have it your way,” Kaoru sighed. There isn’t any point in arguing with those two, is there?

Oh, how long is this stupid show going to be on the road? When do we get to Seyruun?!

NOTES, EXPLANATIONS ETC.

In the next chapter: our first glimpse of two new characters: the brawler Sanosuke Sagara and his partner, the mysterious mahoutsukai Katsu! (And no, hentais, there isn’t anything yaoi going on between them!)