Chapter Two
"STOP!"
Okabe woke up with a start, beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead reflecting the sunlight pouring in from the window beside his bed. His heart was thumping wildly as he glanced from left to right trying to recollect what he had seen. At that moment, the door to his room slid open.
"Nightmare?" A bushy head peeped inside the room, scratching his rugged beard.
"Yeah, I guess" Okabe replied as his pace started to return to its normal rhythm.
"Ah good," The man had entered Okabe's room, "I thought burglars had broken in here."
"Dad." Okabe looked up in the lean thirty-nine-year-old man's eyes, the eyes that reflected a sense of responsibility towards his family, yet an unspoken pain of living a crushed life to which Okabe was familiar to. Just a moment ago he thought he would narrate the incidents of last night to his father, but as soon as their eyes met, he decided against it.
"Nothing."
***
"Oi oi Okabe!" Daru waved at his friend. It was an unusually bright morning for Heizugakure. Okabe had set out to find the bald samurai whom he had encountered last night.
"Good morning Daru, good thing I found you I need your help."
"Alright! I'm up for kicking some goon asses, in fact, my mother got me shinobi sandals she bought from a clearance sale."
Saying this, he put his foot up to let Okabe have a better look at his new found pride.
"Awesome, but today we aren't ass-kicking bad guys," Okabe said as he put Daru's foot away from his face, "today we search for a bald man sporting a ponytail, in traditional clothes and owns a beautiful long katana!"
Daru was confused.
"But why? Who is this person?"
"Just someone I met last night while coming back from the celebrations." Okabe answered, his eyes scanning the locality for anybody who fits his description of the 'Samurai-san'. "And I do not know his name, but for now we could call him samurai-san. Let's split and meet at the ramen shop at one o'clock"
"Samurai?"
***
The sun was already over their heads, Daru was drained of all the motivation he had when they started while Okabe had managed to run into some thugs who stole his lunch money. As the afternoon proceeded, the young duo were drenched in their sweat, exhausted, famished and broke. Five hours of fruitless manhunt had taken a toll on their bodies, but the desire to find out his 'Samurai-san' was burning, even more, brighter than the unforgiving sun. He looked at Daru who was playing dead, half hoping that Okabe abandons the mission seeing him in this state.
"Daru," Okabe shook him, "get up man, we can't give up like this, not after we have spent half our day on it! You hear me? Get up."
"Dude! we have almost scourged the entire village! What makes you think I am going to go any further, and that too with an empty stomach, I am dying anyways, please, grant a dying man his final wish, let's go back home." Daru started sobbing.
Okabe was annoyed with his melodramatic friend. But he could not force him, in fact, he did not even have enough energy to chide his plumpy buddy into action.
'After all, he wanted to 'shinobi kick' some thugs.' Okabe pondered staring at the dusty pair of sandals Daru was wearing.
True, they had searched for their man in all the civilian permitted areas of the village. Was he just a traveler who was staying the night? Did the gang members of the goons he had to face off with last night get him? Okabe was disappointed, but hunger was overwhelming his other senses. He put Daru's arm around his own shoulders and stood up.
"Let's head back," he proclaimed to Daru's joy, "But we come back after lunch and an hour's rest."
***
They were still a few kilometers away from their neighborhood. Okabe remembered this place from last night. He shook his head to wilt the mixture of disappointments which were starting to grow in his head. Suddenly, he saw a familiar face sitting behind the counter of a noodle stall. Okabe with a yelp dropped Daru and ran towards the stall.
He dropped to his knees and bent down, his head touching the ground.
"Forgive me, madam!"
The woman was surprised.
"I had faltered in my duty as a man and I am very disappointed in myself."
Indeed, the woman was none other than the one whom his idol, the 'Samurai-san' had protected from the goons.
It took a moment for her to realize that the boy in front of her was the one who had interfered with the men last night. She looked at his exhausted and apologetic figure and her face broke into a giggle.
"Young man, you have not done anything wrong, why be sorry?" She went up to Okabe with two hot bowls of noodles. "In fact, I should actually thank you for stalling those bastards and saving me."
She smiled at him as she offered him the bowl while taking the other bowl to Daru who had caught up with Okabe and pleased to be treated with a meal. Okabe looked up at the woman and then to his noodle bowl. Her gaze had the mixture of the torment of being reminded of last night but at the same time, a satisfaction to be able to thank Okabe.
As the boys started to devour their meal, the women said,
"It is quite amusing though, even that noble gentleman had asked for forgiveness for not showing up on time with similar words as yours Okabe-kun."
Okabe looked up.
"You know his name?" He asked.
"No, but he told me to pay him a visit if I liked at his home, he seemed to be smitten by me I guess." She chuckled.
"Where?" Okabe had already placed his bowl on the counter, he had barely had anything but a single helping.
"I'm sorry?"
"Where does he live? Can you tell me?"
The woman smiled, "Yeah sure."
Within seconds Okabe was dashing across the road towards the address he had procured from the lady. Although he did not have the noodles, a sudden burst of latent energy had somehow activated inside him.
"I am coming for you Samurai-san."
***
The bald man had stepped out of the dilapidated room. The street was silent, except for a pair of footsteps scurrying towards him. The bald man, standing at the end of the avenue glanced across the rather deserted neighborhood as his grip around his katana tightened, surprised to hear the echoes of small feet advancing towards him.
'Oh,' He thought, 'It's the boy from the previous night.'
He smiled to himself as the ten-year-old halted, out of breath, right in front of him.
Panting and exhausted, Okabe finally spoke...
"Found you samurai-san... now...now teach me-" And with those words, he collapsed on the road as the sun set.
***
Okabe gulped down the soup from his fifth ramen bowl.
The man sighed. Both of them were exchanging stories of their lives over ramen. Okabe learned that the man was a samurai, rather a fallen Samurai, he was evicted from his village after he was wrongly held guilty of stealing the sword of their feudal lord, so he had wandered for a long time and had now decided to settle in Heizugakure.
"Well, I do not have much to do anyways," The samurai said as Okabe gazed at him with earnest desire to learn the art of the sword.
"So yeah, I accept you as my student, after all, you actually found me out even though you had no clue about me."
Okabe's face lightened up as he gave him a big smile.
"I... I am honored Samurai-san."
"Alright then," the Samurai stood up, "Tomorrow, sharp 5 am, training starts." He pushed back his chair as he got up to leave. So did Okabe.
"But Samurai-san... you haven't told me your name yet."
The Samurai turned at him and with a big smile declared a rather peculiar name-
"The name is OSamurai."
"O... Samurai-san?" Okabe repeated.
"OSamurai Sensei!" The man growled.
"Rai sensei!" Okabe was shaken by the strict reaction of his teacher-to-be.
"Rai sensei?" OSamurai thought to himself, "Much Better." He smiled at Okabe for one last time as he disappeared outside the shop.
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