"Do you hear that, Seungho? It sounds like it's pretty rough out there."
"Indeed. But you know, inasmuch as I do not want to do this, I can't let you live, Aosaki Toshirou."
"Heeeh, is that so?"
They were in a forest area. Surrounding the Jinhae town were woods of different kinds and species. It was set as a boundary that separated the central town from the rest of the smaller ones within the city. Roads were constructed to serve as links from the people in the town to other towns in the city.
Toshirou had sidetracked and taken himself and Seungho deep into the woods, bringing them to the situation they were in at the present.
"You're a good man, Seungho." Toshirou laid his weapon on the ground and sat down with his legs crossed. "I would rather not have to draw my blade against you, at least not so suddenly, so please sit down and play a game with me."
Seungho looked at him incredulously. Just what in the world did this boy think he was doing? He had completely lowered his guard and he was asking him to play a game with him? It was baffling to Seungho.
"Or would you prefer we fight to the death?" Toshirou asked, tilting his head slightly. "I mean, I don't have a problem with that but as I said, I really don't want to fight you. It's not my style to raise my hand against good people."
"And what makes you so confidence that I will not strike you? You barely know me and yet you lower your guard entirely before me. I am your enemy, that alone should give you enough reason to be wary of my being."
"So he says, but you sure are taking your sweet time speaking with me. Instead of asking meaningless questions, let's settle our differences with a game. It's far more entertaining than injuring ourselves. I would rather not waste any more blood than I already have."
'So that's why! His bout with the Feudal lord of Min-ae must have left him sapped of stamina, even blood loss as a matter of fact. But even so, that still doesn't mean he can just relax in front of an enemy. There's something about this boy but I can't just lay a finger on it.'
"Alright." Seungho said, sitting down on the grass and soil ground. "I'll play a game with you."
Toshirou gave a small smile. "Excellent, although I would have eventually forced you to sit down but I'm glad it didn't come to that."
"Really now, and how exactly did you intend to force me?" Seungho asked.
"Oh, I don't know... Maybe I would just, you know, talk to your daughter for a bit?"
A stillness came in their midst.
"How did you-"
"Hazel told me." Toshirou replied, cutting off Seungho. "You have a daughter around 9 years. She's motherless and in a nursery for little kids. You're her only family left."
"H-How, how much do you know?" Seungho asked him, with a forlorn look on his face, his eyebrows knitted together.
"The game will determine that. Don't just hulk out on me before we come to it's conclusion, okay?"
Still hesitant to comply to his demands, Seungho reluctantly agreed.
"The game is simple, too simple as a matter of fact. It is a game of rock, paper, scissors."
Seungho was honestly surprised.
"Rock, paper, scissors? That's it?"
"That's it." Toshirou said. "But, there's a catch. For each round the loser has to answer a demand from the winner. Nothing too impossible like bringing someone back from the dead or shit like that, but yeah, you get the whole gist. There are five rounds in total, the victor is determined by whoever gets three out of five. Those are the rules of this game."
Seungho was skeptical of the whole thing. He was nearing his limits thinking of what exactly Toshirou wanted to accomplish. Azahel was right, the boy was unpredictable and strongly deceptive. It was little wonder how he was able to get both Feudal lords to be on his side despite the amount of power and experience they wielded.
"I see." Seungho nodded. "Let's begin." He clenched his hand into a fist and set it out in front of him.
"With pleasure." Replied Toshirou as he stretched out his fist also.
"Three... two.. one, start! Rock, Paper, Scissors!"
The both of them raised their fist and brought it down repeatedly, released their hands to the shape of their desired option.
Seungho had his hand still shaped in a fist while Toshirou had his palm spread out.
"Paper, I win." Said Toshirou.
Seungho breathed out softly and shook his head.
"What would you like to demand of me?"
Toshirou looked at him with inquisitive eyes. "What do you truly desire out of the outcome of this battle? What will you gain from it?"
'There's something wrong here. Why did I chose rock? I was sure I put in scissors. Was it just my imagination?'
"Well it doesn't matter." Seungho said to himself. He looked at Toshirou and answered his question. "My freedom. I... want to be free."
"Freedom you say, does it have any thing to do with your daughter?" Toshirou asked, resting his head in his palm.
"Yes, it does. Some years ago, my wife was murdered thus leaving I and my daughter alone. It was on a cold night, while I was away chopping firewood for the night's dinner. I wasn't around so I had no idea how it happened but when I came back, she was lying on the floor, bloodied and all with her stomach cut right open. My daughter, she stood there, with shivering knees and fearful eyes, unable to believe the scene before her very sight. The villagers came in, bursting the door and surrounding the house. They took me, under the impression that I was the one who killed her."
Toshirou was bewildered, but he didn't let it show on his face. "Still doesn't make any sense. Why would someone like you even murder your own wife?"
"My daughter couldn't speak due to the horror, which made it all the more glaring to them that I 'killed' her. Plus the road I came home, was the exact same road the killer took as well."
Seungho closed his eyes, relieving the painful memory deep within his mind.
"Let's play round two." Toshirou said.
"Yeah."
They both stretched out their hands.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Seungho played scissors with his hand while Toshirou played rock.
"I win again." He said.
'Now there's something definitely going. I know I played paper but why is my hand in scissors? Is he cheating? No, that doesn't seem to be the case. He's far too relaxed and composed for someone who cheats. But then again, he could just be that deceptive.'
"You're not thinking that I'm cheating, are you, Seungho?"
Seungho gasped softly, then spoke. "Can you also read minds like the Feudal lord?"
"No. No, I can't. Whether you think I'm cheating or not, it doesn't matter."
'Why can't I understand this boy? Just what are his motives?'
"What is your second demand?" Seungho asked him.
"Hmm... Let's see." Toshirou said. "I want you to tell me about your daughter?"
Needless to say, Seungho was honestly astonished. He couldn't utter a word as he was curious as to why Toshirou wanted to know about his daughter.
"You're not going to go back on your word now, are you?" Toshirou asked him.
"She's underaged. You can't have or do anything with her."
"Oi, oi" Toshirou sweatdropped. "Just what of guy do you think I am? Don't make stupid assumptions like that, I'll kill you."
"Haha, my bad, my bad." Seungho smiled, putting up his hands in a defensive manner. He put them down and sighed softly. "Her name is Chang-min. She's a little angel, pure in heart and character. Even after witnessing her mother's death she continued to smile, hoping for the day her daddy would come back home. I would do anything to protect her, anything at all to protect the smile on her face."
Toshirou lowered his head in understanding. He knew exactly how Seungho felt and could heavily relate with him. After all, it was for that same reason he came to this world.
"Should I go on?" Seungho asked him.
"No, that's enough. Let us play round three."
They set out their hands.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
This time, Toshirou played scissors while Seungho played paper.
"So you've won." Seungho said, more of a statement than a question.
"Looks like I have." Toshirou replied. "Do you want to know my final demand?"
"It's your demand. There's no way I could refuse or go back on my word."
"I see."
There was silence between the two men, till Toshirou broke the ice with a few words.
"Lower your weapon, Seungho, and never pick it up again."
The burly brown-haired man opened his eyes widely. He was stunned, completely. He was ready for whatever demand Toshirou had of him but never in his life did he expect such a request... No, a command.
"You're not suited for meaningless battles. It doesn't fit your character in the slightest, and I'm sure your daughter would feel the same way." Toshirou said.
Seungho squinted his eyes at him. "And just what would you know? What gives you the right to confront me on my own decisions?"
The atmosphere around the two men changed. Hostility filled the air alongside hidden temperament as both men stared at each other with expressionless eyes.
Then, Toshirou sighed, opening up a blue portal at his side with his right hand and pulled out a black broadsword from it. He placed it on the ground beside himself.
"Are you going to go back on your word, Seungho?"
"And what if I do?"
Toshirou looked downwards and then up again at Seungho with lidded eyes. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to personally make sure you can never pick up a weapon again. I can't have you soiling your hands and living with guilt for the rest of your life."
At this statement, Seungho flared up in anger. He punched his fist into the ground, creating a deep hole in it. "Soiling my hands! Living with guilt!! I've been doing that for the past four years!!"
"Don't give me that bull when it's blatant you've never killed a man!"
Seungho was taken aback, but it served only to fuel his anger rather than dissipate it.
"What did you say!?"
Unfazed at his outburst, Toshirou spoke calmly with a level head.
"You heard me right, Seungho. You have never taken the life of another and you attempt to be free but be responsible for the lives of innocents? That's bullshit. Even if you eventually go through with it, do you think you will truly be free!? You will always live with the guilt, live with the burden, of knowing the consequences of your actions. Eventually, the happy life you envisioned for yourself and your daughter would never be. You'd be so ridden with guilt, and not just the guilt of your actions, but guilt of your inability to tell your daughter that this is what you did to attain freedom. And let's say you did tell her, would she be happy knowing her father did these things just for her? You'll only pass on the guilt to her and rob her of everything you originally wanted to give her. Think Seungho! Do not let your good judgement be clouded by temptation!"
"That's enough out of you, Aosaki Toshirou!" Seungho growled. His eyes were darkened with rage and angry veins protruded from his head. As fast as the wind Seungho grabbed Toshirou by the neck and pushed him to a tree. He held Toshirou up on the tree with his arm, squeezing his neck with strength not fit for a human.
His vision began to go blank. His air supply was cutting short. Toshirou couldn't help but imagine the irony of the situation.
'To think I would be strangled the way I did her.'
He swung his legs up and wrapped it around Seungho's neck. He used his right elbow and hit Seungho's arm with enough strength to release him from the strangling hold.
Seungho staggered backwards at the attack, causing Toshirou to fall on his knees, gasping slowly and inaudibly for air.
"Do you -*gasp*- really think.. *gasp*... that would be all it took... to put me down?"
"Of course not. You wouldn't be the man you are if you had gone down that easily." Seungho replied, taking the spear strapped to his back and spinning it around with his left hand.
"And here I thought I could avoid raising my sword against you, but nevermind. I said it earlier, didn't I?" Toshirou slowly rose from his knees, stretching out his hand in the air and pulled out a broadsword from a glowing blue circle. "I will personally make sure you can never pick up a weapon again."
Seungho held his spear with both hands, pointing its sharpened head at Toshirou. "I will gladly lay down my weapon and heed your words, if you can defeat me that is."
"Oh trust me"— Toshirou walked towards him, dragging along the broadsword on the ground— "I will."