Archaic (Reverse Harem 2)

“ What are they doing ?” she asks, pulling my attention upward.

In the center of the arena, Hiro stands, holding a pose. One leg is bent, his foot pressing against the inside of his other knee.

His hands are pressed together at the palms, and he is breathing softly with his eyes closed. I tilt my head and look over at Toshi who shrugs. The ninjas circle around Hiro, moving slowly, holding their weapons at the ready. I take a step forward, but as I do, Hiro’s eyes open, and he begins to move.

I have seen cats fight, and I have even seen ninjas in action, but I have never seen anything like this. He moves with the agility of someone a third of his age, the stamina of a warrior, and the skill of a ninja. His movements are slow, methodical, and almost seem effortless. One at a time the ninjas attack him, throwing blows, trying to knock him over. However, one by one Hiro takes them down until there are only two standing.

The old man closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath through his nose and blowing it out through his mouth. He opens his eyes and

waits for the two ninjas to attack. They both lunge forward, yelling out in their native language. The one behind Hiro raises his sword and lets it fly, straight down toward Hiro’s head. Hiro snaps his arms in the air and catches the sword between his palms, pausing for a moment before twisting his arms, flinging the sword from his hands. He kicks forward into one ninja’s stomach, then back into the other who is approaching quickly. As he steps back, he grabs both by the back of their shirts and knocks them into each other, head first.

Both ninjas fall to the ground, rubbing their heads as Hiro backs up to the sword on the ground. He stomps on the handle, sending the sword flying high in the air. One of the ninja’s jumps up and yells out, running head first at Hiro. As he gets within three feet, the sword falls, and Hiro grabs it in the air, twisting his body, slicing through the ninja’s stomach. Hiro lunges forward, grabbing the other warrior by his hair, and pulling his head back to expose his neck. He holds the sword to the warrior’s throat and calls out a battle cry, pulling his arm back to strike.

“Wait,” Toshi calls out, stepping forward. “I need to talk to him first.”

Hiro looks at Toshi and then back at the warrior, nodding his head and handing the enemy over. Toshi drags the boy off kicking and screaming to the other side of the arena to interrogate him.

I look up at Hiro who drops the sword on the ground and clasps his hands together, bending forward and bowing in respect. I have never witnessed such a feat and from an old cat, that on the outside looked to be too old to carry on.

“Wow,” I say in shock as Hiro walks over to Clarissa and me.

“That was more than I expected. I apologize for misjudging you.”

“There is a Japanese proverb that says, ‘The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour,”

Hiro says. “Or ten minutes in this instance.”

“Yeah.” I laugh. “I guess so.”

I turn and look at Clarissa who is smiling at me, surprised by the way I reacted. I shrug my shoulders with a scowl on my face, not liking to ruin my reputation as an asshole. It is what it is.

Cat or not, he is badass. But still, it doesn’t yield us many answers, just a slaughter. I turn and walk toward Toshi who has the boy by the collar, his hand poised to strike.

“Mottooshiete!” Toshi yells in Japanese. “Watashi wa anata no jinsei o meiyo nashide koko de owara semasu. Anata wa jigoku no fukami ni okura re, anata no ken wa anata no soba de koware, kazoku wa areta mama ni narimasu.”

Penny walks up beside me and listens in, watching the situation get worse. “He told him if he doesn’t talk he will send him to hell, a broken sword at his side. Dishonor for his family.”

“You speak Japanese?” I reply looking over at her like she is crazy.

“I studied it when I went to college,” she says with a smile.

“Watashi wa nani mo shirimasen. Watashi wa iwa reta koto subete o anata ni hanashimashita. Watashitachi wa aru basho kara tsugi no basho ni okura remasu. Watashitachiha shujin ni shika doreide wa arimasen.”

“The boy says that he knows nothing else, that he is only told where to go, and that he is a slave to one master,” she says.

“Toshi, ask him about Gus, find out if he knows where Gus is.”

Toshi looks up in irritation and nods, turning back to the boy.

“Gausu wa dokodesu ka? Kare wa anata to issho ni iru, kare wa amarini mo senshidesu.”

“Gausu?” the boy asks. “Ie, watashi wa Gausu o shiranai.”

“Damn,” Penny sighs as Toshi looks up and shakes his head.

“Alright,” I sigh. “Let him go.”

“What?” Toshi says looking back at me. “Are you crazy? He will tell the others.”