Act IX: Now and Forever

     "Is everything set, Kano?"
     "Yes, Tsujimoto-sama."
     "Then let us make our move, tonight!"

     Ami, Munenori, and Miya get back to their place. Munenori sets Miya on the couch,
gives her a blanket, and then goes to put Ami to bed. Once Ami is asleep, he comes back out to
find Miya awake, but under the weather.
     "Good evening," he greets.
     "What happened?" Miya asks.
     "You were poisoned."
     "I was?"
     "Not too severely though, you should be okay by tomorrow."
     "Where's Ami? Is she okay?"
     "She's fine," Munenori answers. "You should have seen her. She's the reason why we
are not all worried about your health and why I know where to search for my family's past."
     "Really?" Miya questions faintly. "What'd she do?"
     "She blocked the doorway of the old man when he tried to skip out."
     "I think that's your doing," she comments. "She wouldn't have done that if you hadn't
taught her those moves."
     "Perhaps, but I think it was more because of her love for you."
     Miya stares up at Munenori. Suddenly, a thought crosses her mind, "Whatever happened
to your weapons?"
     "I let the old man have them, in exchange for knowing that you are safe and knowing
where to go to find out about my past."
     "You gave them up?" she asks surprised.
     "Don't worry, I'll get by," he says.
     "But you use those all the time, in all your fighting."
     "Well, I was thinking," Munenori pauses as he looks into her eyes. "Maybe I could put
all that fighting aside and do something else."
     "Huh?" she says astonished. "That's not like you."
     "I was thinking I could retire from the streetfighting and take my role as emperor more
seriously."
     "Really?"
     "I think I got a knack for it," Munenori tells her.
     "Well, I'm happy that you won't be killing anymore," she says closing her eyes.
     Munenori leans over, his face rests above hers, and their lips nearly touch. Miya doesn't
push him away.
     Munenori speaks as soft as a whisper, "And I can do it if I have the right person by my
side."
     "Munenori..." Miya softly whispers back, a small tear forms at the corner of her eye and
slowly makes it's way down her cheek. Munenori lightly brushes it away.
     "What's wrong?" he asks.
     "I'm...just...so happy," she replies.
     Munenori leans further and is about to kiss her when the glass dome of their building
shatters on one side. Grappling hooks land on the edge and four men dressed in black surround
Miya and Munenori. Miya can barely stay awake and can't see what is happening.
     Two more men come up. One Munenori recognizes.
     "You! What is the meaning of this?"
     "I'm not your aide anymore," the green-eyed man says. "I am Ennosuke Kano."
     "Kano!? Yeah! Now I remember," Munenori closes his eyes thinking into his past. "You
were the on with Aritsune before I...killed her."
     "Correct, and what a fine job you did with that."
     "Shut up, I don't want to hear it."
     Munenori opens his eyes and stares at the other man, "And who are you?"
     "I, well I'm the rightful heir to the throne."
     "What do you mean?" Munenori questions.
     "The one who kills the emperor or empress is the heir, right?" the man asks.
     "Um, yeah," Munenori answers.
     "Well, then that makes me the rightful heir."
     "How's that?" Munenori questions.
     "Because I killed Naitsuu Hachimonguu."
     "You what!?" Munenori asks alarmed.
     "I killed the man who would've been emperor, therefore I should be emperor, not you,"
the man says.
     "But...but..." Munenori stammers as Miya sits up partially awake.
     "What's going on?" she asks. "Munenori?"
     "Attack!" Kano announces.
     The four men converge on Miya and Munenori.
     "Miya! Look out!" Munenori shouts at her.
     A man slashes at her with a sword, she barely dodges, and she sends the man backwards
with a harsh blow. Another man nearly takes her out from behind, but Munenori lands a hard
kick into the man's stomach and follows that up with a harsh strike to the throat and the man
goes down.
     Munenori helps Miya off the couch, "Go, get Ami, and leave!"
     "But, you..."
     "Leave!" Munenori shouts.
     Munenori kicks one man and punches another as Miya escapes to the other rooms. The
two men Munenori just struck stand up.
     "Let her go," the other man says. "She's no threat to us."
     The two men corner Munenori. One jumps at him, Munenori grabs the man's arm, turns,
and throws him face first into a wall.
     Swiftly, Munenori turns back around and catches the other man in the jaw, he then
throws the man spinning a few feet away. With all four men down, Munenori turns to face the
other two.
     "You are quite skillful for a young one," the man claiming to be Naitsuu's killer says.
     Munenori thinks to himself, If only I still had my weapons. I could beat these fools in
seconds.
     Kano speaks, "Tsujimoto, sir, would you like me to dispose of this pest now?"
     "No," Tsujimoto responds. "You've made enough mistakes already. Like bringing those
other four fools along."
     "I'm sorry, I-"
     Tsujimoto cuts him off, "I will take him myself."
     "Yes, sir."
     Tsujimoto walks closer to Munenori, "I can see you've trained yourself with a form of
Ninjutsu."
     "It would work better if I had something sharp in my hands."
     "Well, that doesn't happen to be the case here, now is it?" Tsujimoto questions.
     "I guess not," Munenori responds as the two begin circling.
     "And what was that other form? Ju-Jitsu? Aikido perhaps?"
     "Yes, it was Aikido," Munenori answers.
     "A peaceful art like that combined with a deadly one like we shinobi use? Interesting."
     "I like to think I get the best of both worlds this way," Munenori retorts. "Nothing is
better than Aikido for defense, and nothing is better than Ninjutsu for offense."
     "Perhaps, let's find out. Shall we?"
     The two begin circling faster, soon they move in. Tsujimoto attacks with a series of swift
strikes all over the body. Naitsuu's does his best deflecting them, but can't turn any one of them
into a counter. Deadlocked, they each take a step back.
     "You're good," Tsujimoto. "It takes skill to block all of those. But you'll need to attack if
you want to win."
     With that, Munenori jumps in with a combination of kicks and strikes to the mid-section.
Tsujimoto easily evades a few, then he catches one of Munenori's kicks and throws him to the
ground.
     "Too much for you?" Tsujimoto questions.
     "Not enough," Munenori boldly answers as he jumps back up to his feet.
     The two men launch into attacks again. None of them see Miya looking on from the side.
The four original men join Kano.
     Munenori catches one of Tsujimoto's strikes. He turns to bring Tsujimoto down, but gets
hit on the side of the neck by another strike, and he lets go. Munenori falls on his knees.
     "Your chances are dwindling and I'm getting impatient," Tsujimoto warns.
     Tsujimoto looks on as Munenori stands on his hands and feet breathing heavily.
     "Whenever you are ready I would like to continue," Tsujimoto mocks.
     Slowly, Munenori climbs to his feet.
     "Like I said," Tsujimoto advises. "You'll need to attack to win."
     Taking his advice, Munenori moves to attack again. Munenori throws one punch and
Tsujimoto catches it. Life begins moving in slow motion for Munenori. The punch he threw with
his left hand is caught by Tsujimoto who dodges to the right and catches it with his left.
Tsujimoto picks up his left leg and starts moving forward with it. He starts pulling Munenori
towards him. Tsujimoto releases his grip and brings his arm under Munenori's, heading towards
his throat. Tsujimoto's other hand rises up from behind. As Tsujimoto slams his left foot down,
his left hand strikes the front of Munenori's throat as the right hand strikes the back. Everyone
one in the room can hear the crack.
     "NO!" Miya cries out. The others pay her no attention.
     Still within Tsujimoto's grasp, Munenori's eyes go blank staring vacantly at the stars
through the domed window. His mind is filled with a bright flash of white light and he
remembers. He remembers Miya, arms wrapped around him, looking at the stars. Yeah, they are
pretty. Especially when I am watching them with you."
     Another bright flash. Munenori can see the dragons fight. The gruesomeness makes him
want to turn away, but he can't.
     Another bright flash. He sees Miya, alone, looking out the window. "Maybe I can do
something for him. At least I can be his friend. I owe him that much, although I may want
more."
     A final bright flash and he is back staring at the stars again. Tsujimoto lets go and backs
away. Munenori falls down on his back. Miya runs out from hiding to her side. 
     Tsujimoto walks towards Kano and whispers to him, "You know what to do to these men
who failed."
     "Right, sir," Kano answers.
     Tsujimoto grabs one of the six ropes and leaves off the side of the building.
     Kano orders the men to leave. They each get on one of the four remaining ropes.
     "Gentlemen," Kano calls and each man, balanced against the side of the building look
up. "Your services are no longer needed."
     Standing beside the ropes, Kano pulls out a long sword he had at his side and quickly
cuts all four ropes. Kano looks over the side and watches as the men and fragments of their ropes
fall all the way down to the city street below.
     "Hm, so that fool with the no-dachi wasn't a complete waste after all," Kano says as he
sheathes the sword, grabs a rope and follows Tsujimoto down.
     Back at Munenori's side, Miya kneels.
     "No, Munenori, you can't leave me now," she struggles through tears.
     "It's okay," Munenori struggles to speak. "Really, it's okay."
     "No, it isn't," Miya says still crying.
     "You don't understand," Munenori says. "My good friend, Naitsuu, who that man also
killed died alone. With no one to worry over him in his final minutes. At least, I have you."
     Miya fights back her sobbing for a moment, and she lets a smile come across her face.
Munenori fights to bring one across his.
     "Take care of Ami, you are all she has," Munenori requests.
     "I will, I promise," Miya takes Munenori's hand. "We never were even able to have our
kiss."
     Munenori's breathing becomes heavier. Miya leans down to brush Munenori's lips with
her own. She whispers to him, "Now and forever."
     Their lips touch. They hold the kiss so to them it seems to last an eternity. All their good
memories they had amassed in such a short time together flooded their thoughts.
     As Miya backed away, Munenori struggled with his final words, "I'm happy, that my
final thoughts, were of you."
     With this, a light breath of air flows out of him, and his head falls to the side. Miya leans
over, resting her head on his chest, unable to stop her tears.
     Muffled by his body she says, "I love you, Munenori. So much, if only we had more time,
if only..."