Positive Direction, Long Road

The conclusion of Yumi’s long and sometimes indirect, probably a little repetitive, path left the camp quiet for a good minute. Manekamaru didn’t seem to have a shocked or surprised expression though it would be hard to really say what sort of reaction he had given that he hadn’t changed his habit. Waiting for him to respond sadly was the only option for Yumi. Though given his past, she already had a good guess at what he had to say to her.

“That is the conclusion that you’ve reached then,” he confirmed, as though any further from her was actually needed.

“Not repeating myself anymore, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He stepped away from the arena that Yuki constructed, making his retreat clear. “I can’t argue with such a resolute speech as the one you gave.”

“So you’re not going to demand a fight anyway or anything like that?”

“To be honest, having seen your fight against Lord Hokuren I had wanted to fight you even more regardless of the outcome.”

“Just for the enjoyment of it.”

“Yes.”

It was something that she could understand finally now when he said it. Yumi nodded to him in agreement. Despite turning him down, knowing that he wanted a fight to the death, she would have accepted just a friendly match instead. Though she felt that wasn’t what he wanted and certainly not what they agreed upon when he started to follow her. It made her feel a little sad almost that she couldn’t have that sort of fight with him.

Yumi turned away from the demon, who ceased to be her enemy and might actually be something more now (jury was still undecided on that matter), opening the door to the arena. She paused before going inside. “Perhaps sometime you can help with my training,” she added almost immediately regretting it. Seeing the look of his face wasn’t even necessary for her to know what had to have gone through him. The door closed behind her sharply ending any sort of continuing of their conversation.

Chapter 469 – Positive Direction, Long Road

Training and self improvement became the only theme for Yumi. Resolving all of the internal dilemmas with Manekamaru freed her up wholly to focus on what she needed, which was to become even stronger. It was an absolute drive that pushed her forward. Masa and Hokuren were proof enough that there were places still beyond her reach. If she had any chance of convincing Masa she needed to be able to show her that she could give her a challenge. That was Yumi’s mindset at the moment. Clear and pure goals provided her a wealth of energy towards that destination.

Weeks passed for them on their travels through Japan following whatever rumors that they could find. While Yumi wanted to find Masa, her desperation had tapered off from before. She seemed to have wanted to make sure everything was just right. Taking her time to find the mysterious woman no longer bothered her.

Four months into their search, they found themselves in a small village at the far north of the main island of Japan, any further north required them to cross the sea into Hokkaido. There they found actual evidence of Masa’s trail, something that they had lacked so far in all of their searching. The best that they ever had before was tracks, which they lost a long time ago. Words and whispers were the only thing that they were granted until that day.

Yumi stared down at the corpse, their information gathering from the village having led them here. “A demon…not very many of them remaining,” she commented.

“Lord Hokuren made efforts to recruit every demon he could for his final battle.”

“Including you?”

“Yes, he sent messengers to me, but I refused to join. As I’m guessing this one did.”

She bent down trying to see a little bit of what happened. Only a single wound could be found on the demon, it cleaved them in half from shoulder through to the hip. Death was likely instant or close enough for it. “Not a very powerful one.”

“No, there were only five Lords in Japan and those of my rank were all in the battle. You’re not going to find any powerful demons remaining.”

“So she’s systematically killing all of the remaining demons?”

“That’s one possible conclusion.”

Yumi looked back up at Manekamaru. “But you don’t think it is the right one?”

“We don’t know enough right now to understand her motives.”

Standing back up and looking off in the direction that Masa went, Yumi thought internally for a moment on what it was that she wanted. In their brief encounters she had yet to understand the woman. She didn’t even manage to have a conversation. Such a lack of understanding made it impossible to know what sort of person Masa was. Only her feats described her, but Manekamaru doubted them to be reflecting the woman’s truth. Yumi couldn’t argue with it. “She seems to be protecting people, so she’s not a threat, but she doesn’t stay anywhere. She just keeps moving on. What is she looking for?”

“That is the mystery to this woman.”

“Hopefully, she’s more open to conversation when we find her this time.”

If the swordswoman known as Masa would be open to talking with them, as Yumi hoped she would be, they would have to wait even longer. Their search continued on without finding her at their next village. Having never even heard of the woman, they were lost once more. At the tip of Japan they continued around to the west side of the island in search of clues.

They spent months trying to pick up any trace of her in northern Japan without any luck. The clues and rumors seemed to have run dry for them. Doubt started to set in as they felt she had just disappeared. Only the thought that it was impossible for her to have literally vanished kept them going. Yumi would eventually find her again. That much was certain, but with each passing month she wondered how long it would be.

Finally, a rumor sent them to Hokkaido, something that they had considered, but felt was unlikely as she would have needed a boat to get to the northern island. Yet they hadn’t found anyone with any sort of stories of selling or missing their boat.

Once they arrived on the cold island, it became clear that the tales of her exploits had traveled throughout the island. They were no longer lacking in rumors or stories. If anything it was actually worse. Masa had months to be roaming the island, a place that seemed to be rife with conflict of all sorts. Her appearance all over the island made it impossible for them to know where to even start.

They faced a problem that they didn’t count on. Masa had so much time on the island that lies and tall tales were more common than the truth. Making matters worse, even figuring the lies from the truth, it might have been too old for them to do anything with. They had too much not to sort through and act upon.

After three days since their arrival, Yumi slumped back at their camp outside of the only major town on the island. Their little rest spot at the edge of a snow covered forest shielded them from the winds of winter that threatened them. “At this point, I think just wandering might get us better results than asking around,” she concluded after the latest round of info gathering they tried.

“Given her low profile, it’s a little surprising things have spread this much,” Yuki noted, impressed with how the tales of Masa’s heroics had spread like a virus throughout the whole island.

“But it also explains how rumors got to the mainland. They’ve reached a point that everyone knows and even merchants will pass it along.”

She poked around at the piled up snow with only Yuki being bothered by the extreme conditions. The below freezing temperatures weren’t even cracking through the protective layer of her energy that passively existed around Yumi. Even if she did allow it through, her skin was tough enough that this sort of cold had no affect on her. “But now we’re no closer to finding her and all this snow is making it impossible to even find any demons she might have killed. They’re all buried.”

“We’ll just have to keep searching.”

“I know.” The excitement that she had about a definitive story of Masa’s exploits re-energized her. She had flown them immediately over to the island without even bothering for a boat. All that tempered her now with reality settling in for her.

They spent the winter in Hokkaido carefully and thoroughly traveling the whole island. In the end, they visited every single village or shop that could be found. The results turned out that they could only conclude that she had left the island, possibly before they even arrived. No new stories had been created from her appearance, only lies that people picked up to keep her legend alive. She had disappeared once more.

Yumi’s only guess was that she had found all of the demons and moved on. Though she didn’t know what sort of method she had for finding them and being certain that she couldn’t find anymore. After she left Hokkaido, the chaos that completely engulfed the island had begun to calm. When they left, an odd sort of peace established around the threat of Masa seemed to have been created. It seemed a fragile thing that wouldn’t last. But they couldn’t stay to try to do something for them.

Returning to the main island, they resumed their tracking. By this point, Yuki, Yumi and Manekamaru had been on the road in search of Masa for two years when they reached West Japan, the former lands of the demons.

“The wall is gone…” Manekamaru commented, as the only one of the group that actually knew about it. Yuki and Yumi in their capture by the Demon Hunters never actually saw the wall that divided it from East Japan.

Rumors about what happened made it to them, though little of it really mattered to them as they were more focused on the location of Masa than the aftermath of Japan in the defeat of the demons. “They really did tear it down. So a few Hunters did survive the Capital Battle.”

“The destruction of the wall has long been a dream of the humans, this is not surprising.”

“No matter, it just means it’ll be that much easier to keep after Masa.” Yumi marched on through the charred lands that used to be the barrier that divided Japan. Life hadn’t managed to resume yet after its destruction.

Within the former lands of the demon, they hoped that Masa’s impact would be easier to track. Rumors that they heard were that many demons still remained having refused to join Hokuren in his war. This made it the best place for Masa to continue her slaughtering streak of demons. Yet the first evidence of Masa that they found wasn’t a demon.

“It’s like they said,” Yumi noted, seeing that the corpse was indeed not that of a demon. She figured that the people were only confused or scared and mistook them for a transformed demon in human form. But there was no hint of a demon to be found. “So she’s killing humans now too?”

“They did say that this man was leading raids on nearby villages.”

“Yeah, so he’s a bad guy. But she didn’t kill him in a single strike like all of the others.”

“You noticed as well. Something about her has changed.”

“I can’t imagine this man being powerful enough to challenge her.” Yumi stood back up moving out in the direction that the rumors pointed them. “We should hurry and find her. I want to know what has happened.”

Hurry they did, but Masa appeared no sooner for them with Yumi’s urgency. They continued tracking her around Japan in a game of chase that seemed endless. It felt like she might end up killing everything on the island before they reached her. The rate at which they found dead increased along with the savagery of the fighting. It bothered her more with each discovery how things were changing. Yumi wanted to understand the woman and know better what was going through her mind.

The questions that Yumi had for the woman would finally come to pass. It had been five years since they arrived within the virtual world. Yumi, an adult now with long curly hair down her back, changed dramatically from her youthful and soft looks to a focused and hardened warrior, but her quest remained unchanged since she set herself upon it. “Masa the wandering swordswoman!” Yumi shouted, having caught up to her after so many years of searching.

The woman that they sought looked the same as they saw at the Capital Battle so long ago. Yet behind the mysterious aura that surrounded her seemed to be something different that Yuki and Manekamaru noticed. They only wondered if it was something that Yumi could see too through her obsessive need to find the woman.

Masa turned, her blade already drawn in cautious preparation, staring at Yumi for a long minute trying to place her. Her eyes said that she found Yumi familiar, but couldn’t immediately place her. Either time or age made Yumi more of a stranger than she had hoped. “Another fool wanting glory?”

“I came to ask you a question.”

“I have no time for questions. Leave me.” The dark woman turned away, though keeping her katana bare as though never letting her guard down no matter the person. It didn’t seem to matter if Yumi meant no harm.

However, Yumi wasn’t taking no for an answer from her after having spent so long tracking her down. She disappeared from Yuki and Manekamaru’s sight and reappeared in front of Masa, halting her walk. “I’ve been tracking you for five years now. I’m not leaving until I ask my question.”

Yumi’s bold and daring resolve didn’t seem to impress Masa as her hand tightened up on the hilt of her katana. “I believe I was clear in my answer.”

“Yes, you were,” Yumi agreed before instantly materializing a light sword in her hand effortlessly without needing to charge it. “I just didn’t accept that answer.”

“You’re challenging me?”

“Since you’re not willing to stay and answer a simple question, yes.”

“Then you will die like everyone else!” Masa charged forward disappearing from their sights, but Yumi tracked her with ease blocking her first strike throwing up sparks as a bit of surprise came over her face that Yumi succeeded in halting her killing blow.