Chapter 5 - The New Era

A/N: Our protag will be mostly absent during this chapter, although this won't happen much, I do want to spend time to develop other characters in the story too.

===============

The party of people stood paralyzed, almost unable to believe what they just witnessed. Kasumi was the first one to break the silence and pose a question.

"Hana, have you been training him?"

Breaking out of her daze, she looked at Kasumi and shook her head.

"No, I didn't even let him start training his body until only a few months ago, never mind teaching him the sword..."

Kozaburo and Koushirou were further shocked by this revelation. They knew he had talent, his body structure and flexibility of his arms meant he had the right requirements to be a great swordsman, but never could they imagine a five-year-old boy who hasn't even started formal training could comprehend what it means to 'cut' a target.

"The boy's talent is frightening....gahahaha. This makes me even more excited. Even Kenzaki wouldn't dare boast this kind of ability when he was the same age. Although, clearly his body is not able to keep up with his talent. We must be careful in how we train him or he could end up destroying himself."

"Yes, father, I've never seen anything like this in my life. Hana-san, let's check on his injuries. It must have taken an immense amount of willpower to draw out that much force from his body. Cutting with bamboo is not a skill one can simply do with just comprehension of the sword."

Hearing Kozaburo and Koushirou's warning, Hana then fully snapped out of her thoughts and rushed over to pick up her son, checking on him. The rest of them followed as well.

"How is he, Hana?"

"Not good, his heartbeat is incredibly elevated, almost 180 bpm. His arm muscles are nearly completely torn, and he seems to be having trouble breathing. We need to treat him quickly."

The group grimaced upon hearing the news. Although it's nothing too life-threatening, you wouldn't think these injuries came from performing a single sword move. He must have pushed his body beyond its limits and more.

"Hana-san, I have medical supplies in the main hall, please take him and follow me."

Hana nodded and carried Terumi with her as she followed Koushirou to the main hall, leaving Kozaburo and Kasumi behind.

"Father, did I do the right thing? Terumi's talent and comprehension of the sword already exceed my own and most adults as far as I can tell. I fear I set him on a path that will lead to self-destruction."

Kozaburo closed his eyes and then looked up to the sky.

"No, Kasumi. I could tell that even if we did nothing, the boy would one day find his way to the sword anyway, it's in his blood. We must carefully guide him to ensure he understands his own abilities. His potential is limitless, but a star that burns too bright often ends up burning out, but I won't let that happen. Keisuke...you old bastard. If only you could be here to see."

Kozaburo then started heading to the main hall, following after his son and Hana.

"Come, Kasumi. This will be my final duty."

Kasumi nodded, with a hint of sadness in her eyes, but did not say anything.

Inside the main hall, Koushirou has laid out various herbs and ointments. Terumi has been laid out upon a mat as Koushirou began his treatment.

"I'll start by massaging his arm with cooling ointments to help the blood flow. Hana-san, please grind up these herbs and feed it to him, it'll help speed up the healing process."

"Okay."

The treatment went on for an hour, after which Hana wiped her son's body down and dressed him in some new clothes, and allowed him to rest. Everyone then gathered back in the living room for a discussion.

"Koushirou-kun, how is Terumi? Is he going to be okay?"

"Yes, dear. Although it might take about two weeks for him to fully heal, I do believe he will make a full recovery."

"Oh, thank goodness."

Kasumi let out a sigh of relief. Hana said nothing but just kept looking down at her hands, while Kozaburo smoked a pipe sitting just outside the open door overlooking the courtyard. Noticing her mood, Kasumi poured Hana some tea.

"Terumi's going to be okay, don't worry."

"I know, I know. Thank you, Koushirou-san for your help. It's just...all I ever wanted for him was to be healthy and happy. I didn't want him to have to learn the sword as I did. Is it too much to wish for peace..."

Kozaburo furrowed his brow and took a long draw from his pipe before speaking.

"Peace is not yearned for, it is earned, Kenzaki. You know as well as I, that your father and I didn't build this village with straw and stone, but blood and steel."

Kozaburo took another long draw while reminiscing about the past.

"We earned ourselves a respite, but the world's about to get turbulent once again."

Just as Hana was about to look up to ask about what Kozaburo meant, she saw a News Coo land on the porch. Kozaburo gave it a 100 belly coin and took the latest issue. He glanced at it for a moment before throwing it at Hana.

"What's this?"

Her eyes widened as she read the headline. Kasumi read it alongside her over her shoulder.

'My treasure? If you want it, I'll grant it! Search on! All the world had to offer, I left in that place! -Pirate King Gol D. Roger's last words before his execution. Is this the start of 'The Great Age of Pirates!?''

Kasumi covered her mouth her hands in shock as she read it aloud. Everyone was shocked. Who in the world doesn't know that for the past year, Gol D. Roger has reigned as pirate king after he found and named the final island 'Laugh Tale.'

Hana crinkled the newspaper as she held it tightly, biting her lip with a frown.

"Koushirou-san, you said about two weeks for Terumi to fully recover right?"

Koushirou recovered from his shock as he heard her question.

"Y-yes, I believe so."

"His training starts next week. Koushirou-san, please train him in the proper form for Goken, I will handle Juken."

**A/N: Goken(Strong Blade) is a sword style focusing on strength, and Juken(Gentle Blade) is on speed.

Koushirou paused for a moment before nodding.

"I understand."

"I'll be taking him home now, I'll be back in a week."

A mix of resignation and resolve was on Hana's face as she left the Shimotsuki household with her son.

'I thought I could leave this life behind me, but it seems fate has other plans. I bet you're just laughing it up in heaven, aren't you? Dad.'

Arriving back at her home, it was already late noon. She nestled Terumi into his bed and went back to the living room to rest. As she sat in a wooden chair, she stared at her family heirloom hung on the wall.

As she stood up to go grab Yuugata from its resting place, the front door opened to reveal her husband, just coming home from today's fishing trip.

"Honey! You'll never believe the size of the fish I caught today, it-"

Akira paused as he noticed what his wife was about to do. Having lived together for many years now, he knows the difficult expression on her face.

"Hana, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Akira walked closer and pulled his wife into an embrace, which she returned as well.

After the two quietly hugged for some few moments, Hana separated from Akira and brought over the newspaper from earlier that she brought home with her.

Akira read the headline and was equally shocked as everyone earlier, but quickly composed himself before his wife.

"Well, I guess this means I need to bring a rifle with me when I go fishing, then."

"Stop joking, this is serious."

Hana lightly punched him, though too light for him to feel anything. Although she still feels sullen, her mood was somewhat improved.

"Hey, tell me what else is going on? Where's Terumi?"

"He's in his room resting, let me catch you up on what happened."

As Hana caught her husband up on what occurred today, Terumi slowly recovered his consciousness and began to wake up.

"Ngh, what happened? I remember passing out after I tried to cut the dummy, and then...ouch!"

Terumi tried to steady his body up but immediately felt intense pain from the muscle fatigue all over his body.

"Ow ow ow, god, I've never felt this bad even in my previous life!"

As he slowly inched himself out of bed, he heard his parents talking outside in the living room. Holding in the pain as even simple movements felt like it took all his energy, he dragged himself out of his room.

"So that's what happened...I see, so- Huh? What are you doing out of bed, son?"

Akira immediately noticed once Terumi entered the hallway, he walked over and carried his son to the dining table in the living room. Hana was cooking dinner while telling her husband about what happened today, but also came over when she heard her husband call out.

"Mom, what happened? Did I pass?"

A stress mark appeared on Hana's forehead as she heard her son's question.

"Hmph, you little devil. Where did you learn that swordsmanship?"

Terumi gulped as he felt his mother's anger.

'Okay, here it comes. I've been preparing my cover story for a while now so I hope this works'

"I, I've just always been fantasizing of being a swordsman one day ever since I learned about our family's heirloom. I sometimes see Koushirou-san teaching his students when I jog around the village so I just learned some by coincidence."

"Hmph, you expect me to believe that? It couldn't have been more obvious of a lie, next you're going to tell me that you started your rebellious phase."

Hana was not convinced at all as she stood with her arms crossed. Akira stepped in to try to help, feeling his son's nervousness.

"Now, now. I'm sure he's starving after sleeping so long. Let's talk after the meal."

"No, it's okay dad. Sorry I lied to you mom, the truth is for some reason, I've always had these moves in the head ever since I could remember. I can't really explain it to you, but I know that I really want to become a swordsman!"

'Sorry I can't tell you everything mom, you wouldn't believe me even if I did. I hope this half-truth is good enough.'

Hana stared at her son's expression before finally letting up and sighing.

"Fine, I believe you. I don't know why you felt like you needed to hide this from me, but promise me, no more secrets in the future, or else I'm going to ground you for life!"

Terumi shivered upon hearing her threat, before meekly nodding.

'I never thought I was bad with women but mom is something else.'

Hana turned back to the kitchen to continue cooking, as Terumi sat with his dad at the table.

"She'll do it too, don't test your mother, son."

"Yeah, I know, dad."

"Haha, so tell me, what do you want to do after learning swordsmanship? Don't tell me you're planning on becoming a pirate?"

"A pirate? Why would I?"

"Oh, guess you haven't seen today's paper yet, here."

Terumi picked up the newspaper his father handed him, and after he read the headline, he felt a nostalgic feeling wash over him.

'A New Era has started.'