Editing BlazBlue:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 3===

"Who the hell are you, asshole?!"

Ragna yelled at the unexpected intruder.

He was shorter than Ragna, shorter than even Celica. Even with the tiny figure, his lowered stance surprisingly lacked any opening.

"Only a traveler passin' by."

The small intruder replied using a male voice which clearly didn't fit with his appearance at all. 

Though the voice intonation sounded young, his composed way of speaking and the still point of his sword suggested his capability.

Ragna grabbed the handle of the sword he had returned to his waist not too long ago. His heart beat faster.

"I ain't the type to meddle in someone's problem. But I can't just shut my mouth an' walk away when I saw a frail woman got attacked by a bastard deep on the mountain."

"Huh? Wait a sec. I'm not attacking anyone..."

Just as Ragna was about to explain himself, the hooded man made his move.

It was similar to a squall.

Ragna barely caught his breath as he reflexively drew his sword. Immediately, a sword and a katana clashing on front of his eyes, scattering red sparks.

"It's shameful to make cheap excuses. Ya written yer sins, scoundrel!"

Before Ragna's eye, the fearless hooded man grinned.

Ragna's eye widened in surprise of the hooded man's true appearance.

"Beastkin!?"

The face of the man, who intended to slice Ragna, wasn't that of a human.

The hidden face was that of a beast, complete with white and dark brown fur. The protruding nose tip got a darker tawny brown fur.

His symmetrical eyes were large and their pupils stretched vertically. His sneering lips were slim, and within the gap, short but sharp fangs peeked.

On closer look, there were a set of triangular ears on the hood. If his back was to be observed, you could find the katana's scabbard attached and two split long tails swaying around.

The cat-faced man revealed his amused laughter

"Know about beastkin, eh? What an interestin' chap."

"Kuh...!"

The beastkin unleashed his swordplay one after another. Ragna had to use all his strength to handle it.

His clothes got tore, and along with it, pain ran across Ragna's shoulder.

Barely able to block the huge swing from the katana, Ragna's left hand trembled because of the big impact.

The impact also made his mind shook.

Dizziness appeared. Deep within his mind, fragments of memories seemed to be saying something.

(I... Do I know this guy?) 

He heard this voice somewhere. He recognized the face and the eyes.

"You... Are you Jubei?"

The white haze that had always locking up his memories started to crack. He could feet pieces of it crumbled. Things he had forgotten slowly flooding his mind.

Jubei. A cat-type beastkin that once had taught Ragna how to wield a blade.

Two-toned dark brown and white fur, tan pupils, and two parts of branching tail. The voice also matched. Ragna, who had a katana pointed at him, thought that the beastkin had too many resemblances to his master.

But there was one thing definitely wrong. His master had an eye patch covering his right eye, while the beastkin before his eye didn't.

(Is he the wrong guy...?)

While Ragna was lost in his thought, the beastkin moved.

Using the blade's intersection point as the center of gravity, he twisted his small body like a spring and landed a kick on Ragna's abdomen. Against the unusual attack, Ragna got blown off backward and groaned.

"Jubei? Who's that fella?" 

While he was preparing the sword again, the beastkin's cat-face twisted into a dubious look as he asked.

Ragna swallowed his vomit back and coughing as he rose. He held his slightly disordered head and shook it lightly.

"Tch... You can't possibly know nothing about him. He's one of the Six Heroes who beat the Black Beast a hundred years ago."

That's right. The Six Heroes.

One hundred years ago, a group of six people who happened to be heroes had defeated the Black Beast. For the Black Beast to exist despite that was ridiculous.

However, Ragna could see the beastkin's facial expression grew even more warped as his dubiousness increased.

"Beat... the Black Beast? Hey, if ya tryin' to be funny, I'm not laughin', y'know."

"I'm not joking. Seriously, you really don't know Jubei!?"

Losing his patience, Ragna raised his voice. He couldn't believe if there's a single person who didn't know about Jubei's name. Even more when it came from a cat-type beastkin.

But the young cat-man who resembled his master just stared at him suspiciously while shaking his head.

"Dunno. Also, the name's Mitsuyoshi. Ya speak like me. But I never met whatever guy ya spoutin' as someone who beat the Black Beast!"

The man who called himself as Mitsuyoshi became more cautious and abruptly narrowed his cat eyes. He was preparing his sharp claws and katana.

"Tryin' to confuse me and escape will get ya nowhere! Prepare yerself, scoundrel!"

With an unworldly physical strength, he kicked the ground with the small feet. Instantly, he leaped straight to Ragna. 

Too fast. The approaching wind pressure made such a burden to Ragna's head, caused him grogginess. He couldn't move at all.

A moment after he caught a short breath...

"Stooooooooooop!" 

The moment the girl's scream was heard, Mitsuyoshi's katana stopped.

Between Ragna and Mitsuyoshi, there was a slight gap where a person might be able to slip into. Celica had leaped to the gap.

The silver blade tip was aimed at Ragna's chest. It's now pointed at Celica's forehead.

Celica slightly opened her eyes. She had spread both of her arms as if to protect Ragna.

Ragna and Mitsuyoshi's eyes opened wide in surprise. Several seconds later, the stiff tension slowly started to dissipate. Feeling the same sense of relief, both Ragna and Mitsuyoshi instinctively dropped their respective weapons.







In the deserted village within the mountain from before, there was an overgrown weed field. Ragna had been sitting on it while receiving the treatment for his slashed shoulder.

Celica's hands were shining warm but faint. Her fingertips traced the sliced skin's surface to heal the wound. The warm light gave such a strange feeling that couldn't be put into words.

"Ha-ha-ha. So that's what happened. In short, ya collapsed and got memory loss, huh?! Ya should've told me sooner."

Mitsuyoshi had received the explanation from Celica. He slapped his furry knee with his bulky paws. He burst into laughter happily.

Hearing that, Ragna scowled and glanced at him.

"The one who actually didn't listen to my side of story and proceeded to cut me is you."

"Is that right? Well, I thought a pretty girl got attacked by a mountain bandit. It ain't possible to think otherwise, y'know? Why woulda a pretty young lady goin' inside a deserted mountain? Why, she got kidnapped by a bandit, that's why."

"...Yet she didn't."

Resting his chin on the knees, Ragna glanced at Celica.

"A, ahahaha... I, I guess I was kind of lost..."

Laughing awkwardly, Celica put Ragna's cured shoulder back to his red jacket.

Mitsuyoshi continued to laugh merrily.

"A collapsed person an' a lost child, eh. I met many kinds of person on my long trip, but this is the first time I meet such amusin' combination."

"And that's where a misunderstanding beastkin freak coming in."

"Don't say such a bad thing. It's not very polite. Don't be fussin' over minor details."

Jubei kept laughing hard and Ragna watched him with a sullen face.

Mitsuyoshi said he had no relation to Jubei. It's true that he didn't wear an eyepatch. Ragna also felt that Mitsuyoshi had different impression than the Jubei he remembered.

Ragna knew that Mitsuyoshi's a different person although the beastkin bore many resemblances to his master. But he didn't find the situation to be amusing or appreciated.

"Still, why would you come here, Mitsuyoshi-san? Though... this might sound weird coming from me, but this place is in the middle of a mountain and not many people pass through here."

Celica let out a strained smile while she asked the question. She at least understood the 'not many people pass through' part. Regarding that one point only, Ragna and Mitsuyoshi had a slightly better opinion of Celica.

"I... went to Japan searchin' fer somebody. I heard there's a boat leavin' fer Japan at the port city on the bottom of this mountain. Passin' through here seemed to be the fastest way. In other words, a shortcut."

"Ah, shortcut! Then, I was also taking the shortcut..."

"That's not true."

"...Okay."

At Ragna's interruption, Celica's shoulders dropped. She seemed to be finally aware of her poor sense of direction.

Then, Celica let out a "Hm?" voice as if noticing something. The tied long hair sprung up as she raised her head.

"Japan? Mitsuyoshi-san is also going to Japan?"

"Also? Ya mean y'all goin' there?"

" Yup, that's right! I'm also searching for someone. Guess we're the same, then."

With a friendly smile, Celica stared at Mitsuyoshi with her innocent eyes.

Mitsuyoshi looked astonished. His large triangular ears flapped about.

"That face... Is that the face of someone who wants to tag along to Japan?"

"Look, aren't we a fellow travelers? Also, we have to bring Ragna to the town. It'll be more reassuring if we can go along with Mitsuyoshi-san, right?"

"You're smarter than you look, Ma'am..."

Celica stared at Mitsuyoshi with begging eyes. Ragna looked at them both and raised his eyebrows as a silent reply to Mitsuyoshi.

"...Guess it can't be helped. If I were to leave ya two here, it'd be like lettin' ya to rot. I won't have a nice sleep."

"That's great~. Thank you, Mitsuyoshi-san."

"Seriously, thank you. I don't have any confidence getting down the mountain with her. I mean, I'm sure it'd be a disaster."

Standing beside Celica, Ragna bowed deeply. He was truly showing his gratitude.

Mitsuyoshi's cat face made a wry smile.

"Don’t ya worry about it. After all, I'm not some heartless demon."

And then suddenly his tails straightened out as if remembering something.

"Oh yeah, Celica. If you're goin' to Japan, then ya must've a connection to it, right? Ya mind if I ask ya a few questions?"

"It's about the person Mitsuyoshi-san's looking for, isn't it? If I can help you, sure."

"Well, this is unlikely, but I'm just makin' sure. Have ya ever heard of a scientist named Shuichiro Ayatsuki?"

Not really expecting anything, Mitsuyoshi asked in a light tone. But suddenly, his nose started twitching after Celica changed her expression.

Ragna once again turned to the girl beside him and frowned.

Celica had a shocked look as if her soul had left her. Her face was reflected on the cat-man's big tawny eyes.

She was speechless for such a long time. Soon, she answered faintly.

"He's... my father."