Chapter 5

"Magic." Senki gasped as her eyes sparkled.

"Right!" Yumi replied, lightly hopping around excited.

"Ahm." Isaiah, confused, didn't know what to do and so scratched his head. "Is magic that rare?"

But before he could get his answer, Senki quickly grabbed Isaiah's arm.

Isaiah's head snapped towards it then bam! Senki began dragging Isaiah around the whole house.

"Oi! Wait! Oi!" Isaiah pleaded but Senki wasn't listening, instead, she kept on running, Isaiah in tow.

"Oi! Tsk" Isaiah then gritted his teeth, "Stahp!" Out of breath, Isaiah placed his foot down but the momentum made wouldn't let him.

With his free hand, Isaiah began pounding Senki's wrist in hopes to free it but it was all in vain, in fact, it was Isaiah's hand that started getting hurt. It was as if Isaiah was trying to beat a stone.

"What the! Oww... Stop!" Isaiah tried to do everything he could to resist her grip, but it was none of them worked as Senki was surprisingly far stronger than Isaiah, in fact, Senki could probably beat Isaiah up right now if she wanted, she is that strong.

"Oi! Oi... Ahhh"

The spectacle of Senki dragging Isaiah around soon came to a sudden halt when the two got outside.

"Wheeze, Hah, finally. What were *wheeze* you trying to do?" Isaiah asked as he pulled his arm out and began massaging his wrist, her hand mark still remained in his hand.

"Ehh... Ahmm." Realizing what she had done, Senki looked around her in a panic her cheeks turning red. "Ehh, ahm. Sorry, I am truly sorry." Senki bowed once before hurrying back towards the house.

'She looks kinda cute that way.' Isaiah thought as he sighed loudly, then he bent backward to crack his back.

"Yahh!" 

"Nee-chan?" Yumi soon caught up to Senki who was quick-stepping towards the house, her face all red. 

Fear then crawled towards her very spine as she remembered all those rumors and stories of human violence, especially those who had magic as they were the most dangerous. And well, Isaiah had magic himself.

*Gulp*

She slowly took a peak on the other side, trying to find out if Isaiah was about to begin his rampage or was their time to ask for forgiveness, luckily for her, however, Isaiah seemed pretty tame.

Isaiah was breathing heavily, his mouth slightly open while he stretched here and there. His eyes wandered behind him and met Yumi's stare. With a nod, Isaiah acknowledged here before turning to the other side, and soon his mouth couldn't shut close.

'This...'

It was beautiful. The small village of Jishi, which was situated on a small incline, was home to 140 souls whose primary source of income was fishing. Rows upon rows of neatly built houses lined the streets and over to his left a beachhead where identical boats lay in the shade of the trees, to his right a low plain where rice paddies dotted the land.

Isaiah's eyes scanned the village before him, it was exactly like an Edo period Japanese village, neat and clean, unlike their European counterparts.

Isaiah then stretched both his arms up as he exhaled deeply this 'otherworld's air' 

"It just feels good to be alive." He whispered to himself.

Slow footsteps.

"Ne..." Suddenly, Yumi stopped midway, realizing she had yet to ask for Isaiah's name. Isaiah looked back and tilted his head.

"Name?" She asked.

'Oh right...' Isaiah cleared his throat, "Sorry, Isaiah Petre (Ay-See-Yah Peh-Tur)." Came the reply as Isaiah stretched his hand out for a greeting.

Yumi stared at the outstretched arm before trying to pronounce Isaiah's name. "I, Es.."

"Ay..." Isaiah retracted his arm in hidden embarrassment.

"Ehh..." Embarrassed, Yumi asked. "E-siah? (Eh-sayah)"

"Ayy-saiah."

"Aaaaaa." Yumi grew more embarrassed as she tried to say those difficult words.

Isaiah sighed as he realizes the hopelessness of the situation. 

"Well, E-saiah is fine too."

With that answer, a smile floated in Yumi's face.

'Great job'. Isaiah was about to turn around when Yumi remembered something "Ahh, right, Ise-san..."

'?'

...

There was an old proverb which said that the length of your beard is equal to the amount of time you spent asleep. Whether or not that is true is up for debate but right now, Isaiah was inside a wooden bathhouse with a plain wooden tub of water.

There, Isaiah stood face to face on a mirror, his hands massaging his chin. What reflected was himself, caramel brown skin, brown eyes, black hair, he looked pretty average except for his sharp nose and unusual height for an Asian as he stood 5'10 feet.

Though there was or were something that caught Isaiah's eye.

'What had happened to this that it's this bad.' Isaiah thought to himself as he saw cut marks around his face though luckily none of them were pretty bad and were already showing signs of healing.

Isaiah was about to leave when he noticed something on the side of his head, he quickly combs his fingers through his ears and clicked his tongue. There was one rule that Isaiah always adheres to when it comes to his style and that his hair must not touch his ears. He finds it ugly to have baggy hairs and Isaiah mostly sports a neat cut, which he now misses.

He quickly searched the drawer beneath him for any cutting tools and took out a wooden comb and a blade.

Isaiah then turned around and not too far he saw a low stool he was about to go and pick it up when he remembered he had magic.

'It's better to master that magic as soon as possible.'

Sighing twice to pump himself up, Isaiah stretched his arm and after a couple of shaking, the low wooden stool soon flew towards his hands.

Swhiip!

'It's pretty handy this thing.' Isaiah complimented his abilities as he nodded along.

Isaiah then sat down and began shortening his hair.

A few minutes later, he began clicking his tongue in pure frustration as he realized it was hard. Although Isaiah was used to cutting his own hair, without the proper tools he was making mistakes left and right.

Sometimes, his hair would be cut unevenly, sometimes he would take too much, all in all, he was struggling.

Isaiah had just finished his right side and was about to begin his left one when he stopped and examined the blade. It sometimes worked, sometimes not and Isaiah wanted to waste lesser time with cutting hair so his mind when to thinking.

'Can I transform this into scissors?'

...

*beep* [Manipulation - Manipulation of all elements.]

'If only this could tell me more what 'ALL ELEMENTS' means.'

Isaiah sighed but he decided to try, 'I mean, I did 'manipulate' cotton or flax or something, if I can do it with something not even remotely related to the four elements, then maybe this metal will work.'

The four elements. Many believe that there are four elements that govern the earth and nature, they are Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Those four along with Ying and Yang were most commonly used in books and believed to be the main elements should magic exist and since metal is closely related to earth, Isaiah might be able to control it. And so with this reasoning, Isaiah began focusing.

'Scissors, I need scissors.' Having found his preferred design of scissors, Isaiah began feeling his mana.

...

....

Crrrk.

Soon, the blade slowly started creaking and cracking, then it transformed itself into the shape he wanted, exactly how he wanted.

"Ahaha, ahahahaha... No no no no no wait, wait...' In the midst of all this, Isaiah got too excited and the magic was nearly interrupted. 'wait wait, shax.. [1]'

Having refocused himself, the scissor took shape and a few seconds later it was done, and with that Isaiah got back to work this time, with more efficiency.

Isaiah then began cutting, this time however it was faster and easier.

Isaiah began checking himself in the mirror, it wasn't perfect but it was alright as he had done worst last time. The sides all shorter than the top hair, it was a semi-perfect crew cut. Pleased with himself, a smile rose to his lips as he examined his handiwork.

A haircut can sometimes instill confidence in a man, it was true with Isaiah who was so full of himself that he began possing in the mirror.

'Gunslingers, pow pow!' With finger guns.

'Gwapito. (Handsome boy)' [2] Forming a check under one's chin.

'Papainsin (Give me attention)' tilting one's head in a sexy manner while raising one's eyebrow twice (or in burst mode).

Isaiah began trying other poses when he noticed a lady behind him, they were the maids, who were bringing a tub of water, with Yumi following them. He was so focused that he didn't notice them.

She was smiling as she looked on Isaiah, but there was a questioned look on her.

Embarrassed, Isaiah scratched the back of his neck and asked "Sorry, What are you doing here?"

It was weird to find a young girl inside a bathroom, especially if there is a young and healthy man inside.

'Is this some kind of service?' Isaiah panicked slightly, but it was for naught as Yumi explained why she was here.

"Ehm, bath ready." She said as she examined Isaiah from top to bottom and as soon as she saw the noticeable changes, his hair, she starred at it.

Noticing the long stare, Isaiah began to look away and asked "I-is there a problem?"

"No no, it... good."

Nod nod.

Isaiah turned towards the tub where the water they brought along was being poured upon and steam was slowly rising from it.

Once the bath was filled, Yumi placed the towels and an extra set of robes aside before asking Isaiah "You know bath?"

It was common knowledge for Kitsunes that those outside aren't a fan of bathing, and thus she asked if Isaiah, who looked like one of those rumored Garlic-eaters which were notorious for their foul stench.

Isaiah, who was testing the water's heat turned around and nodded.

Yumi pondered for a moment before nodding "Soap, brush, there." She pointed to the bathing kit she just brought and began final checks before leaving.

Clack.

Once alone, Isaiah opened his robe and was about to jump in when he noticed something and began checking his body.

Sigh.

Sufficed to say it was horrible. Scars, bruises, scratches almost everywhere, some were thankfully healing but others seemed to remain indefinitely, one scar, in particular, disgusted Isaiah much, it was a long cut right near his belly button.

'This would not heal I bet.'

Gently, his fingers began caressing it and burning pain would ensue, it was clearly the work of something penetrating as if he was stabbed.

'Grabe to, ano ba may swordfish ba doon?' (This is too much, is there a swordfish in the river?) 

Isaiah's then shifted himself to his back and the same amount of scars and bruises could also be found there, thankfully most of them were healing, except for one.

'Lumabas p'la dito.' (It went out here.)

Sigh.

It signified that Isaiah would no longer have a smooth body. Thankfully though, his reproductive organs were unharmed, now, if those were damaged that would be even more painful.

Isaiah then threw his thoughts away and slowly headed for the bath. It had been a few weeks since his body last touched proper bathing water.

It would be one long day today...

Chapter 5 Fin..

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

[1] Shax, a fancy way of saying shocks, an exclamatory gasp.

[2] Gwapito, Gwapo (handsome - masculine), and (Pepito) combined. Pepito is a well-known name for boys and is sometimes used to refer to one.