Hokuto no Ken Red Blue : Katayoku no Shounen-tachi

Red Blue (Red Blue 北斗の拳イチゴ味 五車星GAI伝 其之一 ～片翼の少年たち～) is a one-shot published in 2014. Written by Kawata Yushi and illustrated by Yukito, this story dedicated to the childhood of Huey and Shûren opens the Goshasei GAI-den series and is part of the end-of-volume gaiden of Ichigo Aji. It is collected in the third volume of Ichigo Aji.

Synopsis

A teenage prodigy of the Fūjinken splits rock with a single breath, but his talent frightens the dojo's students and isolates him. When a young practitioner from a school of fire shows up to challenge him...

The wind and the fire

The story opens with a lesson from the master of the Fūjinken. The wind carries life and death, and if a void is born within it, it becomes a blade that cuts through everything. To illustrate this, the young Huey splits rock with a single strike. Rihaku, passing through, is impressed by this boy who already commands the wind at such an age. The master confirms his talent; Huey could surpass all the school's successors. But this talent frightens the other students. The child has neither friend nor equal, and a fist with no one to protect will never reach the ultimate secret. Night falls, and the master invites Rihaku to sleep at the dojo.

Later, two boys arrive at the dojo, Shûren and his black-haired companion. Shûren knocks the students down and asks who is the strongest in the school. They give him the name Huey. He looks at him, then turns on his heels. A "Wait!" stops him, and the duel begins. Here is the rival the prodigy needed. Rihaku hopes that these two boys may one day shatter a great ominous star. The wind master asks him if he is the one who led Shûren here. Rihaku deflects with a laugh.

The duel pits Shûren's flames against Huey's wall of wind. Huey warns that the flames will not break through, and that the void blade will then cut his opponent's body. Shûren then unleashes his secret technique. During the first exchange, he spread phosphorus over Huey's body. Then he sets both his hands ablaze with flames fueled by his own body. His companion shouts at him to withdraw; this style works against his own. Rihaku and the master stop the fight, with neither victor nor vanquished. Huey protests; he was about to win. Rihaku corrects him: Shûren's ferocity made him step back half a pace. Shûren gives his name and demands a rematch for another day.

Left alone, Rihaku and the master wonder. If fire and wind one day become one, will it produce an inferno capable of consuming a thousand soldiers? These two boys will make history, perhaps even beyond the Rokusei, depending on the course of the stars. The story jumps years later. Huey faces Kenoh himself, his army behind him, and falls. Shûren rushes in, attacks, and dies in turn. The news reaches Rihaku. He remains silent, then weeps. A humorous insert closes the story: the boy who accompanied Shûren is the man who will later weep among the ranks of Shû's legion.

The origins of the Goshasei

Red Blue opens the Goshasei GAI-den series, dedicated to the Goshasei, and follows in the tradition of the Ichigo Aji gaiden, which recount the pasts of characters from the original manga.

The story takes literally a line from the master of the Fūjinken: in a fist that has no one to protect, the ultimate secret does not reside. Huey, too strong for his age, has no one. Rihaku hints, without ever admitting it, that he led Shûren to the dojo, and he sees in the two boys' future the possibility of breaking a great ominous star.

The blaze evoked by Rihaku and the master will never come to pass. The two boys die facing the same adversary without ever having fought side by side, and the revenge demanded by Shûren will never take place. The final inset softens the blow by revealing that Shûren's companion will become one of the weeping men in Shû's legion.