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It was a nice, normal day. The sun shone brightly overhead, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and Tatsunosuke was having the crappiest time of his life.
"GET BACK HERE!!!" he yelled, giving chase (without much success) after his younger brother, who was sprinting ahead at top sheep, determined not to be forced to take "another bath".
Tetsunosuke was running full tilt, sandals throwing up a small cloud of dust as he sprinted towards the gates of the Shinsengumi compound. Upon reaching them, he glanced behind him.
"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, facing the inner compound, his back to the road.
It was probably his first major mistake.
Arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Tetsunosuke's middle, lifting him bodily into the air and onto the back of a galloping horse, which was, consequently, sprinting in the opposite direction from the compound.
Tetsu, as confused as he was, could only stare in shock at his brother's horrified face, framed in the quickly shrinking doorframe of the compound, the others running up, with no hope of catching up to him. They could only watch as he was carried off.
"LET GO!" he yelled, struggling against his captor, trying to regain some of his composure, but the arms held firm. He couldn't even see his kidnapper's face.
The horse's hooves pounded against the dirt road, and the bright light of early afternoon was soon replaced by the dappled shade of the thin forest.
Suddenly, the man shouted something incoherent, and then,
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" and the horse reared, quickly and without warning. The man yelled in shock, the horse began to scream, and the sudden snarling of a large dog mixed together to form a cacophony of ear-splitting noise. Tetsu clapped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the sounds, but he was being jostled too much.
He wanted to scream in frustration, he couldn't even see what was going on.
And suddenly, the man's arms were gone and he was falling to the ground, his head hitting a rock on the way down, and a warm…something…was trickling down his face.
A shadow passed over him, blocking out the sun, and, as the darkness closed in on him, Tetsu was vaguely aware of a gentle curtain of jet black hair.
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Tetsu came too slowly, blinking up at an unfamiliar ceiling. A damp cloth covered his forehead, and he could feel bandages cris-crossing his head. Raising one hand to gingerly touch the dressing, he was startled by a voice.
"How are you feeling?"
Tetsu glanced up, blinking incredulously at the woman before him.
She was of average height, and would maybe come up to his older brother's shoulder if she was standing. She had extremely pale skin, almost translucent in appearance, dark, blue black hair, and the palest blue eyes Tetsu had ever seen. In direct sunlight, they would probably be white in appearance. One of her thin hands was resting on her knee, the other buried in the thick fur of an enormous, jet black dog, who growled dangerously at Tetsu as he glanced at it. He quickly looked away. In doing so, he noticed the short sword lying on the floor beside the woman.
Glancing around the room, he also noticed a suitcase in one corner, a long, thin package resting against the wall beside it.
"I feel fine." He said, touching his head gingerly again. The girl raised an eyebrow.
Okay, so he had a small headache, it wasn't anything to worry about.
"I'm fine." He repeated, but she seemed unconvinced.
"You fell off of a horse, I'd hardly call you fine." She said.
Tetsu frowned, and struggled to rise, but the dog growled again, and he sat straight back down.
The girl smirked.
"What's up with the dog, anyways? You carry a sword; I'd think you wouldn't need extra protection." Tetsu mused out loud. The girl smiled, scratching the dog behind his ears, causing him to thump his considerable tail against the floor. The neighbors downstairs must be loving this.
"Companionship, really. Toga's really just a big softy when it comes to people he knows. You could say he's all bark and no bight, mostly." She giggled as the dog openly glared at her, baring its teeth.
Looking back up at Tetsu, she smiled. He noticed, however, that the warmth didn't quite reach her eyes, and they retained they're haggard appearance. He blinked, and the affect was gone as the woman rose, coming over to kneel beside him.
"Let me check the wound, then we'll take you home and be on our way. What's your name, anyway?"
"Tetsunosuke Ichimura."
"Hmmm. I'm Amaya. Amaya Watanabe. Nice to meet you, Tetsu." She said, unwinding the bandage and gently touching the tender skin on his still aching forehead with her index finger. He tried desperately not to flinch.
"Amaya, huh?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. She grinned.
"Don't ask my, all my parents fault." She chuckled, before rising and grabbing the suitcase by the door, which was really little more than a knapsack, and hefting the thin package over her shoulder.
"Let's get you home, then." She said, and headed for the door, Toga on her heels, Tetsu right behind them.
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Translations:
Amaya: Night Rain.
Toga: Ten Fangs.
Kuro Chi: Black Blood.
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This is probably the CRAPPIEST chapter I have EVER written…and when I say EVER, I mean EVER EVER, as in, with ALL CAPITAL LETTERS EVER!!!
Don't worry, though, I'll go back and revamp it all…
Tomorrow.
READ and REVIEW!!!
WPD…