Prologue
一寸先は闇
"who can see into the future?"
It was an especially dark night, and the streets of Old Oto were devoid of people, the locals knowing that loitering about at night was akin to asking to get murdered or raped and left on the streets.
A girl ran as fast as she could, her pursuers closing in on her, jeers and taunts ringing out in the abandoned neighborhood.
Hinata had known that Oto was a dangerous place, but she hadn't been prepared for this kind of situation.
The wind beat harshly at her face as she desperately turned a corner, lungs screaming for air. Her legs ached but she ran on, not looking back, for the sounds of thundering footsteps and drunken calls were enough to let her know of the imminent danger she was in.
She rounded another corner and ran face-first into what felt like a wall. Dazedly looking up, she realized that, terrifyingly enough, she had run into another man. He looked like he had his wits about him, unlike her intoxicated chasers, but the sight of an unaccompanied, flustered young girl in a deserted area was usually enough to turn even normally rational men into lecherous ones in those parts.
Fortunately for her, the man looked worried and whispered to her, "Leave it to me."
"Where'd that bitch go?"
"I coulda sworn I saw her run into this alley...Fuck."
"What's wrong, Ryosuke?"
The man, no, her savior walked out of the shadows into the dim lighting and growled in a menacing tone, a far cry from his earlier sympathetic voice.
"You bastards better beat it before I beat the shit out of you."
"It's a Black Coat!"
"Shit! What are you waiting for, lets move, no girl is worth getting clobbered by those animals!"
The men left in a nervous frenzy, almost falling over themselves in their attempts to get away.
Hinata felt the stress of the evening get to her, her vision darkening until she succumbed to her tiredness and slumped, unconscious next to the man who had saved her life.
Hinata opened her eyes, wincing at the sudden influx of light on her sensitive eyes.
The room she was in was divine, she dazedly decided, gorgeous patterns of cherry blossom trees embellishing the exquisite fusuma [1] and the beautiful ikebana [2] arrangement in an alcove.
Hinata's eyes widened suddenly and she sat up in a hurry, memories of the previous night flooding her head.
Where am I?
The room was lavish, considering the fact that it was Oto, but it was nowhere near enough for her family's high (picky, in her opinion) standards. So she quickly abandoned the thought that she had been rescued from her predicament by one of her own blood. She debated the thought that one of the men chasing her last night had succeeded in snagging her off the street, but the idea was firmly cast off, as the scum looked nowhere near wealthy enough for a room of this sort. Experience had shown her that men of wealth tended to display all of it. And those men certainly had none to display.
Her thoughts were abruptly halted with the sound of the screen door sliding open. The scent of cherry blossoms wafted through the air as a woman in a red yukata walked into her room. Hinata thought at first that it was a trick of the light, but as the woman slid the door closed, she saw that she wasn't mistaken.
The woman's hair was pink.
She glided elegantly through the room as though she were an empress, and her features were ethereally beautiful. She looked like a goddess descended from heaven to converse with lowly mortals like herself.
"How are you feelin', sweetheart?"
The effect was ruined when she opened her mouth. She talked like the women in Ame, the red-light district. In other words, a prostitute.
The woman seemed to pick up on the fact that Hinata was flustered, as she said, "Stop worryin' your pretty little head. My name is Sakura Haruno. You're with us now, you're safe. Nobody's gonna hurt you, okay darlin'? Come on now, Boss said he wanted to see you as soon as you woke up."
She ushered Hinata to her feet.
Leading her to the doorway, she continued, "What's your name?"
"Hinata", she responded, almost mechanically. She knew that giving away her family name was not wise in the current situation. "Um, Haruno-san," she continued. "Where are we?"
"We're in Oto. And drop the Haruno-san thing. Call me Sakura!"
"Alright, Sakura-san."
"Anyways, you're lucky Inuzuka found you when he did, honey. A pretty little thing like you all alone in the streets at night? What were you thinking?"
Hinata opened her mouth, "I was trying to-" Suddenly it occurred to her that telling this woman, whom she had never met before, all of her problems was not a wise thing. "- find someone," she fibbed.
The two women engaged in mindless chatter as Sakura led the way to the biggest room in what seemed to be a compound of some sort. Sliding the door open, the red-clad woman shouted, "Boss! I've got Miss Pretty here! Should I just leave her here and go?"
Hinata heard nothing, but apparently the other woman had, for she turned to Hinata and said, "Go on in, sweetie. Don't be scared, he doesn't bite."
Giving her a roguish wink, the taller woman whirled away in a flash of pink and red, leaving her alone outside the room. Sakura's words had not left Hinata with any sense of safety, and when she ventured into the room, it was only her noble upbringing that straightened her spine and hid the shivers that ran down it in anticipation.
[1] In Japanese architecture, fusuma are vertical rectangular panels which can slide from side to side to redefine spaces within a room, or act as doors.
[2] Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.