A/N: I wrote this awhile back and it's been posted on Quizilla since then and people seemed to like it well enough, so I decided to post it here. The next chapter won't been too far along. Oh, and 1864 is the year that the anime Hakuōki Shinsengumi Kitan starts in, but this story starts a year before that, because really they timeskip in the anime far too much for my liking. Hope ya'll find this interesting. :)
Take care,
- SugarLandBabyGirl
Prologue
May the 29th, of the year 1863
The high afternoon sun beat down merciless hot rays upon a mid-sized house and a bountiful farm. A small flock of free range chickens of various colors, sizes and shapes pecked and scratched at the moist ground by a water trough, where two horses stood drinking lazily from the wooden basin. A large fluffy black dog was laid out under the porch, sleeping in the shade, while four calico and white bobtail kittens' chased each other and wrestled around the porch in a game of feral play.
Just before the smallest kitten got ready to pounce on its littermate, soft feminine hands caught it in mid-jump with a soft laugh. "You're going to be such a troublemaker," She cooed gently cuddling the fuzzy, rambunctious kitten to her shoulder, before she eased down on edge of the wooden porch. The squirmy kitten was quickly captivated by the small silver chain it found hanging from the young woman's earlobe and bat playfully at it with its paws when it swung and glimmered in the sunlight.
"Happy birthday, Kanae-chan," A woman's kindly, yet reserved voice greeted as the young woman stepped into the old-style Japanese house after taking her straw zōri off at the entrance. Kanae glanced to her right and gave a polite bow and a smile to the older woman. "Thank you, okaa-sama, I hadn't even realized…" She trailed off, her voice soft and thoughtful, as her eyes drifted to the fire licking at the bottom of a steaming pot over the built-in hearth.
The older woman's gaze narrowed in empathy as she watched the myriad of emotions drift across her daughter's sun-kissed countenance. "Would you like to open your gift?" Yuina asked her daughter after a moment of silence. "Of course," Kanae turned to her mother with a smile trying to hide her negative emotions. "But you and otou-sama needn't have bought me anything." Yuina barely refrained from rolling her eyes. "You are our daughter, why shouldn't we dote upon you, especially since you are officially twenty years old."
Kanae caught on to her mother's not so subtle hint, but did not let it faze her. After all it was common for most, if not all, parents to search for a proper husband for their daughters. "I'll wait until otou-sama comes home, before I open the gift, if that's all right with you, okaa-sama?" Kanae asked somewhat apprehensively, not wanting to upset her mother when she was in such a cooperative mood. "If that is what you want, then I will not argue." Yuina returned mildly and Kanae smiled thankfully, as her mother peered into the cooking pot.
"Otou-sama will be home soon, won't he?" The younger of the two women asked as she slid open her bedroom door and stepped into her personal living space to change into some cleaner clothes. "Yes, your father won't miss your birthday for anything in the world." Kanae's heart swelled at her mother's words. It was true, he wouldn't miss her birthday. He never had before despite whatever important business he had to deal with that day.
When Kanae finished redressing into a cleaner sakura blossom pink and white colored yukata she left her room and entered the room where her mother sat. Kanae paused at the entryway and just watched her mother as she tended to the steaming pot. Ryusaki Yuina was in her mid-to late forties, with an imperially slender body untouched by time. Her pale fingers were long and graceful as they brushed the raven black hair from her wise, yet gentle chocolate eyes. Kanae's gaze dropped to her own hands. Her skin was darker and had a strange golden-like glow from years of unhindered exposure to the sun.
Her fingers were shorter and had the appearance of being abused by hard, strenuous work; the calluses and scars had yet to fade. Habitually Kanae fingered her uncommonly long hair, shaded similarly the color of old gold, before they traveled to her left ear to trace over the silver cuff and chain. Dull blue-gray eyes misted over in reflection, but when Kanae heard Yuina start to hum a sweet tune to herself that the blonde haired girl had only ever heard the older woman sing once or twice in her whole life, she brushed the negative feelings away and walked into the room with a true smile on her lips.
Later that day, hours after sunset had fallen, the Ryusaki household was silent, yet oddly still heavily alit. Both occupants of the home were still awake, with one bordering dangerously on the edge of sleep. "Otou-sama still hasn't returned," Kanae muttered worriedly to the peacefully slumbering kitten in her lap. Yuina had taken her husband's strangely prolonged absence in stride. Or so she would have had Kanae believe, but the act showed itself to be just that, when Kanae caught the woman clutching worriedly at her kimono folds.
Something was undeniably wrong; both of the women could feel it. "He should have returned by now, long before now, when the sun was still up." Kanae murmured and gently lifted the kitten from her lap to her chest, so she could seek comfort from the happily ignorant creature as she lay down on her sleeping mat above the covers. It only took a moment before she was slumbering just as deeply as the kitten held gently in her arms, under the warm flickering light of a wood and paper lantern.
A shrill scream pierced the calm night air and Kanae shot up from her mattress half-awake and confused. "Okaa-sama?" She called sleepily, her voice scratchy and barely above a whisper. It was then that Kanae heard the old farm dog bark loudly before two gun shots silenced him. The kitten she had been cuddling bowed-up and hissed threateningly at her as she jumped to her feet and slammed open her door with a violent yank before running through the house and to the front door. When she got there she skid to an abrupt halt at the sight that greeted her.
"O-okaa-sama," Her voice came out as a choked whisper that barely reached her own ears. Four strange men stood in front of Yuina, who was standing tall and proud, in a crescent shape. Kanae bit back a gasp and began to tremble when four pair of cold eyes landed on her. "You kept the child." One of them spoke with a sneer and a wicked grin of pure malice as he flashed his gun threateningly in Yuina's face. "She is my daughter, a child of the Ryusaki clan." Yuina rebuked coldly unafraid of the four men and their weapons.
The one with the gun suddenly burst out into hysterical laughter that sent an unpleasant chill down Kanae's spine and froze her insides. "That's disgustingly sweet of you Oba-san, to take in and coddle a stray." Yuina didn't even blink at the man's mockery and rudeness. "You will not harm her, promise me this. On your honor, promise me, and I will go peacefully." Yuina's voice was strict and icy as she bravely stared down the four men she seemed to already know. The gun wielder snickered but a deep almost bored voice stopped him from speaking.
"If that is what you wish. The girl will not be harmed Ryusaki-san." The owner of the voice stepped forward into the flickering light and Kanae dropped to her knees as unfeeling crimson eyes locked into her, sapping all of her remaining strength of will. The older woman suddenly turned on her heel, still as graceful as ever, to face her daughter and Kanae felt fear grip her heart at the sad, yet accepting smile Yuina gave her. "Be brave, loyal and kind my precious little Kanae." She whispered though the salty tears of regret that cascaded down her beautiful face.
Not once had Kanae ever seen her mother cry and the tears she now shed were nor for herself, but for her daughter, for Kanae. Kanae tried to speak, to move but her voice and body failed her. Kanae watched, frozen in silent terror as her mother kneeled down in front of the men and bent her head forward and down as an offering. The other man, who wielded a katana like their blond haired leader, walked into the light after a nod of conformation from the crimson eyed man.
"May you be reunited with your husband, Ryusaki Takito-san in the afterlife Yuina-san." He spoke politely, yet callously before unsheathing his katana with a smooth move simultaneously taking Yuina's life with that one motion. Kanae couldn't even force a scream as her beloved mother's head dropped the ground and rolled away from her sagging body leaving a bloody trail in its wake. It was in that moment that Kanae saw the headless body of her father laying just a few paces away from where her mother once stood and the large fuzzy body of their dog right next to him.
"Should we finish the girl off now, Kazama-san?" The man who had just killed Yuina asked casually as he removed the fresh blood from his katana with a lazy flick of his wrist. Kazama, the blond haired man glanced up from the cooling body at his feet and to the terror stricken female in the doorway. Tears were falling down her face and her mouth was open in a silent scream, her body shook from fear as shock began to overtake her senses. "No. She isn't a threat." He answered before turning around and vanishing into the darkness followed by the only silent member of their group.
"Che," The man with the gun grunted and shot the quivering girl a glare before following after the other two. The last remaining man hadn't moved from his spot in front of Yuina's body, his cold dark eyes drilling into Kanae. "A little, pathetic human like you will never survive on your own." He spoke mostly to himself, sidestepping Yuina's headless body and slowly approaching the scared girl. "Let me spare you from your misery, child." He was suddenly in front of her and had a hold of her arm, ready to drag her off the porch to join her parents.
His brash moved snapped Kanae out of her shock and she began to thrash violently in his iron grip. Her voice had left her, but anger and fear hadn't. He effortlessly dragged her down the steps without saying a word, despite her clawing at his arm and face like a deranged cat, drawing blood with her fingernails. "Be still and it will be over quickly." His voice was insensible as he pushed her onto her hands and knees in between the blood-soaked bodies of her mother and father, using only one arm and a knee to keep her down.
Kanae was hyperventilating and almost drowning in her tears, but still kept trying to fight him off. Finally having enough of her resistance, he hit her in the back of the head with the hilt of his katana and she immediately crumpled to the ground, face first, unable to fight any longer. 'Okaa-sama,' Kanae whimpered when she caught sight of her mother's body just an arm's length away to her right. Of their own accord her eyes drifted to her left where her father lay. 'Otou-sama,' Kanae had completely given up knowing that her captor would never let her go, even after his leader told him to let her be. He had his mind set on ending her life and nothing was going to stop him.
The unnamed man grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her back onto her knees. As she flailed about almost as lifeless as the bodies that surrounded her, Kanae's fingertips brushed by something cool, rough and familiar to the touch. With hazy eyes she turned her head to see what she had touched only to feel enlightened and empowered by what she saw. A strange calmness washed over her entire being like gentle ocean waves. She inhaled slowly and exhaled before making one last break for freedom.
Kanae jerked her body forward and out of his grip, her knees sliding easily over the slick ground as she quickly moved to her father's side only one thought on her mind. The man stepped forward to follow her, his katana held ready to strike her down when she stopped but he never got his chance. Kanae spun around on her knees quicker than he anticipated, her father's katana hilt in her hands and the tip of the shining silver blade protruding from her attackers shoulder. She had pierced him straight through his heart, if he even had one. His dark eyes widened in surprise as he stared down at her with an open mouth.
"Suffer and burn in the afterlife, for you have no honor and will die as nothing more than a lowly dog." Kanae whispered cruelly, as he began to sink to the ground on his knees while she rose to her feet. With a quick, twisting jerk she ripped the katana out of him, spewing his blood everywhere. His body shuddered from the movement and for one brief moment Kanae had the urge to smile at his pain, but as soon as the feeling arose it passed and she felt nothing. "My father had no son to teach, for my mother was barren." She told him as she readied the katana for the final strike.
"So he taught me everything a father would pass on to his son, including how to use a katana." Her father's proud smiling face passed through her memory and she squared her shoulders, her eyes narrowed in a mixture of pure raw hatred and heartbreaking sadness. "This is your end." She told him frigidly. Crimson eyes watched from the darkness as the blood covered girl effortlessly beheaded the Oni gaping up at her from his knees with an easy two handed swing, before fading back into the darkness.
"Oi Kazama, did you find out what was keeping that baka Mugen?" Shiranui Kyou asked gruffly as the blond swordsman casually appeared out of the darkness. Kazama hummed softly, but an evil smirk touched his lips. "He won't be joining us, the loss of his head will see to that." The dark, tattooed man gaped at his leaders answer wondering if Kazama was actually making a joke. "Che, did he get killed by that scrawny stray?" He asked with a sarcastic grin, only for it to falter and disappear when Kazama nodded.
"Ryusaki-san taught her everything she would need to survive if they were no longer around." The hulking, silent figure of Amagiri Kyuujuu stated his voice and mannerisms calm. He was unperturbed by the loss of their fellow Oni, Mugen. If he had listened to Kazama then he would still be alive. The girl had extracted just revenge on the one who had personally killed both of her parents. Unless she tried to attack any of the remaining three for revenge they would leave her to live out her life. "He was weak anyway, she did us a favor." Shiranui chuckled with a crazed grin and the three disappeared into the shadows without any further words.