Notes:
"……." dialogue
'……….' someone's thought
Save Me From The Nothing I Become
Chapter 1 : Reliving The Past.
It was quite a busy afternoon. The weather was very good. People were busy with their errands. A young man walked among the crowd. He was wearing light purple clothing and carried a sword that's wrapped with a brown cloth. He was smiling to the people that past by. Not because he knew them but because it's his habit. He had lived at the village since the past 5 years. He now owned a quite successful business. He supplied groceries to many people mostly merchants. He's contented with his way of living.
" Master Seta," a voice called from behind. The young man turned and saw a man in his late 40's approach him. " Good morning, Master Seta ," the man greeted him politely as he got closer. Seta Soujiro smiled and said, " Is there's anything I can help you with, Kojima-san?." The man called Kojima nodded. " My master would like to see you to discuss about a business trade." " What? Now," Soujiro asked. " Yes, he will be going out of town this evening and he would like to settle his errands with you before he leave.," Kojima explained. Soujiro nodded. " Very well… I'll meet him." Kojima leaded Seta Soujiro to his master house.
" I'm glad we can work things out between us, Seta-san…," Morisato Hibiki said and drink the tea that was placed in front of him. Soujiro who was holding the cup just smile and drink his tea. The business trade had gone pretty well. Morisato wanted to buy rice supply from Soujiro with cheaper price. Soujiro agreed as long as Morisato guaranteed that he would be buying his rice supply for the next 2 years even during depression. " If you would excuse me, I have to go now….," Morisato rise from his seat and walked towards the door. " I should be going too," Soujiro followed him to the front door. Morisato bowed at Soujiro before he aboard the carriage. Soujiro bowed back as the carriage started to leave. The sun was about to set. Soujiro walked his way towards the gate. When he was about to reach the gate, he heard a noise and some people yelling. Feeling curious, he went towards the noise to investigate.
The noise came from the rice storage place. Soujiro hid behind some trees so that he could see the situation clearly without being seen. What he saw shocked him and tore him deep inside. A boy, about 10 years old was lying on the ground and two men were in front of him. One of the men was holding a shinai. Those men were taunting him with their words. Soujiro couldn't hear them clearly but he can tell that they were calling him son of a bitch and brats.
Just like 'they' use to do to him. A pulse of anger ran through Soujiro's body. The boy was lying helplessly on the ground, trying to get up. Just like he used to be. Just like him when he was a child. Weak and helpless boy, desperate for help from others. The man with the shinai raised his shinai and strike it towards the boy's back.. Soujiro was surprised. How could a man strike a helpless and injured child like that? How could a man strike 'him'? Soujiro lurched forward and started running towards the men. Although with his amazing speed, he knew he couldn't make it before the boy was strike.
Out of the blue, he saw a shadow coming out from the house. The shadow was closer to the group than he was. Before he knew it, he already stopped running. Then, he saw the most amazing sight he had never seen before. A young woman was standing between the boy and the man; the shinai hit her left shoulder with full force. She staggered a little and winced to the pain but didn't move aside. Everybody was surprised, especially the men.
" Kyoko-neechan…..," the boy whispered slowly, a faint smile was paste on his face. The young girl was in her teen year. She has long black silky hair, tied in a braid that reached her waist. A few strands of wild hair were covering her temple and some part of her face. She was wearing a light green kimono. The men had total shock on their faces. " Kyoko……..," the man with shinai blurted as he lifted the shinai slowly from the young woman shoulder. Soujiro realized he was in the open so he hid behind a tree.
The young woman called Kyoko lifted her face. She was fill with anger and disgust. " What the hell do you think you're doing," she barked. The men were taken aback by her question but they recovered their composure. Trying to defend their despicable act, the man with shinai answered, " That boy….. he dropped one of the rice sack and……" " And you beat the crap out of him for that," she cut sarcastically as she straighten up herself.
The men were silent. " Is this what you've been doing behind my back? Huh," she asked, trying to restrain her anger. " What are you so mad about, his just a brat….," a guy answered with forced confidence. She glared at him. He looked down, no guts to face the glare. " He's not just a brat, he's your nephew," she yelled.
The men said nothing. " If I ever found out that you laid even one finger on him, you're dead," she shouted. The men said nothing, just nodded. " Now leave, you despise me," she spat to them. They hesitated but when one of them started to leave, the others followed. Soujiro smiled. ' Talk about maternal instinct although she's a little too young to have one…' Soujiro was still hiding behind the tree. He watched as the young woman took the boy into her arm and hugged him. She apologized to him for being late. The boy smiled faintly and said it was okay. The young woman helped him to get to his feet and brought him inside the house. She laid him on a pillow and ran out of the room.
A few minutes later, she came back with some bandages, a bowl of water and a bottle of ointment for the wound. She cleaned the wound and dabbed the ointment on the wound. The boy hissed when the ointment touched the wound but the young woman remained calm and said comforting words. After she finished treating the wounds, she told the boy to rest. The boy nodded and closed his eyes. Soujiro watch this with a smile. He doesn't know what he was feeling ……... Then, it hit him. ' I'm feelings emotions? But how? I was supposed to be emotionless! That's what I've been for the past 20 years. Could it be? I'm starting to 'feel' again? After all these years, I actually can feel and have emotions again ! ' He closed his eyes and smiled as he clutched his hand to his heart. ' Feeling is not too bad…..'
Soujiro couldn't take his eyes of the two people although the sun was already set and it was dark outside. The boy was already asleep. The young woman called Kyoko got up but stumbled down to the floor. Suddenly, Soujirou saw her clutching her left shoulder. He remembered. The shinai blow hit her before when she protected the boy, full force.
Kyoko was wincing in pain but she made no sound. She was afraid she would wake Yamato. " Damn… I forgot all about it," she muttered under her breath. Still clutching her shoulder, she managed to stand. Then, she walked out from the room carrying the bandages and the ointment. Soujiro followed her shadow. She went into another room. Soujiro could see inside the room clearly as the window was open. Kyoko placed the ointment in front of her. To Soujiro surprise, she pulled her kimono down to one side, revealing her left shoulder and the wound from before. She glanced at it. " Pretty bad. That bastard definitely had something in him. Fortunately, it hit me instead of Yamato," she said too herself. She began to dab the ointment on the wound. Then, she took the bandage and started to open her kimono to wrap the wound. At this time, Soujiro left the house with hot-red face, learning a new feeling to him: embarrassment.