(Farewell, then, and do not forget me)
Prologue: Fiat Voluntas Tua (Thy will be done)
"Mother."
Francine Marume turned around to face his fifteen-year old son. Moonlight made highlights on his blonde hair so that parts of it appeared paler than it already was, while the lamppost he stood next to cast a vertical shadow that crossed his form. His Mediterranean blue eyes held fear in them and she took a step towards him, then placed her hand reassuringly on his cheek. Kuroudo closed his eyes and leaned to the touch. He left her to guess that he was gathering his confidence to say what he must, as well as listening to the nighttime sounds around them to calm his nerves. His father had taught him that when they first found out about their son's exceptional sense of hearing. "What is it?" she asked as he opened his eyes.
"Mother, I think we're being followed. I don't like this," Kuroudo said quietly with a frown, his eyes shifting to the side as if he could see what hid behind them by doing so. He removed his kojiki from its perfect balance on the top of the dark canvas bag he held by its drawstring. The light above them suddenly died out ominously. He turned around slowly, peering into the dark, but he saw nothing.
"There's nothing there, dear," his mother stated his thoughts, "Let's go home. I can only imagine how tired you must be."
Kuroudo blinked into the darkness but still saw nothing. He loosened his grip on his wooden sword slightly. Perhaps his mother was right. Fatigue from weeks of practice for the kendo competition held earlier as well as today's activities must be taking its toll on him and making him hear things. But he was pretty sure what he heard was no figment of his own imagination...
Reluctantly, he turned his back to the dark road again and quickened his pace to catch up with his mother who had continued to walk before him. The streetlight had flickered back to life seconds ago. They continued to walk in silence, the surroundings so quiet that he could almost hear both of their heartbeats. His mother's was a calm, steady one, soothing, while his threatened to turn him deaf with its loud, fast and uneven cadence. Although his mother did not have ears as keen as his, he was still surprised that she did not hear his heart, pounding as it was.
Shadows. He was sure he saw shadows out of the corner of his eyes. He was trained to notice everything in his immediate surrounding all at once. In kendo, attacks could and would come from all directions imaginable and an expert swordsman like himself was always aware of the movements of the people around him, especially that of his opponents.
And he was sure that whoever lurked in the dark were no friends.
"Mother," he said again as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop, intentionally under another lamppost. They were near enough now that he could feel them and hear every rustle of their clothing, no matter how faint or few they were. Kuroudo knew an adrenaline rush was coming on as he stepped in front of his mother, shielding her. He just hoped the boost would hold until all this was over. He knew they were no mere amateurs or run-of-the-mill robbers, the stealth in which they moved attested to that. "Show yourselves!" he shouted in a controlled voice, although his hands were gripping his sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
The streetlights went off again, but only the one overhead turned back on. Kuroudo's gaze did not waver; he still peered into the shadows. Until, finally, a figure emerged from it. The person stopped before he reached the patch of light around the lamppost, far enough and sheathed enough in the darkness that Kuroudo could not see any of his features. "Kendo Champion, Master Kuroudo Marume?" a dangerously cruel voice that sent a shiver down his spine asked.
"What do you want from me?" he asked back, almost hissing, the kojiki in front of him steady. With no warning, another figure in black ran out of the shadows and charged towards him, he only had enough time to raise his sword on reflex to block the attack that came from above and would have knocked him unconscious had it succeeded to land on his head. His attacker jumped back and Kuroudo took the time to gather his bearings and get into a proper defensive stance, as well as check out his opponent's weapon. To his surprise, it was a wooden sword not unlike his own.
He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, but didn't dare turn his head to look at the woman behind him. He nodded his head instead and saw the other swordsman shift into an offensive stance that he was familiar to. He was gathering his thoughts on how to fight it off without moving from where he stood when the voice spoke up again. "Ah, so Madame Marume's here too," it simply said, in a way that unnerved Kuroudo greatly.
The fighting half of their uninvited visitors lunged towards with him with the kojiki. Kuroudo parried and tried to launch his own attack, but the other blocked it easily. They pulled their swords away and his opponent tried again to land a hit, he blocked and returned the favor only to be blocked again. It went on like that for quite awhile, the other would attack him and he would either parry or block, and then he would have his turn on the offensive and be blocked. He didn't realize that they were moving farther and farther from where they started.
Once, Kuroudo saw a weakness, an opening, a chance and he took it, bringing his sword down the man's side as hard as he could. The man didn't even flinch however and took Kuroudo by surprise not only by that but by dropping his kendo sword and grabbing the flaxen-haired young man's arms instead. He twisted them behind Kuroudo and held them there, painful enough that Kuroudo fell to his knees, eyes looking at nothing except the darkness of the road in front of him.
The light flickered out then on.
"Kuroudo, Kuroudo," the voice crooned sickeningly sweetly, and Kuroudo's whole body tensed as he realized it came from behind them --- where his mother stood, "What is the first practical point of defense in all arts of swordsmanship, from kendo to fencing?"
Guard your weak points but do not show them to your opponent.
"Don't you dare hurt my mother!" Kuroudo shouted as he struggled to get back to his feet and fought hard to get loose. The hold on him tightened and the person turned around, turning Kuroudo with him. He paled at the sight that lay before him, his Mediterranean blue eyes burning with anger in contrast. His mother was on the ground, the person who held that frightening voice kneeling next to her, his head turned down so that Kuroudo still couldn't see his face and a knife in one of his hands the tip of which was slightly pressed against his mother's throat. "You bastard!" he exclaimed, unable to control himself as the blade drew blood.
The person withdrew the knife and stood up, still not facing him fully. "Don't worry. I just knocked her unconscious. However…it might turn to more than that if you don't cooperate with us."
"What do you want from me?" Kuroudo asked again, in a less calm but threatening tone this time, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Temper, temper. You'll know in time, but meanwhile you only need to remember one thing: You must follow my will. I have ways to make people follow me, Kuroudo. Torture, blackmail…Here's an example," the man said, prodding his mother's body with his feet. "Let's see, shall we? My will is that you will discontinue to resist now, or you will witness her death right here."
Kuroudo continued to glare but instantly stilled himself, although he still shook with anger. "What do you want from me?" he asked for the third time, his voice shaking with both fear and fury.
"…You," the voice answered and Kuroudo felt an indescribable pain at the back of his head before everything turned black.
Author's Notes: There you have it, the prologue to what I am presuming would be one of my 'angst-iest' (no such word exists) works ever. DARK ANGST, mind you. Note that the rating is PG-13. Might go up, but then again, I'm only fifteen (at the time this chapter was released at least). Dedicated to my spirit siblings, David and Trish.
Disclaimers: I do not own Crush Gear Turbo, its characters, storyline, etc. No money had been made in the writing of this fic. It was created only for the sheer entertainment of the author and her readers and contents did not necessarily occur within the series.