Kokoro No Kaitou
~*~
He seemed different from the moment I first spotted him. He looked like a human.
But that wasn't what they told me.
They called him a demon.
A brutal one.
How can one so childish looking be the one that caused the death of so many of my people?
Those beautiful bottle green eyes. They held such playful innocence, though he himself was not.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning?
I think I will.
~*~
I'll start with myself. My name is Takahashi Amaya. My father is the Shogun of this land, Takahashi Kenji. He is one of the richest lords in the country, and he isn't modest about it either. My mother is a wonderful woman, Takahashi Akina. A former geisha.
He's quite proud of showing off his family, as well. You see, there are twelve of us. I have one brother, also by the name of Kenji. My brother is an excellent archer, and swordsman. My father brags about him all of the time.
My sisters, all ten of them, are very beautiful. Each has suitors beyond her dreams, seeking her delicate hand in marriage. They are the perfect, traditional wife that every lord wants. Trained in flower arraignments, tea ceremonies, and other geisha skills. Entertainers.
What about me? That is what you're asking.
Well, I myself am the 'misfit'. The 'black sheep' of the family. Shunned by my sisters for not holding their same beauty. Where they all have flowing, glossy black hair that fell well past their ankles, I did not. I had brown hair, the color of bark on a tree. It was stubborn and coarse, refusing to grow past my shoulder blades at most. And my eyes…oh, Kami-sama, if anything makes me an outcast, it's my eyes. My sisters have beautiful dark eyes, whilst I have orbs that match the churning sea. That odd bluish green swirl. But I am full-blooded Japanese! It is impossible, seeing as how my mother has brown eyes and my father black. It makes no sense!
Anyways, my father was constantly trying to find a suitor for me. He was determined to see me married and with sons before he died. He wanted every one of his children to have strong, healthy sons. A normal wish for any father, shogun or not. But no other lord would have me. Perhaps it was because of my boyishness? My lack of any finesse? Not necessarily clumsy, but definitely a klutz. Or maybe because of the fact that I couldn't arrange flowers to save my life? And that I knew nothing of tea? That all of my childhood was spent in the woods surrounding our land, playing with the animals and getting covered in mud and dirt? Most likely.
Still, my mother would dress me in my finest kimono (one that had belonged to she herself as a geisha) and put make-up on my face. White paint to make me look as pale as the tsuki, the moon. Then, she reddened my lips until they stuck out like a sore thumb. She then painted on fake eyebrows, which I hated. Then, she did my hair up into a tight hairstyle (I'm not sure what it's called, but it hurt my head with it's weight) and adorned my already sore head with jewels.
She told me I looked beautiful.
But upon seeing myself in the reflective glass in my mirror, I wanted to gag.
I looked so…fake.
I loved it back when I could just run around in my plain yukata and secure my hair with a simple string. That was my natural 'beauty'. Not this fake face, painted so expertly by my mother, who had once had the process done to her so that she would attract the right man for her.
But I didn't want a man.
I was only sixteen! Still a child in mind, but not in body.
Still, I was brought down to the main entrance, where I would greet the man that was going to be a possible suitor, and possible husband. I tried to act pleasant while I waited for him to arrive, if only to please my parents.
He came, and he was quite ugly. He was old, at least twice my age, and fat as Buddha. No matter how repulsive he was, I was supposed to smile kindly at him. I took his arm as I had been taught about fifteen minutes prior, and led him to the dining room, where he would meet my father.
My father smiled warmly as we entered, and dismissed me.
And that was it.
I spent over three hours getting beautified, just to lead a fat old man to my father.
How exciting.
Still, I was relieved, and retired my room to remove these burdens and to take a nice hot bath.
~*~
After I had retired for the night, I changed into a simple white yukata. By the time I had gotten all of the make-up off, it was very late at night, and my suitor had left. My father had not sent for me, which could either be good news or bad. Either he had decided that I was not going to marry this man, or I was, and he was just too lazy to tell me tonight.
I sighed and started to brush the tangles from my damp brown locks, as I absent-mindedly stared out of my open doorway.
Suddenly, I heard the shouts of the samurai outside our home, and cheers from others.
The only part I could make out from the rejoicing ruckus outside were the words 'kitsune' and 'caught'. Some one had caught a kitsune? I stood and went to my door, as the cheers grew louder and closer.
The samurai were heading past my door, each giving me a slight bow before continuing on their way to the dungeons, which were located a slight distance from my room. They had a boy with them.
And if I thought that I had stuck out like a sore thumb, then this boy was really outrageous. He had hair the color of blood, and very fair skin. He was being half dragged-half carried along with the warriors. He was sporting many wounds, some deeper than others. He was favoring his right leg as he walked, and l could tell that any spirit he had once had was now completely diminished. Then, he looked at me weakly as they passed.
Those gorgeous green orbs meeting mine sent a chill down my spine that I will never forget.
Of course, as soon as he had set eyes on me, one of the guards proceeded to hit him with a wooden stick, and I winced at the sound it made. The boy cried out, and fell to his knees, coughing up some blood.
One of the guards roughly picked him up and shoved him towards the others, who made him continue to the dungeon.
I stuck my head entirely out of the door and watched as they took him to that dark, dank prison at the end of the hall.
Was that the kitsune everyone was shouting about?
He looked so…human.
When they were out of sight, I gently slid my door closed, thinking over the situation.
That boy just couldn't be a kitsune!
But, there was a mystic air about him, so I wasn't quite sure.
Sighing, I walked over to my futon and got under the covers, and fell into a deep sleep.
I could find out everything in the morning.
~*~
Author's Notes: So, how was that for a first chapter? Should I continue?
~*~
He seemed different from the moment I first spotted him. He looked like a human.
But that wasn't what they told me.
They called him a demon.
A brutal one.
How can one so childish looking be the one that caused the death of so many of my people?
Those beautiful bottle green eyes. They held such playful innocence, though he himself was not.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning?
I think I will.
~*~
I'll start with myself. My name is Takahashi Amaya. My father is the Shogun of this land, Takahashi Kenji. He is one of the richest lords in the country, and he isn't modest about it either. My mother is a wonderful woman, Takahashi Akina. A former geisha.
He's quite proud of showing off his family, as well. You see, there are twelve of us. I have one brother, also by the name of Kenji. My brother is an excellent archer, and swordsman. My father brags about him all of the time.
My sisters, all ten of them, are very beautiful. Each has suitors beyond her dreams, seeking her delicate hand in marriage. They are the perfect, traditional wife that every lord wants. Trained in flower arraignments, tea ceremonies, and other geisha skills. Entertainers.
What about me? That is what you're asking.
Well, I myself am the 'misfit'. The 'black sheep' of the family. Shunned by my sisters for not holding their same beauty. Where they all have flowing, glossy black hair that fell well past their ankles, I did not. I had brown hair, the color of bark on a tree. It was stubborn and coarse, refusing to grow past my shoulder blades at most. And my eyes…oh, Kami-sama, if anything makes me an outcast, it's my eyes. My sisters have beautiful dark eyes, whilst I have orbs that match the churning sea. That odd bluish green swirl. But I am full-blooded Japanese! It is impossible, seeing as how my mother has brown eyes and my father black. It makes no sense!
Anyways, my father was constantly trying to find a suitor for me. He was determined to see me married and with sons before he died. He wanted every one of his children to have strong, healthy sons. A normal wish for any father, shogun or not. But no other lord would have me. Perhaps it was because of my boyishness? My lack of any finesse? Not necessarily clumsy, but definitely a klutz. Or maybe because of the fact that I couldn't arrange flowers to save my life? And that I knew nothing of tea? That all of my childhood was spent in the woods surrounding our land, playing with the animals and getting covered in mud and dirt? Most likely.
Still, my mother would dress me in my finest kimono (one that had belonged to she herself as a geisha) and put make-up on my face. White paint to make me look as pale as the tsuki, the moon. Then, she reddened my lips until they stuck out like a sore thumb. She then painted on fake eyebrows, which I hated. Then, she did my hair up into a tight hairstyle (I'm not sure what it's called, but it hurt my head with it's weight) and adorned my already sore head with jewels.
She told me I looked beautiful.
But upon seeing myself in the reflective glass in my mirror, I wanted to gag.
I looked so…fake.
I loved it back when I could just run around in my plain yukata and secure my hair with a simple string. That was my natural 'beauty'. Not this fake face, painted so expertly by my mother, who had once had the process done to her so that she would attract the right man for her.
But I didn't want a man.
I was only sixteen! Still a child in mind, but not in body.
Still, I was brought down to the main entrance, where I would greet the man that was going to be a possible suitor, and possible husband. I tried to act pleasant while I waited for him to arrive, if only to please my parents.
He came, and he was quite ugly. He was old, at least twice my age, and fat as Buddha. No matter how repulsive he was, I was supposed to smile kindly at him. I took his arm as I had been taught about fifteen minutes prior, and led him to the dining room, where he would meet my father.
My father smiled warmly as we entered, and dismissed me.
And that was it.
I spent over three hours getting beautified, just to lead a fat old man to my father.
How exciting.
Still, I was relieved, and retired my room to remove these burdens and to take a nice hot bath.
~*~
After I had retired for the night, I changed into a simple white yukata. By the time I had gotten all of the make-up off, it was very late at night, and my suitor had left. My father had not sent for me, which could either be good news or bad. Either he had decided that I was not going to marry this man, or I was, and he was just too lazy to tell me tonight.
I sighed and started to brush the tangles from my damp brown locks, as I absent-mindedly stared out of my open doorway.
Suddenly, I heard the shouts of the samurai outside our home, and cheers from others.
The only part I could make out from the rejoicing ruckus outside were the words 'kitsune' and 'caught'. Some one had caught a kitsune? I stood and went to my door, as the cheers grew louder and closer.
The samurai were heading past my door, each giving me a slight bow before continuing on their way to the dungeons, which were located a slight distance from my room. They had a boy with them.
And if I thought that I had stuck out like a sore thumb, then this boy was really outrageous. He had hair the color of blood, and very fair skin. He was being half dragged-half carried along with the warriors. He was sporting many wounds, some deeper than others. He was favoring his right leg as he walked, and l could tell that any spirit he had once had was now completely diminished. Then, he looked at me weakly as they passed.
Those gorgeous green orbs meeting mine sent a chill down my spine that I will never forget.
Of course, as soon as he had set eyes on me, one of the guards proceeded to hit him with a wooden stick, and I winced at the sound it made. The boy cried out, and fell to his knees, coughing up some blood.
One of the guards roughly picked him up and shoved him towards the others, who made him continue to the dungeon.
I stuck my head entirely out of the door and watched as they took him to that dark, dank prison at the end of the hall.
Was that the kitsune everyone was shouting about?
He looked so…human.
When they were out of sight, I gently slid my door closed, thinking over the situation.
That boy just couldn't be a kitsune!
But, there was a mystic air about him, so I wasn't quite sure.
Sighing, I walked over to my futon and got under the covers, and fell into a deep sleep.
I could find out everything in the morning.
~*~
Author's Notes: So, how was that for a first chapter? Should I continue?
