Blood covered my face as I stood among the immense blanket of corpses strewn about the ground, my hands shaking as they held the giant scythe that had once belonged to my father. My heart felt heavy and full of anger and sadness, and my head was violently spinning on itself. I looked up, checking once again for any survivors of my rampage. I knew that one man escaped, but he was injured, so I wasn't sure if he actually survived or not.

I fell to my knees, letting the scythe fall heavily to the ground. All I could do was emptily stare at the carnage around me and let tears fall from my eyes. My father and mother were dead.. My village destroyed… What was there left for me to live for..?

Completely devastated, I raised my head to the twilight sky and screamed, hoping that at least some of my sorrow would leave me and take away this painful memory.

I gasped, and my eyes shot open. I was breathing heavily, and my throat hurt as if I'd been screaming for hours. I glanced around, hoping that I was at least still in my room in my small house. I sighed in slight relief as I saw the familiar wooden and paper walls. I felt sunlight warm the wall near me, and I got up from my pile of blankets and moved out into the sunlit outdoors. Birds cheerfully chirped, reinforcing the fact that spring was almost over and summer was coming.

All of this did nothing for me, however. Not as much as a slight smile crossed my face as I took in everything... My heart felt as if it would never heal or forget what happened…

I was nothing but a mass murderer..who happened to be only 11 years of age.. I often wondered why suicide never really crossed my mind these past couple of days... I guess my father raised me too well…

"Father! Father, where are you?", I cried, running as fast as I could through the soldiers and villagers. People clashed with swords and physical blows, and some would fall to the ground, never to get back up again, and others would frantically run from any sort of violence.

"Father!" I yelled again.

"Tsuki! I'm here!"

I heard his voice among a group of people fighting and clanging their swords heavily against each other. I saw him slice through 3 men at once with his giant scythe, saving several villagers who hid behind him.

"Father!" I exclaimed, and slammed into his body, holding him close and crying into his stomach.

"Tsuki… I'm glad to see you safe." he said, embracing me tightly. "Is your mother with you?"

I shook my head against his body. "No… She's…She…." I couldn't speak, as more tears choked me and kept me from speaking. I remembered my mother's beheaded body all too well…. I wanted to forget, to label it as only a nightmare.

I felt Father's body sag, realizing what I was trying to say. "I see...", he whispered.

"Ha ha ha, does that upset you, Haruka?"

Father and I turned to who was speaking. He was a rather large man, dressed as a noble would, and flaunting his wealth in any way that he could. Behind him were a more fit man with black, untidy hair and a giant broadsword resting on his shoulder.

"Kazusa Tsutsui..", my father said angrily. "Why? What's the purpose of causing this chaos in our village?"

Kazusa laughed maniacally. "Why? Why, you ask? Well, I'm tired of hearing all of your complaints about how I run my villages, so I decided to take things into my own hands."

"By destroying the village and its inhabitants?"

"If it will shut you up, why not? You won't starve anymore, so you should be grateful!"

"Nothing you do is worth being grateful for!" I exclaimed angrily. "You murder innocents, and use others to make yourself wealthier!"

"How else do you expect to live in this kind of world?" he retorted. "You can only make it with wealth, not with 'samurai honor' or whatever nonsense you all talk about."

"That's enough trampling on our beliefs." Father said, lifting his scythe. "You will pay for what you've done now."

Kazusa laughed again. "Before I do, let me take one more thing. Sakon, take care of the girl."

The man next to him nodded, and lifted his sword into his hands, looking directly at me.

Father lifted a defensive arm in front of me. "Tsuki, run."

"What?"

"Run away from here. Run as fast as you can. Don't worry about me, just run."

"But Father, I-"

"Tsuki! Please. Just go. I can't bear to lose any more family to that man."

I hesitated, and then ran as fast as I could away from where they were. I didn't want to leave my father… But I understood how he felt, and had faith that he would survive to see me again.

I felt something grab my leg, and I fell flat on my face. I rolled over to see what had me, and almost screamed when I saw it was Kazusa. I struggled against his grip, but he only lifted me up easily and laughed at my attempts at escape.

"Is this all the daughter of a samurai can do?" he asked mockingly.

"Shut up!" I exclaimed.

He grabbed my throat with his other hand, and slowly tightened his grip, choking me. "How long until you give in, I wonder?"

I gasped for air, knowing full well that it was futile. I would rather die than give him the satisfaction of defeating me.

Suddenly I heard something slicing through flesh, and I felt myself fall as a mist of red blood filled my vision, Kazusa screaming in the background. Someone then lifted me into their arms and ran as fast as they could. I felt something warm and wet on the person's shirt, and looked to see blood oozing through their clothes.

The person stopped and landed heavily on his knees, breathing heavily and relaxing his hold on me. I looked up to see who it was…and immediately cried out in horror.

"Father!"

He looked up at me, his tired face relaxing into a smile. "Tsu..ki.. I'm glad that…you're safe..."

"Father, you're hurt!"

"That's not what..matters now.." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Tsuki, you…have to flee from here... Don't give in the Kazusa.. Please..keep..yourself safe.."

I couldn't say anything, only nod as he spoke.

"My precious treasure..." he whispered, stroking my cheek. "I..love you…dearly.."

"I love you too, Father..." I choked, hugging him tightly.

I felt him grow limper and limper until I didn't even feel him breathe. I looked at him again, and it seemed as if he was only sleeping.

"That wretch deserved it..."

I didn't even turn to acknowledge Kazusa. I didn't even care anymore. All I wanted was to forget everything that was happening..

"If only he'd given me what I wanted in the first place, then this wouldn't have happened..." He spoke as if he was weak from an injury.

"…What was it that you wanted?" I asked without turning around.

Kazusa chuckled. "Well, that must be obvious… His only daughter..."

I gasped. All this…because of me? Kazusa caused all this suffering…only because my father wouldn't hand me over to him? That was it?

I felt my entire body tremble. I couldn't hold in my rage any longer. I gently laid my father on the ground, making sure to not taint his body anymore. I relieved him of his scythe, and stood to look at Kazusa.

"All of this… All that you have put these people through..." I lifted the scythe over my head, never noticing the true weight of the weapon. "I'll personally make you pay for it!"

He tried to lift a sword to stop me, but my slash was too fast, and a red line sprayed blood from his torso, and he fell heavily onto the ground, eyes forever wide in shock.

My chest heaved; my heart ached for more… I looked around, and noticed that I was surrounded by Kazusa's men, including Sakon. I screamed and began wildly swinging the scythe in wide arcs; nothing registering to me until everyone around me was reduced to nothing.

I looked up at the sky, once again searching for an answer to my salvation. "How long must I hate myself for what I've done..?" I asked the air around me, despite knowing I wouldn't get an answer.

I walked back inside, sitting at what used to be the family dining table. I glanced over the table top, looking over bowls and chopsticks that were used from previous meals.

A memory of a past dinner with my mother and father flashed through my mind, remembering us all laughing and telling stories about our pasts and what happened that day.

Tears once again came to my eyes, and I did what I could to hold them back, even though no one was there to see. Must I continue enduring this agony..? Will I ever have a reason to live again..?

"Hiroshi! Are you in there?"

My gaze snapped to the front door, which was being banged on by someone outside. The man who spoke sounded big, mean, and like someone I didn't want to mess with. I quietly moved to walk out of the back of the house to the woods nearby. Why that man wanted anyone with my family name, I didn't know, but I didn't feel too comfortable going and answering him. I wondered if he was here for something having to do with what happened, but I wasn't going to stick around to find out.

When I was sure he couldn't hear, I made a mad dash for the trees…only to slam into what felt like a person. I fell heavily to the ground, and I was momentarily dazed as the person said, "Are you alright, little one?"

"Y-yes... Sorry, I-"My words broke off when I could see who it was.

He was clearly a samurai. Long, blackish brown hair cascaded to his waist in a ponytail at his back, leaving chin-length bangs to frame his pale face. Dark eyes looked at me with sincere concern, despite his left hand gently laid on the hilt of his katana. His armor was mostly on his torso and seemed light and made of bamboo, covered with a white vest that was open, and loose, light purple pants that seemed comfortable to move around in.

It was the samurai Mitsuhide Akechi of the Oda army.

My heart beat rapidly, fearing what he was here for. Why would someone like him come to my village? Did his lord, Nobunaga Oda, one of the strongest warlords in all of Japan, find out about what happened? Was I…to be executed..? Was he to be my killer, my savior from all the pain I was feeling?