My first fanfic, so be kind please! X3
I don't own anything, only my OC Kei.
Spring, 2011, Hokkaido-
CLANG!
Cheers and cries of encouragement rang out from one side.
The opposing side, however, was a completely different story. The team members groaned and sighed as another one of them was beaten back.
Suddenly, two of them received a smack on the head.
"Hey you! Hachiaya!"
The two friends warily looked up. Their team's vice-captain loomed over them, rolled-up paper in hand.
"What're you doing! Why aren't you cheering her on!" she demanded.
They shuffled nervously and one of them pointed at the paper the vice-captain was holding. On it was a list of the members and their opponents.
"Even if you say that...Just look at the match line-up." One of them remarked. "Our first opponent in the spring High School Kendo Competition are the old champs, Aoba! And with you out with and injury and the captain out as usual, that leaves us with four members."
Both sadly nodded, and the second finished, "No matter how hard we try, we don't have a prayer! If only the captain would participate." They drooped down and sighed in unison.
The team vice-captain smiled knowingly and said, "That's why you have to cheer!" They looked up cautiously. She grinned and added, "We've still got our 'general'."
Just then, the third member of the team returned, drenched in sweat. She tiredly pulled off her helmet as the second member helped her.
"Sorry Kusanagi," she sighed. "Your turn now, general. I don't want them to win it all, so if you could get at least one..." she fidgeted nervously.
The fourth member of the team, a young freshman girl, looked up from her position on the end of the bench.
"Eh? Why one?" she asked innocently.
"Why one? Er-"
The third member, now resting on the bench, was suddenly cut off as a loud "HEEEYY" burst in from the spectator stands. Everyone turned around and stared at the two young boys, who were yelling in their direction.
"HEY! Hey Sis!" the twins yelled, waving energetically together.
"Oh! Masamune! Kotetsu!" the fourth member, their older sister, replied.
"Go for it Kasane!" Kotetsu yelled.
"Beat all five! All five! Piece of cake!" Masamune hollered.
"All five...As if it were that simple..." the third member said uncertainly.
Kasane, however, clenched her fist and grinned. "Don't worry! I'll win!" she exclaimed confidently. "I'll win!".
The boys' kendo group, standing behind the female vice-captain, watched as the two opponents prepared themselves. One of them, a sophomore, voiced his uncertainties about Kasane.
"The girls' "general"...Isn't she just a freshmen? I heard her home is an iaido dojo or something. But how come a freshman is the 'general'?"
The rest of the boys all nodded in agreement.
The vice-captain grinned. "Strength, technique, style... Pick any of those, and she stands out far above the rest. And that's not all I'm expecting from her. Indeed, she almost matches up to the captain herself!"
The boy who had spoken chuckled uncertainly. " 'almost matches up to the captain'...? Don't spoil her too much."
The vice-captain turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Do you doubt my judgment?" she asked.
The boy nervously shook his head. "N-No! Of course not! It's just... I don't think anyone can come even close to the captain's skill."
The vice-captain continued to stare at him, then softened and smiled. "Alright, I see why you would doubt me. After all, you haven't seen her skills yet." Her voice hardened again. "But still, next time I won't be so forgiving." S
he turned back around and the group focused back on the match. "Just watch this fight and you'll see."
Kasane breathed out and tugged on her helmet strap. "Calm down, this will be a piece of cake." she thought to herself.
Feeling better, she smacked her cheeks to clear her head as the referee yelled out loudly from his position.
"FIGHTERS, STEP FORWARD!"
Kasane announced herself as she assumed her position. "Kenjou High freshman Kusanagi Kasane, PRESENT!"
The ref looked to the other side and yelled,"Then you may...BEGIN!"
[After the match, late afternoon]
A young boy's voice rang out in the still afternoon air as the small family walked home.
"But you were sooo cool! You won five in a row!"
Kasane, who was pushing her bike forward with her kendo equipment on her back, blushed modestly and rubbed the back of her head. "Really? I guess I did."
Kotetsu, her younger brother, balanced her duffel bag on his shoulder. "Yeah!" he encouraged.
Masamune, the other twin, held onto Kasane's shinai and added, "You shocked both your friends and opponents! Except your vice-captain, she just watched with a weird smile on her face and said 'Ahaha, just as I expected.'"
Kasane grinned and remarked, "The vice is always like that, I think it's funny."
Kotestu asked, "Oh yeah sis, where's your captain? Isn't she that genius person? Why doesn't she participate in the matches?"
Kasane pondered his question for a moment, and replied, "Well, she's not allowed to participate in any competitions. I heard from rumors that when she was a freshman she sent her opponents to the hospital, so the High School Kendo competition board barred her from the competition."
Kasane looked down at her younger brothers, who were staring up at her.
"What?" she blushed.
Masamune smirked and exclaimed, "No way sis, that's impossible! No one is as good as you! They're just rumors."
Kotetsu nodded in agreement. The two brothers looked up to their sister, who was the pillar of support in the family.
Kasane smiled and ruffled Masamune's hair. "Thanks guys." she said. "But she already beat me in the fall last year, during the matches held among the members."
Kotestu and Masamune looked up and surprise at her. "WHAT?" they yelled.
Kasane grinned wryly. "The club has matches to determine each member's status. The captain came out on top, I was second place, and the vice was third. Freshmen members can't be captain or vice-captain, so I didn't become anything."
Kotetsu and Masamune both became visibly depressed upon hearing Kasane's words. "But sis, you're so strong!" they moaned.
Kasane smiled and patted their heads. "It's okay guys, really! The team captain really is a genius! She's so cool too!"
Masamune pouted. "Ehh..." he said.
Kasane quickly switched topics. "But now we've gotten through the first match of the spring tournaments! I have to get back to my part-time job tomorrow, too. I'm going to blaze through the next match in the exact same way!"
Kotestu and Masamune, now happier, cheered in unison. "Yeahh~!"
"If you get into the national championships like this," Kotetsu exclaimed, "a whole bunch of folks will go join Grandpa's dojo!"
Kasane turned and grinned at him. "Oh! You're such an optimist Kotestu!"
She looked back down at her bike and said, "Right now it's just a small dojo, but one day I'm going to inherit both the house and the dojo, and it's my dream to make it much, much bigger!"
Masamune sighed. "Considering Gramps, you aren't going to be inheriting it anytime this century. He's never going to retire."
Kasane turned around to face him and clenched her fist. "That's the thing, Masamune!" she agreed. "I've got to show them what I've got so people will acknowledge me. I have to stick to it until he tells me I'm good enough! And that'll be it!"
Suddenly a mother and her child, returning from the nearby kindergarten, approached.
"Oh! Hello!" the mother said kindly to the trio as her daughter stared at them curiously.
All three turned around to face them and exclaimed energetically, "Hi there!" (Kasanagi family rule: Always greet people with energy.)
As the mother and daughter walked away, the daughter whispered to her mom, "Mom those guys were really energetic!" The mother bent down and said, "They were, weren't they?"
Kasane noticed Kotestu and Masamune staring at the mom and daughter as the walked away.
She bent down, smiled, and drew them closer to herself. "Since mom and dad are gone...Masamune, Kotestu, you guys have to grow up big and strong."
The twins looked at Kasane and murmured "Sis."
Kasane grinned and said, "Just leave everything to me! I'll take care of you guys, the house, and the dojo!"
They both smiled. "Yeah!" Masamune said. "We'll help out too!" Kotestu exclaimed.
Kasane, unable to resist their cuteness, huggled them and said, "You're such good boys." with anime-esque tears streaming down her cheeks.
A passing businessmen said "?" in confusion as he watched the trio pose together.
Kasane stood back up and nodded at Masamune. They had already arrived in front of the electronics store, and the grocery store wasn't far ahead.
"Alright Masamune, go blaze through the grocery store!" Kasane exclaimed as they clenched their fists in unison.
"Yeah! You got it, I already know what's on sale!" Masamune replied confidently.
Meanwhile, Kotestu's eye caught an interesting tidbit of information being announced on the the televisions on display in the store window.
"Ah! Look here Kasane." he remarked, pointing at the television screen.
A female announcer chatted as a line of text flashed on the bottom.
"Hm? 'Vanished'...?" Kasane read.
Masamune, joining in the conversation, said, "Ah! They still haven't found that kid."
Kasane, who was looking at Masamune, turned as Kotestu began speaking.
"Look, you remember that corruption scandal before? About the old Minister of Finance."
Kasane quickly caught on and said, "Oh! Agazuma, right?"
Kotestu nodded and continued. "His child went missing and hasn't been found yet."
Kasane, who hadn't heard of the event yet, thoughtfully said, "Really...? You know a lot Kotestu. But missing..." Kasane furrowed her brow, a bit dazed. "That kid must be lonely..."
Masamune chuckled and remarked, "If it were you, you'd find a way how no matter what!"
Kasane, who was still thinking, said as an afterthought, "I hope they find that kid soon..."
Masamune agreed, and the two turned and continued walking.
Kotestu, still lagging behind them, turned as he heard a sound.
VROOM... THUNK THUNK. CLATTER...
An interesting katana, which looked like it was antique, lay on the crosswalk behind him. A mysterious, large, blue bead hung from a ribbon attached to it's sheath.
"?" Kotetsu looked down at it as the bead twinkled in the sunlight. 'A sword...?' he thought. Looking back up, he glanced around to see if anyone had dropped it.
A truck lumbered off in the distance.
'Did it fall off that shop's van?' he said to himself.
Looking the left, Kotestu spotted an antique shop with dusty jars and dull-looking katana's on display. 'An antique shop...' he thought.
Turning back around, he yelled at Kasane and Masamune, who were chatting in front of him.
"Hey Kasane, Masamune!" The two looked back at him. "I found this weird sword here-" Kotestu said.
His voice was suddenly cut off by the screech of a truck's tire.
Kasane and Masamune's eye's widened in alarm.
"KOTESTU!" Kasane screeched loudly in alarm.
He glanced back in shock at the truck right behind him, it's driver frantically turning the wheel as to avoid him.
Meanwhile, the vice-captain was walking toward the scene, heading back home.
'Ah, those are the Kusanagi kids...' she thought absentmindedly. "...?"
Kasane's reflexes kicked in and she launched herself at Kotestu, directly in front of the truck.
When...it happened, it lasted only a few seconds.
Kasane wrapped her arms around Kotestu and the sword as the truck leered behind them.
Time seemed to slow as the truck driver ducked, bracing for...impact. She vaguely heard Masamune yell "SIS!" and the vice-captain yell "KUSANAGI KASANE!", as if their screams of desperation could stop time and rescue the two.
Kasane felt her hand draw the sword from it's sheath.
CHING! FLARE
A bright, glaring light exploded from the sword, enveloping everything. Masamune shielded himself with his arms and squeezed his eyes shut.
SCREECH!
The truck narrowly avoided Kotestu, and flipped onto it's side.
As the dust cleared the observers began yelling. "There's a crash! Quick, someone call and ambulance!"
The vice-captain recovered from her shock and thought to herself, 'What! What was that blue light...?'
Meanwhile, Masamune had rushed over to Kotestu's side. "Are you okay Kotestu?" he exclaimed worriedly.
"Y-Yeah... I'm fine..." Kotestu replied.
He had various scrapes on his knees and arms, but no broken bones or major injuries. Suddenly he stiffened and looked up.
"But Masamune!" he yelled.
Masamune looked at him."?" he said, realization written across his face.
"Where's Kasane...?" Kotestu said, and the two looked around.
Their precious older sister was nowhere to be found. It was as if she had been wiped off the face of the earth. Her bike, lying prone on the ground, had been abandoned.
Right then, no one had realized it yet, but...
Kasane lay face-first in the grass, the katana in her hand. The blue bead was now a dull, pulsing shade, with a large crack on it's surface.
In those few seconds...My life took a huge turn-