Prologue
Walking down the streets of Kyoto, she just couldn't help herself from admiring the bustling crowds. Oh, how they had grown so much since she had last been in this area! It had been so long since she had walked the streets of a proper village, let alone a city as busy and hectic as this one! Many years spent being alone had given her a new appreciation of being around so many people, and she felt a bit in awe of it all.
But something odd had caught her attention and forced her out of her seclusion. She had sensed a growing aura, a pitch black stain which was slowly devouring the city. Now, under the light of the midday sun, the aura was somewhat hidden. She could sense it, slumbering in the shadows, but she was certain the average citizen had no idea what crept into their city come nightfall. Something was upsetting the world's balance, creating a darkness which would spread if not dealt with soon. She was curious as to what could be causing such a disruption that even she could have sensed it from her lonely home in the mountains.
Keiko wandered the streets, not really paying direct attention to anything as she walked. She received many concerned and confused stares as she strolled through the city, although it did not surprise her. Her attire was quite unusual for a woman, she was certain that these people had never seen someone like her before. Unlike most other women, she chose to wear pants and a top rather than a kimono. She wore loose pale blue pants which faded into white at the bottom, where she used white cloth to wrap around her ankles to secure the pants in place. A white cloth was tied around her waist in a large bow to hold her pants to her hips. Her black top, which was tucked neatly into her pants, was fairly tight to her torso. The fabric around her chest reached up around her neck in a tight collar, leaving her shoulders bare. She had sleeves of the same colour as her pants, which were held around her upper arms by thin silver bands. A line of silver plum blossoms lined the top of her collar, just below her chin, standing out brilliantly against the darkness of her top. She wore a pair of plain black flats, which she found immensely easier to walk and run in than the traditional sandals.
Stranger yet was how she wore her hair. Keiko was quite proud of her long, silky jet-black hair which reached down to her knees. She wore it down, with a pale blue ribbon tying the bottom of it to keep it somewhat contained. She had short bangs which swept to her left, a few strands falling down to frame her face and hide her ears. Many townsfolk stopped in their tracks to gawk at her. Everything about her was strange, from her abnormal dress to her odd style of hair to the way that she carried herself. She was carefree and absentminded, seemingly from another world.
As she continued her exploration of the town, she failed to notice a group of four rambunctious ronin heading in her direction. She caught the sound of a wind chime and turned her head to it's direction, oblivious to the rowdy men marching towards her. As they chatted and laughed amongst themselves, they were eyeing her with devilish grins spread across their faces. She stopped, only hearing the sound of the chimes dangling in a shop window.
"My, aren't you exotic…" one of the men commented as he stopped in front of Keiko. "And quite beautiful too." Another spoke, standing beside his comrade.
Keiko completely ignored them and turned to walk towards the wind chimes. Perhaps they were for sale.
The men were shocked, but only for a moment. Irked, the tallest of the group stormed ahead and stood in front of her, blocking her path. "OI!" He exclaimed, waving a hand in front of her face as she stopped and stared blankly at his face.
"Do you need something?" She asked, her clear voice quiet but firm. Her tone seemed very disinterested, which only served to feed the ronin's anger.
"Don't ignore people when you're being spoken to, woman!" The tall one bellowed. A shorter, more muscular looking man stepped forward, nodding as he did so. "Especially when you're being complimented. Someone might think you ungrateful." His tone was accusatory as he eyed her. She narrowed her eyes as she glared at him.
"Why should I have gratitude for such meaningless words? Such creatures as yourself deserve ignoring." She said flippantly, pushing past the group of men to carry on her way towards the shop.
"HEY! HOLD IT!" the tall man finally snapped, reaching out and grabbing onto her arm in a rough manner. She turned her head, her cold blue eyes searing into his dull brown ones. She twisted her arm just enough to grab onto his wrist, then swiftly twisted herself and pulled him to toss him into the ground.
"Do not touch me, filth." She hissed, standing proudly above the fallen man. He groaned, struggling to regain his senses after the ordeal. "You… urgh, you bitch…" He stumbled as he forced himself off the ground, only to find her already walking away. One of the other ronin reached out a hand to help him up, and he quickly swatted it away. "Idiot! Go get her!" He shouted as he dragged himself into a standing position. The group of them then raced after Keiko.
She heard them coming and sighed. This is troublesome, she thought idly as she easily dodged one of the men attempting to grab onto her. She twisted around and kicked at her attacker, sending him soaring into the dirt. She leapt back as another of them lunged after her, dipping into a narrow alleyway. The men snickered as they noticed the change in location. Keiko was unconcerned. She continued dipping over and under the men, despite the lack of space the alley provided, causing the men to grow steadily more irritated. None of the bunch had noticed a growing crowd at the entrance to the alleyway, among them a few men bearing light blue coats.
"Stop messing around and just grab her!" The tall man shouted impatiently. Two of his comrades rushed towards Keiko, reaching out to grab her. She leapt back, flipping backward as she kicked the closer of the two in the jaw then landing in a crouching position, only to rush forward and send a powerful punch into the second man's gut. She managed to accomplish both strikes in the blink of an eye, and as quickly as they had rushed towards her the two men were falling to the ground, unconscious. Keiko stood to face the tall man and the short, muscular man head on. The two of them were absolutely fuming.
Being completely enraged - and in Keiko's opinion, completely unintelligent - the two men lunged after the proud woman in front of them. They darted apart, intending to swarm her from both sides of the alleyway at once. Keiko sighed, then swirled around gracefully, catching the short man against a wall with her foot to his jugular while she held the presumed leader against the opposite wall by the throat. She dug her nails into his flesh as she glared daggers at him, simultaneously applying more pressure to the other man's neck with her foot.
As she stood there, ready to snap both of their necks at once, she heard the sound of a pair of hands clapping. She turned her head to the entrance of the alley to see a tall, handsome man staring at her with an amused expression as he stood in front of the large crowd, and clapped. He had a large, friendly grin on his face as he walked towards her. He was one of the men in the blue coats, she noticed.
"That was quite impressive, I've never seen anyone fight like that before! Especially not a woman…: The last part was almost a murmur, a sheepish look passing across his face momentarily as he spoke the words. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"That so." She spoke quietly, unwilling to trust his friendly demeanor. His smile dropped at the sound of her voice as he detected the venom laced in her words. A warning. She still held the two ronin in place as she glared at the new man. He recovered his cool after a moment and grinned at her again.
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm very impressed... " He seemed thoughtful as he spoke. He gestured then for his associates in blue to come and retrieve the ronin. Keiko eyed the new group of men warily, but opted to just see what these new people would do and released the two men from her hold. They fell to the ground, gasping and choking for the air she had withheld from them, unable to resist the uniformed men dragging them and their friends away. "You know," The friendly looking man spoke again, regaining Keiko's attention. "I really think we could use a fighter like you in our little army." He said the words with mirth in his voice. She cocked her head to the side at his comment, her interest slightly peaked.
"Would that not be unsightly, a woman holding such a rank as soldier." She spoke with a sardonic tone, rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. The man only chuckled.
"We've always been an unsightly bunch anyway. Besides, I don't think Hijikata would be able to resist a vixen of your, uh, talents." He beamed at her, and she couldn't help but to smirk back at his enthusiasm. This was an interesting development indeed, and quite the interesting choice of title to call her by. She chose to ignore it for the moment.
"And what would make your organization worthy of my help?" She teased, grinning slightly as the man before her faltered a bit from her comment. But then a sly grin spread across his face and he pulled his sword from its sheath. Keiko's grin only widened at this.
"Why don't I prove our worthiness right now?" He challenged. Keiko dropped into a fighting stance immediately, her excitement nearly bubbling over as she watched the man take his own battle stance. He lunged at her, striking out with his sword abruptly, but he was not quick enough to catch her unguarded. She dodged easily and stepped to the side to avoid his thrusts. They danced around each other, dipping in and out of striking range. Keiko wasn't putting too much effort into the fight, but she was certainly paying more attention to this man compared to the ronin from earlier. He demanded it of her with his sword, lunging past her powerfully.
"My name is Nagakura Shinpachi! Captain of the second division of the Shinsengumi!" He bellowed excitedly as he brought down a particularly powerful strike towards Keiko. She narrowly avoided it and twisted around to the side as she laughed, sending a kick in the direction of his head.
"Ayama Keiko," She exclaimed as she dodged another of his attacks, her blissful voice ringing out more pleasantly than the wind chimes from the shop. Shinpachi grinned as he leapt towards her, swinging his sword in a downward motion. She turned and grabbed onto his wrist to redirect him, only for him to grab her's back and hold both of them in place. She beamed up at him. "I am delighted to meet you, Nagakura Shinpachi of the Shinsengumi!"
They let go of each other and each bowed in respect, then straightened to smile at one another again. Shinpachi had been right, this woman was a very skilled fighter, and he knew that she would be a valued addition to their ragtag group of wanna-be samurai, even if she was a woman. Likewise, Keiko could clearly see that this man and his comrades would prove quite interesting, and she suspected that by going with them she may yet discover what was plaguing this city with darkness. Keiko giggled then, and turned to walk towards the yet larger crowd which had formed to watch the two spar. She reached the end of the alleyway and turned her head to look at Shinpachi.
"Are you going to take me to your organization or what?" She said as she grinned at him. He beamed and ran towards her, motioning for her to follow. She quickly did so, her heart filling with great anticipation as they headed towards the Shinsengumi Headquarters.