Disclaimer::I own nothing but half the idea. lol
Chapter 01: Something different
Tatsuki let out an exasperated sigh while she stared out the classroom window at the cloudless sky. It was Friday evening and school was about to be let out for the day. Normally she would be excited to have the next two days to laze around and do nothing but hang out with her friends. The only problem was the one person that she wanted to hang out with had disappeared and shortly after that had happened the only people she could question about the situation had also disappeared leaving her with only a large amount of questions.
She had gotten some answers however, she knew where her best friend was and that she was in danger but there was nothing that she could do. Tatsuki was completely useless to her friend right now but the moment they reunite she would do anything she could for her friend because she cared more for her best friend then she had ever led her to believe or anyone for that matter. Tatsuki loved her on a more intimate level than just the platonic friendship that she claimed to have.
It had never been noticed by anyone as it was a well-kept secret and the words that conveyed her true feelings she had never once allowed to pass her lips. Not once had she considered testing their friendship with these unrequited feelings. The other girl wasn't interested in her on a non-platonic level nor was she interested in girls on any level other than friendship and she never would be. The other girl was straight and that was known to all her friends and as far as they knew Tatsuki was the same way.
For a long time Tatsuki had kept her feelings to herself with the fear of losing them once they were exposed to others. It may seem like a trivial whim to some but to Tatsuki her feelings for that girl were so deep within her that to lose them now would be the same as losing a part of herself so the thought of losing these feelings was a devastating thought that she didn't even dare to consider but with the disappearance of her dear friend the thought of losing these feelings or even the girl continued to reoccur in her mind and tormented her without pause.
Even now sitting in class her mind was filled with that special girl that she wanted so desperately to hold in her arms and protect. She would do anything just to have the ability to do even one of those things but here she sat, powerless to do anything for the girl she would gladly give her own life for without a second thought or the briefest of hesitation. Her life was nothing in comparison to that other girl and she wouldn't have any argument or any complaints if she had to sacrifice herself for the sake of the other girl.
The bell rang throughout the school and the students began to pack up their things so that they could hurry home but Tatsuki remained in her seat until the class emptied before she started to pack up her things. Everything had been different for her lately and she even felt different, almost stronger now. It was strange since her usual training had remained the same as ever and there was no difference in intensity nor was there a change in difficulty in any aspect of it. At first she had just thought it was just the fact that there was less pressure about keeping her feelings locked away so tightly around her friend but lately she had determined it was something else entirely.
Tatsuki finished packing up the last of her things before heading out of the classroom and into the near deserted hallways of the school. The only students that remained lingering were going off to their individual clubs or taking their time to go home. Recently she had gotten into the habit of leaving class after everyone had gone so she wouldn't have to bother with any of her friends that were growing concerned about her depressed state and so that it was easier for her to clear her mind and concentrate on the strange power that had begun to stir inside her recently. She had only really noticed it mid last week when she had awoke one night to find everything in her room scattered around as if something had gotten in and thrown everything around.
It wasn't the first time that something like that had happened and she had woken up in the midst of it taking place. A crash had woken and startled her making her look around her room to find that everything that had been close to her bed had been thrown to the other side of the room while some of it even seemed to be burnt. She had no way of explaining it properly to her parents when they barged into her room frantically as they demanded explanations that she couldn't give them.
Ever since that night she hadn't slept well and every time she woke up she feared a new arrangement in her room. Everything that was happening to her frightened her and she had no answers for it though she knew a man that might have the answers she sought but no matter what was happening to her she feared going to the man for answers more than anything that could happen to her while she slept. She didn't want to know what was wrong with her and nothing good could come of that man she hardly knew.
It wasn't like she knew how to find him either, the whole explanation he had given her had all been in a dream however it was real and Keigo had been given the same explanation from the same man but neither of them knew where the explanation had taken place, it had just happened and they woke up the next day in their own beds as if it never even happened. They didn't recall where they had gone the previous night and their questions on the matter soon faded away along with the name and face of the man. Just the explanation and his existence remained for both of them to remember.
Tatsuki left the school in a slight hurry so she could go home and try and figure things out on her own without the help of some strange men she didn't know or trust. When she neared the gate she noticed a tall, dark skinned woman leaning against the side and watched the school intently as if waiting for someone. The woman's eyes fell on Tatsuki causing a shiver to slowly crawl down her spine making her nervous about walking past her. The woman smiled slyly at her and gave off an odd resemblance of a cat that Tatsuki felt was oddly fitting for the strange woman. She wore tight black clothing and an orange jacket while her purple hair was tied in a high ponytail.
"I was waiting for you." The woman said with a smirk.
Tatsuki stopped dead in her tracks and looked around but there was nobody else there, "Are you talking to me?"
"Of course I was talking to you, human." The woman said slyly. "There is no one else here."
"What do you want from me?" Tatsuki asked while the woman approached her.
The woman came to a stop in front of her and said, "I assume you have noticed it by now, the power that's started to awaken within you."
Tatsuki took a step back in her fear of this woman, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb, your nervousness gives you away." The woman said. "I'm here to offer you help in controlling this power. It's your choice on whether or not you want to wake up in fear every night because of this power however."
"What?" Tatsuki asked nervously. "How do you know about that?"
"I've been keeping an eye on you ever since this has started to grow inside of you." The woman said. "It's grown enough now for you to control it and expand and even use it."
Tatsuki stood speechless at the woman's words that shocked her just as much as this power did. The woman continued to smile slyly down at her, "Come, I'll explain things on the way."
The woman turned and left leaving Tatsuki standing there completely shocked while the woman walked away from her along with any answers that Tatsuki had. She took in a nervous breath and hurried to catch up with her. She wanted answers to many questions and she couldn't deny that the woman's proposal had intrigued her. If she could control this power then she could protect the girl she loved and this assured her that she would no longer be kept in the dark about anything that she had been confused about in the past and even now.
The two made their way down the street in silence much to Tatsuki's annoyance. She had been promised answers but was getting none from the woman but her nervousness was preventing her from asking any questions. This woman knew too much about what was going on for her liking while she didn't know a thing about this woman, even her name was unknown to her so to ask for an explanation was currently out of the question. First she needed to know who this woman was, "Who are you exactly?"
"My name is Shihouin, Yoruichi." The woman answered.
"Why were you waiting for me?" Tatsuki asked.
"You need to learn how to control your powers before you hurt yourself or others." Yoruichi said glancing at Tatsuki out of the corner of her eye while she paused. "Your powers are developing nicely on their own right now but you lack control over them. With the proper guidance and training you could be of use to us."
"What do you mean 'of use'?" Tatsuki asked. "You want to use me?"
"Not exactly, think of it more along the lines of recruitment, you have amazing potential and are the best option for what we need right now." Yoruichi explained. "You already know how to fight so I won't have to train you how to fight in unarmed combat but you will need to learn how to fight with weapons. If possible I would like to make you a lot faster but that will be difficult for you to achieve."
"Define weapons." Tatsuki said. "Are you talking about guns?"
"Katana, short swords, knives or whatever you want to use." Yoruichi said. "I can have you trained in any form of combat with almost any weapon but your training will be long and very intense since we are short on time."
"What if I don't want to do this?" Tatsuki asked despite her deep intrigue on this new situation and the possibilities it held for her.
"Then go home right now." Yoruichi said while stopping to face her. "If you continue on and do this training then you will become very strong but you will also have a responsibility with this power. Once you start the training you will have only one opportunity to back out but that will be when you have control of your power. If you want to continue after that than you can't go back."
"I want to do this." Tatsuki said with determination.
Yoruichi smiled at her and walked towards the store they were standing in front of as she said, "Good because we start right now. You'll get a full explanation when we take a break and no sooner than that."
Tatsuki took a deep breath to give herself courage before following Yoruichi into the store. She was unsure why they were going into a store and how this had anything to do with her training but she wouldn't ask any more questions right now and she knew that she had to trust this woman even if she didn't know anything about this woman other than her name that she found oddly familiar but was from an unknown origin that she couldn't trace or identify.
She followed the woman through the shop but was hesitant in continuing past the off limits area but was simply motioned forward by Yoruichi so she followed her until they came to a stop at the end of a hallway where a trapdoor was lifted up before they met eyes once more, "Your training will take place in the basement. When you get down there be on your guard, I want to see how strong you are right now. Consider it a small test."
"A test?" Tatsuki asked and received only a nod. "Great."
The woman smiled and hopped down the small hole leaving Tatsuki with even more questions than before. She had no idea what this test was going to be but she hoped that she could handle it because if she was expected to control her power and use it then nothing would be accomplished other than a fruitless attempt at grasping something far out of her reach. There was no telling what this power she had even was or what she could really do with it.
Tatsuki let out a sigh and crouched down to look into the darkness to find that there was no way of knowing how far it really went but it couldn't be too far if Yoruichi had hopped down like it was nothing. She glanced at the ladder in consideration of whether she should use it or just hop down as well but quickly decided on using the ladder since she hadn't heard anything to determine the actual depth of the basement and she didn't even hear Yoruichi's landing though she did seem like the type to be quiet on her feet and could have landed silently though Tatsuki wasn't about to chance it.
She started down the ladder and was quickly consumed by darkness hindering her progress out of nervousness. Just to find the rungs she had to blindly search along the wall and soon found that the distance between each rung seemed to vary but it was still manageable all the same. A cool breeze travelled down the shaft making Tatsuki move closer to the ladder with a nervous shudder. She glanced up and found only darkness as making her wonder if the trapdoor had been closed. Tatsuki took a deep breath finding that her body was beginning to freeze with fear so she slowly glanced down and found nothing but darkness waiting for her. All she could do was try to gather her courage and continue on in hopes that the bottom was close.
Tatsuki continued on as fast as she dared but her arms were quickly becoming tired. She let out a sigh of relief when she found that the distance in the rungs were starting to become more regular encouraging her to look down and find a slight light below her. That tiny light encouraged her to quicken her pace and reach the bottom while it continued to grow brighter the closer she got to it. The moment she reached the dim light she felt a strange feeling inside of her but it wasn't the power that was awakening inside her, it was the fact that she was finally getting closer to everything that had bothered her lately. Answers lied at the bottom of this shaft and she would finally have them in her grasp.
The light quickly chased away the darkness and Tatsuki almost felt happy that she was away from the darkness until she looked down and all the strength left her arms at the distance she still had left. There was a very long way to go and she had lost all courage to continue on making her press her body closer to the wall in fear of falling and losing her life. She was now beyond grateful for using the ladder instead of jumping down ignorantly to what easily would have been a quick death upon impact.
While she stayed frozen in place she couldn't help but question why she was doing this now. Was her thirst for power so strong within herself that she would trust a complete stranger? No, that's not why she was doing this, she was doing this to protect the girl she loved more than anything in the whole world. All she wanted was to hold her or protect her and Yoruichi was giving her that opportunity to acquire the strength to do one of those things and she had yet to find the strength within herself to convey her feelings to the girl so she would never be able to hold her the way she longed to.
Tatsuki was doing this for that girl more than for answers or any promised strength though it was tempting. She knew the power she would gain from this would allow her to protect the girl she loved so she would go along with this training no matter how harsh it was. We don't have much time, the woman's words echoed through Tatsuki's mind making her remember just how much she missed her best friend. A new wave of determination washed through her giving her arms the strength to continue on with a quicker pace than before and she was focused solely on protecting that one girl from harm. It didn't matter what it took, nothing would stop Tatsuki from protecting her. This would become her mission in life more than it already was.
She continued on with more ease now since her mind was focused on her goal and gave her the encouragement to move forward in the voice of her most cherished friend. Soon she had only a quarter of the way left to go and she felt more encouraged to look around but through her amazement of the sight she saw no trace of the woman that had brought her here. It wouldn't be much longer before her feet were on the ground and she would be that much closer to getting the answers she was craving but she had no idea where to go from here.
Tatsuki let out a relieved sigh when she found that she was about fifteen feet off the ground. Never had she felt that these answers were so close to her and with each rung on the ladder past her the better she felt about herself. Tatsuki took a look around and took in the odd landscape of this 'basement' and found it resembled a desert like canyon, there was a sky, dirt, and even rocks that varied in size and shape. This was definitely a strange place and she half expected some sort of animal to actually live down here in this underground habitat. The only thing missing was the heat, the temperature was in fact rather cool but then, it only looked like a desert.
She stopped for a moment and looked for Yoruichi but found no sign of her anywhere around. The more she looked around the more she wondered if this was part of her test. She contemplated the possibility while she continued down the latter more cautiously. A loud howl echoed throughout the large room making her stop in her decent and quickly turned to look for the source of the how in case whatever made it was close. The sound of it made her fear picked up at an alarming rate and she felt that she had heard a similar sound before but couldn't place it in her memory at all.
The howl was nowhere near natural or anything she had ever heard from any animal before. There was a bit of movement in the distance that she couldn't quite make out causing her to lean out a bit and squint in hopes of making out whatever it was. It was definitely too big to be human or even an animal. Her grip was firm on the ladder to assure her balance on it but when she leaned out all the way the rung she was holding onto seemed to disappear in her grasp.
She groped desperately for the ladder noticing that all the rungs she could grad had disappeared leaving only the side and the one she stood on. She fell backwards for the last ten feet in a matter of seconds but it had felt much longer like all panicked falls tend to. She hit the ground hard and rolled over to relieve the pressure on her back. Halfway over though she noticed a rack that caught her attention that contained various weapons along with a note that was pinned in plain view for her to see like her fall was predicted.
Tatsuki remained on her side for a moment to allow the pain of her fall to fade away before she got up and approached the rack. She looked at each weapon in turn while partially ignoring the note. The howl and the creature that made the noise was concerning to her and was clearly part of her test. She picked up a katana and gave it a few practice swings to try and get a feel for it but was unable to making her put it back and turn her gaze on a short sword beside the katanas.
She took that next and swung it around and found it much easier to keep her balance and that she had a much nicer handle with it. Her gaze went to the note next as she picked it up while keeping a tight grip on the short sword in case whatever she would have to face attacked her while she was reading the note which contained her small task;
Pick any weapon you think you can handle. Everything that you will need is here for you to take and use. You will find a change of clothes as well unless you plan on training in what you're in now. You only have fifteen minutes from when you hit the ground to prepare yourself then you need to leave or you will be in danger. Your task is simply to survive.
Tatsuki looked back at the rack and found a small wooden chest beside it. She estimated that she had already lost several minutes to time and had to hurry before she was attacked by whatever was down here. The short sword was placed back on the rack as she went to the chest and quickly retrieved the black kimono inside of it. This wasn't something she was used to wearing but it was better than doing this in a skirt so it would have to do.
She took a quick look around to make sure no one was around to watch before taking off her shirt and putting on the top part of the robe to cover the rest of her body. It took her a few minutes to change and she was getting even more nervous in the situation. Another howl was heard clearly in the empty open area making her stop what she was doing and look around once more but saw no movement at all so she brought her focus back to her current task at hand.
Her clothing was quickly folded and placed in the chest before removing the few pieces of armor that was also left for her. She quickly strapped it to her arms under the robe before going back to the rack and taking the short sword which was quickly slid under her sash so that it was on an angle on her back. When another loud howl was heard Tatsuki glanced back at the rack with consideration and took another short sword and placed it opposite of the other one.
Some small knives also caught her eye when the last of her free time ran out. She quickly grabbed a few of them and left the rack behind her. She held the knives in her hands but didn't know where to put them. Her eyes fell on the armor she wore and decided that may be the best option if she were disarmed. She slid two visibly in her sash and held the other two in her mouth while she loosened the armor just enough to hide a knife under each but she was careful to keep them hidden and placed so that they wouldn't cut her or the strap holding the armor on.
With that Tatsuki was confident that she was ready for whatever was waiting for her, until of course there was another howl and a loud noise followed closely by a cloud of dirt that was seen in the distance from behind a giant rock that almost formed a wall. Tatsuki stopped dead in her tracks and allowed her hand to rest on the hilt of one of the short swords before she continued onwards towards the raising dust while the only thing driving her forward was her hopes of protecting her beloved friend.