Blood . Hell

(and all was calm once again)

Kurusugawa Manor.

The Kurusugawa bloodline had stood unbroken for centuries, generation after generation ruling the town of cherry blossoms and worshipping their goddess, Amaterasu, in peace. It was their pride, an infallible ruling line that the people had loved and cherished for half a millennium.

For that same amount of time, the graveyards had been silent. As the crows never flew by night, so hadn't the ghosts been awakened in unrest before.

In one night, so much would happen.

A girl lay beneath her sheets, gazing at the clear moonlight. A sigh slipped through her lips, and she urged sleep to come, still finding no relief or rest.

The crickets and cicadas chirped with a throbbing rhythm, sweet songs of the warm night. The leaves were brushed like a hand running through wind chimes. They rang like whispering bells.

When will tomorrow come? When will my wishes come true?

The next day was special. The next day, she would be sixteen. The next day, she would finally be eligible to get married. The next day, she would finally be with the one she loved, until the end of time.

How many suitors had she had to turn down for this man? There had been others she had loved more, but her own parents had turned down. The rest—it had been an easy choice, for one stood out. And tomorrow, she would be marrying him.

Outside, the moonlight was like pure silver upon her white blankets. It shone like the moon itself in her golden hair, upon her gracefully closed eyelids. Beneath them, her vision was whirling with dreams of the day—red-dressed pillars and doorways, banners that read with messages of prosperity and blessing. Petals of the cherry blossoms that would land at her doorstep and not be swept away, a carpet of glory for the newly-wedded couple.

She couldn't wait. Her heart was like a butterfly of spring, as she opened her eyes a crack and watched the silhouette of the trees outside. They had once frightened her when she had been eight, but long-gone were those fears. They brought promise of the next dawn.

Regretfully, her thoughts crossed over her first love. She had been the Kurusugawa's best knight, and their love had been so true. But her parents had frowned upon them. The princess couldn't have another woman for a husband! It was a tradition that had to be kept. So she had to leave her, for fear of her parents.

The fact remains that, to make sure that she marry a worthy man, her parents purposely sent her away on the pilgrimage around the world, the once in hundred year ritual to appease Kagutsuchi, the god of fire and hell, so that by the time she returned from her pilgrimage, she would have already been married, better still, started a family.

A cruel way to tear apart a pair of lovers indeed.

But what point was there in lingering over that? At the end of this night, she would be a woman. She would have the man she loved, and all her regrets would be gone.

In one night, so much would happen.

A woman stood on the eaves of a building in the shining moonlight. In her hands was cradled a black long sword, cold though she had held it for so long—her hands were cold.

At the back of her mind, she saw the image of her old love, and she felt her heart tear.

She had smiled and professed her love for her, with no hint of doubt surfacing in that expression, in her unshaking voice. She had given herself to her, and she had thought that she would be her wife.

Then quickly as she had given it, she had taken it away. The woman's hands shook with her rage.

"I'm sorry. I can't love you, or marry you. I must go."

Now, a year later after her return , she suddenly had herself a new husband-to-be! She had wrenched her heart from her chest with her departure, and now she would be with someone else.

Her beauty still haunted her all the time, and her sweet kindness, when they had been lovers.

No. It had all been a lie. All along, she had been pretending to love her, and now she had a man—a prince, at that. She simply left her like that, for someone else. She was going to get married tomorrow.

Tomorrow. She wouldn't let tomorrow come.

Slipping across the tiles, she was one with the shadows. Ever so silently, she crossed the ground and was at her window—the window through which, once, she had escaped to meet her. It would now be the passageway to her end.

Her eyes were closed, as her shadow appeared on the floor, against the luminous moonlight. The tree branches were waving before her.

Sweet girl, I once loved you. Too bad you decided to leave me. You will die and offer your soul to Kagutsuchi, like promised.

For years, she had longed for revenge on her. From the day she had left, her rage had grown within her. But this rage wasn't like fire; it was ice—it had slowly frozen her heart and bred her thirst for vindication.

For years, she had trained. Her every killing brought her more experience. She had fumbled at first, but it had slowly grown in her—the skill with which she stole life and breath with a single flick of her sword. She had earned himself a name, found her way into history—the deadliest assassin who had ever lived in the town.

Her fame had raised great pride in her as well as the Kurusugawas themselves, as they are the ones who approached her for her swordsmanship, it was then she met eyes with the princess, in a moonlit night just like tonight. When she was asked to go on the pilgrimage, it was a few hours later after her lover broke her heart.

Tonight, she would commit what would be her first and most famous crime—she would assassinate the princess, the girl who had left her heart in shards and splinters.

She was on her floor. The carpet was soft beneath her feet. This was the princess who had lived a pampered life, who had never known the truth of the outside world, who had thought it fine to just dump her, like that! It didn't matter what excuse she had to give. After this night, she would be silent forever.

When will tomorrow come?

Tomorrow would never come.

She was close enough to hear her breath, to see how her beauty still remained painted on her face. She could see her smile, still set in the way it had been when she had taken her hand.

Lies. Nothing but lies.

Suddenly her eyelids fluttered open. At once they filled with tears. "Ch-Chikane-chan…my—love…Is it truly you? Why are you here? I'm so sorry—"

"NO! You lied to me!"

The blade flashed in the calm of the moonlight. Her eyes widened as she struck with black metal. And she gasped.

Blood sprayed upon the carpets and the sheets, and her voice died to a hoarse whisper, and nothing. The crows flew away on their dark wings, into the bright moon. And the wind howled. The ghosts turned in their graves, all across the area, howling like wolves.

The moonlight became a stream of blood through her window.

…never.

Suddenly shivering, she pulled the sword from her neck. Blood burst from the wound and rained onto the carpet. She couldn't stand it, being in this room, with a dead body. She leapt through the window and ran on, over the grass towards her dark home, beneath the watch of the blood red moon.

Then she remembered that she lived in a graveyard—the royal graveyard, at that. Too late. The ghosts were already rising from their graves, shadowed on the white and gold tombstones as she approached the pathway under the shadow of raging trees. The air seemed to freeze on her skin, and she could not move. Not a single twitch.

They rained upon her, swirling through the night, holding her in devastating coldness that she could've screamed at to end. She didn't. She could hear their whispers through the blizzard, tormenting and cold. She could see images of her face all over his vision, her smile full of genuine love. Suddenly her eyes and lips rained blood, and her expression went blank, mouth opening to form the syllables with red-stained lips:

"I still loved you. Why did you take my life?"

Crying out in defiant terror, she was brought to her knees amid the roar of ghostly howls. Had she truly still loved her? Had it not been a lie?

She could see her eyes. Love, so deep, deeper and more passionate than the ocean. Voice, so truthful and unwavering, sweet as the scented winds of spring.

Had she just killed her?

Himeko… I am the traitor. I still loved you, too.

Then she looked upon her blade, still gleaming with glossy blood. Her blood.

It soared through her chest, through her ribcage, tearing sinew and flesh. She grinned as she felt the pain ripple through her body, and the blood began to bloom in her cloaks, hot on her freezing skin. She smiled, as the lifeblood drained out of her, sucking the life from him in a storm of red and black; of anger, guilt and satisfaction.

Then she was beyond consciousness, and her world dropped beneath a black shadow. The moon faded to calm silver, and the ghosts returned to the graves, appeased. and then, a burning figure stood over the assassin's corpse, grimacing menacingly.

Chikane-chan~ time for me to take your due...!

never again.

In one night, so much happened. The princess was killed. The bloodline of Kurusugawa's royalty was broken. The crows flew by night. The moon turned red. An assassin died by her own hand. A broken lover found her strange peace in a rain of blood.

In one night,

and all was calm once again.

Omake

Chikane woke up, standing on a mountain of skulls.

The sound made by her rustling clothes woke the ravens sleeping in the hollow bones, squawking out loudly as they flew away.

And then, she saw her, the blonde haired princess standing right next to a larger entity, a half-human figure with flames spewing from his back, standing on a pair of hooves, his reptilian face grimaced with enthusiasm.

"Kagutsuchi-sama… Himeko…"

In his deep tenor base tone, he started to speak, revealing his razor sharp and pearl white teeth, exhaling what appears to be smoke when the god opened his mouth, "For many generations, none has ever defeated me in battle, many (not counting the ones on the pilgrimage) had tried – Lu Bu, Oda Nobunaga, Lancelot, Uchiha Madara and oh, I almost forgot, Adolf Hitler... but they all failed miserably and are now suffering in hell!"

"But you, little Chikane, despite the fact that you are a lot younger… and a lot more smaller than your predecessors, you possessed a soul dark enough to wield the Masamune, pulling the sword out from my heart, freeing me… so take this girl as my payment… no matter how evil I am, I was taught by my beautiful, glorious mother that I should repay kindness to other people… so that they can pay me back."

Chikane walked over to Himeko, caressing her hand on her right cheek, Himeko stared at Chikane with her violet eyes, looking very happy. Kagutsuchi, following what he promised Chikane if she succeeds, allowed Himeko to be Chikane's beautiful wife, living forever in the underworld.

The eccentric, but nevertheless evil Kagutsuchi wondered something as he turned back to leave the lovers alone as the demons started to stroll in with new prisoners.

That's odd… that princess seemed really happy when I told her that her murderer/lover was in the underworld with along her… why didn't she flinch or cry or beg me for mercy or demanding that her lover, little Chikane be punished for what her crimes… but hugged and thanked me instead of all that? Why can't I even feel like turning her into a brainless sex slave…? Maybe mother can help me.

Shrugging it off as pure love, the god of fire and hell walked away into the abyss, leaving behind a blazing trail.

And that's how Himeko and Chikane ended up living in hell happily ever after as noble demons.

Masked Rider Diend's moral learned – love is many stupid things all lumped all together.