1 Sage's mind snapped back into reality, leaving his daydreams to his unconscious thoughts, as the girl spoke. He looked to her and smiled politely. "I am Sage Himura," he said, a slight hint of pride in his friendly tone, "And I'd be happy to help you in any way possible, that I would." Athyli bowed from the waist, her eyes locked upon the ground, a sign of complete and total respect for her new sensei. "My name is Athyli Kazuyamae Tassimurae, mister Himura... My father, Jin Tassimurae, sent me here to the Kamiya Dojo to begin my training..." Sage stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked the girl over. "So you're my new student," he mused, taking numerous mental notes of Athyli's posture, body composition and so on. The slightly older of the two rose, dusting himself off and returned his students bow. "I have been waiting a long time for you Miss Tassimurae, that I have, is there any particular reason why it took you so long to arrive here in Tokyo?" A sudden wave of intense worry flashed in Athyli's eyes and disappeared almost as quick as it had shown. "There was an emergency I had to deal with in Kyoto, I hope I did not keep you waiting too long." Athyli smiled lightly and Sage could immediately tell she was hiding something. "An emergency...? May I ask what happened?" Sage questioned, his violet orbs surveying the new pupil. "No!" Athyli shot back. Her eyes met Sage's and she stepped back. "I- I am sorry Sir... It was... a family emergency, one I do not wish to speak of..." "I understand, that I do..." Sage responded, still not satisfied with the answer he had received. His features softened though as another cool breeze blew between teacher and student. Sage smiled down at Athyli and turned his back to her. "Well Miss Tassimurae, you better come along then or you might never be able to see all our dojo has to offer before nightfall. Just stay close and don't be afraid to ask any questions... I won't bite, that I won't..." Sage laughed, looking back over his shoulder at Athyli. The girl smiled and jogged up to what was going to be her new master. "I will be sure to ask if I feel it necessary, Mister Himura, Sir." Sage couldn't help but chuckle at Athyli's somewhat over-respectful behavior. Athyli looked at Sage with a questioning glance. "May I ask what is so funny, Sir?" He turned back round to Athyli, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Tassimurae," he began, trying to refrain from laughing the whole way through, to no avail. "There is no reason to be so up-tight... that there most certainly is not. Just relax... Try and think of me, not as your sensei, but as a fellow student, for that's all I really am; a student under my sensei's guidance." Athyli hung her head; delicate cheeks flushed a bright, rosy red. "Yes Mr.- "she stopped abruptly and corrected herself. "I mean... Sage..." these words rolled off of her tongue awkwardly, and sounded just as unnatural as it felt. "I am sorry Sir..." she apologized, "It just sounds... awkward... perhaps too awkward for even your likings." Sage shook his head, a light laugh escaping his breath. "It is quite alright Miss Tassimurae, I have the same problem a lot as well. Supposedly we could train each other in the way we talk that we could." "Yes Sir... Maybe we could." Athyli smiled back, a newfound happiness shining through her impeccable stone cold eyes. The more Sage looked at her, the more familiar those eyes began to seem. "Well..." Sage said, clearing his throat, "Shall we get going now? There is still much we have to do today, that there is." Athyli nodded. "Lead the way Sir." The young master turned back around, starting off down the twists and turns of steps and pathways that lay entangled in the dojo's complex. Every couple of seconds Sage would point to a building and or lead Athyli into it, explaining its purposes and uses. Finally, after about twenty minutes had passed, Sage was coming up to the end of his tour. He slid open the rice paper door of a small and nearly empty room and spoke up. "And this... this is our room, Miss Athyli. Here we will rest up during the times we are not training..." Sage smiled at the room. He had had many fond memories there on more than a few occasions. It was the room he and his father had shared when Sage was just beginning his study of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. The room was very plain; in the left area, two floor beds lay side by side, about a foot apart from each other, a single small cherry wood table sat in the end opposite the door, and a marvelous array of various blunt Japanese swords hung on the far right wall. Sage took heed to the worried expression that had appeared on Athyli's face. "What ever could be the matter Miss Athyli? Is there something wrong with the room?" "What do you mean... 'we' and 'our' ...?" She asked grimly. "Oh... I am most sorry Miss Athyli, but it is essential that I be with you during all hours of training, besides... I don't snore that I don't...!" Sage laughed heartily Athyli hung her head and sighed. "Great..." she growled sarcastically, "Oh happy day..." Sage's laughter ceased as he looked back down to Athyli. "Well, come along Miss Athyli, there is one final place I must take you to before we begin our first lesson." Athyli stopped dead in her tracks. "A first lesson...?! Already? Why... I only just got here today and you already want me to start training?!" "I assure you Miss Athyli, it will be possibly the simplest lesson you could ever have, that it is... And think more of it as... an experiment rather than a lesson." Sage replied simply. "Experiment?!" Athyli nearly blurted out. "What are you going to do to me?!" she was near hysterics. "Could this really be the same shy girl that stood before me less than half an hour ago?" he asked himself, watching nervously as Athyli started to hyperventilate. "Miss Athyli... I'm going to have to ask you to calm down..." Sage called out assuredly. "Take a deep breath and everything will be alright, that it will...!" he nearly had to shout over Athyli's labored gasps for air. Athyli's eyes darted across the room. She took a deep breath and regained her composure, straightening her kimono and fixing her hair. "Sorry..." she said plainly. "I, er, have a tendency to 'loose it' sometimes..." "It's quite alright..." Sage answered back, stepping forward and off of the wall her had nearly just climbed up. "Are you ready now...?" His voice was that of an older woman talking to a small child. "Ahem... Uhh... yes... I think so." Athyli said unsurely re-examining herself to make sure. "Yes... I am ready." She breathed finally. "You are a most mysterious person Miss Athyli, that you most definitely are..." Sage chuckled back as he opened the door for her. "Well, come along then Miss Athyli, and I can reassure you that this experiment is nothing wrong." Her eyes started darting across the room again as if she didn't trust his words. "All I want to do is see how you hold your shinai... that's it!" Sage put in quickly. "Oh... That's it?" she questioned. "That's it. All I want for you to do is to show me how you hold your sword, then I can see how advanced you truly are. From what it said in your father's letter he made you sound quite extraordinary." Sage complimented as Athyli settled down extremely, her hazel eyes growing stone cold again. "Thank you Sir..." she replied quietly with a small bow. Sage nodded back. "Shall we continue on now?" "Yes..." Athyli answered back, her voice barely audible. The red-haired teen stepped out of the small room, holding his hand on the sliding door and closing it behind Athyli. "Follow me Miss Athyli, before you take your first lesson you must first get your uniform." Sage led Athyli to a small storage shed, one that she had managed to overlook while touring past it. Sage pulled a loose string from around his neck and brought it up over his head. Tied to the string was a delicate bronze key, no larger than Athyli's pointer finger. Sage put the key into a lock that opened the door to the wooden shed. He turned the key a full three hundred sixty degrees before he hear the definite click that told him the lock had been disengaged. Slowly, he pushed the heavy door to the shed open, revealing to Athyli rows upon rows of innumerable wooden cubbies and rack upon rack of variously sized shinai along with hanger upon hanger of infinite kimono tops. In the cubbies, perfectly folded and pressed sat flawlessly arranged hakamas ranging in a larger number of sizes and colors Athyli had never seen. On the hangers were the assorted tops, all coinciding with the hakamas. Sage stepped up to the hakamas and chose a dark, navy blue one, about medium sized, so it would hang comfortably and loose on Athyli's average- sized figure. Next he pondered on her top, a beige one with white-trimmed collar. Her ensemble was nearly complete. "Come over here please Miss Athyli..." Sage said calmly, standing next to the racks of shinai. Athyli nodded and took a couple of steps towards her sensei, careful not to step through the many holes that lie scattered about the wood floor. The elder surveyed Athyli quickly and chose a shinai that appeared longer than the rest. "This is the shinai replica of the onibatou Miss Tassimurae..." he began coldly. Athyli gasped. "But-but the onibatou... it is the Oniken's weapon is it not?" she stammered. "Yes Miss Tassimurae... It is the weapon of the Oniken, but there is something about the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you carry yourself that leads me to believe that this weapon suits you, that there is. Call me crazy but you could actually become the complete opposite of the Oniken, not a manslayer, but... a-" he stopped in mid-sentence only to gaze upon the flare of inner turmoil and anger that flashed in Athyli's remarkable eyes. "I understand Sir," she said solemnly, her hands now clutching the bamboo sword tightly. "Go along now to the bathhouse and change into your uniform Miss Athyli..." Sage ordered, still a simple smile upon his face. She nodded slowly and stepped out, bowing respectfully before leaving the small building. "There is something incredibly familiar about her eyes, that there is... Could she be? No!" Sage thought aloud as Athyli headed towards the bathhouse with her new hakama and top in hand. It did not take long for Athyli to change, and as she exited the bathhouse, her long flowing hair pulled back into a simple, yet elegant ponytail, she found Sage sitting on one of the first steps that led up to their room. Sage's eyes widened as he found himself gawking at the girl's exquisite beauty. Her cheeks flushed a deep red as Sage's unwavering gaze met up with hers. "You pull off the simple student look very well, that you do..." Sage laughed, scratching the back off his head with a stupid grin. Athyli smiled back and then realized what she was doing. Her sudden happiness turned into sudden rage. Without warning, she brought up her shinai and struck Sage over the head. "What was that for...?" he asked, rubbing the large lump that had just risen. "It is impolite to gawk at a girl Mr. Himura!" she laughed simply, holding her shinai behind her back, rocking back and forth on her tiptoes and heels. "You are going to pay for that later, that you are..." Sage growled, ascending to his feet. "I can guarantee it Miss Athyli!" Athyli gulped. "Anyways," Sage continued, still rubbing the large lump on his head. "If you would be so kind as to join me at the front of the dojo, we can start our first lesson, that we can." The young girl nodded and followed her sensei to the dojo's entrance, only to find Miss Kaoru and Kenshin awaiting their arrival. "Mother...? Father...?" Sage questioned, more than a little surprised. "You are back from Kyoto so soon?" he embraced them both in a quick, but warm hug, all the while looking at them with a quizzical glance. "That we are Sage," Kenshin said calmly. "After hearing so many rumors of the Oniken, we decided it would be best if we came back a few weeks early. We wouldn't want to have you injured by him again, that we most undoubtedly wouldn't..." "She..." Athyli growled coldly under her breath. "Pardon Ma'am, but who might you be?" Kenshin asked, eying the young girl skeptically. "Oh, father... This is Miss Athyli Tassimurae, my new student." Sage chimed in, gesturing towards her. "So she finally showed up." Kenshin said thoughtfully. "On all accounts I have heard Master Himura," Athyli began callously, "The Oniken has been determined to be a female, and not a male. She wields the Onibatou only to slay and kill when she feels the need, and few have lived long after an encounter with her." "You know much of the Oniken Miss Tassimurae, that you do," Kenshin commented. "May I ask how?" "I have studied her routes and actions for many years, along with having a few encounters with her." Athyli said sternly, her eyes glaring in cold hatred at the eldest Himura. "I see, that I do." Kenshin replied, a distrustful glint in his eyes. Kaoru looked back and forth between Sage, Kenshin, and Athyli. After a couple seconds of eerie silence, she spoke up. "Sage, your father and I have also come back to the dojo at this hour to invite you and Miss Tassimurae both, if she wishes, to accompany us to the Akebeko. Sanoskue and Miss Megumi along with Yahiko and his daughter will be there, and I am sure they would love to see how you are doing." Sage bowed to his parents. "Miss Athyli and I would love to join you, that we would." Sage smiled and turned to Athyli. "We shall have to meet you there, I must test Miss Athyli first, that I must." "Yes Sage, I should hope to see you both. Miss Tassimurae is a nice young girl, I shall hope to be able to talk with her soon, that I shall." Kenshin put in before turning to Kaoru and taking her hand. "We must be going now so we can make sure there is enough room at the Akebeko, business has been quite active for the past few weeks Yahiko says." "Then we shall see you all there, Father, that we shall." Sage bowed again, turning to Athyli only just after they had vanished from their sight. "Well Miss Athyli," he began, "Shall we hurry now so that we do not miss out on a free meal...?" "I wouldn't want to impose," she said humbly, shifting her gaze towards the earth. "Nonsense Miss Athyli, it seems that my father would love to have you with us, that it does," Sage beamed, soft features welcoming. "Besides, this will be one of the very few chances for you to meet some of the many people that will pop in and out of our little dojo, that it will." Athyli sighed, "Very well, I suppose you have talked me into it." She hid a guilty smirk in her deceitful hazel eyes.
"That is a great thing to hear, that it is." Sage smiled down to her.
"Now...shall we begin?" "Of course, but may I ask one thing before we do, sensei?" Athyli questioned. "Anything Miss Athyli, ask away!" Sage grinned lightly, his violet-blue eyes shimmering magnificently upon the orange-red light of the now setting sun.