Chapter 1: Transported, Continued.

Legend of the Sakabatou

By: KiMitsukai

"I think you'll like him." Julie called to her.

Keiko wrapped her arms around her brother's middle. "I hope so Julie. Cya!!"

"Bye!"

Yuichi revved up the throttle and pushed down the kick starter. Julie watched him with dreamy eyes; in her mind he was like a handsome god. With a quick wave towards Julie, Yuichi and Keiko were on their way home.

"So, did you have a nice afternoon with Julie?" Yuichi asked his little sister as they dismounted his motorcycle in the driveway of their home.

"Yes, I sure did. How was yours with Derrick?" Keiko placed her helmet atop the seat of his bike.

"Okay, nothing special. He failed one of his exams, so he has to go to summer school to repeat it."

"Oh, he must be really unhappy about that." She said as they made their way through the front door.

"Actually, he's not that upset about it."

"Really? I'd be fuming."

Yuichi grinned. "Nah, there's a girl that he's had a crush on for awhile repeating too. He's hoping that they'll be in the same class together."

"What a pervert."

"How does that make him a pervert, Keiko?"

Keiko shrugged. "Just forget about it." She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a bottled water. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Then why'd you say it?" Yuichi had followed her to the kitchen and was leaning against the frame of the doorway.

"Just drop it. I'll be in my room." She pushed past her brother and went up the stairs to her room. She closed the door behind herself and sighed as she fell onto her bed. She closed her eyes and sighed again only to open them and stare at the ceiling. "Life's too complicated." She whispered to no one in particular. She then placed her bottled water on her nightstand and took of her shoes, throwing them to the ground with a thud. She grabbed the remote to her stereo and clicked on London's rock station. "... Bringing you 80 minuets of nonstop rock music. Up next is "Get Down With the Sickness" by the American band Disturbed. We'll be back after a short commercial break. Don't change that channel on your radio." Keiko then went to her computer and turned it on, wondering if she had received any new e-mail.

About two and half hours later the front door opened and in walked their father. Keiko was still in her room, playing an RPG game on her computer. Yuichi was in the kitchen preparing dinner while listening to the radio. Yuichi looked up from the stove to see his father standing in the kitchen doorway with an oblong package in his left hand. "Successful day at work, dad?"

Shiro nodded as he took of his coat and hat and placed them on the clothes tree in the foyer. "Yes, it sure was Yuichi." He smiled as he spoke. He returned to the kitchen and placed the velvet wrapped sword on the table. "Take a break from that Yuichi and come see this."

Yuichi turned the gas jets off beneath the cooking pots and placed his cooking fork on the counter. He walked over to his father and stared down at the black velvet object. "What is it dad?"

"It's an affirmation to the legend I was telling you about this morning." His voice was jubilant and his eyes were full of a shine of glee.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Shiro smiled. "You'll see soon enough my boy." He patted his son on the shoulder affectionately. "But, first call down your sister; I want her to see this too."

Yuichi nodded and left his father's side and was soon at Keiko's door. He knocked and spoke. "Dad has something he wants to show us. He wants you to come downstairs." He doubted that he heard her. He knocked louder and yelled over the volume of the music. "Did you hear me?" A couple of loud crashes and bangs could be heard on the other side of the door and then Keiko's voice. "Yeah! Whatever!"

Yuichi shook his head and joined his father downstairs. A few minuets later Keiko joined them at the kitchen table. "What is it dad? I'm in the middle of something."

"I'm sure this is more important Keiko." Shiro told her.

"I'll be the judge of that." Her tone held an edge to it; apparently she was angered about something.

Shiro gently untied the golden strings that held the fabric closed around the object. He then unfolded the long package to reveal an antique Japanese sword. Yuichi's eyes went wide, as did Keiko's, whether she realized it or not. The ceiling light fell upon the smooth, black lacquered sheath and the metal of the hilt. It had an unidentifiable beauty to it.

"It's a very impressive sword dad." Yuichi said in awe.

Keiko nodded. "Yea, what he said."

Yuichi looked up from the sword to his father. "But, what does this sword have to do with the legend?"

Shiro smiled, barely able to contain his excitement. He carefully picked up the sword and unsheathed it just enough for the metal blade beneath the hilt to be viewed. Shiro nodded towards the initials. "See? See that there?"

Yuichi leaned in closer. "H.S.? What does that mean?"

"You can't take a guess?" Shiro asked.

Yuichi shook his head. "I don't have a clue."

Shiro smiled as he released the information to them. "It stands for Himura Shinta. This is the sword of our ancestor and the sword of the legendary manslayer Hitokiri Battousai."

Yuichi stared at the sword with new amazement. "Really? Do you really think so, dad?"

Shiro nodded. "Yes, I really think so. Who else could have owned a sakabatou with the same initials as Battousai?"

Keiko stared at the sword, her outward tone appeared impassive towards the object, but inside she was enthralled with it. She felt that the sword had an aura surrounding it that was making it call her to it. She had the sudden impulse to touch it, to hold it in her hands. She found herself longing to release the blade from its sheath and perform ken-jutsu katas with it.

Shiro turned and looked at his teenage daughter, just about the same age as Himura when he was the Battousai. "What do you think Keiko-chan? It's pretty amazing isn't it?" His eyes were alive with excitement.

Keiko nodded. "It's very impressive, that it is." She didn't know what else to say about it, other than that she wanted to touch it. She looked at her dad. "Can ...can I hold it?"

Immediately Shiro's expression turned serious. He shook his head vehemently. "No, I'm afraid I can't let you touch this."

"But, why not?! I've held swords before and besides, I've fought with bokkens plenty of times before."

He shook his head again. "This isn't any ordinary sword. And it certainly isn't a bokken."

"But dad!!"

"No "buts" Keiko. My final answer is no. Please accept that." He closed the sheath and refolded it in the velvet.

"You're so unfair!" Keiko yelled at him as she then ran up to her room, slamming the door behind herself.

"Don't you think that was a little unfair dad? You've let her hold swords before. Hell, you've let her spar with real swords before. And you know that she knows how to handle them." Yuichi said to his father, who was placing the sword on the top level of a sword rack in their traditional Japanese styled living room.

"No, I think I was pretty fair. This is an heirloom; it is not a sword to be played around with."

"She wasn't going to play with it. She just wanted to hold it." Yuichi spoke in his sister's defense.

Shiro stood slowly and turned around to face his young adult son. "She just wanted to hold it, that's all?" He shook his head. "Did you see that malevolent glow in her eyes when she looked upon the sword?" Yuichi shook his head. "She wanted to use the sword. That is why I will not allow her to touch this sword. No good can from it."

Yuichi stared at his father, wondering if what he said was true. Keiko's actions seemed innocent enough. But, their father seemed to think that there was something more sinister behind her simple question. "If you say so father." Yuichi turned and headed back towards the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway. "If you're interested, dinner will be ready in ten minuets."

The tall antique grandfather clock in the hallway chimed midnight, its melody echoing throughout the house. Keiko lay awake in her bed, listening to the chiming of the clock. She was still wearing her day clothes and even her shoes were still on. Her eyes held a possessed quality to them. The sword's aura was calling her.

She rose from her bed and walked across the floor towards her door, stepping around all the floor boards that creak. She carefully opened her door so that it didn't make any noise and crept out of her room. She moved downstairs, softly jumping down a step to miss the one that squeaks. She exhaled a sigh of relief as she made it to the kitchen soundlessly.

She pushed back the lose hair from her eyes and then walked through the doorway into the living room. She saw the velvet wrapped sword sitting on the sword rack near the wall on the other side of the room. A smile slipped across her lips. She softly walked up to the sword and kneeled down in front of it. Her eyes entranced by the aura she saw emanating about the ancient sword. She languidly reached out towards it and unraveled the velvet which was covering the katana. Once the velvet wrapping was on the floor, the weapon's aura seemed more vivid. Keiko's hands then found their way to the sword, lifting it up with each hand on one end of the sword; in the traditional manner of lifting a sword. Her eye's irises reflected the katana's azure glow.

All at once a light wind stirred up from no where, completely swirling around Keiko and the sword she held in her hands. The smile on her face grew broader as she watched and felt the sword come alive. The urge to release the blade from its confining case grew stronger as the wind picked up intensity.

"I'm sure one little look see wouldn't hurt." She said to the sword as her smile turned into a grin.

She then gradually slipped the blade free from it's sheath. With each inch of blade that was set free, its aura grew brighter and the wind blew harder. The velocity of the wind caused her hair band to fall off her long hair and fall to the floor. The suspense was building up inside her, wondering what was about to happen once the sword was fully set free. With her curiosity at its peak, she swiftly released the sword from its sheath in one lithe movement.

The wind immediately died and the aura shinned even brighter as Keiko held the sword out in front of her; the sheath in her left hand. It was as if time had stopped and all that existed was Keiko and the sword before her. She could have sworn that she heard the grandfather clock stop ticking.

Abruptly the wind returned, but much stronger than before, swirling the aura together with the wind to create an eerie blue glow around Keiko. Everything before her disappeared; all she saw was the blue aura. It was like a moving, glowing wall that had suddenly been built up around her, enclosing her inside. She felt like she was being lifted up off the floor slowly and gracefully. She felt dizzy and lightheaded and then everything turned black as she fell unconscious.

She faintly felt like she was spinning down a dark tunnel, as if falling into a black abyss. The air around her felt numbing and cold, but cushioning as well. Like the air itself was supporting her as she fell. The sheath and sword were clenched tightly in her fists and her eyes were open, but unseeing. Abruptly it was like her cushion left her and she was now free falling. She was moving fast towards the ground, but to her it felt like it was all happening in slow motion. Her body fell to the soft earth with a light thud, the sword and sheath still in her hands. Her eyes were closed and her body completely limp. The aura had dissipated and the wind had died down to nothing but a light cool breeze.

Her body slowly was reawakening as she felt the hard, moist ground beneath her. She slowly sat up and was about to rub her head when she noticed the sword tightly clutched in her hand. She sheathed the sword and then rubbed her head. She felt like she had fainted and fallen hard to the floor. It was then that she noticed that she wasn't on a hardwood floor, but on the damp earth outside.

"What the hell?" She whispered to herself.

Keiko looked up to what she thought would be the ceiling, only to see the blue sky and a few scattered clouds. She looked down at the ground beneath her, and wondering if it was real, she picked up some of the dirt into her hand. She rubbed it between her fingers and let the grains fall softly back to the earth. Yea, it was definitely real, she thought to herself.

She stood up slowly, catching herself before she swayed and fell back down to the ground. She looked around and noticed how old and unfamiliar her surroundings appeared. She noticed that she was standing in the middle of a dirt road that was leading up to a village. The buildings were made of wood and paper shoji doors. The traditional architecture told her it was a Japanese village, possible a rural village.

"Wait ....if I'm in England, how am I seeing a Japanese village?" She asked herself in a confused whisper.

She held her sword at her left hip and slowly wandered down the dirt road towards the village. As Keiko got into town she realized that all of its inhabitants were Japanese and they were all formally dressed in kimonos. She stopped walking and closed her eyes. She didn't believe what she was seeing.

"When I open my eyes ... I'll see my living room." She said to herself, not wanting to believe what she had seen. She opened her eyes and the village scene was still before her. She breathed out a large exhale. "Oh, shit! It is real!"

Keiko continued to walk deeper into town, her strange clothes and appearance attracting many stares from the locals. She saw open air food markets, men selling fresh fish and other food goods, women displaying their wares of homemade kimonos and weaved baskets, and little children wearing kimonos running through the streets playing. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. How did she get here? Where exactly was she? And, more importantly... what year was it?

She saw a middle aged woman sitting on the porch of a small house all alone sewing a man's haori. She looked kind and sweet enough, so Keiko slowly approached her. The woman looked up from her sewing as she saw a shadow fall upon her. The woman looked up at Keiko and her eyes widened at Keiko's odd clothes. "May I help you, Miss?" The woman asked Keiko in a sweet voice.

Keiko nodded. "Yes, could you please tell me, what city am I in?"

"Are you lost my dear?"

Keiko nodded again. "Yes, sort of. Could you please tell me?"

The woman nodded and smiled. "Yes, of course dear. You're in Kyoto."

Keiko's eyes widened. "Kyoto? Japan?"

The woman nodded. "Yes."

Keiko stared at the woman and then at the ground. 'How did I suddenly get from London to Kyoto? And, why does Kyoto look so different from when I was here last month?' She asked herself. She then looked up at the woman, a more important question needing to be answered. "And, what year is it?"

The woman hesitated before answering, thinking it an odd question for someone to be asking. But then again, the young girl before her was of odd appearance herself. "It is 1868."

"1868!!!" Keiko repeatedly the date loudly in disbelief.

Okay, this chapter has gotten much longer than I thought it would. It is the longest chapter to a story I have ever written. If anyone has read this all the way through, please be kind and leave me a review. I would love to know what everyone thinks. This is the first story that I have written that I've been very descriptive with and have treated as a real story. Please R&R!! I hope you are enjoying it so far!