Hello again minna. I'm apologize for not updating earlier. This was supposed to be up last Saturday but I live in Florida (specifically Orlando) and we are seriously screwed down here because of Hurricane Charley. Don't even ask about Internet access because I only just got it back.
Anyways, I am very happy at the response I got for the first chapter and I am also glad that I finally get to update. This chappie is a little bit slow but it begins to pick up in the next one.
Thanks goes to:
The Vampire Story Hunter, gohanslover, Angelike Riddle, Alyson Metallium, Happster360, dream wick, The Narrator, marnika, Ayumi Omoide, kuroro lucifer, cesia Illuser, rani singla, and the two people I almost missed sukioVic and Starian Princess (don't worry, I'm not a particular fan of yaoi myself. Ultra light shounen-ai is my absolute limit and I feel the same way about yaoi in Kyo as I feel about it being in DBZ, which is disturbed.)
Notes:
Niguruma = cart, Onii-sama = honorable big brother, Nippon = Japan (really old way of saying it), gaijin = foreigner, Otoko = man, Hakama = traditional pants, Haori = traditional coat
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Kyo. Just a gorgeous Akimine Kamijyo artbook that was worth every penny I paid for it.
Midori no Me
Chapter One
Lost and Found
The wheels of the niguruma squeaked slightly as she pulled it along the damp forest path and she did her best to ignore the sound that seemed to get louder with every foot she pulled it. Her thin arms were starting to tire and she berated herself for taking this stupid contraption with her into the forest for something as simple as gathering firewood.
You just had to bring this dumb cart when a good length of cloth would have been sufficient to twist the sticks up into a decent bundle to carry on your back. Way to go Yuya girl, keep this up and you'll be stuck living with Onii-sama for the rest if your days. No respectable man wants a girl who doesn't even exercise common sense, she snorted in irritation and stopped, stretching to work some of the kinks out of her back and looking around with a weary eye. Not like I'll ever convince a guy to take me any ways she reminded herself. She was almost seventeen, meaning that she was well over the marriageable age, but her sense of hopelessness didn't stem from that. She walked forward a little ways I'll just grab Onii-sama and ask him to come and help.
Yuya Shiina undid the tie keeping her hair in a long ponytail and raked a hand through the locks, catching a few strands she brought them around to look at them and grimaced. If this were another country, golden hair would be considered beautiful and her green eyes would be much sought after but alas this was Nippon, and it made her the ugliest of girls to be born with her features the way they were. Holding her hands up to look at them in the thin beams of light that seeped through the canopy of trees above, she felt her frown deepening. She wasn't even fashionably pale, not with her skin a healthy peach shade from working out in the sun. Even the villagers in this remote place stayed away from her, making signs to ward off evil when she passed and she knew that it was in part because she so resembled the foreign invaders from the west, and Nippon was a xenophobic country with values and lifestyles that were set in stone.
Sometimes she wondered if she should just shave her head bald, but then she would be a bald girl who still resembled a gaijin and then she would definitely die old and alone, something that she'd rather not put herself through. Besides, she knew that with the exception of her coloring she was a pretty enough girl, it was just a matter of finding someone who could see past her rather obvious defects. Let's not forget that temper either she thought with a smile, remembering many a time when she'd had to set the village brats in their place for daring to mock her with names like "gaijin no baka" or "Akuma no kodomo". Things like that hurt but there was no way in heck she'd let on to that and she hadn't, responding instead with a tongue lashing or a beat down in the case of the older boys who tried to get rough with her. After all, she had come from a samurai family. A grin worked it's way to her face and she hummed a little. Thinking about her heritage was just about the only thing that gave her a sense of pride and it brought a smile to her lips every time. This comforted her on the long trek back to the village.
Till the day she died, Yuya would wonder exactly why she had chosen to stop in that particular spot, on that particular day, at that particular time. She would also wonder why He had chosen her out of of the women in the whole of Nippon and why He had chosen not to kill her later for having such audacity. As it was she did stop, realizing that in her musings, she'd gotten lost and even though she was still on a path, it was completely different from the one she'd come from.
Groaning inwardly, she took a look around to get her bearings, mentally berating herself for forgetting that the village she lived in, named Mizuto, employed a labyrinthine network of paths as a defense against the rouge samurai who had taken to wandering around the country side. In fact, her brother had been adamant about her going into the forest by herself, advice which she ignored because she knew full well that her brother didn't have the time to take care of the house. Now she was cursing her obstinate nature because (1) she was lost, (2) she was alone, (3) she was tired, and (4) she looked like a gaijin, which wouldn't earn her a lick of mercy, not way out here away from real civilization.
A shiver worked it's way down her spine but she refused to let the fear grip her or keep her from from being prepared in case something did happen. She scanned the trees for any sign of life, noticing that the moment the path ended at the edge, the rest of the world beyond those ancient trees was shrouded in darkness. She hesitated for a moment and that's when she felt it.
Her brother had once told her that every living thing gave off power and that you always knew a strong samurai because you felt his life force.
"What does it feel like?" she had asked and he turned to her with that enigmatic smile he sometimes got when he going to tell her something interesting.
"It feels like drowning" he'd replied and she hadn't understood it then.
Now she did.
It was gentle at first, a tiny tug that beckoned from the darkness between the trees, promising something wonderful if she would just come forward, follow the fluttering in her heart, and the excitement on her breath. Her body moved forward before she snapped back to herself, noticing that her legs had carried her to the very edge of the path, where the known was separated from the unknown by the contrast of packed dirt against untamed tree roots.
She looked back, and for the first time she noticed that the path was a very lovely thing indeed. Fall was just around the corner and with that in mind the leaves had fallen after bidding a goodbye to the tree that sired them, coming to rest on the ground in golden clusters that made it seem as if it were paved with gold. Light streamed through the branches above, illuminating the road and making her think of the golden path to heaven that the monks had told her about so often. It was welcoming and safe and she likely just had to retrace her steps to get back on track to the village. It was everything she needed...and yet, the smell of power was just as alluring, seducing her senses in much the same way the watery deep beckons to the man who falls within, pulling him down into the darkness until his struggles cease, and her essence fills his lungs, and his body has no other lover but her, no one but her to keep him in a cold embrace.
She hesitated and curiosity sunk it's claws into her. You know where the path leads it whispered but you don't know where the power is coming from, you don't know what sort of person is out there, you don't know what can happen, what you might find. It might be something wonderful. Curiosity knew the exact moment in which she decided that she would satisfy it and it sat back to wait and watch.
Closing her eyes for one long, second she gave herself over to the seductive call, realizing in that moment why so many people were willing to lay down their life for their new Shogun. It was a simple thing really which meant that it was actually very complex, it was the same as moths to a flame, the attraction between the leader and the led, big and the small, the powerful and the powerless. She heeded the call and felt what the Shogun's closest retainers felt, the taste of power. It wasn't even that she wanted it, no, she wanted to bask just a little, and revel just a little in the feeling of completeness that came with the call from the forests edge.
So it was that she stepped off of the path to light and safety and into the darkness which swiftly swallowed her up, seeking and crushing the tiny tendrils of light that dared to cling to her, reminding them that she had given herself over into its care when she decided to "investigate" the contents of its stomach. This was yet another thing that she would ponder later on in her life, but for now she walked forward, following the call and marveling at the way it hummed and resonated in her bones. With every step forward it got harder to breath, with every step forward she felt the increase in the power, and with every step forward she felt as if she couldn't contain the impatience any longer. She sped up, moving in between the trees in the darkness with a nimbleness that she knew she didn't possess naturally and fell into a flat out run.
Her blood was pounding in her ears and her breathing, heartbeat, and thoughts melded into a single purpose: to find the person at the controlling end of the leash that had taken hold of her senses, pulling her along so that she wasn't quite is she really wanted to to be here, following something as elusive as power.
Yuya saw light ahead of her and sought it out greedily, having had enough of the constant murk of closely grown trees. The moment she exited the trees, bursting into a sunlit clearing, she felt the power vanish and she suddenly felt so bereft that her eyes momentarily clouded with tears. Her body ached to be filled with that power once again but it was gone just as quickly as it came. Her exhaustion came crashing down on her once more, though this time it was ten times as worse because she had been running and using muscles that she didn't even know existed within her body.
Collapsing to her knees she struggled to catch her breath and it was when she looked up to ascertain her current position that she saw him, sagging back against a tree and obviously unconscious. Had she really been a sensible girl-or a sensible person for that manner-she supposed that she would have left him alone there but as it was she was caught in a wonder that would have nothing to do with so-called common sense. She staggered to her feet and moved over to look at him.
The man before her was a marvel to behold. He wasn't beautiful in the male way that was very popular with the women and some men in this day and age. No, his face had too many hard angles for that type of beauty. He was handsome-there was no mistaking that-with a face that could have been carved from stone, edges rounded to give the illusion that it was soft but a slight hardness to the curves that spoke of its true nature. His mouth was magnificently formed and she wondered briefly how many women would die just to kiss him or to feel the long fingers of his hands in their hair. And speaking of which she found herself interested in his hair, it was long, much longer than her own since it fell past his hips whereas her own golden locks fell to mid back. At first she thought it was black, but when she gathered up her courage to tilt his head a bit she saw that when the light hit it,it was a very dark red, the color of old blood. He shifted just a bit and she backed up quickly to see what he would do but when nothing happened she went back to inspecting him, noticing that blood had soaked through both his hakama and his haori.
He was clutching a sword and she felt her eyes widen at the sheer length of the blade, it was almost as tall as she was. So you're some sort of samurai? But what the heck kind of samurai carries a sword like that...unless he's compensating for something. She chuckled a bit and leaving off on the inspection of his face she reached for the blade. The moment her hand touched the hilt, her head was filled with images of death, blood, and a twisted laughter that spoke of insanity. A cry escaped her lips at the horrible images and she wrenched her hand away, clutching it as if burned. What the...what is this guy and how can he carry that thing around?
There was no doubt in her mind now that the power she'd felt had come from this man before her. This man with his broken up red armor and tattered clothing, with his predatory features and sword that was nothing short of evil. Her brother had also told her once that you could find out much about a person by looking into his or her eyes and she found herself desperately wishing that he would open his so that she could decide if he was a god or a demon.
What do I do she wondered. On the one hand she could go on her merry way and pretend she hadn't seen a half dead samurai who had, only moments earlier, been radiating enough power to draw someone as inexperienced as her out to a clearing in the middle of nowhere. Or...she could help him back to the village, tend to his wounds and hope that he didn't kill them all when he got the chance.
The answer was obvious, for her at least, and she decided to curse the day her parents had decided to bring her-a girl who didn't even look Japanese and had a disgustingly strong nurturing instinct-into the world.
"You'd better appreciate this," she said to the man before making her way back to the path so that she could get the niguruma close enough to come back and drag his unconscious butt to it because there was no way she was going to be able to roll him all the way to the village by herself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Yuya rolled him onto the futon, using the hem of her kimono to transfer the evil sword to his side without touching it, and sat back to wipe the sweat from her face, limb shaking from strain. If I never have to pull a half-dead guy on a rickety cart ever again it'll still be too soon. And the sad thing is that the hard part is yet to come. Her outer kimono was stained with blood where she had had used it to hide him from the prying eyes of the village, glad for for once that she and her brother lived on the outskirts because they didn't want bad spirits to visit due to her presence. It was utter hogwash of course because she was as human as the whole lot of them, more so because she was by nature very caring. She DID NOT need the mocking that was sure to start up again if they knew she had brought an outsider and a samurai no less with a sword that screwed around with your head. Add to that the fact that the "hard part" involved her stripping him down to the skin in order to treat his injuries. She'd be kicked out for sure.
"This is all your fault you know," she told the immobile body. "You just had to collapse here, didn't you? You just had to be there when I of all people was passing by. Kami, I really need to settle down or something. Maybe then I won't drag half-dead samurai home," she was grumbling about this and that but she knew that the main source of her vexation was that she was dying to know more about this man. This utterly gorgeous man with enough power to make her hair stand on end.
Okay, focus on the task at hand Yuya she told herself sternly before slowly peeling off the worn haori, eyes automatically going to feast on his bare torso and hands enjoying far too much the opportunity to explore the muscles on his arms. Baka she gave herself a mental slap for being so eager to get him out of those clothes just so she could see if he was different form how she remembered her Onii-sama when they used to bathe together as children. He does have nice muscles though a voice said and she had to agree that although he was lean, he had been heavy when she dragged him to the cart, betraying the corded muscle beneath his smooth skin.
I really, really need to find a husband. She deposited the coat on the floor and began working on the ties of his hakama which was hard because she absolutely refused to look at him in all his naked glory when they did come free. She was not going to question exactly what her hand had brushed up against as she pulled them off and she quickly drew the covers up before her curiosity got her into trouble again. Maybe I should have waited and had Onii-sama do this.
A sigh escaped her and she looked at her patient's face. He really is very handsome she thought for perhaps the hundredth time. She had often heard the women in the village say that the toughest men looked like little boys when they slept, but for this man, that rule didn't come even close to applying. I might as well paint the kanji for "otoko" on his forehead.
Sighing yet again, also for the hundredth time, she went to get water and a rag to wash off the blood encrusted on his body. Setting it down she dipped the cloth in and moved the put it on his face. A slight twitch was her only warning before the man moved faster than she could follow and caught her neck in one hand. She barely had time to be surprised as he began crushing her throat, ignoring the thin hands that tried uselessly to loosen his grip before she died.
Lids opened slowly to reveal his burning gaze to her and she decided, after looking into those intense orbs, that her earlier question about exactly what he was could now be answered. For the eyes that stared through her were the blood red eyes of a demon.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That felt good to get this chapter out. Hope you guys liked. Not too much action in this chappie but then again I had to develop Yuya's character some. Next chapter, Onii-sama comes home plus Yuya being half-way strangled by a naked samurai equals chaos. Add to that the events that set them on their journey and you get lots of fun. Please Read and review and I hope I didn't bore you all, it gets better soon.