Notes:
In the Retribution universe. Kyuzo's Sensei's dojo is on Mount Keian. Kawara is the town at the foot of Mount Keian.
Vocab: ne - older sister. Sibling terms can be used on non-relatives as a familiar form of address. Ayame, Mizuho and Haruko are not Kyuzo's biological sisters. They are his sensei's older students.
--
If you passed by Chrysanthemum Bridge in the town of Kawara at noon on the 15th day of the eighth month, you might have seen a pale boy and a dark girl standing there, leaning against the red wooden railing and peering into the water running below. You would have heard the boy pleading in a high, thin voice "Ne-san, don't do it! Ne-san, don't do it!"
If you came closer, you would have seen the girl's arm stretched over the water. From her hand dangled a gray kitten. And if you looked into her golden eyes, you would have seen the shine of unshed tears. What the girl was thinking , I do not know.
The boy's tentative voice piped up again. And you would have seen the girl with the dark brown hair turn and give the younger child a twisted smile that looked more fierce than friendly. The girl, who appeared to be about fifteen years of age, spoke in a sweet voice that sounded vaguely threatening. "So bold... not even bothering to say 'please'?"
The crimson-eyed boy shrank back just a little. But he pleaded once more. "Ne-san, please don't do it!"
"Why?" came the nonchalant reply.
"Be... because it's bad!" the twelve year old stammered before his senior, the deadly senpai he had nicknamed "the goddess of speed."
"Good and bad! Right and wrong! Love and hate!" The handsome girl laughed towards the heavens, shaking the piteously meowing gray fur ball. "How thin the line between the two. How close they lie in the human heart. How easily one tumbles into the other!"
The boy's brows knitted together. He stood there fidgeting, unsure of what to say.
"Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be one of those samurai we saw in Kuroki Village?" A strange light shone in the girl's yellow eyes as she addressed the child. "Like those soldiers who killed and ravaged innocents? I was wondering what it would feel like to be someone like that. Surely they must have mothers and sisters? Surely they must grieve if evil befalls their kin? Then how could they do that to another? I am curious to know how it feels to be unfeeling."
The shorter child was silent Then he stepped forward, taking the taller child's free arm hesitantly. "But you're a good person. You're not like them. You won't take an innocent life."
"You saw what happened in the village." The girl raised her eyebrows, answering in a sarcastic tone, "I've already taken an innocent life. Do you think I am a good person?"
"What happened in the village was an accident." The child with thick straw-colored hair said anxiously.
"But this one won't be an accident!" His older companion laughed lightly, yet one could almost hear tears in the laughter. She turned her eyes back to the dark swirling water under the bridge. Of the five fingers fastened onto the nape of the kitten, she released three.
The boy's crimson eyes widened with alarm. He tugged gently on the girl's free arm once more. "What if... I would like to have the kitten for a present? Would Third Sister be so generous as to consider giving it to me?"
The young maiden turned and fixed her flashing golden eyes on him. The almost cruel sneer on her face melted into another expression. Years later, Kyuuzou still could not find words to describe the look on Ayame's face. The best words he could find for it were "sarcastic delight." Was she testing him? He still wondered. Trying to see if he had the strength to challenge her will?
But unknown to him, at that moment what echoed in Ayame's mind were Mizuho's words. "Despite everything, he still looks up to you, you know. Kyuuzou wants so much to grow up to be like you..." Perhaps Second Sister was right. Perhaps not. The child did not even like her... But just in case Mizuho was right...
"You want a pet, child?" The dark girl finally spoke. "Do you know what work it entails? Food, water, litter, day after day. Have you thought of fleas, ticks and worms? Will you abandon it when you get tired of caring for it?"
Kyuuzou did not even like cats. But he had made his choice. "It will eat what I eat until it learns to hunt mice." The blond boy said simply, "I will draw water for it from the well. For fleas and ticks, I will wash it with soap before I bring it into the house. And then I'll feed it a clove of garlic everyday to keep them away. And for the worms, I will ask for help from Big Sister. Maybe she knows a herbal remedy."
"Very well. From the sound of it, your mother and aunt raised you well." the dark-haired girl said coolly, withdrawing the arm that was extended over the water. "You can have your gift." Staring the boy in the eye, Ayame placed the mewling bundle of fur into the pale child's ready hands.
"Many thanks to you, ne-sama," Kyuuzou bowed deeply, deferentially avoiding his senior's sharp eyes.
The look in the female fighter's eyes was still hard and cruel. "If you break your promise, it will not be too late for me to kill it, you understand?"
"If Heaven helps me, my honorable sister will never need to do so." Kyuuzou stroked the gray kitten gently.
Ayame broke into a beatific smile even though there was still a slightly dangerous air about her. Years later, when the scarlet samurai gazed upon the flashing blades of his twin swords, they still reminded him of Third Sister's gleaming white teeth when she smiled.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Third Sister said to the younger child. "Go now, take care of your new friend. I still have some shopping to do. I will return to the dojo later."
"Yes, ne-sama!" Kyuuzou said, then he turned and trotted down the unpaved road leading towards the mountain.
"A pity you're not a girl," the dark maiden said as she gazed after the departing figure of the skinny child, "You will make a fine Wolf."
For a few moments, the lone Wolf stood in silence on Chrysanthemum Bridge. Then she spoke to the boy who was already too far away to hear the words that would have made his heart a little gladder. "Thank you, little one. If not for you, I could easily have turned into a demon."
It is said to this day that people who walk on the bridge can sometimes see the ghostly figures of a dark girl and a pale boy leaning against the railing, and they could hear the high, halting voice of a child saying "Ne-san, don't do it! Ne-san, don't do it!"
Some say the bridge is haunted, and what they hear is the voice of a ghost. But I think not. For I am quite sure both the boy and the girl are still in the world of the living. Perhaps what walkers on the bridge hear is an echo of the past. Maybe wood and stone have memories too.
---
One week later... overheard in the dojo on Mount Keian:
Haruko: That cat has bad breath.
Mizuho: His name is Kyujiro.
Ayame: The bad breath is just the garlic Kyuu-chan has been feeding the kitten.
Haruko: How long do we have to put up with the bad breath?
Ayame: As long as you don't want to put up with the fleas and ticks.
Haruko: How about a 'strictly outdoors' rule for the cat?
Mizuho: I think he would be fine indoors. Perhaps it would be better for Kyuu-chan to have a companion at night. Kyujiro may help him sleep better.
Haruko: Has it been neutered?
Ayame: Not yet.
Haruko: Kyuuzou needs to neuter it. The animal is his responsibility.
Mizuho: Well... let's not put the kid through that. I'll do it.
