------------------
Love Hina - Kamiza
------------------

A fanfiction by Cheshire Grin

[Disclaimer: Love Hina is not mine. You know that. I know that. On with the story.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Lord Naoshige said, "The Way of the Samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more can not kill such a man. Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate."'
---Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The void.

Nothingness.

Separated from the world by a raging column of water. At the center it was calm however. She did this whenever life threatened to become overly complicated. Here there was peace.

The void. True wisdom given light by the lack of things to obscure it. Here in the nothingness beneath the waterfall, the trivial fears and desires of life gave way to a peaceful emptiness.

Purity.

Life was inconsequential. Death nothing more than the reach of one's vision. All that mattered was living and dying well. The void taught that.

Human morality.

A faulty concept. A purposeless jangle of emotions made law in an attempt to soothe the fears of the ignorant masses. Meaningless. It taught nothing.

The humans themselves.

Pitiful. Animals that sought to be more. To be Gods perhaps. Prideful and wallowing in their self-destructive misconceptions of knowledge. Convincing themselves of their false righteousness, sure in their imperfect intelligence, they had deceived themselves into a belief of higher consciousness. Foolish. They have forgotten who they really are.

Animals. More capable than most perhaps yet animals nonetheless. Casting aside their primal roots and the nature that gave them birth, they were no longer one with the world. In their arrogance they had abandoned it.

Riddled by fear, unable to accept death, they threw themselves into a futile search for ways with which to prevent it.

Knowledge to combat death.

They would never understand. True knowledge is simply emptiness. To become one with the fury and desperation that was nature. Death, the completion of that knowledge, nothing more. In many ways, to strike down another was to do that other a great favor.

It has been forgotten.

We are meant to fight each other. It is how the weak and impure are weeded out. A natural process.

It has been forbidden.

Corruption.

The false mask of Godhood, the plague of arrogance sweeping through the world, raping and defiling it and it's inhabitants.

Purposelessness.

It will end as do all things. Power will destroy the powerful, deceptions bring down the deceivers.

In time, all things will come to an end.

The way. Honor, purity, living, dying. All that mattered.

A trust to be passed on until the time it can be renewed and reclaimed.

[Remember]

The void spoke.

[Remember]

Sister.

Those dark eyes. Knowledge forged, borne and hidden. Waiting to be passed on, to be bequeathed to a new keeper before corruption could claim it.

The last thoughts and understandings poured into nothingness.

Dissolution.

Completion.

Awakening.

* * *

Motoko stepped out from beneath the waterfall. With almost vacant movements she tore a strip from her sleeve and bound it over eyes burning in emotionless fury. Retrieving her sword from it's place atop the shrine beside the waterfall, she leapt forward.

The ritual had begun.

The nine clan disciples were waiting. Clothed in their traditional uniforms and wielding naked katanas, they fell on her with soundless movements from all sides. Only the sudden rush of air betrayed the blades rushing toward her.

Inconsequential.

In a flurry of sword strikes they dissolved into a spray of liquid and particles and were washed away by raging water.

All things come to an end.

"It is time."

Sister.

The dispassionate voice made her elder sister's presence known.

"Are you ready?"

Purity. Nothingness. The void.

"Hai."

"Then prepare yourself."

In time, all things come to an end.

With a clash of steel the combatants leapt forward.

* * *

"You have done well. I am proud."

Purity. The dark eyes revealed nothing. The water was stained red where she had fallen. A sudden wind blew leaves from the trees above. They alighted in waters around her.

"Forgive me." Sudden uncertainty. Guilt. Remorse. A loss of something precious. Tears. "I.."

"Silence! It is as it was meant to be. Remember. All things come to an end. I am more proud of you than I can say. Do not spoil that. Finish it."

Nothingness.

With a quick movement, Motoko knelt and removed her blade from the body of her sister. Though blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, the fallen woman's eyes remained steady.

"Do not disappoint me. Finish it."

Motoko wrapped her arms around her sister and moved her gently into a sitting position. A single tear betrayed her as it rolled from her cheek and dissolved into the water.

"Farewell, sister."

The eyes never wavered. Their owner reached out to clasp the younger girls hand.

"Thank you."

The void.

With a deceptively gentle swish, Motoko's blade slid effortlessly through her sister's graceful neck.

Purity. Nothingness. The void.

Another tear.

Farewell, Sister.

Wiping her sword clean on her hakama, Motoko turned and walked back into the void.

She didn't look back.

END

---

Author's note:

Just a short one shot that came of reading Hagakure, watching the Kenshin OVA and Love Hina one after another.

Hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think, 'k. Sorry it's so short. ;)

Later.

Cheshire Grin.
Wheresmyspoons@yahoo.com