Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Two

Hitokiri found herself in the center of the Sekihoutai camp, bonfires blazed around her and cast eerie shadows of the faces of the troop surrounding her and suffocating her with their glares and sideways glances. She felt herself shrink into a grain of sand or a blade of grass under their fierce scrutiny as her heart raced with the fear of familiarity. She knew this, she thought that time's strands and boundaries had all been torn allowing more of the past torment, the brutal actions she had thought were left behind now seemed to be impending danger. Hitokiri bit her lip in resolve and said to herself in an inaudible voice, barely moving her lips, "This time will be different, I know your tricks and I'm fed up, I'll get revenge for what happened. I WONT play as your fool or be less human than a doll."

"Are you troubled by, the crowd?" came a voice that couldn't belong to anyone grown, but the sensuality in it, the knowledge and compassion of that voice, it caused the girl to jump and her heart to flutter unfamiliarly. The voice that belonged to a young man with black hair cut at a sensible length but still obstructing his view and he wore the typical Sekihoutai uniform, he continued "If you dislike crowds I could invite you into a tent or somewhere else of your choosing?"

Hitokiri was taken aback at the courtesy in his voice, the lack of commandment, the sweet and soft texture of his words, but she only scowled and gripped her knife in response and said, "I'm fine here, I'm not stupid or gullible, here I have an advantage of space. Here is where I'll talk to the Captain of your troop."

The young man was taken aback but remained docile and polite, "I beg pardon, I should have told you earlier, but I am the captain, Captain Sagara, of the Sekihoutai." He extended his hand in greeting but the girl slapped it away flushed with furry.

"How dare you treat me like a child, how dare you touch me! I don't need you to pretend to be a gentleman towards me!" She huffed to emphasize that she resented his courtesy as well as to calm herself.

"I apologize for underestimating you. I have been informed that you require directions to reach a destination of yours. Would you also require an escort?"

"I need only directions and I'll be gone."

"Do you wish to accompany our clan; because we are headed in the same direction as your said destination?"

Hitokiri glared at him suspiciously, "I said that I only require directions, what are you playing at with such courteous offers, what is your point."

Sagara shrugged "I guess it's just because I've heard of a wanted deserter of the Choshu clan; whose description was a "female hitokiri of about five foot four with blonde hair" and you seem to fit that description. As loyal members of the Imperialist army we are required to take you prisoner and return you to your clan for them to inflict punishment."

"NO! I'll never let you bring me back to them! I'd rather DIE than return to them!" She unsheathed her knife and slashed the undersides of her wrists with one swift movement (cutting your wrists is supposedly deadly). She collapsed momentarily from both stress and blood loss but she didn't hit the ground as she'd expected. Instead she found herself caught up in Sagara's arms, and as hell broke loose as people rushed around to get bandages for her she felt the blood stop pouring out as it was stopped by a red headband. It was that moment, in Captain Sagara's arms, with the Sekihoutai milling around, that Hitokiri felt an emotion she'd never before known. But she couldn't dissect her feeling as she, at that same moment, passed out of consciousness and into the dark world of her mind.

A/N: R&R, I need three reviews or one Favorite's listing to update again.