Alright, you guys are gonna want an explanation. Well, this thing called
school started back in September. And it decided to chew up a huge part of
my life. So that was the first reason.
The second one was that my boyfriend dumped me. That led into a long period of depression that I'm working on climbing out of. Not to mention he total lack of inspiration I've had for the past while.
So that's that. I'm done, and I hope you guys don't mind any changes that I might have made to my writing style. And btw, if you go to www.deviantart.com and look up Nightlife-Dying, I'll have a picture of Tsukiyo drawn by yours truly.
And as a reminder, you might want to read some of the other chapters. *wink wink* Some OC's are gonna reappear. *wink wink*
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Tsukiyo sat up and yawned, stretching her refreshed muscles. //Mmmmm... Happy- happy feel. All good now.// She smiled, and got to her feet.
As she changed into her everyday clothes, she heard a scratching at the shoji door. "Wait!" she ordered imperiously, and finished dressing. Sliding it open, she found Kenshin standing there. His face was blank as a slate as he held out her bo, with it pointing to both his chest and hers.
She slumped to the floor, unable to take her eyes off of the dark brown wood of the weapon that had been her only comfort for all of her years. She almost didn't hear Kenshin's soft words to her.
"Tsukiyo-san, Yahiko needs his practice, and so do you. If those men come again, you need to be able to defend yourself, even without your staff." He lowered the end of the staff until it thunked onto the floor, balancing on its tip. "Yahiko is in the practice dojo."
She stood, avoiding contact with it. She almost walked past it, but stopped herself. //Self must learn to control 'other' self. Self must use bo.// Her decision made, she grabbed it forcefully, and gave it a shake. Feeling better, she headed out into the hall, enroute to the training dojo.
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Yahiko had been thrown out of his bed by a rather grouchy Sanosuke, forced to put on a decent training gi by Kaoru, and fussed over by Megumi before he had managed to get to the training dojo.
//Kami-sama! It's not like I can't take care of myself by now!// he growled to himself, idly attacking a few invisible opponents while he waited. //I am fourteen, after all...//
"Yahiko-kun?" He turned to see Tsukiyo timidly peering around the door, her bo in hand.
"You ready for some work?" He grinned at the way her entire face seemed to light up as she charged into the room, her bo stick already moving into one of her attack patterns.
They blocked, parried, attacked and sparred for well over an hour, but Yahiko called it to a halt when both he and Tsukiyo were covered in welts. "That's enough for today, I think. If we keep going, we'll both collapse!"
Tsukiyo laughed a little, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "Yahiko-kun, would anyone mind if we went and swam in the river?"
Yahiko's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Well... Ummm... you'd have to swim with clothes on..."
"That's okay! I'm going to beat you!" she giggled, racing out of the dojo as fast as she could.
"Not fair!" He followed, stuffing his – into it's holder, calling to Kaoru as he raced past her, "Kaoru, Tsukiyo and I are going swimming!"
"Be careful!"
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
They had been splashing, squealing, and dunking in a secluded part of the river for nearly an hour before they crawled –exhausted- onto the riverbank to rest. They began to talk about the various members of the dojo, plotting various ways to get the semi-officious couples together.
"So Tsukiyo. You're gonna get Megumi to come to the garden because you 'accidentally' bruised your kneecap, while I'll grab Sano and tell him that Megumi really wanted to see him." Yahiko paused, scratching his head. "Then you'll magically feel better and sneak off. We'll leave them completely alone."
"Hopefully the beautiful garden will be enough. I am not going to lace their tea!" It had been her idea originally, but she had backed out of the idea when Yahiko thought it might have some possibilities.
"Fine then, I'll do it. I know where Megumi keeps her stuff better than you do anyways." He grinned as he said, "I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they realize they've been set up!"
Tsukiyo giggled, lying back down on the soft grass. "But what'll we do for Ken-sempai and Kaoru-san? They'll be the hardest..."
"Leave it to me, Tsukiyo-san. I'll figure something out."
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Sewayaki watched them drift off to sleep, carefully noting the exact time that they both slumbered. He fingered the tiny bottle of Itami, hanging from a cord around his neck. //How I long to be able to recapture that child... So that I might teach her more...// He had poured endless hours, days, weeks, and months into Tsukiyo's creation. And now that she had escaped, she might unlearn all of her training and revert to the lily-livered child she had been.
He had known she would be a prissy child when he had first laid eyes on her, playing outside of the brothel house where she had been born. While the other children romped gleefully through the mud, she skirted it, keeping her feet dry and her old, worn-out kimono clean. He had been chosen to look for a child who might pass off as a bastard child of the Battousai; he hadn't expected to find the real thing.
Now as he looked upon her, no longer the automaton he had made her into, he could see how she was related. When he had been training her, he had forced her to wear a mask. To degrade her further, to keep her from feeling as though she might be pleasing to the eye. But her face possessed the same slim, delicate features as the Battousai. Her eyes were the amber-gold that only resided in his eyes when he reverted to the good old days, when he had been the perfect manslayer.
There was something that stuck out like a sore thumb to Sewayaki, which kept her from truly being a female copy of the Battousai. It was in the way she walked, a careful, cringing tread that projected her insecurities, having been a bastard and then a slave. It was in the way she spoke, her soft voice carefully toned down to keep all emotions at an even level.
That was what had made her so easy to train, so easy to break. He chuckled at the way that she now could not shake off his training, at the way she now whimpered in her sleep. He hadn't done anything wrong, of course. He had only been doing his job. But he was good at his job. That was why he'd been chosen over Wakira.
He melted back into the forest, picking up his staff as he went. He fingered the slashes that had been cut into it horizontally, reminding himself of the numbers of raw children he had been given to train, all of them possessing the famed and rare red hair of the rurouni. None of them had been related to him, none of them truly possessing his remarkable abilities. They had all died, whether under his weapons or their own.
Tsukiyo had been the only one. He intended to never have to train another. She was the result of his life's work, or rather, the lives of the twenty- odd children he had been given. But before he died, he wanted to see her carry out her destiny. He wanted her father, the Battousai, dead. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Okay so yeah, this is really short. However, I wanted the main focus to be on Sewayaki. Not to mention the fact that I'm really supposed to be listening to my band's MICCA performance. Anyways, I've gotten myself back into the flow of things. See ya next update!
The second one was that my boyfriend dumped me. That led into a long period of depression that I'm working on climbing out of. Not to mention he total lack of inspiration I've had for the past while.
So that's that. I'm done, and I hope you guys don't mind any changes that I might have made to my writing style. And btw, if you go to www.deviantart.com and look up Nightlife-Dying, I'll have a picture of Tsukiyo drawn by yours truly.
And as a reminder, you might want to read some of the other chapters. *wink wink* Some OC's are gonna reappear. *wink wink*
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Tsukiyo sat up and yawned, stretching her refreshed muscles. //Mmmmm... Happy- happy feel. All good now.// She smiled, and got to her feet.
As she changed into her everyday clothes, she heard a scratching at the shoji door. "Wait!" she ordered imperiously, and finished dressing. Sliding it open, she found Kenshin standing there. His face was blank as a slate as he held out her bo, with it pointing to both his chest and hers.
She slumped to the floor, unable to take her eyes off of the dark brown wood of the weapon that had been her only comfort for all of her years. She almost didn't hear Kenshin's soft words to her.
"Tsukiyo-san, Yahiko needs his practice, and so do you. If those men come again, you need to be able to defend yourself, even without your staff." He lowered the end of the staff until it thunked onto the floor, balancing on its tip. "Yahiko is in the practice dojo."
She stood, avoiding contact with it. She almost walked past it, but stopped herself. //Self must learn to control 'other' self. Self must use bo.// Her decision made, she grabbed it forcefully, and gave it a shake. Feeling better, she headed out into the hall, enroute to the training dojo.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Yahiko had been thrown out of his bed by a rather grouchy Sanosuke, forced to put on a decent training gi by Kaoru, and fussed over by Megumi before he had managed to get to the training dojo.
//Kami-sama! It's not like I can't take care of myself by now!// he growled to himself, idly attacking a few invisible opponents while he waited. //I am fourteen, after all...//
"Yahiko-kun?" He turned to see Tsukiyo timidly peering around the door, her bo in hand.
"You ready for some work?" He grinned at the way her entire face seemed to light up as she charged into the room, her bo stick already moving into one of her attack patterns.
They blocked, parried, attacked and sparred for well over an hour, but Yahiko called it to a halt when both he and Tsukiyo were covered in welts. "That's enough for today, I think. If we keep going, we'll both collapse!"
Tsukiyo laughed a little, shaking her hair out of her eyes. "Yahiko-kun, would anyone mind if we went and swam in the river?"
Yahiko's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Well... Ummm... you'd have to swim with clothes on..."
"That's okay! I'm going to beat you!" she giggled, racing out of the dojo as fast as she could.
"Not fair!" He followed, stuffing his – into it's holder, calling to Kaoru as he raced past her, "Kaoru, Tsukiyo and I are going swimming!"
"Be careful!"
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
They had been splashing, squealing, and dunking in a secluded part of the river for nearly an hour before they crawled –exhausted- onto the riverbank to rest. They began to talk about the various members of the dojo, plotting various ways to get the semi-officious couples together.
"So Tsukiyo. You're gonna get Megumi to come to the garden because you 'accidentally' bruised your kneecap, while I'll grab Sano and tell him that Megumi really wanted to see him." Yahiko paused, scratching his head. "Then you'll magically feel better and sneak off. We'll leave them completely alone."
"Hopefully the beautiful garden will be enough. I am not going to lace their tea!" It had been her idea originally, but she had backed out of the idea when Yahiko thought it might have some possibilities.
"Fine then, I'll do it. I know where Megumi keeps her stuff better than you do anyways." He grinned as he said, "I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they realize they've been set up!"
Tsukiyo giggled, lying back down on the soft grass. "But what'll we do for Ken-sempai and Kaoru-san? They'll be the hardest..."
"Leave it to me, Tsukiyo-san. I'll figure something out."
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Sewayaki watched them drift off to sleep, carefully noting the exact time that they both slumbered. He fingered the tiny bottle of Itami, hanging from a cord around his neck. //How I long to be able to recapture that child... So that I might teach her more...// He had poured endless hours, days, weeks, and months into Tsukiyo's creation. And now that she had escaped, she might unlearn all of her training and revert to the lily-livered child she had been.
He had known she would be a prissy child when he had first laid eyes on her, playing outside of the brothel house where she had been born. While the other children romped gleefully through the mud, she skirted it, keeping her feet dry and her old, worn-out kimono clean. He had been chosen to look for a child who might pass off as a bastard child of the Battousai; he hadn't expected to find the real thing.
Now as he looked upon her, no longer the automaton he had made her into, he could see how she was related. When he had been training her, he had forced her to wear a mask. To degrade her further, to keep her from feeling as though she might be pleasing to the eye. But her face possessed the same slim, delicate features as the Battousai. Her eyes were the amber-gold that only resided in his eyes when he reverted to the good old days, when he had been the perfect manslayer.
There was something that stuck out like a sore thumb to Sewayaki, which kept her from truly being a female copy of the Battousai. It was in the way she walked, a careful, cringing tread that projected her insecurities, having been a bastard and then a slave. It was in the way she spoke, her soft voice carefully toned down to keep all emotions at an even level.
That was what had made her so easy to train, so easy to break. He chuckled at the way that she now could not shake off his training, at the way she now whimpered in her sleep. He hadn't done anything wrong, of course. He had only been doing his job. But he was good at his job. That was why he'd been chosen over Wakira.
He melted back into the forest, picking up his staff as he went. He fingered the slashes that had been cut into it horizontally, reminding himself of the numbers of raw children he had been given to train, all of them possessing the famed and rare red hair of the rurouni. None of them had been related to him, none of them truly possessing his remarkable abilities. They had all died, whether under his weapons or their own.
Tsukiyo had been the only one. He intended to never have to train another. She was the result of his life's work, or rather, the lives of the twenty- odd children he had been given. But before he died, he wanted to see her carry out her destiny. He wanted her father, the Battousai, dead. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Okay so yeah, this is really short. However, I wanted the main focus to be on Sewayaki. Not to mention the fact that I'm really supposed to be listening to my band's MICCA performance. Anyways, I've gotten myself back into the flow of things. See ya next update!
