Prologue: Two Worlds Apart

"Life is fair to no one."

.:Misao:.

"Stupid kid, no one messes with Makimachi Misao." She muttered, stomping through the grass, looking down at her feet. "I should've hurt him more. Way much more. I should've shown him how ninjas really fight." The raven-haired teenager kept on, fuming silently. She suddenly twirled around, shook a fist in the air, and yelled: "NO ONE CALLS ME A WEASEL! I AM THE LEADER OF THE ONIWABAN GROUP! IDIOT!" Birds that were hiding in the trees, fluttered out at her voice.

She was very angry. She was no longer that little 15 year old everyone poked fun at. She had grown! She had wits, curves, and sharper skills! Sure she was just 16, no big difference for others. But to her it was a huge step from being Misao the Weasel to Misao the Leader.

Misao sighed, frustrated that her old nickname still followed her, even when she was so far away from Kyoto. Her beloved Aoshi was no longer hers. He had fallen for the lovely doctor, Megumi Takani.

Her eyes grew fires in them as that name rung in her head. Subconsciously she flashed out her kunai, the grudge she held against Megumi pouring out. "He picked her. He…loves her! And not me…." She spoke to herself, feeling a bit gloomy.

She hissed at her own weakness and put back the kunai. "Whatever, not my problem anyways. I don't need him anymore." She tried assuring herself.

"Besides, he was never my ty—Mou!" Misao jumped back when she accidentally stepped on something that croaked and inflated itself under her shoe.

With wide eyes she looked at the toad that glared at her. "Stupid frog." She rolled her eyes, coming to her senses. She saw that it was still glaring at her and glared back. "What's your deal? I'm sorry, alright?" She crouched down in front of it and gave it a scolding look. "I'm already ticked off, ok? So turn around and hop off." She glared even more when she noticed that it wasn't obeying her and reached out to touch it.

That's when it happened.

The toad turned around, getting Misao to raise an eyebrow, and fired its pee at her. Straight into both of her eyes. Misao yelped and fell back, rubbing her eyes vigorously.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" She cried out, the urine burning her eyes. She kept rubbing and rasping, cursing and yelling. The pee still burned and all she could do was wipe her eyes. Soon after the blazing sensation stopped, she slowly opened her eyes.

And saw nothing but blackness.

She blinked, but saw nothing. She felt herself blink, but couldn't see! Panic rose in her throat and she wanted to scream but told herself to calm down. "Breathe, Misao. Breathe." She chanted, blinking and blinking. She closed her eyes and opened them again, the thought of not seeing, coming to her mind. Her eyes watered up and tears began to fall. "Please no…" She whispered, not wanting to stop trying to restore her sight. She rubbed and blinked, blinked and rubbed, but nothing worked.

Reluctantly falling into defeat, Misao hugged her knees to her chest and placed her chin on her knees, staring into oblivion.

"I'm blind…." She shuddered, and began to silently cry.

"Learning to Breathe"

.:Soujiro:.

He plodded down the streets, his usual smile on. He past couples, young and old, and children whose eyes glittered with happiness. Would he ever find that happiness? Did he want that kind of happiness? Did he deserve it?

He shook his head, making all those thoughts disappear. I'm not gonna ruin such a nice day with these questions. He thought to himself, squinting in the sunlight.

He had spent enough days in the little town, and now he was off to venture around, searching for the truth that the ex-hitokiri Battousai told him about. So far he was only on his first year, and still no luck.

He had few friends and though they pleaded for him to stay, he knew he had to leave. As much as he wanted to please them, he wasn't going to be happy without knowing that he had finally found his truth.

"Seta-san! Seta-san, wait!" A voice called out from behind.

Soujiro turned around, scanning through the crowds. He set his eyes on a girl, no older than eleven, and smiled sincerely, the smile reaching his eyes this time.

Her hazel eyes gleamed with delight when she locked eyes with him, as she reached him.

"Seta-san." She smiled, standing before him. She suddenly pouted at him, causing him to smile embarrassed. "You were going to leave without saying a proper goodbye." She told him, looking at the ground.

"I didn't want to disturb you and your family, Miss Akemi."

She shot her head up, eyes full of tears. "But still!" She complained and abruptly hugged him.

Soujiro was shock at her action, but hugged back, hearing her cry.

"Miss Akemi…I'll come visit. I promise." He cooed, feeling sad for leaving the girl who had grown so attached to him. She stepped away from him and wiped her tears.

"You swear?" She looked at him expectantly.

Soujiro nodded.

"Cross your heart hope to die, stick a needle in your eye?" She questioned.

Soujiro chuckled and nodded. "As a rurouni, I promise."

Akemi smiled, blushing as she looked at him. "Well…My mother, told me to give you this. If you get hurt. It's a cream sort of thing." She sniffled, pulling out a little bottle from inside her sleeve and gave it to him. "Please take it. Don't say no." She warned him, knowing that the polite swordsman would try to decline.

Soujiro grabbed it and bowed. "Thank you. Please tell your family that I owe them a lot and somehow I will repay them." He straightened up and smiled once again.

"….I'll…I'll miss you." She stammered, extremely red.

Soujiro didn't know why she was suddenly so red in the face but kept smiling. "Well…Thanks for everything, Miss Akemi. Sayonara." With that he turned around and continued walking heading for the forest. He looked over his shoulder and saw that she was still there.

"I love you, Seta Soujiro!" She yelled out.

Soujiro stopped, stunned for a while. I love you….Soujiro? He kept on walking, still surprised.

Who would love me…..?