Tora no Kokoro: A Tiger's Heart
Part 1: "Kokoro no Hono'o no Gekido The Heart's Flames of Rage"
or "Tora no Ki The Tiger's Return"
By Valse de la Lupe (SesshysSheWolf/Jessica Morris)
CHAPTER
FOUR
A
Sweet Young Lady
Why does this weak heart stay me so?
I want to slash it out,
And watch my other self slowly perish!
...But then I truly would be an ogre.
"She took down six men," Kaoru said skeptically, "with a sakabatou?"
"Hey, don't look at me that way, all right?" Sano said defensively. "She did! Her hair was red and her eyes... What? You don't believe me?" He moved out of the way of a street merchant who was peddling his cart along down the busy street of the marketplace. It was midday, and many people had begun to gather for lunch; but (since Kaoru was on a saving-money fling, like usual) the group would have to go home and endure her..."interesting"...brand of cooking instead of enjoying a nice, hot beef pot' at Akabeko'.
"It's not exactly that we don't believe you," Yahiko' said. "Me an' miss ugly over there just think you were drunk."
"Who's ugly?" Koaru said as Sano said, "I wasn't drunk!"
"You little punk—" Sano and said in unison, both grabbing the back of Yahiko's hakama-shita.
"Now, now," said Kenshin, smiling slightly and raising his hands. "There is no need to be angry, that there isn't. I'm sure we can come to an agreement—"
"Who included you, Mister Perfect?" Kaoru said, rounding on Kenshin. She looked ready to bite his head off.
"Oro'!" Kenshin said, raising his hands again, this time in submission. "This one just meant that it could be possible that she is real." He lowered his hands. "But this one wonders whom she is. Women who dare to openly carry a real blade are rare these days, and female rurouni' are even rarer."
"There are female rurouni?" Yahiko asked.
"Yes," replied Kenshin. His eyes were unfocused, as though recalling something from long ago. "They were once the women samurai and kunoichi' during the war, which were few to start with, but after and during the Revolution most were killed or became wives and gave up their fighting ways."
"Sou'..." said Koaru, as Yahiko said "Wow, female rurouni!"
"Sa te'! At least someone believes me," muttered Sano, rolling his eyes.
Suddenly feeling eyes on him, Sano glanced across the street—he thought he had seen a flash of red hair and defiant green eyes. He blinked. He was probably just imagining things, but...it was better safe than sorry.
Miyuko glanced quickly around the corner again, across the street.
"Che'!" She cursed softly.
The red-haired man was gone. Miyuko halfway reached to stroke her sakabatou (a habit she had when she was particularly irritated) before she stopped herself. She was cool, calm, collected. However...the tall man had almost seen her—or had he?—which would have led to suspicion, something Miyuko could not afford at that time. She was going soft, letting herself slip like that! Curse it all; wearing her furisode', something necessary for being invisible in the middle of crowds, instead of her hakama always made her more anxious than normal due to its restraint of movement. Where have they gone, anyway?
"Where have who gone, dear?"
Miyuko very nearly jumped; she must have said that last part out loud. Turning around, however, she saw that it was only a grandmotherly old woman, carrying a small basket of produce.
"Oh, it's nothing. I must have mistaken him for someone else," Miyuko said, smiling innocently. Questions could be traced back to her.
The elderly woman chuckled warmly.
"Oh, believe me; I saw the way you were looking at that tall fellow. But you shouldn't get mixed up with the likes of him; he was a fighter-for-hire, so I here," the woman walked on. She added, "I don't think he's right for a sweet, pretty young lady like yourself, dear, being so violent and all. He's not one to go doe-eyed over."
Miyuko stared, wide-eyed, as the woman bowed her head then disappeared around the corner. The woman thought she liked...? Miyuko blinked. She had not been doe-eyed...had she? Of course not! The foolish old hag! Was it not unusual to look at someone with such a strange appearance? He had the aku' kanji' written on the back of his coat, after all—another partial similarity between them—and there were few men as tall as he. There were plenty of other reasons to look at him.
He was a fighter-for-hire, the woman had said. He was much like herself, then, and his aku kanji was another tie between them. But the woman had also said that Miyuko was "a sweet young lady." If the woman only knew how many countless lives she had taken, how many liters of blood had been spilled by her katana. Miyuko very nearly laughed aloud; though it would have been bitterly, it also would have been the first she had laughed in years. Her laughter had nearly stopped, ever since...
No! She would not think of it! She gritted her teeth, regaining her coolly aloof stance. She had a job to do, and when Miyuko Shizuyo started a job, she always finished it.
Suddenly she saw the red-haired man, the pretty young woman, and the energetic boy emerge from a shop across the street. Miyuko quickly hid herself and followed them with her eyes.
Once they were far enough ahead that they would not notice her, Miyuko started off after them at a casual pace, stopping here and there to pretend to inspect products from random stands and merchants. Miyuko had worn her furisode, an iris-printed lavender one with a violet obi', today just for this purpose: blending in to the crowd. (However, she refused to blend in to the point of being vulnerable; her sakabatou was at her side, as usual, and her katana was strapped vertically on her back, hanging just below her bunko-taiko'.) This time she made sure to stay to the sides of the road. She trailed them until they left the village, crossing a bridge and heading down a quiet road.
Miyuko had to stop there, lest they see her. She watched them until they were out of sight. So the red-haired man was staying at the dojo after all. That would make her job easier; it was much better than the asset of her typical targets, a mansion with a full team of security guards with rifles. The Silent Tiger would strike on this night.
Miyuko turned to go back to her inn, but found herself face-to-face with the tall man once again.
"You..." She narrowed her eyes. He had noticed her, curse it all. "Why are you following me?"
"Why are you watching us?" he shot back. "You've been doing it all day."
"I haven't been—" Miyuko hmphed irately. It was obvious that this man would not be satisfied with excuses. "My business is my own."
"Not when it involves us," he said firmly. "Why are you watching us?"
"You really don't want to mess with me, yarou'—" she began.
"The name is Sanosuke Sagara."
"It makes no difference. Don't get involved or you'll get hurt." She menacingly caressed her sakabatou, something she had been doing a lot lately.
"I...doubt that." Sanosuke dismissed her threat with a wave of his hand, grinning blithely. "You look nice in a furisode." He made reference to her obvious disadvantage—being in a very restricting garment—should she try anything on him. In other words, he was insinuating that she was weak. Again.
"KUSOYAROU'!" Her fists were clenched and she was practically shouting now; the man had a talent for causing her to loose her cool. She took a breath and made an effort to control her volume, though she still glared at him. "...Tsume o kakusu'. Besides, I just told you yesterday not to think I am weak because I'm a woman! You saw what I did to those men. And I believe it was YOU who refused to fight ME, not the other way around."
"I don't fight women," Sanosuke said. "No respectable man would fight a woman."
"So...then respectable women don't fight men? You're saying that I'm not respectable?" Miyuko quirked an eyebrow at him. If he was going to mock her, then she was certainly going to return the favor.
"Well...uh...you're an escaped prostitute, aren't you?"
Miyuko was momentarily dumbfounded. She quickly regained use of her tongue, however. "Where the hell would you get an idea like that?"
"Why else would there be hired men chasing after you?"
"Is there a brain in that bird-head of yours, Sagara? Maybe I'm a run-away bride-to-be...or...something."
"So you're not a prostitute? Not even a private one?"
"No, I'm not," she said firmly. "And don't change the subject! You're just making excuses because you're too afraid to fight me. You're exactly like every other gutless foo—HEY!"
Miyuko flushed in anger, spun around and snatched at the back of the haori' of the man who had just brushed his hand against the back of her furisode, but she failed to factor in the heavy sleeves of her furisode and misjudged the distance of her reach; the man took off as fast as he could. She chose to ignore the man and return to lecturing Sagara, but a feeling of lightness alerted her to the fact that something was missing. She checked to make sure her bunko-taiko was still fastened correctly. But wait...where was...? Her katana!
"He—he took Toramune!" She whipped around again, this time almost frantically, searching the crowd. All thoughts of keeping her identity unknown slipped from her mind as she spotted the man, clutching her precious katana, already nearly across the bridge.
Her hands flew to draw the end of her furisode above her knees. Heedless of the people who stopped to stare, Miyuko chased the man down and seized him; she had him pinned down in a manner of seconds, and wrestled the katana out of his thickset hands. The lowlife's small, dark eyes looked up at her in fear as she shoved Toramune's sheath down hard against his neck.
"P-please, d-d-don't kill m-me...!" he gasped.
"Why did you try to steal this? Who sent you?" Miyuko pressed down harder and the man's eyes widened in fright.
"N-no one, M-m-miss, I...I needed m-money, and—"
"...You thought a helpless girl would make a good victim?" she prodded.
The pickpocket was silent, eyes darting about for a way of escape. Miyuko's mind was clouded; all thoughts had been covered by a dark and angry fog—all thoughts besides those of killing this man who had dared to touch her Toramune.
"Well, if you hadn't chosen the way of the coward, you may still have had the chance to live right now." She gently slid Toramune out of its sheath, laying its blade against the man's neck. The man made a horrified choking noise. She whispered softly, "Die."
Strong hands pulled her back, away from the petrified crook. She fully unsheathed Toramune and tugged out of the person's grip, turned 'round, and found herself facing Sagara again. Miyuko felt a pang of sharp indignity. "You—!"
"Calm down, Mii," Sanosuke said, carefully moving so that he was in between the frightened man and Miyuko. "You got your sword back, so there's no harm done."
"You dare interfere with my business? This scum has committed a crime, and now he will die for it. If you don't move, then you die as well." She raised her katana into an offensive position, demonstrating that she would not back down.
"Mii," Sanosuke muttered, "you might want to consider where you are."
The furious cloud covering her mind began to dissipate as she espied the small crowd of people who had gathered nearby, watching from a safe distance. The harsh sound of their murmuring, as they gestured and glanced askew at her and Sagara, resembled the cackling of ravens. While Miyuko's back was turned the pickpocket took the opportunity to escape into the crowd. Out of reflex she moved to chase after the man, but Sagara darted forward to grab her wrist. He gently yet firmly led her through the crowd, beyond the bridge, and out of sight of the townspeople; Miyuko let herself be steered along, trying desperately to bury her anger within herself.
Once Sanosuke was sure they were not being followed he pulled Mii to the side of the river-side path and released her arm. He studied her carefully, still alarmed at the complete change that had come over her just a few moments ago. It was hard for him to believe that this seemingly gentle—though temperamental—young woman had managed to transform into a near-murderer, right in front of his eyes.
"Okay...you wanna explain what got into you back there?" he demanded.
A flicker of fire appeared in her eyes at his tone, but she remained silent.
"It's one thing to carry a sword around, but drawing one in public—and threatening to kill someone—is something else. You're lucky there weren't any police around; I don't know what they do to women, but they hang men who do that!"
"He deserved to die," she said, as though he hadn't spoken at all.
"How can you say that?" said Sano strongly. "All he did was take your sword, and he didn't even manage that properly."
"He defiled Toramune," she corrected, glaring at him, "and what right do you have to judge my actions?"
"Killing anyone for any reason is wrong," he said firmly.
"Why?" Her anger faded away into impatience. "Why do people think it's so wrong to kill? It isn't wrong to squash an ant that bites you, so why not a human?" She looked away. "Life is ephemeral. People die every day by the thousands, so one more doesn't matter; the deserving will be reborn into a better life...and the rest into maggots'."
Sanosuke shook his head, and spoke with rising emotion. "You just don't get it. That man—he may be just a crook, but his life is still worth something, at least to those who know him. The value of a human life is much greater than that of any katana."
"You don't know what this katana is." Mii held Toramune up and gently slid it out of its sheath, letting the sunlight reflect down its length. "Toramune—it's...all I have left of him."
"'Him'?" Sano prompted.
"My late fiancé," she said simply, her fierce glower softening for the slightest of instants as she gazed at her katana. But after a moment the new warmth in her emerald eyes faded until they again mirrored the cold gleam of the blade. "He may have been stolen, but I will protect his sword with my life. Es ist mein schatz'"
Sanosuke didn't quite know how to respond to that. "...You know German?"
"A bit." Sighing, Mii sheathed Toramune. "I have work that needs doing..."
Sanosuke stepped aside and gestured toward the path. "Just don't get in any more swordfights, okay?"
"I know that." Mii glanced patronizingly up at him, somehow making him feel as though she were the taller one, though she barely came to his shoulder. But then she lowered her eyes, gazing less-than-humbly at her feet. "However... I am in your debt. If you had not stopped me, I probably would have completely lost myself."
Sano blinked. How could she speak so politely when her eyes were telling him to get the hell away from her? "Um...it was no trouble or anything..." This was not something he would have foreseen five minutes ago. What was up with this girl? She must be insane.
"So...what would you have me do?" Mii still glared at him. Sano was pretty sure that if he asked anything stupid she would just have at him with her sword and then walk away like nothing happened, but he wanted to mess with her one last time.
"I'll take a rain check on that offer," he said, "meaning that we'll have to meet again. So... Ja ne'!"
He turned before she could respond, hurrying to catch up to Kenshin and the others before they had eaten the entire meal.
Miyuko silently watched Sagara's aku mark disappear down the empty road, probably to re-join his friends...one of whom she would shortly be killing. She sighed, trying to get rid of the seldom-felt emotion that was developing in the pit of her stomach. She walked carefully across the road to the riverbank, watching the leaves swirl together in a final dance before landing like dragonflies upon the water. Her own mirrored image gazed back at her as she knelt by the water's edge.
"Why," she asked her other self, "does this dread grow inside of me?"
She caressed the water's surface with one finger, disrupting and finally completely breaking up the reflection of herself that she hated so much. Frustrated, she stood, turning back toward the village and her inn.
"I really need some sake'..."
Author's Note: Four chapters down, and a bunch more to go... ;; I've updated the glossary, as usual, so if you're unsure of some of the terms or want to know what the characters' names mean, then you can look it up in the pseudo-chapter in the back of the fanfic. And, as usual, comments, reviews, suggestions, and questions are welcome!
In other news, school is out! Now that I've finally finished up French class, I can start on German or Spanish next year. Woot! J'aime les langues beaucoup! ;
Also, I've started planning out Part Two of "To-no-Ko" (saying "Tora no Kokoro" every time gets annoying). I've decided that there will be three parts to it. After Part One ends, Part Two will have to do with all of Miyuko's past, not just the little inserts that have been put into this part of the fic (so everyone will understand why Miyuko does the things she does). Following that, Part Three will continue and end Miyuko's present adventures.
