Ahhh...here I am again at my computer, blaring The Used, with another sudden thought for a fic. Yes, I will finish Himuro, but not right now, probably after this first chapter.
Who knows? Wait the music just changed, The Killers, not bad, well back to my thoughts:
My first FF2 fic! I've decided to write about the Kiryu's, basically their life before and after the ritual, kinda the same idea as Blossoming Friendship.
This chapter is more of a prequel. Kinda boring, but needed. It'll be in third person this time, but the next chapters will be first. Please review this one! I'm tired of having people read but not review, I don't care if you hate it and want to burn it, just do it, please! Thanks to Steeple333 for all of his, I appreciate it. Haha, Chevelle! Sorry, I'm done, onto the story.
Chapter 1 -Realization
Golden rays of light tore through the morning darkness, first lighting the whole of Misono Hill. The red Shinto gate glistened from the morning dew, the trees turning to their vibrant emerald shade. A beautiful morning, no one could deny. The light passed over Minakami Village, signaling for many of the houses doors to open and for the day to start. Lively children ran out from their mother's arms, not wanting to waste the morning lazing about inside. This sunny day was the first in many long days of torrential rain, and gloomy grey colors. Many of the older villagers had thought that the everlasting rain was an omen, a possible sign that the yearly ritual would fail. The young Kurosawa, Ryokan the Remaining, had tried to calm down the heads of the prominent houses, Kiryu, Tsuchiara, Tachibana, and Osaka, telling them to tell their family there was no worry. No one dared to defy the white haired, easily angered young man. The Remaining is to be respected and feared, and the Kurosawa house was the 'master' of the village. Being both, Ryokan Kurosawa controlled the village and the fearful people easily.
A few children played loudly in front of the Tachibana house, running around in circles. Adults walking past them chuckled softly remembering their past as children and stopped when they realized the garden hoe or the wet clothes they held in their hands. 'To be that carefree,' they all thought. The laughing children all quieted at the sight coming near them and the adults froze at whatever they were doing. From the direction of the Tsuchiara house came two twins, both wearing pure white kimonos and with the same red tie around their waist connecting them to each other. The tall girls walked the muddy path quietly, looking down at the ground and with their long black hair covering their faces. The children backed away quickly to let them pass, and stared as they walked around the corner of the gap between the Tachibana and Kiryu houses. One or two peeked around the corner of the house and saw the twins kimonos flutter out of sight behind the house. The children's laughter screeched again and the adults went back to their morning routines as if nothing had happened.
Yoshitatsu Kiryu exited the large gate that led to the Kurosawa house and glanced briefly at the two guards who stood watch on either side. 'Such unbelievable security,' he thought as he crossed the wooden bridge with the clear blue water bubbling underneath. 'It's not needed at all, but I guess it's the ceremony master's decision.'
"How stupid," he whispered as he passed through the second and larger gate that led back to the village.
He paused and stared at the two girls walking toward him. He stepped to the side dazedly to let them pass. Yoshitatsu could faintly hear them say thank you, and could hear sniffling sounds from one of them as if she was fighting back tears. The other sister wrapped her arm over her other's shoulder and the gate was closed behind them, blocking them from Yoshitatsu's prying eyes. He twirled his sleeve nervously and walked up the set of stairs up to his house. He was about to open the side door when he remembered that his wife was still in labor. She refused to see anyone, but wanted someone to send for Yoshitatsu when the baby was about to enter the world. His open hand fell to his side and he thought about what he should do until he was wanted. Finally he decided to go to Misono Hill to think without many distractions.
As Yoshitatsu walked past the villagers, they stopped what they were doing and congratulated him about the upcoming birth of his child. He smiled pleasantly at their words but was at a loss on what he should say to them other than 'thank you'. It was an awkward situation that Yoshitatsu and his wife, Akane were in. The both of them were older, in their mid forties and they didn't have any other children, when people half their age had one or more. They were unprepared with the arrival of the newborn, and the village had tried their best to help them by giving them food they could spare. Even Ryokan Kurosawa had given them some money and some extra cloth for the dolls that Yoshitatsu built. As he walked up the inclined path, he could feel the small weight of the money in his kimono. As much as he hated Ryokan, he couldn't argue with the kindness that he gave to him and Akane.
At the top of the hill, Yoshitatsu walked over to the giant slab and stood in front of it, looking over the village. The slight wind blew his black with white specked hair from his wrinkled face. He looked at his shaky hands and wondered if he could even hold a child in them. Sure, he could hold the dolls but a child? A newborn is far more delicate than the dolls that littered his house. Akane's smiling face appeared in his thoughts. Despite her complete nervousness, she was able to act as though it didn't bother her, the fact that she had no idea on how to deal with a baby was the least of her worries. She only cared about how their life would change with a child running around. Yoshitatsu was excited about having his own child that would motivate him to put more energy, creativeness, and dedication into the dolls he created.
He looked up from his hands and saw the sun shining brightly over head.
"How long have I been standing here?" he asked himself.
It was well past noon, he hadn't eaten since last night when Akane near collapsed from pain and exhaustion. The doctor had told him that she was in labor and would give birth any moment. That was the point where Akane had woken up and had told him to leave the house for a while, have him clear his thoughts. Her face had frightened him, sweaty, pale, and wracked with pain; he didn't want to leave her side. He had never seen anyone in labor before, but he knew that something was wrong with his wife, and she didn't him to be with her. Suddenly, Yoshitatsu felt tired. He hadn't eaten and last night he hadn't slept well. His nerves didn't help him much either.
He sat on the dusty ground, not caring if he got mud on his blue kimono. As his eyes started to close he could faintly hear scuffling feet. He opened one of his eyes blearily, and saw a figure running toward him. If he wasn't as tired, he would have tried to stand up and greeted the person. The figure came closer and Yoshitatsu realized that it was the doctor's assistant. Still he didn't move. The woman leaned over him and tapped his shoulder, not seeing that one of his eyes was open.
"Master Kiryu," her voice said softly. "Master Kiryu, it's time."
After hearing this, Yoshitatsu bolted up and almost sent the assistant flying backwards as she yelled in surprise. His exhaustion was nearly gone, his eyes were still blurry and his voice was thick and croaky. He looked at the assistant and saw that she held a torch that he didn't see before. He looked upwards and saw that the sky was a deep, impenetrable black.
"I fell asleep?" he wondered out loud. "How long?"
"Had to be almost all day, sir. Now we really have got to go. You wouldn't want to miss the birth of your child, would you?" she added with a small smile.
Yoshitatsu shook his head as an answer and to try to see more clearly, it was no use; his eyes were unable to focus. He waved his hand for the assistant to lead and together, with him stumbling a few times, they reached his house.
Certain parts of the huge house were dimly lit, making it seem things were hiding in the shadows if one looked at them from the corner of their eye, fortunately the entrance was not one of these rooms. The assistant ran up the three stairs to the right and Yoshitatsu followed, slowly. They went through the next room where dolls were strewn across the floor; they went through the largest room in the whole house and went to the next room, not far from the Kiryu's shrine room. In this room, the two heard a loud yell from upstairs and they ran up the stairs, careful not to trip. As they reached the landing, Yoshitatsu went on ahead and turned the corner after going up a small flight of stairs. In this room h saw Akane on the floor and the doctor to her side checking her pulse. The assistant breezed past Yoshitatsu and went behind the doctor to where a bag was on Akane's clothing drawers.
Yoshitatsu walked over to Akane and sat on her other side. She laid back down after giving another yell of pain and turned to see her husband. She smiled weakly and he returned the smile. He reached to his side and picked up a blue rag, which he used to wipe her face of the tears and sweat.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Yoshitatsu smiled again, trying to hide the concern he had about how pale her face was. He looked over at the doctor and saw that his lips were closed tightly as he checked Akane's pulse again. Yoshitatsu wanted to ask the doctor what was wrong, but didn't want to upset his wife. The doctor looked up from Akane's wrist and noticed Yoshitatsu staring at him.
"Time for another push, Mrs. Kiryu," the doctor said gently.
The assistant sat in front of Akane. "The head's almost out. Probably three more pushes should do it."
"You hear that, Akane?" Yoshitatsu whispered excitedly. "Just three more pushes."
Akane repeated her procedure, sitting up, pushing and yelling, then laying back down. With every push she gave, she seemed to be getting weaker. Yoshitatsu thought that that was natural and decided to look only at his wife. He held her hand as she gave one last push. A loud crying came from where the assistant was and Yoshitatsu almost jumped with joy.
"Is that…our baby?" Akane whispered.
"Yes, it's a baby girl, Mrs. Kiryu." The assistant said, handing the baby to the proud father.
Yoshitatsu showed Akane and her smile brightened. "Azami…so beautiful…"
"Well, Mrs. Kiryu we need you to push a bit more, can you do it?"
Akane nodded slowly and did the same procedure over again. Yoshitatsu stared in disbelief. 'What? What's going on?' he thought frantically. 'Azami's out? Why is she still pushing?' He turned his attention to the doctor, who avoided his eye and went back to checking Akane's pulse. As he opened his mouth to ask, Yoshitatsu was cut off by the same crying scream he heard only moments ago.
"It's another girl." The assistant said over the screeching child.
"Twins?" Yoshitatsu asked dully as the assistant handed Akane the second child. "Wh…Twins?"
Akane looked up at Yoshitatsu and tried to speak, but the words died on her lips. Trying to speak again, she became overwhelmingly tired and fell back onto the floor, still clutching the younger twin. Yoshitatsu gasped in surprise and he wasn't the only one who did.
"Doctor?" the assistant whispered.
The doctor peered around to where the assistant was and hastily checked Akane's pulse again. Yoshitatsu watched the two in confusion and grabbed the other child from Akane's hands. As soon as he touched her skin, he felt coldness. Her fingertips were ice cold and were frozen in the grasping position.
"Akane?" he whispered. "Doctor…is she…?"
The doctor fell back and shook his head. "Mr. Kiryu, I'm sorry, sir. I…I really am truly…sorry."
The assistant laid Akane's legs down neatly and fixed her clothes. Yoshitatsu only blinked, he had mixed feelings ad many thoughts going through his mind but couldn't discern which he should experience. Joy, sorrow, 'My wife…dead…twins…ritual…'. The doctor put his hand on Yoshitatsu's shoulder and tried to speak in a reassuring way.
"Mr. Kiryu, we'll take Mrs. Kiryu now. And let Miss Sagi take the twins to the nursery."
The assistant, Miss Sagi held out her hands to take the children but Yoshitatsu wouldn't oblige her at first. After a short while, he lifted blue-eyed Azami into her arms, but still held onto the gray-eyed nameless child.
"We haven't named you yet," he muttered.
The doctor helped the older man to his feet, careful of the sleeping child in his arms. "Please, go to the nursery with Miss Sagi, sir."
In a daze, Yoshitatsu followed the young lady downstairs, going through the door opposite of a cart that led to a hall. They walked down until they reached an opening where another door was. In this room there were two cradles, two large drawers, two mirrors, two tatami mats, two paper shade lamps, many toys that Yoshitatsu had built, there was only one screen near the lattice on the other side of the room, this depicted a scene of flocking crimson butterflies. He stared in amazement, no one had told him they made double of everything, Akane had never told him she was expecting twins. This was a total shock to him.
Miss Sagi placed Azami delicately into the cradle, making sure not to wake her. "Can you tell them apart, sir?"
Yoshitatsu nodded, dimly aware of Miss Sagi taking the other child and placing her in the opposite cradle. "Their eyes are different, Azami's are blue…"
"What are you going to name the other child, sir? If you don't mind my asking," she added quickly, not wanting to upset him even further.
He thought about it and only one name came to his mind. "Akane."
Miss Sagi smiled and exited the room, leaving Yoshitatsu with his daughters. Before he realized it, he started to cry, the most he had ever cried in his life. His wife was dead; his children were destined to a fate that was out of their hands, how could he live with this?
Outside the Kiryu house, the village was in an uproar. The Tsuchiara twins had tried to run away from the ritual, going through the open hole in the large tree. An over excited sickle bearer discovered them turning the wheels of the table which would open the door in the Kureha Shrine, enabling them to escape. When he found them he urged them to get away, but the older twin stayed her ground and continued to turn the wheels. In anger at her stubbornness, he stabbed her sharply inadvertently cutting her neck and slicing her head clear off in a shower of blood. The younger twin became distraught and attacked him, but in his self defense, he flashed the sickle across her chest and cut her deeply. She continued to fight him despite the gash but bled out after her fifth punch to his face.
The young ceremony master heard the clamor and ran inside. As he saw the terrible sight he ordered that the sickle bearer appease the Hellish Abyss as the Kusabi. After the ritual was performed, the ground had rumbled, not accepting the failed Kusabi. They knew the Repentance would come soon but there were no twins that could perform the next ritual. The ceremony master had ordered that the rest of the ones who had searched for the twins to become the next mourners, in his anger. As the rest of the village found out about the atrocities, they realized how close to death they would all come without any sacrifice.
It was at this moment the doctor and the assistant that had treated the Kiryu's came down the path with Akane's dead body in a makeshift gurney and covered with a white sheet, told the villagers that there were twins born not only an hour ago in the Kiryu house. The villagers all sighed with relief, not caring that Mrs. Kiryu had died after giving birth, not caring that Yoshitatsu Kiryu had no idea before this that his wife had twins, not caring that there were other sacrifices given on this day, they only cared that they had a chance to live.
The next morning was once again grey, cloudy and rainy. Yoshitatsu Kiryu stood in front of his wife's newly buried grave, smelling the scent of earth, mingled with death and rain. Ryokan Kurosawa had told him all of what happened the night before only a few minutes ago. He had told him that his daughters, when they were old enough, would be the next Shrine Maidens in the ritual. Yoshitatsu fought with himself to not yell at the master and only nodded.
His walk home was a drastic change from yesterday, instead of smiling faces there was only sadness, but their eyes were all bright with the knowledge that they would still live, even though others would and had died.
Yoshitatsu Kiryu vowed to himself that his daughters, Azami and Akane, would live happily, never knowing the terrible events that had preceded their birth. He only wished to protect them for as long as he could, although he knew it wouldn't be long.
So, what do you think? I want reviews this time! I don't care what you say, just give them, please!