Chapter 2: Truth

Asaki held her head with her hands, her eyelids tightly sealed on her face, "Go away! Just go away and leave me alone!"

By then, Xiyan, Yakami and Miage had returned home from dropping off the swordsmen at the doctor's office. They had good news for their sensei but all three stopped at the door.

Miage blinked, "Shh, do you hear that?"

They listened closely, hearing their sensei protesting something or someone.

Yakami nodded, "Let's help her. Ready? On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"

They opened the dojo's door quickly and jumped inside, swords drawn ready to assist their sensei in any way that they could. They blinked, looking around and seeing only their sensei on her knees before them. They lowered their swords and walked over to her.

Xiyan touched her arm gently as she twitched, regaining her senses as she blinked, looking at them, "Hey you alright? Was there an intruder?"

Asaki quickly wiped away her tears, giving a slight nod, "Yes it was…an intruder but I…you startled them and so they left." She bowed a bit, taking the cloth that was now dry in her hands and made it wet once more with the water from the bucket and began wiping away the blood on the floor again.

Her three students excused themselves, walking outside and sitting under the shade of a tree.

Yakami spoke first, "Something is wrong with our sensei."

Xiyan and Miage nodded in agreement. Xiyan was the next to add in, "When I touched her, it was like she didn't even know we were there; like she was in a different world."

Miage nodded once more, "She has been acting strangely ever since she fought with the police swordsmen. I've never seen her act so strangely after a battle."

"Maybe it was what that captain said." Xiyan began, "Don't you remember? He was saying she was the something but she stabbed him before he could finish. What do you think it could mean?"

The three men sat there, looking to each other then looking down. They had no idea what was going on or who she really was. They knew nothing of Asaki's past and didn't want to bug her about it now. Still, they felt strange. They didn't know what to make of their sensei now. They were all clouded with confusion.

Once the floor was clean, Asaki decided to clean her blade. She had not had blood upon her blade for some time now. To have blood on her blade only brought her bad memories and she hastily cleaned it off. She wiped her blade clean, sheathing it when she was done. She quickly cleaned the cloth and then picked up the bucket and walked outside. She dumped out the red water and looked to her students

"The floor is still wet inside. We will begin our lesson today outside."

The three nodded and kneeled before her as she soon followed, kneeling before them.

"We will begin with a deep breath as usual."

They all took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. They all stood, almost as if in unison, to their feet. They began their usual training for the day which consisted of the deep breath, sword training, philosophies on swordsmanship and then a review period. The review period was a time for them to ask her any questions or concerns they might have.

"So do you three have any questions about what you have learned today?"

The boys looked at one another. They wanted to ask her about her past. They wanted to ask her what she really was and what the police swordsmen wanted to say to her. None of them could get up the courage, not even Xiyan.

She looked at them and blinked, seeing them look at each other and quickly shake her heads no. "I can tell something is wrong with all of you, so be honest and tell me. I wish only to better all of you and to help you with your problems no matter what they may be."

It was only then, when he had heard her say the word honest, that Xiyan said something, "We want you to be honest with us."

She looked at them all, confused as to their meaning, "What do you mean? What have I not been honest to you about?"

"Those police swordsmen…"

"What about them?"

"Your swords…"

She blinked as he continued listing things and just listened now.

"Your past. Tell us…"

She decided it was best not to put it off any longer. It was true; she hadn't been honest with them about her past. Though she did not have to tell them a thing about her past, she felt differently with her students. She wanted to be able to connect with them; to have an open and honest friendship with them besides just being their sensei.

"Hundreds of years ago, back when I was a few years older than you are right now, I trained to be a master samurai. War had just broken out and I wanted to go but I was still too young to go fight and I hadn't proven myself worthy to anyone yet to be hired. I fell in love with someone. I never knew his name and he never knew mine but we cared deeply for one another. We called each other by our code names, his was Crimson and mine was Emerald. He was four years older than me and he had already created a reputation for himself and was hired to assist in the war. I didn't want him to go; I protested against him leaving me to possibly get killed in the war. He wouldn't listen to me and told me to wait for him and I did. The war ended and I waited for him to return but he never did. A couple of days later I found out that he was slaughtered in the war. I was so angry at both parties for creating the war and taking him from me that rage built into my heart and I slaughtered them all, one by one. That is how I got my nickname Black Raven. When people looked into my eyes before they died, they saw black eyes. Seeing black eyes and being someone that brings death, they came up with the nickname Black Raven. I'm not quite sure how it is I have lived all these years but I have. I remember sleeping for a long time and when I woke up, I was in this town. I wanted Crimson's legacy to live on through me and so I bought this dojo and began giving lessons to others, using what he has taught me and the things that he would do to teach my students. I am sorry that I have kept this from you three for all these years but I just did not want you all to know if you didn't have to."

The three boys looked at her, in sheer disbelief of her words. They didn't quite comprehend that she, their lovable, strong, righteous, virtuous master could possibly be such a cruel, hateful creature. She turned away from them and walked back into her dojo, closing the wooden door behind her. Her tears were full of sorrow. Though a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, she still felt a lot of pain for having kept it in so long and for having kept it from her three students whom she trusted so much. They were the only three whom she trusted since she woke up from her dream. She knew it was their civil duty as a citizen to tell the police that the monster known as the Black Raven was still alive. Many things flooded through her mind about what might happen to her. She thought that they would run off and tell the police swordsmen about what she had told them about being the Black Raven and about what they had seen her do to the other police swordsmen that were doing their jobs. She thought for sure that she'd be removed from her home and publicly slaughtered. In her mind she could see the joy, cheers and smiles on everyone's faces as swords were impaled into her delicate flesh, rejoicing the death of the monster.

She shook the thoughts from her head and turned off the lanterns which illuminated the dojo, walking down the hall to her sleeping quarters. She had passed the other rooms, the rooms that her students use to sleep in when they had nowhere else to go. She glanced into each room before going into her own at the end of the hallway, immediately climbing under her blankets. It was difficult for her to sleep. She heard small noises all during the night, thinking each was the whistle or carriage of the police swordsmen coming to get her. She tossed and turned most of the night, unable to sleep. After three hours of commotion, she finally nodded off to sleep. While she slept she had a strange dream. She was lying in a hospital bed, just waking up. She looked around and saw a man at her side. She had recognized him well.

"Crimson…" her eyes went soft, filling with tears, happy to see him.

He smiled at her, "Yes Emerald, it's me. Please don't rush to get on your feet. I was worried when they told me you were injured so I came here right away."

She blinked; she didn't remember being injured at all, "Injured? How was I injured?"

"Don't you remember? You entered that war. I begged you not to go but you did anyway. You promised me that you'd come out alive. They told me you were dead but I didn't…I wouldn't believe it. I found you here, still alive. I was so happy."

She shook her head, "No Crimson, that was you. You entered the war, not me. I was too young remember?"

He chuckled a bit, "You must still be feeling the effects of the drugs."

She shook her head more, "No! Crimson…you went into the war. You said that you would protect me and they told me that you were dead. What's going on?"

The nurse smiled, looking to Crimson, "Don't worry; it happens all the time with war victims. I'm sure it will go away in due time."

"Crimson, I know what happened. I wasn't in that war, you were. You were the one that was supposed to be dead not me. I killed lots of people after I heard you died because I was so upset and full of pain and rage. Please, don't you believe me?"

He gently caressed her cheek, "Shh, it's ok now Emerald. You're just saying these strange things because of the drugs."

She shook her head violently, "No! For the last time dammit I did not enter the war!"

He smiled, looking at her, "Put on a smile for our daughter."

She blinked, "D-daughter?"

He nodded as a young girl entered the hospital room with her black hair and his hazel eyes. The child smiled at her, "Mama!"

A tear welled in her eyes, "Daughter……" She was still in disbelief that she had a child with him. She hugged them both tightly to her and then, within seconds, the two of them disappeared. She looked around, trying to find them frantically. The nurse faded and the room faded. Everything slowly started fading away until there was nothing surrounding her. She was in a room of pure white, sitting on her knees, naked. She cried uncontrollably. She held the man she loved and their child in her arms one moment and now they were gone; now everything was gone and she was all alone once again. She heard a voice calling her name, "Asaki! Asaki!"

A knock came to the door of the dojo, "Asaki! Asaki! Are you awake?"

Asaki's eyes shot open, the beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks along with the tears. She sat up quickly and looked around. She heard the knocks at her door. She sighed, "A dream…it was only a dream." She wiped away her sweat and tears, slipping her shoes back on as she walked to the door and opened it slightly.

"Yes I am awake. Oh it's you Miss Katane, please come in." she opened the door for the other woman to enter. The two sat inside drinking green tea, Katane talking about the various rumors that were spreading around like wildfire through the town and the various things that she had seen from her shop. After about an hour, Katane gave her occasional glance to Asaki, seeing that for the tenth time she seemed to be somewhere else in her mind.

"Miss Asaki, are you feeling alright?"

Asaki blinked, "Hm? Oh yes Miss Katane, I am fine. I am just feeling a bit tired that's all. I've had a rough day."

"I wouldn't be surprised Miss Asaki, you train those boys all day and you take care of this dojo. Are you trying out something new with them?"

Asaki looked at Katane, unsure of what to make of the comment, "No. Why do you ask?"

"Well they are all sleeping outside so I just wondered if it was a new sword fighting technique you were implementing."

Asaki shook her head, "No. They were just doing some last minute chores and they must have fallen asleep out there. We are very tired Miss Katane. I'll get them into bed at once so don't worry."

Katane nodded and said her goodbyes to Asaki and the sleeping students. Asaki walked outside and looked to the three of them. She smiled, happy that they had kept her secret inside. She gave each of them a slight nudge and told them to go sleep in their rooms. She went back down the hallway into her room, crawled under the covers and smiled, closing her eyes. She spoke two soft words in a whisper, "Thank you…"