Chapter 9: Past, Present, Future

"I'll be there soon Asaki, please wait for me."

As Asaki lie in her bed, she stared blankly at the ceiling. It was true that Hotsuma was very kind to her but still, everything about him seemed to remind her of Jin; the way he walked, his gentle nature, his personality, his honor. The only thing that didn't remind her of Jin was his wealth. Hotsuma, unlike Jin, owned his own dojo, servants and who knows what else. Asaki's thoughts were interrupted as she heard her door being slid open. She looked over at the door with narrowed eyes, her right hand reaching over to the hilt of one of her katanas.

Hotsuma walked in with a smile, "Pardon me for not knocking but I just had to talk to you before you left tomorrow."

Asaki sighed in relief and smiled, nodding back, pulling the woven blanket over the phoenix kimono robe. "Is it really that important?"

"Yes Asaki. I can't let you go tomorrow without telling you how I feel about you."

Asaki blinked, blushing slightly, "How you feel…about me?"

Hotsuma took her hand, enclosing it in both of his, "Yes Asaki. I don't know what it is about you but I feel connected somehow to you. Asaki don't you feel it too? Don't you feel like we belong together?"

"Hotsuma…I…"

"What I'm asking Asaki is for you to stay here and live with me. I care deeply for you Asaki and I would be honored if you would stay here with me."

Asaki frowned, looking down at the ground, "I had a feeling that you felt that way about me but I just…I can't stay with you Hotsuma."

"Why not Asaki? Do you have someone else?"

"You could say that…"

"Asaki look around you." He placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "I can give you everything you ever wanted and needed. I want to be with you Asaki. I want you to marry me and stand by my side. I want to start a family with you."

"A…family?" Asaki looked up and into Hotsuma's eyes. He wasn't lying. His eyes and his words were completely honest and sincere. This was another thing that separated Hotsuma from Jin; Hotsuma was open about his feelings, not afraid to show them and he didn't care about anything else except Asaki. If it had been Jin, as she had seen before, he would contemplate what to do and think of prior engagements; Hotsuma, on the other hand, cared nothing more than being with Asaki.

"Yes Asaki. Please…won't you be my wife?" He pulled out a ring that would even make Cithara jealous.

Asaki looked to the ring and blinked, blushing slightly, "H-Hotsuma…we…we just met and you're asking me to marry you?"

"I can't help it Asaki. You have everything I've ever wanted in a woman. You're beautiful and have such a kind heart. And judging by your swords, you're probably quite strong."

"I'm stronger than you might think Hotsuma. I use to be an assassin…" she didn't know what it was about this man but somehow she felt as though she could trust him. She would tell him of her past and see how much he really cared about her despite knowing her past. "You're ignorant of who I am but that's ok because it's not your fault that you're ignorant. In fact, I wouldn't call you ignorant because you don't really know and you probably couldn't guess just by looking at me."

"What do you mean Asaki? You were an assassin? For whom?"

Asaki sighed, "Have you ever heard of someone that lived two hundred years ago known as the Black Raven?"

"The Black Raven? Yes I do recall hearing about such a person. They were said to be a top notch assassin that killed without pay; a person who enjoyed the sport of killing. But from every source I heard that the Black Raven mysteriously vanished never to be heard of again. There were many different rumors about the guy. Some say he was caught by government officials and secretly executed. There have even been others that speculate that he got so bored with the other kills and wanted his name to be a legend and so he killed himself."

"The Black Raven…was a female. She was a highly skilled swordsman. You see a long time ago, at the dojo she was learning swordsmanship from, she was training alongside one of the best swordsman of that era. The dojo she was at entered into war, trying to stop the foolish fighting of the two opposing political groups at the time. She was in love with one of the samurai that was sent into the war. She waited for him, day after day and then one day one of the other samurai from the dojo came back, telling her that he had been killed on the battlefield. And so the woman, in order to express her raging and conflicting emotions, honed her skills and became a master samurai in a short amount of time. Still feeling the pain of her loss, she became an assassin for hire, taking jobs without payment, just wanting to kill. The kills gave her a slight sense of relief and made her feel that by killing this way she could avenge her lover's death. Then one day, after having realized her mistakes, she disappeared just like you said but the reason for her disappearance not even she herself knows."

Hotsuma listened carefully and once she finished speaking he blinked, "You seem to know a lot about her."

Asaki smiled a little, sliding herself out of bed and stood up, walking over to the door, "Yes I do Hotsuma. I know everything about her. The reason being is…because I am her."

"Y-you're her? You're the Black Raven?"

Asaki nodded, "Yes. That's why…I should just leave now you see. How would it look if a man of your stature were seen with an assassin like me?" she started walking out of the room.

"Asaki wait!"

"Hmm?" she blinked, looking back at him.

"Tell me one think Asaki."

"What's that Hotsuma?"

"Are you still an assassin now?"

She shook her head, "No. I will never kill so senselessly again. It was just as I was taught all those years ago; a life should never be taken no matter the circumstance."

Hotsuma went to his feet, walking over to Asaki and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her body tightly against his, her back to his chest, "Then it doesn't matter Asaki. It doesn't matter what you have done in your past. We all make mistakes. As long as you're not doing it now Asaki that's all that matters to me. I love you Asaki."

Asaki frowned, "Hotsuma…" she sighed. She thought for sure he wouldn't care for her after telling him who she really was, "I'm sorry Hotsuma but I can't stay with you…" she went back into the room, gathering her clothes. She ran off and snuck into her own dojo, changing into a purple kimono. She looked down at the kimono robe, now realizing that she still had it. She hugged onto it and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Asaki woke before her students could realize that she was there. She looked to the gown, thinking to leave it behind, and then took it with her. She realized that she had no money to go back and so she went into town, selling the robe for a small sum. As soon as she got a chance, she bought a ticket for the train. She had to go back to find Jin. She stood, waiting for the train to arrive. By then, Jin was already on the same train, on his way back to see Asaki.

Asaki looked over, seeing a woman trying to buy a ticket though she didn't have enough money. She heard the woman speaking, saying something about seeing her sick husband. She frowned, walking over to the woman, "Excuse me Miss. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Please take my ticket. You going to see your sick husband is more important than me going to where I was going to go." She handed the woman the ticket and started to walk back into town.

The woman blinked as the ticket was shoved into her hands, "W-wait miss. I can't let you…" Asaki was too far gone to be stopped. The woman looked down at the ticket, "Thank you miss, whoever you are…"

Finally, the train had arrived. The woman quickly got on the train, before any of the passengers could get off. Jin stepped off the train, looking around. He had heard about Tokyo before and had been here before many years ago. Things had changed. He shook his head from those minor thoughts and concentrated on what he came here to do. He was starving and looked around for a restaurant in the town. The first one he came across was Katane's restaurant. He walked in and sat down, Katane's full figure walking over to him.

"Hello sir! Might I interest you in some sake? Or how about some rice balls?"

Jin nodded, "Yes. I'd also like some yakisoba please." (Note: yakisoba is just a fried noodle dish)

"Coming right up sir."

Three young, familiar faces walked through the doors of the restaurant. They looked around before sitting down at a table. The once penniless men did some work the past couple of days while Asaki was away. They had earned quite a bit of money and decided to celebrate.

Katane walked over to Jin and gave him his food along with the sake. "Enjoy sir."

Jin nodded, "Thank you" and then started to eat quickly.

Katane walked over to the three men, "Ah welcome you three. Miss Asaki isn't with you today?"

They shook their heads no then went on in pleasant conversation as they ordered. Jin's eyes widened, his grip became loose on his cup as he dropped it onto the table. He looked back at the three young men thinking to himself, "These must be the students she spoke so highly of. I must talk with them and see if they know where Asaki is."

Once Jin finished, he stood outside the building, leaning against the wall waiting for them to leave. It wasn't a long wait as the three finally walked out of the restaurant.

"Hold on you three. I need to ask you something."

Yakami blinked and looked at the man, "Yes? Can we help you?"

"It's about your sensei, Asaki. You three haven't seen her have you?"

Yakami shook his head, "No. She left to see her dying friend."

"Oh I see. Thank you." He turned and walked away, thinking to himself, "Where could she be? I know she must still be in Tokyo somewhere, but where?"

Asaki sat by the small riverbank. She sighed deeply, "Now I'll never see Jin…"

She threw a few pebbles into the riverbank. Jin, having looked nowhere else, decided to go to the river. He found that, strangely enough, fishermen knew and saw a lot. He walked toward the river and stopped dead in his tracks having saw Asaki sitting by the riverbank on a log. He smiled lightly, walking over to her then tapped her shoulder.

"I'd like to be alone and not bothered right now if you wouldn't mind…"

"I realize that Asaki and you have good reason to but it's never good to be in a town all by yourself."

Asaki blinked, having heard that familiar voice. She turned quickly and, without thinking, hugged him tightly, "Oh Jin. I was coming to see you and I…"

"Shh, it's ok now Asaki. I am here. Your words rang truth to me. I did promise Fuu that I would help her find the samurai that smells of sunflowers but they can continue the search without me for awhile."

Asaki smiled, holding onto Jin tighter, "I'm glad that you came."

"So am I Asaki."

"Jin, sit down. I've wanted to ask you something ever since I heard that you might still be alive."

Jin blinked and nodded, sitting next to her on the log. "What is it Asaki?"

"Do you ever wonder…how it is that you and I have lived so long? It's been over two hundred years and yet look at us. We look the same as we did back then. How did we get to this place and time and why were we separated?"

"I wish I had an answer to that but I don't. I don't know Asaki, I am sorry."

"It's alright. I just wonder about that all the time. Maybe one day we can find out…together."

Jin nodded, his smile returning to his face as he held her, "Yes…together."

Hotsuma growled, watching them from behind a large tree, saying softly, "So Asaki that is who you were talking about. Your lover. What can he give you that I cannot? I must make you see that I can give you more than he ever could Asaki. I must show you that I, and not he, am the man for you. Besides Asaki, he is helping that other woman. There must be a relationship going on between them and you don't see it yet. Don't worry Asaki, I will show you in time."