Disclaimer: I don't own Haruka or Michiru; they belong to the wonderful Takeuchi Naoko. This story, however, is mine.
A/N: This chapter and the rest of the story is set 11 years after the events of the prologue, which makes Michiru 16 years old.
Chapter 1
The market square of the town of Kibō was busy and bustling. Small stalls lined the cobble stone streets where each Saturday morning vendors tried to sell their goods. Servants of the Lords and Ladies of Kibō raced around while noblemen and noblewoman rode in their carriages, watching the madness while thinking how superior they were compared to the people before their eyes. The people in the streets did not take much notice of the other humans around them, only taking care of themselves. However, each Saturday morning around 10 o'clock everyone would stop and stare as one of the most beautiful creatures that had graced the town, would come to buy what she needed. Her long, curly aqua hair, large ocean blue eyes and curvaceous body concealed by a simple brown wool dress gained the attention of many different eyes.
Walking into the market square the aqua haired beauty ignored the staring eyes. Quickly she went about her business of buying food for herself and her very small family. Once finishing her purchasing and spending her last ichibuban she walked to the town well to join the queue for water. While waiting for her turn the young woman overheard two maids from the local Lord's houses gossiping.
"It's true Tennō Heika and Kōgō Heika are moving from their summer house to their estate just outside of Kibō. My master received a letter last Thursday from one of Tennō Heika's noblemen. It seems that master-sama's house will be quite busy this coming autumn," one maid explained to her friend.
"If the Tennō Heika is coming that means the army will be too. The soldiers that protect Tennō Heika come from wealthy families all over Japan. Just think of all the young, handsome men that will be walking Kibō's streets in the next few months!"
"Hai!" replied the shorter maid before filling her pail with water and leaving with her friend, both giggling.
After hearing the two excited maids' conversation the beautiful woman's ocean blue eyes widen. 'The army is coming back to Kibō!' Frowning, she collected the water she needed before leaving the town square carrying two woven baskets and her pail of water.
"I'm home," a feminine voice called.
oVoVoVoVoVo
Inside the small cottage an eleven year old girl stopped sewing to go outside to see her older sister who had just come back from the market. Once outside, she took the pail filled with water from her sister before taking it inside and placing it on an old table near one of the cottage's small windows.
"You're home early Onee-chan," the girl remarked with a grateful smile on her face.
"I tried to be as quick as possible; I know how you hate being left alone for more than four hours. I was lucky today. Everything that we needed for the next week was available at the market today, so I didn't need to go searching down other streets, unlike last week."
The younger girl nodded her head in thanks before embracing her older sister, Michiru, who was surely tired after carrying the food and water for over an hour from town. Looking into her sister's tired eyes the girl wondered if her Onee-chan had been up before dawn again. Sighing, she took her Onne-chan's hand and led her to one of the two wooden seats they owned, before going to make her a cup of tea.
"Arigatou, Ume-chan", Michiru said as she was given a warm cup of tea. Her sister nodded her head in acknowledgement before sitting opposite the young woman.
"Did you hear anything interesting while you were in town today, Onee-chan?" Umeko asked.
"Hai, I heard two maids talking while waiting for some water. It seems Tennō Heika will be moving into his estate with the royal court for this autumn and winter, which means the Imperial Army, will be returning," Michiru explained to her sister.
Umeko grimaced as she listened to her sister with frustrated eyes that mirrored Michiru's. "The Imperial Army, I hope we don't come into contact with them, Onee-chan."
"As do I imouto-chan.I have no wish to spend time with the army or help them in any way, considering they took our otou-san's life many years ago."
"Hai," Umeko whispered, closing her eyes, effectively hiding her pain- filled blue orbs. She had missed her chance of having a father in her life, due to the Imperial Army who had killed her otou-san many moons ago, during the coldest winter that Kibō had ever experienced.
Placing her hand on her sister's shoulder as a comforting gesture Michiru gave Umeko a sad smile. She still remembered the day when her father was murdered. The sounds of her okaa-san crying the next morning as they searched for her otou-san, only to find a pale figure of a man wearing blood soaked clothes. That morning had given her nightmares for months which only disappeared with the birth of her little sister, Umeko Kaioh, half a year later.
Standing up Michiru went over to the food she had purchased earlier that day, to start preparing the dinner her sister and herself would eat- cooked rice and a few vegetables that were ready for eating from their small garden.
"Are you going to work tomorrow, Onee-chan?"
"Hai Ume-chan. We have no money left in the spending jar so I will be going to Goshujin-sama's house tomorrow as well as Monday and Tuesday so we will have some coins to buy the food we will need on Wednesday."
oVoVoVoVoVo
Loud talking filled the grand hall in the Imperial Palace in Osaka, Japan. Soldiers from the Emperor Higashiyama's Imperial Army stood before the Chrysanthemum Throne awaiting their next orders. Rumours were being passed between the soldiers as the men tried to guess the reason why they had been woken by their superiors at the early time of three in the morning. The level of noise continued to rise as the leader of the Imperial Army entered. A young soldier standing on the far side of the room stood observing the events taking place in front of their dark green eyes. Smirking, the soldier waited three seconds before mouthing the word 'now'.
"Attention!"
The Imperial Army's leader's voice rang through the hall with silence instantly following it. The corners of the green eyed soldier's mouth twitched into another smirk as each man in the room stood up straight, not wanting to displease their superior.
"Good morning men! I see you do not mind waking up so early in the morning on a Sunday, after hearing the amount of noise in this room that you made!"
Upon hearing the reprimanding tone in their leader's voice the soldiers bowed their heads in shame waiting for Hiroto to order them to rise.
"Rise, Samurai of the Emperor Higashiyama!"Hiroto instructed. "Now, I will discuss the reason why we are here at such an early hour of the morning." After quickly scanning the room to make sure he had every ones attention, Hiroto announced that the Chrysanthemum court will be moving to the town of Kibō located north-east of Osaka. "As you all know the Imperial Army will be broken up into three groups."
"The first group will stay at this castle to watch the citizens of Osaka, making sure that no disloyalty to the throne occurs when the Imperial Court leaves and that no unseemly characters follow the procession. "
"When Tennō Heika reaches Kibō the second group will stay at the estate where the court will be held for the next few months. The Samurai in this group will be protecting the Emperor for the duration of his stay."
"The third division will be spread among the community of Kibō observing the people, rich and poor, stopping any plots to hurt the Tennō Heika before they reach the estate. A scout who has recently returned from Kibō discovered that there are numerous people living in the Kibō area that are poor. These people might try to harm the Emperor due to the belief that the Emperor has been an unfair ruler. Every guard from this group will be watching a family of the lower class. The lower class in Kibō all have homes for some unknown reason. This needs to be uncovered by the Samurai in this division."
"Is this clear?"
A chorus of "hai" was heard after Hiroto's question.
"Tomorrow, members of the Imperial Army of Emperor Higashiyama will leave from the city of Osaka for Kibō!"
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter of my story.
A few quick translation/cultural notes-
Tennō Heika - His Majesty the Emperor
Kōgō Heika - Her Majesty the Empress
Imouto - younger sister
Onee-chan- older sister
Otou-san - father
Okaa-san- mother
Emperor Higashiyama - was the 113th Emperor of Japan and his reign was from 1687 to 1709. Emperor Higashiyama's wife was Empress Yukiko and together they had one daughter the Imperial Princess Akiko
Ichibuban- is a gold or silver coin that was part of Tokugawa Japan's currency. It was worth a quarter of a Koban which is the second highest valued coin during Tokugawa Japan.
Kibō- is a fictional town that I created. In Japanese kibō means hope.
Thanks and feel free to leave a comment, critic or review.