A/N: Hey there! Welcome to the second chapter of Tainted Black! Before you read, I just want to alert you about the next two or three chapters to come. Kaoru will be increasing in age, for example, last chapter she was 13 and now she will be 14. Why am I doing this? Well, I could just make the arranged marriage now, but these chapters are going to be extremely important for the development of Kaoru's character. Ok, I will get into the key terms, just not now. So bear with me! Enjoy! (Please leave reviews! It makes me really happy! It isn't all that hard, really, all you do is click the on the pretty purple button at the bottom of the page…)
Disclaimer: I know I don't own Rurouni Kenshin…but for the purposes of this story, the characters are mine!!
Tainted Black
Chapter Two
The Prodigy
The swords clashed, a crisp sound emanating from where they met. The two swordsmen jumped back and switched their stances. Both quickly analyzed their opponent and assessed the situation. One of them was at their limit, and the other swordsman knew all too well.
Kamiya Kaoru wiped the beads of sweat off her brow as she intently concentrated on her opponent. He was tall, had long legs, and was a formidable adversary. However, every challenge comes with a fault, and she noticed every one.
He had long legs, but stumbled upon them easily, almost as if he did not know what to do with them. If he was in a tough spot, he would begin to chew on his bottom lip. Out of frustration, his left eye would begin to twitch slightly. All were faults that almost any amateur swordsman would consider minute in size. But Kamiya Kaoru was not an amateur swordsman.
She was more than an expert, she was a prodigy.
Sagara Sanosuke began to chew on his bottom lip out of pure frustration. Kaoru had switched from defense to offense, and he knew first hand how dangerous she was on offense.
Sanosuke gazed heatedly at the girl in front of him and sighed in defeat. He knew she was amazing, but not this amazing. Being forced to switch to defense, he realized how hard it was to keep a straight face with a girl who practically lacked all known emotions.
Kaoru smiled at the enraged boy and began to quickly run towards him. It was time to deal the final blow.
Sanosuke began to tense up when he saw her run towards him. He noticed something, relaxed himself, and began to switch from defense to offense once more.
The moment to win was at hand and he was not going to let this punk best him.
Kaoru danced intricate steps around Sanosuke, dodging every lunge he made. The sun glinted off of Sanosuke's sword, revealing another noticeable glitch in Kaoru's adversary. Without hesitation and with complete accuracy, Kaoru executed a perfect blow on the midsection of her opponent's sword.
"Well, I suppose that settles it, Sano-kun," Kaoru said with a smile on her face.
The spectator sitting on the grass applauded for the triumphant victor.
"No way! I could still take you on! With my eyes closed even!" Sanosuke cried out indignantly.
"I'm sorry Sano-kun, but I'm afraid not…"Kaoru said with a hint of regret.
A few seconds afterwards, a crackling sound ensued and the area where Kaoru had dealt the final blow, broke off and fell to the ground. Sanosuke gazed in horror at where half of his sword now lay.
"You truly are amazing…not even I could improve so quickly. Your skill keeps on going up," he said breathlessly.
Kaoru nodded lightly in appreciation and ran to her beloved audience.
"Hey! Father, how did I do?" He smiled as he looked at his beaming daughter, but said nothing.
"Well, what did you think father?" Kaoru asked eagerly.
Her father frowned, but his eyes twinkled with delight. "Your duel was impressive, but you made a silly mistake that anyone of higher skill would have recognized."
Kaoru pouted and said, "Please enlighten me. Unless you are not going to tell me, that is. Maybe next time I will not be so lucky and face off against an even tougher opponent. And if the stakes were life or death, he or she would not hesitate to slice off my head."
Kamiya Souta laughed heartily as Sanosuke stared wide-eyed at Kaoru. "Kaoru…did you have to be so…bloody about it?"
"Now, now Kaoru. Do you honestly think that I would point out your mistake, if I was not going to tell you?"
Kaoru smiled at this and sat down to listen to his 'words of wisdom', as she called it.
Sanosuke, whom was staring listlessly at his now useless sword, joined Kaoru and sat to listen.
"First off, you should know that there will be other people who are more experienced then you two and have gone through a lot." Sanosuke and Kaoru nodded slowly, taking in everything he had to say.
"So if anyone ever defeats you, do not feel ashamed. Feel proud that you have faced a worthy opponent."
Kaoru darted a glance at Sanosuke, giggling as he glowered.
"With that being said, Kaoru, I believe that this match was by far your greatest win yet," her father said proudly. Her face lit with happiness at that and broke into a wide grin.
"But although you did well, you made a dire mistake that could have cost you your life on the battlefield."
Kaoru frowned for she did not recall making any 'fatal' mistake.
Sanosuke racked his memories for the fatal mistake until an idea came to him. "Kamiya-san, sir, her mistake…was it when she smiled at me?"
Kaoru then gave a very un lady-like snort. "My smile? Oh please, Sano-kun. Sometimes your intelligence rivals that of a ton of bricks."
"Actually, Kaoru, he is correct."
She looked questionably at her father, ignoring the smugness radiating off of Sanosuke.
"Kaoru, you should never smile unless there is emptiness behind it. By you doing so, it was a signal that you planned to finish the match right then and there. Your smile had self-satisfaction, and boasted of confidence. It is even harder to conceal your emotions when you had none since the beginning of the fight. I am sure even you realized something was off, right Kaoru?"
Kaoru's eyes widened as she realized that the reason why Sanosuke had quickly switched to offense was because of her smile. A loud groan erupted from Kaoru when she realized her foolish mistake.
Sanosuke laughed, but was silenced as Kaoru's father switched his attention to him. "You have a long way to go, Sanosuke. So do not laugh at others follies."
A barely audible 'Yes, sir' was heard from Sanosuke as Kaoru failed to hide a snicker.
"And you, young lady, are now in charge of finding Sanosuke here a new sword. I am quite positive you have enough money to buy him one, maybe even a new sheath to go with it."
Kaoru sighed sadly, wishing that she had never broken Sanosuke's sword in the first place. Especially since buying a sword and a new sheath was going to leave her wallet empty and filled with air.
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"Sano-kun! Look what you did to my wallet!" Kaoru cried sorrowfully.
She held up the limp wallet, looking away from the pitiful spectacle.
And a pitiful sight it was. What used to be a plump money filled wallet in the shape of a raccoon, was long gone. It was now replaced with a flat 'anorexic' like shape that held no resemblance to a raccoon whatsoever. Kaoru's worst fears had been confirmed after the extraneous purchase made at the blacksmith's in the city.
Sanosuke rolled his eyes over her childish behavior.
This 14-year-old prodigy, whom had mastered many complex sword techniques, whined like she was 5.
"Kaoru-chan…relax. I mean, you had to buy me whatever sword I wanted after you broke my original."
"It's not my fault you had such a cheap sword in the first place, Sano-kun…" Kaoru grumbled.
"It was not a cheap sword! Besides, lets just get back to the village so we could both go home."
"I can't believe I had to pay for it, even when the sword won't be ready until who knows when! And now I can not even buy myself a ramune at the festival in the village today," Kaoru complained sourly.
Sanosuke was about to lose what little patience he had left with this girl, despite the fact that it was bordering on empty.
"Come on, lets just go," Sanosuke said as he dragged the moping 'child' behind him.
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"Hey, Sano-kun. Do you think there will be a lot of people back in the village?" Kaoru questioned excitedly.
It was a ritual for the two to take the short path to the village, for around spring time, there were hoards of sakura trees aligning the path.
"Of course, what do you think?" Sanosuke replied curtly. Kaoru sighed knowing that every attempt at conversation with Sanosuke would end in failure. It was always like that, ever since they had first met.
Sanosuke had always respected her swordsmanship, but as actual friends they had never seemed to get along.
Kaoru supposed it was when she began to argue over the flavor of ice cream that he received and she didn't. He just deemed her childish from then on, only considering her as an equal and above during a duel.
So instead of trying to speak with a living, talking, breathing rock, she tried to enjoy the sakura petals floating gently with the breeze. They both walked in silence, trying to preserve the scarce moment of tranquility that rarely appeared in their lives.
The war had ruined everything. No one was at peace anymore.
Sadly, the moment was short lived, emphasized when Kaoru asked another question.
"Sano-kun, are we there yet?"
Sanosuke sighed, accepting the fact that he would never be able to get at least 5 minutes of quiet with her around.
"Yeah, don't you remember? Its only about a few steps away from here now." K
aoru nodded her head silently, determined not to bother him anymore.
Their pace began to quicken as the village came into view. Kaoru's determination broke as she blurted, "Sano-kun, do you think that you could buy me some ramune?"
Sanosuke rolled his eyes at the mere thought of buying her ramune. "Why should I have to buy you ramune?"
"I did defeat you and that deserves some kind of commemoration at least. Plus I even bought you a new sword with a sheath."
"The only reason why you bought me a new sword was because your dad forced you to," Sanosuke retorted, making sure he emphasized the 'key words'.
"Come on! Pretty please? I did beat you fair and square," Kaoru said in sickeningly sweet tones.
"The streets look quite festive, don't you think, Kaoru-chan?" Sanosuke said easily, hoping the 'smoothness' of his voice would not alert Kaoru of the subject change.
Kaoru blinked her eyes like an owl, oblivious that they had entered the village during the small disagreement.
Signs were being put up, each being written carefully with old, traditional Japanese kanji. Vendors began to display their finest eye catching goods, hoping to outdo the other 'competition.
Kaoru broke out into a wide grin until a large sign that read 'Ramune' next to a vibrant stall, caught her eye.
"You tried changing the subject again, Sano-kun."
"Okay you caught me. Fine, I'll buy you ramune, but only if," Sanosuke's voice trailed off as he came to an abrupt halt.
Kaoru stopped as well, not bothering to ask what was wrong, for she had sensed it as well. The sound of galloping horses was heard not far off behind them.
"Come on Sano-kun, let's keep on walking," she said tugging gently on his hand.
"Its odd though, horses rarely ever come by here."
Before they could even begin to walk a voice called out, obviously from one of the horseback riders.
Kaoru and Sanosuke stopped, turned around, and glanced at each other warily. There were three of them, each, whom had caught up with them quickly, stopping before the two.
Sanosuke and Kaoru stared, taking in the new sight. They certainly were not you average every day people going on a leisurely ride around the village. Everything about them was somehow misplaced.
It was almost as if they believed that everyone were tiny little cockroaches. Cockroaches that needed to be exterminated immediately, no matter what the cost.
The man who called out to them, whom Kaoru identified as the 'leader', spoke in a well-mannered voice.
" Do any of you happen to know the location of the Kamiya residence?"
Sanosuke glared at the strange men. He didn't have a good feeling about this at all.
Kaoru decided to speak up, knowing that Sanosuke hated talking to strange outsiders almost as much as he hated talking to annoying little girls, like herself.
"I know where it is, but would it be all right for me to ask where you are from?"
One of the men sneered down at her while the other picked imaginary dust specks off of the sleeves of his gi.
The 'leader' scoffed, clearly insulted that she or the boy beside her, had no clue as to where they were from. For if the two did not know where they were from, it was an obvious conclusion that they did not know who they were.
"We are part of the King and Queen's Royal Guard from Kumamoto Castle."
Now it was Kaoru's turn to sneer.
The King and Queen of Kyushu were horrible leaders, in her opinion. They did nothing to help the needy and lavished riches on the wealthier side of society. She had also heard that they shot down negotiations with Chubu on ending the war. Apparently the King and Queen loved the thought of shedding the blood of the 'unclean'.
"I see…guess it does ring a bell, somewhat."
The three men glared at the mere impudence of that child.
The man, who sneered at Kaoru earlier, then noticed the sword on Kaoru's waist. "Your swordfight?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do, "Kaoru replied, smiling fondly as she lightly touched the hilt of her sword.
"How…quaint. Girls should not be bothering themselves with the sword. Playing with dolls is a more tasteful hobby for someone of such low standards."
Kaoru stared at the man, shocked at the bold implication.
Recovering from the verbal barb quickly, she stated "Oh, no. Dolls are not exactly as 'tasteful' as you say. Otherwise, I would be at home playing with them right now. I preferably enjoy the adrenalin rush of sword fighting."
Kaoru smiled brightly before adding, "The occasional spilling of blood isn't so bad either. It actually makes the sport much more pleasant."
Before any of the men could respond to the shocking reply, Sanosuke cut in saying, "You should start to leave soon, since it is getting dark and you seemed to have been in such a hurry before."
The 'leader' smiled thankfully at the change of conversation. "Yes, you are indeed quite right. We are in a bit of hurry. So where is this household?"
"Oh, if you take the out-
" Nonsense, Sano-kun! If they go that way, it will at least take half of an hour," Kaoru interjected quickly.
Sanosuke looked at her in confusion.
"The least we could do is tell you the short cut! Especially because we kept you here long enough. Isn't that right, Sano-kun?"
Kaoru gave a meaningful stare, nudging Sanosuke lightly.
Sanosuke nodded lamely, simply following along with what Kaoru said.
His perplexity must have shown, for the guards suspiciously looked at the two. Kaoru, noticing the stares, gave the three men a look of innocence.
"Please don't give us that look. We are only trying to offer you our assistance."
"Well then, the need of your assistance is required immediately," said the 'leader'.
"Ok, you see, in order to reach the Kamiya residence, you should go straight ahead from here. A bridge should appear after about 15 minutes and at the end, should be a house. That's basically it. Your lucky that it is so close by."
The 'leader' nodded in thanks as he whispered something in his comrade's ear.
The 'imaginary dust picker', reached into his pocket, retrieving an expensive velvet pouch. With the same love a man might show for his wife, the 'imaginary dust picker' carefully took out a shiny coin.
As the two men began to leave, he tossed the coin to Kaoru, and retreated with the others.
Sanosuke stared in awe at the coin in Kaoru' hands. "Wow, you don't see money like that lying around anymore…"
To be precise, it was a meager 200-yen. Only in these dire times, even that amount of money was considered priceless.
Kaoru shot a sickening look at Sanosuke as she threw the coin down.
Sanosuke's jaw dropped lower then was humanely possible, as Kaoru began to grind the coin with the heel of her shoe.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Do you know-
"All I know is that those idiotic guards are treating us like dirt! Who do they thing we are? Its not like we are poor or anything! Its just unwanted charity!"
Sanosuke kept quiet, gazing longingly at the coin underneath Kaoru's foot.
"Sano-kun, lets go, now."
"Hold on! What about the festival?" T
he question went unanswered as Kaoru broke out into a run for the alleys with Sanosuke following suit.
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"Okay, so let me get this straight. The reason why you told them to go on ahead was because…"
Sanosuke trailed off, still clearly oblivious to the reason why.
Kaoru sighed for the umpteenth time, aggravated that she would have to explain this to him…again.
"The reason why, is simple. Since the festival is going on, people will be all over the place. The streets will be extremely congested, and unless they want to run over harmless civilians with their horses…"
"They would have to wait until the streets cleared up," Sanosuke smiled as he finished the sentence.
Kaoru gave a brief nod, affirming Sanosuke's last statement. Right now, Kaoru's mind was focused on one thing. Run fast and arrive at the house before the clueless guards do.
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The sun began to set, dying the clouds with beautiful hues of blues, pinks, and reds.
Kaoru sighed, clearly tired of waiting for "her" visitors.
Sanosuke was starting to become very annoyed, and it showed.
"Kaoru…it's taking them forever to get here. What if they already came…because that means we have been sitting up here for no reason!"
"Sano-kun, they did not come yet. Besides, the view is nice from up here, right?"
In order for them to have found out what the guards wanted, eavesdropping was the only option. Since that was the only option available for grabs, Kaoru decided that they should hide in the great oak tree, just outside the Kamiya residence.
Sanosuke sent her a death glare as he switched to a comfortable position.
Kaoru grinned as she heard him mumble something along the lines of, 'You always have it your way…its so unfair, you bully…never wanted to hide in a dumb tree.'
Kaoru let her legs dangle from the branch she was perched in, humming merrily.
"Hey, Sano-kun?"
Sanosuke peered at her from the branch above. "Yeah? What do you want?"
She then pointed in the distance with a haughty manner.
"I told you they would come."
Sanosuke sat up clumsily from his resting position and followed her finger to where she was pointing.
Sure enough, there they were.
The horses sprinted across the bridge at high speeds, momentarily surprising Sanosuke and Kaoru both.
"Kaoru-chan, I think we should…" Sanosuke shut his mouth, realizing that she was ahead of him on that call.
"Hmm? Should do what?"
"You know…I was going to warn you about diminishing your kenki."
"Sano-kun, stop worrying about me. You should start working on your kenki."
Sanosuke had no time to reply to her callous remark for the 'leader' whom they had previously met, jumped off his horse and knocked on the wooden door.
The door promptly opened, revealing Kamiya Yuko.
The 'leader' bowed respectfully to Yuko as she did the same.
"Good evening, Kamiya-san. I am part of the King and Queen's Royal Guard from Kumamoto Castle, as is my two comrades. We are looking for your husband, Kamiya Souta."
Yuko's brow furrowed in confusion. "He is here, but may I ask as to why you request his presence?"
The leader's eyes narrowed into slits. "Kamiya-san, I assure you that this is a matter of utmost importance. I'm certain that your husband already knows why we need to see him."
Yuko's eyes widened, insulted at the superior tone in his voice. "Why, I never!-
A hand on her shoulder silenced Yuko from finishing the statement.
"Yuko, please do not stir up a commotion. I will handle this." She nodded, leaving her husband alone with the strange men, retreating into the house.
"I suppose this is concerning the war, is it not?" Souta gazed at the 'leader' impassively.
The 'leader' smiled wryly. "I see that I do not have to go into trifling explanations, eh, Kamiya-san?"
"You are correct."
The 'leader' pulled out a scroll from the folds of his gi, handing it precariously to Souta.
"You are greatly needed in this war and we hope to fight by your side fairly soon. I am sure you have not lost your remarkable ability as a swordsman."
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"I thought your dad was not into violence." Sanosuke calmly remarked.
Kaoru's eyes flashed with immense rage, Sanosuke's calm words were the oil to her fire.
"I thought so as well! What is he doing?!"
Sanosuke's eyes widened as he muttered, "Kaoru-chan, please, calm yourself! Your kenki…"
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Souta's eyes flickered to the oak tree before concentrating once more on the man before him.
"Yes, yes of course. Just what are my directions exactly?"
"You are to report to the Kumamoto Castle at around noon, a week from now I presume. A carriage will pick you up outside the city gates, please do not forget to be prompt."
"And the scroll is for?"
"Your scroll is meant for identification purposes as well as the exact date and time you are to arrive. It would be best if you perused its contents tonight."
The 'leader' smiled, bowed to Kamiya Souta, and climbed atop his horse.
"Kamiya-san, the king sends his apologies for involving you in this type of affair once more. He knows how much you detest wars, but you are his only hope. You were his best assassin when you worked for him in your prime."
Souta's eyes held grief at the man's last sentence.
Noticing the pain in his eyes, the 'leader' bowed his head humbly, mumbling "I shall see you in a weeks time then, Kamiya-san."
The 'leader' left the sentence hanging in the air as he galloped away, his two comrades following closely behind.
Without a moment to spare, Souta turned his attention to the oak tree. He walked over to the tree, stopped in front of it, and called out, "Sanosuke? Kaoru? Could you please climb down from there?"
The two gave a yelp, sincerely shocked that they were discovered. An instantaneous "Yes, sir" was heard as they clambered down the tree.
"Kaoru, what were you doing up there?"
"You see, upon entering the village, we met those three guards. They stopped us in order to ask us where the Kamiya residence was so we told them. We just happened to arrive here before they did."
Souta looked at Kaoru sternly. "Is that everything?"
Kaoru's gaze became fixed on the ground as she answered, "Well, I told them the longer way to get here because I wanted to intersect them. I only wanted to find out what they wanted, and now I do."
Sanosuke looked at Kaoru, frowning lightly.
"Kamiya-san, I'm afraid I have to go now, but I hope you have a good evening."
"Thank you, Sano-kun. I hope you have a pleasant evening as well," Souta said as smooth as silk.
Sanosuke looked worriedly at Kaoru before taking off.
Kaoru's head snapped up in anger.
"Father! How could you? I thought you were for peace!"
Souta looked calmly at his daughter before answering, "It's chilly out here. I am going to go inside. I advise you come as well."
Kaoru looked angrily at her father's back before following him. Underneath his calm voice were tones of authority.
Souta slowly took off his shoes, lining it up gently next to the other pairs. Kaoru slammed the door shut behind her, making it rattle on its hinges. She carelessly took off her shoes, throwing them into a corner.
Yuki same rushing to where her small family was, her hair in complete disarray.
"What happened? I heard the door slam, are you two alright?!"
"I'm fine, but father seems to have to explain himself…"
Yuko looked questioningly at her husband. "What does she mean?"
Souta shrugged his shoulders lightly. "Nothing. She is just alarmed at me because I accepted their proposal to go to war alongside them."
Yuko's eyes widened as her voice quivered. "You accepted..?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
Kaoru's fists shook at her sides, her lower lip trembling.
"Father, how could you be so inconsiderate?! What about peace? You told me that peace was better than fighting!"
Souta looked sternly at his daughter. "This is the only thing I can do. If I accept I can help lessen the severity of the war."
Yuko looked at Souta in complete shock. "Souta, what are you thinking? I know we want peace, but going to war is taking this a little too far!"
Souta laughed bitterly. "Now you think this 'a little too far'? This is for peace, Yuko. I thought we were both on the same wavelength here. It appears I am wrong."
"Souta, listen to what you are saying! You are actually willing to throw away your life…all to obtain your so called 'peace'?"
"My so-called 'peace'? We both want this and now you are saying that it's not worth it?"
"No! I'm not saying that…all I am saying is that this is…absurd! Absurd is the only word that I can use to describe this!"
Souta quizzically looked at his wife. "Absurd? I do not understand what is so absurd."
"What is absurd is that you are willing to throw away everything we have, in order to obtain peace."
Kaoru looked at both of her parents angrily. All they were doing was quarreling and it wasn't helping.
"Mother, father! Stop fighting! This is so stupid! I don't understand anything anymore!"
Souta and Yuko stopped and looked at Kaoru's trembling form.
"I can't believe you! Father… mother…I hate you!" Kaoru, blinded by salty tears, ran to her room, leaving Souta and Yuko to stand alone.
Souta smiled softly looking at Yuko. "When you said that she was going to eventually hate us…I never thought it would come so soon."
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The pale moonlight was Kaoru's only source of light in the dark room.
Her hands were clasped together in prayer as she sat in her futon.
"What should I do now…?"
Kaoru smiled sadly as her question went unanswered.
She sighed and snuggled under the covers, staring listlessly at the twinkling stars, praying that sleep would find her fast tonight.