Ghosts of the Past
Yuina gasped and fell to her knees, her long black hair hanging down to the ground. Blood trickling down her forehead, she gazed up at the nightmarish figure standing over her. Swathed in blood red leather jacket and trousers, the assassin bore the distinctive Hidden Mist over his face, yet Yuina could feel his cold, lifeless eyes boring into her.
"Ryoichi…" she wheezed, a trembling hand clutching the wound at her side, "Stop…"
The masked man stared at her pathetic form. Silently, a long, thin blade slipped out of his sleeve to be gripped lightly between his spidery, dark gloved fingers. He stepped forwards, his well kept, shadow black hair swishing across his masked forehead. Yuina waited until he was close before swiftly whipping out a shuriken from her leaf green kimono. There was a clang as her weapon collided with Ryoichi's glinting dagger. The assassin gave a contemptible sound as he disarmed the middle aged woman with a flick of his wrist. Before she could resist, a black leather boot slammed into her exposed chin, knocking her flying in a spray of blood. She landed on her back, the world spinning around her.
"You're pathetic," rasped Ryoichi, advancing menacingly across the bloodied grass of the courtyard.
The wind chimes adorning the wooden walls of the woman's home remained deathly silent in the still, moonless night.
"Can you see now why I left?" He asked, placing his foot heavily on Yuina's chest, pinning her down.
The woman spat blood at his masked face. "You're the pathetic one…" She gasped as Ryoichi pressed down hard.
He laughed coldly, bringing the blade near to Yuina's throbbing neck. "We'll see…" he hissed.
Suddenly, a cry rang out. A shuriken hissed through the air towards the assassin with precise accuracy. Unfazed, he deflected it with a sharp hand movement, sending it thudding into a nearby wall. A second later, a shape darted from one of the doorways on the edge of the small courtyard, quickly followed by another. Ryoichi stared blankly at the sight of two children, a boy and a girl, standing defiantly before him, looks of furious determination on their faces. Yuina's eyes widened in horror.
"Kaede! Isumi!" she yelled, desperately trying to free herself, "get out of here!"
The two children ignored her, instead drawing shuriken from their belts. The boy, Kaede, wore a set of loose blue overalls, patterned with black symbols. His messy ginger hair stuck out at strange angles. Isumi, the girl, wore a similar set of bright pink overalls, and her hair, as dark as Yuina's, hung down to her thighs in a long ponytail. Both had bright green eyes, identical to Yuina's own. Ryoichi blinked at them, turning to look at the woman pinned beneath his foot.
"Your children?" he mused, an aura of malice emanating from the wicked sneer forming beneath his mask.
Yuina stared back at him in despair. "No…" she pleaded, "please…"
Ryoichi glanced at the children, waiting for him to make a move. He turned back to Yuina and laughed horribly. He leaned in close to the sobbing woman.
"Before I kill you…" he whispered sadistically, "I want you to suffer…"
Yuina's pleading cry was cut short as Ryoichi drove his boot hard into her chest, winding her and temporarily paralyzing her. A cringe-inducing slicing noise was heard as Ryoichi leapt at the children, brandishing the glinting dagger. The boy and girl leapt aside, clearly showing their experience of training to be ninja. However, Ryoichi was far more experienced and skilled. Kaede flicked his wrist, sending a shuriken flying straight to the spot where Ryoichi was a moment ago. He blinked as the weapon zoomed through thin air, the assassin nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a searing pain flamed up across his spine, ripping his shirt and splattering the ground with blood. He was thrown to the floor by the force of the blow. He blinked confusedly up at the crimson spectre looming over him, a long barbed whip in one hand, and a long dagger in the other. Before he could react, the whip was around Kaede's neck, choking him and pricking him with its sharp barbs. Meanwhile, his sister Isumi blinked in surprise at the sight of her brother in the grasp of the whip. Whipping out another shuriken, she took aim at Ryoichi. A moment before she hurled it, her eyes met the dark slits of Ryoichi's mask. She could sense the penetrating cruelty and hate flowing from those dark chasms of evil and knew that she was facing someone who would gladly rip her apart for the fun of it. The overwhelming aura of dread washed over her, causing her to briefly lose her nerve. That second of hesitation was all Ryoichi needed. The girl let out a shrill scream as something sharp wrapped around her leg. Yuina, helpless on the ground, looked on in dismay as her daughter was pulled to the ground by a dark tendril bursting from the ground. Isumi looked down at her legs and saw a thick thorny vine binding them together tightly, the sharp thorns causing blood to trickle down her ankles. She squealed in fright as more erupted from the ground, wrapping around her body and fixing her arms to her sides. Soon she was completely bound in the mass of thorny vines. Ryoichi laughed as the two children screamed in pain and terror.
"Stop!" gasped Yuina, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth.
Ryoichi fixed his malicious gaze on her, pulling Kaede closer to the dagger in his other hand.
"It occurred to me…" he said calmly, "That I could very easily kill you right here." He glanced at the writhing boy. "But I think it would be far more effective to let you live." The assassin brought the dagger to Kaede's throat. "I am seconds away from killing your children, Yuina. With one thrust of the dagger, and one squeeze from the vines, they will be dead."
"Mommy!" screamed Isumi as the vines began to tighten.
"And you will have to live the rest of life knowing that you failed to save them," Ryoichi continued, drawing back the glinting dagger.
"Mom!" choked Kaede, struggling in vain to break free.
"No!" shrieked Yuina. She struggled to her feet and immediately collapsed again.
Ryoichi sneered. "And knowing that one day," he hissed, "That I will be back for you…"
The knife descended. The vines tightened.
"No!" screamed Yuina, reaching out a hand despairingly.
The screams of terror were silenced. Something wet splattered Yuina's face.
"NO!" she howled at the pitying sky, "NOOOOOO!!!"
"Yuina!" Tsuki cried as the old woman fell from her bed, screaming.
Yuina trembled on the cold floorboards, her long fingernails gouging chunks out of them. As Tsuki bent down to help her up, Yuina suddenly embraced her tightly, tearing drenching Tsuki's shoulders. Surprised, Tsuki hugged back.
"Tsuki-chan…" Yuina whimpered, "It's been so long… and it still hurts so much…"
Tears formed at the corners of Tsuki's eyes. "It's OK, Yuina-sensei," she said, hiding a sob, "I'm here."
Yuina smiled weakly. "I know…" she whispered, "You are all I have left…" She looked Tsuki in the eye. "You and Akiko, you are my children now, and all I want is for you to be safe." Yuina stared at the wall. "But now he's back, and I know that before he kills me, he will make me suffer." She looked back at Tsuki. "He will kill you."
Tsuki blinked her tears away. "No he won't," she replied, "I won't let him hurt anyone."
Yuina smiled appreciatively. As Yuina's eyes closed, Tsuki caught a glimpse of something in them that told her that Yuina didn't believe her.