Finally! After a long anticipated wait, chapter seven of Death's Beauty is now on Fanfiction, and is readable by anyone! Okay…maybe not anyone…considering the violence…and the cussing…but anyway, anyway, before I ramble, I present you with the long waited chapter seven! *Curtains unfold*
"Sister…"
We stared at each other for, in memory seemed like half an eternity, but in reality was only a mere minute. The shock on Kenji's face penetrated me straight to the bone. He took a step toward me, and that broke my paralysis.
"I'm going to take a bath."
I said this in a curt manner, cutting him off before he opened his mouth. No. I didn't want to face him. Not now, not with the blood of enemies staining my skin. Maybe the soothing effect of the hot water would melt the cold animal in my heart back into its cage for the night, so I could talk to my brother in earnest, and not in a cold unfeeling tone.
* * * * *
I slid into the hot water slowly, reveling in the pleasure that coursed up my body in slow teasing waves. Red thread-like tendrils snaked off into the farther corners of the bath where they soon sank to the bottom, veiled by the shadows that had gathered there. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, going over what had happened at the start of the night, and the newest occurrence when I got home, near the night's close. Kenji had seen me practically covered in blood, which meant if given time, he would probably begin to get a good idea of what I was doing and tell our parents. Not good. I drew my knees up, and slid in even further, letting the water envelop my head completely. My…job if you will, depended on secrecy, and if I was found out, my parents would be outraged…but so would the members of the Tadashi Tsubeta, and if word got back that I had slipped…I would more than likely be assassinated. In order for things to work, I needed Kenji to keep quiet. I didn't like the idea of having to silence him by my own means. I lifted my head up out of the water. There was a vibrating sensation in my ears and nose as my senses returned. It was quiet.
Too quiet. Silently, like a wraith, I rose up and stepped out of the tub. I grabbed a rolled up towel, the one that I had brought in with me, and tucked it under my arm. I would need it when I exited the bath house. But not to cover myself. Cool night air gently kissed my bare skin. I could feel my skin tingle as it gently caressed my bare breasts, and threw my hair over my right shoulder. There was no one outside. At least…not that I could see. I could sense the presence of another person, hear the rapid, panicky heartbeat, and smell the sweet thick sweat. Silently, so as not to disturb my quarry, I slid the door shut, and took my sword out of the towel. It gleamed in the moonlight, looking strikingly similar to the fangs possessed by the hellhound; Cerberus. All at once, everything happened. My prey leapt out from where it had been hiding, hitting me broadside with a wooden sword. One of the many swords used in mock combat by my brother and I. I whipped around snarling, slicing clean through the wood, and bringing up the tip of my blade to kiss the tip of my brother's nose.
He stared back at me. But it was not Kenji. The calm, quiet face of the older brother that I had come to know was distorted by an unimaginable anger, and beneath that, a look of utter betrayal. His eyes were no longer serene blue orbs that held peaceful waters. The glass had broken and the blue pools were boiling in a tide of rage. His lips were pulled back in a mask that made my snarl look like a harmless smile. For a moment I felt genuinely afraid of my brother…but only for a moment.
"What do you think you're doing Kenji?"
I asked, not bothering to lay down my sword, I could tell he had another weapon hidden. He didn't answer, instead he leapt at me, and brought out a knife. It was fairly large, and the way it gleamed in the moonlight, it appeared very, very sharp. I sidestepped, careful to stay ahead of him, waiting for the right moment to smack it right out of his hand. I ducked under a wild right thrust, and saw my chance. I got the dull edge of my blade under his arm and with a good half of my strength, wrapped him good and hard on the wrist. The knife flew from his hand, and landed quivering in the ground, handle up.
We stared at each other for another long moment. I, with my sword, and my brother, now pitifully unarmed. The anger in his eyes simmered, but refused to die down.
"You're a murder Tori!"
I was taken back. Not by the words but by the rage in my brother's voice. I'd never heard him speak like that, not once. To tell you the truth, it hurt. It hurt me pretty deep.
"Kenji…what…"
"Oh yeah play innocent, real good sis! You come home covered in blood, and all you can do there is stand there, and say 'what?' like nothing ever happened?! Do you realize what kind of disgrace you brought on us?!"
Slash!
A thin red line blossomed on Kenji's right cheek, spurting blood. It dripped on the ground creating tiny red flowers. All of Kenji's anger drained from his veins, and went straight to mine. I stood there, panting, trying desperately to get my temper under control. I didn't want to kill him. No matter how angry I was with him, this was still my brother, no matter what he'd just tried to do.
"T-Tori…"
"Is that it? Is that all you care about? The credibility of the Kamiya family swordsmanship? Do you realize that you just tried to kill your own sister?!"
Lightning seared behind Kenji's eyes, he gasped, and sank to his knees.
"Oh gods, Tori I'm sorry! Please forgive me! When I saw you like that…I thought…I thought-"
"I'm a murderer, correct? You thought me a disgrace, a defiler of mother's family swordsmanship, and wanted me gone. At that moment you decided I was no longer your sister, but a beast. And like all beasts I should be hunted down and killed."
He stared at me, shock, pain and anguish making his eyes bluer and rounder than ever before. I believe at that moment he fully realized everything that had gone through his head from the moment he saw me to the moment he made the decision to kill me. I could see the regret and disgust flash clearly across his eyes. But there was something else back there too. Dark and groveling, it skulked around in the confines of Kenji's mind, whispering hideous things, convincing him they were true.
"Why? Why do you do…this?"
I put down my sword, assuming that my brother was no longer an immediate threat.
"The organization I work for is designed to seek out those who are responsible for the corrupt nature of people today. Those with secrets darker than a raven's wing, those who have committed acts that such deeds are not even whispered so unspeakable are these horrendous crimes. My job is to find these people and deal with them properly. By ridding the world of the scum that breeds in its murky corners, we can hope for a better world"
"By committing senseless murders. Tell me something sister, you appear clean now, but how much blood stains your soul? Are you bathing in it? Does it drip from every pore, or do you just content yourself with standing waist deep in the blood of those slain?"
"The organization I work for is a necessary evil. They have been operating for years, keeping the worst people off the streets by putting them in coffins. Someone who only studies under the pacifist's sword could never truly understand."
Kenji stood up, his hair hung in his face, obscuring his eyes from view of the moon's light. A soft steady wind blew through the ground of the dojo. It was a high pitched moan, the sound seemed to carry all the suffering felt by every living thing. A dark wind. Like a cold shadow, it blew over through people, chilling their hearts, and sharpening the killers within.
"That doesn't mean-"
"Kenji, if you say anything about this to anyone, I will kill you. You must keep quiet, because if you don't we will both die. You by my hand, and me by my superiors. So, if you value both our lives, you will comply."
With that, I gathered my sword, and my towel. I wrapped it securely around me, repressing a shiver at the sudden warmth from the thick white cloth. The wind had died, and now only silence hung in the air; heavy and suffocating. I walked towards the dojo, away from my brother who still knelt on the ground. What happened now would be up to him, not me.
Kenji's P.O.V
I…I can't believe myself. I just…just tried to… I couldn't finish the thought. Emotions raced through my head, blurring into indistinct colors and shaped before I could even begin to identify them. The sound of my sister's fading footsteps reached my ears. I wanted to stop her, to call her back, to say anything, but my voice had left me. Perhaps it too was ashamed of what I had done.
But she's a killer. You know that Kenji. You've known since you first saw her, covered in blood. And remember, remember the look in her eye? That crazed yet lucid light? Those were the eyes of a killer! You did what was right, don't beat yourself up for it.
"Shut up."
No.
"Yes."
Go to hell
"You first."
It was the voice of corruption that spoke those words, and I knew where that voice had stemmed from: my anger, and pain. Anger at what Tori had been doing, right under my and my parents' nose, pain for what Tori was throwing away; her life. The very same life our father had left many years ago to live side by side peacefully with Mom. What would he say? What would he do? I tried not to think of it. Our father had, alongside our mother put so much effort into the both of us being raised under what Tori had referred to as 'The Pacifist's Sword' Dad had turned his back on killing because at the end he had finally realized what it did. It took everything you loved, there was no such thing as justified murder, whether it was for revenge, or a job, the principle still remained: You were still taking a human life.
I stood up, and closed my eyes, and went back over the battle just fought. The look in her eyes…that look had sent black chills down my spine. It was a killer's look, and the surprising thing was that it fit her face perfectly. Almost as if it had been made for her to wear it. I walked over to wear the knife stuck up out of the ground, it no longer quivered, just stuck there like a warped rose reaching out for an alien sun. It came up easily out of the ground. I looked at the blade, it was clean for being impaled into the ground, my own face was reflected in the silver glass, but it wasn't me I was looking at, it wasn't even me I was seeing. I kept seeing Tori again and again, walking away from me, her sword dripping a thin line of blood, my blood, onto the ground, her bare feet scuffing the dirt, and her fire red hair billowing out around her.
Tori….. I was starting to lose my sister.
* * * * *
(We're back to Tori on this one)
"Leaving?!"
Kenji dropped the wash back into the basin, it made a soft plop sound, sending little ripples that rolled into one another until the water was calm. I finished hanging the rest of my load, mainly town kimonos belonging to Mom and me on the line before I turned to answer my brother.
"Yeah. I got word this morning that a very powerful branch of the Yakuza will be meeting there to discuss their flow in crime thingy, or whatever it is they do. My assignment is to go there and kill everyone, and then destroy the building to rid it of any evidence. That is…if I leave any"
"How…"
"The Yakuza has many enemies. But they also have many powerful members. A good few are politicians, others skilled swordsmen. The Tadashi Tsubeta is a well known network of spies and assassins, and although each member has their own distinct way of taking an opponent down, our work is easy to tell. There is no unnecessary kills, and the targets are taken quickly and efficiently. If word got out that Tadashi Tsubeta was behind a Yakuza assassination, the organization would be uprooted and exterminated."
Kenji looked at me for a long time. There were gray clouds in his eyes, and a deep fog on his face. He was choosing his next words carefully, mulling over everything I had said. Finally, after some considered time thinking, he asked;
"Will you be going alone?"
Typical concern, but all the same, I was touched.
"No. I will have two other members with me. We are strong, but only a fool estimates the Yakuza. Especially the Kyoto branch."
Kenji went back to the wash, he tried to look like he was concentrating on what he was doing, but I could see right through it. He and I had spent many years playing together, and I knew that he was trying to hide what he truly felt. Overhead, white puffy clouds drifted across the sky, betraying the fact that autumn was on it's way. A crow sang a butchered melody in a nearby tree, but was not joined by others. Disappointed, it left its perch in a maple and began to seek the company of other birds.
"When will you be leaving?"
I truly didn't want to tell him, but I knew I had too.
"Tonight."
He handed the now clean clothes to me, and I took them out to hang on the line. My mind buzzed and tingled like a healing wound. This would be my first group assassination. I knew that the higher-ups would want to test me sooner or later. Little had I known that my test would be this big. My blade was looking forward to it, but my mind was apprehensive. What would happen if I was indeed killed? I looked back at my brother who now stood, staring off into space. What indeed?
When I was finished, I went back to my brother and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. He took it and gripped it strongly, almost as if I would leave right then and there.
"If it's not to much trouble…may I see you off?"
I smiled.
"I'd like nothing better dear brother."
* * * * *
Night had fallen like a shroud, and with it a chilly wind. Mother Nature had fallen asleep with the sun, and now her sister, The Night had taken control. Sending her cold claws deep into the heart of any living thing caught outside tonight. Luckily, the sky was clear and the stars as bright as the moon. Like supporting actors in a play the were determined to shine their best, but not overshadow the lead.
Kenji and I stood at the front gate of the Kamiya dojo, no words had been spoken yet, we just stood there, looking at each other.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye."
"For now."
Poor Kenji, he could hardly keep the tears out of his voice. I took my brother's hands in my own. For the first time, I truly felt the skin with lay over the bones and muscle. It was a little blistered from all the vigorous practicing he had done, but at the same time it was smooth and soft like a baby's. Kenji pulled me into a tight hug. At that moment I wanted the world to end. At that moment, I loved my brother so deeply that not a single person could have lived long enough to fully measure it.
"Tori…come back. You owe me that much."
'I will.' That was what I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't, and we both knew it. My mission was dangerous, even if I had help. The chance that I would live was much slimmer than the chance that I would die. I stepped out of our embrace and looked him square in the face.
"Kenji. If I do die, there's something I want you to have. In my room, I have a small desk, and in the drawer is a black crystal. You may have to dig for it, but it's there. I want you to keep that as a memento. And…keep your chin up…okay? Because we both know that if roles were reversed, you wouldn't want me to suffer for the rest of my life right?"
"But how long will the rest of your life be sis?"
"…I don't know."
We stared at each other for another moment, then I leaned forward, and planted a kiss on my brother's forehead.
"I love you Kenji. I don't think that I could have asked for a better brother. Hell, I don't think there even is one. You're the best Kenji."
He smiled, but that didn't brighten the tears that now swam closer to the surface.
"You too sis. I love you too, even if you give me two hundred kinds of trouble."
The wind picked up, as if signaling my leave. I stepped back, and turned away. I didn't want to look at his face any longer, for fear that I just might abandon my mission and stay. They say the bond between close siblings often goes unmatched. I don't know exactly who this elusive 'They' happens to be, but he or she is right. I had reached the halfway mark on the steps when Kenji's voice caught my attention;
"You still owe me another practice battle!"
I smiled.
"I'll come back and whoop your butt again if that's what you want. You have my word on that!"
I hear Kenji's smug huff, but I could also feel his hidden pain. While my feet continued to walk away from the only place I had called home, my mind stayed rooted to the spot. Eventually it began to catch up with me, after many lungful looks back, but I knew my brother had already gone back inside.
The road to town was quiet and deserted. I was to meet my companions in Kyoto. Sadly, I would have to walk. A carriage traveling in the dead of night causes to much suspicion. As I continued my solitary journey, I looked up at the sky. I continued staring even when my vision began to blur and double. I allowed myself only one tear as I stared up at the full moon before I continued on.
On to Kyoto, and on to my mission.
Now that my computer's back, I'll be sure to update in a more fashionable manner. Chapter eight is coming soon. What will happen to Tori? What about Kenji? Will he chase after his sister, or will he let her fade into the shadows as she had done so many nights before? Stay tuned!