Of Assassins, Samurai, and Magic

A/N: And the next chapter is up! I've tried to keep everyone as close as possible to their characters in the anime though I'm sure there will be a few OOC moments. Comments and reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.

*** ~ Chapter 8: A Samurai's Guilt ~ ***

Takamachi Miyuki ran through the streets of the middle district. Nanoha had collapsed just moments ago and the older Takamachi now dashed towards the family dojo to tell Kyouya the news. Thankfully, the Takamachis were surrounded by many friends at Midori-ya, and as luck would have it, one of the imperial healers was visiting the café at the time. The healer was currently attending to the youngest of the three siblings. While it relieved Miyuki to know that Nanoha was in good hands, the brunette was no less shaken by it all.

The surviving siblings knew how easily things could change in an instant. Ten years ago, their parents were snatched away from them, in the most brutal of ways. Nanoha had almost joined them too. Since that fateful day, the Takamachi siblings grew even closer together, vowing to make the most of the remaining lives together. And that meant putting family first, above everything. Which is why Miyuki was running to the dojo now. Kyouya had to know.

In her rush to inform her brother, with the fear of seeing her imouto's limp form clouding her normally astute senses, Miyuki did not notice the smoking remains of the dojo window as she reached for the paper sliding door. Nor did she pay any heed to the angry voices coming from inside. And so with a hasty pull, the door to the dojo slid open and Miyuki rushed through.

"Kyouya-"

"MIYUKI!"

Everything exploded in white.

Takamachi Kyouya stood panting, bokken in hand and gripped tightly. Sweat rolled down the side of his cheek, stinging a minor cut there when sweat met wound. His arm also stung, skin partly scorched and blackened. Just moments ago, his lesson was interrupted by the explosive entrance of a black garbed assassin tumbling through the dojo window. The said assassin, belonging to one of the many factions warring in the city for power and dominance, had a Spirit Seed. The blue magatama jewel pulsed in the assassin's hand to a silent beat.

"I have no interest in the likes of you" the masked man said. "Just give me what I want and I may let you live!"

Kyouya clenched his jaw, further tightening his grip on his blade. It was only natural for the master of the dojo to deal with the threat his students currently faced. Not to mention, the dojo was his responsibility, something he had taken over when his parents died. Kyouya had no intention of letting the place get ripped apart without a fight. Too many memories were held within these walls. Takamachi Shiro literally built this place with his own two hands. And no one, not even some snot nose punk of an assassin, was going to destroy this place if he could help it. This dojo was one of the few places the Takamachi siblings had left which reminded them of their parents.

"How about you leave here" Kyouya said widening his stance. "And I'll pretend you didn't just barge in here and threaten our lives. I'll even forget this whole thing happened in the first place."

The assassin merely laughed. "And just what are you going to do if I stay? Beat me with your toy sword?" The assassin laughed again. "You can't defeat me with that. And you know it."

Kyouya narrowed his eyes. "The last thing you want to do is anger me. I'm not very nice when I'm angry. Leave now. This is your last warning."

The black suited assassin merely smirked, calling Kyouya's bluff.

Kyouya gritted his teeth. The assassin was right. How could a bokken stand any chance against a Spirit Seed? The dojo master didn't know how the man before him acquired and tamed such power. Those things were dangerous and said to be almost incontrollable. Yet the assassin he faced right now was very much in control of it. If he wasn't, Kyouya would have been blasted away by the first shot of magic and not two of his students who lay unconscious on the floor on either side of him. Their fallen forms were Kyouya's one and only warning.

"Give me the Spirit Seed!" the assassin growled.

"This is a dojo!" Kyouya roared back. "This is a place of teaching and learning! Not a museum for Spirit Seeds!"

The man in black scowled. "Well that's too bad then. It seems I wasted my time for nothing." Eyes narrowed at Kyouya. "I guess I'll just have to take it out on you then."

Kyouya tensed when the Spirit Seed pulsed loudly. Then the door to the dojo swooshed open, and a familiar form rushed in.

"Kyouya-"

Kyouya's eyes widened in horror. For a split second his eyes met that of the assassin's and the glint in the intruder's eyes was unmistakeable.

"MIYUKI!"

Before Miyuki could say anything further, the Spirit Seed in the assassin's hand exploded in white light. Miyuki's eyes went wide and a split second later her form vanished under a blast of white magic. Kyouya stood frozen in his spot, in complete and utter shock.

"Mi…yu…ki…" Kyouya could barely speak. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening. This was just like how his parents were taken away from him. Like how his imouto was almost taken from him. This was a joke right? It had to be a joke. But when Kyouya stiffly turned back to the assassin to see him smirking, he knew it was true.

"MIYUKI!" Kyouya charged the assassin in a blind rage. His scream came out like a feral growl, of a predator as it pounced on its pray. The assassin flinched, shocked by the speed Kyouya possessed. Not giving the man a chance to retaliate, Kyouya slashed his blade downwards with everything he had. As the wooden sword connected with the man's shoulder, the Spirit Seed in the assassin's hand reacted to Kyouya's rage triggering the awakening of a second Spirit Seed just feet behind the dojo master.

Unbeknownst to Kyouya, Toshi, one of his younger and newer students, carried a Spirit Seed on him. He had found it a while back while working in the fields. As he had yet to discover what hidden power it held, Toshi kept it on him at all times in the hopes of eventually unlocking its secrets. With the violent reaction from the first Spirit Seed, Toshi's Spirit Seed also activated, the two magatama gems resonating in harmony before the dojo exploded in a burst of magic and splinters.

Signum gritted her teeth, the grip on her Levantine going white knuckled. She wanted to leave, to escape this place. To do something that would take her away from the sobs coming from inside the room. But she could not.

Signum stood silently in the doorway, of one of the many rooms in the city hospice, watching as Nanoha sat at the bedside of her injured brother and sister and wept. Fate was with her, holding the weeping girl around the shoulders and rubbing he back. But that provided little solace to the youngest Takamachi and Signum knew it.

They had gotten there too late. No matter how fast the pink haired samurai rushed to the scene, she and Vita had gotten there too late. The Takamachi dojo was in shreds. Bodies of students had been flung all over the place. The assassin who attacked them was dead, his body nothing more than a messy heap of bloodied black rags. The body of Toshi would later be identified, the youngster too having also been killed in the blast.

Two Spirit Seeds had been recovered and sealed at the scene, those closest to the magical jewels when they exploded receiving the worst of the damage. The other students had been luckier, many of them receiving minor burns, bumps or bruises. A few of them had some minor lacerations. As for the older Takamachis, that was a different story.

Takamachi Miyuki, whom Signum had seen just moments before this tragedy, currently lay in bed covered head to toe in bandages, fighting for her life. Had it not been for the quick actions of the healer on the scene, she would have been dead long ago. But even though she survived this horrific attack, she would most likely never wake up again.

Takamachi Kyouya, laying in a bed next to his unconscious imouto, would recover. However, being so close to the blast that left the attacking assassin in pieces, he was scarred very badly. Kyouya would never see again, his sight having been burned away by the magical explosion. And for the rest of his life, he would need help to do the simple things he once took for granted. Things like changing his clothes.

Signum made a fist. She wanted to hit something. No. She wanted to smash something. To destroy something. To completely trash something, in the hopes that the guilt and rage that festered inside of her would go away. But she knew that it never would. This was her fault. It was her duty to protect the Empress and the city's citizens. She should have noticed something was amiss sooner. She should have put in that request for more samurai earlier. She should have-

A hand on her shoulder made Signum flinch. Blue eyes looked back over her shoulder to find violet eyes, belonging to the Empress' attendant. The green robed woman smiled at her sadly before looking beyond the captain of the samurai to the weeping Nanoha.

"Shamal-san."

The pain in her friend's eyes tore at Shamal's heart. The normally strong captain of the samurai was hurting so much. Just as much as Nanoha was, if not more. Guilt was a heavy burden to bear, even more so alone. And Shamal knew how guilty Signum felt. Even when it wasn't Signum's fault.

Shamal rested her head against the back of Signum's shoulder, Signum turning her gaze back to Nanoha and the rest of the Takamachis. "It's not your fault" the blonde whispered.

A low growl erupted from the samurai. "You're wrong Shamal-san" Signum said through clenched teeth. Nails dug into her palms. "This is all my fault. I wasn't fast enough."

A/N: In case there was some confusion, this chapter backtracks a bit to show what happened to Kyouya and Miyuki which lead to their 'accident.' For any of you who felt Kyouya was out of character, my apologies. I don't know his character so well and they didn't show much of him in the anime series itself, so I'm just winging it according to the situation. Feel free to offer some tips to better write him in character later on.

For those of you unfamiliar with the non-English words, I have translated them below.

Imouto = Younger Sister

Bokken = Wooden sword

For an explanation of Japanese honorifics (eg. [name]-sama), please check out: http:/en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics