AN: Alright, so this is officially chapter one. This takes place 12 years after the prologue. More things will make sense as the story progresses. There will be time skips in the story, this is one of them.
Glossary will be included at the bottom for terms you don't know.
I do not own Hakuoki, I do however own my OC's, and the Akuma clan.
"Strike harder! Impudent girl, how can you defend your Hime-Sama if you cannot even take down Shiro?! Useless!"
The exasperated shriek of Okāsan was ignored as the cry of metal echoed in her ears. Raiu grunted slightly as Shiro used his weight against her smaller, lithe frame. While live blades were not typically used in practice matches between the two, today was deemed to be an acceptable exception to the rule. Gritting her teeth, Raiu pushed back against the boy before jumping backwards, the sudden lack of resistance under the steel blade caused the youth to go toppling to the ground.
"That is enough! Obviously you need more training. And to think, all the food we've provided for you! Wasted!"
A singular violet hue slid over to gaze at the woman. Raiu schooled her face into a blank mask as she slid out of her defensive pose. The metal plated fan clicked shut and hung limply from her wrists. Okāsan sat in the traditional style, her royal purple kimono held tight by a deep orange obi. The clay tea cup in her hand found its way soaring through the air to land at Raiu's feet. She didn't even flinch as the warm jasmine scented liquid dripped down her face and soaked into her white haori, and the underlying white cotton kosode staining the fabric.
Raiu did not flinch at the woman's cold words, nor the threats that dripped from her red painted lips like honey. She only stared blankly at the woman. Okāsan was a beautiful woman, for all that she stayed angry at Raiu. Her long black hair was a thing of envy, much unlike Raius blazing red, and her ivory skin made both dark and light colors flattering. Even her gold eyes were a sharp contrast to Raiu's violet and lilac hues. But the woman had the temperament of a harpy, and if you asked Raiu, the voice of a goose.
Beside Okāsan sat her Sensei. Monk Tajima had been training her for as long as she could remember. His drooping face had many wrinkles and laugh lines, and his coal black eyes were always upturned into a crescent shaped smile. His hair had grayed throughout the years and was now cropped close to his skull, and he never failed to keep a smile from his face. Tajima often wore a deep saffron yellow robe that draped his frame, with an orange over-robe that marked him as one of the many warrior monks scattered throughout Japan. He had been instructing her in the art of war and fighting since she had been able to walk. It was his word that carried weight, and until he gave her the nod that he was satisfied she would not stop.
Raiu's attention quickly turned back to Shiro. The boy was 4 years her senior and already several feet taller, not to mention bigger. His frame was stockier, and lined with the newly forming muscle of youth. His black hair was pulled back into a traditional topknot, and he wore dark blue hakama with a lighter blue kosode pooling around his waist. His chest was bare, exposing his tanned skin. Multiple light scratches littered his upper arms, trailing the dark red of blood.
Raiu was holding herself back, she didn't want to hurt the man. While he may have outclassed her in weight, she was smaller and faster. Pushing himself off the ground, he dusted off his hakama and picked up the katana he had picked for the fight. Exhaling in a rush, he moved his feet apart, turning his body to the right to face her, and bringing the blade up parallel in the ready stance.
The entire reason for this little spar was to showcase her skill with the Tessen. The Tessen was Raiu's secondary weapon, two metal war fans with a razor sharp edge that could cut bone. The metal of the blades was thick enough to withstand a katana strike, but light enough to carry in a Kimono sleeve without leaving an imprint. Further, the fan was typically decorative, and was not a well known weapon. All ladies carried fans and it made it that much more deadly when your enemy wasn't expecting to get his throat slit by a pretty decoration.
Raiu exhaled slowly, her body relaxing as she took a dancers stance. The Tessen relied on swift clean strikes, and so Raiu had trained her body in a mixture of martial arts and battle dances until she had perfected the art. Even now her right arm twinged in memory of the endless hours spent honing her body. Her fingers flicked the fan open, moving her wrist in a half-circle to prepare before she was pushing off the heel of her foot to dart forward as Shiro lunged in, swinging his katana in a half crescent.
Raiu knew she would have to get serious in this fight. Otherwise they would be dancing around the dirt courtyard all day. Her left fan moved up under his guard to slice into his upper arm as she ducked and twisted her body towards the left, under his blade. Her left fan swung down from his arm and over his stomach with more force before she twirled on her heel to bring her right fan down diagonally on his left arm. These scratches were deeper and served to draw the first true blood in the match.
Raiu found herself back stepping quickly as he turned, recovering his swing from the right and bringing it up from the ground to pierce at her left leg. Stepping to the right, she pushed the sound of her red hakama ripping on the tip of the blade from her mind, launching herself forward at him while bringing her left fan down to scrape along the katana blade to prevent her from cutting herself. She lunged, her right fan stopping at the base of Shiros throat, resting against the flesh.
Only a quick flick of her wrist would have his throat spilled on the ground. But Raiu didn't like to kill. She didn't like to fight. The sound of clapping brought her back to focus. Releasing her pose, she let the fans dangle closed with a soft click before both combatants turned to face the two watchers.
"A beautiful form. You've improved. But you leave yourself open too often. Remember, the snake that strikes first gets to eat."
Tajima's chiding tone was often laced with amusement. So his scoldings were never really scoldings. Still, Raiu quickly dipped at the waist in acceptance. The praise was like a healing balm on her frayed nerves. Her shoulder length red hair fell like a curtain between them as she straightened from her bow.
"Hai, Sensei. I will work harder."
An offended sniff had Raiu once again looking to Okāsan. The woman practically lived with her nose in the air, upturned behind the delicate white fan she hid her face behind.
"You coddle the girl too much, Tajima-Sama. She needs to learn obedience! The girls much too wild, and unrefined. It's an offensive and barbaric."
"Not as offensive and barbaric as your personality..." Raiu quietly muttered. The sharp click of Okāsan closing her fan permeated the sudden stifling silence. "What was that, Brat?"
"Nothing, Honorable Okāsan." Raiu chirped in reply. Okāsan only looked to the monk with a glowering scowl as if to say 'You see? Barbaric!' Inwardly Raiu rolled her eyes, nothing she did pleased the woman, not that she actually cared.
Okāsan was the head of the matriarchal Akuma Clan, one of the Southern Oni clans of Japan. While it was not a big clan, it was one of the more active ones. The Akuma were known for their political power and tactical prowess. While it allied itself with the Emperor, it was also known for dabbling in western medicine. While that meant little to Raiu, it meant everything to the clan Heir, Lilith.
Lilith Akuma, was often referred to as Hime-Sama, and was also the person Raiu was being trained to protect. Raiu served as the Decoy Heir, to ensure clan lines stayed safe, and pure. This duty was explained to her as she grew, and also why she had been raised with the girl as her sister. The two girls couldn't be more different and they didn't share many distinguishing features. Still, few outside of the head household had ever laid eyes on Lilith, so it was easy to pass Raiu off as the Half-Blood Heir. The majority of the Akuma clan had dark purple to black hair and pale skin, so it was assumed Raiu took after the mysterious mortal Okāsan had lain with.
The Akuma was a matriarchal clan, made primarily of half-bloods or the few purebloods scattered throughout the side branch, it was rare to see a human among them.
"Girl! Go get cleaned up, you have lessons to attend!"
Okāsan's sharp bark broke Raiu out of her reverie. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she quietly bowed to Tajima and Shiro before slipping off her wooden geta and stepping up onto the dark wooden floor. The Akuma compound was large, spanning over several acres of forest and open land, situated a little further inland, and east to Kyoto on the Honshū Island of Japan. The floors were made of some dark stained wood Raiu hadn't cared to know the name of.
Pale wood decorated with artful renditions of bamboo and birds made up many of the walls of the compound, white shouji doors opened into different rooms that would take you to the baths, kitchens and various other aspects of the compound. Raiu stopped outside of her bedroom, a small room just beside of Liliths before opening the door and slipping in. Discarding her sweaty training clothes, Raiu quickly washed off using a pitcher of Lilly scented water before donning a slightly formal purple kimono. The fabric was stylized to have red and white cranes moving through water.
Next came the outer Kimono, White with red spider-lilies. Raiu quickly twisted her hair up into a traditional Sakko, the longer under layers laying around her shoulders before she pinned it in place with black hair pins and tied it off with a red ribbon. Smaller kabuki combs held the top buns in place, simple and black.
With a long suffering sigh, she slipped on her white socks and slipped into the persona she had crafted over the years. Her head held high, and her back straight, Raiu walked with the slow elegant steps of a lady. Today would be lessons on entertainment and subterfuge. Something that Raiu actually enjoyed. Raiu stopped along the walkway to the eastern pleasure garden, lowering herself down onto the crimson pillow and tucking the bottom part of her kimono under her knees. Raiu hated sitting this way, no matter how long she had been doing it, it always left her knees sore.
Often, her lessons took place outside among one of the gardens among the estate. Usually it was the Eastern pleasure garden. Raiu's eyes roamed over the various flowers surrounding the small koi pond. All of them were beautiful splashes of color, and all of them could be used to make deadly poisons. Poisons were often called a woman's weapon, and were something Raiu did not like. Raiu felt that poisons were a cowards weapon, but she had to admit they could be useful when a task called for secrecy.
Her eyes lazily traced the multi-colored fish as she waited for her teacher to arrive. Sitting straight, she gave off the air of endless patience as her mind wandered, before the shrill cry of crows taking flight caught her eyes. Her head followed the movement of the black birds as they sailed out into the open sky.
'I wish I could be so free...'
Hime- Princess
Sama- is a more respectful version for people of a higher rank than oneself, toward one's guests or customers, and sometimes toward people one greatly admires.
Okāsan- mother
San- Title of respect typically used between equals of any age, but can be used to refer to one's parents.
Haori- is a traditional Japanese sort of hip- or thigh-length kimono-like jacket, worn over a kosode
Kosode- is a basic Japanese robe for both men and women
UmanoriHakama- The umanori type of hakama have divided legs, similar to trousers.
Sensei- is used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, politicians, lawyers, and other authority figures.
Tessen- is a folding fan with outer spokes made of heavy plates of iron which were designed to look like normal, harmless folding fans or solid clubs shaped to look like a closed fan. There are many types of Tessen, Raiu's Tessen is a sharp iron fan. The metal is folded and the edge is sharpened to be razor sharp.
Sakko- is a Semi-Formal, traditional Japanese hairstyle. It is worn by maiko today, but was worn in the Edo Period by wives to show their dedication to their husbands
Shouji- is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo.
Geta- are a form of traditional Japanese footwear that resemble both clogs and flip-flops.
Honshū - is the largest and most populous island of Japan, located south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to its south and east. It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java.