A delicate, pale cherry petal
fell with grace, guided into a lazy waltz by the soft breeze.
/A sakura? Spring so soon?/
Jakotsu commented. It looked as if he had been waiting for that moment for a
long time.
Renkotsu snorted /Who cares
about flowers?/
/I DO!/ Jakotsu said stubbornly,
altough he didn't really. As if he hadn't chopped down countless trees while
practising before.
/Is this the time for starting a
pointless argument over such a trivial matter?/ Bankotsu inquired, and both of
them stayed quiet.
The leader was concentrating in
something, that, as it was using up his concentration, had to be important.
Jakotsu and Renkotsu peered over his shoulder. A note.
/What do you find so important
in a piece of paper with some ink stains?/ Jakotsu said trying to draw
Bankotsu's attention. Renkotsu shut him up, /Don't bother him, freak./
/Freak? Someday, I'll.../
/You'll what?/
/Oh please will you two be
silent?/ Bankotsu finally complaint, annoyed. /We've received a letter from some
daimyou saying we'll never regret doing a small,stupid job for them, and we'll
be paid, now yes, as much as we want. This sounds perhaps too inviting... do you
think we should go...?/
The other Shichinintai looked
among themselves. Suikotsu said that they would do what their leader told them.
Bankotsu said he wanted everyone to say their opinion on that particular
occasion. Finally, they all agreed they'd go.
****
Why wouldn't they go on a >mission>? Ahous!
A delicate, pale cherry petal
fell with grace, guided into a lazy waltz by the soft breeze.
It landed on your nose and made
you sneeze. //Why is a sakura petal falling so soon?//
The Sea wind howled between the
rocks and shells, and it sang a song in another language.
Something was about to happen.
You just could feel it, and even guess it.
/Michiryuu... Michiryuuneesan.../
You froze. Michiryuu... neesan?
/Michiryuu... Michiryuu
neesan.../ A pale head surged from the raging waters and foam. Her curvy,
slimy body, as flexible as a fish's, sticked to the rocks and clutched tightly
your ankles, hurting them. /......We warn you... that what keepss you from
uss... that whych keepss you from home... wyll be ssoon gone... beware...
Michiryuu... Michiryuu neesan.... /
Her voice was deep and unearthy.
She allowed her body to slide partially into the water, at the time she said.
/Love yss trycky.... love yss
sadnesss... /
The ningyo faded into the Sea,
the last words of her warning leaving with her.
/Love
yss pain... Beware.../
You let yourself fall on the
rock, bewildered. A ningyo had come to warn you about something... "which
keeps you from home". And she said it would be gone.
Gone.
That which kept you from home.
Bankotsu!
Your eyes widened.
****
A ningyo... came to warn me. It must be serious...
/Don't be upset, ooaniki! If she
left, it was by own will. She must have had her reasons.../ Renkotsu tried to
persuade the young leader that it was not all as bad as he saw it.
In Bankotsu's eyes, he had lost
his chance of revenge; and he had also lost his lo--- you. Suikotsu only stared
at him with a look in his eyes that reminded those of the good doctor saying
"told you so...". Jakotsu sighed, and said, /Can't we have a
normal day? She left, alright, it ain't the end of the world...!/
/It's not the fact that she
left! It's only that it bothers me that she didn't even fucking say goodbye when
she did!/
/Only women understand the ways
of the women./ Renkotsu said wisely, and Mukotsu shrugged, commenting; /Yes,
Renkotsu no aniki is right. Women are for the taking, not the understanding..../
Jakotsu smiled slightly.
/It's not as if you loved her
really or anything, huh? You surely were confusing "love" with
"lust" or merely "attraction"./ Renkotsu went on.
/Perhaps... you are right./ the
leader said half-heartedly.
/And... besides, aniki. What
kind of woman allows herself to be dragged along with a group of men like us?
She must have also gained a benefit from all this!---/
Jakotsu cut in Renkotsu's
discussion: /Look, Renkotsu no aniki is bloody right. Witch, miko, Michiru,
whatever she is she remains being filth. There's no use for getting so worked up
about that./
/Guys, you're all right. I
shouldn't worry about that so much./
/Karma, ooaniki.../ Suikotsu
growled.
Jakotsu thought for a while.
/Since when are you into Buddhism, Shinto or whatever, aniki?/
/Since I realized that the sole
word "karma" can put an end to any stupid, pointless argument you get
in... besides that, I don't give a damn about religion./
/Ohhh you're right!/ Jakotsu
said brightly. /I like the word Karma!!!... What would it mean???/
Suikotsu sweatdropped, and said;
/For you to understand it, it would be kind of "let things happen as they
are supposed to happen". In other words, "BUTT OFF"/
****
^^U
You ran and ran and ran.
//Faster! I won't get there
on time... No! Bankotsu-kun... I....//
The Sea, the forest, the path,
the cliffs. It was all a blur.
There! You could see them...!
Just... some more.... meters. /WAIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Let me.... LET ME GO!/
a soldier held your arms and pushed you to the floor. In that moment, a rain of
arrows fell over the Shichinintai.
/BANKOTSU-KUN! NO! no..../ you
screamed, eyes wide open. You couldn't believe what you were seeing. /No..
this..... this can't... just can't happen..... this can't ....be happening!/ you
whispered to yourself. You got up, but again the man pushed you to the floor.
You tried to run to them many times, each one with the same, or worse, result.
And they were dying...
You were crying so much, that
you barely could see what was happening.
The soldiers made them stand up,
dying as they were, their human blood staining the dusty ground. Why were they
being treated like demons?
Your sight was blurred, your
head ached. You couldn't see the countless things that the soldiers did to the
Shichinintai.
Especially to the leader.
Still... and in spite of being
ridiculized and mocked... they were dying.
Was someone saying your name?
Somehow managing to wipe your tears, you saw him. Scarce meters away, not
showing the pain he was in, although his body betrayed his face. Bankotsu was
smiling.
Smiling, for you.
And then, letting his feelings
take over, he said, his voice trembling lightly, /Why did you...come?/
/I.... you.... don't need to ask
that.../. You didn't know how, but you managed to escape the soldier who was
retaining you.
How, or why no one stopped you
as you ran to his side, is still a mystery.
His body was pierced by arrows,
and covered in blood in places where the arrows hadn't even touched him. He was
barely conscious, barely standing, barely there, but he was. You had never seen
him like that before. You hugged him close, his body weight leaning on you. The
blood of his many wounds spreaded in your clothes.
/I...... I still
can't see why you are here. Go! Don't you see you'll die?!/ he said coldly.
/Bankotsu-kun, I never---.../ your eyes were stained with small tears. //Bankotsu,
aishiteru...! I... don’t want you to be mad at me...! //. /Gomen nasai,
Bankotsu-kun....... I.../
/Forget it. I
never really loved you, after all. You can leave now. Are you feeling better?!/
Each one of his
words struck you like shards of ice, and pierced into your heart. Tears streamed
now down your cheeks. //He..... he doesn’t.... it can’t be... he... he
must be.......//
/I... I...
Bankotsu-kun, I am not going to leave you! I don’t know what anyone.../ you
swallowed the unpleasant thing that didn’t let you go on- /... may have told
you... but I.... I......................./ Your feelings were tangled, knotted
and broken, and you no longer had the words you had wanted to say so many times
before...
Aishiteru,
Bankotsu-kun.... Anata o aishiteru.....!
/Gomen nasai...
if there was something... whatever... I did to you and.........................
I....../
/Michiru..../
...//Heal me. Heal my feelings. Say that you never intended to leave us. Me.
Say that you... //
You placed a
hand on his arm. You had to tell him... but you didn't find the right words to
say that you...
...loved him.
/Bankotsu-kun...
I... want to be with you.......... I don't want... to leave again......../
Bankotsu...
paused /what?/
/I want to.....
be with you............... because I......... I..................../
/Michiru---/
/Bitch! Stay away from
them-him!/ a man on a horse yelled. Bankotsu held you tightly. /Go...!
they'll..........kill you as well..../
/No, I'm not
going...............I'm not going....not this time.../ you whispered stubbornly.
A voice that seemed like
thounder growled, then,
/Obey the Commander, priestess!
He rules here, not that bastard you're holding so dearly.../
The next thing you knew, was
that someone was tearing you apart from him, and dragging you away by your hair.
//No... no!//
A soldier held you to his body,
with the sharp edge of a katana to your neck; /Move and die/ he said. But it was
not as if you cared about that anymore.
One by one, among cries of pain,
the heads of six members of the Shichinintai fell dryly to the floor. A
bloodbath it was, red liquid spilled everywhere, showing the cruelty of men with
no guilt.
All because of power.
The leader was the last one.
Tears falling from his eyes, he had watched how his men, his dear friends he had
known most of his life, his brothers, died the most shameful death. He didn't
care now, he didn't want to live. A life without them would have been empty.
He was torn between them and
you. If he lived, he would miss them for the rest of his life. If he died, he
would die with the remorse of leaving you alone.
It was painful, but... in some
way... you understood. /Kanashimanai...heiki da kara ne/
With that last effort you had
told him to do what he thought was right. You wouldn't blame him for the
desition he took, but that didn't mean you would live normally after that.
A soldier raised a katana, blood
everywhere, and it... it was....
It was over.
/No...! No....
Bankotsu-kun....../ you cried and cried... the katana was still to your neck,
keeping you from running, and you...
You pushed your neck into the
blade.
The pain was only at the
beggining, then it all went black and your body fell limp on the floor, leaving
a trail of purplish blood as it did.
It was, still, snowing.
~~~~
...
A delicate, pale cherry petal
fell with grace, guided into a lazy waltz by the soft breeze. It landed on the
fresh earth of a sole grave, with the Kanji;
Namunaku no miko.
...
...
...
Love is tricky.
Love is sadness.
Love is pain.
...
Haha, so, did you
like??? *Grins Soujiro-like* (I do that a lot! XD). Message me. And oh,
please... make long comments, yes? I don't usually have time to answer to
*short* messages... And your opinion is really important! Also, remember, THIS
QUIZ DOESN'T END HERE! It goes on. Thanks to something called Shikon no
Kakera.... ^^
