Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ This Is Forever ❯ Destined To Fall and Destined To Retaliate ( Chapter 4 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: laichi16 
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.01.2008 | Pages: 10 | Words: 10.7K | Visits: 383 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.01.2008 | Pages: 10 | Words: 10.7K | Visits: 383 | Status: Work In Progress
This Is Forever
Chapter 7: “Destined To Fall”
There was something different in the early morning. Everything was abnormally still and silent. The sun was rising in the east, but not one note was sung from any bird; not even a crow.
The air was still, but felt like ice to touch. The sun offered little help from the icy bitterness. The weather was highly unusual for that season, for it was summer upon the mortal realm.
Misao shivered and awoke with a start. Something was wrong in the air. As a priestess, she was trained to read the signs of nature to see if something was wrong. Her teeth clattered together in both cold and fear.
Unusual weather like that was not a good sign, for it could mean the wrath of the head god, Tengoku-sama. Was he in a horrible mood? Was the mortal realm doomed to suffer this until everything was well?
Could… could this weather have something to do with Kaoru-sama?
At that thought, Misao wrapped her futon blanket tighter around her body to keep her warm, and she left her bedroom. She walked down the hallway a few rooms over and carefully tapped on the wood.
“Aoshi-sama?” Misao called to him in a high whisper.
“You can come in, Misao.” The soft voice greeted her, allowing her entrance.
Misao silently opened the shouji door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her in the same silent manner. When she turned around, she saw Aoshi was awake; his futon carefully folded away in the corner, and he sat in the middle of his room, meditating.
“Aoshi-sama, you’re up early.” Misao noted after her eyes wandered the room to finally rest on the priest.
“As are you, Misao.” Aoshi replied, opening his eyes to look at her for the first time since she entered.
“This weather—“
“I know.” Aoshi shortly replied, and he looked at the girl wrapped in her futon blanket, and down to her feet where the ice-blue orbs rested on them. “It’s not good to walk around bare-footed in this cold.”
“Oh; my tabi socks are all in the wash.”
Aoshi did not reply; instead, he carefully watched the shivering girl before him. Those beautiful aqua-marine eyes told everything; she was worried and scared, but when they looked at him, those same orbs melted into warm softness and her courage resurfaced anew.
What Misao did not know, however, was that the courage that came into place after she looked at him, was already there; waiting to be used.
Aoshi have the girl a hand gesture that commanded her to sit in front of him, and she did so, still wrapped in her blanket, without any hesitation.
As soon as Misao sat down, Aoshi wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to him. Promptly, the girl blushed at her mentor’s uncharacteristic action, but she soon melted into him; breathed in his sent and snuggled closer to his warm body.
She loved him; not the love that was temporary and would dissipate as the years progressed, but the love that was undying. She would give her life for him without question or hesitation.
Perhaps the priest knew this, and feared that; maybe that was why moments like that were rare because he wanted to push her away so she would not commit such an act.
One thing was for certain that was written in Fate’s book and will be so unto eternity: Aoshi could not exist without Misao, and Misao could not exist without Aoshi. It was the way it was, whether mortals try to renounce it or not.
Mortals could not undo what is already written and what is forever. Even gods and demons were bound to the never-ending destiny written for them.
“Aoshi-sama…” Misao whispered, closing her eyes as the uneasiness that was in her slowly flowed away with her mentor’s easy breathing and easy heartbeat.
His heart beat was steady; not pounding out of control like her heart was. The priestess already knew this; knew that Aoshi would never love her the way she loved him, but she accepted it.
It’s alright; as long as I can be near him, it’s alright.
Suddenly the phone downstairs started ringing, ending the magical moment. Aoshi’s warm arms released their hold on Misao, and he got up to answer it.
“Hello, this is the Aoiya that is not open at this time.” Aoshi answered as Misao came down the stairs.
“Aoshi-sama.” Misao simply said in a warning voice to remind him of his behavior.
“What?” Aoshi exclaimed, not hearing Misao’s light scolding. “Shin-Kawabata Hospital?
Who…?”
For the first time in a long while, Aoshi’s face showed emotion. His eyes slowly moved over to the girl standing next to him, still wrapped in her futon blanket, and then slowly up to the hallway where the many bedrooms were.
“Are you sure?” Aoshi whispered to the other person on the phone, his eyes still resting upstairs.
Misao quickly dropped her futon blanket and ran upstairs as fast as her feet could go. She ran down the row of bedrooms, her feet pounding on the wooden floor, and she opened the shouji to the room that Kaoru resided in.
“Kaoru-sama!” Misao shouted, but found the room empty. The futon in the corner was still folded neatly like it was last night. The goddess, Kaoru, had not slept there the previous night. “Kaoru-sama…”
A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, and Misao quickly looked at the owner to the hand. “Aoshi-sama… she…”
“I’m going to Shin-Kawabata Hospital.” Aoshi announced, heading towards his room to change clothes. “I suspect Kaoru-sama might be there.”
Still, how… can a goddess end up in the hospital?
“I’m also going!” Misao exclaimed, heading towards her room.
“Someone needs to explain to everyone else what happened when they wake up.” Aoshi said, watching the stubborn girl head towards her room.
“They won’t wake up until later.” Misao exclaimed, already untying the knot on her waist, belonging to her robe. “We’ll explain then.”
Aoshi knew there was no more arguing or persuading to be done since Misao was half way in her room to dress, and the priest saw her naked backside with only her underwear covering the rest.
The girl could be so stubborn.
OOOOOOOO
The sun would not rise for the goddess that day.
Kaoru slept, but the pain in her side was still great. Was that what the mortals called a “drug educed sleep?” To be asleep, yet still feel the pain?
Kaoru moaned in pain as a sharp feeling increased. Suddenly, her eyes opened; the feeling of the sharp pain started flowing through her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out; nothing could come out.
Her blood felt like it was on fire while every nerve in her body ached and pinched. Was she dying? Was that what dying felt like?
Kaoru’s body arched in almost spasmodic pain; her hands twitched, her breathing halted.
She could not move, not even to end the pain flowing through her skin. She wanted nothing more than to rip and tear her skin off, but for the life of her, she could not; all she could do was lay there in near-spasm pain.
To steady herself, Kaoru forced her hands to hold on to the railing on both sides of her bed, even though it caused her more pain. The pain; oh, the pain was unbearable and she was being forced to live though it.
The pain slowly ebbed away after what seemed like an eternity of pain. After it completely vanished, Kaoru’s eyes slowly closed to sleep as if she had never undergone torture of that extreme degree.
The sun would not rise for the goddess that day.
OOOOOOO
“Tokio! Tadai ima!” Saitou called out as he entered the front door to his home.
“Okaini nasai, Anata!” Tokio answered from the kitchen as she made her way to the front door in order to properly greet her husband.
When the mortal woman came into view, she bowed to her husband in the traditional Japanese way. Saitou handed Tokio his police uniform shirt and white gloves. It was then that the mortal woman saw the smaller man standing behind her husband.
“Anata, do we have a guest?” Tokio asked, politely bowing to the strange red-head, but not in the same deepness that she did for her husband. It was a bow signifying respect, but not quite inviting, or to be welcome.
“Oh, him.” Saitou mumbled, not knowing why he brought the Demon Prince to his own home. It was like he was begging for trouble. “This is my father’s old friend’s son. I wish for him to dine with us tonight.”
“It will be done.” Tokio replied in obedience for her husband, although in truth, she really did not like the shifty stranger. “What did you say your name was, sir?”
“I didn’t.”
“Pardon?” Tokio said, half surprised at the man’s rudeness.
“I didn’t say my name.” was another reply from the man with red hair.
“May I have it then?” Tokio asked, gesturing for the man to take off his geta.
The stranger obeyed, and when he took off his geta, he finally answered, “Himura.”
“Himura-san?” Tokio mimicked, only respectfully placing the “san” honorific to the end of the stranger’s name. “Is that your real name?”
Battousai seemed quite surprised that the mortal woman seemed so respectful, and minds her place, yet she was still very clever.
“That is my last name, Saitou Tokio-san.”
The woman looked at him suspiciously with her unusual grey-blue eyes, and she gestured for her husband’s guest to follow her.
While he followed the mortal, Battousai briefly glanced at Saitou, whom was staring back at him with the coldest amber eyes the Demon Prince had ever seen. The way they observed his every move reminded the prince of a wolf stalking his prey… or rather, someone who they thought was overstepping their boundaries.
Yet the look in Saitou’s eyes told Battousai that he had said, or done something wrong, and that the wolf would have a word with him.
Tokio lead Battousai down the hall and into the living room. “My husband will be with you shortly, so please make yourself comfortable.”
“Arigatou, Tokio-san.”
“I’m only doing this because my husband brought you here, and while you’re in my presence, you call me ‘Saitou Tokio-san,’ because I am married, and I do not wish for you and me to be on a first name basis.”
With that, the woman left with a swing of her hips. Battousai shrugged his shoulders, not really caring what the mortal thought of him. He then wondered if Tokio knew about her husband being a half demon.
While his two hosts her not present at the moment, Battousai looked around the living room; observing it and taking everything in with hard amber eyes.
There was a table in front of him made out of red wood, but was waxed over to make it appear shining and smooth. It was traditionally low to the ground, and cushions were place carefully around it.
Along the walls were old, probably original, paintings of dancing geisha,or geiko, in their amazingly printed kimono. They danced like they had just stopped in time to be captured for life. They were full of wondrous beauty and eyes that could have captured anyone’s heart; mortal or demon.
They moved in sensuous ways with the careful sway of their hips; their hair was carefully decorated and pined up to make their face fuller.
The way the geisha on the walls were, made Battousai think of Saitou’s wife, Tokio. The woman displayed obedience, following her husband’s command, yet there was a presence of power within her.
Tokio’s hair was pined up, but not as sensually decorated as the geisha. Her own hair style was simple, the way a housewife usually was. Her kimono, however, was silk instead of cotton. It was a red that reminded Battousai of blood. Her hair was coal-black, but her interesting eyes were a grey-blue.
Though she displayed politeness, Tokio had a way of lifting her chin up in defiance without it being obvious.
Tokio was, indeed, and interesting woman who was traditional in her own way. The house was as traditional as the mistress who kept it; or, perhaps, the wolf’s wife was planning on a special evening with just her and her husband. Maybe that would explain the kimono she was wearing, and her reason for her irritableness towards the prince.
Smiling in his own cruel way, Battousai placed himself traditionally on the cushions while sitting on his legs, and looked at the geisha dance on the walls some more.
OOOOOOOOOO
“I would like a word with you, Hajime.” Tokio exclaimed, closing the shouji behind her.
Saitou sighed, knowing that Tokio was more demanding a word with him, rather than asking for one. The wolf sat on the futon he and his wife shared, and took off his socks.
“Where do you dig up people like him?” Tokio asked, gesturing towards the living room.
“What ever do you mean, koneko?” Saitou asked, taking off his black shirt, which was always worn with his police uniform.
The wolf tossed it down on the floor, at which his wife place small, soft hands on her hips. Saitou looked his wife up and down, noting she wore her best kimono; her favorite kimono that she was wearing when he proposed to her, although he was not down on his knees. There was no way he would ever be down on his knees.
“You look nice, koneko.” Saitou complemented as he unbuckled his black belt, took it out of the loops, and dropped it to the floor as well.
“Hajime,” Tokio started, her soft lips twisted in such a way that made her look like she was pouting. “I was planning on talking with you this evening over dinner.”
Saitou paused in the middle of unzipping his pants, and then he looked at his wife with stern, golden eyes; the same eyes that made suspects break and confess their crimes had no effect on his own wife.
“No.” Saitou said simply, standing up to take his pants off, and he also dropped them to the floor. “It’s out of the question.”
Tokio was just as stubborn as her husband, and as she picked his clothes up off the floor to hang them up, she spoke. “Hajime, I don’t understand why you keep refusing me.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so defiant and keep insisting.” Saitou countered, watching his wife hang up his clothes where she carefully arranged his clothes; work uniforms went with work uniforms, and common clothes went with common clothes.
“Just one, anata; just one is all I want.”
“Just one is too much.”
Tokio turned back to her husband, not caring that they were having a small quarrel while he stood his ground, naked. Her eyes glistened and misted over, and Saitou mentally sighed, knowing what his wife was about to do.
“Why don’t you want to have children, Hajime?” Tokio sniffed, and drops of salty tears streamed down her face. “Am I not good enough to bare you a child?”
On the outside, Saitou appeared stern and calm, but inside he was as nervous as giddy school girl around her first crush. Within him was a war of thoughts of what to say in response to his wife’s guilt-trip question.
You are a wonderful woman; you’ll make a wonderful mother, so let’s have children.
Hell no.
I’m like a child myself, so why don’t you think of me as a child, and we’ll be okay without the real thing.
No way.
Tokio, I’m not the fathering type.
Nope.
“Tokio, I’m not the fathering type.” Saitou mentally cursed himself when the sentence came out unexpectedly. “No; just no, koneko.”
Tokio’s eyes left her husband and went down to the floor. “Why do you not want children, Hajime?”
Saitou did not answer as he went to his closet for his regular clothes. Deciding on what he wanted, the half demon sat back down on the futon.
“It was hard growing up for me.” Saitou finally answered, and Tokio also sat next to him.
“That was then, anata.” Tokio explained, placing a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “Our children won’t have to put up with what you did. The words ‘filthy half breed’ will never be heard by our children’s ears. I promise you, Hajime.”
Saitou shook his head, knowing he could not win against his headstrong wife, no matter how stubborn he was himself.
“So, do you want to start now?” Saitou asked, and smirked when Tokio blushed.
“Not with that man across the hall!”
OOOOOOO
The sun was rising in hues of red and purple by the time Tokio and Saitou came out of their room. Tokio entered the living room, and promptly stopped when she saw the expression the redheaded man was wearing.
It was as if all his masks fell from his face, and he was wearing his real one. He was looking at the paintings of the geisha, but he did not seem to know she was there.
His amber eyes were soft, almost sad, and his eyebrows were turned upward in a sense of passion and dejection.
He looked so believable, and Tokio felt sorry for him, wondering what the man could possibly be thinking of for him to have that sort of anguish.
“Himura-san,” Tokio said, and she saw all the masks fall back into place, and then he looked at her. “Breakfast is ready if you’re ready to eat.”
“Arigatou, Saitou Tokio-san.” Battousai replied softly, and he bowed to her, and allowed her to lead the way towards the dinning room.
As he headed towards the dinning room, Battousai thought back on those paintings of the dancing geisha. The more he looked at the painted geisha, the more he was reminded of… her. The goddess he had harmed.
Of course, in Battousai’s eyes, there was no way, in heaven or hell, that geisha could ever compare to the goddess he faced twice. It was not the wondrous beauty of the goddess. It was not the elegance. It was the stubborn, defiant way she faced him.
So lost Battousai was in guilt and insaneness, he did not even hear Saitou’s wife enter the room. To make matters worse, she must have seen him without his unemotional face, for the look on her face told him so.
How was that princess doing? Was she going to be alright? Battousai mentally shook his head when questions of the goddess he hated so much attacked him mercilessly. Even then, it still plagued him; the concern for her well-being.
OOOOOOOO
By the time Kaoru opened her crystal-blue eyes, there were two figures looking at her in disbelief.
The first was Misao; her blue eyes were widened with shock. It was a certain shock that made a chill flow down Kaoru’s spinal cord.
The other was Aoshi; his ice-blue eyes looked at her with an expression that was completely unreadable to her.
That made Kaoru’s heart pound with uneasiness, for she could always read Aoshi’s emotions, no mater how well he hid them.
“Kaoru-sama, are you alright?” Misao asked, her eyebrows frowned in uncertainness.
Kaoru groaned when the wound on her side ached. Something was different about her; she could feel something different about herself.
Placing a hand on her forehead, Kaoru spoke while sitting up, “Where am I?”
“Shin-Kawabata Hospital.” Aoshi simply answered, looking the goddess he worshiped up and down, over and over again.
“I remember I had a sword fight with Battousai…” Kaoru whispered to herself and she trailed off when she had images rush into her mind.
Memories and images of Battousai wounding her with his Hell Blade, and then the look in his eyes when he suddenly stopped driving the blade further into her side, assaulted Kaoru’s mind. It was a look of shock, guilt, and uncertainness, almost to the point of uneasiness.
“According to the nurse at the front desk,” Aoshi exclaimed, sitting down in a near-by chair. “Battousai brought you here.”
“He brought me here?” Kaoru repeated in disbelief, turning the statement into a question.
“Why would he do something like that?”
She remembered his amber eyes growing wider in shock; for a brief moment, he questioned his motives; questioned his blood as a Demon Prince.
“Yes, Battousai brought you here.” Misao confirmed, sitting on the corner of Kaoru’s hospital bed. “Though the nurse didn’t know his name, he gave such a descriptive image that we’re very sure it was him.”
Kaoru shook her head, and looked down at her hands. What she saw startled her; while her skin still held the smooth, creamy look to it, the “immortal glow” to it was no longer present.
Panicking at this, Kaoru jumped from her bed and into the bathroom on her left side. She flipped on the lights, and stared at her reflection.
Her long, coal-black hair, that she took great pride in, was mutilated; cut short a little more than half way up her neck. Her eyes were what put salt on the wound. While they were still crystal-blue, they lacked the “goddess glow” she always had in them since she was born.
Kaoru wrapped her arms around her body, feeling it slowly die and waste away as the seconds ticked by. Her eyes were as wide as they could be, and her small mouth hung open.
She was mortal, and she was looking at herself with her new mortal eyes. Suddenly, her crystal eyes misted and the image of her in the mirror blurred. The salty liquid spilled over the rim of her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.
“That’s not me!” Kaoru cried, falling to her knees. Misao was by her side in an instant, wrapping her arms around the fallen goddess. “I’m not a mortal! I’m not a mortal! I’m a goddess!”
Misao looked helplessly up at her mentor, Aoshi, with her arms still around Kaoru, holding her and giving her what little comfort she could.
“Kaoru-sama is in great danger, Aoshi-sama.” Misao stated, not knowing what to do about the goddess, whom was now mortal. “If we don’t think of something soon, there
will no longer be a Kaoru-sama anymore.”
The sun would not rise for the goddess that day.
OOOOOOOOO
“That meal was very delicious, Saitou Tokio-san.” Battousai exclaimed, placing his chopsticks on the table, and giving a small bow with his head, for he was still sitting down. “Arigatou.”
Tokio nodded, got to her feet and started gathering the dishes. “I will get the after meal tea started.”
Saitou nodded to his wife when she took his plate; his way of thanking her while company was around.
The dinning room was just as traditional as the living room, with the low table, and cushions for sitting. They were soft, silky cushions that one would love to sit on, thus making company appreciated.
“Your wife seems to love the old Japanese traditions, ne?” Battousai stated a question as he looked at the cushions and red oak table.
“We both do, but Tokio more so than I.” Saitou replied, and then shot the demon a dagger look. “I also have something to discuss with you.”
“Nani desu ka?”
“The way you were rude to my wife when you first came in,” Saitou started, his voice low and dangerous, yet it had no effect on the prince. “I will not tolerate it.”
“Wakatta desu.”
“I never tolerate anyone being rude to my wife.”
“Wakatta desu.” Battousai repeated his understanding, yet this time it was with a smirk.
“What’re you smirking for?” Saitou demanded to know.
“Bitsuni.” Battousai replied, and then shook his head. “Nothing; it’s just… you seem to really love her.”
Saitou did not reply, giving no denial to the almost accusation, nor did he confirm it. Tokio came in with the green tea, placed the tray on the table, took the small tea cups from the fancy silver tray, and placed it in front of each man. She poured her husband’s tea first, and then she filled Battousai’s cup, and poured her cup last.
Battousai held up the cup to his nose, and he cautiously sniffed it, having never tasted green tea before.
“It is not sake, sir.” Tokio exclaimed, puzzled as to why the guest was treating the tea like he was drinking the rice beer.
“Oh, I was only wondering what sort of tea this is.” Battousai replied, not being rude in anyway, yet he was not about to apologize for a blunder he did not know about.
“Its green tea,” Tokio replied, her puzzlement graduated to confusion. “How do you not know about the traditional tea?
“Himura-san is not originally from here.” Saitou answered for the Demon Prince. “He’s from the south.”
“The deep south.” Battousai added, taking a sip of the green liquid. “This is delicious, Saitou Tokio-san. Arigatou.”
“You’re welcome.” Tokio finally replied, also taking a sip of her tea.
Battousai finished his tea, and was about to ask for some more, when he felt a very familiar presence. While it was not close, it was certainly not too far, either. It was a very threatening aura, and the prince knew who it was from.
“Daijoubu?” Tokio asked, seeing the guest’s amber-gold eyes widen impossibly; his body looked suddenly like a sculpture.
Snapping out of his trance, Battousai place his cup down on the table gently, and bowed to the host and hostess of the early morning.
“Forgive me,” Battousai exclaimed, quickly getting to his feet. “Something has come up, and I must go to counter it.”
“Of course,” Tokio replied, not knowing whether she should be relieved that he was leaving, or be offended. “Perhaps you can stop by another time when nothing is ailing you.”
“Maybe I will take that offer.” Battousai replied, bowing once more, and headed towards the front door, with Saitou following. Tokio was about to get up and show their guest to the door, for it was tradition, but her husband shook his head, mentally telling her to break tradition just this one time.
When they got to the door, Saitou stopped the prince with a question, “What is going on?”
“Saitou,” Battousai started, clearly facing him. “Have you heard of the mortals talking about the ‘Apocalypse’?”
“Hai; for several hundred years… maybe even thousands.”
“How soon do you think it will happen?”
“No one knows for sure.” Saitou replied with a shrug.
“Do you know the details of the Apocalypse?” Battousai asked, a feeling in his stomach started to grow.
“No, and I really don’t care.”
“Start caring, Saitou, for I think the Apocalypse will happen within your wife’s lifetime; and with the princess as a mortal… it will happen.”
“What, is your father coming up from the pits of hell to take over the mortal realm?” Saitou asked, fear growing for his wife’s safety, but his outward appearance did not show it.
“Could be; it’s not the presence I feel, but I know this other demon might be the one who brings forth the one horrible time that mortal have been fearing for generations; the start of a bloody Revolution. Worse… I think I’m the seed that started it.”
Saitou did not reply; his mind worked feverishly to comprehend the fact that the
“Apocalypse” could happen soon.
“I must go.” Battousai exclaimed, opening up the door. “Tell Tokio-san to hold off on having children for now.”
The Demon Prince left before Saitou could say anything, and he ran out in the unnatural cold weather.
Enishi, you … what’re you doing here!
To Be Continued…
This Is Forever
Ch. 8: "Destined To Retaliate"
By the time Aoshi and Misao got Kaoru back to the Aoiya, the sun was already at its highest point; noon. The other residents silently questioned the whereabouts of Kaoru-sama, but then simply passed it off. She was in good hands, for she was with Aoshi and Misao.
Yahiko was the first to see Kaoru.
The boy was given the duty of sweeping the front of the building. It seemed like and easy job, but when Yahiko finished sweeping one side of the property, a passer would throw trash on it. By the third time, Yahiko was throwing a fit by throwing the broom down and stomping his feet. It was in that fit that Aoshi, Misao, and Kaoru found him in.
"Yahiko, what're you doing?" Misao asked, her face contorted in puzzlement.
Yahiko stopped his fit, and looked up to the trio. His chocolate-brown eyes widened at the site of the goddess who was well known throughout Japan. She was wearing her usual priestess clothes, but she looked very different.
Kaoru’s jet-black hair was cut up to her chin. The only way Yahiko could describe the goddess’ hair was what came to mind first; her hair looked like an anime character, Nabiki, from Ranma ½! It just did not look good on her!
The boy stared at Kaoru, and looked back at him with a sad smile on her face. His eyes roamed from her hair, and then to her crystal-blue eyes.
The sight there scared him speechless. While her eyes were still so beautiful, the light that always stayed in those crystal-blue orbs was now gone. They had less light in them, like the goddess was… ageing.
"K-Kaoru…?" Yahiko started, not knowing what to say.
"Hai, Yahiko," Kaoru said softly with a small smile. "It’s me; Kaoru."
"W-What happened to your hair?!" The boy cried, pointing to Kaoru’s short mass.
"Oh," Kaoru exclaimed simply as if it was a daily habit for her to show up with short hair, and she placed a hand to her head. "I went to the beautician last night."
Although Kaoru laughed, Yahiko, Misao, and Aoshi could tell it was fake; on the fine line of laughing forcefully.
"Uh, Kaoru-sama," Misao began, unsure. "We should go inside; it’s cold."
"Aa, it is." Kaoru nodded, patting Yahiko on his head as she passed him by.
The boy stared at her, his mouth agape, and then he picked up the broom and followed in pursue. When he entered the kitchen, Sano and the rest of the Oniwanban sat around the table, also shocked at Kaoru’s change of appearance, and unexplainable signs that could doubt her as being a goddess.
"Kaoru-sama," Sano began as she sat at the table for lunch. "What…?"
"I had another fight with Battousai." Kaoru interrupted, looking more at the food then at the participants at the table. "We fought… I think he has my sword."
"What happened during the fight?" Sano concluded, although he changed his original question. "What brought on this change?"
Kaoru explained the whole story of what happened last night, down to every detail; even what Battousai did to his sword and what happened afterward.
"So," Okina began, the new information sinking into his mind caused more stress, and the stress caused him to want to get out his tobacco pipe, although he had not smoked in years. "The demon blood, mixing with your blood, caused you to become… mortal?"
"I believe so." Kaoru confirmed, surprisingly staying strong; or, at least, it seemed so.
"The gods have always heard of the Blade of Hell being able to do that, but we thought it was just a legend."
"How can demon blood turn an immortal into a mortal?" Misao asked as she picked up a breaded pickle to eat.
"Do you know the story of how demons came into existence?" Kaoru asked, not touching the food in front of her.
"Um…" Misao began when everyone else looked nervously at one another. "All we know is that we are mortal, and demons and gods do exist."
"Then let me tell you something that I am not allowed to tell you, something that will shake your faith in the gods you worship, but I am telling you anyway. Long ago, before I was born, the main gods had their places in the Heavens.
Tengoku-sama, the leader of the gods.
Tochi-sama, second leader of the gods.
And Hiko-sama, the third leader of the gods.
Before Tengoku and Tochi were married, Hiko and Tengoku were the best of friends.
When they made decisions, they met with each other, along with Tochi, and they made their final commands with the consent of each other, like they were family.
However, this long peace was not destined to last. Hiko had an eye for Tochi, and she lavished under his… unconcealed attentions. Now the time came for Tongoku to take a wife for his throne, and he also had an eye on Tochi. He did not know, however, that his best friend Hiko and Tochi were in a… um, deep relationship.
When Tengoku asked her to be his wife, Tochi was excited at the fact that now she could have two lovers, and she asked Hiko to keep their relationship a secret and keep their "love," although it was unrequited love on poor Hiko’s part, and they continued their relationship in secret. Hiko agreed to her terms.
Millions of years passed, and one night, Tochi and Hiko got careless, and Tengoku found out that his best friend was messing around with his wife, and he was just as enraged at his wife for allowing it to happen and continue.
Tochi begged and pleaded to her husband, throwing herself at his feet and claimed that Hiko forced her into a sexual relationship, lest he harm her. Then, all of Tengoku’s rage pointed towards poor Hiko, who was shocked that Tochi took what they shared together and spit on it like it was all for nothing."
At this point, everyone had wide eyes, and mouths opened at the cruelty of Tochi, Queen of the Heavens; and just like Kaoru predicted, their faith was shaken.
"Tengoku and Hiko fought with swords, the Great Battle of the Heavens, and Tengoku won. He cast Hiko out of the Heavens and onto the mortal realm, although there were not any mortals here at the time. Hiko, full of rage at Tochi’s betrayal, wanted nothing more
than revenge.
He took the sword he fought Tengoku with, and went deep underground. There, using the Flames of Hell, Hiko remade his sword, striking the blade with the blacksmith hammer with rage and hate, and with each strike, that rage and hate was put into the sword.
Hiko emerged from hell, his new sword at his side, but the world had changed; it was now filled with mortals that lived peacefully without any worry. The fallen god looked at the site with disgust, and he tried his new sword on a few mortals. The mortals, never seeing a violent death, were filled with pain and confusion, anger and rage, and they took it out on each other; killing each other at random with Hiko in the background.
Tengoku saw what Hiko had done to his little toys, and he damned Hiko even further by driving him to hell. There, he placed two gods to guard the gate; Akira and Soujiro. Yet the damage to the mortals was done, and they all lived without peace and hope.
Tochi, however, had a little girl at the time, and when I was five years old, in god years, I was given the duty to lock the Gate of Hell, and to give the mortals peace and hope. And yet the mortals lived so long in chaos that it became part of their blood, and I could only do what I could to comfort them.
The fallen god, Hiko, set up his kingdom in hell, but the first demon he created was born from the flames of hell; filled with the same emotions that Hiko had before and after he was driven from Heaven. He’s the one that has the same color hair as the same flames he came out of, and the same eyes as the amber light that the flames give the walls of hell."
"Battousai." Aoshi said, and Kaoru nodded, and continued her story.
"Hiko gave Battousai power to wield the Blade of Hell, and use it for his own benefit.
Battousai’s existence we know for sure exists, for the gods have seen him. I, however, have never seen him until recently."
"So Battousai doesn’t have a biological mother?" Misao asked, confused as to how one can exist without a mother.
"Yes, that’s true. How? I don’t know."
"Who’s older?" Yahiko asked, shrugging his shoulders when everyone looked at him.
"He is," Kaoru answered. "Because when Hiko went down to hell to remake his sword, he created another demon to have the ability to go up to the mortal realm and wield his
sword."
"How did Hiko become a demon?" Okon asked, setting down her chopsticks after completing her meal.
"All the rage and hate he felt for the injustice done to him turned his blood bad. See, when you have anger with hate, it poisons the blood, and turns you into something your not, if harbored for a long period of time."
"Any other demons like Battousai we should know about?" Okina asked.
"There is one the gods are not sure exists, for we never seen him; that demon has a mother who was in Hiko’s whore house. I do not know who she is, but you might consider him as being Battousai’s brother."
"What does the look like?" Sano asked, picking his teeth with a fish bone.
"I don’t know." Kaoru answered softly. She had been wondering for years what the mystery demon looked like; she had always imagined him as looking very much like
Battousai. "I do know his name, however; Enishi. His name is Enishi."
"All this trouble," Misao said to herself, but everyone heard it. "All because of a goddess who wanted two lovers."
"Correct," Kaoru agreed, causing Misao to jump. "So now you all know that the gods and goddesses were not who they really seem."
After that conclusion, Kaoru got up from the table to head to her room; her food was left untouched, and now cold, on the table.
OOOOOOOO
I will love you forever, if you also love me forever.
Shut up.
Will you allow yourself to love me?
You traitorous bitch.
He took a gulp of his sake bottle; a rarity in hell, which he could only get when his son went up to the mortal realm. It was a rarity that only he could enjoy. The alcoholic liquid swam down his throat, burned his stomach, and that small pain helped him to forget.
Forget that she ever existed; forget that whatever happened between them never happened. He wanted to destroy the daughter she loved so much, more than she ever loved either of her lovers.
I will always love you.
I hate you.
Sometimes the sake did not help him to forget her. Many times, it helped enhance her song-like voice in his head.
I love you, Hiko.
And I also love you; but I also hate you.
She will always haunt him, but he could not be saved. No one could ever save the Demon King from his fate.
OOOOOO
It was dusk when the two travelers finally reached their destinations. The sun cast a blood-red sun set across the sky; a violent storm was approaching.
The first traveler knocked on the door to the Aoiya, took a step back, and waited patiently with his fellow companion for someone to answer the door.
A young woman opened the door; she wore priestess clothes that bore Kaoru’s two favorite colors. Her hair was short, cropped if one would, and she had startling blue eyes.
"How may we help you?" the young woman inquired.
"Hello, we were wondering if Kaoru-sama is here." The first traveler asked, giving a traditional bow.
The young woman’s eyes widened with recognition, for she knew the two travelers. She still stood by the opened door, wondering when they were going to introduce themselves.
"What businesses have you here?" she asked, placing an impatient hand on her hips.
"We’re looking for Kaoru-sama." The second traveler informed.
"What are your names?"
"Oh, please forgive our rudeness." The first traveler started. "I’m Akira, and this is my companion, Soujiro. Is Kaoru-sama present?"
"Yes, I am she." Kaoru replied, taking her hand off her hip and replacing it with a big smile.
Both Akira and Soujiro’s reactions were mutual. Their eyes widened, their mouths dropped, and they were in doubt that the young mortal woman before them was the great, merciful Kaoru-sama; Princess of the Gods.
"Kaoru-sama?" Soujiro inquired hesitantly, for he heard stories about mortal sanity being limited.
"Hai; it’s me." Kaoru confirmed, knowing what her two god friends were thinking just by reading their expressions.
"Oh!" Akira exclaimed, placing a liquid smile on his face. "Kaoru-sama, we didn’t recognize you!"
When Kaoru’s right eyebrow rose in annoyance, Soujiro stepped into the conversation to spare them Kaoru’s wrath.
"We didn’t recognize you because your new hair style is so… cute!" Soujiro smiled while laughing nervously.
"Hai; kawaii!" Akira exclaimed, also smiling and laughing nervously.
Although Akira was very kind, it was Soujiro that was very clever as well as kind. Kaoru often wondered, while on mortal territory, why her father just could not marry her to the kind god.
"Never matter," Kaoru said after her short musings. "Please come in and tell me everything that you can, and I will do so in return."
Akira and Soujiro did as the princess commanded, both wondering how their goddess became a mortal. Kaoru had them sit at the table, as many people, gods and mortals do when there would be a big meeting.
Kaoru took her seat across from her childhood companions, and prepared for them to speak.
"Tell me how my father fares." Kaoru commanded gently, wanting to make casual
conversation before she gets down to business.
"He does well, Kaoru-sama." Akira answered. "He sent us here to make sure you are alright… um, are you?"
"Hai, because Aoshi and Misao are with me." Kaoru answered, a confident smile appeared on her beautiful face.
"Okay, that’s a relief!" Soujiro exclaimed with that constant smile on his face. "I think Tengoku-sama would’ve turned the whole mortal soil upside down and burned everyone alive in order to find you. He does love you, I’ll have you know."
Kaoru smiled at that comment, her fondness for her childhood friend deepened. Soujiro was just so kind and was always trying to make her feel better, even when the dark times had no light anywhere.
"Has my father searched to find out who the spy of heaven is?" Kaoru asked her most trusted friends.
Akira and Soujiro looked at each other in stunned silence, and then they looked back at Kaoru, just as equally confused.
"He failed to mention that." Soujiro said, tilting his head to the side just very slightly in curiosity. "Why would he think there would be a spy?"
"It’s all just so wrong." Kaoru explained, shaking her head, and then she told her best friends the whole story.
"Battousai… up here?" Akira exclaimed, shaking his head.
"That’s why I said it’s all just so wrong." Kaoru continued. "For a demon to be up here on the mortal realm without having to possess a mortal, they would need permission from a god or goddess. That’s what led me to believe there is a spy among us."
"Worse yet, Kaoru-sama," Soujiro began, his usual smile faded from his face to be replaced with a look of concern. "Now that you’re mortal, you’re most vulnerable."
"That’s what I have to ask you two," Kaoru said, inhaling deeply to rush out the next sentence she did not want to say, nor hear the answer to, for she felt the answer would not be good. "How do I turn back into a goddess?"
Akira shook his head negatively, not knowing the answer. Soujiro, however, looked very solemn.
"There’s only one way for you to turn back into a goddess, Kaoru-sama," Soujiro began, looking unnaturally serious. "You must kill the demon that turned you into a goddess."
It was like Kaoru was punched in the stomach, and her insides turned to mush; like jelly.
She tried so very hard to keep herself from shaking, and even then, she could not allow
herself to speak.
Kill Battousai? Sure; why not? He tried to kill her, so she should return the favor! That little fact Kaoru told herself again and again did not help to relieve her pounding heart.
She remembered he held his sword to her, yet he hesitated. Battousai then helped her by risking exposure to himself by bringing her to the near-by hospital.
He was going to kill her, but he did not follow through. Should she also try to kill him, only with her, complete her mission?
Still shaking, but keeping a calm front, Kaoru asked, "How does one kill a demon?"
"Use your Sword of Heaven," Soujiro explained. "And decapitate him. You cut off a
demon’s head, you kill the demon."
"Did they take you aside and give you this information in school, Soujiro?" Akira jested, and Soujiro also followed in laughter.
Kaoru, however, could only force herself to make small, breathy laughs. When Soujiro said "decapitate," amber eyes flashed in the princess’ mind. She swallowed hard, her eyes burning from the intensity of his fire eyes, and she tried to swallow something stuck in her throat that was not there.
"Daijoubu ka, Kaoru-sama?" Soujiro inquired, looking perplexed. "You look pale."
"I’m not feeling very well." Kaoru answered in a whisper, the lump in her throat grew bigger. "I’m going to lie down for a few minutes. The owners here will give you a royal welcome."
Neither Akira nor Soujiro could say anything further, for Kaoru had rushed up the stairs before they could think of anything to say.
OOOOOOOOOO
Amber eyes scanned the park grounds as he felt for the aura he felt yesterday. Trying to find Enishi was like trying to find a lizard in a forest of grass; and Enishi even fit the description of lizard.
Battousai sighed and scratched his head; he combed his red hair through his fingers as he stared coldly at a shady spot under a sakura tree.
The sakura blossoms should not be in full blossom, but they were, however, they were slowly withering in the cold. Many pedals that started to turn brown littered the also slowly dying grass.
The season was changing very prematurely, and Battousai could easily guess why; the princess was mortal, and her father could not find her. As long as he did not know where his little girl was, he would not let anything grow on earth.
"Kuso, Enishi!" Battousai cursed, knowing his brother was looking right at him, but he did not come out of his hiding place. "I know you’re here!"
An aura flared up, and Battousai looked at the shaded spot under the sakura tree. He stalked over to that spot just when a familiar figure with white hair and aqua-marine eyes came out from under the tree.
"Well, you finally found me." Enishi exclaimed calmly, leaning against the trunk of the tree; the very tree that Kaoru rested against for a few seconds during the sword fight. "Did you kill the princess?"
"You might say that."
"Is she dead, or mortal?"
"Mortal."
"Onii-san," Enishi exclaimed lamely, shaking his head and teasingly saying big brother.
"She is either dead or alive; there’s no in between. Mortal she may be, but as long as she is still mortal, she is still alive."
"What’s the difference?" Battousai asked, his hand itching to unsheathe his sword and slice off his brother’s head. "She’ll never be a goddess again."
Enishi came out of the shade, and automatically squinted when the sunlight hit his eyes.
He took out a pair of shades, the lenses were black and in a circular shape, and the body was made of pure gold.
"Damn sunlight." Enishi mumbled, putting the sunglasses on his face, and he pushed them up with his index finger. "Anyway, back to our original subject; I would’ve expected the goddess to be dead by now. Unless you’ve found a mortal and god emotion called mercy, I think you let her live."
Battousai said nothing, but he just stared loathingly at his brother, and Enishi continued.
"Oh, by the way, what happened?" the second demon prince asked, looking at his brother’s horizontal scar.
"A cat scratched me."
Enishi abruptly laughed cruelly at this, and he shook his head. "Is that cat also a goddess?"
Battousai stared at his brother without emotion, however, his amber eyes burned with anger at the youngster’s impudence.
"Tell you what," Enishi began with a smirk, and his laughter slowly died down. "I’ll give our father a good report, and say that the goddess is dead if you bring back her pretty little head here by tomorrow morning."
"Why should I care what you tell father?" Battousai almost demanded, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow without care.
"Because if you don’t then I have rights, given by our father, to bring back, not only the darling goddess’ head, but also your head."
Battousai snorted at this, keeping himself calm, especially in front of Enishi. The demon prince leaned casually against the tree’s trunk in the same manner his brother had done.
"What if I refuse?" he asked.
"Then I still have permission to send father your head, and find the goddess myself, using
every means possible."
Battousai knew what "every means possible" was. It was the talk of all out war among mortals; the bloody revolution, or Apocalypse, which he mentioned to Saitou that morning.
So it came to a very difficult decision: sacrifice the goddess for the mortals and, or sacrifice a lot of mortals for one goddess. There was no way in hell Battousai would bring this subject up with Kaoru, because she, no doubt, would kindly lay her head down on the cutting block without a second thought.
Then came the next very difficult decision: sacrifice the goddess for his own head, or sacrifice himself for her head. Either way, an all out Apocalypse would happen. No Kaoru and demons would be free to come and go in and out of hell as they please. Kaoru alive and Enishi would bring a hell war down on the mortals’ heads, possessing and killing unmercifully until he found her.
What should he do?
"Alright, I’ll bring you her head tomorrow morning." Battousai exclaimed, getting off his casual position off the tree. "Right here, at this spot, I will bring her head to you."
OOOOOOOOO
To kill the Demon Prince or not to kill the Demon Prince, that is the question; for if she did kill her foe, she would end a lot of problems in heaven and hell. If she did not, then she would stay a mortal and die, and perhaps, make her way to Nirvana.
Kaoru was faced with this difficult decision, and she also wondered why she would not even consider killing Battousai.
Being a goddess was her dutiful right, and Battousai had taken it away from her. Kill him, or let him be?
Just then, the sun completely set, and Kaoru was left to ponder in the darkness of her room. A sudden tapping on her window snapped her out of her thoughts, and she went to her window to open it up.
There, sitting calmly on the branch of a tree near her window, was none other than Battousai.
"Nice night, ne?" he asked calmly as if it was common to climb up a tree and talk to the resident.
"Look, Romeo, I don’t have time for your childish antics!"
"Look, Juliet, I have a motive right now to bring your head to my father as proof that you’re dead."
"Then why don’t you? I’m unarmed and harmless, so now would be a perfect time to decapitate me and send my head to your precious father!"
"Because you are unarmed and harmless I do not strike you down. Look, my brother, Enishi, has just arrived here. Someone up in your home knows everything, and they gave him permission to enter the mortal realm. He wants me to bring your head back to him tomorrow morning."
"Why’re you telling me this?" Kaoru demanded, wanting to know if the prince was toying with her or was actually going to kill her. "Why don’t you just kill me and be done with it?"
It happened in an instant; Battousai jumped from his tree branch, and wrestled Kaoru to the floor; one hand on her mouth so she could not scream, his arm wrapped around her to pin her arms together, and his body weight pressing her down to the floor.
"Are you so eager to die that you would give up your life so irrationally?!" Battousai demanded in a high hiss, his mouth close to her ear. "You stupid bitch!"
Kaoru struggled against Battousai’s hold, but he was too strong and heavy. She was going to consider getting one of her legs free to kick him were it would make him a new soprano, when suddenly he let her loose.
The prince threw down her Sword of Heaven at her feet, and scowled deeply at her; his anger growing in waves that made her heart shutter, and his eyes burned amber light in the dark room.
"If that’s the way you’re going to be, then you are not the Kaoru I fought. She had spirit and was full of life. You’re just becoming another filthy mortal, wallowing in self-pity to such a point that you don’t even know how to live anymore! If you’re still Kaoru,
Princess of the Heavens, then pick up that sword and fight until you can’t fight anymore!"
"Who’re you to tell me how I am or how I act, like you have me so figured out that you think you know me?! I know who I am!"
"You know who you were! There’s a difference, little missy; a major difference! If you can’t figure out who you are, even though you may be in mortal flesh, then you’re no better than I am!"
"You don’t know what it’s like to be mortal!" Kaoru yelled back.
Their argument seemed to echo the halls of the Aoiya, and Kaoru sensed that the Oniwaban, Yahiko, Sano, Soujiro, and Akira were listening from downstairs. After Kaoru yelled her last statement, Battousai’s eyes were impossibly alight with rage. He promptly grabbed Kaoru’s hand and placed it against his cheek that had the horizontal scar, forcing her to feel the rough indentation.
"I have no idea what it’s like to be mortal?!" Battousai shouted, his voice booming in her room. "Tell that to me again!"
Kaoru shook, not from fear, but from the close contact she was in between her and the Demon Prince. It was the first time she had touched him, really touched him, without it being from a hand-to-hand combat and sword fight.
She always imagined Battousai’s skin as being rough, but it was surprisingly smooth, save from the scar. The prince dropped his hand away from Kaoru’s hand so she could remove it from his face at any time, but she kept her hand on his face, tracing her fingers along the horizontal scar.
Something sang in the princess’ blood as she touched the prince; she could not quite place what it was, but it made her heart pound, and made her deliciously dizzy. Battousai’s amber eyes softened and his eyes slowly closed as Kaoru’s hand softly stroked his face.
Suddenly, the prince grabbed the princess’ wrist tightly, almost causing her to cry out in semi-pain. Battousai abruptly dropped Kaoru’s wrist and took a step back from her, looking at her with a look that said she was the dessert he wanted more than any other one, but he was forbidden to have her.
"You look better with long hair." Battousai exclaimed, and jumped out Kaoru’s open window before she could start screeching at him.
Even if the prince had stayed, the fallen goddess would not have yelled at him for his rude comment. Kaoru looked at her goddess’ sword on the floor, and she picked it up. She became half surprised by how heavy it felt in her now mortal hands.
Kaoru walked down the stairs where everyone was gathered, however silent, and when they saw her, they started their conversations as if to stave off the guiltiness of being caught trying to listen to her argument with Battousai.
"Soujiro," Kaoru exclaimed, and the god smiled at her. "I need your help."
"What is it you need, Kaoru-sama?"
"I need you to deliver Battousai to me."
To Be Continued…
Chapter 7: “Destined To Fall”
There was something different in the early morning. Everything was abnormally still and silent. The sun was rising in the east, but not one note was sung from any bird; not even a crow.
The air was still, but felt like ice to touch. The sun offered little help from the icy bitterness. The weather was highly unusual for that season, for it was summer upon the mortal realm.
Misao shivered and awoke with a start. Something was wrong in the air. As a priestess, she was trained to read the signs of nature to see if something was wrong. Her teeth clattered together in both cold and fear.
Unusual weather like that was not a good sign, for it could mean the wrath of the head god, Tengoku-sama. Was he in a horrible mood? Was the mortal realm doomed to suffer this until everything was well?
Could… could this weather have something to do with Kaoru-sama?
At that thought, Misao wrapped her futon blanket tighter around her body to keep her warm, and she left her bedroom. She walked down the hallway a few rooms over and carefully tapped on the wood.
“Aoshi-sama?” Misao called to him in a high whisper.
“You can come in, Misao.” The soft voice greeted her, allowing her entrance.
Misao silently opened the shouji door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her in the same silent manner. When she turned around, she saw Aoshi was awake; his futon carefully folded away in the corner, and he sat in the middle of his room, meditating.
“Aoshi-sama, you’re up early.” Misao noted after her eyes wandered the room to finally rest on the priest.
“As are you, Misao.” Aoshi replied, opening his eyes to look at her for the first time since she entered.
“This weather—“
“I know.” Aoshi shortly replied, and he looked at the girl wrapped in her futon blanket, and down to her feet where the ice-blue orbs rested on them. “It’s not good to walk around bare-footed in this cold.”
“Oh; my tabi socks are all in the wash.”
Aoshi did not reply; instead, he carefully watched the shivering girl before him. Those beautiful aqua-marine eyes told everything; she was worried and scared, but when they looked at him, those same orbs melted into warm softness and her courage resurfaced anew.
What Misao did not know, however, was that the courage that came into place after she looked at him, was already there; waiting to be used.
Aoshi have the girl a hand gesture that commanded her to sit in front of him, and she did so, still wrapped in her blanket, without any hesitation.
As soon as Misao sat down, Aoshi wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to him. Promptly, the girl blushed at her mentor’s uncharacteristic action, but she soon melted into him; breathed in his sent and snuggled closer to his warm body.
She loved him; not the love that was temporary and would dissipate as the years progressed, but the love that was undying. She would give her life for him without question or hesitation.
Perhaps the priest knew this, and feared that; maybe that was why moments like that were rare because he wanted to push her away so she would not commit such an act.
One thing was for certain that was written in Fate’s book and will be so unto eternity: Aoshi could not exist without Misao, and Misao could not exist without Aoshi. It was the way it was, whether mortals try to renounce it or not.
Mortals could not undo what is already written and what is forever. Even gods and demons were bound to the never-ending destiny written for them.
“Aoshi-sama…” Misao whispered, closing her eyes as the uneasiness that was in her slowly flowed away with her mentor’s easy breathing and easy heartbeat.
His heart beat was steady; not pounding out of control like her heart was. The priestess already knew this; knew that Aoshi would never love her the way she loved him, but she accepted it.
It’s alright; as long as I can be near him, it’s alright.
Suddenly the phone downstairs started ringing, ending the magical moment. Aoshi’s warm arms released their hold on Misao, and he got up to answer it.
“Hello, this is the Aoiya that is not open at this time.” Aoshi answered as Misao came down the stairs.
“Aoshi-sama.” Misao simply said in a warning voice to remind him of his behavior.
“What?” Aoshi exclaimed, not hearing Misao’s light scolding. “Shin-Kawabata Hospital?
Who…?”
For the first time in a long while, Aoshi’s face showed emotion. His eyes slowly moved over to the girl standing next to him, still wrapped in her futon blanket, and then slowly up to the hallway where the many bedrooms were.
“Are you sure?” Aoshi whispered to the other person on the phone, his eyes still resting upstairs.
Misao quickly dropped her futon blanket and ran upstairs as fast as her feet could go. She ran down the row of bedrooms, her feet pounding on the wooden floor, and she opened the shouji to the room that Kaoru resided in.
“Kaoru-sama!” Misao shouted, but found the room empty. The futon in the corner was still folded neatly like it was last night. The goddess, Kaoru, had not slept there the previous night. “Kaoru-sama…”
A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, and Misao quickly looked at the owner to the hand. “Aoshi-sama… she…”
“I’m going to Shin-Kawabata Hospital.” Aoshi announced, heading towards his room to change clothes. “I suspect Kaoru-sama might be there.”
Still, how… can a goddess end up in the hospital?
“I’m also going!” Misao exclaimed, heading towards her room.
“Someone needs to explain to everyone else what happened when they wake up.” Aoshi said, watching the stubborn girl head towards her room.
“They won’t wake up until later.” Misao exclaimed, already untying the knot on her waist, belonging to her robe. “We’ll explain then.”
Aoshi knew there was no more arguing or persuading to be done since Misao was half way in her room to dress, and the priest saw her naked backside with only her underwear covering the rest.
The girl could be so stubborn.
OOOOOOOO
The sun would not rise for the goddess that day.
Kaoru slept, but the pain in her side was still great. Was that what the mortals called a “drug educed sleep?” To be asleep, yet still feel the pain?
Kaoru moaned in pain as a sharp feeling increased. Suddenly, her eyes opened; the feeling of the sharp pain started flowing through her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out; nothing could come out.
Her blood felt like it was on fire while every nerve in her body ached and pinched. Was she dying? Was that what dying felt like?
Kaoru’s body arched in almost spasmodic pain; her hands twitched, her breathing halted.
She could not move, not even to end the pain flowing through her skin. She wanted nothing more than to rip and tear her skin off, but for the life of her, she could not; all she could do was lay there in near-spasm pain.
To steady herself, Kaoru forced her hands to hold on to the railing on both sides of her bed, even though it caused her more pain. The pain; oh, the pain was unbearable and she was being forced to live though it.
The pain slowly ebbed away after what seemed like an eternity of pain. After it completely vanished, Kaoru’s eyes slowly closed to sleep as if she had never undergone torture of that extreme degree.
The sun would not rise for the goddess that day.
OOOOOOO
“Tokio! Tadai ima!” Saitou called out as he entered the front door to his home.
“Okaini nasai, Anata!” Tokio answered from the kitchen as she made her way to the front door in order to properly greet her husband.
When the mortal woman came into view, she bowed to her husband in the traditional Japanese way. Saitou handed Tokio his police uniform shirt and white gloves. It was then that the mortal woman saw the smaller man standing behind her husband.
“Anata, do we have a guest?” Tokio asked, politely bowing to the strange red-head, but not in the same deepness that she did for her husband. It was a bow signifying respect, but not quite inviting, or to be welcome.
“Oh, him.” Saitou mumbled, not knowing why he brought the Demon Prince to his own home. It was like he was begging for trouble. “This is my father’s old friend’s son. I wish for him to dine with us tonight.”
“It will be done.” Tokio replied in obedience for her husband, although in truth, she really did not like the shifty stranger. “What did you say your name was, sir?”
“I didn’t.”
“Pardon?” Tokio said, half surprised at the man’s rudeness.
“I didn’t say my name.” was another reply from the man with red hair.
“May I have it then?” Tokio asked, gesturing for the man to take off his geta.
The stranger obeyed, and when he took off his geta, he finally answered, “Himura.”
“Himura-san?” Tokio mimicked, only respectfully placing the “san” honorific to the end of the stranger’s name. “Is that your real name?”
Battousai seemed quite surprised that the mortal woman seemed so respectful, and minds her place, yet she was still very clever.
“That is my last name, Saitou Tokio-san.”
The woman looked at him suspiciously with her unusual grey-blue eyes, and she gestured for her husband’s guest to follow her.
While he followed the mortal, Battousai briefly glanced at Saitou, whom was staring back at him with the coldest amber eyes the Demon Prince had ever seen. The way they observed his every move reminded the prince of a wolf stalking his prey… or rather, someone who they thought was overstepping their boundaries.
Yet the look in Saitou’s eyes told Battousai that he had said, or done something wrong, and that the wolf would have a word with him.
Tokio lead Battousai down the hall and into the living room. “My husband will be with you shortly, so please make yourself comfortable.”
“Arigatou, Tokio-san.”
“I’m only doing this because my husband brought you here, and while you’re in my presence, you call me ‘Saitou Tokio-san,’ because I am married, and I do not wish for you and me to be on a first name basis.”
With that, the woman left with a swing of her hips. Battousai shrugged his shoulders, not really caring what the mortal thought of him. He then wondered if Tokio knew about her husband being a half demon.
While his two hosts her not present at the moment, Battousai looked around the living room; observing it and taking everything in with hard amber eyes.
There was a table in front of him made out of red wood, but was waxed over to make it appear shining and smooth. It was traditionally low to the ground, and cushions were place carefully around it.
Along the walls were old, probably original, paintings of dancing geisha,or geiko, in their amazingly printed kimono. They danced like they had just stopped in time to be captured for life. They were full of wondrous beauty and eyes that could have captured anyone’s heart; mortal or demon.
They moved in sensuous ways with the careful sway of their hips; their hair was carefully decorated and pined up to make their face fuller.
The way the geisha on the walls were, made Battousai think of Saitou’s wife, Tokio. The woman displayed obedience, following her husband’s command, yet there was a presence of power within her.
Tokio’s hair was pined up, but not as sensually decorated as the geisha. Her own hair style was simple, the way a housewife usually was. Her kimono, however, was silk instead of cotton. It was a red that reminded Battousai of blood. Her hair was coal-black, but her interesting eyes were a grey-blue.
Though she displayed politeness, Tokio had a way of lifting her chin up in defiance without it being obvious.
Tokio was, indeed, and interesting woman who was traditional in her own way. The house was as traditional as the mistress who kept it; or, perhaps, the wolf’s wife was planning on a special evening with just her and her husband. Maybe that would explain the kimono she was wearing, and her reason for her irritableness towards the prince.
Smiling in his own cruel way, Battousai placed himself traditionally on the cushions while sitting on his legs, and looked at the geisha dance on the walls some more.
OOOOOOOOOO
“I would like a word with you, Hajime.” Tokio exclaimed, closing the shouji behind her.
Saitou sighed, knowing that Tokio was more demanding a word with him, rather than asking for one. The wolf sat on the futon he and his wife shared, and took off his socks.
“Where do you dig up people like him?” Tokio asked, gesturing towards the living room.
“What ever do you mean, koneko?” Saitou asked, taking off his black shirt, which was always worn with his police uniform.
The wolf tossed it down on the floor, at which his wife place small, soft hands on her hips. Saitou looked his wife up and down, noting she wore her best kimono; her favorite kimono that she was wearing when he proposed to her, although he was not down on his knees. There was no way he would ever be down on his knees.
“You look nice, koneko.” Saitou complemented as he unbuckled his black belt, took it out of the loops, and dropped it to the floor as well.
“Hajime,” Tokio started, her soft lips twisted in such a way that made her look like she was pouting. “I was planning on talking with you this evening over dinner.”
Saitou paused in the middle of unzipping his pants, and then he looked at his wife with stern, golden eyes; the same eyes that made suspects break and confess their crimes had no effect on his own wife.
“No.” Saitou said simply, standing up to take his pants off, and he also dropped them to the floor. “It’s out of the question.”
Tokio was just as stubborn as her husband, and as she picked his clothes up off the floor to hang them up, she spoke. “Hajime, I don’t understand why you keep refusing me.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so defiant and keep insisting.” Saitou countered, watching his wife hang up his clothes where she carefully arranged his clothes; work uniforms went with work uniforms, and common clothes went with common clothes.
“Just one, anata; just one is all I want.”
“Just one is too much.”
Tokio turned back to her husband, not caring that they were having a small quarrel while he stood his ground, naked. Her eyes glistened and misted over, and Saitou mentally sighed, knowing what his wife was about to do.
“Why don’t you want to have children, Hajime?” Tokio sniffed, and drops of salty tears streamed down her face. “Am I not good enough to bare you a child?”
On the outside, Saitou appeared stern and calm, but inside he was as nervous as giddy school girl around her first crush. Within him was a war of thoughts of what to say in response to his wife’s guilt-trip question.
You are a wonderful woman; you’ll make a wonderful mother, so let’s have children.
Hell no.
I’m like a child myself, so why don’t you think of me as a child, and we’ll be okay without the real thing.
No way.
Tokio, I’m not the fathering type.
Nope.
“Tokio, I’m not the fathering type.” Saitou mentally cursed himself when the sentence came out unexpectedly. “No; just no, koneko.”
Tokio’s eyes left her husband and went down to the floor. “Why do you not want children, Hajime?”
Saitou did not answer as he went to his closet for his regular clothes. Deciding on what he wanted, the half demon sat back down on the futon.
“It was hard growing up for me.” Saitou finally answered, and Tokio also sat next to him.
“That was then, anata.” Tokio explained, placing a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “Our children won’t have to put up with what you did. The words ‘filthy half breed’ will never be heard by our children’s ears. I promise you, Hajime.”
Saitou shook his head, knowing he could not win against his headstrong wife, no matter how stubborn he was himself.
“So, do you want to start now?” Saitou asked, and smirked when Tokio blushed.
“Not with that man across the hall!”
OOOOOOO
The sun was rising in hues of red and purple by the time Tokio and Saitou came out of their room. Tokio entered the living room, and promptly stopped when she saw the expression the redheaded man was wearing.
It was as if all his masks fell from his face, and he was wearing his real one. He was looking at the paintings of the geisha, but he did not seem to know she was there.
His amber eyes were soft, almost sad, and his eyebrows were turned upward in a sense of passion and dejection.
He looked so believable, and Tokio felt sorry for him, wondering what the man could possibly be thinking of for him to have that sort of anguish.
“Himura-san,” Tokio said, and she saw all the masks fall back into place, and then he looked at her. “Breakfast is ready if you’re ready to eat.”
“Arigatou, Saitou Tokio-san.” Battousai replied softly, and he bowed to her, and allowed her to lead the way towards the dinning room.
As he headed towards the dinning room, Battousai thought back on those paintings of the dancing geisha. The more he looked at the painted geisha, the more he was reminded of… her. The goddess he had harmed.
Of course, in Battousai’s eyes, there was no way, in heaven or hell, that geisha could ever compare to the goddess he faced twice. It was not the wondrous beauty of the goddess. It was not the elegance. It was the stubborn, defiant way she faced him.
So lost Battousai was in guilt and insaneness, he did not even hear Saitou’s wife enter the room. To make matters worse, she must have seen him without his unemotional face, for the look on her face told him so.
How was that princess doing? Was she going to be alright? Battousai mentally shook his head when questions of the goddess he hated so much attacked him mercilessly. Even then, it still plagued him; the concern for her well-being.
OOOOOOOO
By the time Kaoru opened her crystal-blue eyes, there were two figures looking at her in disbelief.
The first was Misao; her blue eyes were widened with shock. It was a certain shock that made a chill flow down Kaoru’s spinal cord.
The other was Aoshi; his ice-blue eyes looked at her with an expression that was completely unreadable to her.
That made Kaoru’s heart pound with uneasiness, for she could always read Aoshi’s emotions, no mater how well he hid them.
“Kaoru-sama, are you alright?” Misao asked, her eyebrows frowned in uncertainness.
Kaoru groaned when the wound on her side ached. Something was different about her; she could feel something different about herself.
Placing a hand on her forehead, Kaoru spoke while sitting up, “Where am I?”
“Shin-Kawabata Hospital.” Aoshi simply answered, looking the goddess he worshiped up and down, over and over again.
“I remember I had a sword fight with Battousai…” Kaoru whispered to herself and she trailed off when she had images rush into her mind.
Memories and images of Battousai wounding her with his Hell Blade, and then the look in his eyes when he suddenly stopped driving the blade further into her side, assaulted Kaoru’s mind. It was a look of shock, guilt, and uncertainness, almost to the point of uneasiness.
“According to the nurse at the front desk,” Aoshi exclaimed, sitting down in a near-by chair. “Battousai brought you here.”
“He brought me here?” Kaoru repeated in disbelief, turning the statement into a question.
“Why would he do something like that?”
She remembered his amber eyes growing wider in shock; for a brief moment, he questioned his motives; questioned his blood as a Demon Prince.
“Yes, Battousai brought you here.” Misao confirmed, sitting on the corner of Kaoru’s hospital bed. “Though the nurse didn’t know his name, he gave such a descriptive image that we’re very sure it was him.”
Kaoru shook her head, and looked down at her hands. What she saw startled her; while her skin still held the smooth, creamy look to it, the “immortal glow” to it was no longer present.
Panicking at this, Kaoru jumped from her bed and into the bathroom on her left side. She flipped on the lights, and stared at her reflection.
Her long, coal-black hair, that she took great pride in, was mutilated; cut short a little more than half way up her neck. Her eyes were what put salt on the wound. While they were still crystal-blue, they lacked the “goddess glow” she always had in them since she was born.
Kaoru wrapped her arms around her body, feeling it slowly die and waste away as the seconds ticked by. Her eyes were as wide as they could be, and her small mouth hung open.
She was mortal, and she was looking at herself with her new mortal eyes. Suddenly, her crystal eyes misted and the image of her in the mirror blurred. The salty liquid spilled over the rim of her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.
“That’s not me!” Kaoru cried, falling to her knees. Misao was by her side in an instant, wrapping her arms around the fallen goddess. “I’m not a mortal! I’m not a mortal! I’m a goddess!”
Misao looked helplessly up at her mentor, Aoshi, with her arms still around Kaoru, holding her and giving her what little comfort she could.
“Kaoru-sama is in great danger, Aoshi-sama.” Misao stated, not knowing what to do about the goddess, whom was now mortal. “If we don’t think of something soon, there
will no longer be a Kaoru-sama anymore.”
The sun would not rise for the goddess that day.
OOOOOOOOO
“That meal was very delicious, Saitou Tokio-san.” Battousai exclaimed, placing his chopsticks on the table, and giving a small bow with his head, for he was still sitting down. “Arigatou.”
Tokio nodded, got to her feet and started gathering the dishes. “I will get the after meal tea started.”
Saitou nodded to his wife when she took his plate; his way of thanking her while company was around.
The dinning room was just as traditional as the living room, with the low table, and cushions for sitting. They were soft, silky cushions that one would love to sit on, thus making company appreciated.
“Your wife seems to love the old Japanese traditions, ne?” Battousai stated a question as he looked at the cushions and red oak table.
“We both do, but Tokio more so than I.” Saitou replied, and then shot the demon a dagger look. “I also have something to discuss with you.”
“Nani desu ka?”
“The way you were rude to my wife when you first came in,” Saitou started, his voice low and dangerous, yet it had no effect on the prince. “I will not tolerate it.”
“Wakatta desu.”
“I never tolerate anyone being rude to my wife.”
“Wakatta desu.” Battousai repeated his understanding, yet this time it was with a smirk.
“What’re you smirking for?” Saitou demanded to know.
“Bitsuni.” Battousai replied, and then shook his head. “Nothing; it’s just… you seem to really love her.”
Saitou did not reply, giving no denial to the almost accusation, nor did he confirm it. Tokio came in with the green tea, placed the tray on the table, took the small tea cups from the fancy silver tray, and placed it in front of each man. She poured her husband’s tea first, and then she filled Battousai’s cup, and poured her cup last.
Battousai held up the cup to his nose, and he cautiously sniffed it, having never tasted green tea before.
“It is not sake, sir.” Tokio exclaimed, puzzled as to why the guest was treating the tea like he was drinking the rice beer.
“Oh, I was only wondering what sort of tea this is.” Battousai replied, not being rude in anyway, yet he was not about to apologize for a blunder he did not know about.
“Its green tea,” Tokio replied, her puzzlement graduated to confusion. “How do you not know about the traditional tea?
“Himura-san is not originally from here.” Saitou answered for the Demon Prince. “He’s from the south.”
“The deep south.” Battousai added, taking a sip of the green liquid. “This is delicious, Saitou Tokio-san. Arigatou.”
“You’re welcome.” Tokio finally replied, also taking a sip of her tea.
Battousai finished his tea, and was about to ask for some more, when he felt a very familiar presence. While it was not close, it was certainly not too far, either. It was a very threatening aura, and the prince knew who it was from.
“Daijoubu?” Tokio asked, seeing the guest’s amber-gold eyes widen impossibly; his body looked suddenly like a sculpture.
Snapping out of his trance, Battousai place his cup down on the table gently, and bowed to the host and hostess of the early morning.
“Forgive me,” Battousai exclaimed, quickly getting to his feet. “Something has come up, and I must go to counter it.”
“Of course,” Tokio replied, not knowing whether she should be relieved that he was leaving, or be offended. “Perhaps you can stop by another time when nothing is ailing you.”
“Maybe I will take that offer.” Battousai replied, bowing once more, and headed towards the front door, with Saitou following. Tokio was about to get up and show their guest to the door, for it was tradition, but her husband shook his head, mentally telling her to break tradition just this one time.
When they got to the door, Saitou stopped the prince with a question, “What is going on?”
“Saitou,” Battousai started, clearly facing him. “Have you heard of the mortals talking about the ‘Apocalypse’?”
“Hai; for several hundred years… maybe even thousands.”
“How soon do you think it will happen?”
“No one knows for sure.” Saitou replied with a shrug.
“Do you know the details of the Apocalypse?” Battousai asked, a feeling in his stomach started to grow.
“No, and I really don’t care.”
“Start caring, Saitou, for I think the Apocalypse will happen within your wife’s lifetime; and with the princess as a mortal… it will happen.”
“What, is your father coming up from the pits of hell to take over the mortal realm?” Saitou asked, fear growing for his wife’s safety, but his outward appearance did not show it.
“Could be; it’s not the presence I feel, but I know this other demon might be the one who brings forth the one horrible time that mortal have been fearing for generations; the start of a bloody Revolution. Worse… I think I’m the seed that started it.”
Saitou did not reply; his mind worked feverishly to comprehend the fact that the
“Apocalypse” could happen soon.
“I must go.” Battousai exclaimed, opening up the door. “Tell Tokio-san to hold off on having children for now.”
The Demon Prince left before Saitou could say anything, and he ran out in the unnatural cold weather.
Enishi, you … what’re you doing here!
To Be Continued…
This Is Forever
Ch. 8: "Destined To Retaliate"
By the time Aoshi and Misao got Kaoru back to the Aoiya, the sun was already at its highest point; noon. The other residents silently questioned the whereabouts of Kaoru-sama, but then simply passed it off. She was in good hands, for she was with Aoshi and Misao.
Yahiko was the first to see Kaoru.
The boy was given the duty of sweeping the front of the building. It seemed like and easy job, but when Yahiko finished sweeping one side of the property, a passer would throw trash on it. By the third time, Yahiko was throwing a fit by throwing the broom down and stomping his feet. It was in that fit that Aoshi, Misao, and Kaoru found him in.
"Yahiko, what're you doing?" Misao asked, her face contorted in puzzlement.
Yahiko stopped his fit, and looked up to the trio. His chocolate-brown eyes widened at the site of the goddess who was well known throughout Japan. She was wearing her usual priestess clothes, but she looked very different.
Kaoru’s jet-black hair was cut up to her chin. The only way Yahiko could describe the goddess’ hair was what came to mind first; her hair looked like an anime character, Nabiki, from Ranma ½! It just did not look good on her!
The boy stared at Kaoru, and looked back at him with a sad smile on her face. His eyes roamed from her hair, and then to her crystal-blue eyes.
The sight there scared him speechless. While her eyes were still so beautiful, the light that always stayed in those crystal-blue orbs was now gone. They had less light in them, like the goddess was… ageing.
"K-Kaoru…?" Yahiko started, not knowing what to say.
"Hai, Yahiko," Kaoru said softly with a small smile. "It’s me; Kaoru."
"W-What happened to your hair?!" The boy cried, pointing to Kaoru’s short mass.
"Oh," Kaoru exclaimed simply as if it was a daily habit for her to show up with short hair, and she placed a hand to her head. "I went to the beautician last night."
Although Kaoru laughed, Yahiko, Misao, and Aoshi could tell it was fake; on the fine line of laughing forcefully.
"Uh, Kaoru-sama," Misao began, unsure. "We should go inside; it’s cold."
"Aa, it is." Kaoru nodded, patting Yahiko on his head as she passed him by.
The boy stared at her, his mouth agape, and then he picked up the broom and followed in pursue. When he entered the kitchen, Sano and the rest of the Oniwanban sat around the table, also shocked at Kaoru’s change of appearance, and unexplainable signs that could doubt her as being a goddess.
"Kaoru-sama," Sano began as she sat at the table for lunch. "What…?"
"I had another fight with Battousai." Kaoru interrupted, looking more at the food then at the participants at the table. "We fought… I think he has my sword."
"What happened during the fight?" Sano concluded, although he changed his original question. "What brought on this change?"
Kaoru explained the whole story of what happened last night, down to every detail; even what Battousai did to his sword and what happened afterward.
"So," Okina began, the new information sinking into his mind caused more stress, and the stress caused him to want to get out his tobacco pipe, although he had not smoked in years. "The demon blood, mixing with your blood, caused you to become… mortal?"
"I believe so." Kaoru confirmed, surprisingly staying strong; or, at least, it seemed so.
"The gods have always heard of the Blade of Hell being able to do that, but we thought it was just a legend."
"How can demon blood turn an immortal into a mortal?" Misao asked as she picked up a breaded pickle to eat.
"Do you know the story of how demons came into existence?" Kaoru asked, not touching the food in front of her.
"Um…" Misao began when everyone else looked nervously at one another. "All we know is that we are mortal, and demons and gods do exist."
"Then let me tell you something that I am not allowed to tell you, something that will shake your faith in the gods you worship, but I am telling you anyway. Long ago, before I was born, the main gods had their places in the Heavens.
Tengoku-sama, the leader of the gods.
Tochi-sama, second leader of the gods.
And Hiko-sama, the third leader of the gods.
Before Tengoku and Tochi were married, Hiko and Tengoku were the best of friends.
When they made decisions, they met with each other, along with Tochi, and they made their final commands with the consent of each other, like they were family.
However, this long peace was not destined to last. Hiko had an eye for Tochi, and she lavished under his… unconcealed attentions. Now the time came for Tongoku to take a wife for his throne, and he also had an eye on Tochi. He did not know, however, that his best friend Hiko and Tochi were in a… um, deep relationship.
When Tengoku asked her to be his wife, Tochi was excited at the fact that now she could have two lovers, and she asked Hiko to keep their relationship a secret and keep their "love," although it was unrequited love on poor Hiko’s part, and they continued their relationship in secret. Hiko agreed to her terms.
Millions of years passed, and one night, Tochi and Hiko got careless, and Tengoku found out that his best friend was messing around with his wife, and he was just as enraged at his wife for allowing it to happen and continue.
Tochi begged and pleaded to her husband, throwing herself at his feet and claimed that Hiko forced her into a sexual relationship, lest he harm her. Then, all of Tengoku’s rage pointed towards poor Hiko, who was shocked that Tochi took what they shared together and spit on it like it was all for nothing."
At this point, everyone had wide eyes, and mouths opened at the cruelty of Tochi, Queen of the Heavens; and just like Kaoru predicted, their faith was shaken.
"Tengoku and Hiko fought with swords, the Great Battle of the Heavens, and Tengoku won. He cast Hiko out of the Heavens and onto the mortal realm, although there were not any mortals here at the time. Hiko, full of rage at Tochi’s betrayal, wanted nothing more
than revenge.
He took the sword he fought Tengoku with, and went deep underground. There, using the Flames of Hell, Hiko remade his sword, striking the blade with the blacksmith hammer with rage and hate, and with each strike, that rage and hate was put into the sword.
Hiko emerged from hell, his new sword at his side, but the world had changed; it was now filled with mortals that lived peacefully without any worry. The fallen god looked at the site with disgust, and he tried his new sword on a few mortals. The mortals, never seeing a violent death, were filled with pain and confusion, anger and rage, and they took it out on each other; killing each other at random with Hiko in the background.
Tengoku saw what Hiko had done to his little toys, and he damned Hiko even further by driving him to hell. There, he placed two gods to guard the gate; Akira and Soujiro. Yet the damage to the mortals was done, and they all lived without peace and hope.
Tochi, however, had a little girl at the time, and when I was five years old, in god years, I was given the duty to lock the Gate of Hell, and to give the mortals peace and hope. And yet the mortals lived so long in chaos that it became part of their blood, and I could only do what I could to comfort them.
The fallen god, Hiko, set up his kingdom in hell, but the first demon he created was born from the flames of hell; filled with the same emotions that Hiko had before and after he was driven from Heaven. He’s the one that has the same color hair as the same flames he came out of, and the same eyes as the amber light that the flames give the walls of hell."
"Battousai." Aoshi said, and Kaoru nodded, and continued her story.
"Hiko gave Battousai power to wield the Blade of Hell, and use it for his own benefit.
Battousai’s existence we know for sure exists, for the gods have seen him. I, however, have never seen him until recently."
"So Battousai doesn’t have a biological mother?" Misao asked, confused as to how one can exist without a mother.
"Yes, that’s true. How? I don’t know."
"Who’s older?" Yahiko asked, shrugging his shoulders when everyone looked at him.
"He is," Kaoru answered. "Because when Hiko went down to hell to remake his sword, he created another demon to have the ability to go up to the mortal realm and wield his
sword."
"How did Hiko become a demon?" Okon asked, setting down her chopsticks after completing her meal.
"All the rage and hate he felt for the injustice done to him turned his blood bad. See, when you have anger with hate, it poisons the blood, and turns you into something your not, if harbored for a long period of time."
"Any other demons like Battousai we should know about?" Okina asked.
"There is one the gods are not sure exists, for we never seen him; that demon has a mother who was in Hiko’s whore house. I do not know who she is, but you might consider him as being Battousai’s brother."
"What does the look like?" Sano asked, picking his teeth with a fish bone.
"I don’t know." Kaoru answered softly. She had been wondering for years what the mystery demon looked like; she had always imagined him as looking very much like
Battousai. "I do know his name, however; Enishi. His name is Enishi."
"All this trouble," Misao said to herself, but everyone heard it. "All because of a goddess who wanted two lovers."
"Correct," Kaoru agreed, causing Misao to jump. "So now you all know that the gods and goddesses were not who they really seem."
After that conclusion, Kaoru got up from the table to head to her room; her food was left untouched, and now cold, on the table.
OOOOOOOO
I will love you forever, if you also love me forever.
Shut up.
Will you allow yourself to love me?
You traitorous bitch.
He took a gulp of his sake bottle; a rarity in hell, which he could only get when his son went up to the mortal realm. It was a rarity that only he could enjoy. The alcoholic liquid swam down his throat, burned his stomach, and that small pain helped him to forget.
Forget that she ever existed; forget that whatever happened between them never happened. He wanted to destroy the daughter she loved so much, more than she ever loved either of her lovers.
I will always love you.
I hate you.
Sometimes the sake did not help him to forget her. Many times, it helped enhance her song-like voice in his head.
I love you, Hiko.
And I also love you; but I also hate you.
She will always haunt him, but he could not be saved. No one could ever save the Demon King from his fate.
OOOOOO
It was dusk when the two travelers finally reached their destinations. The sun cast a blood-red sun set across the sky; a violent storm was approaching.
The first traveler knocked on the door to the Aoiya, took a step back, and waited patiently with his fellow companion for someone to answer the door.
A young woman opened the door; she wore priestess clothes that bore Kaoru’s two favorite colors. Her hair was short, cropped if one would, and she had startling blue eyes.
"How may we help you?" the young woman inquired.
"Hello, we were wondering if Kaoru-sama is here." The first traveler asked, giving a traditional bow.
The young woman’s eyes widened with recognition, for she knew the two travelers. She still stood by the opened door, wondering when they were going to introduce themselves.
"What businesses have you here?" she asked, placing an impatient hand on her hips.
"We’re looking for Kaoru-sama." The second traveler informed.
"What are your names?"
"Oh, please forgive our rudeness." The first traveler started. "I’m Akira, and this is my companion, Soujiro. Is Kaoru-sama present?"
"Yes, I am she." Kaoru replied, taking her hand off her hip and replacing it with a big smile.
Both Akira and Soujiro’s reactions were mutual. Their eyes widened, their mouths dropped, and they were in doubt that the young mortal woman before them was the great, merciful Kaoru-sama; Princess of the Gods.
"Kaoru-sama?" Soujiro inquired hesitantly, for he heard stories about mortal sanity being limited.
"Hai; it’s me." Kaoru confirmed, knowing what her two god friends were thinking just by reading their expressions.
"Oh!" Akira exclaimed, placing a liquid smile on his face. "Kaoru-sama, we didn’t recognize you!"
When Kaoru’s right eyebrow rose in annoyance, Soujiro stepped into the conversation to spare them Kaoru’s wrath.
"We didn’t recognize you because your new hair style is so… cute!" Soujiro smiled while laughing nervously.
"Hai; kawaii!" Akira exclaimed, also smiling and laughing nervously.
Although Akira was very kind, it was Soujiro that was very clever as well as kind. Kaoru often wondered, while on mortal territory, why her father just could not marry her to the kind god.
"Never matter," Kaoru said after her short musings. "Please come in and tell me everything that you can, and I will do so in return."
Akira and Soujiro did as the princess commanded, both wondering how their goddess became a mortal. Kaoru had them sit at the table, as many people, gods and mortals do when there would be a big meeting.
Kaoru took her seat across from her childhood companions, and prepared for them to speak.
"Tell me how my father fares." Kaoru commanded gently, wanting to make casual
conversation before she gets down to business.
"He does well, Kaoru-sama." Akira answered. "He sent us here to make sure you are alright… um, are you?"
"Hai, because Aoshi and Misao are with me." Kaoru answered, a confident smile appeared on her beautiful face.
"Okay, that’s a relief!" Soujiro exclaimed with that constant smile on his face. "I think Tengoku-sama would’ve turned the whole mortal soil upside down and burned everyone alive in order to find you. He does love you, I’ll have you know."
Kaoru smiled at that comment, her fondness for her childhood friend deepened. Soujiro was just so kind and was always trying to make her feel better, even when the dark times had no light anywhere.
"Has my father searched to find out who the spy of heaven is?" Kaoru asked her most trusted friends.
Akira and Soujiro looked at each other in stunned silence, and then they looked back at Kaoru, just as equally confused.
"He failed to mention that." Soujiro said, tilting his head to the side just very slightly in curiosity. "Why would he think there would be a spy?"
"It’s all just so wrong." Kaoru explained, shaking her head, and then she told her best friends the whole story.
"Battousai… up here?" Akira exclaimed, shaking his head.
"That’s why I said it’s all just so wrong." Kaoru continued. "For a demon to be up here on the mortal realm without having to possess a mortal, they would need permission from a god or goddess. That’s what led me to believe there is a spy among us."
"Worse yet, Kaoru-sama," Soujiro began, his usual smile faded from his face to be replaced with a look of concern. "Now that you’re mortal, you’re most vulnerable."
"That’s what I have to ask you two," Kaoru said, inhaling deeply to rush out the next sentence she did not want to say, nor hear the answer to, for she felt the answer would not be good. "How do I turn back into a goddess?"
Akira shook his head negatively, not knowing the answer. Soujiro, however, looked very solemn.
"There’s only one way for you to turn back into a goddess, Kaoru-sama," Soujiro began, looking unnaturally serious. "You must kill the demon that turned you into a goddess."
It was like Kaoru was punched in the stomach, and her insides turned to mush; like jelly.
She tried so very hard to keep herself from shaking, and even then, she could not allow
herself to speak.
Kill Battousai? Sure; why not? He tried to kill her, so she should return the favor! That little fact Kaoru told herself again and again did not help to relieve her pounding heart.
She remembered he held his sword to her, yet he hesitated. Battousai then helped her by risking exposure to himself by bringing her to the near-by hospital.
He was going to kill her, but he did not follow through. Should she also try to kill him, only with her, complete her mission?
Still shaking, but keeping a calm front, Kaoru asked, "How does one kill a demon?"
"Use your Sword of Heaven," Soujiro explained. "And decapitate him. You cut off a
demon’s head, you kill the demon."
"Did they take you aside and give you this information in school, Soujiro?" Akira jested, and Soujiro also followed in laughter.
Kaoru, however, could only force herself to make small, breathy laughs. When Soujiro said "decapitate," amber eyes flashed in the princess’ mind. She swallowed hard, her eyes burning from the intensity of his fire eyes, and she tried to swallow something stuck in her throat that was not there.
"Daijoubu ka, Kaoru-sama?" Soujiro inquired, looking perplexed. "You look pale."
"I’m not feeling very well." Kaoru answered in a whisper, the lump in her throat grew bigger. "I’m going to lie down for a few minutes. The owners here will give you a royal welcome."
Neither Akira nor Soujiro could say anything further, for Kaoru had rushed up the stairs before they could think of anything to say.
OOOOOOOOOO
Amber eyes scanned the park grounds as he felt for the aura he felt yesterday. Trying to find Enishi was like trying to find a lizard in a forest of grass; and Enishi even fit the description of lizard.
Battousai sighed and scratched his head; he combed his red hair through his fingers as he stared coldly at a shady spot under a sakura tree.
The sakura blossoms should not be in full blossom, but they were, however, they were slowly withering in the cold. Many pedals that started to turn brown littered the also slowly dying grass.
The season was changing very prematurely, and Battousai could easily guess why; the princess was mortal, and her father could not find her. As long as he did not know where his little girl was, he would not let anything grow on earth.
"Kuso, Enishi!" Battousai cursed, knowing his brother was looking right at him, but he did not come out of his hiding place. "I know you’re here!"
An aura flared up, and Battousai looked at the shaded spot under the sakura tree. He stalked over to that spot just when a familiar figure with white hair and aqua-marine eyes came out from under the tree.
"Well, you finally found me." Enishi exclaimed calmly, leaning against the trunk of the tree; the very tree that Kaoru rested against for a few seconds during the sword fight. "Did you kill the princess?"
"You might say that."
"Is she dead, or mortal?"
"Mortal."
"Onii-san," Enishi exclaimed lamely, shaking his head and teasingly saying big brother.
"She is either dead or alive; there’s no in between. Mortal she may be, but as long as she is still mortal, she is still alive."
"What’s the difference?" Battousai asked, his hand itching to unsheathe his sword and slice off his brother’s head. "She’ll never be a goddess again."
Enishi came out of the shade, and automatically squinted when the sunlight hit his eyes.
He took out a pair of shades, the lenses were black and in a circular shape, and the body was made of pure gold.
"Damn sunlight." Enishi mumbled, putting the sunglasses on his face, and he pushed them up with his index finger. "Anyway, back to our original subject; I would’ve expected the goddess to be dead by now. Unless you’ve found a mortal and god emotion called mercy, I think you let her live."
Battousai said nothing, but he just stared loathingly at his brother, and Enishi continued.
"Oh, by the way, what happened?" the second demon prince asked, looking at his brother’s horizontal scar.
"A cat scratched me."
Enishi abruptly laughed cruelly at this, and he shook his head. "Is that cat also a goddess?"
Battousai stared at his brother without emotion, however, his amber eyes burned with anger at the youngster’s impudence.
"Tell you what," Enishi began with a smirk, and his laughter slowly died down. "I’ll give our father a good report, and say that the goddess is dead if you bring back her pretty little head here by tomorrow morning."
"Why should I care what you tell father?" Battousai almost demanded, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow without care.
"Because if you don’t then I have rights, given by our father, to bring back, not only the darling goddess’ head, but also your head."
Battousai snorted at this, keeping himself calm, especially in front of Enishi. The demon prince leaned casually against the tree’s trunk in the same manner his brother had done.
"What if I refuse?" he asked.
"Then I still have permission to send father your head, and find the goddess myself, using
every means possible."
Battousai knew what "every means possible" was. It was the talk of all out war among mortals; the bloody revolution, or Apocalypse, which he mentioned to Saitou that morning.
So it came to a very difficult decision: sacrifice the goddess for the mortals and, or sacrifice a lot of mortals for one goddess. There was no way in hell Battousai would bring this subject up with Kaoru, because she, no doubt, would kindly lay her head down on the cutting block without a second thought.
Then came the next very difficult decision: sacrifice the goddess for his own head, or sacrifice himself for her head. Either way, an all out Apocalypse would happen. No Kaoru and demons would be free to come and go in and out of hell as they please. Kaoru alive and Enishi would bring a hell war down on the mortals’ heads, possessing and killing unmercifully until he found her.
What should he do?
"Alright, I’ll bring you her head tomorrow morning." Battousai exclaimed, getting off his casual position off the tree. "Right here, at this spot, I will bring her head to you."
OOOOOOOOO
To kill the Demon Prince or not to kill the Demon Prince, that is the question; for if she did kill her foe, she would end a lot of problems in heaven and hell. If she did not, then she would stay a mortal and die, and perhaps, make her way to Nirvana.
Kaoru was faced with this difficult decision, and she also wondered why she would not even consider killing Battousai.
Being a goddess was her dutiful right, and Battousai had taken it away from her. Kill him, or let him be?
Just then, the sun completely set, and Kaoru was left to ponder in the darkness of her room. A sudden tapping on her window snapped her out of her thoughts, and she went to her window to open it up.
There, sitting calmly on the branch of a tree near her window, was none other than Battousai.
"Nice night, ne?" he asked calmly as if it was common to climb up a tree and talk to the resident.
"Look, Romeo, I don’t have time for your childish antics!"
"Look, Juliet, I have a motive right now to bring your head to my father as proof that you’re dead."
"Then why don’t you? I’m unarmed and harmless, so now would be a perfect time to decapitate me and send my head to your precious father!"
"Because you are unarmed and harmless I do not strike you down. Look, my brother, Enishi, has just arrived here. Someone up in your home knows everything, and they gave him permission to enter the mortal realm. He wants me to bring your head back to him tomorrow morning."
"Why’re you telling me this?" Kaoru demanded, wanting to know if the prince was toying with her or was actually going to kill her. "Why don’t you just kill me and be done with it?"
It happened in an instant; Battousai jumped from his tree branch, and wrestled Kaoru to the floor; one hand on her mouth so she could not scream, his arm wrapped around her to pin her arms together, and his body weight pressing her down to the floor.
"Are you so eager to die that you would give up your life so irrationally?!" Battousai demanded in a high hiss, his mouth close to her ear. "You stupid bitch!"
Kaoru struggled against Battousai’s hold, but he was too strong and heavy. She was going to consider getting one of her legs free to kick him were it would make him a new soprano, when suddenly he let her loose.
The prince threw down her Sword of Heaven at her feet, and scowled deeply at her; his anger growing in waves that made her heart shutter, and his eyes burned amber light in the dark room.
"If that’s the way you’re going to be, then you are not the Kaoru I fought. She had spirit and was full of life. You’re just becoming another filthy mortal, wallowing in self-pity to such a point that you don’t even know how to live anymore! If you’re still Kaoru,
Princess of the Heavens, then pick up that sword and fight until you can’t fight anymore!"
"Who’re you to tell me how I am or how I act, like you have me so figured out that you think you know me?! I know who I am!"
"You know who you were! There’s a difference, little missy; a major difference! If you can’t figure out who you are, even though you may be in mortal flesh, then you’re no better than I am!"
"You don’t know what it’s like to be mortal!" Kaoru yelled back.
Their argument seemed to echo the halls of the Aoiya, and Kaoru sensed that the Oniwaban, Yahiko, Sano, Soujiro, and Akira were listening from downstairs. After Kaoru yelled her last statement, Battousai’s eyes were impossibly alight with rage. He promptly grabbed Kaoru’s hand and placed it against his cheek that had the horizontal scar, forcing her to feel the rough indentation.
"I have no idea what it’s like to be mortal?!" Battousai shouted, his voice booming in her room. "Tell that to me again!"
Kaoru shook, not from fear, but from the close contact she was in between her and the Demon Prince. It was the first time she had touched him, really touched him, without it being from a hand-to-hand combat and sword fight.
She always imagined Battousai’s skin as being rough, but it was surprisingly smooth, save from the scar. The prince dropped his hand away from Kaoru’s hand so she could remove it from his face at any time, but she kept her hand on his face, tracing her fingers along the horizontal scar.
Something sang in the princess’ blood as she touched the prince; she could not quite place what it was, but it made her heart pound, and made her deliciously dizzy. Battousai’s amber eyes softened and his eyes slowly closed as Kaoru’s hand softly stroked his face.
Suddenly, the prince grabbed the princess’ wrist tightly, almost causing her to cry out in semi-pain. Battousai abruptly dropped Kaoru’s wrist and took a step back from her, looking at her with a look that said she was the dessert he wanted more than any other one, but he was forbidden to have her.
"You look better with long hair." Battousai exclaimed, and jumped out Kaoru’s open window before she could start screeching at him.
Even if the prince had stayed, the fallen goddess would not have yelled at him for his rude comment. Kaoru looked at her goddess’ sword on the floor, and she picked it up. She became half surprised by how heavy it felt in her now mortal hands.
Kaoru walked down the stairs where everyone was gathered, however silent, and when they saw her, they started their conversations as if to stave off the guiltiness of being caught trying to listen to her argument with Battousai.
"Soujiro," Kaoru exclaimed, and the god smiled at her. "I need your help."
"What is it you need, Kaoru-sama?"
"I need you to deliver Battousai to me."
To Be Continued…