Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Hearts of Swords ❯ Chapter VI - Haunted ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

* * * R E C A P * * *

The blond smiled and nodded. With some effort, she stood up on her feet and
balanced herself before she could walk. Upon the restoration of her equilibrium
and sense, she made her way to the kitchen. She couldn't risk her wound to
become infected. She was then greeted by Haruka and Makoto, who were cooking
breakfast.

Back in the room, Setsuna sat down by Rei. "Is there something wrong?"

"There's...a gap in my memory..." Rei confessed quietly. "I remember being out
in the city with Usagi, and then her running off to somewhere else. Then it all
becomes blank and the next thing is me waking up to see Usagi pass out from the
blood loss."

Nodding, Setsuna told her that there had been a group of samurai who had come
to Kyoto to try to invade it. Usagi had run off to participate in the battle.
Accepting this answer, Rei asked, "Then how did I blank out?"

"Usagi told me that someone used the Chinese acupuncture pressure points to put
you to sleep," Setsuna replied. "They tried to kidnap you, it seems but Usagi
got there just in time to...'defeat' the enemy."

Of course, that was a bald-faced lie but Rei accepted this answer as well. It
was imperative to Usagi that Rei knew nothing about what Usagi was capable of
in battle. Setsuna had accidentally stumbled upon the battle during her shift
with Makoto and could not believe the diminutive blond's sheer strength, speed
and precision. Her enemies were cut down with cold, clinical efficiency and it
terrified them.

The two of them then got up to join the others for breakfast. Their breakfast
was already there, and that was when Usagi stood up and gave a chaste kiss to
the dark-haired girl. "I have some duties to take care of. I'll be back later
today."

Rei nodded. "I'll see you later?"

Usagi nodded. "Hai."

With that, the blond left the small hovel, a small smile on the girl's face
which mirrored the same one that was on Rei's face. Rei placed her fingertips
where Usagi's lips had touched them and smiled softly. A tentative start, but
a start nonetheless.

For the first time, Rei found herself laughing and smiling without reason.


* * END CHAPTER V * *


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H E A R T S O F S W O R D S

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"In the dark I keep it closed
I still have a secret no one knows
I may crack but I'll never shatter..."

Chapter VI - Haunted
[Sengoku Period, 1512]


The chill was settling in, and the weather was becoming cooler as autumn was to
sweep away the summer in the coming months. Since her arrival in Kyoto in June,
she had yet to see a full year in one place. Wandering with only the clothes on
her back and the supplies in her small satchel had taught her survival skills.

Aimlessly, she wandered through the streets. Her "business" could wait for a
little while. As she walked, she noticed the odd stares that she received. The
katana at her waist often attracted unwanted attention, mostly trouble that
she did not want. However, the thought of her daisho absent by her side was an
alien concept.

Her mind began to wander into darker territories as her silent journey led her
to the battlefield. She stood at the edge and looked out at the death and blood
that she had created. A maelstrom of chaos and destruction had swept through
and left the various limbs and corpses in its wake.

Just as she stood at the edge of the battlefield, she felt that she was
standing at the edge of her life. She was backed into a proverbial corner with
no escape. There was only one path, and no other alternatives left to pursue.
Never in her life had she felt so helplessly trapped in her own life. She was
helpless, and that terrified her more than anything else in the world.

She was surrounded by...people. People were in her life and were becoming very
much a target to get to her. Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru, Makoto...and Rei. They
would become bait for her enemies and she did not like that. Getting involved
with innocents was something she had vowed never to do, but once again, she had
been weak and gave in.

"So weak...so *STUPID*..." she spat bitterly. "How could I let this happen to
me again?! HOW?"

"I thought I'd learn after what happened to Ami, but...here I am again, stuck
between love and duty. Why...why can't I just..." Usagi trailed off.

Small, dainty yet calloused hands clenched into fists as the blond stood still,
her mind swirling with thoughts and accusations. Rei watched as the smaller
girl knelt down and touched the bloodied ground with her hand and murmured, "I
fight for you okaasan, otousan, oniisan."

* * * * *

[**1505, a small village in the Yamato prefecture.**]

(My father was the village's leader, in a way. Because my father was a very
respected figure in town, our family was well-received in the village. He was
a samurai for the Shogunate.)

"Oniichan!"

Skipping gaily along the dirt path, I bounce over to a slightly taller boy with
dark hair, a stark contrast from my yellow hair. His equally shining blue eyes
spark to life as I approach him. "Imouto-chan!"

"Okaasan sent me to help you with your...your..." I stutter, trying to
valiantly say the big word.

"Errand," he says with a smile. "My errand."

I stick out my bottom lip and say, "Usagi wants to help oniichan!"

Laughing, the boy replies, "Well then, hurry imouto-chan! Okaasan will worry if
we take too long."

"Hai!" I chirp happily.

I trot alongside my older brother, smiling. Her older brother couldn't help but
smile and whistle merrily as we walked to the market.

(Okaasan always sent my older brother to the market, and I usually stayed at
home to help out my mother around the house. My father was returning home that
day and she wanted both of us to go to the market to get the groceries.)

I look up at him, and he looks down and asks, "Imouto-chan, is there something
on my face?"

"No oniichan!"

We walk in companionable silence, and I look around the market. There are so
many pretty things here and it smells funny. He huffs in slight annoyance but
smiles as we reach our destination. "Kikyo-obaasan!"

A slight and stout old woman walks out and her wrinkled face became alight with
surprise. "Akira-kun, Usagi-chan. How are your parents?"

"Hello Kikyo-obaasan," Oniisan greets politely. "My parents are fine. Mother
sent us to fetch the tofu for tonight."

The old lady laughs and then replies, "Ah, is your father coming home?"

"Hai," he answers.

In a matter of minutes, we are saying our farewells to her and making our way
back home. On the way, I shiver as a cold wind goes through my body. I always
get this feeling whenever it will storm. To get warm, I pull myself closer to
my brother. He looks down at me and says, "Imouto-chan, are you all right?"

"It's cold oniichan," I say quietly. "It's going to storm soon."

He hugs me to him and says, "Then we should hurry back home, ne?"

I nod and we quickly ran home. "Tadaima!" We chorus loudly. Our mother is a
slender figure with full, blond hair. She is where I received my hair color
from. "Okaeri!" I smile and bounce into the house, happy and glad to be home.
Mother calls me back to the kitchen and asks me to help with the preparations
for our father's arrival.

(The day was sunny and bright, and it didn't seem like it would storm. So I
asked myself why I felt so cold. I didn't realize until later that night that
the reason why I had felt like that was because there was something evil coming
to the village.)

My father came back as the sun was going down, and I ran out to greet him with
a big smile. "Okaeri nasai 'touchan!"

He smils at me and hoists me up onto his wide shoulders. He then took me
back inside and we sat down to eat dinner.

(Mother had cooked a special dinner, because she said that father would be home
for the month. My older brother and I were happy that day, but then it all went
downhill from there.)

Several men came barging into the house holding katanas. My father and brother
moves in front of me and mother. Then my mother took me and ran to the bedroom.
She then pushes me into the small storage where we store our futons. "Stay
here Usagi, and don't come out until one of us comes to get you, okay?"

"Hai," I whisper fearfully.

She hugs me and whispers, "I love you honey."

"I love you too 'kaachan," I say tearfully.

The door shuts and I am alone in the darkness. I hear sounds, and then voices
near the door, so I hide behind the futons. They are rolled up and are standing
up, so I hide behind them. Then someone throws the door open and I see a pair
of grey eyes and a face before the door shuts again.

(I heard voices.)

"You stupid bitch! WHERE IS HE?!!"

"You're going to pay for that you whore!"

And then the door is suddenly broken by someone flying into the door. I peer
over and see that it is my older brother. In a fright, I whisper, "Oniichan,
I love you. Don't leave me!"

He hears me, because he says, "I love you, imouto-chan."

Then he is gone.

(The strange men were hurting my mother. They hit her and then tore her kimono
from her. I was too afraid to move. I watched them as they raped my mother. My
older brother tried to protect her, but they grabbed him by his hair and thrust
a katana into his throat, killing him.)

I watch from my hiding spot as they leave the room, and leaves my mother and my
dead brother behind. I run over to my mother and shout, "Okaasan! Okaasan!"

"Mommy loves you...honey..."

"Okaasan..."

(And then there was a scorching heat coming from the dining area. Then I saw
the fire. So I made a hole in the shoji that led to the backyard, and ran to
hide in the alleyway.)

I walk back into my burnt house, and try to look for otousan. I find my father
lying on the floor.

"'touchan?"

He won't answer me. I shake his arm, trying to wake him up. I can feel the
tears running down my face.

"What happened here little one?"

Scared, I whip around to find a tall man standing there. He looks beat up and
tired. I see the handle of a katana, just like my father's. He comes towards me
very slowly. So I tell him, "'touchan won't wake up."

He takes me into his arms and then he asks for my name. "What's your name
little one?"

* * * * *

"Usagi?"

Startled, she whipped around to find Rei standing there. "When did you get
here?"

Rei walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the slender blond's waist as
she responded, "I came here a couple minutes ago. We were getting worried about
you."

When she looked up, Usagi found that she had been standing there for a good
half of the day. Too wrapped up in her past, she hadn't realized that she had
been standing there for so long. Usagi leaned into the embrace and closed her
eyes.

"What were you doing here?" Rei asked.

"Just...remembering," Usagi replied softly.

No more words were said as the two turned and made their way back to their
home. Lost in time and painful memories, Usagi remained silent while Rei could
only watch the blond's emotions swiftly race through her eyes. Despair, pain,
anguish and guilt all chased each other in indigo blue, swirling and clashing
as the memories continued.

* * * * *

[***1509, a medium sized village near Edo.***]

I wander through the town without anyone else. My master has died, and I am
alone. My katana, retrieved from my master's body is tied behind my back so
that I can walk around without it dragging on the ground.

People are watching me with curosity and pity. I'm just a small girl with a
katana strapped to her back walking down the street. I must look a sight. But I
don't care. I just need a place to stay.

As I pass a small hut, I bump into someone else. I fall backwards onto my rear
and when I look up, I find myself staring into a pair of blue eyes of a girl my
age. That is odd, there are not very many children that walks around at this
time of the day. "Gomen nasai." I could at least apologize.

She smiles at me. "It's okay. I'm not hurt. Are *you* okay?"

I am confused. Why would she care so much? I am just a homeless child with a
katana on my back, but this person seemed to genuinely care about me. I just
cannot understand it at all. Nobody cares about a lost child like me.

"Yes, I'm fine," I reply.

The girl has blue hair and blue eyes. There is something that draws me to the
other girl, but I ignore it. I stand up and brush off my clothes, and she calls
after me. "Wait! I don't even know your name!"

I turn around and say, "My name is Usagi."

She smiles and runs up to me. "My name is..."

* * * * *

"Ami..." she murmured.

Rei looked up at the blond, an unfamiliar name spilling from the enigmatic
girl's lips. She knew that her lover's past was shrouded in mystery, and she
wished that the blond would open up more. It was hard to communicate with
someone who was guarded.

"Usagi?"

The blond's eyes became sharp and for a fleeting moment, saw a look of
unfathomable sorrow in them. Rei's heart ached with sympathy and love as she
tightened her grip on the slender girl's waist. Although the blond was older,
they were quite equal in height and size, save the fact that Usagi was slimmer
and slightly more pixie-like than Rei.

"Yes Rei?" Usagi queried.

"I'm worried about you. You've been very quiet for the past few days. What's
bothering you?" Rei asked.

Usagi sighed quietly. "It's the anniversary of my family's death."

Amethyst eyes widened in shock and horror. "Oh God...Usagi...why didn't you
tell me?"

Indigo blue eyes were unguarded at this moment as she let the pain and the
sorrow fill her being as she replied softly, "Because I will not return home
until I avenge their deaths. They died protecting me, and I live their lives
in their memory."

"Oh Usagi..."

The two of them embraced and for the first time in a long time, Usagi bared
herself enough to let the tears flow. Seven years of hiding her emotions and
living with the guilt that came with it had pushed her to the brink. At the age
of fourteen, she hadn't been so big, but when she had turned sixteen, she had
had a large growth spurt, and currently stood at the height of five feet seven
inches.

The younger of the two being Rei was still taller than the blond, standing at a
respectable five foot nine, but was unable to compete with Makoto and Haruka's
domineering figures. Rei pulled the girl closer and felt the wetness against
her neck. She prayed fervently to spare Usagi from any more pain and for peace
in their land. How much longer would they have to see death and destruction
tear apart their country and those who served it?

So trapped in this moment of weakness, Usagi indulged herself in the love and
affection of someone who truly loved her. Living in the battle and blood for so
long, she craved human contact. Having spent many of her nights alone with her
own tormented thoughts for company, it was rare for someone to hold her and to
comfort her. It had been so long indeed.

'How I miss you...Ami...' she thought sorrowfully.

* * * * *

"We will strike Kyoto at dawn," he declared coldly.

The woman next to him smiled softly as she let her hand drift along his armored
form, while resting her head on his shoulder. He ignored her presence as he
continued to give out his orders for the attack against Kyoto. It was no secret
that this mysterious Golden samurai had bested the best of the Fukushima clan,
and she silently hoped that this samurai would free her from her imprisonment.

She was a geisha, but in reality a spy for her own clan, the Ishida clan from
the Yamato prefecture. Their numbers had thinned since the downfall of their
best warrior, Matokori Usagi. Since then, she had posed as a geisha and had
been purchased by the leader of the Fukushima, Chiba Mamoru. The Chiba family
had many sources that were invaluable to the clan and with the man's highly
dangerous handling of the katana, he had been unanimously voted to be the heir
as the "okashira" of the Fukushima clan.

Upon the exit of the men gathered in the meeting room, he turned to her with
his cold blue eyes and said, "Aino-san, please excuse me. I have some...private
issues to attend to."

Aino Minako smiled demurely and let him go his way. She knew that the only
reason he was remotely civil to her was because she resembled his former lover,
who just happened to be a very beautiful and petite blond. Her heart ached in
sympathy for him. He was no older than twenty-two years old and yet his eyes
held a lifetime of anguish. The faraway look that touched his countenance when
he gazed so lovingly at that hidden picture made her yearn to soothe the tired
look from his face.

Alas, she knew that her heart already belonged to another. Somehow, it made her
think about her first meeting with Matokori Usagi. The small blond had been so
painfully young, and yet was forged with the darkest of pain and justice that
it was nearly impossible to fell the diminutive warrior girl. And she could
vaguely recall the genuine smile she had seen on her face, which had been the
only smile she had ever seen on her life until they met again at the age of
fifteen.

* * * * *

[***1510, Kamakura, Japan. Kanagawa Prefecture.***]

I watch with curiosity as one boy and one girl are brought in by the guards
that are responsible for protecting the okashira of the Fukushima's samurais.
The boy has impossibly long blond hair, longer than my own. The girl has short
cropped blue hair with equally blue eyes as her male counterpart. The boy's
daisho has been taken by the guard.

"Aino-san, please tell the okashira that we've caught two from the previous
battle," one of the guards says roughly.

I nod in agreement and I rush off to find him. 'Where could he be?'

I walk into his private quarters, I find him sitting there, brooding silently.
His men has just been defeated in the latest raid, and General Furuhata is
trying to get the younger man to overlook it.

"Chiba-sama, your presence is requested by your guards. They say that they have
found two of the warriors that had defeated our men," I say quietly.

(Of course, mentioning the defeat made him scowl.)

He stands up and follows me as I lead him back to the front hall, where the
guards has tied the two together. The boy and the girl are sitting quietly,
and that is when I realize that the boy *isn't* a boy. It is a girl! And a
very familiar looking girl.

'No...it--it can't be!' I think frantically. 'I was told that she died with
Matokori Wataru!'

(When Matokori Wataru's group had ran off when Usagi had been eleven years old,
my okashira had thought that they would be fine. A spy had sent word two years
later that Wataru, Usagi, Fujima, Kenji and Shigeru had all died. Of all the
people the Ishida clan had lost, Usagi's loss had been the most profound. But
seeing her in the flesh again back then...I was so happy.)

Chiba-san frowns as he regards the two, and then catches onto the fact that
both of them are girls, despite the fact that Usagi is wearing a hakama and
gi. "You two...are the ones who defeated my men?"

Usagi looks at him calmly and says, "If you are looking for the ones who had
killed and sabotaged your attempt to raid and pillage that village, then yes."

Ah, good old Usagi. That acerbic tone of voice reassures me that this is the
real Usagi. If she finds out that the Fukushima's Red Tigers are lead by the
man that stands in front of her, she will not hesitate to find a way to kill
him. The Ishida clan's ultimate goal is to destroy the Fukushima clan, but I
know that with the ferocity that Usagi fights with, there is a much more
personal vendetta that fuels her thirst for vengeance.

He scowls and replies, "Don't tempt me, bitch. I hold your life in my hands. I
can have your pretty little head sliced off."

The blue haired girl snorts derisively and retort, "Go ahead, do your worst.
If you believe for a second that those kinds of petty threats can strike fear
into us, then you're dead wrong. You can't threaten to kill those who have no
fear of dying, even if it has to be so dishonorably by a chauvinistic pig."

In this moment, I want to burst out in laughter and congratulate the girl for
telling him off, but that will mean that I will get punished. Even Usagi looks
like she wants to giggle. When I chance a look at the okashira, I see the sheer
disbelief and outrage written all over his face.

"YOU BITCH!" he snarls. "You *DARE* speak to me with such disrespect?!"

"Get it through your thick skull, asshole! You will get no respect from me!"
Usagi spits angrily. "So cut your 'high and mighty' shit and kill us!"

I am having a really hard time trying to smother my laughter, so I *politely*
excuse myself to another room before giggling madly. In the whole time that I
have been in the service of the okashira, I have *never* seen him so agitated,
and by two little girls no less! It is just too hilarious, despite the utter
seriousness of the situation.

When I went back out to see them, they are gone already. The okashira has sent
them down to be re-dressed. When I went to the dining room, I am shocked to
see both Usagi and the other girl dressed in *kimonos*! I have *never* seen
Usagi in a kimono, and I can't help but be mesmerised by her.

Usagi is beautiful.

And I love her.

* * * * *

When she walked into the building with Usagi in her arms, Setsuna quickly
rushed over to the pair. The crimson eyed woman noticed the faint tearstains on
the pale skin. It was a wordless answer to an unvoiced question, and she led
Rei to their room to avoid questions from their fellow housemates. Rei opened
the shoji and laid the blond onto their futon before closing the door. She sat
down by the blond's side and took Usagi's hand in her own.

Usagi had told her vaguely of who Ami was, and she knew that it was difficult
for the warrior girl to truly open herself to someone after being alone for so
long. Upon the conclusion of the short tale from Usagi's past, it had given her
a small glimpse of the horrific life that Usagi had led. However, she had shed
no tears for the girl, because Usagi was not looking for pity or sympathy, just
listening and understanding.

So, Rei stood there and listened.

Meanwhile, in Usagi's unconsciousness, another memory began to play in her
tormented mind.

* * * * *

[***1507, a village in the Kanagawa prefecture.***]

Strong, iron like hands were grabbing me.

Made me immobile.

I was alone, helpless and without my daisho. They took it fron me.

Careless.

I was too careless.

I can feel their dirty hands ripping my clothes away from me. I am naked before
them. Their eyes gleam with dark lust, and I'm afraid.

So very afraid.

One of them trails a hand down my naked curves, while another roughly caresses
my breasts. I shudder and recoil from their violating touch, and try to shout
out for help, but it seems that they've caught onto what I was about to do and
slaps me across the face. The stinging pain is more than enough to silence me
quickly.

"Shut the fuck up bitch!" one of the hisses at me.

I try not to feel, try not to react to the touches, but my body betrays me as
their cold, brutal caresses and nips make my body burn. But I will not give
them the satisfaction of my voice to them. So I bite my lip, hoping that I can
survive through this.

"I'm going enjoy this," one of them says darkly.

Without warning, something hard and solid tears into my young body and I scream
in pain as the pain burns through my body. They slap me across the face again,
and my tears fall as I bite my lip, aware that they are raping me. Their brutal
thrusts send searing pain through my veins and I fervently pray for this to
end.

One man after another thrusts into my body as I bite my lip harder and harder,
drawing blood which dribbles down my chin from my scarred lip. As the fourth
man groans loudly and climaxes in my body, it breaks me and I scream.

And I couldn't stop screaming.

* * * * *

Rei was startled out of her trance as the blond woke up screaming. Indigo blue
eyes were wide with confusion and fear as she tried to even out her breathing.
Frantic eyes scanned the room, looking for the one person that she could cling
to when it all became too much. Surely enough, Rei was there and gripping her
tightly.

"Usagi? Daijobu ka?"

The blond mustered the courage and the will to even out her breathing before
managing to reply, "Hai."

"Usa..."

Beseeching amethyst met pleading indigo and Rei said, "Please don't hide from
me Usa. You don't have to hide from me."

"I...I don't want to..."

Silently urging the blond to speak, Rei squeezed the older girl's hand. Usagi
sighed quietly before responding, "I don't want you to see me so weak."

"Oh Usa..."

The ebony haired orphan pulled the blond closer to her as she whispered, "No
matter how haunted you may be, I'll *always* love you, and I'll never leave you
alone. You don't have to be strong for me."

They stayed in the embrace for a long time, and both of them succumbed to
the comforting darkness of sleep and each other's embrace. However, Usagi's
sleep was not so placid that night as nightmare after nightmare endlessly
assaulted her beleagured psyche.

And the haunted continued in her vengeance.

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Author's Notes:

This has got to be, by far, the *WORST* chapter I've written in my entire life.
It is beyond CRAP! Dear God, just shoot me now. -_-; There is no doubt in my
mind that I will revamp this ENTIRE chapter after I'm finished the series. Oh
God.

Sincere and profound thanks to all of those who have reviewed this story.
Without it, I probably would not have found the determination or motivation to
continue writing. Thank you all so very much.

School is lurking in the horizon, and alas, this chapter will probably be the
last for a long time. Who knows? I might write bits and pieces while I'm in
school or while I *should* be working on my homework. ^_^ But, I refuse to, in
any shape or form, abandon this story. I've gone too far with it to back out on
it. :)

I've revealed who Minako is, and who Ami is to Usagi. Both of them have met
Usagi once or more in the story, and more is to come regarding Usagi's past.
I'm sure I'll be receiving some flames for the OOCness of Ami's character, but
come on, didn't you ever want to see shy little Ami call someone a chauvinistic
pig, ESPECIALLY Mamoru? (To all Mamoru fans, I'm sorry about making him such a
bastard.)

I promise to bring in Minako and Ami more often into the story. However, I will
tell you, before you go assuming things, that MIZUNO AMI IS *NOT* DEAD. She
will make an entrance later on as a key pivotal point for Usagi. Oh, and the
different last names issue might be confusing, so I'll clear it up. "Matokori"
is the name of the man who had taken in Usagi, and Usagi used that name in the
clan, unwilling to use her family name. However, she uses her family name with
the others because she believes that she no longer has allegiance to a clan who
thinks that she is dead, and with her mentor dead, she no longer has the use
for his name.

More revelations to come!

Again, thank you *SO* much for the reviews. I cherish and appreciate each and
every one of them.

[E-mail: sherazard_@hotmail.com]
[Website: http://ashura.br0ken.org]
[Weblog: http://ashura.br0ken.org/blog/index.htm]

1st draft: Completed. (08.24.2002)

TRANSLATION:

kimono - A garment worn by both men and women in Japan.
okashira - Leader (ie./ Aoshi is the okashira of the Oniwabanshuu, the "leader"
of the Oniwabanshuu.)
shoji - A rice-paper screen door.
hai - Yes, yeah.
oniichan - Older brother
imouto-chan - Little sister
(o)kaasan, (o)kaachan - Mother, mommy, mom
(o)tousan, (o)touchan - Father, daddy, dad
-obaasan - A suffix attached to address elderly woman or an aunt.
(ie./ Keitaro from Love Hina addresses his aunt as Haruka-obaasan,
calling her "Aunt" Haruka. So, Kikyo-obaasan in the story
would be saying, in not-so-literal terms, Grandmother Kikyo or
"old lady" Kikyo.)
tadaima - "I'm home!"
okaeri (nasai) - "Welcome home!"
(These two are used whenever someone arrives home.)
-kun - A suffix attached for boys, an affectionate term.
-chan - A suffix attached mainly for girls, but can be used between couples to
address each other.
-san - A polite term to address strangers or people higher in rank than you are.
-sama - An extremely polite term used to those higher in rank.
gomen nasai - "I'm sorry" An apology term.
futon - A flat mattress that Japanese people sleep (or slept) on. It is thick
and during the day when unusued, it was rolled up and stored away until
bedtime.
daisho - A term used to describe the set of swords, consisting of the long
sword (called a daito) and the short sword (called a shoto).
daijobu (ka) - "Are you all right"? The "ka" part adds the particle to make it a
question.


Resources:

http://home.austin.rr.com /scajapan/HISTORY.HTM
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/shog un.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/glossary.htm
http://writ ersu.s5.com/fl/japanese.html