Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own any of the characters, tradmarks, etc. of Rurouni Kenshin and am not affiliated with it in any way. They are copyrighted by their respective owners, and I am just a fan. Tasogare and a few other characters are original, so don't steal them from me without my permission. Thank you for your understanding
I can't recall much about my parents, except the blood-red glow from their eyes and their abusive ways. I was forced to run from my home, and the other villagers chased me into a nearby forest.
"She didn't belong here anyways." "She was just a burden, a nuicance, to this town." I heard people saying. Their constant rejection of me, and chasing of me, has led me to have great speed and grace. The forest was cluttered with trees, so I had limited running space, but I ran as fast as I could anyways...until I tripped over a tree root and fell.
I thought I was going to be killed by the villagers, led by my parents, as they all carried knives and small guns, but a young man came in front of me and saved me. He shielded me and fought the villagers. From then on I idolized his selflessness.
Another boy, about my age, came, grabbed my arm, and took me away. "Come with me," he said, "you'll be safe where I'm taking you." I felt I could trust him, but I didn't know why, yet.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Sanosuke, but you can just call me Sano, if you'd like. What's your name?"
"I'm Tasogare, Taso for short." I couldn't help but look back at the fierce yet one-sided battle I was getting further away from.
"Don't worry," he assured me, "Captain Sagara is really strong." He seemed to idolize this man also.
We arrived at a campsite in the middle of the forest, and I noticed everyone else was male, mostly young men, but there was another boy a bit older than Sano and me. Everyone asked what happened, and Sano introduced me to them and told where Captain Sagara was. They all seemed like really nice people, the Sekihoutai.
"All right! Now the Captain has someone who can use that new 'hayai-hashi'," someone said.
"What's that?" I asked, suddenly curious.
"It's his new secret sword," the other boy said. "He's given each of us a different sword. Each with a different unique ability."
Captain Sagara returned, surprisingly, without a scratch. "Don't tell her all about me, Katsu," he smiled at the boy. He looked at me, "I saw you running; you're really fast. I think you should try the hayai-hashi; you can reach your full potential with it."
After sunset, he took me to one of the cabins, the smallest one, where he picked up a sheathed sword from a table and handed it to me. "Here, try it."
I almost dropped it. "It's kind of heavy."
"It's alright, you'll get used to it. Your greatest asset is your speed, not your strength, so this sword will help you enhance it." He knelt down and put his hands on my shoulders. "I know that this sword will be very useful to you; you can do great things with it, with enough practice." I blushed even more. "It's getting late. Tomorrow you'll get started in learning swordsmanship. You can sleep here." He pointed to a small bed and smiled. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight..." I watched him leave, then unsheathed my sword. I almost dropped it again and got a cut on my left arm. "Ouch! I really should wait until tomorrow until I try to handle this sword." I resheathed it, put it on the table, and fell asleep, anxiously waiting until the next day.
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Sanosuke woke me up the next morning and told me that Captain Sagara was waiting outside. I picked up the hayai-hashi and we left the cabin.
"Something smells good," I said, then I saw that someone was barbequing some fish over the fire, and everyone was gathered around to eat it. Sano and Katsu, the other boy, motioned me over, so I joined them in eating breakfast.
That was delicious! I thought, remembering that I never really got any decent meals before.
Later, Captain Sagara took me to a different part of the woods, with a small clearing, to practice. He showed me how to swing a sword, even though I was a complete idiot and kept on dropping it, but I eventually got the hang of it. I then learned different techniques-like how to block, run and attack, and jump and attack-but my favorite was called the Hayai Ni Kiru, or Quick Double-Slash attack, where I can just stand still, quickly slash my sword twice into an X-shape, and it will cut through the next closest thing in that X-shape. It can cut through almost anything-rocks, trees, and a hedge that Sano and Katsu were hiding behind (spying on our lesson)-but I needed to control it better to give it full effect.
"Practice this technique," Captain told me, "and once you master it, you can cut through anything. If you can do it well enough, you can eventually cut through glass or, later, metal." He ruffled my hair and smiled. "You'll be an excellent swordswoman with this. Just don't forget what I told you."
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I never did, and I never will. His words are embedded within my heart and will never fade away.
