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Akira Kiyosato, one of the bodyguards of Kyoto administrator Jubee Shigekura, respectfully invited his master to his upcoming wedding to Tomoe Yukishiro. Shigekura declined, having important business in Kyoto, but wished Kiyosato the best of happiness in such troubled times.
Shigekura and his bodyguards traveled on to Kyoto, where they fell prey to the sword of the strongest Imperialist assassin, Battousai the Manslayer. None survived.
However, Kiyosato remained behind in Edo, celebrating his marriage along with his newlywed bride, Tomoe.
Battousai the Manslayer's heart was never touched; his vow to not to kill was never made. He fought on with rage and fury for his cause, forging the path to the new era.
And his sword still bites deep with the sharp sting of steel death...
One hundred and forty years ago, during the chaos and bloodshed which accompanied the end of the Tokugawa Regime, there was a swordsman in Kyoto who was called Battousai the Manslayer. Battousai carved the way into the new era--the Meiji Era. It was said that he was undefeatable.
And then one day, as the screams faded and the dust began to settle, Battousai the Manslayer mysteriously disappeared into the sunset. To this day, his whereabouts are unknown.
Battousai the Manslayer had become a legend.
11th year of Meiji, 1878
Tokyo, downtown
He heard her coming long before he saw her.
The rapid patter of running feet were approaching quickly from behind; he tensed briefly, listening, but soon decided that the footfalls were far too light to be a grown man, and too slow to be an attacker. Probably just a young boy sent out on an emergency errand, who happened to be coming his way.
However, he was surprised by the shout that rang out in the dawn air as the footsteps skidded to a halt behind him. "Hold it right there!"
He paused, a little startled. A woman?
"Don't move--" she commanded sharply, "--Battousai the Manslayer!"
Immediately, every fiber of his being was on alert. His free hand reached to his sword hilt as he turned slowly and cautiously to face the one who challenged him, wondering who he'd have to kill to get out of this one. He was prepared to fight for his life; the woman couldn't have been alone--she knew who he was, and if she knew that then there was no way she'd try to take him on single-handedly. His eyes swept over rooftops, walltops as he turned, every sense alert as he finally focused on...
A girl?
Not even a woman! A young girl, probably in her late teens. She was pretty, with brilliant blue eyes and long dark hair tied up in a high ponytail. She wasn't dressed in a ladylike manner, wearing a hakama instead of a kimono. There was no one with her, either; no backup, no one else attacking him from behind while he faced her. She was not a diversion--she herself was the challenger. She brandished a wooden shinai at him, her eyes sparkling with blue fire and not a single hint of fear, although her frown increased as his eyes met hers. His eyes narrowed just a bit more as he studied her; either she was a goddess of swordsmanship or a complete lunatic, facing him with just a wooden sword like that.
"I finally found you!" she announced. "You're much weaker-looking than I thought you'd be, manslayer!"
One eyebrow twitched up just a bit. Now that was one he'd never heard before--so, he looked weak, eh? He relaxed a little; she was only a child, stupidly challenging a swordsman with only a wooden stick, without the slightest clue what she was getting into.
"Prepare yourself!" the girl shouted, gripping her shinai firmly and charging him. "Hyaaah!"
Her stance and her charge were strong--she was well-trained, and obviously knew her way around a dojo. But that was just it--dojo training. The stance was easy to read, her strike far too slow as he dodged effortlessly, leaping clean over her head.
She stumbled, overbalanced from her missed strike, turning just in time to see him coming gracefully down behind her. He landed without a sound, in almost exactly the same spot he'd just vacated. He regarded her calmly, one brow tilted sardonically.
"Is it the custom in Tokyo nowadays to assault strangers walking down the street?" he asked.
"You're the legendary manslayer, aren't you?" she demanded accusingly, glaring at him, raising her shinai again. "I heard you killed three more people last night at once!"
Her next swing was not a charge--not as close as she was. It was a good firm strike, and would have gotten him if he were an ordinary opponent. But he simply sidestepped, leaving her half-stumbling again from the force of her own attack.
"I'm only a wanderer," he responded evenly, as she corrected herself and turned to face him again. "I'm a wandering swordsman. I just came into town this morning."
"You did?" She paused momentarily, briefly confused.
"I wasn't even here last night, so I had nothing to do with any of those deaths you're talking about."
Her face darkened again and she raised her weapon. "But you're carrying a sword. The one called Battousai the Manslayer has been murdering people in this town every night! If you walk around carrying a sword at this hour anyone would suspect you. And you should know that this is the Meiji Era and it's forbidden by law to carry a sword in the first place!"
"Whether or not I carry a sword is my business, girl," he replied, eyes narrowing. "I'll deal with the consequences myself. And as for those murders, the fact that I carry a sword is irrelevant. I'm simply not in the habit of cutting down unarmed townsfolk for my own enjoyment."
She glared into his hard eyes for a few moments more, obviously contemplating whether or not to believe him, whether or not to attack again.
The shrill tweeeet! of police whistles caught both their attentions. The girl's eyes widened as she immediately whirled away from him, seemingly forgetting the confrontation ever took place. "There's something going on--it might be him!"
Leaving him standing in surprise, she dashed off in the direction of the disturbance, her shinai clutched in one hand, ready to go at this new enemy just as fiercely as she had against him. He watched her go, wondering, a rare perplexed look coming to his face.
Kaoru Kamiya barreled around the corner just in time to see two more poliecemen go down under the huge figure's sword, collapsing to the ground in bloody heaps. Only a few more police remained to stand against the large, burly man, and they were obviously ill-equipped to deal with a murderer of this caliber.
"Battousai--hold it right there!" she shouted, charging fearlessly at the masked man, leaping forward with a sharp yell as her battle cry. She wouldn't allow any more deaths!
Battousai blocked her first attack with a strike of his own, the shinai sliding off his sword as his strength pushed through her defenses. Cold steel bit into her shoulder, and as she skidded to a halt against the street wall, the small wound stung hotly. She winced, trying to ignore the pain.
Before she could recover, the masked man was turning about, glittering sword raised. She instinctively blocked, taking the force of his blow with a grunt, but the sharp steel cleaved her shinai as if it were nothing, rendering her only weapon useless. "Oh, no!"
The masked Battousai raised his blade again, to end the battle and her life; she was frozen in shock, staring blankly up at him--when a blur swept in with inhuman speed, grabbing her up brusquely and bearing her out of harm's way. The burly murderer's sword slashed into the wall where she had been.
When everything finally stopped moving, Kaoru found herself clinging to soft, dark blue material and cradled in slim, strong arms. She looked up into a coldly handsome face set with a sardonic pair of hard violet eyes, which regarded her with a look of amused exasperation.
"The wanderer..." she breathed, still in a bit of shock.
"It's pretty stupid to fight a real sword with only a wooden stick," he responded bluntly, turning to look over his shoulder at the murderer, his expression becoming quite chilling.
The sound of police whistles and shouts announced that more men were on their way; the masked Battousai glared at the two for a moment more before he fled. "I am Battousai the Manslayer!" his gravelly voice shouted cruelly as he went. "I use the Kamiya Kasshin style of swordsmanship!"
Kaoru struggled in the small man's grip, fighting the pain in her shoulder, fighting to free herself. "Hold it!" she cried after the fleeing killer.
"Don't be so reckless," the wanderer said, refusing to release her.
"That's the style of swordsmanship my family teaches!" she protested, reaching after the murderer even as her vision began to swim from her exhertion and her wound. She fought off the dizziness as long as she could, wanting to stop the Battousai. "He's using our good name to murder people...!" Her strength left her quickly and she collapsed against him, unconscious.
The wanderer cautiously glanced around at the injured and dead policemen, then in the direction the masked murderer had gone. When his icy violet eyes settled once more on the girl he carried, they softened somewhat with a glimmer of sympathy.
"She's pretty courageous for a little girl with a stick."
More to come...