Kusanagi huffed and cut him off. “I order you to go home and wait for me there.” She began imperiously, “I’ll be there shortly. I’m just going to take a quick walk in the park before I go home.”
Ranmaru wanted to resist but instead bowed. “As you wish, Oujo-sama.”
Was it Kusanagi’s imagination or did he look displeased 52
about something? She shrugged. Oh well. Whatever. Not like I care. Kusanagi snuck out of school the back way to avoid her limo driver. She then headed for the park thinking she’d like to have a soda before heading home.
Kusanagi bought her soda from one of the series of vending machines that was in the park and was just taking a sip when she sensed them. Shit. Couldn’t she have a frickin soda in peace? Dammit.
Kusanagi turned around and confronted the group of men dressed all in black. They were wearing expensive suits, with dark shades on their faces, a couple of them had ugly scars running down their cheeks, and Kusanagi noted one was missing a finger. Apparently, a bunch of stupid yakuza thugs were after her again. Sigh. Yep, again. The yakuza were always trying to kidnap her for ransom, all because of her grand inheritance. An inheritance that she didn’t even give a shit about personally. Since she was the heiress to such a large fortune and estate several such attempts to kidnap Kusanagi and hold her for ransom happened almost daily. Weekly, if she shut herself up at home.
Kusanagi chugged her soda and crunched the can, tossing it aside, all the while glaring at the yakuza scumbags before her. Kusanagi was getting sick of this bullshit. Ah, well, this was why she took kendo in the first place, she supposed. Kusanagi whipped out her bokken and pointed it the gathered yakuza.
“You’ve picked a really bad day to try and kidnap me...yakuza scum!”
The yakuza thugs all looked at each other and chuckled in response, not really taking Kusanagi’s threat too seriously. She was just a 15-year-old female, high school student after all. 62 seconds later...
The yakuza thugs had been defeated and were currently moaning on the ground while sporting huge bumps and bruises on their heads.
Kusanagi frowned down at them. Pathetic bunch of losers. That had almost been too easy. How was she supposed to get any better if these losers were all the yakuza had to send after her?
What about a challenge to strengthen her skills? This wasn’t even a warm up, baby.
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Just as Kusanagi was turning to walk away however - she sensed one more.
Kusanagi spun around to face a yakuza thug she hadn’t noticed before. She furrowed her brow at this since it was rare for her not to notice a threat right away. How had this guy kept his presence hidden from her, she wondered? Kusanagi shrugged and looked the man over. He was normal looking enough, except for the fact that he was extremely hairy, and very ugly. He had long hair that nearly touched the ground and his face hadn’t been shaved since – well, forever. Ew. And he had pointed ears...?
“And now they send a monkey man after me, huh?”
Kusanagi sneered as she looked him over while raising an eyebrow, “This is beginning to turn into a freak show. Meh, whatever. I suppose I’ll just have to kick your ass as well.”
The man simply leered at her in response, his mouth dropping open and an abnormally large purple tongue creeping out and licking his lower lip while drool dribbled down the side of his chin. “You’re much prettier than they said you would be. How about you consider being my girl, then I’ll spare you from the yakuza.”
Eww. “I don’t date outside of my own species.” Kusanagi cringed and raised her bokken in a two-handed grip before her and charged forward with a battle cry. “AHHH!”
However, that was when the man suddenly let his hair shoot forward - yes his hair - and let it attack Kusanagi.
“What the?” Kusanagi said as she barely managed to leap out of the way in time from the odd attack. “Did that guy’s hair really just attack me? No frickin way.” But the man didn’t stop there and swung his hair in her direction again and Kusanagi was forced to dodge out of the way. His hair passed by her arm and sliced into it. Kusanagi looked down at the cut on her arm in surprise - the hair was apparently razor sharp. But how was that even possible?
Kusanagi frowned and decided to charge the strange man again. This time she leapt up into the air and was prepared to bring her sword down upon him in a high downwards slash, but 54
before her attack hit him he let his hair shoot forward and wrap around Kusanagi’s sword. Kusanagi pulled back on it expecting it to be able to cut through the hair but then found that it wouldn’t budge, instead her sword was suddenly snatched from her grasp.
“Dammit!” Kusanagi was forced to let go of her sword and leap backwards to put space between her and the yokai man by executing a couple of back flips.
The monkey man laughed as he tossed Kusanagi’s bokken aside. She looked over to where it had landed and immediately decided to run in that direction in order to retrieve it. The man rolled his neck and let his hair shoot off in her direction again as Kusanagi ran. She evaded the attacks as best she could but then she felt a stinging pain in her thigh. Kusanagi looked down in horror to see that a long sharp spike made up entirely of hair had managed to impale her thigh. Kusanagi felt a scream leaving her lungs of its own accord as the demon pulled back on his hair and the ‘hair dagger’ was removed from her thigh. Kusanagi nearly sunk to her knees in pain. She was gasping for breath and an unfamiliar feeling was creeping down her spine - it was like a shiver but not quite. What was this cold, unfamiliar feeling? This unease that was churning in her gut?
Could it be... fear? Kusanagi’s eyes widened when she realized that’s exactly what it was.
Fear.
She’d never been in a fight like this one before...this time it was different. This wasn’t just a fight – this was a battle to the death. This man before her wasn’t...human. Kusanagi gasped when she realized exactly what was happening. This man was like HIM. Kusanagi shivered as she began to remember. No!
Now was not the time for a trip down memory lane. She couldn’t let herself have a panic attack - not right then. This man was a yokai. Yokai really were on a different plane when compared to normal humans. How the hell was she going to get out of this one, she freaked?
Kusanagi was about to panic when she gave herself a mental smack. No, now was not the time to panic and become some emotional chick in need of saving, some damsel in distress. Kusanagi would much rather be the prince that rescued the princess and not the other way around. There was no one to save Bitch 55
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her after all - no Knight in Shinning Armour coming to her rescue. She was all alone. Kusanagi took a deep breath. That’s why she would just have to become her own prince and rescue herself. There had to be something she could do to counter this demon’s odd attacks ...hair...hair...think Kusanagi...that’s it!
Kusanagi was struck by an idea and immediately ran towards her school bag instead of for her bokken sword - a wooden sword would have no chance of cutting through that strange razor wire-like hair anyways. Kusanagi barely managed to make it to her bag in time and then she had it in her grasp. She quickly rummaged around inside and found what she was looking for. Yatta! Yes!
Kusanagi spun around to face the yakuza minion again and this time she raised-The demon man’s brows rose as he saw Kusanagi raise what appeared to be a can of mace, “Mace? That won’t work against me girl!” The demon laughed mockingly, “Is that the best you can do? Ha!” The demon let his hair shoot forward again and again and Kusanagi dodged the attacks only this time she sprayed her mace at the demon but it appeared as though the only thing getting hit by the mace was his hair instead of the demon’s eyes. He chuckled at her bad aim. “You missed!”
Kusanagi remained silent as she continued to dodge the deadly hair attacks and spray her mace onto the hair and towards the demon...
However, the wound on her thigh was bleeding
profusely and beginning to slow her down until finally as she was trying to leap out of the way of another hair attack - she was too slow and the hair caught her, wrapping around her ankles and harshly tripping her up so that she fell forward, and smacked her forehead on the ground with a loud thwack. Ow.
Kusanagi struggled against the hair and flinched when she felt the hair painfully cutting into the flesh of her ankles the more she moved.
“You’ll be coming with us, little Miss Oujo-sama. Come along nice and quiet like, if you don’t want any trouble.” The 56
demon advised her.
Kusanagi was simply NOT the quiet type. “Damn you, you monkey-faced bastard! There’s no way I’m going anywhere with an ugly, hairy freak like you! Ha!”
The yokai bristled at the insult. “Oh, you’ll pay for that you little bitch.” He rolled his neck and swung his hair along with Kusanagi sideways so that she was lifted up off the ground and then swung into a nearby tree with such force that as her back hit the tree’s trunk there was a painful sounding crack. She cried out from the force of the impact, her mouth opening. The yokai approached Kusanagi while at the same time using his hair so that Kusanagi didn’t simply fall forward but instead kept her pinned to the tree. His hair wrapped around her wrists, ankles and around her neck as he lifted her limp body higher against the tree.
Kusanagi had begun to struggle once more and was fiddling with her wrists as he approached her. She just had to get her hands free-The hair was cutting mercilessly into Kusanagi’s wrists and blood streamed down her arms but the grip the hair had on her wrists was becoming slippery...
“Tsk Tsk Tsk that’s what you get for being troublesome.”
The yokai scolded her as he noticed the blood. “Now, are you going to come along quietly?” He asked again.
“Screw you,” Kusanagi spat in his face and watched with extreme satisfaction as her spit hit the yokai’s cheek and stayed there. She finally had her hands free and quickly reached into the pocket of her school uniform skirt for-“Oh, and I’ll let you in on a little secret -that wasn’t mace.” Kusanagi declared. The yokai wiped the spit angrily from his face with the back of his hand, “Then what was it bitch?”
Kusanagi grinned, “Hairspray. And you know what they say about hairspray.” Kusanagi held up what she had dug out of her pocket – a lighter. She flicked the lighter open placing her thumb on the igniter and held it up before the yokai whose eyes widened. “It’s extremely flammable. I have one thing to say to you loser - sucks to be you. Sayonara.” Kusanagi declared before she ignited the flame and tossed the lighter at him. The lit lighter hit his forehead and his face was
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immediately engulfed in flames. The yokai cried out in pain and horror as he stumbled backwards releasing his hold on Kusanagi so that his hair fell away from her neck and ankles. The flames quickly crept up all the hair Kusanagi had managed to spray with her hairspray and in seconds the yokai was completely covered in flames. He began to scream as he ran around the park blindly due to the creeping flames of insanity that were consuming him in his pain...
Kusanagi sunk to her knees and allowed herself to watch in grim satisfaction as the yokai burned to death. Something caught her eye as she watched the yokai – there was a strange tattoo on his upper arm where part of his jacket had burned away. The tattoo was of black skull surrounded by white camellia petals. Why does that tattoo look so familiar…? Kusanagi wondered dazedly. She covered her mouth and nose as the awful stench of burning flesh washed over her.
At one time in her life when she had others looking after her, they had protected her and kept her pure. But now she had no one to protect her. She had ceased being an angel and had now officially become a devil. Or so she at least thought to herself. Kusanagi felt sick all of a sudden and began to throw up. She may have been a bitch but she wasn’t a murderer at heart. Although, she realized that now she was in point of fact a true murderer... I guess I’ve finally killed someone with my own two hands...it was only a matter of time but now I’m just what everyone thinks I am...a killer...a she-devil…
Kusanagi’s vision was darkening and she knew she was about to pass out. Crap.
“KUSANAGI!” Came a concerned, and oddly familiar sounding voice.
Kusanagi looked up to see Katsumi running towards her with an expression that was both worried and frantic on her face. Katsumi? What in the hell was that bubblehead doing there? She should leave before she got hurt! Kusanagi thought frantically before passing out...
***
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Kusanagi awoke with a splitting headache. God pity anyone who tried to talk to her right then. “Ugh.” Kusanagi groaned as she blinked and sat up in bed. She looked over surprised to see that Katsumi was seated in a chair next to her bed and that the girl was bawling loudly into her hands, tears streaming down her face. Huh? What’s she doing here anyways?
She also noticed a stoic and slightly guilty looking Ranmaru not too far behind.
Kusanagi’s eye twitched at the sight of him, “What happened...why are you crying Katsumi? Jeez, you’re such a crybaby. You look really stupid. Whatever it is you’re crying about - it can’t be all that bad.”
Kusanagi looked past Katsumi and Ranmaru to realize that Roze was there too. She had an oddly relieved looking expression on her face. Hmm, what was going on?
Kusanagi heard a door opening and turned to see one last face that she really didn’t feel like seeing right then.
“Grandfather! What are you doing here?” Uh oh... snippets of her battle with the yokai thug were coming back to her mind. And as she looked around the room she realized she must be in a hospital.
Kimamura- san was looking absolutely livid,
“Granddaughter...of all the stupid, idiotic, reckless things to do!
Facing a yokai on your own like that! I wanted you to be safe from yokai - to use a yokai against any yokai that the yakuza may decide to send after you. The wise man does not court danger, Kusanagi. And you-” Kimamura spun around and glared at Ranmaru, “Where the hell were you during all of this?”
Ranmaru flinched and opened his mouth to speak-Only Kusanagi beat him to it, a hand behind her head in an abashed manner, “Ah, that’s my fault actually. I ordered Ranmaru to go home and wait for me there...”
Kimamura returned his attention back to Kusanagi, “Told or ordered?”
Kusanagi looked perplexed by the question but answered anyways, “Ordered, so what?”
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Kimamura stroked his chin, “I see...so that’s why. Kusanagi.” Kimamura’s voice was oddly serious as he leveled Kusanagi with a harsh stare.
Kusanagi unconsciously sat up straighter, “Hai? ”
“You are not to order Ranmaru to stay away from you. It’s too dangerous. Ranmaru is...you see, quite the honorable fellow. He’s a Samurai Butler. And as you know samurai follow their own Bushido or ‘way of the warrior’. Ranmaru’s ‘way of the warrior’ is to be completely loyal to his new Master, which means he’ll do everything you say or order to the best of his ability. Your word is law. To break this would be to break his bushido and to lose his honor. And then he would have to commit seppuku. You need to keep Ranmaru by your side if you’re going to be safe. Understand?”
Kusanagi gave the stoic yokai a thoughtful look. Honorable huh? Bushido? So that’s what his ‘I have a stick up my ass’ problem was? Hmmm. She narrowed her eyes at him curiously. Just how far could his so-called honor and bushido be pushed she wondered interestedly. Just how far was Ranmaru willing to go for her? Just how much was her grandfather paying the weirdo anyways? He seemed like such a useless guy with the way he had been following her around school all day dressed up like some kind of underwear thief - I mean who does that? Mou!
Maybe you need his help... A tiny voice in her head piped up.
Huh!
That was a yokai they sent a
fter you this time and it won’t be the last. And what will happen when HE is sent after you again? Ranmaru...you need him...
We don’t need anyone. We don’t even know if he can fight or not. Keh! He looks like a pansy if you ask me, a pretty boy too. Kusanagi scoffed in her mind.
He had a sword with him before...
Maybe but even then...I don’t want anyone dying for me again...
We can’t be alone forever. Eventually you’ll have to let someone in again. I think we can trust him. You’re wrong. I like being alone...and I don’t trust him one bit. He’s a yokai...
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So is Katsumi...Kurenai-sensei...Sora…
That’s different. Ranmaru is too similar to HIM in some way. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but he’s definitely NOT to be trusted. I’ll make him quit this job yet, just you wait and see!
Just you wait Ranmaru! I’m going to have LOTS of fun making your life a living hell until you beg to be released from your duty and go running to your mommy! Buwhahaha~
Oh dear. Kusanagi sometimes you really scare me. You know that.
***
He had failed to protect his Mistress and she had ended up in the hospital. What kind of Samurai Butler and bodyguard was he...stupid collar...stupid Kusanagi for ordering him home. Hell yea, he was angry and pissed off at the world. He had failed to protect someone again. He should have disobeyed her and paid the price...well, he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice at least. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Ranmaru thought to himself. He had a stubborn Mistress...but he would protect her - whether she liked it or not. I can be pretty stubborn too.
As Ranmaru sat by Kusanagi’s bedside at the hospital and watched her sleep he couldn’t help but marvel at how different she looked while she was sleeping than from when she was awake. That crease between her eyes was gone; her face was relaxed, calm, and peaceful, the frown gone from her pretty, pink, pouty lips. Dark lashes caressed her pale cheeks that were like porcelain. For once the emerald green eyes weren’t glaring heatedly at him with hatred. One could almost say she was...beautiful?
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