The ninja Kage-Maru has been hired to capture Sarah Bryant. Fate, however, sought to intervene in this seemingly simple mission.
This is a three-part fanfiction based on the Virtua Fighter anime series. Written in the format of the Japanese noh dram...
It was the night I betrayed an act of pure compassion by exchanging self-serving greed.
She carried the soothing scent of lavender and traces of sweetness, like fresh cherry blossoms. Her now-unbound golden hair was spread out over the arm that she had bandaged mere moments ago. For the second time that day, she had fallen into my arms.
Asleep.
I had managed to sneak the needle out of my pocket without her noticing. She had been too occupied with my bleeding arm and dressing it with the soft scarf that she had removed from her hair. She had then looked at me with something like concern.
I had looked straight back.
And I had reached for her.
Then I had plunged the sleeping potion into her bloodstream by injecting the needle at the side of her neck.
For the precious few seconds that I had not thought of her as a captive awaiting delivery, I nearly fooled myself into believing that I was like everybody else. That I could be hurt and be cared for, that my heart could beat faster with one long gaze from those blue eyes, that I could touch someone because I wanted to.
Then I stopped.
For me, it could never be like that.
She could have had ran away when she had the chance. After we made it back onto the balcony, I had been fighting to remain conscious through all the pain in my arm and the blood loss. It would have been very easy for her to leave the room, run screaming into the hallway, and bring a horde of security personnel to arrest the bad man who had kidnapped the daughter of the rich Bryant family.
Yet she had chosen to stay, quietly showing her concern over someone who had done nothing but take her away from her brother and friends in exchange for a sum of money.
Before her eyes had fluttered close, she had looked at me with the slightest bit of surprise. No struggle, no accusing stare. I was certain she had expected me to do something to make her more docile.
Yet she had still helped me, rendering herself vulnerable to whatever harm her captor had in mind.
I knew she wasn't foolish enough to feel remorse for injuring a kidnapper, or grateful because I had saved her life.
She would have had realized I won't get my payment if she died.
She....
What had she felt then?
For a few stolen seconds, I wrapped my right arm around her slender body and brought her close, in a mockery of an embrace. She was breathing softly against my chest, as if she was merely a woman sleeping in a place where she thought herself safe.
I pulled back and looked down at her unconscious form. In the moonlight, she was an innocent angel with heavenly aura still gleaming, unaware of the madness that had made her its pawn.
If only things weren't the way they are now.
Sarah...
The words escaped my lips.
"I'm sorry. I have to do this."
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