Caught in the Past [Hakuouki]

Switching Roles

No, I thought . I might have shouted it, might have screeched it. But I was no longer sure of what I was doing. I wasn't in Kyoto anymore. I was in Edo, six years ago. I was the whimpering little girl before the samurai... but this time I was also the figure that jumped in front of her. Past and present merged, and I became both roles in this story. I wondered... would it end the same way as it had before?

My sword came up just as the man tried to bring his down on the child, and the resounding clang as they met echoed through the street. I didn't remember running across the road. I'd just known that if I didn't do something right now, I'd never be able to forgive myself. My eyes burned into the Ronin's like cold flame as I spoke. "Attacking a little girl? Aren't you just the picture of a noble samurai?"

He snorted and he cocked his head in a blatant challenge. "I work my ass off day and night for the sake of building a better Japan. The least you or that little bitch over there could do is thank me for my efforts instead of getting in my way."

My grip tightened on the sword keeping the ronin's blade at bay. "If you do so much hard work, then the girl's not worth your time. Why don't you just forget about it?" I knew that if I got into an actual sword fight with these guys, there was no chance I would win. So my first plan was to try to make them lose interest, but a quick shift in my glance to the other ronin told me that plan was unlikely to work. They already looked like they wanted to tear me limb from limb, especially now that a small crowd was beginning to gather a rather respectful distance away, and the longer I stood here challenging them, the more humiliated they became. One word from their leader and the little girl and I would be finished.

Plan B, then. Turn their attention solely to me.

I almost smiled. I'd been coming up with a lot of stupid ideas lately, but this one was sitting at the very top of the ever-growing tower. The ronin snarled, "Boy, if you don't get out of my way, I'll gut you where you stand."

I did smile that time. A cold, mocking smile that I was certain must uncannily resemble one of Okita's. The man couldn't even tell that I was a girl.

He'd given me a perfect opportunity.

"Well now, look at that," I said. "It seems you're not just a brute." My smirk widened. "You're a dumb brute."

His eyes flared with rage, and he used his superior weight to shove me back. "Little son of a bitch!" he shouted. And with those words, he lunged at me.

I barely managed to shield myself from his first blows. They came in rapid succession, one for my neck, leg, and chest. After seeing me deflect their leader's strikes, the other ronin started forward, but the man before me withdrew for long enough to bark a command to halt. "This bastard is mine!" he growled. Stupid. I could've taken advantage of his moment of prideful distraction. But the little girl was still sitting there...

I turned my head and told her, "Run!" Without waiting to see if she obeyed, I dove for the lead ronin, angling my sword to slice into his back, but without the blade even touching his skin, I felt dark red liquid spurting across my face.

I hesitated.

And then my opponent's katana was swinging for my exposed throat. I tried to move, but the tip of the cold metal sliced into the soft flesh below my chin. The skin beneath it felt wet and warm.

Blood.

The man immediately saw my fleeting focus, and pressed his advantage. His sword swept in, my own raised in a futile attempt to deflect it. Pain flared in my arm.

There had been so much...

My arms were slowly losing their strength. Hard steel slid across my cheek. Blood trailed down it.