Essence of Butterfly | yunjae | 1/xx
Title: Essence of Butterfly
Chapter(s): 01/?
Author: sentimentalenvy
Genre: action, angst, historical, romance
Rating: R
Warnings: language, tobacco use, violence
Pairing: YunJae
Disclaimer: I do not own any known characters in this story.
Synopsis: The history of two family names collide, clashes and tangle in a way neither is willing to settle. Written stories told and never forgotten. Secrets are meant to be concealed; never unveiled. Two vessels wrapped in a love so taboo - venomous to the touch. And what is the purpose of a battle? Fought to conquer and prevail.
More on plunnie (if you're a jaeho_complex member): click here
Comment(s): Note 1: For moon1084’s birthday. X) Note 2: Also, this fiction is set back in the Meiji period (1868-1912) in 1880.
Thanks, Nadia, for being so unbelievably patient with this. To my readers, really, thank you all so much for your understanding. After dealing with all sorts of obstacles and a bunch of irriating shit in my life, I've finally managed to update. Its been a long time comin’! And please let me know what you think. ^^
web counter
Chapter One
1880 April 17th
“HAH! Nice kick, but you missed me suckaaAaAHH!”
A loud grunt, followed with a groan, trailed towards a direction as a body flew and cut into the air before landing onto the ground with an ugly thud. The man coughed, throwing his arm over his face as his body morphed into a silhouette within the shroud of dust.
“What the heeell!” The said man wailed, eyes squinting slightly, as he stared up at my approaching figure. “That was so uncalled for, Yunho. I could’ve been seriously hurt!”
“Oh hush, Yuchun. You’re just being overly dramatic. First thing they teach you is to stay on guard,” I shrugged, swinging out a hand for my friend to hold. “Well, actually, first rule of the game is to uh - not die.”
“Fuck. You.” Yuchun seethed, glaring at me hard until his eyes rolled up into his head, no doubt blinded for at least two seconds. He purposely gripped hard at my fingers before using my body weight for leverage. “Shall we continue sparring?”
“Since you’re obviously asking out of courtesy, and we’ve already done so for three hours, I think it’s about time for breakfast.”
“Thank God!” Yuchun almost squealed, as he dashed on across the training grounds. His rare clumsiness found himself tripping over a stumpy root. He nearly landed face down into the ground before he flipped forward and stumbled before continuing down the path towards the Matsumoto estate. I chuckle and scoffed at his quit amusing behavior, and turned my gaze back towards the gather of trees.
The morning air blew hard at my body, instantly sending chills down my spine. I’ve awoken this morning at around 5 in the morning, and I’ve been training with Yuchun since then, yet I still don’t feel an ounce of weariness. But there was one thing that I grew tired of.
This whole drama having gone out of hand, as usual, between the Kinomoto and Matsumoto rivalry…
Despite the fact that the nasty spark between the families have supposedly “lessened” since then, there was no such thing as members within the families being at peace. Folks around town have gossiped, spoke rumors of almost never seeing our fights out in the open public anymore. Of course, this fact is not true. Friends of friends of the Kinomotos even got into brawls with friends of friends of the Matsumotos. And to think…that all this traced back to our great ancestors.
The ridiculous shit of it all.
And it all started with the Kinomotos. Had that shallow whore not run off after robbing us of our finances, such nonsense would not have existed. I’ve often wondered how long all this would last. My uncle Yoshimitsu, however, refuses to let it go. God forbid the drunken nights I’ve spent with him, listening to him drone on about how those no good money sucking leeches and how they needed to be taught a lesson and should have never been trusted to begin with. But everyone in the family knew of him as the all talk and no action type.
Even if there were private brawls, randomly picked fights at the taverns, I knew for a fact that no matter what we did, this rivalry was never going to perish. As long as the Kinomotos were alive and well, brainwashing fellow townspeople and neighboring villagers, and spreading filthy rumors to taint our name, there was no way this was going to end. I had managed to cope with it all, but nobody said it was easy. Just merely being a Matsumoto made people see you under a different light.
Judged.
Despised.
Involved.
At first, I refused to let it get to me. I always told myself that it would eventually pass. I figured after several decades, you’d assume the topic and issue would become boring. But as the years grew weary, the tension escalated. Of course by then our family had already picked ourselves up. On the exterior, we were your everyday merchants, but internally, my family dealt with the black market. We have almost any kind of illegal weaponry at hand. My uncle was the yakuza that dealt with the underground business and I’d made it clear to him and my other uncles that I wanted no part of it. But no matter what I did, they always tried to pull obvious and shady tactics to drift me in their favor.
This.
Such things, these situations, our handlings are what made us feared and seen by people. Almost everyone knew of the black markets running stealthily around town - around the rest of Japan. But nobody dared, or ever spoke of it. It was common knowledge to know that underground transactions were better kept under the radar. But the authorities were always on everyone’s cases - especially several daring policemen foolish enough to think they could fight fire with fire - justice versus delinquents.
It even terrified me, and broke my heart, to see how fast one’s life could easily be taken away. It wasn’t as if killing a man was hard. Especially during newfound times like these, when the westerners have brought in the new concept of portable canons - firearms - called “guns”. The consistency of this new weapon was extraordinary. Who would’ve thought…that a metal tube could fire a projectile with such high velocity that made a man cower and beg for his life? Killing a man was as easy as tapping the trigger with a finger.
I just couldn’t believe that people were stupid enough to let such power take over their minds. Their sanity. Guns were too powerful, and it was brainwashing mankind, and luring them into the greed and possession of power. The look on a man’s face behind the operation of a multiple firearm leaves a foul taste in my mouth. The scary thing is that it really does look as if the weapon was possessing the man himself. And the looks of innocent civilians being murdered - pierced and penetrated by multiple bullets with thousands more to spare…
A low growl was forced from my throat, and I snapped, fiercely drop kicking the head off of a frail dummy stuck in the ground. I felt so pathetic. I felt so fucking helpless. I hated how my stupid comrades bought into my uncle’s stories, sharing his passion, and some even foolish enough to run to their own death by picking a fight with either a Kinomoto or a friend of. I found it exhausting and cruel of Yoshimitsu sending out his yakuza members to provoke them. And I despise the Kinomotos for retaliating.
Not to mention my idiotic, pompous, smug son of a bitch cousin, Daichi, always looking for any kind of trouble. Like father like son, they were almost identical in personality. I felt most pity for him, though. Daichi…a fifteen year old brat with a bright future ahead of him, yet this boy’s life dream was to be one with the family yakuza and carry on in his father’s place. A pity.
Like the Yin and the Yang, we were two different souls. He preferred power - authority over others - and feeding off of people’s misery while I loved to live life on the edge. I, Matsumoto Yunho, am a street fighter. While my uncle ran the black market, I decided to make income from what I loved most - fighting.
I’ll admit...that I’ve committed dark crimes I can never take back. But I’ve always had the mindset that whatever’s done is done. Once you’ve killed a man, you can never return to the man you once was. But I believe there is still such a thing as protecting by killing. Wouldn’t you have to take life to give it? If a man stole life and didn’t commit to the consequences, would it be alright for him to run free from it? It was a common understanding to know and accept that everyone deserves justice.
...then what about the Kinomotos?
What good have they ever brought to us gives them the privilege to justice?
"Kinomoto Jejung, you haul your scrawny ass back here right this instant!" A loud screech came from the entrance of the dojo.
A young man's, my cousin Junsu to be exact, fists clenched against the wooden door frame. His eyes flashed, brows furrowed, his volumptuous butt clenching in anger (I'm sure) and tight lips dipped into a snarl. I continued to shuffle my way across the patches of grass, a blade of green snapping off it's root as my foot strides another step forward.
"Auntie won't be pleased to know that you've bailed on kenjutsu practice! I mean, come on! What am I supposed to do with the kids?!" Junsu wailed hoarsely, and I stopped and halted for a moment.
He was using my mother to threaten me! The nerve of this man! Although I understand very well my priorities to my family, but surely Junsu could handle the kenjutsu lessons himself! I sighed, having an inner debate with my conscience if I should ditch my cousin and risk getting in trouble or stop another friend from getting into trouble with one of the Matsumotos. My parents absolutely hated the idea of my involvement, but if there was nothing I could do, the least I could do was to try to prevent trouble wherever I was present.
But how on Earth was I going to give Junsu an excuse without giving my true intentions away?
"You're not thinking about getting messy with the Matsumotos are you?!" He half screamed, jumping off the wooden ledge and dashed towards me. He slammed his sweaty palm into my shoulder, and jerked me back, not wasting time to shake at my body back and forth.
How the hell did he know?!
"O-Oi, Junsu, stop shaking me! I'm not, okay?! I'm not!" I stuttered, grabbing at his hand in an attempt to pull him away. "Saeki got into trouble with a friend of the Matsumotos and they're going to have a showdown this late afternoon and if I don't stop it, one or the other is going to get hurt!"
I couldn't let Saeki get hurt. A part of me was afraid that he was doing this to get attention. Yes, he was courageous, but as brave as he was, he was also foolish and relentless. No, taking chances weren't an option. The worst I would get out of my mother was her lecture assaults in my ears. But seeing life lost was not something I was going to hang around to see. I haven't had the chance to shed blood by my hand and I don't plan on doing it anytime soon or ever.
I remember the insistant child in me, that always pestered my father in allowing me to wield a real weapon, and the one that trained to his hardest and fullest potential. Only to find, in my older years, that my maturity has changed my views on almost everything I believed in as a child. An honorable man was a man who fights for what is right. A man protects who needs to be protected and shields the good from evil.
On my sixteenth birthday, Papa gave me the option between the long awaited katana, and the sakabato. I remember the familiar touch of the two blades in between the tips of my fingers. Papa said the sakabato was different from that of the normal katana. He made me see while the outcurved side of the blade is sharp on the katana, the inward curve of a sakabato's blade is blunt. It would be rather obvious to choose the normal blade, the one that every man would naturally desire.
All these years with my father's training, he had cleverly arranged each lesson subliminally! All those scenarios, and set up events with the help of my family members...I can still remember the times when I thought I really was saving Junsu's life from one of the yakuza. But there were also the times where I saved Saeki's life from a Matsumoto. My protective instincts have never been so powerful. The need to save the people I cared so deeply for has nearly scared me out of my witts when I found myself willing to nearly kill someone else to save the life of another.
For awhile, I'd thought about giving it up all together. My hopes and dreams of what I thought was all I desired.
Then Papa said that there was nothing wrong with the intention to protect. He'd said that it was how I put my abilities to use. I'd realized that no matter which path I chose, it would be inevitable that the sakabato and I would meet.
"One or the other?! One or the other?!" Junsu's screeched in disbelief as if I'd clearly been out of my mind. "What do you mean one or the other? You make it sound as if you want to save both of them. You know very well that it doesn't work that way. And you know how merciless they are. They won't hesitate-"
"Don't you think I know that, cousin?" I sighed and turned around to see the children peering out from the door. After making eye contact with several of the little faces, they scrambled immediately, knocking into each other as they made their way back into the dojo. "Look, I'll just probably knock a brick into his head, throw his unconcious body over my shoulder and haul him away. Why do you have to make things complicated when they aren't?" I almost cringe at my words...as I am very aware of the contradiction I've made.
These times were complicated, but my first priority in mind was to get Saeki out of harm's way. The showdown with Saeki and his oponent wasn't going to be held until later, but I figured I'd get to Saeki first in order to convince him to stay out of it. I had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to relent, but it would make myself feel better than if I were to let him go willingly.
I sighed inwardly, troubled with what to do with both situations at hand. I had been caught red handed and I wasn't exactly sure if my cousin was really going to turn me in. I'd already planned on training myself by the river down south of the village before heading off to my dear friend's rescue. But then again...the paranoia ran venemously through my veins at the thought of Junsu growing devil horns, lassoing me into a wrap and tossing me mercilessly at my mother's feet. I sighed.
Blackmail never once tasted the slightest sweet in my mouth. But today I just simply did not wish to stay here any longer - for today at least. I had too much on my mind and the kids didn't deserve an instructor who wasn't able to give them 100% of his efforts into the lessons. Junsu would just have to do this alone.
"There's nothing complicated about it." I hear Junsu's voice breaking into my reverie once more. Exactly how long do my thoughts drone? Huh.. "Focus, Jejung. Just stay out of it. Saeki is probably going to go in there relentlessly, fight, nearly lose and find a way to barely make it out of there alive."
"Junsu," I sigh, turning away from him, trying to muster up the most intimidating smirk I could make before turning to him with an awful leer. "Junsu-chan~"
"...AAAUUUNTTTIIIII-!" He screamed, for my mother no doubt, and started dashing towards the dojo.
It was absolutely ridiculous to me, because we were both aware of the fact that my mother had gone shopping for the ingredients for tonight's dinner. Junsu inconveniently tripped over a couple of hidden rocks latched together in the grass, allowing me the chance to launch myself over his back.
My cousin landed with an ooph onto the ground, and as his head came up to scream, my hand came down to grab at his head before shoving his face first into the ground. Junsu's muffled breaths dampened the grass and hes flailed, kicked and screamed against the ground as I continued to smear his face into the earthly greens. I guess blackmail wasn't as necessary as I thought.
"You are not going to tell my mother about my escape, do you hear me, cousin?!" I sneered, fingers digging into his scalp.
"NEVVERGHHAHHHH!" Junsu lifted his head up to scream something along the lines of ratting me out, until I pouted angrily, stubbornly gripping harder at his hair and swishing it side to side into the grass.
"You will do no such thing. Or I'll tell everyone of your suspicious escapades with your new boyfriend!"
Ah.
I guess blackmail wasn't such a horrible idea.
Oh well.
I'd ended up threatening him, not exactly certain if he really had an official boyfriend or not. I had seen him around with a man, but we'd always been amongst a crowd for me to really get a good visual on him. But I figured either way, I was going to call on it, and hope that piece of information would carry me through.
"I-I-NoOHMMPHAWW! I don't have a broyfriendh!" He muffled, spitting out bits of grass and dirt as he desperately lifted his head up.
I had all the confirmation I needed. He had a boyfriend! How did I ever come to be so lucky?! I smiled in triumph, delighted with the sudden hesitant behavior in my cousin's voice. Carry out your bluff, Jejung! Yosh!
"Yes you do! Don't lie to me cousin. Black haired, small eyes, lean and built~" Again, I wasn't exactly sure of his exact description since I've only had glimpses and a majority of side profiles of him with Junsu from within the crowd, but it was worth a shot. I suppose I was - sort of - describing what any person would like in a man. Or quite possibly my own preference. Oh who cares. I'm sure Junsu's preference would match that of mine anyway.
He suddenly kept unusually still, and for a moment I thought I had guessed right after all. My objective was to make Junsu think I knew everything about this mysterious man. I felt the tense muscles in his shoulder with my right hand pushing him down. I decided to push my proposition forward once more.
"Do we have a deal, cousin?" I said, jerking his head up lightly so I could see the emotions run through his nervous face.
He ended up pouting softly, and finally settling on an obedient nod.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to have some time to myself to meditate," I said, letting out a sigh as I hauled my body off his back.
"Where are you going?" He asked wearily, flopping over on his back, and slowly getting up. "Down to the river again?"
"Why should I tell someone that's going to break his promise and run to my mother behind my back?" I ask haughtily, placing my hands at my hips and looked away. "Anyway, I should be back in time to talk Saeki out of doing something stupid. Perhaps I should try to convince him to practice meditation. Beats knocking him out to prevent him from running into trouble hm?"
"No matter what you say, nothing's going to get through to that guy," The shorter man sighed, scratching at his sore scalp. "Well, go on," He said, his gestures imitating that of a shoo.
"Thank you and going~" I bent down to ruffle at his hair, earning a slap at my arm and a push at my thighs. "You weren't going to turn me in, were you?" I asked, wanting to confirm my suspicions.
"...Maybe I was. Maybe I was not." He responded slyly.
"So I guess there is no hunky dashing handsome boyfriend is there?" I question once more.
Junsu choked and let out a bunch of stutters; his pupils darting left and right as he mumbled out a much too strained and forced NO!
Uh huh.
The weather today was absolutely marvelous. The pressure of the wind was fantastic and the sun spared me from the red blotches on my skin. As a child, my skin had always been highly sensitive to the sun, and for some reason, could never tan. I either turned red or...well...I'd just red. I guess I could never really be as dashing as my father once was.
I sighed, feeling my chest bounce as a walked down the hill towards the river in heavy steps. I'd always been cautious while walking down the slopes, because while Junsu was blessed with a terrific life ass, I had not. If I were to fall onto my bottom, well lets face it, I'd be left with a broken tailbone for weeks.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sudden sharp sound which had me jolting straight out of my reverie. It sounded like it was nearby. Out of curiosity, my feet dragged me over to the source of the sounds, which seemed to be getting louder as I approached. When I got close enough to the sound, as a natural instinct, I hid myself behind one of the few trees along the river. From the sounds of grunts, pants and smashing, I could say one was randomly training along the river or perhaps doing the...action that cannot be said so openly. Of course, knowing that fornicating out in the open is highly disgraceful and I'm sure majority of the villagers here know their manners well enough to tarnish their family name.
I peeked out silently from behind the trunk to see what appears to be two men sparring. It seemed like they were going at it quite intensely. One of them seemed to be almost just as pale as I, and his sparring partner, no doubt the handsome fellow.
Then again it is said that the river is one of the most favored training grounds. Even though the ground level wasn't made for training, those who preferred to find themselves within their training came here. My eyes widened as I took in their well capable forms, slipping and sliding, flipping and striking. Their martial art techniques were most impressive and no doubt have had some special training.
During the last twenty-two years of my life, I never had the opportunity to learn the ways of martial arts. In fact my father and none of my cousins have much skill with it either. I suppose that's what we get for relying too much on the sword. I sighed inwardly.
Oh how I'd love to learn...
I continue watching them fight, trying to hold back my chuckles from the occasional insults the pale man spewed towards his partner. But that was not before he was literally grappled by the arm and throw across the air and into the tree.
"What the hell, Yunho! If you're going to throw me into the tree, don't throw me face first, you fucking dick! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that!" The pale man shouted. "Mother fucking Matsumoto Yunho."
"Can't say I didn't warn you, Yuchun."
Matsumoto Yunho.
WHAT?
My eyes doubled in size. This...this couldn't be! The back of my mind itched to wrap its fingers around my throat and strangle me to get the facts through and into my head. I should've known. With fighting skills like that, he has to be the Matsumoto Yunho. I've only heard about this man, and I'm sure the whole town or a few towns along the region knew who he was. My heart sunk down towards my stomach in pity-mostly for myself.
And here I was going to "accidentally" stumble along and hopefully befriend them, and maybe even convince them to teach me. But now I know that opportunity is most impossible.
Ugh, again with this whole past crap! Why couldn't we all just put the past behind us and forgive and forget? I've never been able to make as many friends as I wanted to and now here was the perfect opportunity to learn something from another-
I sighed dejectedly. Who was I kidding? I'm being ridiculous and I think - no, I know - that it would be best if I retraced my steps down and far away from these people. I turned my head carefully to take one last peek and admist my deep thoughts, these two men were sparring once more. As lethal as the techniques were, both members knew how to either avoid the attack or face it head on. I am pretty sure that the one Saeki has to fight this afternoon was most definitely not Matsumoto Yunho. But still, I've seen a couple or so of the Matsumotos fight, but I already knew Yunho was one that was not to be tampered with.
I had no doubt these men hated me, and would probably pound, or slaughter me cold on sight if they knew of me being one with the Kinomotos.
prologue | 2
Chapter(s): 01/?
Author: sentimentalenvy
Genre: action, angst, historical, romance
Rating: R
Warnings: language, tobacco use, violence
Pairing: YunJae
Disclaimer: I do not own any known characters in this story.
Synopsis: The history of two family names collide, clashes and tangle in a way neither is willing to settle. Written stories told and never forgotten. Secrets are meant to be concealed; never unveiled. Two vessels wrapped in a love so taboo - venomous to the touch. And what is the purpose of a battle? Fought to conquer and prevail.
More on plunnie (if you're a jaeho_complex member): click here
Comment(s): Note 1: For moon1084’s birthday. X) Note 2: Also, this fiction is set back in the Meiji period (1868-1912) in 1880.
Thanks, Nadia, for being so unbelievably patient with this. To my readers, really, thank you all so much for your understanding. After dealing with all sorts of obstacles and a bunch of irriating shit in my life, I've finally managed to update. Its been a long time comin’! And please let me know what you think. ^^
web counter
Chapter One
1880 April 17th
“HAH! Nice kick, but you missed me suckaaAaAHH!”
A loud grunt, followed with a groan, trailed towards a direction as a body flew and cut into the air before landing onto the ground with an ugly thud. The man coughed, throwing his arm over his face as his body morphed into a silhouette within the shroud of dust.
“What the heeell!” The said man wailed, eyes squinting slightly, as he stared up at my approaching figure. “That was so uncalled for, Yunho. I could’ve been seriously hurt!”
“Oh hush, Yuchun. You’re just being overly dramatic. First thing they teach you is to stay on guard,” I shrugged, swinging out a hand for my friend to hold. “Well, actually, first rule of the game is to uh - not die.”
“Fuck. You.” Yuchun seethed, glaring at me hard until his eyes rolled up into his head, no doubt blinded for at least two seconds. He purposely gripped hard at my fingers before using my body weight for leverage. “Shall we continue sparring?”
“Since you’re obviously asking out of courtesy, and we’ve already done so for three hours, I think it’s about time for breakfast.”
“Thank God!” Yuchun almost squealed, as he dashed on across the training grounds. His rare clumsiness found himself tripping over a stumpy root. He nearly landed face down into the ground before he flipped forward and stumbled before continuing down the path towards the Matsumoto estate. I chuckle and scoffed at his quit amusing behavior, and turned my gaze back towards the gather of trees.
The morning air blew hard at my body, instantly sending chills down my spine. I’ve awoken this morning at around 5 in the morning, and I’ve been training with Yuchun since then, yet I still don’t feel an ounce of weariness. But there was one thing that I grew tired of.
This whole drama having gone out of hand, as usual, between the Kinomoto and Matsumoto rivalry…
Despite the fact that the nasty spark between the families have supposedly “lessened” since then, there was no such thing as members within the families being at peace. Folks around town have gossiped, spoke rumors of almost never seeing our fights out in the open public anymore. Of course, this fact is not true. Friends of friends of the Kinomotos even got into brawls with friends of friends of the Matsumotos. And to think…that all this traced back to our great ancestors.
The ridiculous shit of it all.
And it all started with the Kinomotos. Had that shallow whore not run off after robbing us of our finances, such nonsense would not have existed. I’ve often wondered how long all this would last. My uncle Yoshimitsu, however, refuses to let it go. God forbid the drunken nights I’ve spent with him, listening to him drone on about how those no good money sucking leeches and how they needed to be taught a lesson and should have never been trusted to begin with. But everyone in the family knew of him as the all talk and no action type.
Even if there were private brawls, randomly picked fights at the taverns, I knew for a fact that no matter what we did, this rivalry was never going to perish. As long as the Kinomotos were alive and well, brainwashing fellow townspeople and neighboring villagers, and spreading filthy rumors to taint our name, there was no way this was going to end. I had managed to cope with it all, but nobody said it was easy. Just merely being a Matsumoto made people see you under a different light.
Judged.
Despised.
Involved.
At first, I refused to let it get to me. I always told myself that it would eventually pass. I figured after several decades, you’d assume the topic and issue would become boring. But as the years grew weary, the tension escalated. Of course by then our family had already picked ourselves up. On the exterior, we were your everyday merchants, but internally, my family dealt with the black market. We have almost any kind of illegal weaponry at hand. My uncle was the yakuza that dealt with the underground business and I’d made it clear to him and my other uncles that I wanted no part of it. But no matter what I did, they always tried to pull obvious and shady tactics to drift me in their favor.
This.
Such things, these situations, our handlings are what made us feared and seen by people. Almost everyone knew of the black markets running stealthily around town - around the rest of Japan. But nobody dared, or ever spoke of it. It was common knowledge to know that underground transactions were better kept under the radar. But the authorities were always on everyone’s cases - especially several daring policemen foolish enough to think they could fight fire with fire - justice versus delinquents.
It even terrified me, and broke my heart, to see how fast one’s life could easily be taken away. It wasn’t as if killing a man was hard. Especially during newfound times like these, when the westerners have brought in the new concept of portable canons - firearms - called “guns”. The consistency of this new weapon was extraordinary. Who would’ve thought…that a metal tube could fire a projectile with such high velocity that made a man cower and beg for his life? Killing a man was as easy as tapping the trigger with a finger.
I just couldn’t believe that people were stupid enough to let such power take over their minds. Their sanity. Guns were too powerful, and it was brainwashing mankind, and luring them into the greed and possession of power. The look on a man’s face behind the operation of a multiple firearm leaves a foul taste in my mouth. The scary thing is that it really does look as if the weapon was possessing the man himself. And the looks of innocent civilians being murdered - pierced and penetrated by multiple bullets with thousands more to spare…
A low growl was forced from my throat, and I snapped, fiercely drop kicking the head off of a frail dummy stuck in the ground. I felt so pathetic. I felt so fucking helpless. I hated how my stupid comrades bought into my uncle’s stories, sharing his passion, and some even foolish enough to run to their own death by picking a fight with either a Kinomoto or a friend of. I found it exhausting and cruel of Yoshimitsu sending out his yakuza members to provoke them. And I despise the Kinomotos for retaliating.
Not to mention my idiotic, pompous, smug son of a bitch cousin, Daichi, always looking for any kind of trouble. Like father like son, they were almost identical in personality. I felt most pity for him, though. Daichi…a fifteen year old brat with a bright future ahead of him, yet this boy’s life dream was to be one with the family yakuza and carry on in his father’s place. A pity.
Like the Yin and the Yang, we were two different souls. He preferred power - authority over others - and feeding off of people’s misery while I loved to live life on the edge. I, Matsumoto Yunho, am a street fighter. While my uncle ran the black market, I decided to make income from what I loved most - fighting.
I’ll admit...that I’ve committed dark crimes I can never take back. But I’ve always had the mindset that whatever’s done is done. Once you’ve killed a man, you can never return to the man you once was. But I believe there is still such a thing as protecting by killing. Wouldn’t you have to take life to give it? If a man stole life and didn’t commit to the consequences, would it be alright for him to run free from it? It was a common understanding to know and accept that everyone deserves justice.
...then what about the Kinomotos?
What good have they ever brought to us gives them the privilege to justice?
"Kinomoto Jejung, you haul your scrawny ass back here right this instant!" A loud screech came from the entrance of the dojo.
A young man's, my cousin Junsu to be exact, fists clenched against the wooden door frame. His eyes flashed, brows furrowed, his volumptuous butt clenching in anger (I'm sure) and tight lips dipped into a snarl. I continued to shuffle my way across the patches of grass, a blade of green snapping off it's root as my foot strides another step forward.
"Auntie won't be pleased to know that you've bailed on kenjutsu practice! I mean, come on! What am I supposed to do with the kids?!" Junsu wailed hoarsely, and I stopped and halted for a moment.
He was using my mother to threaten me! The nerve of this man! Although I understand very well my priorities to my family, but surely Junsu could handle the kenjutsu lessons himself! I sighed, having an inner debate with my conscience if I should ditch my cousin and risk getting in trouble or stop another friend from getting into trouble with one of the Matsumotos. My parents absolutely hated the idea of my involvement, but if there was nothing I could do, the least I could do was to try to prevent trouble wherever I was present.
But how on Earth was I going to give Junsu an excuse without giving my true intentions away?
"You're not thinking about getting messy with the Matsumotos are you?!" He half screamed, jumping off the wooden ledge and dashed towards me. He slammed his sweaty palm into my shoulder, and jerked me back, not wasting time to shake at my body back and forth.
How the hell did he know?!
"O-Oi, Junsu, stop shaking me! I'm not, okay?! I'm not!" I stuttered, grabbing at his hand in an attempt to pull him away. "Saeki got into trouble with a friend of the Matsumotos and they're going to have a showdown this late afternoon and if I don't stop it, one or the other is going to get hurt!"
I couldn't let Saeki get hurt. A part of me was afraid that he was doing this to get attention. Yes, he was courageous, but as brave as he was, he was also foolish and relentless. No, taking chances weren't an option. The worst I would get out of my mother was her lecture assaults in my ears. But seeing life lost was not something I was going to hang around to see. I haven't had the chance to shed blood by my hand and I don't plan on doing it anytime soon or ever.
I remember the insistant child in me, that always pestered my father in allowing me to wield a real weapon, and the one that trained to his hardest and fullest potential. Only to find, in my older years, that my maturity has changed my views on almost everything I believed in as a child. An honorable man was a man who fights for what is right. A man protects who needs to be protected and shields the good from evil.
On my sixteenth birthday, Papa gave me the option between the long awaited katana, and the sakabato. I remember the familiar touch of the two blades in between the tips of my fingers. Papa said the sakabato was different from that of the normal katana. He made me see while the outcurved side of the blade is sharp on the katana, the inward curve of a sakabato's blade is blunt. It would be rather obvious to choose the normal blade, the one that every man would naturally desire.
All these years with my father's training, he had cleverly arranged each lesson subliminally! All those scenarios, and set up events with the help of my family members...I can still remember the times when I thought I really was saving Junsu's life from one of the yakuza. But there were also the times where I saved Saeki's life from a Matsumoto. My protective instincts have never been so powerful. The need to save the people I cared so deeply for has nearly scared me out of my witts when I found myself willing to nearly kill someone else to save the life of another.
For awhile, I'd thought about giving it up all together. My hopes and dreams of what I thought was all I desired.
Then Papa said that there was nothing wrong with the intention to protect. He'd said that it was how I put my abilities to use. I'd realized that no matter which path I chose, it would be inevitable that the sakabato and I would meet.
"One or the other?! One or the other?!" Junsu's screeched in disbelief as if I'd clearly been out of my mind. "What do you mean one or the other? You make it sound as if you want to save both of them. You know very well that it doesn't work that way. And you know how merciless they are. They won't hesitate-"
"Don't you think I know that, cousin?" I sighed and turned around to see the children peering out from the door. After making eye contact with several of the little faces, they scrambled immediately, knocking into each other as they made their way back into the dojo. "Look, I'll just probably knock a brick into his head, throw his unconcious body over my shoulder and haul him away. Why do you have to make things complicated when they aren't?" I almost cringe at my words...as I am very aware of the contradiction I've made.
These times were complicated, but my first priority in mind was to get Saeki out of harm's way. The showdown with Saeki and his oponent wasn't going to be held until later, but I figured I'd get to Saeki first in order to convince him to stay out of it. I had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to relent, but it would make myself feel better than if I were to let him go willingly.
I sighed inwardly, troubled with what to do with both situations at hand. I had been caught red handed and I wasn't exactly sure if my cousin was really going to turn me in. I'd already planned on training myself by the river down south of the village before heading off to my dear friend's rescue. But then again...the paranoia ran venemously through my veins at the thought of Junsu growing devil horns, lassoing me into a wrap and tossing me mercilessly at my mother's feet. I sighed.
Blackmail never once tasted the slightest sweet in my mouth. But today I just simply did not wish to stay here any longer - for today at least. I had too much on my mind and the kids didn't deserve an instructor who wasn't able to give them 100% of his efforts into the lessons. Junsu would just have to do this alone.
"There's nothing complicated about it." I hear Junsu's voice breaking into my reverie once more. Exactly how long do my thoughts drone? Huh.. "Focus, Jejung. Just stay out of it. Saeki is probably going to go in there relentlessly, fight, nearly lose and find a way to barely make it out of there alive."
"Junsu," I sigh, turning away from him, trying to muster up the most intimidating smirk I could make before turning to him with an awful leer. "Junsu-chan~"
"...AAAUUUNTTTIIIII-!" He screamed, for my mother no doubt, and started dashing towards the dojo.
It was absolutely ridiculous to me, because we were both aware of the fact that my mother had gone shopping for the ingredients for tonight's dinner. Junsu inconveniently tripped over a couple of hidden rocks latched together in the grass, allowing me the chance to launch myself over his back.
My cousin landed with an ooph onto the ground, and as his head came up to scream, my hand came down to grab at his head before shoving his face first into the ground. Junsu's muffled breaths dampened the grass and hes flailed, kicked and screamed against the ground as I continued to smear his face into the earthly greens. I guess blackmail wasn't as necessary as I thought.
"You are not going to tell my mother about my escape, do you hear me, cousin?!" I sneered, fingers digging into his scalp.
"NEVVERGHHAHHHH!" Junsu lifted his head up to scream something along the lines of ratting me out, until I pouted angrily, stubbornly gripping harder at his hair and swishing it side to side into the grass.
"You will do no such thing. Or I'll tell everyone of your suspicious escapades with your new boyfriend!"
Ah.
I guess blackmail wasn't such a horrible idea.
Oh well.
I'd ended up threatening him, not exactly certain if he really had an official boyfriend or not. I had seen him around with a man, but we'd always been amongst a crowd for me to really get a good visual on him. But I figured either way, I was going to call on it, and hope that piece of information would carry me through.
"I-I-NoOHMMPHAWW! I don't have a broyfriendh!" He muffled, spitting out bits of grass and dirt as he desperately lifted his head up.
I had all the confirmation I needed. He had a boyfriend! How did I ever come to be so lucky?! I smiled in triumph, delighted with the sudden hesitant behavior in my cousin's voice. Carry out your bluff, Jejung! Yosh!
"Yes you do! Don't lie to me cousin. Black haired, small eyes, lean and built~" Again, I wasn't exactly sure of his exact description since I've only had glimpses and a majority of side profiles of him with Junsu from within the crowd, but it was worth a shot. I suppose I was - sort of - describing what any person would like in a man. Or quite possibly my own preference. Oh who cares. I'm sure Junsu's preference would match that of mine anyway.
He suddenly kept unusually still, and for a moment I thought I had guessed right after all. My objective was to make Junsu think I knew everything about this mysterious man. I felt the tense muscles in his shoulder with my right hand pushing him down. I decided to push my proposition forward once more.
"Do we have a deal, cousin?" I said, jerking his head up lightly so I could see the emotions run through his nervous face.
He ended up pouting softly, and finally settling on an obedient nod.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to have some time to myself to meditate," I said, letting out a sigh as I hauled my body off his back.
"Where are you going?" He asked wearily, flopping over on his back, and slowly getting up. "Down to the river again?"
"Why should I tell someone that's going to break his promise and run to my mother behind my back?" I ask haughtily, placing my hands at my hips and looked away. "Anyway, I should be back in time to talk Saeki out of doing something stupid. Perhaps I should try to convince him to practice meditation. Beats knocking him out to prevent him from running into trouble hm?"
"No matter what you say, nothing's going to get through to that guy," The shorter man sighed, scratching at his sore scalp. "Well, go on," He said, his gestures imitating that of a shoo.
"Thank you and going~" I bent down to ruffle at his hair, earning a slap at my arm and a push at my thighs. "You weren't going to turn me in, were you?" I asked, wanting to confirm my suspicions.
"...Maybe I was. Maybe I was not." He responded slyly.
"So I guess there is no hunky dashing handsome boyfriend is there?" I question once more.
Junsu choked and let out a bunch of stutters; his pupils darting left and right as he mumbled out a much too strained and forced NO!
Uh huh.
The weather today was absolutely marvelous. The pressure of the wind was fantastic and the sun spared me from the red blotches on my skin. As a child, my skin had always been highly sensitive to the sun, and for some reason, could never tan. I either turned red or...well...I'd just red. I guess I could never really be as dashing as my father once was.
I sighed, feeling my chest bounce as a walked down the hill towards the river in heavy steps. I'd always been cautious while walking down the slopes, because while Junsu was blessed with a terrific life ass, I had not. If I were to fall onto my bottom, well lets face it, I'd be left with a broken tailbone for weeks.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sudden sharp sound which had me jolting straight out of my reverie. It sounded like it was nearby. Out of curiosity, my feet dragged me over to the source of the sounds, which seemed to be getting louder as I approached. When I got close enough to the sound, as a natural instinct, I hid myself behind one of the few trees along the river. From the sounds of grunts, pants and smashing, I could say one was randomly training along the river or perhaps doing the...action that cannot be said so openly. Of course, knowing that fornicating out in the open is highly disgraceful and I'm sure majority of the villagers here know their manners well enough to tarnish their family name.
I peeked out silently from behind the trunk to see what appears to be two men sparring. It seemed like they were going at it quite intensely. One of them seemed to be almost just as pale as I, and his sparring partner, no doubt the handsome fellow.
Then again it is said that the river is one of the most favored training grounds. Even though the ground level wasn't made for training, those who preferred to find themselves within their training came here. My eyes widened as I took in their well capable forms, slipping and sliding, flipping and striking. Their martial art techniques were most impressive and no doubt have had some special training.
During the last twenty-two years of my life, I never had the opportunity to learn the ways of martial arts. In fact my father and none of my cousins have much skill with it either. I suppose that's what we get for relying too much on the sword. I sighed inwardly.
Oh how I'd love to learn...
I continue watching them fight, trying to hold back my chuckles from the occasional insults the pale man spewed towards his partner. But that was not before he was literally grappled by the arm and throw across the air and into the tree.
"What the hell, Yunho! If you're going to throw me into the tree, don't throw me face first, you fucking dick! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that!" The pale man shouted. "Mother fucking Matsumoto Yunho."
"Can't say I didn't warn you, Yuchun."
Matsumoto Yunho.
WHAT?
My eyes doubled in size. This...this couldn't be! The back of my mind itched to wrap its fingers around my throat and strangle me to get the facts through and into my head. I should've known. With fighting skills like that, he has to be the Matsumoto Yunho. I've only heard about this man, and I'm sure the whole town or a few towns along the region knew who he was. My heart sunk down towards my stomach in pity-mostly for myself.
And here I was going to "accidentally" stumble along and hopefully befriend them, and maybe even convince them to teach me. But now I know that opportunity is most impossible.
Ugh, again with this whole past crap! Why couldn't we all just put the past behind us and forgive and forget? I've never been able to make as many friends as I wanted to and now here was the perfect opportunity to learn something from another-
I sighed dejectedly. Who was I kidding? I'm being ridiculous and I think - no, I know - that it would be best if I retraced my steps down and far away from these people. I turned my head carefully to take one last peek and admist my deep thoughts, these two men were sparring once more. As lethal as the techniques were, both members knew how to either avoid the attack or face it head on. I am pretty sure that the one Saeki has to fight this afternoon was most definitely not Matsumoto Yunho. But still, I've seen a couple or so of the Matsumotos fight, but I already knew Yunho was one that was not to be tampered with.
I had no doubt these men hated me, and would probably pound, or slaughter me cold on sight if they knew of me being one with the Kinomotos.
prologue | 2