Chapter Text
Falling rain drowned out the sound of her sweeping. The broom in her hand rhythmically swayed, guiding out the stray leaves that were thrown into the house by the raging winds. Slowly, the leaves moved past the front door, and onto the terrace, then with a large push,the leaves fell onto soaked ground. Solemn eyes looked at the bunch of leaves, following the falling rain up to the sky where it fell from. Her eyes stared at the dark clouds above.
A sigh left Sasaki Kojirou’s mouth.
The mountains where they lived were prone to rain, that was true, but this rain was too heavy, too long. It was nothing like the light rain that usually fell onto these parts.
This was not ordinary rain. No, not at all. This was the work of something –someone– far beyond human.
She gazed forward. Her brows furrowing as she focused on a point in the distance, where dense fog hid any land or being beyond it. Dread rippled through her. She wondered if the fog itself was natural, or if it too was aiding the yet unseen force.
Sasaki always knew that this day would come. Even as her feet took the first step away from the place she once called home, she knew it. The day when she was found.
She knew it would come, for she knew Him well, better than any other being ever did. Knew his likes and dislikes, his goods and bads. And above all, she knew that he was not one to ever give up, especially not if someone took something that belonged to him. A predator hunting relentlessly until he caught his prey.
It was just a matter of time.
~~~~
She closed her eyes. Breathing deeply before opening it once more. Sasaki spared one last glance at the rain before turning around. She lifted the broom and walked into the house, closing the front door behind her.
The wooden walls muffled the downpour. A moment of respite from her complicated thoughts.
Leaning the broom against a wall, Sasaki trudged to the dining table. The chair trembled under her weight, the table creaking when she placed her head -nestled on folded arms- on it. Just as she closed her eyes, a small voice sounded.
“Mama?”
She straightened her posture, turning to look at the source of the timid call.
A small boy poked his head out of the corridor doorway. His eyes swept around the room that held their kitchen, dining and living room.
“Kai, why are you awake?” Sasaki stood, approaching the small boy. Finding the figure he was searching for, the boy stepped out from the shadows, standing wholly in the middle of the doorway.
“The rain woke me,” The boy said, lifting his hands and rubbing both his eyes with it.
“Ah, is that so?”
The boy nodded. He stopped. Tilting his head a fraction before gesturing at the corridor he came from.“That and the leak too,”
Sasaki grimaced. “I haven’t fixed that, have I?”
Kaisei pouted, crossing his hands in front of his chest. Childish anger at his mother’s forgetfulness apparent in his voice. “Yes mama, you forgot. Again”
Sasaki pressed her lips together, a desire to pinch the little boy’s cheeks at the comical pout surfacing. Instead, she raised both her hands, palm facing the boy, in mock surrender.
“My apologies, O great Kaisei!” She placed her right hand on her chest in mock fear. “Could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”
Kaisei turned his head away in defiance, “No, never”
Sasaki giggled.
Sasaki took the small hand into her own, intertwining the small fingers with hers. Despite his earlier words, the boy followed her as she walked through the corridor to their bedrooms.
“Come, then, you can sleep in mama’s room tonight,”
The boy’s steps faltered, his head tilting upwards, facing Sasaki. His hand tugged at hers, asking her to stop too.
“Really?” The hopeful tilt in the boy's voice both warmed and ached at her chest.
“Of course, after all, when can I ever say no to you or Yuta?”
A smile blossomed onto the boy’s face, shining bright, like a small lamp in the midst of dark.
“Now, let’s get Yuka and mama will tuck you back to sleep.”
“Okay mama!” The boy beamed, the last traces of timidness disappearing as he rushed to the room that he and his sister shared, pulling Sasaki with him.
The boy shoved the wooden door open, releasing Sasaki’s hand and ambling to the bed on the right side of the small room, vigorously shaking the bed’s owner. Sasaki leaned on the doorframe, amused, as the sleeping girl groaned, refusing to turn and blindly waved her hand to swipe her brother away.
“Yuka! Come on!” The boy whined, lengthening the syllables of the word. The girl didn’t react as they continued their little squabble. Sasaki shook her head, a chuckle leaving her lips.
“Yuka” The little girl froze at her mother’s call.
“Mama?” The girl sat up and turned, ignoring her brother to look straight at her mother.
“Yuka, darling, do you want to sleep in mama’s room tonight?”
Yuka’s eyes widened, she stared at her mama for a second, then her lips formed a large smile.
“Yes mama!”
Jumping up from the bed, the girl ran to her mother with a pillow in her hand, leaving her brother in the dust.
“Hey! Wait up!”
Even as dread clouded her thoughts, genuine joy onto her face.
~~~~
Sasaki gently placed a thin blanket onto Yuka and Kaisei.The two children were tucked close to each other, their limbs stacking in some places. The pillow that Yuka took in between them.
They had only laid their heads on the pillow for a second before they fell back to sleep. No matter how much they had seemed to have, it all seeped out in a second, leaving Sasaki with two snoring children.
Sasaki caressed Yuka’s face. Careful as to not wake the little girl. The two children looked almost identical. Straight black hair, pale skin. So alike to her. Sasaki’s finger stopped as it approached the little girl’s eyelids. Except their eyes. Clear blue eyes, like the calmest of waters, a stark difference to her brown ones. A blatant reminder that they were not hers alone.
And yet, as her thumb continued to caress the sleeping child, she couldn’t help but think that it didn’t matter. She loved Yuka and Kaisei nonetheless. And in lieu of that love, she would make it so that they could live, that they needn’t fear an incoming storm every day of their lives. It did not matter what she had to sacrifice for it to come true.
Sasaki rose up and silently walked out, the old bed cushion caving where she had sat. She stopped in the doorway and glanced back at the two sleeping figures.
Yuka rolled in her sleep, taking the small place that Sasaki had occupied for herself. The bed was too small for the three of them together, but it was enough for the two, and that was enough for her.
She looked away, stepping out onto the corridor. The sound of dripping catching her attention. She turned to the sound, looking into Yuka and Kaisei’s room. The leak. She really had to fix that, didn’t she? Lest she wanted her children to sleep in a flooded room.
She chuckled, a sad sound. She wouldn’t have the chance to. Not if the downpour kept falling. Not if He came.
The floorboards cracked under her feet as she made her way through the house. She stopped before a transparent glass case, hanging from rusted hooks. The only thing in the house that wasn’t worn down. Her fingers traced the glass, stopping at the clasp of the case. She pressed. It clicked open.
A pair of Katana’s.
Identical in shape, sharpness and length. Held onto the case by clasps. Both were sheathed, untouched, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time. It wouldn’t be sheathed for much longer.
Sasaki tugged the swords off the wall and tied both sheaths onto her waist, her eyes refusing to look at the dark blue wavy patterns on the sheath. Instead, Sasaki’s hands rubbed at the hilt, tightening and untightening her grip on it. Refamiliarizing herself with the sword.
In one fell swoop, Sasaki drew one katana.
It slid out cleanly. With the pad of her finger, Sasaki traced the blade's curve. The sword was flawless, its weight, its shape, its length, all created and tailored to match her favour. She stopped, allowing her hand to descend.
Reaching for the hilt of the second katana, she drew it too.
Steel clashed with steel as she struck them together, the sound screeching, violent in her ears. And yet, Sasaki’s lips quirked up, it had been far too long since she felt this alive.
Sasaki placed her leg forward, bending her knee a little. She raised both katanas, striking and slicing repeatedly, practicing all the techniques she had learnt all those years ago. Cleaving the air seamlessly with every cut.
Despite all these years of neglect, her skills had not rusted. Fortunate.
The smile grew larger with every swing, along with her determination. He could try to take all she had created in these years away, but she’d be damned if she simply stood by allowing Him to. She would fight, for herself, for her children, and most of all, for the past that she had left behind.