A.N: This is an fic that takes place in another universe, all the original tenchu characters are out of character, but you know what that's what fan fiction is all about, which means that ….If you don't like it , don't read this. I apologise for the spelling and grammarerrors...

Disclaimer: Pay attention. I DO NOT OWN TENCHU…OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS! Please do not sue. I don't own anything except my sleeping bag…

Plot is mine, places are mine and character of Emi is mine…even though she is fictionally altered version of my best friend….everything else is loaned ….

-The Mansion-

Ayame would always remember the day when her life turned upside down, throwing the newly meaningless phrase of "impossible" out of the window.

It all started one, foggy September evening, some time after her eighteenth birthday. She was heading her apartment after school. It was only a little past four, but it was already getting dark, and the cloudy sky held a promise of rain.

To save some time Ayame had decided to cut trough a forest that stood behind the schools building. She needed time to change out of her school uniform, long black skirt and same coloured jacket, take shower and going to city so she could find a job.

She had lost her parents few years ago in a fire, and was now living alone in a one room apartment. It was small, but she didn't need much space. She needed money. The school wasn't exactly cheap and she had to also pay her living expenses plus the apartments rent. She had already received two warnings and her landlord's patience was running thin. If she remembered right the forest was called something like the devil's playground. Not very attractive name for a forest, but she had heard weirder names in this town, one of them being a river called the 15061986, that ran trough the town. Who'd want to name a river a long set of numbers?

Ayame had heard about the weird things happening in the devil's play ground after sun set, but she had never been superstitious, besides she had calculated that her way home would half if she could find a decent way through the darkening forest, and that was a good enough reason to challenge the folklores, about giant cats and dead army who waited their general to arrive.

She had walked in the woods about fifteen minutes when she came across a trail, that lead deeper into the forest. Ayame decided to save her self from the difficulty to battle with tree branches dressed in a long skirt and follow the barely visible trail; after all it was going to the right direction. Little by little the trail got wider as she walked until it was more of a dirt road than a trail.

She started getting a bit suspicious after walking a while. The road seemed to continue as a straight line, but the surroundings didn't seem to change except the fact that she could no longer see anything but trees behind her. She should have stepped out from the forest by now, it shouldn't be this vast.

Ayame decided to check her clock, it was almost 5 pm and the usual annoyingly loud ticking had stopped

"Bloody hell! Just my luck that the battery decides to die today!" she thought frustratedly "It's not like I don't have enough problems as it is."

She kicked a tree, gaining nothing but a sore foot by her action. Ayame tried to calm herself. She tied her shoulder length, raven black hair, up to a ponytail. Took few deep breaths and pushed few unruly black locks from her face, scanning the surroundings again with her sharp dark brown eyes. She had a feeling that some one was watching her from the shadows and getting angry wouldn't help her at all. First she had to figure where she was.

"What do I know?" She asked from herself. "I have walked at least an hour before the clock stopped, and so far I have seen no signs of the city lights."

That was weird; it didn't take more than hour and fifteen minutes to walk from the school to her apartment the long way, and the road seemed to be making no turns. She should have stepped out of the forest about half an hour ago.

Ayame was about to turn back as she saw some light ahead of her.

"I must be near the end of the forest. Maybe I walked a little past the place where I should have walked. It takes always a longer time to walk in a strange environment than in a familiar place, right?" She thought shrugging off the nasty feeling that someone was watching her.

When she got closer to the light Ayame figured 3 things: the lights weren't a sign that she'd come any closer to her destination, but belonged to a enormous mansion, which towered 3 floors high and had at least one tower, it was getting rather dark and she couldn't tell for sure. The building was separated from the woods by high metal fence and a sturdy looking gate.

For a moment Ayame stood there watching the building and wondering how she hadn't ever heard of it before.

"Maybe the owner appreciates privacy, and is rich enough to pay people silent." She thought looking the black gate that seemed to fit fine to the mental picture of a rich loner that didn't want any guests on his lands.

The building wasn't exactly what Ayame would have called welcoming. Even the shadows around the mansion seemed rather threatening, but she had to face some facts, One: she was lost, two: she didn't have any time to loose if she didn't want to call herself homeless in the near future and three: in the mansion would probably be a person that could advice her back to the city.

Taking a deep breath Ayame stepped towards the gate, and almost got a heart attack as the gate opened accompanied by a creaking sound of rusted metal.

"It was open the whole time!" she nearly shrieked " Get a grip Ayame, you are way too old to be scared by darkness" She mentally scolded herself trying to calm her racing heart.

Gathering her courage Ayame inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "You won't be scared by shadows." she told herself "You are an intelligent adult now, and intelligent adults don't get scared by little things."

Letting out a deep sight she opened her eyes and walked to the door. The front doors were carved by some black tree and they were enormous. Three men could have easily walked trough them side by side.

Ayame searched the door bell quite a while, sliding her hand along the stone walls, but the owner seemed to forgotten to buy one, probably on purpose. The guy was beginning to seem more like overly solitude obsessed freak, every second.

Finally Ayame accepted that she wouldn't find a doorbell or anything alike from this side of the house and knocked the door.

Nothing happened.

She knocked the black wood harder.

"Maybe a little too hard." She mused herself nursing her aching fingers, as she concentrated her ears to hear something, anything, from the house. Foot steps, people talking or even a dog toddling closer to the door.

Then as she lifted her hand to knock the door again the door opened by it self, revealing a young woman standing in the door frame. She couldn't be more than few years older than Ayame herself. She had a short, unruly red hair, pale skin and big, bright green eyes. She was wearing a long black velvet dress that seemed to straight from the sixteenth century.

"Please, come in." she said in a silent voice and turned around walking from the door, leaving stunned Ayame alone in the door way.

Ayame's eyes were wide as she scanned the huge hallway inside. It was like a set of some historical movie. The torches on stonewalls lid the long hallway dimly, revealing thick, red, velvet rug that covered the stone floor as long as she could see. There were tens if not hundreds of traditional Japanese armour's glimmering in the light of the living fire. Standing loyally near the walls, fully armed, they seemed to be able to move to defend the mansion against intruders in a heartbeat. Here and there, where the dim light of the torches couldn't reach, were dark shadows that were even more threatening than the armours.

It took Ayame few moments to gain her composure and follow the woman inside. As she had walked a few steps from the door as she remembered the open door, but as she turned around to shut it, the door was already closed. It stopped Ayame. She hadn't heard anything.

"The door is probably automatic." She muttered herself nervously not convincing anyone. She turned around to see that the woman in black dress had stopped to wait her.

"Please, follow me." She said as Ayame got closer. "We don't have many visitors these days, the forest has become unsafe." She continued before Ayame could open her mouth to ask where the woman was leading her. "We can't let the master of the house wait us. That wouldn't be suitable, at all." she said little smile curving her lips as the passed doors of different size and shapes.

Ayame felt herself clumsy as she followed the woman, who glided along the hallway, illuminated by torches, so smoothly that Ayame was starting to wonder if the woman's feet even touched the floor as she walked.

Ayame was lost in her thoughts so deeply that she almost bumped to the woman as she suddenly stopped in front of a red pair doors with golden dragon carvings on the sides. They were so detailed that she almost saw them move. Every little scale had been individually carved. The woman in black knocked the doors as Ayame gazed the golden dragons that stared back at her with their violet stone eyes that reflected the fire of torches.

"Enter." commanded a deep voice from the inside.

The red haired woman opened the door and glided inside Ayame at her heels. The room was all red and gold, from the window drapes to the fire place, in the back of the room. It was probably the most luxury room Ayame had ever seen.

One of the four walls was covered with book filled shelves high enough to reach the ceiling. The other wall had a big, gold coloured writing table and chair with red fabric covering. The wall above the table there were old maps, and a painting of golden dragons, which seemed to be the theme of the room. The same dragons could be found from the pattern of small rug near fire place, from the golden candle crown that hung high in the ceiling in the middle of the room, from another pair of doors at the another end of the room near the fire place, even the carvings of fireplace itself were about two golden dragons curling over the fireplace, watching incomers intensively their mouths open to reveal sharp fangs.

There were two men in the room one was sitting in an armchair near the fire place, staring in to the fire resting his head on his hand, much like the famous sculpture of the thinker. He seemed the stereotype Japanese man. He was in his early twenties. He had a black unruly hair that fell to his face, but that didn't seem to bother him, as he kept staring the flames with his dark almost black eyes. In the light of the fire Ayame could see a glimmering of a silver ring with black stone. He was wearing formal, traditional clothing, a white and green haori jacket and dark green hakama pants.

Unlike the first man this other man was everything but ordinary. He stood behind the chair, evaluating them with his eyes. Well with a one golden eye actually, since the other was closed by a long scar, that started little above his right brow and ran over his right eye to end halfway of his cheek. He seemed to be at his late twenties or early thirties and he was dressed in a similar way, except that his clothes were in the shades of black and dark grey, even the silver pendant around his neck… but he seemed more dignified, more ruthless. He was the strict, unforgiving master of the house, no doubt about that. He was muscular and quite tall and even though he had no visible weapons, something of the way he stood and watched them made Ayame think of predator lurking a prey. He had very unruly silver hair that almost covered a pair of silvery, cat like ears on top of his head.

"Those are most definitely not human ears… more like cat's ears… or actually wolf's?" Ayame thought confused" What's going on? Are they real!"

Ayame opened her mouth to ask as the ears twitched a little and other turned a little bit towards the door behind him like listening something Ayame couldn't hear.

"Oh my god they are real! What in the name of seven states of hell is going on here?" she wondered dizzily as she forced her legs to stand where they were and answered to the unfriendly stare the silver haired man was giving her. "Calm down girl, he is trying to get you out of balance, there is some rational explanation of those ears…there must be…"

Ayame felt like she'd been there in the room staring the dangerous looking man at least a good ten minutes, even thought it couldn't be more than few seconds, when he finally shifted his gaze to the red haired woman beside her, who had fallen to polite bow.

Standing up, the red haired woman said: "This is the visitor from the front door, master."

"My name is Ayame Ikisaki, and I can speak for my self." Ayame answered directing her words to the silver haired man and smiled challengingly.

His expression didn't change much, but Ayame saw his mouth tighten just a bit telling her that she had managed to irritate him, the master of the house, at least a little, by her rudeness. She was about to congratulate herself mentally as the ordinary looking man, who Ayame had already forgotten, laughed a little.

Ayame turned her confused look to this man, who was now staring her with his kind black eyes, to request what was so funny.

"I apologise if I startled you. I should be used to this reaction by now. I'm the first to admit that Rikimaru really is much more impressive sight than me. Welcome to my humble mansion Ayame Ikisaki. I'm the master of the house Matsunoshin Gohda. How may I help you?" He asked in a low, kind voice that made you want to trust him.

Ayame felt how her mouth fell open. HE was the master of the house? She had thought that the Rikimaru person was. He looked much scarier than this friendly smiling, slim man before her.

"I …uh I'm sorry. I got lost on the way home and…I found this trail that changed to dirt road that lead to here. And I thought you might show me the way back to city?" She was babbling and she knew it, but they had gotten her mentally off balance.

"Hmm, what were you doing in the forest if I may ask?" He asked politely

"I was trying to get home faster, and I thought it might have been faster to cut trough the forest. I have heard rumours of it being cursed, but I really don't have the time to go to the longer route if I want to get to a job interview in time. And I really need the job, if I don't want to loose my apartment and not to mention that the school isn't exactly cheap either. All those books…Sorry I didn't mean to bother you about it." Ayame said and meant every word. She didn't know what had gotten in to her, she had only meant to answer the question, but something about that friendly smile had sent her to uncontrollable babble flood once again.

"No, it's quite all right. I have an idea…I can't give you another chance of the job interview, but are you familiar, with chamber maid's or room servant's job, because I'm in a desperate need of helpers. Are you interested?" He asked, his dark eyes shining

Ayame could do nothing but nod silently. She really hadn't seen this one coming.

"It would be a live in job. You'd get any one of the free rooms you want and warm meal three times a day and the pay would be….about 40 000 yen a month. (about 400 U.S. dollars)" He continued with a smile

"I don't have any work experience from either field, but I'm fast to learn. Just one thing though… Would it be a full time job, because I still have school for three to four months before the final exams? After that I could do full time job." Ayame asked hopingly. This kind of offerings didn't come to her way all that often. She'd get free living in a nice luxury mansion, free food and even got paid double the money that she would have got from the part time.

"Part time is fine, but only for 3 months, after that I need you to be working full time." The master of the house said. "Of course, only if you want to take the job."

Ayame suppressed her sudden need to sing and dance on the table.

"It's a deal." she said with a grin so wide that almost split her face in two.

"Ok, we will fill the contract paper the first thing tomorrow morning, and Emi will explain you all the rules, but it's getting late and I have a still few things I have to take care of... So Emi could you escort Ayame to one of the free rooms? We can't let her wander around the forest in this time of night. Besides we don't want her to run away from us." He said with a smirk.

"Yes master", answered the woman with unruly red hair. "Now Ayame, please follow me." She said and glided out of the room.

Ayame followed her, still wondering how Emi could move so gracefully in a long skirt.

"Emi, can I ask you something?" Ayame asked nervously, wanting an answer to the question that had burned her mind for quite a while now.

"Yes, what is it?" Emi asked slowing her pace to allow Ayame to walk by her side and examined her with her bright green eyes.

"Was it just my imagination or did that Rikimaru person really have cat-like ears?"

The end of chapter 1

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(author's note: hakama is long pleated pants, wide enough to be mistaken as skirt. Together with haori jacket they are traditional Japanese men's clothing. If you want to know how they look like: google them, there are pictures of them.)

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