Oh, The Pain

"Dammit Kamui," Kagura muttered under her breathe, looking up at the cloudy sky. She never expected that her visit home would be so soon. She lifted her open hand toward the open sky while feeling the droplets drumming softly against her palm. Well, well. Home sweet home. Nothing but love, peace, and sunshine here.

The red cloak was approaching Kagura with every second. Despite the warnings of Kamui who was trapped in the control room, the Yato girl continued to stare at the sky unknowingly. It was only when the hem of that blood-dyed cloak appeared in the corners of her eyes did Kagura notice him; a man dressed in red with a boyish look and dark ink hair.

The man lifted up the umbrella in his hand.

Kagura squinted her eyes as she stepped forward.

"You are…"

The next thing Kagura knows, her body was sent into a rolling form on the floor from the excruciating pain.

The pain was nothing like Kagura ever felt before. It was the burning sensation that sent heat straight through her spine. A bone crushing force put her down without even a sound to escape her parted lips. Kagura thought that she knew of pain when everyone left her alone on this planet, but this was on a completely differently level. It was horribly painful. No organisms in the universe was built to handle this much pain.

Kagura's wide open eyes zoomed in on the source of the pain to find out that…

She had just stubbed her little toe.

"UGHWAAAAAOOOOO!" Kagura screamed inhumanly.

Beyond her feet was the iron railing she bumped into; it was standing tall, mocking her. The figure in red dropped his hand from a friendly wave and came running to her side.

"Kagura-chan, are you okay?! What happened?! I was just greeting you when…"

"DA FUQQQ?!" she slurred from the pain. The stranger then lifted her ankle up in his hand, inspecting her foot carefully before looking away painfully.

"Sorry, Kagura-chan… it seems like… you might have break it…"

"VUT?! AGGHHHHH!" she threw her head back.

"Hey, don't worry. It might be fixed if we bent it the other way."

Kagura yanked her ankle back immediately, "don't! That's a myth. It doesn't do jackshit unless you want to die. I need a doctor… call me a doctor!"

"I don't think there are any doctors around here. I can take you to one, though." He lifted Kagura up like a potato sack to avoid touching her injured little toe by carefully letting it dangle near his side.

But of course, nobody would expect a murderer to be so kind.

Kamui watched as the Black Bunny Killer lifted his umbrella at Kagura, and then watched his little sister crumple in pain. She writhed on the floor, mouth opening into a soundless scream. Whatever he did, it hurt Kagura beyond she could describe.

"Sister dear!"

"China!" Okita yelled beside him, seeming as surprised as Kamui felt. He knew Kagura wasn't that strong, but she wasn't one to go down so easily.

The red cloak rushed to her in a blur and yanked her ankle up, looking at it like some sick pedophile with even sicker fetish, before averting his eyes. Kagura threw her head back in pain.

By this point, Kamui was smashing chairs into the glass. Abuto caught the chairs before they could make impact, yelling:

"This is some expensive shit, Captain!"

Okita pulled out his katana with a deadly look on his face, slashing at the glass… only to be blocked by the body of Yato crew men who Abuto threw his way, yelling:

"This safety glass shit is expensive as fuck, Earthling! Don't you dare break it!"

They saw Kagura saying something in anger and attempted to scoot back. But the bastard just wouldn't let her go; he pulled her up by the collar of her shirt, lifting her like a lifeless body with limbs spreading out on his side.

The Black Bunny Killer spared a glance at Kagura's ankle once more, and that was it for Okita and Kamui.

"LET HER GO, YOU SICK ASS!" shouted the two, before bolting at the glass. Abuto, one of his hand clutching at a chair Kamui had thrown and another holding onto a Yato in order to stop Okita, was too slow to do anything this time.

"NO!" he howled as the Sadist duo slammed their body at the glass, shattering it like his heart.

"Why are you helping me?" Kagura asked after a while. The Yato man who was shuffling quickly in the mud to avoid getting it stuck to his boot turned to look at her curiously.

"It is only natural of a brother to help his little sister, don't you think?"

"Kamui never helped me."

"Well… that one is a different story."

Kagura looked at the sky.

"Kiri-nii why are you doing this?"

"Oh, so you do remember me." He asked in surprise.

Kagura spat. "I first suspected you when I saw the word SHAMED on the wall in Edo, but I only confirm after Kamui showed me your picture on his ship. He probably thought I forgot. How stupid do you guys think I am, anyway?"

Kiriya chuckled. "You were young. How could we know if you would remember me?"

"I remember Sadaharu 67; of course I would remember you."

Kiriya smiled. Feeling her weight on his shoulder like in the long past, he said, "this sure brings back memories."

Silent filled the air; the two looked up at the sky, not so different from that day.

Ten years ago:

"Kamui, Kagura, meet Kiriya. He is going to be your brother from now on."

Kagura, age of four, immediately ran up to the boy who was slightly older than her. She grabbed his hand.

"Who is he, Papi?"

Umibozu gave her a sad smile.

"He will be your brother, Kagura-chan. Like Kamui is your brother."

"Like Kamui?"

Kamui stood there, stunned. It did not, however, show on his face. His father just brought his illegitimate child to his house like it was the most natural thing in the world. Kamui grinded his teeth as he watched Kagura holding Kiriya's hand.

"Is there something wrong, Kamui?" Umibozu asked, authority oozing in his voice. Kamui smiled slightly.

"Of course not."

Kagura pulled Kiriya into the kitchen with a laughter. The older boy just looked dumbfounded, black hair matted by the rain.

Kamui clenched his fist as he followed them bitterly inside the house.

Weeks after Kiriya's arrival, Kamui was hitting his breaking point each time Kagura approached the black haired boy. He didn't trust Kiriya, who was quiet and reserved with those small chuckles of his. Kiriya was an illegitimate child. What was there to determine that he wouldn't turn on them?

Kagura, on the other hand, found Kiriya to be her best friend without much regard to that fact. Of course she wouldn't know what an illegitimate child meant. She hanged around Kiriya, who was a few months younger than Kamui. She found him fun and caring, for at that point, Kamui was already beginning to change. His smile wasn't the same, and there was a look in his eyes that drove Kagura away. Instead, she stuck with Kiriya, not knowing that it bothered Kamui greatly.

One day, when Kiriya was sending Kagura off at the school, he spotted two men in gray staring at them from afar. Instinctively, he pulled Kagura behind and whispered to her.

"Kagura-chan, let's have a secret code between us."

"Secret code?" Kagura asked, wide eye.

"Yes. Pick your favorite word."

"Umm, *****"

Kiriya laughed, "okay, anything but that word."

"Fine then. How about Sadaharu 67?"

He nodded in approval, "that's just fine. Now look, don't follow anyone who doesn't know the secret code, alright? You definitely can't. It will be between us. Can you promise me that?"

"Sure thing. I have to go, Kiri-nii. See you after school."

Kagura trotted away. Kiriya stared at the two men who still hung around, before turning around and head home.

Kamui was waiting for Kagura to come out after school, only to be refused to go home with.

"You don't know the secret code." Kagura pointed out.

Kamui lifted his eyebrow, "what secret code?"

"The safe code. Kiri-nii told me not to go with anyone who doesn't know the safe code this morning," she giggled, "it's a secret, he said."

Kamui's smile faltered. His tender heart at the age of eight, after weeks of developing sister complex, finally snap. He stomp out of the school and headed up the hill, leaving the confused Kagura to stare.

"Wait, Nii-chan! Can we wait for Kiri-nii together?"

"Do whatever you want; I'm going home." Kamui said coldly, disappearing over the hill top."BAKA! LEAVING YOUR BROTHER ALL ALONE LIKE THIS… KAGURA YOU JERK!" she heard him yell, sulking in his tone, then he was gone.

Kagura hesitated. She wanted to keep her promise with Kiriya, but found herself unable to leave her other brother looking so dejected. Her little feet take off after Kamui who was long gone. But before she could even reach the foot of the hill, her body was yanked back and slammed against the tree.

Two men in gray were staring at her, and hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.

"Snow white skin… bright blue eyes… This kid is definitely a pure breed."

"Rare, huh? Not to mention she's a girl." The man chuckled, "She'll sell for a good price, alright."

Despite having no battle experience, Kagura knew exactly what to do. She opened her mouth and bit the hand, hard enough to draw blood, and took off running as soon as she was dropped.

"Onii-chan!" Kagura shouted, "Kiri-nii, help…"

Kagura was once again pulled back, sliding against the mud. The kidnappers were swearing while dripping some sort of chemical over a ragged piece of cloth.

"Hurry up, Kato!"

"I know!"

Kagura struggled, kicking the other party hard in the groin (as she was taught by Kamui). The cloth was pressed to her face, but Kagura shook her head like a pitbull and was able to slide it off long enough to yell:

"Dick face!" (as she was taught by Kamui, again).

He slapped her and threw her against the muddy concrete floor. Kagura growled, ready to take out an eyeball if she had to, when Kiriya came charging down from the hill.

He kicked the first kidnapper square in the face. The two were sent rolling several times, before Kiriya will come out on top, beating the kidnapper's face to pulp with his powerful Yato fist. The second kidnapper, upon seeing that their plan was not going to work out, scrambled to his feet and ran away.

Kiriya knocked the first kidnapper unconscious. Then he chased after the other kidnapper with a surprising speed and kicked him right in the knee. When the kidnapper was sent sprawling down, Kiriya kicked him in the face several times.

"You guys bring shame to our kind." He spat, "we're a warrior race, not some shitty kidnapper that would want to mix our pure blood with some other filthy bloodline. Since when have you sunken so low? You and all the others who fear the strength and authority of the other races, refusing to fight for your own children. But don't worry; let me give you your last redemption to die as a warrior."

He grinded his feet so hard against the kidnapper's face that the concrete began to crumble. The kidnapper gave out a dying scream…

Then his foot was clutched onto by Kagura.

"You can't, Kiri-nii," she cried, "Papi said that the fight is over when it is over. You can't kill him. This fight is done, yes?"

Kiriya's clouded eyes stared at the kidnapper for a moment longer, then cleared up like a tornado has passed, leaving behind a blue sky. He looked around, panicked over his injured sister, then quickly lifted her up.

"I'm so sorry, Kagura-chan." He said, speeding them away from the two bodies on the ground, "are you okay? Does your face hurt?"

"Just a little," she said, then turned her face to mimic Kamui's expression, "we're Yato. What doesn't kill us will make us stronger."

"I'm really sorry." He said again. He swung her across his shoulder and began to run faster, needing to get out of there right away. "That must have been scary. This is all my fault. They must've followed me here."

"Why would they follow you?" she asked, but the effect of whatever drug was given to her was beginning to work. Her head fell against his back softly.

Kiriya sighed, "let me tell you a secret, Kagura-chan. You'll be too young to remember it anyway."

"I like secrets. You can tell me anything…" she said groggily.

Kiriya laughed, "okay. So you know how people said that I'm your father's illegitimate child?"

"No…"

Her breathing became even.

He laughed again, "well, that's not true. Umibozu-san is a very honorable person. He would never have an affair. I'm just… the only kid who survived the incident. You see, a bunch of shameful Yato guys gathered and decided to kidnap little kids like you and me, Kagura-chan. But Umibozu-san saved me. He tried to save the others too, but it was too late. After, he took me everywhere in the universe, hoping to find a suitable home for me. But who would want a kid with such a past? So he took all the rumors without ever revealing anything about me. My parents… they could've saved me too, but they refused to fight. You see, they were peace lovers, and that's what got them killed. Even in their last moments, they begged for my life instead of fighting. Such disgrace. In the end, Umibozu-san had to bring me here. I've caused nothing but trouble. I'm sorry, Kagura-chan."

Her hand brushing against his side was as close as the answer was going to get, for she fell asleep already.

He let the rain hit his face and slide off his chin. From afar, he saw Kamui waiting (sulking, pouting) in front of the house. Kamui's expression changed from neutral into something else as he noticed that Kagura was unconscious on Kiriya's shoulder. He rushed through the rain.

In his mind, Kiriya swore to take vengeance. Not just against the kidnappers, but also the people who failed to protect them: the cowardly Yato. The Yato who refused to follow their blood and fight. The Yato who can't protect anything.

By the time Kagura woke up, Kiriya was already gone, preparing for the first stage of this quest.

What he didn't know was that, Kagura wasn't exactly asleep at that time- just paralyzed. And she would remember what he told her for a long, long time to come.

"Kiri-nii, let me ask you again: why are you helping me? What is your true intention?"

Kiriya whistled, "You're getting smart, Kagura-chan. How did you know?"

Kagura smirked, looking at the empty landscape without a single building in sight, "You're the Black Bunny Killer. There must be a reason you brought me all the way out here other than to find a doctor, yes?"

Kiriya stopped walking. Then, with an ice cold tone, he stated, "There are two ways this can go, Kagura-chan, and it all depends on your answer to me after this. First, I can help you simply because you are my brave little sister who stubbed her little toe…"

He lingered, before dropping his voice like a ton of brick, "or I need your foot to be in its normal condition, fast enough to run away when I hunt you down."

My hands slipped. This was what become of my human development essay.

I focused on the darker and more dramatic side of this story on this particular chapter. I needed the plot to be solid, so the OkiKaguness and comedy needed to wait, otherwise it would just look half-ass in this chapter, if you know what I mean lol.

I think we can all relate to Kagura stubbing her toe. I recently stubbed my little toe on a stool so hard I couldn't even scream, so I decided to write the pain down. It is the pain that demands to be known and told. If you have never stubbed your toe, I implore you to try. Greatest shit EVAH.

Thank you for kindly reading and reviewing, as always. I LUV YOU GUYS.

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