Through the worlds to you

And her life as a master of sword began. She taught children on Sundays and did it very successfully, but the very first lesson was held under Saito-senpai’s examining gaze. To Chizuru’s great luck he was pleased with the result and never tried to control her lessons after that. The girl was glad that she could help her hospitable landlord in some way. After teaching she usually stayed at home on Sundays. After a week of searching for material, she had lots of books and journals to look through. Every time she read about samurais’ era her heart was filling with admiration and misery at the same time. It felt like something was missing. Sometimes she imagined herself in a role of bushi. It was a little game of hers but it was so exciting and felt so right. Of course, she had never told anyone about her little insanity. People would never understand her if she did. The fact that she slept hugging her katana was also one of her little oddities. But she just couldn’t fall asleep if she didn’t hold her sword close to her heart. Chizuru felt secure like that. Several days later Yukimura was wandering in the busy streets of Kyoto in search for an ancient monument. She was absorbed with her deep thoughts and it seemed that she didn’t pay any attention to her surroundings, but her sense of self-defense suddenly alarmed. Chizuru stopped and looked around. Her senses didn’t fail her as she became a witness of a scene of a kidnapping, which was happening on the opposite side of the road. A young girl stepped out of an elite spa-salon when several man dressed in black suits plopped out of a car and grabbed that girl by her arms. Chizuru watched as that person struggled against the bandits using her little purse and high-heels, but no matter how hard she tried, her fragile complexion was loosing to those “wardrobes” in black. The sense of justice filled Yukimura’s hearts as she rushed towards the criminal scene. The chocolate-eyed girl grabbed a mop from some random cleaner’s hands, who was mopping the stairs in front of that elite spa-salon. The woman didn’t hear anything since she was listening to her ipod, but there were no limits to her amusement when she saw an unfamiliar girl beating some bad guys with her mop! The men in black had no chance to react because Chizuru’s attacks were sonic quick and precise. After beating the men up our heroine grabbed the victim’s hand and cried: “RUN!” While they were escaping, those guys came to their senses. One of them ran after the girls but they were lucky enough to jump in the nearest bus and leave the area. When he noticed a retreating vehicle, the bandit only cursed under his breath watching as his target was making fun of him, showing her tongue mockingly through the back window of the bus. Chizuru sweatdropped by the other girl’s actions. “Aren’t you scared of them? They tried to kidnap you!” Yukimura demanded. The other girl just turned her head to show a cheeky smirk. “Not in this life! They have tried millions of times but always failed. Hmm, but today they were close. I couldn’t predict that they would be brave enough to do their dirty plans in the daylight, not mentioning, in a public place.” Chizuru’s eyes widened in disbelief. “So…you mean, it is not for the first time?” “Of course not!” the other girl grinned, showing her white straight teeth. “You know, I have to thank you for saving me today. I’ve given my bodyguards a day-off today and decided to skip that boring dinner with the prime-minister, replacing it with my visit to a spa-salon--” But Yukimura interrupted her rumblings with a question: “Who are they? And why do they want to kidnap you?” The other girl looked in her serious eyes and saw a strong feeling of determination in them. She sighed and looked upwards, shutting her lips together, that made them look like a little bow. “They are one of my family’s ill-wishers and competitors of our business. They want to kidnap the only heir of my clan, which is me, and get a ransom along with some important documents. My name is Sakanoue Sen, by the way.” After the last words the ruby-eyed girl outstretched her right hand for a handshake. Chizuru returned the gesture of politeness unsurely. “Yukimura Chizuru, it’s nice to meet you, Sakanoue-san.” “Oh, please, don’t call me that. I feel like an old lady when people call me by my surname,” the victim of the day complained, rolling her eyes and brushing some strands of her dark hair away from her face. “You may call me Sen”. “Emm…Osen-san then,” Chizuru smiled uneasily at her interlocutor that arched an eyebrow in return. “Alright, it’s better than Sakanoue-san after all.” Osen sighed in defeat and continued with a smile, “You are very brace, Chizuru-chan. It’s rarity to meet a girl who can use an ordinary mop so skillfully,” and she started to laugh cheerfully. Chizuru just smiled in return, while her lower eyelid twitched in frustration. “Thank you, Osen-san, but I advise you to call somebody who can take you home in safety. It’s too dangerous to walk alone in the street after what happened today”. The rich girl sighed dramatically and took her golden cell-phone out of her purse. “Okay, I’ll call my personal driver. Well, he is a day-off today, but if you insist…” And she dialed the man’s number. “Where can you pick me up?...” Chizuru watched as the energetic girl started to look around in order to find out what part of the city they were passing by right now. “Tell him that you will be at my place. I can’t leave you alone, so I am taking you with me,” and Chizuru announced the address. Of course she didn’t plan to bring guests to Saito-senpai’s household, but at the same time her sense of responsibility couldn’t allow her to leave the girl, who had been almost kidnapped that day, alone. She felt that she had to protect her until someone would come and take her home safely. While Chizuru was musing about those problems, Osen had already dialed another number and now was whining in the tube like a spoilt child. “Anata…they tried to kidnap me again today. I was so scared!” she made a simulated sniff as if she really was crying. “I fear to go home. Could you pick me up at my savior’s house? I will give you the address…what? Oh, it doesn’t matter! I will wait for your arrival there even if it takes you 2 hours to get to Kyoto. I love you! Ja ne!” Yukimura could only blink in bewilderment. The victim of the day had just told Saito-senpai’s address to absolute strangers! The girl dropped her face on her palms in astonishment. Saito-senpai would get upset and angry with her for sure…she could see that! “I have just called my fiancé. He lives in Tokyo but goes on business trips to Kyoto quite often.” Chizuru’s train of gloomy thoughts was interrupted by Osen’s voice. “I’m so happy, that today is the day of his next business trip. He is on his way here. That’s why I phoned him. You know…I miss him so much and due to our businesses we can’t see each other whenever we want,” the long-haired girl’s face clouded a little in disappointment. “Oh, Chizuru-chan, I love him so much! He is a great person and he is very manly too. But most of all I love his noble bearing, he reminds me of a high-ranked samurai. At first, when my father announced that I have to marry him to enlarge our business, I got so upset, even desperate. I thought that I will never fall in love with a man who needs me only as a tool. But I was wrong,” her voice got gentler and more quite. “I fell in love with him the moment I saw him in our guest-room for the first time.” Chizuru listened to her words very carefully. Osen seemed to be really very in love with her promised fiancé: her eyes got softer and a pleasant smile found its way on her lips. As far as Yukimura understood, Osen was an heir of some rich magnate. The moment they met, our heroine noticed that Sakanoue-san looked more like a wild rose, but now, after hearing her love-story and watching the changes in her expression, Chizuru had to change her first impression about the other girl. Osen-san was a lonely girl who was lack of parent’s attention, she was like a fragile flower that needed proper treatment. Right now the girl looked very beautiful and vulnerable and it was a surprise for Chizuru to see how love could change people to a better side. But the most interesting in that entire situation was that Yukimura couldn’t get it, why Osen was telling her all this. “He is the head of his family’s zaibatsu,” continued the rich maiden, starting to play with her fingers childishly. “My parents have always dreamed of such a successful union of two great families in whole Japan. But you know…even if he was a common guy, I think, I would have fallen for him anyways. I feel so empty when he is away and so alive when he is by my side. And now, I think that if those bad guys have really succeeded in kidnapping me today, I would have lost a chance to meet him today. Thank you, Chizuru-chan, for saving me from those bandits. Now I want to introduce my savior to my fiancé”. All Chizuru could do was only showing an uneasy smile and announcing that they had reached the right bus-stop.

OooooO

Kazama Chikage loved speed. That was why he changed his cars almost every week. That was because they were very slow for him and he felt like traveling on foot. The young heir of Kazama Zaibatsu was fond of quickness, but even driving Maseratti wasn’t enough to fulfill his lust for speed. All sport-cars were slow and it annoyed him to no limits. It was strange and confusing, but 300 ml/h seemed to be like 30 ml/h to him. He didn’t know why he had such dangerous obsession with high-speed. The only thing he knew that he felt very empty and listlessly without it. Kazama was on his way to Kyoto when his platinum cell-phone rang, showing a picture of his fiancée on the display. He talked to her and promised to pick her up at her savior’s house. Hmm…those bastards never gave up, still trying to kidnap her for a ransom. Those morons… The blond man tsked, narrowing his ruby eyes. Maybe it would be better to take her to Tokyo? So…she would be always under his personal protection. No, her traditional father would never allow his daughter to live with a man, even if that man was her fiancé, before the wedding. Chikage passed another sharp corner, sending his car into a drift. Then, there was only one solution to this dilemma. They had to get married earlier than the promised date. Yeah…that was it. His lips curved into an arrogant and self-satisfied smirk. They would discuss this idea when he got to the place. After all he needed heirs and the earlier the better….

OooooO

When Saito got home, he was very surprised to see a white limo by the gates of his household. The young man parked his exclusive black Toyota Camry and headed to the front door where he met Yamazaki. “Good evening, Saito-sama,” the violet-eyed man bowed in respect. “Good evening, Yamazaki-san. Whose limo is that?” the owner of the mansion asked, pointing at the luxury vehicle near the gates. “I don’t remember anyone of my father’s companions having such cars. Did anything happen while I was away?” The butler followed his master towards the house, explaining the situation. “Yukimura-dono has a guest. I tried to contact and inform you, but your mobile phone didn’t answer.” “I see,” Saito exhaled calmly and entered the guest-room, where he found two young girls sitting on the traditional pillows on the floor and drinking some herbal tea. When Chizuru noticed him standing in the doorway, she stood up, almost jumped up, from her seat and bowed apologetically to her host. “Saito-senpai! Good evening! Sorry for my rudeness about not asking for your permission. I tried to call you several times but your phone didn’t answer…and…” but her chatters were interrupted by his unruffled yet friendly voice. “Everything is alright, Yukimura-san. I was at a lecture and I had to turn off my mobile phone. I am glad to see that you made friends in Kyoto. Your guest is my guest,” then he averted his gaze from a confused and embarrassed girl and looked at the stranger, that stood beside Chizuru. “The name is Saito Hajime. Hajime mashite,” and he bowed politely to the girl that was showing a lovely smile. “I’m Sakanoue Sen, it’s my pleasure to meet chief Saito’s son in person. I am very honoured, Saito-san,” and she bowed in return. “Saito-senpai…ano…” Chizuru made a little step forward to win his attention. “Osen-san has been almost kidnapped by some group of men in black suits today. We managed to escape but I couldn’t leave her alone, so I brought her along.” The young man’s crystal-blue eyes showed a live interest when he listened to the girl’s explanations. “Yes, if not for Chizuru-chan’s help, I don’t know what they would have done to me. She is my savior!” the rich girl exclaimed, hugging Chizuru’s arm. “I…I did nothing…” the younger girl blushed in embarrassment. Saito could imagine the crime scene the girls had faced today. He, like no one else, could imagine what a tragic end Yukimura-san could have met in that situation: if they wanted to kidnap Sakanoue-san, there was a low chance that they would harm her or cause her any pain…but Yukimura-san… they could kill her without any hesitation as she happened to become a witness who tried to stop their criminal plans to that. Saito’s imagination showed him a picture of unmoving Chizuru, who lay in a pool of her own blood with a motionless mask of death on her face. His jaw squared, as a lump stuck in his throat that he couldn’t swallow. He felt as everything inside of him froze because of a sudden fear for her life. He couldn’t understand why those strange and scary thoughts visited his mind. Maybe it was because he felt responsibility for Yukimura-san and her safety as she was a guest at his house… Saito lifted his gaze on the girls. They noticed that his eyes looked too thoughtful and concentrated while his face paled visibly, but before they could utter anything, he began to speak: “Please, sit down,” the young man gestured them to take their seats at the table. “Yamazaki-san, please, bring us some fresh tea,” the owner ordered calmly. And as if he appeared out of thin air, Yamazaki nodded and went out of the room. Saito sat beside Chizuru which surprised the girl to no limits. Usually they sat across from each other when they had dinners together. Little did she know, that while she was musing about the reason of his actions, he threw short yet very intent glances at her in order to make sure that she wasn’t wounded or beaten anywhere. He was very skillful in that technique of examining people’s condition with his eyes, so nobody could even notice his true intentions. After finishing the secret observation of the open parts of Yukimura-san’s body and noticing that she moved normally, Saito calmed down a little. He was sure now that she didn’t have any injures under her clothes too. Even if she was good in swordsmanship, she was still a fragile girl, who was not protected from a gun or any other weapon. “Sakanoue-san,” he addressed himself to the guest after a moment of silence, “why didn’t you call the police after today’s accident?” his voice was firm and serious. “It’s very dangerous when it comes to kidnapping people. There may be victims from the side of innocent people in the street.” “I know…but…” Osen dropped her gaze on the table she was sitting at. “They won’t help. My father hired the best bodyguards to keep me safe from those men, but today it was my fault. I went to the city without telling anyone where I was going and I skipped an important meeting too. I just got so tired of those never-ending cultural evenings, balls, meetings…I just wanted to feel a little of independence, but I’ve never expected those bandits to show up today!” “It’s really careless of you to behave like this,” was his stern verdict of guilty. “I know…” was all Osen could utter, lowering her head. “I am very grateful to Chizuru-chan for saving me and I am thankful to your kindness, Saito-san, for letting me stay here until my fiancé comes and take me home…” her voice was wavering as if she could start crying any minute. Saito decided to compassion upon this rich and spoilt princess. He noticed that her words were sincere and she realized her guilt and carelessness. That was why he gave her a chance to wait for her so-called fiancé and not telling her that her limo was already waiting by the gates of his household. At that moment the tea was served and pregnant silence filled the air. “You know, Osen-san,” Chizuru started to speak carefully, “I think, Saito-senpai is right. You must tell the police about those bandits. You can’t keep living, knowing that they still try to fulfill their criminal intentions.” “This problem concerns us and only us, and we will deal with it ourselves”. A powerful male voice appeared in the room, crashing down all doubts and points of view. Osen jumped from her seat when she heard that deep and mysterious voice and rushed to its owner’s side, hugging him lovingly. “Chika-kun!” she squealed, hiding her face in his firm chest. “I’m so happy to see you!” Yamazaki showed up in the doorway, bowing apologetically for the second time that day. “Forgive me, Saito-sama, for not informing you about the guest’s arrival!” “It’s alright, Yamazaki-san. You may be free,” the dark-haired young master said calmly, standing up from his seat. Actually, Saito was disappointed with his butler’s today’s work. He didn’t like when some stranger burst into his house and started to lay down his terms as if he was the master of the house and not Saito himself. But as a good-behaved person, Hajime couldn’t let himself show any signs of irritation. He always looked unruffled and self-disciplined, but sometimes those virtues were hard to keep in place. Especially at the very moment. Hajime took a deep inhale and placed his firm gaze on a newcomer. Chizuru hurried to stand up beside Saito-senpai and greet the guest too. The gaze of the newcomer’s ruby eyes fell on Saito’s face. There was something strange about that blue-eyed guy and the blond man didn’t know what exactly it was. He seemed familiar but at the same time Chikage was sure that he had never seen that man before. “Chika-kun, let me introduce my savior!” the rich girl spoke enthusiastically, catching her fiancé’s attention. “This is Yukimura Chizuru-chan. She saved me from those bandits today and brought me here to hide me from them,” Osen pointed at the younger girl, whose face was blushing madly in embarrassment. “And this is Saito Hajime-san. He is famous chief Saito’s son and the owner of this mansion.” Kazama just nodded in reply. All of his interest was drawn to the brown-eyed girl in front of him. Osen continued speaking, introducing him to the public, but he wasn’t listen anymore. His ruby eyes were examining the fragile girl intently. She looked familiar…too familiar. Where could have he met her before? All his questions vanished the moment their eyes locked. The pieces of his shuttered memory started to gather together, depicting one single picture of a beautiful girl that was very important to his heart. The man’s pupils widened in realization. It was like a momentary insight. It was Chizuru… …his Chizuru… …the very Chizuru who tried to fool him and get rid of him by trying to kill herself jumping down from a cliff... Saito didn’t like that blond. All his senses got alarmed when that man entered the room, and Hajime knew for sure that he didn’t come here with good intentions. The gaze the blond man was sending Chizuru was unacceptable. It looked like he was devouring the girl with his lustful eyes and couldn’t get enough of doing so. As was said earlier, Hajime didn’t like Kazama from the very beginning and now he despised him for staring at Yukimura-san so shamelessly and lewdly. The young man shifted his azure eyes to the fragile dark-haired girl, who was standing next to him like paralyzed, looking at the tall man in front of her. Kazama’s lips curved into a haughty and self-satisfied smile as he had finally started to realize what exactly was going on. He threw a death glare at Saito, recalling everything that happened between him and Chizuru back then. Heh, so he was safe and sound...and even alive to that… that was strange to Chikage’s eyes. Everything was too strange…. To Kazama’s amusement those azure eyes replied to his impudent glare with a challenging and warning one. He could easily read in those eyes that their owner wanted to protect the girl’s pride and not let him, Kazama, lie a finger on her…but… all those wishes to defend the girl belonged to a man who had no love in his eyes. Yes, that was very interesting. Knowing the Saito that had died and comparing him to this Saito, that was standing next to dear Chizuru, Chikage could say for sure that… …this Saito was absolutely another person. The Saito he knew loved Chizuru so much that he could give up his life protecting his beloved wife; this younger Saito wasn’t ready to do such sacrifices for her. It was clearly written in his eyes. This discovery pleased Kazama. But still there was one problem. It seemed that dear Chizuru didn’t remember him at all. Hmm… than he had to help her bring back her memories. “Chizuru-chan, please, join us at the dinner on Thursday,” Osen’s cheerful voice filled the room. “We will be very glad to have your company and thank you for your help today,” continued the rich girl. “Yes,” Chizuru felt shivers ran down her back as she heard the blond’s deep voice. “It’s a great idea. Let us thank you for saving my precious Sen,” and he looked at the smiling girl to his right. At that very moment his feelings for her vanished as if they had never existed. “Yes, please come, Chizuru-chan. We will be waiting!” Osen insisted. “I…I don’t know. I will think about it,” Yukimura answered unsurely. Saito didn’t like that entire situation. His inner voice was crying that something bad was going to happen in the near future. He had never felt anything like that before and it put him on his guard. Hajime’s train of thoughts was interrupted by Sakanoue-san’s future husband’s speech. “I am very grateful to both of you for taking care of my hime, but I have an important meeting in an hour, so I’m taking Sen with me,” Chikage said and felt as his arm started to lose its blood circulation due to the said girl’s iron embrace. Saito was about to walk the guests to the exit when his cell phone started to ring. The young man took it out of his jacket and looked at the display. He couldn’t but answer that important phone-call, even though he didn’t want to leave Yukimura-san alone at the moment. Saito sighed, excused himself and called for Yamazaki to walk the guests to the gates. “I will see you off too,” Chizuru offered quietly walking towards Yamazaki and the others. The couple bid their good-byes to the owner of the house and disappeared in the corridor. When they reached Kazama’s sport-car, Osen hugged Chizuru and after saying good-bye to her, she sat at the passenger seat, leaving her fiancé and her savior alone. Yamazaki was watching the scene by the gates, standing several steps behind Yukimura-dono. “We will be waiting for you on Thursday. Come, Sen will be glad to see you again,” Chikage said powerfully, making her understand that she had no other choice but to obey. “And it was very brave of you to save Sen, Chizuru,” the way he pronounced her name made the girl’s stomach twitch. “We will see you later,” he sent her the last mysterious gaze before getting into the car. “Take care, Chizuru.” With those last words the couple drove off from Saito’s mansion, leaving a bewildered girl standing on her spot unmoving. For some unknown reason she felt panic terror towards that man with ruby eyes.