One Bright Day in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 15: The Long Day

Somehow, I knew that the idiot in front of me was going to stupidly throw away his life. My face became an expressionless mask, my eyes cold and hard, resolved to see through what I had started. As if in anticipation of what was to come, the Warlords stepped back to the front of their regiments, clearing the center of the field.

I really, really didn't want to do this, but there was no way or even possibility of backing down now. By my words and actions, I had effectively received the order to kill this man. Should I fail to do so, would be to go against the orders of my sworn Lord. I calmed my mind, went to that little place where my inner sociopath lived, and opened the cage door.

"I shall fight!" Garou's voice echoed loudly as he announced his decision. Stupid. Figures. For once I agreed with Ieyasu's favorite saying. 'This is such a pain.'

"So be it." I slipped my katana from its sheath in a fluid motion, watching as the man before me drew his own. He charged at me and I easily blocked, swatting his sword away as if swiping at a fly. It enraged him, and I didn't even bother to block his next few attacks, choosing instead to gracefully dodge before kicking him square in the chest, knocking him flat, his katana dropping from his hands. In a spare few seconds, I demonstrated our vast difference in skill, and he now knew it. I could kill him in an instant, and it would take almost no effort on my part.

"Just stay down." I turned away from the man on the ground, turning my back to him and bowing my head.

With I sigh, I realized he was beyond hope. I heard him get up, saw his shadow as he grabbed his sword and came at my back. I looked up at Nobunaga, my eyes meeting his. For the first time, I saw no emotion whatsoever in the face of Nobunaga, no little smile, no evil grin, just an expressionless mask that I knew matched my own.

I moved. My body hunched in order to gain more power, more strength to the blow. The sword was driven faster than lightning, flashing out as I spun around, striking the soldier, and cleanly severing head from neck in one blow. The body fell, blood splattering across the hem of my kimpo, a thick red swath, staining the cloth just as surely as my soul.

Slowly I stood straight, looking around at the troops, all equally shocked, although whether it was from my skill or my ruthlessness, I couldn't tell, and frankly didn't care. As if choreographed, Ieyasu, Masamune, and Hideyoshi all came forward, standing in a row behind me and facing Nobunaga.

"You can love me, or hate me. I don't care which. If you cannot respect me for my abilities, then you will respect the orders of the commanders who put me here."

My eyes glittered like diamonds, hard and cold, as they wandered over the men standing in formation. With a certain amount of distaste, I slung my sword in a sharp motion, effectively knocking blood from the steel before sheathing the blade. My eyes once more met those of Nobunaga, and I bowed to the Lord of the Castle, before stalking off the training field.

The mental steel I had used to brace myself with collapsed the second I closed the sliding door to my room, and I fell to my knees. My breath came in giant gasps, my whole body trembling with panic. It wasn't the blood, it wasn't the death, it wasn't even the fact that I did it. It was the fact that I did it so effortlessly, and I didn't even really care. What the hell is wrong with me? Am I that cruel of a person, so unfeeling that I can kill someone and not even have it faze me? It was the fear, the suspicion and belief that I was actually the monster, and there was nothing in this world that could truly redeem my soul. I sat on the floor motionless, choking back bile, until I was able to calm myself enough to continue.

The day was unseasonably cool for the end of June. Is it June? I think its still June. The sky was overcast, muting all color, and the air was still as death, with no wind or breeze to speak of. If it had been sunny it would be perfect. I didn't want to be inside right now, and I definitely had to leave the Castle.