Times hurls us backwards, backwards to a story of a young warrior, forced to bear an unusual curse. A curse unlike any other curse ever heard of. This story, a portion of history long forgotten by most, is a tale almost like fantasy. A tale of a cursed blade, a scar, and of a choice. Thus, it was decided that, when this story was first told, it was to be named Norowareta Seiken - 'The Cursed Sword'.

---

The sun shone down upon the land, blessing it with warm weather, an unspoken promise of a good harvest, and waking up those who needed to start their day now, and begin with their work. The small village of Harunomura was quick to rise this morning, the numerous working men ready to get to their jobs, whatever they may be. Harunomura was a small village, so small it was rarely to be found on maps. There were traders occasionally, but it was not often enough. Still, it was a nice little village, and all of it's people knew each other well. If not as friends then as acquaintances, but never enemies. However, there was, of course, one black sheep of the flock. A black sheep who seemed to make an enemy of many...

"Oi! Kid! Come back!"

The yell fell on deaf ears, as a young teen, roughly fifteen or sixteen at best, was to be seen running, his dark hair, an unruly mess, blowing in the air as he ran. He was a lean kid, thin, yet he did pack some muscle. Sharp features, with green eyes, a pointed nose, and a smirk that never was seen to be removed from his face, graced his features. His clothes were simply consisting of a gray, dirty, men's kimono, tied at the waist by an obi sash. No special design was on it - It was plain gray. In his hands he clutched a box of mikan - A type of mandarin orange brought over from China - and said box he had just stolen from a shop belonging to an old man. Said old man was trying to chase him, but inevitably, it was for naught, as the youth was far faster and had far more stamina than the old man.

Pulling around a corner, he quickly ran through and exited the other side, now almost just beyond the village limits - and closer to home. Grinning, he now slowed down, seeing no danger or threat, and proceeded to walk beyond the village, into the high grass that existed outside it. For you see, the boy's home was just here, beyond the village, close to the forest that existed nearby. Allowing himself to slowly climb down a ledge, he had now entered the outskirts of the forest, and ahead, just outside the line of trees, one could see a small, abandoned hut.

"Haha! This ought to last me a while!" he spoke, entering the hut. It was rather small within the hut, just enough for two, maybe three people at best. There was first the main room, where a small table was to be seen where people ate, and at the walls to the left and right of where one walked in were sliding doors, leading to two separate bedrooms. Tatami mats covered the floor, although they, like most things in the hut, looked dirty. Grinning proudly to himself, the youth set down the box on his table, and lied down to one side, having taken a mikan for himself already. Slowly peeling it, he proceeded to take a small bite, savoring the taste of the fruit. After all, it was yet another of his own, personal victories.

---

In the meantime, another figure was to be found wandering the streets of Harunomura, clearly identified by the people of the village as an outsider. After all, numerous odd things were to be taken note of - For starters, the being, while mostly cloaked by the large clothing they wore, was to be seen carrying a katana at their side. A second thing to be noticed - The figure was unrecognizable, the cloaks and clothing enough to hide their face, and most of their body, from view. The figure, however, was noted to stand far larger than any normal man, reaching a height of six feet seven inches, and with broad shoulders that made them look far superior to any man, woman or child in the village. One could tell this was no person to mess with, even if they hadn't done anything yet.

Some stared, surprised by the huge form of the being. Aside from the cloak it wore, a conical straw hat was to be seen covering it's head from sunlight, and a scarf of sorts, wrapped around it's neck and face, made it even more unrecognizable. It continued to walk down the street, people keeping out of the way of this intimidating figure, who continued walking as if this was normal, until it saw something - A small tea house, not far from where they were. It would appear this figure was interested, and this was proven as it now strode towards the tea house, ready to make use of it and get some tea. After all, it had been a long journey thus far. With a few strides, it had arrived at the front of the tea house, and as it entered, it was greeted with the stares of all of the people present - A waitress as well as several customers.

Ignoring their staring, the figure sat down in front of one of the tables, kneeling with their back upright, and turning to look at a second waitress, who had hesitantly neared it, ready to take it's order. Before the waitress could even stutter out the question, the figure had answered, it's voice muffled slightly by the scarf but still understandable.

"Jasmine tea, please"

And simple as that, the waitress scurried off to fetch the drink whilst the figure simply sat there, patiently waiting it's order. Sensing this calm nature about the large figure, the people relaxed, and slowly returned to their own business, allowing the outsider peace. In a matter of minutes, the waitress had returned, the jasmine tea on a tray she was holding, and, placing the tray down, she proceeded to lift the cup and place it in front of the figure.

"There you go, sir. I hope you like it. You aren't from around here, right? I suppose then you haven't had the pleasure of tasting our tea" the waitress spoke, a bit quickly, but that was understandable, as she was nervous. The figure, looking briefly in the direction of the waitress, nodded.

"Thank you. And yes, I am not from around here" it replied, and the waitress, a bit more relaxed, spoke again, smiling a little this time.

"Well, you don't have to worry a thing about your stay here. The only troublemaker in this village is Yamazaki Kaizo, but I doubt you'll be running into him" she replied, to which the outsider simply nodded before taking a sip of their tea.

"I see..."

---

The day was passing quickly, it would seem. For Kaizo, things were going great. After storing away his mikan so they would not rot, he had now taken to walking about the streets, a gentle breeze blowing against his skin, his messy, black hair falling in his face slightly. It was only chin-length, but the fringe was long enough to reach his eyes at times. Not that it mattered much. He liked how he looked. Much better than a top-knot in his own opinion. His arms were folded in front of him as he walked, his eyes directed forwards as he walked, not really looking for anything in particular. The sun was beginning to lower, and as a result, the sky was home to orange and red colors. Soon it would be night, but that didn't bother him. It wasn't like he had some sort of curfew.

Turning around a corner however, he bumped into something - To him, it felt as if it were a brick wall - and as a result, he ended up falling back on the ground. Quickly sitting up, he looked upwards, frowning, and were it not for the enormity of the figure before him, he may have shouted some sort of insulting remark at the figure for walking in his way. A dark cloak, a conical straw hat, a scarf - These clothes hid it's body, but not the enormity of it at all, for it had to be standing at least at a height of over six and a half feet, and it's wide frame made him wonder if this powerhouse could be stopped were it to rampage. His eyes widened for a second, but a natural urge to maintain his toughness made him quickly narrow them at the figure. As it extended a hand to help him up, he was quick to slap it away and stand up for himself, letting it know he didn't need it's help.

"Bah, you should watch where yer goin', outsider! I don't care if ya are a samurai, I demand an apology from those who dare knock me-"

"I apologize, I suppose I should have looked where I was going" the figure answered sincerely before he could finish, catching him off guard. Did this figure - This tough being, probably capable of killing him without breaking a sweat - actually just apologize? To him? He was left momentarily speechless again, but quickly, he narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, attempting to think of something smart to say back, but nothing came to him, and he sighed.

"Tch, fine. Like I care. Just don't get in my way again, understand?" he spoke, and without getting an answer, he walked around the figure, heading back on his way. However, a light tap on his shoulder alerted him to the figure again, and turning around, he sighed, looking at it. "Yes? What is it?" he asked, obviously not in the mood. To his shock, the figure asked him the one thing he never expected to hear.

"Do you mind if I stay with you for a while?"

---

'Why the hell did I agree to this...?' thought the youth, Kaizo, as he lied there, next to his table, his 'guest', the outsider, in the other room - His room, to be exact, but he didn't mind so long as the outsider did not go near the other room. Sighing, he turned his head over to look at the sliding door, a faint silhouette of the figure visible. From what he could see, the figure had taken off their hat, as well as the scarf, and the cloak, too, was nowhere to be seen. Looking back towards the ceiling, he spoke.

"So, why the hell did ya want to stay with me? Just some spur of the moment thing?" he asked, raising a brow. The figure was quick to reply.

"Well, I had heard you lived by yourself, so I thought I ought to give you my company, for a little while. It seems as though the villagers don't exactly get along with you..." the large figure answered, earning a confused look from Kaizo.

"Tch, so you thought I'd like it if ya went around asking if I could give ya a place to stay? You're one odd person. You haven't even given me yer name yet" he spoke, commenting on the manners of the warrior. For a moment, there was silence, but then an answer came.

"Well, if you really want to know, my name is Kobayashi Rinka, but you can call me Rinka, 'Kay?"

"Rinka? But isn't that-"

Once again, he was cut off as the sliding door opened, and, sitting up, he gazed in awe at the figure before him. 'Large' was not enough to describe this being. If anything, it was far greater than 'large'. Powerful muscles, dominating it's figure, looked capable of tearing full-grown men apart. The leg muscles may as well have been tree trunks, as they looked powerful enough to kick right through one. The abdominal are was like an armor plating - No weapon, no sword looked capable enough of cutting through it, in Kaizo's opinion. The arms were likewise huge, as if the outsider had been wrestling giant bears their entire life. And winning. The outsider's shoulder were broad, emphasizing the power the person held. And yet, one thing stood out the most:

This was a woman.

Not even a woman, a teenaged girl in fact, evidenced by her youthful, heart-shaped face, with red hair, long and with bangs that framed her face, held back in a top-knot. Almond-shaped green eyes held a certain youthful innocence, her small, button nose giving her a cute look and a set of full lips completed her face. Her clothes, obviously customized to fit her, consisted of a crimson kimono, open at the chest to expose her ample bosom, with white lining all about it, and a white obi sash belting it at the waist. The kimono lacked sleeves however, although it did feature a pattern of white butterflies along it. And in the obi sash was her katana - A silvery metal used to form the hilt and guard, with a crimson hilt-wrapping covering it. The guard was a diamond shape, and further customizing it was a red, horsehair tassel hanging from the pommel. The blade, were it to be drawn from it's crimson scabbard, was a wonder to look at - Shining in the right light, well kept and cleaned. However, at the point where the guard met the blade, a small ruby was encrusted into the blade, and that small ruby, no matter how Kaizo looked at it, seemed ominous to him.

Kaizo was speechless at the sight of this woman. Her face was innocent enough, yet those powerful muscles were intimidating to just look at. They weren't even flexed, yet they were far larger than any muscles he had ever seen. His lean build paled in comparison to this powerhouse. Looking at him, Rinka giggled, and she proceeded to speak.

"Sorry, I should have told you earlier. People always get so shocked when they see that I'm a woman. Heck, I'm only sixteen myself! Hahaha" she spoke, giggling to herself again, while his eyes widened even more. Sixteen? He was sixteen! And yet the difference between the two couldn't be greater! Sitting there, his mouth wide open, he was so surprised he hadn't heard or even registered her next question.

"So, what's for dinner?"

---

Upon the hills overlooking the village of Harunomura, a group of men, were to be seen, illuminated only by the moonlight. All of the figures were unique in some way, yet all wore the same dark clothing over their figures, and a short sword - a Kodachi - in their belts. One - A man with spiky, white hair, with a ponytail flowing behind him, was quick to speak.

"Alright men, split up and search. Tonight, we take the head of Kobayashi Rinka".