Akikane, the second-in-command of the shoguns, slipped through the cracks of the slanted, wooden door. As if in a trance, he unconsciously dragged himself with an informal posture towards the faint ring of bells and soft hums. His feet suddenly stumbled at a stop in front of a large hall, except this was different from all the other halls he had ever seen before. The slightly moulded, wooden floor was heavily covered with flower petals and thin tree branches with the hint of little sakura blooming. And in the middle of that beautiful mess of flora, stood a figure clothed in many grey and black coloured layers with a blinding bell in their right hand, while the other hand mimicked the figure's slow and smooth movements. The young shogun, obviously shocked and in a daze, wondered what kind of world he had stepped in; what world did this person live in?
Just a few hours ago, Akikane had lived in a world full of destruction and chaos where his hands were bloodied for the first time, and he was already sick of it. Being the son of the head leader did him no good other than watching desperate cries and pleas from innocent villagers since he was just a child. For the first time today, during his patrol, he had caught a group of shoguns messing around with the daughters of families and ruthlessly attacked those who had spoken against the shoguns. Akikane could not take it any longer and abruptly invaded the group of disgusting shoguns.
"What… are you doing?" Akikane's eyes flared with an unbreakable fury as he spoke slowly through gritted teeth. His hands shook as he clutched onto one of the shogun's collar.
"Ah! It is the leader's son! Are you here to have some fun too?"
The young shogun, taken aback, let go of the man's collar and stumbled backwards, "F-Fun? Is this fun to you?" He took in a deep breath, "We're supposed to set examples for the people, and THIS is what you do?!" His usually low, now a little high, voice surrounded the bunch.
The group of shoguns blinked at the 18-year-old boy in silence and in a flash, erupted with laughter which filled every corner of the street. "Hahaha! Oh boy, you just don't get it do you? You're too young and stubborn." He shook his head and chuckled with his low voice, "They don't worship us. Love us. Respect us. They fear us. And that… is fun." He struck his fist into the air. The foolish shogun had turned around but Akikane could hear the arrogant smirk engulf his voice.
Although the shogun had always managed to hold his emotions back, he finally snapped. In the smallest gap of time, Akikane harshly held onto the shogun's shoulder to face his way and violently swung his fist against the shogun's cheek; his fist clashed with the other's cheekbone. The shogun grunted and stepped back as he held onto his flushed, painted with the hint of a dark bruise, cheek. "You bastard! Get him!!"
Akikane, eyes widened, tripped over his foot. With the success of not making a fool of himself and falling over, Akikane picked up his speed and grazed his hand against the rough ground while his legs remained unconfident from the surprising scene that had just taken place.
Being the most agile person out of all the shoguns was one of his many skills which, fortunately, made his escape way easier than it should have been. His breaths were cut and uneven as he ran away from those demons, as if he were being chased by one of the many terrifying legends he had heard from his father as a young child.
His throat burned like the flames of his anger and his muscles ached. Stopping all at once, he clutched onto the rocky wall next to him and re-adjusted his long, black kimono. He had always been fond of dark, plain clothing; he thought that it matched his personality and character very well. Akikane, being a shogun, was expected to wear his armor during patrols, but he thought that they looked far too intimidating for himself and the people. So, he decided to only wear the armor during special, and important, occasions.
Within the moment of attempting to collect himself, he heard calm sounds inside a large, abandoned house which brings him back to the present time, where he stands before a stunning, dancing figure.
Akikane tightened his grip on the door and took a reluctant step inside the hall. His steps were heavy, unlike the figure's movements, which caused the old wood to squeak beneath him. The once-distracted figure quickly turned their head towards the other presence in the room which looked like a tall, young boy with handsome features and tired eyes.
To the shogun's surprise, the mysterious person had spoken, "W-Who… are you? What are you doing here?" The figure's voice was raspy and slightly low, as if they had not used their voice in a while and was obviously on guard.
"Ah, a man…?" He whispered. Akikane was, of course, surprised that this man, or any man at that, could look this beautiful.
"What? Speak up and answer my question!" The boy, with a swift movement, held out his strong sword towards the lost shogun, "Who are you? And why are you here?"
The shogun hesitated and stumbled with his words. The mysterious dancer raised an eyebrow at him and growled hrashly, "You're not one of those disgusting shoguns… are you?"
In that moment, time stopped. Should Akikane reply with a yes after that insult or a no? But why the hell would he say no? It's such an honor to be a shogun… at least that's what he wanted to believe. After the many events and harsh scenes that he had experienced, especially the one today, Akikane had doubts about whether or not being a shogun was all that great. And to his surprise, he had a feeling that he did not want to disappoint the beautiful boy in front of him. Wait- why does he keep calling that boy beautiful?
The dancer sighed, agitated, and, in a flash, the sharp blade was pressed against the shogun's throat. A string of blood trickled down his neck as the angry boy left the aftermath of sakura petals falling before the shogun's eyes. The agitated boy gave him an annoyed grunt and tilted his head to the side, as if to urge the shogun to quickly give him an answer. However, the boy's glossed, dark red eyes held a little sign of hope.
The shogun, speechless, could only squeak out a low, raspy "no" which caused the other to hesitantly retreat his sword from the shogun's neck.
"Hmph, should've answered me sooner." The boy turned away and cautiously put his sword away while he eyed the tired, and a little dusty, boy. Well, of course. No shogun would look like… that. Plus, before he came in here, he saw a few shoguns patrolling. So, if this man really was a shogun, he'd be in full armor and would have begun with questioning him. He shrugged and turned his back to the man.
"Ah! Wait…" The boy turned around and raised an eyebrow towards the shogun, "Your sword. What do you do?"
The boy sighed and glared at the unknown man, "Fusakore Yuki…samurai." And with those last words, he walked off.
"Akikane Sagara!" He called after the samurai. The boy stopped in his tracks and sent a small nod towards the shogun before exiting out the hall.
Leaving the dazed shogun by himself inside a hall too colourful, Akikane stood out with his dark clothing and exhausted aura.
"Fusakore… Yuki…" The shogun followed the same path to return to his own monochrome world. Outside the abandoned area and back home in the dark, past the familiar path and the rocky wall.
And in that moment, Akikane wondered how that samurai viewed the world that he lived in.