Unconditional Love

Kyaaaaahhh finally finished this after one whole month of procrastinating @x@ And I actually managed to finish one whole story so hooray for me >w< I'm rather glad that this didn't turn out to be another one of Firesky's Famous Abandoned Projects ^^;;; Please bear with it if if some parts seem a little redundant - I'm still in the process of breaking free from my 'curse' =.=;;; This story was written based on one of my 'RPs' hehehe (No I'm not a Mary Sue T__T) All the same, hope you enjoy ^-^

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The rain fell to earth in a small downpour. Everything was silent, except for the constant pitter-patter of raindrops outside, bringing along a sense of peace and tranquility. It has been raining for a few days now, and for these few days, my sensei kept to himself, mostly locked up in his room.

I wanted to be by his side, to comfort him, but what good would that do? It is best to leave him along with his memories, memories of his late wife who was returned to the Gods on a rainy day like this three years ago.

I was taken in by sensei about eight years ago. Back then, I was just a young child who was one of the survivors of the mass killing-spree in my village. It was horrible - my family and friends were all slaughtered right in front of my eyes. In fact, my mother gave her life to protect me. Those ruthless samurai just marched into our village, brandished their swords and demanded the village chief to hand over the sacred scroll. When he refused, one of them slashed him just like that and ordered the whole village to be wiped out.

There was instant pandemonium. Screams of panic, the sound of swords slashing bodies, maniacal laughter - it was all so horrible. Miraculously, I managed to hide from those evil beings and remain unscathed for the most part, all thanks to my mother. When I crept out of my hiding place after everything has quietened down, the whole village was in flames with corpses strewn everywhere. It truly was a scene from hell.

I am unsure how many people actually managed to cheat death like me. I might even be the sole survivor, but at that time, I didn't really care about all that. All I wanted was to escape from hell. So there I was, a young child who just lost her family, a young child who just witnessed a massacre, walking aimlessly to wherever her feet brings her to.

After several days of travelling with meager food and water, I found myself in a forest. I thought that I'd finally be able to eat to my heart's content, as forests usually bear many juicy fruits, but fate is cruel. Perhaps it just wasn't the season, but almost all the trees there were thick only with leaves and flowers, not fruits. As if that wasn't bad enough, insects seemed to be particularly attracted to me, and my body was covered in insect bites and scratches from tree branches in no time.

Just when I thought that I would probably just die from exhaustion and hunger, I saw a figure in the distance. I mustered all of my remaining strength to walk towards it. My vision was steadily becoming more and more bleary with each step I took, and by the time I almost reached the figure, I could only manage to utter a soft cry before I was engulfed in complete darkness.

I awoke to find myself in a room. Judging by the lighting, it must be evening. I tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness swept over me. Just then, a young woman entered the room, saw me, and strode over with a smile on her face.


"I see that you're finally awake. How are you feeling?" she said kindly. "I'm fine, thank you. ...Where am I?" I said, my voice hoarse. "My house. My husband found you unconscious in the forest and brought you back. We were starting to get a little worried - you were unconscious for almost a week now. Here. You must be thirsty. Drink this first, dinner will be ready soon."

I thanked her profusely and drank the water which tasted as sweet as honey to me greedily, and almost choked. The woman patted my back and said, "There, there. Drink slowly, there's plenty left for you. By the way, it appears that we haven't formally introduced ourselves yet. I'm Mayumi, and you?"

"Ochiru."

Mayumi-san smiled. "Ochiru, eh? That's a nice name. Well then, please excuse me. I have to tend to the soup now. Do join us for dinner later, just turn left from this room and you'll see the dining area."

The heavenly aroma of food greeted my nose not long after she left, and my stomach started growling. I exited my room and headed left just as Mayumi-san had instructed, and soon reached the dining area. There was a man sitting at the dining table facing my opposite direction. Feeling rather apprehensive and shy, I stood at the doorway, not sure that I was welcome, until Mayumi-san spotted me as she was coming our of the kitchen, holding a steaming bowl.

"Ochiru-chan! Come on here and sit down. Dinner's finally ready." The man turned around to face me, and smiled. "Glad to see that you're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"I - I'm fine, thanks", I muttered and shuffled towards the table, opting to sit next to Mayumi-san who was busy scooping rice into bowls. "Itadakimasu!" all three of us said in praise of the food blessed upon us. Even though I was starving, I only gobbled down my rice, reaching for the dishes only occasionally.

Mayumi-san noticed this and said, "What's wrong, Ochiru-chan? Don't you like my dishes?"

"No- no, it's just- I-" I stumbled, slightly taken aback. "Then go ahead and take more of them. Eating plain rice alone won't fill you up. And you must be starving! Here." she took a portion of fish and placed it in my bowl.

I only managed to utter a simple word of gratitude and looked uncertainly at my bowl. "You better eat up, or Mayumi will be offended. She prides herself on her cooking, you know."

I was startled. That was the first time I heard the man speak since we started eating, and I looked up to face him. Only then did I get a good look at him. He looked to be in his late twenties,v had short blonde hair, green eyes and a kindly face which always seemed to be smiling. "I'm Muramasa, by the way."

I wasn't sure why, but something in the tone of his voice and his serene expression made me feel much more comfortable. I smiled at him and introduced myself. "So how did you end up in the forest unconscious? Where is your family?" asked Muramasa-san halfway through dinner. I stopped eating abruptly and slowly put down my bowl and chopsticks.

"I have no family..." I said softly, my voice trembling slightly. Noticing my sudden change of mood, both of them started to place their bowls down as well and waited for me to speak. Taking a deep breath, I told them all about how the samurai invaded my village and robbed me of everything.

Everyone was silent for a few moments after I finished my story. Then, unexpectedly, Mayumi-san reached out an arm to me and embraced me in a hug. "That must have been so horrible. It's all right now, you're safe."

I couldn't hold it in any longer - I let the tears I've been holding back flow while she patter me comfortingly. Once I've calmed down, the kind couple told me that since I had no place to call home anymore, I was welcome to live with them. I was very touched, but somehow I felt that I shouldn't be bothering them, I am but a total stranger. They insisted, and at last I accepted their offer, thanking them profusely.

From that day onwards, I have lived with them. I found out that Muramasa-san was a swordsmith. In fact, he is considered to be one of the best of the trade. Two weeks after I lived with them, he asked me if I wanted to learn how to forge weapons. I had mixed feelings about his offer - after all, it was because of these weapons that my family perished. However, if it weren't for Muramasa-san, I would have been dead by now. The least I could do was to become a disciple of his and worked for my share, I couldn't be a freeloader. So I accepted.

Every day I would wake up at the crack of dawn and head to the work shed after having a simple breakfast. There, Muramasa-san, or more appropriately Muramasa-sensei taught me all the basics of weapon forging. Mayumi-san would never fail to bring us our lunch packed in boxes during lunchtime, and as evening approaches, we would head back home where a lovely dinner awaits.

I was always rather reserved around my sensei at first, unsure of myself and worried that I might upset him if I made any mistakes, but he always made me feel at ease. He would teach and explain things to me patiently, and would never get mad even when I slipped up.

Soon, I felt myself opening up to him. We would share secrets that only the two of us knew, and sometimes during dinnertime, one of us would mention something, share a knowing glance and laugh, leaving Mayumi-san to wonder what that was all about.

It wasn't long before I realised that I harbored feelings for sensei. At first I put it down as 'puppy love', a mere crush, but as time went by, I knew that I truly loved him. It might seem wrong, and sometimes I would feel guilty when I look at Mayumi-san. but I've never confessed.

How could I? Yes, he might love me too, but only as how an elder brother loves his sister. The one true love of his life is his wife, and I respect that. I would never do anything that would break them apart - I am too much in their debt. Besides, I wouldn't do anything that might jeopardize the relationship I have managed to forge with him.

That is why I have remained quiet about it even until today, even after Mayumi-san left us forever. Ah, it has finally stopped raining. I heard the door slide open.

"There you are. Would you like some soup? The weather has been rather cold lately and some hot soup will heat you up."

I looked at my sensei in delight. His cooking might not be as good as Mayumi-san's, but it's delicious all the same. "Eh? Soup? How did you know I was craving for it?"

"Well, I didn't know that you were craving for it, all I know is that I wanted to drink soup. So? Do you want it or not? If you don't, I'll just finish it all up."

"Ehhhh! Who said I don't want it? I'll down two bowls in no time!"

He smiled at my reaction. "Well, you better hurry, then. I think there's only a quarter left in the pot", he said and turned to leave, while I strode after him. "Wait up!"

It was nice to see him break free of his gloomy expression, which he had on during the past few days. As I've said before, I love this man, but I don't expect anything in return, except for one. To see that smile on his face everyday, it is enough for me.

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-Dedicated to 村正-先生。愛している ! ♥-