"Raiha, it's going to be dark soon; you should be going home."

"But Akuenai, everyone's sick. Who's going to get you water when you're thirsty?" Raiha protested, holding a cup of water to her pale, dry lips after her coughs had subsided.

"What about you? You haven't had a break all day!"

"Koganei and Jiisan have given me harder work than this. Don't worry," Raiha assured his sick friend. He pushed back pieces of dark hair from her forehead as he spoke. He hated the pallid color her once radiant face had become.

Raiha thought about the first time they met, when he rescued her from the rushing water of a river, thinking he would never see her again after she told him to forget about her.

The next day he bumped into her when she stole vegetables from his garden.

~^~{ I wish I didn't have to steal, but. . .}

"Ow! Hey! Watch where you're going!" Akuenai shouted as she scrambled to pick up the scattered vegetables on the ground.

"Gomen. I was just about to ask you where you're taking our vegetables," Raiha said, holding the newly formed bump on his forehead.

"These, these are your vegetables?" she stammered, blushing to the roots of her dark hair. "I, I um. . .Gomenasai."

"It's all right," Raiha said, depositing the remaining vegetables in her arms.

'What do you mean it's all right? I just * stole * your hard earned food! How can you be so calm about it?" Akuenai was not used to being treated with kindness by other people, except her family. Raiha just shrugged and smiled at her quick mood change.

"There are too many for me and my grandfather to eat. And when we try to sell them, sometimes people buy them, sometimes they don't. You taking a couple won't hurt."

"What about your parents? Don't they need to eat some too?"

"They died when I was three. Are those enough for you and your parents?" he asked.

"My parents are dead also. How did your parents die?"

"In a fight. Is that why your family's considered bad luck? Because your parents died?"

Akuenai blinked back tears and shifted her weight.

"That's part of the reason. I better go home now. Thank you for the vegetables. I'll pay you back," she said, walking past Raiha. He immediately reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her, causing the vegetables to fall again.

"What's the other part?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" she replied defensively.

“I just want to help."

"Not * that * again. If it keeps you from bugging me I'll tell you. My parents died because they were very sick. Their parents died the same way. No one in the family is able to escape it. Everyone dies of a sickness. That's why the villagers think we're bad luck, none of us are healthy. We never were and we never will be." ~^~

After that conversation, Raiha and Akuenai became good friends. He found out she had a younger brother and sister to take care of, and never had any friends. She found out he was always anxious to help people because he wanted to live up to the good memory of his parents, and because his grandfather and a man named Koganei raised him that way. Like herself, he never had any friends either.

A year passed. During that year, Raiha and Akuenai played together, helped each other with chores and talked about anything. They confessed how they felt about each other, but could never do a thing about it. Akuenai refused to take it any further than that. She knew she would die soon, and being in a relationship with Raiha would hurt him more when she was gone.

Gradually Akuenai and her siblings fell ill. For the past few months Raiha took care of them.

"Open up!" a man's voice commanded, accompanied by a couple of loud bangs on the wooden door.

"Who could that be?"

"I don't know, Akuenai," Raiha said, walking towards the door.

"May I help you?" He asked politely, keeping the door open by a small slit.

"Move out of the way boy!" The man shouted, pushing the door wide open. Raiha stepped back and nearly fell.

"Where are they?" Several villagers asked as they came in with ropes and knives. "There they are! Tie them up!"

"Wait! What are you doing?" Raiha yelled, coming between a large bulky man and Akuenai.

"We came to hang them. Because of them, some of the children are sick! They have red skin that they are forced to scratch. They sneeze a lot and have watery red eyes. They are suffering! And it's all their fault!" he pointed an accusing finger at Akuenai and her siblings.

"No! This 'sickness' you're describing sounds like the children have allergies. My grandfather is good with medicine. If you wait just a few moments, I'll bring him here to verify what I have said," Raiha pleaded, looking back at his best friend. "And he will cure the sick children for free." he added quickly.

Hushed discussions broke out in the horde. They finally agreed to delay the hanging and allow Raiha to fetch his grandfather.

Raiha ran all the way home and all the way back to the village. By the time he arrived with his grandfather, his legs ached, his muscles throbbed, and the fronts of his feet burned.

A lump formed in his throat when he discovered the shabbily built house empty. His heart raced as he frantically searched the unusually quiet village.

Isseishi had a sinking feeling something terrible was amiss. His fears were confirmed when he found Raiha staring in horror at three frail, lifeless bodies hanging in the middle of the village.

"We couldn't wait for you any longer, young man. More people became sick and were sent away. We cannot risk the welfare of this village. The Jibyou family are the source of the sickness and are too weak to leave themselves, and they were extremely ill. By killing them we did them a favor and ended their suffering," the village elder explained.

Raiha was outraged. Never had he heard such an unreasonable explanation.

"End their suffering? Doing them a favor? Is that what you believe this cruel execution to be? A 'favor' you did for those poor unfortunate children? You mean you did yourselves a favor and killed innocent people under false pretenses!" Raiha shouted angrily, hot tears rolling down his cheeks as he spoke. "I asked you to wait for my grandfather to arrive. He would've cured all the sick people. And if you wanted the Jibyou family out of here, I would've gladly taken them away from this horrid place you call a village!" he accused, his voice cracking as he tried to swallow his tears.

"This is unforgivable.”

“Unforgivable.”

“Unforgivable," Raiha said repeatedly, advancing towards the village elder and unsheathing his katana with each heavy step.

"Stop Raiha! Raiha! Come back!" Isseishi yelled. It was futile. Raiha didn't hear a word.

A woman touched her wet cheek and stared down at her trembling red finger tips, letting out a blood-curdling scream after realizing the liquid was blood from the village elder's decapitated head that had splashed onto her face.

The villagers' faces distorted in terror as they stood frozen in shock. Raiha glared at each and every one of them, the hatred in his eyes burning a hole through their hearts. He wanted them to see the pain and anger he felt flowing through his body before slashing the next horror-stricken person.

"Raiha!" Isseishi bellowed as a sickening crack was heard. Someone had managed to smash Raiha's legs. Since he was so occupied with revenge, he didn’t notice someone sneaking up behind him in the midst of the riot. Isseishi knocked the man unconscious before he had another chance to hit his grandson. He quickly lifted Raiha into his arms and bolted from the chaotic scene.

"No Jiisan! No. . . go back! Go back! I want justice!" Raiha protested, painfully clutching his katana with bloody fingers. Isseishi ignored him and proceeded on their way home.

-~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~-

~^~ "Raiha, I want you to take these. It's all I can pay you for now," Akuenai said, happily handing him several hair ribbons. "I know they're not much, but I don't own anything valuable. You can use these to tie your hair back. I noticed how it bothers you sometimes."

"But I can't take these Akuenai, you don't have to pay me back. And I can't wear girly ribbons I'm a-"

"Take them!!!"

"Ha. . . Hai!" Raiha said meekly as he held out his hand. ~^~

"Akuenai."

Raiha whispered sadly as he fingered the ribbon of his low ponytail. "I promise I'll always wear one."

He put his hands together and bowed three times before departing.

-~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~-

"Are your legs feeling better?"

"Hai, Jiisan. I'm completely healed thanks to you."

It had been three months since the heart-scalding incident with the Jibyou family. Isseishi devoted himself to healing his grandson's body and mending his broken heart. Slowly, Raiha managed to cope with his loss.

"Raiha, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," Isseishi said solemnly.

"What is it?"

"Do you remember Koganei and I telling you about your cousin Kurei?"

"Yes. He was aunt Reina's son, and he could produce a flame right?" Raiha answered.

"Yes, that's him." Isseishi nodded. "They were exiled from the Hokage. Reina became sick and Kurei attempted to kill his half brother Recca. He was put in jail during the war. He escaped and went through the time portal with Recca."

"I remember the story. Why are you asking me about it?" Raiha felt his curiosity grow. His grandfather never looked so serious.

"I dreamed Kurei was about to go through a lot of pain. Pain he does not deserve. How would you feel if I sent you 400 years into the future to help him?"

Raiha's eyes widened at his grandfather's words. "How?"

"With the time manipulation spell." Isseishi answered.

"You mean you know it?" Raiha asked increduously.

"Yes. Only a certain few in the Hokage can perform it."

"But the caster is cursed with immortality. Jiisan, you will suffer for an eternity!"

"I know the consequences and I'm willing to accept them. I just wanted to know if you're willing to leave this timeline." Isseishi replied. Raiha was silent for a few moments.

"I will go Jiisan. Ever since Koganei left and Akuenai died, I have nothing to live for except you. I failed to protect the one I care about. I won't make the same mistake with Kurei."

"Are you sure about this?" Isseishi asked, giving him one last chance to refuse.

"I'm sure." Raiha said firmly.

"Then we have a lot of work head of us. You must sharpen your fighting skills, especially with the raijin. We need to set up a meeting place in the future. . ."

-~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~- -~*~-

"Wow! I never thought Raiha would have such a sad past!" Yanagi said, after watching the Eikai ball reply events in Raiha's life. She grabbed another tissue from her desk to wipe away tears.

"Yeah. This explains a lot. When he killed those villagers and displayed to Mori Kouran his fighting skills for work, he had that deadly look on his face. The same look he had when he killed Soukakusai and trained me. Before that, I would never expect it from Raiha. Every time I met him, he was so silly," Fuuko noted, blowing her nose.

"I'm glad his grandfather died in peace like Kagero-san. At least that stupid heaven and hell was good for something."

"Ne Fuuko-chan, now that you know about his past, what will you do?"

"I don't know. I thought if I knew more about him, it would help me figure out why he's in such a hurry to leave. But the information doesn't change a thing. I guess the only way to find out is to ask him myself," Fuuko concluded.

"I can find him with the Eikai ball." Yanagi offered. "I don't know how long it'll take though."

"Thanks Yanagi. I guess the only way to find out is to ask him myself." Fuuko concluded.
 

"I found him!" Yanagi said excitedly. "Wow! That was quick! I can teleport you there right now."

"Ok, I'm ready," Fuuko nodded.
 
Author’s Notes:  I remember as a kid my mom would tell me stories of how ignorant and judgmental people in the past can be.  Akuenai’s family actually suffers from a genetic disease, on both sides.  Which explains why only people in her family gets it and why nobody else gets it.  The idea of the village children having allergies I got from a movie.  & it’s sheer coincidence they have allergies due to the weather (it’s spring) & is of no fault of Akeunai’s family.

If u read the ribbon scene, u’ll notice it’s a copy of the Kenshin episode where Jinei kidnaps Kaoru.  I just loved it when she said “Kenshin found you.”  In that scary face & “gave” him the ribbon.

The ribbon I put in ‘cuz I always wondered why Raiha tied only the end!  I always think, why can’t u tie the whole head of hair damn it?  LOL & conveniently, it could be something Raiha can remember her by.