Chapter 1

It was an unseasonably cool summer night. The breeze blew gently through the trees, the cicadas called out to each other, the full moon illuminated 18 year old Asae Fujiyama's pale skin and waist long bright blue hair. Overall it was a beautiful evening, not that it mattered to her at all. She was a bit preoccupied with being kidnapped at the moment. As the daughter of a noble it was something she'd grown accustomed to over the years. Every so often some fool headed thief would come along thinking they'd take her and hold her for ransom. Usually the family guards would stop them first. Usually. Usually it would only be one or two men, easily defeated by the guards. These were no small time thugs, however. They were organized. They had snuck in somehow, killed the guards by her room, and blindfolded and gagged her before she even realized what was going on. So here she was now, being carried off into the night by some unknown assailants. She calmed her mind, tried to remember some of the techniques she'd learned from her guards for just this type of situation. She could recognize four distinct voices. All male. The one holding her was a burly man, obviously the muscle of the group. She could tell they weren't running on solid ground. Probably jumping from tree to tree.

Trying not to leave a trail that can easily be followed. Clever.

Asae thought glibly. She continued to take stock of her situation.

My hands and feet are bound, but they didn't bother to check me for weapons, so I've got that going for me.

She fumbled with the hidden knife in her kimono sleeve.

Not much, but I can work my hands free. Maybe get the blindfold off and see who's taking me or at least get the gag off and call for help.

She continued to kick and struggle against her captor to throw off any suspicion. Just as she had finally got the knife in her hand and began hacking through the cord around her wrist the man carrying her finally spoke up "We gotta stop for a minute the bitch is killing me with all this thrashing around. She's gonna knock me right outta the tree."

Shit… Asae tried cutting faster, but her dull, old knife could only cut so fast.

"Whassa matter, can't handle a little girl?" One of the men spoke back, scathingly, his voice little more than a raspy whisper. "Fine. We're far enough out anyway." Asae felt the world around her drop sickeningly as she and her captor dropped from the tree. Once on the ground, he dropped her carelessly at his feet. Asae felt a warm metallic tasting liquid fill her mouth. She'd probably busted her lip when he dropped her.

"Careful!" The raspy voiced man chided. "We can't sell Madame damaged goods…" he gripped Asae tightly by the chin and forced her to face him. "Yeah a beauty like her is gonna fetch us a pretty penny…especially with her still intact…" the last comment caused a round of lecherous chuckles from the group. For the first time, Asae felt a shiver of fear crawl down her spine. They weren't just going to hold her for ransom…they were going to sell her to some whorehouse! With her newfound panic fueling her she finally cut through the cord and in one swift movement slashed blindly in front of her.

"Fucking bitch!" the raspy voice yowled and she knew she hit her mark. In the confusion she managed to tear off her blindfold and get a good look at her captors. The man in front of her held his eye in his hands, blood trickling from between his fingers, two men were behind her, hands on their swords, but not yet attacking her.

Must be under orders not to damage me.

She began pulling off the gag just as the burly man backhanded her against the temple, knocking her back down. She saw stars and fought against unconsciousness.

Shit I have to stay awake. I have to keep fighting.

"You idiot! I told you not to harm her!" The leader finally stepped forward. Through her dazed state, all she could make out was the bloody mess that used to be his left eye.

"Don't worry boss, I hit her under her hair. Nuthins gonna show. Just makin sure she ain't gonna cause any more trouble." The burly man nudged her with his foot for good measure. The leader snorted and grabbed Asae by the hair, pulling her up to face him. He traced his finger along her lips, pressing down where she'd split it causing her to wince. Her look of pain made him grin. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear "Looks like you've been a bad girl, Princess. Guess we'll have to punish you." He threw her back to the ground and called out to his men. "Looks like we're already taking a pay cut by delivering damaged goods. Might as well have some fun with it." Asae's stomach dropped, knowing what he meant. She fumbled around, looking for her knife. Her fingers finally closed around it, only to have the leader stomp down on her hand, nearly crushing it. "No no. Not this time Princess. Why don't you just be a good girl and let us get this over with, hmm? Tie her back up!" He barked at the men. They dragged her over to a tree and tied her arms behind it. The leader took her knife and gently ran it along the skin of her neck. "How does it feel to be on this side of the blade, hmm?" he mocked.

"Not great I can tell you that." Asae snarled, defiantly.

"Fiery little bitch, aren't you? We'll see just how fiery you are after we're done with you." With that, he drew the blade down, hacking away at her kimono. Asae met his bloody one eyed gaze with her piercing amber eyes, refusing to show any amount of fear. It must've worked better than she realized because his smirk was quickly replaced by a look of shock…and then she felt something wet drip on her chest. Blood. She snapped her head back up quickly and saw a jagged sword jutting out of her assailant's chest for only a moment before it was quickly pulled back out. Blood spurted out of his body, covering her. She clamped her eyes shut against the carnage. All around her she could hear the sounds of swords cutting through flesh and screams of pain. The smell of blood filled the air.

"Well that was disappointingly easy." A deep voice broke through her fear. She finally looked up and saw an absolute monster of a man standing before her. He towered over the men who had captured her, who now lay dead at his feet. A mane of wild, black hair styled into spikes framed his face. An eye patch covered his right eye; a long thin scar ran down the opposite side. He wore a black kimono and tattered white haori. A soul reaper's uniform; but not just any soul reaper, a captain.

"Y-you saved me…" Asae sputtered out lamely.

"Yeah I guess. Well see ya." The soul reaper turned to leave.

"Hey wait a minute! You can't just leave me tied up here!" Asae struggled against the bonds that kept her tied to the tree.

"Uh why not?"

"You saved me! You can't just leave the job half done!"

"I didn't exactly come here to save you that was just a little bonus. Just be glad you got that much."

"I'll scream if you leave." Asae threatened.

"You gotta be kiddi…" He was cut off by an ear splitting shriek that filled the night air. "Fucking serious? Fine! Fine! Just shut the hell up!" He took his sword and cut the ropes that bound her.

"Aww why thank you!" Asae said in a sickenly sweet voice, her shredded kimono barely holding on.

"Ugh here." The soul reaper roughly handed her his captain's robe. "How bout this, I'll take you back where you came from, but only cuz I want that back." Asae slipped it on and nearly disappeared inside it. "Hop on." He commanded. Before she could question what he meant, he picked her up by the waist, hoisted her onto his back, and leapt into the nearest tree.

"Ugh not again…do we really have to jump around through the trees?" Asae complained the memories of her capture still very fresh.

"Fastest way. Sooner I drop you off, the sooner I get my shit back, the sooner I can leave. Now, where am I going?"

"Fujiyama house. I'm uh…a servant there." Asae fumbled, not quite ready to fully trust him.

"Sheesh no wonder you got your ass kidnapped. You're a terrible liar." The soul reaper smirked as he took off through the forest.

Chapter 2