I was watching the Director's Cut of Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal, and noticed how vague the last 5-6 minutes are, so I wanted to try to "extend" them a little. Here are my efforts.
Disclaimer: I do not Rurouni Kenshin, it's characters, or it's OVAs. They are the properties of Nobuhiro Watsuki and perhaps Studio Deen ( I can't remember if Watsuki-sensei had a hand in creating the animations).
The most beautiful woman in the world was laying on the futon before him, and she was dead. By his hand. Kenshin was sitting on the tatami in the seiza position, overcome with grief. Her long black hair would no longer sway in the breeze, her fair skin would no longer be kissed by the sun, nor would her dark eyes ever greet him again. Though all those things hurt, what devastated him the most was that he would never see Tomoe smile again, and it killed him. He lowered his head, further obscuring his eyes behind his red bangs. His mind was reeling; it had been for quite some time now, ever since she jumped in front of his sword. Why couldn't he have been the one to die? He was the murderer, the hitokiri Battousai who had stolen her happiness when he killed her fiancé. It made no sense.
Kenshin didn't hear the man approach, but could feel him there.
"Kenshin. I..was informed as to what happened. I'm sorry. ...We found the traitor...and...I've hired a new assassin."
Kenshin did not turn around. "Katsura?"
Kogoro Katsura continued. "His name is Makoto Shishio. We don't know a lot about him, but he's quite skilled. He will take care of assassinations from now on."
Kenshin said nothing for a moment before replying. "So you're retiring me?"
"No. We are still in need of your skills. The Bakufu has strengthened, and the Shinsengumi are as ruthless as ever. Each day, they are hunting down more and more of the Ishin Shishi in the capital. If we do not resist now, we will all be destroyed. These are...desperate times."
"I see."
Katsura sat in the doorway. "Kenshin?"
"Yes?"
"I had...asked Tomoe to be your sheathe. To keep you from becoming an unrepentant killer."
Kenshin looked up. "A sheathe?"
"Yes." He paused for a moment. "If my good intentions led to this tragedy, I apologize."
They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before Kenshin spoke up. "Katsura?"
"Hm?"
"I will lend you my sword. Tomoe...Tomoe was destroyed by the Shogunate. They used her emotions to control her. I will make them pay for that."
Katsura nodded. "Thank you."
"However," Kenshin continued. "When the fighting is over-"
Katsura cut in. "You will throw away your sword?"
Kenshin paused. "I'm...not sure. If I die now, then all the lives I've taken will be for nothing. I will also not be able to honor Tomoe's memory if I'm dead. I'm not sure if I'll throw away my sword when the battles are finished, but I do know this: I will never kill again."
They waited in silence once more before Katsura stood, lowering his head. Kenshin thought he heard him mutter another "I'm sorry" under his breath before he turned and left, but he wasn't sure. Regardless, the sun was beginning to set, and he knew what he would have to do.
Kenshin turned back to face his wilted iris. He reached up to touch the now cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, as he extended a loving hand to caress Tomoe's right. His eyes were filled with sadness. "Tomoe...I...I must leave soon. But...I want to stay...just a bit longer."
After remaining in silence with her an eternity longer, he felt his hand skimming over the hilt and sheathe of his katana. He removed his hand from it in a momentary display of disgust, before taking it firmly into his hand, resolute with what he must do, and sliding it into his sash.
He began to scour the small farmhouse the two of them had lived in after fleeing the Capital. The place seemed oddly huge to him now. And empty. In his half-minded search, he stumbled across something in what had been their living room. Looking down he noticed a top, the only toy he had ever owned. It meant nothing to him now. His eyes only glanced over it as he left it where it lay, continuing with his current task.
Kenshin took the tatami mats from the room and piled them up in the center. He searched around and, finding the extra futon sheets, added them to the pile, as well. For his final addition, he ripped the rice paper out of the few fusuma that had paper in them and tore down a couple shoji. Returning to the room in which Tomoe lay, he scooped up the last few embers of the previous night's fire, and deposited them within the awaiting pile of tinder.
As the embers began to smolder, he returned to Tomoe. Kenshin noticed on the floor beside her was her azure scarf, the very one he had carried into the forest, the one he was holding when she died, lying in a crumpled heap. Picking it up, he gave a forlorn look, first to it, then to Tomoe, before gently folding it and placing it within the crease of his kimono.
He heard the fire flare up in the adjacent room and knew it was time to leave. Kenshin knelt beside Tomoe, breathing in her white plum scent on last time, leaned over, and gave her a parting kiss. "I...have to go now, dear. I'm going to keep fighting, until the new age of peace finally arrives. After that, there will be no need to kill any more. I...then I will try to live as the man that you taught me to be."
Most of the adjacent room was engulfed in flame now. Kenshin bowed his head and closed his eyes, forcing his tears back. Leaving, he turned back in the doorway, just to gaze at her one last time.
"I love you, my dearest. Goodbye...Tomoe."
He stepped out into the chilly night air, as the sun had set while he was preparing the pyre. Kenshin walked firmly from the house, a mixture of sadness and determination reflected in his eyes, marching steadily down the mountainside, headed for the Capital.
Kenshin had been able to sneak into Kyoto unnoticed and was now slinking down it's darkened alleyways. It was a seemingly remote but familiar feeling to him. He continued weaving through the back alleys of buildings and hiding in shadowed doorways when he thought he heard something coming up behind him. Nothing ever showed up, however, and he began to think that he shouldn't be here.
"No, there's no turning back. You aren't an assassin this time, so keep your head level," his head reminded him.
Walking on, he sure that he heard coming footsteps this time, accompanied by shouts that sounded a little farther away. "This way! I've found them!" was the first audible expression he heard, followed by "HALT! In the name of the Tokugawa Shogunate!" Kenshin bristled. That was his cue.
Walking to the end of his alleyway, Kenshin could see that the adjoining one was far wider. Excellent. He waited until he saw his fellow Ishin Shishi run passed him before stepping out of the shadows, standing in the way of their assailants. The attackers' uniforms were of a light blue, bearing white mountain stripes around the sleeves. They were the Shinsengumi.
Kenshin stood directly in front of them, resolute. "Leave them alone," he demanded.
They held a lantern up so as to see his face. "Who are you?" one of them inquired.
Kenshin's eyes were deadly, his voice venomous. "Go back the way you came...or die."
One of the members in front asked "Is that him?" as the member beside him replied, "I think it's the assassin."
"I've found him, at last." The voice came from the back of the group. The entire group looked back and parted. "Captain?" the second man inquired. A young man who appeared to be near Kenshin's age or only slightly older, if he was, stepped forward.
As he came to the front, Soji Okita drew his katana, smiling. It was a smile that Kenshin did not return. He held his sword in front of himself and rushed at Kenshin, moving the sword above his right shoulder, preparing for a downward strike.
In one fluid motion, Kenshin drew his own blade and rolled his wrist, allowing the sword to flip over his hand to re-catch it in his hand horizontally, blocking Okita's attack. Disgruntled, Okita disengaged him only to thrust the point of his sword at Kenshin's head, the likes of which Kenshin sidestepped and moved behind him. Moving quickly, Okita turned, launching another thrust in the process. Kenshin backflipped out of the way just before the point of the sword reached him.
This time, Kenshin went on the offensive, dashing at Okita, running with his sword parallel to the ground beside him. Once in range, he lashed out with a horizontal strike at Okita's chest. Okita raised his blade, placing his left hand on the back of it to brace it, and caught Kenshin's attack. Circling each other, blades locked, Okita once again pulled away to thrust his blade at the hitokiri. Kenshin continued with his footwork, circling to his left to dodge the sword's point, then doing so once more. With the third thrust of Okita's blade, he was forced to bring his sword up near his face, barely diverting the strike. Okita's katana ground passed his, the friction causing a few sparks.
Kenshin shifted his weight, causing the young man to stumble as he dashed behind him. Hearing him cough, Kenshin turned to look. When Okita turned back around, there was a stream of crimson flowing from the right corner of his mouth, much to Kenshin's puzzlement. He didn't remember hitting the young Shinsengumi member in the mouth.
Another man had worked his way to the front of the group. "That's enough, Okita. With your health in its current condition, you're in no state to fight. Allow me to take over from here." Okita turned to look at him.
"But Saito!" he protested.
Saito stepped forward, walking passed Okita, and unsheathed his own sword. "It's no use. With your ailment flaring up like this, I don't think you can beat an opponent who smells of so much blood." Kenshin simply stared at them, unflinching.
Saito stopped near Kenshin, entering a crouching stance, holding the very end of the hilt of his katana with his left hand, and resting the end of the blade in between the index finger and thumb of his right. Kenshin turned to face him full frontal. He had heard of this technique before. It was a single lightning quick thrust with the sole intent of killing the opponent in one blow. Completely devastating.
Saito smirked. "Have at you."
He lunged at the young assassin, thrusting the blade at his head. Kenshin narrowly dodged to the left, spinning in the process. While spinning, he used the centrifugal force to bring his sword homing in on Saito's back. The captain caught spun his sword upside down, holding it behind him to block. Bracing his shoulder against his own sword, he reached down with his right hand and drew his wakizashi, striking out at Kenshin with it.
Kenshin jumped back, parrying with his katana. Saito turned, striking with it again, but Kenshin locked it with his sword then, striking it once again, knocked the short sword out of Saito's hand. The captain responded with another thrust from his katana, similar to the original, which Kenshin knocked out of the way. Kenshin followed up with a slash at Saito's waist, but he was able to block. Saito fired off another quick thrust, while Kenshin only had a moment to throw up his blade in defense, allowing the blade to grind against his. In succession, he place his left hand midway along his sword and shoved downward, forcing Saito's out of the way. Kenshin then skirted to the side and unleashed a downward strike. Saito parried in return.
Breaking away momentarily, the two stared each other down. Then, without hesitation, the two charged, blades glimmering. As they rushed passed one another, their blades clashed loudly as the two roared their battle cries. Surprisingly both came through unscathed.
Kenshin turned back to look at the group of Shinsengumi, then looked down the alleyway. He decided that he should go. He would most likely not leave the encounter without wounds if he stayed, if he was even able to leave at all. Though the alleyway was small, he would have to fight at least two at a time and possibly three or four at the most. With two of those members being captains, the odds weren't very favorable. Plus, he had given his comrades enough time to escape. He made a break for it.
Saito wasn't surprised. He pointed to five of the men. "Bring me his head."
"Yes sir!" they replied before giving chase.
Okita began to follow before Saito placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. Okita frowned. "Saito, I do outrank you, and I believe I can take care of myself." He coughed afterward, creating another stream of blood.
Saito nodded. "I know you can take care of yourself. It's not your skill that I have doubts about, but your health. Come along now. We'll escort you to the doctor. I'm sure he'll have some Kyorou Sanyaku for you." With that, he and Okita joined what was left of the group and left down the alleyway, in the opposite direction the assassin had taken.
He had escaped them. The shadowy back alleys of Kyoto had proven useful once more, he noticed. With his head start and sticking to the darkness, giving the Wolves of Mibu the slip hadn't been much of a challenge. They would meet again soon.
It had taken a bit of time to track down the new Ishin Shishi base of operations. He searched for almost two hours, but finally found it. This time, it was set at a new inn, far away from the Ikedaya, on the other side of the city. When he had arrived in the upstairs room where his fellow Ishin Shishi were staying, one of the men offered him tea, which he declined. Kenshin silently walked to the far side of the room, which was deserted, and sat against the wall, his sword propped against his shoulder, eyes lowered.
"Something's changed about him," one of the men noted.
"Yeah, he used to have a look in his eyes that said he wanted to kill ya. Now he just looks sad," another replied. "Wonder what happened to that girl he was with? Think it has anything to do with her?"
"Not sure," the other said. "Maybe she left him, or something."
Kenshin hid his eyes further behind his bangs. "Yes, she's left me. ...Forever," was the only thought that crossed his mind before forcing himself to sleep.
…
He was walking through a snowy forest. Everything was silent, even further muffled by the falling white flakes. The only sound to really make any attempt to focus on was the crunching of his footsteps, which was hard to do, as the first bomb had nearly made him deaf. His ears were bleeding, so it would be a while before he was able to hear properly again. The bomb that was detonated minutes ago had nearly robbed him of his eyesight. With his left eye matted shut from bleeding and the right only able to be barely open, his vision was blurry at best. The wounds inflicted in the previous battles themselves, bombs aside, had taken their toll. His breathing had become heavy. Each step was a stumble. If he had many more opponents, he wouldn't last.
He slipped and fell face first into the snow. Using his katana as a crutch, he shakily got back to his feet. Upon opening his right eye as best he could, a vision flashed before him. He was in a dark world with a rain of rose petals. As he staggered along, on each side of his path were the corpses of the hundreds he had slain as a hitokiri. Various memories surged through his head, each one having occurred after he met her. He continued faltering along. Scenes from his past began playing before him. Finally, he snapped out of the dreamlike world, back into the winter plunged real one. The wind had picked up and it was snowing harder than before.
He stumbled out into a clearing, his vision clearing enough to see an outline of a person against what appeared to be a small cabin of some sort. Probably his next opponent.
"There you are," he heard the man say. "I'm glad to see you save a little energy for me, assassin. I am personally going to make you pay for your many crimes against the Shogunate." He continued, "It is the only way I can atone for not protecting my envoys from you in the first place. Your corpse will be displayed on the streets as a final warning, and this 'poor rebellion' will die. The power of the Shogunate is absolute! Die knowing you have lived a meaningless life!" He rushed at Kenshin.
Kenshin's breathing was heavy and he still couldn't see or hear well. He fell to his knees, leaning forward, and drew his sword from its sheathe, cutting a horizontal arc in front of him, hoping to make contact with his attacker.
He had drawn too soon. Tatsumi dealt him an uppercut just below his chin, forcing his head to snap upwards and knocking him to his feet, stumbling backwards. Regaining his balance, the hitokiri lashed out wildly, but Tatsumi was able to easily dodge the predictable sword strikes before blocking the last one with his bracer and kneeing Kenshin in the head.
Before Kenshin could stand, Tatsumi grabbed him by the back of his kimono, lifting him from the ground, and drove his left fist into Kenshin's solar plexus. Dropping the assassin, he then clasped his hands together, dealing Kenshin a lethal hammer blow to the back of his neck, causing him to stagger forward. The hitokiri turned in an attempt to pull off an attack, but the man was too fast. Tatsumi rocketed his right palm into Kenshin's face, hitting him like a boulder. Stumbling back, he lashed out once more, only to have Tatsumi block with his left bracer. The man then caught the assassin in the bend of his right arm, swinging him around before throwing him into the ground.
Tatsumi reached into the crease of his kimono, pulling out the knife he had confiscated from the girl earlier. He was ready to end it. He watched with glee as the hitokiri clambered to his feet, shouting fiercely. Kenshin shouted again and rushed at him, eyes closed, for he had resigned himself to his fate, perhaps in order to make her happy, but was going to take the man with him no matter what. Tatsumi exuded a light chuckle and dashed at the assassin, holding the knife parallel to the ground beside him.
Kenshin raised his sword above his head, grasping the hilt with both hands, aiming for a downward strike, a killing blow to the man. He could feel the resistance against the blade and could hear the man cry out. The feeling was familiar. He had felt it with every body he had cut through, every life he had swiftly silenced. He didn't feel himself being hit. Had he actually been able to kill the man? He felt relieved. He was actually going to be able to return with her and start a new life.
Kenshin opened his eyes as far as he could. The first thing he saw was white. Not the snow, but a kimono. Her kimono. The wound he dealt started at her right shoulder and nearly cleaved her down the middle. The blood spurting from the blow was massive. When had she moved in front of him? Did she do it to save Tatsumi? Did she truly betray him? No. No, Tatsumi was dead, falling backwards. He noticed she had her hand wrapped around the blade of the knife. Did she protect him, an assassin? Why? Her body fell back against him.
"TOMOE!!!"
…
Kenshin snapped awake, momentarily unaware of his surroundings, causing his katana to fall over. He was breathing hard. "I..I just had the most horrible dream, Tomoe," he announced.
Realization sunk in. He looked around. He wasn't in their farmhouse in Otsu, this was the inn room where the Ishin Shishi were currently hiding out. A few of the men were staring at him, confused. "Uh, what?" one of them finally replied.
Kenshin looked at him blankly for a moment, the sadness returning to his eyes. "...Nothing," he answered. Looking down, he noticed a cloth of light blue slightly poking out of his kimono. Tomoe's scarf. He pulled it out and looked at it momentarily, before wrapping it around his neck, breathing in its white plum scent, and standing his sword back up, hiding his face behind his red hair.
Seven months had passed.
Kenshin found himself in the back of a row boat, sitting amongst his attack group, rowing towards a large Shogunate ship. A handful of Shogunate battle ships had made their way into the harbor to launch attacks so, under the cover of night and cannon fire from the embankment, groups of the Shishi were to group into smaller boats to launch counterattacks and neutralized the advantage those ships gave.
The Shishi began climbing up the ladders hanging on the sides of the ship. Kenshin was the last to grab on, readjusting the scarf so it wouldn't fly up into his face while climbing. The first members to climb stopped near the top, waiting for the others to join up, wanting to launch a group attack. The first few jumped over the railing, attacking the closest swordsmen they found. Kenshin could hear the yelling on the deck, and hoped there would be an area cut out for him when he reached the top. He continued climbing.
Kenshin climbed until he could see over the railing. People were scurrying about all over the deck, swords flashing, loud shouting. Overall, utter chaos. He paid closer attention to the open spot in front of the railing and jumped over.
No sooner had his feet touched the deck that he had a swordsman rushing at him. Kenshin jumped slashing downward, cutting him at his left shoulder. Just as the man dropped, another attacked him. Kenshin ducked under the man's sword and thrust upwards through his chest. He turned to see another swordsman running at him. He parried this new opponent's blade before sidestepping and dragging his own sword across the man's stomach, cutting through him.
As he turned around, he noticed a Shogunate swordsman running to attack a Shishi from behind. Kenshin ran to cut him off. "Out of my way, boy," he demanded.
Kenshin glared at him. "No."
The man slashed out at him. He knocked the blade to the side and thrust his sword into the man's gut. The swordsman coughed up blood as Kenshin deftly removed his sword from him. Upon pulling his sword out, Kenshin quickly slashed the man across the chest, finishing him.
"Hey, thanks!" the Shishi exclaimed, she over his shoulder what the young man had done for him. Kenshin simply turned his back to find another target.
He didn't have to look far, as on the starboard side he saw another group of Shishi, hopelessly outnumbered ten to four. Shogunate swordsmen had begun flowing in from below deck. Kenshin rushed forward as two of them turned around. He struck vertically downwards, hitting the first man in the face, before holding his blade upside down to block the horizontal slash coming from the second. Pushing against the man's sword, Kenshin drove his own up through his opponent's skull.
His comrades jumped in immediately, each attacking a swordsman, while Kenshin handled the last two. With two quick strikes, he ended two more lives, one with a slash to the chest, the other with a thrust to the throat.
He stopped and looked around, looking to see if there were any more problems. There weren't many enemies left to fight, and some of the Shishi had made their way below deck to take care of any extras. Seeing that they had won, Kenshin made his way over to the port side of the ship, straddled the railing, and climbed back down to the row boat, waiting for his comrades.
The mission had been completed, the Shogunate's ships effectively taken out. One of the other teams had even managed to sink one. Once Kenshin's group had rejoined him in the boat, they shipped off. It had started to rain not long after they had pulled away from the large ship.
"Hey, Battousai, thanks for the help back there. You really saved my ass." It was the man who was almost killed from behind. The four who were outnumbered also chipped in. "Yeah, we'd be dead now if it wasn't for you. Thanks, Battousai."
Kenshin was staring out across the water, but not gazing at anything in particular. "It was nothing," he replied in monotone.
The men looked at one another, some shrugging, before facing back to the front.
Upon reaching shore, the men were to wait and regroup with the other boat groups, along with those fighting in town. Rumor was that the Shinsengumi had been mobilized and, though Kenshin wanted to go help, he was under orders from Katsura himself to remain at this rendezvous point. Not to mention, he wasn't an assassin anymore, just a common foot soldier.
Walking over to a nearby tree, he sat down against it, deciding to rest for a moment, his eyes dull. Holding his sword against his right shoulder with his right hand, he tightened the scarf around his neck slightly, as the rain had made the wind chilly. Lost in the fragrance of white plums, he dozed off.
…
He wiped the sweat from his brow. Tending the crops was hard work. For the past hour, he had been weeding out the garden, the hot sun not helping. Finally finished, he paced over to the nearby well. Hoisting up a bucket full of water, he doused himself with it. "Ah, much better," he exclaimed, pleased. He turned back to look at his crops. The land was looking a little parched. He dipped out another bucket, taking a sip this time, detached the rope from its handle, and carried it over to his garden. "Guess I'm not the only one roasting out here," Kenshin chatted to the plants. "Well, here, drink up." He gently showered the seedlings, being careful not to flood them.
Re-tying the rope to the bucket, he tossed it back into the well. "Guess that's about all for now," Kenshin announced to no one at all, stretching. He would go out and collect herbs for his remedies later. His eyes passed over the wood stack. It wasn't split. He frowned. "Oh." Walking over, he picked up the splitter and stood a small log onto the chopping block. Kneeling, he aimed and split the log down the middle in one quick motion.
Though the resistance was little, it still brought back memories. An image of a past assassination flashed into his mind. He paid it no heed. Perhaps it would leave with time. Another chop. Another image. The memories continued to flash until he had split the last log. Re-stacking the wood neatly, he marched towards the house.
He walked up and slid the door open with a smile. "I was wondering, is there anything to eat, To-"
A flash of white. He stood, wide eyed, as her body fell into him. He could see the massive wound cut into her. Looking down, the splitter wasn't in his hand, but his katana was. The blood on it glistened.
He screamed as he fell into the abyss.
…
Though it was a far off feeling, Kenshin felt as if someone had placed their arms around him.
…
Everything had gone dark. Everywhere he look was darkness as far as the eye could see. Not long after he was aware of his surroundings, he heard a faint murmur. It grew steadily louder as he noticed silhouettes approaching him on all sides.
Straining to see, a few of them began to slowly take form. Kenshin could tell that they were men now. He searched for a weapon, but it was in vain. His katana had even disappeared. By this time the most forefront members of the shadow people had come into view, and Kenshin realized who they were. They weren't familiar to him from their faces, it was their wounds that gave them away. These were men that he had killed, and there were hundreds. He had never taken the time to remember their faces.
Their murmuring had become a clearly audible roar now. The ones Kenshin could see were all pointing angry fingers at him, accusing him of his murderous actions. He wanted to say that he was sorry, but he wasn't. He did what he did because he believed it was the right thing. It had seemed necessary at the time.
Louder and louder their accusations grew, until the voices were beating in his head, driving him insane. Falling to his knees, he resigned himself to death...
"...It's all right, so please don't cry..." he heard her say.
…
He opened his eyes. The feeling of someone's arms around him was still present but he attributed this to his uncomfortable sleeping position, causing his limbs to "fall asleep." He knew it would wear off in a few minutes.
Minutes passed, but the feeling remained. The scent of white plums was in the air. "Could it be...?" his mind inquired. He drew his knees up to his chest, burying his face against them. "Tomoe..." he said to the night.
"...I miss you."
The rain fell harder.
A year and a half had gone by. The Shishi had gone through many ups and downs since then, many wins and losses. The biggest blow they had taken was the death of Shinsaku Takasugi, founder and leader of the Kiheitai, the group Kenshin joined before becoming employed by Katsura. Despite this heavy loss, the Shishi had fought on, gaining a string of victories against the Shogunate. Now it had all come down to this, a battle to take place at Fushimi, on the outskirts of Kyoto. An earlier battle had taken place at Toba, which had resulted in another defeat for the Bakufu. They were on the run now, had been for quite some time, now the war was all but over. Imperial rule had been established almost a month ago now, it just needed to be solidified.
Kenshin stood on the front lines, awaiting the charge, the wind gently blew his hair around, the scarf around his neck flapping slightly. This was it. Soon, the new age would be realized, and he could try to live his new life, the life he promised he would live. The life he wanted to live.
The cannons were fired on the town, setting it aflame, and signaling the charge. Kenshin ran. He ran faster than he had ever run before, so fast that he pulled ahead of the rest of the Shishi. This meant everything to him.
Rushing across the bridge, there were men waiting for him. One man had done the same as Kenshin and separated from his group. He was felled with one blow to the neck.
Two more rushed Kenshin. He slashed the first across the chest, then thrust his blade into the other man before toppling him over the bridge, sending him into the river below. As he ran forward, another group attempted to ensnare him in rope. As it was deftly wrapped around him, he brought up his sword to cut through first it, then the closed man to him. At the end of the bridge, another two rushed at him. Kenshin cut the first one down, rushed behind the second, and ran him through, severing his spine.
Upon clearing the bridge, the onslaught hit him. He ran headfirst into a flurry of swords, staffs, and spears. And he could see every one of them. He lashed out at everything thrown at him. He parried swords, broke off spears, and sliced staffs in two, all while killing anyone who got in the way.
By this time the rest of the Shishi had caught up to him and joined the battle. The fighting had taken to the streets. A group of Shishi riflemen stopped on either side of Kenshin, lowered their guns, and fired into the opposing ranks, dropping many. From behind the falling ranks ran out men dressed in blue uniforms with white mountain stripes along the sleeves.
"So, the Wolves of Mibu are here," Kenshin muttered. "I wonder if he's here, too."
He wasn't allowed to ponder long, as a Shinsengumi attacked him. "It'll be over soon, swordsman," his opponent stated. "I know." Kenshin replied sharply. Ducking under the young man's slash, he drove his sword into the Wolf's stomach, placed his hand on the back of the blade near the hilt, and pushed upwards, driving the sword up through his attacker and out of his shoulder. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Another Shinsengumi rushed at him, thrusting out his sword. Kenshin parried the blow using his abilities to quick draw his sword, and cut the man down his face, nearly splitting his head in half.
"I see you enjoy killing members of my squad," a male voice said behind him. "Just as these other Shishi dogs did." Kenshin turned around. The man standing there appeared to be in his late thirties. He had long brown hair with his bang hanging down in his face. A little gray had started to show through, due to his age, Kenshin assumed. He appeared to be battle hardened by the few scars Kenshin could see on his arms and neck. He was obvious skilled, the former hitokiri noticed, as the entire rifle squad that had lined up with him was dead.
"Your squad," Kenshin stated. "I assume that makes you the captain?"
"Correct," man replied. "I am Genzaburo Inoue, captain of the sixth unit of the Shinsengumi. I see you have a cross-shaped scar on your left cheek. I've heard about you, Battousai. I will send you to the abyss." In response, Kenshin sheathed his sword, placing his hand back on the hilt.
"I know all about your experience with Battojutsu, Battousai. It's where you get that name. I've gotten quite a few descriptions of it from Saito and Okita. I want to see if it helps you." He charged.
As Inoue's downward strike homed in, Kenshin drew his sword, parrying and deflecting the captain's to the left, allowing his own sword to fly upwards. Grabbing the end of the handle with his left hand, Kenshin struck the man at the shoulder, but no wound was inflicted.
The captain's cut uniform fell to the side slightly, revealing a steel mesh. "I use chain mail to help deflect quick attacks like yours, Battousai." Using his free left hand, he punched Kenshin in the face, knocking him back. Regaining control of his sword, he thrust at the assassin's throat. Kenshin smacked the sword aside with his left fist and lashed out, cutting Inoue across his upper left shoulder.
"Going to neutralize my arms, are you? Clever move." He raised his left arm. "However, the wound was a little shallow. It doesn't feel very good, but I can still move it." Kenshin narrowed his eyes.
Inoue quickly dashed forward, locking his blade with Kenshin's. With the Battousai unable to block, the captain, drove his left fist into Kenshin's gut. When the assassin staggered back, Inoue cut him across the chest.
Seeing an opening caused by his previous attack, the captain leveled his blade, parallel to the ground and thrust it at the assassin's throat. Kenshin pivoted on his right foot, avoiding the fatal blow, and taking a cut on the left side of his neck instead.
"I see. You're every bit as skilled as they say you are, Battousai," Inoue commented. "I'm going to end this now. It would be bothersome if this duel were to drag on."
Kenshin attacked quickly, slashing horizontally at the captain. Inoue had barely enough time to bring his blade up to block. Holding the assassin's sword at bay, he proceeded to strait kick him in the chest, causing his wound to spurt blood, following up by reaching out and grabbing the scarf around the hitokiri's neck, using to pull him forward, and punching him in the mouth with his left hand again, yet the assassin made not a sound.
A silent death was fine with Inoue. Raising his sword above his head, he prepared to make a downward diagonal slice, aiming to take Kenshin's head off. As the blade was mere inches from the assassin's head, two swords seemed to fly up out of nowhere. As Kenshin had raised his katana, he drew his wakizashi as well, crossing them wakizashi behind katana diagonally to catch the captain's blade. Afterward, in one fluid motion, Kenshin shifted them from diagonally to a plus sign cross, and lashed out with his katana, continuing to hold off Inoue's sword with his wakizashi.
The captain tried to block the strike, but his blade was locked. Kenshin's katana made contact with his left arm, slicing it off just above the elbow. Inoue clenched his teeth, the pain going off like fireworks in his head. Before he could make a move, Kenshin had driven his katana into the captain's gut. Inoue's cries of pain were muffled by the blood he was coughing up, streams of crimson running out of both corners of his mouth. Kenshin then maneuvered behind him, driving his wakizashi into the back of neck and out his throat.
The captain staggered forward, falling and landing on his left side. "Top...skill...Bat...to...u...sai..."
Inoue had become the source of morale for the remaining Bakufu who weren't killed in the cannon shelling. Seeing the Shinsengumi fighting in the face of certain death had been inspiring for the other soldiers to continue on. With the entire sixth unit wiped out, they saw no way to continue fighting. They ran.
Kenshin removed his katana from the body of his former opponent.
The Shishi were shouting. "The Bakufu ARE RETREATING!!! WE'VE WON!!!" Victorious shouts filled the air. "IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW AGE!!!"
"So...it...it's finally over...Finally." Kenshin thought.
He was soon snapped out of his reverie. A man was standing near the edge of the town, hand cupped around his mouth. "Himura! Over here! The third unit of the Shinsengumi is still out in the plain, fighting towards Fushimi!"
"So, he is here, after all."
Kenshin ran towards the man, leaving his wakizashi behind.
Kenshin came running onto the field, followed by the Shishi who were left in the town. The retreating Bakufu had rejoined with those out in the plains, and were now beating back the Imperialists. "It's not over quite yet," he mentally noted.
The Shishi reinforcements, Kenshin included, rushed into the fray, joining up with their comrades. The battlefield became hectic. Any other sounds were muffled by those of swords clashing, gunfire, and yelling. Caught in the confusion, Kenshin found himself surrounded by Bakufu soldiers.
The man to his immediate right attacked first. Kenshin cut across his legs, forcing him to drop, then swept behind him to slice down his back. The man to his now left was next. With extreme precision, Kenshin thrust his blade through the man's heart. Now the man behind him came at him. Kenshin turned his sword backwards, projecting it behind himself, stabbing it into the man, before using its handle as a lever, dragging it up through the swordsman's torso. This caused the pain in his chest to flair up slightly. He narrowly moved out of the was as the next man attacked, taking only a light cut on his right shoulder. Sliding onto the balls of his feet, he pushed off, lunging at the man before he could recover from attacking, and cut halfway through his body at the waist.
The last man stood in wonder. "There...there's no way. ...How is that possible?" His eyes widened. "It can't be. You can't be the Battousai! He's only a legend!" Kenshin took a step towards him. Giving up the ghost, the man turned and ran, directly into a Shishi rifleman, who dropped him in one shot.
The rifleman called out to him. "Hey, just keep scaring them like that! Make 'em run blindly into these guns!" he laughed.
The rifleman never noticed the swordsman rushing at him. Before he had turned around, the swordsman had thrust out his left arm, which held the end of the hilt of his sword, and extended his right hand, removing his index finger and thumb from the end of the blade. The sword pierced the rifleman's chest, forcing blood to fly out of his mouth. He died instantly.
"So, he was here," Kenshin thought.
Hajime Saito turned to face him. "Hmph. Figures that you would be here."
"Let's put this to an end, Saito."
The captain entered his trademark crouching stance, holding the end of his sword's hilt with his left hand, and resting the point on the fingers of his right. "Gladly."
Gatotsu. Kenshin had become completely familiar with the technique and its name through the many duels he had had with this man since two years ago.
Saito lunged. Using all the strength in his legs, he rocketed the point at the hitokiri. Kenshin stepped to the side, knowing the attack well, and dodged it. Saito responded by rolling his wrist, turning his sword on its side, and slashing at him. Kenshin brought his sword up to block and reached down, ready to draw his wakizashi. It wasn't there. He thought back to his earlier fight with Inoue and cursed himself for being careless.
"Don't lose your focus, Battousai!" Saito yelled as he kicked Kenshin in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
Saito was over him in an instant, thrusting his sword down at Kenshin's chest. "It's over!"
Kenshin smacked the bottom of his wakizashi's sheathe, causing it slide across his chest, stopping the captain's blade from running him through. Following up, slashed out with his katana, cutting Saito across his left side. This only enraged the captain. Saito began to stomp on the sheathe, boring into the wound on Kenshin's chest. "Come on, Battousai! Don't just lay there! Do something!"
Kenshin kicked out his legs, knocking Saito's out from under him. He pulled himself to his feet, grabbed his katana, and swiped down at the captain. Before his sword made contact, a blade crossed out in the way. Another member of Saito's unit had gotten in the way. The young man pushed Kenshin's blade away, cutting out at him in the process. Kenshin sidestepped and ran his sword through the man, driving it in all the way up to the hand guard before pulling it back out.
He turned to see Saito standing there, looking at him. "You had the perfect chance to take me out," Kenshin told him.
Saito scoffed. "I'm not going to attack someone from behind, Battousai." He entered his crouching stance. "Now, face me."
Kenshin turned and held up his sword. "Fine. But maybe you should try another attack besides Gatotsu."
"I only need one strike to kill you, Battousai."
They both lunged at the exact same second. The clash of their swords rang in their ears. Blades locked together, it momentarily became a battle of wills, both men unflinching.
Upon separating, they unleashed a fury of sword strikes. Kenshin could feel the vibrations jolting through his blade. If this kept up, it would break. Finally, the two stepped back from each other, their breathing labored, near the point of exhaustion.
Saito re-entered his infamous crouching stance. Kenshin sheathed his sword, placing his right hand on its hilt, preparing for the quick draw his expertise in battojutsu allowed him. It would be over in one blow.
The sound of a whistle pierced the air.
Both of them looked around, confused. The Bakufu had begun to retreat.
Saito clenched his teeth. "Damn. Hmph, looks like you Imperialists won. Congratulations." He turned, calling over his shoulder. "Don't think that this is the end, Battousai. We'll meet again." He then caught up with the rest of his retreating men.
Kenshin stood watching them.
"I'm sure we will, Saito."
The Imperialist banners had been raised. The day was theirs. The new age had been realized.
Kenshin now stood among the banners on a hill overlooking the town. The initial shelling had set fire to a few of the buildings, which now now spread to most of the town. The wind was blowing his hair, the scarf flapping around. He took a deep breath and held if for a few moments before exhaling, closing his eyes.
"It's over now, Tomoe. I can finally start to make good on my promise."
The Shishi were celebrating with great fanfare. Cheers, shouts, and applause were heard all across the plain.
He looked down at his unsheathed katana. "Looks like I'm not going to be needing this anymore," he said. Turning the sword upside down, he drove the point into the ground, laying the sheathe beside it. Afterward, he turn and walked away from the battlefield, leaving the sword standing among the banners, swaying in the breeze.
…
Kogoro Katsura rode onto the field on horseback. The fanfare immediately quadrupled. Cries of "We've done it, Katsura," and "The new age has come, sir!" resounded in his ears.
Katsura dismounted his steed, much to the surprise of his men. "But sir!"
Katsura calmed them. "No, no, it's fine. I want to be among my men. As equals. We all created this age together. We can celebrate it together, just the same."
He looked around at all the men. "Tell me, where is Kenshin?"
"Sir?"
He sighed slightly. "The Battousai."
Realization spread through the men. "Oh, him!"
"Sad that they can't remember our best swordsman's real name..." Katsura thought.
The men looked around and inquired amongst themselves as Katsura waited. Finally, the man closest to him turned around. "We're not sure, sir. We can't find him."
Katsura nodded. "I see."
"Do you think he's dead, sir?"
Katsura chuckled slightly. "I highly doubt it."
"We'll continue to look around, just to make sure," the man replied.
Katsura nodded in reply as most of the men left, leaving only a few to stay as bodyguards.
Turning to face the wind, Katsura heard a flapping noise. Looking to his left, he could see the newly designed banners of the Imperial army fluttering in the breeze on a nearby hill. Upon paying closer attention, he noticed a single katana stuck in the ground amid the banners.
"Could it be...?" was the thought that crossed his mind.
Reflecting for a moment, he smiled. "Looks like he's actually withdrawn..."
The men were puzzled. "Sir?"
He looked at them. "It's nothing," he assured them before facing the banners once more.
"Good luck, Kenshin. Thank you for everything and, I can never say it enough...I'm sorry."
Kenshin was walking through a forest near Kyoto. It was a familiar place, as he had been here before, it had simply been a long time ago. He was hoping that he wouldn't run into Master Hiko in this area, which he most likely wouldn't, but he wasn't leaving things up to chance.
Coming out into a clearing, he arrived at the area he was searching for. He hadn't been to this cemetery in quite some time indeed, not since he had created it when he was only eight years of age. He never thought that he would be coming back ten years later, either.
He paced passed the graves marked with crosses he had dug the day following the bandits' attack on the slave traders he had been sold to. Much had happened since then. He continued walking until he reached the head of the graveyard, marked by three mid sized stones.
"Hello, Sakura, Kasumi, and Akane. It's been a long time. I'm sorry, but I...I didn't bring flowers this time, either..."
Looking around, he found two large sticks of wood. He broke off the rough edges, leaving them even, keeping one roughly two-thirds longer than the other. Tearing a few strips from his clothes, he tied them together, fashioning them into a cross larger than the others. He followed up by driving it in the ground, just behind the three stones.
Standing in silence for a moment, he then removed the blue scarf from around his neck and tied it around the head of the cross.
He stared at it giving a sad sigh. "Tomoe..."
It sounded as if footsteps were approaching. He turned to leave.
Midway through the cemetery, he turned back. "I love you, Tomoe. And thank you...for everything."
That said, Kenshin Himura, the hitokiri Battousai, greatest manslayer of the Bakumatsu, turned and left, disappearing into the shadows of the setting sun.
Author's notes (Some of these are lengthy)
A/N#1: Yes, the long italicized passages are dream sequences.
A/N#2: I tried to include the scarf in each oneshot as a "Tomoe is watching over him" kind of thing.
A/N#3: The scene of Kenshin fighting on the ship: I have absolutely no idea as to what battle this was, if it even was one. I looked at maps of Kyoto, and noticed a large body of water next to it which, at first, I thought connected to the ocean. So I thought, "Oh, alright, that evens out, then." Turns out it's a lake that doesn't touch the ocean at all, and I don't see them floating battleships in a lake. Further research turned up a bay called Wakasa bay, that was somewhat near Kyoto, but still a little far off. Since Kenshin only fought in and around Kyoto, I don't know if this is where that scene takes place or not, since I couldn't find any info on a battle at this bay. As such, I left it as "a harbor" due to lack of evidence.
A/N#4: The second battle: In the Director's Cut of Trust & Betrayal, this scene is an add in, I think. It has Kenshin running across a bridge, fighting a couple people along the way, before running into a huge group of people, which he takes on alone (the scene doesn't last long enough to show the outcome). So...I did some more research. I'm not completely sure, but it really seems to me to be the battle of Toba-Fushimi, more specifically Fushimi, since I saw a painting of the battle, which had a bridge (the Bungobashi bridge) which seemed similar to the one Kenshin ran across, with a town on the other side, which was on the other side of the bridge in the OVA.
A/N#5: Kenshin's fight with Genzaburo Inoue: This guy really was the sixth unit captain, and he really did die at Toba-Fushimi. However, the Toba-Fushimi battle lasted around 4 days, and he died on the 3rd day, I think. The Fushimi battle occurred on the 1st day, I believe, but I wanted to have Kenshin kill him because, well, they went together so well.
A/N#6: Kenshin's fight with Saito at Toba-Fushimi: The manga (the translation I read, at least) has the man shouting to Kenshin: "Himura! Over here! The fourth Shinsengumi unit is still fighting towards Fushimi!" or something like that. With that, I did, you guessed it, more research. I found out that the leader of the fourth unit was a man named Chuji Matsubara, but he was ordered to commit seppuku in 1865 for possibly being corrupt, years before the battle of Toba-Fushimi. He was saved from the seppuku, but he had already inflicted a partial wound, which killed him soon after. As such, I decided to cast Saito as Kenshin's opponent because I felt they needed to have one last duel in the war. Then, after I had written that oneshot, I was reading Volume 7 of the manga, and Saito says "The last time we fought was on the battlegrounds of Toba-Fushimi." Go figure.
A/N#7: Kenshin leaving after the Fushimi battle: Yes, I didn't have Kenshin stay for the full four days of the battle. One reason for doing so was because I didn't want to invent four days worth of fights, but I mainly did it because the Tokugawa forces were mainly beaten before this battle even began, they were just holding on. I decided to have Kenshin use a little insight and foresee that there was no need for him to needlessly kill anymore people at the battle, causing him to leave.
A/N#8: Katsura at Fushimi: At Toba-Fushimi, along with Choshu (Katsura's clan), there was the Satsuma clan along with soldiers from other daimyo. I only mentioned Katsura because Kenshin worked for him.
A/N#9: Kenshin leaving the graveyard on a seemingly happy-ish note: I felt Kenshin needed something to make him somewhat happy in order to make him the bumbling goofball that he is in the anime/manga, so I made him accept Tomoe's death in that she died for him so he'll be able to live as a rurouni. Yeah.
A/N#10: Yes, the approaching footsteps are indeed Seijuro Hiko's, as through his eyes is the only way we actually see Tomoe's scarf wrapped around the cross at the end of the OVA.