Title: A Life Less Ordinary
summary: Kenshin is a schizo that turns into the Battosai/Shinta at any given whim. Sanosuke is his pyschologist who starts to fall in love with Kenshin.
disclaimers: not mine
warnings: male x male, Kaoru/Enishi, Aoshi/Misao, Soujiro/Kamatari, Yahiko/Tsubame, Megumi/Katsu, Saitou/Souzo, Hiko/Makoto Shishio (as in the revolution)
Thanks to haku baikou for setting me straight. I thought schizo and having different personalities was wrong but my mind drew a blank when I was thinking about it so, I really really appreciate it :)
Chapter 1
"When these illusions began-" A flash of unique violet oculates blending with a mix of gold interrupted the man sitting opposite of his patient on the chaise lounge. Through the tendrils of auburn locks, the abnormal eyes turned to their proper hue of lavendar. Doctor Sanosuke Sagara scribbled some notes regarding Kenshin Himura's behaviour. It had been two weeks, two visits, since the diminutive man's sister forced him into seeking professional mental help for his schizophrenic personality. Sano ran his hands through his unkept brunette spikes, hazel eyes focusing intently on Kenshin. "When these, memories, began, how old were you?"
The older man nodded, shifting positions to make himself more comfortable. "I was four, de gozaru. I do not remember as clearly what those memories were of. All I can recall is a woman telling me that I needed to stay alive and myself crying."
Sano leisurely studied the small man's face. A criss-crossed scar marred his otherwise perfectly unblemished pale skin. From the way Kaoru had been explaining-though it was more like yelling-Kenshin had three different personalities. This one that was who he was now. Quiet, thoughtful, even a bit timid. There was Battosai who, according to Kaoru, was extremely violent, belligerent, and dangerous. Shinta. This was obviously who Kenshin was describing now. Kaoru said that during those episodes, which became rare as Kenshin became older, he would curl into a ball and weep, saying inchoherent mumblings. "Did you have a traumatic upbringing?"
"No, de gozaru. Kaoru-chan and I grew up with both our parents, that we did. There was not much arguing between them. They had a close relationship with us as well, de gozaru. Kaoru-chan and I were not the typical siblings. We never fought. I have always been very protective of her, that I have."
Sano hmmed. "You speak of your parents in that past tense? They're dead, than?" A shadow passed over Kenshin's face. Sano narrowed his eyes at the shifting of purple irises to a blend of yellow and amethyst, the pupils dilated. Sano shuddered. He felt like someone had just walked over his grave. Sano had never personally witnessed any of Kenshin's transformations and from Kaoru's explanations, he didn't particularly want to.
"Yes," the voice was rougher and harsher than the previous soft tones. "Vandals thought it would be great entertainment to be arsonists and burn the house to the ground. My parents were still inside. It was too late by the time the fire department arrived." Kenshin's fist clenched into a ball and his jaw muscles tightened. "I vowed my vengenance and I have yet to find the bastards and kill them." He rose to his feet, amethyst completely retreated to leave behind an eerie yellow glow.
Sano had only been in the field of psychiatric for a year and he'd dealt with one previous person with multiple personality disorder but he'd never seen this happen. In all his years of studying at Tokyo University he hadn't come across a reported case of one actually changing his appearance in any way, shape, or form like Kenshin was doing now. The former brawler, as he had raised himself on the streets until he was adopted, knew he had more strength than the average man and he was broader and taller than Kenshin. Should Kenshin become too out of control, he would have to knock some sense into him, literally. "Kenshin, the arsonists were found and are in jail for the rest of their lives." The reporting on the fire had been across the news for a week before the police caught those in charge. The names of the residents that had been killed had never been released. It had happened some five years before.
"They must be stopped." Kenshin either hadn't heard Sano or ignored him and Sano figured it was the latter. Kenshin paced the room, glancing at the door and the windows for an escape from where he was being imprisoned.
"Kenshin!" Sano went to place a hand on his shoulder but the surprisingly swift and strong man shoved him off. Sano landed on his back, gazing wide- eyed up at Kenshin. The murderous rage gleaming in those peculiar eyes was unnerving.
"Where is he?" Kenshin demanded, grabbing Sano by his collar.
"Where is who?" Sanosuke wasn't a man that felt fear often but the power in those delicate hands could throttle him at any given second. Sano realised this was the Battosai personality that Kaoru had warned him about. If he survived this little exchanged, he would be more careful about what he chose to talk about. Anything could trigger these rapid turn of personalities. Kenshin was a loose cannon that could explode in any given moment.
"I have no use for you then."
"Kenshin! Stop. Please," Sano pleaded as those long and tapered fingers wrapped themselves around his throat. "If you kill me who's going to take care of Kaoru?" The digits eased the pressure and Sano was thanking his lucky stars that he could breathe again. "She won't be able to take care of herself." The golden flecks disappeared and became normal.
Kenshin blinked at Sano and at the position they were in. Immediately he blushed. "I am sorry, that I am. Why are we on the floor?" The flush became a darker scarlet and spread to places he didn't think could be imaginable to blush. He lept to his feet. "I think it is time for my session to end, de gozaru."
Sano frowned. "You have thirty more minutes." He dusted his trousers, curious as to why Kenshin was avoiding looking at him. "Lay back down." Sano indicated the chair with a wave of his hand, trying not to think that Kenshin's lacking in height was actually quite adorable; he only came to Sano's pectorals. Sano was a tall man himself but he'd met women that were taller than Kenshin. The long hair and wide eyes did nothing to dissuade the femininity that Kenshin seemed to portray. Sano reflectively felt his throat. There were going to be bruises. In those minutes that Kenshin turned into Battosai, Sano had caught sight of someone that was deadly and could be a potential hazard if not supressed.
Kenshin obeyed, body tense. What could he have done in those moments that he'd lost concious and one of his personalities had become dominant? He remembered only what his other personalities wanted him to remember which had him thinking that it wasn't just his mind that was malfunctioning and producing these split personalites. The impossible looked more realistic. That in a previous life Kenshin had actually been both the Battosai and Shinta. It wasn't likely but it was probable. Or he could really be insane. Finding the truth was the only reason he agreed to come with Kaoru. "What did I do, de gozaru?" Kenshin asked softly, unable to meet Sano's eyes. He had seen glimpses of Battosai's past and he wouldn't have put it past Battosai to rape someone. Especially someone of authority like Sanosuke.
"That doesn't matter." Sano dismissed it. "Are you not aware of what happens when your other personalities take over?"
"Sometimes. I always see what Shinta does-"
"Shinta? Can you explain who Shinta is?" Some multiple personality recievers actually have detailed information about their other personalities. Usually when one explains about them, it helps to locate some type of trigger that caused them to delve into an imaginary world. Often, if someone wasnt happy with their lives they would create another and live through that personality and submering themselves in an abyss of lies.
"Shinta is a young child. He...he is the one that first surfaced when I was four, de gozaru." Sano merely arched a brow at being caught on his lie. "He had to watch his parents die in front of him. Sanosuke, does this information just stay between us?"
"Of course. I keep them in files and locked in a safe with several different locks. I dont use computers. I hate technology." Sano smiled wryly at Kenshin. "Dont worry. Nothing leaves this office."
"I believe that Shinta is the younger version of Battosai." Well, that was certainly not something that Sanosuke was expecting to hear. "It sounds odd, that I know. From what I've been able to remember, aided by Battosai, the little boy Shinta appears in Battosai's earliest memories that sparked his crusade of being the strongest and becoming a manslayer."
Sanosuke shook his head with disbelief. "You know, from what you're telling me, it's as if you're possessed instead of having multiple personalities."
"You...you believe that as well?"
Sano shrugged, biting on the end of a pen. "I believe in all sorts of things of supernatural things. There have been reported cases about people being possessed by spirits of the past that have some grudge that never was settled haunts the offspring of those who wronged them, if their lives were taken unnecessarily they sometimes live on in their descendants, or sometimes, the entire reincarnation process was messed up and the spirit is stuck between life and death until the person they were supposed to be reincarnated as dies."
Kenshin, for the first time in his twenty-seven years, felt hope. He had tried to tell Kaoru about his surmises but she scoffed in his face and told him he was loony. Sano did believe him though. "Which do you think it is?"
"I cant be too sure yet, Kenshin. Hypnotizing you might work. We can bring forth the Battosai spirit and get it to explain what's going on or we can work on Shinta."
Kenshin furiously shook his head. "I do not want Shinta to get involved in this, that I do not." Pink dusted his nose and cheeks at his outburst and at Sano's inquiring gaze. "I've been living with these spirits since I was four. I have come to feel some affections for Shinta."
"I see. Than, we'll have to drag the Battosai out." The clock chimed six in the evening. "Looks like our time has ended for today." Sano stood, doing the various the locks on the safe that he kept his documents and shoving Kenshin's reports inside. "I have plenty of questions and it would have been nice to get it all today but I have to meet my brother for dinner in thirty minutes."
"That is okay, that is." Kenshin's lips curled into a sweet smile that had Sano's heart yammering wildly in his chest. "I understand. Kaoru-chan will be worried for me if I do not call the second I come home. She worries herself too much about my state of mental health."
Sano laughed, clapping Kenshin on the shoulder and nearly toppling the small man over. "I assure you that your mental health is perfectly normal. You can't help that those spirits chose to inhabit your body." The office was silent expect for the fishtank and the sounds of the computer at the registration desk. The warm sun was trickling through the blinds of the windows and filling it with a cozy feeling. The lights were all off but Sano wasn't surprised. "We usually close at five," he said at Kenshin's expression, "But Kaoru said that you would feel more comfortable if there wasn't the threat of someone barging in."
Kenshin nodded, dimples crinkling and eyes closing. "I am not the most social person. I worry that I will change into Battosai and hurt someone, that I do."
Sano held Kenshin's puffy coat out for him, astonishing the red haired man who was throughouly touched by the genile manners. "All the more reason to get you back in here so we can work on it." Sano hastily removed his hands when he realised that he been holding Kenshin's, dare he think, perfectly rounded and sculpted shoulders longer than society would have considered proper.
Kenshin fiddled with the hem of the coat, feeling as nervous as a school girl on her first date. Why was he so nervous? This was not a date for Kami's sake. He was leaving from a psychiatrist's office. "So, um, I will see you in a week, de gozaru."
"Yeah unless...you want to schedule for an earlier appointment?"
"Is there an opening?" Kenshin asked almost shyly.
"I dont know," Sano chuckled nervously, cringing at the near hysteria in his laughter. "I have your mobile on records so I'll give you a call when- What's this?" Sano asked when Kenshin thrusted a piece of paper into his hand.
"It's my home number in case I have my mobile off." Kenshin gave him that sweet smile again and Sano felt like he could die a happy man so long as that was the last image he ever saw. "Goodbye and do not forget to call me..."
Sanosuke stood in the opening of the door, staring as Kenshin hailed a taxi. He was going against all ethics that had been taught to him in college. Accepting a personal number from a patient was frowned upon but...what harm could come from it? It wasn't as if Kenshin was implying anything. Sano sighed, taking his coat and locking the door to go home to an empty house with only fish to keep him company.
~ ~ ~
.... . Review :-D
summary: Kenshin is a schizo that turns into the Battosai/Shinta at any given whim. Sanosuke is his pyschologist who starts to fall in love with Kenshin.
disclaimers: not mine
warnings: male x male, Kaoru/Enishi, Aoshi/Misao, Soujiro/Kamatari, Yahiko/Tsubame, Megumi/Katsu, Saitou/Souzo, Hiko/Makoto Shishio (as in the revolution)
Thanks to haku baikou for setting me straight. I thought schizo and having different personalities was wrong but my mind drew a blank when I was thinking about it so, I really really appreciate it :)
Chapter 1
"When these illusions began-" A flash of unique violet oculates blending with a mix of gold interrupted the man sitting opposite of his patient on the chaise lounge. Through the tendrils of auburn locks, the abnormal eyes turned to their proper hue of lavendar. Doctor Sanosuke Sagara scribbled some notes regarding Kenshin Himura's behaviour. It had been two weeks, two visits, since the diminutive man's sister forced him into seeking professional mental help for his schizophrenic personality. Sano ran his hands through his unkept brunette spikes, hazel eyes focusing intently on Kenshin. "When these, memories, began, how old were you?"
The older man nodded, shifting positions to make himself more comfortable. "I was four, de gozaru. I do not remember as clearly what those memories were of. All I can recall is a woman telling me that I needed to stay alive and myself crying."
Sano leisurely studied the small man's face. A criss-crossed scar marred his otherwise perfectly unblemished pale skin. From the way Kaoru had been explaining-though it was more like yelling-Kenshin had three different personalities. This one that was who he was now. Quiet, thoughtful, even a bit timid. There was Battosai who, according to Kaoru, was extremely violent, belligerent, and dangerous. Shinta. This was obviously who Kenshin was describing now. Kaoru said that during those episodes, which became rare as Kenshin became older, he would curl into a ball and weep, saying inchoherent mumblings. "Did you have a traumatic upbringing?"
"No, de gozaru. Kaoru-chan and I grew up with both our parents, that we did. There was not much arguing between them. They had a close relationship with us as well, de gozaru. Kaoru-chan and I were not the typical siblings. We never fought. I have always been very protective of her, that I have."
Sano hmmed. "You speak of your parents in that past tense? They're dead, than?" A shadow passed over Kenshin's face. Sano narrowed his eyes at the shifting of purple irises to a blend of yellow and amethyst, the pupils dilated. Sano shuddered. He felt like someone had just walked over his grave. Sano had never personally witnessed any of Kenshin's transformations and from Kaoru's explanations, he didn't particularly want to.
"Yes," the voice was rougher and harsher than the previous soft tones. "Vandals thought it would be great entertainment to be arsonists and burn the house to the ground. My parents were still inside. It was too late by the time the fire department arrived." Kenshin's fist clenched into a ball and his jaw muscles tightened. "I vowed my vengenance and I have yet to find the bastards and kill them." He rose to his feet, amethyst completely retreated to leave behind an eerie yellow glow.
Sano had only been in the field of psychiatric for a year and he'd dealt with one previous person with multiple personality disorder but he'd never seen this happen. In all his years of studying at Tokyo University he hadn't come across a reported case of one actually changing his appearance in any way, shape, or form like Kenshin was doing now. The former brawler, as he had raised himself on the streets until he was adopted, knew he had more strength than the average man and he was broader and taller than Kenshin. Should Kenshin become too out of control, he would have to knock some sense into him, literally. "Kenshin, the arsonists were found and are in jail for the rest of their lives." The reporting on the fire had been across the news for a week before the police caught those in charge. The names of the residents that had been killed had never been released. It had happened some five years before.
"They must be stopped." Kenshin either hadn't heard Sano or ignored him and Sano figured it was the latter. Kenshin paced the room, glancing at the door and the windows for an escape from where he was being imprisoned.
"Kenshin!" Sano went to place a hand on his shoulder but the surprisingly swift and strong man shoved him off. Sano landed on his back, gazing wide- eyed up at Kenshin. The murderous rage gleaming in those peculiar eyes was unnerving.
"Where is he?" Kenshin demanded, grabbing Sano by his collar.
"Where is who?" Sanosuke wasn't a man that felt fear often but the power in those delicate hands could throttle him at any given second. Sano realised this was the Battosai personality that Kaoru had warned him about. If he survived this little exchanged, he would be more careful about what he chose to talk about. Anything could trigger these rapid turn of personalities. Kenshin was a loose cannon that could explode in any given moment.
"I have no use for you then."
"Kenshin! Stop. Please," Sano pleaded as those long and tapered fingers wrapped themselves around his throat. "If you kill me who's going to take care of Kaoru?" The digits eased the pressure and Sano was thanking his lucky stars that he could breathe again. "She won't be able to take care of herself." The golden flecks disappeared and became normal.
Kenshin blinked at Sano and at the position they were in. Immediately he blushed. "I am sorry, that I am. Why are we on the floor?" The flush became a darker scarlet and spread to places he didn't think could be imaginable to blush. He lept to his feet. "I think it is time for my session to end, de gozaru."
Sano frowned. "You have thirty more minutes." He dusted his trousers, curious as to why Kenshin was avoiding looking at him. "Lay back down." Sano indicated the chair with a wave of his hand, trying not to think that Kenshin's lacking in height was actually quite adorable; he only came to Sano's pectorals. Sano was a tall man himself but he'd met women that were taller than Kenshin. The long hair and wide eyes did nothing to dissuade the femininity that Kenshin seemed to portray. Sano reflectively felt his throat. There were going to be bruises. In those minutes that Kenshin turned into Battosai, Sano had caught sight of someone that was deadly and could be a potential hazard if not supressed.
Kenshin obeyed, body tense. What could he have done in those moments that he'd lost concious and one of his personalities had become dominant? He remembered only what his other personalities wanted him to remember which had him thinking that it wasn't just his mind that was malfunctioning and producing these split personalites. The impossible looked more realistic. That in a previous life Kenshin had actually been both the Battosai and Shinta. It wasn't likely but it was probable. Or he could really be insane. Finding the truth was the only reason he agreed to come with Kaoru. "What did I do, de gozaru?" Kenshin asked softly, unable to meet Sano's eyes. He had seen glimpses of Battosai's past and he wouldn't have put it past Battosai to rape someone. Especially someone of authority like Sanosuke.
"That doesn't matter." Sano dismissed it. "Are you not aware of what happens when your other personalities take over?"
"Sometimes. I always see what Shinta does-"
"Shinta? Can you explain who Shinta is?" Some multiple personality recievers actually have detailed information about their other personalities. Usually when one explains about them, it helps to locate some type of trigger that caused them to delve into an imaginary world. Often, if someone wasnt happy with their lives they would create another and live through that personality and submering themselves in an abyss of lies.
"Shinta is a young child. He...he is the one that first surfaced when I was four, de gozaru." Sano merely arched a brow at being caught on his lie. "He had to watch his parents die in front of him. Sanosuke, does this information just stay between us?"
"Of course. I keep them in files and locked in a safe with several different locks. I dont use computers. I hate technology." Sano smiled wryly at Kenshin. "Dont worry. Nothing leaves this office."
"I believe that Shinta is the younger version of Battosai." Well, that was certainly not something that Sanosuke was expecting to hear. "It sounds odd, that I know. From what I've been able to remember, aided by Battosai, the little boy Shinta appears in Battosai's earliest memories that sparked his crusade of being the strongest and becoming a manslayer."
Sanosuke shook his head with disbelief. "You know, from what you're telling me, it's as if you're possessed instead of having multiple personalities."
"You...you believe that as well?"
Sano shrugged, biting on the end of a pen. "I believe in all sorts of things of supernatural things. There have been reported cases about people being possessed by spirits of the past that have some grudge that never was settled haunts the offspring of those who wronged them, if their lives were taken unnecessarily they sometimes live on in their descendants, or sometimes, the entire reincarnation process was messed up and the spirit is stuck between life and death until the person they were supposed to be reincarnated as dies."
Kenshin, for the first time in his twenty-seven years, felt hope. He had tried to tell Kaoru about his surmises but she scoffed in his face and told him he was loony. Sano did believe him though. "Which do you think it is?"
"I cant be too sure yet, Kenshin. Hypnotizing you might work. We can bring forth the Battosai spirit and get it to explain what's going on or we can work on Shinta."
Kenshin furiously shook his head. "I do not want Shinta to get involved in this, that I do not." Pink dusted his nose and cheeks at his outburst and at Sano's inquiring gaze. "I've been living with these spirits since I was four. I have come to feel some affections for Shinta."
"I see. Than, we'll have to drag the Battosai out." The clock chimed six in the evening. "Looks like our time has ended for today." Sano stood, doing the various the locks on the safe that he kept his documents and shoving Kenshin's reports inside. "I have plenty of questions and it would have been nice to get it all today but I have to meet my brother for dinner in thirty minutes."
"That is okay, that is." Kenshin's lips curled into a sweet smile that had Sano's heart yammering wildly in his chest. "I understand. Kaoru-chan will be worried for me if I do not call the second I come home. She worries herself too much about my state of mental health."
Sano laughed, clapping Kenshin on the shoulder and nearly toppling the small man over. "I assure you that your mental health is perfectly normal. You can't help that those spirits chose to inhabit your body." The office was silent expect for the fishtank and the sounds of the computer at the registration desk. The warm sun was trickling through the blinds of the windows and filling it with a cozy feeling. The lights were all off but Sano wasn't surprised. "We usually close at five," he said at Kenshin's expression, "But Kaoru said that you would feel more comfortable if there wasn't the threat of someone barging in."
Kenshin nodded, dimples crinkling and eyes closing. "I am not the most social person. I worry that I will change into Battosai and hurt someone, that I do."
Sano held Kenshin's puffy coat out for him, astonishing the red haired man who was throughouly touched by the genile manners. "All the more reason to get you back in here so we can work on it." Sano hastily removed his hands when he realised that he been holding Kenshin's, dare he think, perfectly rounded and sculpted shoulders longer than society would have considered proper.
Kenshin fiddled with the hem of the coat, feeling as nervous as a school girl on her first date. Why was he so nervous? This was not a date for Kami's sake. He was leaving from a psychiatrist's office. "So, um, I will see you in a week, de gozaru."
"Yeah unless...you want to schedule for an earlier appointment?"
"Is there an opening?" Kenshin asked almost shyly.
"I dont know," Sano chuckled nervously, cringing at the near hysteria in his laughter. "I have your mobile on records so I'll give you a call when- What's this?" Sano asked when Kenshin thrusted a piece of paper into his hand.
"It's my home number in case I have my mobile off." Kenshin gave him that sweet smile again and Sano felt like he could die a happy man so long as that was the last image he ever saw. "Goodbye and do not forget to call me..."
Sanosuke stood in the opening of the door, staring as Kenshin hailed a taxi. He was going against all ethics that had been taught to him in college. Accepting a personal number from a patient was frowned upon but...what harm could come from it? It wasn't as if Kenshin was implying anything. Sano sighed, taking his coat and locking the door to go home to an empty house with only fish to keep him company.
~ ~ ~
.... . Review :-D