Disclaimer: I don't own RK. All credit goes to its creator, the genius Watsuki Nobuhiro- sensei. And I also got the dialogues from a fansub of the RK anime. I'm not claiming them either.
The Meaning of Silence
By Moeru H.
Two dead bodies, bloodied by repetitive slashing, hung flaccidly in the center of the village. Mishima Eiji is all alone now.
Numerous other bodies (still alive) also lay unceremoniously on the dusty ground surrounding a red-haired man, staring sympathetically at the hanging bodies.
The bodies should be put down, get a decent burial. It's the least they deserve. Yet….
"Wait! Don't cut them down." Says the seemingly unfeeling voice Kenshin knew all too well. It is the voice of despair, of terror, of vulnerability. It is the voice of the person he swore to protect.
Misao, while looking at Eiji's horror-filled eyes staring at an empty space and seeing his continued silence, is dismayed at the villagers' cruel behavior.
"Ii na, Eiji." One of the villagers declares, almost pleadingly.
After hearing that, she still tries to persuade them to think otherwise. Maybe her words will come through. But she is casually interrupted by Saitou. His apathetic voice appears to damn the villagers more.
"Don't bother. People like them aren't willing to risk their lives for dignity. If you want to trudge through life, you don't need pride or honor."
At that, a sudden sense of anger came to the villagers. What right does this cop have to insult them? Is it not the likes of him the ones who abandoned them, who gave up on them? So an outburst of their long- kept grievances is their crude reply.
In the face of all the contrasting views, Kenshin starts walking to the bodies, creating silence at once. Then, with a flip of his sword, he swiftly cuts the ropes that once held the weight of lives that deserved more. So much more than an argument.
Kenshin deems that silence is the best he can offer. For the dead. For the villagers.
Unlike Misao – the spirited girl who, because of her faith in people, cannot fathom the villagers' lifelessness – Kenshin understands how a desperate life can steal the flame that lingers in one's heart. It is this flame, he believes, that makes one stand firm to his/her beliefs.
Unlike Saitou – the single-minded man who, after surviving the chaos of the Bakumatsu still had his convictions intact, cannot comprehend how a person can live without them – Kenshin knows that the villagers were not solely to blame. That the cruelty of man and choice of man to ignore the plight of his fellow are also matters that create the kind of men the villagers have become.
So in silence, Kenshin stands in between them all. He helps not to judge: neither the villagers, Misao nor Saitou. He helps to understand, to try to bring back what a person has lost, to return at least that flicker of flame that someday might become hope to look through a brighter future.
"You've murdered us!" The villagers accuse.
In silence, he watches them accept their perilous fate and walk away.
In silence, he continues to believe in them.
Owari
... and saves their butts! Hehe. (I know I shouldn't have said that!)
A/N: Hello everyone! I'm alive! Thank God for the two-week vacation! I based this fic on one of my favorite episodes! Guess! Hehe. I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading.