Rated: Mature
Genre: Romance/Comedy/Action & Adventure
Couples: Kenshin/Tomoe, Kenshin/OC, and a tiny bit of Kenshin/Kaoru
Summary: On the anniversary of Tomoe's death, Kenshin begins to start having second thoughts about staying around Kaoru and the rest of his friends any longer. The arrival of an old friend only worsens Kenshin's second thoughts as she brings news of a new enemy who plans on killing him and those around him. Jealousy and old memories are only the minor things that Kenshin is set to encounter.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from the Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin universe. But I do own Saya Kewashii and Akunin Boryoku, so do not even think about stealing them! Oh, and I do not own any lyrics that I put down. They belong to their respective songwriter/band.
"You bitch!" The words reverberated through the crisp air of the surrounding forest, only to be followed by a challenging battle cry as an injured samurai charged at his opponent: a feminine figure shrouded in darkness with frightening glowing green eyes. "I'm going to cut you open, you little bitch!" Blood and saliva trickled down the sides of his mouth as he kept running, ignoring the gushing wounds on his torso and neck. The crazed man swung hit blade at silhouette, only the slice the air in front of him. "What the hell!" he lowly growled in a demented rush, turning about quickly in search of the shadow. "Come out, you bitch, and fight me!"
Grunting, the man fell to his knees with his blade stuck in the ground and stared at the blood all over the forest bed. It was his blood strewed all over the place, and the rusty smell of blood was thick in the air. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Shaking off the nauseous feeling, he stood up once again and searching for the pair of jade oculars only to find them staring right at him. Jade eyes glared at him, freezing him in place with their fierce intensity. Before he could even raise his katana to strike, the silhouette pierced his heart with a small blade.
"Y-you bitch…" the man gasped while falling to his knees once again, trying in vain to remove the blade. Taking quick and shallow breaths, he glowered at the green eyes. "You won't win… Akunin will find Hitokiri Battosai and slay him…" Gasping, he turned over to his side and stared at the cloud-covered sky before speaking his final words. "And once he kills him… He will kill you as well… Hitokiri Sennyo…" With the last word leaving the man's lips, a last breath escaped as the clouds overhead slowly dissipated.
With the clouds vanishing overhead, the nearly full moon hung overhead shining brightly. The silhouette's features came to light, revealing a pale-skinned woman with flowing raven hair. Clenching a fist, her jade eyes swirled with rage and determination as she stared at the lifeless man at her feet. "You're wrong, old man…" She turned on her heel and slowly sauntered her way through the shadowy forest. "Akunin will never kill Battosai. Battosai will never die as long as he has a purpose for living… That is his life now…" the young woman whispered as the shade of the forest embraced her, allowing her to melt into the shadows once more.
An aggravated Kaoru huffed through the halls of her dojo, eyeing Yahiko who was in the corner practicing a few new strikes that Kenshin taught him the day before. Growing uninterested within seconds, Kaoru began to look for something in one of the cabinets in the opposite side of the room. The slices each let out a whistling noise with each swift movement, growing louder with the more force that Yahiko put into the swings. Without even thinking about it, he swung so hard that he let go of his shinai. Wide-eyed, he let out a delayed warning to the unknowing young woman. "Look out!" But it was too late.
SMACK! Kaoru dropped what she held in hands, standing still for a few seconds while Yahiko watched the girl in fear. 'I am soooo going to get it…' he thought to himself as he tried to tiptoe out of the dojo, but then Kaoru turned around and gave him a menacing look. "YAHIKO!" she screamed vengefully as she chased after him outside in a blind rage. "I am going to kill you!" Kaoru promised as she tackled him to the ground, head-locking him and pulling his hair. "What the hell were you thinking!" she asked in a forceful voice as the young man managed to pull away from her. "Jeez, it's not my fault that your big head was in the way! Nobody told you to be standing there!" At this, the two glared at each other and yelled random shallow threats at one another. It was then Megumi and Sanosuke walked outside to spot the two acting foolish.
"Oh, are the children at it again?" Megumi mused as she sat down and looked at the two smugly, gaining glares from the two bickering teens. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHILD!" the both yelled, gaining a laugh from both Sanosuke and Megumi. With a yawn, Sanosuke looked around the front gate while the Yahiko and Kaoru got up. "So what did you do to her this time, Yahiko?" the older man asked while sitting down next to Megumi. At this question, Yahiko's eyes grew wide again while his voice had a fighting tone to it. "I didn't do anything! Not on purpose anyways…" This being said, Kaoru gave him a swift hit on the head and slowly walked away. "OW!" Yahiko whined while glaring at Kaoru's retreating figure and headed over towards the two older people.
"So…" the young teen started while rubbing the sore spot on his head. "Have you guys seen Kenshin? He promised me to meet me in the dojo to help me practice, but he didn't show up." At this, Megumi and Sanosuke looked at him both intrigued and confused. "That's not like him at all," Megumi stated in a matter-of-factly way. "I doubt he's still sleeping," Sanosuke said dully while standing up. "But maybe we should go check." Yahiko nodded at the older male and the two headed off in search of the scarlet-haired samurai, leaving Megumi all alone.
With a sigh, Megumi looked sadly at the ground and then at the sky, knowing something already. "It's time to go see her again, huh, Kenshin?"A broken smile danced across her face as she stood up and wandered off into the house to "help" Yahiko and Sanosuke look for him.
A few sakura blossom petals danced in the wind, becoming trapped in crimson locks. The sweet chirping and singing of the birds in the trees of the cemetary often helped to lightened the mood of the place, but nothing could really break the slightly depression that the samurai felt. Solemn cerulean oculars stared down at tombstone in front of them, reading over the words: Himura Tomoe, beloved wife of Himura Kenshin. Kneeling down, he brushed the petals out of his hair and off of Tomoe's tombstone. "Tomoe…" Kenshin muttered softly and lovingly, lightly running his fingers over the inscribed words. "I miss you..." He spoke sadly, hanging his head down slightly in shame. "I'm sorry for what I've done… I hope you have forgiven me…"
And that's the first chapter! I know it's a little short and everything, but I promise to make the succeeding chapters longer. And I sincerely hope to get some reviews whether they're flames or not. I appreciate criticism.
Oh! And I know that the characters may be OOC. I haven't watched the series in such a long while, so I know I'm probably off with the character's personalities. But, I'll try to do the best I can to keep them in character.
And for anyone who was wondering what the word "Sennyo" means, it means Nymph in Japanese. There's a reason why I gave the jade-eyed girl the nickname Hitokiri Sennyo and that reason will become evident in the next chapters.
See you all soon!
-Ellie