Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. At all. If I did, I'd probably have a heck of a lot more money than I do. I'm just a poor kid who likes to write and who is not making a single cent off of this. Oh, and Rurouni Kenshin is owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shieusha, etc.
Bloodstained
By
Misaoshiru
Nighttime. Darkness. Moonlight glinting off of swords, illuminating corpses, moist blood on the earth glittering in that wet way. Five men, they were. A government official and his four bodyguards. The actual target's name was Chihana Ryusuke. The others? Who knows. First man charged. Block, parry, slash. Katana sliced through his body. The light in his eyes snuffed out like a lantern. Did I notice? Not really, until later. Before his body hit the ground, had already advanced to the next opponent. Dead. Number three? Killed him. Four lost his head. My clothes were bloodied. Didn't care. Final man, the actual target. I sank into battoujutsu stance, watched him moved, attacked. Then, it was over.
As always, the full significance of my actions didn't really hit me until I was, well, done acting. Five dead bodies lay sprawled on the ground around me. Five more men. How many was that then, one hundred? More? I had lost count, although I could still remember all of their dead eyes staring back at me, all of their faces. Funny how, when I'd picture them in my mind, they would always stare back at me accusingly.
I would walk around Kyoto with the scent of blood that clung to me as my only company. It never went away, even after I had scrubbed at my skin enough to make it peel. I asked Okami-san, once, if she could smell it. She said no, that I smelled just fine. In fact, she said, I smelled cleaner than the other men. But then, she had taken a special liking to me, for reasons I couldn't hope to understand, and she may have just said that to attempt to make me feel better. Besides, it was still there, I knew. I could smell it; I knew it was there. Was I insane? Perhaps.
My thoughts drifted back to the present. I left the paper that said "Tenchuu," "Heaven's Justice," on Chihana's body and left. Iizuka would take care of anything else, and I didn't really want to hang around there anyway. I arrived back at the inn after a few minutes and scrubbed my hands in the basin. The scent of blood still wouldn't go away, but I hadn't expected it to. Then, I stayed there for a few minutes before going to my room, pausing to build up my courage. Because there, in my room, I'd encounter the phantoms of my nightmares as well as Tomoe, the room's other inhabitant and a woman who deserved to be around some far better man than myself. A woman whose words made me question my resolve to do my job. I'm unsure which I was more wary of, her or the dreams.
End