"Aaargh!"
A red-haired man let out another cry and his long sword clanged with his opponent's sword. He twisted around himself and then the sword he was holding cut through his opponent, cutting flesh, bone and muscle like butter. Red, hot blood flowed out of the wound like a fountain and the man fell to the ground letting his last breath out. The red-haired assassin's muscles relaxed and he looked down at his dead opponent. His eyes were showing no emotion outside, but inside them there was a deep sadness. The day was a warm, spring day. No cloud was marking the pure, blue sky and the leaves of the trees above his head were granting sweet shadow that was cool and soft like crystal-clear water while the rays of the sun that were passing through the leaves were touching the skin like warm kisses of a mother or a sweet lover… What a strange day to die…or kill… He touched his cross-shaped scar on his left cheek.
"Himura!" he heard someone calling him.
He turned around.
"What is it?"
The man stopped right in front of him and bowed his head in respect in the Japanese way of greeting.
"The Revolution has ended!" he told him
"What?"
"Yes. I heard information from above. Finally the New Era will begin!"
"The New Era, huh…?" the man named Himura mumbled
He looked at the sky and saw the sunlight playing among the leaves and the white cherry flowers…sparkling like water of a lake in the sunlight of noon. So the time had finally come, huh…? The time to fulfill his promise…
At night, everyone had gathered in the same room to have dinner and celebrate. They were sitting on their knees on their mats and had their plates in front of them. The maids served all the more food and they were pouring warm sake for everyone.
"A toast! To the New Era!" the man at the head said raising his small sake-cup
"To the New Era!" the others repeated and drank.
The red-haired man was sitting among them too. He looked at the liquor inside his small glass and drank again in one sip. The burning drink went down his throat. He hadn't touched his food yet. He had many thoughts spinning in his mind. The New Era had begun but in order to be created, it had to be born from blood. He knew that very well! Since he was a child he had chosen this path. He was an excellent swordsman but now he regretted that, and the reason was quite simple. He was an assassin. A "Hitokiri". He had used his skills in order to do good for the public but he had to kill some people…many times… He had got a name… Everyone had heard of Himura Battousai, the Hitokiri Battousai or Battousai the Manslayer. He was well known for his skills and how great assassin he was. For years he was killing without get the slightest scratch…without getting a single drop of blood on his clothes. But still he was…only a human. Just Himura Kenshin.
"Himura…" he heard a soft voice.
He turned his head and smiled a sad smile.
"Katsura-san" he said to the friendly man
"You seemed depressed. What is it? You should be happy. A New, peaceful Era has begun…and you were one of those who helped in order to be created"
Kenshin sighed and drank some more sake with one sip. He realized that he had lost counting how much he had drunk.
"I was just lost in my thoughts. I am happy that the New Era has begun but…" he looked at his new drink, "…but I must think what lies to the future for us. What should we do from now on…"
"Hmm…you're right"
He saw Kenshin drinking once more.
"Hay! Be careful with the drink. You haven't eaten anything…"
He then took a piece of fish with his hashi and raised it to his mouth. He chewed and swallowed.
"You know, Himura, you're an excellent swordsman. You should become a bodyguard during the New Era. You shouldn't leave it."
Kenshin's eyes snapped open cause an image flashed in his mind.
The sword cutting through flesh… Blood… Death…
"I am sorry but I decline" he said
"But why?"
"I was a hitokiri, but now my services are no longer needed. If I use my sword for this purpose…then I might kill someone, even by instinct and I have made a promise…that when the New Era would begin…I would never take someone's life again… Ever…"
He drank again and stood up.
"Please excuse me…" he bowed his head and headed to the door.
"Goodbye, Katsura-san…"
And with those words he dragged the door open and went out in the night…
He was walking in the big city of Kyoto. People were walking around talking and laughing. However he was remembering something else… This was the alley where he had killed that young man…and that over there was where he had run and then jumped over dead bodies…and then killed nine men…and there…and there… The peaceful and happy atmosphere meant nothing to him now…in his soul he knew he couldn't be peaceful. He remembered…this alley…this was the worst of all… Here it was where he had killed that man…Yukishiro Tomoe's…fiancée… He was feeling his face rather hot by the alcohol he had consumed and he was fighting to hold his tears back. Tomoe… He still remembered that rainy night. "You made it happen…the bloody rain to fall…" she had whispered to him. She had seen him but yet he couldn't bring himself to kill her. He walked another block. His slightly cloudy mind was running back to those days he had spent with her. He loved her…but she hated him deep inside. He stopped at a small tavern. He remembered that place. He had been there with Tomoe once… That day…she had asked him to show her how he killed. He entered the tavern and many people looked at him but some others didn't bother or simply didn't notice him. He sat to an isolated table. A young woman came to take his order. He smiled a kind of fake smile to her.
"Sake please" he said politely
"Yes!" the waitress bowed her head in respect and left.
When he was left alone, he let out a long sigh. The tavern smelled like smoke by the several pipes around. He wasn't looking anywhere particularly. It was as if he was absent. The waitress came back with a small bottle of warm sake and its small glass. She placed them on the table carefully.
"Do you need anything else, sir?"
"No, thank you" he replied politely and poured some sake to himself.
He raised it to his lips and drank it in one sip. The burning alcoholic drink slipped down his throat soothingly. His ears caught some conversations around. Some women of the tavern were whispering to each other
"Have you seen him?"
"Who is he?"
"Look, he has swords…"
"…In the New Era…"
"I am kind of nervous…"
Kenshin drank once more and asked for another bottle. This was the truth. Till yesterday he was a Hitokiri. Till yesterday, seeing someone with sword was as common as seeing the cheery-trees blooming and now…they were afraid of the sight… They were getting angry at it… His new drink came and he poured some more sake for himself. However it was extremely bitter to him tonight! But he wasn't drinking because he liked it! He needed it tonight! Tonight a bottle or two didn't seem enough for him. He just needed it. Perhaps it would help him drown himself. Drown the memories…drown the pain. He asked from the waitress to bring him another bottle for later. She did bring it to him but now she was rather nervous and she was looking at his swords constantly. He understood. She was afraid…what a drunken man with swords could do! Kenshin thanked her politely just to make her feel better. He sat there, paying no mind to the conversations around him…to the environment and he continued drinking alone. He was always alone in the first place…from the very beginning…alone…
"To…mo…e…" he whispered to himself.
She was the only person that gave light to his loneliness…the only one besides those three women when he was a child. The only woman that gave him true peace and happiness. And the bitter irony was that he was the one who actually gave her loneliness…the one who took her happiness away and he didn't even know it! He looked at his drink for a second. Sake tasted bitter to him tonight.
"One day…we will enjoy it together…" his master had said.
"I forgot to add daikon to the food… Without it the food tastes flat…"
He drank again in one sip as more memories filled his head.
"…Without it…the food tastes flat…"
"Tomoe…I will…I will…protect you…"
And then that snowy day…their bodies touching each other near the fire for the first time… Flesh on the flesh…soul on the soul…
"Tomoe…I will…protect you…"
And then…that day…the snow was red…red by blood… His heart was broken…and it was beating painfully… And his sword…and the sound of flesh being cut…and the well-known smell of blood…
"TOMOE!"
He clenched his teeth. It was he! He killed her…if she hadn't protected him… If only! He chugged down another drink. His mind was cloudy…his sight was blur…from tears… He covered his eyes with his hand and let his tears flow… He couldn't hold them back anymore! He loved her…he loved her more than anything! But she was gone now…and the scar on his cheek…that cross-shaped scar that was so famous…in reality it was the thing that would always remind him his past…his sins and sadness…the couple he killed with his own hands…and also…his promise. He had promised over her dead body…he had promised to her also, to find a way to protect people without taking another life…ever! But what was he supposed to do? Would he let go of his sword? Or not? In Revolution his sword was part of his arm. It was part of him! But how would he protect others without killing? How would he keep his promise? His head was spinning by all the thoughts and the alcohol. He had even lost counting of how much he had drunk. He now realized that he had been crying and whipped his eyes. He looked at the empty bottles on the table. His head was spinning and his stomach was nauseating. Sake had affected him rather quickly tonight! His foggy mind remembered that he hadn't eaten a bite that night and that was the reason. But he simply couldn't eat tonight. It was as if a metal hand was clenching his stomach and it wouldn't let him eat. He needed the drink to make him forget. Something didn't seem right though. Not only wasn't he feeling better, but he was also feeling more depressed than before. He decided that it was time for him to leave. He stood up but his legs were wobbling and the ground seemed to be moving under his feet. He left some money on the table and staggering slightly he exited the tavern. He was in the street again. The night was clean and warm. That day it was raining…and the other…it was snowing…
"Will we go…to Otsu?"
He was staggering and his swords were making a slight noise…
"Tomoe…" he whispered
"Will we go…to Otsu?"
The cherry blossom petals were falling around him softly like light snowflakes…
"To…mo…e…" he mumbled again
That day…he was also staggering in the snow… It was snowing again…? How? And why?
"To…mo… To…mo…e…"
"Will we go…to Otsu?"
"Tomoe…I will…protect you…"
"Will we go…to Otsu?"
Tonight…sake tasted bitter to him…but he simply needed it! He needed the flame liquid down his throat…
"To…mo…e…" he repeated like hypnotized.
His tongue was heavy and confused because of the alcohol he had consumed. It appeared he couldn't utter anything else but her name. His stomach was in bad condition and his head kept spinning. He staggered a bit more in those deserted alleys of Kyoto. Then he turned around the block and threw up next to a wall… He remained there after a little, panting heavily. He then whipped his mouth and looked up to see…Tomoe! He blinked a couple of times to make sure but no! It was her…she was standing there, holding a jar with flowers…cherry blossoms falling around her soothingly.
"To…mo…e…" he whispered.
He tried to walk to her but his legs, for the first time, betrayed him, he missed a step and fell to the ground with the face. He raised his dizzy head to look up. He stretched out a hand to her desperately. And she was standing there…beautiful…
"To…mo…e…" and then he was swallowed by darkness…
Here it is my first chapter of my two-shot fanfic about Himura Kenshin! Set after Rurouni Kenshin Trust and Betrayal and before the main series!
Apparently Revolution has ended but Kenshin is really depressed because of his loved one's death and now he is seeking desperately to forget in his drink! Also the doubts of what should he do and how will he keep his promise are torturing him too!
Next and last chapter following soon! Please review!