_____prologue [[battousai]]
Another night passes, another life gone. The intoxicating stench of blood and lost dreams haunts my nightmares that span across many moons. Their last cries echo throughout my hollow soul. Their pleas, their begging, their fear… What keeps me awake while most my age have succombed to a dreamland is that one moment in their eyes when they realize all is lost. It ends there… there is no more questions. I am the reaper of death, and I show no mercy.
That is why they call me Battousai.
Once during one of my killings, there was a storm. As I charged, the clouds gave way, allowing one solitary stream of life light her face. It was my first time killing a woman. She didn't yell, she didn't scream, she closed her eyes and bathed in the light that showed mercy while my sword found her soul and pierced it into a million pieces. Her fallen body on the soaked ground had a pool of murky rainwater and dark blood around it. Her face so serene, the growing patch of blood on her chest shone in the light. As I removed my sword from her corpse, the light faded rapidly, as fast as the life left her. Once again, I played the role of the devil.
"Devil!" The sound was so clear… "He's the devil! Pure evil!"
Why can't I forget it? That one voice that rang so loudly in my mind despite its soft volume…
"A devil, you say?" It wasn't accusing, it was angry, it was just… a voice. A thought. A musing… "Devils live amonst humans…" And then she left, leaving that scent. It was so defined, the smell of white plums…
It haunted my dreams for many nights to come.
[A/n: I've reloaded all the chapters to fix some author's notes and grammatical/spelling errors. Let's see… Well, I've said for a while that this was A/U-ish, but it really isn't the case. It's set in about the same time, but I might of slipped and accidentally mentioned something like 'apartment'. Gomen.
As I said earlier, Aoshi, Zanza, and Kaoru won't be appearing, although I had planned their appearance at first. Enishi appears, so far at least, only in other's thoughts, memories, and speech.
Also, involving age. Tomoe is 18, and as I recently found out, Kenshin is not 18, but 15. (Thanks so much, Kisakino Ookami! =D) This fits in perfectly; I couldn't be happier about this new knowledge. Anyway… please go on and enjoy the plotless story! ^_^]