Chapter 1: Love is Reason Enough
Tomoe's Story, Part One
1988 Kyoto, Japan
A tall, lanky young man half-skipped, half-ran down the crowded streets of Kyoto. His long legs moving swiftly through the burgeoning marketplace crowd and his pace picked up. His lungs breathed in the smell that hung in the air and his lips widened into a smile as he caught the familiar whiff of his hometown. "Home," he whispered as he redoubled his efforts to cover more ground and get to his destination quicker. The main thoroughfare was lively with merchants and he let his eyes wander around, reveling in the sounds that surrounded him. His eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses, surveyed the area, making note of side streets and alleyways. He filed this information away for future reference, a lesson that was taught to him when he first left the city.
He had left a few years ago in search of his fortune and wanted more than anything to make Tomoe proud of him. Even her name evoked such happiness in his heart that he could not help but smile at the people he had passed by. Some strangers smiled back and others shot him a curious look and went on their way. But no one recognized him. Just as well, he thought. No one else matters except for Tomoe. Kyoto was a bustling city and few would take notice of a young man hurrying down the street. Of course, it did look a little strange to have a 17-year old with short black hair, grinning like crazy in a crowded street.
But Yukishiro Enishi didn't care, he was coming home to his sister and that was all that matters. As he turned into the street where their old house stood, he slowed his steps just a fraction. His enthusiasm still high but he fought to conduct himself with some semblance of composure. He wanted to impress Tomoe with his manners and the knowledge he had learned from his travels. Unconsciously, he patted the hefty purse that was inside the pack he had with him. He imagined the amount of money he had saved up would help give himself and his sister a better life and away from the bitter memories that seemed to surround Kyoto these days. His smile widened as he thought of seeing his sister smile for him again.
He spied their house and a woman with dark hair came into his view. Instantly, his mind called her name. Tomoe. She looked as beautiful as he had remembered and he paused to watch her for a minute. The wind had picked up slightly and the scent of white plum filled the air. Tomoe tucked a piece of stray hair back behind her ear as she turned to talk to an unseen person in the garden. Enishi craned his neck to see who else was in the garden. An unfamiliar thatch of red hair came into his vision and he stood there, with mouth hanging open in surprise, watching as the scene unfolded in front of him.
Lesson Two: Accordingly as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.
"Hitokiri Battousai," he whispered under his breath.
The man with the red hair smiled gently at Tomoe and tucked the stray hair that the wind had blown loose. His hand lingered behind her ear as he slowly came close and touched her lips with his index finger. Tomoe turned her face towards the stranger and nodded. "We should return to the house." Himura Battousai intoned. "It's getting cold." A smile momentarily fell on her lips as she felt him touch her face. The couple turned and walked towards the front of the house, hand in hand as the gentle wind blew around him. Tomoe felt a shudder pass through her as she gazed out into the street. Her eyes searched for something but she could not name what it was she was looking for. A gentle tug on her hand made her turn to her companion. "Is everything okay?" His soft voice queried as she shook her head in response. Following his lead, she stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind her.
He carefully ducked behind the post and watched in silence. The display of familiarity made him gape openly and he narrowed his eyes to study their movements. He was confused at Tomoe's acceptance of Battousai's caresses almost as if she consented to it. In his gentle touches, Enishi's anger increased as his sister's face softened into a smile. Battousai was the man responsible for the death of Tomoe's fiancée, Kiyosato Akira. The man he most admired and looked to as a surrogate father. The man set to wed his sister just before taking on an assignment that had pitted him against Battousai. How could Kiyosato die while Battousai lived? Now, he was standing next to his sister, Tomoe. In his mind, he started to replay the images that he had just witnessed. /Battousai touching his sister./ /Battousai holding her hand./ /Battousai caressing her hair./ And his sister was not resisting. She did not even seem to mind his presence. Every minute Enishi spent watching the pair, his hatred for Battousai slowly resurfaced. Every touch and every whispered word chipped away at Enishi's control until his entire body shook with anger. Seething inwardly, he leaned heavily against the post, trying to prevent his emotions from losing control. How could this happen?
Briefly, he wondered if he was at fault for leaving Kyoto in the first place at the height of his sister's grief. He quickly pushed that thought aside and decided to direct his anger at the man responsible for making his sister unhappy to begin with – Hitokiri Battousai. His face twisted into a cruel smile as he took a last long glance at his childhood home before turning back on the road from whence he came. I shall return, Battousai.
A Year Later
"Tomoe," Himura Kenshin whispered softly at the woman lying on the bed. "Do not strain yourself today. Leave the chores to me. I'll pick up a few things at the market and will be back to fix dinner." He kissed her on the forehead, his lips feeling the unnatural warmth of fever that has taken over his beloved. Gently, he smoothed the hair off of her face. A faint grimace registered on Tomoe's face.
"I don't know if I should even leave you." She had been battling with the fever for the past three days and Kenshin hesitated as he rose from her bedside. "I don't think I should …" her warm hand covering his had made him stop in mid-sentence. A smile curved on his lips as she gently squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'll be fine, anata. Go." She dropped his hand and closed her eyes as the smile came to her lips. Seeing her settle herself, Kenshin nodded stiffly and decided to make a short trip to the market.
After placing a kiss on her forehead, Kenshin moved and closed the bedroom door behind him softly. He quietly moved to the kitchen and started to double check his grocery list, checking off items he wasn't going to pick up today so he can come back sooner. With one last check in the refrigerator, he made his way towards the coffee table where he picked up his house keys and wallet. He glanced at the pictures on the table for a moment and on impulse picked up one of them. It was a photograph of Tomoe, shyly smiling at the camera. Kenshin remembered the day that picture had been taken. It was about a year and a half ago, three months after they made their move to Kyoto. He had been working on their garden when Tomoe came to stand next to him. In the dying light of the sunset, a breeze had passed between them and her hair came off the ponytail she always wore. Her hand automatically came up to tuck it in and he reached out to grab her hand impulsively. It was the first time they had kissed and he felt himself get overwhelmed by the emotion. He had kissed her until they were both breathless. That night was the first night they had consummated their marriage and he only felt contentment when sleep finally came to him.
Replacing the picture on the table, he grabbed his coat and made his way towards the front door. A little voice in the back of his head urged him not to leave the house, to delay his departure until tomorrow and he would have done so. Had he not heard the Tomoe's wracking coughs, he probably would have stayed home. But his worry for his wife's condition only served to rush him to the local clinic to pick up more of her medicine. He headed out towards the street and took care in locking the gate behind him. With one last glance at the house, he turned away and walked towards the marketplace. Distracted by his worry for Tomoe's ailment, he failed to notice two things. One, he left his weapon at home and the other he was being shadowed by six vampires.
After hearing Kenshin leave their bedroom, Tomoe's eyes opened slowly as she stared at the familiar ceiling of the room they shared. Her husband, she thought idly, the feared assassin – Hitokiri Battousai – was now only known as Himura Kenshin. He had traded his previous life as an assassin for the life of a simple gardener. The assassin who took the life of her fiancé, Kiyosato Akira, had now turned into someone that nurtured life. It seemed so long ago when she had despised Battousai for taking away someone that was important to her. She had sworn that she would take revenge.
Funny, how things work out.
The more time she spent with the dreaded Battousai, the more she began to see him in a different light. He wasn't a monster he was a human being just like everyone else, filled with dreams of his own. Hidden by their darkened room, Tomoe smiled to herself as she clutched the covers in her hands. Sleep will come soon enough, she thought. I will tell him everything tonight.
/Don't be afraid. I will always be there for you./
"Hmm," a stranger remarked thoughtfully as he tapped a finger on his chin. "I believe the expression was when the cat is away, the mouse will play." Discarding the detached finger into the nearby bushes, he watched as Battousai left the house and hurried down the road towards the market. A smile appeared on his face as he observed his enemy's movements. Closing his eyes, the stranger could feel the anxiety and general restlessness of his prey. He could also feel the low energy of the woman inside the house, unprotected.
"Ah, if you only knew you have reason to be restless, Battousai." Grinning, he withdrew an object from his coat pocket and slipped it in the keyhole. A satisfying click as the lock turned and he easily pushed the door open. "Come in, you say? Why, thank you. I think I will, for just a little bit, you understand." His heavy boots made no sound on the hardwood floor as he crossed the entrance and closed the door behind him. Pocketing the key, he shook his head as he surveyed his surroundings.
Lesson Five: Hold out baits to entice the enemy.
A coat rack, small end table with a lamp, he smirked. "How ordinary!" Lightly, he racked his finger across the wooden surface of the table until he came across a picture. A young boy smiling up at a black haired woman in a flower printed dress, he observed the photograph carefully. The pair actually looked happy, he snorted. Happiness, what do humans know of happiness? His eyes narrowed as he read the date at the bottom of the picture – Yukishiro Enishi looked to be about ten in the photograph – the edges have faded with age but the boy had definitely grown.
He walked through the rest of the house leisurely, picking up a picture or two as he passed them by. He noticed the sword that Battousai was famous for. Excitedly, he picked up the sheath and pored over the detailed settings on it. A red dragon was etched on the sheath that matched the hilt of the sword. He placed the sword under his nose and inhaled the faded scent of blood on its edge. Once again, he grinned at the image in his head of Battousai's expression when he discovers his missing sword. The sword that he had used to kill his kind was now in his hand.
"You will finally pay for everything you have done to me and my kind."
He placed the sword back in its sheath and continued his mini-tour of the house. Finally, he stopped at the last photograph of Battousai and Tomoe. Tomoe had a quiet smile on her lips as Battousai looked towards her. Even to the untrained eye, one can see the affection in his eyes for the woman in his arms. "Tonight will be the beginning of your living hell." He picked it up and stared at it for a minute. His long nail raked along the glass yet his eyes did not leave the photograph. Finally, he let the frame clatter to the floor and his boot crushed the glass as he strode towards the last door he had yet to explore.
"It seems that Battousai has gotten careless," he smiled as his fingers wrapped around the doorknob. "Yes, careless as to leave his woman all alone tonight." Tomoe opened her eyes slowly at the sound of something falling on the floor. She sleepily turned towards the clock by the nightstand. 6:00 PM, she frowned slightly at the time. Kenshin is back from the marketplace? She sighed as she struggled to push herself in a sitting position. Her strength was beginning to wane from her efforts and she finally settled for something in between. She heard the doorknob turn and a smile came to her lips as the door was pushed open.
The stranger opened the door and his eyes swept through the darkness. His entire body seemed to fill the entire doorway as his eyes missed nothing. He saw the form of the woman lying on the bed, the lower half of her body covered by blankets. His oddly colored eyes glimmered in the darkness as Tomoe's mouth shut instantly at the sight of him. "Well, this is awkward," he cooed as he locked the door behind him. Tomoe could almost feel the air in the room drop a few degrees. His unmistakable grimace made her cringed at the memory of their previous meeting.
"What?" he said in mock surprise. "No kind greetings for your old friend, Murajaki. The one you had asked for help." As he stepped closer to the bed, Tomoe could feel her hands gripping the blankets tighter.
"I even took your brother in," Tomoe's head snapped towards the vampire as he spoke. "Free of charge. All out of the kindness of my heart." Murajaki placed his hands over his heart and struck an angelic pose. "What heart?" Tomoe asked, her voice quiet but full of her venom. Even in sickness, she still had spirit. "You have a human master, and it was by his order that we helped each other."
Murajaki paused for a second. "Ah, yes. The human." He seemed to contemplate his next few words before replying. "Unfortunately, I had to disassociate myself from him. He was terribly inconvenient. What was his name? I can't remember now. Do you?" Tomoe did not respond but instead watched him with wary eyes. "No, huh?" He raised an eyebrow, directed at her silence.
"Well, let's ask him then." He emptied the backpack he had been carrying and dumped the contents on the bed. A head rolled towards Tomoe's arm and she stifled a scream. Its features were almost unrecognizable except for the tattoo on the side of its neck that she instantly recognized belonging to Takeda Kanryuu.
"Don't tell me you fell in love?" Murajaki chided her softly as he settled himself on an armchair. "He isn't capable of falling in love with anyone. All he knows is how to destroy. Look how he destroyed your happiness. He took him away from you. Even now, he takes you away from your own flesh and blood. What is Enishi supposed to feel when he sees you with –".
"No," Tomoe responded hoarsely. "No, please stop." Her mind recalled that day when Kenshin had left to run an errand and Enishi came to visit her. To say that their encounter did not go well was an understatement. Her brother was quick to anger and he becomes jealously protective when it came to other men. He had confessed that day that he had been to the city before, in fact, two months prior and he saw her with Battousai. She remembered how his hands had clenched to his side, keeping his temper in check as he accused her of forgetting Akira so soon after his death. She remembered the controlled anger, the rising voice and knew that her words could not reach him anymore.
Murajaki had got up from the chair. "I heard your pleas that day, Tomoe." Murajaki's smile grew wider. "I'm sure that Yukishiro will be pleased to learn that someone was looking out for his sister and he need not be worried about you. Not anymore." His cold hand reached out to caress Tomoe's forehead. It was damp and Murajaki's eyes fluttered as he savored the delicious smell of fear and anguish. "Still, we do owe a debt of gratitude. Battousai would have never suspected that his dear wife was behind all this. I'll be sure to make it clear to him when I kill him later." He spared her another glance before moving away from her. "He thought he could live in peace after turning our lives upside down during the Great War. But now, he will be tormented by the vision of your body – mutilated – and he will find no peace."
"Anata," Tomoe whispered softly as the tears started to flow from her eyes. Her hand had been steadily creeping underneath the blankets, looking for the dagger that Kenshin always kept hidden under the mattress. Murajaki noticed her tears and mocked her once more. "Tears?" Murajaki chided Tomoe. "Do you shed tears for yourself or for Battousai?" He sat next to her and turned her head with his finger as he shook his head. "No, no, no." He smiled as Tomoe closed her eyes against his scrutiny. "Tears will not be enough to save him. Nothing can save him now."
At that same moment, Kenshin raised his head towards home and stepped out of the clinic. He had just picked up fresh medicine for Tomoe and he was on his way back. Something was bothering him at the back of his head and he sensed figures approaching. Instinctively, he reached to his side for his sword and found out it wasn't there. He was only confused for a moment before an eerie calm settled over him and his mind turned blank.
-End of Chapter One-
Author's Notes and Disclaimer: This is a rewrite of the original story. I've decided to ressurect this from the fanfiction purgatory and continue the story. There have been some revisions contained in some of the chapters. Other chapters, I've left untouched. Please enjoy the story!
Rurouni Kenshin is owned by Watsuki-sama, Shueisha, JUMP Comics, Sony, ADV etc. Definitely not owned by me. Have fun reading this chapter because I had so much fun writing it. The lessons are from the book called The Art of War.
