*sings* Kono Sekai no Katasumi de............ eh? How come all the windows are broken? *lol* Fuuko-Raiha is the couple of the songfic... yes, I do a lot of songfics. Call it a mid-life crisis.

Mikagami: *blankly* You're thirteen years old.

Lockheart: Small detail. Okay, okay. Mid... mid *deep breath* Mid-Singapore-Torturous-Education-System-Crisis. Okay?

Anyways... this is a Rurouni Kenshin character song, sung by all the main Kenshin-gumi. What do I mean by main? Well... Go read Jade One's Rurouni Kenshin fic titled 'Psychology' and you'll know what I mean. So.

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I don't own em, don't sue me... *zzzzzzzz*

/.../ denotes lyrics, ~...~ denotes translation.

{Kono Sekai no Katasumi de}
---------------------------

/totemo chiisa na deai kara
sore wa hajimatte-yuku
hitori mata hitori otozure
sore wa monogatari ni naru/
~From an insignificant encounter-
that was the beginning.
One person visits another,
and that becomes a story.~

That had been the first time he had seen her - injured in Kurei's mansion. At that time he had been awed by the aura of her presence; amazed by the strength of will needed to still hold her head high and proud, unwavering even in the face of death. He displayed none of this outwardly; how could he, when he had been trained not to?

/wakariau tame ni kizutsuita
namida no tsuyosa ga
itsuka kitto/
~You were hurt to understand
the strength of tears will
someday, surely...~

She had been injured; a sight to anybody else, but he had seen her in all her glory, in the moment he regarded as the moment in which he had come alive again.
He smiled slightly as he pondered. Funny, how human minds worked.

/kimi wa dare wo mamotte-yuku darou
kakegaenaku omou darou
kimi wa dare to deatte-yuku darou
kono sekai no katasumi de/
~Who is it you go on protecting?
You feel that person is irreplacable, don't you?
Who is it you keep seeing?
In this corner of the world.~

Her eyes were one of her most remarkable features. They were sapphire orbs, shining like stars in the sky, shining in the dark, empty void that was his heart. They had kept him awake at night ever since he had first seen her.
And then he had saved her from drowning. Again and again he tried to convince himself that this was all for the sake of their fated madougu; again and again he failed.

/tsuyoku naritai to omotta
yume wo orareta yoru ni
dakedo hitori ja nai koto wo
kimi ga oshiete kureta ne/
~I thought I wanted to be strong
On the night my dreams were broken
But, I'm not alone.
You taught me that.~

He remembered when he had joined Kurei. He had given up everything - his family, his life. He had wanted to be strong. He had wanted to be a credit. He was strong now, by other opinions... but... strong at what price?
He'd felt isolated. That was the way the Jyusshinshuu were supposed to be, weren't they? Isolated. Broken. Killing machines which had only one reason to live - loyalty. And the fact that they couldn't back out now; not when they were this far down. The Uruha - Jyusshinshuu, especially, were in a quicksand pit, with nobody to call for help.

/furimuku egao no mukougawa
hirogaru sora e to
itsuka kitto/
~The other side of your smile as you look back
to the unfolding sky,
someday, surely...~

She sighed as she sat on her bed in the hotel room, knees drawn up to her body, hugging her legs. She'd seen him fight. She'd seen his face in the split second between drawing his katana and killing the man. She'd seen the reluctance in his expression and the pain in his eyes. A quick flash of anguish. And then, by the time the man had fallen to the ground, the foolish smile was back in place. And she wondered.

/kimi wa dare wo shinjite-yuku darou
aishitai to negau darou
donna tooku hanarete shimatte mo
kimi no basho wa koko ni aru/
~Who is it you go on believing in?
Perhaps you wish to love.
No matter how far we can't help being apart,
your place is here.~

She remembered first seeing him in Kurei's mansion. She'd felt some sort of -- affinity with him. No. That didn't make sense. Why would she feel as though... as though she knew him? He seemed infinitely familiar.
She remembered floating in the water, half drowned, half dead. And she had wryly wondered why her last thought before unconsciousness had been that familiar face with that cryptic smile. His name had drifted through her head, over and over, and her lips had curved upwards, soothed by just the two syllables.

/kaze ga todaete mo toki ga nagarete mo
kitto kitto wasurenai/
~Even if the winds cease, and time flows on,
I will definitely, definitely not forget~

Raiha.
(We have a destiny, you and I...)
She wondered why her heart had suddenly seemed so light after hearing those words.

/kimi wa dare wo mamotte-yuku darou
kakegaenaku omou darou
kimi wa dare to deatte-yuku darou
kono sekai no katasumi de/
~Who is it you go on protecting?
You feel that person is irreplacable, don't you?
Who is it you keep seeing?
In this corner of the world.~

He saw her in his dreams; he saw her when he was fighting; he saw her all the time. Somehow, he just couldn't let go of her. He supposed it was one of the cruelties of life - on one hand, he would give his life for Kurei-sama. On the other, he would do the same for her. One was his master. One was his enemy.
He stared out the window. There was a particularly bright star tonight... not competing with the other stars, simply glowing in its own radiant brilliance.
And familiar lines floated through his mind...

:: My only love sprung from my only hate
Too early seen unknown and known too late... ::

/kimi wa dare wo shinjite-yuku darou
aishitai to negau darou
donna tooku hanarete shimatte mo
kimi no basho wa koko ni aru/
~Who is it you go on believing in?
Perhaps you wish to love.
No matter how far we can't help being apart,
your place is here.~

:: ...Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy. ::

Fuuko sighed as the lines embedded in her head from English Literature class resurfaced. Out the window, there was an incredibly bright star, a sharp contrast against the darkness of the sky, shining unlike any star she had seen before.
With difficulty she forced the image of the smiling figure out of her mind. He was Uruha. Hell, he was Jyusshinshuu. The elite Group of Ten. The enemy of the Hokage...
...Yet...
And not the first time, she cursed her indecisiveness and her emotions.

/kimi wa dare wo mamotte-yuku darou
kakegaenaku omou darou
kimi wa dare to deatte-yuku darou
kono sekai no katasumi de
kono sekai no katasumi de/
~Who is it you go on protecting?
You feel that person is irreplacable, don't you?
Who is it you keep seeing?
In this corner of the world.
In this corner of the world.~

Raiha sighed and lay back down in his bed, preparing for another sleepless night.

Fuuko snuggled down in the covers, knowing at the back of her mind that sleep was a luxury that would not come to her easily.

And outside, the star continued to shine.

--owari--

Okay, the use of Shakespear was totally uncalled for. Ah well. What can I say? I'm pathetic. Review, please....