Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin
AN – After watching the film Dead Man`s Shoes (which I most definitely recommend!!) I had to write this story. I was going to make this a one shot but ideas keep erupting and its getting longer and longer, and the longer it gets the more unsure I become of its creation. If you enjoy what I have written so far then I will continue, please leave me a review and I will get back to you.
*
On Judgment Day all who have sinned will be forgiven, and welcomed into the gates of heaven.
They will stand before God,
And he will forgive them,
But I cannot live with that; I will see justice served as it should.
*
"Kenshin!" her high pitched screams echoed in my mind. Her tortured face, her agonised cries as the bodies beat down on her.
I woke with a start as the nightmare shocked me to the core.
I felt myself shake with anger as I grabbed my Katana and picked myself from the cold church yard floor.
I had dogs to visit.
Monday
I looked on at the house we had bought together. Here we had wanted to share our lives together; I had married her in the nearby village church and returned home for celebrations in the very house I now stood in front of.
She had planned to have children; I remember her telling me two boys and a girl. She even thought of what she would name them.
I gripped my Katana tight in my fist. That dream had been destroyed along with my wife.
Turning I continued down the road into the village where the dogs lay, I would make them beg and whine.
I spotted the coffee shop, the post office, the local pub and the village park. Everything seemed so peaceful.
It was all a lie.
Turning down a side street I set up position and stared at the pub, I would wait for them.
Keeping my hand gripped tight around my weapon I thought of the numerous things I wanted to do when I confronted them. Would I give them time to scream or let them gargle and choke as I sliced open their throats and leave them to die, slowly?
So many ways… so little effort.
I grit my teeth as I spotted the group of men exit the pub and continue down the village path leading to a few grotty council estates. A few of them swayed as they walked, all talking loudly, and laughing along to gossip.
I followed a short distance behind, keeping my presence unseen.
The sun was settling, and the twilight taking over.
They all entered a house that looked to have 3 bedrooms, 1 upstairs bathroom, a downstairs kitchen living room and dining room. All the council houses had been built the same, to round up the same shit pack of mongrels.
I pulled my hair up into a tight knot at the back of my head. I crept towards the house and entered the back garden, finding a snug outside shed I pulled myself into its shadows and waited.
*Video Tape*
"No No!" she screamed as a man grabbed her hair ripping her clothes tearing them from her fragile body.
"Where's your little warrior now eh?!" he shouted and spat in her face.
She cried and desperately tried to tug his hands from her hair.
"Kenshin!" she howled as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
A few more men entered the house their smirks showing how they enjoyed watching torture; they were all game for a little cruelty.
"Please don't do this" she struggled with her words, choking on her tears as she was pushed to the floor.
"Are you recording this?" the large man bellowed to his mate who stood in the corner of the room shaking as he filmed the cruel act.
"Yeah man its rollin its rollin!" he stuttered not wanting any attention brought upon himself.
"Big man Kenshin thinks he can strut in here and tell us what to do….WRONG!" he roared at the vulnerable torn woman on the floor.
"Ya see, if he messes with one of us….well then he messes with all of us" he continued to taunt her, crouching down and leaning over her.
"So were gonna mess with one of his, and that unfortunately happens to be you little missy" he sneered at her.
"Please…Kenshin" the woman cried hard as he began to rip the remaining clothes from her body.
*End of Video Tape*
I looked on with no emotion, the men were continuing with their drink. I watched from a window as a man leaned over a table and sniffed a line of white powder.
Cocaine.
He pulled himself back and a few tears spilled from his eyes as his nostrils burned with the drug. It was quickly taking affect, Kenshin counted down the seconds before he would feel euphoria and exhilaration. They all laughed and took a few lines themselves.
A few hours later Kenshin stood patiently in the shed door thinking over his plan of action. The men had no idea how easy they were making this for him. But only a coward would kill instantly, he was not a coward. He would play with them first, frighten them until they shit their pants, he wanted to see the grown men cry as they had made his wife cry, beg for their lives and grovel at his feet. But there was no mercy in his game.
A man stood wobbling as his head spun from the drugs and drink; he fell against the wall and laughed to himself.
"I need a slash man!" he laughed and slowly, falling over boxes, rubbish and furniture, he made his way out of the room.
"Kaguri is upstairs havin a shit man" one of the men shouted and the drugged up man tripped and fell until he reached the back door.
The outside toilet.
Kenshin smirked as he saw the man open the door, and just as he shut it behind him he moved forward from the shower pushing his face into the man`s scruffy face.
Terror was evident in his eyes as he swayed back, his shoulders banging into the door.
"Do you remember me?" Kenshin whispered into the night, his breath breathing ice.
The man shouted out a number of things as he stumbled back into the house and throwing himself into the room, the men all jumped up and demanded an explanation from the drunk drugged up scraggly man.
"Shishio he`s here, I don't shit you man he`s fuckin here!" the scraggly man shouted gripping his head which swam with thoughts and images.
"What the fuck are you talking about? What shit has he been smoking?" the larger man in the group jabbed his finger into another's as he asked his question. The scraggly man pointed to the garden window with a shaky hand.
"That bastard is here, Kenshin!" he shouted and the men grabbed any weapon they could find. They all ran into the back garden pushing each other.
"He was here man I`m tellin ya!" the scraggly man gasped trying to pull his mind out of its euphoric state.
"Right no more drugs for this fucker!" the leader named Shishio spat out pulling a cigarette from his ear and tucking the small knife back into his pants.
They all entered the living room and froze.
Dead men walking… 4 more to go
They all looked at one another, then back to the graffiti on the wall, the sweat quickly forming as their hearts pounded in fear.
"What the fucks that supposed to mean?" a man asked looking at all the men in the room. All four men stood in the room shaking in fear, pacing back and forth, trying to come to terms with this news.
"I told you I wasn't bullshittin!" the scraggly man cried tugging his hair, his mind still under the drugs influence.
"He's back man, SHIT!" the scraggly man was losing it as tears escaped his eyes; he punched the wall and sunk to his knees.
"Get a fuckin grip of yourself Aguri!" one of the four men shouted who was also shaking.
"Let's just think this through" the leader Shishio was calming down and he sat on the sofa running his fingers through his hair.
"Where's Kaguri?" he demanded and a skinny man stuck his head out the door and shouted for the man named Kaguri, demanding him to join them.
"What are we gonna do?" the 3rd man shivered wiping his sweaty brow.
"Are you sure you saw him?!" Shishio asked the quivering Aguri who lay crouched on the floor.
"Look at me, just fuckin look at me, OF COURSE I SAW HIM" his body shook now with sobs.
"KAGURI! Get your ass down here now!" Shishio screeched, but silence met his demand.
"Emori go and see what he's playing at" Shishio demanded of the man who had been stood by the door and had previously shouted Kaguri down.
Seconds later.
"Argh!!!" Emori fell back down the stairs in a rush, his face white and he threw up as he reached the bottom.
"What! What the" Shishio stuttered, and he ran upstairs but then stopped as he reached the top, seeing the bathroom door wide open as his best mate lay back on the toilet. Blood oozed from the bullet hole gaping in the middle of his forehead. Beside him written in the dead man`s blood…
1 down
*
"I`m not going back there, we all stay together at Emori`s" Shishio panted as he drove the small car out of the village and into the next town where Emori lived.
"He's seen the tape, who the fuck showed the tape to him!" Emori panicked in the back of the car.
"I don't know!" Shishio lied and it was obvious in his voice, and he drove faster.
"Oh my god tell me you didn't!" the fourth un-named man bellowed wide eyed.
"Okay so I sent the damn tape to put the shits up him, but how the fuck were we to know his wife would-" Shishio stopped and all four men looked down in guilt, shame riding through their bodies.
"This is wrong man, this is all wrong!" Aguri cowered.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Emori growled.
"Look once we get to Namito`s place we`ll sort this out, if he wants a fuckin fight I`ll give him one!" Shishio was hiding behind his words; he knew they all stood no chance.
"He's a trained killer! You're on your own man!" Namito shouted in outrage.
"He has just killed our mate, our brother! You saw what he wrote on the wall for fucks sake he`s not going to stop at one he`s going to hunt us down you twat!" Shishio shouted and banged the steering wheel in rage.
The car was brought to silence for the rest of the journey.
*
*Video Tape*
Her eyes wide in fear, her lip trembling as the blood oozed from it, were Shishio had struck her. Her eye was swelling, a bruise quickly forming. Her body shook in terror as the tears continued to flow.
"That's right darling you show your pretty boy lover what we can also do" the voice cackled. He would never forget that voice; he would never forget any of them.
All of their faces, voices, clothing and movements imprinted in his mind.
She had cried for him.
And he could not help her.
Kaoru had fought against the large man as he pinned her down and gagged her. She closed her eyes and still with her mouth tightly bound together screamed as hard as she could. His name muffled against the dirty cloth could still be heard.
*End of Video Tape*
He watched them as they entered the block of flats; he already knew which one they were headed to.
They continued to argue over what was going to happen, not caring who heard them they created a racket as they entered the flat. He heard them enter, switch the light on and continue their brawl.
He smirked at their frightened state.
Step one complete.
*
They had all calmed and quietened down; sitting around the small coffee table they all stared into space. Ideas had been passed back and forth for over two hours but none seemed suitable or able.
Taking neat swigs of straight vodka to calm their nerves and smoking weed to relax the body, the image of their friend stained on their mind.
"This has all got bang out of order" Emori muttered.
"As much as I`m shittin myself right now, I`m rather impressed by him" all heads swung around to Namito who shrugged his shoulders "We all under estimated him, and now he`s going to get what we asked for in the first place"
He didn't need to say it, but the word swam in all four minds.
Revenge.
They had committed an awful crime and got away with it. Or so they thought, they never had expected the tape to get into his hands, and for him to witness the damage they had done to his wife. The disgusting things they had done and recorded. He had seen it all.
Aguri lifted his eyes and felt his face drain of blood, his mouth dropped open as his eyes grew wide.
He shot up from the sofa and backed up to the wall. The other men looked at him in bewilderment, and then they followed his petrified gaze.
There stood on the lawn in front of their flat window was the black clad man they feared. He held his katana and stood like a demon. The power in his frame seeping out and his eyes pierced the dark night sending chilling shrieks to erupt in the men.
The men backed up unsure of what to do, they wanted to run but to where?
Kenshin stood waiting patiently; he gave them one final look before turning his back and disappearing.
That night all four men dreamt of his eyes, he haunted their dreams creating a nightmare for them.
*
*Video Tape*
"Will you do me a favour sweet pea" Shishio grinned down at Kaoru, she shuffled back holding her breath.
"Will you beg for him, call out his name as many times as you can, will you do that for me?" he smirked, and Aguri and Emori laughed drunkenly, Namito was filming.
"Shout it loud so he can hear you" Namito`s voice was close as he hid behind the camera filming the scene, his laughter shook the camera, the lens bouncing slightly.
"I will have my fun with you" Shishio snarled down at his Kaoru.
Kaoru`s gagged mouth prevented her from screaming but his name was clear. She begged him for help, pleaded for him to save her. And he wasn't there for her.
*End of Video Tape*
*
He left the men to think over their actions, bringing it all back to them. Letting the nights events play over in their mind as he had done so many sleepless nights. His thoughts filled with horror as her voice continued to shout for him. She haunted his dreams.
The tears had fallen so softly, streaming down and soaking through the pillows of their old bed, but still she cuddled him, her spirit reminding him of her gentle character.
He had forgotten the amount of times he had cried so effortlessly that his tears seemed to have movement of their own. She was always on his mind, and his tears would leak uncontrollably, shaking his body as he ground back the agonised sobs. He was hurting for her.
And he would hurt those who had hurt her; he would damage them beyond repair.
This would be his work of art.
His final act.
*
Tuesday
"What the fuck!" Shishio held back the laughter, instantly knowing who was responsible for this.
"What?" Aguri raised an eyebrow in question but at the same time backed away.
Emori and Namito barged into the room faces of thunder.
"This is not even funny!" they both barked, but faltered when they spotted Aguri and Shishio.
For tattooed in permanent marker on each forehead was a word that described everything that they were.
Shishio had 'rapist' tattooed on his forehead, 'murderer' on Aguri`s, Namito had 'coward' and Emori had 'Scum'. And on each man`s back a target had been drawn.
"He`s playing with us" Shishio confirmed it, and they all fought for the bathroom in desperate attempts to get the marker tattoo from their skin, but it was a permanent reminder of their vicious act upon an innocent woman.
"I`m going to confront him" Shishio growled slamming the wet towel into the bathroom mirror and stalking from the flat. The others stared in wonder, disbelief, and shock.
They ran after him from the room, down the stairs and out of the block of flats but they didn't have to run far. Shishio stood on the path staring ahead of him.
Kenshin was lent against a car, no emotion showing on his face.
Shishio pressed on, taking a few steps forward. The rest of the men stayed back.
"Look man," Shishio started but didn't know how to continue; he couldn't look the dangerous man in the eyes. He had dreamt of those eyes last night.
"I think we should all talk" Shishio started.
"I`m listening," Kenshin glared at the pathetic man in front of him.
"Inside?" Shishio pointed back to the flat.
"Spit out whatever you're going to say" Kenshin grit his teeth, he was quickly losing patience with these fools. A few seconds passed between the men.
"I`m not afraid of you Kenshin" Shishio lied and Kenshin smirked.
"Last night I held a blade to your throat, I traced a line across your skin" Kenshin winked and Shishio took a step back.
Shishio did not say another word.
"I will have my fun with you" Kenshin repeated the very same words Shishio had spoken to Kaoru when they had tortured her, before turning and walking away.
*
"What`s he doing?" Namito whispered to the two other men stood beside him.
"No idea, he's just standing there talking" Emori frowned, watching both men as they continued to talk.
"Do you think he`s going to try something?" Aguri whispered the most shaken and frightened out of the lot of them.
"No idea, let`s just see what happ- oh he`s coming back!" Emori gasped as Shishio walked backwards keeping his eyes on the devil man Kenshin.
They all rushed back into the flat and watched out of the window as Kenshin disappeared down the road, his blood red hair like the setting of a sun.
"What did he say?" they all pressed for information but Shishio just shrugged looking pale in the face.
"He's definitely seen that video" Shishio whispered a ghost of a voice as he slammed the bathroom door, locking it shut.
"What d`ya think we should do?" Emori panicked seeing their most confident and powerful member fall to pieces with a mere discussion.
"Apologies aren't going to do anything, I feel like getting the hell out of here" Aguri stuttered plonking himself on the sofa, and rubbing his grubby unshaven face.
"I feel like I`m in one of those movies where Freddie Kruger goes on a rant" Namito left for the kitchen, quickly returning with plastic cups and vodka.
They all looked up seeing Shishio open the bathroom door and stalked over to a cupboard in the landing. When he returned all three men stared open mouthed at the artillery he carried, Shishio then threw each men a different weapon and left what he considered the most powerful gun for himself.
"If he turns up, I`m not leaving anything for chance" he couldn't look any of the men in the eye, they were all walking dead men.
It was just a matter of time.
"When did you send that tape?" Emori asked curiously as he downed a cup of vodka quickly refilling it.
"Before we found out-"Shishio stopped himself, the guilt gripped him, "Before we found out" he closed his eyes as he repeated himself. The men nodded in understanding, they had never expected what happened, to happen. It had been blood on all their hands.
"I`m starving" Namito rubbed his empty stomach, grabbing at a bunch of junk mail that littered the dirty flat floor, he threw letters, bills and charity leaflets before gripping a few take away menu`s.
"I`m ordering out, anyone else?" he asked, and all 4 men agreed as their stomachs erupted noisily.
They sat waiting for their food to arrive, getting drunker by the minute, all men dying to snort a few lines but not trusting their bodies to pack in on them if anything was to happen, and they needed to be fully alert. Instead as an alternative they smoked weed, letting the calming sensation blanket their bodies.
"Those curries are taking forever, how long did he say they were going to take?" Emori huffed as he choked back smoke.
"45 minutes max, it's only been 30, chill out" Namito mumbled as he rolled up more joints.
"I've got some cake in the fridge" Namito smirked at the other men, chuckling as the others sat up straight and demanded the cake be shared out.
"It`s got some strong pot in though, so take it easy" Namito grinned as the men dived into the kitchen.
"Let me know when food arrives, I`ve got a phone call to make" Shishio looked serious as he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled a number as he left the room.
"Who are you calling?" Namito called out to Shishio`s retreating back.
"Saito Hajime" Shishio smirked before slamming the door shut.
To be continued….
Please let me know what you think of this chapter, I`m unsure whether to continue.