A/N: So first off, I just want to clarify that this is total crack. The explosive end of the Shishio arc totally cracked me up, so I ended up writing this. I promise I'll finish up a few other things eventually… hopefully before school starts… if I get some inspiration… and perhaps a debilitating disease so that I'm forced to stay inside…
Warnings: spoilers and bad grammar
Disclaimer: If only I really did own Kenshin and his crew, but alas, as I do not, I am writing this under the title of "fanfiction."
No, the Other Thing
"Watsuki sensei?" implored Ling, the timid new assistant of the famed manga artist.
"What?" Groaned said man. He was the picture of defeat, with his head in his hands and balls of crumpled paper littering the floor.
"Um, we were just wondering if you were coming out of your room to celebrate the first episode of your anime with us or not. We've got all kinds of food, and even some... well, I think it's called "pizza."
"Go on and celebrate. I have to figure a way out of this dilemma."
"Oh? Maybe I can help," suggested Ling, moving closer to the author's large new work table. He sighed and cleared a space for her. "What's the problem you're struggling with?"
"Kenshin's nonkilling vow," He said, deadly serious. The young woman was expecting something more dramatic: a jilted lover holding black mail over his head, or the death of a loved one for instance. Perhaps she had just been working on the manga too much...
"Er, I think the vow is great. It somehow elevates Kenshin above the other, more violent characters, you know?"
Instead of abating his worries however, this only caused more groaning.
"That's the problem! I can't have him kill anyone, but Shishio needs to die! He's an evil mad man for goodness sakes! He's bent on the total annihalation of Japan! He can't just go to jail, and another character certainly can't kill him because it's Kenshin's fight. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" he yelled, breaking down into sobs. Ling patted her boss awkwardly on the back a few times.
"That is a problem I guess. Short of spontaneous combustion or abduction by aliens, there really isn't anything..."
"Wait a moment! What did you say?!"
"Alien abduction?"
"No, the other thing."
"Oh, you mean spontaneous combustion? I was just..."
"IT'S PERFECT!" Watsuki yelled, shook Ling's hand vigorously, and rushed out to the party with a spring in his step. Ling stood still for a moment, completely stunned, and then with a shrug of her shoulders headed out to try this mysterious "pizza" she had heard so much about...
