Ancient Dream
PROLOGUE:
A/N: Well, thank you to all who have decided to read. Bless you all! Anyway, as a warning lemme tell how much I suck at fighting scenes. Well I just did but I'll repeat myself just in case…I suck at fighting scenes. Heh….
I was thinking of NOT posting this fic until I was done with Konton no Megami but I decided that it might take a while so hey, why not post this one? And anyway, I'm kinda excited to see if people review this fic. PLEASE DO!
Anyway, as I usually say: either love, hate, and/or tolerate this fic. As long as you review it doesn't matter. So, on wit the fic!
Also, you readers have the choice to vote the coupling: Soukao or Kenkao
PLEASE READ, REVIEW AND VOTE!
blah—thoughts
Disclaimer: Watsuki-sama owns RK, not sessha.
We are born to inquire after truth;
It belongs to a greater power to possess it.
It is not, as Democritus said, hid in the bottom of the deeps,
But rather elevated to an infinite height in the divine knowledge.
Michel de Montaigne
Kaoru exhaled heavily as her bokken whistled through the air. Her midnight black hair was tied in it's usual ponytail and was bobbing up and down as she took a step forward and a step back, performing her katas in a graceful sequence. She took a sharp breath and lunged forward, striking the air with her bokken.
Up, down, inhale; exhale.
It was in this simple order that she found peace in her training. The many beads of sweat running down her temples; the feel of her muscles contracting and relaxing as she brought her bokken up and down. It was all so…perfect that she could not help but feel lost in the tranquility of it.
She let out a final battle cry and struck the air once more before straightening herself and wiping the sweat off her brow. The afternoon sun was slowly falling beyond the horizon and a light evening breeze blew through the open doors. Kaoru inhaled deeply, a smile illuminating on her heart shaped face.
The faint smell of sakura blossoms lingered in the air as the chirping of birds slowly began to die down. It was like watching an endless film that started over as each day passed. Never truly stopping but merely changing for each day, and each season. Kaoru watched, each day, and simply cherished it's simplicity.
"It's always so nice during the spring," she commented to herself as she stepped outside, stretching her arms above her head. She let out a content sigh and lowered her arms as she looked around the empty grounds of the dojo.
The wet clothes, which Kenshin had already hung, were flapping freely in the evening spring breeze. Kenshin had left a few minutes ago to get the ingredients needed for tonight's dinner. Kaoru had insisted that she cook for tonight but due to the many protests, she reluctantly decided not to, much to the others joy.
Sano had gone off to gamble with some off his friends and Kaoru scowled at the very thought, placing her bokken atop her shoulder. Yahiko was working at the Akabeko and was sure to arrive anytime soon. Megumi was working at the clinic as usual.
"So it's just me." She said softly, gazing up at the clear blue sky.
Moments passed and soon her smile reduced to a thin line.
She remembered times like this when she would stand on the lonely grounds of the dojo, staring at the sky. She remembered the empty feeling set in her heart knowing that she was truly alone. No mother to embrace her when she was cold and no father to lend her comforting words during the midst of a storm. Such dreams hadn't been meant for her, not after they had died.
She shook her head, trying to dispel of the disheartening thoughts. There's no need to dwell in the past. I have so many friends now; I'm no longer alone… Her smile returned but faltered slightly as she took a few steps near the gate, waiting for the arrival of one of her friends.
How could she feel alone with so many friends that she loved with the whole of her heart? There was no need for sadness…but still…
"I'm not alone…right?"
Her eyes drooped slightly and she ran her free hand through her hair.
But still…there was still that hollow feeling in her heart that only one person could fill.
"Kenshin…" She whispered as a light breeze blew past her, her ponytail swaying in the wind.
Her heart wrenched at the mere thought of him and her grip on the hilt of her bokken tightened.
I had been months after the Jinchuu and Kenshin was still worried for her safety. She chuckled as she reminisced on the major effort it took her to persuade him to go buy the materials needed for dinner.
After a few weeks she had gotten the small impression that maybe he did have feelings for her and that maybe one day they could take a few steps further. But it had been months and the pair was still dancing to the same tune, walking in circles and keeping the distance.
A tiresome waltz that they failed to overcome.
"Am I alone…?"
She brushed her bangs back and shifted the position of her feet.
The void in her heart, the empty barren space that only one person could fill. Until it was filled with the love of one man she would forever remain alone in her heart.
"You'll never leave me again; right Kenshin? You'll stay and…I won't ever be alone again, ne?"
"But…"
"If that was true then why do I feel so empty…?"
Her eyes dropped as a pressure began to build in her chest. She wanted to hear, those three words. Three simple words…and yet they meant so much…
She sighed. Why did he have to be so damn stubborn? Why did he have to constantly believe that it was his fault and that loving would lead to her demise?
"I don't care Kenshin…why can't you see? It hurts more to not know…" She could feel emerging tears in the corner of her eyes but she frowned and blinked them away, turning on her heel.
Her shoulder slumped as she placed a hand on her chest. "This pain…it's too much to bear…it hurts, right here…it hurts Kenshin…"
One would find such confessions childish, especially when the only person she was talking to was herself. But to Kaoru it didn't matter. In the silence she could confess anything she wanted, it would never tell of her secrets. The winds would carry her words and forever keep them hidden from lingering ears.
She stood in the complete quiet as the seconds withered into minutes. The pain pulsed in her heart and sailed through her veins. It was in the silence that she found her salvation. It was she and her thoughts, echoing in the stillness….
There was a pause; it was as if time had reached a standstill until the quiet was suddenly shattered with the opening of the gate. Kaoru lifted her head almost instinctively as the expression on her face illuminated. Her bright smile returned as she turned around ready to greet the person. "Welcome ho—."
She trailed off and let out a soft inaudible gasp as she met the eyes of neither Kenshin, Yahiko, nor Sano but instead a muscular man leaning against the doorframe, his bulging arms crossed across his chest.
He had a smirk painted on his dry lips and a heinous glint in his eyes that made the color on Kaoru's face drain away. His muscles bulged and rippled as he straightened himself, his black dreadlocks swaying with his movements.
A white cloak was fastened around his neck and billowed freely in the breeze, giving him a casual, but at the same time, deadly look. He wore a loose pair of beige pants accompanied with black boots. A simple forest green shirt clung to his skin, revealing his muscles and their every move.
Kaoru remained still for a moment's time before her eyes narrowed at him. She shifted the position of her feet and held her bokken in front of her form in a defensive stance. The man's grin lengthened and he began to clap; Kaoru's glare growing fiercer as each second passed.
"That was rather touching," he commented dryly, talking of her early confessions.
She was aghast, knowing that he had been listening the whole time, then jolted out of her daze and glared at him. "Why you…just who are you!" Kaoru exclaimed, taking a step forward, her teeth clenched tightly.
He cocked his head amusedly. "My name is of no concern to you." He remarked as he strode forward and immediately grabbed Kaoru's right arm—which held the bokken—in his tight iron grip. "Come, it is time you become a part of our legion once more and speak to the master."
His low voice thundered in the air and shook even her bones. The once clear blue evening sky slowly began to change into a dreary gray as clouds rolled sluggishly in the gloomy abyss. Lightning began to streak through the clouds as the roar of thunder vibrated in the air.
Kaoru let out an angry cry and tried to tear herself away from him. She was strong but she admit that this man was stronger.
His grinned smugly. "Kaoru Kamiya, shihondai of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. I must admit that I'm impressed."
Kaoru growled under her breath then began to twist right and left, trying to escape his grasp but to no avail.
"Tell your master," She hissed, slightly out of breath. "That I don't want to meet him or become part of this legion!" She gave her arm a final tug and let out a surprised gasp as she tumbled backward, her arm free from his grip. Her arms flailed desperately in the air before she balanced herself. She scowled as the man gave a light chuckle than burst into a spasm of full-fledged laughter. A hollow laugh that made the hairs on her neck stand on end and her very skin to crawl.
The man laughed, a low thundering laugh that caused lightning to stream through the darkened sky. His laughter suddenly halted as he took a slow step back. "You truly are amusing Kamiya-san, but what the master wants the master shall receive. And you are indeed a part of our legion. If you are not to come freely than I will have to resort to different methods."
Kaoru scowled at him and dug her heel into the dirt. "Do not think that I will succumb to your demands, even if you take me or not."
"What makes you believe that we'll take you by force?"
Kaoru's eyes remained narrowed at the man. "What do you mean?"
Silence reigned until the man spoke.
"There is satsujin-ken, the sword that kills. Your father built this school on the foundation of katsujin-ken, the sword that protects life."
A strong wind blew and his shoulder length dreadlocks whipped behind him as his cloak followed suit.
"But your father once fought with that way of satsujin-ken."
Kaoru's eyes widened in shock but then narrowed once more at his smirking form.
"Never! My dad never would've believed in the way Satsujin-ken. He built this school, because he followed the belief of Katsujin-ken! The sword that protects! There is no reason for me to believe your words!"
A fire flickered in Kaoru's eyes as she clenched her teeth angrily. She would not allow herself to succumb to her anger but what this man said, his words. It caused a new type of rage to circulate in her body.
She could feel the hilt of her bokken press hard against her palm but she didn't care. The fury that she felt made her numb to the pain.
The man's hollow laughter rang once more and cut through the cold air. "How naïve can you be? Your father, Tetsuro Kamiya was once a follower of our master. One of the best killers in our clan, in fact." He smirked as he realized that his words had struck a chord inside of Kaoru.
Her pupils dilated in anger as she charged forward, bokken upright. "I WONT…!"
She leapt into the air and brought her bokken down, aiming for the man's skull. "I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO SULLY MY FATHERS NAME!" The man let out an amused breath and in the next instant Kaoru found herself held in the air by a strong pair of arms.
"Wha—!" She growled and squirmed in his grasp, and hegrinned at her futile attempts.
"What I say is but the truth, your father belonged to us but ran off one day. Saying that what we were doing was inhumane even for his previous standards." Kaoru's attempts to free herself died as his words sunk in. Her body became limp in his arms as he held her above his head.
"Our master didn't even try to stop him and instead watched him throughout the reminder of his life."
"No…it can't be true…"
"Father…"
The man lowered Kaoru to her feet, and watched, as she remained motionless, her back facing him.
"I see that this may take some time to understand, fine. When you have reached your answers come alone and meet us in Hokkaido, in the city of Hakodate. We will meet you there in 2 months or less."
He turned around ready to live until Kaoru finally spoke.
"I see that you're confident that I will come."
She turned around, the fire burning once more in her eyes and her ponytail bobbing in the air. The wind picked up and a few droplets of rain began to fall as thunder continued to boom in the sky.
"Even if what you say is true I don't care of his past. My father had been capable of throwing away the sword that kills and replaced it with Katsujin-ken."
The man turned around, his smirk gone and replaced with a frown.
"I love my father because of how he was at the present time, not the days before that! Not even your words, even if they are true, will make me agree with your demands."
The man shook his head, his lips pursed in a frown. "I'm sorry that is the way you feel. Now you leave me no choice."
Kaoru narrowed her eyes and the fiery determination in her eyes returned. She had underestimated this man once, and she had let rage control her. But she wouldn't let that happen again.
"I had thought that you would come with us with that last confession, clearly you are much more stronger, and naïve, than I had perceived you." The smirk returned as he crossed his arms across his well-built chest.
"Kamiya-san, this is an affair that has to do with you and our legion. Ourlegion works with stealth, living in the shadows, waiting in silence for the day we'll rise up. That is what our master promised us. But…if you are to reject the masters request than we are to resort to force."
He pulled from behind him, a pair of axes that had been strapped to his back.
"Come Kamiya-san, unless you wish for the blood of the old man and two young girls to be spilt."
Time seemed to stop, as the downpour grew more turbulent. The wind howled with evident fury and claps of thunder grew even more deafening.
The bokken in Kaoru's grasp dropped onto the ground as her face paled and a wave of mud crashed onto the bottom of her hakama, staining it a muddy brown. "You wouldn't…not Dr.Genzai and his grandchildren…you WOULDN'T!" She cried out, fists trembling violentlyat her sides.
The man twirled the axes in his hands as the rain began to pour harder on the pair's forms. Kaoru's pupils had dilated and the man smirked at her evident shock.
"Kamiya-san, if you are to come freely than the lives of those three are to be spared. If you decide not than not only will they die but also the lives of the others that you love."
Kaoru snapped from her daze and clenched her teeth tightly. "I trust Kenshin with my life, he would not allow me or anyone else to die! And neither would I!"
"Would you like to test that? Are you so selfish as to put the life of the ones you love at risk?"
Kaoru stood there in silence as the rain continued to pelt down at her soaked form. Her mind strained to work as she tried to process the information and come to a conclusion.
You'll never leave me; right Kenshin?
How ironic, that she was the one who would have to leave him. She didn't want to leave, she believed in Kenshin, with her life, but she remembered Megumi's warning…
She couldn't, she wouldn't put him or anyone or else in danger just for her sake.
"Did you say you would like to meet in Hokkaido?" She asked quietly as she lowered her head, her bangs obscuring her eyes.
"I'm sorry…"
The man laughed and placed his axes back in place. "Love is only for fools! You see how weak it makes you!" He stepped back through the gate and grinned at Kaoru's still form.
"We are to meet in southern Hokkaido, in Hakodate. I shall see you there in 2 months or lessand escort you to our master Kamiya-san."
He grinned, and took another step back. And in the next instant he was gone, the rain seemingly carrying him elsewhere.
For what seemed like a mere few seconds Kaoru remained motionless. All she could acknowledge was the pounding of the rain and of her heart. At that instant she could feel a burning sensation in her eyes and she placed a hand on her cheek.
It was wet.
She lifted her head to the sky, water misting her eyelids. She couldn't tell if it was rain or her tears…but at that moment did it even matter?
"I'm sorry…" she whispered to the sky, as if she was instead staring at Kenshin's face. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you…"
Was it that she was destined to be alone? Was it that fate was so cruel as to curse her to a life of loneliness.
"It seems I am forever to be alone…"
Her thoughts paused before she ended with a few words.
"It hurts…"
And at that instant her knees buckled and she collapsed onto her knees, her shoulders shaking with each sob asrain and tears rolled down her cheeks. Her cries falling in synch with the howls and wails of the storm. Thunder clapped and lightning flashed as the dark sky hung above her. Greatly resembling how she felt at the moment.
"The truth hurts, ne?
But I guess it's better to know the truth
Than to be blinded by a lie…"
The rain continued and dared not to stop as her sobs vibrated in the night.
Only in the dark was she truly alone Had been extinguished
For the single lantern of hope that lit the night
But one cannot say that she had wished for such a fate…
The rain fell…
She was alone…
And thus her story begins…
A/N: Well, I will admit that I had no idea what I was doing when I made this…I'm kinda like, ok, let's put some random bad guy tell Kaoru the truth of her father. If anyone is wondering why they're gonna meet in Hokkaido it's because of the volcanic peaks. I did some research on Hokkaido and I thought that the volcanic peaks will help with the bad guys big plan thingy. Heh, I'm skilled in description.
Soujiro will appear either the next chapter or the one after that.
I HATE the way I ended up having the dude persuade Kaoru to come. After the stress of all my homework my creativity (whatever small portions of it I may have) just kinda disappeared. I really don't like the fact he had to use Ayame, Suzume, and Dr.Genzai as a threat but that's all I could come up with.
Kaoru's a strong girl and I thought anything else the dude said and she would be able to overcome it with Kenshin. So I had to make her feel guilty and so thus she shall hit the road in the next chapter.
Overall, I like this chapter and I hope that most of you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Also, I'll try to update as soon as I can. I have a lot o homework so the next update may come in a month or two. Read and Review PLEASE!
Peace!