Prologue
Shinta. The Sakura blossoms drifted ever slower around them. Kaoru gently touched the faded scar on his cheek. He was finally free. A tear slowly tracked its way down the curve of her jaw.
'How touching. I hope those tears are for yourself, Kaoru-chan.'
Her jaw clenched. The blossoms stopped moving.
'I should have known you'd be slithering by the moment he was gone, Shishio. Already running, are you?'
She could feel his eyes at her back; Kaoru gently eased Kenshin's head from her lap to stand and face the hitokiri who had caused so much trouble all those years ago. He had returned to his original form. With his long hair pulled high into the familiar samurai tail, she could see the young, unmarred face of Battousai's successor; and he was grinning.
'Why should I run? I'm not the one he'll be coming for, after all.'
The hollow feeling Kenshin's passing left was twisting in on itself, from Shishio's smug grin and now from his words. 'What is that supposed to mean?'
Now Shishio openly laughed. 'He knows about you, Kaoru-chan.'
Kaoru's face drained of all color.
'Were you hoping all those years spent waiting for him were going to be considered penance?' Shishio taunted, clearly enjoying her loss of composure. Glancing contemptuously at the red haired corpse, he leaned in close to her ear, whispering maliciously, 'The rurouni is dead, Kaoru; those years mean nothing to the Battousai; you mean nothing.'
Kaoru hissed and jerked away from him. Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked back to Kenshin's body on the ground. What had seemed serene moments before was now threatening. If the Battousai did know about her, what Shishio said was true. Kenshin's death would not bring peace as she'd hoped, but an existence dark and terrifying.
Shishio was baring his teeth; it may have been an attempt at a smile but gave the appearance of something far more predatory. 'So Kaoru, what will you do? Running would only make him angrier, and few have the power to stand up to him.'
Catching her breath, she quickly backed away several steps. 'No.'
'Come now, Kaoru-chan. Who else would take you in? His position won't be secure until the next new moon.'
'Get away from me!'
Shishio's face finally tightened in anger. 'Very well, but remember how you wasted this opportunity when Battousai finds you.' He turned and faded into the same nothingness from which he came.
The blossoms fell like stones to the ground.
