The Clashing Of Two Swords

Chapter 3

"What happened? Why did she look so frightened when you walked closer to her Kenshin?" Yahiko asks. Kenshin sighs and shrugs his shoulders.

"This one doesn't know, Yahiko. I just hope Miss Shinnitenchi is alright." Kenshin replies and the others nod in agreement.

"Maybe we'll see her again?" Kaoru says almost with a tinge of sincerity. Almost.

Off With Shinnitenchi

"Where…Why…How?!" She screams as she punches a tree trunk. Tears stream down her face and she falls to the forest floor just 10 minutes away from the Kanryu Manor.

"Damnit!!" She screams once again and pounds on the dirty ground. Her bottom half of her kimono is dusty and destroyed, but she doesn't care. A slight twig snap is heard behind her, but still she doesn't care. Even when a hand lightly grasps her shoulder, she still weeps and cries. Not a care in the world.

"Shinni…Sister…What happened?" Aoshi says in a calm and collective tone. Shinni shakes her head, not wishing to tell, and continues to mourn silently. Aoshi frowns and pulls her into his arms gently and she buries her head into his chest where she cries herself into submission.

"It's been so long since you last cried. I just hope it's not because of…Well…I just hope it's not that." He adds and holds her closer when he feels her clinging to him.

"Lord Aoshi is she ok?"

"Yeah is she?"

"Come on chick, I know you can get yourself back up."

"Wanna go kill something?"

All of her teammates…All of her allies…Were worried about her. Beshimi…Hyottoko…Shikijo…Hanya…

Shinnitenchi looks up at them and laughs. "Lets go kill something. Yeah that'll cure a broken heart any day. God Hanya you crack me up." She thinks as she continues to laugh. They all smile, knowing now that they have their old Shinnitenchi back. Aoshi smiles when she looks down at her tattered kimono in disgust.

"Eh…Jeez this isn't like me at all is it? My poor kimono…Suffered the worse of all this." She says and everyone, including Shinni, laughed. Gotta love this family, but it seems like something is missing. At this exact moment it didn't bug anyone. Aoshi looks at Shinni, smiling at her. As long as she wasn't crying, he was happy.

"Let's go back. I think we had enough problems for today." Aoshi states and Shinni looks up at him curiously.

"What do you mean Brother?" She asks.

"Megumi escaped, but we will look for her tomorrow." He replies and Shinni nods.

Off With Kenshin and the Gang

"Is there a reason why you're sulking?" Sano asks as Kenshin stares into space. Kenshin shakes her head and looks at Sano questioningly. Sano smiles and smacks him on the shoulder as if he understood what was wrong.

"Don't worry buddy, you'll see her again. Instead of sulking why don't you go find her? Don't worry I won't tell Kaoru." Sano says and Kenshin's eyes widen.

"No it's not like that! That girl…I remember her from somewhere. I just can't pin point where I heard that name from…Her eyes and her hair…They all just seem so familiar." Kenshin says and Sano's smile grows bigger. Almost toa grin.

"Ah! So you slept with her before?! Good one Kenshin!!" Sano says and Kenshin's eyes go wider.

"No! I never slept with her!" Kenshin replies in a shocked and disgusted tone.

"You didn't…What?!" A voice…A FEMINE voice…Oh dear…Kaoru…

With Shinnitenchi

"Aoshi I'm heading out for a walk!" Shinni screams in the manor and immediantly rushes out the door. The crisp, fresh air runs through her nostrils as she runs through the trees. Just get away. Run as if you're flying away. Smile as if it's all your face can handle. Just let it all go. Just let it all…Go…?

She stopped running. Stopped breathing. Stopped…Everything…That image. That horrifying image…Appeared out of no where.

"No…" She manages to get out. But it's too late; her mind backtracked 15 years ago. To the hardest time of her life. The day she stopped smiling.

"Brother I'm home!" A voice calls out. A small girl with curly blonde hair and larges hazel orbs comes into the picture. Her blue and black flowered kimonos making her hair look like sparkles. "Brother?" She cries out and a young boy comes out from the shadows, a solemn look etched on his face. The black eyes stared deep into the little girl's hazel eyes.

"They said he was killed." The boy says.

"No" The little girl mutters and the boy sighs and continues.

"The samurais hunted them down."

"No…"

"He didn't make it out."

"No!!" Both the little girl and Shinnitenchi scream. And with that final cry of agony the memory faded. Shinnitenchi is on the ground, her face covered; protected by her hands. She cries out.

No one…No one hears her; her defeated cries. Why her? Why now did these painful memories scamper back to her mind?

"I shouldn't have let him go…I shouldn't have let Master take him away from me…If only these memories didn't burn my very existence with just a glance into my past. I cannot see that man anymore…I mustn't if I wish to survive longer." She mutters softly to herself and she looks up slightly. "No more…"

"Miss? Miss are you ok??"

Kenshin's P.O.V.

Walking through the woods is hard enough, but to make sure no one else is following you?! Well that's a different story. Why did I even want to be alone? Was it because of the incident that happened earlier? Nah…It couldn't be…

"NO!!" A voice?! This far into the woods?! I hope they're alright. I rush to where I hear it from. I really wish I hadn't. Thinking back on it still upsets me to this very day. No matter, I rush to that voice anyways.

Finally…Regretfully…I made it. I found her, curled up along side a willowed tree, wiping stray tears that even dared to run down her translucent face. Why can I only see half her face? I walk over to her cautiously. I watched her golden hair blow in the wind and when I said something, I saw her face and regretted finding her.

"Miss? Miss are you…Ok?"

She looked like she just got over the death of a loved one or even just heard the news. She immediantly turned away when she looked at me.

"Shinnitenchi?" I heard myself ask in disbelief. She flinched as if hearing her name was like being burned. She started to stand, forcing herself up not to face me, but to run away. I knew it had something to do with me.

"Go away." She replies in a tired and depressed voice. I found myself flinching as if those words hurt me. As if my past was creeping up on me at last.

"I can't. I … Feel that I need to help you in some way."

"There's nothing you can do to save me from myself. Ever since I met you, images have been appearing out of thin air! Memories of my begotten past surface in my thoughts. Why? Because of you! How dare you think you can save me, help me, and to think that you can make my suffering disappear!" She screamed at me. She already turned to face me. Her eye bore anger, but not only that…Sadness…Grief…

"Why do I feel like I know you? Like I met you once before, yet my mind is saying that you are unfamiliar??" I asked her. I needed to know that; so desperate to hear the answer.

Then it dawned on me. She's the one my memories leaned to. The one that I remembered from my long past. I wish I never did it. I panicked.