Chapter Six

Progress

Kenshin's POV

There was nothing left but the void of darkness. A solid black veil that enveloped his body completely. Securing him within its silent promise of peace. A peace that he would never be able to find in the other world… In and out. He breathed slowly, carefully as if every breath was his last.

"Battousai." Somewhere within the darkness a melancholy voice echoed "Battousai the manslayer." It hissed. Kenshin opened his eyes to find himself in a pool of white light "Battousai." The voice was closer, sharper. He felt a tug on his hakama leg "Battousai." Looking down Kenshin saw two shadowy black hands reaching out of the light and cling to his leg, its nails piercing into his skin, drawing blood "You killed me…" The creature rasped as it began climbing his body, its nails piercing him again and again like the sharpened tip of a katana. Kenshin wanted to shake the creature off, but he couldn't move "You killed me." It accused as a mass of long, inky black hair emerged. Fear and guilt struck his heart as the soft, pale face of Tomoe appeared from the depths of the light. Her naked body twisted around him as she climbed, her dark eyes glaring at him from behind her hair "Battousai, you took my life," her black arms tightened around his neck, and her cheek rested against his. Her lips, stained dark red in his blood, smiled "Now I shall take yours." She whispered against his ear.

Long sharpened nails pierced his back; slicing through his body, puncturing his lungs, and breaking through the cavity of his chest with ease. Warm, crimson blood splattered against her pale white face. Staining her with his murder. Kenshin's eyes glazed over in pain, and his body fell limp in her grasp. She smiled her haunting smile "How does it feel to die?" She hissed. He couldn't answer. His life was fading ever so slowly, leaving the pain to subside only in the wake of his death.

A shrill laughter was the last thing he heard as he slipped back into the eternal darkness.

Golden eyes shot open in a wild frenzy. Tink, tink, tink. Kenshin's hand found the hilt of his katana and tightened like a vice around it. His heart pounded against his rib cage, and his entire body tensed as he waited for an attack that would never come. Scanning his surroundings Kenshin slowly began to recognize where he was. Tink, tink, tink. Glancing toward the window at the end of the hall Kenshin noted that it was raining in the outside world.

"It's just the rain." He murmured to himself as he casted the ghostly laughter from his thoughts.

Releasing his sword he relaxed against the tea house's wooden wall. It was only a dream. Closing his eyes Kenshin took a deep breath and settled down. There was no ghosts from the past, or void of darkness. Just a small, empty wooden hallway and a cool spring rain storm. He leaned his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling from behind his bangs. These nightmares had become more frequent and more violent. It had been weeks since he had seen a full night's sleep... That woman, Tomoe, she had haunted his dreams ever since her untimely end. He had killed hundreds of men, but she was the one who had bothered him the most. She had left the darkest mark on his body and soul; a traitor, an enemy, a woman whom didn't deserve her fate.

If only it wasn't for this damn war. She wouldn't have had to die, none of the many people he had slaughtered in the name of freedom, the common good, and all that is righteous would have had to meet their deaths. Where does the freedom so many have fought for lie during the darkest nights, when one's sins weigh them down making them prisoners within their own minds? Where is that common good that has been promised when families are left broken and starving? Where is that beautiful idea of being righteous when he is covered in the crimson blood of sons, brothers, and fathers? War is simply a glorified lie. One Kenshin wish he had known before joining the battle. No one had mentioned the price you paid to live that glorified lie. One's soul, their humanity. Everything that made a man respectable. However, Kenshin supposed that if any man knew the ugly truth, the cost of their moment of glory, they wouldn't want any part in the fight. So perhaps the army lied out of necessity. After all without soldiers what would a war be?

Kaoru's POV

It had been another long, restless night for Kaoru. Her dreams had been ravaged by the same torturous nightmare, and she couldn't even close her eyes for a moment without seeing his wretched face. Shishio had left his mark on her physically and mentally. He had left a scar of terror behind, and all Kaoru could do was suffer through it. Screwing the lid back onto the small jar of crème she did an inspection of his physical scarring. It had only been a week since Ayame had gave her that medicine, and already her bruises were nothing more than vague yellow splotches on her skin. Kaoru smiled a small, tired smile. At least the noticeable aspect of her attack was going away. Shoving the jar into her desk drawer the doctor decided that she should begin her daily routine.

Once Kaoru had dressed herself and pulled her hair away from her face she was ready to start her morning rounds in the clinic. She pulled tightly on the ribbon that secured her hair in a high ponytail, making sure everything was in order, and then reached for the shoji door.

Stepping out into the hallway Kaoru was met with Battousai the manslayer, whom would escort her to the clinic. No matter how many times she had walked with him Kaoru could never quite contain that sense of danger that on most days had her nerves completely shot. He was in essence of the word a lethal weapon. The more time she had spent with him the more she had noticed his feral nature. The Battousai always seemed to be alert and ready for attack. His golden eyes would keep tract of everything happening in the room they were in, nothing went on without him noticing it. And on certain occasions, when a man approached the doctor in a disrespectful way, Kaoru had noticed his hand would rest on the hilt of his katana. It was a silent warning that every samurai at the base knew well. All the men knew about the Battousai's reputation, and none of them were foolish enough to challenge him. She wouldn't blame any man that backed down from a fight with Battousai, even her father who was a master in the art of sword fighting would have better sense than to battle this man.

Kaoru paused for just a split second as the memory of her father flooded her thoughts. She frowned. Kaoru hadn't thought about her father for over three years, not once since his burial. His death had been too painful for Kaoru and her family. His memory had become something that they all would much rather leave in the past. After all his death was a tragic one. In the late winter of her fourteenth year Kaoru's father had become ill with a nasty sickness. The doctors had treated him to the best of their abilities, and sometimes the medicine they gave him would help and other times it would only make his sickness worse. He had managed to live through that winter, though he was bed ridden for the most part of those months. By that spring however, he had been feeling well enough to open the family dojo again. Everyone had thought that he was going to be fine. All the symptoms of his illness had vanished, and the doctors had given him a clean bill of health. There was no signs leading up to the night that he died that would have signaled that the sickness was back. Her father had been teaching classes regularly as he did every spring, and seemed fine in the afternoons he had spent with the family. However late that spring her and her younger brother Yahiko awoke to her mother's blood curdling scream. Their father had passed away in the night. His death had been quick and unexpected… Not even the doctors could explain how he had died.

By that summer her family had slowly been torn apart. Her mother, who had never really been able to cope with her husband's death, had picked up drinking so that she wouldn't have to face reality. For weeks at a time she would stay drunk and indisposed leaving Kaoru to take care of her bother and their home. You could say that she was no stranger to hard work, and she isn't. Kaoru had picked up the training lessons at the dojo, doing the best she could with what her father had taught her, ran the house, and raised Yahiko by herself. It was hard, but she managed. Eventually Yahiko was old enough to take over the dojo, and did just that with pride. Their mother was long since lost to the local bar, and eventually became a working girl. Kaoru had long since gave up on her, and the moment she saw Yahiko could handle the dojo alone the doctor decided that she needed to find an occupation of her own. That was the beginning of her medical career.

Letting go of her thoughts Kaoru came back into reality as she entered the clinic. Battousai took up his usual position in the front of the room as Kaoru made her way to the back. She picked up the closest medical chart, and began examining it. This was the solider with the nearly severed arm. Kaoru glanced from her chart to the boy laying silently in the cot. He didn't look at her, and instead kept his gaze on the front of the room. She had been able to recover his arm, but after only a week in the clinic she had no idea whether or not he would ever use that arm again. Then again the boy didn't seem like he had wanted his arm to work. In fact when she had tried to coax him into moving his arm he just ignored her "How are we doing today Mr. Shinomori?" Kaoru asked cheerfully. He didn't give her any reply, but Kaoru hadn't really expected one. Laying his chart down, she moved to the chair beside the cot and settled in. Very gently Kaoru ran her finger tips up and down his arm trying to stimulate some kind of reaction. Smiling she watched as the muscles under his skin contracted. That meant the tissue wasn't dead "It seems we have made progress." She mumbled having finally caught the samurai's attention.

Aoshi Shinomori's cold black eyes stared straight into her soul "Leave." His mouth formed a thin, grim line "Now." He hissed. Kaoru simply remained where she was, by now use to disgruntled patients, and watched him carefully determining when it would be a good time to speak again. He grunted indignantly at her stubborn nature and turned his head away from her.

"I know you must feel angry and scared." She murmured as she reached out to smooth his blanket down.

A strong hand wrapped around her thin wrist tightly and rooted her to her spot. Immediately Battousai's hand shot to the hilt of his sword. Kaoru's heart started with a flutter, worried about her patient's life "You know nothing." Aoshi seethed venomously. He jerked her arm, pulling her in close to him. At this point Battousai's katana was slowly sliding out of its sheath "Don't tell me what I feel doctor." Kaoru remained still as his dark stare forced her into silence. "Control your guard dog." Aoshi released her and she fell back into her chair. Kaoru sucked in a deep breath of air, apparently having forgot to breathe during their interaction. Glancing to the assassin on the other side of the room the doctor was able to relax as he pushed his sword back into the sheath.

Standing up Kaoru straightened her kimono and continued her rounds in the clinic without another word to Mr. Shinomori.

After finishing her morning work the doctor when out into the garden just outside of the clinic doors to collect herself. She wondered aimlessly around the dirt path. The sakura trees were in full bloom this time of the year. They were always what Kaoru looked forward to in the spring; seeing the sakura in full bloom, it was always so breathtaking. There was just a sense of majesty in the array of pink flowers that the tree produced, that would leave her in awe.

Looking away from the trees Kaoru came to a stop at the edge of a koi pond. The water was nothing more than a smooth, silver mirror reflecting the stormy clouds over head, yet underneath Kaoru knew that gold and white koi were gracefully swimming back and forth. Kneeling down the doctor stretched a finger out to the water, determined to break the reflective surface. However, rain and dirt paths do not make a good combination for balance. An inch away from the water Kaoru lost her footing and slipped forward, but before she could fall into the cold pond water a strong arm wrapped around her waist and caught her. Startled the young doctor looked up into an equally startled face of the Battousai. He had dipped down onto one knee, ruining his hakama in the mud, and braced his arm around her just in time. Kaoru, at a loss for words, merely looked at her rescuer with confusion in her wide blue eyes. The Battousai on the other hand had awoke from his state of shock and was currently helping her stand up. Once he was sure she could stand alone, Battousai quickly retracted his hands from underneath her elbows and looked down in a way that almost seemed as if he was embarrassed.

"Thank you Battousai." Kaoru managed to say as she too came out of her dazed state. The Battousai said nothing in return, but simply returned her thanks with a small bow.

A/N: I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews you have left, it's really helped me with the direction I want to take this fanfiction. Also thank you for reading, and as always please leave any comments below. :)