A/N: Ack!! It's been SO long since I updated!! I'm really sorry, but
I've just been so busy lately I haven't gotten a moment to sit down by
myself and WRITE until now. It wasn't exactly that I didn't have time,
but....parents...I'm sure you people know what I mean. So...*points ahead*
ON WITH...THE DISCLAIMER!!!!! (Hey, I've gotta have SOME humor in this fic,
right?)
Disclaimer: *sings* '...those silly horoscopes.........I...guess I can't trust them after all....if I could trust them...I would own Rurouni Kenshin by now...which I don't....' ...OK, so in case that made NO sense...*points to self* ME NO OWN RK. End of story. (Now that I've gotten the "Freckles" song stuck in your heads.......*evil laugh*)
(thankyous will be at the END on the fic this time.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 6: Morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Megumi yawned and rolled over as the banging noise penetrated the haze of sleep.
"A patient? This early?" She mumbled, and began to dress in the dark. Probably some idiot who'd gotten himself injured in a bar fight. Well, she would just take her time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sanosuke walked along the alleyway, hands in his pockets as he thought.
'Huh. I can't believe I actually got myself into this mess. Trust the rooster-head to go do something stupid like this.'
Lifting his head, he looked at the sliver of sky peeking between the rooftops.
Morning.
'Great. I'm hardly even recovered from this stupid hangover, its morning, and...and...yeah. Just...great. I think I should take a walk or something. To clear my head.'
Sanosuke smiled, and looked at the ground. A walk. Not a bad idea, considering...
'Considering I've messed up so many times in the past, I suppose this won't be so hard. I'll just figure out what I'm going to say and say it. Yeah. I'll just stay away until I gather up the courage to tell her how I feel.'
He began walking towards the edges of town. There was a forest there, where he could just think and not be bothered.
'Problem, rooster-head. You'll be there for days at the rate you're going.'
"Huh."
Ignoring his thoughts, Sanosuke continued walking, every now and then grabbing his aching head.
'Hangovers bite.'
"Well, pal; you really are a rooster-head."
And talking to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yahiko sat on a rock next to the road, his clothing tattered and dirty. It was just outside the village, but he didn't care. He didn't know why, really. He remembered the blood...remembered running...but he couldn't remember why he was at the roadside, and what had happened to him after he ran from the dojo.
'Why can't I remember?!' He thought furiously, clenching his fists.
His hand went to the side of his face instinctively, and he felt dried blood.
:: A dark sack, men yelling. The forest floor was cold and wet. He was being dragged along inside. Suddenly they stopped. The sack fell open. ::
Yahiko shook his head. All he could remember was sounds, flashes of images. He looked at the sky.
Morning.
'Was it really...that short a time? It seems like days. But I know I've barely been gone more than a few hours.'
:: He grabbed the sword of a man standing nearby and slashed at his chest. The man screamed. Another man went down as he stabbed him through the throat. ::
Yahiko's eyes widened.
'I...remember...'
He began laughing, a sort of hysterical laughter, but choked at the same time. Tears ran down his white face as he put his head on his knees.
Now he had an excuse not to come back.
'I'm just a really messed-up kid.'
He kept laughing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru almost fell back as the shoji she was banging on slid open and a disgruntled-looking Megumi peered out at her through half-closed eyes.
"Kaoru-chan. Why are you here so late? What...?"
She paused as she took in the tears streaming down Kaoru's pale face and the streaks of blood on her sleeves.
Megumi gasped.
"Is it..."
Kaoru's hands trembled as she spoke.
"Yes. It's...Kenshin."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun shone brightly and the rhythmic thump of his axe was heard through the trees. He stopped and stood up, throwing it onto the pile of chopped wood. Shaking his head, he turned as he heard her come up behind him.
"I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"It's alright."
He looked up at the clear blue sky.
"It is a beautiful day."
Smiled.
.
.
.
He stood on a pile of bodies, the coppery smell of fresh blood mingling with the pungency of rotting flesh. Snow fell gently around him and the pressing silence filled his ears.
Cold.
In his hand he clutched a flower, shriveled and dead. Its once-vibrant purple was reduced to blue-gray.
An Iris.
She always said it was her favorite flower because of something someone told her, once. It was strange, how she could like a flower that was unnoticeable in the sun. It seemed to melt into its rays, becoming invisible.
Voices.
He heard muffled cries through the veil of quiet, but they were unfamiliar. A woman. But...not Tomoe.
"Who...are you?"
"TELL ME!"
The cries faded, leaving him with the falling snow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru looked at Kenshin as he lay deathly still on the futon. He looked the same as when she found him lying on the ground, except there was no sign he had ever been lying in blood...covered with it.
She sighed and placed a hand on his bandaged cheek.
"Why, Kenshin? If only you knew...how often I ask myself that...If only...it seems like ages since I told you how I felt...I never even got to hear your answer. Why? And why...why was your scar bleeding? Kenshin..."
A single tear dropped onto his face, but she made no effort to wipe it away. She lay down on the hard floor next to him, too exhausted to walk, too tired to even care. As she drifted into restless sleep, her last thoughts echoed in her head.
'I wonder if Yahiko is worried....'
Megumi looked into Kenshin's room to see Kaoru curled up on the floor, asleep, shivering slightly. She felt a pang in her chest as she stood, watching. She looked down at the blanket in her arms. Kenshin had chosen Kaoru, and she understood, but...
She turned around and continued past the room, face emotionless. Carrying the blanket with her. She understood, but she didn't have to act understanding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bodies were gone and he stood in an empty field. A single cross was a shadow in the distance. Not knowing why, he began running towards it, knew it was somehow important. But it kept moving, farther and farther away. He tripped and fell to the ground, feeling his scar begin to bleed.
'What...?'
Suddenly a presence stood over him, one he knew well.
'Tomoe?'
He smelled Jasmine as she lifted his chin with her finger, her hands becoming tainted with his blood.
"K-Kaoru...I..."
She smiled sadly at him, her blue eyes dark and strange to him.
'I have made her...CRY?"
Suddenly, as if being cut by an invisible knife two scars appeared on her left cheek, oozing blood. He could hear every drop as it plummeted to the hard soil beneath him.
"Why, Kenshin? Why? I love you...please...let me share your pain. Please..."
She took his hand as he stood up, and began walking towards the cross. This time it did not move, but stayed a still solitary figure in the mists. She looked at him and smiled, gently, and let go of his hand.
Voices. Screams.
She was dead, DEAD.
His sword, stained with her blood. His hands. The blood. HERS.
There was only a simple marker at the foot of the wooden cross. There was only a name carved out in small, painstaking letters.
HIMURA KENSHIN
He opened his eyes. Another dead sun. Another false morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sanosuke swallowed as he surveyed the scene with shock.
'No way could I be seeing this right now...'
Four men lay on the forest floor, the morning sun shedding just enough light through the trees for him to see the gruesome details.
'They're..........MUTILATED. How could any human DO something like that?!'
A coarse woven sack lay on the ground a few yards away. It was spotted in blood, and the top was open. There was something sticking out of it.
Feeling his stomach turn as he walked past the corpses and body parts strewn across the area, he knelt down next to pick up the scrap of fabric clinging to the sack.
It was yellow with a black pattern.
"Yahiko!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru opened her eyes to find herself lying on a floor. She blinked. Remembering, she knelt and looked to her side, where Kenshin was still sleeping. He was not as pale as he had been before, but blood had soaked through the bandage on his face, forming a red cross.
"Kenshin."
She reached over to touch his face.
"He will be asleep for quite some time yet. He lost a large amount of blood and it was cold outside, which did not help matters."
Kaoru snatched her hand away and turned to look at Megumi.
"Yes. I'm just...worried. Thank you so much for taking care of him and everything.......I..."
Megumi waved her hand.
"Oh, don't thank me." She walked away.
Kaoru looked back at Kenshin just in time to see his eyes flicker open as he grabbed her hand in his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, what did you folks think??!! I will not update unless I get at least FIVE reviews, so PLEASE review.
Thankyous:
Chiki: Hehe, as you can see, I seem to be torturing the characters more and more as I go on. *ponders* Ah, well, If I learned one thing from RK its that you hurt the eons you love. *hugs RK gang* See? I really DO love them. And yes, this fic is becoming very dark, but I PROMISE, the romance IS coming!!
Crystal Renee: *hands you tissue* Its OK, Kenshin will be fine. After all, that's what Kaoru is there for-emotional support! And Thanks so much for offering to protect me from rabid reviewers. There actually aren't that many people who are reviewing this so far, but when I use my evil mind powers to make them read it and they flame me, I promise to let you beat them up. :: laughs::
Kenshin XXX: Yep, Kenshin will be more or less OK in the end, though I will definitely put him through as much pain I can think of. *evil laugh* oh, yes. *hands you tissue* And yes, Kaoru WILL bring him back. Eventually...
Disclaimer: *sings* '...those silly horoscopes.........I...guess I can't trust them after all....if I could trust them...I would own Rurouni Kenshin by now...which I don't....' ...OK, so in case that made NO sense...*points to self* ME NO OWN RK. End of story. (Now that I've gotten the "Freckles" song stuck in your heads.......*evil laugh*)
(thankyous will be at the END on the fic this time.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 6: Morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Megumi yawned and rolled over as the banging noise penetrated the haze of sleep.
"A patient? This early?" She mumbled, and began to dress in the dark. Probably some idiot who'd gotten himself injured in a bar fight. Well, she would just take her time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sanosuke walked along the alleyway, hands in his pockets as he thought.
'Huh. I can't believe I actually got myself into this mess. Trust the rooster-head to go do something stupid like this.'
Lifting his head, he looked at the sliver of sky peeking between the rooftops.
Morning.
'Great. I'm hardly even recovered from this stupid hangover, its morning, and...and...yeah. Just...great. I think I should take a walk or something. To clear my head.'
Sanosuke smiled, and looked at the ground. A walk. Not a bad idea, considering...
'Considering I've messed up so many times in the past, I suppose this won't be so hard. I'll just figure out what I'm going to say and say it. Yeah. I'll just stay away until I gather up the courage to tell her how I feel.'
He began walking towards the edges of town. There was a forest there, where he could just think and not be bothered.
'Problem, rooster-head. You'll be there for days at the rate you're going.'
"Huh."
Ignoring his thoughts, Sanosuke continued walking, every now and then grabbing his aching head.
'Hangovers bite.'
"Well, pal; you really are a rooster-head."
And talking to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yahiko sat on a rock next to the road, his clothing tattered and dirty. It was just outside the village, but he didn't care. He didn't know why, really. He remembered the blood...remembered running...but he couldn't remember why he was at the roadside, and what had happened to him after he ran from the dojo.
'Why can't I remember?!' He thought furiously, clenching his fists.
His hand went to the side of his face instinctively, and he felt dried blood.
:: A dark sack, men yelling. The forest floor was cold and wet. He was being dragged along inside. Suddenly they stopped. The sack fell open. ::
Yahiko shook his head. All he could remember was sounds, flashes of images. He looked at the sky.
Morning.
'Was it really...that short a time? It seems like days. But I know I've barely been gone more than a few hours.'
:: He grabbed the sword of a man standing nearby and slashed at his chest. The man screamed. Another man went down as he stabbed him through the throat. ::
Yahiko's eyes widened.
'I...remember...'
He began laughing, a sort of hysterical laughter, but choked at the same time. Tears ran down his white face as he put his head on his knees.
Now he had an excuse not to come back.
'I'm just a really messed-up kid.'
He kept laughing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru almost fell back as the shoji she was banging on slid open and a disgruntled-looking Megumi peered out at her through half-closed eyes.
"Kaoru-chan. Why are you here so late? What...?"
She paused as she took in the tears streaming down Kaoru's pale face and the streaks of blood on her sleeves.
Megumi gasped.
"Is it..."
Kaoru's hands trembled as she spoke.
"Yes. It's...Kenshin."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun shone brightly and the rhythmic thump of his axe was heard through the trees. He stopped and stood up, throwing it onto the pile of chopped wood. Shaking his head, he turned as he heard her come up behind him.
"I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"It's alright."
He looked up at the clear blue sky.
"It is a beautiful day."
Smiled.
.
.
.
He stood on a pile of bodies, the coppery smell of fresh blood mingling with the pungency of rotting flesh. Snow fell gently around him and the pressing silence filled his ears.
Cold.
In his hand he clutched a flower, shriveled and dead. Its once-vibrant purple was reduced to blue-gray.
An Iris.
She always said it was her favorite flower because of something someone told her, once. It was strange, how she could like a flower that was unnoticeable in the sun. It seemed to melt into its rays, becoming invisible.
Voices.
He heard muffled cries through the veil of quiet, but they were unfamiliar. A woman. But...not Tomoe.
"Who...are you?"
"TELL ME!"
The cries faded, leaving him with the falling snow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru looked at Kenshin as he lay deathly still on the futon. He looked the same as when she found him lying on the ground, except there was no sign he had ever been lying in blood...covered with it.
She sighed and placed a hand on his bandaged cheek.
"Why, Kenshin? If only you knew...how often I ask myself that...If only...it seems like ages since I told you how I felt...I never even got to hear your answer. Why? And why...why was your scar bleeding? Kenshin..."
A single tear dropped onto his face, but she made no effort to wipe it away. She lay down on the hard floor next to him, too exhausted to walk, too tired to even care. As she drifted into restless sleep, her last thoughts echoed in her head.
'I wonder if Yahiko is worried....'
Megumi looked into Kenshin's room to see Kaoru curled up on the floor, asleep, shivering slightly. She felt a pang in her chest as she stood, watching. She looked down at the blanket in her arms. Kenshin had chosen Kaoru, and she understood, but...
She turned around and continued past the room, face emotionless. Carrying the blanket with her. She understood, but she didn't have to act understanding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bodies were gone and he stood in an empty field. A single cross was a shadow in the distance. Not knowing why, he began running towards it, knew it was somehow important. But it kept moving, farther and farther away. He tripped and fell to the ground, feeling his scar begin to bleed.
'What...?'
Suddenly a presence stood over him, one he knew well.
'Tomoe?'
He smelled Jasmine as she lifted his chin with her finger, her hands becoming tainted with his blood.
"K-Kaoru...I..."
She smiled sadly at him, her blue eyes dark and strange to him.
'I have made her...CRY?"
Suddenly, as if being cut by an invisible knife two scars appeared on her left cheek, oozing blood. He could hear every drop as it plummeted to the hard soil beneath him.
"Why, Kenshin? Why? I love you...please...let me share your pain. Please..."
She took his hand as he stood up, and began walking towards the cross. This time it did not move, but stayed a still solitary figure in the mists. She looked at him and smiled, gently, and let go of his hand.
Voices. Screams.
She was dead, DEAD.
His sword, stained with her blood. His hands. The blood. HERS.
There was only a simple marker at the foot of the wooden cross. There was only a name carved out in small, painstaking letters.
HIMURA KENSHIN
He opened his eyes. Another dead sun. Another false morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sanosuke swallowed as he surveyed the scene with shock.
'No way could I be seeing this right now...'
Four men lay on the forest floor, the morning sun shedding just enough light through the trees for him to see the gruesome details.
'They're..........MUTILATED. How could any human DO something like that?!'
A coarse woven sack lay on the ground a few yards away. It was spotted in blood, and the top was open. There was something sticking out of it.
Feeling his stomach turn as he walked past the corpses and body parts strewn across the area, he knelt down next to pick up the scrap of fabric clinging to the sack.
It was yellow with a black pattern.
"Yahiko!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaoru opened her eyes to find herself lying on a floor. She blinked. Remembering, she knelt and looked to her side, where Kenshin was still sleeping. He was not as pale as he had been before, but blood had soaked through the bandage on his face, forming a red cross.
"Kenshin."
She reached over to touch his face.
"He will be asleep for quite some time yet. He lost a large amount of blood and it was cold outside, which did not help matters."
Kaoru snatched her hand away and turned to look at Megumi.
"Yes. I'm just...worried. Thank you so much for taking care of him and everything.......I..."
Megumi waved her hand.
"Oh, don't thank me." She walked away.
Kaoru looked back at Kenshin just in time to see his eyes flicker open as he grabbed her hand in his.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, what did you folks think??!! I will not update unless I get at least FIVE reviews, so PLEASE review.
Thankyous:
Chiki: Hehe, as you can see, I seem to be torturing the characters more and more as I go on. *ponders* Ah, well, If I learned one thing from RK its that you hurt the eons you love. *hugs RK gang* See? I really DO love them. And yes, this fic is becoming very dark, but I PROMISE, the romance IS coming!!
Crystal Renee: *hands you tissue* Its OK, Kenshin will be fine. After all, that's what Kaoru is there for-emotional support! And Thanks so much for offering to protect me from rabid reviewers. There actually aren't that many people who are reviewing this so far, but when I use my evil mind powers to make them read it and they flame me, I promise to let you beat them up. :: laughs::
Kenshin XXX: Yep, Kenshin will be more or less OK in the end, though I will definitely put him through as much pain I can think of. *evil laugh* oh, yes. *hands you tissue* And yes, Kaoru WILL bring him back. Eventually...