Author's Notes: I'm now writing the fourth chapter and I still haven't
posted the second ::sigh:: I'm so behind in posting and sending out
chapters. I definitely need to catch up because it takes like five minutes
to post three new chapters, so the sad fact that I haven't posted is,
well.....sad, heh heh. Anywho, on with the writing.
Title: The Swordsman and the Ninja Author: KaBunny E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 (In this one.....people actually die ::winks:: Not in this chapter tho! So, don't worry....yet)
Chapter Four: Deja Vu
He hadn't come. Her worst fears had been confirmed and she had missed her window of opportunity a year ago. So, here she was, sitting in her lonely room once more with nothing but a broken heart.
She hadn't even had the motivation to change out of her wedding dress, which had been cutting off the circulation to the lower half of her body for about ten minutes now. She shook her head and cleared her thoughts as best she could, realizing that now was the time to be happy for Aoshi who hadn't actually been having dreams for a year, but actually meetings.
He really was in love Misao and she did return his feelings. Kaoru wiped her eyes and walked into the bathroom to wash her face. She glanced up at herself, the cool water soothing her hot face and gave a small sad smile. Her eyes were burning brightly through her pale features and she look rather frail. This thought seemed to be amusing to her considering that she had been trying to prove that she was just the opposite to everyone by learning swordsmanship.
She sighed lightly, appearing to relax more as her tiring day slipped out of her mind. She looked up from the sink once again to the mirror as she shut the water off. She did look rather lovely. She gave a small laugh as she thought of Sano's reaction when he first spotted her.
She also had to admit that she did look a lot like a princess with the crown sitting on her head. She had spent her entire life trying to escape the fact that she was a princess and born into noble blood, but it had finally caught up with her. She had to face the fact that she had no freedom or free choice. She had to do what the government bid of her. She had to do what he father requested of her. No more fooling around.
She sighed again as she removed her hands from the side of the sink bowl and her eyes from the mirror. She walked out of her bathroom and laughed as she looked at the door. She remembered the look of surprise that Kenshin had worn when she had emerged from the bathroom, naked. 'He was probably wondering what happened to his ability to predict the movements of others,' she thought and laughed again.
She wandered out onto her balcony and looked up to the clear moon as she leaned against the railing. 'I remember when I was out here and he called up to me,' she thought, closing her eyes and smiling. She placed her hand over her heart just as the summer breeze blew lightly. It was just like the other time.
"Miss Kaoru?" a ghost voice questioned from below.
Kaoru's smiled widened as she realized that her memory sounded just like the real thing. 'That was the night that he said goodbye to me forever,' she thought, sighing as she opened her eyes. She continued to stare up at the moon. 'I hadn't realized then that maybe I hadn't been considering Kenshin's feelings when I made that decision. Maybe he left because he thought I didn't care for him? No. He would've come back if he cared for me.'
"M-Miss.....Miss.....Kaoru," a surprised voice whispered.
Kaoru's eyes widened as she realized that that voice hadn't been in her mind. She turned her attention to the slightly illuminated ground, a look of surprise plastered on her face. "K-Kenshin....," she murmured, spotting him staring up at her. He was wearing a similar expression. "W- What are you doing here?"
"Misao...she said she was....she left a note," he rambled, his composure not what it normally was. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"Today I was to be married," she responded, looking back up to the moon.
"Married? I had not known......all Misao said was she was coming here and that she would be back," Kenshin muttered, shaking his head. 'Did she break up the wedding? Is that what she came for? But....why?' he thought, staring questioningly up at the lovely Kaoru.
"Kenshin," she said, tears slipping unbidden into her eyes. She gave him a small smile as she closed her eyes to hide her tears. 'He hadn't known! He didn't know about the wedding!' she thought, her heart leaping.
"Miss Kaoru....where is Misao?" he asked, looking up at her again.
Kaoru shook her head. "I don't know," she answered, looking back down to him. She had pushed her tears away. "The last I saw her....she was in the royal chamber with father, Shishio, and Aoshi."
"Makoto Shishio? He's here?" Kenshin asked, his appearance stiffening as his eyes flashed to Batoussai's eyes.
"Do you know something about him?" she questioned, now confused.
"I'll tell you later, Miss Kaoru," he responded, turning and running off.
"Mr. Himura!! Kenshin, wait!" she shouted after him. But he had already gone, he had left into castle, leaving her there by herself again, mixed feelings sitting in her stomach.
She sighed and wandered back into her room, shutting the balcony doors after herself. She leaned against them and glanced down to the floor as she closed her eyes. He had left once again before she had been able to say anything. 'Hopefully, he won't get too far,' she thought, suddenly feeling a little lighter than she had been feeling earlier.
A knock on the door caused her to look up in surprise. Who could that be at this late hour? She arched a brow, confused, as she walked to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see Kenshin there, staring down the hallway.
"I apologize for bothering you again, Miss Kaoru, but I cannot recall the way to the throne room," he said, a small embarrassed blush appearing on his cheeks as he turned his attention to her.
Kaoru laughed at this and opened the door wider for him to enter. She closed the door after he had entered and continued to laugh. "How could you remember where my room was and not how to get to the throne room?" she questioned once she had finally stopped laughing.
Kenshin shrugged and shook his head. Apparently he had no idea how he remembered either. She laughed at him again. "Would you mind showing me?" he questioned, giving her a small smile.
"I would love to, but I am not dressed properly to be out in public," she replied, tugging lightly on her white satin wedding dress. "I can't change either...I don't even know how to get into this dress...nevermind out."
Kenshin gave a small laugh. "I would help you, but if you do not even know yourself, then how do you expect me to know? I know nothing of women's clothing, that I don't. Look at how Misao dresses," he responded, shaking his head and laughing again.
"I might be able to....if you could help me find out," she said, arching a questioning brow.
"Hm....let's see," he muttered, taking a step toward her. He began looking on the dress for some sort of zipper. He could find none just as Kaoru could find none. "Are you sure they didn't just sew it on you, Miss Kaoru?'
"I'm positive," she replied, shaking her head and laughing.
He stepped up behind her and she blushed when she felt his warm hand touch her back. He had loosened up the bow in the back and pulled off the long ribbon. "I found one zipper," he muttered, walking around to her front and handing her the long ribbon that had been previously tied around her waist.
"Where is it?" she asked, glancing down at herself as if it would appear.
"It was covered by the ribbon in the back of your dress," he answered, blushing slightly as he turned around.
"Oh," she murmured, turning herself halfway around to see the small zipper. She pulled it down and watched the skirt slid off and hung in the front of her dress. "It only took off part of the dress. Now where's the other one?"
"Can I turn around now?" he questioned, still blushing.
"Hold on one sec," she muttered, still looking. She lifted up her arms and spotted the beginning of a zipper underneath her right arm. "I found it!" She unzipped it and felt the dress fall completely off her. She grabbed a nearby sheet and wrapped herself in it before walking over to the closet and stepping inside, closing the door behind herself.
Kenshin turned back around as soon as he heard the door close. He blushed again when he saw the vacated dress on the floor. He picked it up and laid it nicely on the couch so it would not get dirty or wrinkled. 'She'll be needing it when she gets another suitor,' he thought, a sadness falling on him again.
He turned to the closet door when he heard it open and Kaoru emerged dressed in her fighting gi. Her hair was still up with the crown placed on it, but she didn't seem to noticed. She stepped up to Kenshin and smiled at him. "I'm ready," she said.
He reached up and pulled the crown off her hair. He set it in her hands and smiled at her. "Alright," he responded, giving her a nod. "Funny....I think your kingdom is a magnet for the wrong people."
"I don't think you're a bad person and you were magnetically attracted here," she answered, setting the crown on her vanity. She turned around and smiled at him bashfully.
"Well, first there was Aoshi...and now Shishio," he muttered, shaking his head. "For all I know others from my past could show up."
"Ken-....Mr. Himura....who is Shishio, really?" she questioned, a concerned look on her face. "If you say he's a bad person, then I am worried about father. But, I do not even know my opponent. Shishio came not too long after you left as a replacement for Aoshi as professor, seeing as Aoshi hardly had a memory. Soon after, my father appointed him as his advisor. I saw nothing wrong, but if you say he's a bad man, he could have been doing horrible things all this time and I had no clue."
"Shishio....is like my shadow," Kenshin said, looking up at Kaoru. "Before the war, we were both apprentices to my master. We were comrades....sort of. Shishio had a hidden desire for power that was not discovered until the war arose. He saw it as his opportunity to gain power. That's why I had to fight in the war, to stop Shishio from ruining one kingdom and gaining the power from that lost kingdom. I stopped him by not allowing either kingdom to gain more power than the other. I balanced the war so in the end only negotiations would end it. However, after the war, Shishio had fallen into the shadows. I lost sight of him because I had begun my search for Aoshi."
"So.....Shishio has the same abilities as you?" Kaoru questioned, slightly confused. "How is that possible if you and Captain Sagara were the strongest in the war?"
"Shishio operated in the shadows. No one really knew of him except those that he visited. He used the corrupt nobles as a means of discovering where all the higher officials of each kingdom would be. In return, he promised these nobles power once he became the new king of the lost kingdom," Kenshin explained, sitting on the edge of Kaoru's bed. "Aoshi was only partially the reason I lost sight of Shishio. I had discovered, through a network of people, that Shishio had been burned by the very nobles he had promised power. I thought he had been plunged into the depths of Hades. I never knew he would show up here."
"Then.....then what does he want with Crysta? What is he doing here?" she inquired, shaking her head in confusion.
"I intend to find that out," Kenshin said, looking up to Kaoru. His eyes were a dark blue color and his pupils small and dangerous.
~~~~~~
"Your majesty.....a spy has been sent from the kingdom of Alexandria. She has come to corrupt your kingdom and find out valuable information so she can plan an invasion. Alexandria plans to take control of Crysta again! They have violated the Treaty of Venus!" Shishio reasoned, staring blankly at the king upon the throne.
"Do what you must Shishio. I trust you will do the right thing," the man answered blankly. There was something in the king's eyes that said something was amiss. Shishio noticed it and smirked, satisfied.
"Of course, your majesty. The sentence will be carried out at sunrise," he answered, the evil smile still on his lips. He then turned around to the two guards standing at the door. "You heard the king! Find and arrest Misao Himura! She is to be executed at sunrise on the order of the king under the suspicion that she is a spy!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do do do....I don't think this chapter was very good....I couldn't really think of how to write it and then I looked at the summary of how I had laid things out and realized that it went completely off track. O.O.....ah, well...I tried ::sigh:: I hope it's not that sucky....I hope the next one's better.
Stay Tuned for Chapter Five: Execution.......Misao's execution draws near. A trial is held....is she found guilty? or not guilty? How will Kenshin expose Shishio for who he is to the king? What is going on with the king? You'd think that he would remember that Misao had helped to save his kingdom from the threat of Aoshi about a year ago, right?
Ja ne! ~KaBunny
Title: The Swordsman and the Ninja Author: KaBunny E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 (In this one.....people actually die ::winks:: Not in this chapter tho! So, don't worry....yet)
Chapter Four: Deja Vu
He hadn't come. Her worst fears had been confirmed and she had missed her window of opportunity a year ago. So, here she was, sitting in her lonely room once more with nothing but a broken heart.
She hadn't even had the motivation to change out of her wedding dress, which had been cutting off the circulation to the lower half of her body for about ten minutes now. She shook her head and cleared her thoughts as best she could, realizing that now was the time to be happy for Aoshi who hadn't actually been having dreams for a year, but actually meetings.
He really was in love Misao and she did return his feelings. Kaoru wiped her eyes and walked into the bathroom to wash her face. She glanced up at herself, the cool water soothing her hot face and gave a small sad smile. Her eyes were burning brightly through her pale features and she look rather frail. This thought seemed to be amusing to her considering that she had been trying to prove that she was just the opposite to everyone by learning swordsmanship.
She sighed lightly, appearing to relax more as her tiring day slipped out of her mind. She looked up from the sink once again to the mirror as she shut the water off. She did look rather lovely. She gave a small laugh as she thought of Sano's reaction when he first spotted her.
She also had to admit that she did look a lot like a princess with the crown sitting on her head. She had spent her entire life trying to escape the fact that she was a princess and born into noble blood, but it had finally caught up with her. She had to face the fact that she had no freedom or free choice. She had to do what the government bid of her. She had to do what he father requested of her. No more fooling around.
She sighed again as she removed her hands from the side of the sink bowl and her eyes from the mirror. She walked out of her bathroom and laughed as she looked at the door. She remembered the look of surprise that Kenshin had worn when she had emerged from the bathroom, naked. 'He was probably wondering what happened to his ability to predict the movements of others,' she thought and laughed again.
She wandered out onto her balcony and looked up to the clear moon as she leaned against the railing. 'I remember when I was out here and he called up to me,' she thought, closing her eyes and smiling. She placed her hand over her heart just as the summer breeze blew lightly. It was just like the other time.
"Miss Kaoru?" a ghost voice questioned from below.
Kaoru's smiled widened as she realized that her memory sounded just like the real thing. 'That was the night that he said goodbye to me forever,' she thought, sighing as she opened her eyes. She continued to stare up at the moon. 'I hadn't realized then that maybe I hadn't been considering Kenshin's feelings when I made that decision. Maybe he left because he thought I didn't care for him? No. He would've come back if he cared for me.'
"M-Miss.....Miss.....Kaoru," a surprised voice whispered.
Kaoru's eyes widened as she realized that that voice hadn't been in her mind. She turned her attention to the slightly illuminated ground, a look of surprise plastered on her face. "K-Kenshin....," she murmured, spotting him staring up at her. He was wearing a similar expression. "W- What are you doing here?"
"Misao...she said she was....she left a note," he rambled, his composure not what it normally was. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"Today I was to be married," she responded, looking back up to the moon.
"Married? I had not known......all Misao said was she was coming here and that she would be back," Kenshin muttered, shaking his head. 'Did she break up the wedding? Is that what she came for? But....why?' he thought, staring questioningly up at the lovely Kaoru.
"Kenshin," she said, tears slipping unbidden into her eyes. She gave him a small smile as she closed her eyes to hide her tears. 'He hadn't known! He didn't know about the wedding!' she thought, her heart leaping.
"Miss Kaoru....where is Misao?" he asked, looking up at her again.
Kaoru shook her head. "I don't know," she answered, looking back down to him. She had pushed her tears away. "The last I saw her....she was in the royal chamber with father, Shishio, and Aoshi."
"Makoto Shishio? He's here?" Kenshin asked, his appearance stiffening as his eyes flashed to Batoussai's eyes.
"Do you know something about him?" she questioned, now confused.
"I'll tell you later, Miss Kaoru," he responded, turning and running off.
"Mr. Himura!! Kenshin, wait!" she shouted after him. But he had already gone, he had left into castle, leaving her there by herself again, mixed feelings sitting in her stomach.
She sighed and wandered back into her room, shutting the balcony doors after herself. She leaned against them and glanced down to the floor as she closed her eyes. He had left once again before she had been able to say anything. 'Hopefully, he won't get too far,' she thought, suddenly feeling a little lighter than she had been feeling earlier.
A knock on the door caused her to look up in surprise. Who could that be at this late hour? She arched a brow, confused, as she walked to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see Kenshin there, staring down the hallway.
"I apologize for bothering you again, Miss Kaoru, but I cannot recall the way to the throne room," he said, a small embarrassed blush appearing on his cheeks as he turned his attention to her.
Kaoru laughed at this and opened the door wider for him to enter. She closed the door after he had entered and continued to laugh. "How could you remember where my room was and not how to get to the throne room?" she questioned once she had finally stopped laughing.
Kenshin shrugged and shook his head. Apparently he had no idea how he remembered either. She laughed at him again. "Would you mind showing me?" he questioned, giving her a small smile.
"I would love to, but I am not dressed properly to be out in public," she replied, tugging lightly on her white satin wedding dress. "I can't change either...I don't even know how to get into this dress...nevermind out."
Kenshin gave a small laugh. "I would help you, but if you do not even know yourself, then how do you expect me to know? I know nothing of women's clothing, that I don't. Look at how Misao dresses," he responded, shaking his head and laughing again.
"I might be able to....if you could help me find out," she said, arching a questioning brow.
"Hm....let's see," he muttered, taking a step toward her. He began looking on the dress for some sort of zipper. He could find none just as Kaoru could find none. "Are you sure they didn't just sew it on you, Miss Kaoru?'
"I'm positive," she replied, shaking her head and laughing.
He stepped up behind her and she blushed when she felt his warm hand touch her back. He had loosened up the bow in the back and pulled off the long ribbon. "I found one zipper," he muttered, walking around to her front and handing her the long ribbon that had been previously tied around her waist.
"Where is it?" she asked, glancing down at herself as if it would appear.
"It was covered by the ribbon in the back of your dress," he answered, blushing slightly as he turned around.
"Oh," she murmured, turning herself halfway around to see the small zipper. She pulled it down and watched the skirt slid off and hung in the front of her dress. "It only took off part of the dress. Now where's the other one?"
"Can I turn around now?" he questioned, still blushing.
"Hold on one sec," she muttered, still looking. She lifted up her arms and spotted the beginning of a zipper underneath her right arm. "I found it!" She unzipped it and felt the dress fall completely off her. She grabbed a nearby sheet and wrapped herself in it before walking over to the closet and stepping inside, closing the door behind herself.
Kenshin turned back around as soon as he heard the door close. He blushed again when he saw the vacated dress on the floor. He picked it up and laid it nicely on the couch so it would not get dirty or wrinkled. 'She'll be needing it when she gets another suitor,' he thought, a sadness falling on him again.
He turned to the closet door when he heard it open and Kaoru emerged dressed in her fighting gi. Her hair was still up with the crown placed on it, but she didn't seem to noticed. She stepped up to Kenshin and smiled at him. "I'm ready," she said.
He reached up and pulled the crown off her hair. He set it in her hands and smiled at her. "Alright," he responded, giving her a nod. "Funny....I think your kingdom is a magnet for the wrong people."
"I don't think you're a bad person and you were magnetically attracted here," she answered, setting the crown on her vanity. She turned around and smiled at him bashfully.
"Well, first there was Aoshi...and now Shishio," he muttered, shaking his head. "For all I know others from my past could show up."
"Ken-....Mr. Himura....who is Shishio, really?" she questioned, a concerned look on her face. "If you say he's a bad person, then I am worried about father. But, I do not even know my opponent. Shishio came not too long after you left as a replacement for Aoshi as professor, seeing as Aoshi hardly had a memory. Soon after, my father appointed him as his advisor. I saw nothing wrong, but if you say he's a bad man, he could have been doing horrible things all this time and I had no clue."
"Shishio....is like my shadow," Kenshin said, looking up at Kaoru. "Before the war, we were both apprentices to my master. We were comrades....sort of. Shishio had a hidden desire for power that was not discovered until the war arose. He saw it as his opportunity to gain power. That's why I had to fight in the war, to stop Shishio from ruining one kingdom and gaining the power from that lost kingdom. I stopped him by not allowing either kingdom to gain more power than the other. I balanced the war so in the end only negotiations would end it. However, after the war, Shishio had fallen into the shadows. I lost sight of him because I had begun my search for Aoshi."
"So.....Shishio has the same abilities as you?" Kaoru questioned, slightly confused. "How is that possible if you and Captain Sagara were the strongest in the war?"
"Shishio operated in the shadows. No one really knew of him except those that he visited. He used the corrupt nobles as a means of discovering where all the higher officials of each kingdom would be. In return, he promised these nobles power once he became the new king of the lost kingdom," Kenshin explained, sitting on the edge of Kaoru's bed. "Aoshi was only partially the reason I lost sight of Shishio. I had discovered, through a network of people, that Shishio had been burned by the very nobles he had promised power. I thought he had been plunged into the depths of Hades. I never knew he would show up here."
"Then.....then what does he want with Crysta? What is he doing here?" she inquired, shaking her head in confusion.
"I intend to find that out," Kenshin said, looking up to Kaoru. His eyes were a dark blue color and his pupils small and dangerous.
~~~~~~
"Your majesty.....a spy has been sent from the kingdom of Alexandria. She has come to corrupt your kingdom and find out valuable information so she can plan an invasion. Alexandria plans to take control of Crysta again! They have violated the Treaty of Venus!" Shishio reasoned, staring blankly at the king upon the throne.
"Do what you must Shishio. I trust you will do the right thing," the man answered blankly. There was something in the king's eyes that said something was amiss. Shishio noticed it and smirked, satisfied.
"Of course, your majesty. The sentence will be carried out at sunrise," he answered, the evil smile still on his lips. He then turned around to the two guards standing at the door. "You heard the king! Find and arrest Misao Himura! She is to be executed at sunrise on the order of the king under the suspicion that she is a spy!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do do do....I don't think this chapter was very good....I couldn't really think of how to write it and then I looked at the summary of how I had laid things out and realized that it went completely off track. O.O.....ah, well...I tried ::sigh:: I hope it's not that sucky....I hope the next one's better.
Stay Tuned for Chapter Five: Execution.......Misao's execution draws near. A trial is held....is she found guilty? or not guilty? How will Kenshin expose Shishio for who he is to the king? What is going on with the king? You'd think that he would remember that Misao had helped to save his kingdom from the threat of Aoshi about a year ago, right?
Ja ne! ~KaBunny