Kenshin's inner demons are beginning to take hold on him. And the most
powerful of them all, Hitokiri Battousai, is hellbent on re-possessing his
old self to kill once again. Will Kenshin's rurouni disposition win, or
will Battousai relinquish his hold over him?
~*~*~*~*~
/Hitokiri./
Kenshin's eyes flew wide open.
/Hitokiri./
Iie, I'm not called by that name anymore.
/You can lie to everyone, but you cannot lie to yourself, Hitokiri.../
/Hitokiri Battousai./
Kenshin stood up from where he was, leaning against the wall of the Kamiya dojo, his sword leaning casually against him.
/Hitokiri Battousai/
He motioned to where the voice came from. "Who are you? Show yourself!" he uttered, right fingers deftly going for his scabbard.
The voice suddenly gave out a laugh that seemed to reverberate around him. Kenshin, despite himself, shivered at the sound.
/Did you really need to ask that question? You'd know where I was even if I never uttered a word./
The voice sneered, the last word bordering on insult. Kenshin started to walk towards the training hall of the dojo. I hope Kaoru and the others aren't here, he prayed silently.
/Oh, your precious Kaoru-dono? Why, she's sleeping, Ken-shin.../
The voice snarled, its annoyance at its peak. But Kenshin was more focused on getting to the source of the snarls and eliminating the foe. The presence of danger was too obvious to mask. Kenshin continued to stealthily move until he reached the main doors of the training hall.
He reads my mind, he thinks, as his hand reached to pull the sliding screen aside. Who is this man?
/Why do you tremble, you who was once known as me?/
Kenshin froze. His heartbeat raced up. He felt the prickle of his hairs at the back of his neck. A cold sweat started to form on his brow. N..nani? What the... His hand gripped the screen door a fraction of a second before throwing it aside, revealing the form within.
"Ohayo," his mirror image replied, "Kenshin."
Himura Kenshin's eyes dilated at the sight. There, inside of the training hall of the Kamiya dojo, the source of the mysterious voice taunting him...
was himself.
The image laughed. A spiteful laugh.
/Ah, you are shocked beyond words. How impolite./
The 'other' Kenshin stepped forward.
/It humiliates me to see you turn into this./
Kenshin saw that the... 'other' Kenshin... WAS... himself. Only that this one had a face more lined than his. Lines that show his sufferings and, ultimately, his age. His other self looked like he stepped straight out of the Bakumatsu period, from the hakama and gi to the hair tied up his head.
And that his eyes were a deep, violent shade of amber.
Not the warm, purple hue of the rurouni.
"Who...who are you..." he muttered, finally finding his voice.
/Baka./
The 'vision' sneered again.
/If you knew yourself any better, you should've guessed who I am even before you heard my voice.../
/... you would've felt my ki./
Addled, Kenshin finally gave himself a mental shake and focused in on his surroundings.
Which gave him another big shock.
This...this ki..., he realized, It's, it's...
/Mine? Yours?/
Kenshin looked at the man infront of him. "How...how could this..."
/I am you, you are me. It works in both ways, really./
The amber-eyed Kenshin smiled maniacally.
/I am the one who you abandoned 14 years ago. I am the one who heralded the new era of Meiji. I am the one they call...
Hitokiri Battousai./
"How...how is this possible?" the rurouni croaked out.
/I am the form who you left dormant in your soul. Locked away with the many demons that haunt your being. But you have let me return in brief flashes. Jinneh Udo, Shishio Makoto.../
The rurouni finally understood. "You are the part of me that I vowed to seal of forever."
/But not for long/
/I intend to, shall we say, re-acquaint myself with the world. With this glorious new era that I helped usher into fruition./
The Battousai held out his hand to the rurouni.
/Join me, Himura. You know the extent of my power. You have felt it. Together we could restore the glory that was before these shackles were put unto us/
/I have seen this politicians. They are not any different than the daimyos. They still operate on the same principle; power and money. We have killed the Tokugawa to usher in another incompetent era, where weak men still hold the power over all./
The rurouni, however, stepped forward and replied.
"Iie."
The Battousai's features twisted into an ugly frown.
/Nani?/
"Violence begets violence. I brought in an era through bloodshed, and I would not like to be the cause of another uprising where another thousand will die."
"And, I promised myself that I would not kill again..."
"...hence my sakabatou."
He looked at himself straight in the eye.
"You should know that. You are me."
A palpable silence passed between them. Then, the battousai sneered.
/It seems like time has weakened your resolve./
He slowly drew out his sword.
/Let me strengthen it for you/
Kenshin had anticipated this, and drew out his sakabatou as well, but in the second it took him to draw it, Battousai had already disappeared. Baka, he should have anticipated that move...
Kenshin furtively looked around the dark training hall. The silence seemed to throb all around him. Menace crackled in the air. Doko?
/Right here!/
In the split second Kenshin whirled around he also brought his blade up, blocking the Battousai's deadly aim for his head. Quickly recovering, Kenshin rushed towards Battousai, who deftly landed just a few feet away.
Kuzu Ryu Sen (9-headed dragon thrust)
But as Kenshin lunged forward with the technique, just before making contact, he saw Battousai swing around, bring the katana back to it's scabbard, and lunge forward as well.
Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki
Kenshin was thrown backwards with the force of the counterattack. The next thing he felt was the solid wood floor underneath his back and a hellish pain across his stomach and chest. The sheath had found its mark.
'N...nani?" Kenshin, dazed and the wind knocked out of him, was able to choke out. "Dô..."
The sword tip came to Kenshin's throat.
/You are surprised that I also know the only way to counter the technique Shishou taught. You must remeber that I am a part of you. When Shishou taught the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki I too learned it./
The tip pressed close to Kenshin's throat.
/A shame it was used against you as well/
/And you must be wondering why I didn't kill you right away.../
Battousai sneered.
/Because I will give you another chance./
/Join me. Give up. There is nothing you can do than the inevitable./
Breathing heavily, Kenshin drew himself up to his elbows. He looked at Battousai, near the brink with bloodlust, yet with full control as he pressed the katana's tip down Kenshin's throat.
"Kenshin?" A voice called out, breaking both's attentions.
A sinister smile spread across Battousai's face. Before Kenshin could even move, he took the katana away from his throat and sped towards the sliding screen door...
...just as a feminine form appeared, silhoutted by the fading sun, against the screen.
She reached the division at the same time Battousai reached it, and let her slide open the door.
"Kenshin..." She saw a shadow just before the door. Assuming he was about to scare the wits out of her, she smiled and casually opened the door.
"Ken..."
She never got to say his name completely, for she felt the suddent thrust of cold steel against... no, through... her stomach.
"KAORU!!!"
Kenshin saw the blade penetrate her middle as soon as she openened the screen. She saw her look at her attacker, wide-eyed, and then turn to him, her already wide eyes even more disbelieving.
"Ken...shin...?" she gasped. Battousai's face leered near hers
/Sayonara, koibito/
And as he kissed her lips, he fully buried the katana up to the hilt in her.
"NO!!!"
Kenshin screamed, as Battousai broke the kiss, and suddenly drew the weapon from her. Kaoru, gasping for breath, hands automatically going to her middle, collapsed on the floor. Battousai walked away from her, swishing the sword to the side so as to clean the blade of her blood, drops of it hitting Kenshin in the face.
"K..ken...shin..." she groans.
The rurouni, his momentary trance from the attack being broken, rushed to Kaoru's side, panting from the pain his chest. He gathered Kaoru up in his arms, murmuring to her. "Kaoru..."
"Kenshin..." she moaned. "It...it hurts..."
He glances to where the blade penetrated her. God, no...
He cradles her head with his hand against him as the other goes to her middle, trying to stem the gush of blood.
"Kenshin..."
"Ssh, Kaoru... it's going to be alright... don't speak..." he pleads.
Kenshin hears a snort coming from the other end of the room.
/You know she's dying. Her lifeblood is emptying her. In no time.../
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!"
Kenshin roars to his general direction, feeling despair building up inside him. But Battousai was right, her lifeblood was draining out, but he refused to believe... there was still hope... she should not...she will not...
He starts to scoop her up, to try to run to Genzai-sensei's clinic. He would be there. Megumi would be there. They would save her. They would...
A whisper. "Kenshin..."
He looks at her. Her face was already ashen. Her eyes filmed over with tears.
"Onegai..."
She feebly reaches up one blood-stained hand to his cheek. Kenshin looks at her with dread. "Kaoru..." he chokes out.
"Ssh..." She slides her hand to his nape, trying to pull herself up to him. He instead leans down to her, tears threatening to spill on her face.
"So little time... to say... what i wanted... for the past... years..." she wheezes, every word a laborious task just to mutter, next to his ear. Kaoru then brings her other hand to his cheek, framing his face, turning it to her.
"Kenshin..."
He brings down his face, kissing her softly, sweetly. Tears already down his cheeks.
"Ai shiteru..."
He thought it would last a lifetime, the words ringing in his ear. But he felt her hands no more. Hazily, he sees her hands falling swiftly in silence, settling against the ground in deadly stillness. He turns to her face. Her eyes were now closed, never more to open.
Never more to see the sky forever... in those eyes...
"Kaoru..." he mutters... gone... in his arms...
He feels this gnawing inside him... for the second time...
Then a laugh, or was it a cackle?, shatters the veneer of numbness.
/Gone, gone.../
/The wanderer's woman has gone away.../
Kenshin hazily hears the swish of the Battousai's blade to and fro. Looking for an object to bury itself in.
/Get up/
Battousai rasps.
Kenshin remains motionless, with Kaoru's inert form still in his arms.
He hears the sound of heavy footfalls coming towards him.
/I thought that by provoking you, you would be forced to fight me, and truly let yourself to abandon./
/That was my provocation. And I was mistaken with the result. You truly have grown weak/
Kenshin feels the edge of the katana against the back of his neck.
/The hatred and anger of others will keep me going. There are others more worthy than you./
/I have no need for you anymore./
Kenshin feels the swish of the blade.
/Sayonara, Himura./
Kenshin closes his eyes to the inevitable...
only to be hit by a different pain...
... this time, at his left temple...
... making him fall from where he was sleeping, leaning against the wall of the dojo.
"O...oro?" he gasped, looking around, one hand automatically going to his nape. What happened? Where was... Battousai? Wasn't he supposed to be dead by now?
Kaoru.
Leaping to his feet, he was about to search for her when he heard the whizzing sound of something being hurled at him at top speed. Turning around, he was suddenly hit by a very hard object dead smack in his face.
"Oro..." he groaned. Rubbing his face (his nose, most of all), he picked up a geta from the ground. Remembering the pain in his left temple, he turned to where he fell earlier and, just as he suspected, saw the other geta laying there.
"KENSHIN!" a voice shrieked from the dojo.
Turning to the sound, he saw a blessed sight; Kaoru with her hair up it a twist, an apron around her waist, her hands at her hips, her feet angrily tapping against the floor of the dojo.
"Oi, Kenshin, you were supposed to help me with cleaning up the training hall today! And I find you sleeping!" She muttered crossly. "And it's past lunch already! If we're to finish before sundown we should've started hours ago!"
"Ha-hai... gomen, Kaoru-dono. I'll hop right to it." Kenshin was able to smile sheepishly.
After giving an exasperated groan, Kaoru led the way to the hall. Kenshin, remembering the dream, stopped at the entrance of the hall, eyes darting over every nook, every shadowed crevice, his body involuntarily tensed at what might be lurking inside...
Kaoru, sensing that Kenshin had not followed her inside, turned around to give him another telling off when she saw the expression on his face.
"Kenshin?" she asked, her reprimands instantly forgotten.
He immediately turned towards where she was, standing in the middle of the dojo, her eyes in an expression of concern.
What would I do without her?
He strode towards where she was and before Kaoru could complete her "Are you alright?" query, he wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her in a hug.
Releasing her moments after, he held her by the shoulders, just looking at her face.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru gently touched his forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"
Kenshin smiled at her, his thumb gently grazing her cheek.
"I'm alright. I just... just needed to hug you, that's all."
Kaoru, feeling awkward, hugged him back and turned her back to him.
"Okay then, let's start cleaning!"
*****
Ugh! that was the worst ending... please forgive me, my sister suddenly barged into the room and turned on the t.v., suddenly plunging me back into earth. Please post your reviews if you want me to change this story. Aside from the ending, I pretty like the way this turned out. : ) Arigato.
~*~*~*~*~
/Hitokiri./
Kenshin's eyes flew wide open.
/Hitokiri./
Iie, I'm not called by that name anymore.
/You can lie to everyone, but you cannot lie to yourself, Hitokiri.../
/Hitokiri Battousai./
Kenshin stood up from where he was, leaning against the wall of the Kamiya dojo, his sword leaning casually against him.
/Hitokiri Battousai/
He motioned to where the voice came from. "Who are you? Show yourself!" he uttered, right fingers deftly going for his scabbard.
The voice suddenly gave out a laugh that seemed to reverberate around him. Kenshin, despite himself, shivered at the sound.
/Did you really need to ask that question? You'd know where I was even if I never uttered a word./
The voice sneered, the last word bordering on insult. Kenshin started to walk towards the training hall of the dojo. I hope Kaoru and the others aren't here, he prayed silently.
/Oh, your precious Kaoru-dono? Why, she's sleeping, Ken-shin.../
The voice snarled, its annoyance at its peak. But Kenshin was more focused on getting to the source of the snarls and eliminating the foe. The presence of danger was too obvious to mask. Kenshin continued to stealthily move until he reached the main doors of the training hall.
He reads my mind, he thinks, as his hand reached to pull the sliding screen aside. Who is this man?
/Why do you tremble, you who was once known as me?/
Kenshin froze. His heartbeat raced up. He felt the prickle of his hairs at the back of his neck. A cold sweat started to form on his brow. N..nani? What the... His hand gripped the screen door a fraction of a second before throwing it aside, revealing the form within.
"Ohayo," his mirror image replied, "Kenshin."
Himura Kenshin's eyes dilated at the sight. There, inside of the training hall of the Kamiya dojo, the source of the mysterious voice taunting him...
was himself.
The image laughed. A spiteful laugh.
/Ah, you are shocked beyond words. How impolite./
The 'other' Kenshin stepped forward.
/It humiliates me to see you turn into this./
Kenshin saw that the... 'other' Kenshin... WAS... himself. Only that this one had a face more lined than his. Lines that show his sufferings and, ultimately, his age. His other self looked like he stepped straight out of the Bakumatsu period, from the hakama and gi to the hair tied up his head.
And that his eyes were a deep, violent shade of amber.
Not the warm, purple hue of the rurouni.
"Who...who are you..." he muttered, finally finding his voice.
/Baka./
The 'vision' sneered again.
/If you knew yourself any better, you should've guessed who I am even before you heard my voice.../
/... you would've felt my ki./
Addled, Kenshin finally gave himself a mental shake and focused in on his surroundings.
Which gave him another big shock.
This...this ki..., he realized, It's, it's...
/Mine? Yours?/
Kenshin looked at the man infront of him. "How...how could this..."
/I am you, you are me. It works in both ways, really./
The amber-eyed Kenshin smiled maniacally.
/I am the one who you abandoned 14 years ago. I am the one who heralded the new era of Meiji. I am the one they call...
Hitokiri Battousai./
"How...how is this possible?" the rurouni croaked out.
/I am the form who you left dormant in your soul. Locked away with the many demons that haunt your being. But you have let me return in brief flashes. Jinneh Udo, Shishio Makoto.../
The rurouni finally understood. "You are the part of me that I vowed to seal of forever."
/But not for long/
/I intend to, shall we say, re-acquaint myself with the world. With this glorious new era that I helped usher into fruition./
The Battousai held out his hand to the rurouni.
/Join me, Himura. You know the extent of my power. You have felt it. Together we could restore the glory that was before these shackles were put unto us/
/I have seen this politicians. They are not any different than the daimyos. They still operate on the same principle; power and money. We have killed the Tokugawa to usher in another incompetent era, where weak men still hold the power over all./
The rurouni, however, stepped forward and replied.
"Iie."
The Battousai's features twisted into an ugly frown.
/Nani?/
"Violence begets violence. I brought in an era through bloodshed, and I would not like to be the cause of another uprising where another thousand will die."
"And, I promised myself that I would not kill again..."
"...hence my sakabatou."
He looked at himself straight in the eye.
"You should know that. You are me."
A palpable silence passed between them. Then, the battousai sneered.
/It seems like time has weakened your resolve./
He slowly drew out his sword.
/Let me strengthen it for you/
Kenshin had anticipated this, and drew out his sakabatou as well, but in the second it took him to draw it, Battousai had already disappeared. Baka, he should have anticipated that move...
Kenshin furtively looked around the dark training hall. The silence seemed to throb all around him. Menace crackled in the air. Doko?
/Right here!/
In the split second Kenshin whirled around he also brought his blade up, blocking the Battousai's deadly aim for his head. Quickly recovering, Kenshin rushed towards Battousai, who deftly landed just a few feet away.
Kuzu Ryu Sen (9-headed dragon thrust)
But as Kenshin lunged forward with the technique, just before making contact, he saw Battousai swing around, bring the katana back to it's scabbard, and lunge forward as well.
Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki
Kenshin was thrown backwards with the force of the counterattack. The next thing he felt was the solid wood floor underneath his back and a hellish pain across his stomach and chest. The sheath had found its mark.
'N...nani?" Kenshin, dazed and the wind knocked out of him, was able to choke out. "Dô..."
The sword tip came to Kenshin's throat.
/You are surprised that I also know the only way to counter the technique Shishou taught. You must remeber that I am a part of you. When Shishou taught the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki I too learned it./
The tip pressed close to Kenshin's throat.
/A shame it was used against you as well/
/And you must be wondering why I didn't kill you right away.../
Battousai sneered.
/Because I will give you another chance./
/Join me. Give up. There is nothing you can do than the inevitable./
Breathing heavily, Kenshin drew himself up to his elbows. He looked at Battousai, near the brink with bloodlust, yet with full control as he pressed the katana's tip down Kenshin's throat.
"Kenshin?" A voice called out, breaking both's attentions.
A sinister smile spread across Battousai's face. Before Kenshin could even move, he took the katana away from his throat and sped towards the sliding screen door...
...just as a feminine form appeared, silhoutted by the fading sun, against the screen.
She reached the division at the same time Battousai reached it, and let her slide open the door.
"Kenshin..." She saw a shadow just before the door. Assuming he was about to scare the wits out of her, she smiled and casually opened the door.
"Ken..."
She never got to say his name completely, for she felt the suddent thrust of cold steel against... no, through... her stomach.
"KAORU!!!"
Kenshin saw the blade penetrate her middle as soon as she openened the screen. She saw her look at her attacker, wide-eyed, and then turn to him, her already wide eyes even more disbelieving.
"Ken...shin...?" she gasped. Battousai's face leered near hers
/Sayonara, koibito/
And as he kissed her lips, he fully buried the katana up to the hilt in her.
"NO!!!"
Kenshin screamed, as Battousai broke the kiss, and suddenly drew the weapon from her. Kaoru, gasping for breath, hands automatically going to her middle, collapsed on the floor. Battousai walked away from her, swishing the sword to the side so as to clean the blade of her blood, drops of it hitting Kenshin in the face.
"K..ken...shin..." she groans.
The rurouni, his momentary trance from the attack being broken, rushed to Kaoru's side, panting from the pain his chest. He gathered Kaoru up in his arms, murmuring to her. "Kaoru..."
"Kenshin..." she moaned. "It...it hurts..."
He glances to where the blade penetrated her. God, no...
He cradles her head with his hand against him as the other goes to her middle, trying to stem the gush of blood.
"Kenshin..."
"Ssh, Kaoru... it's going to be alright... don't speak..." he pleads.
Kenshin hears a snort coming from the other end of the room.
/You know she's dying. Her lifeblood is emptying her. In no time.../
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!!"
Kenshin roars to his general direction, feeling despair building up inside him. But Battousai was right, her lifeblood was draining out, but he refused to believe... there was still hope... she should not...she will not...
He starts to scoop her up, to try to run to Genzai-sensei's clinic. He would be there. Megumi would be there. They would save her. They would...
A whisper. "Kenshin..."
He looks at her. Her face was already ashen. Her eyes filmed over with tears.
"Onegai..."
She feebly reaches up one blood-stained hand to his cheek. Kenshin looks at her with dread. "Kaoru..." he chokes out.
"Ssh..." She slides her hand to his nape, trying to pull herself up to him. He instead leans down to her, tears threatening to spill on her face.
"So little time... to say... what i wanted... for the past... years..." she wheezes, every word a laborious task just to mutter, next to his ear. Kaoru then brings her other hand to his cheek, framing his face, turning it to her.
"Kenshin..."
He brings down his face, kissing her softly, sweetly. Tears already down his cheeks.
"Ai shiteru..."
He thought it would last a lifetime, the words ringing in his ear. But he felt her hands no more. Hazily, he sees her hands falling swiftly in silence, settling against the ground in deadly stillness. He turns to her face. Her eyes were now closed, never more to open.
Never more to see the sky forever... in those eyes...
"Kaoru..." he mutters... gone... in his arms...
He feels this gnawing inside him... for the second time...
Then a laugh, or was it a cackle?, shatters the veneer of numbness.
/Gone, gone.../
/The wanderer's woman has gone away.../
Kenshin hazily hears the swish of the Battousai's blade to and fro. Looking for an object to bury itself in.
/Get up/
Battousai rasps.
Kenshin remains motionless, with Kaoru's inert form still in his arms.
He hears the sound of heavy footfalls coming towards him.
/I thought that by provoking you, you would be forced to fight me, and truly let yourself to abandon./
/That was my provocation. And I was mistaken with the result. You truly have grown weak/
Kenshin feels the edge of the katana against the back of his neck.
/The hatred and anger of others will keep me going. There are others more worthy than you./
/I have no need for you anymore./
Kenshin feels the swish of the blade.
/Sayonara, Himura./
Kenshin closes his eyes to the inevitable...
only to be hit by a different pain...
... this time, at his left temple...
... making him fall from where he was sleeping, leaning against the wall of the dojo.
"O...oro?" he gasped, looking around, one hand automatically going to his nape. What happened? Where was... Battousai? Wasn't he supposed to be dead by now?
Kaoru.
Leaping to his feet, he was about to search for her when he heard the whizzing sound of something being hurled at him at top speed. Turning around, he was suddenly hit by a very hard object dead smack in his face.
"Oro..." he groaned. Rubbing his face (his nose, most of all), he picked up a geta from the ground. Remembering the pain in his left temple, he turned to where he fell earlier and, just as he suspected, saw the other geta laying there.
"KENSHIN!" a voice shrieked from the dojo.
Turning to the sound, he saw a blessed sight; Kaoru with her hair up it a twist, an apron around her waist, her hands at her hips, her feet angrily tapping against the floor of the dojo.
"Oi, Kenshin, you were supposed to help me with cleaning up the training hall today! And I find you sleeping!" She muttered crossly. "And it's past lunch already! If we're to finish before sundown we should've started hours ago!"
"Ha-hai... gomen, Kaoru-dono. I'll hop right to it." Kenshin was able to smile sheepishly.
After giving an exasperated groan, Kaoru led the way to the hall. Kenshin, remembering the dream, stopped at the entrance of the hall, eyes darting over every nook, every shadowed crevice, his body involuntarily tensed at what might be lurking inside...
Kaoru, sensing that Kenshin had not followed her inside, turned around to give him another telling off when she saw the expression on his face.
"Kenshin?" she asked, her reprimands instantly forgotten.
He immediately turned towards where she was, standing in the middle of the dojo, her eyes in an expression of concern.
What would I do without her?
He strode towards where she was and before Kaoru could complete her "Are you alright?" query, he wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her in a hug.
Releasing her moments after, he held her by the shoulders, just looking at her face.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru gently touched his forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"
Kenshin smiled at her, his thumb gently grazing her cheek.
"I'm alright. I just... just needed to hug you, that's all."
Kaoru, feeling awkward, hugged him back and turned her back to him.
"Okay then, let's start cleaning!"
*****
Ugh! that was the worst ending... please forgive me, my sister suddenly barged into the room and turned on the t.v., suddenly plunging me back into earth. Please post your reviews if you want me to change this story. Aside from the ending, I pretty like the way this turned out. : ) Arigato.