Standing Alone In The Rain
by: Ame-Hime
AC: Ahem, sorry about the shortness of chap 1, but it was meant to
be somewhat of a prelude. The following will be longer I promise ~_^
Thanks for bearing with my horrible writing skills! I appreciate it! Also,
I know how people hate when it takes an author FOREVER to get a
new chapter in so I will update as often as possible okiday? I hope
you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own RK and/or the characters from it yadda
yadda yadda....
********************************************
Chapter 2: An Ending and a Beggining: Soujiro's New Travel Buddy
********************************************
Soujiro jumped up and instictively reached for his katana. He listened.
There were maybe 40 of them. Why would there be so many?
Soujiro quietly pondered to himself. He tucked the sword into his obi,
but kept his left hand around it. He slid the door open as quietly as
possible and went to look around the house.
Ayano and Ichiro were fast asleep. He was the only one awake and the
assailants were gaining in on the house. They were approaching slowly,
adding to the suspence.
Soujiro was at a loss. Should he wake the Toyotomi's from their peacful
slumber? He was a stranger after all and entering their rooms without
permission would probably offend them. He on the verge of waking them
when Ayano's door slid open.
"Sou--"
Soujiro promtly placed a hand over her mouth... which wasn't the wisest
decision he's ever made. She did not like this and she bit his hand. Hard.
Hard enough to make him bleed, but not to make his smile falter. Nevertheless,
he kept his hand placed firmly but gently over her mouth"
"Be quiet Ayano-san... we have visitors..."
His voice was nearly inaudible((spelling?)), but she heard him and her eyes
widened. When Soujiro was sure she was going to be quiet, he let her go.
He glanced at her, with an emotionless expression and the ever-present
smile.
"Go tell Ichiro-san to wake up and quickly get out here without making noise.
And hurry, we don't have much time."
It took her a while to move. He showed no signs of fear, worry, or confusion.
This puzzled her. When Soujiro promted her again, she tiptoed into her father's
room.
"Otou-san..."
*****************************************
Ichiro woke slowly. He was never a morning person, and being awakened at
1:00 in the morning didn't suit him either. He slowly sat up and rubbed his
eyes. He glanced sleepily at Ayano.
"For Kami-sama's sake child! What time is it?"
"Be quite Otou-san... there's something wrong. Soujiro wants to talk to you. He
said to hurry and be quiet..."
The traces of sleep magically vanished from Ichiro's eyes and were replaced
with a mix of fear and startlement. He shakily roze to his feet and grabbed a
small, shiny item and shoved it into the pocket of his gi before following Ayano
out of the room.
*****************************************
Soujiro greeted them with a smile and no words. Ichiro was about to say something,
but Soujiro placed a finger over his own lips which were in a fixed smile, signifying
for Ichiro to remain silent.
And he did.
Everyone could hear their 'friendly visitors' now, as they were only about a few feet
away from the front door. Soujiro heard one man charge and kick the sliding door
open. Soujiro stood unfazed, but his hand unconsciencely lingered over his katana.
"Tenken no Soujiro! We found you at last!"
Soujiro smiled.
"Tenken no Soujiro? There is no Tenken here. If you are looking for a Seta Soujiro,
then yes, you have found me."
"Don't try to fool us, Tenken! We know who you are. We've been tracking you for
about a year now!"
"Really? And you waited this long to confront me? And what exactly is it you want?"
"DON'T PLAY STUPID! You are Shishio's little henchman correct? Well, you'll pay for
what you've done!"
Soujiro's hair had by this time covered his eyes and only his smile was present. And
it faltered.
"I am not Shishio-san's henchman. I was, but know I am a ronin, and I'm trying to
make up for what I've done."
"You wandering cannot bring back the people you've killed! You're a killer! And you'll
NEVER change!"
Soujiro's smile completely dissapeared. For what seemed like forever, but was really
only about 5 mins, there was silence. Then, Soujiro's smile returned.
"You're right, oji-san, I cannot bring the people I killed back. Demo, I can change..."
"You cannot change! You're a born killer!"
"I was not born a killer. No one is, as far as I know."
"I've had enough of you...."
The man got into stance.
"I have no qualms about you killing me, I deserve it, but I'd like to know the reason and
also I'd like to have your word that you'll leave these people out of it."
Until now, Ayano and Ichiro had been standing quietly behind Soujiro. Ayano looked
at him puzzled. He would just let them kill him? Without fighting back? This bugged
her. She mustered up the courage to speak.
"Soujiro! You're just gonna let them kill you?! Without even fighting back???"
He turned to look at her, his false smile attached.
"Hai."
"D-demo!!!"
The man grew impatient. Impatient? No that's not the word.
"Oi! Quit talking to that little brat and face me!"
"Hai, oji-san."
Then, this mysterious assailant made the wrong move. He signaled one of his
men to capture Ayano and Ichiro. Soujiro didn't hesitate to unsheath his
katana and neatly cut one of them in half, and decapitated the other.
"K-KISAMA!" The man was obviously infuriated.
"Oji-san, I said you could kill me if I had your word to leave them out of this, but
apparantly, your word is as good as dirt." Retorted an ever-calm Soujiro, still smiling.
Soujiro did a quick chiburi* before sheathing his sword and dropping into stance. The
man, growing angrier by the milisecond, did the same.
Then, the man lunged, unsheathing his sword in a rather pathetic attempt of battoujutsu,
and Soujiro could tell he wasn't a very good swordsman. It wouldn't take much to finish
this guy off.
Soujiro impaled the man at eight steps shy of Shukuchi. He smiled. And that smile
quickly faded as a man pulled out a gun and fired at Ayano.
Soujiro, if he had been close enough, would have at least tried to shield Ayano somehow.
But he wasn't near enough to reach her in time. However, her father was.
Ichiro felt the hot pain of the bullet embedding itself right below his collar bone. Ichiro started to fall
and Ayano caught him as Soujiro rushed over. Bad move on Soujiro's part. The gun was know aimed
at his turned back. He heard the man prepare to fire. Soujiro turned and glared at the man. A glare he
himself was shocked by. He had never glared at someone with this much... hatred. Not even in his fight
with Himura. The advantage of this was the man froze which allowed Soujiro to attack. And he didn't bother
going easy on this guy, he used his Shun Ten Satsu. In less than half a second, the man was dead and the
other thirty some odd assailants looked at their two fallen comrades. They retreated. They all high tailed it
back into the shadows in which they came.
****************************************
Ayano laid her father's head upon her lap and stroked his head, pleaded him not to die. Soujiro sheathed
his katana and kneeled down beside them. He bowed his head in shame, yet instantly was reunited with his
smile, as it was the only defence he had against the vulnerability he felt now.
"Gomen nasai, Ichiro-san..."
"Eh? For... what Soujiro... kun...?"
"For all the pain I've caused you and your daughter."
Soujiro felt his eyes warm and a knotting feeling in his throat for he was on the verge of tears. He bit his lip
and closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling. He would not show these people his weakness. However,
try as he might, he could not muster up a smile. He slightly opened his eyes and saw Ichiro reach for something
in his gi pocket. When Ichiro's hand re-emerged from his gi, he was holding a miniature porcelin swan. Ayano
looked at it with awe and to her suprise, he handed it to her.
"Aya.. no-chan... this... this... was... your... mothers... take it... and remember.... us... and also... never...
forget... that I... love... y--"
He fell unconscience in her arms.
"Otou-san...? Otou-san?! OTOU-SAN!!!!"
Soujiro looked at her. Her nekami was covered in her father's blood and strands of her jet black hair stuck to
her face where her cheeks were wet with tears. Soujiro decided to let them be and walked out into the rain.
He lifted his head and let the tears that previously threatened to fall mix with the rain. He heard the soft foot-
steps behind him.
"Ayano-san...?"
"Are you leaving, Souji-- Seta-san?"
Her voice was still a bit shakey, but who could blame her?
".... hai, Ayano-san."
"Then... I'm coming with you."
Soujiro was taken aback... and it showed.
"Huh? Coming with me? You can't!"
"Why not??? You expect to try and live here and wait for those thugs to come back to kill me off? Geez! I'm
not asking you to buy me a new home or anything, I just want to come!"
"Demo--"
She glared at him. And it was VERY intimidating. He sighed.
"Alright, you can come, Ayano-san."
"Thank you! I knew you'd see things my way. Sooooo.... where we headed?"
"I don't know."
"Whaddya mean you don't know?!"
"I'm a ronin, remember? I just wander..."
"Che, fine. Then let's wander, Sou-kun!"
"Alright, Ayano-san, let's wander."
Soujiro smiled and followed the unusually hyper, given the situation, girl up the road and couldn't help but notice
the small porcelin swan in her hand.
*********************************************
AC: *is tired*Well... I despise this chapter. It's horribly written cuz I wrote it at 9:00 pm and I'm sick and on
top of that, I can't spell... and it's still pretty short... Oi, I need sleep... *curls into a ball and falls asleep*
Chiburi*= the act of flinging blood off your blade with a swift snap of the wrist.
by: Ame-Hime
AC: Ahem, sorry about the shortness of chap 1, but it was meant to
be somewhat of a prelude. The following will be longer I promise ~_^
Thanks for bearing with my horrible writing skills! I appreciate it! Also,
I know how people hate when it takes an author FOREVER to get a
new chapter in so I will update as often as possible okiday? I hope
you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own RK and/or the characters from it yadda
yadda yadda....
********************************************
Chapter 2: An Ending and a Beggining: Soujiro's New Travel Buddy
********************************************
Soujiro jumped up and instictively reached for his katana. He listened.
There were maybe 40 of them. Why would there be so many?
Soujiro quietly pondered to himself. He tucked the sword into his obi,
but kept his left hand around it. He slid the door open as quietly as
possible and went to look around the house.
Ayano and Ichiro were fast asleep. He was the only one awake and the
assailants were gaining in on the house. They were approaching slowly,
adding to the suspence.
Soujiro was at a loss. Should he wake the Toyotomi's from their peacful
slumber? He was a stranger after all and entering their rooms without
permission would probably offend them. He on the verge of waking them
when Ayano's door slid open.
"Sou--"
Soujiro promtly placed a hand over her mouth... which wasn't the wisest
decision he's ever made. She did not like this and she bit his hand. Hard.
Hard enough to make him bleed, but not to make his smile falter. Nevertheless,
he kept his hand placed firmly but gently over her mouth"
"Be quiet Ayano-san... we have visitors..."
His voice was nearly inaudible((spelling?)), but she heard him and her eyes
widened. When Soujiro was sure she was going to be quiet, he let her go.
He glanced at her, with an emotionless expression and the ever-present
smile.
"Go tell Ichiro-san to wake up and quickly get out here without making noise.
And hurry, we don't have much time."
It took her a while to move. He showed no signs of fear, worry, or confusion.
This puzzled her. When Soujiro promted her again, she tiptoed into her father's
room.
"Otou-san..."
*****************************************
Ichiro woke slowly. He was never a morning person, and being awakened at
1:00 in the morning didn't suit him either. He slowly sat up and rubbed his
eyes. He glanced sleepily at Ayano.
"For Kami-sama's sake child! What time is it?"
"Be quite Otou-san... there's something wrong. Soujiro wants to talk to you. He
said to hurry and be quiet..."
The traces of sleep magically vanished from Ichiro's eyes and were replaced
with a mix of fear and startlement. He shakily roze to his feet and grabbed a
small, shiny item and shoved it into the pocket of his gi before following Ayano
out of the room.
*****************************************
Soujiro greeted them with a smile and no words. Ichiro was about to say something,
but Soujiro placed a finger over his own lips which were in a fixed smile, signifying
for Ichiro to remain silent.
And he did.
Everyone could hear their 'friendly visitors' now, as they were only about a few feet
away from the front door. Soujiro heard one man charge and kick the sliding door
open. Soujiro stood unfazed, but his hand unconsciencely lingered over his katana.
"Tenken no Soujiro! We found you at last!"
Soujiro smiled.
"Tenken no Soujiro? There is no Tenken here. If you are looking for a Seta Soujiro,
then yes, you have found me."
"Don't try to fool us, Tenken! We know who you are. We've been tracking you for
about a year now!"
"Really? And you waited this long to confront me? And what exactly is it you want?"
"DON'T PLAY STUPID! You are Shishio's little henchman correct? Well, you'll pay for
what you've done!"
Soujiro's hair had by this time covered his eyes and only his smile was present. And
it faltered.
"I am not Shishio-san's henchman. I was, but know I am a ronin, and I'm trying to
make up for what I've done."
"You wandering cannot bring back the people you've killed! You're a killer! And you'll
NEVER change!"
Soujiro's smile completely dissapeared. For what seemed like forever, but was really
only about 5 mins, there was silence. Then, Soujiro's smile returned.
"You're right, oji-san, I cannot bring the people I killed back. Demo, I can change..."
"You cannot change! You're a born killer!"
"I was not born a killer. No one is, as far as I know."
"I've had enough of you...."
The man got into stance.
"I have no qualms about you killing me, I deserve it, but I'd like to know the reason and
also I'd like to have your word that you'll leave these people out of it."
Until now, Ayano and Ichiro had been standing quietly behind Soujiro. Ayano looked
at him puzzled. He would just let them kill him? Without fighting back? This bugged
her. She mustered up the courage to speak.
"Soujiro! You're just gonna let them kill you?! Without even fighting back???"
He turned to look at her, his false smile attached.
"Hai."
"D-demo!!!"
The man grew impatient. Impatient? No that's not the word.
"Oi! Quit talking to that little brat and face me!"
"Hai, oji-san."
Then, this mysterious assailant made the wrong move. He signaled one of his
men to capture Ayano and Ichiro. Soujiro didn't hesitate to unsheath his
katana and neatly cut one of them in half, and decapitated the other.
"K-KISAMA!" The man was obviously infuriated.
"Oji-san, I said you could kill me if I had your word to leave them out of this, but
apparantly, your word is as good as dirt." Retorted an ever-calm Soujiro, still smiling.
Soujiro did a quick chiburi* before sheathing his sword and dropping into stance. The
man, growing angrier by the milisecond, did the same.
Then, the man lunged, unsheathing his sword in a rather pathetic attempt of battoujutsu,
and Soujiro could tell he wasn't a very good swordsman. It wouldn't take much to finish
this guy off.
Soujiro impaled the man at eight steps shy of Shukuchi. He smiled. And that smile
quickly faded as a man pulled out a gun and fired at Ayano.
Soujiro, if he had been close enough, would have at least tried to shield Ayano somehow.
But he wasn't near enough to reach her in time. However, her father was.
Ichiro felt the hot pain of the bullet embedding itself right below his collar bone. Ichiro started to fall
and Ayano caught him as Soujiro rushed over. Bad move on Soujiro's part. The gun was know aimed
at his turned back. He heard the man prepare to fire. Soujiro turned and glared at the man. A glare he
himself was shocked by. He had never glared at someone with this much... hatred. Not even in his fight
with Himura. The advantage of this was the man froze which allowed Soujiro to attack. And he didn't bother
going easy on this guy, he used his Shun Ten Satsu. In less than half a second, the man was dead and the
other thirty some odd assailants looked at their two fallen comrades. They retreated. They all high tailed it
back into the shadows in which they came.
****************************************
Ayano laid her father's head upon her lap and stroked his head, pleaded him not to die. Soujiro sheathed
his katana and kneeled down beside them. He bowed his head in shame, yet instantly was reunited with his
smile, as it was the only defence he had against the vulnerability he felt now.
"Gomen nasai, Ichiro-san..."
"Eh? For... what Soujiro... kun...?"
"For all the pain I've caused you and your daughter."
Soujiro felt his eyes warm and a knotting feeling in his throat for he was on the verge of tears. He bit his lip
and closed his eyes to keep the tears from falling. He would not show these people his weakness. However,
try as he might, he could not muster up a smile. He slightly opened his eyes and saw Ichiro reach for something
in his gi pocket. When Ichiro's hand re-emerged from his gi, he was holding a miniature porcelin swan. Ayano
looked at it with awe and to her suprise, he handed it to her.
"Aya.. no-chan... this... this... was... your... mothers... take it... and remember.... us... and also... never...
forget... that I... love... y--"
He fell unconscience in her arms.
"Otou-san...? Otou-san?! OTOU-SAN!!!!"
Soujiro looked at her. Her nekami was covered in her father's blood and strands of her jet black hair stuck to
her face where her cheeks were wet with tears. Soujiro decided to let them be and walked out into the rain.
He lifted his head and let the tears that previously threatened to fall mix with the rain. He heard the soft foot-
steps behind him.
"Ayano-san...?"
"Are you leaving, Souji-- Seta-san?"
Her voice was still a bit shakey, but who could blame her?
".... hai, Ayano-san."
"Then... I'm coming with you."
Soujiro was taken aback... and it showed.
"Huh? Coming with me? You can't!"
"Why not??? You expect to try and live here and wait for those thugs to come back to kill me off? Geez! I'm
not asking you to buy me a new home or anything, I just want to come!"
"Demo--"
She glared at him. And it was VERY intimidating. He sighed.
"Alright, you can come, Ayano-san."
"Thank you! I knew you'd see things my way. Sooooo.... where we headed?"
"I don't know."
"Whaddya mean you don't know?!"
"I'm a ronin, remember? I just wander..."
"Che, fine. Then let's wander, Sou-kun!"
"Alright, Ayano-san, let's wander."
Soujiro smiled and followed the unusually hyper, given the situation, girl up the road and couldn't help but notice
the small porcelin swan in her hand.
*********************************************
AC: *is tired*Well... I despise this chapter. It's horribly written cuz I wrote it at 9:00 pm and I'm sick and on
top of that, I can't spell... and it's still pretty short... Oi, I need sleep... *curls into a ball and falls asleep*
Chiburi*= the act of flinging blood off your blade with a swift snap of the wrist.