(Starts bowing like she's in a Buddist temple) I'm so evil, I'll try not to cliffhang, but I had to so I could get more chapters out quick. Gomen nasai!
Don't worry guys, more is coming soon. I'm working as fast as I can. I have this whole week off, so I'm going to write every day!
Whoo. I don't think I've ever written so much fanfic in one sitting. -_-x;
By the way, that was a typo in the disclaimer. I meant 'sue me and I'll sic
Mibu's wolf on you.' Not 'or.' Oro? *_
Oi. One of my smarter moments. Orooo!
Do I still have an audience? Everybody still with me?
I hope so. Tell me if I get boring. Heck, tell me if I don't!
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Disclaimer: Oh for crying out loud, haven't I said it enough already?! I don't own Ken-ni, do I have to keep rubbing it in?!?! (sniff)
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Chapter 4
She was repelling him, keeping him away.
Don't push me away, koishii. Don't fight me. Onegai...
He was in a room, a place of waiting, holding. "You have to fight, koishii. I
don't want to be away from you either, beloved, but this is how it must
be."
No, Tomoe... Why--
"Please beloved, I can't, I can't explain. It is beyond me to do so. Please
understand, koishii."
But I miss you so badly...it hurts, beloved...
"I know, my love. Aishiteiru. Please remember that; let it drive you on. It
is up to you now. I cannot force you, nor can I stop you from doing what
you choose, but I beg you, beloved...live for me. Live for the people who
need your help."
Koishii, please don't leave again...please--
"Aishiteiru...koishii." Her voice faded away, receding into the light.
No! TOMOE! Anata...no...Why are you running from me? Again he was left
only with himself and his turmoiled thoughts. Is it...the accident...I...I
didn't...
The darkness was growing. A storm.
Cold fear ran down his spine as he realized it would devour him in its depths, pulling him away. It would mutate him, alter his being. A change was going to come soon.
Very soon.
And he couldn't help wondering if it would be for better or worse.
With that thought he receded into the darkness, lying dormant from the
world.
And fading.
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"Oi! Matte! Chotto matte kudasai! Onegai!" The villagers on the road ran in fear of the big, sword-armed man carrying a bloody boy in his arms. The village was still a good ways away from the thatched roofs he could see, but those coming from the road might be able to help.
Or so the captain thought.
His shoulders were beginning to droop with the strain of holding the hitokiri for so long, and there was no blood coming from the wound. It had all long since drained away in the rain water.
"No! Please wait, you have to help me save this boy," he said despairingly. A group of three or four villagers, afraid though they were, paused tentatively to hear what he had to say.
"Please, I've been traveling for hours, he's dying," he told them. "He's burning with fever, and his wound is very bad. He's lost a lot of blood. Onegai..." His eyes pleaded with the villagers.
"...Follow us."
A half hour later they entered the village gates, the captain running as fast as his tired body could take him. The people backed away in whispers, keeping their distance.
"Oh no--"
"Himura?! It's Himura-san!"
"Quick, get the sensei--"
So they know him, he thought. "Hurry, get him inside, over here," one
villager urged him.
He quickly laid the limp boy onto the tatami mat resting on the floor of
the hut. He leaned in, listening to the boy's chest. His blood froze.
He wasn't breathing.
Oh shit. "Shimatta-- Kid?! No, come on kid!" He felt the boy's wrist. It was
cold; there was almost no pulse.
"Kid, wake up, come on ! HIMURA!!"
No response.
He bent and began to breathe into him, giving him oxygen. Come on kid, please--
Suddenly the boy's eyes shot open, and a great gasp of air shook his body. He laid back on the mat, gulping huge breaths as if he would never breathe again. He stared up at Haiyashii, confusion and pain engulfing his features.
"That's it kid, just breathe. It'll be okay, just keep breathing," he said, his voice sounding relieved beyond comprehension.
He put the boy's forehead against his own, hugging his body to him. The only sound was Himura's ragged breaths, each one making the captain so grateful he'd lived that it shocked him.
"...h...Haiya...shii.."
"Shhh, relax, don't talk. The doctor will be here soon. Just lay there." He put a rolled up cloth under the hitokiri's head and laid him comfortably on the mat. "I'm glad you made it, kid."
"......" He watched him, too weak and surprised to speak.
There were tears in the captain's eyes. "Mattaku," he muttered wiping
them with his sleeve.
"...Dammit, I thought I told you never to scare me like that!" Slowly a weak smile spread on the boy's bloodless lips. "You'll be alright now, kid."
"...h...you...thank you...tou-san." Haiyashii stared at him in utter shock. He smiled, and shut his eyes, slipping peacefully into unconsciousness.
The captain watched Himura's expression of complete but not unnatural
calm. His smile was one of complete comfort and trust.
Father...me? He thinks of me like his father...? With that, the village
doctor arrived and politely asked the man to leave.
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"Are you Ishin?" the village leader asked nervously. "You brought him here, so I assume that you are on their side."
"Are you?" the warrior said quietly.
The man gulped. "Yes."
"Then so am I. I'll follow Himura."
"Battousai?" the man asked incredulously. "Do you know who he is?"
"No. And neither do you."
The man frowned, his eyes narrowed. "I suggest you learn as much as I have from my time with him, stranger. That man is a cold-blooded murderer, a satsujin of the most fearsome title. He has even killed his own men. If you are wise you'll stay away from him."
"And I suggest you learn more about someone than their profession," he said harshly. The other man stepped back from the bite in the captain's tone.
"The boy is not the cold-blooded, merciless manslayer he's been made out to be. He's been buried deep in death and gore and blood and the rotting ideals of the Bakumatsu. It's all he's ever known. That is what I've come to see from my time with him. And now I see that he is to be pitied more than the most defenseless man ever born."
Captain Hayashii's eyes were hard with a cold light. "If you are wise, you'll be more perceptive of those around you."
"Takeda-san! Takeda-san!" A villager in a blue tunic came running. It was a scout.
"What is it now?" the leader ground out.
"There is a man approaching, sir. In a red tunic," the man panted. "It appears he's a soldier; I don't know what group."
"Where?" Haiyashii asked grimly. "Show me this man."
The villagers parted as he made his way to the lookout.
On the road in the pouring rain was a single man. His hood was up, concealing his face from view. Then he lifted his head.
The captain recognized him immediately.
"Inoue!"
He looked in the direction of the shout. Inoue's face lit up. "Taicho-sama!"
He ran to meet his superior, obviously happy that Haiyashii was alive. "I overheard the men talking about the assault," he told him. "I'm sorry I didn't stay and help you, but they said they weren't going to hurt you."
"So they were traitors among traitors," muttered Haiyashii. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I left before the attack. Is Battousai...?"
"He'll be alright, the doctor is tending to him now."
An expression of relief spread across his face, but relief was quickly
replaced with seriousness. "Taicho, I must warn you. I have seen the
Shogunate, and something very important and very bad is about to happen. I
told the Superiors that the men were killed, and I was dismissed from the
Squad as I was the only one left. Soon they'll probably be after me, but I
had to tell you before it was too late. The Shogunate decided to send in a
new squad since ours was disbanded, one that could kill that man, Katsura,
and the hitokiri Battousai."
Inoue hesitated.
"...They've sent in the Shinsengumi."
The captain froze. The wind seemed much colder now; the rain hit him like knives.
Battousai was in no condition to take on the Shinsengumi, and the captain
knew he wouldn't be able to protect the boy from these warriors.
We are in deep, deep trouble.
"...Go. I'll stay and do what I can. Thank you, my friend...and Inoue..."
"Yes, Taicho?"
"Good luck."
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His eyelids fluttered half-open, and he groggily arranged his thoughts.
Haiyashii...
He felt beside him, but this time it was not for his swords. Was he there? Kenshin had just started to worry when a hand touched his.
"Rest, kid. It's okay, I'm right here." He smiled, giving a a small sigh of relief, and nodded.
Tucking his head back into the blankets, he drifted off once more. Haiyashii watched him as he slept, keeping a hand on his head, stroking his soft, flame-colored hair.
His eyelashes fluttered in unknown dreams, his breathing soft and mellow.
The rasping had left, and the sickly tone of his skin was gone as well,
though he was still very pale.
He really is just a child after all, Haiyashii thought, looking warmly at the
boy. He looks so innocent when he's asleep...
His brow furrowed. How is it possible that he is the lengendary
executioner of Kyoto? I still haven't seen him kill, so...Maybe I don't know
who he is.
...What is he like when he kills? he wondered. Haiyashii watched as the
boy stirred in his sleep.
He hoped he would never have to see.
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Okay people, here comes the Shinsengumi! I don't know much about them,
or at least not enough, so bear with me. I'm gonna feature...yes evryone,
Mibu's wolf himself...Saitoh Hajime!!!
YAY!
Okay, he's gonna be alone, (sorry if there are others that I'm omitting, I
only know so much,) but hey, there'll be kick-butt ACTION, so who's
complaining? Nobody!
(I hope.)
Multiple reviews are EXCEEDINGLY WELCOME, and if you have advice,
PLEASE DON'T HESITATE! Doomo arigatou, mina-san!
^_^X
Now then. Back to work...