Hiya, everybody! SOOOOOOOO sorry about the really awful delay!
It won't happen again; I have the laptop now. HAAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAH!
Ja, here ya go. I just Know someoone's gonna kill me after this.
PLEEZE review, I'm desperate!!! I need helllllllp!
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Disclaimer: HAH! I I DON'T NEED TO SAY MORE! (Except...I do own Haiyashii. If you wanna borrow him ask me and then I'll let ya. Ne?
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Chapter 9
The boy's jaw was set tightly. He'd never seen his eyes so lifeless and
cold.
Is this what happens before every battle?...He simply shuts off and...cuts
himself...away...?
Haiyashii was at the front, along with Battousai and two major generals.
The four were backed by over two thousand men, marching along the slick
road as a blood-red dawn was beginning to overtake the sky.
The four weeks had passed uneventfully, aside from training and preparation for the battle. Himura had almost fully recovered his strength, and those who passed him could see a large scar cutting abruptly through the smooth skin of his neck.
Whenever they dared to look at him, anyway.
The manslayer was preparing not only weapons and men for this battle, but also himself. He was obviously still displeased with the slips he'd seen in his technique, even after training for hours on end without food, drink or sleep. He was set on destroying the Shogunate's men, Shinsengumi in particular, and most of the soldiers were aware of how fiercely he wanted this war to end.
Even if he didn't really believe it himself.
Red banners swayed almost lazily in the wind, marking their destination. The plan was that Battousai would engage the Shinsengumi as they were sent, keeping them away from the troops. The captain had begrudgingly agreed to help the soldiers instead of backing Himura.
He wasn't a captain for nothing. Haiyashii's superior fighting skills were
needed desperately, and Katsura had asked him to fight in the front lines.
Funny that not even five months ago I was betraying him, he mused. But
today I have the man's complete trust, and, unknowingly he assigns me to
protect his best men. And the strange thing is I really mean to do so. Hm.
Funny about the hands of fate, eh...
He turned to look at Himura. The manslayer's eyes were still facing
straight forward, not looking at him. They were glowing that same firey
yellow again, glinting like flame off of molten lead. The captain could
almost see the tension coming from him in waves.
Battousai was on edge.
After trying for twenty minutes to catch his gaze, Haiyashii finally decided to try talking to him.
"Hey, kid. Kid?"
The boy turned. He looked annoyed, as though he'd been interrupted from being in the middle of an important event. "What."
"...Uhh, are you feeling alright?"
"Fine. Why?"
"Well, I think you should try relaxing just a hair. You're making the men nervous."
"Something is up that I don't expect them to catch. I don't care if I'm making them nervous." He was trying to keep his voice calm and ultimately failing. "We're being followed."
"Huh?" The captain twisted to see behind him.
"No, don't look," he hissed. "It's him." Him. It had to be the wolf captain.
The boy's mouth was tight. "He knows we're here. The problem is I don't know if he's sent a scout ahead or not. If we let on that we know anything he'll attack; we'll lose too many men before it's time."
"What do you suggest," Haiyashii said conversationally. "I could provide a distraction if you want. Keep him occupied--"
"No...no." His tone relaxed a little. "I will. He doesn't know whether I healed well or not. I'll mask my ki; you ask if I'm alright, and I'll tell you to go on ahead without me. Wait 'till we get a little closer."
After two miles he decided to go for it. He could feel Mibu's Wolf somewhere behind him. Himura bent over in a coughing fit, bending on one knee. He choked.
"Oi, Himura, you okay?" the captain said loudly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Battousai clutched at his chest. "I'm--fine--" he gasped, coughing hard. "Go on ahead without me." His voice was a harsh rasp. Reluctantly the captain nodded and went to catch up with the other two generals.
A few men glanced in the manslayer's direction before going on their way. Himura choked and pounded on his chest hard, as if there was an obstruction, then shakily got to his feet.
Wait.
THERE! With a WHAM that could probably be heard for miles, Kenshin and
Saitoh Hajime stood, swords tangled together with a steely rasp,
sparkserupting as the Shinsengumi captain felt his blade.
"Faking, huh," he snorted. "Couldn't you have been a bit more original?"
Himura smiled grimly. Now the captain was faking. It was obvious despite
his knowing, cocky tone that he had really thought Battousai was down.
It was also obvious that he was angry he'd been wrong.
"You've no idea how much I'm going to enjoy this fight, Battousai. I've been wanting to kill you for a long time, even more since you gave me that little love tap back at the inn."
"If it had been a 'love tap', you wouldn't have been down and out for the count," Kenshin retorted. "When did you wake up anyway? Last week?"
"Urusei, kisama!!" Mibu's Wolf was seething with rage. His tone dropped to a low growl. "You aren't as confident as you're making yourself out to be. You are still weaker than me; I could feel it when you blocked. And you know it too."
"Maybe," the hitokiri said softly. "Or maybe it's just you."
"Will you quit stalling for time," he snapped. "It's too late anyhow." A smile spread over his lips. "Your men are walking directly into a trap. We alerted the Shogunate leaders when you left the headquarters this morning."
"What." Haiyashii. The hitokiri looked a lot calmer than he was.
"The rest of the Shinsengumi are waiting for them right outside the entrance. Even if you made it out of your fight with me, it makes no difference. Your men will have already been taken care of."
No. It couldn't...be...
"Katsura...Katsura had been planning this for a long time, hadn't he?" Kenshin said, suddenly understanding. "He wanted to get rid of this field, to get at the Shogunate leaders. But they aren't there now, are they? He concocted this plan when Iidzuka was still around..."
"Gee. He figured it out all by himself," Saitoh said sarcastically. He raised his sword. "Enough talk. Aku--soku--ZAN!"
Kenshin went into a defensive stance, blocked, slashed, blocked, slashed again. Shimatta, he could feel his arm give way under the slamming pressure of Saitoh's right strike.
Laughter resounded in the trees, and the foliage shook with the force of two powerful ki.
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"Alright men, just as we discussed. You follow me and take that squad to the left. The three of us will direct you to your outward positions to intercept the target when they try to escape. You--"
Haiyashii surveyed the surrounding area carefully. They'd have to look out for the scouts posted at the doors; there were always at least to at each door. He couldn't see them now, but that didn't mean they weren't there.
They had a route to follow which included the front and back entrances, so
chances were they were patrolling the front gates, or the wall. The back
entrance could be seen from here. If they divided the men correctly they
should have enough to take care of the soldiers.
Provided Himura was dealing with the Shinsengumi.
The captain looked at his watch. Three minutes.
They had agreed that all attacks would begin simultaneously on each fortress, so that no messengers could be sent to warn the other bases of their arrival. The set time was seven o'clock, so the attack would begin in less than three minutes.
He checked the post again. That's funny...
"--and you know what to do about that. Okay, any questions?"
"Uh, general, wait just a second," Haiyashii interrupted. "Where are the lookouts? They're supposed to be patrolling the eastern wall. I don't see anything."
"Well, they're probably around front. Good, that means we can move in now--"
"If they were around front they'd be back by now. Their shifts started at six; there's no way they could be changing guards right now. Something is wrong."
"What... you think they know we're here?"
"I'll bet yen on it. It's too risky, we can't chance it now. Let's--"
Ch-chk! Ch-chk!
Oh no.
Haiyashii turned to the sound of a rifle preparing to fire. The last thing he
remembered consciously seeing was a sea of white and blue-green, then
everything went black.
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KACHNN! KACCHNNN!!
Kenshin whipped his head toward the woods, his bad arm cradled limply in
his right. An enormous plume of smoke was billowing over the treetops in
the direction of the battlefield.
He could hear men screaming.
Haiyashii!
Mibu's Wolf smiled gruesomely, blood leaking from the corner of his
mouth. "It's over, Battousai. And you're next. Once you fall the Shogunate
will be the victor and the Ishin will fall by our hands. I'll be remembered
for disposing of you properly. GATOTSU!"
With the scream of an animal the captain leapt forward and aimed for
Battousai's head. He ducked a split second before the katana went hurtling
throught the air above him and ended up losing two inches off his topknot.
I don't have time for this, he thought desperately, angrily. I have to get to
Haiyashii.
He flipped in midair, landed on his feet and whipped out a Do Ryuu Sen. Mibu's Wolf avoided them almost annoyedly as he ran for his opponent's chest. "ChaaaaAAAO!!"
Himura reversed his block and hit Saitoh in the stomach with the end of the hilt.
"Oof--a-ahou--" He staggered back, the wind completely knocked out of him. The captain was only slowed for a moment but in that time Himura was already running for the field. He could the smell smoke from where he stood.
Saitoh shook his head violently to clear it, rubbing his aching stomach. His lip curled in a snarl.
"Someday, hitokiri. Someday it'll be just you, and me. And then you'll have no one to hide behind. And when that day comes, I will make you pay for keeping me waiting."
He listened as more screaming was heard, and cannons resounded from further up the path. The captain grinned. He may get his chance yet.
And it might even be today.
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Screaming, crying, smoke, fire, pain--all cloaking the battlefield like a fur.
Himura searched frantically, his desperation growing with each passing second. Shinsengumi came at him, more and more, thier numbers increasing. He merely slashed through each oncoming warrior as though he were cutting his way through thick forest.
Where was he?!
"Haiyashii? Haiyashii where are you?!" He ran over bodies, slipped in blood, running, searching--
There. A red tunic.
Blood.
"No...no..."
He lay in a patch of blood under a pile of corpses, wounded soldiers,
injured men, men who were past the point of help, men who were going to
die. Himura stared blankly. He couldn't move.
It was happening again.
Someone he loved, someone he cared for was dead because of him.
Again.
Another person who made any difference to him in the world, gone. Gone.
"Aww...Somebody do your little pal in?" A laugh behind him.
Saitoh lit another cigarette, leaning sideways as he walked to avoid a sword aimed for an Ishin as a Shogunate soldier ran for his foe. "Too bad. You two talked to each other a lot, hunh? Well, I guess you shouldn't have gotten to close to someone so inept."
The manslayer's eyes ignited.
The fires of hell were lighting his feral eyes like a torch, so bright one
couldn't look directly at them. His grip tightened on the hilt of his sword.
The manslayer's shoulders were hunched, like a beast preparing to strike. His entire body was consumed with a hatred like none he had ever felt.
Battousai turned to face Saitoh Hajime. I call him Battousai now, because at that point in the hitokiri's existence, there was no one else there inside him, no Shinta or Himura Kenshin.
This was Battousai. This was a manslayer.
No. This was The Manslayer.
"Finally," Saitoh said impatiently. "I was starting to think you were going to run again." Battousai's eye twitched. A chill ran down Saitoh's spine despite himself. He forced a smile.
This might be tougher than he'd thought.
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I just KNOW I'm going to get flames about this.
Don't worry, things aren't as bad as they seem. Please don't stop reading
because of what I did to Haiyashii. It had to happen.
You'll see why next chapter.
I can write sooner than the last two chapters now; I was having technical difficulties. We're getting towards the end of this fic, and when I get the last chapter up I'll put up a glossary and thank yous. 'Kay? 'Kay.
I know, I know. I'm evil. But PLEEEEEEEEEZE review! Onegai?