by Suiren
"You don't know us."
Tomoe frowned thoughtfully.
"Kenshin...this isn't like any battle you've fought before. It's not a physical battle. In hell there is real danger."
"Of what?" I ask coldly.
"Of losing your mind."
I feel a frown crossing my face as I fix my amber gaze upon both of them. "Right now, there are only two things I need from each of you."
Tomoe sighed. "What might those be?"
"A guide, and a katana."
Akira glared at me. "I'll be your guide, damnit. We'll go and you can say your goodbyes. But when I tell you to leave, we're getting out of there."
"We'll see about that when we get there." I replied. "Let's go."
~*~Sanosuke's POV~*~
Here I am, standing in front of the dojo, but for some reason I feel afraid to go in. I don't know why, but things don't seem the same. Something's missing.
Who am I kidding? My friends are all inside.
I step inside, and the first person I see is Megumi. She's been crying, and as I look around the room at all the astonished faces staring at me blankly, I realize that two very important ones are missing. Kenshin and Kaoru.
Megumi looks up at me, and I hold my arms out for her. She stands up, staring at me in shock.
"Kitsune."
She runs to me, and I wrap my arms around her.
"Rooster..."
"Shh...it's okay. I'm here now."
~*~Yahiko's POV~*~
Sanosuke's back. I'm glad to see him -- now Megumi has someone to lean on and help her through all this sadness. I have Tsubame, and she has me.
Now Megumi has Sano.
But what about Kenji? Who will help him once he comes home to an empty house.
I'm snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of a figure entering the dojo. Two, actually, and I look up to see Aoshi and Misao.
~*~Aoshi's POV~*~
We walked in on a completely silent dojo filled with sadness, and I blinked as I saw Megumi weeping onto a shoulder that looked completely familiar.
"Sanosuke. You're back." I observe calmly. Megumi looks up, and stares at my wife.
"Misao... Kaoru's...she's...gone..." The pretty doctor says between sobs as she clutches onto Sanosuke's shoulders. He has a pained and darkened expression on his face, too. It's at times like this that I am glad I can keep my face impassive.
My wife, on the other hand, cannot, and she turns towards me, wrapping slender arms around my waist to sob into my chest. It hurts me to see her hurting, but I guess I'm not that good at showing it. I place a hand on her shoulder and say the first thing that comes to mind.
"It's okay."
Megumi sniffles and gazes up at me, frustrated.
"How the hell do you know?!" She asks, breaking out, and I feel all of her emotions release towards me in an explosion of anger, failure, and frustration.
"Just because you couldn't save them doesn't mean they aren't happy." I said calmly.
"What?" Yahiko asks, confused.
"Kenshin doesn't know how to fail. I doubt the afterlife is the place he'll learn."
Misao tightens her grip on my shirt, and I lean over to kiss her forehead. In a while she'll go back to being cheerful; looking after the others, hiding her own pain behind a mask of happiness. It's then that I'll be truly there for her. I'm her rock.
I'm her Aoshi. It's all I can be.
~*~Sanosuke~*~
I hate to admit it, but the guy has a point. I try to soothe Megumi, by rubbing my hands on her back, but she doesn't seem to want to calm down.
"You did all you could do, Megumi. Nobody blames you. It was their time."
"How would you know, Sanosuke?! You weren't here! You weren't here when I needed you!"
She pulls away from me, running away, and I look at Yahiko.
"You should go after her."
I nod, chewing thoughtfully on a fishbone as I leave the dojo. Aoshi and Misao can look after things for a while.
~*~Kenji's POV~*~
I don't want to sit up and leave Chizuru, but I know I should be going home. I don't want the others to be worried. She looks over at me, lying amongst the grass.
"I need to get home, Chizuru."
"Would you like me to go with you?" She asks softly. I gaze at her for a moment, wondering what it is about her presence that is so soothing. Silence ensues.
"Hai."
~*~Kenshin/Shinta's POV~*~
Akira wouldn't give me a sword, but I found one, oddly enough, in the dojo. Reverse blade, but that's okay -- why would I kill anything that's already in hell? That's punishment enough.
Besides, I don't want bloodstained hands in the afterlife too.
Tomoe stayed behind because Akira wouldn't let her come with us, and now he and I are riding in a small boat. I guess that's the way it works here, or at least the way it's working for us at the moment, because we're passing through a channel that looks something like a huge library. I can see where it opens out at the end to a rough ocean, waves crashing everywhere, and lightning crashing in the sky.
It doesn't scare me, because I know Kaoru's on the other side. Akira told me I needed to keep thinking about her -- apparently my thoughts serve as some sort of beacon he can track.
I find that ironic...because what else would I be thinking about? Kaoru's my soulmate. I won't let us be separated again.
We get out into the stormy, stormy waters, and I shiver involuntarily in the cold air as the small boat rocks in the huge waves. Akira stays calm, staring impassively ahead -- I can't help but get the impression that he doesn't believe me. That or he thinks I deserve to be alone because I took Tomoe's happiness. But I don't think he's that petty.
The boat rocks in another giant swell and suddenly hands grip all edges. Icy cold hands of lost souls cling to our boat as if it were a small island promising safety, and before I know it, we've tipped over, and I plunge into the cold, swirling water.
The next thing I know, Akira and I are standing on a rocky shore with waves crashing into it. The sight in front of me is bleak: a huge ship, all in flames, with people on all decks. I can read the letters on the side.
Cerebus
"The gate to hell." Akira comments cooly. I feel my eyes narrow as we start towards it.
A/N: Ooo! Only a few more chapters...We begin the upward path to resolution. This chapter may be edited later -- I wrote it in a hurry. Gomen. I hope I don't let any of you down. ~_~
--suiren