Author's Note: Well this sucks, no more NC-17 rated material anymore on fanfiction.net! I know this fic isn't rated NC-17, but there were going to be some NC-17 scenes later on such as two attempted rape scenes, one coming up within about two to four chapters, the other in chapter 21 or so, a lemon coming up near the end of this fic, and some other stuff that happens. So here's the deal, I'll post the edited version of this story on fanfiction.net and I'll post the uncut version on this website I'm making (it's not up yet by the way, I'll tell the site's URL when I'm finished.) Anyway, this latest chapter's a bit slow in the beginning, but it's still required reading to enjoy the entire story. Well enough of me ranting away, let's get this show on the road!
Chapter 13: Tainting Lives
A warrior of a different kind, the words Shishio left me echoed through my head as I tried to sleep. I'm no samurai according to him, yet I am still a warrior, a different and rare kind. I thought Kenshin would know something about this so I decided I would ask him during breakfast. Breakfast came sooner than expected, it had come about two hours after I had fallen asleep. I must've stayed up late the other night, that trip with Shishio was probably longer than I expected. The meal for the day was something different, something that was kind of rare to eat in the Cho Shu Clan, poultry served with fried eggs.
"Well this is an odd treat, that it is," Kenshin said as our dishes were handed to us. "Mina, did you sleep well last night?" Kenshin asked as he grabbed one of the yellow rolls of egg.
"Hai...," I answered with a nod. "Say, Brother," I decided to bring up my conversation with Shishio, "what kind of warrior am I?"
"What do you mean?" Kenshin asked after he gulped down the undeveloped bird.
"Last night I had a conversation with Hitokiri Shishio, that I did," I explained, "we went out for a little walk and he said I wasn't a samurai warrior, he said I was one that didn't hesitate to kill yet my conscience is as strong as ever. Kenshin, what kind of warrior is that?"
"...I don't know, Mina," Kenshin answered, "all I know is you're the same as me."
"I am?" I asked, taking a piece of poultry to my mouth.
"You kill without holding back, and yet you still feel bad for those you've murdered," Kenshin explained, "that's how you feel, right? If that's the case, I feel the same way, that I do."
"I see," I nodded, looking back to my meal, "so then, what kind of warriors are we?"
"We'll have to find out for ourselves someday," Kenshin answered, "because right now all we can do is fight to create a new era, we don't have time for soul-searching unfortunately."
"Get back here!" I suddenly heard the yell of one of the other soldiers coming from across the hall.
"That's Tetsu!" Kenshin's head quickly sprang up. "Sister, it could be one of the Bakufu, you stay here and I'll go help."
"Always trying to play hero, Brother," I quietly rose from seat, taking up my sword as I did so, "well I want to play too, unless this game doesn't allow girls."
"Stop!" Tetsu's yelling continued.
"No time to waste, let's go!" Kenshin ordered, taking the lead.
Wasting no time, Kenshin and I immediately sprang into action. Our feet glided against the newly waxed floor boards as we ran down the hall with all our might. The wind was practically cutting our bodies as dashed down the inn, but it failed to puncture our skin. Turning the corner where we heard the scream, Kenshin and I suddenly found ourselves on the floor, my behind hurting once it hit the tatami-free floor.
"Oro?" Kenshin and I said as we rubbed our injured areas.
"Watch where you're going!" two children across from us yelled.
Tetsu showed up then, his face red from exhaustion and his chest heaving up and down continuously after losing his breath. It all made sense now. Tetsu was chasing after the kids, but not chasing them as if he were going to hurt them, but chasing as if they were playing some sort of game.
"I...finally...caught...up...with...you," Tetsu panted as he fell to the floor next to the boys.
"Tetsu-dono, these boys are...?" Kenshin asked but was quickly cut off.
"My sons, Noboyuki and Satoshi," Tetsu answered as he wrapped his arms around the boys, "they're visiting me today with their mother. She's in the kitchen right now and she brought some food from the farm to treat everyone."
"So that explains the poultry and eggs," I said as I rose up to my feet.
"Daddy, can we play war?" the younger boy asked his father.
"Not inside, Satoshi," Tetsu smiled at the child, "play in the yard with your brother, okay?"
"What about you?" Noboyuki asked his father.
"I'm going to eat breakfast," Tetsu smiled, "but I'm sure my friends, Kenshin and Mina, will play with you."
"We'll play war with you, that we will," Kenshin smiled at the boys as he volunteered my services as well.
"Since when did I have any say in this?" I grumbled.
The yard was completely covered with white hills, you can practically bury yourself in one spot and no one would find you for days without a trace. The trees were covered in frost, if you flicked at a branch, I'm sure it would've shattered in an instant. Actually, everything in the yard was frozen, even the supply shed where we kept our spare weapons and practice equipment, it took Kenshin, the boys, and I to pull at it in order for it to open. We were each handed a shinai, although I would've preferred a bokken. Shinai felt awkward to me, the straight-blade of the bamboo sword just didn't give me the impression of a katana.
"Kenshin, why can't we use the bokken?" I asked once he handed me the bamboo stick.
"Because the bokken can really injure someone if you're not careful," Kenshin answered with his usual smile stretched across his face, "these shinai can only cause bruises at most."
"Well this sucks," I grumbled as I eyed the texture of my shinai. "Ow!" a sudden sting went through my whole system, starting from my side.
"Gomen," Satoshi apologized with a small smile perched on his face, his shinai in the very same spot where I felt the sting.
"Stupid little...," I began cursing at the little punk under my breath.
This had been the first time I've actually played with kids, at least when they were a lot younger than me. We were playing war, creating trenches out of the snow for bases and the shinai as our swords. I was stuck to play in Satoshi's side, the same boy who struck me with his shinai before the entire thing began. I can remember after a few minutes after the 'battle' began that we were trying to come up with a plan on how to sneak up on the 'enemy'.
"It's a simple combat formation," I went over the plan again for what seemed like the hundredth time, "you come from the left and I'll go from the right. It's called boxing in your enemy, why can't you see that?"
"You're a weird lady," Satoshi simply responded, getting even more on my nerves.
I tried not to lose my temper, he was only five years old at the time. I simply cooled down after a few short breaths, but then a sphere of white powder was suddenly thrown in my face, engulfing my entire face in a frozen substance. Satoshi laughed afterward while my temper shot back right up, but then I realized something. Taking a ball of the white powder in my own hand, I thought of another strategy, something the 'enemy' probably didn't think of yet. Suddenly I saw a flash of black and red barely standing atop a hill in front of us. I slowly crept closer, the snow beneath my feet absorbing the crunch of each step. I looked over the hill and found the enemy.
"Gotcha!" I screamed and threw the ball at the top of the red-haired general's head.
"Retreat!" Kenshin screamed as he and his comrade ran to the other side.
"Get them, Satoshi!" I ordered, as I collected another ball into my hand and quickly threw it toward the enemy.
They were on the run, a barrage of white chasing them as they dived into the nearest trench. I turned back to my short ally in 'arms', his smile was also stretched from ear to ear as threw the white ball. I don't know why, but now I was smiling too, just by seeing his face.
"Good job!" I patted the little one's hair.
Again, my face was covered in the frozen white powder, but instead of my smile turning into a sneer, it only widened as I retaliated with a snowball of my own. I felt a rush of adrenaline run through me, a different type from when I fought in actual combat. We threw the snow at each other back and forth, laughing with each one thrown. I'm sure we could've gone on all day and not get bored. Then without warning, we were caught in another barrage of snow, this one coming from the east.
"It's the enemy!" I yelled, realizing where the onslaught was coming from. "Run!"
I took the child into my arms and dived for the nearest trench, shielding him from our impending doom of powder. The firing died soon after, but I knew it wasn't the end. Taking up my 'sword', I decided to go in first and investigate. My eyes were nearly level with the peak of the trench, shifting from side to side, scouting for any hazards. It was safe, so I decided to venture out into the 'Great Unknown'. I only had to venture for a few seconds to be ambushed by the 'general', his 'sword' slicing the air as it darted for my face. I caught his blade with my own, each of us pushing our's toward the other, bringing us eye to eye. I could feel his breath as it tickled my face with each pant he made.
"Satoshi, give me a hand here!" I called and he quickly sprang into action, only to be engaged by the 'enemy general''s lacky.
"Surrender now," the 'general' ordered.
"Never!" I cried as I pushed the general back.
Creating a small distance between us, the 'general' didn't wait long to close the gap. His footsteps crashed like thunder as ran at me, his 'steel' blade slitting the ground deeper and deeper with each step he made.
"Do-Ryu-Sen!" he screamed as another barrage of powder flew at me.
Pushing the frozen ground underneath me with all the strength in my feet, I leapt toward the heavens, my blade held high enough that to sliced a cloud as it did so. Within seconds, I was falling toward the ground again, but now I had my 'sword' lead me on the way down.
"Ryu-Tsui-Sen!" I yelled before his blade caught me in midair.
I was able to roll forward in order to land behind him after he caught me, but easily saw through my next move. Our blades clashed again, but I didn't stay in place. I swung to the side, and again, it was deflected. Right and left, up and down, no matter where I swung, his 'sword' was always there. A smile slowly stretched across his face with every move I made, as I smiled with every block he made. I could see my smile in those lavender eyes of his, I could see all my effort with each swing, and I'm sure he could see his in mine. With a push of his blade when we locked once more, I suddenly found the whole world tumbling back, sending me lying on the floor. The 'general' had then pointed his sword at my throat, his foot stepping on the blade of mine.
"Surrender!" he ordered, his sword unwavering.
"Never!" I was able to roll away and pull my sword away from his feet as I did so.
We clashed again, our blades locking in different angles with the next attack.
"You're good," he said, that grin still on his face, "but not good enough!" The 'general' pushed his blade outward sending me a few steps back.
I didn't fall this time, and I was able to block the 'enemy''s counterattack, but the one that followed I had not expected. Instead of swinging toward my body, the 'steel' slapped the end of my hilt upward, sliding the sword out of grasp, flying upward until it dug itself in the snow far beyond my reach.
"You have lost," the 'general' smiled as he sheathed his blade.
"Kenshin-kun, Mina-kun," Katsura suddenly interrupted our 'battle', "get in here, we're having a meeting for tonight's assignment."
"Hai," the two of us called.
"Mina-nee-chan," Satoshi suddenly began to tug on my kimono sleeve, "where are you going? Don't you still want to play?"
"I'm sorry, Satoshi," I kneeled to the child, giving him the smile my brother always gave me, "but I have work to do now. I promise I'll come back as soon as I can, okay?"
"Okay, Mina-nee-chan," Satoshi smiled and ran back to his brother.
"Mina, you're quite good with kids, that you are," Kenshin told me as I watched the two boys continue playing.
The two were going at it just as how Kenshin and I were, trying to imitate my Ryu-Tsui-Sen and Kenshin's Do-Ryu-Sen. It was rather cute to watch them fall over and get bounce back up in the same instant. Kids, so adorable, so innocent yet blind from the horrors of the world. I wished I was still a child, not having to worry about anything, but I would soon realize the reason why I chose to lose this wish.
The meeting went on for hours, but I wasn't really paying attention to what Katsura was saying. I was concentrating more on the two boys outside, still going at it non-stop, as energetic as they were when they first started. How I longed to go out there and continue playing war with them, or any game for that matter. Of course that wasn't going to happen, I was considered an adult because of my age. Fourteen, that shouldn't even be considered as an adult, but then again, that age is too old for a child, maybe there should be an age class in between or something. Night had fallen once the meeting was over, and I didn't catch a single word throughout the whole time. As soon as it was over, I decided to run back out to the yard to continue the game, however, I only found nothing but white mounds plastered everywhere. I took my eyes off them for a second and suddenly they've disappeared.
"Tetsu," I caught a glimpse of their father as he passed the yard, "where are the boys?"
"Oh, they're asleep now," Tetsu answered, "they're resting in my room, why do you ask?"
"It's nothing," I answered, "it's just that I said that I'd play with them some more once the meeting was over."
"You really like them, I see," Tetsu chuckled, "you know Mina, I don't really think you're cut out for being a soldier," Tetsu suddenly brought up.
"Why do you say that?" I asked, holding back my temper, reminding myself that this man is Satoshi's father.
"The way you played with the boys," Tetsu answered, "you're just too kind to be a soldier. I think you'd be better off raising a family of your own instead of wasting your time with a little army like us."
"A family of my own," I thought about Tetsu's words for a few moments.
I never thought about it until that moment, a family of my own. It's true I wanted to marry Kenshin, but the thought of having our own family never came into mind. The very image of our family came into mind within a few moments. I could imagine a little child nestled in my arms, a little girl, red hair, lavender eyes, the very image of her parents. We were sitting near a fireplace, I was slowly swaying my arms from side to side, my daughter sleeping in the groove of my arms, and the afternoon breeze leading the lullaby from my lips to my baby's ear. A few seconds later, my husband comes through the door.
"Koishii, I'm home, that I am," my darling husband called, placing his hat on the wall.
"Welcome home, Koishii," I would greet him after with a peck on the lips.
"How's our little Aya?" my husband would ask after, his finger tracing the smile of our baby's face after.
Aya, that will be the name of my daughter. I made it final the second I had this dream for the first time, and I still stick by that name even now. Himura Aya, that would be her name.
"Mina, are you ready?" the sound of my brother and future husband returned me to reality.
"For what?" I asked, slowly drifting away from my fantasy life.
"Don't you remember what Katsura-dono said?" Kenshin informed me of the meeting I had not payed attention to. "The second Shinsengumi are on the move tonight. Don't you remember, I volunteered for both of us to keep watch of the inn while the others, along with a squad of the Satsuma Clan, head to the bridge to the eastern edge of the city to annihilate them."
"Since when did you volunteer that we stay?" I asked, my anger from earlier starting to erupt.
"Well you didn't say anything when I volunteered," Kenshin answered, "you just responded with silence when I asked so I presumed that you gave me the okay, that I did."
"That's fine," I sighed, "it was my fault anyway for not paying attention," I grumbled after, kicking myself for my ignorance.
"Did you say something, Mina?" Kenshin asked after he heard my mumbling.
"No, nothing," I answered, resting my hands behind my head, "nothing at all."
The others left shortly after, the inn was virtually empty, aside from the servants, the injured, and of course, Satoshi and Noboyuki. Kenshin and I didn't have to do anything, we just sat in room talking more about old times.
"...and then when he had his back was turned, I struck with all my might on top of his head," Kenshin's face was virtually purple as he told his tale. "He had the biggest headache for days, I think he even took some of those funny mushrooms to relieve the pain."
"I can see why he drank so much sake now," I laughed, falling over from the pain from my stomach. "Say, Kenshin," I began to calm down, my tone becoming more serious, "have you ever thought about having a family?"
"A family," Kenshin began to calm down, "why do you ask?"
"Tetsu told me today that I was more suited to raising one than wasting my time in a small army like this one," my finger circling a small part of the table as I spoke, "I've been thinking about it all day and I was thinking that maybe he had a point in what he said."
"So do you want to quit now?" Kenshin asked after, his head planted on his arms as they rest on the table.
"...I don't know," I answered with the shake of my head. "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do," I admitted, repeating the words that voice last night told me, "I just joined up because I... I...," my voice suddenly began to crack.
"This is your chance," my heart told me, "tell him. Tell him how you feel!"
"I...didn't know what to do," I suddenly blurted.
"Dammit, now you've blown it!" my heart kicked me inside.
"So you joined because there was nothing else to do, is it?" Kenshin asked.
"Well, no actually...," I answered, "the real reason was because I..."
Fate must've been against me for what happened next. A thud came from downstairs from the inn's entrance. Something was wrong, I could feel it, and I'm sure Kenshin could too, he had that serious look on his face. Eyebrows arched, lips lined up to the floor, and his eyelids closed enough that his eyes only looked like slits on his face. Immediately he took up his sword as I did the same, both of us nearly tripping over each step of the stairs as we ran. We quickly found the source of the thud, it was a body in swimming in it's own scarlet pool of life. The body was so sliced up, bean-shaped devices lay inside craters of black and red, small yet somewhat thick red strings were laced outside the body, latching into the wrists of the corpse, ruby ooze leaked from the strings, seeping into the newly washed tatami the body lay on. A crater was broken into the back of the skull, a somewhat large and wrinkled gray oval sat in the middle with a translucent fluid resting beneath the brain. It was a horrid sight, it reminded me of what my body did to those Bakufu the other night.
"What happened to him?" I asked as Kenshin's hand swept the clothes of the body.
"The Shinsengumi must've set up a trap," Kenshin quickly concluded. "Mina, you stay here while I..."
"What do you know, the corpse actually made it here?" a pack of Mibu Wolves suddenly appeared in the distance.
"Shinsengumi!" I immediately recognized those sky blue coats.
Wasting little time, my feet sprang me forward, my fingers quickly wrapping around the hilt of my katana. The blade clicked the second it met the air, and then a grinding noise followed once it had been engraved in flesh. The blade twisted itself in a three-hundred-sixty degree spiral, twisting flesh and bone into one for a few mere seconds before they were pried out of their body. The grimace on the Wolf's was left frozen in place as he fell to the floor, his fall foreshadowing the attack of the rest of his pack. Quickly, I threw the slab of muscle to the side, putting my hand back on my blade's hilt in time to block one of the Wolves' sword. His fangs were bared as his yellow eyes sneered into mine, but they were quickly shut once a geyser of scarlet suddenly erupted from his neck, his skull falling to the stone ground after, the red liquid filling a small river in the cracks. Looking to the side, I found my brother with the very same river of blood flowing down the edge of his sword, not an expression on his face, even when two of the Wolves began charging toward him. My attention was quickly averted within a second, for the steel fangs of the rest of the pack were suddenly biting down on me. Striding to my right, I was able to ease my way past their bite, spinning my body behind them and my blade swinging toward the base of their neck.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Kan-Sen-Kogarashi!" the steel slab slit through the dogs with ease, another fountain of red spraying violently a second later.
The howl of more Wolves suddenly echoed in my ears after. Ten more, all of them coming from different directions. I was ready to strike, but suddenly there was a twitch in my hand. I released it from my blade and suddenly it quickly grasped the hilt once more, without my input. It was happening again, just like the night before. Again, I was the audience of a symphony of carnage. I witnessed it as it blindly charged forward, the blade slitting the earth's skin as it did so. With the enemy's swords all raised at once, my body slid my katana upward, the various forms of gravel now impaling the pack, their life now stained upon crimson walls. I turned toward my brother and his adversaries next, screaming as it ran toward the opposition.
"Retreat," I ordered it, only that it didn't escape my lips.
"Kyah!" it cried as soon as my sword cut into the nearest Wolf.
The blade of katana was aligned with the inlet of two ribs after the impact, but my left hand quickly pushed it away in the opposite direction, cracking and slicing the Wolves' insides with each inch the blade moved within him. The body was quickly pushed away from the blade once it had found it's newest target, engraving itself between the eyes of another dog. I wanted to pull out, but again my body didn't respond to my command, it did quite the opposite. It pushed forward, the blade slowly splitting the body in half, another gush of blood sprayed onto me, engulfing my vision in the color of ruby. Everywhere it turned I saw red; everything was a bright crimson. My head turned to the side after the shower, finding one more dog, his arms fixed over his head and the glow of the moon reflecting off the sharpened edge. My body slid the sword upward, striking the wrists and the hands fell out of their sockets, the curved steel slowly changing direction and engraving itself at the top of his skull. He couldn't move it even if he tried and my body decided to do it a little favor. Dropping my sword, it jumped behind him, grabbing the crimson cords that stuck out from the holes in his arms and pulled them inward in opposite directions, my right hand pulling the left cords and my left pulling the right, creating a 'V' formation as the pathways that brought him life was suddenly ending it. A loud snap followed shortly, and another Wolf emerged from the shadows. Again, without my input, it kicked my katana off the ground, sticking itself at the base of the Wolf's arm. Letting go of the veins, it grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands, pushing upward creating a grinding scream as more scarlet oozed down his body. The arm fell to the floor, and immediately the Wolf turned with his tail between his legs.
"You forgot this!" my body said, taking the dismembered arm and tossing it back at the cowardly Wolf.
The fingers grabbed the Wolf's head within a second, a rather loud cry followed after his arm had returned. My body took advantage of this, dashing at the man, my steel blade piercing the wind before it pierced his abdomen. With the pull of my sword, my body was able to pull out a number of souvenirs along with the blade. A rather large bean shaped device followed the slab, then attached to some string-like device on the organ came out a familiar rope-like object, a rather long one at that. My body wasted little time to torture the man, dropping my blade and quickly grabbing the rope with my bare hands, squeezing it with all my might. I wanted it to stop, but again, there was no response. It wouldn't let me shut my eyes as it pulled more of the man's insides to the outside, scarlet rain spraying onto me from the crater that was slowly growing with each inch pulled. It finally stopped when there was nothing left but bone inside. My entire body was bathed in his blood and my body stood there for a few seconds admiring it's latest work. The next thing it did was unspeakable. It took my right hand, engulfed in blood, and it forced my tongue to dab some of the scarlet ooze from my fingers.
"Delicious," it said, and in the inside, I just wanted to throw up.
That was when I regained control, the adrenaline slowly releasing my body, my eyes began to widen from the latest deeds. I turned to my side, Kenshin standing there paralyzed with his eyes unblinking as they widened to practically fill his whole face. My eyes suddenly began to fill with liquid, slowly leaking to wash away a line of the red substance on my face. The worst still to come, turning to my side I saw them, the children, Satoshi and Noboyuki. Their jaws were being pulled toward the Earth as the very same liquid emitting from my eyes fell from their's. They were huddled against each other, practically pulling each other's skin off as they stared at me. Before a word can escape my lips, they ran back inside, wailing as their voices slowly died as they ran deeper inside. My legs suddenly weakened, sending me to the ground, my hands barely supporting this new guilt resting on my back.
"What... have I done?" I asked myself after.
"Mina...," the palm of my brother suddenly held my shoulder.
"What did I do, Kenshin, what did I do?!" I asked him, the tears falling like waterfalls.
"You did what was needed," Kenshin answered.
"What was needed?" I sniffled. "How can that carnage be what was needed?!" I cried, my eyes practically melting away in their sockets.
"Despite the gruesome way you killed those men, it was needed in order to create the new era, that it was," Kenshin answered. "Mina, you were going to kill those individuals anyway, that you were, although it was still wrong for you to end their lives in such horrific ways."
"I didn't mean to," I told Kenshin, "I didn't want to kill in that way, I just..."
"As barbaric as this sounds, they were going to die anyway," Kenshin said.
"The kids, they saw me, didn't they," their faces were still etched in my mind, "they saw me kill those men. Those eyes they had, they were..."
"Mina, what are we fighting for?" Kenshin asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" I couldn't understand the question.
"What are the Ishin Shishi fighting for?" Kenshin repeated.
"For a new era in Japan," I answered.
"That's what you were merely doing," Kenshin explained, "the boys, Satoshi and Noboyuki, they witnessed the violence that has plagued this current era just now. Mina, you are fighting for an era in which those boys can live in an era without the need of such carnage, are you not?"
"I...guess I am, but...," the tears slowly began to dry, "the kids must think I'm some sort of monster."
"Despite whether you are a monster or not, I'm sure that when they're all grown up and living in the new era, they'll thank you for being the monster that you are now, thanking you for creating a world free of war and violence," Kenshin said as he gave me his usual smile.
"You're right, Kenshin," I nodded, "violence such as this is necessary to create a new era, it's the reason why I must stay with you and fight."
"Kenshin-kun, Mina-kun!" Katsura's voice echoed from the east of the inn.
We had learned later that the whole thing was merely a trap set up by the Shinsengumi. The first and third squad were waiting as well, but luckily our forces were able to escape with little casualties. Yet, one of the escapees was fatally injured, and he tried to escape back to the inn, that was the corpse Kenshin and I had found in the inn's entrance. Unfortunately, part of the Shinsengumi was able to follow the man, luckily those men were the ones Kenshin and I fought off. There were no survivors of the Shinsengumi that followed the man.
Those words that Kenshin gave me that night, they stayed with me for the rest of my life, for they are one of the reasons for why I fight.
Chapter 13 Liner Notes
The age system during the Revolution- Back then, there was no such thing as a teenager, citizens were only divided up as either children of adults. No matter what gender you were, you were always considered an adult whenever you reached the age of fifteen, and so, if you were a male, you would most likely be forced to move out of your parents' home as soon as you were fifteen and would have to find a place of your own to live in society.
What does 'nee-chan' and 'Koishii' mean?- 'Nee-chan' is somewhat hard to translate into English because it's an honorific term used to address one older than yourself but is not middle-aged, so the closest translation could be 'Big Brother/Big Sister'. 'Koishii' is what you call the person you love, it's like a nickname. The translation of the word is 'love', but it can only be used as a noun. When it's used, it's basically calling the addressee 'my love'.
(Next time: "It has been a season since she has come into my world, a season which only rewarded her with suffering. I can see the tears in her eyes, sealed with a mask of happiness, preventing the river from following. She wants to leave, yet for some reason, she wants to stay. I know it's selfish, but I want her to stay too, I want my sister by my side, together with me, to keep me company from a demon that continues to plague me, the demon known to many as Battousai..." -Himura Kenshin)
Author's Note: Well, how was it, hope I didn't gross you readers out. Anyway, as I said before, I'll just post the edited version of this story at fanfiction.net from now on, even if they bring back NC-17 material. Oh, and about those attempted rape scenes coming up, don't worry, I won't have Mina get brutally injured or anything like that, besides, only one of those scenes has her as the would-be victim, the other has...well, you'll just have to read on to find out who. Anyway, in the next chapter we have the return of a character who you just love to hate, Azumi Shion. So why don't you leave me a review, not a flame though, and if the violence is getting extreme, just tell me so I can tone it down for later chapters, okay? Later people.