Author's Note: This is the uncut version of Chapter 16, the only difference between this and the edited version is one scene near the end of the chapter. Personally, I don't think that part deserves an NC-17 rating, heck, I've seen stuff similar to this in PG-13 rated fics. Anyway, let's just get on with the story, shall we?

Chapter 16: To Fight a Shadow

"What's this?!" my consciousness suddenly shot back up with Misanagi's voice.

I look toward my stomach to find my sword pushing against the guard of her's. Suddenly, my arm sprang forward, pushing her blade back and out of my system, the odd thing was, it wasn't me doing it, I was only watching it. It was Kensai, coming to my aid, using my body once more to save my life. Misanagi's blade slowly inched back with each second as Kensai pushed forward, and suddenly the entire thing had pried itself from my body without Kensai's or my input. Misanagi withdrew the blade willingly, and then she went for a vertical swing downward, trying to take advantage of the time it took for me to recover. The pain from the blade extraction shot through my system, I just felt like I wanted to lie down and let my strength pour out of my body. Kensai was able to ignore the pain though, she simply jumped back and caught the blade with the outer curve of my katana, hurting me even more with the sudden movement. Again, we were in a contest of strength, and it didn't seem like either of us were winning. The blade rocked back and forth, a victor couldn't be decided at this point. Pushing with all our strength, Misanagi and I fell a few feet back, but readied our blades within the next second.

"I'm amazed you can still fight with this much strength, Himura," Misanagi said as she pointed her blade back toward the ground.

"You're not so bad yourself," Kensai spoke without my input, "you're not as weak as your grunts."

The pain from those stab wounds from earlier was starting to subside, but I still didn't regain control of my body. I witnessed Kensai's next move, she brought my blade in front of me, pointing the tip directly at Misanagi's heart. She began to run, her feet pushing against the tile even greater with each step, it eventually became strong enough to propel her, allowing my body to glide with the wind. She curled my body into a ball after, the sword still in front, spiraling me in my opponent's direction.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Kan-Sen-Arashi!" Kensai screamed as we spiraled.

Spinning in the air, my blade was just about to slash at her heart, but for some reason, the steel only tore a piece of fabric, my body was now being hurled toward the next building's wall, it looked like we were going to crash. However, luck was on our side, my feet were the first to meet with the wall, and with that, Kensai pushed against it, propelling us back to the original battlefield. Again, Misanagi dodged the rolling attack, my body crashing against the tiles as we landed. The pain was again sent to me, Kensai was unaffected by our rough landing.

"Is that all you're going to do?" Misanagi sighed as Kensai pushed me back to my feet.

"No," Kensai suddenly dashed forward, my katana slicing the tile as we grew closer. "Do-Ryu-Sen!" Kensai swung upward, the debris flying at Misanagi's direction.

She stood there unflinching, the debris was flying in her direction aiming for vital parts of her body, yet she was still calm. The first piece of broken tile was hurling towards her face, but it suddenly fell, broken in two, Misanagi's blade standing where the tile was supposed to strike. She remained in place again, the rest of the debris continuing to fly toward her. She slashed right and left, up and down, anywhere where the broken material was supposed to hit. Before I knew it, dust had taken up the space where the debris once was, the blade of Misanagi resting where the last one should have hit. She wasted little time after, charging toward me with all her strength, her sword parallel to the ground as it flew by her side. Kensai struck first when she was within range, slicing right then left in different angles, each one slicing nothing but air. Misanagi attacked after, starting with an uppercut with her sword, again missing my body thanks to Kensai's quick thinking. Kensai retaliated for me with an angular coming from the lower left, again missing, followed by a chop coming from the upper right. Misanagi was able to evade this one easily, jumping away from the attack, arching her body in the direction of her jump as she did so. Her hands hit the roof first, pushing her body upward again, vaulting her body a few more feet back, landing beside one of her fallen comrades. Kensai charged once more, this time having my katana slice the wind as it slowly swung from my right. The blade was about to make it's mark but instead, it found itself crashing against another steel slab. Kensai looked to what had caught my sword, and to our surprise, it was another sword, probably the one her dead comrade used.

Wasting little time, Misanagi struck again, using the sword on her right to strike with a swing. Kensai predicted this, bringing my sheath up to catch it. What followed as a result was multiple swings coming from all directions, her two blades seemed to have multiplied as she swung the two. With each step that Kensai used to back away, she always found herself having to block at least two attacks in one instant. After going through this for about five seconds, Kensai finally backed away with a Ryu-Tsui-Sen jump, landing on the edge of the roof.

"You're beginning to bore me," Misanagi yawned.

"Hmph," Kensai grunted, pulling the katana's scabbard out of my belt.

The curved metal skid against the case's oak side as it slipped inside the wooden case. The sword clicked once it was in place, my left hand wounded against the wrapping of the sheath while my right was inches away from the hilt.

"A Battoujutsu stance," Misanagi immediately recognized it, "can you really pull off an attack when your opponent has two swords?"

Kensai ignored her taunts, arching my right leg forward and left leg back. My fingers began to twitch, slowly making their way to my katana's hilt. My feet began to slide against the remaining tile, inching ever so slowly toward my target as she stood there, anticipating Kensai's next move. The slides became steps, breaking into a run at the next tile. Following the curve of my katana, the blade swung outward at the last moment, Misanagi catching it with one of her own, this was perfect I thought. Kensai followed up with another swing, this one coming from her left hand, using the sheath as if it were a sword. But Misanagi saw this, engraving her blade into the oak, locking both of us in place again. Kensai and Misanagi jumped back again, the two of them charging at each other as soon as their feet touched the roof. Kensai slipped my sword back into it's sheath, going for another Battoujutsu.

Misanagi struck first this time, both of her blades coming from both sides. Kensai drew at the last moment, deflecting the two swords. She went for a swing with the sheath again, but it missed catching only the wind. Misanagi showed off her acrobat skills again as she dodged it, her knuckles meeting the roof first, pushing her arms forward after to launch her back into the air. This time she didn't jump back after the flip, instead diving toward me with her two blades meeting in angle, creating the impression of an "X" in the process. Kensai re-sheathed my sword as quickly as possible, unsheathing it before the steel could chop my neck. Again, Misanagi was able to escape the sheath swing, using her acrobatic skill again to escape. After, something strange had happened, my body, it was no longer being controlled.

"No, not now," I said as the weight of my sword returned to my arms. "Why are you leaving me now, Kensai?" I asked myself.

I got a response all right, but it didn't come from Kensai, it was from Misanagi, lunging forward with her left sword. I pushed myself a bit back to avoid the stab, but Misanagi followed with a chop coming from the right. Shutting my eyes, I blindly swung my katana upward, catching the short blade. I opened again to find the other sword flying toward my face. With a flick of my wrist, my sword caught her's, flicking my wrist again to catch the next stab coming from the right. The lunge was merely a distraction from the real, yet weak attack, a kick to the chest which caused me to stumble, my back sliding against the roof's beam.

"Kensai, give me the strength," I spoke as I began to push myself off the floor, "why leave me when I need you the most?"

"Talking to yourself won't save you," I turned my attention back to Misanagi, "return to your feet, now!" I found one of her swords twirling in my direction.

I cast the sword aside with the swat of my hand, the edge piercing the base of my fingers as I pushed it. The substance that oozed after began to flood the inlets between my fingers, dripping to the floor as I used the same hand to push me back up.

"Kensai, help me," I called for her again.

"You truly are a strange one," Misanagi sighed, the blunt edge of her sword taping against her shoulder, "but I think it's time I put you out of your misery!"

She was charging at me once more, her arm extended as her sword pierced the wind, and her left arm arching toward her side, as if it were reaching for something. The knife, I realized, the sword lunge was merely a distraction. If I dodge to the right or left, she can slit my side with the piece of steel, but if I jumped back, she can merely throw the knife in my direction. The only way to prevent this was to attack before she did, but she was faster than myself, that she was. I only had one attack that could have a chance against her, a Battoujutsu, but she was able to easily block or escape each one. There was one Battoujutsu attack that I had not used though, it was my last resort.

"It's the same old tactic with you, isn't it?" Misanagi asked as I slid my katana back into it's case. "Isn't it obvious that I'm your superior in speed, there's no way you can win!"

"Is that so?" I said as the blade clicked in place.

My bloodied fingers wrapped around the yellow wrapping on the scabbard, the sword's point levitating just past my knee. My right hand rest against the air around the hilt, the fingers curled as if they were already grasping the blade. My right leg arch forward, the rest of my body following it's path, stretching my left leg straight in the process. Misanagi on the other hand, flipped her sword around, the blade again tipped toward the ground, the hilt toward the sky. Her left hand opened, the palm hovering before the sword's hilt, fingers open, ready to grasp a hold of the sword at any moment. Her left leg bent forward, her right bent back, a stern look on her face, I was still unable to read her actions. We stood there for a few moments, the winds blowing to the east, our hair flowing with the breeze, our eyes fixed on each other, we knew this match was going to end with this move.

The winds suddenly died, the barrier that held us was now gone. Our feet pushed us forward, steel riding in our hands and sweat rushing down our faces, we charged. When our eyes met, that's when we both struck. Misanagi swung upward, her left hand wrapping around the blade's hilt as she swung. At the same moment, I wrapped my fingers around the hilt of my katana, and then swung forward. Just as I had hoped, my attack had found it's mark, the outer curve engraved into her ribs. She stood there in front of me, her eyes as wide as her open mouth as it began to pull toward the earth, her fingers extended forward, her sword clattering to the floor as a result. I stood there, left arm extended forward, right bent back. My attack had worked.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Battoujutsu," I said, taking back my sword, the Sanada Ninja leader dropping to the floor after, "Sou-Ryu-Sen-Ikazuchi."

She had not expected it, a Battoujutsu using striking with the sheath first and would follow with a sword attack, not that I needed the sword attack now. I stared at the shinobi for a few moments, staring at the unconscious woman as she lay there. I had defeated her by myself. Me, not Kensai, but me.

"Why Kensai," I asked again as I tried to regain the breath I had lost during that fight, "why did you abandon me?"

What caught me by surprise after was that she answered.

"There are some battles even I can't win," her voice echoed in my head, "battles where only you can emerge victorious."

'Battles only I can emerge victorious,' I thought to myself, 'but isn't Kensai more powerful than I?'

"Do you really think I am?" she asked after. "All I am is someone who's good at one thing, killing, but you on the other hand, you possess even more power than myself."

"More power?" I asked.

"One I can never possess," she answered, my hand suddenly beginning to twitch.

"What are you doing?!" I suddenly found the rest of my body losing control.

"That one you have defeated," Kensai spoke, "she's a beautiful one, isn't she?"

My body began walking toward the knocked out ninja, my right hand taking the lead. It grabbed her by the collar, my eyes stared into her face for a few seconds. My tongue suddenly began to slide against my lips, my left hand reaching for the other end of her collar. It occurred to me why Kensai had taken over now, she wanted to...

"Stop it, Kensai!" I screamed, only that the words never escaped my lips. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

"This body is mine and your's," Kensai replied, "let me enjoy it for a bit."

"You weakened my consciousness by complimenting me!" I concluded.

"You found me out," Kensai replied, "but I'm a bit busy now so..."

"Kensai, you're disgusting," I screamed, "now stop it already!"

"Stop what?" she asked as my hands began to pull the fabric outward.

"We've done enough, leave her be!" I ordered.

"I'm not going to let this opportunity pass," she said as she tore the outfit away from Misanagi's body.

"That's enough!" I yelled again, Kensai ignoring my plead.

Against my own will, Kensai took hold of the unconscious woman's chin, placing my thumb on the edge of her lips. My tongue began sliding against her cheek, slipping in the spaces between her eye and nose. I just wanted to throw up as this happened, but I just wanted to die as Kensai continued her dirty deeds. My tongue was had now slipped between the spaces of her lips, the slippery device sliding against her own as Kensai forced my hands to inch toward the ninja's body.

"Kensai, that's enough!" I tried yelling again.

"Not yet," Kensai said as she pulled my mouth away along with a translucent string that slowly broke moments later, "let me have this moment," my tongue trailed downward.

It slithered down the crease of her neck, painting her fair skin with a translucent fluid, my mouth occasionally plucking at random spots, suckling the contents back into her mouth. Finally, my mouth had finally left her neck, only to now pluck against the skin on her collar.

"Stop it!" I ordered her once more.

"You're enjoying this too, aren't you?" Kensai asked, her hands now following the clear rivers flooding down Misanagi's neck.

"Oh God, this is just disgusting!" I thought, only to have something even more horrendous now cupped in my hands. "What are you doing?!" I yelled as Kensai forced my palms against the woman's breasts.

"They're so firm," Kensai said as my fingers began to pull at the chocolate-brown nubs, "so soft...," I face began to lean toward the right half of Misanagi's body.

"EWWWWW!" I just wanted to scream as I found Kensai forcing my tongue onto the nipple.

It began wrapping every part of the peak in the same translucent substance as her neck, my tongue must have explored each and every corner at least three times before it finally let go, pulling back into my mouth a second later, only to engulf the entire tip inside after.

"She'd make a good mother," I heard Kensai's thoughts as she began pulling the mound from it's tip, "so sweet..."

"Dammit Kensai, that's enough!" I yelled for what seemed like the millionth time, but again there was no reaction. "Hey wait a second," I noticed my right hand was beginning to creep down Misanagi's abdomen, "what are you going to do now?!"

"What else?" Kensai's motive quickly came into mind after she spoke.

"Kensai, stop it already, you've done enough!" I ordered her as my fingers began to glide past her naval.

"Almost there," Kensai said between sucks.

"Shit, why can't I stop her?" I asked myself as my fingers began to reach for their destination. "Oh God, please stop her. Someone stop her, Shion, Kenshin, anybody, please... Stop it, for the love of God," the tears began to streak down my cheeks, but regardless, Kensai continued her dirty deed, "please... Kensai, you've done enough," I began to beg, "let her go already. Let her go," my voice began to fall behind my tears, "let her go... LET HER GO!" the words finally escaped my lips.

The skin over Misanagi's eyes suddenly sprang up, those rusty brown pupils taking all the white in her eyes. Her foot suddenly shot toward my stomach, making me stumble back, my back hitting the roof first. My head sprung forward, to find the ninja rolling against her back, springing back to her feet with her hands, those same hands covering her once concealed skin after.

"You're disgraceful!" she spat, all her henchmen jumping to her side after. "Himura Mina, you shall pay for this treacherous act, I shall see to it!"

Smoke suddenly swarmed below the feet of the shadow warriors, climbing up their feet and the rest of their figures, eventually engulfing each within the dark cloud. The smog began to fill my lungs, blocking the passage of my throat. Shutting my eyes from the gray cloud, I coughed the substance out of my lungs, coughing until the smog had subsided. Turning to where the ninjas once were, there was nothing, just pieces of tile remained on the roof.

"Mina-san!" Shion's voice interrupted my observation.

I turned to the streets below to find my men waiting, some injured, others laying on the ground, but most still standing. I pushed my feet against the roof of the warehouse once more, launching me upward and then back down to the streets.

"Mina-san, are you okay?" Shion asked.

"I'm fine, Shion, that I am," I answered, putting the best smile on my face as possible.

In truth, I was not fine. I had added yet another sin to my list, even if I was not the one to commit it. I was filled with guilt and sadness, I pitied that shinobi for what Kensai had done to her. I wanted to cry for her, but my eyes just wouldn't let me, the translucent rivers must've all escaped my eyes when I begged for the woman's sake. It was just horrible, I'm sure I could also feel the pain she must've been going through, as if I were the one who was in her place. Kensai, that sick bitch, how I hate her, I hate every part of her being; her voice, her attitude, her personality, and especially the fact I can never get rid of her as long as I live.

"What about your wounds?" Tetsu returned me to reality, reminding me of the two stabs I had received earlier.

I turned back to the injuries, the red streams had been dried out, the craters patched. I ran my finger down the mark above my chest, my entire body suddenly scrunched, it still hurt.

"They're okay," I answered, "still kind of stings though. Anyway, can anyone report our losses?" I asked all my men, trying to forget of the dirty deed that had just occurred.

"Five dead, sixteen wounded," one soldier reported.

"I guess we did pretty well then," I sighed, wiping away the perspiration from my brow.

"The ninjas couldn't get a hold of anything on the ships luckily," the soldier continued, "maybe we could take the..."

"Sink the ships," I ordered my men.

"Why Himura-san?" one of the other soldiers asked.

"We can't allow anyone to get a hold of what's on there," I answered, "whether it's Cho Shu, Satsuma, the Bakufu, there's no exceptions! Sink the ships!"

For a few seconds, my men just stood there in place, probably questioning my decision. But just like dominoes, they all fell before my order as soon as one did. Shion was the first to fall, taking up her spear and heading toward the nearest ship. Tetsu fell next, and the numbers just multiplied after that.

"Aren't you going to help them?" Kensai asked me as I observed my men setting fire to the large boats.

"Keep your mouth shut, you disgusting bitch!" I tried to ignore her.

"And just for the record," Kensai continued, "I didn't lie to you about battles I couldn't win, but battles in which you could."

Kensai shut her mouth after that. I didn't understand what she meant by, 'all I am is someone who's good at one thing, killing, but you on the other hand, you possess even more power than myself.' It just didn't make sense. 'How am I more powerful than Kensai?' I asked myself. I didn't want to dwell on it too much so I simply brushed the words aside with the brush of my sword against the wind.

We sunk the three structures, it's technology to be forever lost in the sea, or so I thought. That technology, however, would make it to Japan sooner or later, I just didn't know it. We returned to Kyoto shortly, the sun had risen as soon as we returned. Katsura had greeted us once we had returned, all my men had went to their rooms to rest after the grueling assignment, I was stuck giving the report. I informed Katsura of the unexpected turn of events, about the ships arriving early and of the Sanada Ninjas, but I could not inform of Kensai's attempted rape, there would be no way that he could believe it was my body acting alone, so all I could do was keep my mouth shut. Katsura didn't think of the Sanada Ninjas as a threat, he simply said that they'll probably just remain in the shadows after this incident, but of course, I knew that wasn't going to be the case after what had transpired that evening. After giving my report, I just wanted to lay back and rest. I was about to climb up the stairs to my room when Shion had stopped me.

"Mina-san," Shion greeted me at the stairs.

"What is it, Shion?" I asked as I began my way up the stairs.

"About what I was going to tell you yesterday," she stated.

"What about it?" I asked as I stopped before the door to my room.

"It's just that...," her finger began trailing her palm again, "I...I love you!" she suddenly blurted.

"Nani?!" my heart suddenly jumped.

'What the fuck?!' I cursed in my head. 'Just what I needed! First there was stupid Kensai and her attempted lesbian rape a few hours ago and now Shion is suddenly attracted to me?! Don't I have all the luck? Why can't men ever find me attractive, I mean, find me attractive and not try and have their way with me?!'

"Look, Shion, I...," I tried to tell I was uninterested but she suddenly stopped me.

My mouth was suddenly engulfed with her's, I was locked in place. No matter how hard I tried to push away, I just wasn't strong enough to do so. I tried pushing her back, but again, no avail. I don't even want to think of how long we stood there, actually she just stood there, I was trying to pull myself away. Wind suddenly slid passed my ear, I knew it wasn't going to be good. My eyes veered to their edges to find my brother standing right there, the door slid wide open.

"ORO?!" Kenshin jumped upon seeing this lip lock. "Gomen, Mina," Kenshin quickly slid the door closed again, one hand sliding the door, the other pinching his nose, preventing any more ruby rivers from flooding out.

Shion broke the seal a few seconds after Kenshin had suddenly left, my mouth had been sucked dry thanks to Shion's pulling as our mouths were locked together. God, I just wanted to puke after that!

"I'll see you later, Mina-san," Shion smiled, her hand sliding against my arm as she returned downstairs.

"My life is so screwed up!" I groaned after Shion had left. "I'm sure Kensai would've enjoyed that, the sick bitch," I spat away the residue on my lips.

At that very moment, a thought had stretched across my mind. It had been the first time I had thought about it. The thought was, 'If Kensai and I were in the same body and share the same thoughts and memories, doesn't that make us one person?' If that's so, then was that me who slaughtered all those men. Was it I that tried to rape Misanagi? Am I really attracted to men and (ugh!) women? I didn't want to think about it, I still don't want to think about it. No, I do not wish to talk about it either! Quit insisting already, just stop it! Just...leave me alone! No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lash out like that, just give me a few moments to cool down...

Chapter 16 Liner Notes

A little bit about Kensai- Kensai is a product of Multiple Personality Disorder, in other words, she is the alternate personality of Mina. As you read in this chapter, Kensai is attracted to woman, but why is that? Well, in about half the cases of Multiple Personality Disorder, the alternate persona usually has a different sexual preference than the normal persona, which explains why Kensai's a lesbian.

(Next time: "For once in my life, I, the hunter, had become the hunted. I had narrowly escaped death, escaped the talons of the Kensai. They say that devils know their own kind, and I know when they come out to play..." -Misanagi the Flying Arrow)

Author's Note: Well, how was it? Yeah, yeah, I'm not good at this lemon/lime type stuff, I'm still learning. I felt kinda awkward when writing the attempted rape scene, but hey, this fic is supposed to be dark and everything. Besides, I told you readers that there'd be some yuri in this fic (don't worry, that's as graphic as it'll get, at least for the yuri, but for the lemon chapter, I'm not sure yet), this is supposed to be a dark fic after all, so I'm pulling out all the stops, so yeah, you can expect some more homosexual themes (not too much, I'm not really a yaoi/yuri fan), a cult (you know, one of those dark religious groups), and a lot of dark stuff (drugs for one thing, you'll just have to find out the rest by reading on). Just to let you know ahead of time, Misanagi will be one of the main villains in this fic, and who can blame her, she'll even appear in the 'Twin Dragon Arc' remake (the current version is posted on Fanfiction.net and Pyschotikrk, it sucks in comparison to this fic anyway). Well, leave me a review, but not a flame, it'll make my day. Well, I guess that's it for now, later!