Author's Note: Well, this is the second-to-last chapter of 'Crimson String Book I: Siblings of the Sword.' No action in this chapter unfortunately, just a lot of angst. This chapter was really hard for me to write, and I hope you all enjoy it. Oh, and one other thing, I forgot to type down part of Mina's real and full name during the prologue and first chapter. So you won't be confused or anything, Mina's real and full name is Tachibana Minako, Mina is just her nickname that everyone calls her.

Chapter 33: The Past is the Present

It had only been five minutes since I had first entered the forest, the rain was pouring even heavier than it did a while ago. The water was bending the branches around me, the winds would cause some to snap, and the crashes of thunder would sometimes illuminate the area for a brief second. The rain, along with some of the trees dead leaves, began to pile upon my shoulders, making my feet sink into the muddy dirt below. I felt as if I was carrying several weights on me, and that something was pulling my being into the earth.

"Nani?!" I jumped with next crash of thunder.

The light that had brightened the area for a brief second had showed me my surroundings, or what I thought were my surroundings anyway. To the sides of me were bodies of countless men and women, some with missing arms, legs, or other limbs. A river of blood was flowing from numerous spots on their corpses, it was not a pretty sight. Another flash of lightning soon followed, this time the bodies were gone.

"It's just my imagination," I assured myself.

The winds suddenly began to die down only to be replaced with something more hideous. The moans of people filled my ears after my voice had passed. They were echoing from all around. The sound of their voices locked my knees in place; I was very frightened. My hand began to reach for the wakezashi on my belt, it wasn't as long or strong as my katana, but it would have to do. Just as I drew my blade, I suddenly felt something creep on my shoulder, they felt like long and slender fingers slowly pulling at my kimono. I jerked back immediately and quickly turned to swipe at the source. I had slit nothing but a tree branch whose leaves had already fallen.

"Damn, I'm so delirious," I said to myself as I returned my short blade into its sheath.

"Mina," the winds began to pick up once more, calling my name.

Again I jerked, paralyzed with fear once more. The winds could never talk on their own, so of course this would scare the living hell out of anyone.

"Mina, you're just freaking yourself out, okay!" I yelled at myself and began treading down the forest once more.

"Mina," the voice of the wind rose.

"You're making this crap up, Mina," I closed my ears, talking to myself once more, "the wind's not talking to you!"

"Mina."

"It's all just an illusion..."

"Mina."

"It's all just a mind game..."

"Mina!" the wind's voice boomed as another presence began stroking my shoulder.

This time I did not simply freeze in place. A loud cry escaped my throat instead, my eyes beginning to burn with tears once more. Shutting my eyes and covering my ears, I began to run. No matter how shut my eyes and ears were, I could still hear those voices, I could still see those visages of dead men and women, I could still feel death creeping upon my shoulder.

My ankle met with a tree branch after an unaccounted amount of time later. I found my face and entire body soaked with the grass below. I knew at the point that there was something strange; the forest didn't have any grass. I pushed myself off the ground once more and found a large field before my eyes, or, what was supposed to be a large field. There was grass before my feet for only a few inches, everything else was just mounds of mud. I had reached the country by running out of the forest. The area was fairly open, you could probably see a person a mile or two away; this wouldn't be the best place to hide. I began to turn back to the forest, but a small structure caught my eye. It was in the middle of the would-be field, small and somewhat dated. It was a house, a typical farmer's one at that, and just by looking at the outside, it didn't look like it had be occupied for at least a year. I began making my way toward the house, it would make a better shelter than the forest.

I had reached the house's porch soon after. I could get a better view of the home; I could see into the inside from cracks in the walls. The walls were made of poorly cut oak, the hay used to make the roof was barely hanging on, most of it had already fell off; the house was deserted just as I had observed from afar. I began to pull the door to the side, it barely moved an inch. I pulled again, this time I jerked my body along with the pull. The door nearly flew out of it's place, but it began moving smoothly after I shut it again when I found myself inside. The inside of the house was in the same condition as the outside. Water seemed to have damaged walls and drapery, the little furniture that rested within was covered in dust and cobwebs. There was a rather foul stench within the air, it was the smell of wet wood. As I began to step further into the house, voices began echoing in my ears once more.

"Can you set the table?" the voice of woman called.

"Hai," another answered.

"What the hell?!" I took hold of my head.

"Do you see what happens when you play out in the rain?" the first voice echoed again.

"Gomen, mother," the other voice apologized.

"Mother...?" I released my temple and turned toward the small table in front of me.

Sitting before that table were now three individuals. There was a rather strong-looking man, about in his late twenties or mid-thirties, his hair was a fiery red color and his eyes a rustic brown. To the side of him was a woman, raven black hair and lavender eyes, she looked a few years younger than the man sitting next to her. Across from the couple was a girl, she looked about ten or eleven, she had fiery red hair and a shade of violet in her eyes. The image of the girl caught my attention, she looked so happy, despite the condition of the house, despite the rags she wore for clothes.

"Mina, can you water the crops when you're finished?" the woman asked the younger girl.

"Hai!" the girl smiled.

"This is house is...," the surroundings suddenly began to feel familiar.

"Tachibana Minako, just where were you?!" I turned to the doorway behind me to find the woman scolding the young girl.

"Don't be mad at our daughter," the man suddenly appeared next to the girl, "I brought her with me into town."

"Oh, gomen, Mina," the woman patted the girl's hair.

"I'm home...," I turned back to the table a few feet away from the doorway. "I'm home, that I am."

"Welcome home, Tachibana Minako," my mother's voice echoed in my head.

"It's good to see that you have returned, Minako," Father and Mother's forms suddenly appeared before my eyes.

Tachibana Minako, I hadn't been called my real name for the longest time. It sounded like heaven in my ears just for someone to call me by that name once more.

"I'm back, Mother, Father," I smiled.

The winds began to blow once again, and suddenly the image of my parents began to fade away.

"Mother, Father, don't leave me!" I called.

I began running toward them, but something suddenly took hold of my arm. I quickly turned to the source to find her once more, that sinister simper stretched across her face.

"Kensai, let me go!" I ordered. "Kensai!"

"Silence!" I suddenly found my back striking against the furthest wall.

"Mom, Dad!" I cried as I tried to reach them once more.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Kensai appeared before me once more.

"Get out of my way!" I reached for my wakezashi.

Immediately I withdrew the blade from it's wooden restraint, sliding outward in the direction of her throat. It instantly sliced through her neck, yet her head remained in place and not a drop of blood escaped her cut. I swung again, I had sliced only the hair with my second attack yet again. I went for a third swing, and then a fourth, still nothing. The smile on her face widened with every swing of my sword, cackling would escape the growing crease on her lips as my wakezashi struck the air before us.

"Shut up!" I yelled to shield her taunting laugh. "Just shut the fuck up!"

Again I swung with all my might, yet again slicing the air. Each blow I delivered carried all of my strength, and with each blow the force behind the attack would slowly dwindle. Eventually the strength in my arms suddenly died, the hold on my sword broken by my own fingers. My knees fell to the floor after, my arms dangling by my side and tears trailing down my cheeks, side-by-side with the river of blood flowing down my left eye.

"Do you really think you can be happy?" Kensai taunted as I lay there. "What makes you think you deserve such a thing when you have brought so much sorrow to others?"

"Just what makes you think that?" the form of a Mibu Wolf suddenly appeared beside my doppelganger.

"What makes you think that?" a Bakufu soldier took to the side of his ally.

"What makes you think that?" more soldiers began to appear, as well as men and women not in arms.

More bodies began to appear, first one at a time, then two, and suddenly three. Their numbers continued to multiply, from four, to seven, from seven, to twelve; they continued appearing until their forms covered the entire house, all of them asking the very same question, over and over again.

"What makes you think that?" they all began to ask in unison.

"I don't know...," I began to close my ears, huddling against the nearest corner.

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know..."

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know..."

"What makes you think that?"

"For God's sake, I don't know!" I screamed.

My arms had regained their strength at that moment, but I did not take up my sword once again. I had them take hold of my legs, bringing them toward my chest and burying my face on my knees.

"What makes you think that?" they continued asking.

"I don't know...," I cried. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know."

"You never wanted to bring them sadness, did you, Mina?" Kensai asked, her voice standing above the rest.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone," I admitted, "I only..."

"You only wanted to be with him," Kensai finished. "And you can be with him, and you can bring these people happiness," she knelt next to my wakezashi.

"What are you doing?" I sobbed as she took the short sword into her hand.

"There is one simple solution to all of this, take it!" the sword clattered before my feet.

"No...," I shook my head.

"Your brother is dead, you know that!" Kensai yelled. "They killed Shishio, then they tried you, and now possibly Shion, why wouldn't they have killed your brother? You can bring happiness to those you've killed by ending your own life and be reunited with him if you do so."

"No..."

"Why not?!" Kensai spat. "You wish to see him, don't you? And you wish to bring happiness to those you've killed. I know you, Mina, take the sword and end it all."

"No!" I yelled, slamming my palms against the floor.

The chanting stopped at that very moment. My arms pushed against the floor suddenly, raising me to my feet. My tears had dried, my eyes narrowed, and my fingers wrapped into a fist. I glared straight into the pupils of Kensai, glaring at her and the ones behind her. The on-lookers all took a step back, their hands raised upward, their palms pointed forward. They were scared, all of them, except the one standing before me. That smirk was still stretched across her lips, never flinching as the my thumb's hold on my fingers tightened.

"Who are you to say that you know me, huh?!" I yelled. "You don't know anything, Kensai, you know nothing about me, that you don't! All you know about is pain, suffering, and death! You live to see others' pain, to watch their suffering, and above all else, to see their deaths! You used me as your pawn in all of your actions, if anything these people are here to torment you, not me, that they are!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

For the first time, I had seen fear on her face, that smirk had finally began to melt. The souls began to step forward, reaching out to the evil before them. Her eyes began shifting from right to left, her arms straightening to the sides as her palms pointed to the walls.

"You're afraid of them, aren't you?" I asked calmly.

"Afraid? I have nothing to be afraid of," she almost stuttered.

"Then why do you back away?"

"Shut up, I'm not backing away!" she spat.

The individuals began to lunge forward, all of them falling to Kensai's feet, some were even able to latch onto her legs. For the first time, she screamed, fear had been a stranger to her until now. Quickly she reached for the fallen wakezashi, taking it into her hands and began slicing at the opposition. It was the same result as when I had struck her, nothing but air.

"Get back!" she screamed. "I had you all killed once, and I can do it again!"

"You sound so unconfident when you say that, Kensai, that you do," I crossed my arms.

"No, let go!" more of the souls had taken hold of her.

She was being pulled forward, sinking into the crowd as more hands took hold of her. Fingers took hold of her hair, her hands, her face, anything they could latch onto. Screams continued crying from her mouth, each one louder than the last. Slowly, her figure began disappearing from the depths of the crowd, her arms reaching out to me as far as it could.

"Mina, please, help me!" she begged for the very first time.

I simply stood there, watching as she grew deeper into the crowd.

"Himura Mina, please!" she cried once more.

Again I watched and nothing more. Her cries grew louder and louder, tears had begun to fall upon her face. The demons that she had created were beginning to take their toll on her. I began to turn away from my ex-associate, only to turn back once more with the sound of her voice.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" she began to cackle once more. "This isn't over, Himura Mina!" she yelled. "You haven't seen the last of me, you can never get rid of me, you need me! You need me! Ah ha ha ha ha ha! You need me!"

And with that last laugh, she had disappeared into nothingness along with the souls that had contained her. The winds had died, and the storm had grown calm; the house silent yet again. It was empty, I was alone, all alone...

"Mother, Father...," I returned to my spot on the floor.

"Mina," Mother's voice suddenly called.

"Go and get some rest, Tachibana Minako," Father's voice followed.

"I will," I nodded as a smile crept upon my face.

I pushed myself off the floor once more, taking my wakezashi back into my belt. I began walking toward my room where I have not slept in for so long. Before I could enter, I turned back to the living room once more, my smile melting a second later.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" I could still hear her laugh.

"Kensai...," I muttered her name.

She was right, that wasn't the last time I had seen her, but that didn't matter at the moment, I just needed to rest...



Chapter 33 Liner notes

Is this the last we'll ever see of Kensai?- Of course not, I'm afraid Kensai will return in book II, I still have a lot more in store for her. Mina just wouldn't be Mina without her evil doppelganger.

(Next time: "So many lives have been taken, taken by my hand and sword. I have lost so much these past three years, and I have gained so little. Yet there is still hope for those that have fallen, there is still hope for me. There is, there really is..." -Himura Mina)

Author's Note: Well, that was probably the shortest and hardest chapter to write in this entire story, I hope I did well. As usual, no flames or anything like that if you're going to drop me a review. Well, it'll all be over on the next update unfortunately, 'Crimson String Book I: Siblings of the Sword' ends with the next update. Mina's adventures will continue luckily in 'Crimson String Book II: A Rurouni's Path,' which will be her adventures as she searches for Kenshin. But what about Shion, what happened to her? Was she able to get away from the Ishin Shishi or does she still serve them? Well, you'll have to read book II to find out, and 'When Angels Lost Their Wings' (co-written by Crystal of ff.net) to read some of Shion's adventures. Well, next time we'll have closure to this book, so until then, later!