DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin is not owned by moi! Too bad!
Dead or Alive
PART 2. Lovers Lost, Paths Crossed
Years later in 1878...
It was a foggy morning in downtown Tokyo. Suddenly the sound of whistles could be heard... the police. "Mate! Mate!!"
A huge bulk of a man was running throughout the streets. He bellowed "I am the Hitokiri Battousai of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu!!!", as he cut through each of the policemen like they were pieces of paper.
"What the-?"
The question was stopped by the sound of a young woman making her way into the scene...
"Mate Hitokiri Battousai! You'll pay for dirtying the name of our school!"
A young woman holding a bokutou ran towards the so-called Hitokiri Battousai. He easily cut her weapon in half, and laughed maniacally as he was about to give her the same fate.
"I'd stop that if I were you."
They both stopped to look at the mysterious man with the flaming red hair and a slash scar on his left cheek. Close behind him was a beautiful woman who had an eerie grace about her. The "Battousai" put his sword down, and pointed it towards the stranger instead. "What are you going to do about it? I'm the legendary Hitokiri Battousai, I'll kill you."
"Che. What do you know about the legendary Hitokiri? You're just a loser running around behind a fake name... I accept your challenge."
The clink of the sword coming out of the sheath hung in the air. The "Battousai" started to make his way over to his mysterious opponent. The fight had begun.
In less than one second the fake Battousai was sprawled on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Kenshin turned around towards the girl, "He shouldn't be bothering your school's name any longer." With that the red headed man and his woman quietly began to depart.
The girl sat there stunned at what had just occurred. What had just happened? Who was that man…? She felt she had a strange, unrecognizable connection to him. She sat there stunned, until she couldn't bear being near the bloody mess anymore.
"So remind me again why we are in Tokyo?", Kenshin asked his wife.
"Why do you think we are here?"
"Because you said we needed a change of scenery from Kyoto... and I suggested we come to Tokyo, which is a relatively more peaceful place."
"So you do know."
He looked at her, she gave him one of her rare smiles.
They were making their way over to the Akabeko, which was known around Tokyo as one of the best Gyunabe places in town. As they got inside Kenshin spotted the girl from that morning. She was sitting alone at a table happily eating her sukiyaki. When she looked up, they made eye contact for a brief moment. She smiled at him in recognition. He merely nodded in acknowledgement as he and Tomoe were seated. After that, though, he couldn't stop looking at her.
"Are you looking at that young woman from this morning?"
"Oh… yes. It's strange. She keeps smiling at me."
"Smiling… oh look, she's making her way over…"
Kenshin made a grab for his sword. Tomoe covered his hand. He looked up. She was shaking her head. She had been trying to get him out of his samurai ways for some years now. The only good improvement he had made was getting a Sakabatou.
"Hi! Thanks so much for this morning!"
"It was no problem. He was dirtying many people's names."
"I'm Kamiya Kaoru! And you?"
"Himura. Himura Ken-" he caught himself. This was a change he had been planning on making for the Meiji era. 'Kenshin' was his name as a swordsman, now he was just a man living his life. "Himura Shinta, and this is my wife Tomoe."
"Nice to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you both!", Kaoru was so cheerful and enthusiastic. The couple wasn't sure what to make of her.
"So! It was pretty cool how you defeated that fake Battousai! They say his name was Hiruma Gohei!"
"…"
"And how did you manage to defeat him without killing him? That bloody mess made it seem like he was slashed to pieces! But it seems only parts of him were crushed and that a lot of blood had just come from his mouth, since you know-"
She stopped when she saw the couple suddenly look very non-hungry. "Oops. Sorry."
"It's alright. Excuse me, while I go to the bathroom." Tomoe stood to get up.
Funny. As soon as Tomoe left, a peculiar feeling Shinta didn't even know was there seemed to vanish. He looked up at the girl who had seated herself down next to him. She smiled. Why does her smile seem to move me? It wasn't like Tomoe's smile, that was usually vague, and a rarity in itself. It was more pleasant and happy… it held so much feeling. "So!" she broke him out of his train of thought. "How did you manage not to kill him? I mean, I saw the way you struck him."
"Sakabatou."
"Saka..?"
"Reverse sword." He pulled the sword from his belt, and took it out of its sheath. "The blade is on the wrong side, it can cut anything but human flesh."
Her eyes were glowing and wide-eyed. "Cooooooooool!!!!!!"
He had to smile.
His smile was small, but it made Kaoru very happy. What could it be?, she thought. I make people smile all the time! Why is he so special?
He felt uneasy as she studied him, why was she gazing at him so intently? All he knew was that he had never met anyone like her. At least, he couldn't be too sure he hadn't. Why did he feel a strange sense of familiarity with her, especially in this place? No, he was sure he'd never met anyone so naïve and on top of things at the same time. Yet, the feeling he'd known her once before stuck to him in the back of his mind.
He found himself drowning helplessly in her radiant, cerulean eyes, as she found herself spellbound by his deep, amethyst eyes. They didn't know it, but they had been gazing into the eachother's eyes for quite some time as they were both lost in their thoughts. However, Tomoe's return immediately broke their trance. Tomoe announced it was time for them to go…
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Bonjour! How do you all like it so far? Please help me in my process of writing this story by leaving a review, I really appreciate them! Thank you for reading this far! Merci beaucoup!
\(^o^)/ SMILE!!!)
