Author's notes: All right, here's my first Kenshin fic, so be nice and REVIEW!!! Let me set the tone a little: This is for the most part, a dark fic it gets fluffy in some chapters, and I try my best to add humor, but the characters are facing mental anguish through out most of the story… so just keep that in mind.
Disclaimer: Go ahead and sue me. You'll get enough money to buy a loaf of bread.
Prologue: Crushed Spirit
My life is hell. There are no words to describe it living, breathing, hell. I once wondered why all this happened to me. Then I met the real world, and found that pain has no face. It's just a silent killer that chooses it's victims randomly and prays on them slowly and mercilessly until that poor unfortunate person is but a former shell of themselves; a corpse with reasoning abilities, I suppose. The only way to win against this type of murder is to battle your own mind, a game that people rarely win. It's all in your head. It's all in your head. It's all in your head.
That's what I tell myself whenever I witness a child being killed in the streets because it dared to live. That's what I tell myself when I hear the death cries of prostitutes because they were trying to make a living. That's what I told myself when thousands of innocents were slaughtered just because they were victims of circumstance. That's what I told myself when my entire family was brutally murdered before my eyes for no other reason than that they existed.
I sometimes wonder which is worse: That my family died, or that I survived. Could I end it all now and be done with it? Sure. But that is the coward's way out. I am no coward. I decided long ago that I wasn't just going to sit and let life beat down on me. I have nothing left but memories; I have nothing to lose but everything to gain. The least I could do is seek revenge for the lives that were stolen. And that is exactly what I intend to do. Once my revenge is exacted, I can die peacefully and honorably, knowing that even though my loved ones are dead, their lives were not taken without due repayment.
Who is the one so worthy of my lethal intentions? The Battousai, of course. He is the one responsible for killing my family cold-blooded, so he has earned himself a cold-blooded death. He had no idea whom he was messing with when he killed off my family. Now he will face me, Kaoru Kamiya, also known as the "Death Shadow", the most ruthless assassin in all of Japan. Yes, his time has come, and soon will his flesh taste the cold steel of my blade.
Defeating Battousai has become my life's ambition… I live and breathe death until his mutilated body is buried six feet under the ground I now stand upon. His annihilation is my only purpose for living. Why should I have purpose other than to bring justice to my dead family? Nowadays, I feel dead inside… dead since that fateful day my life was smashed to pieces. But perhaps, living without a soul has made me more alive than I ever was.
Before tragedy reared its ugly head, I was just a naïve, indecisive little girl whose most potent thoughts were focused on the next day's wardrobe. But one quickly matures when they find everything they ever held dear –their family, friends, and possessions lost in just one day. You learn not to take things for granted –you become hard and cold. Your priorities are made clear for you and the constant battle for survival makes you stronger. As misery consumes you, and that awful killer –your mind- begins to attack, you have two choices. Either beat your own psychology or give into it. The former results in broken soul, the latter results in suicide. And you can never truly beat death –you can avoid it, but never for long.
There are four things I have learned from my experiences:
Never trust anyone or anything. Pain is the definition of life; learn to cope with it. 3. Kill or be killed Death is the only solution to death.4.The more attached you get to something, the more it hurts when you lose it. Therefore, don't get attached to anything; it can only mean trouble.
After I lost everything, I vowed to seek revenge. I trained under Master Kutshi, where I learned and perfected the art of the Kutshiso style the undefeatable technique of the manslayer. The only technique known to be able to counterbalance the Battousai's sword style. During my days of training, my sensei had always said to never show emotion in battle as it denotes weakness. I happen to believe the opposite; those with emotions are powerful. Displays of emotion show that the fighter is passionate about something. To be passionate about something, you must care for it -which means you are strong enough to defend it, and prepared to face having it taken from you.
My formal training concluded three years ago, since then I have been constantly training, wandering, and fighting –molding myself into the perfect killing machine. And now that I have fully perfected my sword style, I am prepared to take on the Battousai and serve vengeance on behalf of my deceased family. Yes, Battousai, fear me. You will meet your death at my hands and pay for your cruel injustices with your blood. The end result always justifies the means.
A/N: Okay, end of the prologue. This chapter was kind of just to set up the mood and the plot. The next chapter actually begins the story. REVIEW!!! Pretty pleaseeee??!!! Any questions or extra comments, e-mail me at either or . Thanx!
