Dedicated to: JML (Retrospective pieces are probably my best work because I like to break things down. I have a very bad Freudian complex...), Susan (I will write a lot more about everyone else, yeah, I could base a whole lot of fics on this... I would write it separately, but I think it works better by including it straight in here. Trust me, you're not the only one who's worried about Megumi -_-;;;), omochi (*awwws* You're not too bad yourself! *laughs*), Xara (I read your review at nighttime and I was wondering "Man, it's morning where she is?! Where the heck are you?" then I remembered you were the only British girl I know of living in Indonesia. Gawd... I love Britain, I'm SO moving there when I get older...), Crystal (trying to steal my talent, eh? Maybe that's a good thing, I'm always writing fanfiction I never have time to do things that a "normal" teenager does... like get drunk and go to wild parties and lose my life in a car accident— wait a second... I'd rather be writing!! Gimme' back my talent!), J.Liha (I'll try not to give you another heart attack, but I'm not doing it on purpose ^_^ I personally can't choose over which past would make me cry more, but it does flesh out the characters since you see so little of Soujirou and Hiko in the manga and anime), raphie (*nods* Ya ya, oui oui, si si, hai yes yes. All shall be explained in this chapter, I think. If you can't wait that long, read tenshi's review on chapter nine. That just freakin' blew me away...), tenshi (heeeeeyyy, I was JUST talking about your review... I still haven't gotten over the initial shock of how intuitive you are. *sighs* Good thing I wrote that breather chapter, I don't think I could have gone on with suspense...), Miyu Sakura (*twiddles thumbs* I hope I don't disappoint... but I don't think that I'm the "skilled author" you talk about. *groans* I've never written a Kenshin/Kaoru or Battousai/Tomoe or whatever's egos with whose... maybe you can give me few tips about it! Sympathy you'll get if I can figure out how to write the darn thing...), Arashi (eh, eventually I'll delve into Kaoru x Kenshin, but that'll take a while. Maybe you won't be one of the crazy people that email me about "Who's he with? Huh?! HUH?!? It's either one or the other!" *snickers* Goons...), Sanosuke (I know it's not your style to read deep contemplation, you're more of the rough and tumble "Let's kick ass" person. However, Battousai is an interesting person to delve into, not saying that you aren't... this is your chapter), Sephy (We need more Hiko fanfiction. He's so central to the plot but we rarely find anything about him except in spoofs. I'm trying to fill in a hole here), blacksakura (*laughs* Typical reaction! ^_^), Kat (I didn't answer the question because his intermission is not finished yet. You'll get the answer in the next intermission), Sevarem (Raging OOCness is okay in the first chapter because it doesn't affect anything. However, if you ever get this far, the OOCness is not quite so forgivable. I'll remember that hakama...), M.Kasshoku (I've also wondered why Hiko is so handsome yet chooses to isolate himself from the world. It was just my version of why. I haven't read the manga, maybe there's something in there and I'm way off kilter... ah well...), Kormko (Hopefully this chapter will explain), and Daniel (*laughs* I never said that I was perfect at Spanish (only third year). However, I have dignity. I would not use Babelfish because I know that it just translates it word for word. I did however just use my Spanish dictionary and conjugate it word from that. I don't know how much better that makes me... I did ask my professora and she said that "lunacy" is just as valid as "locura". She explained to me about the origin of the word (luna/moon/frenzy/romantic language) and she said that they were both used interchangeably in Puerto Rico. *shrugs* I'm not one to doubt my teacher. I've tried to email you but it keeps coming back to me. Basically it said that a Spanish proofreader is thoroughly welcomed and needed ^_^ Thanks for the concern!)

Look at this obscenely long list! *points above her* Be prepared people, not only have I never written anything like this before, I'm very unconfident about it. Tell me your honest opinion, but don't be harsh. I don't think I can take "You suck!" or "Man, you've sunk so low..." this time. Mercy, anyone?

Now, someone has graciously contributed fanart for this fic! La Ravene's very talented stylings of the Three Fates! Trust me, they're really good. If you like her art, then email her at la_ravene@mail.com and tell her!

Soujirou: http://karinakineshi.tripod.com/soujiro.gif
Hiko: http://karinakineshi.tripod.com/hiko.gif
Sano-chan and Hajime: http://karinakineshi.tripod.com/sanohajime.gif

Do you have the Moulin Rouge soundtrack? If so, you're going to want to listen to "The Ballad Of Roxanne" on an endless loop during this chapter. It's mood music. Or, if you don't have that, something appropriately suspenseful...

*********

They Say Cameras Are Only Good For Pictures...11
By: Karina Kineshi (coronaflare@mail.com)

"What?" The man closed his eyes as if to regain his senses and then deftly hit himself on the side of the head. Zanza almost laughed at his foolishness, but the situation did not call for any humor. The man wiped his running nose with the back of his sleeve and grinned. "What did you just say?"

Zanza started to reach into his jacket pocket, all the while fighting against the overcoming sleep. He pulled out a small pouch of money and pressed it into the man's hand. "She's walking down the street on the other side of town as we speak. I want you to go and attempt to rape her."

The pudgy man was thunderstruck. "Y-You're serious!"

"I'm always serious. Otherwise... no one takes me seriously."

The man looked at the money, then at Zanza, then back at the money again. "Why?" he queried suspiciously, narrowing his eyes and trying to look like he had a grasp on the situation. "Are you some sort of cop?"

"No."

If it was entirely possible, the man narrowed his eyes even further and peered in Zanza's face. He was so repulsive that Zanza had to fight back every urge in his body to not just knock the man into an early grave. "Then what the hell are you?" he slurred.

Zanza noted the irony and the corner of his mouth curved upward. "I am nobody. Nobody important." No more time for guessing games. "Are you going to do it, or not? I'm going to leave with my money if you won't." He reached for the pouch and prepared to get up.

"Wait." The man clung to the bag as if his life depended on it with a certain kind of urgency. Zanza instantly knew what it was: without this money there was no way this man would survive. He was addicted to something much more potent than sake, and the blood red eyes told the rest of the story: an opium addict.

So that's where the money goes...

Zanza wondered why this man frequented the bars as often as he did, later in evenings to disappear into a back room and emerge with puffy eyes. He cursed himself for not catching onto this in the first place. Out of all people, why an opium addict? Why not just some bum off the street? Was it some sort of sick irony to remind him of Megumi? He felt horrible that even more horrid memories be replayed through the eyes of this man. All the terror, the degradation...

"So will you do it?"

The man nodded a little bit too enthusiastically, probably thinking of his next high. "Tell me what you want me to do. I'll even throw a killing in there for free."

*****

"He wants to kill me!" she sobbed pathetically. "My God... don't let him... oh God..." Megumi-sensei had taken to rocking back and forth while sitting down, and despite Sano-chan's attempts to placate her, her harried shaking could not be stopped. "He wants to kill me!" she shrieked. "Don't let him!"

Shinomori pounded his hands on the edge of the cauldron and peered into the water. So the motive was clear: revenge. To Shinomori's eyes, Zanza still had pent up anger that was somehow directed towards Takani Megumi. How could they be soulmates then? It had to be a fake; there's no way that a man would ever want the woman he loves raped by another. It didn't make any sense. He chose not to relay the information of the imminent rape to Megumi-sensei or Sano-chan; it would only serve to make them even more hysterical. He didn't want to say anything until true answers were found...

"What's he doing now?" Megumi-sensei asked fearfully. Tears were streaming down her face.

Sano-chan tried to embrace the woman but whenever he tried to get near her she would only end up screaming and wailing. He quickly decided it would be easier to keep her as calm as possible while Shinomori tried to figure out the situation. "C'mon Shinomori, hurry up..."

Shinomori shook his head in bewilderment. Having everything crash down all at once proved almost too much for his mind to bear. "I can't do this alone! Where is Tokio?!"

Sano-chan frantically scanned the darkness for any sign of the divinity. There was none. Abandoned by God, abandoned by friends, abandoned by his own self... Sano-chan screamed into the darkness like a man possessed. "I won't let you take her! You hear me..."

*****

"Here's the information. She's walking down the street a couple of blocks from here as we speak."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"I just do. Stop talking and let me finish. I want you to try and rape her."

"You already said that."

"I know, but there's only one condition. You are to do everything but the act of actually having sex with her."

The man sighed. "But that takes all the fun out of it."

Zanza's eyes glittered. "I swear to God, if you so as much think about breaking that one rule, I will kill you. Make no mistake about that." The man gulped. "There is one more thing I need you to do for me."

"What's that?"

"Know my name. Sagara Sanosuke. Remember it and learn to say it well. If she somehow retaliates and defeats you, I want you to say that it was I who put you up to it."

"She won't defeat me," he smirked.

*****

For the longest time in Gehenna, all that could be heard was the sound of weeping. Shinomori gripped his hands. This still made no sense whatsoever. Why would Zanza want the man to hold back his strength? Why would he want the man to divulge his name if the woman fights him off? Why...

"You're not being true to me, Shinomori."

"What?"

Sano-chan got up from his crouching position beside Megumi-sensei and walked over to where Shinomori stood, hands clenched. Before Shinomori could react, the child slapped him across the face with amazing force. The black rage in Sano-chan's eyes stunned him. "You're not telling me the whole truth Shinomori."

"What whole truth?" Shinomori didn't so much as change expression after the powerful blow.

Sano-chan gritted his teeth and tried to punch him in the stomach. Shinomori easily caught the tiny fist in his own hand, but it served to make the boy even more incensed. "Dammit, it isn't right! You're hiding something from me! He doesn't want to kill her; he just wants to put her through suffering! Why Shinomori, why?"

The man inhaled sharply. "Suffering? Why do you say that?"

"Something doesn't seem right here... look at her!" Shinomori did as he was instructed and followed the end of Sano-chan's trembling finger. Not only was her rocking even more pronounced, the fragile old woman was rapidly flashing back and forth between darkness and light. It was like looking into a watery reflection of one's self, only with much more exaggeration of brightness. Like the sun was rapidly setting and rising in the same moment. "She's... she's flickering!"

And so she was. Shinomori could do nothing but stare dumbfounded until he whispered in disbelief, "... 'we are like sand... she is like... glass...'"

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Sano-chan narrowed his eyes. "What does that have to do with the suffering?" Shinomori asked.

Sano-chan clutched his head. "I... I don't know! It's just... unbelievable." He sighed and tried to dry his eyes with the back of his sleeve, but noticed that he no longer had any more clothing on. Shinomori watched as he just shrugged it off and shook his head. "I can't believe that my own soul would do this to her."

It was the little mannerisms that made Shinomori notice. The way his eyes kept on darting to where Megumi-sensei was sobbing, the way he tried not to show his tears... He wondered why he was so expressive with his emotions, unlike Battousai and himself. True, Shinomori had been one to act flamboyantly, but he'd never show such deep feelings like sadness so openly. Now here was the chosen soul, trying vainly to stop the wet droplets from falling down his face...

"Sano-chan, I have something to tell you. You're right, I have not been telling the whole truth." The boy wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and peered at Shinomori. "The fact of the matter is... your ego, Zanza, wants this man to..."

*****

Rape me. God, that was the worst experience of my life.

"Zanza, I didn't believe you'd go this far. I thought that you loved me," she whispered. Megumi-sensei felt her heart being wrenched in two. It hurt her that yet another man was trying to take advantage of her, and it hurt even more when she loved that very man.

To whom do you go to dry your eyes when the only one who can do it was the one who made you cry?

She closed her eyes and tried to remember just what exactly had gone wrong. She remembered the lopsided smile that Zanza had given her just before he left Gehenna and forced the chosen soul out of the body. He said, "I'll be seeing you soon, I hope." The funny thing was... Zanza never smiled. She felt like she mattered when he smiled at her for that one, fleeting moment. He made her feel special, almost... loved.

"Almost," she said quietly. "No one would ever love me for what I am, just what I can do for them..."

No one loves me, not even Sagara Sanosuke...

Megumi-sensei watched in shock as a familiar red ribbon encircled the middle finger on her left hand and tied itself into a knot...

It's starting.

*****

God, I hate men. I hate them all.

"Only Sanosuke can make me worry about him like this," she muttered.

Instead of staying at the clinic as instinct told her to, Megumi chose to wander out into the slums of Tokyo to find Sanosuke. She was getting tired of waiting, so instead she took matters into her own hands and ventured into dangerous territory.

They can be so stupid sometimes...

Watching out her window for when he would come up the lane became agonizing. During that time, no sounds would be present except for the chirping of a lonely cricket and the occasional spattering of the oil candle. Being left in silence such as that, she started to reminisce and think about her life.

That was dangerous, and Megumi knew it. So she threw on an overcoat and hurried out the door. Still, it was no escape. Each passing moment grew more and more tense as she berated herself for being so rash. Sanosuke told her numerous times to never, ever go looking for him at such an hour at night. Where he lived, he explained, was no place for a lady of her stature and beauty.

She didn't care; she only wanted to get to him.

Why is he acting so oddly?

Megumi temporarily ignored the frightening shadows dancing on the walls of houses and stopped worrying about every crevice where danger might be lurking. "Maybe he's going through a spell of indifference," she reasoned, trying to keep her escalating fear under her skin. "After all, he just asked me to marry him..."

Is he having second doubts?

She glanced at the makeshift ring. Even in the dim light, she could make out the blood incarnate in fabric tied around her finger. It made her smile every time she looked at it, but tonight... it was an object of contempt. Her love would not allow her to remove it as she had thought about doing, but her pride would not allow her to keep it on.

"If he wants out of this, I'll find out straight from the source."

Granting the ring a temporary reprieve, she realized that for once, her pride succumbed to love. Was it really becoming that powerful of an emotion that even her self-importance bowed to it? Megumi shuddered; the street and ghostly shacks on both sides channeled the chill evening air like a funnel. She grabbed both sides of her lavender wrap and pulled it closer around her body. Her feet moved a little bit faster, her breath became a little more ragged.

Every space in between houses had so much potential for peril that she found herself walking briskly, eyes darting and trying to keep track of all places where it lurked. She cursed herself for having an overactive imagination, but she truly hated the dark.

Everything bad happens in the dark.

Footsteps echoing her own became clearer after a moment of heart stopping. She chided herself; now her imagination really was running away with her. After an eternity, she still realized with horror that it was someone else's footsteps. Nearly paralyzed by fear, Megumi forced her neck to turn and look over her shoulder.

A shadow charged, and the footsteps became spaced less and less in between.

Megumi ran.

*****

I could only stare at Shinomori after he told me; I think my heart froze over. I looked over at Megumi-sensei; she was staring at her hand and flexing them over and over again. Her crying stopped. I couldn't help myself from watching and pitying her all at once. After what seemed like an eternity, I asked, "He wants to rape her? Why? Why?" Shinomori shook his head numbly.

Why would any soul of mine... do something so horrible?

I tried to think what it was that Zanza was trying to accomplish. I had based it all on a hunch that he also loved Megumi, but this certainly wasn't an act of love in my eyes. I felt like my opinions and hunches mattered, after all, I was the chosen soul. I felt should have at least a little bit of understanding about the situation, and that's what frightened me the most.

I knew nothing.

A blaze of red light and a gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet interrupted my thoughts. An all too familiar voice rang through the void, "We've got it. We've done it." I looked up to see the three well-known women in attendance. Hajime was in the middle with Hiko and Señora Soujirou on both sides of her. She pointed at Hiko and said, "Tell him."

Tell me what?

"What? What's going on?" Megumi-sensei had gotten up from her eternal crouching position and stumbled over to where the people had congregated. I knew Shinomori was just as surprised as I was, we didn't know she was capable of standing. Hiko glanced at her, took a bow, and in doing so the other fates did the same.

This is a plot of dire circumstances, Hiko stated after getting up. Hajime scanned the blackness and snapped her fingers. It immediately became blazed in a blinding white light. I covered my eyes because it hurt, but something told me that the three Fates were unaffected. We've just uncovered his plan, she said.

I opened my eyes to see Megumi-sensei lunge forward, eyes ablaze. Gehenna exploded in flashes of red, purple, and gold light while Hajime's lips tightened into a thin line. Shinomori bent over and whispered, "Sano-chan, do you understand what's happening?" I couldn't speak, so Shinomori continued. I heard a little bit of awe in it. The sky overhead seemed to be pulsing with all those colors like a heartbeat. What was with the sky? He explained, "Hajime is uncovering Megumi-sensei's emotions. This will help monitor her reaction."

Hiko spoke again, Zanza has paid a man to force sex with your earthly vessel, Megumi-sensei. He has fallen asleep for a precious few seconds, but immediately woke up again. This was just enough to let us see why he was doing this.

Megumi-sensei was did not speak. Did Shinomori mean that they were monitoring reactions by... colors? Emotions in color form? Gehenna turned white again as her form started to flicker. White must be the color for shock, and if that was so, I felt so very white. Beyond white. She was flickering in and out again, what does that mean? "Why is he doing this?" she asked quietly.

Señora Soujirou closed her eyes while the two remaining Fates ran to the cauldron behind Shinomori. Hajime nearly knocked over Shinomori in her hurrying and she would have hit me if I hadn't stumbled out of the way in time. While the two Fates and Shinomori were talking, Hiko was watching the expanse of white. I felt so alone. I realized that Megumi-sensei was just as alone as I was. I felt bad that I couldn't help her like I should do. Zanza was a part of me; I should have responsibility over all other souls in my body.

To make her feel happier, I tried to put a hand on her arm, but as soon as I touched it, the colors whirled again and she flickered so that she was almost totally see-thru. She screamed in pain.

Hiko looked panicked. Don't do that!

I took my hand off instantly, but it wasn't fast enough. I think shock made it stay on her shoulder for a moment too long. Suddenly, Hajime yanked my arm and kept it held above my head, raising me in the air. I was dangling two feet above the ground. I was scared. She hissed at me, "You are not to touch another soul with true emotion behind it except anger. You'll kill her! Don't you know that?"

"I told him." Shinomori said quietly. "Hajime, he can't help it."

I can't touch her?! She'll die? Oh God no...

Hajime dropped me to the ground and sneered. "Give me a break Shinomori. You can't possibly believe they are soul mates now."

"How so?"

We're not soul mates?

I didn't get up from my place on the ground beside Megumi-sensei; I was shaking too much. Maybe it was from coldness? Maybe I was angry? Or scared? I don't know anymore. Feelings became so mixed up after this whole crazy camera thing got started, I don't know what I was feeling anymore. Hajime glared at me and continued. "This is Zanza's master arrangement..."

*****

The thundering footsteps behind her threw Megumi into a dizzying carousel of fear. She had broken into a full sprint and was running as fast as she could, but the sound behind her only grew louder.

She was losing.

*****

"... he wants to rape Megumi so that her two souls will combine together as one..."

Souls combining?

Hajime must have noticed the blank look on my face, but she didn't get a chance to tell me what she meant because Megumi-sensei started to scream again. I never want to hear that scream again as long as I live... "Oh God! He's... he's running! No!! No, don't let him, no!"

Hajime kept glaring at me. I don't know why. Gehenna was looked like a heartbeat, and each lub-dub made the sky brighter and brighter. Judging by the colors, her emotions were really going wild. Megumi-sensei's eyes were wild and staring off into space, unseeing in this world but watching in the next. "I'm going to die..."

I felt so helpless.

*****

No more, no more...

The sharp pain in her ribs told her that she couldn't make it for long. The tabi on her feet were unsuited for running and painfully slid on their sides. She grimaced with each step she took. Her legs became leaden weights as she felt herself get slower, and slower, and...

The footsteps did not stop.

*****

While the colors whirled and whirled, Hajime tried to explain even more. "... the advantage of combining souls is that a person is more stable. They are in tune with their emotions and surroundings." Hajime's eyes grew dark. "However, there is one major disadvantage..."

"He's going to kill me. I'm going to die. He's going to kill me. I'm going to... die..." Megumi-sensei started chanting, almost in a singsong pattern. It was the sound of a person on the edge of losing their mind. I knew that tone of voice; Battousai and Enishi used it a lot. It hurt me to see that the person I loved over myself had fallen into the same category as killers...

My eyes kept darting around to make sure that no one was watching. If I couldn't touch her, I could at least try to talk to her. Taichou always said that talking solves problems more than physical stuff. I didn't understand that until now. If talking solves problems, then why was Taichou killed afterwards?

Maybe I still don't understand it.

Hiko raised her hand and something went around Megumi-sensei, trapping her inside. I nearly charged at her, she was hurting her! But, I watched Megumi-sensei. She was unaffected and didn't even notice that something surrounded her. She was still staring off and repeating her scary chant. It looked like a clear box to me, and it kept shimmering like the water in that giant pot. The box shot out flashes of light, just like the kind that happened in the sky. "What did you do?" I demanded.

You have to understand, we can't have you going near her. You can offset the situation even more than we can control, Hiko said.

The colors became even wilder...

*****

Something roughly slammed into her back from behind, and she gave a sharp cry as she toppled to the ground. Dirt and dust blinded her and flew into her mouth when she hit the ground face first. Adrenaline still coursing through her body, she scrambled over onto her back and stared into the face of her attacker.

"Are you that onna-sensei?" He grinned.

The very sight of him repulsed Megumi. He was fat, flesh strapped around his body as if held together by string. In fact, she briefly wondered how someone like this could outrun her. By taking another look at his gruesome legs and sniffing the air, she concluded that there was no way a drunk, slow man could outrun a sober, quicker woman. Even the way he talked seemed sluggish.

What happened?

Megumi tried to scramble up, but the man procured a stick and with a power that only drunks somehow possessed, he shoved it into the ground beside her. It pinned her to the ground, both physically with her kimono sleeve and emotionally with fear. He continued, and Megumi felt her breathing stop. "I never knew that you could be such a pretty little thing..."

Oh God, no. No...

"I'm going to have lots of fun with you."

She shut her eyes briefly and prayed. Where is Sanosuke?

*****

"... the only way to combine souls is to reveal their darkest fears and make them confront it face to face. In the case of Takani Megumi, her biggest fear is that of men."

Why do you fear men? Am I a man you fear? Am I a man yet?

"You mean, men in general?"

Hiko shook her head. No. Specifically, men she loves. Men she loves who hurt her.

She loves me?

"Zanza has chosen to rape the body of Megumi's because..."

Suddenly it all clicked and made perfect sense to me. That must have been what Shinomori calls 'a lightening moment' because everything fell into place. The other people in the party noticed my reaction as I finished Shinomori's sentence. "... when she is exposed to her worst fear, then her souls will merge."

I understood now. He loved her that much; he would choose to make her go through a bad experience for the greater good. We loved her that much. I felt very relieved; now I felt more in control—

Do I love her?

Hajime did not look relieved at all. In fact, she just looked angrier. "This sounds good in theory, but in actuality, it's not everything it seems." She pointed at me again. "As soon as Soujirou comes back with Tokio, you will be forced back into your body through divine intervention. Zanza will return to Gehenna, and then he shall stand trial."

"Trial?" I echoed. "What trial?" I didn't even notice that Soujirou had disappeared. Judging by everyone else's blank looks, they hadn't noticed either.

The sin of forcing the chosen soul out is immediate termination, Hiko declared.

I gasped. Termination sounded like something incredibly, incredibly bad. It took a couple of minutes for the initial shock to wear off. Even the usually lively Shinomori found himself unable to speak since the Fates had arrived. "So... he's going to stand trial and he will get a verdict?"

Hajime sneered. "It's an open and shut case. I don't even see why there should be a trial. He'll be terminated for sure."

Something didn't sound right here. If Zanza was actually doing her a favor, then why is he going to be terminated when he returns to Gehenna? "He's doing a good thing! Why is he going to die?"

Shinomori was the one who answered this time. "Because... simply exposing her to her worst fear won't do it. There's a point where she breaks, and a mere rape isn't enough to do that. If this man does violate Takani Megumi's body and the soul merger is unsuccessful, it will only drive the gap between her souls further apart."

"You mean, it won't work if doesn't reach a certain limit?" My heart sank. Oh God, I didn't expect this. If it doesn't work, then a million things can go wrong, like...

Takani Megumi will not love you anymore, because she holds you responsible for her safety. Megumi-sensei's fear will be rooted more deeply and she will not allow herself to love anyone. If Tokio doesn't come soon, you might be stuck in Gehenna for the rest of your life. Without your love, going back will be worthless...

A muffled shriek alerted me from my thoughts. I hastily scanned Gehenna's coloring before settling on the glass box. It was dazzling white with a few specks of red. And even more shocking, Megumi-sensei wasn't inside the box anymore.

*****

Megumi screamed as the man grabbed her arm and held it to the ground. Despite her thrashing and kicking, every hit she got on him didn't affect him. It was like hitting a giant bag of flour with a hammer; no matter how much force she put into her strikes, he shrugged it off. In fact, it only seemed to encourage him even more. He grinned rampantly, "Be a good girl and stay still."

His eyes gleamed in the darkness, eyes that she knew all too well...

Kanryuu! No!!

A hand that felt like ice slid under her kimono and settled on her shoulder. She gasped, shocked that she was made completely immobile by his touch. In one swift and smooth movement, he pushed her with her back to the ground and straddled her waist. He was laughing quietly.

I thought he would somehow hear me... but... not again! Not to me!! Why can I not ever be happy? My father, my husband, Sanosuke... they all left me.

After more thrashing and screaming, the man decided he had enough and gave her two well-placed slaps to the jawline. The inexplicable colors exploded in her mind and would have sent her reeling from the hit had she not been on the ground. She couldn't cry out in pain because his hand instantly covered her mouth, almost preventing her from breathing altogether.

"Now you're going to stay still."

She did what she was trained to do in a situation like this. Maybe it wasn't training so to speak, but it was negative reinforcement from a memory past, an unwanted remembrance that told her exactly what she needed to do.

It's the only thing I can do.

It was now Megumi started to cry.

From the shadows, a pair of eyes watched. Physically unaffected they were, but their emotions in turmoil. Zanza turned his head away; watching it was just as painful as planning it...

*****

So that's what it was. The reason why Megumi-sensei was flickering between transparency was because her souls were trying to merge. In fact, I noticed before the boy did that she disappeared from her confinement. Of course, she didn't totally disappear. It would be in spurts of five or so seconds, always reappearing again.

Still crying.

What I don't understand is why Tokio has not come yet. I'm sure that this far outranks any sort of thing that has ever happened in her jurisdiction. I sure it outranks anything that has ever happened in Gehenna period. First off, I've been here longer than Battousai or anyone has. When I willingly stepped down from my position as Shinomori Aoshi to let another soul take over, I thought that I would die.

Instead, I was given a place in Gehenna.

I think I always had that place to begin with.

Sano-chan kept glaring at me from behind that glass that I had enclosed myself in. With me was the cauldron to the real world. I had been a silent spectator to the horrendous scene unfolding before me. I could not let the chosen soul see. Knowing the boy, he would do something reckless as his soul was accustomed to do. All chosen souls were driven by sentiment, not by reason. Maybe that's why they were chosen souls.

Maybe that's why I am a chosen soul.

*****

Megumi felt herself getting more and more distanced from her body; it was always best to just disconnect yourself from things like this. A part of her cursed her mentality of just giving up, but the other part told her that if she went along with it willingly, then it would be over that much quicker. The man's hands and lips were roaming all over and mechanically taking her clothes off, but she noted that he had not yet done anything of great magnitude. Kanryuu would have almost certainly finished having his way with her by now.

As if reading her thoughts, he hovered over her face. His grip on her hands didn't lessen. His eyes sparkled and Megumi shut out his face, not daring to scream. "I don't care what that jerk says, you're way too beautiful for me to just pass by."

Her eyes snapped open. W-What?

"Damn moron... acting all big and bad with his aku bullshit..."

Sanosuke?!

"What did you do with Sanosuke?!" She started to wriggle her shoulders in an attempt to get free, but seeing it was useless, Megumi stopped and glared at him. She didn't know where all this courage was stemming from. "What did you do with him?"

The man smirked. His eyes were distant from his body, and they were so cold... The next words seared Megumi to her heart.

"Sagara Sanosuke was the one who told me to do this."

Her world came crashing down.

*****

I might be young, I might be still a kid, but I know a couple of things about life that will surprise others. After Taichou died, I guess I didn't want to go on living anymore. He meant the world to me, and I just felt like a part of me died with him. I cursed myself for not being smart enough, fast enough, or old enough to protect him when he needed me most.

I knew what loyalty was like.

I knew what betrayal was like too. That emotion probably hurt me the most. I didn't know too much about what Taichou's relationship was with other groups or even the government, but from the way he talked, he put a lot of trust in them. He respected them and always said that they would be the ones to change our world.

Then they killed him.

I know what love is like. He also said that love was an emotion where you would be willing to give all of yourself to one person. Where you would be willing to die for them. I said I loved him, and I meant every word of it. There were different types of love, he explained. Love between brothers and friends, which is what we had. Love between families, which lasted all through eternity...

And love between lovers. This was the most special one of all, because they were connected physically and emotionally. I asked him that if I held his hand, were we connected physically and emotionally? Were we lovers? He shook his head, smiled at me, and said we'd continue the discussion later. It was time to eat.

He never got the chance to finish because I had forgotten about it. I was only six at the time; I didn't care about feelings. All I knew was I had a strong attachment to the people I knew, and I cried when they died.

Now I'm two years older, and maybe two years smarter. I think I finally understand what true love is. Every time I looked at Megumi, I always felt... rushed inside. I guess I can't explain it, but my heart beat so fast. Taichou said that if I truly found someone to love, then it better not be for just looks or else he'd be very disappointed in me. That's what I thought my emotions were for Megumi; I mean, look at her! She's a very beautiful woman and just a smile from her makes me feel weak in the knees. But, every day I would noticed her prettiness less and less...

Then I became attracted to her as a person. When she talked, she always had something important to say, and I wanted to hear her. We had a sort of talking without words, all I had to do was look at her and she would understand.

I liked that feeling she gave me when I couldn't see her face as when I could.

When I see Megumi-sensei, a part of the person I really liked, in pain like that, I felt horrible. I didn't care what she looks like; so what she's old. Big deal, I'm young. I obviously didn't like her for her looks, but her emotions. When she hurt, I hurt. When she cries, I feel like crying.

Is that love? I think so. I finally understand love between lovers. I love her more than my life. Taichou must be very proud of me right now.

I won't let you down.

****

Oh Sano, how could you? I loved you!

You let me down.

*****

Giving a mighty cry, Sano-chan hurled himself at the box enclosing Megumi-sensei. Lightning flashed and thunder crackled as he tried to get through the barrier. His face was scrunched in pain, just as it should have been. Streaks of light were impaling his body. Hajime screamed, while Hiko and Shinomori just stared in horror. Almost miraculously, the box gave way and shattered.

"I've... I don't believe it..." a stunned Fate whispered.

Crying almost as much as Megumi-sensei, Sano-chan wrapped his arms around the weeping woman's shoulders, therefore breaking all laws that souls were supposed to have between each other. Her unseeing eyes flashed for a brief moment and she slowly looked down at the boy hugging her waist. He was sobbing, his body almost completely riddled with stripes of light.

"I love you," he declared tearfully. "I won't let you die."

A teardrop from the woman landed on the back of Sano-chan's neck, but did not stop until it reached the floor. "I'm... I'm already dead, Sanosuke."

In saying so, the soul known as Megumi-sensei disappeared completely from Gehenna and from in between his arms, never to be seen again. Three more flashes of light blazed in his peripheral vision, and Sano-chan recognized them as Tokio, Battousai, and Soujirou. He had no time to react as a lantern was thrown towards him. On reflex, he caught it. Gehenna exploded in red light and sounds of gunshots. Just as quickly as it had come, everything was dark and silent.

*****

"You... you bastard!" Megumi didn't know when she had gotten the upper hand, but now the man was on the ground, mercilessly assaulted by a barrage of kicks. One thing she knew, the man had nearly revealed her entire chest area, and the next, she had gotten up and was pummeling him as if her life depended on it. "Die!"

Sagara Sanosuke, I hate, I hate, I hate you!

She accentuated each thought with a kick to the man's ribs. He curled in pain and some blood on his arm from where she had scratched him frightened her as a doctor, but it only served to fuel her rage.

Sense and sensibility be damned, he almost raped me!

"You... make... me... sick!!" she yelled, effectively making him wince with every blow to the face. Her bare feet certainly hurt with the force behind it, but she didn't care. Anger had completely dulled her senses. She felt no pain, no emotion... except fury.

The man sputtered and held his hand protectively to his have. "Lady... please... stop... Sagara told... me... to..." Megumi did not stop. Only when his nose had been broken and pushed into the recesses of his face did she stop in repulsion. He couldn't speak, she knocked him unconscious with the force of her anger. She looked down with disgust at her socks; they were covered in blood.

"You and your kind... make me sick," she said detachedly. Anger was instantly replaced by a deep, dark sorrow. Tears ran down her face as she repeated, "Men make me sick. They... they betray you..."

A voice yelled from behind and Megumi whirled around. She recognized the shout as her name, but the voice was... "Megumi! Wait!! Don't run!" A flash of white, a glimpse of red, and she knew who it was.

Sanosuke.

Her feet moved of their own volition. She ran.