Author's Notes: I'm so sorry that I forgot to write in the author's notes
that I was going to explain why Misao shows up mysteriously later.....hehe!
You guys should know by now that there's a reason for everything and as to
why everyone is there. Also, I thought you guys would hate me for the last
part cause Kenshin actually draws a real sword....and he never actually
does in the anime (as far as I know). Lastly, I found myself an editor!
I appreciate all the offers...you guys are really
sweet! Well,
thanks for reading and I'll actually start writing the more important stuff
now, hehe!
Title: The Scholar and the Princess
Author: KaBunny
E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Ten: Sorrow, Battle, and Love
Misao smiled back at Kenshin as she glanced towards Aoshi. "What has happened since I've been gone?" she whispered, not so sure this was the time. She glanced at Aoshi again out of the corners of her eyes.
"I'll explain later, Misao," he muttered, his eyes falling back to a dull yellow color as his attention fell on Aoshi.
Misao felt herself take a step back from Kenshin as he got that scary look on his face as he had when he always talked about Aoshi. She then backed away from both the men as they took up their fighting stances again, this time a little closer than they had been before. 'Could.....could that be Aoshi?' Misao wondered, backing away to the door that she had entered the throne room through.
She glanced back, missing the beginning of the battle, when she heard approaching footsteps. A boy, a rather tall man, and girl in a rather lovely kimono came around the corner and ran partway into the throne room, completely ignoring her. She watched as the girl fell to her knees, her hands on her face and a small despaired groan escaping her lips.
The girl looked up at the taller man. "What are we going to do Sano? They've already started," she said.
"I'll stop them," Sano murmured, getting ready to march off into the battlefield.
Misao saw her opening and charged in front of Sano. She put her hands out to the sides as if protecting someone from danger. "No! You can't!" she shouted, glancing back when she heard a loud shout of anger from Kenshin.
"Move girl! You don't know what you're talking about!" Sano yelled back.
"No! You don't understand! If that's Aoshi, then Kenshin's doing what he always set out to do and I refuse to let you stop him from destroying a ghost that has been haunting him for a long time!" Misao answered, her eyes sharp and her gaze understanding as she stared up at Sano.
Something gentle touched Misao's arm and she glanced to her right. Her eyes locked with the blue orbs of Kaoru who looked extremely worried. "How would you know about Kenshin?" she asked, softly.
Misao dropped her arms to the side as she turned to the girl. "You see, I'm Kenshin's little sister," she replied, her tone light. "My name's Misao. How would you know Kenshin? How would all of you know Kenshin?"
"I'm Princess Kaoru of this castle," the girl answered, her eyes sad. "Sanosuke is the Captain of the Knights of Crysta and Yahiko is his student in training. Please....I beg of you. Aoshi is going to kill Kenshin. You have to stop them!"
"Even if I wanted to I couldn't," Misao answered, turning out to watch some of the battle taking place.
They all turned to watch the two battling it out. Kaoru slipped back down to her knees, suddenly feeling helpless again. Yahiko stared in awe, he had never seen such swordsmanship. Sano shook his head in wonder. "It's like they're in some other time," he muttered, in disbelief.
"They're switching back from their fight in the war and this time," Misao answered, turning back to Sano. "They're lost in the heat of battle five years ago. They're not in the castle of Crysta having a duel to the death."
Kaoru let out a whimper and a tear slipped down her face. "Kenshin," she murmured, closing her eyes.
"Kenshin won't lose," Misao stated, looking down at Kaoru. "He's too good to lose."
~~~~~~
Kenshin parried Aoshi's swing and continued to parry as Aoshi came on with a full frontal assault. He dodged the man's last swing and spun around behind him with speed only known to few warriors in all lands.
Aoshi parried without actually turning around and side stepped Kenshin's next downward swing. They then jumped away from one another before charging once more.
Kenshin brought his sword down which clanged with Aoshi's as he blocked easily. Both were just testing the other. They were sensing out the extent of the other's ability and now they knew. They were quite evenly matched.
Kenshin jumped back away from Aoshi, before charging again. This time, his sword was at a different angle. "Hiten Misturugi style," he murmured, "Kusaryusen!" (I hope I spelled that right -_-; )
Aoshi took the attack and it slid him backward into the wall. He made a small grunt as he hit the wall and fell forward on his hands and knees, gasping slightly for air. He shook his head clear and stood up. 'This man is blocking my path to my ideals......just like Sagara,' he thought and suddenly, he became more focused. Kenshin could sense the more dangerous air around Aoshi and knew that this battle was just beginning.
~~~~~~
Kaoru watched as Aoshi slid off the wall and onto his hands and knees. 'Please stay down,' she thought. 'I want this to end....please stay down Aoshi.'
She sighed when he got back up and shook her head as she saw something pass over his eyes. He was going to do it. It was going to happen in a few minutes. In a few minutes, Kenshin would be dead and then.....everything would change, for the worse. "Kenshin!" she shouted.
The man didn't even hear her. 'I....I have to do something!' she thought, her heart crying in pain. 'If Kenshin won't listen....then maybe I can get Aoshi to listen!'
"Aoshi!" she cried, standing up and taking a step forward. "You can't do this!"
She saw something flash in the dangerous man's eyes. It might just work. "I know that the monarchy will die out! I know that! But now is not the time!"
It was anger and with that anger, the spell on Kenshin and Aoshi was cracking. They had slipped back into the present and stopped fighting. "Time is needed to grow and discover.....thousands of people will die if you continue with your ideal!" Kaoru cried, shaking her head. The tears that she hadn't known she had been shedding flew off her face as she did this.
Everyone was now looking at her, even Kenshin. His yellow eyes had faded to a blue color as he stared at Kaoru, the tears falling down her face freely. "By killing Kenshin....all you will accomplish is nothing," Kaoru murmured, stepping up to Aoshi. He had his sword at his side as he stared down at the girl. "Kenshin is a road block for you, yes. However.....he is fighting you because of a wrong deed that you did in the past, not because he wants to stop your ideal. So, when you kill him, you will have accomplished nothing towards your ideal," Kaoru stated, softly.
"What would you know, girl?" Aoshi replied, his eyes giving a small twitch.
"You were planning on marrying me because then you would ascend the throne and have the right to get rid of the monarchy without a war between your army and the monarchy and everyone who believes in it," Kaoru answered, her eyes unblinking and lonely as she stared up at him. "What you forgot was that there are still many people in this country and many other countries that want their monarchies to continue. Once you instituted a military state and brought equality to everyone....those who wanted the monarchy would have started a revolution and many thousands of people would have perished and died for a cause that shouldn't have been instituted in the first place."
"People will start a revolution when the time comes for the monarchy to die," Aoshi said, his eyes still cold. "People will die then as well."
"Yes, they will," Kaoru muttered. "However, more people will die now. Once the revolution is started for the monarchy against a military state....the sides will be evenly matched. Eventually, one side will pull away from the other and they will insitute their own governments, splitting the kingdom in two. After the war five years ago, people will already be tired of fighting, so when other countries see that Crysta is splitting in two, they will take advantage. Your kingdom will be lost to other kingdoms. Crysta will no longer be a country anymore. So, when you institute what you believe to be equality for everyone....it will destroy Crysta and your ideal."
"I see now," Aoshi whispered, his eyes growing dangerous again. "You stand in the way of my ideal.....not Battousai!"
"Kaoru!" Kenshin called, charging toward them with his speed as he saw Aoshi raise his sword at Kaoru.
~~~~~~
She was dead. He had been too late. Kenshin didn't understand how this could've happened. He was supposed to be the best swordsman and he was supposed to have speed that surpassed the Gods. He glanced down at the newly covered grave and sighed. He glanced sideways at Kaoru's little cousin who was sobbing immensely and placed a hand on her head. "It's alright, Suzume," he said to her. "I'm sure she's in a better place now, that I am."
"Y-you think so, Kenshin?" she asked, looking up at him as she hiccuped. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve as a couple more tears slipped out.
"I'm sure her spirit is flying up there with the rest of the birds," Kenshin murmured, smiling at the child. She smiled back at him before wrapping him in a hug.
"Thank you Kenny," she muttered into his shirt before running off to her grandfather.
Kenshin stared after the girl and glanced back at the grave. He turned his attention up to Sano when he felt a hand set on his shoulder. He was smiling down at the scholar as he stood up. "So, how is she?"
"Well, from what I got before Megumi kicked me out," he muttered, rubbing his butt, "is that the injury wasn't serious. Had you not deflected the attack with your sword she would most certainly be dead. what was the name of that attack you used against him again? He still hasn't woken up."
"It's called the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki," Kenshin replied, turning to the man. "Had I been using any other sword....the man would be dead."
"I got that much from Megumi too," Sano answered, rolling his eyes. "I'll never understand that fox."
"I'm sure she understands you quite well," Kenshin said, giving a small laugh as he headed off toward the castle.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Sano called after him, catching up easily.
"Nothing of importance," Kenshin murmured, glancing at Sano as he walked. He caught the blush that the much taller man had given from his previous statement.
"Hey, Kenshin?" Sano questioned, not so sure of himself suddenly.
"Yes, Sano?" he asked back.
"I'm sorry about attacking you," he muttered, looking to the redhaired man. "I'm also sorry about saying all those things that I said."
"I already knew that, but you have no reason to be sorry about it," Kenshin answered, smiling at the man. "Had you known that I had not killed your Captain in the first place, then you would've never attacked me."
"That's true," Sano said.
"Well, I should go visit Miss Kaoru, that I should," the redhaired man replied, giving Sano a curt nod as he continued walking and Sano stopped.
'Thank you Kenshin,' he thought, staring off after the man. 'You prevented me from losing a very good friend.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's the end of that chapter! Hehe, I know you all hate me for ending it, but it is still much longer than usual. There is only going to be one more chapter after this one and I'm not sure how long that one is going to be, but I already know what it's about and how I'm going to write it. Just a prewarning, it's a songfic chapter, so don't hate me. Well, TTFN! And thank you soooo much for reviewing and loving my story! Maybe someday I'll get another idea for a RuroKen story and you can read that one too?
Stay Tuned for Chapter Eleven: Time to Wander........Kenshin says his farewells as him and his sister take leave of the castle. What is going to happen to Aoshi? And Kaoru? What does she think of Kenshin leaving? What about the king?
Well, Ja ne! ~KaBunny
Title: The Scholar and the Princess
Author: KaBunny
E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Ten: Sorrow, Battle, and Love
Misao smiled back at Kenshin as she glanced towards Aoshi. "What has happened since I've been gone?" she whispered, not so sure this was the time. She glanced at Aoshi again out of the corners of her eyes.
"I'll explain later, Misao," he muttered, his eyes falling back to a dull yellow color as his attention fell on Aoshi.
Misao felt herself take a step back from Kenshin as he got that scary look on his face as he had when he always talked about Aoshi. She then backed away from both the men as they took up their fighting stances again, this time a little closer than they had been before. 'Could.....could that be Aoshi?' Misao wondered, backing away to the door that she had entered the throne room through.
She glanced back, missing the beginning of the battle, when she heard approaching footsteps. A boy, a rather tall man, and girl in a rather lovely kimono came around the corner and ran partway into the throne room, completely ignoring her. She watched as the girl fell to her knees, her hands on her face and a small despaired groan escaping her lips.
The girl looked up at the taller man. "What are we going to do Sano? They've already started," she said.
"I'll stop them," Sano murmured, getting ready to march off into the battlefield.
Misao saw her opening and charged in front of Sano. She put her hands out to the sides as if protecting someone from danger. "No! You can't!" she shouted, glancing back when she heard a loud shout of anger from Kenshin.
"Move girl! You don't know what you're talking about!" Sano yelled back.
"No! You don't understand! If that's Aoshi, then Kenshin's doing what he always set out to do and I refuse to let you stop him from destroying a ghost that has been haunting him for a long time!" Misao answered, her eyes sharp and her gaze understanding as she stared up at Sano.
Something gentle touched Misao's arm and she glanced to her right. Her eyes locked with the blue orbs of Kaoru who looked extremely worried. "How would you know about Kenshin?" she asked, softly.
Misao dropped her arms to the side as she turned to the girl. "You see, I'm Kenshin's little sister," she replied, her tone light. "My name's Misao. How would you know Kenshin? How would all of you know Kenshin?"
"I'm Princess Kaoru of this castle," the girl answered, her eyes sad. "Sanosuke is the Captain of the Knights of Crysta and Yahiko is his student in training. Please....I beg of you. Aoshi is going to kill Kenshin. You have to stop them!"
"Even if I wanted to I couldn't," Misao answered, turning out to watch some of the battle taking place.
They all turned to watch the two battling it out. Kaoru slipped back down to her knees, suddenly feeling helpless again. Yahiko stared in awe, he had never seen such swordsmanship. Sano shook his head in wonder. "It's like they're in some other time," he muttered, in disbelief.
"They're switching back from their fight in the war and this time," Misao answered, turning back to Sano. "They're lost in the heat of battle five years ago. They're not in the castle of Crysta having a duel to the death."
Kaoru let out a whimper and a tear slipped down her face. "Kenshin," she murmured, closing her eyes.
"Kenshin won't lose," Misao stated, looking down at Kaoru. "He's too good to lose."
~~~~~~
Kenshin parried Aoshi's swing and continued to parry as Aoshi came on with a full frontal assault. He dodged the man's last swing and spun around behind him with speed only known to few warriors in all lands.
Aoshi parried without actually turning around and side stepped Kenshin's next downward swing. They then jumped away from one another before charging once more.
Kenshin brought his sword down which clanged with Aoshi's as he blocked easily. Both were just testing the other. They were sensing out the extent of the other's ability and now they knew. They were quite evenly matched.
Kenshin jumped back away from Aoshi, before charging again. This time, his sword was at a different angle. "Hiten Misturugi style," he murmured, "Kusaryusen!" (I hope I spelled that right -_-; )
Aoshi took the attack and it slid him backward into the wall. He made a small grunt as he hit the wall and fell forward on his hands and knees, gasping slightly for air. He shook his head clear and stood up. 'This man is blocking my path to my ideals......just like Sagara,' he thought and suddenly, he became more focused. Kenshin could sense the more dangerous air around Aoshi and knew that this battle was just beginning.
~~~~~~
Kaoru watched as Aoshi slid off the wall and onto his hands and knees. 'Please stay down,' she thought. 'I want this to end....please stay down Aoshi.'
She sighed when he got back up and shook her head as she saw something pass over his eyes. He was going to do it. It was going to happen in a few minutes. In a few minutes, Kenshin would be dead and then.....everything would change, for the worse. "Kenshin!" she shouted.
The man didn't even hear her. 'I....I have to do something!' she thought, her heart crying in pain. 'If Kenshin won't listen....then maybe I can get Aoshi to listen!'
"Aoshi!" she cried, standing up and taking a step forward. "You can't do this!"
She saw something flash in the dangerous man's eyes. It might just work. "I know that the monarchy will die out! I know that! But now is not the time!"
It was anger and with that anger, the spell on Kenshin and Aoshi was cracking. They had slipped back into the present and stopped fighting. "Time is needed to grow and discover.....thousands of people will die if you continue with your ideal!" Kaoru cried, shaking her head. The tears that she hadn't known she had been shedding flew off her face as she did this.
Everyone was now looking at her, even Kenshin. His yellow eyes had faded to a blue color as he stared at Kaoru, the tears falling down her face freely. "By killing Kenshin....all you will accomplish is nothing," Kaoru murmured, stepping up to Aoshi. He had his sword at his side as he stared down at the girl. "Kenshin is a road block for you, yes. However.....he is fighting you because of a wrong deed that you did in the past, not because he wants to stop your ideal. So, when you kill him, you will have accomplished nothing towards your ideal," Kaoru stated, softly.
"What would you know, girl?" Aoshi replied, his eyes giving a small twitch.
"You were planning on marrying me because then you would ascend the throne and have the right to get rid of the monarchy without a war between your army and the monarchy and everyone who believes in it," Kaoru answered, her eyes unblinking and lonely as she stared up at him. "What you forgot was that there are still many people in this country and many other countries that want their monarchies to continue. Once you instituted a military state and brought equality to everyone....those who wanted the monarchy would have started a revolution and many thousands of people would have perished and died for a cause that shouldn't have been instituted in the first place."
"People will start a revolution when the time comes for the monarchy to die," Aoshi said, his eyes still cold. "People will die then as well."
"Yes, they will," Kaoru muttered. "However, more people will die now. Once the revolution is started for the monarchy against a military state....the sides will be evenly matched. Eventually, one side will pull away from the other and they will insitute their own governments, splitting the kingdom in two. After the war five years ago, people will already be tired of fighting, so when other countries see that Crysta is splitting in two, they will take advantage. Your kingdom will be lost to other kingdoms. Crysta will no longer be a country anymore. So, when you institute what you believe to be equality for everyone....it will destroy Crysta and your ideal."
"I see now," Aoshi whispered, his eyes growing dangerous again. "You stand in the way of my ideal.....not Battousai!"
"Kaoru!" Kenshin called, charging toward them with his speed as he saw Aoshi raise his sword at Kaoru.
~~~~~~
She was dead. He had been too late. Kenshin didn't understand how this could've happened. He was supposed to be the best swordsman and he was supposed to have speed that surpassed the Gods. He glanced down at the newly covered grave and sighed. He glanced sideways at Kaoru's little cousin who was sobbing immensely and placed a hand on her head. "It's alright, Suzume," he said to her. "I'm sure she's in a better place now, that I am."
"Y-you think so, Kenshin?" she asked, looking up at him as she hiccuped. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve as a couple more tears slipped out.
"I'm sure her spirit is flying up there with the rest of the birds," Kenshin murmured, smiling at the child. She smiled back at him before wrapping him in a hug.
"Thank you Kenny," she muttered into his shirt before running off to her grandfather.
Kenshin stared after the girl and glanced back at the grave. He turned his attention up to Sano when he felt a hand set on his shoulder. He was smiling down at the scholar as he stood up. "So, how is she?"
"Well, from what I got before Megumi kicked me out," he muttered, rubbing his butt, "is that the injury wasn't serious. Had you not deflected the attack with your sword she would most certainly be dead. what was the name of that attack you used against him again? He still hasn't woken up."
"It's called the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki," Kenshin replied, turning to the man. "Had I been using any other sword....the man would be dead."
"I got that much from Megumi too," Sano answered, rolling his eyes. "I'll never understand that fox."
"I'm sure she understands you quite well," Kenshin said, giving a small laugh as he headed off toward the castle.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Sano called after him, catching up easily.
"Nothing of importance," Kenshin murmured, glancing at Sano as he walked. He caught the blush that the much taller man had given from his previous statement.
"Hey, Kenshin?" Sano questioned, not so sure of himself suddenly.
"Yes, Sano?" he asked back.
"I'm sorry about attacking you," he muttered, looking to the redhaired man. "I'm also sorry about saying all those things that I said."
"I already knew that, but you have no reason to be sorry about it," Kenshin answered, smiling at the man. "Had you known that I had not killed your Captain in the first place, then you would've never attacked me."
"That's true," Sano said.
"Well, I should go visit Miss Kaoru, that I should," the redhaired man replied, giving Sano a curt nod as he continued walking and Sano stopped.
'Thank you Kenshin,' he thought, staring off after the man. 'You prevented me from losing a very good friend.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's the end of that chapter! Hehe, I know you all hate me for ending it, but it is still much longer than usual. There is only going to be one more chapter after this one and I'm not sure how long that one is going to be, but I already know what it's about and how I'm going to write it. Just a prewarning, it's a songfic chapter, so don't hate me. Well, TTFN! And thank you soooo much for reviewing and loving my story! Maybe someday I'll get another idea for a RuroKen story and you can read that one too?
Stay Tuned for Chapter Eleven: Time to Wander........Kenshin says his farewells as him and his sister take leave of the castle. What is going to happen to Aoshi? And Kaoru? What does she think of Kenshin leaving? What about the king?
Well, Ja ne! ~KaBunny