Author's note: I think that I finally found MY idea for a Rurouni Kenshin fic. At least, I hope so. My previous fanfiction on the same anime was quite a flop if I can use the expression. I had no idea where i was going, had no plot line in mind, only a few idea for character's past and things like that. And, something that didn't helped me at all, I had created an original character.... the mistake not to make when you are writing a fanfic. I mean, you can create one, but you have to make sure that this character really blend in with the personalities of the other characters. In simple terms, a good guy is harder to make that a bad guy cause bad guys are always needed but not the good guy. I think their's already plenty of characters in Rurouni Kenshin for me to use, their's no place into creating a new one. But that's my opinion. So, anyway, all I'm really asking of you guys is to be indulgent on me because: 1. English is not my first language, thus there's bound to be many mistakes. 2. My computer's dictionary is out of order (have to ask my uncle to get working into that matter). 3. My editor, or proof reader, don't know how you call them, is out into a trip to NY... lucky girl.... So... yeah, there will be much more mistakes than there would usualy be. And for that I'm so very sorry. As for other note, I decided to use only the name realated sufix of the japanies language because, first, I'm not very used and frendly with jap, and second, I think that the sufix (dono, san, sama, etc,) are all you really need to figure things out. Ok, now enough with my stupid babling, who read it anyway...?(makes me wonder some times, even I pass over them when I'm not in the mood)
Warnings: This story may contain fluff, waff(said MAY) will be full of violance, some explicite language, adult containt so I highly suggest that if you don't like any of the aboved mationed, just don't read. You have been dully warned.
Disclaimeres: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, though I would love to get my hand on the 5 remaining manga that I have yet to buy, but I'm so short on money. You see, i just moved out of my parent's house and need to pay the bills, and i'm still into studies... think you know where I'm leading. Don't sue me!
Within the Soul
By Evil Karyta
Prologue
The key to greatness it to really be what we seem to be.
Socrate
The shivering of dancing shadows, like a waltz that should never be seen, played its undead magnificence in the back of minds. Like the music one would listen while driving along the roads for some times, not hearing it until one song hit the music cord of one's mind and realise that one had been listening to the radio all that time. But this went much farther than a simple lost of space and time, it also contained the mind in its downfall, reaching toward the dark holes of madness, caging what was left of the senses into a fury of stimulation and sensations. The shadows were playing, crawling, multiplying, like snakes ready to strike the tiny and defenceless mice agonising in the painful wake of the poison injected into their lithe and so very small bodies. It was death, simple and horrible, sweat and horrifying. It was evil, devouring what should be given, taking what was not his and feasting upon the purity that they craved for so long.
There was complete silence, overwhelming, almost deafening, and sending waves of painful shivers down the spine. The shadow slowly retreating as the lights, which give them birth, died. There was a light thud, not so far away, amid the plants and trees, the sound of someone hitting the ground, like a dead weight. A delicate hand rolled out of the bushes, that of a woman, long white fingers, graceful in their immobility, an open palm directed to the sky, as if offering something to those whom needed or just wanted it. A rustling quaked the leaves, gentle as the wind's caress. A soft cry, frustrated, confused, horrified, rose from the bushes, a blow was delivered to the ground by a raging foot, lone outtake of a enrage mind. The hand trembled, as if taken over by some sort of spasms and settled into torpidly again, never to be moved.
Something dripped down the length of the hand, pearling at the tips of the fingers and falling rapidly to the dirt in big red drops, pooling and slowly snaking down the small hill in the snaky way a river would, only much smaller. A set of golden eyes, bright in the night, fix on the hand, as if mesmerised by the sight of blood, attached to a face that was neither pale nor tanned adorned by a fair mane of red hair a tad bit tousled. The delicate yet strong features of a man, looking young yet so old, eyes burning a hole into the face of a dead woman, clothes torn, eyes discoloured, opened wide toward the sky and its glowing stars. A slit, right under her chin, still expelling what was left of her life fluids.
The man rose to his feet, bright amber eyes still unwavering from the still form of the corps at his feet, his head shaking in self affliction and a feeling akin to shame shadowing the handsome lines of his face. Fate has once again chosen the most righteous to die and the unworthy to live by that death. He knew that there would be no way out of it, he knew he could never hind from it, but gods… he tried so hard. In the back of his head, as his eyes slowly swirled and changed colour, he could hear the nagging voice, telling him once again how helpless he was. The short red head tightened the grip his right hand held on an old katana that seemed to have seen more than one war. Eyes flashing in between golden and shining violet, narrowing as he registered just the expand of his deed, understanding that, yet once again, he did not escaped from the fatality of his life.
The man took a few steps backward, the sharp tip of his sword gazing the ground, one last look at the body and he turned his back to it, walking away toward the life of the early evening town's streets. Just as his head emerged from the foliage, he heard a low chuckle, which made him growl and turn his attention to his left, eyes flaring with anger. Out of darkness, another man, far taller than the first, stepped out to the clearer aria. A cigarette burning slowly in between the fingers of his right hand, the suffocating smoke that created the death-giving drug hurting the red head eyes. The new comer gave him a small mocking smile, closer to a smirk than anything else and tossed the cigarette aside to be lost into the greens of the forest.
"I knew that you wouldn't resist that long…" the tone of mockery in the tall man's voice reached the borderline of being cruel.
"After all, you're just like every one, you can't starve to death, even if it is your wish."
"Mind you're own business and let me be," threatened the small man, eyes narrowing and golden iris menacing.
"I've always told you, you can't fight what you are."
The small red headed man looked down at the corpse, eyes burning in self-affliction, wishing for something, someone to end the circle and than stared up at the sky. It seemed to him that those stares, shining above him, glowing within the emptiness of the heavens, were accusing him. With a sigh, he turned his back completely to the tall man and started to take his leave but stopped after a few short footsteps. Turning only his head to the man's direction he opened his mouth, his voice hoarse with emotion he could barely control.
"Tell me, Saitou, how can you live on knowing that you destroyed so many on your way?"
"Humph, you live, that's all."
"That's what I thought, you take their lives and soul, but you never care about them do you?" continued the red head, restarting his walk.
"You should never care when you are living our lives, and you know it."
"Than explain why you take as long as I do to choose the next one…"
And with that he was gone, not waiting for an answer, knowing very well that the man would never tell him. He shook his head and exited the bushes, returning to the town he had left a few hours ago, his feet hitting the dry dirt, lifting small clouds of dust on his way. The soft wind of late summer touched his face, gentle and forgiving and yet he would not give into it. He had searched throughout all of his life for a way toward redemption and yet, it seemed that nothing wanted to accuse him of any deeds. The wind still smelled the same sweet fragrance of the sleeping sakura, water tasted the same, earth hold him as always and fire still burned and produced light.
Turning a corner, he stepped into a trail flooding with people. The autumn festival seemed to keep those beings out of their houses for longer than would usually be in such a fresh weather, slowly fading from the warmth of summer sun into the frost of winter. He used to love those celebrations, enjoying this out burst of vitality and letting go of every pressure of the passed year but today, and for the many decades before now, it no longer brought out the same light. It always made resurface so much painful memories that he rather sleep all the way through it so he could keep what was left of his sanity safe, if only for one more year.
As he walked, not really looking where his feet were leading or in which direction his body was going, he seemed to drown further down into the depth of his questionings and memories. One would say that he was too warped up in his thoughts, other would call it being blind or out of one's mind, or simply to spaced off to keep attention to the road. Whatever you called it, this was the cause of a painful face to face with a person and than the ground. There was a small yelp and a loud crash as baskets, bags and the articles that laid within the bags and baskets -that now had been spieled on the floor- flow around him and a body crashed into his, forcing him to once again give into gravity and meet the very hard and awaking ground.
A feminine voice mumbled curses under her breath just barely above him. A curtain of raven, shining black hairs fell over his face. The feel of it soft and silky. Than there was pain as a elbow pressed his side until it could almost touch the ground through him, cutting the wind out of his lungs and made him grunt in a vain attempt to blow out the pain. Which, unfortunately, did not work as much as he wished to, and only caused more pain to come as a knee hit his leg very hard. And than there was silence and stillness when the black curtain was lift to meet with two, shining- and very angry- saphire blue eyes. Suddenly realisation sprang to the blue pools and the body was withdrawn for his. Silk flow abouts as the long sleves of a kimono followed the rushed motion of the person wearing it. The man sat up and looked around only understanding now what had just 'fallen' on him again.
"My apologies. I was not looking where I was going, that i was not," he very politely excused his behaviour after a few short moment of silence.
"Tell me about it!" she exclaimed remembering that she was supposed to be angry, not stunned by a set of violet orbs.
"Here, let me help you miss," he said going to his feet and extending an helping hand toward the girl who still sat on the ground.
"It's the least you can do," she breathed eyes widening when she saw the expand of the catastrophe. "Oh no! All my food… Oh no!"
She crawled, on hand and knees, in a hurry toward on of the bags that had landed a few feet away from them. It was damped, and somewhate slipery and there could be seen some pieces of brown scatted not so far from it.
"This!" she yelled pointing to the mess. "Is all your fault and you will pay for it!"
"I beg your pardon?" asked the red head in complete confusion.
"You runed my toffu and all of my so hardly payed food! Ah... even the basket of rice got opened!"
The lest one could say was that this raven girl had one very energetic and somewhat explosive character. Still on her four, she was trying to retrive what could be save of the rice, giving up on the toffu, and looking for some warped items that had fell off one of the bags. The girl did not even seem to mind the fact that her kimono was actually completely ruined by now, rubing in the dirt of the street like it did, there was no chance the soft material could be saved.
"Well? Will you help or not?" she asked irritaded.
"Of... of course," and with that he bent down and started to get all the food that could be saved back into the baskets and bags, not that there was much. "Um... may I ask just why you caried all of these alone?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"..." he stared at her for a few moments and heard her sigh.
"I don't have anyone to cary it at my place. They're to stupid to understand that food can't come to them all alone," she shook her head saying this.
"Who?"
She did not answered, simply kept collecting her stuff. He took it as a sign not to inquired futher into that matter. Finally, every bit of eatables that could be saved were back in place, quite missed up for the least, but back in place all the same. The girl got back to her feet, dusted hersefl up and attemped to take the bags and baskets back from the stranger. He made no mouvement as to return them and she stared at him for quite sometime before speaking, her voice raging thunder as if she was about to burst –witch was quite possible judging the spirit that inhabitted her.
"You know, I can't take these home if you still hold them," she spoke matter of factly.
"I was about to propose to you if I could help you cary those back to your home, that i was," he said his tone very polite even through the storm of her anger and harsh language.
"No thanks. One catastrophe is one too much for the day. I'll do it myself."
"But it seems like a heavy burden for a girl alone to cary..." trailed the small man.
"Are you assuming that I don't have the strangth to cary them?" the glitter of fire almost scared him.
"N-no! I was not saying that, that i was not. I was just offering help, only a hand," he blured out fearing a repeated show of her outburst.
"I assure you that it is not needed, but thank you for helping me picking everything up."
With that said, she took her belongings form him, gave him a faint smile and turned on her heels, walking away, bags and baskest safely sittled over her arms and shoulders. He watched the raven haired girl with a surprised expression on his face, she seem to have no trouble walking with her loading. He shook his head, readjusted his sword that had somehow taken some loose around his waist from the comotion and turned around to also take his leave when his eyes spoted a blue ribon that had been discarted on the ground. He crouched down to retrive the piece of fine fabrick and got to his feet quikly, spuning around to call after the girl who he thought was the owner of the hair bounding item. But she was gone and he had no idea as to where she might have gone to.
He shruged and stuffed the blue silk into his gi and walked off. In his mind, the episode of the dieing woman was almost gone, covered by the incident with the spirited young girl. This steared an almost guenuine smile to his face. But soon, he reminded himself that he had no right to feel joyful for he had cause death and displease to two young person yet again and in the expand of a few minutes. He would be happy the day he would get rid of his condition, which meat, the day he would meet the one who would be his downfall. It was as if asking one the Kami to show himself before the mortals and clame the truth of their existences.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
There was some loud footsteps sound comming from the outside, hitting the wooden floor of the balcony just outside. In the room, three woman and a man were working in silence until the noise disturbed them from their task. The man stood up and put a hand to the hilt of his sword, ready to slay whoever would enter the door if that person were to be no good. The shoji door slid softly, almost agonizingly slowly and the frame of a very loaded girl apeared before their eyes. There was a comon sigh from the four occupant of the room as they recognized the person and returned to their work.
"It took you longuer that usual," said a rather aged woman that was busing herself with a fire over which a pot what heating.
"I bumped into a morron who didn't look where he was going," came the rather frustrated explaintion.
There was a few indulgent laughter amoug the occupants and the man only sigh and turn on his heels to exit the room through the door on the opposite side of the one the girl had used to enter. Feeling a bit exhausted, she dumped her groceries on the table un the middle of the room and let her tired body fall into a neerby chair. She passed a hand through her hair and than froze. She reached for the back of her head and found that her fears had, indeed, been true. She mumbled a few unlady like curses, a few hitting the ears of the other women of her surrounding and stearing a few indignanted yelp from the older one and small knowing giggles from the two others.
"This just ain't my day," grumeled the girl.
"What's the matter?" asked one of the women who were slicing vegetables not to far from the first one.
"I lost my ribon...." she lamely mumbled sounding like a child who lost their favorit toy.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you have plenty of those," southed the last one rolling rice balls.
"But it was my favorit one!"
"It's just a piece of fabric, there is no importance in such things!" scoled the older one, the two others nodding their heads in agreement.
Sighing and knowing very well that there was no way she could win such an argument with those woman, the girl got to her feet and exited the kitchen by the same door the man had used earlier. She had only one thing in mind, getting to her room and get some rest before dinner, or else, she thought she would colapse. She had been running all day trying to fill the list that the carring yet tyranic elders of the kitchen had asked her to retrive. It would not have been that bad if she would have someone to lend her a hand, but every one who could found an excuse, pretending having much more important duties to take care of than the groceries.
Damn them all, if it were not of her, those lasy good for nothing samurai would have nothing to eat, the least they could do was helping her bring it back. Yes, she still could wish to find someone kind enough. And if it was not enough, that stupid airhead had crashed into her almost rendering all of her hard work into smithering, figuratively speaking of course. But if look could burn, hers would have lite fire every where she looked at that moment and still would for the anger that still boiled deeply within her.
Warped up in her thoughts, she turned a corner and, by some strange irony of fate, crashed yet another time into someone. This time, she was the one who was set flying backward, falling very hard on her behind with a loud 'thud'. She moaned in pain, cursing her luck and lift her eyes to accuse the one who had the bad luck of disturbing her returning to her room but her voice cut short in her throught as her eyes met with purple pools looking just as surprised as she was.
"You again!" came the rather loud repley.
"I'm so verry sorry..." he was cut short into his apoligistic speach when his sight registered just who he had fell again onto.
"My, it seems that you have a strange habit to crash twice into strangers, miss, that you have."
"Oh please," she muttered taking his offered hand and returning to her feet. "I think its you that has the strange habitude."
The red head smiled down at the girl. Yes, she was quite the spirited one. She stomped her foot ungracefully, cursing the gods and fate that seemed to have taken a liking into troubleling her as she started to stumble away, not intending to hear the last of what he had to say. A very amusing sight in his point of view.
"May I ask your name, so the next time we, um, see each other, I would have a name to apologies to instead of a simple figure?"
She turned her head toward him, halting in her quickening pace to finaly reach her room. She seemed to be thinking over the question and than gave him a indulgent smile, as if she just found what was funny into the situation and finally spoke, laughter in her voice, anger long forgotten.
"I'm Kamiya Kaoru."
"Himura Kenshin," he said bowing politely. "It's been a pleasure to see you again, Kaoru-dono and I really hope that the next time we meat, it would be less painful."
"You're not the only one, Himura-san," she humored bowing in return.
"Kamiya-san, so I see you have meat our new recuit. I hope she did not got to harsh on you Himura," said a voice from behind Kaoru.
"Not too harsh, Katsura-dono."
Kenshin offered the girl a gentle smile and than set of to follow Kogoro Katsura who had motioned him to come his way. He was half way gone down the corridore when he remembered something and turned around on his way. He took out the piece of cloth he had found on the street and interpelled the blue eyed.
"Kaoru-dono, I believe this is yours."
"My ribbon!" she exclaime taking the handed fabric and hugging it to herself. "Thank you, Himura-san. I thought that I had lost if for good."
The short man only nodded and left. This had been quite an eventfull afternoon, and somehow, he believed it was mearly just the bigining of it all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
To be continued... ... ...
a/n: Don't ask me what happed to the last RK fic i wrote if you got to read it, it's gone. I delieted it because I didn't had enough respond to it. Maybe it's because i'm used of the great popularity of my CCS fics (witch is now a phase that has long passed away from me), but it just was not satisfying for me. I really hope this one is going to make it through. But, I won't get my hopes too high. But please, tell me what you think of it. Flame me if you must, but review ( i have a very good flame proof barrier ^-^) Just click the bouton, it's only a matter of a few second. And a review can be the little thing that makes i writer's worst day into the most beautiful one.
