Fatality of the Strong
Chapter 3: So Familiar . . .
By: Devilspet
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I only own Kureno Izaki.
A/N: SO sorry for the wait of this chapter . . . don't blame me blame the damned writers block I've been having lately and it doesn't help that I have been gone pretty much 24/7 . . . so sorry. Remember to read, enjoy, and review please.
************
Kaoru led Kureno into the dojo. "So, you own this place, Miss Kamiya?" Kureno asked.
Kaoru looked back at him, smiled, and nodded. "Call me Kaoru," she requested.
Kureno nodded in return and said, "I almost feel like I've been here before . . . it's strange."
Kaoru laughed. "I've heard and seen stranger things," Kaoru said.
Kureno gave her a questioning look.
Kaoru smiled; she remembered that look . . . she'd seen Kenshin use it so many times. "The strangest thing I've seen yet is you. You look like him, sound like him, act like him, and it almost seems that you remember where ever he knew most- this dojo, this town, our names . . . you said they all sound familiar to you, right?" Kaoru asked and Kureno nodded.
"That's strange," Kaoru finalized.
"No," Kureno said, "that's not strange . . . that's scary."
Kaoru had to agree with that.
They walked into a room where they saw Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko. The three turned around they saw a young boy that looked exactly like Kenshin, because they didn't notice that there was no scar on his cheek. He was about Kaoru's age but they all knew Kenshin was older, had the fiery red hair, and the purple eyes that looked so much like Kenshin's.
"Sir Ken?"
"Kenshin?"
"Kenshin?"
Both Kureno and Kaoru sighed.
************
"So, how is it you got this job anyway, Kureno?" Kaoru asked.
Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko were still staring strangely at Kureno.
It made him nervous.
"Well, I had to quit my last job because I had come down with a very bad case of the pneumonia and," he glanced back over to the three that were still staring without any of them noticing, not even Kaoru and she had her full attention to him. "Would you three mind if I ask of you to stop staring at me?" he asked politely.
That caught them off guard and they almost fell over. They regained their composure and shook their heads.
"Thank you. As I was saying, I quit my last job, which I had about a year and a half ago . . . I don't remember exactly but anyway, it was because of a severe case of the pneumonia-"
Kaoru, who asked, "Was it really bad?" cut off Kureno.
He thought about that for a moment; it was all really fuzzy. Kureno nodded. "I could have died." He said simply, like that was nothing bad.
Kaoru's jaw dropped.
"I was sick in bed for about a year but then one day, when I felt the worst the doctor said I was getting better and quickly. I was overjoyed but something really scared me about it. I was having these memories that I had never known before, seen people I didn't know, including all you guys, and it was really weird. After a while, I was able to push those memories away, but now I can't . . . it's like they won't let me anymore know that I'm here."
Suddenly, Kureno looked at the ground.
"But why should I tell you this- it's not like you guys could do anything, right?" Kureno asked sarcastically.
The others didn't know how to answer that.
Kureno sighed and stood. He walked slowly out of the dojo onto the main streets once again mumbling a goodbye.
As he was walking he heard several more comments about him, people saying the usual, typical thing that only he would hear from them: Himura?, Kenshin, is that you?, Kenshin, you finally came back!, or Kenshin?.
He ignored all of them except one: "HIMURA!!!"
Kureno stopped dead in his tracks. 'That voice . . . that voice I distinctly recognize. But whose is it?'
A girl pounced on him.
Kureno sweat-dropped; this, he was not expecting.
The girl crawled off of Kureno and helped him up. She smiled brightly. "Oh, come on, Himura! You could have avoided that attack, you know, like old times-" Then she got a better look at him, she realized that there was something different about him. "Kenshin? You look different . . . but I can't quite tell what it is,"
Kureno looked at this girl closely; she looked familiar, like everyone and everything else in this village. She definitely wasn't as remember able as Kaoru was but he knew that Kenshin must have known her at one time. Kureno decided he had to know who this girl was. "Um . . . excuse me? But do we know each other? If so, would you be so kind as to tell me your name, young lady?"
The girl fell over. She got up quickly and looked at him like he was a complete and total idiot then laughed. "Oh. Come on, Kenshin; stop playing around! It's me, Misao Makimachi!"
Kureno stared at her blankly. "Why do you keep calling me Kenshin?"
Misao rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's your NAME??"
Kureno plainly shook his head. "No, it's not."
Misao gave him a questioning look. Kureno sighed and pulled her along the road, back to the Kaoru's dojo, which he was staying at.
************
"Kaoru?? Come here, please! We have more explaining to do!" Kureno called as they entered the dojo.
Kaoru walked up to the new comers. "Hey, Misao! What's the matter?" Misao was still blinking and speechless. (A/n: I think you would be too if you thought you saw one of your old friends, he didn't recognize you, told you he wasn't the friend you were looking for, then pulled you all the way to another friend's dojo.)
Kureno saw that Misao wasn't going to be talking anytime soon so he answered for her. "Please explain who I am and why I am not this 'Kenshin Himura'." He requested.
Kaoru sighed.
"He is Kureno Izaki not Kenshin Himura. I do see an uncanny resemblance in them but they are most definitely different people, trust me. They do look different too if you get a good look at him. For one, the first one I noticed was that there is no scar on his cheek and at once I knew he wasn't Kenshin . . . he's also younger than Kenshin," Kaoru explained.
Misao hung her head. "Oh, I see . . ." She walked up to Kureno and looked up at him with big, dewy, puppy-dog eyes. "I am SO sorry! Can you forgive me? I had no idea you weren't Kenshin. I was just so excited that I would see him again that I didn't really notice that you were different from him." She started pleading for forgiveness. Kaoru sighed, 'This will take a while,' she thought unenthusiastically.
Kureno was really trying the whole time to tell her that it wasn't necessary and that he forgave her but Misao just kept going so he was going to wait until she finished.
****** 15 minutes later******
"So, will you forgive me?" Misao asked after finishing her pleading.
Kaoru sweat-dropped and Kureno stared at her then nodded dumbly.
Misao jumped up and down in happiness. "YAY!! YIP-" she stopped in midair when she saw that Kaoru and Kureno were looking at her very strangely. Misao grew embarrassed and looked down at the ground. "Whoops, I gotta little excited there . . . sorry . . ."
Kureno and Kaoru both fell over. Kureno quickly regained his composure and faced Misao.
"Um . . . Miss Makimachi, is it?" Kureno asked then turned to Kaoru, who had recovered also, for confirmation and she nodded. "Miss Makimachi, all of that apologizing was not really necessary because I was going to forgive you in the first place. There's no use holding a grudge against someone you just met."
Misao looked up, enraged. "SO YOU MADE ME DO ALL THAT APOLOGIZING FOR ASOLUTELY NOTHING??? WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME OR SOMETHING??" Misao screamed.
"I tried, really," Kureno defended.
"WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED HARDER!!"
Kureno cringed her loud voice was certainly going to pierce his eardrums soon if he did not put a stop to the noise. "Miss Makimachi, please calm yourself, why are you yelling so loudly?"
Kaoru tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, Kureno. You're supposed to be loud when you yell, for future reference."
Kureno sighed. "No, that's not what I mean- I mean . . . URG!! MISS MAKIMACHI WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?? I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK!!" Kureno shouted at Misao, who was still yelling at him.
Misao instantly went quiet.
"Thank you." Kureno said quietly.
Kaoru and Misao both were speechless; they had never thought that Kureno's calm voice could speak that loudly.
Suddenly, Misao and Kaoru both started laughing uncontrollably.
Kureno blinked. "What's so funny?" he asked.
The girls just laughed harder.
Sanosuke, Megumi, and Yahiko heard all the commotion outside and stuck their heads out the door. They saw Misao and Kaoru rolling in laughter and Kureno blinking in bewilderment. Megumi shook her head in disgust although she found this very amusing. Sanosuke and Yahiko blinked with Kureno and they walked out to see what had happened that was so funny.
They two boys could never pass up a good laugh.
Kaoru and Misao were still rolling on the ground laughing their hearts out with tears in the eyes when Sanosuke and Yahiko stood beside the amazed Kureno. He never knew someone could laugh that much.
Kaoru finally stopped laughing and wiped her eyes. She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her kimono. "Ow, ow, ow . . ." Kaoru said and grabbed her side.
Kureno immediately snapped out of his stage of unknown shock. "What is it?" Kureno asked urgently, "Are you okay?" he asked.
Kaoru winced slightly. "My side hurts from laughing so much."
Kureno, Sanosuke, and Yahiko fell over and Misao laughed harder.
Yahiko got up and stared at Misao. "How can laugh so much?"
************
Chapter 4: 'A little bit of understanding?' Coming soon
A/N: Review please and keep reading. Oh guess what! THE DAMNED WRITERS BLOCK IS GONE!! YAY!! THAT MEANS ANOTHER CHAPTER SHOULD BE OUT SOON!! YAY!! AND THAT MEANS MORE REVIEWS!! (Hopefully) EVEN MORE YAY!!
Kureno: Will you calm down please?
Me: But why? It's just so much fun!
Misao: *starts laughing again*
All (meaning me, Kaoru, Kureno, Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko (no Misao)): sweat-drops
Chapter 3: So Familiar . . .
By: Devilspet
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I only own Kureno Izaki.
A/N: SO sorry for the wait of this chapter . . . don't blame me blame the damned writers block I've been having lately and it doesn't help that I have been gone pretty much 24/7 . . . so sorry. Remember to read, enjoy, and review please.
************
Kaoru led Kureno into the dojo. "So, you own this place, Miss Kamiya?" Kureno asked.
Kaoru looked back at him, smiled, and nodded. "Call me Kaoru," she requested.
Kureno nodded in return and said, "I almost feel like I've been here before . . . it's strange."
Kaoru laughed. "I've heard and seen stranger things," Kaoru said.
Kureno gave her a questioning look.
Kaoru smiled; she remembered that look . . . she'd seen Kenshin use it so many times. "The strangest thing I've seen yet is you. You look like him, sound like him, act like him, and it almost seems that you remember where ever he knew most- this dojo, this town, our names . . . you said they all sound familiar to you, right?" Kaoru asked and Kureno nodded.
"That's strange," Kaoru finalized.
"No," Kureno said, "that's not strange . . . that's scary."
Kaoru had to agree with that.
They walked into a room where they saw Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko. The three turned around they saw a young boy that looked exactly like Kenshin, because they didn't notice that there was no scar on his cheek. He was about Kaoru's age but they all knew Kenshin was older, had the fiery red hair, and the purple eyes that looked so much like Kenshin's.
"Sir Ken?"
"Kenshin?"
"Kenshin?"
Both Kureno and Kaoru sighed.
************
"So, how is it you got this job anyway, Kureno?" Kaoru asked.
Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko were still staring strangely at Kureno.
It made him nervous.
"Well, I had to quit my last job because I had come down with a very bad case of the pneumonia and," he glanced back over to the three that were still staring without any of them noticing, not even Kaoru and she had her full attention to him. "Would you three mind if I ask of you to stop staring at me?" he asked politely.
That caught them off guard and they almost fell over. They regained their composure and shook their heads.
"Thank you. As I was saying, I quit my last job, which I had about a year and a half ago . . . I don't remember exactly but anyway, it was because of a severe case of the pneumonia-"
Kaoru, who asked, "Was it really bad?" cut off Kureno.
He thought about that for a moment; it was all really fuzzy. Kureno nodded. "I could have died." He said simply, like that was nothing bad.
Kaoru's jaw dropped.
"I was sick in bed for about a year but then one day, when I felt the worst the doctor said I was getting better and quickly. I was overjoyed but something really scared me about it. I was having these memories that I had never known before, seen people I didn't know, including all you guys, and it was really weird. After a while, I was able to push those memories away, but now I can't . . . it's like they won't let me anymore know that I'm here."
Suddenly, Kureno looked at the ground.
"But why should I tell you this- it's not like you guys could do anything, right?" Kureno asked sarcastically.
The others didn't know how to answer that.
Kureno sighed and stood. He walked slowly out of the dojo onto the main streets once again mumbling a goodbye.
As he was walking he heard several more comments about him, people saying the usual, typical thing that only he would hear from them: Himura?, Kenshin, is that you?, Kenshin, you finally came back!, or Kenshin?.
He ignored all of them except one: "HIMURA!!!"
Kureno stopped dead in his tracks. 'That voice . . . that voice I distinctly recognize. But whose is it?'
A girl pounced on him.
Kureno sweat-dropped; this, he was not expecting.
The girl crawled off of Kureno and helped him up. She smiled brightly. "Oh, come on, Himura! You could have avoided that attack, you know, like old times-" Then she got a better look at him, she realized that there was something different about him. "Kenshin? You look different . . . but I can't quite tell what it is,"
Kureno looked at this girl closely; she looked familiar, like everyone and everything else in this village. She definitely wasn't as remember able as Kaoru was but he knew that Kenshin must have known her at one time. Kureno decided he had to know who this girl was. "Um . . . excuse me? But do we know each other? If so, would you be so kind as to tell me your name, young lady?"
The girl fell over. She got up quickly and looked at him like he was a complete and total idiot then laughed. "Oh. Come on, Kenshin; stop playing around! It's me, Misao Makimachi!"
Kureno stared at her blankly. "Why do you keep calling me Kenshin?"
Misao rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's your NAME??"
Kureno plainly shook his head. "No, it's not."
Misao gave him a questioning look. Kureno sighed and pulled her along the road, back to the Kaoru's dojo, which he was staying at.
************
"Kaoru?? Come here, please! We have more explaining to do!" Kureno called as they entered the dojo.
Kaoru walked up to the new comers. "Hey, Misao! What's the matter?" Misao was still blinking and speechless. (A/n: I think you would be too if you thought you saw one of your old friends, he didn't recognize you, told you he wasn't the friend you were looking for, then pulled you all the way to another friend's dojo.)
Kureno saw that Misao wasn't going to be talking anytime soon so he answered for her. "Please explain who I am and why I am not this 'Kenshin Himura'." He requested.
Kaoru sighed.
"He is Kureno Izaki not Kenshin Himura. I do see an uncanny resemblance in them but they are most definitely different people, trust me. They do look different too if you get a good look at him. For one, the first one I noticed was that there is no scar on his cheek and at once I knew he wasn't Kenshin . . . he's also younger than Kenshin," Kaoru explained.
Misao hung her head. "Oh, I see . . ." She walked up to Kureno and looked up at him with big, dewy, puppy-dog eyes. "I am SO sorry! Can you forgive me? I had no idea you weren't Kenshin. I was just so excited that I would see him again that I didn't really notice that you were different from him." She started pleading for forgiveness. Kaoru sighed, 'This will take a while,' she thought unenthusiastically.
Kureno was really trying the whole time to tell her that it wasn't necessary and that he forgave her but Misao just kept going so he was going to wait until she finished.
****** 15 minutes later******
"So, will you forgive me?" Misao asked after finishing her pleading.
Kaoru sweat-dropped and Kureno stared at her then nodded dumbly.
Misao jumped up and down in happiness. "YAY!! YIP-" she stopped in midair when she saw that Kaoru and Kureno were looking at her very strangely. Misao grew embarrassed and looked down at the ground. "Whoops, I gotta little excited there . . . sorry . . ."
Kureno and Kaoru both fell over. Kureno quickly regained his composure and faced Misao.
"Um . . . Miss Makimachi, is it?" Kureno asked then turned to Kaoru, who had recovered also, for confirmation and she nodded. "Miss Makimachi, all of that apologizing was not really necessary because I was going to forgive you in the first place. There's no use holding a grudge against someone you just met."
Misao looked up, enraged. "SO YOU MADE ME DO ALL THAT APOLOGIZING FOR ASOLUTELY NOTHING??? WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME OR SOMETHING??" Misao screamed.
"I tried, really," Kureno defended.
"WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED HARDER!!"
Kureno cringed her loud voice was certainly going to pierce his eardrums soon if he did not put a stop to the noise. "Miss Makimachi, please calm yourself, why are you yelling so loudly?"
Kaoru tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, Kureno. You're supposed to be loud when you yell, for future reference."
Kureno sighed. "No, that's not what I mean- I mean . . . URG!! MISS MAKIMACHI WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?? I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK!!" Kureno shouted at Misao, who was still yelling at him.
Misao instantly went quiet.
"Thank you." Kureno said quietly.
Kaoru and Misao both were speechless; they had never thought that Kureno's calm voice could speak that loudly.
Suddenly, Misao and Kaoru both started laughing uncontrollably.
Kureno blinked. "What's so funny?" he asked.
The girls just laughed harder.
Sanosuke, Megumi, and Yahiko heard all the commotion outside and stuck their heads out the door. They saw Misao and Kaoru rolling in laughter and Kureno blinking in bewilderment. Megumi shook her head in disgust although she found this very amusing. Sanosuke and Yahiko blinked with Kureno and they walked out to see what had happened that was so funny.
They two boys could never pass up a good laugh.
Kaoru and Misao were still rolling on the ground laughing their hearts out with tears in the eyes when Sanosuke and Yahiko stood beside the amazed Kureno. He never knew someone could laugh that much.
Kaoru finally stopped laughing and wiped her eyes. She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her kimono. "Ow, ow, ow . . ." Kaoru said and grabbed her side.
Kureno immediately snapped out of his stage of unknown shock. "What is it?" Kureno asked urgently, "Are you okay?" he asked.
Kaoru winced slightly. "My side hurts from laughing so much."
Kureno, Sanosuke, and Yahiko fell over and Misao laughed harder.
Yahiko got up and stared at Misao. "How can laugh so much?"
************
Chapter 4: 'A little bit of understanding?' Coming soon
A/N: Review please and keep reading. Oh guess what! THE DAMNED WRITERS BLOCK IS GONE!! YAY!! THAT MEANS ANOTHER CHAPTER SHOULD BE OUT SOON!! YAY!! AND THAT MEANS MORE REVIEWS!! (Hopefully) EVEN MORE YAY!!
Kureno: Will you calm down please?
Me: But why? It's just so much fun!
Misao: *starts laughing again*
All (meaning me, Kaoru, Kureno, Megumi, Sanosuke, and Yahiko (no Misao)): sweat-drops
