Fatality of the Strong

Chapter 4: A little bit of understanding?

By: Devilspet

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I only own Kureno Izaki.

A/N: Sorry again for the wait . . . I've been trying very hard to keep up on my stories but it's not working very well yet . . .

************

Days passed since Misao's first arrival and everything went back to normal, except for Kureno, the memories got worse every day he spent at the Kamiya dojo.

Kureno, once again, had left for a walk. This time no one that knew him pummeled into him, but this time he found himself somewhere that seemed so familiar to him but he swore he'd never been here before. This place brought back horrible memories that he knew were not his own.

The memories showed Kaoru crying, being pulled away by two men he couldn't quite make out. There were memories of a young man with red hair laying face down in a pool of blood on the riverbank. There was a bloodied dagger in his hand. These memories scared him horribly and what scared him the most was that he couldn't push the images away. No matter how hard he tried, they stayed clear as ever in his head. He looked away from the river to try and distract himself.

Nothing worked.

He tried closing his eyes and relaxing but that brought the images back stronger than ever. His eyes snapped open when a new image appeared. The image was of Kenshin Himura, the Hitokiri Battousai, smiling slightly as his eyes lost their color, as he died. Kureno's eyes were wide and he looked extremely pale. Why was he doing this? Why do these images keep appearing? These were the only questions that ran through his mind.

They repeated over and over as he got up from his sitting position on the riverbank and walked back to Kaoru's dojo.

************

Kureno was still pale when he entered the dojo. He was still thinking about those memories, the images that scared the hell out of him, and didn't see Kaoru running towards him. Just as Kaoru was about to run into him, he moved to the side and grabbed her wrist as she passed to help her stop because she obviously couldn't.

Kaoru looked back gratefully. Kureno's eyes looked glazed over like he wasn't completely listening. He looked dazed almost. "Kureno?" she asked softly.

Kureno shook away those thoughts when Kaoru called him name. "Yes?"

Kaoru looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

Kureno cursed himself for looking so not-there and nodded. "Yeah. It's just that I recognized another place." He explained.

"Why would make you so out-of-it?"

"Memories."

"What about?"

"I saw a dead guy."

"Oh. . . oh my. . . I'm sorry you had to see that. Where were you when you saw it?"

"River."

"Oh. No wonder."

"What do you mean?"

"That's where it happened, a river bank."

"What happened?"

"Where Kenshin . . . um . . . you know."

"Killed himself?"

Kaoru simply nodded. She knew that if she said anything she would start crying all over again. She didn't want Kureno to have to see that again.

Kureno frowned. 'Why'd I have to press on the topic??' he shook his head. 'I can't do anything right.'

Kaoru suddenly smiled. "Oh! I forgot why I was looking for you! A messenger came by earlier and gave me a letter for you." She said.

"Oh? From who?" he asked, trying to be cheerful.

It was a failed attempt.

Kaoru frowned at Kureno then looked to the letter, "From your boss, I think." She said and handed him the letter. Kureno opened it and read silently as Kaoru read over his shoulder with a bit of struggle since she was shorter than him:

'Kureno,

If you received this letter that means you must have reached the Kamiya dojo by now. As you know, I have sent you there for a reason you are most certainly unknown to. That reason, I will finally tell you, is that when I first saw you . . . you looked so much like Kenshin. I heard about your sickness and then you getting almost 100% better in one day. I swore to myself it was impossible but I had a feeling that told me it was not. I could tell when your attitude changed, you started saying things you never said before, being nicer to everyone around you, and even your fighting skills improved. I was convinced that this had something to do with Kenshin.'

'I didn't know why but I knew it did, and then I realized it was possible by soul replacement. Confused? It is said that if the Gods think you have some other purpose in life and you won't get to fulfill that purpose, they will give you another soul and let you live again.' (A/N: Okay people, I'll may it simple. I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS IS TRUE! PLEASE DON'T ASK ME IF IT IS! There ya go . . . simple. Back to the story)

'And for some reason, I think it may have worked like that with you. Kenshin died for his friends, if I heard right, he was not assassinated and because of that I think the Gods want to give him another chance for life. Before you left you told me you were having strange memories of people you had never seen before and remembered names of people you've never met before. I think that's how it works but I've never heard that it's actually happened. But my whole point of this letter is that I did send you there for a reason Kureno. I sent you there to uncover those memories before they drive you crazy. I knew that Kenshin was living at the Kamiya dojo and I knew that Kaoru would know most about Kenshin than anyone else.'

Kaoru blushed slightly at that statement.

'Well, I must be off! Kaoru, I'm counting on you to help him.

Best wishes and good luck . . .'

Kureno looked up from the letter in with a look of pure shock on his face. "Is . . . he telling . . . me that . . . I'm a reincarnation type person . . . of Kenshin Himura . . . the Hitokiri Battousai?" he asked quietly.

Kaoru could do nothing but nod.

"Holy shit!" he breathed.

Kaoru giggled a little but Kureno didn't see anything funny about this situation.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked.

"Because your boss is saying that you're Kenshin, the Kenshin I used to know." Kaoru said.

Kureno frowned. "You don't believe him, do you?" he asked.

Kaoru stopped laughing immediately and looked down. She sighed and simply shrugged his shoulders.

Kureno ignored that and walked away.

************

Chapter 5: 'Forgotten memories.' Coming soon

Devilspet: No comment from any characters?

Characters: . . . . . . . . . *crickets are heard*

Devilspet: Hmph . . . fine no body wanted to hear from you anyway! *pouts*

Devilspet: Review please and if you have any ideas feel free to tell me!