Rurouni Kenshin: The Price of Revenge
Chapter 1: They Meet
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YnR: Well, here's the long awaited first chapter!
Kaoru: Whoever said they were waiting for the second chapter? You have three reviews, and one just happens to be your best friend. Doesn't sound as if anyone's waiting to me.
Kenshin: That's mean, Kaoru-dono!
Kaoru: Why thank you Kenshin.
YnR: On with the story. Is that okay with you, Oh Evil One?
Kaoru: On with the story!
Kenshin: *sigh*
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Pant—pant—pant. They had finally begun to catch up, those stupid guards. They couldn't even guard an onyx necklace, let alone a gold one! She smirked as she looked again at the glittering necklace in her hand. It would make her a fortune.
"Stop thief! STOP!!"
Those stupid guards were telling her to stop? She snickered and quickened her pace, running into an alley and jumping on some crates to reach the rooftops. There she jumped from roof to roof until she came to an open area. She could hear the guards on her tail; she needed a hiding place until they left. The open area had a couple places to hide behind or in, so she jumped off the roof, holding the one weapon she owned close so it wouldn't hurt her or get damaged.
Once she touched down she ducked down into a corner behind some crates. Her ear to the wall, she heard the guards pass by. Baka, she hissed mentally. She was about to creep out when she heard a voice, a light, almost feminine voice.
"You can come out now, they're gone."
She popped up and eyed the speaker. At first glance the person seemed to be a female, but his clothes told otherwise. Her eyes glided down his slight figure and came to rest on his sword scabbard. Then her eyes flew back to his face. No, she thought. It's him. It's the Hitokiri Battousai! She would never forget the cross-shaped scar or bright orange-red hair. Never.
He watched her with interest, amazed at how her eyes seemed to change from a light orange-red to bright red in the light. He did a double-take when he realized they actually did change color. Her stance was light, carefree, but her eyes betrayed her. Her eyes were filled with hatred. At who? he wondered, me? But we've never even met!
"Well, how odd that I should meet the very man I look for," she said. "How do you do, Battousai?"
Kenshin resisted the urge to face-fault. How could she know?
"You don't recognize me, do you?" she asked languidly, as if this were all a game. "No, you wouldn't. After all, you didn't see me. You probably don't even remember my father, do you? Among all those you killed, why would you remember a lowly government official who just happened to be an enemy of the very same government ou worked under?"
His heart began to constrict. Who was she, and why did she hate him so? What did he do to her?
"You didn't do anything to me, not really," she said, as if reading his mind. "Just beheaded my father while I was there, sitting in a cabinet, terrified."
He became cold. He killed her father during the Bakumatsu. That's what happened. That's how she knew him.
"Of course, you were probably too caught-up in your blood-lust you didn't notice me there, trying not to make a sound. But I've made myself known now."
He stared at her in shock. Blood-lust? He had never thirsted for the sight or taste of blood. He had just been over-patriotic, and lost his heart because of it. He had been much to eager in the beginning to realize what would happen later.
"My name is Kitairu Tabano," she said. "Remember it."
Then she jumped to the top of the fence, and over. Kenshin furrowed his brow. Kitairu Tabano? He'd talk to Sano later, and see what the rooster-head knew.
But one thing troubled him. Well, two, actually. He hadn't noticed it until she jumped the fence surrounding the dojo. One: she had a golden necklace, which would explain the policemen. But the second was far more serious. She had a katana.
She had a sword, and she would return.
Kenshin knew that with a certainty.
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Kaoru: I wasn't in it
YnR: Sorry, there just wasn't a place for you, Kaoru.
Kenshin: What did I do to deserve this?
YnR: Deserve what?
Kenshin: The story! The girl after my life!
YnR: Nothin'. I just felt like writing it. *looming over Kenshin suddenly* Got a problem with that?!?
Kenshin: *scared* No.
YnR: Good.
Kaoru: Review! Or else the Battousai will be after your blood!
YnR: Kaoru, don't threaten the readers.
Kaoru: Yeah, yeah, fine.
