Author's note: hi everyone (all two of you!) I finally updated. I didn't
get much enthusiasm for the first two chapter (try three reviews), so I
gave up. But then I got an email asking for the next chapter, so, here it
is. Oh, and ONE person dies in this chapter. ONE!
Kaoru stared in fear at Korajin. He laughed.
"Do not be afraid, girl. I have no intention of violating you again. I only did it to provoke the Battousai. I guess it was not enough. He is truly afraid to kill again."
"You don't know him! He will never kill again! No matter what you do, the old Battousai is dead. Kenshin is the only part of him that's left."
"Don't be a fool, girl. You know how close to it he is already. Just a bit more and Hitokiri Battousai will return once again. But what can I do? If taking the Battousai's woman in front of him is not enough, what is? I could of course kill you, girl, but what fun would that be? He would lose his will to live and wouldn't be any challenge. So I need to find some other way."
"If you touch me again, Kenshin will kill you. You have no idea how powerful he is."
"You must be talking about his power in the bed, because I have fought the Battousai before; and not merely Himura Kenshin, but the real Battousai, back in Kyoto, during the Bakumatsu."
"What?"
"Yes, it has been a long, long time. But I remember it well. We were evenly matched, but the Battousai had just fought a rather taxing battle with the most powerful swordsman of the Shinsen Gumi, Saitou Hajime. I found the Battousai as he was leaving the fight and attacked him. He somehow managed to block my initial attack. We faced each other. He was injured and I took advantage of this injury to defeat him. I had knocked away his sword. He was on the ground, and had no chance of winning. But just before I killed him he pulled out his wakazashi and put it through my stomach. I collapsed and when I woke up, he was gone. Bastard."
"You still don't know what he's capable of. If you had fought him at his full strength, you wouldn't be here right now."
"Damned Battousai. I haven't seen him for over ten years. I really want to kill him. But I'll need your help."
"You're sick!"
"So?"
"You're going to die!"
"If I do, I'll be sure to take Himura and you with me."
* * * * *
Sanosuke and Yahiko were badly wounded, but not dead. Korajin didn't always kill. He only did it when it would provide him with an advantage.
"Kaoru's been.been really worried about you.Kenshin." Sanosuke said. Kenshin nodded.
"I have been a bit different from my usual self, have I not? I fear for Kaoru's well being. I hope she's all right."
"He won't kill her. He needs her."
"I know. But that's just as bad. I will have to go rescue her, and he may find a way to beat me when I go. It won't be easy."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. We can talk about it later. I'm gonna go back to.sleep." Sanosuke dozed off and Kenshin stood up. It wasn't easy pretending to be the anti-killing rurouni when he felt like slicing up everyone he saw. As he stood, his eyes changed to red. He left the dojo in search of information.
* * * * *
Kaoru woke with a gasp. She sat up and looked around. Korajin glanced up at her from his own bed.
"What now, girl?"
How long was I asleep?" she demanded. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe six hours"
"You didn't.do anything, did you?"
"Of course not. The only reason I did before was to provoke the Battousai. I am not the kind of person who does that strictly for fun."
"Good. Cause if you did, I'd kill you!"
"Don't get too cocky, girl. You'll have no chance if you piss me off."
"Sure. Whatever."
* * * * *
Battousai stood outside the house. They were in there. He could hear them. Soon. Don't worry, Kaoru. Soon, you'll be safe.
* * * * *
The wall imploded. Wood blew everywhere. Korajin immediately stood and reached for his sword, but not before Battousai had his sword at his neck.
"Move and you die," he hissed.
"Kenshin!" cried Kaoru. She stood. Battousai glanced at her. Then he smiled.
"Kaoru." His eyes turned from red to amber, then from amber to violet. His hold on Korajin loosened. Korajin grabbed his sword and slammed the hilt into Kenshin's stomach. Kenshin dropped to the floor. Korajin sheathed his sword and stepped back.
"Still nothing. Battousai, you are hard to predict. I suppose I will have to devise another method for making you wake up. So long." He fled the room as Kenshin got to one knee.
* * * * *
Kaoru was holding Kenshin tight as they walked up to the dojo. As they reached the gate, Yahiko ran out. His eyes were wide and there were tears on his cheeks.
"K-K-Kaoru."
"Yahiko! It's so good to see you!" Kaoru ran forward and hugged him. Yahiko pulled back.
"N-No. M-M-Megumi. She's d-d-dead!"
"What?!" Yahiko stepped to the side. Kenshin ran forward with Kaoru right behind him.
"No. No. No No No NOOO!!!" Megumi was lying on the ground at their feet. Except her head. That was pinned against the wall of the dojo by a sword through her mouth. Blood hadn't leaked onto the wall, but it was all over the ground.
"He must have killed her and then cut her head off," said Kenshin. He was kneeling over her body. "There's no blood on the wall under her head."
"Who cares?!" cried Kaoru "She's dead!"
"Korajin will pay for this." Kenshin stood upright. His eyes were red. "I will kill him."
"Kenshin." Kaoru was confused. "What about your vow? You swore never to kill again, no matter what."
"This man is so ruthless, so damned evil that I think the only way to be sure he's out of the way is to kill him. This is harder for me than anything has ever been before."
"Then don't go now! What he's done is terrible, and cannot be forgiven. But are you really ready to stoop to his level? I fell incredibly angry at him right now, but I don't think that even Megumi's death is as bad as it would be if you became a Hitokiri again."
"I'm sorry Kaoru. This is something I have to deal with alone." He turned and left the dojo. Kaoru stared after him. Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed.
* * * * *
"Hello, Mr. Himura." Battousai looked up at the kid.
"I need some information. I'm sure you've heard about Korajin."
"Oh yeah. He's making a big commotion around here." Soujiro walked to the back of the room. "What's he done to annoy you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I do. Just tell me what you know." Soujiro leaned against the wall. His brow furrowed in thought and he looked down.
"I believe when I last heard about him this morning, he was down by the river. He had just attacked a couple people. When the cops got there, he was already gone."
"Good. Then he can't be far away. Thank you, Soujiro."
"Oh, I'm happy to help, Mr. Himura."
* * * * *
Korajin was walking down the town's main road when he heard a gun fire and, a second later, the window beside his head exploded. He whirled around and drew his sword. Another rbullet shot toward him. He dodged and quickly cut the cop before he could fire again. Then, as he looked up, at least fifty police appeared and surrounded him.
He grinned and disappeared. The police looked around. Then one yelled. Blood showered the nearby men as the cop dropped, half his head gone. The one behind him shouted as he fell in a spray of blood. Korajin was quickly cutting his way out of the circle faster than the policemen could see. Soon he had escaped their enclosure and disappeared altogether.
* * * * *
Battousai watched the whole incident from the shadows of a nearby building. He followed after Korajin, making sure he wasn't seen.
* * * * *
Kaoru woke and saw blackness. Her first thought was Oh shit, I'm blind! Then she realized that there was a warm, wet towel over her eyes. She took it off, feeling a bit embarrassed, and then sat up. What time is it?
"Oh, Kaoru, you're up!" Yahiko entered the room.
"Yahiko, where's Kenshin?" she asked immediately.
"I don't know.he left before you fainted."
"Great." She felt terrible. Not only was Megumi dead and a maniacal killer out to get her, but now Kenshin was gone too. They had only slept together one night before Korajin kidnapped and raped her. It didn't seem fair.
"Where are my clothes? And.hey, who undressed me?!" Yahiko turned red and fled the room as something hard hit the wall where he had been leaning.
* * * * *
Korajin saw the iciness of his eyes before he recognized the person, but he was still quick enough to defend himself. He drew his sword and blocked Battousai's attack. Battousai leapt back.
"This is it, Korajin," he snarled. "I'm gonna kill you now!"
"You know perfectly well that I'm better than you. Every time we fought, I had you beaten, but something always happened before I finished you off."
"Fuck you! I've always been a better swordsman. But, hey, I don't have to tell you. I can show you! Just let me use your body as an example." He charged forward. Korajin dodged the attack and swung his blade. Battousai spun around and hit Korajin with his fist. He sliced downward with his katana, but Korajin managaged to evade the attack again. Then he responded with an upward slash, which narrowly missed Battousai's face.
"Not bad," breathed Korajin. He was smiling. This was fun!
"I know." Battousai sheathed his sword. "Let's go."
"Don't think I don't know what your're doing, Battousai! Your Final Attack won't work on me!" He turned his sword upside down and held it like a dagger. With his other hand, he reached into his coat. Then he charged.
"Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki!" Battousai cut the air quicker than the eye could see. But he dropped in mid-swing and fell to the ground. A small sword was protruding from his back. Korajin had pulled out another weapon while charging.
"Once again, I win, Battousai." Korajin raised his sword and swung it down, ripping open Battousai's neck. Battousai lay in a pool of his own blood, twitching slightly. Korajin sheathed his sword and walked briskly away.
Oh no! Is Kenshin dead? Hard to answer. Maybe when I write more, I'll find out.and you might, too! See ya, and please R&R!
Kaoru stared in fear at Korajin. He laughed.
"Do not be afraid, girl. I have no intention of violating you again. I only did it to provoke the Battousai. I guess it was not enough. He is truly afraid to kill again."
"You don't know him! He will never kill again! No matter what you do, the old Battousai is dead. Kenshin is the only part of him that's left."
"Don't be a fool, girl. You know how close to it he is already. Just a bit more and Hitokiri Battousai will return once again. But what can I do? If taking the Battousai's woman in front of him is not enough, what is? I could of course kill you, girl, but what fun would that be? He would lose his will to live and wouldn't be any challenge. So I need to find some other way."
"If you touch me again, Kenshin will kill you. You have no idea how powerful he is."
"You must be talking about his power in the bed, because I have fought the Battousai before; and not merely Himura Kenshin, but the real Battousai, back in Kyoto, during the Bakumatsu."
"What?"
"Yes, it has been a long, long time. But I remember it well. We were evenly matched, but the Battousai had just fought a rather taxing battle with the most powerful swordsman of the Shinsen Gumi, Saitou Hajime. I found the Battousai as he was leaving the fight and attacked him. He somehow managed to block my initial attack. We faced each other. He was injured and I took advantage of this injury to defeat him. I had knocked away his sword. He was on the ground, and had no chance of winning. But just before I killed him he pulled out his wakazashi and put it through my stomach. I collapsed and when I woke up, he was gone. Bastard."
"You still don't know what he's capable of. If you had fought him at his full strength, you wouldn't be here right now."
"Damned Battousai. I haven't seen him for over ten years. I really want to kill him. But I'll need your help."
"You're sick!"
"So?"
"You're going to die!"
"If I do, I'll be sure to take Himura and you with me."
* * * * *
Sanosuke and Yahiko were badly wounded, but not dead. Korajin didn't always kill. He only did it when it would provide him with an advantage.
"Kaoru's been.been really worried about you.Kenshin." Sanosuke said. Kenshin nodded.
"I have been a bit different from my usual self, have I not? I fear for Kaoru's well being. I hope she's all right."
"He won't kill her. He needs her."
"I know. But that's just as bad. I will have to go rescue her, and he may find a way to beat me when I go. It won't be easy."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. We can talk about it later. I'm gonna go back to.sleep." Sanosuke dozed off and Kenshin stood up. It wasn't easy pretending to be the anti-killing rurouni when he felt like slicing up everyone he saw. As he stood, his eyes changed to red. He left the dojo in search of information.
* * * * *
Kaoru woke with a gasp. She sat up and looked around. Korajin glanced up at her from his own bed.
"What now, girl?"
How long was I asleep?" she demanded. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe six hours"
"You didn't.do anything, did you?"
"Of course not. The only reason I did before was to provoke the Battousai. I am not the kind of person who does that strictly for fun."
"Good. Cause if you did, I'd kill you!"
"Don't get too cocky, girl. You'll have no chance if you piss me off."
"Sure. Whatever."
* * * * *
Battousai stood outside the house. They were in there. He could hear them. Soon. Don't worry, Kaoru. Soon, you'll be safe.
* * * * *
The wall imploded. Wood blew everywhere. Korajin immediately stood and reached for his sword, but not before Battousai had his sword at his neck.
"Move and you die," he hissed.
"Kenshin!" cried Kaoru. She stood. Battousai glanced at her. Then he smiled.
"Kaoru." His eyes turned from red to amber, then from amber to violet. His hold on Korajin loosened. Korajin grabbed his sword and slammed the hilt into Kenshin's stomach. Kenshin dropped to the floor. Korajin sheathed his sword and stepped back.
"Still nothing. Battousai, you are hard to predict. I suppose I will have to devise another method for making you wake up. So long." He fled the room as Kenshin got to one knee.
* * * * *
Kaoru was holding Kenshin tight as they walked up to the dojo. As they reached the gate, Yahiko ran out. His eyes were wide and there were tears on his cheeks.
"K-K-Kaoru."
"Yahiko! It's so good to see you!" Kaoru ran forward and hugged him. Yahiko pulled back.
"N-No. M-M-Megumi. She's d-d-dead!"
"What?!" Yahiko stepped to the side. Kenshin ran forward with Kaoru right behind him.
"No. No. No No No NOOO!!!" Megumi was lying on the ground at their feet. Except her head. That was pinned against the wall of the dojo by a sword through her mouth. Blood hadn't leaked onto the wall, but it was all over the ground.
"He must have killed her and then cut her head off," said Kenshin. He was kneeling over her body. "There's no blood on the wall under her head."
"Who cares?!" cried Kaoru "She's dead!"
"Korajin will pay for this." Kenshin stood upright. His eyes were red. "I will kill him."
"Kenshin." Kaoru was confused. "What about your vow? You swore never to kill again, no matter what."
"This man is so ruthless, so damned evil that I think the only way to be sure he's out of the way is to kill him. This is harder for me than anything has ever been before."
"Then don't go now! What he's done is terrible, and cannot be forgiven. But are you really ready to stoop to his level? I fell incredibly angry at him right now, but I don't think that even Megumi's death is as bad as it would be if you became a Hitokiri again."
"I'm sorry Kaoru. This is something I have to deal with alone." He turned and left the dojo. Kaoru stared after him. Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed.
* * * * *
"Hello, Mr. Himura." Battousai looked up at the kid.
"I need some information. I'm sure you've heard about Korajin."
"Oh yeah. He's making a big commotion around here." Soujiro walked to the back of the room. "What's he done to annoy you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I do. Just tell me what you know." Soujiro leaned against the wall. His brow furrowed in thought and he looked down.
"I believe when I last heard about him this morning, he was down by the river. He had just attacked a couple people. When the cops got there, he was already gone."
"Good. Then he can't be far away. Thank you, Soujiro."
"Oh, I'm happy to help, Mr. Himura."
* * * * *
Korajin was walking down the town's main road when he heard a gun fire and, a second later, the window beside his head exploded. He whirled around and drew his sword. Another rbullet shot toward him. He dodged and quickly cut the cop before he could fire again. Then, as he looked up, at least fifty police appeared and surrounded him.
He grinned and disappeared. The police looked around. Then one yelled. Blood showered the nearby men as the cop dropped, half his head gone. The one behind him shouted as he fell in a spray of blood. Korajin was quickly cutting his way out of the circle faster than the policemen could see. Soon he had escaped their enclosure and disappeared altogether.
* * * * *
Battousai watched the whole incident from the shadows of a nearby building. He followed after Korajin, making sure he wasn't seen.
* * * * *
Kaoru woke and saw blackness. Her first thought was Oh shit, I'm blind! Then she realized that there was a warm, wet towel over her eyes. She took it off, feeling a bit embarrassed, and then sat up. What time is it?
"Oh, Kaoru, you're up!" Yahiko entered the room.
"Yahiko, where's Kenshin?" she asked immediately.
"I don't know.he left before you fainted."
"Great." She felt terrible. Not only was Megumi dead and a maniacal killer out to get her, but now Kenshin was gone too. They had only slept together one night before Korajin kidnapped and raped her. It didn't seem fair.
"Where are my clothes? And.hey, who undressed me?!" Yahiko turned red and fled the room as something hard hit the wall where he had been leaning.
* * * * *
Korajin saw the iciness of his eyes before he recognized the person, but he was still quick enough to defend himself. He drew his sword and blocked Battousai's attack. Battousai leapt back.
"This is it, Korajin," he snarled. "I'm gonna kill you now!"
"You know perfectly well that I'm better than you. Every time we fought, I had you beaten, but something always happened before I finished you off."
"Fuck you! I've always been a better swordsman. But, hey, I don't have to tell you. I can show you! Just let me use your body as an example." He charged forward. Korajin dodged the attack and swung his blade. Battousai spun around and hit Korajin with his fist. He sliced downward with his katana, but Korajin managaged to evade the attack again. Then he responded with an upward slash, which narrowly missed Battousai's face.
"Not bad," breathed Korajin. He was smiling. This was fun!
"I know." Battousai sheathed his sword. "Let's go."
"Don't think I don't know what your're doing, Battousai! Your Final Attack won't work on me!" He turned his sword upside down and held it like a dagger. With his other hand, he reached into his coat. Then he charged.
"Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki!" Battousai cut the air quicker than the eye could see. But he dropped in mid-swing and fell to the ground. A small sword was protruding from his back. Korajin had pulled out another weapon while charging.
"Once again, I win, Battousai." Korajin raised his sword and swung it down, ripping open Battousai's neck. Battousai lay in a pool of his own blood, twitching slightly. Korajin sheathed his sword and walked briskly away.
Oh no! Is Kenshin dead? Hard to answer. Maybe when I write more, I'll find out.and you might, too! See ya, and please R&R!