'...' = Thoughts "..." = Speaking `~`~`~' = Dreaming/Flashback
[Information containing anything to do with the Japanese customs I use in this story will be at the bottom of the chapters. Definition of Japanese words at bottom. Author responses to any reviews will be put on the bottom of chapters in the future also.]
~*~*~*~
Chapter 3: ...Like a dream...
Kaoru was in the cabin next to him, supposedly unconscious. It was strange. The women who had yelled for help said she had just collapsed before their eyes. He was still wondering what could have made her just faint... Certainly it couldn't have been the weather, it was just enough to be called warm. When he had seen what the fuss was, he saw Kaoru laying on the deck and demanded to know what happened. The women said she had collapsed while they had been talking, something told him that the women were talkers. Talkers meant rumors being spread, and rumors usually had something about him in them. So Kaoru had fainted because she found out who he was? He almost had the urge to laugh, something he had not done since he was a mere child.
After Kaoru had fainted, he had brought her back to her own cabin. He didn't think she would be to fond of the idea of them sharing a cabin together, and had managed to get the cabin next to him for his own use.
He felt her ki stir and looked up at the door to his cabin, suddenly, hearing the one beside him open. Footsteps drifted down the hallway before he stood up, 'well if she thinks she can get away from me just because she knows who I am, she's mistaken.' He smirked to himself and padded across his cabin, sliding the door open and walking out in to the hallway.
~*~*~
He stepped on to the first step of the staircase that would take him to the deck and narrowed his eyes when he sensed a very familiar ki, which was proceeded by a scream. He moved in the blink of an eye on to the top of the deck with his katana already un-sheathed and in his hand. He turned around and saw a man holding Kaoru, with his hand gagged over her mouth and his other hand was slowly cutting the fabric of her kimono, while tears poured out of her eyes. He growled at this.
The man looked up and grinned when he saw Battousai there, katana out and pointed at him in a deathly manner. He stopped in mid-way of cutting Kaoru's kimono anymore.
"Well if it isn't the famous Hitokiri Battousai!" He laughed. "I had heard you would be on this ship, and I guess they were right."
"What do you want Jin'eh?" Battousai's amber eyes stared at him, waiting for an explanation
"To finish our fight of course! I've been searching for you for a long time, you should be grateful towards me for tracking you down! After all, I killed a lot of people to find out where you were."
"And what if I wasn't on this ship After all?" He asked
"Then I would have had some fun with the girl." Jin'eh said in a hungry, lustful, voice which caused Kaoru to whimper at the meaning implied in his voice.
Battousai charged at top speed towards him, and Jin'eh quickly let go of Kaoru. Jin'eh had his katana blocking Battousai's before Kaoru had even made contact with the floor of the deck. Her hands were placed firmly on the deck and her leg crossed over the other, as she leaned against the railing of the ship. She watched in horror and pulled her legs to her chest to seek the least amount of comfort before she started sobbing into the sleeves of her kimono.
~*~*~
Their swords clanked together, rubbing against each other's blades so hard that it caused some sparks to fly. As Battousai dodged quickly from one of Jin'eh's attacks, he prepared himself to use a Ryu-son-sen but Jin'eh used his Shin no ippou hyouki which delayed him in doing so. Taking the chance, Jin'eh struck, but was too late as Battousai had already warded off the spell and had jumped into the air, causing Jin'eh to strike at nothing but thin air. Jin'eh watched as Battousai landed a distance away from him and got into the posture of using a batto-jutsu technique.
Jin'eh smiled happily, "still quite the fighter, I see. Well I'm certainly glad the revolution hasn't changed your fighting abilities!"
"The revolution will not stop me from killing dirty bastards like you." He said in a flat, emotionless tone.
Jin'eh laughed heartily, "come now, Battousai. If I am what you are implying, then aren't you applying yourself as being one also?"
"I'm not as crazed as you, killing your own squad of men in the Shinsengumi." He said, making a statement of pure fact.
"Those weak members deserved to be killed, Battousai!" Jin'eh said.
Nothing else was said, their eyes locked, each preparing their next move as Jin'eh was thinking of a way to deflect his batto-jutsu. As they both knew what move to use, they charged into battle at the same time. Battousai drew his katana with god-like speed but missed and lost the effect of executing the batto-jutsu, as Jin'eh had dodged it, Jin'eh prepared to attack with the chance that was lingering there and was than hit on the right arm by Battousai's sheath and fell to the floor.
'Kuso! A double batto-jutsu?!' Jin'eh cursed in his mind, falling to the floor.
"Sou-ryu-sen-kaminori... Certainly you of all people should know that I have mastered all the techniques of batto-jutsu, including that one..." Battousai re-sheathed his katana back into it's rightful scubbard.
Jin'eh spit out some blood before laughing, "well, Battousai... I was the one who wanted our rematch... Finish me off."
Battousai walked over to him, taking his katana out of it's scubbard for one last blow, "as you wish..." He held his sword high, and then stabbed Jin'eh in his heart. Killing him instantly.
~*~*~
Kaoru didn't hear him come over to her, as she was still sobbing uncontrollably in to the sleeves of her kimono. He placed his right hand on her shoulder and she shot her head up quickly, cold-hearted amber orbs met melting azure ones. Her tears flowed down her cheeks in streams she could not control. She did something even he didn't expect, she pulled him close to her and cried into his chest...
He stiffened. He had not had such close contact, much less hugged, by anyone since...
`~`~`~` "Shinta..." Akane cried out, holding him closer to her. While Sakura, on the other side of Shinta, tried to block his vision, so he wouldn't have to see the murder taking place right before them.
"Shinta..." Akane cried out again, hearing the screams of the one's who were being slaughtered right before them.
While traveling, a group of bandits, which whom they had crossed paths with before, had gone on a rampage and had started murdering them one by one. There were only a few of them left, including Akane, Sakura, and Shinta.
"You've got to live, Shinta, no matter what... You've got to live..." Akane cried out before being released from her hold on Shinta and being slaughtered right before him... `~`~`~`
His bangs brushed over his eyes, covering them from view. He let her move her arms around his neck and picked her up gently. He went back down the stairs, where everyone on the ship rested peacefully, unbeknownst to them that anything had taken place on the ship tonight. Her sobs were muffled while she cried into his shoulder, making his gi considerably wet. He opened the cabin's door that led to her room by kicking it open, with force that caused the door to smack against the wall and shake a picture frame that hung on it.
He took her arms off his neck, leaning down, he placed her on the futon. She rolled over and cried into the pillow. He stood up to leave, knowing he would have to remove the trace of blood from being on the ship, as he had already thrown Jin'eh's body off the ship and so it could sink to the bottom of the sea. He turned around, but only moved a step as a hand tugged on his hakama tightly...
"Don't... leave..." Kaoru begged hoarsely.
"I have to clean up the-" He started,
"Onegai?" She begged again.
"I-"
"Just until I fall asleep? Onegai?" She couldn't let him leave, no matter what, she just couldn't. She didn't understand why but she felt that she needed him here, by her at any cost.
He removed her hands from his hakama, and she almost cried out before she looked up at him. She thought he would leave, but he slumped against the wall near her, resting his swords on his shoulder and looked at her...
"Go to sleep," he said sternly. She rested her head back down on to the futon, pulling the covers to her neck and regained control over her crying...
Eventually, exhausted, sleep washed over her. When he was sure she was asleep, he moved silently from the room leaving her content in her dreams.
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Japanese words:
Hitokiri - Manslayer/Assassin
Nani - What
Onegai - Please
Iie - No
Katana - Long sword
Wakazashi - Short sword
Words from Nanakilover/Brukaoru (Author): Thanks for the reviews, aglaia102, kenshinfreak9791 (wow what a compliment!), Mika, ReinaQueen, and l3al3yanime! Sorry it took so long, but I'm trying to get my website up. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, thanks!
Disclaimer (so no one will sue me): Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki has all the rights to Rurouni Kenshin. If you want to sue me, try everyone else who has made a fanfic first.
[Information containing anything to do with the Japanese customs I use in this story will be at the bottom of the chapters. Definition of Japanese words at bottom. Author responses to any reviews will be put on the bottom of chapters in the future also.]
~*~*~*~
Chapter 3: ...Like a dream...
Kaoru was in the cabin next to him, supposedly unconscious. It was strange. The women who had yelled for help said she had just collapsed before their eyes. He was still wondering what could have made her just faint... Certainly it couldn't have been the weather, it was just enough to be called warm. When he had seen what the fuss was, he saw Kaoru laying on the deck and demanded to know what happened. The women said she had collapsed while they had been talking, something told him that the women were talkers. Talkers meant rumors being spread, and rumors usually had something about him in them. So Kaoru had fainted because she found out who he was? He almost had the urge to laugh, something he had not done since he was a mere child.
After Kaoru had fainted, he had brought her back to her own cabin. He didn't think she would be to fond of the idea of them sharing a cabin together, and had managed to get the cabin next to him for his own use.
He felt her ki stir and looked up at the door to his cabin, suddenly, hearing the one beside him open. Footsteps drifted down the hallway before he stood up, 'well if she thinks she can get away from me just because she knows who I am, she's mistaken.' He smirked to himself and padded across his cabin, sliding the door open and walking out in to the hallway.
~*~*~
He stepped on to the first step of the staircase that would take him to the deck and narrowed his eyes when he sensed a very familiar ki, which was proceeded by a scream. He moved in the blink of an eye on to the top of the deck with his katana already un-sheathed and in his hand. He turned around and saw a man holding Kaoru, with his hand gagged over her mouth and his other hand was slowly cutting the fabric of her kimono, while tears poured out of her eyes. He growled at this.
The man looked up and grinned when he saw Battousai there, katana out and pointed at him in a deathly manner. He stopped in mid-way of cutting Kaoru's kimono anymore.
"Well if it isn't the famous Hitokiri Battousai!" He laughed. "I had heard you would be on this ship, and I guess they were right."
"What do you want Jin'eh?" Battousai's amber eyes stared at him, waiting for an explanation
"To finish our fight of course! I've been searching for you for a long time, you should be grateful towards me for tracking you down! After all, I killed a lot of people to find out where you were."
"And what if I wasn't on this ship After all?" He asked
"Then I would have had some fun with the girl." Jin'eh said in a hungry, lustful, voice which caused Kaoru to whimper at the meaning implied in his voice.
Battousai charged at top speed towards him, and Jin'eh quickly let go of Kaoru. Jin'eh had his katana blocking Battousai's before Kaoru had even made contact with the floor of the deck. Her hands were placed firmly on the deck and her leg crossed over the other, as she leaned against the railing of the ship. She watched in horror and pulled her legs to her chest to seek the least amount of comfort before she started sobbing into the sleeves of her kimono.
~*~*~
Their swords clanked together, rubbing against each other's blades so hard that it caused some sparks to fly. As Battousai dodged quickly from one of Jin'eh's attacks, he prepared himself to use a Ryu-son-sen but Jin'eh used his Shin no ippou hyouki which delayed him in doing so. Taking the chance, Jin'eh struck, but was too late as Battousai had already warded off the spell and had jumped into the air, causing Jin'eh to strike at nothing but thin air. Jin'eh watched as Battousai landed a distance away from him and got into the posture of using a batto-jutsu technique.
Jin'eh smiled happily, "still quite the fighter, I see. Well I'm certainly glad the revolution hasn't changed your fighting abilities!"
"The revolution will not stop me from killing dirty bastards like you." He said in a flat, emotionless tone.
Jin'eh laughed heartily, "come now, Battousai. If I am what you are implying, then aren't you applying yourself as being one also?"
"I'm not as crazed as you, killing your own squad of men in the Shinsengumi." He said, making a statement of pure fact.
"Those weak members deserved to be killed, Battousai!" Jin'eh said.
Nothing else was said, their eyes locked, each preparing their next move as Jin'eh was thinking of a way to deflect his batto-jutsu. As they both knew what move to use, they charged into battle at the same time. Battousai drew his katana with god-like speed but missed and lost the effect of executing the batto-jutsu, as Jin'eh had dodged it, Jin'eh prepared to attack with the chance that was lingering there and was than hit on the right arm by Battousai's sheath and fell to the floor.
'Kuso! A double batto-jutsu?!' Jin'eh cursed in his mind, falling to the floor.
"Sou-ryu-sen-kaminori... Certainly you of all people should know that I have mastered all the techniques of batto-jutsu, including that one..." Battousai re-sheathed his katana back into it's rightful scubbard.
Jin'eh spit out some blood before laughing, "well, Battousai... I was the one who wanted our rematch... Finish me off."
Battousai walked over to him, taking his katana out of it's scubbard for one last blow, "as you wish..." He held his sword high, and then stabbed Jin'eh in his heart. Killing him instantly.
~*~*~
Kaoru didn't hear him come over to her, as she was still sobbing uncontrollably in to the sleeves of her kimono. He placed his right hand on her shoulder and she shot her head up quickly, cold-hearted amber orbs met melting azure ones. Her tears flowed down her cheeks in streams she could not control. She did something even he didn't expect, she pulled him close to her and cried into his chest...
He stiffened. He had not had such close contact, much less hugged, by anyone since...
`~`~`~` "Shinta..." Akane cried out, holding him closer to her. While Sakura, on the other side of Shinta, tried to block his vision, so he wouldn't have to see the murder taking place right before them.
"Shinta..." Akane cried out again, hearing the screams of the one's who were being slaughtered right before them.
While traveling, a group of bandits, which whom they had crossed paths with before, had gone on a rampage and had started murdering them one by one. There were only a few of them left, including Akane, Sakura, and Shinta.
"You've got to live, Shinta, no matter what... You've got to live..." Akane cried out before being released from her hold on Shinta and being slaughtered right before him... `~`~`~`
His bangs brushed over his eyes, covering them from view. He let her move her arms around his neck and picked her up gently. He went back down the stairs, where everyone on the ship rested peacefully, unbeknownst to them that anything had taken place on the ship tonight. Her sobs were muffled while she cried into his shoulder, making his gi considerably wet. He opened the cabin's door that led to her room by kicking it open, with force that caused the door to smack against the wall and shake a picture frame that hung on it.
He took her arms off his neck, leaning down, he placed her on the futon. She rolled over and cried into the pillow. He stood up to leave, knowing he would have to remove the trace of blood from being on the ship, as he had already thrown Jin'eh's body off the ship and so it could sink to the bottom of the sea. He turned around, but only moved a step as a hand tugged on his hakama tightly...
"Don't... leave..." Kaoru begged hoarsely.
"I have to clean up the-" He started,
"Onegai?" She begged again.
"I-"
"Just until I fall asleep? Onegai?" She couldn't let him leave, no matter what, she just couldn't. She didn't understand why but she felt that she needed him here, by her at any cost.
He removed her hands from his hakama, and she almost cried out before she looked up at him. She thought he would leave, but he slumped against the wall near her, resting his swords on his shoulder and looked at her...
"Go to sleep," he said sternly. She rested her head back down on to the futon, pulling the covers to her neck and regained control over her crying...
Eventually, exhausted, sleep washed over her. When he was sure she was asleep, he moved silently from the room leaving her content in her dreams.
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Japanese words:
Hitokiri - Manslayer/Assassin
Nani - What
Onegai - Please
Iie - No
Katana - Long sword
Wakazashi - Short sword
Words from Nanakilover/Brukaoru (Author): Thanks for the reviews, aglaia102, kenshinfreak9791 (wow what a compliment!), Mika, ReinaQueen, and l3al3yanime! Sorry it took so long, but I'm trying to get my website up. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, thanks!
Disclaimer (so no one will sue me): Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki has all the rights to Rurouni Kenshin. If you want to sue me, try everyone else who has made a fanfic first.