hello! i'm amazed at how many people reviewed, since i don't get near this
many for my other story. anyway, thank you. i might end this story soon,
because i'm kind of running outta ideas... if you can help me on that, i'd
be glad to continue, as i like this story. it's surprisingly easy to
write, considering my limited knowledge on the topic, but anyway, whatever.
History Behind the History, chapter 3
"Put your tests on my desk when you finish," Mr. Higo instructed, moving to sit behind said desk.
Let's see, A, C, D, B, C, A, C, Akitaka guessed randomly at answers, moving quickly down the page. In a moment, however, he saw a question he was interested in answering.
What was the name of the great revolutionary known as hitokiri Battousai?
A. Hajime B. Seijurou C. Himura D. Unknown
That was a trick question- unknown was the answer. After that, he finished the test and walked up to Mr. Higo's desk to turn it in. He set it down, and Mr. Higo looked up from something he was writing and nodded. He seemed to go back to what he was doing, but then suddenly looked up again.
"Did you enjoy the article in the book I lent you?" He asked.
"Actually, it kind of confused me, Sir," Akitaka answered. Not wanting to create a disturbance during the test, Mr. Higo stood and motioned for Akitaka to follow him, leaving an assistant in charge of the class. They entered a small, comfortable-looking office, and there were numerous pictures of a pretty, Asian woman and some children who looked something like Mr. Higo.
"What was confusing about it?" Mr. Higo asked, continuing the conversation from the classroom.
"Well, in class that day you said he was not just a killer, but had hopes and dreams and all that stuff," Mr. Higo nodded and Akitaka continued, "but in the article you lent me, it sounded like that guy was totally emotionless. I mean, he killed his own wife."
"Some say that was an accident," Mr. Higo pointed out.
"Yeah, but if he was supposedly so good..."
"Maybe it was dark, maybe she got in his way at the last minute, we don't know the circumstances."
"Well, still. I got the impression he was like... some sort of machine or something."
"Maybe he did suppress his emotions, or maybe he just didn't express himself very well. Heck, maybe he had multiple personalities!" Mr. Higo joked and both men laughed. "My point is that everyone has emotions, whether or not they're visible on the surface."
"I guess I get that," Akitaka shrugged.
"I'd really encourage you to find out as much as you can- this is the fist time you've really shown an interest in history and I'd hate to have you give it up," Mr. Higo finished, walking back out to the classroom with Akitaka following.
* *
*
A fairly nice room in an inn- about as nice as you could expect during a war- lay completely untouched except for the floor. A small group of rebel forces was dispatched here for an important campaign, and this particularly important occupant had a room slightly above the norm in quality for this group, though it wasn't exactly what you'd call richly furnished either. At first glance, the room might appear vacant, and that was the way the occupant wanted it, but if you looked a second time, you might notice a small figure lying half-hidden on the floor behind a corner in the wall. All you would see would be a pair of legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, totally indistinguishable from any other wearer of the navy blue uniform that was in view. The face that was hidden, however, was entirely a different matter. It was recognizable from a mile away, and that was precisely why it was hidden, because the owner of said face preferred to know whom you were before you knew whom he was, provided you didn't know before entering his room.
At this particular moment, he lay there fingering an envelope, contemplating what he knew was inside. There was a shiny gold seal, but other than that, the envelope was completely plain. Not even the name 'Himura' was written anywhere on it, making the recipient wonder briefly how it was identified for delivery to him specifically, but that was a lot less important than the fact that it had, in fact, come. He had not yet opened it, but knew that it contained orders, and the only orders he ever received were to kill people. Someone was going to die tonight, and by the same hands that were harmlessly turning an envelope in a near-empty room at the moment. Well, in the literal sense, yes, they would be those hands, but in reality, it would be a completely different person doing the killing. He didn't want to change, but it was inevitable now that he'd gotten the orders. Whomever was named inside the envelope didn't deserve to die any more than anyone else- any more than the person bringing about his death, for that matter- but was singled out because he did his job well and did it for the wrong side. The lonely assassin considered tearing up the envelope then and there, but simply lay it aside and pulled himself into a sitting position, now completely hidden from anyone who might open the door. He went through this inward struggle every time he received orders, but in the end the same side always won. Was it even worth it to think about it, or could he really prevent the inevitable? A few times he'd actually convinced himself that he could, but something always had to happen to put him in control. He could feel the tug already- he was trying to come out. Kenshin always tried to stay in control as long as possible, though for all the good it did he might as well have banged his head on the wall for three hours instead of torturing himself on the inside. Tonight, though... maybe tonight could be different. If he just never left this room, no one would be suspicious for awhile, since he had all night to complete the assignment, but that would only buy him one night. He would be called a traitor to the cause in the morning. He could just go the red- tape route and formally quit, but that would take so long probably fifteen more people would be dead before he stopped. He could just get up and leave, never come back. He would have to hide at least for awhile, though, because he was pretty easy to recognize if you knew who you were looking for. The only other way he could think of to avoid it... he looked over at his sword and then down at himself and dismissed that idea. In spite of everything, he knew he really did want to live, somewhere deep inside. In addition to that, there was the fact that if he killed himself he might as well walk right up and knock on the gates of hell. There had to be some other solution, but he was too sick of thinking about it. His mind was too exhausted to hold on any longer. As everything slowly went dark and his body started to stir, he had a very acute awareness that he would despise himself in the morning.
******************************************************
i like this chapter. it might be my favorite so far, except maybe chapter one. that's practically the whole story, right there. in any case, please tell me what you think on this, other than the two of them meeting. i don't plan on making this into a sci-fi story.
Hitokiri-san: thank you for reading my fic as well. i really like yours, but i'll talk about that when i review it. i'm going to try diligently to update this at least once a week. glad you like Akitaka. my original characters are important to me, as i am not a born fanfic writer, so my stories generally focus on the OC's.
Dreammaster2411: yes, well, this story is very sad, as it mostly deals with regret and angst over what he's done... feel free to cry and hug, but just be sure to let Kenshin breathe!
Amaya: cool about the name. do you speak Japanese or did you just hear the name somewhere? thanks for the offer of information, and i may just take you up on it, but i'm doing some reading myself, so i may not need it much.
Tomoe2Kenshin: your name is cute. thank you for saying it's original, i get tired of the same thing. i'll try to update this story at least once a week, though I may not ever get more than that.
Someone whose name is just symbols i don't know how to produce from the computer: I don't plan on putting any time travel in here, because it's almost impossible to write that sort of thing without being cheesy, but incidentally, Hitokiri-san does a very good job with time travel in her fic "Past and Future."
Ginger 1280: thank you. your story sounds cute, but he most certainly does not need a haircut! his hair is beautiful long.
History Behind the History, chapter 3
"Put your tests on my desk when you finish," Mr. Higo instructed, moving to sit behind said desk.
Let's see, A, C, D, B, C, A, C, Akitaka guessed randomly at answers, moving quickly down the page. In a moment, however, he saw a question he was interested in answering.
What was the name of the great revolutionary known as hitokiri Battousai?
A. Hajime B. Seijurou C. Himura D. Unknown
That was a trick question- unknown was the answer. After that, he finished the test and walked up to Mr. Higo's desk to turn it in. He set it down, and Mr. Higo looked up from something he was writing and nodded. He seemed to go back to what he was doing, but then suddenly looked up again.
"Did you enjoy the article in the book I lent you?" He asked.
"Actually, it kind of confused me, Sir," Akitaka answered. Not wanting to create a disturbance during the test, Mr. Higo stood and motioned for Akitaka to follow him, leaving an assistant in charge of the class. They entered a small, comfortable-looking office, and there were numerous pictures of a pretty, Asian woman and some children who looked something like Mr. Higo.
"What was confusing about it?" Mr. Higo asked, continuing the conversation from the classroom.
"Well, in class that day you said he was not just a killer, but had hopes and dreams and all that stuff," Mr. Higo nodded and Akitaka continued, "but in the article you lent me, it sounded like that guy was totally emotionless. I mean, he killed his own wife."
"Some say that was an accident," Mr. Higo pointed out.
"Yeah, but if he was supposedly so good..."
"Maybe it was dark, maybe she got in his way at the last minute, we don't know the circumstances."
"Well, still. I got the impression he was like... some sort of machine or something."
"Maybe he did suppress his emotions, or maybe he just didn't express himself very well. Heck, maybe he had multiple personalities!" Mr. Higo joked and both men laughed. "My point is that everyone has emotions, whether or not they're visible on the surface."
"I guess I get that," Akitaka shrugged.
"I'd really encourage you to find out as much as you can- this is the fist time you've really shown an interest in history and I'd hate to have you give it up," Mr. Higo finished, walking back out to the classroom with Akitaka following.
* *
*
A fairly nice room in an inn- about as nice as you could expect during a war- lay completely untouched except for the floor. A small group of rebel forces was dispatched here for an important campaign, and this particularly important occupant had a room slightly above the norm in quality for this group, though it wasn't exactly what you'd call richly furnished either. At first glance, the room might appear vacant, and that was the way the occupant wanted it, but if you looked a second time, you might notice a small figure lying half-hidden on the floor behind a corner in the wall. All you would see would be a pair of legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, totally indistinguishable from any other wearer of the navy blue uniform that was in view. The face that was hidden, however, was entirely a different matter. It was recognizable from a mile away, and that was precisely why it was hidden, because the owner of said face preferred to know whom you were before you knew whom he was, provided you didn't know before entering his room.
At this particular moment, he lay there fingering an envelope, contemplating what he knew was inside. There was a shiny gold seal, but other than that, the envelope was completely plain. Not even the name 'Himura' was written anywhere on it, making the recipient wonder briefly how it was identified for delivery to him specifically, but that was a lot less important than the fact that it had, in fact, come. He had not yet opened it, but knew that it contained orders, and the only orders he ever received were to kill people. Someone was going to die tonight, and by the same hands that were harmlessly turning an envelope in a near-empty room at the moment. Well, in the literal sense, yes, they would be those hands, but in reality, it would be a completely different person doing the killing. He didn't want to change, but it was inevitable now that he'd gotten the orders. Whomever was named inside the envelope didn't deserve to die any more than anyone else- any more than the person bringing about his death, for that matter- but was singled out because he did his job well and did it for the wrong side. The lonely assassin considered tearing up the envelope then and there, but simply lay it aside and pulled himself into a sitting position, now completely hidden from anyone who might open the door. He went through this inward struggle every time he received orders, but in the end the same side always won. Was it even worth it to think about it, or could he really prevent the inevitable? A few times he'd actually convinced himself that he could, but something always had to happen to put him in control. He could feel the tug already- he was trying to come out. Kenshin always tried to stay in control as long as possible, though for all the good it did he might as well have banged his head on the wall for three hours instead of torturing himself on the inside. Tonight, though... maybe tonight could be different. If he just never left this room, no one would be suspicious for awhile, since he had all night to complete the assignment, but that would only buy him one night. He would be called a traitor to the cause in the morning. He could just go the red- tape route and formally quit, but that would take so long probably fifteen more people would be dead before he stopped. He could just get up and leave, never come back. He would have to hide at least for awhile, though, because he was pretty easy to recognize if you knew who you were looking for. The only other way he could think of to avoid it... he looked over at his sword and then down at himself and dismissed that idea. In spite of everything, he knew he really did want to live, somewhere deep inside. In addition to that, there was the fact that if he killed himself he might as well walk right up and knock on the gates of hell. There had to be some other solution, but he was too sick of thinking about it. His mind was too exhausted to hold on any longer. As everything slowly went dark and his body started to stir, he had a very acute awareness that he would despise himself in the morning.
******************************************************
i like this chapter. it might be my favorite so far, except maybe chapter one. that's practically the whole story, right there. in any case, please tell me what you think on this, other than the two of them meeting. i don't plan on making this into a sci-fi story.
Hitokiri-san: thank you for reading my fic as well. i really like yours, but i'll talk about that when i review it. i'm going to try diligently to update this at least once a week. glad you like Akitaka. my original characters are important to me, as i am not a born fanfic writer, so my stories generally focus on the OC's.
Dreammaster2411: yes, well, this story is very sad, as it mostly deals with regret and angst over what he's done... feel free to cry and hug, but just be sure to let Kenshin breathe!
Amaya: cool about the name. do you speak Japanese or did you just hear the name somewhere? thanks for the offer of information, and i may just take you up on it, but i'm doing some reading myself, so i may not need it much.
Tomoe2Kenshin: your name is cute. thank you for saying it's original, i get tired of the same thing. i'll try to update this story at least once a week, though I may not ever get more than that.
Someone whose name is just symbols i don't know how to produce from the computer: I don't plan on putting any time travel in here, because it's almost impossible to write that sort of thing without being cheesy, but incidentally, Hitokiri-san does a very good job with time travel in her fic "Past and Future."
Ginger 1280: thank you. your story sounds cute, but he most certainly does not need a haircut! his hair is beautiful long.