Paper Folds
By: VietRose, otherwise known as Nghi (In the Inuyasha fandom)
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Oops… wrong disclaimer, but we can't be too reckless, now can we? ;) I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I am just borrowing this idea for this screwed-up historical fiction. [[LAUGHS]] But since I am too lazy to type up this thing every time, I'll just skim and say that this disclaimer belongs to every chapter.
Pairing: Kenshin/Kaoru, but you won't be seeing a lot of mushy moments, if any. That's only because I suck at writing romance. No, really. :P
Rating: PG-13 for the gore, and a few R-rated scenes relating to sexual stuff. There won't be many sexual scenes (If I did include them, it would be very vague.), but I can't say about gore. (Teehee. I love gore. :D) So the rating? Probably R. (Can't be too careful. ;))
Alternate Universe: This is hard to explain. Yes, no, maybe so? You'll just have to read. It's not set in modern times, but it's not set where the anime/manga is showing. I guess you could say it is a semi-AU, where the time is twisted, and events lead up to where my story takes place. Oh well. [[Shrugs]] You will understand once you read. :D
Perspectives: This story is not only slightly warped for its story, but for its point of views. Let me try to elaborate as best as I can, but pay attention- I don't really want to see someone in a review go, "Great job, but it's kind of hard to follow. I mean, whose thoughts are whose?!?!"
In this story, there will be two main characters: Kenshin and Kaoru, as one can obviously see. However, whenever Kenshin is by himself, his thoughts appear. Whenever Kaoru appear by herself, her thoughts appear. But when the two meet, no thoughts at all, or all actions, no motives.
Once again, this is ALSO hard to explain without having me read off the story. :/
Summary: It is the year of 1867, the last of the Meiji Era Restoration. Since the untimely death of Tomoe, Kenshin Himura becomes the full Battousai, ultimately leading the Choshuhan Ishinshishi against the Shogunate government for victory.
The Tokugawa Shogunate- about to be defeated by a rising rebellion group. Resorting to its last option, they send out the Shinsengumi to draft men, women, and children. When the Ishinshishi and Shinsengumi face off one, final time, friction will spark as one question hangs in the air: Who will replace the Edo period?
A/N: WOO. [[falls out of her chair]] Do you know how hard it is to research these facts? Yes, people, I actually RESEARCHED. @_@ I cared so much for the quality that I went out of my way, including ripping out my shoulder socket, just to find information relating to the Meiji and Edo period. :P And you know what? I'm SATISFIED with my work. I should do this more often… I will sound professional. LOL.
Anyways, I'm terribly sorry that Chapter 1 had to be cluttered with all this information, but it was necessary! Teehee… or I just went into a typing frenzy. But I promise that from now on, no more A/N's will clutter up your reading time… or will it? [[laughs]] No, no, I will be generous and not post any author's notes unless it is really urgent (Like that midterm for geometry coming in three weeks.).
So without further ado, which I hope I covered everything, let us begin!
Thank You's: Much love to my two betas: Minnie, who looked over my grammar [[Not a lot, I tell you!!!]], and Christina, who took the time to comment on character aspects and the pace of the story. Love ya!
**Optional: I hope a lot of the story isn't too much to handle. -_-* I did my research… if anything seems fuzzy, just hit me up at the review. ^_^
Chapter One- Road to Chaos
And now she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothing's as it seems.
1864
Shit.
If he hadn't grown bold….
If he hadn't grown reckless….
If he had still lived in the shadows…!
If they touch a hair on her….
His tawny eyes narrowed in extreme unhappiness at the possibility, and it was all the more of an incentive to reach home faster. He landed quietly on foot and, in the next second, had taken off in a blur, leaving behind a red chaos.
They know who I am.
Tonight happened to be raining, and his hair was matted, plastered to his skin. The gi grew soggier and heavier as it took in more and more rain; his hakama pants were stained a dark gray, with faint red disappearing, fading with the water drops.
But he kept running, ignoring the cold rain or the wailing wind. And he flew past several dawdling soldiers, a homeless woman, and road kill.
How the fuck did they anticipate my target? It's abnormal….
At one point of his trek, he veered sharply to the left, dangerously missing the overbearing wall. It did not discourage him, and he continued speeding down the alley, twisting and turning with the curving road.
They knew what I look like.
He huffed once slightly, drawing in a quiet breath, and redoubled his speed.
Faster….
He had reached the end of the road and swerved to the right. And from there, he could smell the heavy, permeating stench from the nearby teahouse.
Perfect. He was near.
He gained confidence as he neared the teahouse. Above, a crack of thunder rumbled distantly.
They aren't as fast as I am. They couldn't reach-
He passed the teahouse, not a blink of eye directed at the building. Instead, as he rounded the bend, he sharply turned once more.
-my-
And entered.
-Tomoe.
He stood at the doorframe, panting heavily, golden eyes glittering sharply at the dark room. Why didn't she light the candles, like every night? Had she fallen asleep?
The dark sky allowed lightning to spear across the sky, and for one instant the room was lighted with a dizzying white and filled with shadows.
And he saw.
….
He saw because his eyes were sharp. And he saw the room, bloodied with some dry, some caked, some still dripping. He saw his chair broken into scattering pieces, sharp and pointed with pieces of flesh clinging stubbornly to the end. And when the lightning gave way to light once more, he saw his perfect Tomoe, against the wall with eyes open.
Dead.
The spinning world collapsed.
"I know who you are now."
He slowly slid to his knees, eyes blank.
"I know who you are," he gloated. "And there is nothing to stop me from telling everyone."
He touched ground.
For a rich man who did absolutely nothing and sat around on his lard ass all day, he was quick. VERY quick.
The hands resting on his hakama pants curled.
"H-hello…?" the man spoke frantically into the mouthpiece. " I know what he looks like! The rampant man…! Red hair, yellow eyes, and-" A small stab in the back wouldn't hurt to shut him up.
The white cloth was crushed completely underneath calloused fingers.
The man choked, feeling the metallic blood rise unexpectedly swiftly in his throat. He watched stoically. "A-and purple gi-"
His shoulders began to shake slightly, and his mouth kicked into a frown…
The same moment the words left his mouth, the sword descended upon his neck, flying cleanly through. The head fell off and onto the ground with a dull thud while the rest of the body toppled over the phone.
… Before turning into a snarl.
"Pardon, monsieur?" a soft voice sounded from outside the door. It opened, and a timid maid poked her head through the bed, looking around. "J'ai entendu un bruit et-AHHHH!" She saw the lifeless body… and a flash of indigo out the open window.
A knot in his stomach formed and tightened… and tightened and tightened….
Some two weeks ago….
Tightening a bit.
And the phone call.
Tightened.
They know what I look like....
Tightened…
What I am….
A shudder ran through the man's body.
Where I am….
His head hung limply, tucked against his chest.
Who was my ally.
And the knot tightened.
They were looking for me.
Just a little more…
And…
He was surprised to learn he was suppressing something dark… lethal.
And… they found Tomoe instead.
Too much.
DAMN THEM!!!
Fury rolled over his entire body, through himself, and he felt himself being released from the coiled prison. The desire to smash something, something, foreign, ran through his veins, and his narrowed, ocher eyes caught sight of a body. A naked body propped up against the wall.
I hate them. I hate them….
As he sprung from his kneeled position, unsheathing his sword, he thought of blood. A lot of blood. His eyes narrowed as his sword lashed into an uppercut, grazing her chin. And then her stomach. And then across her collarbone.
Over and over, he slashed away, and the pressure became heavier and heavier until he wasn't grazing- he was dragging the sword across the ragged body.
He severed her arm… loving the sound of metal meeting soft, crushable flesh. He killed her eyes, taking in the fine details. He maimed her body; he dragged the blade across the abdomen and drew crazy, indescribable patterns until the skin was hardly recognizable. He allowed himself to puncture her heart over and over and over….
He didn't know her anymore.
The finale came when he removed steel from her beaten body. And with renewed strength, swiped it angrily, harshly, across her neck.
Moment stopped, and the head appeared to be in good condition… before falling heavily sideways, onyx eyes rolling upwards towards the never-closing eyelids.
He watched through heavy breathing, gripping his sword, as the tattered corpse fell off to one side, next to the head.
Damn you… damn you….
That night, ocher never became tawny.
1867
His body jerked once, sending him mixed signals to waken, and his eyes opened blearily.
Fuck….
As his cheek gained feeling, he noticed the pillow was… rough. Painfully, his eyes swam with blurred colors, and he tried to sort them out.
When he was able to open his eyes again, he saw two things. One, being a near-empty sake bottle near his forehead (Which was how he was here in the first place, he thought wryly.), and two, being a small, white piece of paper.
Blinking, he moved lead hands and rubbed his eyes, clearing the small cakes.
First things first….
His hands moved to the sake and curled around the bottle. It took less than a few second's worth to down the rest of what little sake was left. And then he opened the piece of paper.
Who's the unlucky bastard now….
He stared at the name scrawled down the paper, with its strokes quick and careless. Cold fingers turned the paper round and round, bent on memorizing the name.
Akiro Wataski….
Quietly, he slipped the paper into his gi and rose to his feet; he swayed a bit and shook his head to cut off an oncoming headache. He would have time to drop into unconsciousness later- right now, he had a job to start and finish.
He will be dead before the next dawn.
-*-
"Saku- drafted." A wail. He ignored it. "Front-line combat."
Her hands twitched nervously by her sides, clamping and unclamping the side of her kimono to wipe the sweat away.
"Tora- drafted." A moan. He ignored it. "Cannon."
She swallowed heavily, forcing her eyes to remain open and staring at a random distance
"Kaoru-" A sharp intake of breath. "-drafted. Front-line combat."
Air was knocked out of her as she stayed put in the line, eyes wide with astonishment.
I-I'm drafted…?
Before she could have time to wonder what the hell had just happened, the military advisor's personal attendant followed and flung an immense bundle at her.
Her breath was knocked out of her for the second time under five minutes.
"Catch." Was his lazy warning after she fell onto her back, the bundle pinning her down.
Thanks for the heads up.
"Ryu-" Here was her dad! "-drafted. Front-line combat."
The collapsed world reversed itself.
She didn't bother to squirm anymore, as hearing of her dad's outcome. Again the advisor's assistant threw the bundle at him carelessly, but he caught with his hands.
"Get up, Kaoru," Ryu whispered to his daughter, providing no extended help. "Before Harada Sanosuke catches you."
He's drafted.
"Get up," he whispered again, firmly.
That means… I'm not alone!
She wasn't up for celebration, though, when her father's warning glare bore into her left cheek.
Kaoru began to flounder, struggling to pull the bundle off her. "I'm trying," she wheezed. "But have you tried on these yet? They're heavy."
Already, she was feeling homesick for her other 35 varied colorful kimonos.
This was torture, evil, and unfair punishment. She was fast approaching the no-good feeling, meaning a twinge of resentment towards these baboon-headed officials.
I hope we lose and burn at the bottom pits of my cooking.
After some time, she managed to push the package off her abused rib cage and clambered to her feet, dusting herself. "Pick up your stuff and hold them in front of you- like a real soldier," Ryu commanded softly.
Kaoru made a small face before bending down. And that was when she caught the sound of roll calling.
He doesn't waste time….
"Kiko- drafted. Front line combat."
Everyone is going to fight as front-line.
"Hoji- drafted. Cannon."
Hmm… I wonder what-
"No."
The leisure chat halted, and it suddenly became eerily quiet.
The military advisor froze in his tracks, his mouth in a small frown. "Excuse me?"
"No," Hoji replied, his eyebrows drawn together fearlessly. That, or just plain stupidity.
The drafted people all did a comical style of gasp to Kaoru's ears, but she remained quiet and fixated on the conflict. Why hadn't she ever thought of that…?
The advisor's jaw clenched slightly, and he forced a smile. "Shogunate orders. The Shinsengumi has been ordered to-"
"Shinsengumi my ass. The Shogunate are just a bunch of fake bastards. They don't deserve to keep ruling. They didn't protect us from-"
Uh-oh… an extremist living in Shogunate ruling area.
The personal attendant stepped forward menacingly, having gained a large amount of irritation already. "Listen, you little piece of worthless bitch. As long as you live under Shogunate area, you work for the Shinsengumi. Don't matter if you're an extremist or not- take your shit somewhere else, you got that?" It was meant to be a question, but the voice speaking made it into a threat.
Kaoru could just feel everyone's pair of eyes staring at the fight waiting to happen.
Hoji stuck out his chin defiantly, his brown gaze piercing and challenging the other two higher ranks. "It doesn't matter if it's Shogunate land- as long as I have my beliefs, you can't force me to fight in the useless war when we're going to lose. Villagers predict it. Thieves predict it. The Mandate of Heaven predicts it."
"We are not China-"
"It doesn't matter, because it all means the same thing- we're going to lose the war!"
"We'll lose with dignity, like your ancestors did."
"It would be the same as committing seppuku," was the violent reply.
To attempt a back mouth was like announcing the joining with the Ishinshishi… even Kaoru's eyes had to widen at that one statement. Next to her, Ryu's shoulders stiffened noticeably.
Is he trying to get himself killed?!?!
The advisor's anger had been mounting steadily, and with the last comment, he lashed out. "Fine," he snapped, eyes blazing. "If you feel the war unnecessary, I suppose you can kill yourself the only other honorable way. After all, you are going to fight the war, one way or the other. Since you don't feel up to defending your country, I guess you've chosen seppuku."
Oh my God….
Her heart thumped wildly inside as she tried to connect the events in the past few minutes. Seppuku… Hoji… advisor…. Did it mean that…?
Oh no….
Her mouth tasted bile, and her stomach lurched forward with extreme discomfort as one of the veteran soldiers handed a sword from his belt to the advisor.
Oh no, oh no, oh no… this is my first day as a soldier, and I get the privilege of seeing a man die before my eyes. This can't be happening!
He dropped the sword listlessly at Hoji's feet. "Go on," he sneered. "Seppuku dropped onto your lap."
Hoji did not move, and the advisor mistook that as a sign of defeat. He grinned spitefully. "You see," he began, addressing the drafts, "This man claims seppuku better than the war. So I ask him this- IS seppuku better? I hand him his choice, and he cowers! His words are nothing, and he-"
"I'd rather walk away a free man."
The advisor whirled around, surprise etched across his face.
… He is insane.
"What?"
"I'd rather not do seppuku or fight in the war," Hoji repeated, defiance sparkling.
"But I give you only two choices- you cannot back out of either."
"Watch me."
"You will dishonor your family!" the advisor warned heatedly.
"I find the will to live appealing, not dishonoring."
"If you do not choose the honor, then I will choose it for you." He snapped.
Kaoru's eyes widened even more at the dangerous innuendo, and for a moment, Hoji was caught off-guard, too. His chin lowered and eyes stared, stunned.
She watched helplessly, feeling very light-headed, as two experienced soldiers came forward and took him on each side.
….
Roughly ten feet away, he jerked from his bewilderment. "You can't choose for me, you know," he called out to the advisor's back. "You can kill me, but I have to choose the fate." He was still being dragged.
"Do it now." Immediately, the two soldiers stopped and held his arms to prevent escaping- they were stretched wide in eagle-spread position.
Immediately, Kaoru whipped her head around. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she concentrated on lifting her bundle.
But she could still hear.
"Ha! This is the government you choose to defend for? The government that will end your life if you do not abide? The government who failed to keep its promise? You all make me sick, fearing death more than what you believe in. I hope you-"
A bullet was shot.
Kaoru remained still, eyes lowered and engrossed on her bundle. She strained, trying to hear of Hoji's breathing.
Nothing.
They killed him.
"Let that be a lesson," the imperial voice rang. "To those who attempt to oppress the Shogunate. We will execute you." And he turned back to his drafting, as if nothing had happened.
Her eyes glared at his back angrily. "You killed him for back talking you?"
"What are you doing?" Ryu hissed, looking at her indignantly- he was ignored.
The advisor turned around once more, eyes flashing angrily.
That evil-
"Who said that?" he barked, having lost his patience. "Do you want to suffer the same fate as that insubordinate fool?"
-little-
"I did!" Kaoru declared, stepping out of line for him to get a good look at her.
Ryu attempted to drag his daughter into line- too late. The advisor had caught the person.
-pig-headed-
He stared at her, at her kimono, at her hair, and at her face, before laughing uproariously. This only set the fire spreading. "Yes, yes, little darling, you're angry," he mocked. "I know everyone is, but you're just going to have to suck it in and live with it, girl."
-bastard!!!
"You bastard," she seethed, "I am not a little girl, you suppressing stinker!"
This effectively shut his guffawing up. Ryu just twitched.
"You know that by killing off people who don't support your ideals is like cutting off both of your legs?" she continued, eyes flashing. "Almost the entire people who are being drafted don't support Shogunate at all! And you kill-"
"Enough!" he roared, reaching out and pushing her to the ground. "You are a girl, and you know nothing. You do not know the principles of politics, and you will never learn or know!"
"I've learned enough to know your government has more potholes than the streets of Kyoto!" she retorted hotly.
Ryu held back a snort.
His eyes narrowed; the advisor crouched down and grabbed the front of her kimono, pulling her close to his face. "Remember your society- your courage will be wasted," he sneered.
He let go of her and stood up, brushing himself. "Ryu," he addressed, "Keep your daughter in line if you want to keep her."
"Yes, sir."
As he traveled down the line again, Kaoru stared at him heatedly.
Sexist, too. I can too be a good soldier. Even better than all the ones here.
"Get up. Now," Ryu commanded. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet nevertheless. "Don't you ever do that, you hear me?"
"But he-"
"You listen to me right now. This isn't the dojo, where you can flit around, speaking your mind. This is war, and you will listen as the general commands you to do. Shut up and do it," he added when her mouth opened to argue.
He released her arm from the tight grip, standing back in line and leaving Kaoru to do the same.
"… But… I STILL can't pick up the bundle…."
-*-