Ciao!!!
I can't believe I'm writing this… I want to finish this chapter until Sunday… luckily my beta's available at present *grins*
Summer Science School is great! I love it! Even though I had to finish a report on the properties of the hemoglobin molecule today…
Yasai: You've just been lazy during the week, which is why you're in a hurry today…
What does a muse know about science or translating briefs?
Yasai: Nothing! *whistles cheerfully*
A great help you are, muse!
Yasai: Why? I'm doing what is in my job description. Helping you write this story. And you'd better hurry if you want to update on Sunday… so go write!
Uh! Yes, Ma'am!Yasai: Enjoy the story, dear readers!!! *whistles as she chains Chibi to her laptop*Write, authoress, write!
Yes, Ma'am! Enjoy reading! *is dragged off to writing boot camp since she really was lazy*
"…." Denotes talking
….. denotes thinking
*~* means a change of scenery (either temporal or local, I think which one of those will be clear) has taken place
Disclaimer: I do in no way own any rights, moral or others, to Rurouni Kenshin, its characters or plot. Characters other than the characters from Rurouni Kenshin bearing any resemblance to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. I do not intend to make any profits out of this story, it's written for entertainment purposes only and any attempt by persons natural or legal to make money from it in any way is not in accordance with this author's express wishes.
Chapter 5 Icy reminders of the pastFive people, sitting in a tight knot, whispering to each other while around them bleak dreariness cast its depressing shadows. Five voices, raised to meet the onslaught of a vicious storm tearing a barren country apart. Five threads of fate, knotted together to combat loss of hope and fight for freedom. Five hearts pulsing with the rhythm of life, having found others in unison with them.
These five, trusting in themselves and each other would dare what nobody had ever completed successfully: escape from the mind-bending, body-crushing, high-security environment of one of the Regime's work camps. It was a crazy venture at best, a death commando at worst, but for their freedom they were willing to risk everything.
Kenshin pulled himself together, ignoring the stiffness of his muscles and the aches in his body. Now was the time to implement the inklings of a plan he had formulated while still free. It was him on whom success or failure of the entire operation rested. He hoped what he had prepared would carry not only Agent Takani and himself but also the other three to safety.
Kaoru was carefully keeping at least a foot of free space between herself and Kenshin after she had accidentally crushed his injured ribs, poked into his shoulder wound and banged his head on the wall all in one hug. Her face was still reddened in embarrassment; she could hardly believe she was that clumsy. Normally, the inherent grace from years of sword practice made her a very dignified young lady- if she wasn't in a heated… argument, or with a very unsettling red-haired agent, that is.
"Well, Kenshin, what about that 'planning' stuff?" Sano inquired, a little too brash, a little too rude as always but right on top of the matter. In fact, the agent's silence had managed to have every member of the group fidgeting with varying intensity. Megumi shot Sano a dark look in return for his outbreak. Happily, he grinned back- as always when she recognized him.
"Aa. I'm sorry, I mean 'yes', that I do," Kenshin stuttered, pulled from his own dark thoughts. "I meant to share some information with you, that I did." He lowered his head until his face was obscured by the shadows.
"Then quit stalling!" Even Kaoru was getting impatient.
"Well… I originally intended for only two people to slip through the security perimeter- that's why I only cut a very small slit into one of the electric fences surrounding the Camp. And… the food I hid will not be enough to last all of us on our journey through Regime territory. Also, there's the problem I only buried one weapon… my weapon, I didn't think Agent Takani would be in the condition to fight… and then there's only two cloaks…"
"W…W … Wait a minute! You're saying you have all this stuff right here?" Kaoru had a very hard time keeping her voice down, thankfully another roaring thunder crashed into the eardrums of every person in the vicinity making her less audible.
"Uh… not right here, no. I have buried it outside, near the mine, that I have."
"Oh."
Kenshin felt comfortable in the silence that befell the group. He had to sort out his racing thoughts, had to find the solution to the calculations his mind made, how to make the food last, how to structure the group to cover their escape, which timing to use and when to make the first move.
"You know, Kenshin, I could help." Kaoru spoke up timidly.
"Oro? Help?"
"I am trained in the art of kendo- and I am used to a bokken. That means we only have to find a fairly straight branch on one of those bushes growing out there and I'll have a weapon with which I can defend myself in skirmishes and hand-to-hand combat!" Her blue eyes sparkled with energy and the desire to help; she seemed more confident and somehow- bigger than just a minute before.
Kenshin smiled at her. This girl was even more spirited than he had thought. Her being versed in kendo would sure make a difference, but it was not enough… sadly, straight sticks or even wooden swords were of no use against the guns they would be up to- but if they were pursued and any of their pursuers were to come close she would be….
I don't like this! part of his thoughts intervened, I don't want to put any of them in danger! He frowned in deep thought. We will have to be far away from here before they notice- but if they do, then… I have no choice. I have to trust the abilities of Kaoru… she seems confident enough. Although I still don't like it!
"That's great, Miss Kaoru, that it is," he said out loud. "Miss Megumi has also undergone basic hand-to-hand combat training, that she has, and if you could teach little Yahiko here-"
"I'm not little! And there's no way I'd learn anything from busu here!" he was interrupted.
Kenshin sighed. "I'm sorry for calling you little, that I am. But Miss Kaoru is obviously the best choice for a teacher since you're near her during daytime."
"Kenshin's right, kid," Sano gave his two cents, "and besides, you wouldn't wanna be the only one who doesn't know a thing about self-defence, right?" Expectantly he slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. "I for one can't wait to beat some of those bastards up!"
"Oro?"
"Didn't I tell ya I was a fighter before they put me in here? Pretty much everyone feared the Great Zanza!"
"Oro!"
"Oh, so that's why your manners are lacking and your brain seems to have evaporated!" Megumi exclaimed, and in the flash of lightning that conveniently chose to light up the shelter that instance Sano could have sworn she had sprouted those fox-ears again, "all those beatings your head took just had to affect it!"
"Oy, Foxy, careful or I'll show ya just what my brain's capable of thinking of!"
"Should I be afraid of an idle threat?" Megumi thoughtfully tapped a slender finger, the nail on top of which was only slightly chipped, against her chin.
"I'd-"
"Maa, maa, let's all calm down again!" Kenshin interrupted trying to keep his composure. That Sano was a fighter didn't come as a surprise, and with his strength he would be someone he could trust to fight at his side.
"Now that we've found out everyone can at least hold their own in close combat we'll have to solve the food problem and-"
"I was a pickpocket." Yahiko said.
"Oro?"
"I can pick pockets. I'll be able to steal food. Not in the Camp, though. I can't break through the ring of guards they have around the supply sheds. But once we're outside- I can help!" He was obviously proud of his abilities.
Kenshin smiled. "I'm sure you are really good, that I am- but I don't want to hurt the poor people living under the Regime's terror. We need to find some other way…"
"Then we only take food from those fat, rich officials! You know, those who suck the population dry!" Kaoru exclaimed, getting into a Robin Hood mood. Kenshin contemplated this. He didn't like stealing; even though he had been in tight spots in his life as an agent, half-starved and more than ready to drop dead he had never taken a single thing that wasn't his or his employers'. But since it wasn't only him this time…
"I guess I can live with that, that I can," he consented.
"Weapons, food, a way out of the Camp… that leaves first aid supplies, a plan of how to cross Regime territory and the time of our escape," Megumi coolly recapitulated.
Kenshin nodded approvingly. "First aid supplies… I have got a small store of those, too, that I have. It should be enough, since if we do this right no one should be injured, that we shouldn't. Unfortunately, neither the Agency nor our partners have any reliable map of Regime territory- we'll either have to steal one from the Camp leader's office- or we'll have to rely on my memory, that we have."
"That's bad." Sano said.
"I think Kenshin will find his way back- after all, he has found his way here!" Kaoru spread some optimism around.
"But you forget I had time then, that I had, and when we're on the run we should choose the quickest road, that we should."
"Don't be a pessimist! You'll do great, buddy!" The slap on his shoulder sent Kenshin flying into the wall next to him, leaving him dazed and disoriented as he fought down the urge to vomit resulting from the agony spreading from his ribs outward through his body.
"Oro…" he managed weakly. He couldn't move just now, needed a second to collect himself….
"Sanosuke! What are you thinking! Ken-san is injured, you know!" Megumi screeched and poor Sano's head was the target of two furious females' beat attack once more.
"He… I… I'm okay, that I am," Kenshin wheezed in defence of Sano, who looked positively beat up, "please, we need Sano, that we do!"
"Who needs a stupid rooster head like him?" Yahiko joined in the Sano- bashing.
"Oy, kid, watch your tongue!"
Kenshin decided to just rest and let them resolve their issues themselves, watching their little fight with a smile on his face. They had so much youthful energy… he felt like he was a million years older and not the few he actually had on them.
It took them actually a few minutes to realize that he wasn't saying anything anymore. But when they did, their squabbles died down immediately.
"Kenshin?" Was the universal enquiry.
"I was thinking about the time, that I was," he said in a tired voice. Just staying awake was becoming a huge task, since the days before he had not gotten much sleep and the constant pain his body was in was sapping his strength.
"I think we're going as soon as possible!" Sano spoke up, "I don't wanna be cooped up here any longer!"
"I think we should wait at least till Yahiko knows a few moves." Kaoru intervened.
"And I think it would be unwise to attempt an escape while there are four strange Regime people still in the Camp and security is tighter than a net," Megumi reminded them all.
"Miss Megumi is right- I have a bad feeling when it comes to those riders, that I do- Jinei was just the beginning, that he was. They will leave soon, that they will, and we can wait until then…"
"And Ken-san needs to recover. He will have to lay low for a week or two- after all, he is our ticket to freedom."
"So we'll wait two weeks and then we'll leave, that we will," Kenshin concluded the conversation, listening to the far-off rumble of the thunder and the soft splattering of the rain on the shelter's roof. His thoughts were drifting in and out of the present already, the flickering torchlight not helping him in trying to stay conscious.
"OK. That's OK with me," Sano said.
"Nobody asked for your opinion, rooster-head. That was a decision!"
"That's why I said it was OK!"
"As if anybody would care!"
"Oy, Busu, you think you can teach me in two weeks?"
"I'll show you what I can teach you, my dear little Yahiko!"
"I'm not…"
Their voices drifted farther and farther away, just like the thunderstorm which was in its death throes over their heads, gradually changing back into the ever-present normal bad weather. No guard had been spotted yet, and Kenshin decided that for the moment he wasn't required to be on guard. Giving in to his body's demandsd he drifted off into a light slumber, head hunched low against his chest, back leaned comfortably against the wall, the bickering of the Kenshin-gumi- What an idiot name!- lulling him to sleep.
*~*
The devastating effects of the thunderstorm were seen the next day when all survivors were brought back to the Camp. The mine had collapsed before the workers could be evacuated, at least fifty of them were buried underneath the raw mud cascading down what was once a steep-cut wall. Of those in the field, only half were still alive, many had been blown away by gale-force winds, others slain by the heavy troughs hurled around by the storm. Many had become lost without a trace, and hope that they had survived was little to none. The desolate place that was the camp looked even more run-down now, the roofs of most of the buildings missing, one or two charred and smoking as they had been hit by lightning. Even the guards' quarters had not been spared, the shingles of it gone, part of it burned down since the fire from a nearby storage barrack had spread.
The cries of the injured cut through the air and into the hearts of the bedraggled group that had survived virtually unscathed in the shelter. Only now could they grasp how lucky they had been. Faces grim, Sano and Kenshin stood and surveyed the damage.
"Looks like there's not much left." Sano stated, watching the guards mill around and pull survivors from the wreckage. Nobody actually cared if the Camp inmates were talking right now, even the guards that had escorted them here had disappeared to help their injured.
"Which means we'll have to reconstruct everything, that we have," Kenshin said, his gaze sweeping across the rubble. "I only hope the area the things are at hasn't been affected that heavily."
"I hope so too, Kenshin- but what's Kaoru doing there?"
"I don't know… it seems she has found something to do, that she has," Kenshin replied, watching as the blue-eyed girl kneeled down on the street, picked up the body of what seemed to be a child and cradled it close to her. "Perhaps we should help, that we should."
Sano shrugged and walked down the street beside his friend. So much damage! he thought.
"Oh… my God." Kaoru was mortified. In her arms she held a small girl of no more than ten years, her small body smudged with dirt, her right arm sticking out at an unnatural angle.
"Her shoulder is dislocated." Megumi had come up behind her. "Hold her while I try to reposition it."
Kaoru looked at the med student in horror. "You want to what?" she nearly screeched.
"The hospitals are overflowing with seriously injured people. They won't be able to care for an injury like that for hours to come. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. What's your name?" she addressed the girl whose white face had become even whiter under the layer of dirt after hearing her words.
"Tsubame," she whispered in a small voice, "I'm Tsubame."
"All right, Tsubame. Your shoulder joint has jumped out of the pan that's normally holding it, and I have to put it back in. I want you to try and relax- I'll do it at the count of three." Megumi's voice was soothing and calm, controlled- just what the girl needed. However, Tsubame coiled deeply into Kaoru's lap and hid her face shyly.
"It's not bad. It hurt for a moment real bad, but now it's not hurting even though I can't move my arm. I don't want it to hurt again!" she said.
"Don't be such a baby! If she doesn't put it back in your arm will never move again!"
"YAHIKO!" Kaoru exclaimed. The boy had stepped up to them after noticing the small person in Kaoru's arms.
"It will really never move again?" Tsubame asked with tears in her eyes.
"No, it won't. Unless you let Megumi help you."
"Yahiko is right, you know. Miss Megumi can help you, that she can."
"Kenshin!" Kaoru hadn't noticed him approach them, but there he was, Sano standing at his side, smiling down at the girl and Kaoru with gentle violet eyes.
"Miss Kaoru shouldn't worry that much. Miss Megumi is very skilled, that she is. I am sure she will help that little one, that she will!"
"Okay." Tsubame whispered and peeked out from her hiding place in Kaoru's lap.
"Sanosuke, you're stronger. You hold her. Tsubame, please sit on Sano's lap for a moment. You can go right back to Kaoru afterwards," Megumi smiled.
Tsubame stood up shakily. "I'm scared," she whispered.
"you don't have to be scared, little one, that you haven't," Kenshin reassured her, "Miss Kaoru, Yahiko and I will be right beside you."
"Then, on the count of three," Megumi said, shooting a quick glance to Kenshin who nodded understandlingly. "One… two…"
Tsubame screamed as a crack echoed through the street. Kenshin flinched and turned a little pale as though reliving unpleasant memories, Kaoru paled and clung tightly to Sano, Yahiko yelled in surprise and angrily lurched forward but was stopped by Kenshin who put a hand onto his shoulder.
"Don't," he simply said, "you should rather look for something that will serve as a bandage, that you should." The boy scowled, but ran off and shortly after returned with his prize.
Sano held the sobbing girl in his arms while Megumi quickly ripped a sheet that Yahiko had found entangled in a nearby mass of splintered planks and boards.
"Shh, it's over… don't cry…. Everything's all right now…" Kaoru took the girl from Sano and comforted her while Megumi wrapped a bandage around her shoulder and rested her arm in a makeshift sling.
"All better," she said proudly admiring her handiwork.
"That was mean, Megumi. You said on three!" Yahiko glared and stood protectingly in front of the little girl in Kaoru's arms.
"If Miss Megumi had waited until three little Tsubame would have tensed and made it all much more painful, that she would," Kenshin explained, sorrow in his deep violet eyes. He knew too well how painful repositioning a dislocated joint was. Yahiko scowled again, but seemed to accept Kenshin's explanation and turned around without a word.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru looked at him in surprise, "you're really good with children. Haven't you ever considered to become a kindergartner?"
"Oro?" To hide the blush that threatened to creep up his cheeks the agent quickly turned to Sano. "We should check if there is anyone buried underneath the rubble, that we should," he said, his voice a little higher than usual. "Miss Kaoru, Yahiko and Miss Megumi can help the not-so severely injured. We could make this place-" he motioned towards a barrack that was still mostly intact and only missing parts of its roof and a wall, "- into a hospital for them, that we could."
"That is an excellent idea. Ken-san," Megumi said getting up from where she had been kneeling and brushing the dirt from her clothes, "tell all those who are injured but can still walk to come there, and bring those who can't."
"Will do, Foxy." Sano mock-saluted.
For once there was no difference between the guards and the 'workers' as all members of both groups still able to move dug through collapsed buildings, masses of uprooted bushes and miniature trees that had had such a hard time growing in the rough tundra and were now never to reach their full height.
Sano growled as he lifted yet another beam from the collapsed heap that had once been the dining hall. His muscles straining he carried the heavy load over to the side of the road where other workers were busy constructing makeshift sheds to spend the night in. The impromptu hospital for the lightly injured had gotten more hands to help as well, and whenever a worker or a guard injured themselves while trying to dig out survivors or to clear away the mess left by the storm the women and children under Megumi's able guidance were there to help.
A groan sounding from the wreckage made Sano toss the beam he was carrying aside as though it were a mere toothpick.
"There's someone down there!" he cried, three of the other workers rushing to his side to help him.
"Oy, Kenshin, we found another one! Kenshin? Oy, Kenshin, where are you?"
Kenshin heard Sano's cry, but he was already heading for the far side of the building. Despite Megumi's warnings, Kaoru's protests and Sano's threats to beat him up should he dare to the agent had pushed his physical discomfort aside to help those weaker than he was. He could, after all, still move, and part of the Agency's declared goal was to rescue those oppressed. Who was he to go against his oath? A soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips he wiped the sweat from his brow that had formed there in spite of the freezing temperatures, not caring that he had smudged dirt all across his face. He had heard the signs of life from the collapsed dining hall even before Sano had, and his sharp senses were able to distinguish that not only one, but a total of six persons was still alive under the jumbled mass of beams, splintered shelves and mud.
Finding an opening wasn't easy, but he knew those caught in the rubble needed fresh air, and soon, since they were trapped in a small enclosure that allowed for almost no circulation of essential oxygen. His hands digging frantically around in the soft earth that slid back into place every time he had scooped it off he searched for the one key element, the one beam holding the structure together. If he were to collapse it he would be able to open a passage. Ribs on fire, breath coming in short, heaving gasps, his left shoulder a nightmare of stinging pain and twinges of sharp agony when he tried to use certain muscles Kenshin finally got hold of a shelf he thought suitable for what he intended. Quickly throwing glances around a checking the perimeter to ascertain there was no one near he used all of his strength and all the leverage his slight body could give.
Do Ryu Sen!
A shower of mud hit the ones working on the other side of the building as Kenshin performed what was one of his fighting techniques. As a result on his side, a deep trough opened in the rubble, shelves and beams splintered after being hit by sharp flying stones and parts of other shelves, and a small opening leading to the survivors appeared.
Kenshin, however, almost dropped to the ground. Hunched over the broken remains of the plank he had used to perform the life-saving operation he was dimly aware of a presence approaching him. He did, however, after a few seconds catch the presence's less than friendly intentions and struggled to analgize the pain and stand upright. Violet eyes narrowed in concentration he looked up to meet the icy blue eyes of a person he had not in the least expected to meet.
The twins' names were Tae and Sae. They had been frantically searching for Tsubame when Kaoru encountered them, calling her name and running around like a pair of scared chicken. After having been taken to Megumi, who treated an ugly cut on Sae's forehead with the supplies the main hospital had sent over once they had gotten wind of Megumi's operation the twins were quick to help bandaging cuts and sprained joints, disinfecting wounds and pulling splinters from the hands of workers and guards alike. Tsubame's well-being was a source of constant worry for the two women, because, as Kaoru found out, they had taken the orphaned girl under their wings and protected her to the best of their abilities. That she had been injured caused both of them a great deal of discomfort, and not even seeing their protégé under the protection of Yahiko and ably treated by Megumi could alleviate their suffering. Talking on the other hand could, and thus Kaoru soon knew not only that they had once been running a successful chain of restaurants throughout Regime territory and had committed the crime of relaying messages for the Resistance Movement, but also that they had been working in the Camp's kitchen, preparing the meals for the guards and the Camp leader, his chief of security and the Regime overseer in charge of Camp Freedom. Tsubame had been working with them, and they had quickly taken a liking to the soft-spoken, crying girl who was all alone in the world. Why a girl like her had ended up in the Camp was a mystery to them, but they had adopted her as their daughter, and cared for her accordingly.
When Kaoru had suggested they ask whether a meal for all those working at damage control could be prepared they were quick to jump onto her train of thought, and soon an odor more delicious than what the workers had smelled in a long time wafted from the makeshift kitchen on the Camp's central place.
"And thus everyone does what he does best," Kaoru said to herself, "I wonder what Kenshin's doing- he shouldn't be doing too much, Megumi said…."
"Nice move, Himura."
Kenshin didn't flinch. Violet eyes lightening with a tinge of amber he met the unspoken challenge in the other's glare. "I like to see you appreciated it, Shinomori Aoshi, that I do."
"You're still as dense as ever, Battousai. I didn't expect you to pull a stunt like this, especially not after what happened in Paris."
Kenshin glared with renewed venom. "Paris isn't of your concern," he spat, forgetting about his politeness for a moment.
"You say it isn't? I beg to differ, Battousai. You only lost one person in Paris, whereas I lost my life. You were the one to destroy it, and in return you were deemed a hero and given honors you didn't deserve. I have to reclaim what is rightfully ours, which is why I followed you here. However, I decided to go with… a little more style."
"You can have all the honors you want, Aoshi, Commander of the independent spy group Oniwabanshu. I didn't care about them then and I do not care about them now, that I don't. You say you lost your life in Paris- well, so did I when she died, that I did. I didn't kill your men, that I didn't, it was their decision to stay behind. Her decision was made without me as well, that it was."
"You can say what you want, Battousai, it doesn't change the fact they died because of you and your partner and our cooperation with the Agency. You took the credit for their sacricfice, and I'm not going to let that slip. Until you have been defeated and the Oniwabanshu been credited for the biggest blow the Regime has suffered in recent years I will not stand down!"
"What will you do, Aoshi? Will you tell everyone who I am, just as you sold secrets to get into a trusted position with the Regime, that you did? You are not the man I worked with, that you aren't! I am not afraid of what you will do to me, that I am not. I would gladly hand over any honors and medals I was given to you, that I would, if it would bring her back to me."
"You've become a sentimental fool, Battousai. All the more reason to once and for all make an example of you that the Oniwabanshu are the most capable and strongest, even in death!"
Kenshin stared into the icy blue eyes that wanted to bare his very soul. In them, he could catch a wisp of the agony that lived within himself, the agony that permeated his dreams… the past he wanted t erase, the past he wanted to return to…
"Tomoe… I am sorry," he whispered, staring into space behind the livid man wanting revenge for his companions who had died for what was deemed a 'good cause' by the world. "If only I had been faster…"
But he knew that even if he had been faster there was no guarantee the fiasco that the mission had become by then would have turned out any different.
"They were the strongest, that they were. They died protecting you and Tomoe, and they defeated impossible odds, that they did." Kenshin said quietly.
"I once and for all say that doesn't matter. What matters is that it was because of you, Battousai, that we even got into that situation. Because of you and your trust in that traitor woman my men had to die."
"It wasn't because of me…" he murmured, the cutting tundra gale suddenly softened by a whisper of white plum scent in the air.
*~*
Her blood was falling freely to the ground below, the ground covered in dirty snow that only in patches had preserved its original white color. His own blood, flowing from numerous wounds all over his body, was mingling with hers as he cradled her close to him. Around them, the corpses of their friends lay stiff and still, only one of them still breathing, the others as dead and cold as the sculpture of the angel with the broken wings under the snow.
"Don't… cry, my darling!" Her voice was carried to his ears bleeding from an ultrasonic grenade launched earlier on the scent of white plums, "it was… because of… you that… that I knew what… freedom is. I… am… grateful… and… I'll… always… love you… Ken… shin…"
Her eyes fluttered shut on her pale white cheeks, their beautiful brown luster forever lost to the world. He kissed her, called her, dark red blood from the cut she had inadvertently opened on his cheek when killing the Regime soldier sneaking up behind him with her throwing knife, the random burst from his gun hitting nothing but thin air until it met her body… even his tears didn't wake her, her heart, the heart that held his love, his life, still forever and ever.
He was alone in a world of the dead, and only the little angel whose wings were lost in time heard his desperate cry…
*~*
As quickly as it had come the scent died down, leaving two men standing in a destroyed building, both caught up in images drawn from their memories.
"Hyottoko… Beshimi… Shikijou… Hannya…" Aoshi murmured silently.
Kenshin was the first to break the past's grip on him. Painfully pulling himself up to his full height he looked Aoshi into the eyes once more.
"The Oniwabanshu were in a different part of the town, that they were. I didn't have anything to do with their deaths, that I didn't!"
"That's where you're wrong. You were to meet us. You didn't come. My men stayed longer than they should have. We were ambushed by the weapons dealer of whom we had thought that he was on our side. I…"
"I came. Your men had won against the private army that was amassed against them by Takeda Kanryu, that they had. I couldn't find a trace of them, or of you, that I couldn't. I was severely injured myself, so it took all my strength to get back to the rendezvous point, that it did."
"And you really want to believe that, don't you, Battousai? You're known as the best- it's time for that to change. Prepare yourself." If possible Aoshi's voice had gotten even colder as the taller man pulled a long sheath from underneath his cloak. "This chaos is perfect for that!"
Blue eyes bore down on Kenshin, void of any emotion but hatred and a desire he could neither fathom nor understand, icy reminders of the past… he drew in a deep breath and prepared himself to meet them.
To be continued…
Yay! I finished in time!Yasai: Well, whatever you want to think…
Hey, it's not yet Monday in the US!
Yasai: But it's 2am here in Germany, and technically that's Monday!
I'm NOT arguing with you on that matter now, dearest muse. I want to think about nicer things!
Yasai: Like…?
Like my reviews! Thanks guys! You're the best!
TK: Sorry I confused you…
Moomoo: I'm planning on it to be canon couples… I don't really write alternative, sorry if this is a deterrent… hope you'll read on!
Lebleuphenix: I am sooo glad you noticed I was trying to somehow incorporate the manga storyline into my universe *grins* Actually, I wish I had more time so I could write more… it's relaxing to do so! But Summer Science School wants a report written tomorrow *sighs*- just when I wanted to get started on Chapter 6!
Natsuko3: I guess you've got a lot on your hands as well, right? I love writing… and I love Summer Science School! My internship is going great as well- my boss keeps me around as an interpreter *grins*. Wow- I'm on your fav list? *blushes* I guess Yasai is being fed too well…
Yasai: I'm always hungry!
Quiet, muse. I'm talking to my reviewers here! Cyber Double Chocolate Chip Cookies ™ to all of you! 'til next time!
Deseray, jayekin: *jumps around* Thank you!!!
Yasai: Go to bed, Chibi. You have to get up at 6am since your boss wants you to be at that meeting to translate!
Yes, muse, Ma'am! Guess you're right. I'm going to sleep. Cya!!!
Chibi-chan