A/N: Here's the second chapter! I hope you like it…I think I overdid Kaoru's thoughts a little…so don't be surprised if it gets really boring and sappy. Also…the plot just kind of suspends in this (for now) but don't you worry…I know exactly where this will be headed. (yeah, right…and cows have stripes and can jump over the moon o_O…man, I'm really tired right now)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin…yeah.

Rain of Blood, Scent of Jasmine

Chapter 2- I was frozen

By dark aquamarine

(enjoy!)

*~*~*

Life was indeed a strange and perplexing thing.

I realized that almost abruptly and harshly as I walked through the darkened streets of Kyoto. It was night-time…somewhere around midnight, I supposed, and the shadows of the tea houses and assorted shops suddenly looked menacingly frightful, opposed to the cheerful (although strained) atmosphere of day.

Inside my head, fuzzy pictures of burning, red hair topped on a thin and lean body began to play, over and over again with insufferable ferocity. On the face of the figure, cold amber eyes blazed from under unruly bangs and I felt a shiver crawl down my back, despite my forced bravery.

It was just the cold from the wind…that or the disgusting sake served at the dining house.

I tried to come up with excuses…pitiful excuses that would cover up the feeling of fear in my bones, or dread in my stomach.

I disliked to be scared.

But the sake had been warm, meant to serve as a flash of hot relief instead of a chilling cold…and the wind had died down to lingering whispers, serving as the prologue to a terrible fall of rain.

Damn my stubborn logic. It always appeared when I tried to make up childish fancies to suit my needs…even as a young girl, I was constantly practical, annoyingly sensible.

But I supposed that's what loneliness does to you after losing someone so close to your heart…

…I had no time to live in a childhood full of dreams…no time to dwell on feminine needs such as dolls or wildflowers. Instead, I had a bokken in my hand and pride in my heart…and to me, that was everything.

Still…my mind -clouded with the liquor that my body couldn't handle- betrayed me and I kept picturing the red-haired hitokiri…in all his magnificence.

I wondered…what did he look like when he killed my father? Did he have an insane, bloodthirsty air to his eyes, or was there remorse and guilt that weighed down their lids? Maybe he just displayed nothing…no guilt, no innocence, no feelings…just the cold, empty amber that was evident at the tavern.

Something in my heart told me that the last guess was probably correct.

His voice was beautiful. (It's strange what a little bit of sake could do to the control of random thoughts) Low and soft, but hauntingly forceful…like a caring father who had just reprimanded his child.

I felt like that child…foolishly wandering the streets of a blood-bathed city at night when I should've been sleeping in the room of an empty dojo, miles away.

I felt foolish and juvenile…and I hated it.

That was the reason why I was perplexed…why I was having such strange feelings towards myself. I had no reason for them…only, he made me feel self-conscious. It was all because of the boy, the boy I despised with all of my heart, the killer who destroyed everything in my life.

But…he was also making me doubt my reasons for acting as I did -to destroy-…for living the way I did -with revenge-…I didn't know what to do.

***

The sound of metal scraping along the ground, followed by a rattle of chains startled me from my intoxicated thoughts and brought me back to reality. With strangled breaths, I ran through the darkness of the streets, unconsciously thinking of the small and lithe demon with amber eyes.

Following the unmistakable sound of chains, I reached a street corner, where the single lantern hung on a post made a halo of light on the ground. The circle of white appeared almost like an innocent barrier against the darkness which surrounded it and I was torn between running towards its safety or seeking out the strange sounds.

Chains rattled again, followed inimitably by a fierce battle cry and I immediately rushed towards the scream, despite the warnings of danger which pounded through my head.

There, beside a black-engulfed building (one which I had not the sense, nor the heart to distinguish), two men were tangled in a complex web of battle.

***

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe. It was as if all the life that once existed in my body suddenly got drained away by the forceful and deadly swing of a sword…

…and I couldn't help but think that in any other situation, that was exactly what would have happened.

The two men in combat were clearly noticeable by the light of the lantern nearby. One, with waves of crimson tendrils that floated through the air with each murderous strike, was undoubtedly the shadow assassin of the Ishin Shishi, Hitokiri Battousai…and the other…

The other I did not recognize, nor did I have the wish to do so.

He was horribly large, even under-sizing the two men from the eating house, and carried in his bulky and muscular arms two swords connected together with a sturdy metal chain at the hilts. The long shackle, I then noticed, was tightly twisted around the hitokiri like a constricting snake around its prey, binding the boy's arms to both sides of his body.

It made me want to scream…to reach with my hand and call out to the captured boy who seemed to be struggling uselessly in the chain's hold. My heart was aching painfully as though it was actually bounded and squeezed by the rope of metal while my brain was fervently trying to comprehend the reasons why.

What was I feeling? Fear? Pain?

Compassion? Kami, please let it not be that.

Then…everything seemed to freeze…my heart, my lungs, my brain…even the movement of my soul around my body. My eyes widened to the point of aching as I watched the previously-caught victim manage to get a hold of the chained hilt, just as the larger man was ready to deal the final and fatal blow. The small assassin turned the blade by its handle with speed not comprehendible to my frozen eyes and sliced furiously.

One strike…that was all it took.

*

*

*

I was frozen.

***

Two halves of a once-whole man fell limply onto the wetted ground. The blood that gushed from the exposed gore sprayed completely over my body, covering me head to toe with the crimson liquid.

I was still unable to move…my breathing had returned but only in small gasping heaves.

Wanting to scream…to run…to do anything but was unable to, I merely clenched the bokken in my right hand until my knuckles turned white from under the blood.

I felt scared then…terribly scared and weak. I also felt angry and utterly betrayed.

I had actually foolishly thought that there might've been a possible misjudgment towards the emotionless boy…that people had just been stretching and exaggerating the truth behind those empty saffron eyes.

How entirely wrong, I was.

The young killer stood impassively in the pool of blood, beside the split corpse. Tears of red dribbled down the length of his katana and added to the wetted ground underneath him. He was tense, his back as straight as the metal connected to his sword's hilt and I knew then with a feeling of dread that he had sensed me.

I opened my mouth to speak…but the words wouldn't come. All I could do was scan the area of bloodshed in front of me and let the gnawing anger rise from beneath my skin.

My choices were clear then…either break from my position and run far, far away to never return, at the same time letting the gruesome sight haunt my dreams till I die…or swallow all my fear and attack with the last few breaths of my life in hopes of fulfilling vengeance.

The hand gripping my bokken stiffened and I heard myself give a powerful battle cry into the night before rushing towards the young Hitokiri.

I had chosen the latter.

***

"Hitokiri Battousai! I have come to challenge you!"

*~*~*

Author's Notes: WTF? A cliffhanger? My word, what was I thinking? Oh well…what's done was done, I suppose and there's no turning back now, is there? Anyways…so what did you think? I tried desperately hard to add in more of Kaoru's thoughts and feelings (which, in my opinion, is very evident in this chapter) into this and…well…perhaps I went a little overboard? I honestly don't know.

You see…I am a very strange person. I have the inability to review my own work…in other words…I may think that something is crap, when really it's the best thing that people have read so far (or so they've said), and vice versa. Given that problem, I think that the best solution would be; befriend someone who knows what he/she is doing at ff.net and make them my beta reader! Seriously though, I'm really not exaggerating when I say I have no idea what the quality of my writing is. That's why I adore getting reviews (even though the stats for this story are close to zip *sigh*)! Soooooo if you are bored with your life currently and are interested in proof-reading my chapters to this story…give me an email!!!!

Thank you!

Okay…enough of that. On to my reviews (so far…-ff.net really bugs me sometimes when I get alerts for reviews but they don't show up on my page…so I forget who the screen names are…and blah blah blah blah blah blah)

~magiabruxa- Wow…you reviewed BOTH of my fics…I am forever in your debt. *bows low* Thank you! ^_^

~Rekka's Angel- Thanks! Yup there will be more…lots more *insert evil laughter here:*

~cherrybaby- Yes…Batt/Kaoru definitely rocks my world. Thank you!

~Clemen- Thanx, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

~the sacred light- Wow…I have a Tomoe-fan reading my fic! *forms stars for eyes* I guess this is a cause for celebration cuz, even though I'm not THAT into T&K, I'm really happy that people (or person, I guess) with different preferences are looking into what I'm writing. Thank you! Um…about my updating schedule…I guess I'm able to handle one chapter a week…or maybe two, but really, I don't have a certain time. I guess I can update whenever I get inspiration. Thanks again!

Till next time…

d.a. (p.s. don't forget to review!)