A/N: I don't really have much to say except…I hope you enjoy this new chapter. However, I'm wondering if I should've added more onto this (being the shortest of all my chapters) but my beta-reader said the length was ok so…whatever. Just read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. *sob*

Rain of Blood, Scent of Jasmine

Chapter 3-By his eyes

By dark aquamarine

*~*~*

I fear you.

Cannot you see the terror in my eyes?

Feel the pain I've endured for so long?

I fear you…yet I am captivated

By your strength, by your power…

By your eyes.

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

*~*~*

I was scared.

I was terrified.

No, those words would be understatements for what I was feeling then…

I was petrified…to the point of breaking…

…to the point of death!

Yes, that was a much better description…and I did realize the irony and truth of the statement, as much as I was repulsed by the thought.

I ran toward the flame-haired man, gripping the trusty bokken with both of my hands as I prepared to strike with strength laced with fear. He was just standing there, -I noticed with a small amount of disgust- the katana stained with blood hanging limply in his hand. The tense stature of his figure was slacken and the thin shoulders slung down upon his form in almost a…tired manner.

Tired? Impossible…shouldn't he be relishing in the blood that was shed on the street? Inhaling the disgusting metallic scent with eyes glazed over by lust?

I faltered, confused with the weary hitokiri and his air of indifference to my challenge. Allowing the length of the wooden sword to rest on one of his shoulders, just at the base of his neck, I spoke to him in heated whispers.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I want to challenge you…hey, turn around and face me, damn it!"

I emitted a small gasp when the boy twisted his fluent body and, using the previously immobile katana, swiped at my weapon with speed unable to be described as anything but…godly.

*Crack*

My bokken.

I looked down at the blood-covered ground with eyes widened by horror.

No…my bokken!

He had destroyed it…my only weapon…the one I had cherished for so many years because it had been a gift given to me on the first day of my study in kendo…by my father. I used to swear that I could feel the warmth of his gaze on me every time I looked at the blade…every time I slipped my fingers around its hilt…

Treasure this gift, my Kaoru-chan…remember our ideals whenever you draw the blade from its sheath…

Now it was broken, the two pieces of slender wood marred with splinters and splattered blood from the ground. Split in half…just like the over-grown soldier who was laying beside me on the crimson street.

And now…I can't remember…

I suddenly felt unbelievably nauseous and salty saliva filled up my mouth, adding to the sickening feeling of my stomach.

The boy placed his blade under my chin, pressing firmly to inflict pain but not enough to draw any blood. I swallowed with a grimace and slowly moved my sapphire eyes to meet his in an act of…

…really, what was I trying to accomplish? Was I trying to plead for my life (as cowardly as it sounded)? Was I trying to persuade him into sparing me once he saw the pain and loneliness in my steady gaze?

No…I realized I wasn't trying to do any of those things.

I just had to…understand.

The vacant pools of amber flickered ever-so-quickly as my stare met with his. I faintly noticed that he was in a standing position, arm raised to my neck while he held his sword in place. I also noted that I was pathetically sitting with my legs tucked awkwardly under me in the exact center of the pool of blood, still pouring in rivers from the corpse. The symbolic arrangement caused a shiver of disgust to rake my back and I gulped down my throat the vomit that threatened to release for a second time.

"I…I came because I…wanted to thank you…for helping me tonight…" The voice I made sounded weak…pitiful, like a homeless beggar pleading for some measly scraps of food or shelter.

His face was deathly pale, illuminated by the light of the perpetual lantern and I trembled in spite of myself at the force of his gaze.

"…but then I saw you, just then…I saw you kill that man with only one strike and…"

His eyes widened and I knew then and there that my chance at surviving through the night was close to nothing…I knew too much…I saw too much…and for that, I would be silenced with the only everlasting punishment known by man on this Earth…

I started to feel dizzy. My head was throbbing violently and the rhythm it made synchronized with the wild beatings of my heart.

Control was slipping away…but I couldn't stop. Not until I was finished with what I had to say…

"…you confuse me. I-I know there's more to you than that emptiness in your eyes…there's got to be. I just want to…understand…why."

…Death.

The sky flashed and rumbled above our forms, finally giving in to the scent of rain that lingered in the wind. It's droplets poured down on us steadily and, by the light of the single lantern nearby, almost seemed to reflect the red color of blood from our bodies. My hair, caught in a casual high pony-tail, plastered on to my face as I stared intently at the wetted tendrils that framed the young killer's form.

Like blood…the rain was so much like blood…

I smiled weakly under the pouring rainfall, my eyes darkening to a hue of midnight blue.

"My father used to tell me when I was little…that…in plays, they use "and then the rain of blood fell" to describe violent tragedies…"

The boy said nothing…but I could sense the tenseness of his features and an air of change in his aura as he stared at my eyes…almost like he knew…and feared…what I was going to say next.

"But…" I said quietly, the pain in my head was unbearable.

"…I see now that…you are the one who really brings the rain."

Black flooded my mind, drowning all my thoughts and dreams in its darkened ink. Vaguely, I saw the face of the boy change from hardened emptiness to…stunned and shocked confusion…like a little boy who had lost his way to shelter…to home.

The blade fell away from my throat and clattered to the ground just my back weakened, refusing to support my pathetic body. At last, all I could see were those two widened eyes of amber that stared weakly at my fallen form…eyes that had lost all of its mocking, insolent fire…

…eyes just as helpless and as lost as I was…

Before the darkness engulfed me, before I welcomed in the numbing sensation of unconsciousness…I heard the boy give a whispered word, uneven and weakened though the sound of the rain.

"Jasmine."

I gave in to the blackness.

*~*~*

A/N: Still nothing to say…*sigh*…I'm trying to type this up as fast as possible because my parents are being real pain in the asses' and are yelling at me to practice piano…so…there you go.

I'll put on the reviews from my readers in the next chapter…

Thanks for reading,

Dark aquamarine~

p.s.- Parents are death.