Reflected Moonlight:

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Chapter One: Amber Eyes of a Killer

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Kaoru looked across the room at him. Kenshin stood there in the dimness looking out at the yard. Outside was totally dark, the sky filled with thousands of glittering stars. Kaoru stood up and slowly walked over to him. He didn't move as she approached, but simply thought of what he could possible say to her. They both stepped out into the yard.

The wind blew softly through Kaoru's hair, making it glimmer against her sapphire blue eyes. She brushed it away and turned to look at Kenshin. He in turn turned to look at her. They both stared at each other for a space of a single moment that jarred their hearts.

Kaoru's lips slowly parted as she began to speak, but she stopped. Maybe it was best not to tell him.

Kenshin saw her hesitation and knew that she was withholding something from him. The corners of his mouth curved up slightly as he said, "Yes Miss Kaoru? Is there something you wanted to say?"

Kaoru heart pounded wildly as she stared even deeper into the depths of his violet eyes. She was captured within their depths. They seemed so haunting and sad in the moonlight, as though they had seen too much sadness, too much hate, and too much bloodshed. Kaoru slowly lifted a pale hand to his face as though it would be enough to make the sadness go away. With one finger she lightly traced his scar pondering over these overwhelming feelings in her heart.

"Does it still hurt you?" Kaoru asked as she pulled her hand away from his face.

Kenshin looked down at her, his face growing sadder. He knew what she meant. She was asking if his past still haunted him. She was asking if the memories of those days still burned inside his heart. Kenshin clenched his chest with one hand.

"Yes, that it does. It burns inside of me. Inside of my heart." Kenshin whispered. Again Kenshin could see the images in his mind. The flashes of death, the anguish, of the one he loved also the one he had killed. He closed his eyes shut as though doing so would squeeze away the memories. But it wasn't working. Darkness kept creeping across his heart more and more, until he couldn't stand it anymore. It didn't make any sense. Why was this happening?

Kenshin slid slowly to the ground still clutching his heart. Kaoru kneeled beside him worried. Kenshin pushed her away. "Don't come near me. I don't want it to take you too. Stay away from me. I'm dangerous." Kenshin said in a pleading voice.

Kaoru was confused. What was happening to him?! "Kenshin? What's wrong? What's happening? Tell me!" She said almost hysterically.

Kenshin knelt on the ground trying to get the darkness from spreading. It was taking over him again. His past was becoming his future. The battousai within him was emerging. In the last seconds before he changed he managed to speak out some words.

"No matter what I say or do after this......I always......loved you.......run now.....before it's too late.......my Kaoru....."

"Kenshin! What are you talking about! I don't understand!" Kaoru screamed. She was frightened by his words, but stunned at the same time. She couldn't move. She could barely even breathe. Then in one second it was all over. She watched as Kenshin slowly stood up, his back to her.

"Kenshin?" She asked her voice trembling.

She gasped when he turned around. His eyes weren't violet anymore. They were a flashing amber gold that shone with dark malice. Slowly she backed away, her whole body trembling. What was happening? What happened to Kenshin?

"Who are you? What happened to Kenshin?" She asked.

The voice that responded was cold and cruel. "Finally I have been able to get rid of that annoying idiot. The Kenshin you knew still exists, that he may, but he is locked away deep inside my heart just as I was locked deep inside his heart. I thank you though for helping with my release, the release of Battousai the Manslayer."

~I would like to add that any mistakes in the story, or I mean that anything that goes against the original Kenshin story, I mean to make them. Ok? ~