**Pechan is still refusing any rights to Rurouni Kenshin.
~ Rei ~
Tokio was too shocked at first. But quickly, she rolled out underneath Rei, as Rei leapt at her. Tokio ended up on the other side, and spat angrily, "WHAT THE F—K ARE YOU DOIN'?!!"
"My job, Tokio," Rei said, giggling. She tapped her blade against the walks, "Why do you think I visited you at Hakode? Cause I got the money, or somethin'?"
Tokio jumped out of her way again, backing against the walls. Tokio growled, "This isn't funny Rei."
"No, it isn't. Bein' an assassin's a tough job. Especially tracking down an old pal like you."
Tokio couldn't believe this!! Rei was such an idiot, how could she orchestrate............
"I gotta tell ya, when your first two assassins died on the job, I was getting a little worried. I didn't really want to kill you myself."
"Kill me myself.......? What the hell.......?"
Rei tossed the knife up and down a few times, "Well, since your gonna die, I guess it's alright to tell you. The first one was Gichi, who took up a job a day after you did. We sent him there, but he said he wanted to taste you first. That ended up in his failure. We should've known. He was a moron, anyways."
Tokio narrowed her eyes, wiping away a bead of sweat, "And Yoshida?"
"Yoshida surprised us. We knew he used to date you, but we didn't know he still loved you. He wanted to carry you to heaven, before he sent you to hell. Figures, this is the last time we send a guy after a woman. They all think with theirs loins, anyways....."
Tokio grit her teeth, "You're a f--kin' liar, Rei. And you suck so bad at it."
Rei continued as if she didn't hear, "See, we found the problem though!! That big police guy that was followin' ya, he was always there killing off my buds whenever you were involved."
"THAT LITTLE SH!T GICHI WAS A FRIEND OF YOURS?"
Rei frowned, "Tokio, he was a good drinking buddy of mine!! Speak a little more with respect, the guy's dead-"
"And he's better off that way," Tokio snarled, "Do you have any idea what he did to me?"
"Cut you down there? That surprised me. I didn't think he hated you that much, but he was a jealous type."
Tokio backed up, and fell over the steps. She landed on her back, wincing, and looking at Rei. Rei twirled the knife in her hands, grasping it for a stabbing like move. She smiled, "It was nice seein' you again, though."
She lunged at her, and Tokio threw Rei's red lacquered geta at her face. She purposely fell over, pretending to stumble, to hide she was picking one up.
The wooden sandal cracked against Rei's face, and Rei fell back, her attack cut short. A spurt of blood erupted form her nose, as she landed in a heap by the front door.
Tokio scrambled up, and ran for the gate.
But two kunais landed in front of her, pinning to the wall. Tokio frowned, "You really want to get hurt, do you............"
Rei stood, wiping her bloody nose, "Shut up, Tokio. If you ever took your job seriously, you would'a seen I was planning this for a good month now."
Tokio frowned at her, glaring poison. Without looking, she swiped up the kunais that were shaped like two metal diamonds. "What do you want me dead for?"
"I don't want you to. Someone paid me to. I just had to plan it out for them too."
"Who's them?!!"
Rei giggled, "Sorry!! Telling you would be CHEATING!!"
With the last word she dove for her, and Tokio struck as well. It was just like sparring, but with knives. Rei stabbed a strike down, and Tokio sidestepped away, and stabbed her right elbow.
"NNGGK!!" she went, and Rei clutched her arm.
Tokio tossed the kunai in her hands, "Let's see how good you fight now, lefty."
Rei smiled at her, and switched her blade to her left hand, "I did train with both hands, you know."
She charged again, and Tokio threw the kunai at her. She meant to stab her shoulder to stop her, but she ducked under it. She did it so fast, she didn't notice that she had ducked under her, and kicked straight up. Tokio saw a red burst in her eyes before she slammed against the ceiling post on the porch.
Tokio groaned, slowly rising. She hadn't eaten for three days. She was paying for it now.
Rei giggled, "Ya know, I didn't plan on that cop leaving so soon. It was a stroke of luck. It made things much easier. The only reason I didn't get you at the hot springs was because he was with you. And he smelled like blood; nasty smell. That's why I always hit and run." she sighed, "But, he followed you home, too. And here I was about to forget the whole thing, when I see him hitch a train to god knows where. Alls I know is, 'Hey!! Good news for me, since he won't be here to save you this time!' I bet it broke your heart, the way he just left like that. I never figured for the damsel in distress chick, but, you know the old saying! 'You think you know a guy when......'."
Tokio widened her eyes.
**......Goro...........**
"Adios, Tokio!!"
Rei lunged at her again, blade pointed straight forward. Tokio frowned, then scoffed, "A knife? Knives can't do the things a sword can,"
She reached forward, and blocked the blade, by letting it pierce through her palm. She tightened her fingers around the hilt, and Rei gasped, since Tokio managed to block her whole attack through this gruesome way.
"You can't slice anyone in half with a knife. All you do is knick and piss 'em off."
Tokio yanked the blade forward, dragging Rei down with it. There, she thrust her knee into Rei's face again. Rei keeled backwards again, this time her lip was bleeding with her nose.
Tokio giggled, and put up her hand, "What it is he would say when something small got in his way? Heh," she bit the handle of the blade, and pulled out the knife with her teeth. She smiled, and said through her bite, "Yare yare............."
Rei gasped, as Tokio grasped the blade in her bleeding right hand, and pounced upon her. Tokio slammed the knife down, stabbing the ground right next to Rei's ear.
Rei half shrieked and gasped, and clenched her eyes. Tokio was sitting on her stomach, bending over her, her face close to hers.
She narrowed her eyes, "You're not the mastermind. But you talk very well to be one."
Rei whimpered, as Tokio withdrew the blade, and drew a crimson line across her face, "I wonder who sent you?"
Rei stuttered, "I'm not t-telling you!!"
Tokio sighed, and looked at the puny little blade she held, "Tsk tsk tsk, Rei. Not only was she the shortest, she also carried the shortest blade. Most people compensate for that."
Rei tried to punch her, but Tokio drove the knife into her fist. Rei screamed.
Tokio rose, "Shut up. And get out."
Rei was whimpering on the floor.
Tokio was going to kick her, "Get the hell out of here!! If you have any dignity, you'll go commit seppuku somewhere. But not in this house," Tokio warned, "Cause I have to clean it."
Rei slowly sat up, and looked at her stabbed fist, the knife still embedded there.
"If you so much as think about using that knife on me, I'll kill you Rei."
Rei bit her lip, and glared at Tokio. Tokio didn't even look at her, "I mean it, Rei. And you know I can do it. You're no match for me, no matter what kind of mental edge."
Rei gasped.
Tokio sneered, eyes closed, "You thought I'd be weak and helpless just because Goro's gone? Hell no!! I'm even stronger."
Tokio looked down at her bleeding hand. "See, he is a bastard, but he did teach me something. I don't need him. I never needed him. Me kicking your @$$ proves it. A top assassin like you couldn't pick me off."
Rei growled, pulling out her blade, "My employer will be very angry if you don't die."
"I'm curious, you're not even gonna tell me who, Rei? I thought we were friends."
Rei screamed, and jumped for her, "You're just a TARGET, KOBAYASHI!!"
Tokio did everything so fast. Rei lunged at her, both arms outstretched, with her left hand pointed the blade for her head. Tokio bent low, grabbed her hand clutching the blade, chopped down with her other arm on Rei's elbow holding the knife, and collapsed Rei's arm on herself. Leading Rei to stab her own shoulder.
Rei screamed openly, and Tokio flipped her to the floor.
"So what if I never killed anything? If I kill you, that must prove something. Imagine, in all my years of training, I never lifted a finger to kill anyone. I did lots of planning, but didn't go out killing yet. Now you, you're different. You said you killed lots of people. Since I kill you, does your kill record go on mine? That'd be sweet."
Rei spat out blood, and growled, "F—k you, b!tch. I hope you burn someday."
Tokio frowned, crossing her arms, "So you DID put this party together, huh?" Tokio grinned, "Well, it sucks."
Rei pulled the knife form her shoulder. Tokio frowned, "Don't make me kill you."
"You never could kill anybody, so as far as it goes, I still have the winning edge!!"
Tokio sighed, and let Rei charge. She let Rei come for her, but she side stepped, and struck her neck. The perfect way to paralyze your opponent, was to cut off the nerves temporarily.
Rei couldn't even gasp, as she fell face forward on the ground.
"Stay down," Tokio warned.
Tokio panted, and looked at her hand. It was bleeding quite a lot. She sighed, and tore off a strip of Rei's kimono. She tied it around her palm, and even tied up Rei's wounds.
It was hard work, tending to this crazy girl, but Tokio felt obligated to.
When Rei got back some of her nerves, and began to groan, Tokio punched her. This made Rei go unconscious.
Tokio hooked her arm around Rei's shoulder, and hoisted her up.
Tokio flung open her gates, and grinned, "Now, won't Doctor Gisen be impressed? This time, I'm taking home the unconscious girl."
A good beating always led Tokio to her senses. Her life was busy enough without Goro. And besides, she decided she was a burden on the guy, anyways. Always getting hurt, and he had to get out of his way to save her.
She sighed, and hummed another unknown tune. Maybe that was it. He realized she was more trouble than she was worth, and split. She shrugged, "Ah well. I see his point." She sighed, "Wished he woulda told me, though..........."
Tokio told herself that lie while Gisen helped patch up her palm. Somehow, thinking he didn't care about her made her feel better. It led her to believe she didn't care about him.
And keeping your feeling keepings at bay ...........
............................. is much easier than facing them up front.
~ Rei ~
Tokio was too shocked at first. But quickly, she rolled out underneath Rei, as Rei leapt at her. Tokio ended up on the other side, and spat angrily, "WHAT THE F—K ARE YOU DOIN'?!!"
"My job, Tokio," Rei said, giggling. She tapped her blade against the walks, "Why do you think I visited you at Hakode? Cause I got the money, or somethin'?"
Tokio jumped out of her way again, backing against the walls. Tokio growled, "This isn't funny Rei."
"No, it isn't. Bein' an assassin's a tough job. Especially tracking down an old pal like you."
Tokio couldn't believe this!! Rei was such an idiot, how could she orchestrate............
"I gotta tell ya, when your first two assassins died on the job, I was getting a little worried. I didn't really want to kill you myself."
"Kill me myself.......? What the hell.......?"
Rei tossed the knife up and down a few times, "Well, since your gonna die, I guess it's alright to tell you. The first one was Gichi, who took up a job a day after you did. We sent him there, but he said he wanted to taste you first. That ended up in his failure. We should've known. He was a moron, anyways."
Tokio narrowed her eyes, wiping away a bead of sweat, "And Yoshida?"
"Yoshida surprised us. We knew he used to date you, but we didn't know he still loved you. He wanted to carry you to heaven, before he sent you to hell. Figures, this is the last time we send a guy after a woman. They all think with theirs loins, anyways....."
Tokio grit her teeth, "You're a f--kin' liar, Rei. And you suck so bad at it."
Rei continued as if she didn't hear, "See, we found the problem though!! That big police guy that was followin' ya, he was always there killing off my buds whenever you were involved."
"THAT LITTLE SH!T GICHI WAS A FRIEND OF YOURS?"
Rei frowned, "Tokio, he was a good drinking buddy of mine!! Speak a little more with respect, the guy's dead-"
"And he's better off that way," Tokio snarled, "Do you have any idea what he did to me?"
"Cut you down there? That surprised me. I didn't think he hated you that much, but he was a jealous type."
Tokio backed up, and fell over the steps. She landed on her back, wincing, and looking at Rei. Rei twirled the knife in her hands, grasping it for a stabbing like move. She smiled, "It was nice seein' you again, though."
She lunged at her, and Tokio threw Rei's red lacquered geta at her face. She purposely fell over, pretending to stumble, to hide she was picking one up.
The wooden sandal cracked against Rei's face, and Rei fell back, her attack cut short. A spurt of blood erupted form her nose, as she landed in a heap by the front door.
Tokio scrambled up, and ran for the gate.
But two kunais landed in front of her, pinning to the wall. Tokio frowned, "You really want to get hurt, do you............"
Rei stood, wiping her bloody nose, "Shut up, Tokio. If you ever took your job seriously, you would'a seen I was planning this for a good month now."
Tokio frowned at her, glaring poison. Without looking, she swiped up the kunais that were shaped like two metal diamonds. "What do you want me dead for?"
"I don't want you to. Someone paid me to. I just had to plan it out for them too."
"Who's them?!!"
Rei giggled, "Sorry!! Telling you would be CHEATING!!"
With the last word she dove for her, and Tokio struck as well. It was just like sparring, but with knives. Rei stabbed a strike down, and Tokio sidestepped away, and stabbed her right elbow.
"NNGGK!!" she went, and Rei clutched her arm.
Tokio tossed the kunai in her hands, "Let's see how good you fight now, lefty."
Rei smiled at her, and switched her blade to her left hand, "I did train with both hands, you know."
She charged again, and Tokio threw the kunai at her. She meant to stab her shoulder to stop her, but she ducked under it. She did it so fast, she didn't notice that she had ducked under her, and kicked straight up. Tokio saw a red burst in her eyes before she slammed against the ceiling post on the porch.
Tokio groaned, slowly rising. She hadn't eaten for three days. She was paying for it now.
Rei giggled, "Ya know, I didn't plan on that cop leaving so soon. It was a stroke of luck. It made things much easier. The only reason I didn't get you at the hot springs was because he was with you. And he smelled like blood; nasty smell. That's why I always hit and run." she sighed, "But, he followed you home, too. And here I was about to forget the whole thing, when I see him hitch a train to god knows where. Alls I know is, 'Hey!! Good news for me, since he won't be here to save you this time!' I bet it broke your heart, the way he just left like that. I never figured for the damsel in distress chick, but, you know the old saying! 'You think you know a guy when......'."
Tokio widened her eyes.
**......Goro...........**
"Adios, Tokio!!"
Rei lunged at her again, blade pointed straight forward. Tokio frowned, then scoffed, "A knife? Knives can't do the things a sword can,"
She reached forward, and blocked the blade, by letting it pierce through her palm. She tightened her fingers around the hilt, and Rei gasped, since Tokio managed to block her whole attack through this gruesome way.
"You can't slice anyone in half with a knife. All you do is knick and piss 'em off."
Tokio yanked the blade forward, dragging Rei down with it. There, she thrust her knee into Rei's face again. Rei keeled backwards again, this time her lip was bleeding with her nose.
Tokio giggled, and put up her hand, "What it is he would say when something small got in his way? Heh," she bit the handle of the blade, and pulled out the knife with her teeth. She smiled, and said through her bite, "Yare yare............."
Rei gasped, as Tokio grasped the blade in her bleeding right hand, and pounced upon her. Tokio slammed the knife down, stabbing the ground right next to Rei's ear.
Rei half shrieked and gasped, and clenched her eyes. Tokio was sitting on her stomach, bending over her, her face close to hers.
She narrowed her eyes, "You're not the mastermind. But you talk very well to be one."
Rei whimpered, as Tokio withdrew the blade, and drew a crimson line across her face, "I wonder who sent you?"
Rei stuttered, "I'm not t-telling you!!"
Tokio sighed, and looked at the puny little blade she held, "Tsk tsk tsk, Rei. Not only was she the shortest, she also carried the shortest blade. Most people compensate for that."
Rei tried to punch her, but Tokio drove the knife into her fist. Rei screamed.
Tokio rose, "Shut up. And get out."
Rei was whimpering on the floor.
Tokio was going to kick her, "Get the hell out of here!! If you have any dignity, you'll go commit seppuku somewhere. But not in this house," Tokio warned, "Cause I have to clean it."
Rei slowly sat up, and looked at her stabbed fist, the knife still embedded there.
"If you so much as think about using that knife on me, I'll kill you Rei."
Rei bit her lip, and glared at Tokio. Tokio didn't even look at her, "I mean it, Rei. And you know I can do it. You're no match for me, no matter what kind of mental edge."
Rei gasped.
Tokio sneered, eyes closed, "You thought I'd be weak and helpless just because Goro's gone? Hell no!! I'm even stronger."
Tokio looked down at her bleeding hand. "See, he is a bastard, but he did teach me something. I don't need him. I never needed him. Me kicking your @$$ proves it. A top assassin like you couldn't pick me off."
Rei growled, pulling out her blade, "My employer will be very angry if you don't die."
"I'm curious, you're not even gonna tell me who, Rei? I thought we were friends."
Rei screamed, and jumped for her, "You're just a TARGET, KOBAYASHI!!"
Tokio did everything so fast. Rei lunged at her, both arms outstretched, with her left hand pointed the blade for her head. Tokio bent low, grabbed her hand clutching the blade, chopped down with her other arm on Rei's elbow holding the knife, and collapsed Rei's arm on herself. Leading Rei to stab her own shoulder.
Rei screamed openly, and Tokio flipped her to the floor.
"So what if I never killed anything? If I kill you, that must prove something. Imagine, in all my years of training, I never lifted a finger to kill anyone. I did lots of planning, but didn't go out killing yet. Now you, you're different. You said you killed lots of people. Since I kill you, does your kill record go on mine? That'd be sweet."
Rei spat out blood, and growled, "F—k you, b!tch. I hope you burn someday."
Tokio frowned, crossing her arms, "So you DID put this party together, huh?" Tokio grinned, "Well, it sucks."
Rei pulled the knife form her shoulder. Tokio frowned, "Don't make me kill you."
"You never could kill anybody, so as far as it goes, I still have the winning edge!!"
Tokio sighed, and let Rei charge. She let Rei come for her, but she side stepped, and struck her neck. The perfect way to paralyze your opponent, was to cut off the nerves temporarily.
Rei couldn't even gasp, as she fell face forward on the ground.
"Stay down," Tokio warned.
Tokio panted, and looked at her hand. It was bleeding quite a lot. She sighed, and tore off a strip of Rei's kimono. She tied it around her palm, and even tied up Rei's wounds.
It was hard work, tending to this crazy girl, but Tokio felt obligated to.
When Rei got back some of her nerves, and began to groan, Tokio punched her. This made Rei go unconscious.
Tokio hooked her arm around Rei's shoulder, and hoisted her up.
Tokio flung open her gates, and grinned, "Now, won't Doctor Gisen be impressed? This time, I'm taking home the unconscious girl."
A good beating always led Tokio to her senses. Her life was busy enough without Goro. And besides, she decided she was a burden on the guy, anyways. Always getting hurt, and he had to get out of his way to save her.
She sighed, and hummed another unknown tune. Maybe that was it. He realized she was more trouble than she was worth, and split. She shrugged, "Ah well. I see his point." She sighed, "Wished he woulda told me, though..........."
Tokio told herself that lie while Gisen helped patch up her palm. Somehow, thinking he didn't care about her made her feel better. It led her to believe she didn't care about him.
And keeping your feeling keepings at bay ...........
............................. is much easier than facing them up front.
