Chapter 1: The Burning Fire

Disclaimer: Much as I would love to own Rurouni Kenshin, it does not belong to me, but to Watsuki Nobuhiro-sensei. The concept of Weiβ Kreuz does not belong to me either, and the rights go to Project Weiβ and Koyasu Takehito and all other companies that it belongs to.

A/N: Heyo peeps! This is my first RuroKen fanfic ever, so please be nice ^^; ne? It's a bit of a Weiβ Kreuz-ish fanfic, where Kenshin, Kaoru, Sano, Soujirou and Aoshi are assassins working for the Ishinshishi. Modern day AU of course. This fic has a few hints of the supernatural in it, or at least paranormal abilities, as you'll see soon enough. In this fic, Soujirou and Kaoru are twins, and Aoshi is their cousin. Kenshin and some of the other characters will show up in the next chapter, but anyhow, I hope that you enjoy this story! Ooh~ for the prelude as to why Kenshin became Battousai, please read my other fic that's floating around somewhere, called (temporarily) Fallen Path. Kudos people, and enjoy the fic!

Thoughts are in ' '

Speech is in " "

~*~

Tokyo, 1997

The fire roared high, flames licking the sky in the darkness of the night, illuminating all the other buildings around the burning one a dull red. Many neighbours had gathered around, watching the scene in horror, and the sound of sirens announced the arrival of the fire brigade and ambulance. The most pitiful figure was that of the crying girl with midnight locks who was being supported on either side by two men. Kaoru sobbed loudly, hanging on to both Soujirou and Aoshi; her only living relatives left now that her father had been burned alive in the Kamiya dojo. The two young men tried to calm their distraught friend to no avail, as she cried even harder into her hands.

"Why?" she sobbed, "Why did they have to do this?" Her running tears glistened on her cheeks as they ran down the sides of her face, her eyes puffy and red.

"Sou-chan…Aoshi…why? He was only fighting for what he believed in…" Kaoru would have fallen to the ground if her twin hadn't caught her in his arms.

His eyes were brimming with unfallen tears; he had to be strong for her, for him, for them. He held his sister close to him as she cried into his shirt, her small frame wracked with sobs, while his eyes met Aoshi's. The older man's face was pale, the expression on his face stricken; he rarely showed any emotion, but this event had moved it all to the surface.

The three young adults had been out on a midnight mission, but had returned to find the dojo starting to burn up, and had immediately rushed inside, only to find that there was blood splattered all over the walls, and Kaoru's father was bleeding profusely from numerous wounds; his eyes were closed. Kaoru was at her father's side instantly, holding his bloody hand to her cheek, and Kamiya Koshijirou's eyes slipped open slowly, the light in his eyes beginning to dull.

"Father…" she whispered.

"Kaoru…" Blood trickled from his lips as he spoke, smiling for her sake. "I wish you didn't have to go through this…I am so sorry to have put you through this…"

Kaoru shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes. "Father, don't talk anymore, you've lost a lot of blood…please wait until the ambulance---"

He cut her off. "The ambulance won't be able to do anything, daughter." He turned his eyes towards Aoshi and Soujirou, who lingered near him and Kaoru.

"Aoshi, Soujirou, please take care of her." The men nodded.

"We will, Kamiya-san."

"Yes, father."

Koshijirou turned his eyes back to Kaoru.

"Leave now, Kaoru. Live on, and fight for the ideals that we believe in." She shook her head slowly, tears falling from her eyes onto his face.

"Not like this, father…not like this!"

His tone was stern. "You must, Kaoru! Think of all the people who would suffer if not for our work!"

Her anguished eyes met his, and her grip on his hand tightened; he winced inwardly at the pain. "And you think that the pain we suffer is less than theirs, father? So many of us have died for the sake of protecting them! Why do we…why do we!" Her voice broke off and he reached for her shoulder with his other hand.

"Kaoru." Kamiya Koshijirou's voice was much softer now. "You know that we live to protect innocents, and this is our given destiny…I have only one thing to ask of you now, dear one."

"What is it, father? I'll do anything!" She was desperately trying not to break down now.

"Promise me…that when…this is all over…you will live your life out…happily with your own family, and that you will find someone who loves you for who you are…no matter what…and that Kamiya Kasshin Ryu…will become 'A Sword that Protects'…" He could feel death coming to claim him; time was running short. "Promise me!!"

Kaoru's answer was slow in coming, and her voice was clogged with tears when she answered.

"I promise, father. I promise…so please…please don't die!"

He smiled tasting bittersweet blood on his lips. His fingers wiped away Kaoru's tears.

"Live well, my daughter. Know that I always loved you…and that I always will…I…loved you…all…"

His hand suddenly went limp in her grip, and his eyelids slid close, a serene smile on his face. He had left the world of the living to join the walking dead.

"Father…? Father?" The reality of death sank into Kaoru's distraught mind. "Father!!"

A hand gripped her shoulder gently. "We have to leave now Kaoru. The place is going to burn us up if we don't leave soon."

She batted at it. "No! I want to die here with father! Let me die!" Her screams went on into the night as Aoshi looped his hand around her waist and slung her over his shoulder.

As Aoshi left the dojo with a screaming, crying Kaoru over his shoulder, Soujirou lingered behind for a moment, arranging Kamiya Koshijirou's body into a more peaceful position, and then standing up, he bowed, and uttered only one phrase.

"Thank you."

He too, then turned his back on the dojo and left; flames soon engulfed the position that he had been, and the dojo was left to burn.

While the three young adults mourned Kamiya Koshijirou's passing.

~*~

Tokyo, 2003

Kamiya Kaoru's eyes snapped open, her chest heaving, sweat running down her face, as her hands clutched the blankets tightly.

'I was dreaming of that time again when father died.' She ran a hand through her semi-sweat drenched hair, and sat up in her futon, trying to calm her breath. It had been 6 years since her father's death, but every now and then, the dreams returned to haunt her, reminding her of why she was who she was. Kaoru was a 20-year-old psychology major by day, an assassin by night. Along with her twin Soujirou, and her cousin Aoshi, they worked for the Ishinshishi and helped to cleanse the streets of Japan of dirty politicians and criminals who often slipped through the law's grasp. Kaoru and Soujirou had become assassins after their father's death, but Aoshi had already been an assassin-in-training even before his uncle had died. To say that neither of them had changed since her father's death would have been a lie. Aoshi had become ten times colder than he had ever been, closing off his emotions to everyone but Kaoru and Soujirou, and even then, his icy barriers never really came down. Soujirou hid behind a smiling façade, never letting others see his real emotions, but Kaoru knew her twin better, even if she didn't say anything about it. Kaoru herself had become more withdrawn, but still tried her best to be the Kaoru that she had been so many years ago. All of them had experienced almost-equal amounts of trauma after her father's death, but they had all reacted differently.

Kaoru stayed in a house with Soujirou, and another close friend-slash-assassin, Sagara Sanosuke, and they were known as an assassin group called Black Dawn. Aoshi would sometimes join them on missions, but he often wasn't around, because he had to manage the Oniwabanshuu spy network that he was the leader of, and as a result, saw little of Kaoru and Soujirou. Their group was well known in the underground world because of their efficiency and their abilities; Soujirou and Kaoru were rather skilled telepaths as well as masters of the sword, while Sanosuke was a telekinetic and was well versed in hand-to-hand combat. They were second to the one and only legendary assassin.

Battousai.

The nickname struck fear into the hearts of every man, and he was notorious for being a cold-blooded but very efficient killer, well versed in the sword and had the speed of a demon. No one knew his real name except the leaders of the Ishinshishi themselves. They said his eyes were a cold amber, more like that of an animal's than that of a human's, and his hair was dark crimson, like blood. Although he had indeed been an assassin for the past 10 years, no one had been able to surpass his skill, and he had remained at the top of the list, unchallenged.

'Is he really as cruel as they say, I wonder?' Kaoru mused in her thoughts. 'Other than Sou-chan, Sanosuke, Aoshi and myself, I have never met any other assassins who have our level of skills.'

She was promptly shaken out of her thoughts by a crashing sound on the staircase. Her mind instantly went on red alert, reaching for the gun that she kept under her pillow, and opened the door to her room slowly. She stepped outside of the room ---

Only to relax as she saw who it was who had rolled down the stairs yet again in his sleepy haze. She smiled wryly at Soujirou, who had also come out of his room to see what the noise was all about, an unsheathed katana ready in his hand. Taking in her smile, he wrinkled his face in disgust and promptly grumbled.

"It's Sanosuke again, isn't it?"

The string of curses coming from downstairs verified his question.

The twins leaned over the railing of the stairs to glare at the clumsy numskull who had woken them from their slumber. The man with hair stuck-up all over the place met their glares with a sheepish smile, while rubbing his painful rump.

"Er…Ohayo?"

A/N: _ Phew~ that sure took a lot outta me. I hope you all enjoyed it; please review if you can, so that I can make this fic better! Sorry that there's a lack of action so far in this chapter, but I can promise you that it'll come along soon enough! Thankees to those who read this! If there are any questions, then just e-mail me or write it up in the reviews, ne? Domo~