DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin and Rurouni Kenshin characters are exclusively owned by Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment, Jump Comics and associated parties. Please note, this is purely fiction and for entertainment purposes only. This story is not meant for sale or profit.
Author's Notes: Kaoru believes that Kenshin is dead after his fight with Shougo. She vows to avenge his death. After defeating Shougo, she begins a reign of terror against some of Kenshin's former enemies. Who will stop her? K&K romance. (Please note, this fic is not based off the movie "An Eye for an Eye" I just couldn't think up another title.) An Eye for An Eye Romance/Drama Fanfiction by Gypsy-chan Enjoy!
Light Shimabara Arc Spoiler Warning (This story does not follow every detail of the actual Shimabara Arc episodes, especially in places where I've indicated that Shougo uses a corrupt blade. I changed that part for the sake of my story.) Also, this fanfic is totally OOC.
Part Two
Kaoru noticed a small bag over Soujirou's shoulders. "Do you have a place to stay?"
"No.... not at the moment," he said with a smile.
"Then you may stay at the dojo with me," replied Kaoru.
The two left Kenshin's gravesite and headed back to the dojo.
********************Back on Shimabara, in a large western styled mansion, Amasku Shougo sat pensively listening to his sister Sayo play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata No. 14 in C minor on the piano across the room.
Shougo's elbow rested squarely upon the arm of the large Victorian styled chair. While cradling his chin into the palm of his hand, images of his last fight with Kenshin flashed before his eyes. The more he pondered over the fight, the angrier he became.
"He should have used the Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. Why didn't he! If he had used the Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki, then his woman could have taken pride in his death, knowing that he gave his very best before being defeated."
A different set of images flashed into his mind. The images were of Kaoru. He recalled turning around to face her. Normally, men and women alike, would drop to their knees in obeisance to the self-proclaimed son of god. His appearance was quite impressive. However, Kaoru was unimpressed. She stood courageously before Shougo, fervently defending her beloved Kenshin.
Flashback of Kaoru arguing issues of morality with Shougo.
"You think you have the right to choose who lives and who dies? That's wrong! Kenshin isn't like that! Kenshin is a kindhearted man who really cares about protecting the happiness of people. I dont know if you are really a better swordsman than Kenshin. And maybe the rumors are true. Maybe you can use a sword like a God. But I dont care! There's no way you can defeat Kenshin!"End of argument Flashback
As the music played in the background, Shougo continued recalling how angry he had gotten with Kaoru for blatantly disrespecting him that day in the church. After all, he counted himself as deity deserving of worship. He remembered grabbing hold of her wrist, with the intent on crushing the Battousai's "whore" right where she stood.
But yet, as his face came within inches of hers, he could see in the deep dark pools of her blue eyes, purity and innocence. The same innocence and purity that was found within his sister Sayo. He knew then that he could not harm her. Shougo finally understood that Kaoru wasn't some common street whore that followed the Battousai where ever he went. No, Kamiya Kaoru was a chaste virgin with purity of heart and soul. She was the Battousai's personal savior, the key to his atonement.
Shougo then turned his attention toward his right hand. He frowned as he glanced over the note he held there. The note was from Mr. Elston's assistant named Santo. It told of Kenshin's memorial services, which in effect, confirmed his demise. Shougo reflected once more upon Kenshin's choosing not to use his ultimate attack. He muttered out loud.
"Curse you Battousai! Curse you for being so selfish! Your woman must now bear the burden of grief and suffering because of your foolishness. She believed in you and you betrayed her trust. Now she has to live in shame after witnessing your pitiful defeat. I hope you rot in hell Battousai!"
Sayo became disturbed by her elder brother's sudden outburst. She abruptly removed her hands from the piano.
"What's wrong with him? He's been sitting in that chair for hours. Why is he acting so strangely? Has that battle with Mr. Himura affected him in a bad way? My elder brother should be rejoicing over Mr. Himura's death. He's the only one who has ever been strong enough to defeat the devil's advocate. I hope my elder brother will be all right. I'm so worried about him."
Shougo pulled himself out of his reverie and turned his head toward Sayo. He could see her back had stiffened and her hands were removed from the piano.
"I must have frigtened her."
"Sayo, why have you stop playing? Please continue.... it.... relaxes me."
Without uttering a sound, Sayo gently placed her fingers upon the piano keys again and resumed her playing of Moonlight Sonata.
"I must not worry Sayo. I don't want her to become ill from worrying over me. I need to concentrate on my mission. The people of Shimabara is depending on me to liberate them. Now that the Battousai is out of the way, there is no one else strong enough to stop me."
On the other side of Shimabara, sat a pirate ship within a dark sheltered cove. As the fog died down, the symbol of death could be seen on the ship's flag waving high upon it's mast. The captain of the ship glanced over all the things plundered over the past week from ships passing by. The captain then looked around at the crew and announced,
"Men, you have done a good job. We have enough goods to last our village for a month. It's time to set sail and go home."
The crew cheered as the captain signaled for the ship to set a course for their homeland. Singing, dancing and other forms of merriment could be heard by the crew as the ship began its long journey home.
The captain left the crew to their revelry and quietly went into a small cabin on the lower deck. As the captain entered the cabin, a man began to slowly sit up. The captain smiled.
"Hmmm..... He's finally moving by himself after a week. That's a good sign."
"Wh.... Where am I," the man groggily asked.
"Don't worry about that right now," answered the captain. "You've been severly injured and need to rest."
The man touched his eyes and felt bindings upon them as well as upon his head and chest.
"My eyes.... Why are my eyes bound? What happened to me?"
The captain walked over to the injured man and gently helped him to lie down. "I don't know the answers you seek. But I promise I will find out later. You are safe now, no harm will befall you," assured the captain while draping a blanket over his shoulders. "Please get some rest. I'll bring you something to eat later."
The man slowly nodded in gratitude and slipped back into a deep sleep. Captain Shura's face soften while watching the man she had always dreamed of seeing again resting soundly.
"I don't know how you've come to be in this condition, but I'm glad that I found you. This time, I will never allow you to leave my side again.... Kenshin Himura."
Back at the Kamiya Dojo, Yahiko began pacing back and forth. It was obvious to everyone in the room, that he was worried about Kaoru. After losing Kenshin, he had suddenly become very protective of her.
"What's keeping Kaoru? She should have been back by now," he anxiously asked. "We shouldn't have let her go to Kenshin's grave by herself. Something must have happened to her."
"Relax kid, jou-chan just needed a little time by herself," replied Sano as he rested his hand upon Yahiko's shoulder. "She'll be back soon. You'll see."
"No," he exclaimed while knocking Sano's hand off his shoulder. "You relax! I've already lost Kenshin," he said with a trembling voice and bowed head.
"I'm not going to lose Kaoru. I'm going out to find her!" He rushed toward the training hall to get his bokken.
Sano watched as Yahiko went after his bokken. He could see that Yahiko was fighting hard to keep his grief inside. He knew how much Kenshin meant to him. Kenshin was like a father and older brother to Yahiko. He always looked up to Kenshin, but after his death, Yahiko began to cling to Kaoru.
Yahiko had now come out of the training hall, bokken in hand, ready to find Kaoru.
"Well if you insist on going, then I'm coming with you," he smiled toward Yahiko. "I can't have a little runt like you getting into trouble."
"Stop calling me little!!" Yahiko jumped on top of Sano's shoulders and started biting his head.
At that moment, Kaoru and Soujirou had returned to the Kamiya dojo. All eyes were firmly fixed upon the smiling young boy standing beside Kaoru.
"Seta Soujirou? What's he doing here," Sano asked after taking Yahiko off his shoulders.
"He's going to be staying with us for a while," Kaoru nonchantly replied.
Yahiko gazed in amazement at Soujirou.
"This is the guy that Sano told me about that fought Kenshin in Kyoto. He was personally trained by Makoto Shishio. He almost beat Kenshin too! It's hard to believe a boy like him, could beat Kenshin."
"Yahiko, please prepare a room for our guest and some hot water for my bath," Kaoru simply ordered. Yahiko didn't complain. He nodded and quickly went inside.
"I think I will go help him," smiled Soujirou as he followed Yahiko inside.
Sano was still having his doubts about the matter of Soujirou staying at the Kamiya dojo. He decided not to say anything to Kaoru for the time being. He could see how exhausted she looked after returning from Kenshin's gravesite. He knew she was still taking his death very hard.
"Where's Aoshi and Misao," she asked after noticing the silence.
"The weasel and stone face will probably be back later. They went to the temple to pray for...." Sano suddenly stopped when he noticed a stray tear fall upon Kaoru's cheek when he said the word pray.
"I.... I guess I better get dinner started. I have a lot of mouths to feed."
"Don't worry about that jou-chan, the fox and Tae stopped by earlier. They brought some extra food for us before going back into town. Why don't you go and prepare for your bath. I'll keep an eye on things for you."
"Arigatou Sano," she replied wearily. As she took two steps toward the house, she felt a strong hand upon her shoulder.
"I know it's none of my business, but do you really think it's safe to have Soujirou stay here?"
Kaoru let out a long sigh before replying, "I don't feel threatened by him. I know that he fought Kenshin once, but that is in the past. You of all people should know that I have never turned away a person because of their past. I won't turn him away Sanosuke, I won't."
Kaoru left Sano standing in the yard as she went inside the house.
Sano stuck his hands into his pockets and slumped his back against the wooden column supporting the house.
"Jou-chan, I hope you know what you're doing. I don't trust Seta Soujirou. Maybe I'll hang around the dojo for a while to find out what he's really up to."
As Kaoru relaxed in her long desired bath, she let the steam of the hot bath water take over her senses.
"Kenshin.... I miss you so much."
She paused in her thinking to wipe away stray tears that had fallen on her already tear stained cheeks.
"Tomorrow will be a new day for me. I shall start my training with Soujirou. I will avenge your death my belove. I promise."
Author's Notes: Konnichiwa minna san! Arigatou for the reviews. Hey I'm glad everyone liked it. Now I must mention that this is most definitely a K&K pairing. They will end up together. However, in the mean time, I'm going to sneak in a little alternate pairing and maybe a love triangle. But I'm not telling who will be paired up with each other.^_^ And don't worry, it will be tasteful done. I love and respect all the RK characters. Next chapter will deal with the training and other stuff.
Ok everyone, I need your opinion. It will help me with the ending (I'm not there yet). Should Kaoru fight Kenshin blind or after he has regained his sight. (I do have a way of him regaining his sight) Tell me what you think in your review. It will help me formulate not only the ending but some other parts in between. Thanks.
Special thanks to all my reviewers:
Mama-sama: Thanks for being the first reviewer.^_^ and yeah, Kaoru is going to kick some butt!
Tan Kimiko: Your wish is my command. Hope you like this update.
Joak Drysso: Hey, flattering will get you everywhere. Thanks for the compliment. I'm doing the alt. pairing thing, but sorry it will only be light cause I want K&K to end up together. Hey, I have a one track mind.
Susan: Your reviews are always encouraging to me. I miss your emails too. I know you've been busy like me. I'll try to send you an email soon, to see how everything is going in your world.
Jason M Lee: I know, I know, I promise that I will get back to Fatal Love. It's hard to get into the mood for that. When I do get it out, I'll post the two remaining chapters to finish the story. I really do love that ficcy. I think it's the best one I've written. And also, thanks so much for correcting me on the Sword of Heaven thing. I made the change in chapter one.
HEY MACY WHERE ARE YOU? You're suppose to catch me when I screw up. Oh well, JML, you got the job.^_^
Relena Maxwell: Thanks for the awesome review. You rock. I'm glad you like that song too. And yeah, I'm thinking on doing a lite triangle love thing.
dfourthhorseman: Yeah, you got it right in your comment. Just hope I can pull it off.
SMDSP: Hey glad to see your pen name on my story. Thanks for the encouragement and nice review.
Kamimura Kaoru: Thanks for dropping by to check out my ficcy and leaving the nice review. I'll be over soon to check out the update to your ficcy.
marstanuki: Thanks for the really nice review. Your fics really rock too.
MP: Thanks for the compliment. You got a great ficcy going on too. Email me with the next update. P.S. I checked out the link with the girls picture on it and her story. It was really cool.
Spellcaster the Diamond: Hey Spellcaster, you changed your penname? Anyhoo, thanks for reviewing my story. I dropped by your story and left a review. Email me with the next update.
Hana Himura: You are just too sweet. Thanks for that great compliment I hope you enjoy this chapter and I loved your update to your ficcy. It was good. I can't wait for the next update. Email me at kkfan0077@yahoo.com. Thanks.
chibi-angel: Hey, what can I say to my good friend, I'm glad you noticed I snuck in the engagement part. I loved your updates, but bad gypsy-chan forgot to leave a review. I'll go back and leave my review after I upload this. Love your website. It's so cool.
Takato Taikashi: Oh yeah, Shougo is not only in for it but it will be in his face once Kaoru is through with him. Thanks for the great review.
C-Chan: You are just too kind with your review. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
As usual, constructive reviews are welcomed as long as they are genuine and not sarcastic. Thank you for reading and being a considerate reviewer. ^_^