Disclaimer- I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and I never will. So don't sue me. I don't even own the idea of the shukusen; it belongs to Tamora Pierce.

AN-No! I've turned Mieko into Misao (even their names look similar) Oh well; Mieko wouldn't be using kunai anytime soon. No, there's nothing wrong with Misao or kunai. I just figured that if Mieko were extremely like Misao, I would be writing a Sou/Mi fanfic instead. For now, I'm rewriting the final episodes of the Kyoto arc to fit into my story (and because I find the Shishio fight disgusting (I watched it with a friend, she said that I said 'Ew' thirty-nine times during the event)).

I couldn't update as soon as I would have liked because—one, I was sick. And two, I'm not the best writer in the world. And three, I have the worst typing ability in the entire world (okay, so not in the entire world…)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this entire story contains spoilers concerning the Kyoto arc. (Especially in this chapter!)

Yes, there is a lot of Kenshin in this chapter, but it is nonetheless a Soujiro fic! There's a lot of Kenshin because he's the main character.

The title is the elements from Chinese astrology (Yes I'm that obsessed). Fire represents Shishio (duh) Air represents Kenshin (something about how he is a Gemini, and Gemini is an air sign), Metal represents Saitou (hopefully his sword is made of metal), Water represents Aoshi (It's something about his technique, I can't remember the name…), and Wood represents Mieko (You'll see, in later chapters). I disincluded (I don't think that's a word) Soujiro because …you'll see. And Sano? Well, There were only five elements, or so I thought…

Again, I'm using lyrics from Namida wa Shitteru.

Thanks to all the people who reviewed!

 Please R+R!

Lilac Fire Blossom

By Meii-chan

Chapter 2-Fire, Air, Metal, Water, and Wood

            Himura Kenshin climbed up the never-ending flight of stairs to the top of Mount Hiei. "I wonder if this staircase is supposed to tire me out before the fight." he thought. The unpleasant smell of burning petroleum met his senses, and then he thought, "Now he's trying to poison me too, I guess that means he isn't ready."

            During their time climbing up the stairs, a number of things crossed Kenshin's mind, with some of them being about Kaoru. Sano was wondering whether he should help Kenshin during the fight or not, even though Kenshin had already asked him not to.

             After a long time, they finally reached the top, and choked, partly because the air was thick with pungent fumes, and partly because Shishio was kissing Yumi. Houji was already on the battlefield, wondering why Yumi's mouth wasn't catching fire.

            Soon after, Shishio and Kenshin began their death match. As Kenshin moved to attack, Shishio stroke the ground with his sword, igniting the tip. Kenshin stopped dumbfounded, horribly amazed that the sword was actually on fire.

            After receiving a few slashes from Shishio, instincts found their way back into Kenshin's head, and he did the first thing that came into his mind—grab and stop the sword. Of course, he was conveniently unaware that it was still sharp and on fire.

            But since it appeared that the nerves in his hand were malfunctioning, his brain was still clear. Kenshin then realized why the sword was burning—the fat of Shishio's former enemies had accumulated on the blade, creating the fuel for the fire. Thus, he was dumb stricken again.

            Nearby, Sano was looking on with some random thoughts running loose in his head. With "Shishio's a cannibal!" being one of them.

            Not after too long, Shishio blew up Kenshin, (and miraculously) not his hand, with fire and some gunpowder soaked into his glove.

            Yumi was looking at her watch, timing the entire thing. "Wow! That took shorter than I expected! …Or not." She thought.

            All of a sudden, Saitou broke open the door and stabbed Shishio in the head all with one Gatotsu. It didn't work as Saitou planned; Shishio was wearing a metal headband around his forehead.

            "Okay, now it's over."

Sano was on the warpath, avenging Kenshin, but not for long. He suddenly flew into a wall and laid still.

            Yumi sighed, "This is getting repetitive."

            And then Aoshi came in, and although he was already half-dead, fought Shishio. He too was also soon rendered unconscious.

            Seeing as how all his adversaries appeared to be dead, Shishio began to gloat while walking off the mountain to find Soujiro. After all, the flesh of the weak is the food of the strong. You know how it is, Soujiro. The strong live; the weak die. He hoped that Soujiro had not gone too far. He did not enjoy looking for all eternity for his prey, and who knows where Soujiro could have gone on the planet in a matter of eleven or twelve minutes.

            Yumi stared at the retreating form of Shishio, eyes sparkling with admiration. Houji was off somewhere coming up with a plan to take over the government, now that some of the best swordsmen and fighters in the country were out cold.

             * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

            Mieko was prancing around in the forest, climbing the ancient trees, and making the lifeless leaves quiver in her path. She jumped down from a branch to land next to Soujiro, who was walking normally, when the atmosphere became very hot.

            She turned around and saw a dreadfully menacing Shishio behind them. This definitely wasn't good…

            * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

            "Sayonara, Kaoru-dono…" For some reason, this scene kept playing in Kenshin's head.

            "Kenshin! Wake up!" a mysterious voice interrupted his thoughts, not that there were many, "You promised to back to Tokyo with her."

            This voice, Kenshin realized, wasn't the Battousai or the Rurouni, or anybody he knew was with him, but it was strangely familiar and he couldn't figure it out.

            "What…?"

            "You heard me, you can't die yet; you promised Kaoru-chan."

            Kenshin racked his brain for anyone who would call Kaoru and add a "chan," But the only person he could think of was Misao, and she was still defending the restaurant.

            "What…Who…?"

            Kenshin drifted out of unconsciousness, and he realized the scent the voice carried—a scent from ten years ago…the scent of white plums…

            "Tomoe?"

            Then the world greeted Kenshin with the sensation of being cut and burned at the same time—something he wasn't looking forward quite as much as protecting the country.

            "Shishio-sama…"

             Kenshin jerked his attention to the sound, and he almost face-faulted at the sight, if he wasn't on the ground already.

            Yumi was still standing over the forest, stars in her eyes, saying Shishio's name over and over like a deranged fangirl.

            Pain forgotten as curiosity took its place, Kenshin walked over to Yumi.

            "Yumi-dono, where's Shishio de gozaru?"

            "Shishio-sama…"

            Talking in a regular voice obviously wouldn't break Yumi out of her reverie, so Kenshin screamed at the top of his lungs, "WHERE IS SHISHIO DE GOZARU?"

            "Shishio—Huh? Where he is? Uh…" Yumi searched her brain for the location of the living mummy, "he said something about revenge, and boy, and then he went for a stroll in the forest."

            Kenshin thanked Yumi and then walked off in the direction of the forest. It was far away, so he tried to decipher what Yumi said.

            "Yumi always refers to Soujiro as boy, so Shishio said something about Soujiro…" Then it suddenly dawned on him. "Shishio is going to kill Soujiro!" He quickened his pace and raced towards the wood.

            "Please don't let him be dead yet," he thought, "Why does this forest look so familiar?"

            * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

            "Eep! Shishio-san!"

            "Yes, it's me," the wrapped one said, "I had a feeling Soujiro would have came this way if you were around."

            "You…aren't…dead yet? Mieko gaped at Shishio.

            "What?" Shishio's temper was running short, "You thought Battousai was able to best me?"

            "Well, he kind of went though Shinomori-san and Soujiro-chan in one piece, and seeing how he disregarded Soujiro-chan's shukuchi, so I sort of figured he would be able to beat you too."

            "You figured wrong, I killed him in less than ten minutes."

            "Oh, but if he's dead, how come he's standing behind you?" Mieko pointed her index finger toward someone behind Shishio.

            Shishio blinked twice and turned around. Sure enough, there was Kenshin, standing behind him. The leaves swirled around him even though there was hardly any wind.

            "Now I understand why Mieko-dono couldn't figure out if Soujiro was dead or not after our battle, because you thought I looked dead after you blew me up." If Kenshin didn't already defeat him a half hour earlier, Soujiro would have laughed at the remark, even if Shishio was about to kill him.

            Shishio didn't take Kenshin's joke very well, and he blew up Kenshin a second time. Then he turned upon Mieko and Soujiro.

            "I'll have my revenge for you for leaving the Juppongatana!" He started with Soujiro. If looks could kill, Shishio wouldn't even have to unsheathe his sword to chop Soujiro in half. But fortunately for Soujiro, looks can't kill, so Shishio would have to chop him up in little pieces himself. Shishio raised his sword and stabbed in a downward angle.

            The ghost of Tomoe was sitting on the branch of a nearby tree, surveying the situation. "He certainly is very similar to Enishi." She mused and then went back to wake Kenshin up.

            The sword's course was interrupted by Mieko's weapon. She turned to Soujiro and said, "Well? What are you waiting for? RUN!"

            Soujiro stepped backwards for a few paces. "Mieko-san, if you remember correctly, I was half dead a half hour ago."

            Mieko merely sighed. But then Shishio began to attack her! "What the…?"

            "If I am to kill Soujiro, you're not helping. But you are weaker and easier to defeat. And remember, weak people who don't become food for the strong have no right to exist! I'll kill you as well!"

            "What makes you so sure?" asked Soujiro.

            "Maybe the fact that he's two times taller than me, and that he killed about a million more people than me."

            "Right, and I know all the moves you can make; I taught you," answered Shishio as he saw Mieko in a sword stance although she didn't use a sword. "What makes you think you can defeat me?"

            "I'm fighting for a more worthy cause!" She started running towards Shishio. She tripped on a branch and Shishio took a shot at her neck. Luckily, he missed, and as Mieko fought to stay on her feet, her braid got chopped off, and she fell into a nearby bush.

            Kizu tsukanakute ii koto ni- when you are uninjured,

            Dare mo ga furetashimau- you can be hit anytime, by anyone.

            Mizu no tsumetasa ni- It's the same surprise as touching cold water,

             

            Shishio started his apocalyptic laugh, and in the depths of the shrub, a voice was heard screaming, "That wasn't meant to be funny! Everybody trips sometime in their life!"

            Mieko stuck her head out of the vegetation, hair in complete disarray with leaves stuck in the most peculiar ways. Shishio laughed harder, and Soujirou cracked a smile.

            Mieko shook her head as she climbed out, and Shishio was scratching the ground with his sword. Mieko popped open her weapon, revealing a bladed fan of mammoth proportions, a shukusen (1).

            "Ok, let's try this again."

            Shishio smirked. He had found something hard enough to make sparks with his sword. So he lit the katana, and slashed at Mieko again. Again, Mieko blocked, but her shukusen suddenly caught fire.

            "Umm…" Mieko became hypnotized by the flame dancing on her fan. It ate at the thin metal covering and then the tips of the wood when she realized that what she was holding was on fire. Thus she dropped the fan on the ground.

            But the forest was unkempt, dry leaves and grass littered the ground, and the flames hungrily consumed them too. Only then did Mieko grasp the fact that she just set the forest on fire.

Doing so, she fainted, and Soujiro caught her despite the fact that he was twenty feet away from her.

Odoroku toki no you ni- I'm only next to you.

Tonari ni iru dake de- I can't do anything, but

Nanimo dekinai kedo- for you only, I'll make a present of

Arittake no egao kimi dake ni- all the happiness in my smiling face,

Kakaete okuruyo donna toki mo- carrying you anywhere.

Soujiro smiled a goodbye at Shishio, and ran out of the way of the burning juggernaut and out of the entire forest.

Shishio felt hot, even though his body temperature was already above normal. He became aware that he was in the way of the advancing inferno and tried to move. But he couldn't. He was already combusting from the heat of the blaze and the stress of fighting for a long period of time. To put it lightly, he died.

            Thanks to the ghost of Tomoe, Kenshin woke up again. Seeing the forest in flames, he decided to get out—fast. He somehow ran back to the platform and saw Yumi racing down the side of the mountain. Sano was standing at the top along with Aoshi and Saitou.

            "Kenshin," said Sano, "let's get off this mountain before it burns up too."

            Kenshin couldn't have agreed with him more. Then he noticed a ghostly figure standing at the edge of the forest. "Tomoe?"

            The apparition waved back and was smiling.

~End Chapter Two~

If you want to know, the forest is the one Kenshin killed Tomoe in in the OVA. Therefore it is logical that Tomoe would be in the forest.

1. The shukusen is taken from Tamora Pierce's "Protector of the Small." It is a fan with metal blades instead of wood. (But for the purpose of this story, Mieko's shukusen only has metal on the very edges, with wood everywhere else.) Basically, it is a weapon that women use if they do not wish to be seen with a sword. I believe that, due to the shape of the shukusen, it is used mainly for slashing techniques instead of stabbing (but then again, I could be wrong).