Chapter 2: The Clinic
A/N: Hehe, I'm writing by candlelight. Kind of archaic, ne? It's storming like a mofo outside, which would be a bad thing if Kaoru were here. She's not, I'm glad, everyone can be happy.
But, if Sano, Kenshin and Aoshi were here, I would be significantly happier. ^-^
Disclaimer: Ok, this is ridiculous. Is there really someone out there reading every single Kenshin fic, searching for a way to sue people? Tsk, tsk, what a sad, sad existence for them. Oh well, here go the nails. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Kenshin cradled his head in his hands. It'd been hours since he'd finally found Megumi. She'd ventured out to talk to him only once in the interminable wait, and that was only to ask him what had happened.
Like he knew.
He had no idea where Megumi had taken Kaoru, or if she were even alive. The latter disturbed him much more than the former. Surely five hours was long enough to keep him waiting! He needed Kaoru, needed to know if she was ok! He'd bet anything that witch was just holding Kaoru back there, hiding her from him to make him worry.
She would pa-Kenshin forced himself to calm down, realizing that he'd shot to his feet. He couldn't, however, see his golden-eyed gaze glowing angry and acidic. He pried his fingers from the hilt of his sakabatou with sheer willpower. Sulkily, he flopped back into his corner, glaring around the small room as he pulled his sword from his belt and propped it against his shoulder.
'Come on, Kenshin get a grip! You don't want to have to punch yourself in the face in front of these children.' He thought to himself. Closing his eyes he tried to tame the Battousai inside him that was howling for bloodshed. Visions of slaughtered patients, doctors, children and citizens flitted through his mind.
The Battousai was exceptionally graphic today.
Kenshin blinked, trying to force the unsettling images out of his mind. His eyes slowly faded back to their normal soft violet. Growling softly with frustration, the torn man sat again. He found himself staring at the very sharp side of his reverse-blade sword.
His pale violets widened with comprehension. He'd somehow stood, drawn his sword, AND flipped the blade without anyone noticing. At least he hoped no one had noticed. He took a second to scan the room. The two elderly men, the mother and her two children, the young man, and the two middle-aged women stared back at him. Somehow this made him very angry.
As he glared back at each of them in turn, they all quickly broke eye contact and studied their hands. Or feet. Or anything else that was handy or close by. Kenshin found himself wondering how they would scream if he hacked them into litt-Hold it!
This wasn't normal. Kenshin didn't normally have murderous hot flashes. Evidently the whole Kaoru thing had worried him more than he thought. If that was possible. Kenshin sheathed his sword, heaving a slight sigh at the clean click as it entered the sheath.
Even when he'd been a killer, the cold-hearted hitokiri, he'd never had a bloodthirsty yearning for manslaughter like his previous thoughts had just been. Taking a deep breath, Kenshin focused himself. He was calm, he would not-DAMN IT WHERE WAS SHE?!
Kenshin didn't even have to guess this time. He knew he was standing on his feet, he knew he had his sword drawn, and he knew his eyes were amber. He just didn't care anymore. He was going to find Kaoru.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Megumi leaned against the wall that led to the outer room of the clinic. She was very, very reluctant to enter that room again. Especially if HE were in there. Kenshin scared her with that look. Well, technically he should be called the Battousai, but that really didn't matter now.
She must go get him, treat him with the respect due to a great hero of Japan, and take him to Kaoru. Oh, but she didn't want to! She was afraid of him, much as she hated to admit it, even to herself.
Then again, there was good reason to BE afraid of him. He was the Himura Battousai legendary hitokiri, the king of blood spray, murder, assassination, and death in general.
There were too many to name, unless you had all day. 'OR!' Megumi thought, 'You needed to stall for some reason, because a very scary legendary killer is in your clinic waiting room.' So there Megumi stood, contemplating the various things that Battousai ruled.
Outside in the waiting room, she heard a series of startled gasps, followed by complete silence. Not even the children were making noise. What on Earth was going on out there? Megumi slid the door open the slightest inch, and peeked out, watching the people.
Whatever was going on had to do with Kenshin.
Or Battousai.
Or whatever other alter ego he had.
Geez, he had so many it was hard to keep up with them all. Megumi craned her neck, trying to see into the corner where Kenshin had stationed himself on arrival. Megumi was immensely grateful she'd noticed his feral gaze and kept him in there, for she would have been too afraid to ask him to leave once they got to the examination room.
'Hm, how to trap an angry Battousai 101.' Megumi giggled to herself. She'd always wanted to write a book. She just never had time. Medicine came first anyhow. Steeling herself to enter the room, Megumi lightly touched the shoji.
And knew she couldn't open it. Not just yet. He was still Battousai; she knew it somehow. She peered through the slightly cracked shoji. All the people were looking down, as if they'd been frightened or chastised.
She heard the light *shick* of a sword being sheathed. 'Oh god, if he's killed one of my patients I'll kill him.' Megumi thought without really thinking. She considered her last statement.
'Hm. Miracle Doctor Slaughters Legendary Manslayer. Not a bad headline!' she giggled again.
She really needed to stop cracking herself up. Someone might hear her! Megumi built up her confidence. This time she would go into the room. She could do it, after all, it's not like he was going to kill her.
She turned to open the shoji and found herself face to face with none other than Himura Battousai. His wickedly sharp sword was drawn and flipped to the opposite side, making him very much lethal.
"Take me to Kaoru." He growled, "If you refuse, I will kill you where you stand." Megumi's jaw dropped in astonishment. Knock on wood!
It was as if Battousai had COMPLETELY taken over. Like he didn't recognize her! In the moments that it had taken her to go into this thought process, Battousai simply stood, leering at her suspiciously.
"You. I have never been especially fond of killing innocent people. Especially women. Move, now." He snarled again. No, this definitely WASN'T Kenshin. No way, no how. The legendary hitokiri had resurfaced again. Gulping down her fear, Megumi started off down the long hallway.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
A/N: Dude, I can't believe this. I never really meant for Battousai to have a part in this story, but well, heh, it seems no Kenshin story is good without him. He's just so sexy! *sigh*
Anyhow, I hope I got into Megumi's character a little bit better, it seems that not many people develop her character. Don't get me wrong, there are a few, but most Kenshin stories focus on main characters, and the others are, well forgotten.
I hope I can delve deep enough into each of my characters to leave you thinking about them. Oh, and there are some very, very interesting things coming up.
I swear it. It will not be very happy things either, but you will hopefully start to see a very apparent darkness out of each of the characters. That is my main goal, I hope I don't screw up and get an angry mob with torches after me.
Even though fire IS cool.
/\(;-;)/\
^See the Froggy? Follow him to the review button! He really wants to hear what you have to say!
A/N: Hehe, I'm writing by candlelight. Kind of archaic, ne? It's storming like a mofo outside, which would be a bad thing if Kaoru were here. She's not, I'm glad, everyone can be happy.
But, if Sano, Kenshin and Aoshi were here, I would be significantly happier. ^-^
Disclaimer: Ok, this is ridiculous. Is there really someone out there reading every single Kenshin fic, searching for a way to sue people? Tsk, tsk, what a sad, sad existence for them. Oh well, here go the nails. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Kenshin cradled his head in his hands. It'd been hours since he'd finally found Megumi. She'd ventured out to talk to him only once in the interminable wait, and that was only to ask him what had happened.
Like he knew.
He had no idea where Megumi had taken Kaoru, or if she were even alive. The latter disturbed him much more than the former. Surely five hours was long enough to keep him waiting! He needed Kaoru, needed to know if she was ok! He'd bet anything that witch was just holding Kaoru back there, hiding her from him to make him worry.
She would pa-Kenshin forced himself to calm down, realizing that he'd shot to his feet. He couldn't, however, see his golden-eyed gaze glowing angry and acidic. He pried his fingers from the hilt of his sakabatou with sheer willpower. Sulkily, he flopped back into his corner, glaring around the small room as he pulled his sword from his belt and propped it against his shoulder.
'Come on, Kenshin get a grip! You don't want to have to punch yourself in the face in front of these children.' He thought to himself. Closing his eyes he tried to tame the Battousai inside him that was howling for bloodshed. Visions of slaughtered patients, doctors, children and citizens flitted through his mind.
The Battousai was exceptionally graphic today.
Kenshin blinked, trying to force the unsettling images out of his mind. His eyes slowly faded back to their normal soft violet. Growling softly with frustration, the torn man sat again. He found himself staring at the very sharp side of his reverse-blade sword.
His pale violets widened with comprehension. He'd somehow stood, drawn his sword, AND flipped the blade without anyone noticing. At least he hoped no one had noticed. He took a second to scan the room. The two elderly men, the mother and her two children, the young man, and the two middle-aged women stared back at him. Somehow this made him very angry.
As he glared back at each of them in turn, they all quickly broke eye contact and studied their hands. Or feet. Or anything else that was handy or close by. Kenshin found himself wondering how they would scream if he hacked them into litt-Hold it!
This wasn't normal. Kenshin didn't normally have murderous hot flashes. Evidently the whole Kaoru thing had worried him more than he thought. If that was possible. Kenshin sheathed his sword, heaving a slight sigh at the clean click as it entered the sheath.
Even when he'd been a killer, the cold-hearted hitokiri, he'd never had a bloodthirsty yearning for manslaughter like his previous thoughts had just been. Taking a deep breath, Kenshin focused himself. He was calm, he would not-DAMN IT WHERE WAS SHE?!
Kenshin didn't even have to guess this time. He knew he was standing on his feet, he knew he had his sword drawn, and he knew his eyes were amber. He just didn't care anymore. He was going to find Kaoru.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Megumi leaned against the wall that led to the outer room of the clinic. She was very, very reluctant to enter that room again. Especially if HE were in there. Kenshin scared her with that look. Well, technically he should be called the Battousai, but that really didn't matter now.
She must go get him, treat him with the respect due to a great hero of Japan, and take him to Kaoru. Oh, but she didn't want to! She was afraid of him, much as she hated to admit it, even to herself.
Then again, there was good reason to BE afraid of him. He was the Himura Battousai legendary hitokiri, the king of blood spray, murder, assassination, and death in general.
There were too many to name, unless you had all day. 'OR!' Megumi thought, 'You needed to stall for some reason, because a very scary legendary killer is in your clinic waiting room.' So there Megumi stood, contemplating the various things that Battousai ruled.
Outside in the waiting room, she heard a series of startled gasps, followed by complete silence. Not even the children were making noise. What on Earth was going on out there? Megumi slid the door open the slightest inch, and peeked out, watching the people.
Whatever was going on had to do with Kenshin.
Or Battousai.
Or whatever other alter ego he had.
Geez, he had so many it was hard to keep up with them all. Megumi craned her neck, trying to see into the corner where Kenshin had stationed himself on arrival. Megumi was immensely grateful she'd noticed his feral gaze and kept him in there, for she would have been too afraid to ask him to leave once they got to the examination room.
'Hm, how to trap an angry Battousai 101.' Megumi giggled to herself. She'd always wanted to write a book. She just never had time. Medicine came first anyhow. Steeling herself to enter the room, Megumi lightly touched the shoji.
And knew she couldn't open it. Not just yet. He was still Battousai; she knew it somehow. She peered through the slightly cracked shoji. All the people were looking down, as if they'd been frightened or chastised.
She heard the light *shick* of a sword being sheathed. 'Oh god, if he's killed one of my patients I'll kill him.' Megumi thought without really thinking. She considered her last statement.
'Hm. Miracle Doctor Slaughters Legendary Manslayer. Not a bad headline!' she giggled again.
She really needed to stop cracking herself up. Someone might hear her! Megumi built up her confidence. This time she would go into the room. She could do it, after all, it's not like he was going to kill her.
She turned to open the shoji and found herself face to face with none other than Himura Battousai. His wickedly sharp sword was drawn and flipped to the opposite side, making him very much lethal.
"Take me to Kaoru." He growled, "If you refuse, I will kill you where you stand." Megumi's jaw dropped in astonishment. Knock on wood!
It was as if Battousai had COMPLETELY taken over. Like he didn't recognize her! In the moments that it had taken her to go into this thought process, Battousai simply stood, leering at her suspiciously.
"You. I have never been especially fond of killing innocent people. Especially women. Move, now." He snarled again. No, this definitely WASN'T Kenshin. No way, no how. The legendary hitokiri had resurfaced again. Gulping down her fear, Megumi started off down the long hallway.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
A/N: Dude, I can't believe this. I never really meant for Battousai to have a part in this story, but well, heh, it seems no Kenshin story is good without him. He's just so sexy! *sigh*
Anyhow, I hope I got into Megumi's character a little bit better, it seems that not many people develop her character. Don't get me wrong, there are a few, but most Kenshin stories focus on main characters, and the others are, well forgotten.
I hope I can delve deep enough into each of my characters to leave you thinking about them. Oh, and there are some very, very interesting things coming up.
I swear it. It will not be very happy things either, but you will hopefully start to see a very apparent darkness out of each of the characters. That is my main goal, I hope I don't screw up and get an angry mob with torches after me.
Even though fire IS cool.
/\(;-;)/\
^See the Froggy? Follow him to the review button! He really wants to hear what you have to say!