Espi – Thanks for pointing that out, it's sort of tough to stick to Saitoh Shin, but I'll get used to it =)

BETA

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I woke up the next day and looked around strenuously. All the events that happened yesterday had gone by too fast… I didn't even realize when I slept in this small room. There were Itsuo and (to my surprise) Yuki sleeping next to me, in their own blankets. I stood up wearisomely and looked inside the other room. Natsuo, Kenji, and Gou were sleeping there.

With all individual kinds of thoughts whirling around my head, I couldn't go back to sleep anymore. So, I went into the kitchen, and heard a clatter in the kitchen. I looked and saw Iori cooking breakfast already…

"Morning!" Iori said kindly.

"Hey..," Shin replied with equal kindness.

"Today's gonna be so cool, now you're back with us! And we're moving to Kyoto!" Iori said happily. "But then again, it'll be the fun for you since we're gonna have to kick some Anshi butt, and you'll be training and learning all kinds of neat moves."

"I'm not sure if I'm good enough for this style…" I said uncertainly. "This…whatever you call it… Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu?"

"Ahh come on, Shin!" Iori said. "You're just nervous. But trust me, you used to be a wizard back then… I don't see how you lost your mind. No one could even touch you. You were almost like the Hitokiri Battousai legend back in the revolution…"

"Hitokiri Battousai?" I asked.

"The man that's going to re-teach you the style, Himura Kenshin," Iori explained, "he was given the name 'Hitokiri Battousai' because of his intense skill in the battles… of course, your dad was in the ShinsenGumi as third division captain, so he had a couple of battles with him… Boy, I don't understand how I know this much history. Education is the last thing I'm going to want to do."

"So, you never went to school?" I asked.

"No… all of us dropped out sooner or later. In fact, only Yuki is the one that actually stayed in school. But she got in the middle of blood anyway. That's why she's ripe nineteen… geez, I've been asking her to go out with me. Oh, and weren't you sleeping next to her?"

"Uhh, y-yeah…dunno how that happened," I said hastily. "So, anyway… when are we leaving for it?"

"Mm…up to Kenji," Iori said in a rude-like voice, "he's the leader… But I think it's after we all wake up and have some breakfast."

Iori grabbed for a cigarette and began smoking it. It was peculiar to see someone smoking in the morning. And then, after about a minute after the scent of the cigarette began to spread, Natsuo jumped in the kitchen, over my shoulders.

"Hey!" I said, my heart beating rapidly.

"Sorry, Shin," Natsuo said, and faced Iori, "Hand it over, you!"

Iori gave the pack to him. "I was out of money."

"Whatever. Want one, Shin?"

"No," I said quickly. "I'm only fourteen."

"Ahh, that doesn't matter, you don't have to follow the laws and that health crap.."

I walked out of the kitchen and my eyes full upon the katana I had used yesterday with Kenji. I slowly ambled towards it and grabbed It, picking it up and examining it. I slowly and carefully plucked the hilt and examined the blade. The edge wasn't shining like it was yesterday, but the blood of Kenji was still marked. Before I decided to clean it off, my eyes aimed towards something else. I sat down and looked at it.

On the blade of the sword, on the flat side, there were words written on it with something I didn't know… It said, in a bright red color, "アルファからオメガへの" , and then, right underneath it, "終わりへの始"..

For a moment, I kept staring at those phrases, over and over again. I looked up and saw Gou standing there. He, for the first time, smiled at me with a sign of kindness. He seemed to know what I was doing.

"Is this our motto or something?" I asked him.

"You could say that…. But even if we're bad, we've got our pasts, don't we?" Gou said, and slowly gazed out the window. ".. You know, most people think that we don't have reasons. We just cause destructions for the hell of it… like we're machines designed for destruction. We're not human beings… that's what they think."

I nodded at him understandingly. Personally, I had to agree with him.

Minute by minute, a person would wake up and yawn, and stare at me for a long time—probably hardly being able to believe that tonight's events actually happened. After finally eating breakfast, Kenji declared to head to Kyoto. When I asked him how to get all the way to Kyoto, he said 'by ship'…

And by another hour, we were standing in front of a quite interesting ship. When we stepped on, I noticed there were quite a lot of people heading to Kyoto. Itsuo added, "Looks like there's going to be a lot of people watching us wiping out Anshi."

We walked around the entire ship. I observed everyone else… I had actually made friends by running away from home. But did I do the right thing in running away? I looked at them all. They were all holding some sort of weapon… although people were giving them odd stares; I knew that we were given the right to wield one, by the government. But was the government supporting us? Yesterday, Natsuo had informed that he was attacked by some officers sent by the government to exterminate him… what was the meaning of this?

I looked at them all again. There was Gou, who was still wearing red clothes, with a scythe behind him. Iori was holding a whole load of knives and daggers… there was a knife in each of his boots, hidden there, and he could flip it out of his boots and kick the enemy straight in. He also had two daggers for his hands, and a spare dagger hidden in the back.

As we all sat either on chairs, or the edges of the ship, I looked at Itsuo and Natsuo. Itsuo seemed to be holding a very long and heavy-looking sword that looked about twenty three inches long. Natsuo had two sheaths attached to each of his sides. The sheaths weren't really that long…

"Observing our weapons, are you?"

I looked away from Natsuo's sheaths and looked to Yuki. She was sitting on her chair and seemed to be observing me the whole time I was analyzing the swords.

"Yes," I answered. "I wanted to get to know all of you."

"Well," Yuki said, "You know our names, all right… Me, of course, Yuki… See this?"

Yuki revealed her hands and I observed them for the first time. I didn't notice there was a metallic glove-like object covering her hands. She did something, and the metal glove covered all of her fingers, making it look like a gauntlet for fighting. She did something once again, and a set of five claws flipped out of each of her gauntlets.

"That's gotta hurt, huh?" Yuki said, smiling at my surprised look. "Well, anyway. You and Kenji, of course, use a katana. Did you know you actually gave your katana a name?"

"I did?"

"Yeah, you called it Nagatou," she said. "Kenji calls his Shinou… I still don't see what's up with the names. Anyway, Gou uses a scythe. Iori uses those… well, Iori's a machine of countless daggers. You never know from where he'll flip out a dagger and stab you. Itsuo and Natsuo—hey, did you know that Itsuo and Natsuo are brothers?"

"No... I was wondering why their names were so alike…" I said, looking at the two. "Are they twins?"

"No," Yuki said. "Natsuo's seventeen, and Itsuo's sixteen. Gou's eighteen, I'm nineteen, and Iori's seventeen. Anyway, Itsuo, as you can notice, has that Daitou sword. That's long, all right. Natsuo uses two swords at the same time, he bought them from a rare sword maker called Shuuji. They're twin Wakizashi swords."

I nodded. It was eccentric to absorb in everything about them in one day. I looked at the sheath attached to my waist. I used to call this sword the Nagatou?

Several hours passed in the ship as we approached Kyoto. But when we reached there, I became more and more nervous. I didn't think I was ready to train… I never liked killing—that was why I denied Gatotsu from my father. But now, I took the opportunity without much hesitation.

The ship stopped. I stepped on the soil and rock of Kyoto… I should rephrase what Natsuo had said last night… …Kyoto…the nightmare of blood… I should have known that this very place would be the beginning and the end for me. And indeed, when I advanced onto the surface of Kyoto, I felt a sudden chill as a slight flurry passed by me. The sheath attached to my waist felt heavier… my hands were stiff.

We passed by old-looking, some impaired, and most rather interesting looking buildings that I hadn't seen in Tokyo. It was nice to step into an old-fashioned place for once. The kimonos that girls were wearing looked very beautiful on them. I managed to wear a smile on my face, passing by the crowd that gave us startled and even dangerous looks.

"They probably have a problem with our weapons," Itsuo informed.

We took several twists and turns, and although we had walked for a while, I was quite certain we knew where we were going… and finally we took the most bizarre turn of all—straight into a couple of ignored woods. I didn't even realize the woods were there until I saw where we were going.

And then walking through woods was another task… I didn't hear any sign of individuality until I heard a stream nearby. It was a really delicate sound. Water was the sound of justice. As we walked on, the sound increased. And finally, we reached it.

It was a really a towering waterfall, or perhaps the only one I had ever seen. But I realized we didn't have anything to do with this waterfall. I looked to see where the rest of the gang was going, and caught them heading towards yet another shed-like house. This house, however, was slightly smaller than the previous one.

Kenji knocked on the door loudly. After about a minute, a man answered. To my astonishment, this man was even more old-fashioned than Kyoto. He had long, red hair (which somehow reminded me of blood) tied in midst, dark pink-purple shirt that had a wide, loose sleeve, and a distant, light-colored cloth that was tied around his short to cover his legs.

"Father," Kenji said in a clear voice, and nodded once.

"Deathcallers?" the man said, looking at all of us, rubbing his eyes. "Wow… long time no see."

"Ditto, sir Himura!" Yuki said, grinning.

The man's eyes fixed on me. Kenji pulled me in front and informed, "Well, here's Himura Kenshin, Shin. Father, he's lost his memory."

"What?!" Kenshin cried. "How did this happen, Shin?"

"We don't know, until he gets his memory back," Kenji declared.

"It was somewhere after the battle with that man Akira and his squad of fighters," Gou said. "But recalling that time, Shin took him on pretty easily. I don't know what happened after that, but he disappeared mysteriously. And after one and a half years of searching we find him not remembering anything at all."

Kenshin nodded, and put his hand on his chin. "Well, come on in."

I walked in after everyone else. The place didn't look so bad at all from the inside… it wasn't split into groups. There were shelves of wood on a wall, filled with pots, sheaths, and other items. There was only one chair, so we had to sit down on the floor and see Kenshin sit on his chair in front of us.

"There would have been a less risk of him losing his memory," Kenshin said furiously, "if he completed the training."

"That is what we are here for," Natsuo said, "you must teach him."

Kenshin stood up again, and began to walk around in circles, his hand still on his chin. After a minute, he spoke, "No."

"No?!" Kenji shrieked. "But… why not?!"

"If he was wise, he'd have completed his training back then," Kenshin said with a sigh. "I do not have time to guide him once more… he is unworthy of it."

"That's insane!" Iori said. "He does know the style, just can't control it!"

"He can, huh?" Kenshin repeated, still walking in slow circles. "Explain."

"I tested him last night," Kenji said calmly, "he remembers the style… just doesn't know how to use it."

"Hm…"

Kenshin stopped, and lowered his hand from his chin, gazing deeply at me.

"Perhaps," he said slowly. "…maybe… I could."

There was a shout of triumph. I managed to wear a smile, and looked at Kenji. He wasn't looking at me, but the other way. His voice of triumph couldn't be heard either. After the voice deceased, everyone slowly stood up, and I did as well.

"Practice hard, Shin," Itsuo advised me. "We want you even better than we had you back then!"

I nodded nervously. Kenshin walked over to me and grasped my sword, withdrawing it from the sheath, and examined it.

"Still the sword of murder," Kenshin said, and looked at the writing that was carved onto the sword in a bright red color, "Alpha to Omega… hmm…. You're still a vicious man, Shin. However, I will pretend to be unaware of that. It is up to you to decide if you are going to use Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu for power—or for the lives of the innocent. When the sun rises into a time when I am forced to confront you, I will only do so to resume the moral of this style….."

I nodded, not knowing if I fully understood him. The others walked to the door, wearing a wide grin. "We'll be seeing you perhaps tonight, or tomorrow, Shin," Yuki added. I nodded with a smile. And then, the door closed. The room turned pitch-black until Kenshin drew the curtains and shining light gleamed in the room.

"We shall train outside, Shin," Kenshin declared, walking out the door. I walked outside, and apprehended that he was heading for the waterfall. When I saw the waterfall up-close, I realized there were rocks planted carefully in the stream. There were countless number of rocks here. Kenshin jumped on one. I jumped on another, opposite him.

"Testing," Kenshin formed a stance. I formed one similar to his. He vaulted in the air, and shot towards me. Having no other idea, I grasped the other end of my sword, holding it with both hands, and shot up. His sword slashed into mine, and we both shot away, landing on different rocks.

"Excellent," Kenshin said, "I guess they were right in saying that you do know the style… just can't control it. I will just have to re-teach you the techniques. That move you just performed, grabbing your sword from both ends as a counter for aerial attacks, is called Ryuu Shou Sen… Now, I will teach you Ryuu Tsui Sen."

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Two or three days passed as I memorized the techniques Himura Kenshin taught me. In no time, I had gained control of my power. However, the rest of the gang didn't return until four days later. The door flung open, and in came a wounded Yuki, an Iori whose nose was bleeding badly, an Itsuo whose sword was broken, and a perfectly fine Kenji, Gou, and Natsuo.

"Phew," Iori said, "It's been longer than we expected."

"Welcome back," I said, beaming, as I polished my Nagatou.

"Thanks, Shin," Itsuo said, looking at his broken Daitou. "Tsk, Tsk… I'll need my spare one, Kenshin."

Kenshin nodded and opened a closet, shoveling through things and drawing a long sheath. He handed the sheath over to Itsuo, whom drew a long, magnificent Daitou, similar to his one before, and smirked. "Always gotta have a spare."

"Anyway," Iori said in a serious tone, "We've gotten rid of most Anshi here in Kyoto. But we've discovered information of more bases in Yokohama, Osaka, and Hiroshima."

"Yeah," Kenji said, sitting down. Concerned, he looked at me and asked, "How's that training going?"

"Oh, he's great," Kenshin broke in, "Far better than you, Kenji. I think he's good enough to get going with you all."

Kenji gritted his teeth. For some reason, I thought he looked slightly angry. "That's great!"

"And," Kenshin added, "He's much more polite when he's lost his memory. I like him better this way. So whenever he regains it just smack a brick on his head."

Everyone laughed. I joined in. We spent the rest of the time healing, talking, and laughing— although Kenji didn't talk that much at all. In a matter of minutes, the sun sank and the dark, gleaming night unmasked. Since there was not much room inside, me and Kenji decided to sleep outside instead. I wanted to sleep next to the waterfall, where it felt sweet. Kenji began opening his sleeping bag. I detached my sheath and sword and settled it next to me.

"Good night," Kenji said.

"Good night."

I could barely feel sleepy, but knew I needed it for tomorrow. I gazed up at the stars and the moon. In the moon I saw my brother, Eiji. In the stars I connected them mentally to create the face of my father… although I had brushed up my fighting abilities, I didn't know if I wanted to do it. I looked at my Nagatou, lying there alone and safe. As I had noticed, Kenshin had used a reverse-bladed sword, called the Sakaba… it didn't hurt me that badly whenever it hit. Since his sakabatou couldn't hurt at all, it couldn't kill. When I questioned him about it, he said he didn't like killing… just like me. But then why did Kenshin even use a sword?

My eyes began to shut, but just then, I heard a noise… something was coming closer and closer. It seemed like the sound of rushing footsteps. I jumped up, out of my sleeping bag, and saw, to my horror, a samurai, armed with a very long katana, almost like Itsuo's Daitou. His screaming woke Kenji up as well.

"What the—?" Kenji shrieked, grabbing his sword. The man seemed to be attacking Kenji, not me. Kenji quickly countered and the experienced samurai doubled back. The samurai was pretty strong.

"Order: annihilate Himura Kenji," the samurai informed.

"What are you talking about?" Kenji cried furiously. "Don't get too close, now. I don't want to hurt you."

But the samurai showed no sign of fear. He swiftly thrust his sword at Kenji, and he dodged. The same thing repeated over and over in a cycle. Finally, I decided to end this hideous battle, and grabbed my Nagatou, attaching the sheath to my waist and rushing between the middle of them.

"Cut it out!" I shouted, and faced the samurai. "Now, what do you w—"

But the samurai attacked me as well. I steadily blocked, and withdrew a distance away. He continued attacking Kenji. What did he want to do with Kenji?.. I quickly became anxious. The samurai was working up a tactic of having Kenji avoid his slashes until he reaches close to the stream, and falls in for good.

"Kenji, you're just a foot away from the stream, get OUT of there!!" I shouted.. but it was going to be too late. The samurai was ready to perform the final blow, and knock Kenji straight in. I sprinted behind him, and for the first time in my memory, committed a murder….

My Nagatou gashed in the samurai's back. He screamed, and blood showered out of the wound as well as out from his mouth. I withdrew the Nagatou and stepped back a few steps, my eyes wide open, watching the samurai suffer and collapse on the ground.

"What's going on here?!"

I looked and saw the rest of the gang coming towards us, as well as Kenshin.

"What the.. who's HE?" Gou asked. "How?"

"I…" I didn't know what to say. My entire body was paralyzed, and I let go of Nagatou… the sword was dripping with blood.

"That samurai came to attack us, and… Shin killed him," Kenji answered.

"Well? What are you waiting for, check his pockets!" Yuki shrieked. I sat down on the ground, observing Kenji checking the samurai's possessions. First, Kenji pulled out a mass number of countless weapons, and then a card.

"What does it say on it?" Itsuo asked.

"Um…," Kenji said calmly, "He's from the government."

"You mean, one of those samurais that are hired by the government to legally carry sharp weapons?" Iori asked, concerned.

"Yes," Kenji said.

"See? I knew they're just foul bastards!" Natsuo shouted. "They sent people to attack me as well!"

"Now, this must be a misunderstanding," Kenshin said calmly.

"Misunderstanding? What are you talking about?!" Yuki shouted.

Kenji flicked away the card… and once again, a slight smirk formed on his face. Why was he smirking at this crisis? Kenji didn't even mention the fact that the samurai was sent to kill him, not us. My eyes were wide open, tears now sparkling in them. Itsuo came and patted me on the back.

"It's okay, Shin. You had no choice."

"Dump the body in the stream," Kenshin said. "He's a legal officer. That has really painful consequences."

Kenji nodded and kicked the body into the stream. I began to cry loudly. The rest of the gang made a circle around me like I was some sort of street performer.

"Listen, Shin, it is not your fault," Yuki said comfortably.

"Yes IT IS… There could have been other ways!"

"No," Gou corrected, "You are wrong. When it's a matter between life and death of you or your close ones, you have no other choice."

"Gou's right," Natsuo said in a cool voice, "You must get used to this kind of stuff, Shin. In fact, you didn't care who lived or died back then. The thing is, we are killers… that's why we use weapons."

"Exactly," Iori said, with a thumbs-up. But more tears streamed down my eyes. I was taking in deep breaths, hardly able to believe I had just committed a murder. Iori continued, "We're gonna have to see a lot of blood later on, dude. You should get used to it. There's a long line of murders ahead of us. One murder is like a victory— even if it is your own."

"And that's the spirit of the Deathcallers," Itsuo added, "that's how it's going to be for all Hitokiri— always… A manslayer is a manslayer until the day he dies, right Kenshin?"

"Right," Kenshin said, smiling at me, "Even if that manslayer has lost his memory. And that's how it'll be forever. From Alpha to Omega."

"… beginning to the end," Yuri added, grinning.

I put on a grin as well and wiped the tears off my eyes, still taking deep, trembling breaths.