Disclaimer: Uh-uh, nope. Not mine. But dudez does this anime rock or WHAT…?!
Sano: 'Course it rocks, I'm in it!
Kenshin: *AHEM* Um, there's a reason why it's called 'Rurouni Kenshin', that there is…
Chapter 10: Soul
Do you know how it is? How it is to have two entities, battling inside you; fighting for dominance, two spirits, both with their own reasons, both tugging at your soul to be let out? It was as if there was a ladder, leading to the core of Kenshin's soul, and Battousai and the Rurouni were both trying to climb that ladder, both wanting control over the sword.
It had been too long since he had done this. He was not doubting his skills, no; there had been times, when he was alone in a lonely meadow or countryside, when he had practiced his moves, his swings—just a few, like the days his Shishou had watched him practice with the eye of an eagle.
The guards had not yet sensed his presence, but oh how he could feel every single one of them! Thunder beat lightning to it, and resounded loudly as if to shake the earth. Battousai's eyes shone in the dark.
No!
He could not. 'Think about Yahiko…he is too young, he will be scared!' pleaded his other side. And so how could he…
Lightning.
Thunder.
And lightning again.
Kenshin walked, undetected, to one of the guards, and did something he surely would not have done had he still been an assassin. He laid a hand on his shoulder.
The huge, muscled man turned around quickly, drawing his katana as he did so. Kenshin blocked with his sakaba-tou, and gritted his teeth.
When was the last time he had done this?
"I need to see your master."
The muscled man ignored him. His moves were far too easy to block and parry, and this eased Kenshin a bit; he didn't have to go hard on him then. His enemy cut down and in, and almost caught Kenshin's abdomen. Kenshin flicked his wrist to the right, and slashed his sakaba-tou to the left, knocking the man's katana away. "Lead me to your master, please; this is very serious matter."
Kenshin's red locks, dark now as the slowly hardening drizzle fell on them, covered his eyes. A single second passed, and then he swiftly turned around and parried another guard aiming for his throat. He gave the man a counter-cut which hit him on the shoulder, and the man faltered a bit before he once more attacked, swishing his blade into two, quick reverse crescents.
Kenshin blocked each, and locked swords body-to-body with the man. Already he could sense more men coming. He heard a gun being calibrated just in time and jumped out of the way as he heard gunshots aimed for where he had been standing only moments ago.
He looked up and almost groaned. A huge mass of men started towards him. He would be lucky if Battousai didn't have him in a second.
The Assassin side of him was only inches away from the throne of his soul.
Lightning.
Thunder.
***@***
A noise woke Kaoru up. What the…It was raining outside, so very strongly, but amidst that she could hear something else…gunshots…?
But right now, that was not the thing that worried her.
There was someone in her room.
A tall, ultimately beautiful someone was staring at her with cinnamon brown eyes. She blinked in uncertainty, determined to prove to herself she was still half-asleep and that there was no one else in her room. She sat up slowly in bed, afraid of what might happen if she once again laid her eyes on the spot where she had seen the woman.
Instead, however, particularly as a strong gust of wind blew outside, she found nothing there, except the bleak, white wall, turning a mysterious blue then deadly white again because of the lightning which flashed every now and then.
Clutching the front of her yukata in sudden apprehension, Kaoru bit her lips in an effort not to scream as she heard a brutal cry from outside and the sound of metal against metal, then a sudden ring of deafening gunshots.
Running to her window and yet frightened of what she might see, Kaoru gasped at the sight below her: in the rain more than fifty men were fighting; the cold steel light from the edge of their blades could be seen despite the darkness of the storm, and Kaoru tried not to think about the fact that the dark puddle they treaded on the ground was not only rain water, but also blood from the staggering.
Yes, the staggering.
Staggering back from a lone figure, that is. That such an army would stagger away from a single man with but a sword! Her eyes scanned the scene once more; not knowing why, but counting the number of men armed with guns.
There were only three now; the rest looked as if they were ready to run away, but kept trembling grips on their wakizashi and katanas.
Who was that man?
And why was Kaoru finding herself on his side?
Slowly, she backed away from the window.
She didn't know why she hadn't done it sooner.
She was backing slowly now, edging for the door she knew would be behind her.
Enishi would be too distracted; his focus would be on the intruder.
And once she was face to face with the door, she would run straight into freedom.
She backed away. She turned around and prepared to flee.
And ran into the smirking Enishi.
***@***
A/N:
Okay…I really have to think about what I want to happen next, so I don't know when my next update will be. ;)
THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED!
Besides, I also have to focus on school…I passed my math test, but I have to keep it up; so you lot will excuse me if I have to exchange the luxuries of writing with Cramer's Rule, and the Nest Method ;)
See you, and don't forget to review on your way out!