No Escape
Chapter Two – Where From Here?
Soujirou felt his head clear for the first time in many moons. The red-headed Battosai had been filling his thoughts ever since they parted in the Temple of Seven Arches. At first, Soujirou couldn't understand why Himura had left him alive. Was it to humiliate him? To teach him some kind of lesson? No, those were too harsh to be Himura. He had left him alive so Soujirou could learn the truth of life for himself. That, and his vow not to kill. How could a killer so effective as Himura the Battosai take a vow like that? It simply didn't make any sense.
As the days passed, Soujirou found himself alone on the road more often than not. With so many hours of silence, his thoughts went rampaging, trying to how his entire life philosophy could've been proven wrong in just a few short minutes. Every animal in nature seemed to live by Mr. Shishio's beliefs, the strong survive and the weak perish. The bigger fish ate the smaller one and the eagle ate them both. He had spent his entire life becoming the strongest predator he could be.
Then, as fierce and quick as a bolt of lightening, Kenshin Himura had quietly stepped into his life and beaten him to the ground, literally. Fully expecting to die, Soujirou had looked into those violet eyes, thinking he would see the culmination of the philosophy he had adopted. What he found instead set his entire world spinning. Never, in his entire life, had anyone's eyes reflected kindness toward the young man. He didn't know what to do. Soujirou's years of swordsmanship training had allowed him to keep some semblance of composure in front of his enemy, but it had only lasted as long as the daylight.
That night, walking slowly from the temple at the hilltop, Soujirou's emotions fully broke through his long held seal. He fell to his knees and screamed until his voice left him, then cried until dawn. Anger, confusion, sorrow, regret, hate, and helplessness battled inside him until he had no emotions left. There was only one feeling left that he had not experienced, ever. It was love. Every time he thought of Himura, Soujirou began to feel that foreign emotion filling him. It frightened him, and made him want to get rid of it.
After two moons of ignoring his feelings, he came to the realizations that he could not make them go away by forgetting about them. He then spent many nights of fitful sleep trying to debase his emotions. Why on earth would he love the man that shattered his world? How can he be loving another man anyway? What did it mean that when he thought of Himura, he could only see his warm, violet eyes, and long for the feel of those callused but merciful hands?
On the last night before his return, he finally stilled in sleep. The dreams were no longer violent and hateful, but different. Soujirou dreamt that he was walking through the Temple of Seven Arches and came upon the Battosai, battered and broken on the floor. He knelt to attend him and was surprised to find them suddenly both naked. When he rolled Himura over, his eyes were drawn to how the bandages around his neck made a collar and felt the need to dominate the smaller man. Sleeping on the futon in the inn's room, Soujirou's breathing had become erotic.
In his dream, Himura yielded to his every wish, allowing the young man to hold him down and trace his wounds. When Himura gasped in pain, Soujirou could barely contain a wave of pleasure. So this was to be that way it was? More pleasure filled him as he held the Battosai under him and spread his blood onto his fingers. Soujirou shoved his fingers into Himura's mouth and felt the warm, wet tongue moving, cleaning his own blood from the young man's hand. That was more than he could handle and Soujirou awoke to a mind numbing orgasm.
That was it, the time had come to deal with this ridiculous, pervading emotion. Perhaps he was merely lusting after the only person who had shown understanding and kindness. A warrior could not have these feelings mushing up his insides, the distraction was a quick way to defeat and death. The next morning, after washing the sheets himself, he left in search of the place he knew Himura would be. The Kamiya Dojo. It was unfortunate that he should encounter those who considered him an enemy, they were dealt with quickly and mercilessly. Soujirou was on a mission and had no time for frivolous battles.
When he arrived, he took his customary surveillance spot in a large tree near the training room, waiting impatiently against his own will to catch his first glimpse of Himura. As the day wore on, though, he grew more impatient than usual, and when he saw the former leader of the third squad of the Shinsengumi come into the yard with the Kamiya girl, all his patience left him. He dropped out of the tree and approached them, fully intending to be peaceful.
As Kenshin examined Soujirou's body, he noticed that there was a dagger hidden in the young man's sleeve. He withdrew it and was surprised to find his name carved hastily in the hilt. As he brought it close to his face, he caught the scent of blowfish poison. It appeared that Soujirou had come to kill him. Had Saito come here out of a sense of duty? Maybe to protect the others? Wait a minute…where were the others? He knew Yahiko was gone and Sanoske was probably out losing money again. But…what about this place's master?
In a sudden panic, Kenshin ran through the dark toward the altar in the dojo, Kaoru always kept burning incense there. He swiped the sticks with a silent apology to the gods and dashed to the candle on the middle of the wall. Just before he got to it, his foot caught on something soft and he fell hard. In the back of his mind he knew what the light would reveal, but could not bring himself to believe it. With trembling hands, he held the smoldering incense to the wick until it lit. Unwillingly, his eyes sought the object on the floor. His terrified scream of pure anguish echoed throughout the Kashin yard.