The Inn of Murder

Chapter 6- a meeting

By Misao's Angel

Eyes of amber glared into the sorrow contained in those of a dark brown. A moment was lost in their interpret exchange of glances, but such was only a fleeting moment, destroyed quickly by the uneasiness of the situation. Locks of a blood red frame the face of the impatient man, as they easily escaped the useless violet tie that held his hair in a high ponytail. Both faces appeared apathetic... for both were a master of deception, a genius when it came to masking unwanted emotions. Anyone who met these two would believe they lacked emotion altogether, that their hearts were just objects to pump blood, nothing more. But if one were to look closer, to see beyond outward appearances and look deeper... they would find the root of all suffering growing in their helpless souls. But even if an expression can hide a heart, the true key to the soul hid in the eyes. And when these two first met, eye-to-eye, at once they knew what secrets the other held. And strangely enough, the two found their almost completely opposite situations to boil down to the same pain. Loneliness.

The man began to grow irritated, his eyes burning with the flame of anger. He held a hidden object underneath the old yukata he was wearing, and when he pulled it from it's hiding place, the familiar shape and size let her know just what it was. The man was holding a tanto... he planned to kill her.

He placed the small dagger less than an inch from her jugular, waiting for the expression to change, waiting for the masked fear to rise to the surface of her impassive face. But none so could be found. Her eyes remained dark and lonely, but in a way, pleased. It almost seemed that... that she wanted to die...

Footsteps began sounding on the old wooden stairway connecting to the room. Whether it was fear or uncertainty, the man with amber eyes sped almost impossibly fast, disappearing from the room without daring to impede his pace. Alone in the room stood the woman, allowing her dark chocolate eyes to ponder the situation. 'This man... might he... might he feel the same pain as I?"

But her silence didn't last long, for it appeared that the owner of the inn, a young, beautiful woman with a dark violet shade of hair, had returned to her place behind the front desk.

"Hello Miss. How may I help you?" She asked politely, with a gentle smile on her lime painted lips.

The woman with the dark brown eyes, called "Tomoe", looked quickly at the woman, and after a short amount of time, replied, "May I stay here for a night?"

The owner of the inn bowed politely, and smiled once again. "Sure. You're lucky though, this is our last room." The woman asked a few personally questions, such as the location of her last home, her name and so on; and once she had finished, she took a key from a locked drawer and handed it to Tomoe.

As they were approaching the stairs, the woman by the name of Yumi began to make useless conversation, for the reason Tomoe liked to believe was just to hear her own voice. "Usually this inn is so empty... people have the tendency to believe it's haunted, since this inn is the grave of my late husband, during that fire so many years ago... but for some odd reason so many visitors have been coming recently. Strange isn't it?"

Tomoe had lost interest in the woman's conversation long before she started it. All she wanted was somewhere new to stay in order to remove that pain in her heart. Not to listen to some long, useless story about some woman's troubles.

The woman continued, "Oh yes. My name is Shishio Yumi. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

And when she followed Shishio-san up those cold stairs... She found that this just might not be exactly what she expected.

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Kamiya Kaoru nervously paced around her borrowed room, imagining impossible ways to raise the money needed to travel much further. And more importantly, to buy the medicine she was seeking. After what seemed like forever, she gave up on it for the moment, and prepared herself for the night ahead. But just as she lowered her body onto the mattress, she heard a knock on her door. Reluctantly she rose, and walked towards the sound of the knock, dragging her tired feet.

"Yes?" She asked tiredly.

"Gomen if I had bothered you..." replied a gentle male voice, "But as roommates for a couple of days, I wanted to give you this."

Kaoru slowly unlocked her door, and allowed the man in. He had a slim slight body, only about an inch taller than Kaoru herself, and she was never known for her height. But his face was undoubtedly beautiful, with all the features the perfect size and shape in comparison to everything else. It was like a painting, placed together with a skilled hand, painted in order to create a face to perfect to exist in the world as it was. But what was most mesmerizing about his appearance was his beautiful violet eyes, filled with so much kindness. Kaoru could not help staring at this beautiful stranger, yet not noticing that he was returning it. He found a innocence to her he had never seen before, which in away attracted him to her in a way he could never explain. Before too long, the two realized awkwardness of the situation, and turned away with red faces. Soon after the man remembered the reason he had visited in the first place. He held out his hand, and inside his small palm he held a bag full of sugar cookies.

"Please accept these!" he asked bowing. "My name is Himura Kenshin. I'm a detective here in order to investigated the possibility of a past murderer rising again..." He stopped there, realizing that he was giving away too much, and to a woman he had only just met as well. What was wrong with him? But for some reason, he felt that he could trust her.

The two engaged in a long conversation, saying so much yet truly nothing at all. It was strange really. Despite the fact that both learned nothing of each other through the conversation, both returned to their bed blushing that night, un able to think of anything but each other.

To be continued.

So, sorry I took so long to update, but with school starting and all... well I'm sure you understand. Please review! As you can see, stuff is just about to get much more interesting! (Oh yes, and if you have any ideas, feel free to share them. ) Well, please review everybody! Next chapter you find the mysterious amber eyed stranger (if you don't know who that is I feel sorry for you) and Tomoe growing closer, as Kenshin and Kaoru slowly discovering their own feelings. Mean while Sanosuke and Misao enter the story again, and so on so forth. See you all then!