Author's Notes: Hello everybody!! - dodges rotten tomatoes – Eheheheh. . . Yeah. I know. It's been forever. Actually it's been about three months. I am REALLY SORRY that I didn't update. I got bored with this story and I needed to work on some others. But now I'm bored with them and I've come back to this one. Yes I know, not a very smart way to do it, but it gets the job done. . . Please review, minna-sama! Thank you so much! I'm almost at 400 reviews!! YATTA!!
One more thing, I have a different style of writing. . . well, it's changed a bit anyway. I hope it's not too obvious. . . I'm sorry for changing my style of writing halfway into the story (haha, you thought it was almost done?!? NEVER!!!) but you're just going to have to deal with it. Ha ha. (Don't hurt me!!!)
Disclaimer: Who gives a poop!? I own NOOOTHING!!!. . . Geesh. . .
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Chapter Thirty-Four
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"NOOOOO!!!"
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"I'm floating. . . it's so dark. W-Where am I, really? Am I dead? . . . It seems so. . ." He looked around himself but he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face.
"Wake up, you baka!" came a voice.
Soujiro frowned, "Master? Is that you?. . . Why is it so dark?" Trying to make his baby blue eyes focus, he reached out with a hand to find the voice of his master; but nobody was there. "Shinomori. . . he killed me, didn't he?" Sighing, Soujiro rested his head on the palm of his hand. "Misao belongs to him. . . There's nothing I can do. . ."
"No, no, no! How many times must I tell you?" the voice was muttering something about stupid students who just didn't get anything and merely smiled to make people think that they knew what they were doing. "If you don't wake up, he -will- kill you for sure! But you can't let that happen! Don't you remember anything I've taught you?"
Soujiro shook his head, "But Master! Misao is better off with Shinomori. . . H-He is stronger. . ." A tear dropped from his eye. 'Misao. . . if only. . . if only you knew how much I love you. Words cannot express my feelings. . . I've told you that I love you, and you believed me; but you didn't know the truth of just how much. . .'
Shishio Makoto rolled his eyes, "Wake up! Wake up now; or everything you have fought for will vanish!"
Lifting his head, Soujiro blinked his long eyelashes several times. ". . .Y-You speak the truth?" he asked. The reply he got was a sudden ache across his shoulder and down his chest. Yelling out in pain, Soujiro clutched himself and gasped as he brought his hand to his face to see the deep red that had been spilled all over him.
"Of course I speak the truth, now WAKE UP!!!"
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Misao didn't care about hiding from them anymore. She ran out to Soujiro, screaming in tears; falling down upon his limp body. Sobbing loudly, she glared up at Aoshi, who stood watching, amazed. "You beast!" Misao screamed, "If you truly love me, then you would let me be with whoever I want to be with, as long as I'm happy! That's called true love!"
Aoshi's eyes widened, then narrowed with guilt as he stared at the blood dripping from his sword. ". . .Misao. . . I-I'm sorry. . ."
Misao wasn't finished with her anger, "If you're so sorry, then get your butt over here and help me get Soujiro back to the house before he dies!!" She suddenly spat on the ground, "Oh never mind, what's the use!? I don't need your help; and I don't think Soujiro would want it!" Turning back to Soujiro, she rested her head upon his chest, listening for a heartbeat.
. . .There was none.
Misao frowned deeply, more sobs escaping her as she closed her eyes. Her ventured up to Soujiro's face and she gently stroked his hair. The rain began to pound down to the ground as if sticks hitting drums; pounding faster and faster. Aoshi watched her sob over Soujiro's body until he couldn't stand it anymore. He walked over to her, crouched down, and placed his hand on her shoulder.
She slapped him away. "Don't touch me!" she growled.
Aoshi quickly turned his head to the left, looking away from Misao and Soujiro. 'All I wanted was for Misao to be with me. . . Why did it have to come to this?' he wondered. 'Hannya. . .and all the others. . . they left me. And now Misao. . .' Looking up into the falling rain, Aoshi closed his eyes as thunder growled from the sky.
Silence filled the air until- "Misao-chan, you really should go back to the house. You wouldn't want to be struck by lightening, would you?" The voice was soft and painful, but Misao heard him loud and clear. Gasping and pulling her head off of Soujiro's chest, she cried and smiled at the same time as Soujiro's baby blue eyes smiled back at her.
Soujiro smiled a real smile; instead of his usual fake smile. Breathing heavily, Soujiro silently thanked Kami-sama, as well as his master. He watched Misao cry and smile and couldn't help but think of how beautiful she even; even though the side of her face that was resting on his chest was covered with his blood. "Come now, Misao-chan. You shouldn't cry."
Aoshi gasped as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. '. . .But he was dead!' his mind shouted. 'He will be shortly, if he isn't helped immediately.' Deciding to take action; Aoshi stood up and walked to where Soujiro still lay. Without a word, he pulled Soujiro up to lean on his shoulder; and, wrapping Soujiro's arm around his shoulder, Aoshi began to walk towards the house, ignoring the pains in his legs.
Misao watched him, amazed; yet followed as well. Aoshi glanced at Soujiro to see how he was doing, only to find the Tenken's eyes closed, his head bobbing as they walked along. Gulping, Aoshi quickened his pace.
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- Battousai, where are you going? - Tomoe asked, her sweet voice filled with irritation as Battousai stood up, his eyes roaming to the closet door of Kenshin's mind; where all his horrible memories had been stored. He turned to glare at her; a smirk remaining on his tightened lips.
(You know what I realized?) he asked her, mockingly. (There are better things in life than just staying with one person all the time. I have friends who are waiting for me; and Kaoru helped me find this out for real.)
Tomoe shook her head, her eyes burning red with anger. - Don't say that, my love! Come back here! I won't let you go back to her! - Standing up, the ghostly form of Tomoe raised her hands, preparing to pounce onto the snickering Battousai who stood with his back turned to her. 'Tomoe' never realized her mistake until the last moment.
Battousai grunted, (You're not the real Tomoe. The real Tomoe that I know would allow me live my life with Kaoru.) He turned to growl at her, (She's the only woman that I truly love!!!) Unsheathing the katana that hung at his waist, Battousai slashed the evil Tomoe in fury. He watched as she screamed in agony; revealing what she really was.
Battousai gasped. Tomoe looked up to glare at him, but it wasn't really Tomoe. An exact look alike of Battousai stood there, bleeding furiously. All of Kenshin's horrible memories had combined together to create the evil Battousai. - HOW DARE YOU?!? - he screeched. - NOOOOO!!! - The evil Battousai began to melt and sank into the floor; staining the darkness of the closet of Kenshin's mind with blood red.
Watching; Battousai spat on the ground and sheathed his sword. (Ha. . . and they all thought that -I- was the evil one. . .)
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Aoshi, Soujiro and Misao continued to walk through the forest towards the Aoiya. Voices came from their left. "Hey! I think I found busu! Look here! Here's her foot prints!!!"
Another voice said, "That's just the hoof prints of a cow, you idiot!" Fighting emerged and then a thud. Yahiko went flying in front of them. He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ohhh. . ." he groaned, "Aha! There you guys are! We're looking for busu, have you seen her?" His eyes flashed to Soujiro and a look of disgust flew over his face at the amount of blood that fell. ". . . What happened to him?"
Aoshi stomped his foot, "There's no time! Where's Okina-san and Megumi-san? We need a doctor!" he watched Yahiko nod quickly and run over to where the others were. Soon enough, they all painfully had to allow Kenshin to find Kaoru and went back to the Aoiya to help Soujiro.
Megumi sighed, "Why is it that guys always get into fights and then I have to heal them and then they barely say a little thank you!?" She snorted when Sanosuke responded, "We can't help it." Megumi sighed, ". . .Men. . ."
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(On the road again. . . la la la la la. . . Ohhh yeah! I'm on the road again. . . Hmm hm hmmm hm hmm!) Battousai grinned, unable to put a lid on his utmost joy. He turned his smile to Rurouni, who watched him sing with a frown. (Is there something wrong?) he asked, obliviously.
Rurouni tapped his foot, [Something wrong? SOMETHING WRONG???] He laughed sarcastically, [Oh noooo. . . of course not! Nothing wrong, -dear- brother. It's just that you DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME WHEN I WARNED YOU ABOUT THAT FAKE TOMOE!!!] He suddenly stopped breathing when Battousai began to squeeze him with a bear hug.
(Awwwww. . . It's so sweet of you to call me your brother!) Battousai sighed dramatically. (Now if only we had a sister. . .)
Steam came out of Rurouni's ears. [BATTOUSAI!!!!] Shoving his evil twin brother to the side, Rurouni growled furiously, [Why is it that we've seemed to change personalities?!? Why is it that you never seem to listen to me when I've got something good to say?!?] Rurouni crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue at Battousai.
Battousai came out of his dreaminess. (Gee, I dunno. Maybe because 99% of the time you don't say something good, so when that 1% comes along, I usually don't recognize it!!) This led into a bloody fight between the two brothers; but gentle reader, we'd prefer you to imagine two cute little babies playing a game of capture the flag.
-Kenshin smiled as he tuned out their fight and continued to walk hand in hand with Kaoru towards the Aoiya. "They're probably worried sick; we should get back quickly," Kenshin informed Kaoru, watching her smile and nod. 'Is this it?' he wondered. 'Is this the end?' He suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "There's something wrong at the Aoiya!" he whispered.
Kaoru frowned, turning to Kenshin. "Let's run then," she looked down at Kenshin's stomach where she had stabbed him accidentally. "Are you okay to run?" They both began to run when Kenshin nodded, only to stop abruptly by a slithering, ice-cold voice. Kaoru moved closer to Kenshin and Kenshin's hand flew directly to his katana.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Stepping from the shadows, the man snickered madly. "A happy couple; I think I'll ruin it." Unsheathing a sword, the man licked it expressively. Behind him, Utena smirked wickedly.
Kenshin's eyes narrowed. "Should I know you?"
The man laughed, "No, of course not, Battousai. So I guess I'll have to introduce myself. My name is Rafu Shunichi." He laughed again when Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "I have a story to tell you. Your master, Hiko Seijiro once had a very dear friend. Unfortunately, they both fell for the same girl named Rei Amachi. Hiko ran away with Rei to make sure that he would marry her instead of his poor best friend. Before they were married, Rei died of cholera, and Hiko was left alone with guilt."
Utena raised her chin at Kaoru, spying on her with those obnoxious baby blue eyes.
Rafu growled, "I was that best friend! My life was ruined when Hiko took Rei away from me; and then she died, making it all a waste of time! But she could have been mine!" Pointing his sword at Kenshin, he grinned, "And that's why all of this has happened. A woman fell in love with me, and we got married. We had a daughter," he turned his attention to Utena. "My little Utena here. . . We gave her a different last name so that nobody would know. That's when my wife died during childbirth to what would have been my son. I wanted to get back at Hiko and take somebody away from him that meant something to him. . ." he smiled, "This is where you come in."
Utena grinned, "I knew a girl named Tomoe Yukishiro since kindergarten, and I hated her. I tried to ruin her life all the time, but nothing worked. That's when she met you; Kenshin Himura; the Battousai, and we figured out that you were the apprentice of Hiko Seijiro. It was perfect."
Kaoru shook her head in amazement. "If you really loved Rei," she told Rafu. "Then you would let her be with whomever she wanted to be with as long as she was happy." Something told Kaoru that that statement had already been said on this tragic day.
Rafu snorted, "And what would you know about love?"
"Everything!!" Kenshin growled. He took a step forward, "I feel that I don't have anything to do with this, it's Hiko who you want. Get out of our way." He growled deeper when Rafu shook his head. "Get out. . ." his voice was deadly, ". . . of our way." He could see Kaoru glance up at him, afraid; out of the corner of his eye.
Rafu's eyes narrowed. "Fight me, Battousai."-"Never," was the answer that Kenshin gave him. Rafu took a step forward, "Fight me, or I peal the flesh off of your little chickadee." He saw Kenshin's eye twitch, and grinned as he saw Kaoru take a few steps backward. Kenshin unsheathed his sword. "I'll kill you, Battousai!!" Rafu shouted.
The two were in battle in seconds. Utena and Kaoru could only watch, amazed. Rafu; just like Hiko, was the master of an old technique passed down by generations. Unfortunately for Rafu, he was more then twenty fives years older then Kenshin; and was just a bit on the old side. His speed had fallen and his strength as well.
Kenshin had never felt angrier. Memories of Hiko flashed in front of him; his body doing the fighting alone. (And a slash here. . . and a cut there. . . and a kick here. . .) Battousai's ranting faded in Kenshin's mind.
Must I say it again?
'Rei Amachi died of cholera,' Kenshin thought. 'Just like my parents. . .I told Master; so many years ago, when I first met him, that they had died of cholera. His eyes showed so much sadness, but I didn't know why. He took me in; when he could have just left me out there to die of hunger. Rei had died of cholera. . . the word brought out a softness in Master's heart. . .'
Promise me that you'll tell everybody that I died. Please!
Kenshin quickly dodged an attack, trying to stay focused. Out of the corner of his eye he spied on Kaoru to make sure she was alright; which she was. Turning his attention back to Rafu, he tried to figure out how to defeat him. 'He needs to talk to Master in order to straighten things out. How can I defeat him without making him even angrier and without killing him?'
Yes. . . a hero to the end. . .
"You know, I was thinking!" Kenshin said when the two jumped away from each other to breath. "It's not me you're after, it's Hiko. And you're not even after Hiko. There's nothing anybody can do to bring back someone you love. I know this well. . ." Kenshin sighed as he stared at the ground until he looked fiercely back up at Rafu. "You should repent for both Rei and your late wife!"
I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders!
Rafu snorted. "You're lying. You're just trying to think of excuses because you're afraid of death!" Running forward with a loud yell, he brought his sword down upon Kenshin, only to find that Kenshin had moved away. "Stop running from your fate!" Rafu shouted.
Dieing is the only way I can repent for the sins I have made.
Kenshin shook his head, "You're wrong. You should take some of your own medicine. It is you who is afraid of death; and it is you who should stop running from fate!" He looked down upon his katana, sighing. "Your fate is to move on; to live on, and watch your only daughter grow." He glared at Utena. "You were supposed to raise her correctly; but you were too busy dreaming of better days!"
I don't want to remember anything!
Utena stopped snickering. Turning to her father, she frowned. 'He was never there. . . I was brought up by my Aunt.' She rethought that, 'My alcoholic Aunt. . .' Anger surged up inside of her. 'This is all so pointless. Tomoe is dead; and I feel somehow. . . regretful. And now Father is trying to kill the Battousai and his woman. . . Kaoru. . .' She looked over at the raven haired girl who stood behind Kenshin. 'And what about Enishi?'
I cannot live anymore! DON'T MAKE ME!!!
Rafu suddenly paused fighting. His eyes were wide. 'He's right. . .' he thought. 'No. . . no he's not. . . of course not!' Rafu's mind struggled to come up with the truth, and it was only that Kenshin was right. 'Rei. . . and my beautiful wife; Toki. . . they're both dead and there's nothing I can do to bring them back.' His green eyes turned to Utena. 'But I still have my daughter. . .'
I will. . . I will live. You are right. . . as usual.
Kenshin sheathed his sword; knowing that Rafu would not attack, or at least hoping. He smiled, "Maybe you should talk to Master and work everything out. Nobody needs to die today. . ." His mind strayed to the bad feeling he got surging from the Aoiya, "But if I don't get over to the Aoiya; somebody might. Come quick!" Taking Kaoru's hand, they continued to run through the forest, allowing Utena and Rafu to decide for themselves if they should follow or not.
Rafu turned to Utena and nodded. ". . .I-I'm sorry. . . I've been such a fool." He watched Utena huff. Rafu sighed and began to run after Kenshin and Kaoru. Utena opened one eye, watching him go.
'Daddy. . .' she thought. Seeing the chance to finally be happy with her father, Utena ran after them as well. The four ran along until they suddenly stopped because somebody ran right in front of them.
Dark hair and a weird tattoo on his back, the man laughed insanely as he ran past Kenshin, Kaoru, Rafu and Utena. "YES!!! YES!!!" he shouted. "FINALLY! I'VE GOT ALL THE SHARDS!! NOW I AM THE MOST POWERFUL!!!" His insane laughter echoed through the forest and Rafu scratched the back of his head muttering, "Is that what I sounded like?"
Kenshin cocked his head. "Oro?" They were about to continue running when five other people ran by them. Two girls, two tall men, a small midget and something that looked a lot like a fox.
One of the men with white hair and red clothing yelled, "He's getting away with MY SHARDS!!! GET BACK HERE, YOU MORON!!!" They all ran by except for the other man with dark hair and a small ponytail dressed up as a monk. He wrote something on a piece of paper, handed it to Kaoru, winked with a growl and ran out of sight. Kaoru looked down at the paper to see a phone number.
Battousai snorted, (Wonder what was up with them. . .)
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Misao fiddled with her hands. Megumi finally came out of the door, slowly shutting it behind her. Looking up, Misao smiled softly, "Will he be alright?" She watched as Megumi smiled; so tired from the surgery. Misao sighed with relief and continued to fiddle with her hands. She could see Aoshi glancing at her curiously, but decided to pay no attention to him.
Suddenly, Kenshin, Kaoru, Rafu and Utena all burst into the door. Sanosuke growled, "What's she doing here?" His finger was pointed at Utena. "And who the heck is he?" his pointer finger turned to Rafu. He saw Kenshin smile softly with Kaoru at his side; holding his hand. Sanosuke grinned, "Jou-chan! There you are! We were looking for you everywhere! Thank goodness you're safe. . ."
Megumi was immediately on Kenshin. "Oh Ken-san, you shouldn't have been running! You're still healing! You know I was really worried and. . ." Kenshin didn't listen to the rest she had to say, he was too busy looking for Hiko. When he asked Megumi where he was, she sighed and pointed to another room.
Kenshin led Rafu and Utena to the room and pushed them both in. "Behave!" he said, mockingly to Hiko who sat chatting with Okina. Turning back to face everybody else, Kenshin frowned when he didn't see Soujiro. ". . .Where is Soujiro-san?" he asked.
Aoshi stared at the ground, "He and I fought, and . . . he's hurt quite badly." He felt even more guilt when Misao sniffed and Kenshin turned his stern gaze on him. Aoshi always tried to act superior to Kenshin. He meditated, remained cool at all times and scolded harshly. He only had a problem when it was he who was scolded. The only ones who could ever scold him were Okina. . . and Kenshin.
"I see. . ." came Kenshin's suspicious answer. Walking over to where Kaoru sat, he put his hand on top of hers; smiling. Kenshin sighed, "Then I suppose all we can do for Soujiro-san. . . is to wait."
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To Be Continued. . .
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Author's Notes: Ahahahaah. . . I know I know, kinda short and lame. I'm sorry. But I'll update, I swear I will. In case you were wondering; the part with the guy giving Kaoru his phone number and everybody running after some guy for the 'shards', was indeed from Inuyasha. The man who screamed, "YES YES!! FINALLY, I'VE GOT ALL THE SHARDS!!!" was indeed Naraku and the man who shouted, "He's getting away with MY SHARDS!! GET BACK HERE YOU MORON!!" was indeed Inuyasha and the guy who gave Kaoru his phone number was Miroku. - lol –
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll update soon; please review!! Thank you minna-sama!!!