Ciao!!!

Geez! This is written under the influence of the shocking revelation that I had to do homework at home for the very first time in my life. I used to do the stuff in five-minute breaks, but now... I guess it's all that prepare-for-the-final-exam-talk that makes teachers going crazy. Moreover, I am now four years younger than the rest of my class. Sure is different! Classmates tease you mercilessly and teachers are twice as hard on you. Yikes! I have to prepare a lecture on Mendel's Laws for LK (» honors class) Biology already! And this was only the first three days... what have I gotten myself into? Well, at least I can still write to stave off depression...

"…." Denotes talking

….. denotes thinking

*~* means a change of scenery (either temporal or local, I  think which one of those will be clear) has taken place

Disclaimer: I do in no way own any rights, moral or others, to Rurouni Kenshin, it's characters or plot. Characters other than the characters from Rurouni Kenshin bearing any resemblance to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. I do not intend to make any profits out of this story, it's written for entertainment purposes only and any attempt by persons natural or legal to make money from it in any way is not in accordance with this author's express wishes.

Chapter 3

Untouchable

Akai? Adauchi? Honestly, couldn't you come up with a better name? His habit of talking to himself had gotten the better of the donzel once again, and he grimaced at the sound of his voice in his head. I couldn't think of anything else. Besides, it's fitting, isn't it? Red Revenge? It is what I came here for... that and to make this land better place to live in for more people. He will probably skin me alive once this is all over- but then he doesn't have control over me anymore- I ran away from him five years ago already.

He was standing guard outside the door of an important military general, an obese and revolting character who had gotten into his position because he had done King Koshijirou a few favors that were not to be openly mentioned. He knew about as much about leading soldiers into battle as a slug knew about high-speed racing, so he had retired early to the rank of 'advisor' to King Koshijirou. His assistant, a sharp-faced young man whose name still was a mystery to the donzel, however, was to be considered a really dangerous opponent...

His posture had slightly drooped since he had given it no regard at all, but at the slight sound of shuffling feet down the hallway he straightened up again. He already had to meet this afternoon whatever King Kamiya had intended as his punishment for 'talking back' this morning, and he didn't intend to reap in any more questionable honors.

"You, boy! Is Hiruma Gohei available?" Why did everyone address him as a boy? He knew he was a bit on the short side and probably his face didn't really show his age, but he was twenty-three years old!

"Hiruma-dono is in a meeting with his assistant. If you could wait for a moment I'll ask him whether he will meet you. Could you please give me your name?" He decided to be polite, though he had to force his speech through gritted teeth. The man hadn't done anything but state what he had seen. And it was after all part of his disguise as Adauchi Akai to appear as a young donzel training to become an officer in the great army of Dunkelland.

"Sure. My name is Kiyosato Akira, internal affairs counselor for King Kamiya."

The donzel stiffened. Something about that name struck a chord. He had heard it before...

"I will announce you to Hiruma-dono," he said before leaving the man behind outside the door.

Hiruma Gohei was seated behind his desk, his huge, bloated figure appalling as always. His face was red, perhaps from shouting at the tall, lean assistant who was currently leaning half over the desk and talking to his superior in quiet, hushed tones. But then perhaps Hiruma had just imbibed too much wine- one never knew. He had a foible for things such as silk robes- which was apparent since he wore one so bright it gave the donzel a headache- food and wine. It was rumored he was attracted to young boys and girls who had not yet come of age as well, so the donzel was extra careful to hide himself in his uniform cloak whenever he had to face the revolting man.

"What is it, boy?" Now why was the assistant calling him boy so much more annoying than Kiyosato addressing him that way? The donzel didn't dwell on it, but his eyes took on a decidedly sharp glint, almost, but not quite, lighting to a different hue from his usual delft blue.

"Pardon the intrusion, Hiruma-dono," he started ignoring the assistant's pointed glare, "but Kiyosato Akira-dono is waiting outside requesting to meet you." Hiruma lifted his head from where it rested in the folds of lard on his neck. Belching loudly- which made the donzel shudder in disgust in spite of himself- he faced the cloaked man disinterestedly.

"Show him in, boy!" was accompanied by a lazy wave of the hand. The assistant straightened himself up, stepping back from Hiruma's desk.  The donzel bowed- slightly less low than he should have, the assistant noticed- and went outside again to fetch the one he had announced.

"He is strange," Hiruma suddenly said between two labored breaths, adjusting his weight on the oversized leather chair. The assistant, who had retreated into a corner of the room, gave no sign he had heard him. Reddish-brown eyes glimmered in the pale daylight as he inclined his head. "He is. I shall watch him closely."

King Kamiya allowed himself some time off from his duties after the shock the morning had brought to him. Ordering an escort of only three guards, he decided to go on a short hunting trip- alone. He couldn't even stand the company of his two closest advisors at the moment. The dark, brooding serenity of Dunkelwald would provide the ideal surroundings for his mood.

Spurring his mount to a reckless pace the King sped along the worn dirt path leading from the castle into the forest. King Koshijirou had often taken his son along that path, laughing at him when the small boy clung to his pony's neck in fear as the ground rushed along beneath him at an ever greater speed. He had learned to overcome that fear, however, since his father hadn't tolerated it for too long and had shown him clearly how... unbefitting it was for a future King. Now, he was just as much of a fearless rider as King Koshijirou had been, and his somewhat high voice rang out with schadenfreude and barely suppressed laughter. "Go faster!"

The outskirts of the forest flashed by, a large root forcing the King's steed to go into a graceful arching jump whose impact slightly jarred the rider but brought a triumphant grin on Kamiya's face nonetheless.

The forest quickly became more dense with undergrowth, the branches of the firs and oaks that made up most of the vegetation hanging lower over heir path thus efficiently slowing down the hunting party. King Kamiya stared into the shadowed greenery, unable to suppress the feeling he was being watched. The last time he had had that feeling it had been his meeting with the devil, he recalled, barely two weeks before his father's death. He shuddered as he remembered every detail of the incident, the crouched figure, the flames of hell masking as he demon's hair, the glowing eyes like embers of a never-dying fire.

It had been this very place he had ambushed him...

*~*

King Koshijirou had as always spurred his horse to the fastest run possible, leaving his party to breathlessly try and catch up with him. Even his son was struggling, not that the King cared. He went at his own pace... Soon, the party had lost contact with one another, each and everyone alone in the struggle not to lose the man in front of them, too. As the soldiers cursed and yelled because of the constant assault of opposing shrubbery, one man had ridden in silence, faster than all of them but still too slow to follow the King's lead. Prince Kamiya had been a close second to his father, but 'close second' in the case of King Koshijirou meant that the King was out of sight, leaving his son no option but to track him by the sound of rustling leaves on the ground and snapping twigs as well as the occasional curse when a particularly nasty blow hit exposed royal flesh. All alone, the Prince had soon felt lost when the sounds grew too faint to track them in any direction, and had halted in his pursuit to get his bearings. The sounds of the forest had stilled to a degree where he could catch the shouts of the soldiers and their tearing through the underbrush, but not enough to actually know where his father went without reading his tracks. Sighing to himself, the Prince was prepared to dismount and examine the loose forest soil underneath its protective, springy cover of fir needles and leaves for signs of King Koshijirou's passing.

By chance, he had looked up into the foliage, a rich array of different shades of green spanning from emerald to olive, reminding him of the promise of the blue sky that lay beyond it, and by chance also he had caught the single flash of red revealed by a stray ray of sunlight penetrating the thick ceiling of needles and leaves, shining with a flickering quality to it as the shadows around it moved in the light breeze smelling of summery meadows and woody depths. The first flame of a forest fire, that was what that single flicker of red reminded him of.

Gradually, the Prince's view adjusted, and he could make out the details of the prey he had spotted. A man. It was a man, that he was sure of despite the smallish stature and the delicate, pale features glowing in the pools of shadow the canopy provided. His outfit had been chosen to perfectly blend in with he dark and mottled greens, grays, browns and blacks of the deep forest. Slightly frayed at the edges, the loose tunic and pants dyed in earth colors made him next to invisible to the untrained eye. The way he had been perched up on the branch, crouching like a panther ready to strike at the unsuspecting deer drinking from the river beneath him suggested he was familiar with his surroundings. His slight stature made him seem like a ghost of the woods, a sprite out to hunt the foolish humans who dared to try and invade his territory.  The pale face, drawn and serious, enhanced that image until it became almost tangible. And then there were his eyes. Terrifying, intense, burning- those were the words that first came into Prince Kamiya's mind. Frozen in place, he had stared at the apparition. And the apparition had stared back at him from those horrifying slits of burnt gold. A stare that was meant to convey both the strength to hold him in place and the reminder that, any second, Kamiya's prey could vanish on the stirrings of the wind tousling his long, flaming hair.

A slight movement from the figure on the branch had released the Prince from his stupor as it revealed the angry scar across the left cheek of the 'wood sprite', reaching from the corner of his eye down to his chin. It seemed to pulse in the rhythm of the swaying branches, giving off a light of its own, a red worm attached to the white, smooth skin underneath and around it.

"Battousai!" Kamiya had shouted angrily and loudly, hoping against hope that the rest of his party was near enough to assist him in the chase. Yet the faint thundering of hooves and whispering hollers of the soldiers told him they had chosen a different path. Kamiya scowled, hatred clouding his eyes and turning them into opaque midnight blue pools without depth. The figure had shot him a dark look in response, his eyes narrowing to make he amber of his pupils shine with an even greater intensity.

"If it isn't the Prince himself," he had growled, his voice deep and not unpleasant despite the harsh, freezing undertones in it. "I guess I should be honored."

"You should surrender!" Kamiya's voice grew shriller as he increased its volume, "there's no way you could escape me! For years now you've been killing my loyal subjects, and I finally have you in my hands. You won't slip through my fingers, murderer! If you value your life, surrender now. Otherwise I'll take you by force!"

A soft chuckle rose from the dark-clad man's throat, his red hair snaking from where it had rested on his shoulder down his back in an almost hypnotic manner. "You want me to surrender to you? I'm afraid I can't do that yet, Prince." The way he said 'Prince'- as though he meant it as an irony! Kamiya fumed silently while trying to devise a plan how to get his prey from where it sat above his head. Battousai meanwhile calmly spoke on.

"Anyways, we will meet again!" A moment's hesitation on his part bought Prince Kamiya the time he needed.

"Wait! I challenge you to a duel!" Surprise flashed across the scarred face of the red-haired demon before his lips curled ever so slightly.

"I would suggest you refrain from this notion immediately," Battousai advised with more than a little amusement in his cold voice. His use of the highly refined speech of the King's Court only added insult to injury. Prince Kamiya had looked ready to kill him, and probably would have could looks have killed. As it was, they were unfortunately not quite suited to do the job, and thus the world went black a moment after he had caught the amused chuckle from his red-haired nemesis in reaction to his glare. The fleeting sensation of falling, while the unmistakably rotten odor of mushrooms and rich, dark earth assaulted his nostrils, the chilling kiss of the wind on his skin as his body moved of its own accord, drawn in by the force of gravity, the single thought of impossible beauty and gratefulness to have seen it... and then, nothing.

This was how his party had found him- unconscious beside his horse that had faithfully remained at the side of his fallen rider, a large lump on the back of the Prince's head the only testimony to what had happened. Unbelievable as his story might have sounded, trackers established that the Prince indeed spoke the truth, there had been someone on that oak tree, and there had been someone moving at great speed, who had knocked the Prince off his horse.

King Koshijirou had been furious, of course, and the first great 'Battousai hunt' had been instigated- and had remained futile. Since then, Kamiya had hated the phantom assassin more than anything else, his mockery unforgotten, his wild beauty not even mentioned in Kamiya's thoughts for fear it might lead to strange results the Prince didn't want to have to face- the death of his father had only been the final straw...

*~*

This time, however, the branches of the tall trees were barren of any life, not even a squirrel peeked out from them. It was as though the forest sensed the presence of the hunter- the silence of death preceded his steps. King Kamiya frowned. Once again, his imagination had chosen to run wild, something even years of rigorous conditioning had not gotten him rid of. King Koshijirou had always emphasized how important it was to be down-to-earth and not to let crazy ideals or wild dreams of a better future cloud ones' judgment.

"Where are those idiots?" King Kamiya murmured, tethering his horse to the small hut that had been in service as a meeting point for the royal family when they went hunting for a very long time and looked the part, too. Its slanting roof would soon crash down, and the flimsy walls had more holes than planks in them. But still, it stood, indisputably a building capable of all its purposes, if not for humans then at least for the horses that wouldn't be able to continue further into the forest because of the underbrush and trapholes that were everywhere from here on. The King frowned and lazily strolled to the side of the hut, basking in the balmy sunlight tingling on his clothes, a rare occurrence in a forest where the canopy was thick enough to effectively block the path of even the infinitely thin rays that made up the glorious source of light and warmth. Allowing himself a sigh, he shut his eyelids. What was it that always took those stupid soldiers so long? The rasping sound of his horse's teeth pulling at the sparse grass around the hut accompanied the soft whispering of the wind playing its symphony on the leaves above his head as he leaned back against the rough, splintery, sunbaked south wall of the shed. The air smelled of pine and dust and the fresh roots of grass, the underlying muskiness almost undetectable when out in the bright light and away from the looming shadow of the trees.

King Kamiya got bored. He didn't get bored easily, considering he had had to sit through more than one state dinner when he'd rather have been out in the open court training, but then state dinners didn't usually take place in such alluring proximity to his favorite hunting grounds. Sudden anger welled up inside him like an unknown beast of mythical origin deciding to take its presence from myth to reality, a beast born from boredom... He had always been quick-tempered, he knew that, it was one of the few things his father hadn't constantly reprimanded him about. "A temper befitting a King," King Koshijirou had said and smile-frowned at his son in his usual overbearing, lecturing manner, "a temper befitting a King is both calm and serene but full of righteous anger as well."

King Kamiya hadn't yet found out what 'righteous anger' felt like, even though he had walked the Earth for eighteen years now. With his father, he had sometimes felt anger that bordered on hatred, anger that consumed him and overwhelmed him and made him into a raging madman. But that was not the kind of anger he would define as 'righteous'. He didn't feel like he knew what 'righteous' was even without the anger attached to it. He only knew he was angry, for one reason or the other. At the moment the reason was the tardiness of the incompetent fools that posed as his soldiers... he didn't really want to continue the philosophical contemplation of his mind. That would only lead to more memories, which would probably lead to a repetition of the pathetic performance he had given this morning.

This morning... it had been like a protective wall had been literally ripped down with the single thrust of a sword. It had been as earth-shattering as when he had first found himself facing his most dangerous and illusive human prey on the very path he had just left behind. Invisible strands wanted to entangle him in a net that would snatch all he held true away from him. His existence, shaky and insignificant as it might seem to himself, had to be as strong as the image he projected to others viewing him from afar. He was not to let anyone come too close to him- he might be destroyed in the process. Once, already, he had felt what it was like to have your very core exposed, your very being ripped from within your soul, and he had no desire to repeat the experience. His father had been a cruel teacher... but he had been successful.

Turning his face into the brilliant blaze of the sun's light King Kamiya opened his eyes to dispel the last spots of red dancing across his vision in a flash of white. The soldiers were close to arriving, their frantic voices urging their mounts along coming from no more then 300 feet away, the distance between him and them diminishing rapidly. The King stood at ease, alert and tense at the same time. Already, his mind focused on the thrill of the hunt soon to begin, thoughts of the past and disturbing emotions pushed far back.

*~*

The donzel nervously fingered the cloth-padded hilt of his training sword as he stood in the shadows of the high walls of the training court. The afternoon sun stood deep enough not to abacinate the eye, yet still high enough to provide sufficient lighting for training purposes. His palms were slightly slick with sweat, he had been training with the rest of the officer candidates and soldiers for the better part of three hours already, under the sharp tongue and watchful eye of chief investigator Saito. His hood had been drawn back on his head to reveal a few stray strands of hair glimmering golden in the sunlight, a pale face slightly flushed by exertion and violet-blue eyes veering on the edge of cobalt as they were hardened in concentration. Opposite him, on the other end of the training court, the chief investigator took one last draw on his cigarette before discarding the still-smoldering tobacco remains towards the stamped-clay ground, an almost imperceptibly small cloud of dust accompanying the inevitable burst of tobacco smoke as it hit the earth.

"Adauchi Akai." It wasn't as much a question as a statement, the voice loud enough to reach the donzel's ears even though the man hadn't spoken up. The edge that stood out so clearly when he ordered the trainees around wasn't dulled when speaking to a single subject either, Akai noticed. Neither did the yellow-golden eyes mellow or the cynical twist of the lips diminish. Saito Hajime demanded absolute attention, and he got it. The donzel bowed in acknowledgement and carefully, almost hesitantly, walked across the court. The toe of his right foot caught on some bumps in the ground from time to time, but apart from that his strides were gliding and measured, a silky texture to his walk and a proud dignity in his bearing.

"I have been ordered to test you in a fight- Shinomori Aoshi actually suggested it and King Kamiya agreed. No holding back." Saito assumed a fighting stance, gesturing for the donzel to take his place twenty steps away from him as was customary in sword duels between officers.

"But... I haven't completed my training yet. I am not ready to fight in an officer's duel." The eyes of the boy belied the frantic pitch in his voice. Saito could read them like a book, and even though to any other observer they seemed wide, shocked, flat and void of any emotion he caught the underlying scent of the predatory creature lurking in the boy's soul.

"It is what you get for upsetting King Kamiya. Action causes reaction- the simplest law in history. Now prepare yourself or I'll strike."

The boy gave up his futile attempts at talking himself out of the situation immediately, Saito noticed with no small degree of pleasure. Akai's feet were planted more firmly into the ground, his hands grew steadier, his eyes clearer and sharper as he slid into the low, crouching stance officer candidates were taught as second starting position. Yellow eyes narrowed, Saito took in the flawless aligning of weapon and body, the almost casual grip on the training weapon that was still strong enough not to be broken easily but lose enough to allow for the use of the full flexibility of the human wrist. The center was slightly to the left, meaning his strong foot was his right, but then that was the way he had been taught and Saito couldn't be sure if it was true.

With a slight shift in his stance Saito brought up his own training weapon, the edge slightly sharper, the wooden blade longer and sturdier than the boy's. He didn't use his real weapon- King Kamiya had ordered to give the donzel a sound beating and not to kill him, but still the rush of adrenaline in his system was the same as in a duel to the death. It was this Akai's doing, he realized, the donzel's fire spreading to the chief investigator like electricity running along a live wire. He was as eager to fight Saito as Saito was to fight him. Giving himself the pleasure of a smirk, Saito charged forward in what experts knew to be the first form of his trademark attack- Gatotsu ichi-shiki.

Akai's eyes widened at the speed the chief investigator displayed. Frantically tightening his grip on his weapon he brought it up in a desperate attempt to defend himself from the punishing blow of the weighted wooden sword, only to be hit by the same attack that had suddenly changed direction. The smack of wood on flesh still sounding from the walls the donzel found himself airborne, tumbling once before striking the ground at full force. He groaned and picked himself up again, one hand pressed to his left shoulder where a bruise would be blossoming already judging from the numb feeling. Realizing he was in danger he whirled around- and was once again faced with a blurring vision of dark wood before the world went spinning around him.

Saito watched the donzel shake his head as if to clear the last cobwebs from it, rolling to his knees, pushing himself up with shaking hands, one of which still clutched the handle of his weapon. Even though he had just involuntarily somersaulted twice he hadn't let go of his only hope of defense. Groaning slightly, the boy stood facing him, defiance etched into his features and mirrored in his starkly gray-blue eyes. Saito didn't give him any respite- he didn't need it. Battered though he might appear his will was unbroken, and that same stubborn will was what King Kamiya wanted gone.

It was an impossible task. This boy's will was untouchable but stronger than anything Saito knew. It rivaled his own determination. He would not be able to break it. But he could make the boy more subdued. Saito's eyes flashed a harder sheen of gold as he charged the donzel again.

*~*

I want to tell that so-called King the truth. I want to tear all these walls down that separate him from other human beings so he'll stop his silly antics. I want to reach into the dark confines of his mind and touch him, make him see the light. And I want to beat some sense into him... and maybe beat that damn Saito up a little while I'm at it! His thoughts tumbled over each other as crazily as he had tumbled around the training court. He let them run wild, for he knew that he wouldn't be able to silence them at the moment.

He hurt. His muscles were throbbing angrily, he was aware of his body in places he didn't even knew existed before. Even after a grueling training session with him, so long ago, he hadn't felt like this. His angry mind assaulted him with thoughts of how he could have easily prevented this, how he wouldn't have to go through this if he hadn't decided to let Saito beat him up.

But then you would have given away the untouchable phantom, wouldn't you? He growled at himself, silencing the nagging voices in his mind effectively as he painfully pulled himself upright where he sat on the walls of the castle overlooking the land. It was his custom to do so whenever he had finished his duties, to come up here and look at the deceptive serenity of Dunkelland to remind himself of what he strove to achieve. Today, however, the beauty of the golden fields ripe with wheat and rye, the soft cresting hills covered by green grass and the misty shadows of Dunkelwald at the edge of his vision was lost to him, his body complaining too much about the earlier abuse inflicted upon him to be able to do anything but drink in the light and comforting warmth of the setting sun. His hands moved to brush back the hood of his cloak as he wanted to expose the bruises on his face to the healing properties of these infrared rays that were abundant in the evening, his fingers carefully disentangling his long hair from the rough fabric. Akai the donzel vanished with the simple act of exposing a face to the light of the sun, and the true nature of the man sitting high upon the castle walls appeared as though a veil covering a picture had been pulled aside.

King Kamiya was returning from his hunting trip, the cadaver of his prey lashed onto the saddle behind him, its fur rubbing against the King's tunic like its scent of blood, forest and death did against his nostrils. His eyes strayed from their path straight ahead as he contently rode along, the exhausted soldiers trailing behind, and found the lone figure bathed in a glorious display of multi-colored light. Kamiya's breath hitched in his throat as he studied the lazy movements of long hands visible only because the curtain of light was parted by the spaces between them. As the hood fell, the King felt his heart hammering faster.

The golden-red blaze of the sunset had found its rival. The King had found his untouchable prey- or had he?

... to be continued ...

Phew! There I go rambling about how little time I've suddenly got on my hands and then I launch into a chapter of that length…

Yasai: You should honestly reconsider that visit to the psychiatrist…

Hmm, my muse is as helpful as always with sarcastic comments- she isn't behind schedule on SL after all!

Yasai: Oi! I am with you in writing that story as well! So I do care that we're behind. But don't you want to thank certain people of great importance…?

Yup! My reviewers! You actually liked that strange chapter it seems… well, this one isn't any better, IMO… but I'll leave that for you to decide! Now for my favorite occupation- individual responses!

Linggodess: I'm actually glad I killed off the old King already… perhaps I will tell the circumstances of his death just to appease my own hatred for him… geez, and Kaoru's father is supposed to be a decent guy!

Leigh4: Here's more! A lot more of 'more' than I had planned  ^_~ . And it's not finished yet… *grins* Thanks for reviewing!

lebleuphenix: I'm sorry for all that confusion… instead of moving on I have made this one a slower chapter for everyone to recover- including myself! Thank you very much for your review- you help me sooo much!

Brenna: You're a dear, you know. I don't think I could write Saito or Aoshi without you… keep mixing their personalities up to their names! Thanks for being there as my beta!!!

Rei: The 'boy' is Battousai/Kenshin going under the pseudonym Adauchi Akai. He's currently 23 years old since he was five at the beginning of this fic. Thank you for having dropped me a line!

Natsuko: Wow, you sound busy! Thank you for finding the time to write me such inspiring reviews!!! I love them so much! I hope school leaves you time enough to write *eagerly awaiting your Kenji story* In Germany they have a slightly different school system. My 'LK's which I put as honors classes) are five or six hours a week… my other classes between two and four, making for a total of 42 hours of school a week. Plus homework. Yuck!!! But you tie me over… and I'm getting better with the crutches, thanks for asking! Only six more weeks… I miss sports a lot! You know what- I'm seriously considering recapping Koshijirou's death scene since he's been really awful *cringes at thought of next chapter*! The 'screaming' scene had me thinking for days… my poor beta had the most awful time editing it! Okee, stopping the rambling now! Cya!!!

Thank you all very much for reading my story and please feed Yasai with a review, otherwise she's eating my chocolates (and I can only write while eating chocolate ^_^)!

Cya!!!

Chibi-chan