Battousai Reborn.
Chapter 3.
No remorse, no fear, no regret.
Synopsis: What happens when Kenshin Himura finally loses control?
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A few hours after defeating his former teacher, Battousai returned to the town he had spent the night at before. He went back to the inn and found no one there again.
"Wonder what these people got an inn here for if they're not gonna keep tabs on it?" he thought to himself.
He didn't care nonetheless and proceeded to sit on the floor, in the same spot where he had spent the night before. He could not sleep. Thoughts kept racing through the floors of his mind and they were keeping him awake. Thoughts biting at his soul, torturing him to the point that he wanted to lash out at them, kill them. He was fed up. He picked himself up and walked slowly outside. The moonlight shun upon his sword as he drew it out of its sheath and examined it closely. He thought that he should switch swords for the battle against Saitou, as he needed every advantage and a reversed-edge would not fare well against Saitou's gatotsu. However, he had no money to purchase a new sword so he decided to take the risk. The next few hours were to pass him really quickly and before he knew it, it was the day before the final showdown between the slasher and Saitou.
Battousai walked out of town and decided to head up into the mountains to spend the night. On reaching close to the mountainside, he encountered a band of thieves who were terrorizing a small family.
"I could use the practice!" he thought to himself. He then ran into the conflict with sword in hand. No one saw him as he speedily went around the back and took out 2 of the bandits who were supposedly keeping a lookout. Six more to go! He walked quietly in front of the remaining six and just slashed and swiped with his reversed-edge. They laughed as they thought he had missed but only less than a second later, they dropped to the floor, blood spilling out of their mouths. Battousai returned his sword to its sheath and continued walking uphill, not even turning back to see if the family was okay.
A few hours later, he came upon the perfect spot to spend the night. It was dark and the moonlight did not penetrate through the thick trees that were above him. He was restless. He just wanted tomorrow to come and go so that he could get on with his life. He forced himself to rest as he realized that he needed to get some energy to defeat Saitou. He had spent the 2 previous nights hardly sleeping and it was not doing him any good. While he slept, he began to dream again. He dreamt that Kaoru had been killed and life for him after would never be the same. He dreamt that he once again became the man-slayer. He dreamt of the many bodies that lay at his feet, all drenched in blood. Some of which were his closest friends. Then he dreamt of him and Kaoru being married and happily together. A smile crept unto his face while he slept. All the happiness was trying to attack him at the same time and he was unprepared to dismiss them.
Early the next morning, Battousai arose to the cheerful chirping of the birds. He quickly got up and rushed to the place that Saitou said he'd meet him. He continued walking until he could not walk anymore. He sat on a huge boulder, the sunlight scorching above him.
"Yoohoo… Himura!" someone shouted.
Battousai swung his head around and faced the tall swordsman. Kaoru was next to him and appeared to be safe and well.
"I'm the wanderer no more!" replied Battousai.
"That's very interesting but it doesn't matter to me because you're gonna die anyway!" mocked Saitou.
The tension in the air rose dramatically. Kaoru stood back, afraid of what Kenshin had become. But deep within her lay the love she held for him, deep within her heart, the best place for it to reside. Kaoru prayed for her love to be okay. She, as well, wanted to just continue her life with him. They had talked so much of it and Kaoru was so afraid that she'd lose him forever that she looked away, not being able to stand the sight of the outcome of the battle. However, something inside her made her face Battousai and shouted to the calm inner being that lay dormant deep within him.
"Kenshin, if you can hear me, know that I love you and will be waiting for you after you defeat that sly wolf," she said.
Battousai sneered and then turned to Saitou.
"It's your time to die!" he told him.
"We'll see about that!" was Saitou's response.
With that, they both flew off to each other at an amazing speed, their swords clashing. The first strike of the battle had commenced.
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Author's Notes: Next chapter would be based upon the fight. Hope to finish it as soon as possible.