One Last Look/ The Battle of All Time/
Past vs. Present
"Well, it's about time…" Sano grumbled from the floor, "What was that you just did?" He asked.
"If I saw right…" Yuki said, calmly, "She did something that closely resembled the Amakakeru."
"That's right." Kaoru said, looking straight at her, "I did."
Yuki laughed, "You shouldn't have involved yourself, you little girl."
"Ha!" Kaoru said, "I thought you were 17, or was that only two weeks ago?"
"You were a fool to believe me. I'm well over your age, I'm 23."
"Three years… older…" she muttered. Sano almost choked.
"The Hiten Mitsurugi style has maintained my youth." Yuki said, "And it has given me unlimited power. Look around you."
Kaoru looked over at all the fallen bodies on the field, and then redirected her view at Sano.
"Sano… what happened?"
"She took us all out… one by one…" he told her, "So far, Kenshin has been the only one who has been able to stand up against her… except… until she said something to him. He snapped."
She glanced back at Kenshin, who was still breathing stiffly, his eyes halfway closed. Oh my god… he looks so tired… she thought to herself.
"You're next." Yuki said, stepping forward, calmly at her. Kaoru took a stance, as Yuki continued to walk casually towards her.
"So it was you…" Yuki said, softly, "You were the one who has really been giving me such a hard time." She continued walking, while shifting her eyes to Kenshin, "He fought with all his strength in order to live up to your expectations. However… he was ill equipped for this battle. He reached for his strongest weapon, and found it stolen right under his nose, by no other than yours truly." She smiled and stopped. She was only two meters away from Kaoru.
"You—monster." Kaoru said, looking at all the bodies sprawled across the field, "What did you say to him?"
"Would you like me tell you now, or would you rather he tell you…" her voice began to rise, "Once you're slain before his eyes?!" she rushed at her.
Kaoru maintained her stance and waited for her impulse to take action, like sir Hiko had told her. Suddenly, it came. In a split-second, she recognized the upward strike, coming perpendicular towards her.
She withdrew her newfound sword from its sheath, and blocked the first strike of Yuki, with one arm only. Kaoru pushed forward, causing Yuki to lose her balance, and she surged her free palm forward, striking Yuki's stomach.
"uRgh!" Yuki took a step backward, dropping one of her katanas and holding her stomach with her open hand. She looked at awe at Kaoru, and then after a second, began to laugh wickedly.
"You fool. You don't fear me?"
Kaoru said nothing, but stood her stance.
"You dare… defy me my justice?" she asked, louder. Kaoru stood silent.
"Fine, have it your way, you little brat!" she dashed forward towards her and began to unleash her most magnificent combo ever.
However, as she was executing her attack, she found Kaoru blocking every single blow with ease. Her eyes had the calm aura that had been in Kenshin's eyes only moments before. It started to intimidate her, but she continued to attack.
Kaoru turned, dodging the attack, and then swept her sword in a semi-circle, catching Yuki on the neck. If it wasn't for the fact that her sword had no blade, it would have slashed through and killed Yuki at that instant.
Yuki was thrown back from the force again, but she recovered quickly and lunged straight forward. She did a fast three hit combo, swinging ferociously diagonally left and right, ending with a horizontal strike, followed by a 360-degree spin stepping forward, swinging her sword horizontally with her.
"How do you like my reverse?" she asked, as she performed the spin again and again, three times. Kaoru blocked three times, each time, she could feel the impact of the other sword rumble from her fingertips.
"Die already!!" Yuki said, swinging her sword, lunging forward after each strike. Kaoru kept a calm pace, moving and sliding back, switching her legs in between stances, switching hands on her katana's handle to block the attacks, turning around, spinning her sword in her hand in order to stop all the undetectable strikes.
The center of mass isn't even in the handle of the katana… Yuki observed, but she can still manage to twirl the blade around her hand as if it were a rod… she pulled back and stopped for a second, moving back.
They looked each other in the eyes. Yuki went forward again, this time, she pulled out both katanas. Kaoru's eyes widened. She hadn't realized until now that Yuki had only used one katana against her this whole time. She stood in stance, ready.
Suddenly, she saw Yuki's eyes shift to her left, away from her. She looked to her left, and surprisingly enough, saw Sano standing beside her.
"You block, I dodge!" Sano shouted out to her, as Yuki began swinging at both of them, "NOW!" Kaoru nodded in consent and did as Sano had told her.
Sano and Kaoru kept Yuki quite occupied. Sano went about dodging all of her right hand strikes, while Kaoru blocked her left hand strikes at the same time. The three figures moved quickly, and before they knew it, the heat of battle seemed to emenate from their very duel. Yuki couldn't stop striking, for if she did, that would give them both time to counterattack strongly. Her pace was quick however, and she didn't seem to slow down after what seemed like to be hours.
Kaoru found it easier to handle Yuki now that Sano was beside her. She felt relieved that she didn't have to face the entire onslaught by herself.
"It's time!" Sano said, "Let's do what we should've done two weeks ago!"
"Let's go!!!"
Suddenly, Yuki found herself blocking, while Sano and Kaoru launched a miraculous offensive attack on her. She felt careless as she saw that Sano had picked up Okina's metal garments and was using it in order to attack her without fear of the blade slicing his arm.
Kaoru and Sano lunged at the same time.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" They screamed at the same time, landing a blow to her face. Her eyes widened as the impact hit her, and she found herself flying backwards, hitting a tree.
As she hit the tree, she coughed out blood.
"No one hurts Kenshin and gets away with it!" Sano shouted at her.
Yuki's eyes snapped open in an instant and she looked up at them, her eyes as cold as ever, "You fools." She muttered, "Striking together in order to support one another. Pathetic."
"Oh yeah! And you tricked Kenshin too." Sano said, "That's why you defeated him, you chea--uRK!!" He looked down to see a sword through his stomach.
Yuki's eyes ignited in flame, "Shut up." She growled, "You're pissing me off." Her arm was still in front of her, from throwing the blade straight at him.
Sano's eyes widened, and he fell.
"You idiot, don't interrupt a fight between women." She said, standing fully up, "I didn't ask you to interfere." She breathed hard, holding her chest. Kaoru knelt down next to Sano, and held him.
"Missy…" he smiled, "Hey… you're not… so bad… after all… we got her good…" Sano's eyes fluttered.
"SANO! SANO!" Tears fell down her eyes, "SANO!"
Suddenly, she felt a hard force upon on her shoulder as Yuki kicked her down onto the snow. Kaoru sprawled back up, while Yuki looked at Sano maliciously.
"Give it back to me!" she said, pressing her foot upon Sano's chest, holding the handle of the katana impaled in him, and kicked him down into the snow, releasing the blade from it's lodgement. Blood spurted out into the sky.
Kaoru screamed, and Yuki turned towards her, Sano's blood drenched her face.
Yuki made a small smile at her, "You're next!"
Kaoru stared hard at Yuki, her eyes displayed a deep ambivalence towards her opponent, who was standing before her.
"I hope you're happy you got a clean hit off me." She said, "Who's the idiot that made that sword?" she asked, "he was stupid enough to forge it without a blade, but when it comes to durability, he's a genius. I swear that all my attacks were all supposed to break it apart." She grinned, "Shall I try again, with no outside forces acting as your guardian shield?" She raised her sword, now covered in blood.
Kaoru turned quickly to look at Kenshin, but he was still there, panting, his eyes barely open.
"Hey! You didn't answer my question!" Yuki said, "Who made it?!" she demanded.
"I DID!" A voice called out, suddenly emenating the entire area. A white cape suddenly flashed into view, and the man with the white cape looked forth, his eyes penetrating through Yuki's.
Kaoru turned around, "Sir Hiko…"
For a moment, Yuki's eyes seemed to be full of fear, "…Master…" she muttered, under her breath.
Sir Hiko looked deep into her eyes, "I should have finished this a long time ago." He said, holding up his sword, "I should have known that your heart was filled with maliciousness this entire time."
Yuki looked at him, her fear slowly leaving her eyes, "Master." She told him, "I will punish that man for his crimes in the revolution. You can't interfere!"
"It was my responsibility that I taught you the Hiten Mitsurugi, and it was my responsibility that led to all those disastrous events in Yamasaki village. The sword was not used to kill… and YOU KNOW THAT!" His voice echoed across the arena.
"I KNOW THAT HE KILLED MY MOTHER!" She screamed back at him, "AND IF YOU DON'T THINK I WON'T ATTACK YOU, YOU'RE WRONG!"
"Obstinate!" Hiko Seijiro said, "You are finished." He raised his sword.
Yuki did so as well, and looked at him, "I'm sorry master…" she said, and lunged.
Sir Hiko lunged, and used one strike on the air, causing a hurricane of wind in front of her, but she continued her attack, accelerating even faster. She rushed at him and attacked him with both katanas, but Sir Hiko used both his sword and his sheath to block all attacks. Then he nudged her hard with the sheath into the stomach, causing her to fall bottom first onto the snow.
She rose again and started attacking with unlimited speed. Suddenly, they both disappeared, and all that Miss Kaoru could see was the white flashing light whenever their blades came across each other and reflected a beam of light towards her way.
Then Yuki did something Kaoru didn't expect. She did an attack at ground zero, straight at Hiko. Hiko had no choice but to channel all his strength to block the attack. She then rose the hilt of her other sword, and struck his neck.
Hiko's eyes widened.
"I've just cut off the circulation to your brain." She said mercilessly, "I learned it from a young boy I almost killed in Yamasaki! And the point zero attack, from that officer lying down over there!" she quickly looked back at the fallen Majime Saitou.
Hiko struck his neck with his free hand, and he regained his senses.
"That's not good enough!" he said, angrily, and swung his sword at her. She calmly slid back, avoiding the attack.
"Your weight slows you down!" she said, "I will be the victor now, in the Amakakeru!" she yelled, as she disappeared yet again.
"We'll see about that." Hiko disappeared as well.
An earth shattering smash filled the air, as the victor broke through the other.
Kaoru smiled when she saw Hiko reappear on the other side. But her smile died as she saw Yuki as well, as she reappeared as well, on the other side.
"You left me underneath the waterfall, and thought me to be dead. But as soon as I woke up from the coma you gave me, I saw mere robbers playing with my body." she said calmly, "I slew them at once. And I vowed I would get back at you for forsaking me since then."
The next thing Kaoru saw, she couldn't believe. She saw Hiko kneel down, and fall down upon the snow.
"I spared you, like you spared me." Yuki said, her back turned to the fallen master, "I didn't kill you yet, I just used the reverse of the blades. I wanted to still thank you, sir, for giving me this power." She began laughing. Kaoru began to tremble.
Yuki turned back to her, "YOU…" she said looking at her, "Are the last thing that stands in my way."
Kaoru couldn't stop shaking.
"Are you ready to accept your death sentence?" she said to her, "Are you ready to face my wrath?"
Kaoru suddenly regained her balance, and stood still, "No." she said.
Yuki held both her blades at her sides, the tip of the blades facing behind her, and started walking towards Kaoru, "There was a tale I heard, a long time ago." She said, walking closer to her, "About a man who could make it rain blood."
Kaoru bit her lip.
"It's time for you to help me…" Yuki said, "I've always wanted to do it before, I think now would be an appropriate time, don't you think?" she began to rise her swords from her side, drawing them up, making them face the ground.
Kaoru stood silent.
"I see that you don't want to make any final statements before your death… that's ok! It's him I'm after!" she looked at Kenshin, "I truly had fun beating up all your friends. Now's the time to take the love of your life."
Kaoru's mouth dropped, "I-I'm not!" she protested, out of reflex.
"Pshh." Yuki narrowed her eyes, "Little…girl…" she rushed, and like thunder an echo resonated behind her.
Kaoru began to block, but after the fifth block she realized that she was dealing with a whole different level of swordsmanship. She had to take the offensive, or not, like Hiko had told her before, she would run out of energy and be as well as dead.
A sudden surge of power resonated through her body, and her eyes snapped wide open, a mysterious fire evident within them.
"HITEN MITSURUGI… DORYOKU!!" She screamed, making an upward slash, breaking one of Yuki's swords in half that was coming down to destroy her.
Yuki's eyes widened, "WHAT?!" she screamed.
"KAITENRYOKU!" Kaoru screamed again, spinning 720 degrees, stepping up after each revolution, "RYUU—SUITSEN!" Yuki blocked, and sparks flew up into the air. "SAYANOSHIN!" she thrust her sheath at Yuki's heart, and the impact was so strong that it resonated a wave of energy as the sheath made contact for that split second.
Yuki flew and fell upon the snow. She choked as blood began to clog her neck.
Kaoru kneeled down, breathing hard. She had used a lot of her energy, executing each strike. She could see her breath as she breathed out into the air. This was unlike her training from before, with the good weather and the calm water to give her energy. In contrast, the cold ebbed away her energy, and the snow stabbed at her skin with an ineffable sharp chill. She stabbed the ground and used the hilt of her sword to stand up.
Yuki was crawling through the snow, her lungs were filled with cold air, but her insides were burning, keeping her body at nominal temperature. She dragged forth, plunging through the snow, her vision blurry.
Kaoru kept firm her grip on the hilt of the sword Hiko had given her. She breathed hard, one eye open. She kept her eye focused on Yuki, who was nearing her sword that she had dropped when Kaoru had hit her She finally lunged at it, grabbed onto it, and plunged face-first into the snow.
Kaoru continued to pant, trying to find energy from within her. Yuki remained lying in the snow, motionless.
"Kenshin…" she looked at him. His eyes were still half opened, and he was barely breathing anymore. Kaoru started breathing harder, and looked back at Yuki. Yuki was still lying down, "It's over…" she said, silently.
She turned and ran over to Kenshin.
"Kenshin!" she called out, "I have a salve that Miss Megumi gave me before I came here. Here…" she pulled out a small round jar from her belt and opened the lid. Then she rubbed her hands in the salve and began applying it to Kenshin's wounds.
Immediately as he felt the balm contact his body, Kenshin's nerves began to feel warm and numb. After a moment, his body was immune to the pain, and his wounds started to slowly stop bleeding. His eyes opened fully.
"Miss Kaoru…" he said, almost normally, "I'm…" His eyes suddenly opened wide, "Get down!" he pushed her down, just as a blade was thrust at her. The sword continued its path, deeply lodging itself into the tree behind Kenshin.
Kenshin grit his teeth and kicked Yuki, but by then she pulled the sword out of the tree and slid back, dodging his attack.
"Aw man." Yuki said, annoyed, "That was the perfect Gatotsu!"
Kaoru turned around and looked up at Yuki, her eyes widening as she saw Yuki wielding two swords before them.
She must've stolen Hiko's Sword…Kaoru said, looking at it beside Yuki.
"You didn't really think the Sayanoshin, the ultimate attack of the sheath, could take me down, did you?" her eyes narrowed, "But unfortunately, it's time that I unleash my ultimate attack as well. And I'm sorry to say, it's not a simple execution of swordsmanship. It lodges much deeper into the soul." She grinned.
"What are you talking about?" Kaoru demanded.
Yuki continued to grin. She was about to open her mouth, but Kenshin beat her to it.
"Miss Kaoru!" Kenshin said, "There's something I have to tell you…" his head fell, "Miss Kaoru… I'm sorry…"
Kaoru looked back at Kenshin, perplexed, "What do you mean?"
Kenshin tried to find some words to say, Kaoru could tell he was struggling trying to begin talking.
"When I was injured…" Kenshin finally said, "When I told you to leave the Mirameki… so that I could have some time with Yuki…" he paused, "Miss Kaoru, I… Kaoru… I…" his head dropped, "I'm… sorry."
"He made love to me." Yuki broke through to her, "We made love to each other."
Kaoru choked.
Yuki dropped her grin, "Now you see you've come here for an unworthy cause." She said. Kaoru's knees buckled, and she kneeled down on the snow, her eyes looking up into the sky, "keep the spirits up…" she muttered to herself, her eyes watering, "I have to…" she plunged her head deep into the snow below her, and screamed.
Kenshin outstretched his hand to her, while still sitting down in front of the tree. Suddenly, his eyelids began to fall, "Miss Kaoru…" his energy began to die from him, and his arm dropped.
Kaoru surfaced her head back from the snow, and looked up at Yuki.
"Kenshin…" she said, still looking into Yuki's eyes, "There's something I have to tell you…" She said, her voice quiet.
Kenshin's eyes blinked, and it reopened fully.
"I…" Kaoru choked, "I…should have known this would happen." She said, her voice trembling, "Kenshin… Kenshin…" her voice was high, at the brink of breaking into sobs, "Kenshin…I'm sorry…"
Tears began to drop from Kenshin's eyes. Yuki's eyes sparkled from entertainment.
"Kenshin…" Kaoru said, "I'm so sorry…"
She turned away from Yuki and looked down into the snow, in defeat.
"That night…when you were hit with the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki…we found your body, and I stayed with you at the closest inn before we went to the Mirameki, while the others continued to search for Ishimo.
I thought you were going to die. I thought I was going to lose you forever." She sobbed, tears falling into the snow, "I was so hysterical, I was so worried… that I lost control of myself. When I felt your pulse dying…when I saw your breath whither…I never felt as scared in my life."
Kenshin started breathing hard, and he continued looking at her, tears in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry… I should've known this would happen…" she said, her voice fluttering, "I should've known…that… I would have to atone… for what I DID that night…" she faced him, her eyes determined, "…to you!"
Kenshin and Yuki's eyes snapped wide open at the same time. Kenshin began to breathe harder, for a different reason. Yuki stared hard at her. Kenshin's senses began to return to him.
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Kenshin rose his eyes for what seemed to be once since a very long time. Surprisingly enough, it was night, and someone was pressing their body against him, smuggling him.
"Oh Kenshin…"
Kenshin's strength started failing again and he could feel his eyes lids pulling down. Miss… Kaoru…?
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Kaoru faced towards Yuki, her eyes filled in sadness, but a small smile imprinted in her face, "So… you see…" she said, still addressing Kenshin, while looking at Yuki's face change expression, "The truth is…"
"The truth is…" Kenshin said, "You…"
"I did it… I thought it was the only thing I could do… to… to… revive you. I was so foolish!" Kaoru's head dropped, "I'm so sorry Kenshin…I was so worried…"
For the first time this day, Kenshin smiled, "Don't be. You…saved my life that day." He used the hilt from his katana and stood up from where he was sitting.
"When I plunged into darkness, all trace of thought had left me. I was truly unconscious, I had no sense of perception whatsoever." He said, "If there was any time that I had almost experienced death, it was then. But in the middle of the night, I felt something…"
He began to walk over to Kaoru, "It gave life to me. I could feel it… giving me life." He kneeled down, and caressed Kaoru on the cheek, "And that reason of life… continues to make me live today."
Kaoru looked up at him, her eyes sparkling.
"It's time," Kenshin said, standing up, looking straight forward, "to do a favor I should have done a long time ago to a girl I caused to suffer twelve years ago…" Kenshin's eyes narrowed, "to reunite her with her family."
Kenshin took his stance. Kaoru stood up, and mimicked him, copying the exact same move.
Yuki looked at the two pair of eyes, full of calm and consent.
"You will die, and I will get my justice!" Yuki screamed at them, and rushed at them. Kenshin and Kaoru sprung up at the same time, in perfect unison, disappearing from the naked eye.
"Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki!" They screamed, as they came in contact together. A strong wind erupted before them, rendering them motionless.
Except for Yuki, who, right before her strike, released her handles, and spun away from the wind of paralysis, allowing her freedom of motion. After her revolution, she gripped both swords again and made an X.
"It's time for Justice!" Suddenly, everything went black for her.
Hiko Seijiro stood behind her, holding a Kodachi impaled through her heart, "It's time to finally let go, Mirami, Shiai." He said, to her, "Justice has been served."
Kenshin and Kaoru watched in horror, as Yuki fell into the snow, truly motionless, as the effect of the clash between the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki began to wear away from their bodies.
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3 months later…
Kenshin looked at the Hadoyaka na Onna, the Fountain of the naked woman. The sky was blue, and the weather was good. There were hardly any days like these anymore. But today was different. The clouds had cleared, and he felt relaxed.
All of his friends had fully recovered that day. Sano was the last one, actually, but he was able to receive special treatment from Miss Megumi, so that was expected that he would survive the battle.
Kenshin continued to stare at the Hadoyaka na Onna, marveling at the sculpture as if it were invaluable. Hiko Seijiro was beside him, looking at it with him.
"She's gone…" Kenshin finally said.
"She's finally resting…" Hiko said, "I assume you're looking at this fountain as if it were her grave."
"The day before we found out about the incident in Yamasaki…" He told him, "I had a dream, that I was the battousai. I dreamt that I reverted to being the battousai." He paused, "But I realize now that I was wrong. I wasn't dreaming about being the battousai again. I was dreaming about the past."
"What were you dreaming about, then?"
"About her…" he looked at the Onna, "I dreamt that I killed her."
"You didn't." Hiko said, calmly, "She killed herself, by trying to get revenge on you. It destroyed her."
Kenshin nodded.
"You truly are an idiot, aren't you?" he suddenly said.
"Huh?!" Kenshin's eyes widened. Hiko grinned.
"You think too much about the past. It's over with already." His grin was still smacked on his face, but he was looking at Kaoru, a couple feet away from them, "You've found yourself a home. Live."
Kaoru faced them, and smiled.
Kenshin closed his eyes, "Thank you… I will… Master…"
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Kenshin Ending Theme Song…