A/N: Lots of plot twists! Read carefully or you might get lost.
They sat in a large circle, all eight of them, just looking at each other, waiting for someone to speak up first. It seemed as though they were off into pairs. Aoshi and Misao. Saitou and Tokio. Sano and Megumi. Kenshin and Kaoru.
Misao looked at everyone. Why wasn't anyone saying anything? She elbowed Aoshi slightly, whisphering to him, "Tell me what the prophesy is."
Aoshi cleared his throat, giving Kenshin a look that prompted him to explain.
"The prophesy, as most of you know, is something which completely undermines us all." The others nodded, silently agreeing. "For Misao-dono, who may not know yet," he continued, locking eyes with Misao, "the prophesy says that Tomoe can only be destroyed of one born of a man."
"Born of a man!" she cried. "No one is born of a man!" She heaved a large sigh, "This is hopeless."
"Not necessarily, Weasel. Any of you ever read Shakepeare's Macbeth?" A few confused looks around the room were enough to tell Saitou that nobody knew anything anymore.
"I have." said the voice next to him. "Macbeth receives a prophesy from the three witches," Tokio explained. "It was that no one born of a woman could kill him. So he wasn't afraid to fight anyone, because he knew that everyone was born of a woman. Thus, no one could win in battle with him."
"But Macduff, who was very loyal to the previous king, Duncan, set out to kill him in battle." Saitou continued. "Macbeth tells him that no one born of a woman can beat him. Macduff replies saying that he was ripped out of his mother's womb early."
"So Macduff wasn't born of a woman?" Misao questioned.
"Exactly."
"A loop hole, then." Megumi supplied. "Not literally born of man, figuratively."
"How is that supposed to work, though?" Kaoru asked. "It's not like we can just put up a 'WANTED' sign for someone born of a man. It could takes years to find someone!"
"How do we know that person is not among us right now?" Aoshi finally spoke up.
"One of us?" Sano 'tsk'ed. "Like the odds are in our favor."
"Is it even possible?" Misao asked quietly. "That one of us could be the Chosen One? There's only eight of us. How are we supposed to know if we were born of a man figuratively? And how would that work anyway?"
"Well," Tokio started, "we all had normal births, no?" She recieved affirmative answers. "Is there anyone who has, perhaps, experienced some sort of a rebirth? That suddenly your life is completely different because of a man?"
"I have another question." Misao said. "Wasn't Tomoe already dead, how was she killed before? Why can't we just kill her the same way? And what does she want anyway?"
"Well, first of all, destroying and killing are two different matters. Killing is destroying the body, the spirit still lives one. Destroying, however, is when everything is gone. Body, spirit, soul, nothing is left behind." Kenshin explained.
"As for what Tomoe is seeking, I have no answer."
"Well?" Tokio prompted, "is there any one of you who have experience a rebirth because of a man?"
"Umm..." Misao raised a timid hand. "I guess you could sort of call it a rebirth."
"You?"
"Well, I can't say for sure if it was a rebirth, but it felt like one. I remembered everything from my past and understood almost everything that I needed to."
"Wonderful!" Tokio exclaimed.
"We'll start training immediately, then." Aoshi said.
"Training?!" she squeaked.
"Aoshi will teach you kempo, Kenshin will teach you how to use ki to your advantage, Sanosuke will teach you the art of streetfighting, Kaoru will teach you Kamiya Kasshin Ryou, Megumi will teach you how to treat and cure wounds and I will improve on your swordsmanship." Saitou said, dictating everyone's roles.
"And I," Tokio said, "will show you how to mix drinks to relax." She winked.
"Ooh! What kind of drinks?"
"You name it, I make it."
"Awesome!"
Their current situation could be described as the calm before the storm. When everyone is in good spirits, foolishly forgetting the problem at hand.
# to be continued #
A/N: Yay for my English class. Otherwise, I would have never gotten an idea for the prophecy. What will Misao's training be like? Unique Purple Starfish had to skip her turn so…
Xxxxxx Lebleuphenix - Your Turn xxxxxX