Everything Purple
violetjewelz

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters associated with the great manga/anime. Wish I did, though ... that would be quite nice, really!

Chapter 5: Alone Again

"Your life is mine," the Battousai said, breaking the silence with his emotionless tone, as if he was merely stating a fact. Though to him, maybe it was just a fact.

"You say that as if you're sure of the outcome," Hajami muttered, gritting his teeth in anger.

"I am," the cold reply came from the Battousai.

"Well so am I," Hajami told him. "But I'm not the one who will be sitting in a pool of blood."

"You might be correct there."

This startled Hajami. He wasn't expecting the manslayer to say that. "What?"

"After beheading you, you'll be lying in a pool of blood. Not sitting."

Even though Kaoru was more scared and frightened than she had ever been in her whole life, she was pissed at the Battousai's words. She ran up to him and glared straight at his face. "Don't underestimate Hajami. He's been training for weeks to fight you," she said, rather pathetically.

The assassin looked at the girl, vexed. "You again?" He sighed. "I've always completed my assassinations and I don't intend to let him break that record." His eyes then trailed over Kaoru's body which in turn caused Kaoru to blush profoundly. He looked up at her eyes and she noticed his eyes turned an even deeper amber. Kaoru knew this expression and immediately wished she wasn't so ... naked. His eyes burned with desire and she knew that he was trying his best not to do anything he might regret later.

When he talked again, his voice was lower and he spoke huskily. "Also, I highly suggest if you're going to be watching Hajami die then you wear something else." Battousai tried to think of what words to use for his next sentence before continuing. "I'm sure you don't want to get his blood all over your... umm ... lovely lingerie."

Kaoru would've liked to slap him right there, but figured now wasn't her golden opportunity so she bounded up the stairs and once at the top, she shouted down, "You better not start until I get down there or I'll kill you BOTH!"

She thought that she could hear a snicker from below as a reply was supplied, "That'll be the day."

Kaoru ignored the comment and dashed into her room, changing into a more decent outfit. She took out a white tank top with purple lettering that read Ohio State University and purple sweatpants.

(A/N: I know that OSU's colors are red and white. Please give me a break here, peeps. Her favorite color is purple and so she can't wear an outfit without purple! Oh, and any OSU fans who are offended by this: get over it. I'm an OSU fan and I'm going there for college, so don't send me hate mail! Thank you!!!)

As quickly as she could, she reached the first floor of the building, where the tavern and the fighting was. Much to Kaoru's annoyance the fighting had already started.

Hajami blocked the Battousai's first few swings, but on the assassin's fourth move, Hajami was only able to sidestep the attack, the sword's blade grazing his shoulder, drawing a few drops of blood. He cringed, but otherwise did nothing, intent upon achieving his goal of killing the legendary Battousai.

The Battousai once again swiftly swung his sword at Hajami, gracefulness showing in his every move. But Hajami saw all his moves before he could execute them and he was able to block all of the assassin's moves. Battousai tried several techniques on him, but each one failed. Hajami had not only trained, but he had also researched the Battousai and his Hiten Misturugi-Ryu sword fighting style and he knew pretty much all there was to it.

Now Hajami decided that he should take the offensive and immediately leapt at the assassin. "Foolish," the manslayer mumbled before making his move. The red-haired swordsman rushed at the blonde-haired one and jumped up into the air mere centimeters from Hajami.

All was quiet and both Kaoru and Hajami believed the Battousai had disappeared or fled or something along the lines of that. "Wonder whe--" Kaoru began, but immediately stopped her words when she saw the manslayer a few meters above Hajami's head. "HAJAMI!" She shouted at her brother-like figure, trying to warn him, but she was too late.

In front of her eyes, Hajami crumbled into a heap onto the floor after Battousai had brought his katana hard onto Hajami's skull, the cracking of it reverberating throughout the entire tavern. Amazingly, this didn't kill Hajami and about a minute after his fall, he tried to stand up, wanting to still fight the swordsman.

Kaoru was at his side in seconds and with her help, he was able to stand again. "Mother always did say I had a thick head," he jested weakly, trying to laugh at his own joke.

"Hajami we have to get you to a doctor. You can't fight anymore," Kaoru tried to reason with him.

"I can't let you do that," the Battousai's cruel voice made her freeze, her face now struck with fear. "I'm here to kill him and that's just what I'm going to do."

Kaoru frowned. She obviously wasn't going to be able to ask Battousai to leave. Well she could, but he would say no, so there was no point in that. Desperation and panic the only the two things running through her mind at the time, Kaoru did the first thing that came to her.

She stood in front of Hajami with her arms spread wide open. "I'm sorry, but I can't just let you go and kill him. Not while I'm alive."

Kaoru's statement did nothing to halt the Battousai from coming towards the two. "Then I'll just have to kill you. Such a shame, though," he mused, "to let someone with such beauty and youth die." His voice then hardened and his voice deepened. "But you're also full of incompetence and ineptness. Someone as stupid as you doesn't deserve to live."

"STUPID?!! And just WHAT THE HELL makes you think that?!" Kaoru screamed at him, her voice and eyes full of rage.

"Only the fact that you're willing to die for someone you met only about a month ago."

"I'm afraid that your mixing up stupidity with fondness." Kaoru then realized her mistake at her choice of words. "But then again I wouldn't expect a cold-hearted bastard such as yourself to know that emotion," Kaoru said. She then added, "Or suppose you do. Yes, you do know that emotion. I'm sure that you're truly fond of killing innocent people. You probably relish the chance at killing somebody. When you see a shooting star, instead of wishing for world peace or to end world hunger like any normal person does, you wish that you'll receive a new assassination assignment the next morning."

Within seconds, Kaoru was reacquainted with another wall for the first time since she had met this violent man before her. His calloused hand was squeezing her neck and her windpipes were caught off from her needed oxygen. "Just because I kill people doesn't mean I enjoy it." He released her and she fell to the ground, massaging her neck. "I like killing about as much as you like menstruating."

Kaoru was shocked that an assassin would know about women and their ... cycle. "B-but we women have no choice on whether or not we have our menstrual cycle."

"That's exactly my point," the Battousai explained. "We assassins have no choice on whether or not we kill." The manslayer turned his back towards her. "As they all say: Once an assassin, always an assassin."

"That's bullshit. You're joshing, right?" The assassin raised an eyebrow and she continued. "You're the only one who controls your future. If you don't want to do something, then you don't have to do it. And if you don't want to be something, then you don't have to be it. Only you can chose your destiny and what becomes of you. Only you have that power."

"That sure is a lot of wisdom coming from one as young as you."

"You'd be surprised how young some of the Nobel Peace Prize winners are."

"The Nobel what?"

"Nevermind." Kaoru let it go and proceeded to talk. "If you don't want to be an assassin then drop your sword and walk away from the horrible life that comes with being one."

Kaoru saw the Battousai move the sword in his hold, trying to think of his next move. He loosened his grip on the hilt and she thought for sure he was going to drop it, but he only tightened his hand on it once again. He moved away from her and towards Hajami, who was now gasping from the pain in his head. She ran after him and took his free arm. "W-what are you doing?! I thought you didn't want to be an assassin!"

The Battousai pried her arm off of his and spoke directly to her. "It's not as easy as you speak to walk away from a life that is as horrendous and complicated as that of an assassin."

He raised his sword above his head and charged at Hajami. "THIS IS OVER!!" Battousai yelled out, and, in only one swift movement, he severed Hajami's head from his body, ending his life quickly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Kaoru screamed, her voice filled with anguish and pain. She ran over to Hajami and hugged his acephalous body, her cries racking with sobs. Normally she would be disgusted by a decapitated body, but he was a brother to her and her feelings of grief and sorrow overtook that of disgust.

Kaoru now turned towards the Battousai only to see his retreating back in her blurry vision. Full of anger, hatred, abhorrence, abomination, detestation and execration of the manslayer, she sprinted over to the bar where she found a neglected knife that had probably been used to cut someone's potato a day or so earlier. With speed comparable to that of Jesse Owens or Wilma Rudolph, she was in front of the Battousai. With force comparable to that of Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray, she threw back her arm, and, before Battousai could even react, she stabbed him in his upper right shoulder.

When he finally could, all he did was seize the knife forcefully out of her hand and throw it across the tavern. He didn't even flinch or cringe from the probable pain the wound had caused.

The manslayer didn't cease to surprise Kaoru when he did nothing else and continued his way out of the tavern. Regaining her senses, she followed him. "W-why didn't you kill me? Or hurt me at least? I mean I did hurt you, after all."

The Battousai didn't bother to even look at her or stop. "It only makes sense that you would want to inflict pain upon the one who killed someone close to you. It happens all the time to me, though no one is usually successful." He decided to stop and held eye contact with Kaoru. "Though it is my job and there was no other choice for me, I am sorry for your loss." Then, with the color of purple imprinted into his mind, he turned and left, leaving Kaoru to stand in the barren street by herself.

Two days later, Hajami's brother arrived at the tavern. It was the same man whom she had seen when she had met Hajami. So he was, like she had guessed, his brother. Unlike his brother, though, he was not benevolent in the least bit and he all but literally kicked her out on the streets.

She had been given only ten minutes to pack all her stuff up and, after showing her the door (as though they didn't know that she had been living there for the past month), asked her to leave and to not come back.

Sitting on the side of the street, Kaoru counted all of her money and noted that she had a total of 100 yen. That could probably get her a room at an inn or a different tavern for about a month. But she would also need food so she could probably only afford a week of shelter and at most, three weeks of food. Maybe not even that.

Kaoru crawled into a fetal position, not caring about getting dirty or the strange looks she was receiving from people passing by and started to cry. Her small crying graduated into a fit of tears which increased until she was bawling enough so that it hurt her insides.

Hajami wasn't with Kaoru anymore. NOBODY was with her. She was all by herself, with no one to care for her, with no one to notice her, and with no one to start up a conversation with her. Kaoru wiped away her tears and sniffled as she realized that she was alone. Once again.

Author's Notes: Took me long enough, but I am finished with the fifth chapter! I know that it's short. INCREDIBLY short, but I'm sorry, I just felt like I had to stop where I did. If I went any further, I was afraid that the feeling of despair that Kaoru now has wouldn't fully sink in. Okay, okay, okay. Maybe not. I'm just trying to make up an excuse for the shortness.

I've decided that I'm going to wait and update until I get a certain amount of reviews. As of now I have 43. I'm trying to decide how many I want before I update again. I would like 55! I'll definitely update with that many, but I am just happy to get 43! So ... I changed my mind. I'll update if you give me 50. That's only seven more. If all you regular reviews review again, then it should be a breeze and I'll be very pleased to start typing up a new chapter to present to you all.

POLL: Okay, yes, before you guys stop reading my notes, I would like to know if you want any lemons in this story. Of course I would change the rating, so it would become R once I wrote those chapter(s). So, if you could please in your review state whether or not you would like a lemon, please feel free to do so! Thank you!!

Anywho, I was wondering, has anyone read the shojo manga, Hot Gimmick by Miki Aihara? So far, it's my favorite shojo manga. The fourth volume was just released on Monday, but I haven't bought it yet. If you haven't read this manga, I don't mean to advertise or anything, but it's AWESOME! And you know how some manga can be so predictable? Well this one sure isn't! In the third volume, there's a HUGE twist and who you thought was the hero or prince charming turns out to ... well ... I'll just have to let you buy it and see what happens!!

On Saturday, my family and I went up to OSU (Ohio State University) which is two hours away, so we had to get up at 5:30am if we wanted to get there in time for the college tour. I'm only a Freshman at high school, but my bro is a Junior so he had to decide where he wants to go soon. I'd be content with OSU, I'll tell you that!

Thanks again guys for all your wonderful reviews! It means a lot to me!! Seriously!!

Review Responses:

Lady Isis: About lemons? In this chapter, you can tell there weren't any. In the next one, I know for sure there won't be any, but if you guys want one, I'll be more than willing to write at least one in the later chapters of this story.

kenshin's-angel: Thanks again for your wonderful compliments! Yeah, I suppose it's hard to picture her in a bra. Especially a lavender-colored, lacy one!

Bloody Akiko Nagi the Insane: I'm glad it's not too violent, though with the beheading in this chapter, your opinion might have changed! Bloody and graphic wise I'm sure it won't get any worse, do don't worry!

Brittanie Love: Awesome! I'm pleased you liked my last chapter! Do you like this one?

I DO NOT OWN DBZ: Your welcome for the CBP! I love handing them out!! Anywho, I can't believe I'm a favorite author for somebody! And to be their second too! I'd give you another CBP, but you already have one! LOL! :-) Oh, and my sympathies for the loss of your rabbit. :'(

kaoru gal: Glad you liked it!

KenKao4eva: Sorry for the cliffy! It was just so tempting so, of course, I had to use it! This chapter wasn't a cliffy, though, so hopefully you're happy! Also, you were right! He IS out to kill someone. Don't worry, I don't know how that sounds wrong or anything, so no need to fear! I really wish Battousai-sama didn't have to kill Hajami, though. When I first wrote the story, Hajami was just a character that I needed so that Kaoru could have a place to stay and so that there would be a target for the Battousai. I definitely didn't plan in making a brother/sister-like relationship between the two. It just seemed to grow so I used it. I'll miss Hajami.

- violetjewelz