Disclaimer: All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong toNobuhiro Watsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated
parties. The characters of this series are used without his
permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of
fiction is not meant for sale or profit.

Comments are greatly appreciated!
Notes:
The title means "Future's Promise" in Japanese. . . . . All the
characters I create belong to me.
Japanese Names:
(Sagara) Yuukiko the characters of Brave + Child
(Myoujin) Kakushin Core/Heart
(Seta) Yuunosuke The character for Brave + nosuke .
(Niitsu) Keiko Graceful + Child
(Same name as Megumi and Sano's youngest in RK: A New Era)
(Kamiya) Nozomi Character for Hope
(Yamamoto) Akira Character for Light
(Sagara) Mai - written as Truth and Only
(Sagara) Sou - written as Concept/Idea
(Sagara) Fumi - written as Sorcerer and Beauty.
(Myoujin) Yutaro - written as A Reason, Many, Sons

"He has her." Akira was pale, dried blood stained the side of his mouth and streaked his forehead along with purpling bruises. After regaining consciousness, Akira called from a nearby phone, just in case the attacker had headed to the dojo. His eyes darted wildly towards the darkness. Yuukiko wanted to hold him, to somehow stop the shaking, but she could feel the tremors running through her own body. She swallowed as guilt ate at her.

"This is my fault. He is looking for me," Yuukiko whispered. "He won't hurt Nozomi if I give myself up."

"Che. You'll just be playing into his hands, girl." Rei said quietly. "We have to have a plan before we go charging in. You'll just end up killing yourself with that kind of stupidity. I don't think you want to make everyone that loves you go through that again."

"I agree with Rei," Rui said quietly. Rui and Aya sat together. For a second time in the same night, all of them were together. Almost all of us.

"We don't even know what he wants or where he is," Aya stated sharply. Her hand shook as she pushed her hair behind her ears.

"I need to think," Yuukiko said shakily. She stood up and looked at her friends. She looked towards Kakushin, her eyes pleading. "I… I need to be alone for little while. Please, all of you stay here. We need to figure this out tonight." Before it's too late. But that thought was left unspoken. No one wanted to give voice to their greatest fear.

"I'll call Takeshi again. He should have a profile. We might be able to out think him," Fumi said, reaching for the phone. As a Tokyo operative for Interpol, Takeshi enough contacts to the information.

"Kakushin." His grandfather walked towards him. "I think it's time that you all told me what's going on here. That little girl is missing."

"Ojii-chan…" His grandfather's eye narrowed stubbornly and he knew he had not choice but to tell him the truth.

Yuunosuke turned towards the elderly man. "Che. You wouldn't believe it if we told you, old man." Yuunosuke smirked, thumbing a knife hidden at his side. "But if I were to give you a little demonstration, you might." He whipped the dagger from it sheath and threw it toward Yuukiko. Her only warning was the whispering soft, deadly sound of metal cutting through air. She seemed to move like water. Her body swayed gracefully, her hand reached to grab the spinning knife by the handle before it could touch her. The older man's eyes widened in shock, his soft gasp the only sound that broke the silence of the room.

"As you can see, we aren't quite normal, Ojii-chan," Kakushin said quietly. "And you and Obaa-chan are in danger. We'll have to increase protection around the dojo. And we'll get Nozomi back. We'll find her, Yuukiko," he said firmly. His old-soul eyes seemed even darker. Yuukiko drew strength from him; he calmed her as no one else could.

"I know, Kakushin. He's going to pay this time." She walked towards the shoji doors and stared out into the night. Nozomi was out there. He was out there. She had plans to make.

"She is very strong, Kakushin," Rei stated quietly. They both looked towards Yuukiko's slim form. To Kakushin, she looked more delicate. She's lost weight….

"I know, but this could break her." If. He remembered the Battousai dream that shook her in the night. "Nozomi is very important to her. That bastard is playing a dangerous game."

Life. The quiet beating of one's heart. The snapping synapses of thought. The steamy expulsions of breathe before the cool intake of air. Really, it was so easy to snuff that bright light out. Life was so delicate. Fragile. He could see the fear radiating from her skin, quivering in the air with her every breath. So easy. So easy.

He shook need. Slowly, slowly he unclenched his fingers, ignoring at the red crescent marks on his palms. The dark shadows only emphasized her pale skin. Her face still had the in between look – not a child, but not quite an adult. But she was his ultimate goal. And she would come. He savored the wait. At last, he would know perfection. His beautiful Aiko.

A millennia of waiting would come to a head tonight. He controlled destiny. He felt the power at his fingertips. They danced to his tune, the fools. Tonight, she would come to him. He would spread her out and feast as he broke her to his will. She was his to do with as he wished. Just like the whimpering child before him.

He willed her to remember. The past often clouded his mind. Sometimes he felt himself slipping. But he had much more control than to let that happen. He chuckled to himself. No, no. With the purity of this connection between them she had to know. He willed her to know. He felt as if she touched his soul, reading his thoughts now.

So little time….

He hummed in anticipation.

Tonight….

Kakushin slowly unclenched his fists. He should have caught the pain in Yuukiko's voice. He knew her better than anyone. Yuukiko was about to do something desperate. Something dangerous. Something stupid!

Hell, she even said it out loud. Rash and unplanned! She will get herself killed.

His heart stopped at the thought. After all this time, he could not lose her again. Dammit.

Distracted as he was with planning their next course of action with Rei and the others, he stupidly interpreted her silence as shock. The emotion that was boiling beneath the surface was not simple upset. She was planning something. As the others mapped out revised plans, dread crossed his heart. As if he could feel the chaos in her thoughts, he paced restlessly across the room. Finally, looking up towards the stairwell to the living quarters, Kakushin excused himself from the meeting. Yuukiko's aunt looked at him with sharp eyes, a look of dread crossed her face. He didn't turn around to check if she followed him.

He couldn't even feign surprise when he opened the door to find her missing. If anything, her recklessness was part of her nature. It just never was this reckless before.

"She's gone isn't she?" Fumi's voice came softly from behind him. He turned around at the sound of her voice. She stood in the doorway, her face so pale she looked bloodless. He nodded, watching her swallow her panic.

"Yes. She's going after him. She's going to take Nozomi back. No matter what. She can't be stupid enough not to leave some sort of note." Kakushin cursed under his breath as he scanned the room any signs of where she was headed. It occurred to him that she may be trying to protect them all. His stomach clenched at the thought of her in the hands of that lunatic.

"Alone." It was a statement. Fumi's stark words seem to hang in the air. She took a steadying breath.

"Alone…. When I catch up with her, I'm going to lock her up and throw away the key to keep her safe from her harebrained ideas. Dammit! She has no right to risk her life like this."

"She's not thinking straight. We have to find her." Her eyes scanned the room looking for any clues. "Do you see anything out of place?"

The weight of all his past lives pushed down on him. Everything that was in him rebelled at the thought of their love being in such danger. His eyes widened as he noticed one book on his shelf slightly pulled forward. It was a history of Tokyo. With trembling hands, he reached for the book. At a touch, the book warmed in his hands, almost alive with heat. In his mind's eye, he felt her presence and knew what to do.

It was time to prepare for war.


Battousai.

She paused, blending into the shadows. She sucked in a shaky breath, willing her body to be silent. Her heart thudded, the rhythm thundering in her ears.

Power lingered in the air. Yuukiko felt it within her struggling to get out. She didn't understand. Impossible. The power of him lingered in the air. She could feel the coldness of him, the determination, as if he were with her. Maybe he was. How can that be? What is happening to me?

Most dangerous of all: the calculating power was comforting. It teased her, as if offering to let her slip the deadly power on. Her heart slowed. The pulsing power of it was just within reach. It would be so easy to take it, to use it and destroy the bastard who had wrought so much evil.

She shoved those thoughts down. That path was dangerous. It was too easy to lose control. Wasn't it enough she came here without the others? Dammit, I didn't even leave a note. Yuukiko knew that this was definitely not the smartest move she had ever made, but staying back at home seemed criminal. Yet the temptation lay before her. The cold chill of power grew warmer as if sensing the state of her resistance.

Nozomi had to be scared out of her mind. And Akira. His eyes were bright with fear and panic. He swallowed both down desperately, reaching out to Kakushin and Rei for support, pushing past the panic to make sure they had every possible detail that save his Nozumi.

But deep inside, Yuukiko had seen the ending. In every vision, blood was spilled. Too many lifetimes to count. This was the last one, the final chance. And the Battousai within her urged her to make it count and to make sure that she stood alive in the end.

Where would he go? Where would that bastard go to wait for her? She wracked her brain for the answer. She mentally flipped through lifetimes, considering the different ways she had died. He favored the cover of darkness. If that was not available, he would sneak from behind, from above. Surprise was his ally.

But this time, Yuukiko was prepared. After so many lifetimes, she knew there was no time to hesitate. If she needed to, she felt prepared to spill blood. The gift of death. She turned towards Kokusai Elementary School. He was there. She knew it in her bones. The sounds of the night masked her movement as she exhaled and embraced the power. Every weapon must be utilized to end this. There was no other option.


The darkness around him seemed to pulse with a heartbeat. The night air shifted and the darkness overcame him. He blinked, suddenly aware that he stood outside of the dojo. How?

Hakubai-kou. That scent. It lingered all about. How?

"Kenshin. You're him, aren't you?" He spun around to face the voice. A pale girl stood in the shadows. She was beautiful. She smiled softly, pushing her short locks away from her face. It tufted about her face like a crown of cowlicks. She slowly walked towards him, smiling.

"What?" He stiffened as she came closer. A voice in his head whispered not to trust any stranger. He mentally took inventory of what he had on him. A pen? Well, he could work with that. I mean, he had been an assassin, right? He shifted his weight and waited for her next move. "Who are you?"

She couldn't help but smile wider, delighting in the sight of him. His voice was gruff, this young man. But softer than the Battousai she remembered from her dreams. Back then, his eyes had held harshness. So much pain in those old, old eyes. This life was much kinder to him. She just needed to make sure that it would stay that way. She felt the call between them all. Tonight, she would help him.

"Nothing stays the same. Yet it does," she said calmly. She reached towards his face, and traced where the scar marred it in her dreams. He pulled back with soft grunt, blocking her hand from coming near his face again. She smiled again. If time wasn't of the essence, she might have enjoyed teasing him.

"We are different people, yet basically the same inside. I'm here to help you." She laughed softly at the look of surprise on his face. He knew. Knew who she was, had been to him. "What did you think this was about? Getting you back?"

"Listen... Err," he looked uncomfortable.

"Hitomi," she laughed.

"Hitomi, you...I…" He fumbled for something to say. She was a vision, literally. She seemed to shimmer in his mind's eye.

"You need help. Time is growing short. He is after her. It's not your school chum that you should be worried about..."

"Ken wasn't-"

"He wanted her. You know, many men do and will always. For hundreds of years, the cycle has trapped your souls. For some reason, your Kaoruyour Yuukiko has been reincarnating over and over only to die after finding love. To have everything, but to loose it all before she can be truly happy.

"There is a web of fate that binds all of us. Your soul mate has been ripped from you in every life. You just remember the last one more than the rest. Maybe it is better that way. This time, though..." Hitomi's face hardened with determination. "This time, I'm not letting it happen again. He won't get her again. This ends tonight. I'm here to make amends. You deserve to have your love."

"You have yours? Your soul mate?" Her face changed in the moonlight, glowed. Her smile lit her from within. He had never seen her smile like that.

"Oh yes. But I have to pay a debt. To you and to her. To finish the circle and to end the madness. Let me help you." She reached out and touched his face. He felt his mind seize up, light burning through his brain, forcing him out of his vision. He dropped the book, watching it fall as if captured in slow-motion. He fought to keep his eyes opened, but it was impossible. His vision faded and his mind turned blank and silence enveloped him.

As if someone turned on a switch, images flashed in his mind. People, places, names. He shuddered, letting the knowledge fill his mind. His eyes burned as he opened them. Time was running out. Then he knew. The history book lay opened on the ground, the page opening to a map. Right by the river. Rushing water. A bridge. Darkness. There. A building, fenced in. Kokusai Elementary. The vision in his mind seared him. Aiko. His beloved, covered with blood. Still warm. Kaoru. The same…. The same…

A chill ran up his spine, he raced inside to tell the others and prayed that he was right.

It had to be an elementary school. Backdrop of hundreds of tales of horror, a dark and empty school house was just the ingredients for a good Japanese horror flick. She shivered when she thought of all of the ghost stories people told about old schools. She shuddered with self-induced fear. Dammit, she had enough to worry about without thinking of dead students. Anyway, those are just stupid stories!

She moved quietly, pressing into the darkness. The school lights flickered on and off. She counted the movement, watching carefully for a pattern. Darkness swept across the school as the lights began to turn off, section by section. From the corner of her eye, she caught the slightest movement. She spun around, melting into the shadows even more. The figure hesitated, then started in towards the area where she had just been standing moments before. She recognized him. Ken. Either he was a part of this, or just stupid. God, let him be stupid.

Gripping her kodachi against her side, she called out to him. "Ken, what are you doing here?"

"Yuukiko. I followed you." He frowned and moved towards her. "What are you doing out so late? Why aren't you with Kakushin?" He sneered the last bit. "I didn't see him with you."

"You were watching me? Followed me? Um, you know, lots of people would consider that…stalking." Yuukiko reached behind her. The small sheathed kodachi lay hidden against her black pants. She definitely was having a bad feeling about all of this. Something inside her urged her to move. Not a good time for confrontation. She needed to get to Nozomi.

She drew the sword quickly, dancing around Ken so fast he only had time to gape before she had the blade at his throat. "Where is she, you son of a bitch?"

"What? Dammit Yuukiko. All you have to say is that you aren't interested and I'll back off."

"OK. I'm not interested. Nozomi. Where is she? Who are you working with?"

"I don't know what the fuck you are talking about. I just wanted to ask you out." She heard the note of sincerity in his voice. His body trembled beneath the short sword. She felt the air move and she twisted out of the way as she shouted a warning. It was too late.

"Yuukiko. Crap." Blood flowed out, staining the floor crimson. She gripped her small sword firmly, looking around at the shadows. Ken staggered, falling on the ground. His side pierced by an arrow.

"Ken. Save your breath. Calm down. You have your cell phone?" Of course he did. Everyone had a cell phone in Japan. "We have to call the paramedics." Ken's face was white with pain. His eyes bulged as he gasped. "Dammit! We need to get away from—" But she knew it was too late. If he was close enough to shoot Ken, he'd be close enough to attack her.

"Yuukiko, behind you." Then the world went black.


Rui and Aya were dressed in black when he entered the dojo. Aya's hair was pulled back. She examined a small shuruken and pocked the ninja star in a small leather pouch that blended in with her outfit.

"You aren't coming. I don't know why you are even getting ready," Rui growled.

Aya glared back mutinously. "Oh, I'm going. You can't stop me. Yuukiko is in trouble and I'm not going to stay behind while the 'Men' go off to fight."

He turned his attention to Kakushin. "Tell her she's not coming, Kakushin."

"Um. I've a policy about getting in the middle of these things, Rui. I don't do it." He grinned briefly. "The good news is, I think I know where she is."

"Yeah?" Aya asked, hope flaring in her eyes.

"Let's just say that I had a vision." Keiko and Yuunosuke came in, both geared up and dressed in loose fitting clothing. "Hm, looks like everyone is in? How is Akira?"

Keiko frowned. "He's asleep. He wanted to come. I, uh, slipped something in his drink to let him sleep. I don't think he would be much help. And we really don't know what the situation is going to be." She couldn't give voice the worst possibility, as if saying it out loud may make it true.

"Besides you are all going to need some one of authority to clean up this mess," said Fumi firmly.

"Fumi may dress like a school girl, but I think between the two of us we have enough connections to, um, straighten things out," Rei smirked. He stood close to Yuukiko's aunt and absorbed her glare without blinking.

Kakushin picked up his katana and after examining the blade, sheathed it with a soft click. The sound echoed in his memories. He gripped the sword firmly and turned to his friends. "Let's go."


Her mind felt like taffy. Forcing herself to focus, she mentally checked for injuries. The bastard cold cocked her from behind. Her head throbbed dully. Swallowing to moisten her dried throat, she opened her eyes slightly. Maybe the bastard thought he hit her hard enough. He neglected to tie her. Stupid of him really. Instead, she lay on a filthy mat, on her side.

She took in the room carefully, making sure not to move. Nozomi lay across from her, curled in a ball. Yuukiko's heart pounded, shuttering with fear. I'm too late. But with a shaky breath she realized Nozomi lived. Nozomi's small arms were raw and marked with bruises, but her chest moved with breath. Yuukiko bit the inside of her cheek, fighting down any reaction.

"Stop playing dead. I can tell you are awake." His voice sounded familiar to her. And close.

She moved slowly, turning to face him, but his face lay in shadows. "Let her go. She doesn't have anything to do with this."

"This mouse? No. She's nothing. I could kill her. Then her eyes would stop staring at me." He moved towards Nozomi. "Maybe I should just cut them out. That way they wouldn't be staring at me while I play with her."

Yuukiko tensed at his words. She thought frantically to distract him. He had appropriated an old storage room. Think, think, think. Anything can be a weapon. Anything. Keep him distracted. Then kill him. "Let her go. You can have me to play with. To do what you want to. Isn't that what you want?"

Cleaning supplies, chemicals. Okay. Brooms, mops... Wait, their handles. Perfect. She could fight with a bokken and a mop handle would be close enough.

"If I kill her, it would hurt you," he reasoned. She could feel his eyes watching her.

"No. If you kill her, the game ends. I will destroy you," she whispered. Nozomi. She had to protect her. Her eyes scanned the room for her kodachi, but he must have hidden it somewhere. "This will end with you dead and all the demons in hell will have a party as they plan out all the suffering you will have to endure for everything you have done. For every death, you bastard."

"Deaths? Those worthless bitches. They were all for you, Yuukiko. All the pretty girls… they were practice for you. I knew I had to perfect my skills for you. My angel. You were supposed to be so pure. But instead, you whored yourself for that boy. I saw you. Watched you."

"I don't know what you saw, but I'm still pure. Let that mouse go. You don't need the practice anymore. You have me. The real thing."

"I don't think so. Maybe I can have both of you. Just like I had your mother." His laughter felt filthy in the darkness. Anger flared in her at his words, but she fought it down. Think. Think. Think.

The light above her flickered. One light source. The high windows of the room barely let in any light. No moon. No stars. The world was black. Before he could move, she reached out for a mop. Her hands moved, gripping the pole and forcing it up to the bulb, plunging them into blackness.

He was as blind as her in the murk. She could hear his breath punctured by Nozomi's soft sobs. She was going to cut out his heart and feed it to him.

"Oh, I don't think so. I don't do threesomes." Yuukiko whipped the mop around, letting her senses feel for him. Evil. This time, she would be the one to end it. Even if she had to embrace the darkness. She would sacrifice it all to protect the ones she loved. Her hand ached for her kodachi. She heard a rustle to the left of her, beyond Nozomi's breaths.

Battousai.

Adrenaline pumped through her body, but she felt oddly calm. She spoke clearly to Nozomi in the darkness. "Nozomi. Get down and stay down. Under something. Now."

He was going to pay.

The school was dark. No lights at all broke the shadows. This is not good. Kakushin fought to think, swallowing the panic. Yuukiko was in major trouble. A whole school in darkness? In the middle of Tokyo? Since none of the other buildings on the block looked to be effected by any brown out, it was obvious something was going on.

"Rui. Do you smell that?" Aya asked softly, her voice barely a whisper on the wind. "Blood."

Rui cursed. "Everyone stay back. I'll check things out first." Without waiting for confirmation, he ran forward and melted into the darkness.

"Of all the pig headed, stubborn…." Aya grumbled. "So I can't go into danger, but he just went off into a bad situation without and back up. This is how horror movies end badly." Then remembering her best friend's actions added, "That goes for you, too, Yuukiko."

"You better write it down to tell that to her face, girl." Yuunosuke hoarsely groused back. "I'm sure she'll appreciate a good 'I-told-you-so' after all of this."

"Shh." Kakushin listened intently as a soft bird call sounded again. Rui. "Let's go."

They entered slowly, the darkness masking their movements. The smell of blood was definitely in the air. Rui's form seem to grow from the shadows, taking shape out of nothing.

"Damn, you're good at that," Yuunosuke blurted. Aya elbowed him, shushing him.

"It's not Yuukiko. It's Ken. He's alive, but barely. Can Keiko look at him? We need to call an ambulance and they can not use sirens. That will just alert him that we are here. With Yuukiko and Nozomi in his hands, we can't risk that."

"Wait, how do you know she's with him?" Aya whispered.

"I found this." He pulled out the sheath for a short blade. One to fit a kodachi.

"Dammit. We need to find her now. Everyone split up. Yuunosuke, stay with Keiko. Protect her. Keiko needs to help Ken. Aya. Rui. You two go that way." Kakushin pointed to the east wing of the school. "I'll go west. Rei and Fumi will go towards the back. Fumi, can you please call for help? I know we might get in trouble here, but I don't think there is any choice anymore. I have a feeling, this is not going to be pretty."

"hm. You sure like to give orders. Lucky for you I agree with them." Rei smiled briefly in the darkness. "No time to waste. Let's go."

"Takeshi is not answering his phone. I have to try someone else on the case." Fumi pulled out her cell phone, searching through the directory for a name. "Yamato-san. Yes. I'm at Kokusai Elementary School. Ueno district. By the river. There's been a break in the case. I don't have time to explain, but we need an ambulance here – without sirens. My niece and her friend have been kidnapped." Her voice faded into the darkness as Kakushin walked towards the other wing. He assumed Fumi would withhold any details too strange for public consumption. His instincts were telling him that time was running out.


Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. She concentrated on listening. Nozumi had stifled her sobs, as if reading her mind that quiet was of the essence. She twisted the head off the mop, throwing it to the left, causing bottles to topple. She heard movement, the light tapping of feet as he rushed towards the bottles to attack. She swung the mop handle, hitting him squarely in the face, the sound of cartilage cracking was deafening.

"You bitch," he mumbled. He sounded as if his nose was stuffed. Maybe it was just all that blood, she thought with satisfaction. She didn't reply to the curse, but waited for his next move. "I'm tired of playing. I was going to savor you. Now, maybe I'll just play with your dead body. It will still be warm for a bit yet."

She heard the soft sound of a blade cutting through air. She moved quickly, dodging his arching slice, her feet gliding smoothly away. She bit back any words, feeling his confusion and frustration. Using the mop as a sword could only get her so far. It caused even more sound than a sword cutting through air. Surprise was the only thing in her favor.

She felt her way across the room, her feet shuffling ahead of her in the darkness. Very lightly, she moved towards him. One strike to the back of the head. Maybe she could kill him. It was not as elegant as a sword, but this was more about survival than aesthetics. She felt the air move on the left of her. Pulling her arm back, she swung, hitting his head again, but he was too close. He used the distance to leverage the mop handle away from her and punching her across the face. His other hand held a blade, she knew. He held her back, pulling her long hair with fierce fingers.

"You are mine. You have always been mine. This time you will stop fighting. Just give in." He pushed forward, the sword cutting through her flesh. He grinned, savoring the moment. Reveling in it. "Of course, before you came, I went over to the dojo. I took care of Kakushin. Oh, he loved the feel of my sword in his body. You know it was the first time I've done that. In all of my lives. To go on and do it to you again while he watches in the beyond. You don't know how good that makes me feel."

Yuukiko elbowed him in the gut, turning around and jabbing her fingers into his eyes. He gasped and loosened his grip on her hair. Before she could free herself, he tightened his hold. Yuukiko closed her eyes, gripping the small kodachi in his hand. Her sword. She knew this weapon from her training. Twisting, she turned around slicing through her hair, slicing his left arm in the process. Her body bent backwards, she kicked him in the face. He pulled back, blood dripping from his left arm.

"Bitch. Your hair." He held the strands as if he would cry, "I love your hair." The room lightened as a door was opened. Nozomi stood in the doorway, but she hesitated. Yuukiko mentally pushed her out the door. Go. Get help! Just don't die.

"Um, I think you have bigger things than my hairstyle." He stared at her, his bloodied figure terrible in the half-light. All he could feel was triumph and greed. She was his. Magnificent.

"You bastard. You killed all of them." She spit the blood out of her mouth. He noticed the way he watched her. He wanted her. His eyes were hungry, even though he hurt her. Yuukiko was not above using it to her advantage. She needed to survive. If her breasts distracted him, she'd flash him. It would make it easier to cut out his heart.

"Yes. Do you want me to describe it." He panted. Takeshi couldn't believe that she was real, in front of him. Breathing. He inhaled the air, sharp with fear and the smell of blood. "The mouse was particularly exciting…. She fought me hard. But, they were only practice. Only practice. I was waiting for you. Only you. I even left your little friend alive. It was all for you. You are the one I want."

"Man, your dreams must truly be fucked up. You never had me in any life. And you are not going to get me in this one." Nozomi… God.

"Shut up." He had felt her flesh in his dreams. The other girls never felt the same. Never smelled the same. She was the only one that could stop the pain.

"You ever wonder why I rather die in each life than be with you, wacko? It's because you are beneath my attention. You are the maggots that eat the trash of the world. You are a roach that won't die. This life is gonna be different." She slammed her foot into he crotch, swinging around and kicking the kodachi away from his reach. He gasped, losing his balance. The kodachi flew in the air, towards the door.

"This time I've adapted. I will exterminate you permanently. You're gone. No one will morn you. In fact, Takeshi… I'm going to dance on your grave." She lifted her hand as if to catch something.

Takeshi stared at the slight girl in front of him. She had no weapon and she thought she was going to beat him? With what? Jedi mind tricks? His eyes widened with surprise as he felt the burning pain lance his belly. The tip of the short blade pieced his abdomen. He blinked, gasping, his hands vainly trying to stanch the blood pouring from his belly. The burning became blinding as the sword moved up, cutting him through.

"You're dead," whispered a voice behind him. The mouse. He had forgotten. Stupid. He fell forward


"Nozomi," she heard herself whisper. "Thank goodness." Takeshi lay unmoving where he had fallen. Yuukiko blinked, the adrenaline that had given her strength suddenly fading. Ken. She had thought it was Ken… No wonder the case never made much headroom. She felt the younger girl's arms grasp her, hugging her close. She swallowed the gasp of pain, knowing she needed to comfort her. It was over. It was over.

"I couldn't… I couldn't let him kill you, Yuukiko." Yuukiko held Nozomi against her as sobs wracked her small frame. "He wasn't going to do it again."

"Shhh… It's over. He's gone." And Kakushin? Is he gone, too?

"Go-Gone?" She sniffed rather noisily. Yuukiko smiled shakily as she wiped the tears from Nozomi's face.

"It's over. We beat him." She hugged the small girl to her tightly. "It's over," she whispered. Darkness began to eat away at her vision. Her last thought was, Fumi would be livid. Takeshi had conned them all.

The light hurt her eyes. She didn't want to open them quite yet, fighting to remain in peace. Returning to the world was too hard. Too hurtful.

Kakushin...

Yuukiko!

Kakushin...

She didn't want to live. Not without him. The pain in her chest pulsed with the beating of her heart. Great, I bet you are bleeding to death.

Do you think that I can go on without you? I'm not that strong. I want to be with you. Please. Let me be with you.

His voice seemed to surround her; she could feel him near. Not again. Don't do this to me. Don't do this. Come back.

"Kakushin..."

"She's coming around. She's saying something!" Yuukiko could hear Nozomi's voice from far way, too far for her to understand.

"Kakushin...you idiot."

"I think she just called you an idiot, Kakushin," Rei said dryly. "It's nice to know that true love really does exist." The room at large chuckled softly.

"Hmm, lots of people seem to have that opinion at the moment." Kakushin walked forward, gently reaching out to her. The wires, the machines beeped in the background. They were cold, but they kept her alive. "Come back to me, baby. Please. I can't do this again."

When he saw her broken body on the ground, when he saw the blood, he felt as if his hear would break. He wanted to kill, to protect. To revenge her...

"Yuuki-chan. Yuukiko. I love you." The others had restrained him afterward. His scream upon finding Yuukiko bloodied besides the body of Takeshi was the cry of a broken soul. Aya, Rui and the others ran towards the sound at top speed.

Yuukiko tried to sit up. "Nozomi? Where is she?" She gasped as she felt the burning sting of her flesh. The sword blade was sharp and the cut was neat, but she knew that she would live. "Nozomi?"

"Yukiko. I'm okay. Well, as okay as I can be." She could still hear the other's screams as Takeshi killed her. She would remember. Driving that sword through him didn't erase anything, but she knew it stopped him. Forever. "I just had to stop him. I couldn't let him do it again." Her eyes filled with tears and slid down her bruised face. "I love you. Kaoru-nee…" she whispered the name she never had said in that past life, but knew to be true. This soul was the sister of her heart.

"Nozomi." She pulled the younger girl forward and held her against her right side, away from the sword wound. "Oh God. It's over. "

"We better get you all to a hospital. They've already loaded up Ken," Rei said quietly. He had found Nami's body in Takeshi's car and his voice was raw. Fumi had her arms around him, as if giving strength to tall man.

"It's over," Kakushin whispered, his eyes still a bit wild with fear. Rage. Love. He kissed Yuukiko softly on the lips. "And love conquered all."