Author's Beginning Notes: This one-shot is placed within the Kyoto arc of the manga continuity, in volume 12 of the Graphic Novel Series. This is my first RK fanfiction, and it is set in the second-person perspective of Himura Kenshin. I hope you enjoy this story and please leave a review; feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
For A Moment…
You think screaming his name will do you any good? Idiot, just like Master always calls you. How could you not anticipate Shishio's counter-plan? Like he said himself, "it works the other way, too," the reading of the hitokiri. How could you not know! Sano will die because of your ignorance... Gatling gun fired, you know it's too late, Sano's going to be shot down like the Oniwabanshu; you prepare yourself for the familiar scent and sight of blood, the torn flesh, the vacant eyes. You wonder if the Gatling gun is made by the same people who made the first one you saw at Kanryu's mansion, you wonder if you'll end up being more like Aoshi, you wonder where he even is... You wonder if he misses Misao as much as she misses him. You wonder why Shishio doesn't repulse you as much as Kanryu did... Could it be the short glimpse of affection you saw shared between the shadow hitokiri and the only woman here, the one dressed in such refined robes with her dark hair in a bun held back by pearls? You've always been far too observant for your own good...
You wonder why you never said farewell to Sano, why you never said farewell to your other friends, Yahiko and Megumi, why only Kaoru. You wonder why Sano couldn't just stay behind, couldn't forget his ego for once!… But you know Sano came not for ego, but for you, and that's infinitely worse. Despite your dampness, you know you're sweating, your mouth's wide open, no longer yelling for your friend, just silently screaming like the helpless fool you are, and your eyes are so wide in terror. You hate Saito for his calm, although you do detect a hint of worry in his golden eyes; you hate Shishio even more for his fanged grin and amused eyes of crimson, crimson like Tomoe's eyes, crimson like blood, blood you will see from Sano, blood you want to see spill from the shadow hitokiri's bandaged form, his form burned by your Ishin Shishi "comrades..."
Then Sano's wave rises and blocks the bullets, and for the moment, you know peace.
FinAuthor's Ending Notes: Those panels depicting that moment in the manga when Sano was running across the water on the wooden planks, Kenhin's yelling for Sano, Shishio orders the Gatling gun to fire, the different reactions of Kenshin, Saito, and Shishio, Sano's use of Anji's "Mastery of the Two Layers" to save himself from the Gatling's bullets by causing a wave of water to block their path... Yeah, that scene was bursting with such emotion to me, and it greatly inspired me to write my interpretation of what was going on in Kenshin's head during this moment, since A)Kenshin's my favorite and B)Kenshin possessed the most interesting range of emotion to me in those panels. Besides Sano, Kenshin's thoughts ended up tying into other themes of RK, all in past, present, and future, so I thought that was pretty cool and even better that what I first imagined. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that short one-shot, and please leave a review; I would really appreciate any feedback.
