A/N: Well here I am again with a new chapter to my story thank you all who reviewed! Looks like a lot of you want Subaru dead ne? good... now I have a plan bwahahahaha!!! (you should be afraid a scheming Battosaichick, is as bad as a scheming Tanuki XD)
The night rolled by and morning had spread across the horizon line. Sanosuke had had no luck of finding Kaoru he had searched all of Tokyo. He had come to the conclusion that she may have been kidnapped and Kenji too, but all that blood what was it from? They couldn't have...
"Giving up already moron?" Said a drawling voice from behind him.
"Saitou" Sanosuke's words where full of venom as he turned around to face the Mibu wolf behind him.
"Have you given up on looking for the raccoon already?"
"And what would you know about any of this?" Sano said he really did hate Saitou sometimes.
"I know that she is in Rakuninmura as we speak, and I know..."
"Ok so you know stuff... wait she's where?" Sanosuke realized the word 'Rakuninmura' and his heart jumped. He turned and ran to get Yahiko before Saitou could finish what he was saying.
"Idiot," Saitou sneered, 'Oh well, let him figure it out himself.' A small evil grin plastered itself on Saitou's face, 'Let's see how long it take's you Battousai.'
- - -
Sanosuke barreled into the Dojo, "Hey kid," he shook a sleeping Yahiko awake. "I found where Jou-chan is."
With those words Yahiko woke up completely, "Where are we headed?" he asked moments later running after the ex-gangster.
"Rakuninmura" And with that Yahiko stopped dead in his tracks.
"Wait, Rakuninmura that's..."
"I know, but the question is why." Sanosuke stopped only for a moment to say this
"You don't think something happened?" Yahiko ran after him, still reeling from the fact that Kaoru would have gone there of all places.
"Well I think it's obvious that something happened. But what?" Sanosuke said as they made there way down the road.
- - -
Thoughts filled Kaoru, feelings that she had tried to stifle since she had lost her brother. She was consumed by her emotions and she was drowning in them. It didn't even bother her who she was sitting next to, or the fact that all the residence of the shambled little town (if you could call it that) where looking at her.
An old man sat down next to her, "It's hard losing someone close to you, especially your child." The old man said nonchalantly.
Kaoru shifted uncomfortably, this is not what she wanted to listen to now, but it wasn't like she had a choice so she hung her head down and listened to the man anyway.
"Ahh I see this is not something you want to hear, please forgive an old man for his babbling, I guess that is why they call me Oibore."
Kaoru smiled a little and she closed her eyes once again as the old man got up to leave. "Wait," Kaoru whispered and the man Oibore sat down once again. "I'm not one to stop you." Kaoru sighed and thought to herself, 'I probably deserve the pain that will come along with your words old man, so go ahead and say them.'
"You look starved, eat this." He handed her a pouch that had some rice balls in it.
Kaoru looked at it, 'Do I deserve this food? Do I even deserve to be here, to hear what this man has to say even if it is 'babble' as he puts it?'
"I'm not hungry sir, thank you." she handed it back.
"You shouldn't lie to an old man... But anyway, as I was saying; The hardest thing in life is losing your child, you created them, nurtured them, they hold a light, a purity within them that in their parents eyes can never be extinguished, even in death; because they are a piece of you and will remain as such. Forever. Pain dies away with time, and thing's aren't always as bad as they seem." Oibore stood up and was about to walk away.
"You sound as if you speak from experience." Enishi spoke surprising Kaoru and Oibore both.
Oibore smiled softly at the man sitting before him. "Or it could be the babble of a man getting on in years." He walked away singing a small tune over and over. "Oh well what the hell. Oh well what the hell..."
- - -
It was mid-morning by the time Sanosuke and Yahiko reached Rakuninmura. Sanosuke ran into the gates and ran a few paces before he put his hand up to stop Yahiko. "This isn't good."
"What are you talking about Sano, why did you stop?"
"Look who Jou-chan is next to."
Yahiko looked from behind Sanosuke, "No way."
"It's shades."
"What's Enishi doing here?"
"..."
"What? We need to talk to her!"
"Yeah I know, I was just thinking."
"Well stop, I am going over there."
"Yahiko wait." But Yahiko didn't listen running ahead before Sanosuke could stop him. "Damn it!"
Yahiko stood in front of Kaoru who didn't even acknowledge that he was there.
"Kaoru what happened? Where's Kenji?" Kaoru didn't answer she just held onto the blanket that was in her hand and hung her head lower.
"Kaoru what happened!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and started to shake her to get her attention. It only produced a small whimper from her, so he shook her again; bad idea... Kaoru didn't respond but Enishi did. Before Yahiko knew what happened there was a sword between him and Kaoru.
"Stop now." He said keeping his gaze fixed on a page in his sisters diary, "You're disturbing the silence."
Yahiko looked at him in horror, he could have sworn that Enishi didn't have a sword anymore, 'but I guess anything can happen in three years.' He thought as he backed away from Kaoru who just slumped back against the wall.
"Yahiko, let's go." Sano said standing quietly beside him.
"What are you talking about we can't just leave her here!" Yahiko yelled and then he whispered to Sanosuke, "especially with Enishi right there!"
"I know kid but there is no point, the best thing we can do now is wait for Kenshin to return, Kaoru's obviously not going anywhere."
"I know Sano but..." Yahiko sighed he knew that Sanosuke was right. Yahiko looked back at Kaoru before he followed Sanosuke out of Rakuninmura.
- - -
In a way Kaoru was grateful towards Enishi, how could she tell her friends that she failed to protect Kenji? How could she tell them that she wasn't able to protect her family once again? She sighed.
"Why are you here?"
Kaoru looked over shocked that Enishi was actually talking to her. She didn't answer just stared.
"I know that you didn't lose the battousai, that's obvious."
"Is it?" her voice was hollow and void of any emotion.
"Yeah, you look more like you lost your own flesh and blood." He just looked at her and then back at the diary. Of course Enishi would notice that.
"Your right, I did." Tears stung her eyes 'damn it I was hoping that I wouldn't cry again.'
"Feel guilty don't you? like you couldn't do anything about it, your only family taken away by some cruel twist of fate and all you could do is sit there and watch it happen." He rubbed the corner of the diary idly as if to remove some dust before he continued. "It was an older sibling wasn't it?"
Kaoru looked at him realizing that he knew what it was like, and in some twisted way they were connected by this. "And my son as well." She whispered almost inaudibly
Enishi looked over at her, "The spawn of the battousai no doubt."
"He has a name!" She snapped "His name is Kenji, use it, don't say the 'spawn of' he is human too!"
"Was."
"What?"
"Was, he's dead, if he's dead he no longer exists there fore you say 'was'"
"He exists, he is a part of me." Kaoru seethed remembering Oibore's words.
Enishi smirked but said no more he just went on to look through the diary once more in silence.
"It was my fault, my brother died because of me. And so did my son" She looked down at the blanket that she still feebly clutched onto as if it would bring her son back if she just kept a hold of it. "But you wouldn't want to listen to me talk, would you? I would just be 'disturbing the silence' as you put it."
"Go ahead I have nothing better to do. I just wanted to get rid of that stupid rooster head and kid."
Kaoru went on ignoring the last of his comment she didn't want to think about them right now and how ashamed they must be.
For some reason she was telling him and she had no idea why. "I was in the way, he sacrificed himself to save me, my brother that is. I shouldn't have been there at all...it was just that I couldn't see him kill someone even though they deserved to die. I was selfish, I didn't want the burden on my conscious to have my brother soil his hands once more, but now because I was so selfish he's dead. I now have his blood on my hands." She let a silent tear roll down her cheek. "I was weak, I couldn't even protect my son when he needed me the most. I just lay there while his life drained away from him, I did nothing to save him..."
"Stop blaming yourself, it's more pathetic than that inane husband of yours, he is your husband now right? It's not like you could do anything for your son correct?" Kaoru didn't answer him, she knew deep down he was right, but it was just easier to blame herself than come to terms with what actually happened.
"And your brother, you did not wield the sword that killed him, so how could you say that your at fault? It doesn't make since."
"So your saying that no matter what the person who deals the death blow is the only person at fault?" Kaoru eyed him "Even though it was, say an accident? Even though the person, who died did it out of love and they..." She had answered her own question, but she did not accept it. She got a reaction out of Enishi with her last statement though.
"We are talking about you not me! Don't you dare start to analyze my past." She had touched a nerve and she knew it.
"It was just something I was saying in passing; you don't have to be defensive about it." It was something about getting on people's nerves; she liked it to much to stop even when she was lost as she was. And with that a small glimmer of the shattered Kaoru started to slowly piece itself together, who would have thought that the one to help her would be someone who still was so broken himself.
To be continued...
A/N: Enishi helping Kaoru find her way back to reality...what are your thought's on that one?
Ok I couldn't help it I had to give Enishi a sword; I know his watou went bye bye, but it just didn't seem right that he didn't have one.
Yahiko: Why so he could hack us to pieces? The guy's mental!
Battosaichick: Can you blame him! Just look at his past!
Yahiko: Yeah so? Kenshin isn't like that, Shades could still hack us to pieces!
BC(brushes off comment): he's as harmless as a fly
Yahiko: Yeah a fly who is mental and has a sword!
BC: Just shut up Yahiko-chan!
Yahiko: Don't call me Chan!
BC: until next time ::waves::
