Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
Summery: After Kenshin dies; someone shows up to kill everyone at Kamiya Dojo, but finds themself unable to harm anyone. Is it Kaoru's guardian angel.... or Kenshin's dying wish?
A/N: I'm sorry about the cliffhangers, everyone!
animeinsomniac: Sorry about the short chapter, but I'm a perfectionist (in some things). I normally start typing a chapter but decide that I took the wrong approach at the beginning and start over again. Also, if you don't like them, I won't give you any more previews!
Tsubasa-667: If you're ever confused on something, just tell me which part it is and I'll try to explain it for you.
neko-chan: I'M SORRY! EVERYBODY, I'LL MAKE MY CHAPTERS LONGER! And right now I have a three-day weekend so I'll have more time to work on it, when my grandmother isn't trying to explain to me how to crochet a sweater.
Aikawarazu Ai: Aya's part in the story is in this chapter, and you were the only one to guess whose POV it was in! You got it right to! Borislav IS Scandinavian/Russian/whatever you want to call it (nothing insulting, please. I'm part Russian too.) but Nobu isn't. I've posted the link to the site on my bio page if you want to see it, but most of the music videos on that don't work for me. They've got some Rurouni Kenshin music videos on that too...and a complete romance one...;
-Return of the Battosai-
Somewhere, a lone figure walked through the shadowed alleys of Tokyo. An icy wind ripped across their skin as the pale crescent moon hung in the sky overhead, the only light in the whole area.
After a few minutes of walking, the person ducked into a small opening in the back of a house. They were met with the voice of an old woman.
"What brings one here this late at night?"
-Elsewhere-
Kaoru jerked up into a sitting position in her bed, panting heavily with sweat dripping down her face.
"No.... Kenshin...." she muttered. Her body started shaking with the rapid sobs that followed. "It was all a dream.... just a dream.... he's gone.... he wouldn't do that.... again...."
Her thoughts were plagued by the dream she just had:
She was standing in the middle of a small clearing in the forest. There were no lights, no moon or stars in the dark of night. There appeared to be several other figures with her.
Walking closer to some lying on the ground, she gasped out loud and clasped her hands to her mouth. There were Sanosuke and Yahiko lying on the ground.
Dead. Their blood littered the ground around them.
Not too far away Kaoru saw several other bodies. "Megumi? Dr. Genzai?!" she almost shouted in horror, "What happened here?!"
Suddenly two arms circled around her from behind and held her tightly to someone's chest. She tried to pull away but the limbs clutched onto her harder until her arms nearly felt like they were going to fall off.
Then, without warning, the person quickly spun her around so their faces were only an inch apart. Recognition dawned in Kaoru's eyes as she stared fearfully at the man holding her.
He had the familiar clothes, long red hair, and cross-shaped scar, but there was something very different about him now. In place of his gentle violet eyes there were glowing amber orbs. His face and clothes were speckled with blood.
Twisting slightly to her left Kaoru saw Kenshin's reverse blade sword in his right hand, but it was coated with blood.
"You know, a sword still has a sharp side, no matter which side it is..." the monster whispered into her ear, "Any blade that has any edge can still kill..."
Kaoru's eyes grew wide and she shouted, "You're not Kenshin! He'd never kill anyone, least of all his friends!" then she lowered her eyes and muttered, "He's dead anyway."
"Yes, I suppose you could say that," replied the monster with a smirk, "but I'm afraid you don't fully understand what powers are at work in this world and the next."
"What the hell are you talking about?! Kenshin's dead, you killed everyone else, and let go of me!" Kaoru shouted as she tried to pull away again and the Kenshin look-alike allowed her to run away a bit.
Right before the young woman had run into the forest surrounding her, the man seemed to materialize right out of the shadows of the trees. Kaoru then started running in a different direction and the person yet again appeared in front of her, walking out from under the shadows.
"What are you?!" she shouted before backing up slowly as her breathing steadily increased.
"Don't you already know?" the man said in a taunting voice before disappearing and reappearing right behind her again. He swiftly wrapped his arms around her stomach and shoulders, pinning her arms to her side. "I'm the part of Kenshin that you've seen before. The one he was during the revolution. Battosai. And I'm the only one of the two of us that is going to survive this 'test' we are going through."
He smirked as Kaoru stiffened in his arms. "I'm the only one that is going to come back to you," he whispered harshly into her ear, "My other side isn't going to exist anymore..."
The little blind girl named Chika was simply standing in her backyard in the middle of the day. She looked around with unseeing eyes before squealing in delight and running over towards a corner of her mother's modern fence. Chika jumped into midair and appeared to be hugging someone and being held up from the ground by the same invisible person.
"You came back!" shouted the energetic child, "I'm so happy!"
Kenshin gave the girl a grim grin and told her, "I had to come back to thank you. Sanosuke would have died if you hadn't told Megumi where he was." Chika grinned up at him and pulled a lock of his red hair. "Hey! That hurt!" the man shouted, but with more laughter in his voice then before.
"Yay, you're happy now! Will you play with me?" the girl said almost too fast to understand.
"I suppose...what do you want to pl-is that your mother coming?!" Kenshin immediately lowered the child to the ground before her mother saw her 'floating'.
Chika stood there, waiting for her mother to walk over to the side of the backyard she was on.
The woman, Aya, took her time going over to her daughter and kept glancing around the fenced yard. Kenshin thought he might have seen a glint of metal from her kimono and his eyes narrowed.
"Honey, what are you doing out here?" asked Aya as she uncovered the knife she had been holding. The red haired samurai reflexively stepped in front of the small girl and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case. Aya then continued by saying, "I told you there were people being kidnapped and killed all around town!"
Kenshin relaxed. "Of course," he thought, "She is only carrying a dagger to defend herself in case of attack. That must have been why she was looking around after she left the house."
Aya walked over and put her hand on her child's shoulder. "How would you like to leave Tokyo?" she asked in a small voice.
"Huh?"
"Would you like to leave Tokyo?" the woman asked again.
"No!" Chika yelled, horrified, "Everybody's so nice and I made some new friends!"
"I'm sorry, daughter, you're leaving Tokyo."
"What? Why do I have to go?" asked the girl, then, "Wouldn't you come with me?"
"No. I'm sorry. Goodbye, Chika," Aya said before a sadistic smile flitted across her face and she lifted the knife above the girl's head, "Goodbye!" The mad woman pulled the weapon down and stabbed her child in the left shoulder before Kenshin could stop her.
Chika cried out in pain and grabbed her shoulder right after her mother pulled the knife out. Aya was just about to stab the poor girl again but Kenshin was ready that time.
He grabbed the child and ran over towards a different side of the fenced yard. Aya ran towards them and had her knife ready to stab into Chika. The samurai took out his sword and knocked the small blade out of her hand.
"What kind of devilry is this?!" shouted Aya, enraged, as she backed up a few steps and looked around warily, "What demon haunts me?!"
"One that will take your life..." Kenshin had whispered without realizing it had slipped past his lips. His eyes were glowing an odd amber color. Aya's eyes widened and she ran over towards her fallen knife.
"I don't think so," said the samurai as he ran right over in front of the dagger and put his sword straight in front of him where Aya could run into it without even knowing. A sadistic smirk seemed to creep onto his normally kind features as the woman drew near.
In Chika's eyes Kenshin was just standing there several feet with his sword in the strangest pose possible. All of the sudden, there was a sickening squishing sound and the long blade was coated with a blood red substance.
-End Chapter 8-
A/N: I CANNOT BELEIVE IT! THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER! Please review, even if all you tell me is 'Well it's about time you made a chapter this long!'. I'd get a kick out of it and start laughing hysterically.