Disclaimer:Nope, I don't own RK!
Why was I delayed? Well, of course I had to think what to write, second, my computer had a virus (see notes) and third, I had my new set of muscle pain to top it off, I FAINTED last PMT session. (!) It's an experience that's both a wonder and a shame for me. I won't elaborate on this. If you guys want to know, ask me. But I don't think anyone's interested. Also IF EVER one of my BATCHMATES is reading this, I'm from a 'R and R' (Revolutionary and Radical. Meaning, protests, rally, scandals you name it.) batch in our school (it's a friggin' government school).
WARNING: Beware of this NHQ Virus which is infecting computers lately, including mine, (see notes below). So I suggest that if you use other people's computers, you should have your diskettes scanned for viruses BEFORE and AFTER you use the comp.
Also, there are some spoilers from TSUIKO HEN... so um... well I did warn you! This chappie's more of the informative rather than entertaining. I feel ashamed, I was delayed and all you get is this stupid story about REIJI. (ugh). I'll try not to get delayed next time. Pray that my batch won't go to a protest or something like that cause I'll definitely be in it!
15 The Wolf, Come and Gone
After a whole five minutes of gathering everyone inside the dojo. They were all finally seated. All of those concerned had different expressions on their faces. How long had it been? Barely a day. They have been struggling to bring everything back to normal but the devils follow them, so it seems. Barely a day had passed when they have finally come home, complete. Although still not back to normal and possibly in a slump, they were ready to face any challenge. But the claws of Reiji Kurosaki comes close, ever closer, ready to pounce, to ruin. To push them all into a new series of confusion.
And Kaoru? She was beaming, eager to hear anything of relation to her lost master. She finally cast out her inner turmoil. The confusion worming its way to her heart was finally lost. What was there was anxiety and excitement. Anxiety, for the unsureness of what she might find. After all, she didn't know much about Reiji as much as she doesn't remember about Kenshin and the others. Excitement, because finally she would find the answers she was looking for.
Kenshin however was full of apprehension. He didn't know what he might find out. Would he come off worse in this now silent battle with a man he didn't even know but was still his enemy? Had he done something terrible again that would turn this man against him? What would Kaoru think of him if ever he DID do something terrible to Reiji to make him loathe him? He knew the answer. She would hate him. She is not the same accepting and caring Kaoru he had loves so much. No! loves so much is the right word. Why does he speak of her as if she was gone? He chanced a glimpse at her.
She had a snob expression. She didn't care about him. She cared about one man, her master. He felt anger surface.
Maybe SHE was gone.
"You wouldn't believe how much of a lunatic Kurosaki is." Saito said setting aside some papers which they could only guess as the report he was talking about.
Kaoru was up on her feet ready to argue.
"That's a lie!"
Kenshin placed a firm grip on her shoulders and seated her, rather forcefully. Look at him, acting as if he's some kidnapper of some sort. He almost does what he didn't want Kaoru's abductors from the past did. To force her to do things.
"If this is something to degrade my master's good name, I would not listen to any of this!"
"You will listen to this. It would bring back some sense in you." If he had to he would then force her. He need not be so lean on her. During these times, drastic actions are needed.
She was taken aback, just as much as the others was by the tone he was using. Kaoru was indignant while the others were afraid that the Battousai was coming out again.
"Good. You're acting like a man should." Saito even commented as he watched the scene.
Kenshin shot him an angry glance.
"Let's get this over with." He had said while a hand still loomed over Kaoru, ready to put her back on her seat if ever she tries to stand up again.
"Well, at first I thought it would be hard before I could find out anything about him, but he had a record for a certain crime he did a few years back."
"Why?"
"For murder."
The others gulped, while Kenshin remained calm, he was rather surprised. Kaoru was disbelieving.
"Who did he kill?"
"Aki Kurosaki, that's his wife and his best friend, Asato Hibiki."
"He killed his wife and best friend?! Why?"
"He wasn't totally sane. I think he was looking for you." he pointed at Kenshin.
"What for?"
"This is quite complicated to explain starting from the bottom. So I'll just explain it from where it all started." (actually I'm just having a hard time writing it. But this gives me an excuse. )
"You see, Battousai, when you served under Katsura Kogoro as a member of the Ishin Shishi, you were very young. Katsura trusted your skills as much as your loyalty, unfortunately, some didn't. He didn't want to dismiss you just because others didn't trust you just yet neither did he want to place an argument with the others. So he found the perfect solution."
"There were inspectors watching over me, was he one of them?" (I had to review the manga all over again to verify this.)
"Exactly, now enters Reiji. Who would ever suspect him? He was weak with a sword, quite old and was good for nothing probably. They had him follow you as you do your dirty work. Then he reports to them about what he'd seen."
"Unfortunately for you, he developed some kind of fondness with watching you kill. He developed a maniacal liking to you. He enjoyed the times he watched you kill the most."
"Finally you earned their trust. Reiji was becoming a meddlesome fool and was such a bother so they fired him. He didn't exactly like that."
"You became their most skillful assassin. Each kill, your skill improves. Each kill, his obsession tumults. He was no longer useful to the IshinShishi and he had to leave. He would never be able to see you in your killings again."
"But he still wanted to see. He begun hunting for you. Chancing on a night he might see you at it again. The leaders aren't happy when they found out what he was doing. He was a danger now, they thought he might sell information to the enemy and that he was the spy among you.(there was a spy in Tsuiko Hen.I think his name was Iizuka. Correct me if I'm wrong . They suspected Tomoe at the beginning and then concluded that she was clean. But, let's say that Reiji was one of the suspects too.)
"After that incident at Ikedaya, he was highly suspected for being a spy." Saito knew only too well, the Shinsengumi were the ones who raided Katsura Kogoro's secret meeting at that time
"Asato was Reiji's friend, his only friend. He had heard of this and was afraid for Reiji's life. He went to Aki, Reiji's wife and informed her of the possible danger. Aki took him somewhere far, they hid in a fishing village. She told him she wanted to get away from all the violence in Kyoto and that she wanted to move. With you not being in Kyoto, he agreed. But with a promise that if he hears of you, they would return immediately."
"After some time, he did hear of you. He was even excited about you having a new scar making your famous cross scar." (meaning, Tomoe's already died by this time)
"They have captured the real spy and Reiji's life was safe. But, they didn't know that yet. He tried going back to Kyoto. His wife, fearing for him tried to stop him and well…" he trailed off.
"He killed her?" Misao voiced out. Saito nodded.
A unison of gasps were heard from everyone, even from Kaoru.
"Asato came to her aid and he paid the price for interfering. The murder of two people was not heard of. A week after, they discovered two bodies hidden in a house he stayed in. He was nowhere in sight. The neighbors thought it was jealousy that caused the murder."
"He didn't find you. In the Meiji era, he lived isolated from society. He begun writing the books I believe Kamiya memorized."
"A few years later he worked as a servant in Shishio's hideout in Mt. Hiei."
Everyone was surprised.
"Yes, he knew about your fight with Shishio, Soujiro, and Shinomori. Everything that had transpired in that place, he was well aware of. I believe he wrote this in his book?"
"In your fight with Shinomori, do you know where he was?"
"No, I didn't. I was busy with Aoshi at that time. Even if I felt his presence, I would've thought he was of no importance."
"Exactly, don't you see his brilliance? You haven't seen him even once. Even if you seem he wouldn't pose as a threat. He doesn't use a sword. He's weak if I may go so far. Anyone would mistake him for a simple servant. Even Shishio, if he wanted to know your secrets, he could've just asked Reiji. But he underestimated the old man, he believed too much in that motto of his."
The flesh of the weak is the food of the strong. The strong live, the weak die.
"He had also seen your fight with Tenken (Soujiro). He could've hidden himself in some secret passage. I know there's many of those in Shishio's lair. And in your fight with Shishio, who knows where he was? No one would notice him. He could've hidden behind a door or a post perhaps, crouched and recording everything he's seeing. Who would've cared?"
"If I knew what trouble he'd bring I would've hunted him down during my supposed "death"."
"Now he knows where you are. He knows you have friends and that you don't kill anymore. Imagine his reaction when he heard about your non-killing vow?"
"But he couldn't make his entrance yet. Not yet. He has to prepare himself. Would I go as far as saying that he was there during your fight with Enishi? He had seen your reaction as to the supposed "murder" of the Kamiya girl there. He had seen your weakness. He knows how you'd feel with her passing."
"I don't think he followed you to Enishi's island though. He wouldn't have had the means. He was a pauper hiding in a cave. Imagine his surprise when he learns that the girl was still alive. Now he could exact fun for himself. Your return after that defeat from Enishi's fight means you have become strong once again. Maybe even stronger."
"Imagine his delight when he learned that you're all going on a vacation. In the very fishing village he lived in with his wife. And even in the cottage they lived in. will you look at that? He might not be good with a sword but he's got brains! He could've known your every move inside that cottage."
"He could've known of the weasel's and the Kamiya girl's plans on going to the beach. He plans things bit by bit. He is unnoticed by anyone and he has used that to his advantage."
"And so he had abducted her. But even better, she doesn't even remember a thing. Well he's got all the goods why not put it all to good use?"
This time Kaoru was clenching her fists.
"He KNOWS everything. The state of your relationship with her. What you do. ALL of it. So what does he do? He brainwashed the girl, made her believe all those lies. Trained her, made her hate all of you."
"But don't you all see what kind of training he did with her? How many weapons can you handle now?" he asked Kaoru. She didn't answer.
"A sword, kodachis, knives. You've become faster, stronger, better. Where did you think he got all those ideas? Remember, he'd seen most of your hardest fights. He knows which ones to teach her. Since she's already trained in kenjutsu, he only needed to teach her those he'd seen your enemies do."
"The kodachis…" Kenshin trailed off.
"He'd seen the advantage it gave Shinomori when using two weapons, seen him sum it up with a bit of kenpo. He taught her just that. He's seen Tenken's advantage in speed and incorporated it in her. Although she doesn't match Tenken's speed, still, she was faster than before. And don't forget she's lighter than you. Her weight gave her the advantage in jumping heights, add it up with the speed and there you have it. She had aerial attacks. I don't think she was able to do that before."
"If he had more time he could've taught her some of Shishio's tricks. Gunpowder in gauntlets, I believe he had a supply in the storage the weasel found. He must've just been thinking about it when you all came to his island."
"And the knives?" a smirk lit Saito's face.
"Reiji may be weak with a sword, but he's good with a knife. How was he able to kill two people anyway? Think. He was a good knife thrower. It's not enough to land him in an assassination job but it was enough to protect himself. Have you ever encountered a knife thrower before, Battousai? No? Another advantage."
"She may have not been as strong as you but the thought of her loathing you was enough to make you lose that fight. Why not use a woman? He knew we were honorable me, Shinomori and I. We wouldn't hurt women and that's exactly what she was, a woman. How would we be able to help you? When it means we would have to hurt this girl? And if we did, afterwards what would you do to us? If we hurted her, what would you have done?"
Kenshin couldn't speak. There was almost no flaw.
"He had turned Kamiya into a fighting machine. One who doesn't obey anybody else but him. Don't you see? Even if she is with you lot, her loyalty lies on one man, your enemy. And that is not a good thing."
"You're lying!" Kaoru had stood up, tears were threatening to fall.
"Really? How can you be sure? Can you prove it?"
The others saw that Kaoru was losing.
"So, there is a flaw after all. Did he tell you anything about himself at all?"
"N-no…"
"How can you be sure that he was telling the truth? He was thinking for you, didn't he? You were scared, admit it. One word of question from you and he'll begin the beating. So you just shut up, just so that he'll stop."
"I…stop it!" Kaoru's knees were getting weaker. Her barriers were breaking. This man was getting through. What scared her?
She felt through her wounds. Why? What were all the tortures for? She felt like crying but stopped herself, she didn't want to appear weak.
Misao had come to her aid.
"Who do you believe now? You didn't expect this, didn't you? You thought he was all saintly right?" a wolfish grin appeared on his face. Then he took his leave. He had done enough, he had no more business in that place.
"If that's the case, it only means that I can't trust anyone anymore! "
"Suit yourself…"
Um... my totally pointless note?:
I have survived a virus. Just a few days ago KICHAM (my laptop for those of you who haven't read my past notes about 'her' or maybe if you didn't you're probably not reading this anyway... ) okay so, Kicham concocted this stupid NHQ virus whatsits... and there I was staring hopelessly as I couldn't access any of my files any longer... brings out tissue and blows nose. I was thinking like "OMG! OMG! My stories!" (yes, stories, I've got 4 other RK fics lying around...) and I remembered this one and I tried so hard to think it up and just because of some virus I'm going to make it all up again! I mean how lame is that?! They said they (my brothers) could fix it and remove the virus but that means they'll clean up the whole hard drive! clean up entire hard drive = lose all files... Haha! . But then before I go to sleep. there was a small tinge of hope as I turned KICHAM on (have you guys noticed how weird this sounds? Turn 'her' on! HAHAHA!) Well the virus is obviously gone or I wouldn't be laughing now... and so out of happiness, I'm typing this um... my totally pointless note? Anyway, so I'm taking precautions now, I'm saving my stories on the other computer downstairs. (I haven't named that one yet... any suggestions?) Really... with all this going on, I should be called Baka-onna. hehe... ... I've saved my stories! HUZZAH!
THANKS for reading my rantings whoever's reading this... probably no one...
REVIEWS:
Haven't done this in a while...
Nichi-chan OMG! You like reviewed every chapter, I was overwhelmed when I opened my e-mail. Also you asked where I got the plot for my story. um... scratches head I think it came from my head and my heart? It was one day when a though t suddenly struck me, and I just made that thought into a story. I'm not making any sense am I? Actually I was already writing fanfics years ago but I didn't know that what I was writing were fanfics. I thought of this a few years back (can't remember when) and I typed it in our computer. I didn't know about ffnet then so it just sat around the computer then I deleted it. Then I saw FFnet and I rewrote this and now here I am!
Misenagi- yup! I'm azul! one of classmates once had our class pic. there. It was a funny one because we were all falling at the time.
cyberdemon- hating cliffies as usual... yeah! I understand you, I hate cliffies too. Is that a cliffie I did now, scrolls and look back at story Yep, it is a semi-cliffie hides Don't hate me! I meant the MIDI of Bittersweet romance of FF9 in that note last chappie
Emerald Genie - I thin many people hate cliffies. Who here hates cliffies, raise your hands! i know how it feels and I feel guilty, I'm raising my hand.
StarofFoam - Ow! I'm not really well, my leg still hurts but really I'm okay!
about Sou-chan...for those who asked me if Soujiro's gonna be here, yes he IS! My friend, who worships Soujiro to damnation finally got into me and well, he's gonna be in uhm... looks around for notes in the next few chapters, I'm revising the other chapters. I realized Kaoru became nice all of a sudden, so I'm squeezing in a few fight scenes. The Fight scenes? I'm guessing It'll be quite soon... So it may take a while. So there!
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