Divine Commiseration

Chapter 9: Destiny Prevails

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Rurouni Kenshin, including the most awe-spiring boy in Rurouni Kenshin, Sou-chan!

Author's Note:

Thanks for all the support the last chapter, everyone! 100 reviews! I love you guys! And... sadly enough... This story is coming to an end. Wahhh! I don't want it to end! I thought it would be so much longer when I still wrote short chapters! Now... It looks like it'll reach the 11th chapter at the most, and then maybe an epilogue. I... sniff I don't want this to end!

Anyway, this chapter was going to be action packed and so on, but it isn't with Soujiro. Misao and Kaoru get a few chances at fighting at last! I know the chapter isn't the same scene as what they really did in the episodes, but it should be okay, or at least pretty close to what they did. Sorry if it's a bit confusing, but it's not too easy, you guys know? Well, get to reading! And leave a review, pretty please?

Misao didn't know what to do. How would she be able to sneak inside the Aoiya now? Just looking at the soldiers surrounding her fighting friends...

There had to be over a hundred soldiers, maybe even a hundred fifty... Though none of them were excellent warriors, and the three that seemed to be fighting the Oniwa Banshu, Yahiko, and Kaoru were occupied, at least one of the hundred fifty-three would see her. She wasn't as tiny as she used to be, and there was the fact that she was wearing white, contrasting like a rose in a field of weeds to the dark walls she would have to sneak by.

She didn't know what to do. Her friends were losing, and she knew the Juppon Gatana would kill them if they lost, if she didn't go try to help. What was there to do? She couldn't fight in her night clothes, and she only had eight kunai or so. She had to go inside.

Making absolutely sure that they were fighting, Misao took a risk, and ran.

Misao tried to think of how fast Soujiro would run, but quickly pounded herself. It was no time to think of Soujiro. Hell, there was never a good time to think of Tenken no Soujiro! Not if she wanted to live out her life...

A sudden burst of rage from thinking about the smiley boy brought her into the Aoiya's backyard. With ease, she flipped over the gate and ran into the back. She sprinted into the house, and up the stairs. Keeping her ki hidden, she quickly ran into her room, grabbing her uniform. Changing out of her yukata as fast as she could, she squirmed into the uniform. She reached for the rest of her kunai, and hid them inside her shirt.

Without a spare second, she quickly walked into the second floor room where she was sure Jiya would be.

"Jiya! What's happening?!"

The old man nearly had a heart attack when he saw the girl he had raised like a granddaughter. "Misao!" His voice was choked of emotions. "You're alive!"

Misao nodded, not quite thinking about how she had disappeared for almost two days. "Listen, Jiya, now isn't the time to talk. I have to go out there and help them!"

The Kyoto leader of the Oniwa Banshu nodded. No, this wasn't the time to talk about how she had disappeared. It was time to let her go and fight. He could hear the commanding tone in her statement, and the people down below certainly needed it.

"Misao," he quickly said, "You have to go out there and win. Help Kaoru, hurry! The girl with the scythe, fight her! I'm seen her, you have to keep away from her. Try to get kunai under her defenses! If nothing works, I'm sure Kaoru will try to finish her."

Misao nodded hurriedly. Desperation hung in the air like a shroud. "I will. Jiya, are you okay?" She looked him over, bandages and all.

He nodded as hard as he could. "Yes, now go, go!"

Without another word, Misao confirmed her will for the command and ran out of the house, and to the courtyard.

"Hey! Hey you, you stupid Juppon Gatana guys! Did you really think you could win against the Oniwa Banshu?! Well, their Okashira is here! So get ready to get whopped!" It sounded childish to even her ears, and she prayed to the heavens that they wouldn't laugh.

They didn't, or, if they did, the noise was drowned out by the cheers by the Oniwa Banshu, Kaoru, and Yahiko.

Kamatari didn't give them the chance to say much. "Well, are you going to fight or not? I could add your head to the collection I'm going to give to Shishio-sama!" The cross-dresser crooned out the name mentioned.

Misao quickly ran to her comrades sides. "Yahiko, you try to take down that bird guy! Kaoru, you and I will fight the girl, and the rest of you, take that fat one!" She commanded them like a true leader.

Kamatari winked to Misao and jingled her weapon. "Ooo! Little girls! Not too pretty, but I guess you'll be okay for practice."

Misao and Kaoru hissed angrily. "You dare call me little?!" Misao growled. She could barely suppress the urge to bite off Kamatari's head.

Kamatari laughed, much to their displeasure. "Well, come on now!"

Misao didn't waste another second. She whispered into Kaoru's ear and they got into stance.

Kaoru nodded quickly and then looked to their opponent. With a battle-cry, she charged in front of Kamatari, her wooden sword raised. Misao yelled out her own cry, and ran. Just as Kamatari raised her scythe, Misao and Kaoru ran into two different positions, Misao to where the weapon had just been swung and Kaoru to where it was headed. Kamatari kept her eyes on Kaoru, who was still trying to advance, not noticing where Misao was.

Misao raised four kunai into in right hand and aimed. The little dagger like projectiles flew into Kamatari's side. Two of them stuck into the cross-dresser's ribs, the other two grazing his arm.

Kamatari yelped out in pain, and glared right into Misao. "That hurt, you little weasel!"

Kaoru grinned to her friend. "Good work, Misao-chan!"

Misao smirked and fought down the urge to make a 'V' sigh with her fingers. "You did good too!"

Kamatari laughed out loud. "You two girls think that that simple little attack would be enough to defeat Kamatari no Ohgama?!" He let out another shriek of laughter.

Misao gulped, looking to the guy-girl. "Damn it! What's it take?!"

"Come on, Misao, we gotta finish her off!"

Kamatari smiled through his pain. "Who ever said I was a girl?"

Misao and Kaoru almost fell down in a comical manner. "What?!"

The cross-dresser grinned again. "Life is full of little surprises, isn't it?"

Soujiro licked his cracking lips as he prepared himself to watch a battle he had waited for. Shinomori Aoshi, ex-Okashira of the elite Oniwa Banshu, against one of the best of the Bakumatsu assassins, Himura Kenshin. Here was something you only saw once in your lifetime, even if you were strong enough to live out your life.

It was a matter of who would win for blood to spill. If Aoshi won, Himura was as good as a puddle of blood. If Himura won, he would be lucky to see blood from a little scratch.

He really hoped for the first choice. Sparring isn't fun with at least one death.

When Shinomori had arrived to join the Juppon Gatana, he remembered how Hoji had been doubtful. Himura had already beat him once. How would they be sure if would not lose again?

Soujiro took that as another moment of how Shinomori Aoshi had changed. For a man who had once been prideful to the level where it was disturbing, he was now as scary as Shishio could be. His eyes were so... so angry! Soujiro could hardly stiffen a chuckle. It was so easy to see how Shinomori Aoshi had turned into a demon.

And of course, there was Himura. There had been rumors from a few of the better spies that he had changed in a way. There was something different about him, according to them, and even Saitou, the Mibu's wolf.

Soujiro didn't know exactly what yet, but he prepared himself to watch.

Kenshin had entered the room and was looking inside. It was dark, but no doubt to Soujiro that he could sense everything perfectly.

From behind the red-haired man was the voice of Zanza, or Sagara Sanosuke, and the protesting whine of Yumi. Soujiro clenched his fists, still squelching out his emotions so he could remain unseen.

It was a relief to him, and a disappointment to his sword, when Zanza finally dropped Yumi back onto her feet. It was the same moment that Aoshi finally showed himself. And then the glares into each other's souls.

And the talking. Soujiro would have rolled his eyes if he knew that there would be more chatting. As a swordsman, talking was the first part of the spar, unless it was a surprise attack. But Himura... Himura, Zanza, and Saitou, they loved to talk. On and on they rambled about whatever there was to listen and talk about.

Right now, there was a endless speech about how Shinomori had let the evil inside himself take him over, or whatnot.

Yumi had been able to run up the stairs and into the shadows. There was the telegraph machine... And there was he.

Soujiro caught Yumi's eye and smiled sweetly. Waving, but keeping silent, he pointed to Shinomori and Himura. "Watch!" he mouthed.

Yumi nodded, understanding. It had been her job to act innocent and not know anything about Shinomori, and she had done a good job. Now she would have to watch—and keep Shishio up to date of Himura's attacks.

It was the moment that Himura started talking about Aoshi's spirit was when Soujiro stopped and actually listened for a moment.

"You keep running away from your emotions, but in the end, that's what makes your spirit weak!"

The comment drove itself into Soujiro's head, torturing his consciousness. He felt confusion tearing apart his brain. His heart... Pounding so hard. No, it was impossible for them to hear him...

A bead of sweat slid down from his temple.

If he kept running from his emotions, would he really become weak? If that was true, then how come he was still alive? No... It had to be a lie. Nothing would be true coming from them mouth of Himura Kenshin.

But it seemed Shinomori Aoshi took the comment seriously. It was slightly amusing to see how it changed him in those milliseconds, his heart pounding as he tried to remember. Tried to remember when the humanity left him.

"You're just paralyzed with weakness! This isn't the way those men wanted you to do! You just wave that sword around, but that's no excuse for those men who died!"

Soujiro felt something grab his heart. Doubt shook him. But was it still true? Was it a fact that running away from his emotions, the very ones he had buried into himself, where those truly the ones that kept him from becoming strong enough to live? No, of course not. It could never...

"The fact that you're so quick to deny it is showing that deep inside, your subconscious knows you're wrong!"

No... He, Seta Soujiro, wasn't denying anything. No... NO!

"It's easy to see... Your determination to be the strongest has taken you away from reality. Because you're trying to escape the thoughts, it has taken your brain away from the real problems."

A howl of fury rose in his body, and he knew that Shinomori felt the same. He was still in reality! He knew what was going on! He knew... He knew... Not knowing was a weakness... He was still alive. He was still in reality! There were no problems at all...

So how come everything Himura said seemed like it was meant for him?!

Kaoru rushed to Misao's side. "How many kunai do you have in all, Misao-chan?" she whispered, desperate.

"I still have about 24, or around, so I'm sure we can get them. Jiya told me to get them under his defenses. We'll do the same thing, but reverse. It'll be confusing for that... guy-girl thing. You charge and try to strike him out and I'll jump up to avoid the scythe and throw some more kunai, okay?"

Kaoru nodded, then turned to glare at Kamatari. "Prepare yourself!"

Kamatari grinned, his scythe in position to swing at a moment's notice. Though not as good as perhaps Usui or Anji, and definitely not as good as Soujiro, he was still good enough to be in the Juppon Gatana—and good enough to be sent out in this mission for Shishio.

Unlike the other time, it was Misao that had run towards Kamatari. However, the cross-dresser had expected something of the sort, and, instead of going to Misao, went for Kaoru, who was behind her, once more. Unexpectedly, the ball chain, wrapped around the scythe, swung upwards and missed Misao by a hairs breath

Kaoru screamed in pain as the blade raked her lower abdomen. Misao could see the bright red blood begin to pool where the clothe had ripped and was now sinking into the loose threads.

"Dammit!" Misao couldn't help but curse, and she ran to her friend's side, the thoughts of she herself, who could have been hurt, left behind. So surprised she had been that she hadn't even launched her kunai... Misao bit her lip hard, punishing herself, then tried to see Kaoru's condition.

Kaoru couldn't help it—the pain was intense, more intense than any pain she had ever experienced, and tears rolled down her eyes. Her already pale skin was fading to a sickly white.

"Please don't go away on me, Kaoru-chan, please!" Misao grabbed her friend's body and moved it so she could see the wound more carefully. The cut was long, and it looked fairly deep, and blood was flowing out freely. "Come on, Kaoru!"

Kaoru's eyes fluttered as she fought unconsciousness. "Kenshin..." she breathed out. The shock of the attack drove her out of the fight. Misao clenched her teeth together uncomfortably. What were they going to do now?

She could not fight Kamatari alone—the ninja had always worked in small groups for easy attacks, and one-on-one was only for ninjas that were trained especially for swords. 'Like Aoshi-
sama,' she reminded herself. Unfortunately, thinking of Aoshi also made her think of Soujiro, and that made her think of—

"Dammit!" she cursed again. What in the world was she going to do?

Yumi looked carefully at the telegraph that had arrived into her hands. It seemed that the Battousai's woman had been wounded by Kamatari, the strange little fag that always tried to vie for attention from Shishio. And... Surprisingly enough, it seemed that the temporary leader of the Oniwa-Banshu, Misao, was still alive. She looked at her adoptive son and gave him a glare. For the first time in his life, he had lied to Shishio, his mentor and father. However, this was not time for something like this.

She looked back down. The fight was not yet over, but she felt this new bit of information would be able to jolt Himura.

"Himura-san!" she called out.

The red-headed man's attention snapped to her, still weakened on the ground, and she continued. "I've just received news that your little girl has been wounded. Not dead yet, but will be soon. All that's left of the Aoiya is a handful of rag-tag Oniwa-Banshu, a little boy, and that girl who's leading them..." She paused, and stared straight into his worried, violet eyes.

"It's all over for them."

Ending Notes:

Sorry for the late update, everyone, but I was worried about what I should do with this chapter, and if I should wait for the episodes GoldAngel2 has so generously recorded for me and sent. I did not like what I did with the scene between Aoshi and Kenshin, and Soujiro's thoughts on it. Still, I'm guessing that this is okay, and that a little change in the battle plans would work out later on, and help set Kenshin up. Sorry for the separate Misao and Soujiro bits... Too lazy to try to think of something that would work out and I'm fine with it right now. Well, talk to you all later, and special thanks to KRN-CHAN for being my 100th review! Thanks so much!

Responses to Reviews:

GoldAngel2: Thank you so much for taping those episodes for me. Without them, I would not have remembered the ball chain on Kamatari's scythe. Scarily enough, even before seeing the episodes, I had written the part about Misao and Kaoru's attacks, using distraction and open weaknesses. I was trying to make Soujiro more serious, almost like Kenshin when he's about to fight someone incredibly strong. I will have him snapping out, just like in the episodes, but the thoughts will be a little different. Thanks again, and I don't know what I would be able to do without a great friend such as you!

SoraKoi: Sorry, sorry, another late update. I was trying to wait for the episodes that GoldAngel2 (Angela), mailed to me. I'm glad you like the idea of the contest, and hope to see you at the group there!

Nakashima-Michiyo: Writer's block? I hate it, especially when I know exactly what I want in the chapter, but can't think of how to write it. shudder Anyway, here's another chapter, and I hope to get another out soon!

Pyrotess: You read all the author notes! Ack! I might have to actually write logical notes from now on! Just kidding, of course. Well, now you know how Misao gets into the house, and changes into her uniform!

JMeg: Sorry, another chapter with no Sou/Mi, and I can't promise that the next one will either, but it will have a lot of Soujiro. A lot, a lot of Soujiro, and Kenshin, too, if you like him. I'm going to try to get the next chapter out by the 20th or so... Enjoy!

Twilight Sky: Ack! Like I said, great (HAHA!) minds think alike! I'm following a Kyoto Arc plot, too, but I'm trying to change some things, and I know that I'm not a better writer than you. Writer's block? I know what you mean. Funny thing is, I thought I would finish this story by... Well, today! However, there's still at least two chapters left... As for my cooking diary, last week I made lemonade! I used a little more than too much sugar but it made me very happy for a long time, not to mention hopping around the place. grins More to come soon!

Shinji Ikari: It's okay that you didn't review chapter 7, though I was kinda scared that you didn't approve of how I wrote it. I was about to change it because I though, 'Oh no! My best critique-giving reviewer doesn't like how I wrote it!' (yes, you have that kind of affect on my writing). I didn't think I would be able to post, either, on the 17th or 18th, but I tried signing in and it worked, and then I reviewed someone's story, so I decided to post the next chapter anyway. Yes, I have the episodes now and (as I write these responses) am watching them right now! It was your advice that stopped me from writing the next chapter, so I waited patiently until I received the episodes today. I've watched the Kenshin vs. Soujiro episodes exactly three times, and I've got everything memorized (hopefully). I really wanted to do the part that you suggested—line by line thoughts of Soujiro when Aoshi and Kenshin were fighting, but I really wanted to get to the part with Soujiro's thoughts, and his past. Still, it's as good as I could make it. I hope you think it's okay, and I'm still not done yet. No, Soujiro will be at a different angle so he could hide, thus making the final attack a total surprise on him when he and Kenshin fight. I'm sorry for all those mistakes. I have to say, this story has made my writing a lot better, especially with all the critiques everyone has give me. I will edit this story one more time when I'm completely done with this, because first I'm going to concentrate on the actual ending. I'm glad you enjoyed the other chapters, and I'm trying to make things more original because one of my pet peeves is having stories with a lot of cliches and things that actually happened in the episodes. I won't get into detail, because I have to start writing the next chapter. The sooner I get those out, the sooner I can revise, and I'm really eager to do that. I want to make this story one of the best I've written, and is already my pride and joy.

Charming Woman: Sorry again, no Soujiro/Misao moments. There won't be any in the next chapter either, but plenty of Soujiro if you adore him like I do. Here's your update, hope there's another one soon!

xT-Zealot: Sorry, I haven't gotten to reading or reviewing your newest chapter yet, but I'm really busy right now with this story. It's getting really hard to write it with all the accurate details I need—darn, not only is this story behind detail, it's also getting to be homework!

Marilda24: Thank you for enjoying the last chapter, and I'm glad you like how I expressed Soujiro's point of views on things.

MSN-CHAN: Sorry, no Misao/Soujiro moments for a while... Next chapter will have a lot of Soujiro, though. This story has about 2 more chapters, and maybe an epilogue, then it's done.

Bella: Glad you liked the last chapter!

KRN-CHAN: Thank you for being my 100th reviewer! I really didn't think I would make it this far! Thanks for all your support, and hope this chapter is a good idea of a gift to you!