Well, I was going to attempt to do a humorous interlude thing for this chapter. I wrote it out and everything, but when I look back on it, it sucked. It really wasn't funny at all. So I basically decided to trash it and go on with this one instead and give it another try later on. So here goes.
Warning: Angst.
"Battousai II"(Alternate title: "Why?")
(Kyoto, 1863)
Daikan Shukumei's bodyguards were leading him home from a meeting with a few of his fellow government officials. The night had gone well, he thought, and aside from one of his guards claiming to have seen a flash of red, – Daikan had dismissed it as just a trick of the tired soldier's imagination – the return trip had been relatively uneventful. But then… A small figure suddenly appeared before them. "Daikan Shukumei," the stranger said without a hint of emotion, "I have come to deliver Tenchuu." Heaven's justice.
"Who–" Shukumei began to ask, but the two guards lay dead on the ground before the older man could say another word.
The assassin landed in a crouch, immediately sheathing his sword and dropping into a stance even an inexperienced swordsman like Shukumei could recognize: that of Battoujutsu. The official studied his opponent's features, which were more visible under the full moon's light in the hitokiri's new position. He had eyes a strange mix of amber and violet on a slightly rounded, youthful face framed by a long red ponytail tied at the top of his head. "I'm sorry," the teenager spoke softly, pulling the sword from its sheath with lightning-fast speed and slashing Shukumei across the chest.
"Why?" the man asked softly as he lay sprawled on the ground, his blood mixing with the moist dirt of the alley to form a reddish brown sludge smelling of copper.
The Hitokiri Battousai turned away, unable to answer the dying man's question.
なぜ
Himura Kenshin was unable to sleep that night…
なぜ
End "Battousai II"
MS's Notesなぜ written in romaji is "naze," which means "why." Beginning to see a theme here? XD
Sorry for the delay. My uncle died last week, so things have been pretty hectic recently, and I've been kinda stressed. But the next chapter's written already. I just have to type it, and then I can post it. Seeya.