Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.
-William Shakespeare
Cherry Blossom Dream
Chapter Four: A Meeting with a Wolf
Dusk crawled over the Tokyo horizon slowly, cautiously. Kaoru drew back her curtain and closed it once more. Was she ready?
She had told Sylvia earlier that she didn't need her presence with her that night and the girl breathed in a huge gulp of air. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was happy about the situation. Kaoru was starting to like the girl...she seemed not to care what Kaoru thought and didn't hide the fact she disliked like her.
Bringing out her black ribbon that instantly was camouflaged by her raven hair she pulled it up into a high pony tail, and looking into the mirror she blinked.
Her haired hadn't been up in a tail like fashion for six years and although it was customary for women to wear their hair up Kaoru hadn't had a pony tail for years. Master had said it was too innocent, so instead everyday she had her hair fashioned with curls flowing down from a pretty hat or other such ornaments.
Closing the door behind her she walked out of the hotel and made her way to the festival grounds near the sea side beaches that were consumed by the city. The streets were almost bare. It seemed as if everyone was at the festival now except for a tad few who turned their heads to look at her as she passed.
She felt the drunkard's vigilant eyes on her, smirked, and continued to disregard them even after some of them started to follow. Let them go ahead and rap her; it wouldn't be the first time...she had experienced far worse, hadn't she? But still there was a root of deep fear as she inadvertently walked faster.
How easily, if she stopped, could she manipulate these men to do her bidding like many times before, only that in those times Master had told her to do so.
She looked up making out the red ocean against the setting sun. It was beautiful, but Kaoru just thought of it as nothing; it was just a scene and it was soon followed by a rush of human voices; laughter, yells, talking.
Looking over her shoulder she saw no one.
Had she imaged someone following her? Had her memories come back in shadows? No, someone had been there. She hadn't imagined that. Someone was out there watching...waiting. A shiver ran over her in the essence that she knew who it was.
Don't think about it, don't make a wrong move. She chastised herself.
She kept walking into the festival grounds unaffected by the lot. There were many colorful booths decorated in traditional effects, children running around having their first gold fish. Kaoru spied two young ladies pass her by talking about a man they were following for a closer inspection. She marveled at their innocence; they wanted to find young men while she wanted to run from them.
She stopped and turned back to look at them. If they only they knew the truth they would run and hide, but the truth was that, as Kaoru had learned, no one could escape the real world. You couldn't run; it was faster. You couldn't hide; its eyes were everywhere.
The hum of amusement rocketed around her. It was sickening to see these people pretend like nothing was wrong or amiss. If they could take a look through her eyes they would see the old man huddling in the corner hungry, they would see old maid left alone by her ghastly children, they would see the little girl cry because her mother had just killed herself for a man who never loved her; just used her.
It was all right in front of their eyes and they could not see. Blindness was a curse and a gift.
"Oh, sorry Miss." A boy bumped into her smiling apologetically. Her eyes drifted towards him but said nothing. His smile faded. "I said I was sorry Miss." He was backing up in fear.
What did she look like to they boy then to make him so afraid.
"I heard you the first time." She was marble; hard and cold, it was her only defense. She couldn't act kind, she couldn't act as she wished ever for then a weakness would show and Master's watchful eyes would see. He always saw even now.
The boy's eyes went wide as he turned and left muttering but glad to get away all the same. Kaoru looked at him a little while longer and strode on finally coming to an ocean walk which to had another district of many booths and people.
Kaoru paid no attention to the human noises. She instead heard the blissful sound of the water lapping against wet boards, she heard the sound of a small fish jump, and she could have sworn she heard the last remaining sparkles in the ocean sing.
Leaning against the railing she sighed, it had become dark in the past thirty minutes letting the sky become full of diamonds tainted with pitter patters of gray clouds.
A child came up and bounced against her and she looked down. Her face softened a bit at the child who had started crying. "I can't find mommy!" Her tears were now mixed with panic.
Kaoru wanted to just walk away. She hated the sound of crying, and this child was making her feel irritated. She looked around for anyone who might be looking for the little boy but there was no one. They never even heard his cries.
Not only were they blind, but deaf as well.
"Sush, little one." Kaoru said more gently than she wished. The boy stopped at looked into her eyes and smiled.
Why was this little boy smiling at her? It seemed as though the light of the sky and Earth were pulled into an orbit around this child as it was just the opposite for Kaoru. But this boy could not see the darkness that lay before him.
Kneeling down she felt eyes focused on her. Please don't do anything, she thought.
Wanting to get the boy as far away from it as possible she led him to the nearest vendor and asked him to help him find his mother. His look was incredulous, but swiftly faded.
He saw something within her. Kaoru had smiled at him elfishly, and he didn't need words to hear what she said. He smiled back at her eagerly, grabbed the boy's hand and went away.
"Nothing in this world is free, Kaoru." Master voiced replayed in her memory. "Everything has a price. A price that you have to pay, it just depends on what you want."
And that man wanted payment; the only kind that she saw in his face. She glared towards the shadows that remained in the far corners of darkness daring it to say anything; all she got in return was a smirk and two glowing orbs. She looked away and walked towards the stand to wait for his return.
Why couldn't she just leave? Her hands trembled with want. Why couldn't she stand and go? Why? She tried but failed. Her flesh kept her there sitting in his spot watching people pass as they had no idea that she was going to be used again. How much longer did she have before she could no longer pretend, how much longer before she broke as a toy?
"Toys can always be mended to work again." Master's voice teased in her head. Or, she thought, they can be broken for good.
When he came back he took her hand leading her towards a near by shack a little away from the festival grounds and it was there where the play began, and her mind escaped from the world...
She left five minutes after he left to be sure that she was alone. The cracks in the old wood showed her not much time had passed. Walking around the back where no one from the festival could see her, especially the eyes, she threw up her sin, her shame, and her anger and pain. Clutching her stomach she couldn't stop.
She wanted to scream. Oh so badly she wanted to scream. Her head swam around her in nausea; it had never been this bad before. Leaning in her head into her hand she tore at the ground.
All she wanted was to be free. She wanted to go far, far away from everything...from Master, William, and her past.
Hastily she once again collected herself. She was wallowing in self pity; how stupid of her to do so. This was her life, and no matter how she hated it, she would just have to suck it up like Sally.
"Don't cry you stupid girl." Sally yelled. "Far worst things have happened to me, and you don't see me as a pathetic girl such as yourself. Stop swimming in yourself pity before you drown in it. It sickens me."
She had taken those words to heart from Sally. Re-doing her kimono she walked back into the festival not looking where she was going and only wanting to get back to the hotel when she bumped into somebody.
She had expected a request for forgiveness, she was so use to them, but nothing came. She still hadn't looked up but felt inspecting eyes upon her head.
Her breath quickened in her heart, but she showed nothing of it. This person felt familiar.
Slowly looking upon she came face to face with black orbs that burned gold in humor for an instance. Her heart leaped within her, but she gazed back, her azure eyes never leaving the eyes of Hajime Saitou.
"Kamyia." He huffed. "I had supposed you were dead." Kaoru could sense behind his sarcastic mirth like features there was bewilderment.
She felt her blue eyes glow with a nether fire as she challenged him. She knew he could sense ki, and she knew by his body action of tensing a little as if were about to begin a battle that he sensed her depths.
She radiated a hell fire, an evil that had been bestowed upon her. She smirked imp like knowing that he sensed her. He was a logical man he would be able to figure that her life for the past six years had changed her whiteness to pure tainted black.
Smirking she replied. "Kamyia did die Saitou. Don't you feel it?" He raised an eyebrow.
He had felt a charisma like this only during the Revolution. There was so much hate and anger in her spirit, so much sorrow. He would never have known it was her if he hadn't seen her. He wondered mildly what had happened to her.
Her ki gave of a black cloud, but it wasn't that that made him tense as if he were ready for a battle, it was her eyes. The lower fire that rested inside her was like murders and almost as deadly as an assassin, but it never changed color.
He laughed at her marble features. "You have changed Kamyia." He said ignoring her before comment.
The only answer he got was a stare of nothing; not hatred, not sorrow, not pain...it was just nothing, blank. It was like she had no soul and actually was dead. He had never seen such a stare, not even during the war.
The darkness seemed to depart from her leaving him again with the sight of the booths and people. He smiled.
"No much of a conversationalist are you anymore?" He drew out his cigarette and lighted it and put his hand back in his pocket pulling out another one offering it to Kaoru. She took it letting him light it.
She had never liked cigarettes but just to amuse him she took one. Soon the smell of tobacco settled on them.
"I'm sure six years has been well for you?" He wanted to know. It had been strange when she left, and he always liking a mystery had slightly wanted to know where she went, though he never really cared.
He was teasing her. It was just like him, but she was use to worst men then him. Compared to them Saitou was a saint. "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Her tone was all too suggestive, and she wanted to laugh when she saw his eyes narrow dangerously...he knew then. If he could mock her she had a right to mock him, and she wanted to laugh all the more for she knew he had some woman named...Tokie was it.
She laughed at him. "The offer is on the table Saitou." and before he could answer she was gone like a little dark fairy.
A/N: Does anyone know how to spell Saitou's wife's name? I forgot! Well I hoped you liked this chapter...how many of you people thought it was going to be someone other than the Wolf himself.
Well please RR, it really keeps me going, and if you have any ideas keep on sending them I may just use some or get an idea from one. So thanks you so much for everything, again ya'll. Bye!
Don't You Just Hate Me,
CrypticMaidenRK