Disclaimer: I got a job recently… if I owned any rights to RK would I have to resort to working at a bookstore? I think not…
Chapter 18 (continued from 17…)
Soujirou's eyes did not break the contact with Kenshin's gaze, his own eyes slowly softening for a second before he blinked, clouding over once more with indifference as he straightened himself up.
"Hope… peace, joy, truth…" The boy began with an empty laugh, the emotion once again not reaching his eyes. Shadowed as before, they held Kenshin in place. "There are no such things... My life proves this."
Kenshin simply shook his head slowly, angering the other more with the action. Soujirou's hazy brown eyes didn't narrow, but his false smile slipped off his face as he saw that his words lacked the effect that the rurouni's own words had on him.
"Then let us see what happens when you trust in this God of yours to protect those close to you, especially when you can't." Kenshin watched as the younger man brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. The older samurai thought that the Urakami leader was calling for reinforcements, but when no one came into view, Kenshin felt a sinking feeling settle in his stomach.
"What have you done?" Kenshin demanded in a serious tone, the light in his eyes flickering with each word.
"No need to dwell on such things… You'll see when you get back to the Aoiya, that is, if you make it past me."
Kenshin's eyes widened in realization before he yelled, "SANO!!"
Back in front of the Aoiya, Sano was throwing his fists in directions where satisfactory thuds followed. Right as soon as he ducked under the blade of an Urakami's sword he heard the high pitched sound of a whistle coming from down the street. But what baffled him was the fact that a few of the Urakami stopped their offensive attacks just as soon as the sound was heard and turned to run. And the certain direction in which they ran upset Sano.
"No you don't!" He yelled as he ran behind them, jumping and taking out three of the six heading for the Aoiya's gates. After he did so, he heard the distinct voice of Kenshin calling his name. He figured that the samurai was warning against what he already realized for himself.
"Incompetent fool."
Sano glanced behind him and saw Saitou's sharp eyes scrutinizing him.
"Who are you calling a fool?" Sano got up, displeased with the officer's comment.
"You managed to take out a couple of them, but did you also notice the few that reached the house?"
Sano didn't dare question what was said, especially when he knew the man was right. After throwing the officer a quick brazen glare, he shot up and ran inside the house. With an arrogant snort, Saitou followed the fist fighter at a slower pace.
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In the room, Kaoru and Yahiko fell into a silence, neither comfortable or tense. They waited, and knew that was all they could do for the time being…
"This sucks." Yahiko commented with a flailing of his arms. This caused Kaoru to roll her eyes at the point she knew he was trying to make, yet again.
"I know… I know." Kaoru said exhaustedly. With slow, lazy movements got up from her seat, the intent to dampen her dry throat in the forefront of her mind. Her hand came down to pick up the cup that sat beside her Bible but she stopped in mid reach, her body stiff and eyes quickly moving in the direction of the door.
Yahiko looked up from where he stared at the ground and immediately felt a chill at seeing Kaoru's body, without warning, become rigid and still. His mouth opened to ask what was the matter when she started tiptoeing off to the side of the room. For some reason he knew she was aiming for the broom resting in the corner. She turned toward the boy with her hand wound around the top, holding the cleaning tool much like she would a sword. Lifting a finger to her lips she silenced Yahiko from saying anything.
She listened for the sound she heard earlier, the faint thump of footsteps becoming clearer and louder than they were before.
There was someone outside, in the hallway. And from the way the person walked, Kaoru knew they didn't want to be heard.
Yahiko heard it this time and felt around his bed behind him with his hands, trying to find his bokken before silently rising to his feet. He waited for Kaoru to start walking toward the door before he followed, ready to listen to any word or signal given by his sensei. She motioned for him to stand behind her as she stayed close against the wall right next to the door.
The footsteps stopped.
Both Kaoru and Yahiko found their eyes staring intently at the door, waiting to see it open in any second.
They didn't have to wait for long to hear the scratch of the door as it slid open. With it came the flash of dull light hitting the edge of a sword slowly advancing in, the weapon entering parallel to the ground.
Kaoru waited, with quickened breath, for the man to come into view as he followed his weapon inside. Without a sound, and seemingly out of nowhere, Kaoru rushed with her right foot forward, bringing the broom down in a quick downward slash that unarmed the black clothed man, leaving him surprised and speechless. His condition made it easy for another move to be taken, leaving him prostrate and unconscious on the ground.
Kaoru brought her eyes on her student who stood silent, his mouth open like a fish. She smiled at the reaction being displayed and slung her weapon over her shoulder, giving their not-so-successful attacker one more glance.
"We should check on Miss Megumi and Misao. I bet there are more of these guys out there." Her words came out in between her heavy breathing, her heart going miles a minute from the adrenaline rush. Yahiko watched as Kaoru walked ahead and left Yahiko in the room, broom in tow.
Kaoru swept her eyes quickly but carefully over the hallway in both directions. With nothing alerting her trained senses she took a couple more steps and stood in front of the doctor's door. With breath still uneven, she opened the door and was met with Megumi's gaze, relief easing the worry from her eyes.
In a whispered voice, Kaoru spoke from the door. "Are you two okay?"
Megumi nodded her head, obviously fatigued from thinking of the event taking place outside the walls around her. Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief as she smiled, but just as soon as the breath left her a cold chill ran the down the length her spine. The sudden spike in a nearby ki alerted her, but as she turned it was too late to do anything.
Time seemed to slow down, giving her eyes a perfect view of the sword's descent upon her…
… but it never connected. Instead, Kaoru lost her breath as the weight of something, more like someone, knocked her back into the room and out from under the deadly blade. She squinted through pained eyes, watching as Yahiko got up from where they landed, standing to face the Urakami officer who stood grinning at the door.
"I should thank you, little boy. You've gathered everyone here, making it easier for me to kill you all." The Urakami's words didn't dissuade Yahiko from standing firm in his position in front of everyone, bokken in hand and ready for anything.
"I'm Myoujin Yahiko. You killed my parents and my friends… but you're not gonna do the same thing here!" The young boy launched himself forward, easily moving away from the tall, more experienced fighter's weapon to deal a very powerful strike into the other's torso. This drove the Urakami back into the hallway where Yahiko, fast on his feet, delivered yet another strike, this time to the back of the man's head that downed him in seconds. With the steel of the offending sword clanking fell from the man's now limp grip was the last sound to end their own personal battle within the Aoiya's walls. Kaoru exhaled, the breath she had been holding coming over her smiling lips. Her eyes were on her pupil, amazed at his actions, and mostly from the atmosphere surrounding him now. He appeared more mature, more wise…
"Why are you staring, Kaoru? Did I impress you that much?" His little smirk didn't go unnoticed as Kaoru frowned.
*Nope, he hasn't changed. He's still the same old brat.* She thought with a roll of her eyes. "Well, what did you expect? I am your sensei after all."
The smug look on the boy's face disappeared as he found a frown, bringing the other people in the room to smile, including the bedridden Misao.
"If you hadn't done anything, I would have had to use the rest of my kunai." The petite ninja said from where she was, sitting her self up by bracing her weight on the elbow of her good arm. She raised her small fist and held up three of the sharp little knives that she'd always carry with her. "I lost five of them due to those jerks… I wouldn't mind letting them taste these other three." With a disappointed sigh, Misao slumped back down, laying her head on the cushion underneath it.
Everyone was left to dwell in their thoughts, calming their hearts and minds from the all excitement. Comfortably, they sat in silence.
"Not again." Kaoru half whined half sighed as she sensed another very strong ki nearing their location.
"It would be a good idea to hide their weapons, that is, if you don't want to have to defend yourselves again later." The snide remark made the hair on Kaoru's neck bristle in annoyance and anger. It was a familiar voice and an equally familiar face that appeared in the door way, his presence in some way as unnerving as that of the Urakami officers.
Yahiko waved off the other's comment tiredly, slowly dragging himself to his feet from his relaxing spot against the wall. Just as soon as Yahiko lifted his head he sent Saitou a defiant look, eyes narrowed and nose turned up. As could be expected, it had no effect on the veteran swordsman and he disappeared just as fast as he had arrived, much to the relief of the room's occupants.
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"Crap… where'd they go?" Sano grumbled under his breath. He was hoping to find the three Urakami that came to the house, but with his luck Saitou would get to them first. If that happened he wouldn't hear the end of his "incompetence" from the other's mouth.
A loud noise threw him off his contemplative platform, making him turn his head in the direction of the training hall. It was a scream and a large thumb that resonated all the way to where Sano was outside. He ran and made it to the room just in time to see Saitou wiping his sword clean over a fallen Urakami officer, the latter laying in a puddle of his own blood.
"I'm too late…" Sano muttered, his eyes unmoving from the unmoving body on the floor.
"And I'm not too surprised." Saitou said, tossing the words over his shoulder as he brushed past the young man.
The street fighter was accustomed to seeing such things. There were lives lost on both sides, and for what? As his brown eyes soaked in the sight, Sano came to a deeper understanding of what Kenshin wanted to prove with his words before the battle began. There clashed two ideals, one bringing a message of peace and the other with the task of eradicating those peacemakers. Disgusted, Sano turned away and watched as Saitou walked out across the yard and to the gate leading to the street.
"Saitou…What about the other two Urakami? Did you take care of them too?" Sano asked, his voice lowered in disdain for the other man.
Saitou stopped and regarded the other out of the corner of his sharp eyes, amused with the tone Sano used to address him. With a smart smirk upon his thin lips he answered. "You've got eyes. Judge for yourself if it's my handiwork or not." Sano followed Saitou's gaze as it moved off to the right. In seeing this, Sano took off in a sprint, running in that direction; off toward the dormitories.
Out of breath he came to a stop as soon as he entered the hall. There in the hall, in front of Megumi's room, were the two other Urakami, tied up and out cold. Slowly, he walked enough so as to peer in the open door. This time, no one lifted their eyes to see who it. Finally Megumi stirred from her empty stare at the floor and glanced up.
"Sano?" She asked, smiling as she saw him nod, giving her a smile of his own.
"Yeah… it's me." He answered tiredly, a weak smile accompanying his words.
Kaoru's head snapped up at hearing the familiar voice, the first question having come to her mind already on her lips.
"And Kenshin? Where's he?"
"He's still outside, fighting the Urakami's leader." He met Kaoru's concern filled eyes. "Don't worry, Missy. There's one thing that I know and it's that Kenshin can take care of himself." Even with his steady gaze, it didn't help ease the worry eating away at Kaoru's insides.
Her midnight blue eyes moved to stare past the fist fighter's form and into the distance, her body language speaking as if she could see what was taking place down the street.
And if it were possible for her eyes to see Kenshin as he fought, she would worry much more. The battle proved to be far more difficult for the rurouni than anyone had imagined.
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The truth remained…No matter how much Kenshin felt the hurt emanating from the other's soul, he had to find a way to reach him.
"Stop this! You'll gain nothing if you continue to kill!" Jumping out to his right and away from harm, Kenshin wiped at the sweat dripping into his eyes.
"NO! You're wrong!" A yell struck in the air, the fire behind Soujirou's words burning beside his fighting. Kenshin felt a dull pain as the tip of Soujirou's sword carved through his gi, scratching a line of crimson on the skin beneath.
Kenshin was battling not only the physical strength of his opponent, but the darkness devouring the other's soul. It's power was enough to steal the air from his lungs and the rurouni was starting to see why.
He felt it… The boy's emotional pain stabbed at him like that of his own. Kenshin knew this empathy came from the peace newly born within him. His eyes never left the ones staring at him through brown disheveled hair.
"You won't take me down, Battousai! Not turning your blade will be a mistake." Soujirou yelled as he lunged forward with unaltered speed, but his moves much sloppier than before. Having cleared his mind, Kenshin was able to see where the attack was coming and dodged it. His ragged sandaled feet skidded to a safer distance a few paces away.
Now the Urakami leader stood, with rough and labored breath, watching his foe through eyes now narrowing… With this loss of total control, the haze in his russet eyes began to lessen.
Kenshin ignored the comment thrown his way, and kept to the subject at hand.
"Please listen," Kenshin brought his sword out in front of him as he talked. "I've realized that by carrying this blade as it is, I choose to live life differently from what I've lived before." Soujirou's eyes followed Kenshin's movements as the former hitokiri put his sakabatou back in it's sheath. "And now with this belief I've made my own, I see more clearly the sacredness of every life… such as your life, Soujirou Seta."
When nothing happened, no word said, no eye blinked, Kenshin thought that everything made sense to the troubled mind of the boy. Unfortunately, he was wrong.
Soujirou didn't have the mind to take it… He lacked the motivation to believe in anything other than what he held as true throughout all these years. He averted his eyes away from the man before him, bent on recovering what it was he'd been fed to believe during his life.
To Kenshin, Soujirou looked to be breaking down from the inside out.
The brunette clenched his eyes shut as voices surfaced from the recesses of his mind. These voices carried a barrage of insults, demeaning names thrown at him from where they'd been carved into his memory. They came out of darkness, out of dreams he wanted to forget. As his body began to shake, he stepped back and stumbled a little over his own feet.
Leering faces jutted into his mind's eye, his beaten and battered form as a young boy in pain as in times past reflected alongside the hate in their eyes. As a boy, he would often hide his face in his hands, keeping the pain in his eyes hidden from the view of those who would beat him. They'd beat him more if they saw him cry, pleased to see their actions taking their desired effect on the child… Who were these people? They were what some would consider his family, but to him they were dangerous strangers who would beat him senseless, night after night. That had left him with only one thing to try; a smile. He smiled through the aches, the broken bones, even the cuts and bruises. When this baffled them to the point of retreating, he had realized his plan had worked.
He kept his smile through it all, even through their deaths at the hands of no-name robbers. That night, from behind the storage shed's door, Soujirou watched on as his "family" was murdered before his young eyes. That was the night that indifference glazed over his young eyes; a smile playing on his lips through the duration of the bloodbath. The miracle he had been craving, starving for, had come about by way of unholy, murderous hands.
Those thieves weren't bad men in his eyes. They were the saviors that rescued him from those who hated him; those who aimed to kill with every blow they'd send his way. It couldn't have been of God to use such men.
*What's happening to this man?* Kenshin couldn't help but wonder as he watched what took place before him. *Who is he and why is he troubled so?* The rurouni could only speculate the history of the other's life. It must have been a past of heartbreak, much like that of his own.
Yet Soujirou knew the truth, and indeed, it was painful…He was a child born to a prostitute who died from some unknown disease. At a young age he was orphaned by the death of his father. He was then left to the care of a cold group of people related to his father... strangers.
The burden of the memories bore down upon him, causing him to heave a few shaky breaths before finding his voice. "You, you don't know what they called me… or what they did to me." He spat through gritted teeth, his voice lower than normal… Kenshin heard that tone before… It resulted from pain, something that could effect anyone, even a seemingly unemotional swordsman such as the one before him.
Still Kenshin didn't quite understand… Someone had wronged this boy somehow, but who? From what he could tell, the hurt stemmed from years past. Kenshin assumed it was caused by someone close to Soujirou, maybe a parent or sibling. Such intimate detail wouldn't have come to him if he were thinking with his head and not his softened heart, now clean and willing to feel and share the pain of others in this world. He desired to do just as others had done for him in recent days.
"Soujirou, your pain, your wounds…" Kenshin started, thinking back on his own life as he spoke. "To be alone and face such things is hard, I should know. But it doesn't have to be that way anymore."
"How…?" The boy finally asked, his voice sounding small as he bowed his head. He allowed his eyes to slowly open, enough for him to see a blurry vision of his feet. "How can you ever understand?"
All Kenshin could do was watch with an empathetic heart for the man standing, no longer as his enemy, but a fellow human being burned by a cruel world. Such an understanding was beyond Soujirou, who stood there, body limp and barely standing, not from physical ailment but from the condition of his soul…
Then it hit him. A memory suppressed from his conscious mind stabbed at his heart, ravaging his weakened mind even more. He didn't want to think of it; he didn't want to remember.
"You're a Christian… just like her." He said in a voice, lower still. Kenshin had to strain his hearing to catch it, and when he did it left him confused.
"Who are you speaking of?" Kenshin asked.
"She died just after she became one… She left me with my father before he died too."
"Soujirou, tell me. Who are you talking about?"
Soujirou covered his face with his free hand, taking away any chance for Kenshin to guess at what was going through his mind.
The answer that came was unexpected.
"My mother…"
This wasn't a battlefield for swords anymore, and after hearing Soujirou's answer Kenshin understood the truth behind that fact more clearly.
"She told me about this God, and then… the next day she died." His fingers twitched as he continued talking. "I prayed to her God... I prayed for Him to bring her back. She had told me she would live forever after believing in Him." His words were tired, fumbling over his lips without much effort. "I prayed more than ever when father died. And in return I got nothing."
His body screamed his exhaustion, the conversation exerting him far more than any of the physical battles he had been in as he swayed yet again in his stance.
"And these Christians, those who pray to this God... I vowed to kill them for their foolish hope. If what they believed was true, it means…" His breath caught in his throat as a sob reached Kenshin's ear. "…that even God saw me as everyone else had… as worthless."
A dull voice, void of any emotion, began to whisper something in the boy's mind; over and over again it repeated the same thing, every time a little louder than before. It grew so unbearable that he made a quiet decision to give in to it's demands and quiet the noise inside. His lazy gaze shifted through his fingers from where he watched his feet over to the sword limply held between the fingers and palm of his other hand…*It's so easy,* His eyes caught the glint of the sharp steel in the pale morning light, beckoning to end it all with the one deed that would be his last. *In death lies more honor than I've ever had in life.* His thoughts drowned out all other thought, presenting seppuku as the only way out. Lifting his sword, Soujirou plunged it's end toward his stomach… and then a flash of color, red and blue, blurred together with a rush of wind behind it.
There it lay, cleanly cut and on the ground near his feet, the blade completely removed from near the top of the hilt. With eyes wide, Soujirou couldn't find anything to do or say as he sat in shock his shock at seeing what was done. His mind wouldn't even speak, no thoughts present to formulate more ideas for him to follow. All left his mind as blank as the expression upon his face.
"You are wrong," Kenshin said, twisting his blade back to it's place again, sheathing it promptly. He shifted his weight off of his right foot, moving out of his battle stance into one more at ease. With that he walked forward, smart enough to keep his eyes alerted to any other movement that might be made by the other as he approached. "This God understands far more than you can imagine… And He holds nothing but love for you, not contempt."
Soujirou never tried to comprehend that he was of any worth to anyone, especially to this God. He never believed that his prayers were heard and held dear to the one offered them.
Finally, with the help of some wise words from the rurouni, Soujirou came to a point he had never seen to be possible.
"No prayer is said in vain, and that includes those uttered by your mouth. He heard you, and I truly believe He is answering them today, Soujirou, that I do. He works in ways we cannot begin to fathom." Kenshin's mind turned to those he had been blessed to have gotten to know over the past many months; one a prideful yet kind fist fighter, one devious but caring doctor, one smart-mouthed, good hearted boy, and… then there was the one who had stolen his heart, having captured his mind, heart, and soul without ever knowing it.
*Kaoru…*
He had been brought to Tokyo for a reason and now he knew why; this morning's prayer being the most important part of it. "I, too, have been aimless and without a clear path to follow these past 10 years. But now I see His hand in my life, and His hand is here before you, asking you to take notice of it's presence… You are priceless to Him and that is why He's here." The boy's breathing began to slow down as he listened with head still bowed. "This is His answer to your prayers. Surrender and be forgiven."
Kenshin waited for a response from the boy, a shout of denial, anything to fill the empty air between them now, but there was nothing. What he wasn't prepared for was the lifting of the other's downcast head, making his face now visible from behind the thick brown bangs that hung over it a moment ago.
The redheaded man was taken aback with the instantaneous change that had taken place before him.
It wasn't as much the expression on the boy's face, but the eyes that framed it. They weren't a clouded brown any longer; in it's place shone a sorrowful blue. Kenshin's face remained neutral, but allowed a smile to form on the inside.
*This is a good start…* He thought to himself. Stepping back, Kenshin leisurely rested a hand on the hilt of his sword and watched as Soujirou fell to his knees in the street, his hands getting rid of what was left of his sword as it slipped through his grasp.
*I've avoided thinking of this… everything. Avoided thinking of you, mother. Tell me… is it true?* Soujirou opened his eyes and stared at his hands, taking in the basic movements of his fingers as he moved them, his hands grabbing at nothing but air. It was the basic nature of his actions that brought him to think as he observed them. It started making sense, the connections between the mundane things of life coming together to make him wonder… Maybe there was something more to this God than he originally thought, yet he still wasn't sure. Was it as simple as it was laid out to be?
"You…," the boy started as he began to sway forward. "You… Christians…" With that, the travail of his battered soul brought him to the ground. He didn't want to fight it, for he knew nothing else could be done. Soujirou Seta welcomed the rest that came with the closing of his eyes and he collapsed to the floor.
There was a heaviness that tugged at the rurouni's violet eyes as he watched on in silence. Though fully awake, he felt the drag accustomed with exhaustion of the physical variety. It coincided perfectly with his feeling that he had gotten through to the troubled young man… Kenshin couldn't help but feel the effect it had on him as well. He was tired, fatigued beyond what he ever felt during a battle. With the physical exertion having been great in the start of the battle, it lessened enough to allow the warring wills to have their turn in the fight as well. There was a rigidity in his bones that spoke of something he had never experienced before and mere words wouldn't be able to bear it's weight that caused it.
"What happened here?" Sano asked, walking carefully around the fallen Urakami leader, a blank expression on his face as he regarded the man on the ground.
"He just needs some rest, that he does."
Kenshin lifted his eyes in time to see that someone else was coming their way from the direction of the Aoiya as well. Saitou stopped a few feet shy of the boy now lying on the ground unconscious, giving the latter a disgusted snort before addressing his old acquaintance.
"I'll have my men take care of him along with the others." Saitou looked again at Soujirou, all the while shaking his head. "I don't know what you did to him, Battousai, but whatever it was it looks to have worked." He sent Sano one last dirty look before returning to his own men.
After nothing else was said over the next couple minutes Kenshin turned his head to regard his friend with a smile upon his face, the familiar action softened by the exhaustion having settled over him. Sano noted this after the violet gaze returned to the fallen Urakami but he decided to stay silent, knowing that the explanation would most likely be a long one.
"The others are most likely waiting for our return." Kenshin said, taking his first step forward yet his eyes took him back to the one lying prostrate on the ground. In doing so he left the boy with one thought. *I pray you find peace, Soujirou Seta.*
Out of the corner of his brown eyes, Sano couldn't help but look at the state in which he found Kenshin. One sleeve of his blue gi was discolored from the blood that had completely soaked though. And the rurouni's pallid countenance didn't help ease the knot in Sano's stomach from such a sight.
"You don't look too great. You're hurt, you know…" Sano tossed to his side where Kenshin walked alongside him.
"So are you," was the other's retort with, his eyes leading Sano's down to the fist fighter's hands. Sano stopped in place to examine his hands more carefully and saw that his knuckles were raw from the fighting.
"Guess you're right," Sano admitted with a laugh, walking on ahead.
Kenshin stopped for a moment, letting his friend continue without him. His eyes couldn't get enough… They had seen a pain mirrored and matched with his own behind the eyes of that boy back there. Violet gazed in hope lined sadness back at the distance behind him.
*Don't worry Soujirou. It is true… your mother lives.* With a skyward glance, Kenshin felt a serene smile settle over his weary lips.
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A/N: Here it is, finally… I know, I'm sorry… Life is not what I would call perfect right now. Lame excuse, I knowSchool is incredibly demanding (darn all those papers!) and my personal life has been dealt some pretty hard blows over the past few weeks. Thank goodness God's grace and mercy are always present… Oh, by the way, HAPPY EASTER everybody!
I hope you all didn't mind that I couldn't respond to the reviews… You all should know that I consider every word you send my way a blessing. It just lets me know that you appriciate the hours I slave over this story and that it actually catches your interest. I hope you liked this chapter. Review and tell me what ya'll think, okie dok? Thanks a ton everyone, especially to those of you encouraging me through different means… By email, comments on my lj, or conversations over IM… Really, I thank you.
I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully I can find time between work (yay! I have a job!) and school to write up some more stuff ^^… Take care, and God bless!