Rightoo, I need somebody's help! Why won't the lil squiggly lines ever show up? I use them as dividers but noooo, they don't show up! Help me!
XD anyways yes, next chapter, let's see what happens now shall we?
Enjoy everyone!
Chapter 2: Echoes of a Past Life
A red-haired man lowered himself into the bathtub. His crimson red hair tied in a low ponytail and sporting a cross shaped scar on his left cheek. His name… was Kenshin Himura. He sighed inwardly as he soaked in the warm steamy bath. He had just finished cooking, cleaning the dojo, and doing the laundry. You'd think that living with four other people, I should be working less. His thoughts drifted lazily to the people he now lived with.
Kaoru, an orphaned girl and sensei of the Kamiya Dojo. Someone who had accepted him for who he was and didn't care where he came from or who he was. Someone who helped him begin a new life.
Then there was Yahiko, the young boy whom they had helped escape the service of a band of thieves. He was a lively, active kid and bickered daily with either Kaoru or Sanosuke, leaving not a single minute of peace and quiet.
Sanosuke was once a fighter for hire. When they first met Sanosuke was bent on defeating Kenshin for his service as the Battousai, but as time went on, things began to change as Sanosuke learned more about himself and Kenshin. Now they could even pass as friends.
The newest member of their lot was a young doctor named Megumi whom they had helped recently to escape the snare of the crime lord who was forcing her to make opium. A drug that caused death when as a doctor, she wanted to heal. Now she worked as the town doctor, helping not only Kenshin and company, but the townspeople as well.
The five made an interesting lot to say the least.
The sun shone down through the window its light reflected on something. Kenshin turned towards the glint. It was his katana. It was a strange sword and not many people see this kind. It was Kenshin's reverse blade sword; one that he now used with the vow to never kill again. Killing was when he was Hitokiri Battousai. It was about fifteen years since he had put away that name. Now he was Kenshin Himura, and Kenshin Himura did not kill. Throwing out his old name was like closing a chapter of his life and opening a new; a new peaceful life… not that he could ever truly throw it out.
There had been few incidents where samurai of the revolution came to seek the Battousai that was once the top assassin of the reformist group, Ishin Sishi. Some wanted the title of defeating the famous Hitokiri Battousai, and some wanted revenge for some other personal reason, but overall, life was different now.
Ever since he had arrived at the Kamiya Dojo, he allowed himself to relax more than he had ever before. The steam was rising from the hot water and the nice sky outside made Kenshin drowsy and while contemplating life nowadays, he soon nodded off…
Running. Running away from something. A haunting voice. Dark. A stifling, damp darkness. Rain falling thickly. Crashing through the trees. Branches tearing at his clothes and scratching his skin. The voice ringing in his ears.
"Go away!" he shouted while his hands clutched his head. He stumbled forward into the darkness, the rain obscuring his vision. He felt numb, completely numb, running forward without knowing where his legs were taking him.
A man ran out of a house in front of him. He looked bewildered and worried as he grabbed hold of Kenshin's shoulders, "Kenshin! What's the matter?"
His eyes focused on the man in front of him, "I couldn't—her… I—kill. I couldn't kill— Yukari… she's here."
'Kenshin… I know it's you…Please…'
His eyes dilated again, and he held his hands over his ears, "SHUT UP DAMNIT!"
Alarmed, the man started pulling Kenshin inside, "Get yourself together Kenshin. This isn't like you." He half pushed half-dragged Kenshin inside. "Now, you stay here, I'm going to get Iizuka."
As he left, the voice grew louder.
'Kenshin! Come back!'
"No-!"
'FIGHT ME! KILL ME!'
"NO! I won't!"
'ANYTHING!'
"SHUT UP!"
'Kenshin! KENSHIN! KENSHIN!'
"KENSHIN! ARE YOU EVER GONNA COME OUT OF THAT BATH?"
Startled out of his slumber he sunk in the bath and choked on water before he got up and replied, "K-Kaoru?"
"Don't 'K-Kaoru' me Kenshin. You know perfectly well it's me, now how long are you planning to stay in there, did you fall asleep or something?"
"Oro…" Kenshin said nervously, "Ehto… yea… I guess so."
"Well get out of there soon alright? There are people waiting for that tub."
"Yes Miss Kaoru…"
Listening to her retreating footsteps, Kenshin sunk into the bath blowing bubbles in the water. This was the sixth time that had happened this month already, the same dream, always… Kenshin brought his hand to his forehead thinking, "Whose voice was that…? Why was I running…? Iizuka… he was… from the Ishin Shishi."
Back when he was Battousai…
Kenshin signed again… and thought for a while… then raised himself resolutely out of the bath, "Those days are behind me. From now, it's only the future—"
He was interrupted by the slamming open of the door, as Sanosuke and Yahiko charged in, "GET OUT OF THE BATH ALREADY!"
"Oro!" and a surprised Kenshin was promptly picked up by Sanosuke and kicked out of the bath.
Meanwhile….
Kaoru giggled as she heard Yahiko and Sanosuke's outburst and hearing the thump of Kenshin hitting the ground. She made her way towards their vegetable garden to pick some cabbage for their dinner not looking back. Passing the entranceway of the Kamiya estate, she heard a soft fwump against the door. Kaoru glanced at the door, and hearing no more knocks, she assumed it was her imagination… but her curiosity got the better of her and she walked towards the door.
Pulling the door open, she saw nobody outside. Kaoru peeked left, and right, but nobody seemed to have been near her door. Suddenly she heard a soft moaning from below her. Looking down, her heart seemed to have caught in her throat, and she stumbled backwards, nearly falling to the ground. The basket she held dropped aside and rolled towards the doorway; curving and swerving, finally making its stop near a crimson splattered hand; the crimson of blood.
Kaoru bit back a scream when she saw the hand twitch as the basket hit it and instead quickly shouted, "MEGUMI-SAN! DR. GENZAI! COME QUICKLY!" Calming herself as well as she could, she strode forward to survey the scene. The person lying on the doorsteps seemed was a girl who looked about the same age as Kaoru did herself. Her ebony hair was a mess of tangles and some was matted in blood, and her pale face drenched in sweat as she lay there panting for breath. Kaoru noticed that she wasn't wearing a kimono like most women, but instead had a hakama, similar to Kenshin's but a deeper, darker shade of crimson, like a tinge of purple. Kaoru furrowed her brows in worry, muttering "Why aren't they here yet?"
"SANOSUKE! YAHKO! KENSHIN!" she called out. She turned back towards the girl when she saw Dr. Genzai and Megumi hurrying out of a door. The girl was bleeding profusely from the many cuts on her body. Kaoru walked outside and looked at the dirt road seeing a trail of blood leading to where the girl lay. Her eyes widened in slightly when she saw the door. It looked as if the girl had been sitting there for sometime unable to go on, then finally giving out, had slid to the ground since there was a arc of blood smeared on the door. She looked up when she heard Megumi's horrified gasp as she and Dr. Genzai finally made their way to the girl.
"What in the world happened to her?" Megumi voiced breathlessly.
"We'll talk about that later," interrupted Dr. Genzai, "we have to get her treated first. Sanosuke! Hurry and carry her inside. Yahiko, go get water and boil it. We need to clean her wounds. Megumi, go get the bandages and medicine."
Genzai gave orders quickly as Yahiko and Sanosuke ran towards them.
"Holy shit…" Sanosuke exclaimed as he neared the scene. He quickly bent down and gently picked her up. Something clattered to the ground, but paying no heed, he turned towards Dr. Genzai and asked, "Where did you want her?"
"Take her into one of the rooms, we'll have to make do for now. Most of the cuts look shallow enough but there seems to be some deeper injury I haven't seen for her to bleed so much."
Everyone started back towards the house with their appointed tasks, but a gleam of light caught Kaoru's attention. She looked back towards the entrance and saw a katana lying there slightly unsheathed. Tentatively, she picked up the sword and studied it. The sheath was beautifully polished, a pure black sheath, the sole color being a crimson lotus embossed near the hilt. She drew out the blade slowly. It wasn't a reverse blade like Kenshin's and it had traces of blood as if whoever had used it last didn't take the time or have the time to clean it. But yet, the glint of the sword was alluringly bright and the blade was very very sharp. It was evident whoever had made the sword was a master craftsman. Kaoru gently drew the sword against her finger and was surprised to see a thin trickle of blood appear on her finger, though she didn't feel any pain. "Why would this girl have a sword like this?" she wondered. Kaoru quickly replaced the blade back into its sheath and closed the gate, keeping in mind she'd have to clean it up soon. Holding the katana firmly in her hands she quickly ran to see if there was anything she could do to help out, not aware of a pair of eyes staring after her.
In the shadowy canopy of the tree, a man was watching the scene below with an amused expression on his face. "So," he said while slowly licking off the blood on his sword, "this is where you've flown my little birdie." He smirked, "Excellent." Surveying the scene he saw a man with red hair and a x-shaped scar on his face make his way towards the doctor worriedly. The man hiding in the tree gave a little chuckle of surprise, "Why… it's the Battousai. I never expected to find you here. Perfect… simply perfect." He slid his blade into the sheath and started laughing quietly, but stopped when he saw the Battousai stop suddenly and turn towards him. His eyes were different from they were a moment ago, much colder… 'the eyes of Hitokiri Battousai' he thought excitedly, 'I'll be visiting tonight.' And with that, he vanished.
Kenshin stared directly at the tree where the man was. He was sure someone was there, he could feel the fighter's presence, and soon enough the man seemed to have left because his presence disappeared. Kenshin turned towards the person Dr. Genzai was treating at the moment and back up at the tree. 'Is there a connection between the two?' Shaking the thought out of his head for the moment, he hurried to see what he could do to help, but as the clouds slowly drifted towards the sun and dimmed the light of the sun, he could help but feel that something was going to happen… something that was to his liking at all.
A gust of cold wind blew by, then stopped, leaving everything still and lifeless. The calm before the storm.
sorry i was editting some parts
Well…longer this time ) didya like it? Hm… I wonder… who can this girl be? stay tuned to see what happens next spirit