Pain of the Past
Chapter 5
By Hikari Tsuki Chi
Disclaimer: (sits at computer dejected at lack of Vol. 7 of RuroKen) Does it look like I own Rurouni Kenshin? DOES IT?!?! (Protest met with silence) That settles it. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Otherwise I would already have Vol. 7.
Summary: See chapter 1.
Note: Please note that I now accept anonymous reviews. I asked if I could uncheck and was told that I could. So go ahead and review. Thank you to Cami Drace and JaneDrew, who are the second and third persons to review this story! Oh and JaneDrew, below is the glossary you asked for. It the collective one for chapters 1-4, and the one for chapter 5 will be at the bottom of the chapter.
Japanese-English Glossary
Chapter 1Kendo-Japanese fencing with bamboo swords, or shinai
Kenjutsu- art of swordsmanship
Dojo- place for practice or tournament
Meiji Jidai- Meiji Era of Japan, started when Emperor Meiji came to power in 1868.
Bokken- wooden sword
Gaki- brat, child
Katana- Japanese sword
Wakizashi- short sword wore with the katana
Shinai- bamboo sword
Gi- shirt worn for training
Hakama- traditional men's trousers resembling culottes (whatever those are)
Rurouni- not that I need to put the definition, but it's wandering swordsman, a made up word created by Watsuki-sama
Nani-what
Hitokiri Battousai- Battousai the Manslayer, again, do I really need to put this here?
Sessha wa rurouni- I am a wanderer
Tabi no kenkaku- wandering swordsman
De gozaru yo- that I am
Saya- sheath
Kore- this
Sakabatou- reverse bladed sword
Hai- yes
Hito o ikasu- swords that give life
Iya- no
Sengoku Jidai- Warring States Era where Inu-Yasha takes place
Chapter 2Jou-chan- what Sanosuke calls Kaoru in the Japanese version; means missy
Bakumatsu- Meiji Revolution
Nihon- Japan
Nihonjin- Japanese
Sensei- teacher; used to show respect to those of certain jobs (doctor, politician, etc.)
Iie- no
Satsujin-ken- swords that give death
Katsujin-ken- swords that give life
Seinan Wars- Southwest Wars
Otou-san- father
Seppuku- ritual suicide to maintain one's honor; derived from hara-kiri, belly cutting
Oi-hey
Chapter 3Sake- rice wine
Densetsu- legendary
Chapter 4Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri- A manslayer is a manslayer until death.
Demo- but
Satsujin- murderer
Mou korosu- I'll kill you
Ishin Shishi- imperialist
Sayonara- good-bye
Onegai- please, as in begging
Dame- don't
Chapter 5- Lists
Kaoru stumbled into the Akabeko, brain sleepy and wired from lack of sleep and too much caffeine. "Living up to your name, Tanuki-chan?"
Glaring at her, Kaoru said, "At least some of us aren't kitsunes, Megumi-san."
Takani Megumi laughed, fox ears sliding up and falling back into her hair as she sobered up. "Seriously, Kaoru-chan, you don't look so good. Have you been getting enough sleep?"
Sliding into the booth, Kaoru shook her head, "No I haven't. I'm still having those dreams, and they're not letting me get much sleep. Where's Sanosuke?"
"Late as usual. He said he was bringing a friend, but he's still late."
Just then a voice carried over the chatter of the restaurant. "Sano, it wasn't necessary to drag me out here you know. I'd have come willingly."
"No you wouldn't have. For someone who can cook good, why are you living off ramen?"
"I'm either grading papers, teaching, trying to sleep, or are getting dragged out with you to gambling halls. Ramen's not only cheap, but it doesn't take long to make either. And why are you questioning my eating habits? Last time I checked your fridge, there was only several items of questionable origin that could be considered toxic waste. At least I don't mooch off of others." Kenshin retorted, just as he and Sano appeared.
"Contrary to your belief, food is required to ensure that you don't pass out during class, and variety is good for a change." Argued Sano.
"Sano, I am not paying for you again." Deadpanned Kenshin, knowing perfectly well why Sano dragged him out of his apartment.
"You think I would do that to you?"
"Yes." Was the collective answer for all three of them, having each been mooched off by Sanosuke more than once.
"Don't worry, I actually brought money this time."
"This mean that you'll be paying your tab finally?" asked Tae, who had zeroed in on Sanosuke like a hawk since he came in.
"Sorry, no. Beef-pot for four."
"Is there hope for next time?" pressured Tae.
"Ha! It'll be a cold day in hell when tori-atama pays his tab in full." Commented Megumi, making a jab at Sanosuke's hair, which resembled a rooster.
"And I always thought that foxes caught roosters, Megitsune. You haven't yet."
"I haven't decided on the right one yet."
Settled down into the booth with their drinks, green tea for Kenshin, coffee for Kaoru, Western ice tea for Megumi, and sake for Sanosuke, Kenshin decided to brooch the subject as to why Sanosuke dragged him here. "Why were so insistent on me coming here today Sano? Normally you would let me off the hook."
"Yeah Sanosuke, you called me at 7AM this morning and when you don't have school you're normally asleep until noon." Added Megumi.
"I would have thought that you had been gambling last night, but this morning you when you called you sounded as if you had been up thinking, since you didn't sound drunk." Said Kaoru.
"Sano's got a higher alcohol tolerance than most people, just because he doesn't sound drunk doesn't mean that he is." Kenshin commented, sipping his green tea, wishing that Sano had let him take aspirin before he dragged him out here. If I keep drinking sake like this I'll turn into Hiko-shishou!
"How would you know?" questioned Kaoru.
"Where do you think he crashes to sleep it off?"
"Anyway, getting back on track, I know that we've all been having some pretty weird dreams lately. So I thought that maybe there might be something in common between them. If we make a list of what is similar between all of our dreams, maybe we can figure out what the hell is going on."
"You've been having dreams too Sano?" asked Kenshin.
"Yeah. I thought I was the only one until I noticed that both you and Jou-chan were having trouble sleeping for the past six months, starting at around the same time. Megitsune I found out about when I came into her office and found her calling out in her sleep."
"I didn't think you knew how to use your brain tori-atama. You might hurt something." Said Megumi with a smirk.
"Sano's smarter than he looks. But it puts the rest of us at a disadvantage in terms of how much he really knows and with what he's seen." Commented Kenshin.
"Isn't the important thing right now to try and figure out what our dreams have in common and why they started when they did?" Questioned Kaoru. "Maybe if we figure out what's causing them, hopefully they'll stop."
"I've had dreams like this since I was a teenager, but it's only been within the last six months that they've reached the point where I can't get much sleep at night." Said Kenshin.
"Mine have only been within the last six months." Added Kaoru.
"Same here." Said Megumi with her two cents.
"Mainly in the last six months, but I had a few when I was a kid." Sanosuke said, sipping his sake slowly.
"Now that you mention it," started Kenshin, stopping when the food came. "I had a few dreams like that after my parents died and my guardian took me in, but I just thought they were just something my mind had made up." Picking up his line of thought after Tae went back to the kitchen.
"Why don't we all list the things that show up the most in all of our dreams on separate papers and compare? That's the easiest way to do this." Suggested Kaoru. "That way we can actually get to eat."
Almost magically pens and paper before each of them, courtesy of Sanosuke. "Way ahead of you, Jou-chan. I thought this would come up."
Focusing on their food and lists, there wasn't much conversation at the table. Do I add the parts about where in my dreams I seem to be killing people? Sano said to add everything, so I guess I have to. Even if they are dreams, I don't want to be thought of as a killer, especially by Kaoru-dono. Chotto matte, where'd that come from? Thought Kenshin, alternating between eating and writing.
Great, I always wanted to embarrass myself further in front of Kenshin. Thanks a lot tori-atama. Demo, he does look a lot like the guy in my dreams though… Mused Kaoru, absentmindedly swiping food from Sanosuke's plate.
Damn you tori-atama! The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass myself with a bunch of silly dreams. Especially the one where you leave me… Growled Megumi, eyes softening at that thought.
Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Jou-chan and Megitsune look like they're gonna kill me, while Kenshin's got that haunted look in his eyes again. He wasn't looking so good this morning, and his scar was bleeding. I've never seen him like that. He looked so…so…lost…and like he's given up on life. Only in my dreams have I ever seen him like this. The same with Jou-chan. I'll admit that part of this was so both of you could get to know each other better. Both of you have told me separately about your dreams, and it seems like you're dreaming of each other. I just want someone to actually be able to live with the one they love… Thought Sanosuke, gulping his sake. Oi, did Jou-chan just take my biggest piece of meat?
"Anybody finished?" asked, Sanosuke, holding up his finished list.
A chorus of "Hai's" sounded at his question. Everyone placed their lists in the center of the table, and bent over them, nearly bumping heads.
"Oi, Kenshin, you're handwriting is awful."
"It's better than it used to be."
"You should've been a doctor, not a professor."
"Can your students even read your writing?"
"They get a tutorial on it the first month. And Megumi's a doctor, and her writing isn't bad."
"I don't really think that Kenshin's handwriting is too bad. I can read it…ano…what's that say?"
"It says 'bloody rain'. But thanks for the support."
Kenshin's List:
-Slavers being killed
-"Please spare this child!"
-Bandits being killed a swordsman
-"That's too gentle a name for a swordsman. Your name will be Kenshin."
-"I will not die… I don't want to die… To…mo…e…"
-"You make the bloody rain fall."
-"I don't care about her."
-"I will protect you."
-White plum, blood, snow turning red
-"I will never kill again."
-"Sessha wa rurouni."
-"I never said that I wanted Battousai to stay!"
-"Now if only you'll only turn over that odd blade…we'd have our Hitokiri-sama back."
-"To protect Kaoru-dono, I will become a Hitokiri once again."
-"Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri."
-"As long as Sessha has the strength of a rurouni to protect the people in Sessha's life then Sessha no longer needs the strength of a hitokiri…of a satsujin…of a murderer…de gozaru yo!"
-"Mou korosu."
-"Mou korosu? That's my line."
-"Then even as the Rurouni, you're a failure."
-"Shin…ta…"
-"Thank you for everything. Sessha wa rurouni. It's time for me to wander again."
-White plum and jasmine as blackness fills vision
-Scars appearing mysteriously
-Bleeding with dreams of dark-eyed woman, and then with dreams of a blue-eyed woman
-Anger
-Hate
-Bloodlust
-Blood spattering, tainting a holy sword
-Darkness
The rest was illegible. "What's the rest say?" asked Kaoru.
"Uhhh…nothing!"
"You sure?" Kenshin blushed as Kaoru leaned in close, practically nose to nose. "Well?"
"It's just…in some of my dreams, I'm killing people in Kyoto during the Bakumatsu." Said Kenshin, suddenly finding the table very interesting.
"They're just dreams. It's not like they're about a past life or anything." Said Kaoru. "And even if they are from a past life, you're not a killer today, and that's what counts. Unless you've got some skeletons in your past you don't want us to know about?"
Kenshin breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least she didn't think of me as a killer. Demo, why does her opinion matter to me such much? "What's on your list?" he asked, everyone now bending over Kaoru's list.
Kaoru's List
- A foggy street at dawn
-"Don't play innocent with me! Who else would ignore the edict and walk around with a sword?"
-"Oro?!?!"
-"Sessha wa rurouni."
-"Ken wa kyouki. Kenjutsu wa satsujinjutsu. No matter what pretty words used to describe it, this is its true nature. But Sessha likes Kaoru-dono's idealism better."
-"Nigete!"
-"The style of Hitokiri Battousai is an old style of kenjutsu from the Sengoku Jidai designed to face many opponents at once."
-"That's the name Sessha goes by now."
-"I want to crush the man the songs call the greatest of the Ishin Shishi!"
-"Now if' d only flip over that odd blade…we'd have our Hitokiri-sama back."
-"When I say I'll kill you, all you can do is die."
-"Don't…don't become a hitokiri again…"
-"There's no way to stop the two of them."
-If this keeps up…Kenshin…Kenshin will…disappear…
-"To protect Kaoru-dono, I will once again become a Hitokiri!"
-"But you've always been able to go back to normal before!"
-"Thank you for everything. Sessha wa rurouni. It's time for me to wander again. Sayonara."
-"…Stay with me…"
-Pain in chest
-Blood
-Fading
-Darkness
"There's some other things, but those are the repeat themes." Kaoru said, looking over her list again. "But this morning, I saw something in my mirror. I was asking the rurouni to stay with me. I didn't put it on the list because it wasn't a dream. Also whenever I've been in the dojo training hall at sunset, bloodstains appear on the floor and there's translucent images of two people fighting, either this cop and a Sanosuke-look-a-like or the same cop with the rurouni. And the rurouni looks like you Kenshin."
"The blue-eyed girl in my latest dreams looks like you. But the dark-eyed girl from my past dreams looks like a girl I used to date in high school, Yukishiro Tomoe."
"So the majority of both of your dreams are about each other?" questioned Megumi. I wonder if Sanosuke's dreams are about me…
"Hai." Said Kenshin, giving Sanosuke a look.
He's on to me. I think that he knows why I'm doing this already. He's a LOT more observant than he lets on. Thought Sanosuke, as everyone focused on his list
Sanosuke's List
-Anger
-"A Choushou revolutionary, Himura Battousai…whose way is the ancient sword-school of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryuu…active for five years, from ages fourteen to nineteen…hired for the first half of his career…as a hitokiri…a relentless assassin lurking in the darkness of the night…and, in the latter half, acting as a free swordsman to protect his comrades from the government's killers, the Shinsengumi. Thus the killer who would have never seen the light of day became a legend. And in the deciding battle of the Boshin War…after victory in the first battle at Toba Fushimi, he disappears. And reappears as a rurouni."
-"Don't go wandering off somewhere without my permission!"
-Fox lady
-"My friend died because of her!"
-"Sagara-taichou…"
-"I want to crush the man who was called the greatest of the patriots!"
-"Futae no Kiwami…?"
-If only I could forget…
-"Bad governments perish! It's for the good of the people!"
-Fire
-Wood collapsing, blocking the way
-Protecting a woman
-Smoke
-Darkness
"That's basically it."
"Why's he get off easy?" demanded Kaoru. "I've been losing sleep over this! I can only take so much coffee before I'm too wired, damn it!"
"Do I LOOK like Kami to you?!" asked Sanosuke right back.
"Maa, maa. No doubt there's more he just didn't put on his list." Said Kenshin, giving Sanosuke a look over his tea. "Why don't we move onto Megumi-san's list, shall we?"
Megumi's List
-Family gone
-Opium making
-"Spider's web. Like ordinary opium, but better processed. With only half the poppy juice, it's twice as potent. Meaning four times the profits."
-"I'd rather eat you-know-who's cooking than opium woman's."
-"If my freedom is going to be apart of this deal, and force Ken-san's hand, then I chose execution!"
-"You're the only one he said good-bye to."
-Intense heat
-Wood popping
-A man on top of her
-I wish he knew I love him…
-Smokey darkness
-Blackness
"Once again, why'd the two of you get off easy?"
"I really think it's merely a matter of experience…"
"If anyone has anymore dreams or occurrences, don't hesitate to say so."
"And it'll snow in hell."
The bill having arrived, there was a short squabble over who paid. The tab ultimately fell to Kenshin and Sanosuke, Sanosuke having enough money for two. The bill paid, and everyone prepared to go his or her separate ways, Kaoru asked, "Kenshin, do you want to see the dojo? You seemed interested in going there."
"Would it be alright? I don't want to impose…"
"You wouldn't be! 'sides, no one even lives there."
"Okay then, I don't have a lot of papers to grade anyway."
"My car's outside, so let's go." Grabbing his hand, Kaoru dragged him out to her car.
"You set this up didn't you? So that those two would get closer?" asked Megumi, walking down the street with Sanosuke. Having to go back to work, he offered to walk her back.
"They look so lonely, Megumi. I just wanted someone to have happiness in their lives."
It was only when she was getting ready to leave her office and go home did she realize not only what he meant by his words, but that he had also called her by her given name. Eyes wide and hand poised over the shouji, she thought in shock, Could…could he love me…? Of course, only time would tell what affects, if any, would come from their little lists…
Japanese-English Glossary
Tanuki- a raccoon dog, Kaoru's nickname
Kitsune- fox
Tori-atama- bird head, Sanosuke's nickname
Shishou- master
Chotto matte- wait a minute
Hai- yes
Sessha wa rurouni- I am a wanderer
Hitokiri-sama- manslayer, what Jin-e calls Kenshin when they fight in the Japanese version of the manga
Hitokiri wa shosen shinu made hitokiri- A manslayer is a manslayer until death
Satsujin- murderer
De gozaru yo- that I don't (when used in the context it's in)
Mou korosu- I will kill you now
Ano- umm
Ken wa kyouki- A sword is a weapon
Kenjutsu wa satsujinjutsu- The art of swordsmanship is the art of killing
Nigete!- Run!
Taichou- Captain
Kami- God
Maa, maa- 'There, there' is the closest I'm coming up with. Kenshin uses it a lot when Kaoru's pissed
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