Disclaimer: Please stop taunting me...
Sobakasu
part 6
-- --
--"GET THE HELL OFF HIM!" A flurry of orange seemed to shoot out of no where, Satsuki was latched onto the man's back with her arms jerking back on his neck as hard as she could. He had lost his hold on Shinta's gi collar and dropped him on the ground, and was now whirling around trying to peel the girl off of his back.
Satsuki was screaming at her brother to run, but before he could even get to his feet another man caught hold of him. "Little rats..." Even though he squirmed and kicked as hard as he could, there was not much Shinta could do to get away- especially considering the fact that the man was about four times his own size.
The other man had managed to shake Satsuki off, but as soon as she hit the ground she lunged forward and tackled his legs, causing him to lose balance and fall. She made a run for the one who had Shinta, but the man behind her grabbed her by the ponytail and jerked her back. On her way down, she flung her elbow back and bloodied the his nose. Screaming with rage, he hurled Satsuki into a tree and drew his blade to her throat, trapping her there.
"Hey, Toji, can I kill this one? No one'll wanna buy a wench like her anyways..." He inched his sword closer into her neck, causing a tiny stream of blood to flow out. The other man shrugged his shoulders and nodded, turning and walking away with Shinta slung over his shoulder. Shinta panicked and fought even harder to get loose. "NE-CHAN NO!"
And his eyes grew wide as he watched the man swing his blade, watched his sister's blood begin to cover the ground.
--His vision blurred, he was hiddin behind a woman's kimono sleeve, her arms wrapped around him. He watched as one by one, the bandits slew the women whom he had also come to call 'sisters'. He watched as his last 'sister' was lifted away from him, looked into her eyes as she spoke her last words. "Live, Shinta..." And then she was gone as well, her voice cut off and her eyes grew dull.
--He was burying his 'sisters', his small arms were already exhausted from digging the graves, but still he managed to carry them. He had to be strong, there were still more graves to dig, so many more graves... He looked down for the last time at the girl in his arms-
--and he looked into her eyes, tears pouring out, as she carved another scar on his cheek with her dagger. It was his fault, all his fault, he had killed her. It was his fault, everything, he couldn't protect any of them. Everyone dead, everyone. Blood everywhere. He couldn't save them and now they were dead, all of them, gone, dead, all his fault. Tou-san. Kaa-chan. Ne-chan. Tomoe. Ne-chan... Tomoe... Tomoe...--
"Tomoe!"
He awoke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. His thoughts rushed around in his head for a moment, then he realized where he was. Home. Only a dream. Just a nightmare...
"Dreaming about Tomoe-san?"
Kenshin's head snapped up, eyes wide and alert. There was a girl at the end of his futon, her head resting in her hands and her elbows on the blankets. Wha- Ne-chan? But you're... then it all came rushing back to him, yesterday, the angel- his sister, Kaoru, everything.
"I saaaiiid, Dreaming about Tomoe-san again? Or was it a nightmare..?" Satsuki tilted her head curiously. Kenshin simply nodded and laid back down, pulling the covers higher up on his shoulder. Of course, Satsuki would not be having that kind of behavior. Nope. And she promptly told him so as she crawled up next to him and began poking him in the back. "Heyyyy. Shintaaa... You know she's not mad at you, right?"
At this, Kenshin rolled over, eyebrows raised questionably. "How do y-?"
"What, you're forgetting that I'm dead, maybe?" Satsuki giggled faintly and smiled. "She's a good friend of mine, Tomoe-san is. We had a little talk before I left for here... She told me to tell you something. Summing it all up- she said she loves you and she's happy for you. It wasn't your fault and you know it. Now...", she said, pinching Kenshin's cheek and tugging upwards, "Smile. Satsuki The Great commands it, therefore it must be done. Or else. And go back to sleep. I'll have you know it's exactly twelve-twenty-seven and fifty-two seconds in the morning, and you have woken me up with your unnecessary tossings and turnings. Bah. The nerve of it all, the sheer injustice, I say..."
Kenshin was now smiling of his own accord, he knew exactly what Satsuki was doing. She was trying to take his mind off of the nightmares by distracting him with her own self-centered complaining. And strangely enough, it was working. Just like it always did... It was then that Kenshin realized that the girl was alot wiser than she let on. He supposed he had just been too young to see that before. Funny, even though she was in a mindset that was only half his own age, it still seemed as though she was the elder and he was just a child. He supposed it just came with being an angel...
"...I mean, sure, I don't really need the sleep, being immortal and all, but it's the principle that counts. You know how much I like naps and- Heyyy! What are you laughing at? I told you to go back to sleep, now respect your elders. A brat, that's what you are... Big ol' twenty-eight year old scarfaced brat. Humph." Satsuki got up and walked back down to the end of the room, sitting down and resuming her position against the wall. "You know what?" Her eyes narrowed into an over-exaggerated glare. "I hope you grow a beard. Yep. A big 'ol scraggly red beard, with tangles in it. And creepy-crawlies. That ought to give you something to have nightmares about. ...The Man-eating Beard... It stalks the dojo at night... Growing, growing, all the time, too monstorously huge to shave..."
"Oro..." ...Or he could be wrong. They could both just be crazy. In any case, he sure had been jumping to that conclusion alot lately.
"Yeah, that's right, you'd better 'oro'... ... ...G'night, scarface."
"Good night, freckleface."
"-cough-tanglybeard-cough-"
-end pt 6-
(A/N) Woo, filler! ...Yeah, that took too long to get posted... Sorry, my computer's been busted.; ... ...Kenshin with a beard... YEAH, THAT IS JUST PLAIN DISTURBING. Not happening... Too scary... Hahahahaha...;;;
Review or you will be eaten by the Man-eating Beard.