Ice Assasin

Chapter One: Nightmares

Author: Setzu

Rated: R

The rain pounded against the earth as it dropped from the clouds, which hid the brilliant moon. The wind had picked up exceedingly since the summer storm had begun, making the trees sway wildly and clothe that had been meant to dry on the line blown away to never be seen again.

Several figures lurked among the shadows nervously, each shadow sweeping its gaze down the deserted ally way with both determination and terror. They barely made any sound as they fought the wind and continued on their swift, quiet way, only murmuring to each other when needed.

A small figure watched from atop a near by roof, cold and calculating with it's gaze. A smirk was prompted onto the lips of the cruel shadow as it began to trail them. It could hear the slight clanking of their swords even over all the wind and rain, and so could find them even when it couldn't see them. It jumped off the roof it was running on and landed to the ground with ease and stealth. It watched the several samurai come to a stop and go into a dark building. Slowly it crept inside along with them, not one of them seeming to realize this.

It followed them until one of them stopped and lit a candle. After sliding open a nearby shoji door he motioned for his comrades to enter. It ducked into the shadows and resolved to stay crouched in the shadows near the room so it could hear.

"How much longer do you think the Revolution will last?" One asked as he sat down.

"I don't know, it can't be much longer though." Replied another.

"It doesn't matter right now when the Revolution will end, we need to focus on staying alive right now. I have a feeling we've been followed for the last few days, along with a bad, bad feeling." Each man turned to look at the one they called their leader, Ichuro Makishimo of the Onigumi, a relatively new group that formed about half way through the revolution. Each man eyed each other nervously, a chill forming down his spine.

"You have a good intuition," Came a cold feminine voice. Each man swiveled his head to the shoji door as it slowly slid open. Ice blue eyes pierced each mans soul as they looked at her. She was small, must be around twelve at the most, yet the air that hung around her questioned her appearance. She had dark raven hair that was tied back into a high ponytail, and a smirk graced the lips.

Ichuro stood up cautiously as he watched the girl, wondering how on earth a small thing such as her could make him and his men so nervous.

"What, are you doing here child? Go back to your mother," His voice shook slightly and he held in the urge to jump when a crack of thundered roared.

"You're quaking, not much of a samurai are you?" Came the cold voice again, she let out a small, chilling laugh.

"None of you are worthy to be called a samurai." And with that she lunged at them, piercing each of their necks with the kodachies that she had hid behind her. Not a scream was heard, only sound of metal and flesh meeting. The girl put her kodachies away when she had finished her task. Her eyes calmed down a bit and turned into a darker blue. She wiped some of the blood from her face as she walked out of the room and once again out into the storm.

The girl stopped in the middle of the street, letting the rain-wash away the blood she had taken. Another woman, much older, but similar in physical looks came out and joined her from the shadows. The girl let a rare smile curve onto her lips as she gazed up at the figure.

"How did I do mama?"

"Well my Kaoru, well."

Kaoru shot up from her bed, sweat beads pouring down her head. She panted heavily as she reached a shaking hand to her face to see if there was any blood. She closed her eyes then opened them again, finally beginning to calm down.

It had been a little over a week now that she had been having such horror filled nightmares, each one had the little girl in it and each time she was killing someone new, but never had the little girl been named. Why had the woman called the girl her name? Surely it couldn't have been herself when she was little, she told herself. It was impossible, a ridiculous idea, but, what other explanation could there be? Each dream seemed so real, almost as if it were a memory. This scared Kaoru like nothing else. If it were really a memory, then she'd killed so many people, she'd been so cold, but why couldn't she seem to remember it all?

A knock at her door made her jump in surprise and she whipped her gaze to her door. She hid her shaky hands under her covers as she called for the visitor to come in. The shoji door slid open gently and a red headed man came in, his violet eyes concerned.

"Are you alright miss Kaoru?" He questioned as he looked at her pale sweating figure. He knew she had been having nightmares, for each night he could hear her tossing and turning, and each night he came to her room and watched over her, trying to find someway he could help her, but none came. Her dreams were something she would have to fight alone, as much as he hated to admit.

He had noticed lately though that her dreams not only seemed to plague her when she was asleep. He would watch her as she would be practicing or sitting on the porch, and she would space out for a moment, a look of horror coming across her face until she snapped out of it. He tried to get it out of her, by asking if she was okay or what was wrong, but she kept denying anything was wrong and would just paste a smile on her face he knew wasn't real.

"I'm fine Kenshin." She once again placed a smile on her face in hopes of calming the Rurouni and getting him to leave. She figured he probably knew by now that she had been having nightmares, but she didn't want to worry him more by telling him the gruesome dreams.

Kenshin sighed and nodded, realizing he wasn't going to get anything out of her again. He smiled at her kindly, letting her know she could tell him when ever and got up.

"Breakfast is almost ready, that it is." And with that he left and Kaoru stared after him, a small sigh escaping her lips. She got up and put on her usual out fit before opening the shoji doors and walking towards the kitchen. With a deep breath she entered and smiled at everyone, intent on showing that nothing was wrong.

"Hey busu, you finally woke up!" Piped up Yahiko as he grinned, "I think you get more ugly sleep than you do beauty sleep because boy you don't…Ow!" Yahiko clutched his head as Kaoru smacked him before sitting down and grabbing his food.

"Just for that Yahiko I get some of your food." She smiled and started eating his food. Yahiko groaned and glared.

"Give me back my food Busu!"

"No! You brought it upon yourself."

"I was only telling the truth!"

"You're also cleaning the dojo floor today."

"Kaoru!"

Kenshin couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the two as they continued there morning routine. He ate his breakfast quietly, just watching and listening until some rice came and hit him in the face. He lifted his eyes to the two other occupants of the room, each looking as innocent as they could and pointing at each other. With a grin he got up, rice bowl in hand and began walking past the two. Each let a sigh out; not realizing that Kenshin had stopped behind them rather than continuing.

Sanosuke walked through the dojo gates but stopped as he heard two familiar screams accompanied by a running Kenshin who was being chased by a rice covered Kaoru and rice covered Yahiko. He continued to chew on the toothpick that hung from the corner of his mouth as he watched the entertainment. This was the Kamiya dojo all right.

Kaoru shook her head and smiled a real smile as she redressed after her bath. After Kenshin had dumped the rice on both her and Yahiko they had chased him until they became to tired, and then Koaru went to take a bath to clean up.

She walked out once dressed and went to sit on the porch, just wanting to watch the clouds roll by and feel the wind on her face. After the rice incident Kenshin had gone to the market to get some tofu and other necessities for the nights dinner, and Yahiko and Sanosuke went to visit Megumi, so she was all by herself for once.

She was about to really relax and take a nap when another one of her nightmare images snapped her to attention. This time it was fleeting, just a picture of the young Kaoru standing over a bloodied body before disappearing. She dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

"Why me? Why must I keep seeing these images, what do they mean? I've never fought like that in my life," She murmured to herself as she squeezed her eyes shut.

The rustling of a nearby bush made her look up, but after scanning the bushes she didn't see anything. She slowly got up and shook head. She was getting paranoid, perhaps she should go see Megumi about this.

Again the rustling of bushes happened and she looked around. The way the bushes rustled wasn't because of the wind. Someone must be here.

"Yahiko, if that is you and you're trying to scare me then you might as well stop now," She said sternly, but she received no reply. She could feel her heart rate speed up as she swiveled around when she heard someone land behind her. It was a woman a little taller then her with dark black hair that had hints of purple in it, and sharp green eyes. A grin was played across the lips as the woman stared at her, waiting for her to do something. She was dressed in a simple outfit somewhat like Sanosuke's, except her pants were black as well as her jacket that was tied shut.

"You look just like you did all those years ago Kaoru-chan!" exclaimed the woman with a grin as she tossed her braided hair behind her. Koaru gave her a confused look, calming down a bit at the cheerful attitude of the person.

"Do, I know you?" She asked nervously. The woman returned the confused look as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You don't remember me?"

"No, I'm sorry but I don't…" The woman groaned and banged her head against the wall before looking at a very confused Kaoru.

"Perhaps my name will ring a bell. I am Setzu, Miyaki Setzu." Kaoru still shook her head, although she felt like she knew this girl, she didn't.

"This isn't good, not at all."

"Why?"

"If you don't remember then you're in trouble, there are people after you Kaoru-chan." Kaoru's eyes widened. People after her? Why on earth.The dreams.They.They must have been real.

"Kaoru-chan, you and I used to be assassins in training when we were little."