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-Chapter 4: Decisions

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It's so dark… I can't even see my hands in front of me…

The world around her was pitch black, her movements echoing loudly in the shadows.

I'm having another dream…

Her shoulders slumped as she sighed heavily.

Another night, another nightmare.

She sat down, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees. Who would come this time? Her mother? Father? Him?

Footsteps echoed ominously around her, so she couldn't tell where they were coming from. She closed her eyes and listened. These steps, they were calm, deliberate, as if the person knew exactly where they were heading, but in no rush to get there.

Maybe it was her father?

They stopped.

She opened her eyes to see a pair of white pants in front of her. She followed the legs up, to see Sanosuke standing above her, looking down at her with a curious look.

"Whatcha doing down there?" he asked, his voice reverberating around them.

"I could ask you the same thing," Kyouri said, her eyes wide with surprise as she stood up. He had never appeared in her dreams before. He shrugged quite contentedly in response, as if being stuck in a pit of darkness was no big deal.

"I think I'm gonna go that way," he said thoughtfully as he turned to look in a random direction. He grinned at her. "Coming?"

She smiled, his presence making her feel calmer, "Why not?" He began to walk away, so that "aku" was facing her.

Maybe this wasn't a nightmare.

She smiled as she lifted her foot and began to walk after him.

Or so she tried.

Her feet were stuck, as if glued to the almost invisible floor. Her heart jumped into her throat as panic began to well in her.

"S-sano?" she said in a shaky voice. She looked up, to see that he was completely oblivious to her problems.

-Have you forgotten?-

"W-wait, Sano…" She tried to force her feet off the floor, but they wouldn't budge.

-Have you forgotten the fear?-

He wasn't stopping, he just kept walking as she watched "aku" get smaller and smaller with each step.

-The panic?-

"Sano!" she yelled. "Please!" He stopped.

-Have you forgotten me?-

He turned his head, grinning at her with one of his carefree looks. Her blood went cold when he turned and continued in the direction he was going.

"WAIT!" she shouted, pumping her legs and outstretching her arms in futility.

-Let me remind you…-

Large, clawed hands appeared out of the nothingness around her, grabbing her and digging their large nails into her body. She began to wail in pain and hopelessness as they dragged her backwards, slowly leading her away. She could hardly make it out anymore, the "aku," it was almost completely gone.

Why didn't he stop?

'You abandoned him first.'

"No…" she whispered as the claws kept piercing her body, although she had forgotten the pain. "Don't leave…"

-Too late.-

A voice began cackling, echoing all around her, consuming her mind and emptying all other thoughts, and dispelling all other emotions…

…except for fear.

Dark, blood-red eyes looked down at her haughtily as they laughed maliciously, and she was dragged into the depths of pain and loneliness…

-

She woke with a start, her eyes snapping open and her body curled into a tight ball as she clutched the sheet around her, gasping for air and beads of sweat sliding off her face.

She lay there, motionless, for minutes, as the horrifying dream played like a horror scene before her.

A dream, only a dream…, she repeated to herself mentally again and again, trying to push the nightmare out of her mind.

She hadn't had one this bad for a long time, and it was also the first time since forever that Sanosuke had appeared before her in a dream.

"Too late."

"…no…" she whispered to herself as she buried her head into the sheet.

-

It was barely going to be dawn, and the sun was barely spreading his fingers around the world he would clutch tightly until dusk that day.

And she was awake??

Sachi yawned heavily as she rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms.

A shoji screen opened nearby, and approaching footsteps could be heard.

Who else would be awake in this ungodly hour? Sachi thought to herself as she yawned yet again.

"Oh, Sachi-dono," the swordsman said, slightly surprised but grinning all the same. "Why are you up so early?" Sachi looked up at Kenshin, grinning sheepishly.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied simply, motioning for him to sit by her.

"Ah, nightmares?" Kenshin smiled as he sat down.

"Something like that," she shrugged. Really, it was Kyouri's nightmares that had woken her up.

It had been a long time since she had heard Kyouri whimper in her sleep.

It must've been a bad one.

"What about you?" Sachi asked, remembering there was someone sitting by her.

Kenshin smiled happily as he looked ahead, "This one was just going to make breakfast."

"Kyouri's supposed to do that," Sachi pointed out.

Kenshin shrugged good-naturedly, "This one doesn't like the idea of leaving all the work to someone else, even if they are supposed to be 'paying' Kaoru-dono. Besides, Sano told me she didn't wake up until ten yesterday."

"All right, very true," Sachi sighed happily, and they both settled into a comfortable silence as they watched the gold rays dip slowly deeper into the courtyard.

"Sachi-dono, could this one ask you something?" Kenshin asked, his face getting a little more serious.

"Shoot," Sachi yawned.

"Why is it that two well educated young women from honorable family are running around Japan?" Sachi stopped mid-yawn, casting Kenshin a look as he kept his gaze straight. He turned to look at her, his usual grin on his face. "If you don't mind answering, that is."

"How did you…?" Sachi trailed off, looking at Kenshin with astonishment.

"You both have very fine table manners and etiquette, when you're not goofing off, that is. You also have a fine accent, although you try to hide it, and do it very well, this one might add. Those type of things are hard not to notice by this one." Sachi didn't answer, but shifted her gaze to her feet that were hanging off the edge of the walkway. Kenshin noticed the shadow of apprehension on her face. "If you do not wish to speak to this one, it is understandable," he said, his voice consoling. She shook her head.

"We were… going to be separated," she said, her voice hardly above a whisper as her eyes took on a faraway look. "After the war and all, my father was having a hard time picking himself up. He had been the vassal to a powerful lord, but after the Shogunate was abolished, well, he needed to find a new lifestyle. He decided to become a merchant, but he needed more money." She clenched her sleeping kimono as her face became more anxious. Why was she telling him this?

She felt words start coming hesitantly out of her lips, "My sister and I were born in the middle of a large family of boys; three older brothers and two younger ones. They were all working, except for my youngest brother, who was only six, while my sister and I were taught the proper ways to behave in a proper society. It wasn't that bad, because we had each other. We were best friends; we had to be, since we were never allowed outside the mansion. My sister, Shousei, she's the older one, even though she may not seem it sometimes. Still, she was an angel, and I looked up to her since she was always able to please Mother and Father… even if I was a little jealous. I'd forget all that, though, as soon as we were given time to ourselves, and we'd become best friends again, instead of rivaling siblings. Not only that… she always tried to help me, and always seemed to have the patience to hear me go on about completely pointless things." She smiled. "It wasn't that bad."

Her smiled melted slowly off her face, "Like I was saying, my father needed more money, and my brothers were already working as much as they could, so he did the only other plausible thing: he decided to marry off my sister. After a lot of scrutinous searching, he decided upon a rich Patriot who had connections to the government. Still, he was an ancient looking man, and he was always throwing his weight around, acting as if he owned the place. I knew my sister would be unhappy with him. I was right, too, she told me herself. Not only that, if she got married to the old geezer, she'd have to leave and go live with him, far away, and I wouldn't be able to see her. I knew I could never live up to my parent's expectations, and I would be miserable without her there to console me and… be my friend. I also knew that she'd be the same way, all alone in a strange house, with a strange man. So, I convinced her to run away, and we did." She looked up at Kenshin, her green eyes looking troubled.

"It's been three years, and I often wonder if what I did… was completely for my own selfishness."

Kenshin had been silent throughout the whole narrative, his face quiet and serious.

"No, Sachi-dono," he said quietly. "You did what you did for her sake as much as yours." Sachi didn't answer, but turned her gaze back to her feet.

"It was hard, and it took us a while to get our act together," she continued. "We didn't have any skills, and hardly any money. Soon we had pawned off everything we had, except for the comb our mother had given us. I don't know why we kept it, since we cut our hair anyways. I guess, we just needed something to remind us, where we came from. Anyways, after a few hard weeks, we resorted… to stealing." She hung her head, hiding her face from Kenshin. "We were small time thieves, and we only robbed the rich. Still, even though we tried to comfort ourselves with those thoughts, there was a constant voice in the back of our minds telling us it was wrong. Well, we were staying in a small town one day, when two people came charging in as if they were king and queen of the world." A smile flitted across her features. "There was something about those two, that really bugged me. I guess they reminded me of the bastard that wanted to marry my sister. Well, I decided to try to rob them next, but I didn't tell Shousei since I knew she wouldn't like the idea of robbing some vagabonds." Her smile got wider.

"Big mistake. Yamainu's no idiot, and Kyouri can practically feel a guy checking her out five yards away, so what chance did I have to take anything from them? They caught me, and Yamainu was about to unleash his fiery wrath, when my sister came running into the camp and stopped him, having followed me. She begged for me to be let go, and even offered her life to be taken instead of mine." She laughed softly. "Kyouri calmed her down, well, both of us, really, saying neither of them had any intentions to kill anyone that night, and all they probably would've done to me was chuck me into the river. That was a surprise. My sister practically threw herself on the ground in thanks, but Kyouri just laughed and picked her up, telling her to stop acting weird." She chuckled. "Yamainu backed off, and let me rejoin my sister, and then both of us explained our predicament to the two. Kyouri just smiled, and told us that we could stay with them that night for dinner, since we were probably hungry. Heh, we were best friends after that, and just decided to stick together, although it took Yamainu about a month before he stopped giving us death glares." She looked up at Kenshin, who had a pensive look on his face. "So, that's it, not much else to say. Just note that I don't tell every person I meet my life story, so you should feel special." Kenshin grinned at her and got up, dusting himself off.

"Sachi-dono," he said as he turned to leave. "Although this one understands why you would want to run away, this one also believes that three years is a long time for parents to miss their daughters. Your family is probably waiting, you should return to them." He smiled his humble smile at her. "I'm sure they'll understand." He left, leaving a preoccupied and slightly agitated Sachi sitting on the walkway.

She watched as his red ponytail disappeared around the corner, wondering what had made her feel so at ease around a man she hardly knew. He had a calm and collective air that made one feel so relaxed… reassured…

Just like her eldest brother…

-

"Who would've thought Kenshin was such a good cook?" Kyouri said brightly as she, Yamainu, and the twins stood around in the kitchen. They were congregating to decide their plan for the day, since they had spent the day before cleaning, although the twins weren't done with the walkways yet. Kyouri had made dinner, to which Sano had happily exclaimed, "I haven't had something this good in a long time!", making Kaoru break down about her horrible cooking. Kenshin had tried to comfort her, reassuring her that her food really wasn't all that bad, and that she had many other strengths that she should be proud of. It was when Kyouri had promised to teach her how to cook, however, that she really calmed down and became cheerful again.

"So," Kyouri said, still happy, "What's the deal?"

"Not much," Shousei said. "We just have to finish the practice hall, right, Sachi?" She turned to her sister, who had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning.

"Yeah," Sachi replied absent mindedly. Shousei gave her a concerned look, but Sachi just smiled brightly and shrugged it off.

"Good," Yamainu sighed. "I'm getting tired of staying here." Kyouri shot him an annoyed look. "Don't take it all personally, Kyouri!" he exclaimed. "You know I hate staying in places like this, it puts me on edge. As soon as the twins finish, we can leave and just keep moving."

"Yeah…" Kyouri said nervously. "I was wondering, maybe we could stay for a little longer? I mean, I haven't seen Sano in a long time, and we haven't even had a chance to talk or anything…"

"Kyouri," Yamainu said, his voice serious but softer than usual. "You know we have to keep going, for your sake. If we don't…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Kyouri smiled brightly, although it looked artificial. "You're right, we'll leave as soon as Sachi and Shousei finish." She turned to the sisters. "So, you guys should get started. I'm gonna go use the bathroom." She turned and left abruptly, leaving the three friends behind her looking at the door with worried looks.

Kyouri, I'm gonna do you a favor, Sachi thought as she looked up at Yamainu, an idea crossing her mind. As thanks… for everything…

-

"Break time!" Sachi said happily as she stepped into the just-cleaned practice hall where Kaoru and Yahiko were practicing.

"What?" Yahiko said as he looked up at the two red-heads, one of which (he couldn't tell them apart) was carrying a plate of onigiri. "Man, I just got into my stride."

"Whew," Kaoru sighed as she wiped her brow and smiled at the girls who were now sitting down and setting down the plate. "You can keep at it if you want, Yahiko, I'm gonna take a quick break."

"Whatever, busu," Yahiko snorted as he grabbed a few riceballs on his way out. Kaoru shot a filthy look at his retreating back, but smiled again as she took a riceball and sat down. The twins gave each other looks, then turned towards Kaoru.

"Okay, Kaoru-chan," Sachi said, leaning in towards the dojo teacher. "We need a favor."

"Favor?" Kaoru asked as she tilted back slightly away from the imposing girl. "What is it?" Shousei got up and sat down on the other side of Kaoru.

"We need you to tell us everything you know about Sanosuke," Shousei said, leaning towards her in a similar fashion as her sister.

"What? Why would you wanna know that?" Kaoru asked, quirking an eyebrow at both of them, feeling cornered.

"You guys find out what you can about the bird-head, and I'll do whatever you want, okay?" Yamainu said.

Sachi grinned, "It's for Kyouri and Sanosuke's sake. As the westerners would say, we're playing cupid."

"What's that?

"The angel of love," Shousei smiled coyly, remembering the words of a sailor they had met one time.

"Wait… you're gonna push their relationship…?"

"Exactly," Shousei smiled.

"Why?" Kaoru asked, arching her eyebrows at the girl.

Kyouri had nightmares almost every night, and Sachi often heard her cry softly in her sleep, but she had never heard her call out a name before, except for the night before, when she had called out for Sanosuke.

"We owe Kyouri a favor," Sachi grinned. "Don't worry, we're professionals and won't do anything stupid. Can you please tell us?"

"Um, well…" Kaoru said as she scratched the back of her head. 'Professionals'? How often did they "play cupid"? "Okay…"

"Yay! Thank you, Kaoru-chan!" Sachi said as she hugged Kaoru abruptly. She sat back as she reached for another riceball and looked at Kaoru expectantly. "Now then, enlighten us!"

-

Yamainu kicked some grass with his feet as he sat on a large log by the river, thinking, planning, and wondering.

It had all started when Sachi had said "Man, she's got it bad" that morning. With some more questioning, he had found out that she meant that Kyouri had fallen for Sanosuke.

It's not like he hadn't noticed that something was there, it was just hearing it from someone else that had finally made it sink in.

So he had made a deal.

"You guys find out what you can about the bird-head, and I'll do whatever you want, okay?" Yamainu said.

"Okay," Sachi said a foxy look on her face. "You know Kyouri best, so what you have to do is get her to talk."

"Talk?"

"Yeah, get her to say what she really feels, even if you don't like it. Just get some answers from her, deal?" Sachi's face was serious, the most serious he had seen it in a long time.

"Deal."

The all too familiar scent of green tea wafted over to him.

"Yami?" a voice said behind him. He turned his head to see Kyouri standing behind him, an eyebrow quirked at him. "What're you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Yamainu replied as she sat down beside him. "I knew you'd come here."

"Oh?" she said, now raising both eyebrows at him. "Why?"

"I need to talk to you," he said, his voice serious.

Kyouri shrugged, "Okay."

"Kyouri, I don't like him."

"Huh?"

"Sanosuke, I don't like him, and you shouldn't either just because you knew the guy ten years ago."

"What?" She frowned. "Yamainu, stop it. Come on, you don't even know him."

"I know his kind, they're all the same."

"Sano's not. Don't judge him like that, he didn't judge us."

"That doesn't matter, he's just like every other human we've met."

"That's a lot of people." She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"Remember the group of mercenaries we met on the coast? He was just like them; he used to hurt people for money. He was a 'fight-merchant,' Kyouri, and he went by the name of 'Zanza.'"

Kyouri was silent as her look darkened. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, "I already told you, don't judge him, because you hardly know him."

"What're you talking about?" he exclaimed, his voice rising. "He was a thug! What more is there to know?!"

"When Sanosuke met me, he was guarding my jail cell, okay?!" she replied, matching her volume with his. "But he didn't judge me because of it, and he was even willing to become my friend when no one else in the camp would come near me!"

"Kyouri…" his tone was back to its previous degree.

"Sano's a good guy," she said softly. "He's not like the other bastards we've met…" She buried her face in her arms so only her aggravated eyes could be seen.

"But, you said it yourself, you hardly know him."

"…then I wanna get to know him…"

Yamainu sighed heavily as he leaned back, tilting his head up, "Man, Sachi was right."

"What?" Kyouri asked, turning to look at him.

"You wanna stay here."

"What? But, Yami, I can't…" she trailed off, her eyes widening and raising her head.

"Look," he said, leaning forward and looking directly at her, "For a second, forget about me, forget about the twins, and forget about any possible bastards looking for you, and ask yourself if you really want to stay here."

She was quiet as she averted her gaze from him, "That's just the thing, I can't forget about you or the twins." Yamainu didn't answer, but stood up and walked in front of her.

"Kyouri, I'd be an idiot if I said I didn't care about you, you're like a little sister to me." His usually stern eyes were soft. "Please, don't do anything you'd regret. I just want you to be happy." She was quiet as the soft sound of the river murmured around them.

"Yami…" she said in an undertone as she looked up at him with distraught green eyes, looking so small curled up on the log. "I don't know what to do…" He squatted down on his haunches, so he was at the same eye level as her, then reached out and pulled her into a hug as she buried her face into his shoulder.

Incredible, the last time she had been this upset they had been standing on a bridge, and she had been crying over the same guy…

"It's okay, you're not the type to rush things like this, just give it some time, okay?" She nodded. "You've got a few days before we leave, just make sure you're sure."

"But… if I do… what will you do?" she asked, lifting her head and looking at him.

He shrugged, "I dunno, it's been a while since I've seen my mom or my clan, maybe I'll stop by there."

"What about Shousei and Sachi?"

"They can come with me, or do what they want. It's okay, Kyouri, we can take care of ourselves." She gazed at him and nodded again, resting her head on his shoulder again.

"Thanks…" she said in a muffled whisper.

Meanwhile, someone was watching from the bridge that was downstream. He shrugged, and turned to walk away.

I should've guessed, Sano muttered mentally to himself, trying to act indifferent, but feeling a strange, heavy sensation in the pit of his stomach anyways.

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-Note: Okay, I'm feeling nervous. It seems like forever since I've written an angsty chapter! I liked the nightmare, though, I'm good at that kind of stuff. (-points at herself-) Evil.

I was gonna elaborate more on them doing random acts of cleaning at the dojo, but I got bored and decided to hurry it up. This chapter has had, like, a million versions (most of which are now in my recycle bin folder). It's still not perfect (of course), but , whatever.

Reviewer Responses:

WhiteRabbit5: Ah, comfort zone (happy place!). I really couldn't resist, I love to rag on Kaoru's cooking (it's just so easy!). Don't worry, tho', it's out of my system now. On another note, I was gonna start yelling at you for not updating SoC, but I just went to your profile and saw that note. Aww, that's so sad. My condolences! (I'd hate not being able to use my computer). Is your room at least gonna be cooler when it's done?

Rayne-chan: You're welcome! And, I'm looking forward to it! Thank you!

cowsattacknow!: Hee hee, funny name. Thank you!

Haki: Yay! Thank you! Ah, I also read your profile (hope ya don't mind). Hablas español? De donde eres? (don't answer if you don't want to). I'm from Mexico, but I live in AZ now… (bleh). Anyways, thanks for reading!

omasuoniwabanashu: You!?! Wow! You read my fic?? You're so cool! (-glomp!-). Thank you!! I like funny stuff when I feel like it, but I also love low key drama and angst, so my fic will have both. More drama than funny, I think, though… "Intriguing" characters, huh? (lol) Yep, they're pretty weird.

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Has anyone noticed the categories this story's under? Kudos to anyone who can guess why.

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If you're reading this, please, please leave a review! I really don't care if all you say is "Good/Bad, update soon/drop dead", just do it!!

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