A.N. Welcome back, Minna, to my third chapter of 'Fading Futures'. I want to thank everyone who read my fic so far and is now giving this Chapter a go, so arigato gozaimasu! Also a special thanks to Bethy-kun and Hitokiri Taijiya for reviewing. You've both been really supportive. I hope the rest of Shinya's adventures live up to you expectations! And you're making the Kenshin Gumi really happy too, because they aren't getting paid for this, but then, neither am I! Hope you like my next chapter!
Disclaimer: as already said, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, no matter how much I cry about it (sob)! But I do own this story, so ha!
Last time on Fading Futures:
Shinya Himura discovers that he is actually the descendent of the Hitokiri Battosai, Kenshin Himura, but he's still got a lot of questions unanswered…
Tanoshimimas! (Enjoy!)
Chapter Three
Fading out
Shinya grumbled as the sunlight shone straight into his eyes. With a few choice words at the sun's inconsiderateness, Shinya yanked his blankets over his head and turned over to go back to sleep. He immediately felt the sharp prodding of a finger in his side.
"Shinya, you have to get up now!" he heard his grandfather bark "you have double the practice to do today and those strokes aren't going to do themselves!"
"Can't I do 'em in an hour? Why've I gotta do 'em now…?" Oh Kami, he felt worse than he did yesterday. He wasn't even sure that his head was his own it felt so foggy. But, as usual, Kiyoshi wasn't the most tender of people either and threw the covers from him.
"No excuses! I want you ready and in the dojo in 15 minutes"
"Yes, Sensei…"
So much for holidays. Kiyoshi was worse than a Sargent in the army. He would probably get more of a lie-in in a boot camp! Shinya pulled himself to his feet and immediately had to grip the wall to stop himself from falling straight over again. His head spun, as if he had stood up too fast and he felt faint all of a sudden. He screwed up his eyes against the wave of sickness that washed over him. Then, just as suddenly as it came, all of it – the dizziness, the faintness, the sickness – went, just like that. Shinya took several deep breaths. Kami, that couldn't be good. He had never, as far as he remembered felt like that before, as if he wasn't all there…
He shook himself mentally. Maybe it was just that he had stood up too fast, so along with low blood pressure in the mornings he felt twice as strange as he normally would have felt. Same old, same old, right?
Carefully, he let go of the wall and slowly moved off his futon, but the strange feeling didn't come again. Thus fortified, Shinya folded up his quilt and futon, stacking them neatly in a pile once more and began to change into his training clothes. Grabbing his Shinai from the top of his set of draws, and his mask and gloves from in the wardrobe, Shinya slid open his bedroom door and strode out into the hall. He went into the kitchen, where Noriko stood by the cooker, waiting for the toast to pop up out of the toaster. Hearing Shinya enter the room, she turned and smiled at him.
"My, you're up early, Shin-chan. I thought you were on holiday now?"
"Grandpa woke me up to do that 'double training' I said I would do yesterday. I didn't mean at 7 in the morning! I might as well be in school!" he laughed at his predicament. "I have to be in the dojo in about five minutes. You don't think…"
Just then, the toast popped up. Noriko smiled and buttered it quickly, passing it to Shinya. The boy grinned. "Ta, Mom! You're a lifesaver. See you in a minute!" he picked up his Shinai and popped the toast into his mouth.
"Oh, before I forget, I won't be back until a little later today"
Shinya swallowed the mouthful of toast. "Why?"
"I just have a busy day coming up, there's the Sugisaki family coming for a large flower arrangement for a wedding and lots of others coming in to collect today. It's also my turn to clean up the shop, too, so I might be a little late. I should be home by about 6 tonight, okay?"
"Okay. I'll see you later then" if Grandpa-sensei doesn't kill me first.
Shinya ran round to the dojo, past the old dog, which looked rather disappointed that Shinya didn't have the time to stroke it, and thrust open the door.
Kiyoshi stood waiting for him in the centre of the dojo, his white hair tide back in a high ponytail, his Shinai in his hand and a stern expression on his face. Shinya, getting his breath under control, smile brightly, but it faded a little when he saw his grandfather didn't return it.
"You're late"
"Oro? S-sorry, Sensei"
"I want you to do 1000 strokes, then we can practice". Shinya choked. A thousand! And then practice!
"B-but, sensei –"
"No buts! The faster you do them, the faster we can get around to practice, and then you can do whatever you want. I trust you can do them without my watching. I will come back in twenty minutes to see how you are getting on." Kiyoshi turned and strode towards the door "I have to have a tablet for my head, it's killing me" as he walked passed Shinya, he could have sworn Kiyoshi faded in and out of focus a little, shimmered like a summer mirage. Shinya blinked and stared. Shimmered? Had it just been a trick of light? But by the time he had rubbed his eyes and looked back at his grandfather, he was gone. Shinya frowned slightly. Kiyoshi was acting a lot stranger than normal. He pondered over this as he took up the stance of Seigan and began his downward strokes.
One, Two, Three, Four…
What's going on today?
Seven, Eight, Nine…
First I feel weird, and then grandpa acts strangely, then shimmers?
Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen…
Why do I such a bad feeling about today…?
Shinya groaned as he finally finished his 1000 strokes and sat down to massage his arms in attempts to get the feeling back into them. Never before had he ever thought arms could literally just drop off from too much exercise. Now he was sure that it could, the way his arms and shoulders felt just then, or didn't feel, as was the case. As he rubbed his arms, he glanced at the cloak on the wall. 7:45. Shinya froze. Hadn't Kiyoshi told him that he would check in on him in twenty minutes when he started those strokes at a little bit past seven? Slightly worried, Shinya rose from the floor and padded over to the door. With an effort – his arms were still sore – he slid it open. Sunlight flooded the room, making him squint slightly from its brightness. Once his eyes had got used to the light, he scanned the garden for any sign of his grandfather.
The garden was peaceful and serene, as it usually was at this time in the morning. The flowers were swaying slightly in the breeze, which made the wind chimes tinkle softly from the front door of the house. Birds sang their songs and a bee hummed as it settled on a red carnation. Shinya strained his ears for any other sound of life, but even with his sensitive hearing, there were no other sounds of movement.
"Sensei? Grandpa… are you there?"
But no one answered.
Shinya propped his Shinai by the door and strode across the garden, his eyes scanning for any sign of movement. Reaching the house, he slid open the door and stepped inside. Even in here there was no movement. He stuck his head around the kitchen door, but no one was inside. On the fridge, however, there was a note pinned up by a magnet shaped like a statue of Anubis (Nobuyuki had brought it back from Egypt when he last visited). The note was addressed to him. He pulled the note from under the magnet and read it slowly.
Dear Shinya, (it read)
I have gone to the flower shop now. I have left you and your Sofu some sushi for lunch and I should be back by about six at the latest. See you later
Love you,
Mom.
P.S., be good for your Grandfather, okay?
Shinya screwed up the letter. Sure, be good for your Grandfather she said. But where is he? Dumping the note in the bin, Shinya wandered around the house, calling for his grandfather. He wasn't in his room, the bathroom, or the dinning room. One last room to check now. Shinya was beginning to really worry now. People don't just disappear into thin air. It was humanly impossible…
Wasn't it?
Shinya pushed that strange thought out of his head and pushed open the fushuma. The living room had a wide screen TV in one corner and a few cushions scattered around a quite long, low table, which stood in the middle of the room on the Tatami flooring. On the table was a tea cup, still half full of lukewarm liquid. On the fireplace were several small frames with family photographs in them. Shinya glanced at them. There was a picture of him when he was about six, playing shogi with his grandfather and (by the looks of things) was on a winning streak. Another showed his mother and her sister, one whom Shinya had only met a few times in his life, stood posing in beautiful wedding Kimono, both looking radiant. Another one showed a family photo that had been taken in Egypt when they went to visit Nobuyuki in Cairo. All dressed in shorts and t-shirts, Kiyoshi stood behind his daughter in law, while Shinya, at ten, stood smiling happily between his mother and a red haired man with blue eyes and sunglasses whom beamed at the camera.
Shinya smiled slightly as he looked at the photograph, his father beaming up at him. Only four years ago the photograph was taken, he had only seen his father five times. Oh, sure he phoned every now and again as sent postcards and letters, but it wasn't the same thing. Some people even thought Shinya's father was dead! It sometimes made him laugh when he showed them a letter from only a day or two earlier.
The last photo was of the family dog, Hoshi, looking up at the camera with big, liquid-brown eyes. Suddenly, a thought hit him. Where was Hoshi?
Perhaps, in his worry for his grandfather he hadn't noticed the old dog sitting on the porch, but now he thought about it… Perhaps Kiyoshi had just gone to take Hoshi for a walk, and would be home soon. Shinya sighed and flopped on one of the cushions in relief.
After a little while, Shinya got himself up to wait for Kiyoshi back in the dojo. Knowing his luck, the way it was going at the moment, he would likely find himself doing 1000 more strokes. He thought he would have a stroke if he had to do any more just then!
As he headed for the door, that strange feeling swept over him again and he made a grab for the mantle piece for support. However, he missed and along with some of the photographs fell to the floor. Gasping for air, Shinya clasped his head, as if it was about to disappear from his shoulders and groaned in agony. Just as fast as it came, it went again and he collapsed, breathing deeply as if he had just run a marathon. It had been longer than the one that morning, and that defiantly wasn't due to standing up too fast. Slowly, he opened his eyes again and sat up, mentally probing for signs of it coming on once more. What was wrong with him? Something caught his eye. Carefully he looked down at the photos now scattered in from of him from his fall. One of the frames had smashed.
"AH! Mom'll kill me for this, even if…" but what was wrong with him? With a shaky hand Shinya picked up the photograph and looked at it again. A large crack ran through the centre of the glass. Suddenly his breath caught in his throat. The people in the photo were gone!
Shinya half threw down the frame and bolted for the door. He didn't stop running until he reached the garden, where he stood, shaking. Perhaps he was losing it. What if he wasn't? What's going on? Why was this happening –?
SHUT UP! He screamed mentally. The shock sent those panicked voices running. Slowly he sat on the porch and ran his hand through his hair. Think now, the more logical part of him said calmly, there must be a good reason that this is happening. Now, without panicking, think through the options.
It could he a dream, he rationalised. If it is a dream, all you have to do is wake up. They say if you pinch yourself in a dream, it doesn't hurt, and you wake up. If it does hurt, then…
Slowly, Shinya raised a hand and pinched himself hard on the arm. A sharp pain shot through it. "Yow!" he yelped. Quickly, he began to rub at the pain. He groaned slightly. So much for the dream idea… he grumbled at his more rational side.
"I'm afraid it is not a dream, Shinya Himura, however much you may hope it was"
Shinya jumped violently and stared at the young woman who had just appeared seemingly from nowhere. She looked about 18 years of age with long violet-black hair and dark, dark eyes. She was taller than he was (which didn't take all that much) by a head and she wore an old fashioned white and blue outfit, tied by a rather fine looking red obi. As she walked toward him, her feet barely seemed to touch the ground. Shinya couldn't help but stare. Not only was she beautiful, but she had somehow sneaked up on him. He couldn't read her Ki!
"What…do you mean?"
She walked to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Shinya gasped and flinched. Her hand was cold as ice, which flooded through him through the material of his training gi.
"Just what I said. Your family, your history, it is all vanishing. I was afraid I had come too late to stop you from vanishing too, but it seems Kenshin's strength is in you too."
"Kenshin...What? You're not making much sense, Miss."
"What I am about to tell you," the young woman said softly, like a breath of wind "is what has happened to your family. Everyone from your family, back until the Meiji period is vanishing from history. Something is happening in the past that wasn't meant to happen and is effecting the whole of the Himura family. You are the only one not to have vanished yet. I have come here to ask you to help me put history back on course."
"Oro!" Shinya stared at the woman as if she was insane. "Look, Miss, no offence but… well… the past is passed. Things don't just change for the heck of it."
"If only that were true…"
Great, as if that morning could get any worse, but now he had some crack pot woman who believes the past randomly up and changed. Shinya groaned.
"I'm sorry, Miss, but I'm afraid that you might just be a little… well… not right. Goodbye." He stood up and began to go back into the house again when:
"Tell me, have you been experiencing times when you feel ill, sick, disorientated… as if you are not there, as if you could vanish at any time? Have you seen any family member shimmer, as if he was about to fade away? Have any photographs of you or your family turned blank…?" Shinya choked as his breath caught in his throat, his eyes wide, his body paralysed, shaking violently. How did she…? He spun round to find the woman looking at him intently.
"Who are you?" he growled quietly.
" I am the Ghost of Tomoe Yukashima," she said softly " the guardian of your family"
"Ghost? Guardian…? What do you me-?" suddenly the feeling swept over him again, more violent than those he had before. He cried out and dropped to his knees, clutching his head. He felt as if he was about to fly apart, every inch of him burned. He howled and hugged himself, tears streamed down his cheeks as he desperately searched for relief, but none came. Hands griped him unexpectedly and he felt something cool pressed against his face. Instantly the pain vanished and Shinya collapsed into the ice-cold arms of the woman Tomoe. Breathing heavily, he opened his eyes to find a strange looking object pressed lightly against his skin. With a shaking hand, Shinya took the object to get a better look.
It was a strange, oval object, a small sapphire. Written in golden text around the middle of the oval were strange markings in runes he could not recognise at all. . As he looked at it, the object almost seemed to glow and eerie light.
"It's a talisman" Tomoe said softly "it will help stop your body being effected by the changes in history. It temporally creates a barrier around yourself to stop you from vanishing"
Shinya looked up at her "I nearly… vanished?" Tomoe nodded silently
"I'm afraid that the talisman will not last for long, perhaps only half a year, then you too will vanish."
"And I can't do anything about it, right?" he whispered
"There is something you can do. The source of the trouble comes from the 12th year in Meiji. Something during this time has happened to your ancestors –Kenshin Himura and Kaoru Kamiya – that prevents them from being together, which in turn puts an end to the Himura family. If someone can go back in time, bring them together and prevent the event which is changing the course of history, then your family will be saved"
"And are you saying that I can do this? Stop me, everyone, from fading away?"
"Yes"
This is insane! He thought miserably, but she was right about everything today. What if she is telling the truth, and I will vanish? He stared at his hands and at the talisman, which he absently rubbed with his thumb. Just before the pain took him, he had seen it, his hands fading away, he saw through his now solid hands! No ki, but he could felt the sincerity of the woman before him, the spirit of Tomoe. If she was telling the truth, and he was the only one who could bring them back, his family…
"Tell me…what to do…"
To be continued…
Chosha's notes: Oooh, things are getting interesting for Shinya, Huh! Half a year to save his family from fading away! And he might have to play the matchmaker too! Okay how was my third chapter of this fic? Good, bad? Review and give me you opinions.
Also, I apologise for if Tomoe's ghost was OOC, but you could put that down to the fact that she is dead an all. Also, if I spelt her surname wrong, Gomennasai!
Next time on 'Fading Futures'
Tomoe sends Shinya back in time to the Meiji era to find his ancestors Kenshin and Kaoru, but not everything goes according to plan. What happens? Find out on the next chapter of Fading Futures: 'into the past'
Mata Aimasho, Minna! See you next time…
Chosha Kurenai xXx
