Tomoe somehow snaked
her way back into town without getting lost. She supposed her fear
had guided her in the right direction. That man was after Kenshin.
She had to warn him… but would he still be at the dojo when she
returned? Did he even want to speak to her? Probably not… but his
safety came first.
She stopped in front
of Akabeko, staring into the eyes of Kaoru who had emerged right in
front of her.
"Kamiya-dono…"
Tomoe whispered. "Thank goodness."
Kaoru glared at her.
"What do you want now?"
"Oh, Kamiya-dono…
You're angry. Did something happen?"
Kaoru marched onto
Akabeko's porch, but Tomoe followed right behind her, fearing the
worst. What if somehow he had already gotten to Kenshin?
"Kamiya-dono,
please!" Tomoe begged, grabbing her wrist.
Kaoru stopped and
hung her head. "You… ruined everything…" She whispered, her
voice cracking. She dropped to her knees and burst into tears,
sobbing. "AND I MADE IT WORSE!"
Tomoe didn't know
what to do, dropping down in front of her. "Kamiya-dono, please do
not cry… Tell me what's wrong."
Kaoru looked up at
her calm face and sniffed. "Everything is wrong… The dead walk
among the living, Yahiko might never be the same, and Kenshin…"
"Kenshin! What
happened to Kenshin?" Tomoe begged, taking her shoulders.
Kaoru
watched her calm features switch to concern. She
really does love him a lot…and…someone of her beauty and
grace…deserves him…but I still…
"I hit him…"
Kaoru murmured in shame. "I was upset and confused… I wasn't
acting myself… and I took out all of my anguish on poor Kenshin…
I need to apologize to him, but I don't think I can… It's
just… ever since you showed up, he's… he…"
Tomoe wiped away one
of Kaoru's tears with her thumb and smiled at her. "Let's get
inside the building."
Kaoru sniffled, then
nodded. "O…okay…"
-
Yahiko was silent,
sitting before Saitou and Sanosuke. He'd answered all of Saitou's
questions as simply as possible.
Saitou knew there was
more. He needed to get more answers.
"Details, boy,
details," Saitou said. "I need more than three word answers."
Yahiko fiddled his
fingers in his lap, gnawing on his lower lip for a moment. "There's…
really not much to say… You know what he looks like… and you
know what he did… so what else do you need from me?"
Saitou frowned even
more if possible. "What I need to know…" He marched up and
knelt down before Yahiko. "Is if he can harm me if I run into
him." He yanked open the front of Yahiko's shirt. "Like he did
to you."
Yahiko looked at him
in horror. "Ah-"
"I have better
senses than you think, brat," Saitou replied.
"How'd he do
that?" Sano exclaimed, staring at the spots on his chest.
Yahiko pulled his
shirt closed and glared at them. "I don't know!" He shouted,
glaring and pouting.
"That's the
Yahiko I know," Sano grinned. "Stupid and loud."
"SHUT UP!" Yahiko
yelled.
Saitou backed up and
leaned against the wall, smoking his cigarette. Idiots in their
natural habitat, he observed.
"Are you done?"
Saitou asked jadedly.
They both stopped
arguing.
"Good," Saitou
said. "I'm going to go find the girl and question her, and then
I'm going after the man."
"I'll go too!"
Sano chimed.
"Must you?"
Saitou moaned.
-
Kaoru couldn't
believe it. She simply just couldn't believe it. Somehow, someway,
she had ended up sitting across from Yukishirou Tomoe in the
Akabeko, just staring at her with puffy eyes.
"Kamiya-dono…"
Tomoe began. "You…"
Kaoru looked down at
her hands folded neatly on her lap. They were rough and callused,
not like Tomoe's soft and delicate hands. Tomoe's hands were
probably much nicer to feel…
Kaoru cringed a
little. It was infuriating! Yukishirou Tomoe with her raven hair,
porcelain skin, calm politeness, and remarkable beauty… She was
the portrait of perfection… except for one thing… she was dead.
"You… love
Kenshin… do you not?"
"HAH?!" Kaoru
exclaimed, turning beet red. She asked it so casually!! Was she that
little of a threat to her?!
"You are… in love
with Kenshin," Tomoe stated, staring at her with far-away eyes.
"I… Why would you
care? He obviously likes you, so why bother even caring about my
feelings?" Kaoru asked more bitterly than intended. She was amazed
with how horrible she'd been acting today.
"I just… do…"
Tomoe said, looking down at her own hands. "I do care about your
feelings, Kamiya-dono… I… I do not think… it is my place to be
Kenshin's any longer because… despite the circumstances… I
have passed on… but I need to know the truth about your feelings
for Kenshin. I need to know that if I should leave that you would be
able to take care of him… to protect him."
Kaoru was stunned.
Perfection in human form was practically handing Kenshin to her! Why
would she give him up like that? They had a second chance!
"What's going
on?" Kaoru asked seriously. "What happened?"
"Someone is after
Kenshin," Tomoe replied without hesitation.
"Can't say I
haven't heard that before…" Kaoru replied flatly.
"It's different
this time, Kamiya-dono. This man…"
The doors of Akabeko
were opened, but Kaoru and Tomoe did not noticed. They were too
immersed in their conversation.
Tsubame set some
dishes onto a table and turned to go get the order from the next one
when she froze and paled considerably.
Tomoe silenced when
someone approached, and Kaoru paused mid-sentence.
"What is it?"
Kaoru asked.
"He's here…"
Tomoe whispered.
Both women looked up.
"Good afternoon,
ladies."
-
"Damn it all!"
Kenshin shouted, surprised at his vulgarity as he tried to force his
way through the busy streets of Tokyo. Why did it have to be so
crowded now?! This was important!
Kenshin slipped into
an alleyway and sighed in exasperation. "What to do, what to do?"
He wondered. "I must find Kaoru and apologize…"
Snow
began to lightly fall once more onto the already frozen streets.
Snow…It was such a
god-damned constant reminder of what a screw-up he'd been in the
past and in the present!
Either way, there was
no chance of him getting to Akabeko with all of these people rushing
around, trying to gather things to protect them from the cold or
whatnot. After all, he was a small man who could only fight with a
sword. Fist to fist and pushing were not his strong suit.
An idea struck him as
he turned and saw behind him, a pile of wooden crates and barrels
stacked up to the rooftop. It was worth a shot, he supposed, and he
clambered up the objects and took to the roofs.
-
"You… you're
the man from before!" Kaoru and Tomoe said at the same time.
"He's back
again…" Tsubame whispered, then took off toward the back. She'd
remembered what happened the last time.
"How strange it is
to find both of you young ladies here," Itami Hitan said, a smirk
playing upon his lips. "Very strange indeed."
Tomoe trembled before
him, staring up at him, horrified. "You… followed me…"
"Not really… I
told you I'd give you some time to think, and now your time is
up."
Kaoru got to her feet
and stood face to face with him, masking her fear with
determination. "Leave us alone!"
"Cute," Itami
Hitan said blandly. "I don't have time for this, girl."
Kaoru stared him
down, and the two were silent momentarily.
"My name is Kaoru.
It's Kamiya to you."
"Get lost. I was
speaking with Yukishirou-san."
Tomoe, gaining the
courage to speak from watching Kaoru's bravery, now stood and
spoke. "I have no wishes to speak with you. You can burn me, stab
me, drown me, freeze me, beat me, rape me, or kill me, and I will
never help you carry out your 'revenge'."
Even Kaoru admired
that sort of bravery.
"You'd have to be
crazy to think I ever would want to… and you'd have to be more
crazy if you think I'm going to stand idly by and watch you try to
hurt Kenshin!"
Politeness gone,
Tomoe was a pretty tough chick when it came right down to it, Kaoru
realized, and she had to hand it to her for that.
"Me too!" Kaoru
exclaimed. "I won't let you hurt Kenshin, or any of my other
loved ones, even if I have to die for it!"
"Man,
Battousai-san's a lucky guy. He's got two gorgeous girls falling
all over him. Too bad one's a dead bitch and the other's a crazy
bitch."
"And you're a son
of a bitch," Kaoru replied, feeling her face heat with rage.
"Sticks and stones,
dear, sticks and stones," Hitan responded. "Now, Yukishirou-san
I coming with me, whether she wants to or not. She belongs to me."
"I belong to no
one!" Tomoe cried, and Kaoru moved in front of her.
"You're not
getting through me."
Hitan glared at her,
and she glared right back into his eyes.
"Tell me, girl…"
He said, smirking. "Have you seen Hell?"
She suddenly felt
like the ground beneath her was on fire, and the longer she stared
into his eyes, the more hellish the world around her became.
"This is… what
Yahiko saw…" She gasped, sulfur burning in her lungs.
"Die…" He
hissed, his claws elongating.
CRASH!
The spell was broken
as he collapsed to the floor, stunned, and Tsubame stood behind him
with a broken tray in her hand.
"RUN!" She
squeaked.
The two didn't take
any time to question it, but made sure they grabbed her too.
"Tsubame, that was
so stupid, he could have killed you!" Kaoru exclaimed, dragging
her along behind with Tomoe bringing up the rear.
"I… I know…"
Tsubame whimpered, shaken.
"By the way, thank
you," Kaoru responded.
-
Kenshin leapt
gracefully from rooftop to rooftop, coming ever closer to Akabeko.
"I hope she's not gone when I get there," He thought aloud to
himself.
A cough erupted
behind him, and then a giggle. "I don't think that's any of
your concern right now, Battousai-san."
Kenshin froze in
mid-step. "What?"
"I've been
waiting for this…" The drawing sound of a sword… "…since
Bakumatsu…"
Kenshin flung around
and his eyes met with…
"It's you!…"
-
"I can't believe
I've got the peanut gallery following me…" Saitou grumbled,
glancing over his shoulder at Yahiko and Sanosuke.
"I can't believe
Tomoe's alive," Yahiko responded.
"I'm telling you,
Yahiko, she's an imposter."
"No chance. Kenshin
would never be fooled."
"Sure he would! If
it's convincing enough!"
"SHUT UP!" Saitou
shouted, losing his patience. "Something's going on…"
"AH! Sanosuke!
Yahiko!"
The two looked passed
Saitou. "KAORU!" Yahiko cried.
"Do you know where
Kenshin is?" Tomoe asked.
"No,
do you?" Saitou replied, staring at her in amazement. This
is the girl I saw… in the Bakumatsu…
A clash of blades
suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's eyes up to the rooftop.
"Found him…"
Yahiko said.
Saitou gasped, eyes
widening. "Hey, rooster…" He whispered. "That thing about
the imposter. I disagree."
They all glanced up
to see Kenshin holding off an attack… from Okita Soji, leader of
the first squadron of the Shinsengumi… dead at 25 from
tuberculosis.
"Okita…" Saitou
rasped. "It's… impossible…"
(A/N: Yeah, I crawled out of my grave and updated something. Amazing, I know. I'm sure I'll get a bunch of hate reviews, and I deserve them… Please forgive me. I get busy, and when I get writer's block, it's usually REALLY bad, so I'm sorry. Thanks for reading. I'll try to update again soon.)