"Where was Kenshin?" That was the only thought in her mind. Her eyes were shut tight, as the cement below her seemed to spin sickeningly. She was struggling to concentrate but the pain that throbbed through her made it all but impossible. Her head hurt so much. She became dimly aware that someone close by had called her name. She felt the person lift her hand, holding it tightly in their own. "Ken…shin?" she wondered through a fog of pain. She struggled to open her eyes to see who it was. The world began to spin again. She resisted the urge to slam her eyes shut, staring up at the face above her. It took a moment for her to register who it was. Her heart plummeted. Her sapphire eyes welled up with tears as her friend watched her with concern. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear it over the roar in her ears. "Ken..sh…..in…" she whispered, silver tears rolling down her cheeks. Sano squeezed her hand trying to reassure her. He looked over his shoulder, up into the milling crowd that flowed around them. A frown formed on his face. Kenshin had been standing behind him a few seconds ago, but had completely vanished.
"Kenshin!" he yelled. "Where is he." He gritted his teeth looking down at Kaoru; her eyes were shut again. "Where the hell are the medics!" he bellowed in frustration. He felt a hand on his shoulder pushing him gently away as a team of medics descended on Kaoru. Sano quickly stepped back giving them room to work. "Where the hell is that redheaded idiot," he thought, gritting his teeth. "Don't worry Kaoru, I'll find him for you."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dark grey blue clouds hung ominously over Soujiro as he stood casually behind the school. He leaned against the wall a smile playing on his face, as he waited. A crack of thunder echoed in the distance, warning of the coming storm. His gaze fell down to the wooden sword he held. "Not as good as a real sword but good enough to serve its purpose," he thought. A flash of lightening illuminated the sky revealing a single figure moving slowly towards him. "Mr Himura, I'm so glad you decided to come," he greeted with a large grin.
Kenshin stopped a few feet away, his hands gripping a bokken tightly. "How dare you hurt Kaoru," he growled. "I'll make you pay."
"I know," laughed Soujiro. "That's the point, it was the only way I could get your real attention. Although, I wasn't expecting this much of a reaction." He raised the bokken before him. "I can't wait to see how good you are, mr Himura." He lunged forwards towards Kenshin who'd raised his sword ready for the attack. Kenshin parried the wooden blade before taking a downward swing at Soujiro. The young boy easily danced out of the way as he brought his bokken into Kenshin's side before retreating several steps. Kenshin winced, gripping his side. "Not bad, not bad at all," Soujiro commented. "You're rusty though." Kenshin glared angrily at him with gold mixed violet eyes. Soujiro's smile grew. "Lord Shishio will be very pleased to hear about this."
"I won't allow you to live long enough to tell him," spat Kenshin, diving forwards blindly at Soujiro. The redhead felt a twinge of pain in his right knee but refused to acknowledge it.
"Temper, temper," mocked Soujiro easily ducking under Kenshin's sword dodging each wild attack with great ease.
"Shut up," yelled Kenshin, taking a sideswipe at Soujiro. The boy laughed shoving the point of the sword into the other's stomach. Kenshin's knees buckled, making him crash into the ground. He clutched his stomach, struggling to breathe amidst heaving coughs. His wooden sword fell a few feet away.
Soujiro stepped forwards, towering over the redhead. He grabbed hold of Kenshin's right arm squeezing the wound there tightly. "You're weak Mr Himura," Soujiro informed the redhead as he cried out in pain. "Lord Shishio will have no trouble defeating you." A vicious smile spread on Soujiro's face.
"Why can't any of you leave me alone," gasped Kenshin through gritted teeth. "I've left that world for good."
"You forget mr Himura," answered Soujiro. "You're still alive." Kenshin eyes widened as he stared up at Soujiro. The redhead felt as if his entire body had gone cold, the only thing he could feel was the throbbing pain surging through him. Lightening flashed over head, immediately followed by a boom. Rain began to pour down, soaking the ground around them, going unnoticed by the two boys. "Your name must be dragged through the mud Battosai."
"I'm not the Battosai anymore," Kenshin found himself saying, his voice sounding strange to his own ears. His gold flecked eyes staring at Soujiro.
"Your eyes say otherwise mr Himura." Kenshin's face darkened, in a quick motion he'd grabbed hold of his bokken. He brought it, in a fast swing, at Soujiro's hand forcing him to release Kenshin. The younger boy jumped back, wanting to put distance between them. Only to find Kenshin charging forwards, taking Soujiro off guard. The brunette raised his sword, just in time to block the blow the teen had aimed for his head.
In an instant Kenshin's wooden blade was gone, coming up at Soujiro's side. A smile twisted onto the child's face as he caught Kenshin's bokken in his hand. He then struck out with his own wooden sword. Kenshin released his weapon as he tried to jump backwards, out of the way. The tip of the sword smacked into his nose and scraped along his right cheek. He slid backwards in the mud, stopping in a slight crouch. Soujiro smirked, throwing Kenshin's bokken away. They glared at each other, not daring to break eye contact, waiting for the other to make a move. Even the rain that poured down fell deaf on their ears.
Kenshin cautiously raised a hand to touch his face. His fingers came back with a wet, crimson fluid. His eyes went wide, a shudder running through his whole body. His gaze was glued to his hand, to the blood on his fingers, his blood. His breath caught in his throat, heart pounding wildly, eyes flickering in colour. Soujiro felt a twinge of fear as he watched. The once deep lavender had been devoured by a cold amber. Soujiro shivered as the orbs of pure glinting gold turned onto him.
"Battosai." He whispered. Before he could react Kenshin had closed the distance between them, punching the child in the face. Before Soujiro had a chance to recover the redhead was barreling down on him quicker then before, fists raised. The younger jumped to the left trying to get away, only to be clotheslined by Kenshin's left arm. Soujiro saw his chance as he fell, kicking out at Kenshin's right knee. The knee buckled, causing Kenshin to tumble to the ground. He gritted his teeth, glaring silently at Soujiro. Neither had to look to know that Kenshin couldn't put any weight on his leg, Soujiro had the upper hand. "This was very interesting meeting, mr Himura. I hope we have a chance to fight again soon." Soujiro smiled as he rose to his feet. He turned, began walking away. Rain crashed down from the black heavens, he paused gazing out at the storm. "You're time is limited mr Himura. The exchange will be very soon." Without a backward glance he jumped the fence surrounding the school disappearing from sight. Kenshin's head slumped forwards his crimson hair hiding his face from sight.
"Will you promise?"
His eyes were shut tight, desperate to expel the tears there. "No," he whispered, rain crashing down against him, drumming on his pounding head. "No I… this one can't."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Kenshin!" shouted a worried voice. He could hear someone approaching, but didn't move. Sluggishly, he wondered how long he'd been sitting there. It was still raining, but he couldn't feel it against his numb skin. "What the hell are you doing?" demanded the voice. He slowly opened his lavender eyes, looking ever so slowly to see who'd spoken. Sano was kneeling beside him, a look of concern on his face.
"Sano…" was all Kenshin said before his eyes fell to the ground.
Sano spotted the trail of blood flowing from Kenshin's nose. "What happened?" Sano demanded, scared how his friend was acting. Kenshin didn't respond his glazed eyes staring at nothing. "Kenshin look at me." He took hold of his friend's shoulders, shaking them slightly. He jarred the wound on Kenshin's shoulder, but got no response. "What's going on? Kaoru's in there hurt, asking where you are." He could feel Kenshin tense ever so slightly below his hands. "A kid dressed in blue with a creepy smile shows up for the tournament, you take Kaoru aside before she faces him, then she's… what's going on Kenshin? I don't like being left in the dark."
"It's this one's fault," whispered Kenshin to himself. "If only… if only…" he repeated the words a few more times before falling into silence.
Sano stood up, pulling Kenshin to his feet. The teen hung loosely in his arms. Sano felt concern build up inside himself. "Kaoru's waiting for us, come on," he urged. He took a step forwards and Kenshin followed, limping badly on his right leg. Pulling one of Kenshin's arms over his shoulder, Sano took the weight off his friend's leg. He nearly tripped over the bokken that lay discarded on the ground. He stared down at it for a moment, not saying anything, but his gaze fell onto Kenshin.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lightening flashed in the black clouds that hung ominously in the heavens, a startling contrast against the bright fluorescent lights that glared off the wall of the small white hospital room. Kenshin sat quietly staring blankly out the window. The only sound was of the constant rain pelting the glass. Sano sat beside Kaoru's bed, with his back slightly turned to Kenshin. The brown haired teen watched her chest slowly rise and fall, a calm expression on her pale face.
"When are you going to tell me what happened?" asked Sano after a while. He didn't expect an answer to his question. He only wanted to break the silence that was trying to smother the room.
"This one needs more time," answered Kenshin, studying his reflection, gazing into his own deep, lavender eyes. "It's… too hard to say…" he trailed back into silence.
"What is?" Sano asked, pouncing on potential conversation. He glanced over at Kenshin. The redhead didn't respond, his gaze fixed on the window before him. Sano sighed, turning back to Kaoru. "She's worried about you, you know. Ever since Saito asked you to stay after class." He paused, hoping what he said was sinking into Kenshin's mind. "I don't know what's going on with you Kenshin. But I won't let you handle it on your own; you've got that? I'm your friend, and so is Kaoru, I don't care that you went to Mizuki High or even what your connection to the Juppongatanna is." He stopped, staring down at Kaoru, at the bandage wrapped tightly around her head. "Everything that's happened, Megumi's kidnapping, Kaoru's injury, and you, you all have to do with this." His hands tightened. "They'll pay, the Juppongatanna have to pay for everything they've done." A determined look came into his eyes. Kenshin shifted his gaze ever so slightly, studying Sano in the reflection of the glass. "When… the Sekihoutai- the group I was in before I became Zanza- when they were still around, we were allied with the Juppongatanna, way before Shishio had control of it. Everything was fine until… for some reason, they betrayed us. They… killed a lot of the members that day… my brother Souzou was one of them. Katsu and me were lucky just to get away with our lives." He paused, shaking away old memories. "That rottenness has just gotten worse over time. I won't over look what they've done anymore. They have to pay, for everything. I'll make them pay!"
"Where does it stop?" asked Kenshin his voice low. His eyes staring into a painful time. "One act leads to another, strung together by a single word." He turned to look at Sano, a flicker of emotion that Sano couldn't identify visible in Kenshin's lavender eyes. "Revenge." A shiver ran down Sano's spine, it wasn't so much the word Kenshin had said that caused it, but the tone. He knew, understood, what the word meant.
-------------------------------
Big thanks to Midnite cherry blossomz, summer star and to new reviewer Stella-neko for the reviews! I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. My last chapter was my attempt a humour so I'm glad you like it, summer star. You guys are going to love the next couple of chapters. I'm sooo excited about them! I must get them corrected and posted soon. (Determined fire burns in Alatus's eyes.)
I have to say, for this chapter it was one of the easiest to come up with a title for. You wouldn't believe how much work I put into thinking up titles for all my wonderful chapters and lucky for me this one was a snap to come up with.
Ooh, remember waaaaay back in chapter 2 when I mentioned my computer chewed up story data? Well at the time it had eaten the data all the way up to here. This was the end of all the retyping I had to do. Computers just don't seem to like me…
Anyway now, onto correcting the next chapter! Till then!