Disclaimer: See chapters 1-18. It's there in every single one.

Chapter 33

Mokuba opened his eyes to find himself staring at a wooden ceiling. He picked himself up and looked around. He was in a dojo of some sort with swords lining two of the walls.

"This must be the dojo Seto told me about," Mokuba said, talking aloud to dispel the eerie silence that seemed to settle on the dojo. He began looking around. "Yep, Seto was right—it is pretty boring here."

He then noticed the open door. "Huh? I thought Seto said that this was the only thing programmed into the system?" Mokuba pondered briefly before the realization struck him. "Oh! Seto must have added things to the system! That's what he was doing when he said it was just a routine system check! Seto, you're the best!" Mokuba said as he ran outside.

~*~

The days seemed to fly by for Kenshin. It had been a week since he had been reunited with his wife Author's note: Kenshin is unconsciously controlling the flow of time in the virtual reality system. It was the end of fall—winter would be setting in very soon. Kenshin wasn't looking forward to it. He didn't like the winter months, although he couldn't remember why. It seemed there was something important that he was forgetting but every time he tried to think about what it might be, Tomoe would walk up. Her presence had a very calming effect on him, and would lay all his worries to rest. What was there to forget? She was here with him, and life was good.

Still his hitokiri instincts were warning him that something bad was going to happen very soon. It was like the calm before the storm. Kenshin wondered how much longer the calm would last.

~*~

Mokuba walked out of the dojo and stopped. This was certainly not what he had expected. In front of him was a dirt street lined with old-fashioned houses. The people were the same, all wearing clothes like you'd see in really old movies. Mokuba decided to explore.

He started walking down the street, looking into the alleyways as he passed. He was surprised to notice that the alleys all ended in darkness, as if there was nothing beyond them. I guess Seto wants me to follow this one road, Mokuba thought logically to himself. He continued walking.

~*~

Kenshin woke up early in the morning. It had snowed last night, so he had gone to bed early in the hopes that it would have melted by morning. Silently, he got out of bed and walked over to the door. Opening it just a crack to keep most of the cold air out, he peeked out side. A large expanse of powdery white snow glittered beautifully in the early sunlight. Kenshin sighed and closed the door again, failing to notice the set of footprints leading away from the house. He turned back and silently made his way back over to the bed, mindful not to make too much noise so as not to disturb Tomoe. It wasn't until he actually reached the bed that he noticed she wasn't in it.

For some unknown reason, he was deathly afraid. I'm just being paranoid, he told himself, sternly. I'm sure she's left a note explaining where she went and when she'll be back.

To convince himself of this, he started searching for the note he was sure she had left. What he found instead was her journal. Again, the feeling of dread rose in his chest. I shouldn't read this—she would never forgive me, he thought, placing the book on the shelf. As soon as the book left his fingers, he was drawn to it even more than before. Almost as if he couldn't control his actions, he picked up the journal, and flipped open to a random page. He began to read:

I have grown attached to this man, even to the point that I'm sure I've fallen in love with him. Sadly, I will never be able to tell him of these feelings I have for him. After all, how can one love a sworn enemy? For I have sworn to take out vengeance on my fiancée's killer—how can Kiyosato rest while his murderer still lives? And yet—and yet how can I kill the man I love? It would be the same as ending my own life, for I would surely die if something were to happen to him. But, if he found out about my true intentions—no. I could not bare the rejection that would be sure to follow. I will go to the cabin where they await to hear from me. I will tell them that he has found out about my intentions, and that I can no longer be apart of their plan. That should work, for if I am not with him, then I cannot be made to slay him. I will leave in the morning, before he awakes. This will be my last entry in my journal. Farewell.

The journal fell to the floor as Kenshin's fingers loosened their grip on it. His mind was reeling from what he had just read, and yet he had already knew that. However, he was now acting on instinct, and his instincts told him that he needed to find Tomoe and bring her back. Quickly, he changed into his gi and hakama, putting on his armguards and placing his swords through his belt. Moving with unconscious stealth, he left the house and followed the footprints in the snow.

~*~

Mokuba followed the path into the mountains. "I wonder where this will take me?" he thought out loud. Suddenly, he noticed that the bushes on one side of the trail were all pushed aside and trampled, as if several people had pushed through them quickly. He also noticed that the darkness was absent, so he decided that that was where he was supposed to go next. He hadn't gotten very far before he found the bodies of three adult males, all dead. He gasped, starting to feel sick but unable to tear his eyes away from the gruesome sight before him. As what he was seeing sank in, he felt a scream building in his throat. Not seeing any reason to withhold it, he screamed for all he was worth.

~*~

One of the scientists in Kaiba's laboratory walked over and checked Mokuba's vital signs. "Everything looks good, so far," he said to his companion.

"Well what did you expect, Yoita? The only thing in the system is that dojo, and he can't even feel that pain if he hurts himself with those swords!" the second scientist answered.

"I know, Kobayashi, but how do you think Mr. Kaiba would react if something were to go wrong?" Yoita asked.

Kobayashi shrugged. "I suppose your right," he agreed. They were both silent for a moment.

Suddenly, a piercing scream tore through the silence. Startled, they both looked toward the origin of the sound. Surprisingly enough, it appeared to have come from Mokuba. Yoita ran over to him, thinking he had accidentally stabbed himself with a sword and was screaming at the expected pain. He was a little disconcerted to realize that Mokuba was still in the virtual reality system. He checked Mokuba's vitals once again.

"Turn on the monitor—something is scaring the bejee-bees outta the kid," Yoita said. Kobayashi complied, bringing up a picture of the dojo on the screen.

"He's not there!"

"What?! He has to be there!" Yoita ran over and looked at the screen. Mokuba was nowhere to be seen. "Alright, just bring him out of the system!"

Kobayashi started typing on his computer. He paused, waiting. Nothing happened, so he started typing again. After a few minutes, he looked at Yoita. "I can't."

"What? Move over—let me try." Yoita took a seat and starting typing commands into the computer with the same results of his companion. He looked up, meeting Kobayashi's gaze.

"I think we need to inform Mr. Kaiba about this," Yoita said.

~*~

Kenshin was walking through the snow, following his beloved's footprints in the fresh powder. He had a strange sense of déjà vu, but he ignored it and continued on. Suddenly someone, a ninja but the looks of it, confronted him. The ninja jumped forward, crossing blades with Kenshin before quickly jumping out of range. As he landed, he threw a dart at Kenshin. Kenshin saw it coming easily and raised his sword to deflect it, but for some reason he was too slow. It struck his right shoulder, burying itself deep within his flesh. His vision blurred slightly, going in and out of focus as he sank t his knees. He vaguely noticed that the ninja had jumped behind one of the many trees.

What's going on?! I should have been able to deflect that! he thought to himself, confused. What's wrong with me?! He reached up and, gritting his teeth, pulled the dart from his shoulder and cast it away from him.

Sensing three more airborne items coming his way he whirled around, successfully stopping them with his sword. It must have been a fluke. I must not have reacted as fast as I thought I did. Yes, that must be it, he thought to himself, logically.

The ninja rushed at him again, thinking he had the advantage because Kenshin was still kneeling on the ground. Kenshin didn't even need to look as he held out his sword at just the right angle, allowing the ninja to impale himself upon it. The ninja pulled himself off the blade and staggered away from the boy. Kenshin wiped his blade clean in the snow, and continued on his way.

~*~

After finding the corpses, Mokuba had turned and ran as fast as he could back to the safety of the town. He had been a little disconcerted when he found that the path no longer led back to the city, but to a graveyard. The graveyard was covered with wooden cross and a few stones. Not want to dawdle, Mokuba hurried on. He didn't notice when the brown leaves of fall that crunched under his feet turned into the white snow of winter.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he was surprised to found himself standing in front of a cottage. He looked around, noticing he was even deeper in the mountains than before. He realized then that he was lost. Feeling a little scared, he turned back to the cottage, hoping to get some information from whoever was inside. It was the he noticed the shoji that been left open, allowing the snow in. Some of the windows had been left partially open, emitting a mournful wail every time the wind blew.

Mokuba then noticed two sets of footprints leading away from the house. Deciding it would be better to follow those than to enter the seemingly haunted house, he set off in a different direction, walking deeper into the mountains.

~*~

Kaiba was not in a good mood. He was currently in a meeting with several of the idiots on his payroll. He wasn't even paying attention to what they were saying, wishing he were somewhere else. Suddenly, the door burst open and another employee of his came in. Although Kaiba was ecstatic for the interruption, he would never allow such to be seen on his face. He scowled at the intrusion.

"What is it?!" he demanded, harshly. I may have to give him a pay raise, later, thought silently to himself. His good mood didn't last long.

"Mr. Kaiba! Something's wrong with the virtual reality system! We can't get Mokuba out!" Yoita said, preparing for the explosion of Kaiba's temper.

"WHAT?!" Before anyone could react, Kaiba was already out the door and running down the hallway. He skidded to a halt in front of the elevator doors, punching the button. Yoita caught up with him as he waited for the elevator. Kaiba was about to take the stairs when the door finally opened. He practically jumped inside, Yoita close on his heels, and hit the button for B2. As the elevator started to move, Kaiba decided to find out what went wrong.

"What happened." His question sounded like a command. He kept his eyes forward as it helped him keep all of that troublesome emotion off his face. Yoita answered him promptly.

"We're not sure, sir. One minute Mokuba was in and all systems were running fine. The next minute he screamed. We just thought that he might have accidentally stabbed himself and was screaming at the pain he expected to feel, but he was still in the system. Something scared him in there and we don't know what. He's not in the dojo. We tried bringing him out of the system, but the computer's overriding our commands. It's like something else is controlling the system," Yoita explained in as condensed a version as he could. Kaiba was silent.

The elevator doors opened and Kaiba took off running down the hallway again. Kobayashi looked up as he entered. "Sir, we're still looking for Mokuba," he said, gesturing at the scenes being displayed on the screen.

Kaiba stared at them, a little confused. "What is this?" he asked, more than a little confused. Kobayashi shook his head.

"Don't know, sir. Didn't know it was there until we started searching for Mokuba."

Suddenly, the computer beeped. Kobayashi looked back at the screen and started typing. "Sir, we've found him!" he exclaimed as he brought the image to the main screen. There, walking through a snow path in the mountains, was Mokuba. He looked a little scared and lost, but other than that he appeared to be no worse for the wear. Kaiba allowed himself to sigh in relief, mentally of course.

After ascertaining his brother's well-being, he glared at his employee's. "I can't even leave the simplest jobs to you, can I? Get out of the way," he commanded as he took a seat in front of the monitor and started to type.

~*~

As Kenshin walked, he noticed he was starting to feel weaker. The woods around him were too quiet and scanned the area around him, constantly searching for another ambush. It wasn't until he saw a tree branch fall and barely heard it hit the ground that he realized his hearing was being muffled somehow. Not sure what to make of this, he ignored it, focusing instead on his other senses. That was fine until he noticed that it was getting really dark. Strange, he thought to himself, It's not past mid-morning. Why is it so dark out now?

Pretty soon, Kenshin found it all but impossible to walk without using his word as a crutch. What is wrong with me?! he thought almost frantically. He had no more time to ponder the strange happenings with his body as he suddenly felt a dangerous ki spike almost directly in front of him. Kenshin looked up. Standing in front of him was an older man. He had faded brown hair with a mustache to match. He was taller than Kenshin by at least a head, and had a very muscular build. Although he carried no sword, he wore armguards. He stood with an air of superiority, looking down on Kenshin.

I recognize him…from somewhere…. Kenshin thought to himself. Where do I know him from….? Suddenly, the man attacked. Surprisingly enough, Kenshin knew exactly how he was going to attack, when and where, all without even reading his aura. Soon, Tomoe, this will all be over and we'll be together again, he thought as he dodged and countered his assailant's attack with ease—or, at least tried too. The first attack, Kenshin misjudged the distance, making him swing too soon. This gave his attacker an opening, which he gladly took. Kenshin cursed mentally as he felt the pain. Blast! I can't afford to make anymore mistakes!

~*~

Mokuba walked, following the footprints in the snow. He had been walking for sometime before he finally heard someone up ahead. He was more than a little scared being alone in the woods, so he hurried towards the sound.

He happened upon a clearing that contained an old shack. It was the shack that drew his attention, however—it was the two people fighting in front of it. Quickly, he hid himself behind a large tree, poking his head out to observe what was going on. One of the people, the red head, had a sword and clearly had the advantage, as the other was unarmed. However, Mokuba soon discovered that a weapon dose not make a difference if one is injured. The red head was getting the beating of his life from his opponent. Even from his hiding place he could clearly see the blood seeping through his clothes.

Suddenly, the older man hit the red head, causing him to skid backwards on the ground, until he was almost even with Mokuba. The small boy stayed very still, afraid any movement on his part would alert either fighter to his presence. The red head boy slowly pulled himself to his feet, eliciting a gasp of surprise from Mokuba as his face could finally be seen.

"Kenshin!" Mokuba breathed in disbelief.

~*~

Kaiba stopped typing as he stared at the screen. Kenshin?! What's Kenshin doing in there?! That's impossible! he thought, trying to make sense out of the current situation. He wasn't having much luck.

Okay, first the system goes haywire while Mokuba's inside, an entire world is created out of nothing, Mokuba's stuck and can't get out and now Kenshin's in there?! Kaiba redoubled his efforts. If he didn't get Mokuba out soon, there's no telling what would happen to him.

~*~

Kenshin was not having a good time. In fact he was more frustrated than he ever thought possible. What is wrong with me?! I know his every move before he makes it but I can't counter a single one! I'm either to slow or way off the mark. What's happening to me?! Kenshin thought desperately as he felt himself flying through the air only to reconnect with the earth and skid a few feet. He slowly pulled himself to his feet. He thought he heard a small gasp and someone whisper his name, but he ignored it. He knew he only had strength left for one, final attack. He took all of his pent up frustration from his lack of success in this fight and released it one scream. He ran forward blindly, knowing that this was it. He would die by his opponent's sword, but he would not die alone.

Kenshin started to run forward. His eyes were going in and out of focus, so he wasn't sure where his opponent was. Suddenly, someone was right in front of him. Kenshin brought his sword down with most of his remaining strength, feeling the blade hit it's target. That's strange. Why does the air carry the scent of white plums?

~*~

Mokuba shank back against the tree as he heard Kenshin's scream. It was filled with anger and frustration. Mokuba had never seen Kenshin like this—it was like he was possessed by a demon. Mokuba felt a chill go down his spine.

Suddenly, Kenshin rushed forward toward his opponent, sword raised. The older man raised a knife in his hand and came to meet Kenshin halfway. Just before the two reached each other, Mokuba saw a streak of white. It was over in a second and it took Mokuba a minute to figure out what had happened.

A woman dressed in a white kimono stood in between the two men. She had her back to Kenshin, clutching the other man's knife to keep it from reaching its destination. Mokuba watched as her white kimono slowly turned to red, tracing the line Kenshin had drawn with his sword and expanding outward. She fell to the ground, Kenshin trying to catch her as he fell as well. A heart-rending shriek split the air.

"TOMOE!!!"

~*~

Everyone stared at the screen. Although Kenshin had been fighting, they hadn't actually expected anyone to die, much less for him to have killed the two people. And what's more, these people didn't disappear when they died. Their corpses just stayed where they had fallen as a gruesome reminder of what had taken place. They could do naught but watch as the events played themselves out.

~*~

Kenshin sank to the ground, crying openly as he felt Tomoe's life blood flowing over his hands. "Tomoe…no…." he cried brokenly, clutching her to him gently. Why does it have to end like this? he thought, bitterly.

Tomoe raised the knife she still clutched in her hand and gave him a second scar on his cheek. As the knife fell away from his face, suddenly all his memories he had been suppressing resurfaced, threatening to destroy him with the magnitude of emotions all assaulting him at once. The negative emotions were the more prominent ones, and he felt himself sinking into despair. He looked down and realized that Tomoe was gone. Suddenly, he could bare it no longer.

"I wish I were dead!" he screamed, his voice raw with emotion.

That, however, might not have been the smartest thing to do on his part. His subconscious mind supplied the only person skilled enough to defeat Kenshin, and the computer accepted the input.

~*~

Mokuba sat cringing behind the tree. Tears ran freely down his cheeks, although whether from sorrow, fear or a mixture of the two he wasn't sure. Half of him wanted to go and comfort the crying boy several feet in front of him. The other half wanted to run away screaming. After all, he had just witnessed Kenshin murder two people. That kind of thing has a lasting effect on a person.

Mokuba watched as the woman raised the knife to Kenshin's cheek. Instead of moving his head away from the blade, he moved closer to make it easier for her. After the blade left his cheek, he seemed somewhat dazed, almost in a trance. Mokuba watched as the woman's head fell to the side, her chest no longer rising or falling with any breath. She was dead. After a minute or two more, Kenshin seemed to snap out of it only realize she was gone. He bowed his head, clutching her to him tightly.

Suddenly, Kenshin threw back his head and screamed at the top of his lungs, "I wish I were dead!"

Without warning, a tall, well built man wearing a long white cape appeared out of the forest behind Kenshin. "Then I will grant you your wish, deshi."

~*~

Upon hearing his master's voice, Kenshin held Tomoe's body from a moment longer before slowly placing her back down on the ground. He then stood and took a few steps to the left. He stood, and patiently waited for his master's attack.

~*~

Nothing could be done from this side of the terminals, so Kaiba was forced to watch and wait. It wasn't too bad; as long as no harm came to Mokuba, he supposed he could wait a little while longer. Yoita was right—the computer was overriding all of his commands. There was nothing he could do but wait.

Suddenly, a new man arrived one the scene. Slowly, Kenshin got up and faced him. Something about the way Kenshin stood alerted Kaiba that something was not right. It was as if Kenshin were giving up. Suddenly, the man struck without warning. Nine hits in all, head, chest, groin, both arms, sides, and legs. The man's blade tore through Kenshin's body, sending him flying back. He hit the ground hard, bouncing back up from the force of the impact. The ground was turning red with his blood. His eyes clearly showed the pain he was experiencing. His entire body tensed for a brief moment, before the muscles relaxed, allowing his head to fall to the side. Kenshin was dead.

Suddenly, the screen went black. Worrying about Mokuba, Kaiba stared typing on the computer once again. The screen flickered back to life, showing the single room of the dojo. Sitting in the middle of the floor, hugging his knees while he rocked back and forth, was Mokuba. Kaiba quickly keyed in a few more commands, and watched as Mokuba disappeared. He ran over to the table his brother's body was lying on, and watched as the younger Kaiba opened his eyes. Seto smiled.

Upon seeing his brother, Mokuba jumped up and flung his arms around him, crying. Kaiba held him, gently rocking him back and forth. "Ssh, it's alright, Mokuba, I'm here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're safe now," Kaiba whispered into his younger brother's ear. Mokuba just clutched him tighter.

~*~