Fall from grace
By hye-kyo
Disclaimer: RK isn't mind.
Author's Notes. It was among the files I found in my HD. Of course Kenshin is the man with the red hair (who else? Sano?). Just so you know, an ebisu is like an amulet (like an omamori or an ofuda) but usually the ebisu takes the form of a small Buddha. Maybe this is in connection with Ebisu, the god of luck and fishing villages.
Read and review!
Title: Ebisu
Rating: T
''''
He was among the driftwood that washed up on the beach that day.
The mass of red was what caught her attention. She thought at once that he must have come from the west, from where the oceans end and the heavens begin.
She had rushed, saw that the mass of red was actually hair and that it belonged to a man. Her blood rushed, had the gods heard her? Had she found more than an ebisu?
She had brought him to the small shrine inside a cave where the water pours in and out. Water fills half the cave when the tide is high. She did not bother pulling her kimono up, the waves were gentle, the sky was bright, she could easily find her way through the cave.
Under the bright light, his red hair seemed to turn gold. There is another shrine at the top of the cliff where a monk resides. She would call the monk as soon as she settles the stranger in the cave. She needed to make sure he was the one before she could tell everyone.
She searched for any injury, any fatal wound. He does not look hurt, except for the quite tender scar on his cheek. His clothes were not blood-stained, if they were they had been probably washed off in the water. He does not look Nihon-jin, she had not seen anybody with red hair before. He probably has come from the west.
She had almost gotten up, assured that, at the most, he was unhurt and going to live, when a hand caught her arm. She looked down and saw the most intense pair of golden eyes she had ever seen.
"Who?" his voice was hoarse, deep, strong and raw, like he had just started learning how to use it.
"Y-you...you were on the shore..." she could not find her voice. The air stilled around them and she could hear her heart beating in her chest wildly.
"Shore?" he coughed, held on tighter to her arm. She could see marks on her arm beginning to form.
"Yes..." she tried to get his hand off, gritted her teeth and felt fear seeping as she tried to avoid his intense gaze.
"Who...are you?" he pulled harder until he yanked her down.
Above him, she could feel the heat of his body through their wet clothes. She flushed, lost her voice and panicked.
"Who?" he said louder, his hold rougher.
"Ka-Kamiya Kaoru..." she could not breathe. Fear was choking her to death. She could feel water washing up on her feet, the tide was getting higher. The sun had almost set.
"Kamiya?" he closed his eyes momentarily. Finally he loosened his hold on her arm.
She took the opportunity to get off but his hand quickly shot up and grabbed her hair. She let out a yelp and tried to push. The man caught both her wrists and hurled her down, she screamed, the waves washing up, filling the cave. She was afraid they would not hear her voice anymore even if she screamed. Was she wrong? Had she been wrong to think he was the one the prophecy said about?
He moved again, captured both wrists in one hand as she flipped them over, him settling his weight down on her suddenly stilling form. He cursed.
She lost her voice. Would her only hope turn out to be her demise? "You are not the one..." she murmured before she could even think.
His eyes squinted. In the dark his eyes shone like gold and his hair was dark, like dried blood. His teeth were white, she could see them as he breathed in deeply, his breath echoing in her ears. "Not the one?"
She swallowed hard. She was beginning to ascertain that he was not the one the prophecy said about. Salvation was a dream. The prophecy was not true. From there on her future was surely bleak. As the sun comes down, the god of the sea will come and take her away, that is, if she wasn't yet dead. The prophecy talked of salvation, in the form of which she never knew, the only clue being that her salvation will appear on the shore today. She thought it was some sort of ofuda, or some sort of amulet, even an ebisu that would protect her from the god. So when she saw him her heart raced and thought that the heavens must have heard her and sent her more than an amulet.
"What do you mean?" she suddenly felt him too close, his breath hot on her face. He smelled of saltwater and pines.
"Who are you?" she asked, swallowing hard.
"Something," his face contorted into a pained frown. He seemed to be in pain, "Something called me here."
"Are you hurt?" she suddenly lost her fear. Before the god of the sea chose her as a sacrifice she was an herbalist, a healer. She lived alone, her parents died during the plague. She lived a simple life, surviving on gifts of fruits and eggs and of what she could catch in the sea. She was more or less contented with her life until the famine. Until the god asked for her as a sacrifice, until the god asked the townsfolk to give her up in exchange of bounty harvest from the sea.
He jerked away from her, losing his balance, hitting his shoulder against a protruding rock. He let out a yelp and she automatically sat up and caught him. He watched her.
"You are hurt," she said, almost to herself, as she saw the blotching on his damp cloth. He has a wound on his side, probably a big wound judging from how the blood soaks the cloth.
"It doesn't matter," he shoved her away, "What is this place? Who are you?"
The sun was beginning to set. She looked at the man. He said something called him here. What was it? Was she in fact right about him? Was he the one the prophecy talked about? Was he the one destined to save her? She'll take the chance, "You said you were called to come here. What called you here? Who called you here?"
And then pain shot through him as he tried to stand up. He fell back, groaning, his cloth soaked with blood. His head lulled to one side.
"Hold on," she panicked. She feared he was losing too much blood. She feared she was losing the only chance of escape. She quickly tore the hem of her kimono, untied the sash of his cloth, which now, seemed like some sort of yukata, and started cleaning the wound.
He had lost consciousness. She looked at his face, watched out for any sign of complication. There was none. The sun had already set, water was beginning to fill the cave and the man was growing cold. Savior or not she could not leave him there. She was an herbalist, she helps cure the sick, she tries to save lives. Even if he was not the one and even if, judging from what happened earlier, saving him would turn out too dangerous for her, too dangerous that she might regret it afterwards, she was still determined to save him. The only problem was how to get him out of the cave.
''''
A/n: If you are wondering what an ebisu is (or what an ofuda or an omamori is) see above author's note. ^_^