Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu-Yu Hakusho, Hikaru no Go.

Warning: This chapter contains suicide themes. If you are not able to stomach it or are not old enough to do so please READ NO FURTHER! As was made clear in the earlier chapters Aoshi has a happy ending so there is no need for you to continue reading.

To be the Strongest

Chapter 7: Try not! Do or do not. There is no try!" – Master Yoda to Luke (Empire Strikes Back)

"So aside from Aoshi's eminent defeat," she began cheerfully casting a meaningful glance at the Go board "what have I missed?" she asked casually.

"Aoshi's been telling Seto stories…" Hiei volunteered. She turned to Aoshi surprised.

"I was telling him about Tak and my last day working at the Game shop…" Aoshi explained not taking his eyes off the board. She didn't say anything she just nodded and waited for Aoshi to continue but he didn't and she frowned.

"He told Seto about the warehouse…" Hiei again spoke for him in a solemn and slightly troubled tone. She looked surprised…

"Really!" she replied incredulous eyes wide with shock. After a moment she just smiled patiently and watched Aoshi for a moment with a wise motherly look in her eyes. For an instant an image of Seto's long dead mother materialized in vivid detail in his mind. He blinked hard and looked away the image evoked emotions and memories he thought he'd long since stamped out of his heart. He slammed the door shut on those memories not willing to deal with all the pain that went along with them.

"It was easier this time wasn't it…" she told him softly in a wise and patient tone she reached over to Hiei to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Seto looked up again then curiosity getting the better of him. Hiei relaxed and smiled then too. His inability to repay Aoshi for all he'd done for him had caused frustration to eat away at him for years. He – like most of Aoshi's friends – hated the thought of being able to find their happiness while Aoshi had remained alone in the dark for so long.

"Yes…yes it was…" he answered surprised with himself. Seto turned away studying the board intently. He put his stone down and captured one of Aoshi's stones. He smirked proudly…

"Well Aoshi that brings you to about three points behind!" she announced glancing at the board. He flinched…

"That's better then what I expected considering you haven't played in so long. I would still hope for a better showing…" she commented calmly watching Aoshi's reaction.

"Sorry…" he replied seriously as he made his move.

"Oh Sensei! I think we found you a staff weapons student!" Hiei interrupted in an attempt to steer his teacher away from the teasing he was certain she was going to lay on Aoshi.

"Oh that's so exciting!" she replied cheerfully. Hiei smirked glad he'd been able to cover for Aoshi.

"It still doesn't get Aoshi off the hook if he loses!" she added just as cheerfully. Aoshi just chuckled slightly and Hiei hung his head in defeat.

"Thank you Hiei. It was a good try!" Aoshi replied. Hiei looked up and gave him a small apologetic smirk.

"Yes it was! It was a very good try!" Victoria agreed reaching over to give him a congratulatory pat on the back and smile affectionately at him. Then she turned a serious look on Seto.

"So tell me Seto… how far did Aoshi get into the incident?" she asked. Seto looked up surprised. The hard edge in her voice caught him off guard and suddenly he felt as though how he responded would influence what she thought of him. The fact that he wanted to make a good impression surprised him more than anything!

"Just after you rescued him mam… but he stopped at the arrival of the ambulances…" he replied in a solemn voice. She nodded a troubled expression flitted past her face.

"I was about to tell him that I can't remember what happened at the hospital…" Aoshi added.

"Of course not…you and Sano were sedated most of the time…" she reminisced "after that the boys were taken to my house near Maiden's Peak."

"Why there? Wasn't the Shinomori estate safe?" Seto asked surprised that Aoshi would be taken anywhere but home after such an ordeal.

"No actually my home was attacked by members of the Jolly Devils that had recently been paroled. Father was not there and the guards were able to repel them but a few of the staff were injured. Misao's house was also attacked but those intruders were apprehended by my father and my uncles who had gone to the Makimachi household to protect Misao and her family themselves," Aoshi explained with a note of pride in his voice.

"It was decided that for the time being the boys would be safer at my house by the beach since I had just recently acquired it and no one yet knew of it," Victoria added gravely.

"I do remember that the first few nights after my kidnapping were hard. They were filled with strange dreams and horrible nightmares. It got to the point where I couldn't live with it anymore and I walked out one night while Sensei was locked in her office talking to father and headed towards Maiden's Peak," Aoshi recalled softly.

He frowned that night was still something of a blur. At times he believed he had actually jumped but Sensei had somehow caught him before he smashed into the rocks at the bottom and at other times he could see himself standing at the edge looking down with her arms wrapped tight around him to keep him from falling off the edge. But while he couldn't picture exactly what happened he did remember what she taught him that night and that was what he freely shared with Seto.

Victoria watched them with a calm and impassive look on her face. She did remember everything that had transpired that evening though she had altered his memory in order to protect Aoshi from her secret. Unable to stop it her mind turned back the hands of time as she listened to Aoshi share his experience with Seto…

Aoshi stumbled up the road slowly making his way to the top of Maiden's Peak. He had waited for Sano and Kenshin to fall asleep before leaving so they wouldn't try to stop him. Misao had called again today but he refused to talk to her. How could he? He was tainted, unclean how could he be worthy of being even looked at by his princess! A silent tear rolled down his face. Anger and shame filled his heart.

"Damn it!" he cursed as he stumbled and his knees hit the gravel on the side of the road for what seemed like the millionth time since he set out. Just a little further and he'd be at Maiden's Peak so he gritted his teeth against the pain and got up again. He trudged along slowly and painfully towards his goal…/

Hannya was lost in grief and guilt anyone with eyes could see that! Victoria for once was at a loss for what to say. Aoshi was the only heir to the Shinomori name and what they had done to him seriously jeopardized the future of his clan. To Hannya however it was the least of his concerns! Aoshi was all he had left of his beloved wife and he had pinned all his hopes and dreams on him. His son was taken from him and violated in a way too horrible for his paternal heart to assimilate and all the money in the world wouldn't be enough to fix it.

"When he needed me most I couldn't help him…" he berated himself softly. Tears fell freely from his eyes for the first time since his wife's death.

"You cannot do this to yourself Hannya! He will need your strength now more than ever!" she affirmed putting every once of strength and confidence into her voice that she could. She chocked back her own tears and rage. She marched up to the chair where he sat slumped in defeat and misery and shook him gently.

"Hannya the next few weeks will be the most difficult of his life! You will need to be strong and have faith in your son! He can get through this I know it but we will need to be there for him…" she stopped as an image of Aoshi walking towards Maiden Peak flashed quickly in her mind.

"He's not in his bed!" she exclaimed horrified she ran out of her office then up the stairs towards his room with Hannya right behind her. She burst through the door and the bed was empty. She ran back down yelling towards Hannya to wait here and not let the other boys out. Once out sight of her two level Victorian style house she burst up the hill at her full speed (that's ten times faster than the fastest cheetah!). She found him standing at the edge of the cliff looking up at the stars.

"I'm sorry Tak! I failed…I'm not strong enough… I'm not worthy…I'll never be…" he sobbed softly and took another step towards the edge.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" she called out to him the power and conviction in her voice making him stop in his tracks. He turned his head slightly towards her.

"Sensei? What are you doing here?" he asked softly. The howling evening wind did not prevent her from hearing his soft voice. His long hair whipped around his head as a gust of wind blew past him.

"Preventing you from walking this path," she replied as she walked carefully towards him.

"Come with me Aoshi…" she called out to him. He shook his head and stepped closer to the edge. 'No! No! I will not let him die!' she thought desperately. For nearly three hundred years she had watched over this planet. She had cared for the descendants of her only surviving daughter for that long and on that ledge stood the last direct descendant of her child's bloodline. She'd be damned if she would let him die!

"Aoshi! Come with me now!" she ordered him hoping that the edge of finality in her voice would return some sense into the boy.

"Why?" he retorted bitterly "I will never be strong…you waste your time Sensei…"

"I will be the judge of that Aoshi! Now come with me!" she cut him off. He shook his head again and his soft choked sobs broke her heart.

"I'm a weak fool! I'll bring you nothing but shame and dishonor!" he replied in disgust. He choked back another sob.

"You're wrong Aoshi! You're stronger than you think! Come with me now! I can teach you! Aoshi…AOSHI!" she screamed as his arms opened and he took that final step horrified she watched as he disappeared off the edge. She dove right after him!

Aoshi watched with detached interest as the rocks at the bottom sped towards him. All of a sudden though he stopped! A great cushion of air seemed to have materialized below him and slowed his descent. Then an arm wrapped it self firmly around his chest. He looked again at the rocks moving slowly towards him.

"Am I dead?" he wondered aloud.

"Not as long as I exist!" Victoria replied her voice full of authority and conviction.

"Sensei?... How?" he asked incredulous as they touched down on a large stone. She pointed the palm of her other hand back down towards the stone and they were blasted back up speeding towards the ledge Aoshi had just jumped off of. With mild fascination he watched as the rock she'd just catapulted them from blasted into pieces.

"Don't ask me how…it isn't as important as why!" the concern and care in her voice seemed to reach him finally as he held on to the arm holding him.

"Then why?" he asked still unable to believe what was happening to him.

"…Because I believe in you Aoshi! There is something inside you that makes you special! I know that you can be great!" her voice was so full of conviction that he found himself daring to believe her. They were flying towards the house now and his mind reeled with the impossibility of it. The wind on his face soothed his burning soul. As she spoke in her firm and gentle voice he felt as though his soul was carried away from the raging sea of anger and sorrow that he'd been drowning in by two powerful hands.

"Aoshi, true strength is not achieved overnight or through mere fists and weapons. Courage is the first key you'll need on the path to true strength. Courage to face your fears and conquer them! Trust is the next: I know that you can be the strongest! I know you can be the best! But you must trust me and I will show you the way!" she explained and the certainty in her voice made Aoshi forget for a moment all his doubts and fears.

She landed just out of sight of the house. She closed her eyes for a moment to activate with a mental command the device hidden in her bracelet, a device that would help her modify his memory while he slept. Aoshi's eyes closed and he slumped against her. She put one arm under his knees and picked him up then ran towards the house. Hannya was pacing just inside the door and immediately assaulted her with questions.

"He's alright Hannya! Please calm your self," she suggested patiently as they headed up the stairs to Aoshi's room. Aoshi stirred awake for a moment asking where he was and Victoria shushed him gently and bade him sleep. His eyes rolled back into his head and it looked like he would pass out again but his eyes opened and stayed that way while Victoria and Hannya put him into his bed.

She sat on one side of the bed and Hannya sat on the other. Aoshi curled up into a fetal position with his back to his father tears flowing quietly from his eyes. She rubbed his back gently with her right hand and wiped the tears from his face with the left.

"You know an old teacher once told me that tears were baths for the soul. They wash away the grime that fear and hate create and leave our hearts clean and ready for fresh start," she told him in her soft and patient tone. She looked up and reached with her right hand to wipe a tear away from Hannya's face.

"So let your tears come you'll need your hearts to be clean we have a long road ahead of us in the path to becoming the strongest!" she advised her soft and motherly. Aoshi opened his eyes confused for a moment and looked behind him towards his father. He was surprised to see tears falling from his father's eyes. Slowly he turned towards him.

"Aoshi, I'm so sorry…I know I've never been there for you and when you need me most I…" he stopped emotion putting a lid on any words trying to make it out of his throat. Aoshi found himself sitting up with a little help from Victoria. Tentatively Aoshi reached out to him and Hannya immediately pulled the boy into his arms.

"Aoshi I'm so sorry! I will make it up to you somehow! I promise!" he swore to him fiercely holding his only child tight. Victoria smiled 'the first step is taken' she thought wiping the tear that escaped her eye. She got up and made to leave.

"Vicky-sensei?" Aoshi's voice soft and shaky stopped her she turned around and smiled patiently at them.

"Yes?" she replied moved by the protective gentle way Hannya was still holding his son.

"Can you really make me the strongest?" he asked softly. Hannya looked up at her hope and desperation clearly in his eyes. She paused for a moment and walked back towards the bed considering how best to respond.

"I can show you the path you'll need to take to becoming the strongest but it is up to you whether you want to walk it!" she replied putting as much confidence and determination into her voice as she could muster. For someone as old and powerful as her it was a simple thing to infuse their battered souls with her own boundless confidence. Aoshi nodded slowly.

"I want to be the strongest…I'll do anything…" Aoshi began softly.

"We will do anything together Aoshi!" Hannya added firmly. "You can do it Aoshi! I'll help you!" he promised fiercely.

"Many allies you will need on the road to being the strongest!" Victoria interjected smiling at Hannya "I know you can become the greatest but you must have faith in yourself too!" she reaffirmed patting both Aoshi and Hannya on the back reassuringly she smiled in a motherly way that put them both at ease. She stood again and walked towards the door.

"Get some sleep now both of you and we'll talk in the morning! Good night!" she called back softly as she closed the door behind her. Quietly she went to check on her other charges. Kenshin was sound asleep with his twin curled up next to him. Kurama had refused to move an inch from Kenshin's side since the ordeal and it was a small miracle that their mother Chizuru wasn't there with them. Her brother Hiko had insisted she go home and sleep then pack a few things for the boys in the morning.

Hiko had reassured her that the boys would be safe. What safer place for Kenshin then in the hands of the person who killed or maimed his attackers? She had finally relented and left the boys in her care promising to be back early in the morning. Victoria decided to stay up and wait for Chizuru to return. The boys were all Chizuru had! She had no other family other than her brother Hiko Seiguro and his daughter Tomoe who lived in the US. She could safely bet that Chizuru would be back by 2 or 3 in the morning if not sooner!

She kneeled on the side of the bed and checked Kenshin's temperature. Kurama stirred awake but seeing that it was just Victoria he smiled weakly and went back to sleep. Chizuru's ex-husband was a womanizing bastard who had left her when she was pregnant. He showed up only once in a while when he just wanted a little break from his womanizing and endless partying. He would bring expensive foreign toys and brag about his cool job as an airline pilot and the neat places he traveled to because he could have a captive audience in his sons.

She had called him at his apartment in Kyoto to let him know what happened to the boys but the rat had yet to show himself. Hannya had been livid at the man's lack of response but Victoria had been able to hold him back…for now. She actually hoped the man didn't show up! She feared what Hannya would do to him. Chizuru Himura was Hannya's secretary and had been his wife's best friend since high school.

He considered her and her boys just as much a part of his family as his brothers were and he was very protective of her and her children. To Hannya she had been an invaluable friend when his wife died. She had cared for Aoshi until he was old enough to be sent to school! And every time Aoshi was expelled from yet another private school it was Chizuru who had gone out of her way to make things right! Any mention of her ex-husband Toshizo usually sent him on a rampage of righteous indignation.

In the office Hannya had always found her to be a reliable and competent person and in the nearly twenty years that she'd been his secretary he had found there was no better person for that position. She had a very gentle and optimistic personality however and it caused her to be constantly taken advantage of by her ex-husband whom she was still in love with.

"Sano what are you doing still awake," she said softly approaching Sano's bed. Sano was sitting up in his bed with his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them. She sat next to him. Of all the children who were there that night Sano was perhaps the most emotionally scarred…

"He was gonna jump off Maiden's Peak wasn't he?" he asked bitterness and anger dripping from his voice. She didn't answer.

"So stupid! What was I thinking! I shouldn't have left him alone!" he grumbled angrily and smacked his head against his knees.

"No Sano! You can't blame yourself! This was a trial Aoshi alone had to face! He's past it now and he can begin his road to recovery!" she spoke firmly and confidently. She put an arm around Sano's shoulders and pulled him towards her.

"He will need his friends to stand by him and encourage him. Can you do that Sano?" she asked gently. She put both arms around him and just held him as the boy unleashed all his angry bitter tears against her shoulder. He nodded and she held him a while longer until he'd quieted down. She told him Aoshi was with Hannya and that he wasn't going to be alone tonight. Sano finally decided to sleep and pulled himself under the blankets. She stayed with him a little longer reassuring the boy that his friends would be ok.

She got up to leave but went back for a moment to comfort him once more when she realized he was crying again. She hated leaving Sano alone and hoped his father would be back soon. She could understand his frustration! Aoshi and Kenshin weren't just his friends. They were his family…his brothers. When his mother and father died and he was adopted by his father's best friend it had been Kenshin and Aoshi who had first reached out to him. Those had been hard times for him and his two best friends had seen him through it. That night when they needed him not only was he unable to fight to protect them but he was also spared the worst by Aoshi's timely intervention.

She left and went down stairs to the kitchen to prepare some tea for Chizuru's eminent return casting a glance at the clock. It said 1a.m. It was just as well because that way the two women could prepare breakfast for the boys. Sano's mother would probably show up sometime in the morning but since she had little Anzu she would have to find someone to care for her little one first. Most likely that someone would be Kiki who had called several times since hearing of the kidnapping to find out if Aoshi and the boys were alright.

As the pot on the stove came to a boil she felt someone approaching her gate. She walked towards the door but sensing no ill will from the person nearing the house she opened it. She was not surprised to see Shuura making her way slowly and tentatively towards the house. Her parents had called looking for her but since she was not here Sano had asked his father to search for her. She stopped when she saw Victoria and hesitated to approach. Victoria smiled and beckoned her to approach.

"Good evening Shuura," she greeted softly. Quiet tears streamed down the girl's face and she looked like she'd been in at least one fight if not several. Victoria led her to the kitchen. She put a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of the girl. She left the room for a moment to call Sano's father and Shuura's parents to let them know that she was alright but that it was best for the girl to remain with Victoria for the time being. She returned to the kitchen wordlessly. She made herself a cup of green tea then sat across the table from the girl and waited for Shuura to speak.

"They kept asking me…I couldn't tell…and Kaoru made me so mad!" she began haltingly.

"Thank you for not telling them," Victoria said softly patting Shuura's hand "but something else happened…why don't you tell me?" she prompted gently.

"Stupid Kaoru! She wouldn't stop crying and then she told Misao that maybe Kenshin and Aoshi didn't like them anymore!" she cried desperately.

"I hit her!" Shuura growled bitterly. "I hit her really hard! I've never hit my sister! I can't believe I did that!" she buried her head in her arms and cried desperately. Victoria got up immediately and held the girl as she told her amidst more desperate sobs that she had hit her sister then angrily ran out of her house. She walked aimlessly through the labyrinth of alleys in Domino and ran into a small gang. She beat the living daylights out of them and then continued her way down the alleys trying to decide whether she should go home or come here.

"They're gonna ask me! I know it! …but I can't tell them!" she sobbed quietly into Victoria's chest. Hannya had come down when he heard Shuura's arrival. He knelt next to Shuura.

"Thank you so much Shuura for what you've done to help the boys. It means a great deal to me that you have kept your word," he began solemnly "I can't imagine how hard it was for you. If there is ever a way I can repay you please let me know," Shuura looked up at him then and smiled sadly.

"It's the only thing I can do for them…" she replied sadly.

"Now that's where you're wrong dear! You are a strong and unique young woman and I believe you can be of great help to them!" Victoria interjected.

"Really?" she asked looking up hope lighting her eyes. Victoria smiled confidently.

"You just stick with me! You'll see!" she smiled at Shuura and it seemed to restore the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. She nodded and Victoria sent her up to the master bedroom so she could get some sleep. Victoria explained she had no intention of going back to bed tonight because she was waiting for Chizuru to return. The girl obeyed and went up the stairs not bothering to finish her hot chocolate. Hannya went back up the stairs to check on Aoshi who had fallen asleep almost as soon as Victoria left the room.

Aoshi, Sano and Kenshin hadn't been the only victims. Every single one of her students had suffered as a consequence of that hateful crime. Even Misao, Keiko and Kaoru had suffered in the backlash because the boys had thrown themselves so wholeheartedly into vengeance that they had left them behind. She suppressed a sigh of regret as Hiei explained to Seto that his father had figured his concern for his friends to be something "unnatural" and that's how he had figured Hiei was gay.

"It was just a lucky guess really. He's just so ridiculously homophobic that he's paranoid!" Hiei added a touch of bitterness starting to creep into his voice. Victoria nodded in agreement.

"Dr. Gensai who treated the boys the horrible night of the kidnapping recognized Hiei at the emergency room where he'd been abandoned unconscious by his mother," Victoria replied bitterly "he called me and I took Hiei home," she explained "Yusuke and Kazuma showed up every day after school but Aoshi, Sano and Kenshin had been exempt from the remainder of the school year due to Hannya's intervention."

"You know what he said to me when I tried to explain what happened…" Hiei spat bitterly "he said: 'Real men don't need to get raped by women they just do what comes naturally! There is just something wrong with that rich pretty boy!'" he quoted angrily "and then he had the nerve to tell me I couldn't go near them ever again! He said a bunch of other stuff that I won't repeat but because I defended my friends he figured there was something wrong with me too!" he concluded anger and frustration overriding his usually calm demeanor.

Seto blinked and stared in surprise. Again he found himself identifying with Aoshi and his friends. He and Hiei had something very much in common. A father they detested! Victoria reached over and patted Hiei in the back reassuringly. Seto studied the board for a moment and made his next move.

"Hiei you and I have something in common…a father we detest!" Seto replied his bitter tone rivaled Hiei's.

"Don't say that…Gozaburo wasn't your real father right?" Victoria interjected. Hiei and Aoshi nodded thoughtfully. Hiei spoke first.

"Maybe your real father was a really nice guy?" Hiei suggested. Seto shrugged and explained his parents had died when he was very young and he remembered almost nothing about them. His family had spent all of his inheritance and then dumped him and his little brother in an orphanage as soon as the money ran out.

"Maybe they were nice people but me and Mokuba will never know…" he shrugged and watched as Aoshi made his move and then spoke.

"How do you figure that you will never know? The resources of Kaiba corp. should give you a great tool for finding out! His high school or college teachers may be able to tell you about him," Aoshi suggested Hiei picked up the thread.

"An old flame that lost touch with him may be willing to share some of her experiences, high school buddies, neighbors they may even have pictures or other mementos of his youth," Hiei added.

"…And won't cost you nearly as much as that nifty high-tech duel dome you built!" Victoria teased. Seto flinched and grumbled angrily under his breath. Pleased with herself Victoria continued…

"Speaking of which…" she added in a slightly annoyed tone.

"…came crashing through my roof the other night and destroyed my beloved couch!" she lectured in a slightly irritated tone. Seto flinched and blushed embarrassed. His new duel dome had gone up in flames during the incident with the Pyramid of Light incident when Anubis had tricked him into nearly destroying the world. Several houses in the nearby neighborhood had reported damage and his insurance company had sent checks out to cover the damages and keep his neighbors from suing him. He remembered that one envelope with a rather large check had come back unopened.

"I sent a check mam…" he began lamely. She rolled her eyes annoyed. Hiei and Aoshi shook they're heads. They knew their sensei best! She didn't need a check but she was a psycho about proper etiquette. As long as you said you were sorry (like you meant it!) and did it in the proper manner. She would let things go easily enough. If Seto sent just an impersonal envelope with just a check in it Aoshi was surprised she didn't do anything more drastic than just send the check back!

"Ok first of all drop the "mam" thing! I hate it when people call me that! Second: I don't need a check sonny! My yearly dollar signs are bigger then all three of your mighty broody powers combined! Third: What I want and still expect is you to write me a very nice polite letter telling me you're very sorry that you destroyed my house and nearly crushed my poor old ass to death and promise you'll try not to do it again! That is what I want!" she lectured seriously. He nodded seriously.

"It can be arranged…" he replied seriously.

"Sensei I'm surprised you didn't do anything else about it before now," Aoshi commented.

"Oh well! That's because I went into the Kaiba corp. mainframe and I saw some very interesting things going on! I'll tell you all about it some time!" she replied cheerfully. Seto frowned he wasn't aware of a break in on Kaiba Corp's computer network!

"And before you say word young man I'll have you know that flaming pieces of concrete crashing into my house and nearly killing me give me full rights to investigate!" she reprimanded Seto sternly. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a new voice.

"Hey Guys! How's it hangin'!" Shuura greeted cheerfully. Seto looked up at Shuura; his eyes went wide and he jumped nearly ten feet in the air…