From: Fredrik Lundgren Written by Teto (m801tts(hem2.passagen.se) Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is copyright of Nobuhiro Watsuki. Oh my goddess is copyright of Kosuke Fujishima. This is purely for entertainment purposes, no profit is being made out of it. Okay, so you might have read this story before. So how come I am releasing it again? Well, there's an easy answer to that. I didn't like where the story was going so I rewrote the entire thing. It was supposed to be a darkfic, but was actually turning quite stupid. E.g. I've removed some of the clinical description of people getting killed.... it was just dumb... It ain't got no Rurouni Kenshin stuff, at least no yet, but most people seem to like it anyway. Short Vocabulary Arigatou = Thank you Bakayarou = Idiot! Hai = Yes Hakujou = Unfeeling, Heartless, Cold-hearted, Cruel Kokuei = Dark Shadow Kuma = Bear Kuso = Damn, shit Ojiisan = Grandfather Oni = Demon Shimatta = Damn it! -san = added to names for politeness -chan = added to named to show affection -dono = added to names for politeness Well, well...... now I've written enough stuff here to tire anyone. So maybe we should get started on the story.... Enjoy ^_^ *WARNING* This story contains a lot of violence, if you don't like this sort of material. Don't keep on reading. ----------------------------------------------------------- The alley was flooded with a deep darkness, it was almost impossible to see even your own hand if placed only a few inches away from your face. So it would certainly be impossible to see anything lurking at the far end of it. The shadow moved ever so slowly and gracefully through the darkness. From it's position it could perfectly see the street which was illuminated by street lights on each side of the road. The same light s also made it impossible to see it, it was a perfect hiding place. Now all it had to do was wait, wait for it's target to arrive. It didn't have to wait very long before it's attention was caught by a carriage slowly moving across the space of the road it could see from his hiding place. In an instant it was moving, silently making it's way towards the road. Just a little before it entered the light from the road, it stopped and with a single jump launched himself into the air. Not even a pair of pigeons sitting nearby was disturbed as it silently landed on the roof of the building next to the alley. It had hardly even touched the roof before it was moving again, silently following the carriage on the road. It followed the carriage in this manner until he reach a crossing where he had made sure some of the streetlights would have been damaged, so that the road would be covered in shadows. As the carriage slowed down to turn, it jumped. With a muffled metallic sound a sword appeared from it's clothing, it's blackened edge not even twinkling in the faint light. The driver never even got to now what happened before two savage strokes cut across his chest and throat. He died instantly, without making a sound. With on hand supporting the body of the driver, the shadow stopped the carriage. As soon as the carriage had come to a full stop it was moving again. * * * * "Are you sure you don't want anyone to come with you", the man was short, somewhat fat. His face however betrayed that look, since it radiated health. His cold gaze was directed towards a man next to a carriage, "You know as well as I do that several of our men has been assassinated the past few days". "Don't worry about it", the man by the carriage called back, "No one would be fool enough to try and kill me. Not knowing how powerful our organization is". The fat little man just looked at him with the same unchanging stare. "I couldn't care less about your miserable life, but unless your alive our plans won't work". "Hey, hey", the man stepped up into the carriage, "You just remember that", and closed the door. Slowly the carriage started to move. The little watched them go. "Damn fool", he thought to himself as he turned around and headed back into the house behind him. * * * * It had been a long evening, nothing but talk and talk all the time. He never knew that this line of work could be so boring. It was definitely not why he had joined that damn Yakusa gang. Sure they were the most powerful in all of Tokyo, they had most of the high ranked officials on their payroll, nothing ever happened in Tokyo without their approval. But they we're also so deadly boring..... He sigh as the rocking motion of the carriage had a sort of massaging effect on his weary bones and muscles, relaxing him a bit. The first thing he was going to do upon reaching his home was taking a warm b.... His thought were interrupted as the carriage suddenly shook ever so slightly and the came to a halt. "HEY, DRIVER!!!", he called angrily to the driver, "Why have we sto...". His question was cut short as the door to the carriage was forcefully opened and a man entered ... no, it couldn't be a man, his body was covered, from his head to his toes, with something. It wasn't any fabric, nor paint. It was as if his skin was that dark. It was almost as is the light tried to escape from it, not wanting to touch it. The dark sword in it's hand dripping with fresh blood and a pair of haunted eyes gazing at him, fixating him with a cold, almost insane, stare. He could feel a shill going down his spine, what ever this was in front of him. It couldn't be a human being, an Oni, Ogre, whatever, but not a human being. "Who are you?", the man asked as he tried to move as far away from the shadow. "No need to know", his voice was as cold as his eyes. The man's eyes widened as he realized who it was. "No", he gasped, "You're dead. You have to be dead, I made sure myself. I watched you DIE!!!" The eyes of the shadow narrowed to nothing more then thin lines, with a lightning fast movement the tip of the sword placed itself against the throat of the man. "Seem's you were wrong...", I am very much alive and you can't comprehend the power I have found in the hate that you created in me". With a shaky voice the man tried to continue. "Tha-that's marvelous", he tried to laugh but didn't do so well, "With you in my private army I would be very secure, I can pay you more money then you could ever imagine". The shadow laughed, it was a cold laugh without any joy or feeling behind it. "Pitiful", his voice sounded like they were dragged from his lips, "Is that all you can try to save your worthless life with?". The tip of the sword moved closer, penetrating the skin just above the adams apple. The man gasped at the sudden sharp pain. "I thought I'd be polite and let you explain yourself as a final redemption", the golden eyes of the shadow was almost shining with savage joy, as he slowly pushed his dark sword further and further into the mans throat, "Butt you're not worth it. Now die...", his voice betrayed the insanity as it turned into a lust filled wheeze that dragged on into a guttural hiss. The golden pupils in the center of the eyes almost lit up from the pure enjoyment the knowledge that it would soon end a life gave the shadow. "KOKUEI!!!! WAIT!!!!", the man screamed, waving his arms, just before the sword was firmly pushed into his throat, and right through the wall of the carriage. The man tried to breath, but his lungs wouldn't work. He could feel he mouth filling with warm blood, his clothes becoming wet. He tried to say something but it only came out as faint gurgling sound, spit and blood gushing out of his mouth as he tried. The eyes continued to stare at him with the same cold joy as he slowly twisted the sword around. The enormous pain slowly vanished as his body become numb. He knew he that he had past the point of no return. Nothing on this earth could save him know. A cough sent drops of blood cascading across the small room, splashing against the shadows face. He didn't seem to mind. He almost seem to enjoy the feeling of fresh blood on his face. The joy vanished from the eyes of the shadow and was replaced by a sadness, as he pulled out the sword. "That's for what you did to me", he said in a small voice and opened the door to leave. Just as he stepped out through the door he turned around and looked at the corpse which was silently staring out into nothingness, a look which the shadow had seen so many times before. "I'm sorry", he said, "But you have none other then your self to blame for this, remember that well on your way to hell". With that he disappeared into the night and vanished, just before the first person walked by the carriage, a young girl. The shadow felt sorry for the young girl to have to see such a thing, but he could not turn back and stop her. * * * * With a last effort the man dipped his fingers in his own blood, and with a shaking hand wrote a single word on the wall. The shadow would not get away with killing him, as soon as his people found out who had killed him they would chase him to the ends of the world. He heard a gasp from the door. Slowly he tried to look towards the door, in the corner of his eyes he managed to see some one. A girl, his mind noted that she was quite young. "Help", he croaked just before his vision became clouded, and then everything stopped. * * * * The shadow squeezed his eyes shut as the scream echoed through out the night. "I'm sorry....", he said quietly, "I'm so sorry...". ----------------------------------------------------------- Fallen Angel a Rurouni Kenshin/Oh My Goddess story part one "Let thine spirit float beyond the bounds of the world, then it shall above and beyond behold tranquillity alone. To understand the final unity of entering and exiting life and death. Is not this the secret of immortality?" - Tu Fu ----------------------------------------------------------- Kenshin awoke with the feeling of wanting to end it all right then and there. His head almost exploded from the force of his headache. No to mention that his entire body felt sore, and he had a strong urge to empty his stomach. "Oro-o-o-o-o-o?!?", he moaned while trying to reach a sitting position. He silently promised himself never to let Sanouske drag him of to one of his drinking nights again. He couldn't remember how many bottles of sake Sano had gotten him to drink, he only remembered that it was many, WAY to many..... He crawled out of bed and started to search through the dark room for his clothes, which wasn't such an easy task as he had first thought. All of his things where scattered across the room and it took him quite some time before he found all of them. To make things worse, Sano decided to take just this time to drop in on him. Kenshin covered his eyes to protect them >from the strong sunlight outside. "Hey Kenshin", Sano grinned at him, "Not feeling bad today are we?". Kenshin threw him an annoyed glance. "That was the entire idea all along, wasn't it?", he groaned. Sano chuckled to himself. "Not really, but seeing you like this is kinda refreshing you know". "For you maybe....". * * * * A while later, and several smart comments from Sano, Kenshin finally managed to stumble out of his room and into the kitchen for a drink of water. "Christ Kenshin, I've never seen anyone with a hangover this bad before". Kenshin filled a cup of water and quickly drank it all up. The cool water felt nice in his sore throat, not to mention that it washed away the stale taste of sake from yesterday. "Where's Kaoru?", he asked after several more cups. Sano smirked a little. "She went out with Yahiko and Dr. Genzai", his smirk grew even wider, "So Dr.Genzai wanted us to watch his granddaughters". "ORO?!?", Kenshin threw him a horrified look. No matter how much he love the two young girls, his head was in no condition for anything else then some peace and quiet. "KEN-NII!!!!!", two small voices called from the door and two adorable little girls latched on to his legs laughing. Kenshin let out a deep groan, and patted the two girls on the head. "Well, have do you want to play today", he moaned. The girls didn't seem notice and just went on laughing. "We wanna play catch!!!!", the exclaimed in unison. Kenshin let out an even deeper groan and his pleading look caused Sano to burst out into laughter. "Ayame-Chan Suzume-Chan, let Kenshin rest for a while. I'll play with you", Sano called to the two girls. The two girls didn't seem to mind much and took of into the yard laughing with Sano close behind, as Kenshin let out a grateful sigh and filled another glass of water. He decided that a bath was just what he needed, and headed for the bath house. On his way there he glanced towards the yard. He was a little surprised to see Sano on all four, growling like and animal, while chasing the two girl which where laughing. He smiled and entered the bath house. * * * * "Kaoru", Yahiko complained, "aren't we done yet? Me feet are hurting". Kauro gave Yahiko an annoyed glance. "You've been saying that since we left the house". "Yeah, but now they really ARE hurting!". "You're just whining. I just want to check out a couple of stores more". Yahiko muttered something that almost sounded like slave driver. "Looks like something has happened", Dr.Genzai broke in and pointed towards a crowd further down the road. "What's going on", Dr.Genzai asked a man in the crowed. "It seems someone was murdered", the man answered, "A young girl found them around midnight". "Murdered!!!", Kaoru exclaimed, "Who was it?". "I don't know", the man answered, "But it seems to have been someone important". Yahiko pushed through the crowd to see what was happening. It was the first time he was actually grateful for his small size, it was perfect for sliding between the people in the crowd. He finally got a view of the scene. It was a carriage, an expensive one from looking at the ornament running along the edges. The drivers seat covered with blood. But it was still nothing compared with how the inside of the carriage looked. The wall furthest away from the door was covered with blood, and an mess inscription in blood. "Kokuei". He gasped at the site. He had seen blood before, on many times actually, but never like this. He continued to scan the scene and was surprised to see Tsubame talking to the police. He almost called out to her when she turned towards the carriage, giving Yahiko a much better view of her. Her young face red and swollen from tears. And her voice was slow and stuttered as if trying to hold back even more tears. Yahiko pushed his way through the crowd towards her. "Tsubame!!!", he called out. He was just about to run out to her when a police officer got in his way. "Hey kid", he said in a rough voice, "No one is allowed near the carriage". Yahiko tried to get around him, but it was no use. "Idiot!", he shouted in the police officers face as his temper finally got the better of him, "I'm not trying to get near the damned carriage. I know that girl!!!". The police officer gave him a nonchalant look. "You think I care?". Yahiko gritted his teeth and steeled himself, he didn't care that this was a police and that he would probably be severely punished. This man just needed to be punched out, he begged for it. "YAHIKO!!!". Yahiko just managed to look up before someone almost knocked him over, wrapping arms around his neck and burying a face in his shoulders. "Whoa..", he almost pushed whoever it was away before he noticed that it was Tsubame. He sighed in relief, thank god for that at least..... "Oh, Yahiko", he first now noticed that she was crying, "It was so horrible". "What's wrong?", Yahiko tried his best to comfort her, though he was at a complete loss at what to do, "What happened". Quietly Tsubame started retelling the events of last night. How she had been working late this night, and on the way home had heard a scream. She had found the carriage, but had approached it from behind. So she had not seen the driver before she had looked in the carriage. There she had seen a man, still alive and gasping through the blood that streamed out of his mouth. He had reached out for her, weakly asked for help and then died. She had been in shock and just stared at the body, but had been awakened by something dripping on her face. She had looked up and found the driver. His throat had been cut open, blood still gushing out of the fresh wound. His chest had also been cut open, from his shoulder down to his stomach. The blood was bubbling from the last remains of air trapped in side his lungs, and some of his guts had spilled out onto the seat next to him. Tsubame had done the only thing she could do, she had screamed. Screamed as hard and long as she could. * * * * "Why?". There were faces everywhere. Hundreds of them. Faces without names, without life. But he could recognize each and every one of them. He knew that he had killed everyone, or caused their deaths in some way. "Why?". The same question was on all the faces. "Why?". He covered his ears and shut his eyes, not wanting to see or hear them. But no matter how tight he clenched his eyes and covered his ears. The faces where there, asking the same question over and over again. "Why?". "SHUT UP!!!!!!!!", he screamed at them, "YOU ASKED FOR IT!!!!!!". He tried to convince himself that had been true on each occasion. The face of young girls, boys, females and even babies floated towards him. "Why?". He started crying, trying to crawl away from the faces. "Please", he begged, "leave me alone. I couldn't help it. I'm weak". "Why?". The faces seemed to surround him, all staring at him with sad eyes. Eyes that demanded an explanation for why their lives had been ended before their times. He crawled into a fetal position, hugging his legs, crying like a small child. "Please, please", he begged, "Oh please". "Why?". He started shaking, he felt cold, alone. "Why?". "I DON'T KNOW DAMMIT!!!!!!!". "WHY?". "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!". "WHY?". The man awoke with a scream. He immediately hunched over gasping for air, while making small inarticulate sounds far beyond pain and grief. Tears streaming down his face. The faces where still their, lingering from the horrible dream. Last night was still a blur. He knew hadn't been drinking, he wouldn't touch alcohol. Since it made him loose control, something which he couldn't afford. Not even for a second. He sort of knew what had happened last night, he didn't regret it, it was just that the details of what had happened just wasn't there. He brought up a hand to brush a few bangs of hair out of his face. He stopped as his hand encountered something warm and sticky. He looked at his hand, it was covered with already coagulating blood. Silently he stared at it for a while, his hand slightly shaking as if he was afraid of something. He looked frantically across the room, searching. He found a bucket, which he crawled towards. Upon reaching it, he moved his face above it and emptied his stomach. * * * * Kenshin slipped into the warm water, feeling it relaxing his muscles. He smiled to himself as he came to realize just how happy he had become since he had come to the Kamiya Dojo. He had finally gotten rid of his Hitokiri title. Now people knew and liked him as Himura Kenshin, they didn't fear him as the Hitokiri Battousai. It was all he needed to go on. As long as he kept to his vow of non killing he could keep on living in this manner, something that he was willing to give his life for. Never again did he want to earn the hitokiri title again. But he envied people such as Sasaki-San who had the will power to completely put down his sword. Kenshin couldn't do that, he didn't really know why though. Maybe it was because it was the only thing which he was really, really good at. In the end he guessed that he and Sasaki-san just had different ways of paying back for what they had caused. Sasaki-san taught poor children how to read and write. And Kenshin protected the people around him, helping out as much as he could. He slipped further down into the water, totally emerging himself into it's warmth. The hangover had he woken up with had slowly eased away, leaving him feeling whole again. Or at least without having to worry about his head exploding. Outside he could hear Sano playing with the two girls. Kenshin smiled to himself as he heard their laughter. Even Sano seemed to enjoy himself, Kenshin sometimes wondered if Sano wasn't just playing to be the tough guy all the time and only showed his real self at times like these. At times when there was no one around besides children like Ayame and Suzume, who really didn't care who he was. Children such as them are wonderful in that way, they never judge someone. Never force you into anything, except playing with them that is. Just loving unconditionally. If only everyone could be like that. * * * * "I get the picture", Yahiko said while he tried to push down the reflexive gag that had come from Tsubames more than vivid story. He gently stroked her hair as she let out the final sobs against his shoulder. "C'mon", he whispered into her ear, "We're going home". They started to leave but was stopped by the same policeman that had stopped Yahiko from getting to Tsubame earlier. "Where do you think you're going?", he asked in a serious tone, "We need her statement". This was to much, couldn't this guy see she was upset. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!", Yahiko screamed at him, "CAN'T YOU SEE SHE CRYING!!!". The police man seemed a little surprised at his sudden outburst, and was about to say something when a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him out of the way. "What's going on here?", an older man asked. He had the same uniform as the police officer, though it had a different color. And he was wearing a sword. Yahiko know immediately what he was, a member of the governments sword squad. The only people allowed to carry a real sword. Yahiko didn't think to highly of them since their first encounter, when a group of them had tried to execute him and three other civilians. "I'm taking her home", Yahiko simple stated while glaring at the older man. "We need her statement", the police officer responded. The man looked at both of them. "That's all right", he smiled at Tsubame and kneeled down in front of her, brushing some hair out of her face, "You go home and get some sleep. We can get your statement when ever your feeling up to it". He got up and looked over at Yahiko, who glared back at him. "Kid", he thought for a moment, "No... Young man, make sure she rests. She has been through a terrible thing tonight". With that he turned around and left, leaving Yahiko with a surprised look on his face. "Wait!!!", he called after him, "Umm.... Arigatou". The man smiled at him. "No need to thank me. You make sure she's all right", he looked over at Tsubame again, who where just as surprised as Yahiko, and then he turned around and left. Yahiko put a hand on Tsubames shoulder and escorted her out through the crowd, which went much easier this time since they cleared a path for them to get out. "Tsubame! Yahiko!", they heard a voice call out as the finally left the crowd. They turned to see Kaoru and Dr.Genzai hurrying towards them. "What's wrong?", Kaoru asked. "Nothing", Yahiko replied, "Kaoru, we're finishing this shopping tour right now". Kaoru, looked at Tsubame, who were still sniffling at Yahiko's side. "You're right", she finally said, "Let's go home". Yahiko threw her a grateful smile. * * * * Although the breakfast look delicious, he almost couldn't eat anything. The dream was still vivid in his mind. Just the thought of how his hands had been covered with blood made bile rise up in his throat. "Is the food not to your liking?", a voice asked making him look up. He always made sure that his hair was long enough to cover his eyes, sure it slowed down his response time. But he would rather have that then having everyone see what he was. It was hard enough find a room, or even a meal as it was. He didn't need the extra worry. "No, it's delicious", he said looking at the person in front of him through his hair. He looked at the woman before him. She was dressed in a orange work kimono with brown stripes and her brown hair was tied up with a piece of white cloth. She nervously looked at him, glanced at the food and the back at him. "Honest", he said wolfing down some rise, "it's delicious", he smiled towards her trying to make it sound as sincere as he could. She kneeled down beside him. "Are you sure? I can get something else for you if you like". "Don't look so worried", he said with a smile, "Smile, it suits that beautiful face better". A deep blush appeared on the woman's face as her lips formed an embarrassed smile. "All right", she said as she stood up and hurried away. He finished his breakfast quickly after that, paid and left the restaurant. As he left he didn't notice the woman that watched him as he left. Watched him walk down the street, his hair still covering his eyes. He was carrying a backpack, but she decided that he must've lived an easy life since it couldn't be more than half full. That she noticed most though was the long bundle of cloth on top of the back pack. It could be only one thing, a sword. It was probably very dear to him too, since he had taken his time to neatly fold the cloth, not just wrapping it around it. She didn't know why, but she found him intriguing. "Tae-chan!", a voice called from inside, "One order of sukiyaki ready to go!". "Hai!", she called back. She through a final glance in the direction of the man before she went inside. * * * * "Kenshin!!! We're home!!!", Kaoru called out as they entered the yard, "You can't guess what happened ton...". She fell silent, eyes wide, as she finally got a look at Sano. Who, by the way, still was on all four growling like an animal, chasing the two laughing girls. It was an unusual site, to say the lest. Sano quickly noticed them and got up with a deep blush on his face. "What's your problem", he muttered. The two girls also noticed that he has suddenly stopped chasing them, they rushed up to him hand started pulling on his arms. "Kuma-chan, Kuma-chan. Chase us!!!". An even bigger blush appeared on Sano's face as the eyes four people watching them bugged out. "Kuma-chan?", they said to each other but decided to let it go. Reluctantly Sano went back to playing with the two girls but where soon emerged into the game and was laughing as much as before. Not bothering them anymore the four people started towards the main building, but was interrupted by Kenshin coming out of the bath house. "Kaoru-dono, you're back!", he called out and then noticed Tsubame, "What's happened?". Yahiko helped Tsubame into his and Kaoru's room and laid her down on his futon. She almost immediately fell a sleep. "What's wrong with Tsubame?", Kenshin asked. "Shhh...", Kaoru put a finger in front of her mouth to emphasize her point, "let her sleep". Kaoru, Kenshin and Dr.Genzai slowly left the room, leaving Yahiko to watch over her. They sat down on the porch, watching Sano playing with the children. "Someone was murdered tonight, Tsubame was the first to find the victims". "Kuso...", Kenshin hissed. He knew very well how much a human body could bleed if cut in the right places. It must have been a very traumatic scene for such a young girl to see. Kaoru retold the entire events of last night and how the scene had looked when they had seen it. She noticed that Kenshin suddenly steeled himself as he mentioned the inscription on the wall. "What's wrong?", she asked. "Kokuei", he said to himself. "You know what it means. Don't you?". "Yes, I do". * * * * "How long are we going to let him run free", a figure asked. The room was only lightened up by a faint light from a candle in the middle of the room. Three figures was sitting around it. Their faces was partially hidden by shadows, but judging by their shapes they had to be female. "What do you suppose we should do about it?", another asked, her long brown hair was tied up into a loose ponytail. "We attack him and force him to return!!!", the first one answered, her silver colored hair almost glittering in the faint light. "You're crazy", the third one snapped, "You know as well as anyone of us that he would kill us in an instant!", She brushed a away some pitch black hair from her face. She was definitely the youngest of the three. "You know that the sword is his sole purpose", the second one filled in, "no one could beat him in a fight. Even the lord doubts if he could win against him". "Well what are we suppose to do then? Go back to heaven with our tails between out legs and let him run around killing another thousand few thousand?". "No, we can't do that either", the second one shook her head, "but getting ourselves killed isn't the answer". The three of them fell silent for a while, watching the candle burn. "Why can't we just convince him to go with us?", the second one asked. "Because he can't remember what he is", the first one said, "He thinks he is just and ordinary human with a few special abilities. He would think that we are out of our minds if we start babbling about heaven, not to mention about what he is". "But if we make him remember what and who he is, then it could work". "Yeah, it could. But it could also be very dangerous. He didn't just erase his memory for the fun of it. There must be some real reason behind it", she paused, "Making him remember could force what ever it was that made him do that to surface". "But it's the only hope we've got!", the third one exclaimed. A hand was reached out and patted the third girls black hair. "I know you liked him", the first one said, "But let's not rush into this, okay?". "Fine one you are to say that", a mumbling reply came back, "I seem to remember someone suggesting we attack him not to long ago...". "Bratt". * * * * "I know what it means", Kenshin simply stated, "But I hope to god that it's wrong". He started at the ground before him. Kaoru had never seen such a look before in Kenshins eyes. Is he scared? "Well", she asked, "What is it?". He took a deep breath and started retelling what he knew. "Being a hitokiri is like being admitted into a secret society. No matter how much we may hate each other or be enemies, there is always the chance that we'll be fighting on the same side the next day. Most of the hitokiri fight for money, and some, such as myself, fight for a belief. Outside this society I'm known as the strongest hitokiri of them all, the Battousai. But in this society I'm known only as being one of the strongest", he paused to let them digest what he had told them, "Also know as one of the strongest, and by many of the hitokiri considered to be the strongest, was the hitokiri Kokuei. He was very careful about never becoming famous, ever more so than Shishio ever was. He even picked his employers with great care, never revealing his face to anyone. Towards the end of the bakumatsu a rumor surfaced that he had been hired by a high ranking official in the shogunate, to assasinate most of the highest ranking people in the Ishin and some of the most skilled fighters among them. Myself included. He attacked us once, in the middle of the night. We were a group of at least ten or twelve, his was similar in size. He had cut down half our before I had even drawn my sword, and the other half didn't last much longer. But he spared me, or at least save me for last, which enabled me to kill his men". He stopped, staring at the ground. "So?", Kaoru asked, "Who won?". He looked up at her, "Who won... I'm not sure. I couldn't see him, I couldn't sense him. All I could do was listen to his taunts, each one coming from a new direction. I must've finally lost my temper because I screamed at him to show himself. He decided to humor me and appeared, as if coming out of nothingness, only a few feet to my side. All the time sure never to even show me a glimpse of his face, keeping it constantly hidden in the shadows". Kaoru couldn't believe what she was hearing, not only had he told her that he had been utterly defeated, something which she had thought impossible, but he had also retold some of how cold-blooded he had been. "We fought, I attacked him with battou-jutsu. But he just stood there, grinning as I cut him down. I was sure I had killed him. Of course I can't be sure it was him, but it couldn't really have been anyone else". "I-I'll go make dinner", she simply stated and walked away. "Kaoru-dono", Kenshin whispered as he watched her go, he knew his story and shook her deeply. Kaoru, didn't know exactly what to believe. She had always thought that no matter how much of a cold-blooded killer he had been, he had always had some degree of compassion. She hadn't understand the killer he had been, now more then ever before she understood why he wanted to get rid of his past. With tears in her eyes she started gathering supplies to make dinner. With some annoyance she noticed that they where low on vegetables, she was going to have to get some >from the store. She couldn't go herself, since then it would take forever to get dinner finished. She certainly couldn't ask Yahiko, and Sano probably just wouldn't do it. Megumi would have been a good choice, if it wasn't for the fact that she was visiting a patient and shouldn't be back for at least a while. Kenshin was probably the best choice, but she had a feeling that right now wasn't a good time to come with this kind of a request. So she was left with only two things, either Dr.Genzai or Ayame-chan and Suzume-chan. She really didn't want to ask the two girls, so that left only Dr.Genzai. "Um.. Dr.Genzai", she called out, "Could you come here for a while?". "What is it, Kaoru?". "Could you go down to the store and get some vegetables for me?". "Of course I can", Dr.Genzai smiled back, "What do you need?". Kaoru smiled and gave him a list of the supplies they needed. As Dr.Genzai left the kitchen he called out to his two grandchildren, who by now had stopped playing with Sano, much to his relief, and started playing tictactoe instead. "Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan!", the two girls looked up, "I'm going to run an errand, so I'll be back in a little while". "Ojiisan, we wanna come too!!!", they ran towards him. Dr.Genzai laughed and patted them both on their heads. "All right, you can come along". "Here's some money for the groceries", Kaoru said as she came out of the kitchen. Ayame practically bounced towards her. "I wanna carry them, I wanna carry them". Kauro smiled at the little girl and gave them to her. "But you be really careful with those", she said and gently pinched her nose. "I will, I will". "Now run along with your grandfather, I need those groceries". "HAI!!!!!", Ayame bounced away again. Kaoru couldn't help laughing, they were just to cute sometimes. * * * * The road was filled with people, so Dr.Genzai firmly held onto his granddaughters. All three of them were laughing as the walked, looking at stores they passed. Some even gave snacks and small things to Ayame and Suzume. Dr.Genzai was well know in this part of town, so almost everyone knew his granddaughters. And face it, no one could dislike them, it just wasn't physically possible. "Ojiisan", Ayame suddenly called out, "I wanna look at those toys", pointing at a store nearby. Before Dr.Genzai had the chance to say anything she had started moving towards it, causing him to loose his grip on her hand in a sudden rush of people. "AYAME-CHAN!!!", he called out. Ayame was mesmerized by the toys in the store, some which she had never even seen before. She really wanted some of them. For a while she thought about paying with the money she had got from Kaoru, but decided not to since she had promised her to be careful with them. "Well, well", a voice said behind her, "You like the toys little girl?". She turned around to see a young man looking down at her. She smiled and nodded her head. "Do you want me to buy you one?". Ayames smiles grew even bigger at his words. "Really?", she asked. The young man laughed. "Well, not really", he said causing Ayames smile to vanish a little, "But I'll tell you what, why don't you give me that money you're carrying instead". Ayame looked at him, not really understanding what he meant. "I can't do that", she shook her head, "I promised". The face of the young man suddenly twisted into an angry scowl and he grabbed the front of Ayames kimono, pulling her to him. "I don't give shit", he hissed, "You'd better give me that money right now". Ayame was in shock, this had never happened before. But she couldn't give up the money, she had promised Kaoru. She bit as hard as she could into the mans hand, which was holding her kimono. The man jerked it back in pain and slapped her hard, with his other hand. "Little bitch", he hissed. Ayames face went numb from the sudden pain, tears started appearing in her eyes. But she fought them back, quickly got to her feet and started running. The man followed her, calling to four other men at about his own age to follow. Ayame turned down into an alley and started running for all she was worth. * * * * Before Dr.Genzai had managed to get back to the store, Ayame and the four men was already long gone. "AYAME-CHAN!!!", he called out but didn't get a reply. "Did you see a young girl here a little while ago?", he asked the store owner, giving him a short description of his granddaughter. "Yeah", he answered, "Sure I did, she took of with a couple of boys in the direction", he pointed down the street. He lifted up Suzume and carried her in order to be able to move faster. Running down the street they both called out for Ayame over and over, but they couldn't find her, no matter how hard they looked. As they looked, Genzai felt his body become colder and colder. His granddaughter was gone, the most important thing in his life, gone. He needed help. He turned his steps back towards they dojo. * * * * The small road was covered with rough gravel, with a line of high grass in the middle of the road. It was obvious that no one took and rather big effort in tending to the road. Not that he could understand why anyone would want to. He had been walking the same road for quite a while now, and had not yet encountered anything beyond insects. The road was framed in by a dense wall of trees and bushes on each side, almost making it seem like one was walking in a huge green hallway. Only faint glimmers of sunlight made in beyond the thick roof of leafy branches, making the road look as if it was eternally cast in a morning twilight. It was actually a quite comfortable place, the temperature was cool and the aerie green light was very comforting in a strange way. The man was indeed quite surprised that this sort of a place actually existed not far outside of Tokyo, and yet almost no one knew about it. He had actually just found it earlier this day, by a mere coincident and decided to see where it went. He suddenly stopped, his well trained senses picking up something so faint he almost couldn't notice it. "Someone running", he thought to himself, "six of them". One of them had to be a girl, judging from the pace and weight of her steps, and a young one at that. Probably not older then four or five. The other where male, probably in their late teens, 16-18 years old. "Hmm... she's scared". He could make out the uneven breaths of the girl, she was definitely scared, very scared. Had anyone been watching it would have been is if the man had just vanished from the road, as he with just a small twitch of his feet's disappeared into the forest. He instinctively knew which way he was heading, straight for what had caught his attention. Ignore the almost whip like sensation of thin branches as he raced forward. Finally he stopped behind a tree next to a small, almost over grown, road. He had picked his position carefully, calculating that his targets should arrive in just over a minute. He could hear them much stronger now, the girls legs was starting to give out. He wished she had the strength to just keep on running for 60 seconds. Finally she came running around a corner, straight towards him. "Shimatta!", he cursed as the girl suddenly tripped on something and fell. She was still 20 seconds away from him, this caused for a serious change in plan. His body was moving even before the little girls body hit the ground, circling around to catch her attackers from the side. He could see five young men walking up to the young girl as he jumped from tree to tree. "Well", one of the said, "pretty strong legs you've got there. Now give us the money!". This caused the man to grit his teeth. Damn low life thief, stealing from a child. He pushed of from one final tree, propelling him in the direction of the thief closest to the girl. "Are you deaf you little b...", his voice was cut of as he was flunged into the vegetation next to the small path, his body bouncing of a tree trunk before it finally fell to the ground. He was completely still, his eyes still wide in shock stared out unfocused. "Well, well", the man said as he silently landed, "Why don't you piece of shits take on something in your own size". The three of them just started at him for a while before regaining their senses. "Fuck you!!", one of them shouted and attacked, pulling out a knife. "My, a knife", the man mocked him, "how boring". The thief lunged forward stabbed at him with his knife, but the man vanished in front of him and reappeared by his side, grabbing his arm and slamming a fist against his elbow. He gasped in pain as a snapping sound reverberated across the pathway. But had barely managed to register the pain before the man spun around and thrust a foot into his neck, sending him head first into a tree with a crunching sound. The man grinned at the remaining thieves, still holding the thief's arm and his foot firmly pressed against his neck. "So?", he asked, "Who's next", his cold grin still firmly in place across his face. They all turned and ran. "Oh...", the man called after them, "Trying to run away are you?". He turned around and kneeled down by the child, reaching out a hand towards her. Still scared, the child tried to crawl away from him as fast as she could. "Hmm", the man thought to himself, "Have to try something else". Extending his long walking stick with one hand he gently tapped it against a flat rock in the middle of the path. Nervously the little girl glanced toward the rock. Before she could blink the man's other hand grabbed her arm. She struggled to brake free from his firm grip, but he calmly brought let go of his walking stick and brought up his other hand to the side of her head. Tear were now spilling down the little girl's face. "Shhh...", he hushed gently. The girl just blinked at him a few times then closed her eyes and slowly slumped down against the ground. Smiling at the little girl, he lifted her and carefully hid her among the bushes. After making sure she was comfortable and well covered he turned around, facing the way the two last thieves had gone. He reached out with his senses, trying to find any kind of trace. He didn't have to search long. "Their heartbeat is up", a grim smile spread across his lips, "They're scared". So they should be, attacking a child. He would make them pay for it. Quickly he located them, not to far away. He skipped backwards, turning as he went. Then he came to a quick halt and launched himself high up into the air. He caught up to the first one as he came down on him from above, grabbing the startled youngster by his neck while kicking his feet out from under him. The thief fell just as he wanted him to and clearly heard the groan from him as he hit the ground. With a desperate scream one of the other two turned and charged him, he too with a knife in his hands. His charged was stopped an of the staff was thrusted against his chest. Stumbling backwards he grabbed the staff, trying to yank it out of the man's hands. He watched almost in slow-motion as the part of the staff the man was holding slid away from the rest, and with a cold echoing sound a glittering blade slid out from it's hiding place inside the staff. His eyes where caught by the shine of sunlight reflecting across the blade, he didn't notice as the man grabbed the part of the staff he was holding and forcefully drew him back. The sword met him half way, horizontally sliding smoothly through his chest. Pulling the sword to the side it cut itself out from the flesh that had recently held it in a firm grip. The sword swept in a wide arc, leaving a cascade of blood in it's wake. The other thug was just pushing himself of the ground as he saw the blade, just before it sliced across his throat. He tried to draw a breath but couldn't. "I...", he croaked before he slowly fell forward onto the ground again. The man scanned the area around him. No one had seen him, he let out a deep breath and reached out to find his last victim. He cursed silently as he noticed that it had already made it out of the forest, he couldn't attack him now. Not in the open. He would have to finish this later. The corpses of the thieves was easily disposed of, it would soon be nothing but bones if left in the forest. He smiled and turned back towards the child. She was still sleeping quietly where he had left her. "I didn't want to do this", he said to the sleeping child, "But I can't ask you, so you'll just have to forgive me". He reached out and laid his hand over her head, slowly reaching into her mind. Ever so carefully he went through memory after memory until he found what he was looking for. He removed his hand from her head and lifted her up, the child immediately snuggling up against him, finding the most comfortable spot. He just smiled at her. "Well, Ayame-Chan", he spoke to her, "Let's get you home". ----------------------------------------------------------- Well, I hope you find this version better then the first one. The first episode wasn't really the problem, nor the second. But I had actually written up to part number 5, and the two unreleased parts was not at all to my liking. So when I was gonna rewrite those, why not rewrite the all and change a lot of small errors made at the beginning. So anyway, any feedback is welcome.... As long as it is constructive. Mere praise or flaming will be ignored, since they serve no real purpose. (All right, already.... So I might like praising more than flaming....^^;) Keep an eye out for the revised version of "Fallen Angel" part two! Goodnight :) (Yawn... x_X) _________________________________________________________ VeritaS / Defacto2 (fredrik.lundgren@mbox302.swipnet.se) home6.swipnet.se/~w-67585/anime.html (VeritaS Anime Mod archive) --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- Congratulations to Susan Davis! ONElist’s final FRIENDS&FAMILY WINNER! Stay tuned for exciting new contests, sweepstakes & more at ONElist! ------------------------------------------------------------------------