Chapter 16

A cool breeze lifted and swirled through the open window into the face of a dark, looming figure
who stood quietly but tensely, watching the quickly gathering storm clouds in the sky through
the web-like branches of the trees above him. He stiffened as the wind picked up and began
to moan, as if crying out for the days to come- the days of a moon dripping red with blood and
a sun hidden by thick, dark mists, bringing forth the eternal Night.

"Yuugure."

The man tore his gaze from the sky and, seeing Night, immediately dropped into a low bow.

"Night-sama.."

"You do remember the two pets I released earlier to deal with Battousai and his friends?"

At the mention of the two devastatingly gruesome and deadly creatures, Yuugure's head shot up,
and he stared questioningly into Night's eyes.

"Well don't you?"

"Hai, Night-sama."

"Only one has returned ...with news that one of Battousai's friends, a woman doctor, had attained
information about my Day that might prove harmful to our cause. Apparently, she had also
devised an antidote or medicine to counteract the effects of our gift to my beauty. The doctor
was killed by my other pet, but unfortunately,..he was killed by Battousai's allies. The remaining
pet is screaming for revenge, Yuugure.."

The Star wondered why Night had given him this information. This was important of course,
because if there was such an antidote that could counteract the effects of their manipulative
spell, everything would be lost..just as it had been for Ayana....Yuugure shook his head.

"Where do I fit into this, Night-sama?"

A slow, evil smile spread across Night's handsome face.

"The antidote has not been found...and we cannot risk any of my little beauty's friends to get
their hands on it. Your job is to either find the antidote or kill Battousai's allies... I trust
you can do this."

Yuugure looked deep into Night's eyes and shuddered at the evil he saw there. Once a long time ago,
Night had not been consumed by such darkness..but now was another time... Yuugure let his thoughts
drift to Kaoru. If she ever broke free of their spell..if she ever found out the truth and discovered
that he had tricked her, and not only tricked her, he had also killed her friends, she would never forgive
him. Yuugure's lips tightened. But then again,..she didn't have to find out, did she?

"Hai, Night-sama. I'll get on it right away."

Night smiled.

"Good."

***************

Kimiko saw death flash before her with Battousai's sword. Now she'd never be able to find Hebi..
if she'd only listened to her childhood stories about the hitokiri..if only she'd been more
careful! But now it was all over....life, the hope of seeing her sister again,...everything.

"KENSHIN!!!!!! STTTTOOOOOPPPPPPPPPP!"

The sword stopped 2 cm from Kimiko's face, it remained suspended for a moment, then slowly, slowly,
it was lifted away. She let out a breath and turned towards the speaker, surprised to see a child
with disheveled hair supporting a young man of perhaps 20 or so years of age, both in terrible shape
although the older man was considerably worse. Both were staring at Battousai, looks of
fear and anger etched all over their faces, but mostly it was surprise. Battousai had dropped his
sword, and now turned to face the two newcomers, conflict suddenly distorting his face.

"Kenshin....who is that...I know..that name."

The boy took a step forward. Immediately, Battousai's sword came up into a challenging stance.

"Kenshin..what are you talking about? That's YOU!"

Kimiko looked from Battousai to the boy and back again. What were they talking about?

"Don't you remember?.. We came to look for Kaoru! Night kidnapped her!"

At the mention of Kaoru, Battousai's eyes flashed and he held his sword up more firmly.

"Any friend of Kaoru's..is an enemy of mine!"

Now the older man supported by the boy looked up, anger crossing his handsome, but at the moment,
haggard features.

"What the hell is wrong with you Kenshin? Jo-chan is part of our family? Remember? You LOVE her! Or
have you forgotten that too? Damn it Kenshin, have you forgetten us along with her? What happened
to you!"

The sword was lowered.

"You..who..who are you?"

Sanosuke's eyes darkened, and he answered tightly.

"Sagara Sanosuke des...," he motioned to Yahiko. "Myoujin Yahiko des.."

Pictures began to fill Battousai's head, and he remembered a boy, fighting so hard to be strong..
He remembered a man with the character for "evil" written on the back of his robe with incredible
strength..a man he had fought..an enemy? The feelings he began experiencing were not that of hate and
resentment, though- not feelings that one would feel toward an enemy. They were quite the opposite,
but he had FOUGHT this other man..how could he have fought him and not hated him? Not had a cause
to lift his sword against him? With Kamiya Kaoru, it was different. He had reason to fight her..
she had caused his heart pain..terrible pain. He shook his head, and for the second time that day,
lowered his sword.

"I...am not sure I remember...you..and for that reason, I cannot trust you..especially because you
are friends of Kamiya Kaoru. She has caused me great pain, and because of that, she must be an
enemy."

Sanosuke's eyes softened slightly but still held they're tight gaze.

"Kenshin... the pain you're feeling..it's love. You're hurting because you're blaming yourself..
You tried to hide it from us before, on the forest trail.. I didn't know it then, but I know now.
You're blaming yourself for letting her get kidnapped!"

Kenshin looked at Sanosuke, his face expressionless, but his heart in great turmoil.

"Since when did love cause such excruciating pain? I don't blame myself for anything.. I don't
know what you're talking about."

Yahiko sighed with exasperation.

"Kenshin! You're denying it! You're hiding the truth from yourself!"

"SHUTUP!!! My name is not Kenshin!!! It's HITOKIRI BATTOUSAI!"

Shock exploded on both Sano and Yahiko's faces. Yahiko erupted, "SINCE WHEN DID ANYONE HAVE THE NAME
'HITOKIRI'..'MANSLAYER'. No mother would give her child a name like that...I don't know what happened
to you, Kenshin,...but even in this state, you ought to know that...No mother....."

The golden orbs began to take on a violet hue, and Sanosuke looked at Kenshin hopefully.

"Don't hide the truth, Kenshin...don't lock away your love..and most of all, it's not your fault."

The violet swirled violently, clashing with the gold, and a violent storm arose in Kenshin's
eyes, in his heart.

Kimiko watched the scene, amazed. She didn't understand what was happening, but somehow she knew
that Battousai's transformation into "Kenshin" was very important, essential for whatever purpose
Battousai had in life. She looked at the hopeful faces of the young man, Sanosuke, and his child
friend, Yahiko, and smiled. They reminded her of herself..full of hope to see someone they love
again...She prayed to the gods.

Let them find their "Kenshin" again...and let me find my sister...

*************

Kaoru smiled brightly to herself. Now it's all up to Battousai to come here! I'll kill him...I'll destroy him for the dreams he's cursed me with and the pain he's caused Night!!! She laughed softly, but felt a sense of dread and pain growing steadily in her heart. What's wrong with me...I've wanted this for so long,... since forever, haven't I? Confusion washed over her former confidence. A tiny voice whispered in her mind, "You're killing someone...who might have loved you....." Kaoru shook her head. How could someone as evil as Battousai love anyone, especially her? He'd never even met her ... She forced the tiny voice back into the dark depths of her thoughts, refusing to let it disturb her plans. So engrossed was she in her thoughts, that she didn't see the figure standing in her path until she had run right smack into him, tripped and toppled backwards only to have him grab her arms and pull her upright again.

"Sumimasen! Sumimasen! I didn't mean to..."

She looked up to see Tora's dark eyes staring back at her. Quickly, she broke free from his grasp.

"You...you...."

He shrugged, turned around, and began to walk away. Immediately, Kaoru felt guilty for treating him like this.. After all Ralon HAD said that Tora wasn't all that bad..he'd just been through more than his share of pain, and the results of such pain involved strange actions...She thought quickly of a way to get his attention.

"Tora! Tell me...Tell me about Ayana!"

End of Chapter 16

Chapter 17- Ayana Saga-Pt.1

Tora stopped, and stood for a moment, silently staring at the floor, and then, ever so
slowly, he turned to face Kaoru. His eyes had broken from their usual impassiveness and
were now dark with emotion.

"You want to know about...Ayana-chan?"

Kaoru took note of the familiarity with which Tora spoke of the dead girl.

"Hai.. I've heard bits and pieces about her from everyone, and I've come to the conclusion
that you knew her better than anyone, and that if I had questions regarding her, you
would be the best person to consult."

Tora chuckled softly. "Hai...I knew her better than anyone.. we were partners..in killing,
although she never killed anyone."

Kaoru looked at him, confused.

"I suppose you should know more about Ayana-chan if you are to live here with us from now on..
Come with me..I will tell you what you want to know."

Tora turned around and began walking away. Kaoru, more curious than ever, followed him. The
two walked in silence for a ways, turning down long, dark cooridors and stairways. Finally,
they came to a stop in the room Kaoru had entered the first day she arrived at Akuma Inn. Tora
ran his hand over a portrait of a girl wearing a black kimono hanging on the wall.

"This, was Ayana..." Then he fell silent.

Kaoru stared at the beautiful, pale girl in the picture with the long, shimmering black, almost-
indigo hair and the bright, yet sad eyes, and shivered as a chill ran through her body.

"She's beautiful..."

Tora smiled, amused. "She was more than beautiful, Kaoru...she was my life..my hope...two years
ago......"

~*~

"Tora-kun!! Tora-kun!! I learned it! I learned it!!! I learned Ralon's wind technique!!!"

Ayana bounded toward Tora, laughing, and hugged him hard. Tora smiled slightly.

"Congratulations, Ayana-chan.."

She giggled, almost child-like, but Tora knew better than to think of her as merely a child-
outward appearances, as the saying goes, can be very deceiving.

"I practiced for hours and hours, and I finally have it straight!! If I ever have to face
the Hitokiri Battousai for Night, I can at least dodge his attacks! No matter HOW fast Night
says Battousai is, there's no way he'll be able to hurt me!"

Tora smiled again. "And maybe, you'll even have the honor of drawing blood..."

The smile immediately left Ayana's face, and she backed away from Tora slightly.

"Iie... I don't like what Night wants us to do, Tora..san."

Tora flinched at the distance she was suddenly putting between them.

"I could never kill anyone...even a murderer like Battousai. I don't understand why Night
wants Battousai dead, but even so, that gives us no excuse..we should not have to kill someone
who has never brought harm to us....if he has wronged Night, it's Night's quarrel, not ours.
What Night asks us to do..is wrong, and I refuse to take part in a murder without reason."

Tora looked around quickly, speaking softly, "Ayana-chan.. if Night ever hears you say that.."

"I DON'T CARE! I have my morals, Tora..and if something feels wrong to me, I refuse to take
part in it!! This is one of those things...that feels wrong."

Tora reached up, and pushed a strand of hair away that had fallen into Ayana's face. She
flinched and tried to pull back. Tora dropped his hand.

"Ayana-chan.... I just don't want you to get hurt..."

"I won't get hurt, Tora... and I don't condone the killing Night is asking us to do, but I
will still work with Ralon to get stronger... I must be stronger...if it is only to keep
Night from making us his slaves.."

Tora gasped. "Ayana!!"

~*~

"You really loved her..."

Tora blinked, and looked up, confused. Then Ayana's face twisted and became Kaoru's, and he
nodded.

"Hai...but she was reckless...and at the same time weak. She didn't know this weakness, of
course, but I did, and Ralon did... Her downfall...was that she wanted to be so strong.."

Kaoru shook her head, still confused. "But everyone wants to be strong..and Ralon's technique
really is amazing."

Tora chuckled. "But she wanted it for something..something that would be impossible even for all
five Stars to accomplish... I didn't think much about that recklessness then though.. I was
afraid of it, afraid it'd end up hurting her, but I passed it off as a whim of hers and went
on like it wasn't there...when in reality, it was growing.. She wasn't only reckless though..
She cared about people..she cared..."

*******************

Hitokiri Battousai stood, still holding his sword, and shook his head, trying to clear it of
the confusion that threatened to tear him apart. On one side, he felt pain caused by a girl
he knew to be Kamiya Kaoru, and on the other, he saw a pretty young girl laughing and
playing with him..and a young boy teasing a taller young man...all of them so happy.

"Kenshin...try to remember us!! Remember what you set out to do in the first place! We're trying to SAVE Kaoru, remember?"

Battousai/Kenshin looked up at the boy speaking to him, and the pain on one side of his head slowly began to diminish. The violet hue began to dominate the shimmering gold in his eyes.

"K..Kenshin, I haven't known you for long, and never as the man your friends are describing you as, but you should never lose sight of what your true goal is... Think, Kenshin.. What is your goal? To kill Kamiya Kaoru? or to save the one you love? I set out on this journey to Akuma Inn alone because I have a goal...and that's to save the one I love...my sister....Now you need to figure out what your goal is..."

The grip on Kenshin/Battousai's sword tightened, and Sano and Yahiko's eyes widened in fear for their friend. Then the sword fell to the ground, and violet swirled, filling his eyes and returning them to what they had been before. Kenshin turned, smiling at his friends. With a quick oro, he dropped to the ground, and threw up, forcing the manipulative poison from his system. Both Sanosuke and Yahiko ran to him.

"Kenshin!!! Are you alright?!"

Kenshin looked at them and smiled his rurouni smile, reassuring them of his well-being. Then he turned to face Kimiko.

"Arigatou-Kimiko-dono. If it had not been for your comment, I would have lost sight of what I am now living my life for.. the people I love. I hope that you too will be able to find your sister..and fulfill your goal...if you don't mind, we will follow you. I have a feeling this Akuma Inn your sister is at is linked with Kaoru's kidnapping." Then, once again facing Yahiko and Sanosuke, he stated enthusiastically, "Let's go save Kaoru-dono!"

Sanosuke and Yahiko looked at each other and then back at Kenshin. "Hai!! Let's go!"

End of Chapter 17