Subject: [kffdisc] YAAAAY! I finally wrote Rising Sun Chapter 18 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 16:18:57 -0500 From: Mana-chan Reply-To: kffdisc@onelist.com To: kffdisc@onelist.com From: Mana-chan *does a little dance* My writer's block ended this morning at about 1 AM!! I can finally do Rising Sun again, and ta-daa- here's chapter 18. ^_^ I'm so proud. ^_^ I wrote this really quickly, so it needs a little work. I'd appreciate it if the ML could give me some C&C..especially since this is the first time I've been able to work on this fic again in about a month and a half.. For the first 17 chapters (for those that don't know), go to http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/8165/rising.html There are punctuation problems in the previous chapters b/c Geocities changed all my quotation marks to QUESTION marks!! ugh.. but it's still readable ^_~ Please, comments and criticism welcome -Mana-chan Rising Sun Chapter 18 by Mana-chan Kenshin inwardly cursed himself. How could he have been so stupid and careless as to have fallen for Hebi's trick? How could he have let her poison him!? If it hadn't been for Sanosuke and Yahiko's stubborn devotion toward him and Kimiko's mind-soothing words, Battousai might have really hurt someone- Sano, Yahiko, Kimiko...or maybe even Kaoru! .. All because Kenshin had become careless..which was so unlike his character that he couldn't understand. He wasn't usually as accepting towards suspicious people as he had been with Hebi, so why had he decided to trust her? The off-shoulder kimono should have warned him straight off...no respectable woman walked around showing THAT much skin.. He shook his head, slightly annoyed, slightly confused. Was he becoming weak- yielding to anyone who seemed to be in need? Would this weakness be his downfall? Iie...something was wrong... An image of Kaoru flashed across Kenshin's mind, but not the sweet, happy, cheerful Kaoru he remembered.. This Kaoru was dressed in a navy kimono, dark as midnight, and an indigo ribbon pulled back her long, raven black hair, not in its usual high ponytail, but rather loosely at the nape of her neck. The skin of her face took on a pale, silvery glow, and when she turned to him, her eyes glowed blood red. Kenshin gasped Kaoru laughed, the sound of silvery bells and shattering glass, and Kenshin watched, dumbfounded as she retrieved two knives from the folds of her kimono- one with the mark of the phoenix, and the other with that of the dragon. The eyes of both creatures engraved on the tiny weapons glowed ruby red, like Kaoru's eyes, and then she screamed with anger. "SHIIINEEEEEEE!! (DIEEEEEEEE!!)", lunging at him with the knives, and darkness prevailed, covering the world in an eery red and black sheen... "KENSHIN-SAN!" Kenshin jerked out of his reverie and looked up. Kimiko was tugging worriedly at the sleeve of his hakama, and Sanosuke and Yahiko had half gotten up from their resting places under the trees they had collapsed under after walking for half an hour on their injuries. Seeing that he had finally awaken, Kimiko relaxed slightly and released his sleeve. "Daijobu? Kenshin-san?" He smiled at her reassuringly. "Daijobu..I'm okay, don't worry about me.. I was just thinking...about Kaoru.", then turning to Sanosuke and Yahiko, "You guys look like you've been through a lot...It would help if Megumi were here..she could.." Kenshin stopped and looked up as Yahiko suddenly fidgeted and averted his eyes to the ground and an unusually anguished aura began to rise from Sanosuke's direction. Confused, and slightly fearful of the tiny shadow of an idea that was forming in his mind, he looked searchingly from one to the other. An uncomfortable silence stretched between the group, and the only sound to be heard was the rustling of the leaves in the slight, stale breeze racing through the forest. Yahiko clenched a small fist and said softly, "Megumi's dead, Kenshin.." Kenshin's eyes widened, and he turned toward Sanosuke, who confirmed Yahiko's claim by smashing his fist into the tree he had been leaning against, sending it crashing to the ground. Kimiko, nearby, drew back away from the angry man and watched in confusion and fear as he began hitting himself, tears of sorrow and pain streaming down his face. "It's my fault...I couldn't be there....I wasn't there for her.... she wouldn't have been killed!!!!!" Sanosuke then punched himself in the face, punishing himself for not saving the woman he loved...the woman he'd never had a chance to confess his love to..the woman who'd stolen his heart, his soul, his mind..the woman..who now lay dead, a bloody corpse to feed the flies. "SANO!" Kenshin stood up quickly, and walked over to his friend- so unlike the reckless, stubborn gangster he had know before..so unlike the tough, teasing man that enjoyed gambling and teasing Kaoru-dono, so unlike the companion he'd fought alongside this past year. It was as if something had snapped the part of this man that made him Sanosuke, as if the part that meant anything had gone away, leaving behind a grief-stricken crazed maniac with no sense of direction in life anymore. Kenshin leaped in and grapped Sanosuke's hand before he could send another punch at his already bruised and bloodied face. "SANO STOP!!!!!" The ex-gangster's other fist came up and knocked Kenshin out of the way. Kimiko raced over to Kenshin, who now lay sprawled several feet away. "Daijobu Kenshin-san?" Kenshin said nothing and pushed himself back on his feet, his expression grave as he watched Sanosuke continually hit himself with increasing intensity. Yahiko looked over at Kenshin, and then at Sanosuke. He clenched his teeth as he watched his friend hurting himself, driving himself toward a slow, painful death. Finally, the boy couldn't stand it anymore. "Yo!!! Chicken-head!! Snap out of it!!!! Do you really think Megumi would want you to be like this?!?! She's always complaining about how stupid you are! If you keep hitting yourself in the head like that, you won't have anymore brains, and you really wouldn't have a chance with her-dead OR alive! Plus, what the hell is hitting yourself gonna do to help you get revenge on the people who killed her?! Remember?! After we found her, that's what you said you wanted to do! At least kill them before you try and kill yourself! You're being irrational and stupid right now! You're acting like a BABY! Maybe we should start to call you Sano-CHAN now, ne, Kenshin?" Kimiko stared at Yahiko shocked. "Yahiko......I don't think that's the right thing to say to Sanosuke-san right now..after all, he just lost a loved one.." She looked worriedly over at Sanosuke, fearing his reaction to Yahiko's outburst. She didn't want him to go into a tree smashing rampage and have the whole forest fall on them before she could find her sister... but Sanosuke didn't explode...no,..in fact, he had stopped hitting himself and crying and was now just sitting there, staring at Yahiko. Kenshin took a step toward his friend. "Sano,...I know it seems..harsh, but what Yahiko says is true. Hitting yourself isn't going to get you anywhere. The least you can do is find Megumi's killer..and settle things... There are still people here..me, Yahiko, Kimiko-dono, and Kaoru-dono, who love you.. Sanosuke...Megumi-san..she wouldn't want to see you like this." Sano looked up at Kenshin, his eyes filled with sadness. "Hai...but Megumi..if I..." "You couldn't have been there for her no matter what, Sano...and you know that..." After a few moments, Sanosuke nodded. "Yeah..I guess...I do..but it doesn't stop the pain.." Kenshin smiled softly. "No, but maybe finding Megumi's killer will soothe it...and maybe time will heal it." Sanosuke looked down at his hands. "Time.....yes....time.....will heal it," and then he fell over, exhausted, into the welcoming embrace of Sleep. ************** Kaoru looked up at Tora, who had stopped talking and now sat motionless, staring at the picture of Ayana hanging on the wall. "Tora-san?" Tora broke from his thoughts and turned toward Kaoru. "Oh..Gomen...I guess I forgot you were here... what else...did you want to know about Ayana?" Kaoru looked at the young man in front of her, concerned. His usual cold, haughty expression had disappeared, and was now replaced by hurt, sadness, and the look of shattered dreams and broken love. She whispered softly, "Tora-san...if you don't mind...can you tell me..about Ayana's..death?" Tora blinked several times, staring at Kaoru as if seeing someone else.. "Ayana...." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ "Ayana..you know learning Ralon's succession technique before you've finished studying her other techniques is dangerous!! Don't force her to teach it to you!" Ayana glared angrily at Tora. "I can handle it, Tora!! Ralon said I'm much better than she anticipated, and I have to be strong!! I want to be strong so Night can't control us anymore!! Ralon won't use her technique to release us from him, and I know she has the power to! If I learn it, I can free us from him, Tora..don't you understand?!?! Don't you want to live a normal life? Do you want to kill for Night for the rest of your life?" Tora took a deep breath. "Iie..of course not, Ayana-chan...but.the technique..is so powerful that when you learn it,...it could kill you..and...I don't want..to lose you.." Ayana smiled and hugged Tora close, whispering in his ear. "I know, I know you care, Tora-san..you're like a worrisome big brother always hovering over his little sister's shoulder. Nothing will happen, Tora! I'll be strong, and then we'll be free. Simple as that! I promise I'll be careful..." Then she pulled away, still smiling and turned to walk away. Tora grabbed her wrist, and Ayana looked down at their hands, startled. "Ayana..don't you understand I don't just like you like a brother likes a sister! Don't you know how much I LOVE YOU! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I WANT TO HOLD YOU...and have you hold me..and love me back?!?!" Ayana's eyes widened in surprise, and she tried to pull away, but Tora grabbed her face in both his hands and pulled her into a kiss.... Ayana wrenched free- fear, passion, pain, happiness..everything...racing through her heart. "G..gomen nasai...Tora.....I ...have to...go see Ralon," and before Tora could catch her arm again, Ayana raced off down the hallway toward Ralon's training chambers, leaving Tora behind to watch longingly as she disappeared into the darkness. Five minutes later, an explosion ripped through the hall from the direction of the chambers....five minutes after that, he heard screaming. Fifteen minutes from when he'd heard the blast, he was at the scene of the explosion, staring in disbelief at a bloodied indigo ribbon in his hand, at the crumpled, burnt, and blood-stained corpse lying at his feet, ...and then he screamed as his body, his soul, his mind...saw red....hot, rich, and beautiful....waiting to be taken...waiting to be tasted...waiting to be loved.. End of Chapter 18. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Have you visited the new ONElist home page lately? http://www.ONElist.com ONElist: The Leading e-mail list and community service on the Internet!