Subject: [kenshinfanfics] Tattered Angel, part XI Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 11:08:03 -0700 From: Mihoshi Reply-To: kenshinfanfics@makelist.com To: kenshinfanfics@makelist.com I'm a big fan of Saitoh....but it had to happen this way. Sorry to all Saitoh lovers out there. I will take flames for this chapter, it was pretty badly written. On with the show.... Mibu No Oukami The next morning, in the inn tavern- "So the Kurokagei ninjas are going to begin thier conquest for revenge in this very town." The mayor stroked his long white beard with shriveled fingers and sighed. "I knew it would come to this. And we only have three days to prebare for the battle of our life times." "Are you sure your people can handle it? This is a retirement village after all." Kaoru's face was practically spilling over with worry. The mayor chuckled. "We've been ready all our lives." Sanosuke chewed on a fish bone, and spat it out. He looked at the mayor with deadly serious eyes. "Just as long as we're up front, you don't need to worry about any of them getting to ya." The Mayor nodded. "But if your offense falls, we'll make sure to put up a good defense. We have fishing spears and nets, that's about it. But we'll make sure we give it all we got" Kaoru got up and headed to the door. Megumi looked up from her bowl of steaming soup. "Where are you going?" Kaoru forced a smile. "Just out for a walk." "I'll go with you." Yahiko got up, spitting out bits of rice as he talked. Kaoru shook her head. "I want to be alone." Yahiko narrowed his eyes. "This time, we ain't going to save yer ass from any drunk fat sailors, ok?" He sat down and swallowed another bowl of soup. Kaoru turned and brushed the curtains aside before stepping out in to the full glare of the morning sun. She spotted Saitoh leaning against the glinting car, smoking another fill of black lungs in to his prick of a body. Kaoru reluctently walked up to him. "What is it?" The tall officer had his cheeks caved in from the numerous times he had lit up his cigerette and puffed his health away. His cheeks sunk in even more when he was smoking. Kaoru watched him for a little while longer before speaking. "Saitoh-san, isn't your wife worried that you're filling your lungs with smoke?" He grinned, so that's what she was after. "Yes, but she still can't stop me." Kaoru's expression softened. "What kind of woman is she?" Saitoh took a long drag and blew at the air. "Is it really any of your buissness?" "It isn't, but I just want to know what kind of woman Saitoh Hajime wed to." He looked down in to the fixed expression of the young girl before him. She was bent on getting the information out of him and she would not retreat till she got it. Blasted stubborn girl. "All right. If I tell you about my wife, you have to promise never to ask me about my personal life again. Got it? "Agreed." Saitoh took another puff, hearing the tranquil rolls of the sea beside him. Kaoru looked at him with curious blue eyes, big blue eyes that could have reflected the whole ocean in a single wink. Saitoh sighed, he was getting soft in his age. He began to speak. "My wife is a noble woman, driven by pride. I Married her because of the fire she had." "But isn't she scared for you? You're always out on police trips and such." Kaoru was going to say scared of you but she chickened out the minute she saw his sharp face starring needles at her. His eyes had the prickly steel edge of a freshly molted knife, scary as hell. "If she was scared for me, she wouldn't be around anymore." Kaoru nodded. That made sense, but it still didn't click. "Why does she stay with you then? Your always out and your patriotism for your job and country always puts you in danger. Why does she even bother?." Drag and exhale. "Why do you love Himura Kenshin so much?" Her face went beat red like mercury in a piping hot thermometer. Kaoru looked away. "I...um..well...." Saitoh smiled at her discomfort. "Solve your own puzzles before even bothering to ask about me, racoon girl." he pushed away from the car and strolled in to the market area. "Maybe then you can find out why I married my wife." Kaoru watched him as he dissapeared in to a store. Saitoh... Preparations for the fishing village were made durring the next three days. The elderly gathered all their fishing spears and nets and began to devise plans that wouldn't really work in reality but they spoke them anyways. It was a time of courage but also fear. Meanwhile in Tokyo, Uramura had been informed and had told his officers to patroll the strees, all while the citizens watched bewildered. They knew something was up, but they carried on with thier everyday buissness. Life always went on..... but it would cease if the Kurokagei drove past thier defenses. Tokyo was hanging by a thin thread between peace or bloody revenge. And the day finally came..... "When night comes, they will begin thier ambush." Kaoru was looking at the faces of the elderly as well as her friends, her face twisted in a look of pure determination. They were all clothed and ready for battle. The men wore armor that clumsily flopped over thier fragile bodies. The woman held long spear- like katanas that were handed down from generations. Naginatas. Kaoru looked at the aproaching dusk, the sun dancing flames in her ocean eyes. "When they come, I want the men to form a line across the deck. Me and my friends will be up on the docks, the woman will be behind the men as the last line of defense. If any of the Kurkagei ninjas manage to penetrate the offense, you have to be prepared to kill." Her voice held a note of urgency. This was the most serious battle in her life, she was going to battle the deadly Battousai in full Blood Bind. "I hope everybody is prepared to fight." She was answered by the cheers of shaky yet, pure determination. Saitoh was standing by himself while this was all happening, smoking again at the fornt of the docks. As if his heart wasn't black enough! Kaoru turned to Yahiko. "Remember Yahiko, Kamiya Kashin Ryu is the martial arts of protection. Sanosuke and Saitoh will take on Kenshin. Me and you will have to fight any other heads that show up." Please not Shinji. She turned and adressed Megumi. "Megumi you are going to be behind the second offense. If anyone gets hurt you have to take care of them along with the other doctors." Megumi smiled wearily. "So I'll be playing doctor again. One day I'm going to have to learn how to fight." Kaoru smiled at her dear friend. She faced the crowd. "I need you all to be practicing your skills. Don't tire yourselves out though, but you all need to be ready." "Don't worry, ma'am we ain't gonna fail!" "The Kurokagei are gonna get it!!!" A busstle went through the crowd of elderly as they began practise, nearly throwing thier backs out but still determined enough to swallow thier pain. Soon the red sun sunk beneath the mountains and everybody was eating thier dinner, which was riceballs and water. The night bugs began chirping thier nightly song as the stars began to apear. Kaoru watched the dissapearing blue from the horizon with mirroring eyes. Yahiko nudged Sanosuke. "Oi, Sanosuke. Do you think Kaoru's ok?" Sanosuke gulped down his food noisily before turning towards the horizon. "She's fine. The reason why you're worried is because for once, she is DANG serious." Sanosuke felt a hand pulling at his collar. He glanced up to see a sky of faded stars circling around Megumi's lowered head. Her face was cast in dark shadows as she looked at him nervously. "Sanosuke, whatever you do, don't hurt Ken-san." It was a small thin whisper that escaped her cherry red lips. Sanosuke smiled with a bit of irony playing on his lips. Easier said then done. "I'll try, fox lady. Now you gotta promise me that you'll take care of the older people first. No matter how hard we scream, you finish tending to the injured elderly, ya hear." She ruffled his hair and smiled. "For once you're not being selfish." He lay down on the grass as Megumi sat down beside him. Yahiko had sneaked away a while ago and was now talking to some elders. They were alone, staring at a night sky which could fall on them or turn in to some sort of bloody ocean. The battle of their lifetimes. This might be the last time they had on the face of the planet. Sanosuke drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he turned and watched Megumi looking at the stars. Her eyes reflecting the growing light of the burning constellations above. Slowly and hesitantly he put an arm around her shoulder. She looked at him shocked and found his head inches away from hers. Their gazes locked, and for a long time none of them budged. Sanosuke felt himself grow hotter under her penetrating eyes, deftly he pulled at the head band around his head. He pulled his arm away from her shoulders and began tying her hair in to a ponytail. It was a clumsy attempt but he was jelly now. Megumi just let him play around with her hair before he gently clasped his hands on her shoulder and turned her towards him. "You can't have your hair getting in the way now can ya?" Megumi could feel the blush rising in her cold cheeks. His mouth was at her ear, the warmth of his breath tickling it. "You know, this may be our last time in this world together." Sanosuke moved his face away from her ear and was now looking straight in to her eyes. It was difficult to think when he was staring down those pretty but dismal chestnut eyes of hers. He knew that he bore the same sad eyes. A time before a battle can last an eternity, but a girl as pleasant as the sweetest memory in life couldn't even last a millisecond of his duration in this world. All those times he was fighting off people, it never occurred to him that life was so short. What a waste, it was now or never. "Megumi, youarethebestthingthateverhappenedtome." Damn it!! He had thought over this moment so many times before, and he still screwed up. If Sanosuke could shrink away, he would...he almost did but something stopped him. He looked at her face and found beautiful brown eyes, spilling with tears that sparkled more then any stars in the heavens above. To hell with words, he was a man. Sanosuke pulled her close and hugged her tight. She broke out in to sobs. There couldn't be a sadder piece of time then the one right now. The interval between the time of happy living to the time before a raging battle. There could be nothing worse than waiting for the battle to begin and waiting for it to end. And then they came. "WATCH OUT!" There was white waves splashing aside as beings slashed through the black waters with incredible speed. The crowd cried out in fright as the Ninjas came, walls of water raising like tsunamis. Kaoru stepped back as the icy water sprinkled over her. An attack from water, that wasn't what she expected. There was so many of them! Saitoh was taking on a crowd at a time and so was Sanosuke but they were still badly out numbered. Two Ninjas leapt at her, she wielded her sword gracefully and was able to knock them out. But to her deep horror, they kept rising. The chilly air was filled with the screams of people getting badly hurt. The elderly didn't stand a change. An evil cackle spilled across the crowded dock. "Battousai, come fourth and end this incompetence." Kenshin. Kaoru striked another Ninja. Battousai. "Aku Soku Zan!" Saitoh sliced through a pile of Ninjas and skidded to the front of the dock. Cold steel eyes searched the deck for his lifetime opponent. Grasping his sword with a white knuckle he fended himself from the hordes of Ninjas that literally poured on to him. A thundering wind swirled at the edge of the last dock. Slowly, the figure of a man emerged from the small hurricane. Eyes that emitted the glow of a dark angel..... ...red and evil. Oh my God. His eyes ....their red. Kaoru's heart was pounding with a new kind of horror. A painful, bursting pang that threatened to blow apart her heart. Beside her, she could hear Sanosuke swearing. He saw a man that was neither Battousai or Kenshin, those eyes reminded him of people that were possessed by the very devil himself. Yahiko gaped in horror. The others looked in fear at the man cloaked in black, crimson eyes holding them in a frightening trance. The raging battle seemed to stop for a moment as everyone looked at the scarred Samurai. And then he smiled, a cruel wicked smile that screamed for fresh blood. One like a hungry Vampire that was rising to kill. "Battousai!" A single voice yelled out in the silence as Saitoh leapt at his foe. His steel toed boots dislodged from the wooden planks so swiftly, the wood splintered. Hitokiri Battousai's expression failed to waver even as the Mibu pounced at him. The shorter man, side stepped him easily and unsheathed his sword. Saitoh fell on his knees and turned just in time to see Battousai towering over him. The yellow moon hovering behind him like an insane halo. "You will be the first to die." Saitoh was scared, and for the first time he allowed the emotion to reach his face. Battousai held the sword at Saitoh's heart. "YAMETE!!" Kaoru pushed her enemies away and ran as fast as her legs would carry her. But it wasn't enough. The sword was brought down. Saitoh's blood began squirting out of his torn torso. Battousai cut him slowly from his left chest to the right of his heaving stomach, laughing the whole time as he gutted the gasping man. He was a goner. "SAITOH!!!" Kaoru cried out, her vision blurred with salty tears. Battousai lifted the limp body with the edge of his sword and hurled it at Kaoru. Before Kaoru could react, Sanosuke was infront of her, hands spread out. He caught Saitoh's bloodied body and laid him on the ground. Kaoru knelt down before the dying man with tears that fell from her heart. It was over for him, and she knew it. Sanosuke yelled for Megumi while Yahiko bounded up beside them. The battle was still raging around them. Saitoh smiled, his lips baring bloody teeth. "...Battousai...finally it's over..." "Please Saitoh-san, don't speak." Kaoru's voice trembled as she watched him take a painful breath. He looked up at her, his eyes glistening with wetness that he had never known. Tears. Saitoh Hajime was crying. "......Tell...Tell my wife..." Kaoru held his hand as he sucked in another painful breath, the tears streaming freely down his blood stained cheeks. He closed his eyes. "...tell..her I ..love her...and...tell my son.." Kaoru eyes opened wide as her tears fell like rain on Saitoh's face. She sobbed uncontrollably. He had a son. "...Tell my son...I'm...sorr..." Saitoh breathed his final breath. His body went limp. "FUCK!!!" Sanosuke punched the wood beside him. His own tears spilling over his face. Megumi weaved through the crowd and held a hand to her face when she saw Saitoh's dead corpse. Her fingers trembled as she knelt to take a pulse. There was none. "He's...gone.." The Mibu no Oukami was dead. Go ahead and flame me! I just killed off one of my favourite characters... "Cognito erguem. I think therefore, I am." Very famous quote. ---- Read this list on the Web at http://www.makelist.com/list/kenshinfanfics/ To unsubscribe, email to kenshinfanfics-unsubscribe@makelist.com To subscribe, email to kenshinfanfics-subscribe@makelist.com -- Start a FREE E-Mail List at http://www.makelist.com !