DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...

THIS FIC IS NOT YAOI! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES 'LOVE' IS MENTIONED!! You can't accuse me of being yuri because I love my friends can you? Good. Now read on.

I have no idea what a piece of junk this was until I re-read it. But I'm not going to re-write it! Well, hope you've liked this fic and thanks for supporting 'Chronicles' to it's very end. You guys have been great readers.


Chronicles of a Rurouni

Part 9: Behind the lost smile


Kaze, itai ame, sebi nomi, kire taito, fuyu no sora
[Winds, painful rain, calling sounds, broken
threads, winter's sky]
Boku wa naze, waratte ru no?
[Why am I smiling so?]
Wakaranai
[I don't understand]
Nakushita yo
[There's something lost]
~ Innocence
by Seta Soujirou (Hidaka Noriko)
Translation by
bread@bread.freeservers.com


An image forever fixed upon the mind...
"The entire river collapsing... now I've seen it all..." Saitou glanced into the deep recesses of the dark chasm newly formed, and whistled. "The police'll be busy all year round for this now..." He shook his head, and was about to leave when he spotted some movement inside the chasm itself.
He thought for a while, frowning.

Soujirou trembled, not because of the sudden coldness of the tunnel, well, if there was tunnel left at all... he trembled from fear. Looking down at the waters below his feet, he could feel a chill going up his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to face the roaring waves anymore, and directed his attention somewhere else.
Opposite, the water had not yet fully subsided enough for him to see how Himura-san and the rest were doing.
But he was not interested in that.
After all, he was hanging on a piece of rock by the side of the cliff.
Soujirou blinked, and looked up. A shadow loomed over him, preventing the soft moonlight from reaching his face.
He almost jumped in surprise.
He wasn't clinging onto a rock.
Murasaki was clinging onto him.

Kenshin took in a huge breath, and fell to his knees. He put his face into his hands and shook his head, terribly confused. It was not until a familiar voice called out for him that he finally looked up at all.
"Oei, Kenshin!" The frustrated voice seemed to come from above his head. "What do you think you're doing, kneeling down like that? Getting soft knees so soon?"
The red headed rurouni gazed upwards.
Sanosuke shook his head at him.
"Look at you, come on, better get outta here before everything gets washed away into the waves." Sanosuke urged and started to scale the cliff wall. Kenshin stood up and blinked two times in rapid succession. Now how in the world did he get there without him seeing a thing?!
Nevertheless, Sanosuke was safe, and that meant hope for the others. Kenshin hardened his resolve and reached out to follow Sano to wherever he was heading at the moment.
Below him, as he tried not to look, the waters whined a low rumble, and waves lapped at the walls. Kenshin fought hard, trying to not get his small frame get blown away by the incoming gusts of strong tidal winds. His hands dug deeper into the mud of the wall, fearing he might lose space if he moved unnecessarily. Sprays of water droplets raised and grazed against his face, subtly reminding him of the 'better things to come'.
Kenshin shuddered, despite himself, and wished that it was all but a nightmare.
A nightmare he did not ever want to have again.
But first, to find Kaoru-dono and the rest.
"Over there, Kenshin!" A husky voice rang out.
"I see them!"

*His nature is not bad by default...* Soujirou frowned at the young boy holding onto his hand. *... why did you lie, Murasaki? You're here not to take revenge... there's another reason, and I'm going to find that out.*
"Murasaki..."
"Shut up or I'll let go!"
Soujirou's eyes widened a little. That was an unexpected reply. All these time they had been hoodwinked, all these troubles for nothing? No way. Soujirou was not going to take a plain one liner for an answer.
"I'm tired, Murasaki."
The younger boy paused. He stopped trying to pull Soujirou onto firmer ground and looked down to see the latter staring up with a resigned gleam in his eyes.
"Let go."

Kenshin did a few more acrobats and landed on the rock just beside where Kaoru and the rest were last seen. "Kaoru-dono!" He started to cry out for them all over again.
There was movement from the shadows, and Kaoru's face popped into light to comfort Kenshin's soul.
"Kenshin!"
Kenshin's face lit up a thousand watts, as he sped up and went closer to the the rest of the Kenshingumi. Sanosuke followed him closely.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru said again when Kenshin came beside her. "There's something very urgent-"
"Not now, Kaoru-dono." He shushed her and cued her to look outwards. "We have to get to ground zero first."
"But Kenshin..." Yahiko seemed to want to try to reinforce what Kaoru was about to say. "... we really need to..."
"Oh keep quiet, shortie." Sanosuke popped in from the other direction. "We're having enough trouble with getting to safety as it is, so why don't you..."
Sanosuke closed his eyes in frustration, as Yahiko had long launched onto his head to begin bite-sanosuke's-head campaign. Kenshin almost felt like laughing, but curbed this desire soon enough. "Come on everybody," he urgently insisted. "we need to go, or we'll all be drowned."
"But-" It was Megumi's turn to protest.
They all seemed to have alot to say.
"We'll talk about when we get to safety." Kenshin firmly stated.
Everybody fell silent.
Kenshin scanned through the trio for anymore protests and sighed. "Sano, can you reach ground zero by standing on top of the overhanging rock?" Kenshin questioned. Sanosuke looked up and did a rough gauge.
"Most forcibly, but I think so." He smiled, then jumped onto the rock. Kenshin nodded at Sano, seeing that he was in position and reached a hand to Kaoru.
"Kaoru-dono."

Saitou stood by the side of the collapsed riverbank and took out a cigarette. He gazed onto the next crevass, lifting an eyebrow.
Maybe it was the mist, maybe it was the night... maybe it was all those cigarettes, or maybe it was just himself. But whatever it was, Saitou's jaw almost dropped to the floor as he tried to put two and two together.
What in the world was Battousai doing inside a riverbank just collapsed at this hour in the night?!

Kenshin sat on the floor, almost exhausted. They had all successfully got out of danger zone, when Kenshin helped them to climb to where Sanosuke was, and from there Sanosuke would haul them onto proper ground. Beside him, Sanosuke had already given up to tiredness and lay down, panting like a dog. Only Kaoru was staring still into the crevass, with shimmering eyes and hopelessness seemingly dwelling inside them.
Megumi sat beside her, not so much staring into the crevass, but deep in thought. None of them seemed very happy.
There was tension in the air which Kenshin could not place his foot on. He stood up, and dusted himself.
What was Kaoru-dono gazing at, he wondered, trying to spot anyone who was in the direction of her stare. The mist had almost cleared by now, and while Kenshin searched, his eyes caught a flicker of light blue.
Light blue...
"Soujirou!" He almost gasped. "I wonder if he's all right..."
Sanosuke had sat up by then, as he put a hand to his forehead. "The sooner he trashes that purple guy the better. After all those trouble he's put us through... wish I could do it myself!"
A hard sound of palm against face resounded in the ears of everybody, as Megumi landed a tight slap on Sano's right cheek.
"Megumi-dono!" Kenshin gapped, unsure of what he was going to say. After all, Megumi was never one to lose her cool with no proper reason whatsoever.
Sanosuke stood up to face Megumi, face red from the slap he had just received and totally boiled up with rage. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, WOMAN?!" He spat and directly faced Megumi for an answer.
"For insulting a dying man." Megumi answered straight into Sanosuke's face. "Of course, it was also for your coarse behavior, reckless actions, brainless ideas, tactless tactics AND that door you just knocked down quite some time back not forgetting..."
As Megumi recited, one by one by one, Sanosuke's Mighty Flaws (TM), Kenshin refrained from whipping out his sakabatou to commit suicide then, so he used it to split up the two quarrelling people instead so that everybody could piece together at least a rough idea of what in the world was going on.
"Megumi-dono." Kenshin finally managed to ask after Megumi and Sano had stopped in their little squabble. "Murasaki is dying? Is he down with some terminal disease or what?"
There was silence as Megumi allowed the winds to permeate the surrounding area for a while. She roused, and looked at Kenshin straight in the eye.
"The boy isn't as bad as we all portray him to be."
Sanosuke looked as if he was about to protest, but Kenshin put one hand out and stopped him. He looked at Megumi with his eyes narrowed. "I noticed."
Behind him, Sanosuke stared at Kenshin as if he couldn't believe what Kenshin was saying. "Not you too, Kenshin?" He silently whispered into the winds, but audible enough for the audience.
"Sano," Kenshin turned around for a while. "if Murasaki's true desire was to punish Soujirou and see him crumble and fall, he could have done much better than what he's doing now, given his intelligence."
Kenshin took a step nearer the collapsed riverside and pointed down at the overhanging rock Sano had stood on.
"Below there, is where he placed Kaoru-dono and the rest.
"If he had wanted them killed, he could have just placed them at a more obscure, lower levelled rock platform. After all, although we don't know for sure, I for myself am willing to wager that he had foreseen the collapsing of the riverbank."
Kenshin's eyes narrowed, as new emotions glazed over the old.
"And had intentionally placed his hostages in the safest, and most easily accessed platform."
"Huh?"
Kaoru had finished feeling sad by now and she gathered her vocals to speak. "Look down, Sanosuke."
And he did.
Everywhere he looked, this side of the newly formed cliff wall was impossible to reach without professional tools. Twisted mazes vertically formed disallowed anybody to reach a certain spot with ease. Slowly, one by one, rocks disengaged and plunged into the roaring waves below, and only one stood firm above all the disturbance.
The one the hostages were previously on.
"So what's your point?" Sanosuke did not turn his head back.
Kaoru took a deep breath. "Perhaps I should tell you what exactly happened. Between Murasaki, and the rest of us."

The pain was dull in Kaoru's head, when she finally managed to squeeze open her eyes. Dizzy, but not too, she forced heself to sit upright and look at where she was.
She was in for a huge shock.
Twenty metres above ground? *This was the pits...* She groaned. *Maybe this is all a dream, maybe when I wake up, there'll be a nice, scrumptuous dinner awaiting me in the eating area, prepared by Kenshin or something...*
"Are you surprised?"
She jerked, trying to locate where the soft voice had drifted from. However, there was hardly any light from anywhere, so she probably couldn't even see my own palm outstretched. she squirmed, and thought she saw some movement on the bluish ground twenty metres below.
"Hello." The voice greeted again, soft, sweet and almost friendly. Except for the fact that it was a little hollow and void of some normal emotion, it did not seem to be anybody who would want to do anyone any harm.
She could hear Megumi and Yahiko rouse behind her.
"Excuse me there." Kaoru tried not to shout too loud, for shouting loud in enclosed areas had always been a taboo. "But..."
"Could I tell you what's going on?" The voice continued. "Sure."
There were sounds of footsteps treading against soft soil, then a metallic click. It sounded like sword against sheath, thou Kaoru hoped for the best...
Slowly, though, she realized that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness. At least, she kjnew it would give her a rough idea of who was this one person talking with her from twenty metres below.
"My name is Murasaki."
Yahiko made a noise behind Kaoru, but Megumi was quick to shut him up. Kaoru did not know what she wanted to do then. What could she possibly do? They had played right into his traps, and there was really nothing to talk about with men like him...
... but Kaoru refused to be prejudiced, and she cocked her ears to listen to what Murasaki had to say.
"Some months ago, I met Soujirou with my foster sister Chitsuru. We were like a happy family together, until the people who killed my foster grandfather showed up.
"They lusted after the fortune my grandfather had left behind for us, for he had been a rich merchant. He was a good man and did not deserve to die, but when he did, I knew it was my duty now to protect Chitsuru. Until death must I protect her, and make her happy; for that would be the duty for me as a foster brother."
There was a moment of silence.
"She was never truly happy ever since grandfather died.
"Until Soujirou showed up.
"And almost at the same time, the bad ones showed up too."
If I could hear myself gasp, perhaps that was the reason why my hands shot up at full speed to cover my mouth. I was not stupid. I could see where this story was heading to.
"And that one fateful night, Chitsuru passed away."
Kaoru closed her eyes, trying not to feel anything. But if Soujirou... if he mentioned Soujirou to have something to do with his sister's death...
"Soujirou had failed to protect her."
... then perhaps she would cry.
"I had failed to protect her."
"So what're you going to do now?" Megumi asked, from behind Kaoru. "Did you come for revenge? Did you pursue him all the way here to remind a poor boy of his past mistakes?"
Murasaki scoffed. "What, do I look like I'm so petty?"
"Yes you do."
~sweatdrop~
The boy threw his hands up in frustration. "Oh well, have it your way then. I'm not in the mood to argue."
"Of course you're not!" Megumi continued to say. Kaoru hid her eyes with her hair and tried to hide in the dark shadows of the rock above them. Megumi was being exceedingly rude and sardonic when she said that... and Kaoru briefly wondered if she behaved like that whenever she woke up, but that would be digressing, so let's pay attention here.
"Look it here, Murasaki, you're driving poor Soujirou insane. You poison him, throw stuff at him, you try to challenge him and then run away to come back again another time. How patient do you think a person can be? Be realistic, Murasaki, if you're trying to seek revenge for your foster sister, the least you can do is to do it right. Or else, leave Soujirou alone, and get a life."
Kaoru tried to tug at Megumi-san's sleeve to stop her, but she didn't seem to be in a very obliging mood. She hoped, sincerely hoped that Megumi wasn't playing her cards wrong. They were hostages of Murasaki after all, and here she was, insulting him like he was in the wrong all this while. No better way to put lives into permanent danger... !
But instead of feeling the other's anger, Kaoru could actually look upon Murasaki and see an impressed expression on his countenance. Or maybe it was because of the lack of light that her eyes were playing tricks on her. Whatever it was, Murasaki was not, in any sense, enraged.
"I will leave Soujirou alone." He simply stated, for once letting all hear that he too, knew emotions. "After I let him know that I never once blamed him for letting Chitsuru slip into the sea that night."
One could practically feel Megumi-san's determination fade. She was probably more surprised than anyone would ever be. Even Yahiko had a confused look on his face.
They all looked at Murasaki, who was almost about to walk out of the tunnel. Perhaps he could feel their eagerness to know an answer but also the reluctance to ask, for he turned around and then gave a heart-warming smile to them. The bit of light coming from the entrance of the tunnel made the rare smile of a supposed enemy surprisingly welcoming.
"I have lived with Soujirou long enough to know what kind of a person he is." Murasaki closed his eyes. "I'm sure you know his characteristics as well as I do.
"He blames himself for the death of Chitsuru. And he left the Raikouji household the very next day after her death.
"I questioned why he left. At many times I felt so angry, so very angry with him. But when I sat down and really thought about it, I knew, that Soujirou would rather himself be blamed than anyone else. Having known him for that amount of time, I realized... that Soujirou did not leave because he despised this household. He left... because he believed that only then could I be happy and peaceful.
"I knew he had always stayed in the household with the thought that once something big happened, he would leave and let us still be happy.
"But he didn't know that we didn't want him to stay because of obligation."
"But of love?" Kaoru whispered to herself. She blinked away a few droplets of tears.
"That's right." Murasaki smiled ever so slightly. "So I told myself, that I would not forgive him if he still blamed himself for the death of Chitsuru. And even if I were to die, I will make him see otherwise."
"Then why play all these games... ?" Megumi flatly questioned. "To me, it totally defeats the purpose of what you're going to do."
Murasaki sighed. "Of course I have to make him think that I'm his enemy. Otherwise, he'll never think of wanting to attack me."
"And that's your plan? To get him to attack you?" Yahiko spoke this time. "It's total waste of time. WHY DON'T YOU JUST TELL HIM?? He's not unreasonable, if you tell him, he'll know, and you'll all be happy... we'll all be happy!"
"It's not as simple as that." Murasaki turned his back towards the three of them. "I know that when Chitsuru died, a part of Soujirou went with her. And with that, a part of his will to live.
"He's forgotten that with blood on his hands, all the more he should live for tomorrow. If there is anything more I can do for my brother Soujirou, I will willingly die to show him that if he does not live on..."
Megumi and Kaoru ducked their heads, but stayed attentive.
"... then he already died the day Chitsuru died for him..."
"But where..." Kaoru finally managed to say after a long silence. "Where does 'death' come into picture? If you don't mind me asking... ?"
Murasaki continued to walk out of the tunnel.
"Can we say re-enaction?"
The three were taken aback.
"Anyway, the high tide will claim this tunnel pretty soon. I'm off to meet up with the rest of your gang. Don't worry, you're safe up there, since you're at higher ground. The river above will be collapsing soon too, but the overhanging rock above you will protect you. You guys are absolutely safe in here, so don't move and wait till the riverbank collapses, then find a way to climb onto normal ground yourself. That's all I can do for you guys now."
He stopped at the exact entrance of the tunnel, then turned around for a while, biting his lips, wondering what he should say.
He smiled again, having found the correct words.
"We won't meet again."
And with a sweep of his scarf bounded out of the tunnel into the deep nights of Tokyo...

"Then... we realized that when he said 're-enaction', he meant that he was going to replay in front of Soujirou..."
"... the death scene of Chitsuru to show him that nobody blamed him for her death." Kenshin finished Kaoru's sentence, his expressions unreadable as he gazed at Soujirou and Murasaki on the opposite cliff wall, still hanging on. "And he has already prepared to die from the very moment this battle began, to show Soujirou that he had to live on for tomorrow, if nothing else, for Chitsuru, and himself..."
Kaoru looked down on the floor, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "We tried to tell you to stop this senseless battle, but..."
"This battle isn't senseless." Kenshin's voice intercepted Kaoru's sentence. "But we must stop it all the same."

Above them, the skies began to light up. The rain pelted down harder, and the winds howled louder. If the literal heavens were begging for a pardon, they couldn't have done it better.

"Let go, Murasaki!"
"Do you know what you're talking about??"
"Of course I do." Soujirou shouted above the roaring waves. "Isn't this what you wanted? Haven't you been planning all those twisted maneuvers for this one moment? Now it's finally possible... you can finally avenge Chitsuru the way I allowed her to go... !"
"I-"
Soujirou waited. But Murasaki never finished what he was going to say. Instead, he chose to cast a faraway glance towards the side.
"Or did you have something else for me in mind?" Soujirou asked again, determined to find out the true purpose of Murasaki's pursuit. "Tell me, Murasaki. Please."
For once, Murasaki seemed to be actually contemplating the thought of telling Soujirou something. But he hardened his expressions again soon enough.
"There's nothing to say. I'm bad through and through. You can't stop me from being what I am, and you're not going to know what I'm going to do."
"Oh." Soujirou smiled, attaching a knowing expression to his face. "Bad through and through?" He laughed.
"What's so funny?!"
"You are." Soujirou stopped. "If you're bad through and through, why did you choose the most secluded part of the riverbank to collapse?
"Why did you take the trouble to evacuate the innocent old lady, even if she was just one person?
"Why are you saving me now?"
"And why so much thought into planning the precise escape routes of Kaoru-dono and the rest?" Kenshin shouted from the other side of the cliff. He did not care how much he had to actually fight with the rip-roaring sound of waters to make himself heard. There was a new perspective to all this, and he was beginning to see his theories come to light...
The younger boy's lower eyelid moved, though no one could be sure what it moved for. Although his face showed no obvious expression, Kenshin was sure his words and Soujirou's were effecting him... slowly, but surely.
Meanwhile, Soujirou had gotten a firmer hold on one of the rocks jutting out of the cliff wall, and broke free from Murasaki's grip.
"You did came with a purpose didn't you, Murasaki?" Kenshin continued to press on. "You speak about the death of your sister Chitsuru. You think you've found out the one way for both hers and your souls to be truly satisfied. Well, let me tell you young man.
"There is no way she will ever be satisfied at the rate you're going now."
Murasaki shot a stare which came close to resembling an infuriated glare, at Kenshin. "What do *you* know?"
"I know lots!" Kenshin shouted back.
"What's your purpose here? Even if you don't tell me, I know very well what your purpose here is. You are here to avenge Chitsuru."
"I'm not here to-"
"Yes you are."
"If I was-"
"If *YOU* weren't here to avenge Chitsuru, then you're here to avenge your own self."
"What... ?"
"Tell me, Murasaki." Kenshin frowned. "How you knew that a part of Soujirou died with Chitsuru that night."
Murasaki kept absolutely quiet.
"Because she meant alot to him." Kenshin answered his own question. "And what about you?
"Surely she meant much to you as well, Murasaki...
"You would never have wanted to witness her death..."
Murasaki shook his head. "No... NEVER!"
"And neither would she have wanted yours."
The boy stopped, and closed his eyes.
"Are you doing her a favour by dying? By perishing so that Soujirou learns a hard lesson? Would she have wanted this? Do you know how painful it is to watch someone you care so much for sacrifice their life so that you can go on? Have you felt the pain? Do you know the burden? Have you bore that responsibility before? Not once, but twice you are repeating a heart-wrenching scene in front of Soujirou. If you do truly treat him as a beloved brother, why? WHY? Why do you want to die when you can live on happily together? Is it really so hard to give Soujirou a will to live? Will death, or life help him? WHICH ONE, MURASAKI??"
Kaoru looked at the back of Kenshin as he shouted away. In fact, everybody else were doing the same.
Kenshin did not seem to be behaving as per normal.
"Kenshin..." Kaoru uttered, almost afraid to say it out loud. She reached out a hand, but saw that Kenshin was actually panting away. She dimmed her eyes. Physical shouting alone would not have made Kenshin so hard for breath.
Along with his address to Murasaki, Kenshin was addressing the pain within himself.

Soujirou listened to the exchange between Kenshin and Murasaki, and would have scratched his head if it weren't that both his hand were busy hanging on for dear life. He looked at Murasaki, eyes full of plea. "Murasaki." Soujirou said urgently. "Tell me the truth. Now. Please!"
The other boy opened his eyes to look coldly at Soujirou. It seemed as if he had reached a choice from what Kenshin had been egging him to not sit on the fence any further.
"There is no truth in me." Murasaki drew his metal blade from the sheath. The winds tossed his hair around his face, resulting in a wild, crazy outlook. "Now-"
There was a brief flash of white light, as the lightning hit down and eletrocuted a nearby tree, forcing it to fall into the rushing waves. Murasaki halted abruptly in his sentence and clutched his sword almost protectively, as if afraid of something. If one examined closely, one could see that he was gritting his teeth together, and trembling, to the greatest extent, while the freezing weather continued to drag on through the night.
Soujirou snapped, and it occurred to him that Murasaki had once told him something about lightning.
The young rurouni turned slowly to face Murasaki, while the latter refused to meet his eyes.
"You're afraid of lightning aren't you?"
Murasaki chose, again, to remain silent. The way he trembled of course, was an answer obvious enough.
Another freak crack of tree branch denoted yet another lightning strike nearby. Murasaki's eyes opened, wider and wider as he looked at the phenomenal in the skies. White light flashed throughout dark clouds, as if threatening to release the whole store of electricity down onto earth at one shot. Murasaki bit back another cry, while he tried to sink further back into where he was standing on. He could now feel himself trembling, shaking furiously as white lines continued to hit onto ground.
"Even you can be afraid of something." Soujirou commented, neither approving, nor disapproving. "We fear because it keeps us safe from punishment, and disappointment." Soujirou smiled weakly. "I feared I would never be accepted by anybody. But here you are again, and here I am."
Soujirou stepped onto a small rock platform, and released his grip on the wall. His earlier smiles, when in eagerness, when in fear, when in anticipation, when in pain, when in gladness, when in sadness, when in frustration, anxiousness or regardless; appeared. Soujirou smiled The Smile, and put his two arms by his side in a slightly elevated position to the waist.
"I no longer fear punishment or disappointment." Soujirou softly, gently told Murasaki. "Accept me or reject me; I respect your choice and will live or die with it without regrets."
Murasaki tried to look up, but the lightning flashing behind Soujirou irked his eyes and he hid back into his arms again.
"Fear of material things is nothing compared to the fear of oneself." Soujirou further stated. "Fear of oneself is nothing.
"Compared to the fear of fear itself.
"I refuse to fear 'fear' any longer." Soujirou looked at the huddled figure of Murasaki, still smiling away. "And when I say face me, I *mean* face me." Soujirou allowed his hands to fully rest by his sides. "You must choose now, as I have chosen to allow you to choose.
"Acceptance or rejection. Past or present."
There was a sudden swirl of movement on Murasaki's side, as he proceeded to rise to full height with the help of the strong winds. His head was lowered, but he was breathing hard. Lightning continued to strike at every available spot in Tokyo, and Murasaki gasped.
His hands reached upwards to touch the corners of his eyes.
*I wished they were the rain, but I know they are my tears...* He returned his attention to Soujirou, and lifted his metal sword. "Soujirou." He said, as calmly as he could, with a tremendous tremor towards the end. "DUCK!"
"Ara?"
He flung the sword towards Soujirou, but not before Soujirou had successfully obeyed the command to 'duck' did he do so.
The sword impaled a tree trunk about to fall into the crevass, and especially onto Soujirou's head. But the sheer brute force exerted in the throw caused Murasaki to finally lose his footing on the platform. He held onto the side of the wall and gnashed his teeth, trying to keep on land, but the sooner he did so, the streaks of lightning again danced across the murky skies.
New fear regenerated in him, and with one cry of resignation, allowed a huge wave that had claimed the rock platform he had been standing on carry him away as well...
... maybe to a far far place where he would no longer bring hurt to anybody...
"NOOOO... !!!"
Soujirou leapt off his own platform and caught his foster brother's hand, the other hand driving the shinai as further into the thick layer of moss and fungus on the cliff wall as possible. They slid to an immediate brake just about 3 metres away from ground zero.
The young rurouni adjusted his grip and realized that he was losing Murasaki to the crazy winds. "HANG ON!" He shouted, fearing the worse.
Murasaki made no movement, other than slowly turning his head up to look at Soujirou.
And to smile at him with the utmost sincerity.
"I'm sorry."
Soujirou's eyes opened as wide as saucers. "What for?" He softly inquired.
"To have to let you see both of us die the same way."
"What-"
"Tell me, Soujirou, did Chitsuru ever blamed you for what happened that night?"
Soujirou stared at Murasaki as if he was crazy. Then he settled down. "I don't know." Soujirou half-lied. He had been wanting so much to tell Murasaki that in his sweetest dreams, Chitsuru would be there, happy and satisfied. Forgiving and smiling, because she would never blame Soujirou for what happened to her...
... and to him, these dreams were his truth. His everything.
"Well let me tell you. She doesn't."
"?" Soujirou made a face. "How would you know?"
"If you must pinpoint a guilty party, I must be your partner in crime." Murasaki again smiled. Soujirou's heart itched a little. He hadn't been out in much business lately, but he knew when someone smiled the kind of smile Murasaki was smiling.
They called it a dead man's last happiness.
"What're you talking about..." Soujirou could feel Murasaki's hand slipping. He forced back a few sniffles and pursed his lips together. In an attempt to block out the tears, Soujirou shut his eyes. But they kept on gushing out, whether his eyelids were shut or not. Warm tears kept coming out to mix with the cold and harsh rain.
It was not the first time.
Nor the second time.
It was the third time.
Soujirou could not bear with it any longer.
"WHY??" He burst out loud. "Why did you do all these? WHY, MURASAKI? Tell me... please tell me..." Soujirou silent sobbed.
"Because of love."
Soujirou looked up with his tear-streaked face.
"Because Chitsuru knew you would be beaten alive on the boat that night had she do not let go. Because I know you will fall down into the waters with me if I do not let go."
And Murasaki gave him the most sincere smile he had ever showed since meeting with Soujirou again.
"We'll be with you in your journey, Soujirou." He optimistically informed Soujirou. "Wherever you are, we are. So don't you dare die, brother." He threatened the poor, sobbing boy, choking into his sleeve. "Now let go, or we'll both take the plunge."
"I won't!" Soujirou shouted. "If once is not enough, one more time and I'm going to go insane!"
"No you won't." Murasaki grinned. "Because you've conquered fear. Congratulations, Soujirou!" He said, then turned serious. "For all the damage I've done, I must give an answer. I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry.
"And remember that there in your hands two people lay their hopes on you." Murasaki clenched the hand Soujirou was gripping onto. "Let neither Chitsuru nor anyone else be gone for nothing. LIVE, Soujirou! Take your journey!" The boy closed his eyes. "One day you'll see what's behind our hidden smiles, and maybe I'll see you again."
Just like the night of so many moons ago, Murasaki took his strength, and released his hand from Soujirou's to dangle in mid-air for a little while, before watching Soujirou's ghastly shocked face...
... and then saying goodbye with one last, lingering look.
"MURASAKI --- !!!!" Soujirou tried to lunge forward to grab his foster brother. "COME BACK!!" He shouted, in between coughs and chokes.
He soon realized that he was in fact, shouting to a pool of fast moving water. He took one last look at the waters, trusted that Murasaki was smart enough to be able to survive and turned his attention.
*I will live.* Soujirou stood firm in his stand. *If not for anyone else, for two of my closest friends and kin.*
*I will survive. I MUST SURVIVE!* The boy fiercely told himself. *Murasaki was right. No one had blamed me for anything.*
*I was blaming myself. Time to wake up and smell the roses. The time is now, Seta Soujirou!!* He swung, and tried to reach the nearest jutting rock. Soujirou shuddered as he heard a crack, and realized that the shinai was coming to a quick break. Opposite, he could hear Himura-san and the rest shouting for him. But they were too far to help. Soujirou's eyes were wet with tears. That was it? Just when he finally wanted to live, just when he finally found the will to be himself before Chitsuru again... he was going to go as well?
A tall shadow loomed over Soujirou, and he turned his head to look upwards at a face hidden by clouds of cigarette smoke.
"Oh boy. Look at what we've got here." Saitou shook his head at the young rurouni, and proceeded to draw his sword out from his sheath.

Kenshin squinted, and spotted a tall policeman standing above the cliff wall Soujirou was hanging on to.
"Saitou!" He blurted out. Immediately, Sanosuke snapped to attention and looked across the bank.
They all saw him draw his sword.
"SAITOU!" Kenshin tried to catch his attention, but to no avail. "SAITOU!!!"

"Weren't you that little boy who was always by the side of Shishio Makoto? Abiding to his every call?" Saitou asked, holding his sword in a position for a vertical stab downwards.
Soujirou was dumbfounded.
Saitou smiled slightly, bringing his sword up. "Aku. Soku. Zan."
Soujirou's eyes widened.

Kenshin could not believe his eyes.
"SAITOU, NO!!!"

END PART 9
(okay, I cheated. The next chapter is the final chapter. I PROMISE!!)

bread@bread.freeservers.com
8/12/98



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