From: "P. Rico" Hello again! This is the second part to "The Shadow". I hope you like it. Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin was created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The Shadow was created by Streets and Smith. ***************** The Shadow pt.2 by P.Rico --- Misao walked down the dark streets of Kyoto, on her way back to the Aoiya. "What's with Jiya lately," she wondered aloud. "This is the third time this week he's sent somebody out to get some sake for him." She looked down at the bottles in her hand. "What does he need so much for anyways? Who does he think he is? Hiko Seijurou?" Misao soon found her thought wondering to the mysterious Shadow. Nobody had ever seen him clearly, but the descriptions that she had heard were pretty similar, with the expected variations. He was described as being tall and slender wearing almost complete black, a western style cloak over a trench coat and suit, with the exception of a crimson scarf that hid his face. He was said to be able to melt into the Shadows, hence his nickname. He attention was suddenly caught by a crash. She dashed into an ally and watched as five men exited a shop carrying several large bags. "They're robbing them," she realized. Although she was confident with her fighting skills, Misao wasn't sure if she would be able to take on all five men, especially since she had only a few kunai while all of the men carried swords. "I'll follow them to their base," she decided. "Then I'll go get Aoshi-sama." --- Aoshi watched the five men from his position on a nearby rooftop. He had suspected that the sting of robberies were part of a larger organization rather than random individual events. He had decided that tonight, he would follow the men, hopefully to the base of operations. He silently began trailing the thieves, not noticing the small figure darting out of the alley. --- Misao had followed the men to a medium sized house just outside of Kyoto. She placed the sake bottles on the ground then slipped into the house through a partially opened window. Once inside, she quickly dashed behind one of the many stacks of boxes. "There you go boss," said one of the man. "A pretty good haul tonight." "Yeah," said another. "And we didn't even run into that Shadow guy." "But if we did, we'd give him a good beating for messing with our operation." All of the men laughed loudly. "I think I'd better go get Aoshi-sama." Misao headed toward the window but accidently bumped into another stack of boxes. The top box fell and landed on the hard floor with a crash. "Oh, boy," she gasped. "Whose there?" Misao kneeled down and looked through the cracks in the boxes. She could see three of the six men in walking toward her. "Just a little closer," she thought. "I said come out!" "NOW!" Misao pushed with all her might. The large boxes tumbled down on the startled men. "Just three more to go," she thought, jumping out of the shadows, kunai in hand. "Who the hell are you?" demanded the man whom she presumed to be the boss. "My name is not important," she said. "All you need to know is that I'm here to punish you for your crimes." The boss calmly walked over to a large cloth covered object. "Is that so," he said pulling of the cloth and revealing a gatling gun. He pointed it at Misao. Misao stared at the gun, not quite sure what to do. The boss started firing, and a spit second later, Misao felt herself being picked up by an unseen force. --- Aoshi had had now problem slipping into the house. He had taken a position against a wall, in a darkened corner not far from where the boss was seated. Of course, nobody saw him since he had clouded their minds. He was just about to apprehend them when he heard a loud crash. When Aoshi saw Misao jumping out from behind the boxes, his heart almost stopped. And when he saw the boss point the gatling gun at her... Aoshi had ran toward Misao and without missing a step, swept her up and headed for cover. But even though he was invisible, he wasn't able to avoid the rain of bullets. He felt sharp pain in his arm when a bullet hit him as he dove behind some boxes. --- Misao found herself flat on her back. With something, or somebody lying on top of her. She watched as a man suddenly materialized before her. A man dressed completely in black except for a crimson scarf that covered the lower half of his face... "The Shadow?" ...but not the blue eyes behind long black bangs. "Aoshi-sama?" --- Aoshi mutter an oath under his breath when he heard Misao say his name. "I can't deal with that now," he thought as a hail of bullets flew over his head. His arm hurt and he was losing blood; and with Misao as an added distraction, he doubted that he would be able to concentrate enough to cloud their minds. But he wasn't out of tricks yet. "Give me you're kunai," he ordered. Misao silently complied, giving him the both the kunai she had in her hands and the few in he obi. "What are you going to do?" "Shh, just watch." Misao watched as Aoshi closed his eyes. A moment later, the kunai began floating. They rose above the boxes. Aoshi's eyes snapped open and the kunai rocketed in the direction of the boss. Misao heard an agonizing scream as Aoshi leapt out from behind the boxes. She stumbled to the edge and peered out around the corner. The boss was on his knees, both hands impaled with one of her kunai. The other two men charged at Aoshi. He easily knocked them out. He then walked over to the boss. "Don't kill me," pleaded the man. With a quick jab, Aoshi knocked him unconscious. Misao came out from behind the boxes. "Aoshi-sama?" "The gun fire will attract attention," Aoshi said. "We should leave." Misao nodded and followed Aoshi out of the house. --- The bullet had gone completely though Aoshi's arm, and now Misao was busy cleaning the wound. Ever now and then, she would sneak a peek at his face, but, as usual, it gave nothing away. "I wish he would do something," she thought. "Yell at me, hug me, hit me, something!" "Aoshi-sama?" she said with a little voice as she secured the bandage. "Yes?" "I'm sorry about this. I know I should have been more careful. Are you mad at me?" There was a brief silence. "No," he said finally. Misao smiled slightly. "So," she said after a while. "You really are The Shadow?" "Yes," replied Aoshi. He couldn't exactly deny it after what happened. "Why didn't you tell us?" "I was instructed to keep my indentity a secret from as many people as possible, and now I must request you do the same." "You can count on me," said Misao. It made her feel special that she knew something about Aoshi that nobody else did. Even if it did happen by accident. But there were still a few things she wanted to clear up. "So when did all this begin? How did make the kunai float like that? And the invisibility? What else can you do? Where did you get that outfit? Who taught..." The questions came so rapidly, Aoshi had to place his hand over Misao's mouth to silence her. Misao thought she saw a glint of amusement in his eyes. But it was so fleeting, she wasn't sure. "Slow down," he said. "I'll tell you all I can." Misao nodded and settled herself comfortable in front of him. "It all started about a month after I returned to the Aoiya..." End ***************** Well, there it is. I hope you like it. I don't have any plans to continue the series, but if sudden inspiration hits...well, you never know. Thanks for reading. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU! Tired of filling out forms and remembering passwords? Gator fills in forms and passwords with just one click! 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