InuYasha Fan Fiction / Samurai X Fan Fiction ❯ Cadence To Arms ❯ The Art Of Subconscious Illusion ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind."
-Voltaire


Violet eyes stared in horror down at the fallen woman. Blood marred her beautiful kimono. Her impossibly shiny, fine black hair with its delicate fringe of bangs hung limp, and was clotted with blood. Blood. The wretched substance oh himself, the woman and their assailant was everywhere. They were bathed in it. The new cut under his left eye continued to bleed, the spattering of blood conjoining with his tears to form reddish-pink watery tracks down his face and on that of the woman lying motionless in his arms.

Tomoe.

A sob clambered its way up its throat, along with the growl of rage he had suppressed during the battle. When the sound finally escaped the portal of his mouth, it was a loud howl, heavy with his grief, sadness, pain and anger, and of course, guilt.

I believed she betrayed me.

Of course she hadn’t betrayed him. No. His poor, brave Tomoe had gone into the Wolf’s Den to tell them personally that she wouldn’t harm him. That as long as she was alive she would do everything in her power to make sure no one else harmed him. But she was too delicate, too pure. She had fallen for he, and condemned man. A Shadow Assassin. And she had paid for that ultimate transgression with her own life. And there outside in the cold, he held her. Battousai was heedless of the snow falling, or the temperature dropping and of the blood that stained the fluffy snow already on the ground red.

Once this war is over love, I will never kill again.

He cleaned the body of the woman he had loved, and sat by her for the night keeping his vigil over her lifeless and now somewhat blue-tinged form. The next morning he buried her, and ceased his tears. The Hitokiri Battousai had to be strong, had to see this war finished.

But why does it seem like I’m up against insurmountable odds?

“Heh, maybe I am.” he said aloud. “Maybe one sword can’t make the world a happy place for everyone, but damnit to hell I’m going to do my best trying.”

++++

Three Years Later…

The revolution was over, the country no longer torn apart by civil war. The emperor had been restored and, the era of the Samurai was over. Swords were now prohibited to be worn in public. People seemed happy and at ease with how Japan was now. But for one red-headed assassin, the world was now condemning him to a bitter existence. Basically, his services were no longer desired or needed by the new government. At the tender age of eighteen, the former Hitokiri Battousai was obsolete. In truth, now he was no better than a worthless antique fit only for a dusty museum for people to gawk at all day.

Am I really this worthless? I need a purpose. I am nothing being idle like this.

Himura Kenshin was out of a job. He was also broke, starving, and had nowhere to lay his head at night besides the cold, hard earth beneath his feet. Any remaining family members had obviously perished in the tumult of the war else they would have contacted him by now. He wasn’t exactly one to blend in with the crowd.

I could take up farming again, but how could I do it alone? No, I can’t.

He sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. A storm was on its way. Great. Now he’d have to sleep out in the storm and get soaked and cold. Things were getting better for him daily. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and light night flashed on the edge of the rapidly blackening heavens. Cursing a string of curses so foul the drunk Hiko would have been offended (a near impossible thing to accomplish once he was in his cups), the agile former assassin began seriously looking for shelter.

Battousai walked for what seemed like hours. The rain had long since erupted from the low hanging clouds above, and he was sodden through to the bone. Glancing down at his swords, an ironic smile curved his ample mouth.

My swords have never been this clean since I was fourteen years old.

Lightning slashed through the gathering fog, giving dim outlines of the surrounding landscape. He was pretty sure he was somewhere around Edo, but damned if he knew exactly where. The fog was ‘thicker than pea soup’ as the pitiful Americans who were invading his country said so often. Lightning flashed again as he made his way precariously through the forest, trying to avoid being hit by the slashes of electricity. That was not the method of death he preferred. This time, however the distinct outline of a shrine could be seen, and eagerly he began sprinting for it, not caring of the pools of mud and water sucking at his boots.

The shrine proper was deserted, as was the building behind it. As easy as it would be to spend the night in the little gazebo off in the distance, even from here he could see the water pooling on its wooden floor. His body was wracked by an involuntary shudder. No, it was too cold out there already. Battousai’s dazed violet eyes lit upon what looked to be a small storage shed of some sort, and he grinned, despite the weather.

Good. At least this building has four walls, a roof and no leaks.

The wooden shoji door opened with a resounding creak, and the assassin’s eyes clenched shut. Thunder boomed overhead, and he smiled knowingly in relief. No one would have heard that creaking over the damned thunder. It was as if the gods were displaying their displeasure by stomping about as hard as possible upon the earth of their heavenly plane. Slamming the door shut behind him, the young man was stunned by what he saw inside the building.

A well? This plain, decrepit building was constructed solely for the benefit of a well?

He gazed down into the depths of it, but there was no water. Not even rainwater pooled at its bottom, causing Kenshin to scowl. “Damned useless old well.” he muttered irately. The wind picked up outside, causing the flimsy walls of the structure to bow to and fro, like a flimsy paper in a gale of wind. The building g might collapse and implode upon itself at any moment, but Kenshin was beyond the point of caring. For the moment he was dry, safe and out of the storm.

Suddenly he cast a withering glance at the well.

Is that just me, or is warmth emanating from the damned thing?

Well, it was below ground, of course it would be warmer there than on the surface, where the storm was currently raging. With a muffled curse, he gathered his meagre belongings and jumped into the well. Taking off his cloak, he placed it over the dirt bottom, and lowered his body to rest upon it. It was warm in here. The fact came upon him, bothering him to no end. This was a well. Why would there be any amount of warmth in something that at some point at housed water? Cold, wet, infuriating water. The boards that the walls of the well house were comprised of rattled and moaned under the intense pressure of the wind, and Kenshin’s violet eyes were kept intently trained upon the lip of the well.

If the building collapsed, he would suffocate to death down here. At least it was a better death than being struck by lightning, anyway. Being electrocuted was one of his worst fears, grudgingly so. Kenshin had seen a dog electrocuted once by lightning, and had sworn thereafter that he would refrain from travel in thunder storms like the one raising hell outside currently.

The heat was growing faintly stronger, causing the former Battousai to become drowsy. Making sure his swords were within reach should he require them, his tired violet eyes drifted closed as he surrendered to his fatigue.

++++

Far in the future, a girl-child was sitting at the bottom of the self-same well, rent and broken. Her former self had pushed her -forced her back to her own time, simply so she would not be able to go to the boy she had wounded. The boy she loved more than anything she had ever known. Under the spell of a powerful moth demon, she had shot him with one of her arrows, not pinning him to the tree, but inflicting the same damage Kikyo had done half a century before that time.

Kikyo.

How she hated that name. That one word, which rolled as pleasantly as warm honey off anyone else’s tongue, stuck like putty in her throat, tasted as vile as turpentine. She had killed a boy she had professed to love, or rather she had as another demon had taken the guise of her to accomplish the task.

Naraku.

This name made her seethe inside. It brought the bile up from her empty stomach, as it burned its way up and down her throat, but she was resigned not to vomit. This half-demon who was the cause of the pain of so many. He who had murdered the entire village of a young demon huntress and used her undead brother to do his dirty work. He who had turned two lovers against each other, creating a grudge to form between them, whose putrid stain and stench only revenge could erase. Who had created a void in the hand of a young monk, and cursed it to be passed down to his descendants. He who had employed his incarnations to murder the entire pack of a wickedly handsome and endearingly sweet wolf prince.

So much death, so much pain. All so he can become a full demon, like Inuyasha once wanted.

But Inuyasha had seen the hell the shikon no tama left in its wake. Realized that no one had ever found happiness with it, and never would. It had been a trinket created by evil, for evil purposes.

Inuyasha.

The hanyou she loved and would give her life to protect. His happiness, his life had been paramount to her. At all costs, she wanted him to live, even if it meant she had to lay down her own. She was the antithesis of Kikyo. Had Kagome been in her position, she would have simply left the hanyou in peace, left him free to love again and gone to where she belonged. Now, the thought that she’d never hear him berate her tardiness or yell at her for being an idiot caused her physical pain. In truth, the hanyou had been too good for this world. He had been sweet and caring at times with her, gruff in others, protective when needed. Inuyasha had loved her, not caring that she was from another time. Not caring that after everything was said and done and the fellowship of shard hunters disbanded, that she would go back to her time and he would remain in his, and they would all be forced to return to reality.

Ah yes. Cold, hard, unforgiving reality. Cruel Fate. You throw me into his life, then yank me out of it, just as I’ve found my place with him.

The teenager’s mouth twisted into a bittersweet smile as she mentally paced through the bitter ironies that compromised her life.

I will never, ever love again.

That was a certainty. Inuyasha had touched something deep within her soul, had moved her to a state of Nirvana simply by being in his presence. Her lone chord on the violin that was her soul had been plucked, and there were no more. Now all she had were memories, and his blood on her hands, beneath her fingernails from when Menomaru had put her under his spell -and claws had grown out of her fingers.

Unheeding of the cold that permeated the air, Kagome fell against the dirt of the well bottom and wept bitter tears, her goodbye to her first and only love. For by now in this time, he surely was dead. Belatedly, she felt something cold settle upon her nose. Cracking one storm-hued eye open, she regarded the tiny diamond-like snowflakes drifting through the cracks in the roof with solemn detachment. It was snowing. It didn’t matter. It was cold? Well, that didn’t matter, either.

All she could do was look down at her hands and see -smell his blood upon them.

Against her breast, the pinkish-purple fragments of the damnable shikon no tama began to glow, and envelop her in its light. With luminous, vaguely hopeful eyes, she regarded the shards about her neck.

Am I still connected to their world?

The light grew brighter, warmer, stronger. Yet she didn’t feel the bauble pulling her through the realms of time and space. The familiar weightlessness did not come upon her, and the leaden weight of the real world crashed upon her shoulders with brutal force. The light, though to its credit still swirled and glowed, and in the next instant, a resounding thwump could be heard echoing through the tiny well.

Kagome clapped her hands over her ears, while glaring down at the pink bauble about her neck. Her gaze, however swiftly became diverted by a sudden, lethargic movement out of the corner of her eye. Hope sprang up in her chest, and her eyes glowed bright with unshed tears.

“Inuyasha?! Is that you? Oi, stupid hanyou, say something!” she screamed, breathless.

“Who in hell is Inuyasha?” a menacing, yet tired sounding male voice demanded.
Yes, he sounded distinctly male.

The girl froze, and regarded the intruder with a guarded gaze. As the pink glow of the shikon faded, she made out a small, slumped figure at the opposite side of the well, in the possession of distinctly blood red coloured hair, caught up neatly in a high ponytail. In the dimness, a pair of impossibly golden eyes glared accusingly at her.

“Who the fuck are you? What the hell are you doing in my shelter?” he demanded rudely.

++++

Himura Kenshin had an extremely painful headache. The nausea and dizziness that had accompanied it were not receding. To make things worse, he was now stuck in a damned six foot by six foot well with another person, a girl judging by her voice when she had yelled at him, thinking he was somebody else. That thought irked him.

I really am a has-been. This girl doesn’t know who I am, and she’d rather see somebody else here besides me.

Twin pools of stormy blue gazed warily at him in solemn silence from the other side of the well. In the half-darkness, he could only make out her long, raven black hair, and that she appeared to be small, smaller than he was even.

“I’ll forgo answering that question.” she said coolly.

Her answer irked him even more. “Tell me who the fuck you are.” he growled.

“No. You tell me who you are and what exactly you are doing in the well that belong to my grandfather’s shrine.” she said, her tone devoid of any feeling. Kenshin could nigh feel the tendrils of ice creeping up his spine when she spoke.

“Hitokiri Battousai.” Good, that ought to scare the shit out of her.

The girl stared at him impassively, blue eyes bottomless, like a void. “You’re an assassin, good for you. Who are you?”

Kenshin scowled at her. This girl was not easily cowed. He hated that fact. “Himura Kenshin.”

The girl simply stared at him, narrowing her eyes some and cocking her head to the side, as if to ascertain for herself the veracity of his words. Anger began to haze his amber eyes. He wouldn’t lie about his name, he wouldn’t lie about anything. If this girl turned around and took him to the authorities, he wouldn’t lie.

No, I’d just kill them all and be on my way.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “The name mean anything to you?” he jibed.

“I’ve heard of you, but it makes little difference to me who you are.” she replied, her tone still emotionless.

“Well I guess I ought to commend you for being so kind in your honesty.” he spat. “May I have the honour of learning your name?”

Blue eyes simply blinked at him as if in a daze, uncomprehending. “Your name, woman.” he demanded again, gentling his tone by half a degree.

“I am no one.” she said, her tone now bitter. The laugh she emitted was as toneless as her voice had just been.

“Stop playing games.” he growled, narrowing the distance between them, but she neither shrank back, nor crawled forward to meet him. She simply laid there on her side, regarding him with her gleaming eyes.

“You want to know?” she demanded, and twisted her mouth into a sneer. “I am the reincarnation of the miko Kikyo. That is all I am. Happy?”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” he shot back, scowling.

“Higurashi Kagome.” she said, her voice now toneless once more.

Pretty name. Pretty girl. But what the hell is wrong with her?

“What the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded, in a tone that reminded her painfully of the one she had lost.

“Nothing.” No, really it’s nothing. I was just ripped from the side of the man I love and sealed in a place where I can never reach him again, but that’s beside the point.

Kenshin’s now violet gaze narrowed upon the girl called Kagome. She was behaving oddly. She wasn’t scared, she wasn’t angry, she wasn’t happy or sad or confused. This girl exhibited no sign of emotional life within her. That could only mean one thing. His gaze softened a little as understanding lit them.

“Was Inuyasha his name?” he asked.

Her head snapped up, and her eyes blazed at him for a moment. “What?!” she hissed between clenched teeth, and inwardly Kenshin grinned in triumph.

Aha, I struck a nerve.

“The one you lost, his name was Inuyasha?” he asked again, more quietly than earlier.

“Hai.” her eyes took on a dead lustre and her dark head bowed, causing her heavy bangs to cover most of her pretty face. She bit her lower lip with her two top teeth, so hard that two miniscule puncture marks along with two tiny drops of blood appeared where her teeth had been.

“You loved him?” Kenshin pressed on, determined not to soften up to this girl, even though deep within the farthest recesses of his black soul, he could painfully empathize with her obvious pain.

“I wanted to. I never had the chance to tell him.” she said in a voice that sounded as dead as her eyes looked, as she raised her head by a few degrees to gaze at him covertly through the raven veil of her bangs.

“That’s ridiculous.” he snorted.

“Not when my incarnation pushed me through the well and sealed it, it isn’t.” she bit out, a drop or two of venom entering her tone. He almost grinned within his mind.

So she is alive inside after all. I was about to kill her to rid her of her misery.

“That’s how you got here, you say? Woman, I have been sitting in this well for hours riding out a fierce tempest outside. If someone had pushed you in here, believe me I would have noticed. You just appeared out of nowhere.” Kenshin told her, crossing his arms over his small but powerful frame.

“Baka.” she hissed. “This well enables me to travel back in time. I am still in my own time, it’s snowing. I hear my grandfather yelling out prayers to the Sky Spirits to stop it from falling.” Indeed as he listened, the bellow of a hoarse-sounding elderly man could be heard, praying to the skies to cease the falling of the snow. “So if anyone appeared out of thin air, it was you.” Kagome said, narrowing her eyes into two slits blazing blue fire.

Kenshin snorted. “Time travel is impossible.”

A gleam entered her eyes. “Is it? Then explain how until today, a hanyou and I were the only ones who could travel through this well, and only between the Warring States era and this one, this Modern one.”

“A figment of your imagination, woman.” he said resolutely, tossing his blood-red ponytail over a slumped shoulder.

“I assure you, breaking the sealing spell on Inuyasha five hundred years ago was no dream. Not when he came after me and attempted to end my life with his claws for the shikon no tama.” she snapped.
She is virtually indistinguishable from how she had been before. So I argue with her, and she comes to life? I’ll just argue with her more then.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded petulantly, and outwardly cringed at the audible whine in his voice.

Instead of answering directly, she lifted herself so that she rested on her hands and knees, and crawled over to him. Kenshin now found a pair of enormous blue-grey eyes gazing intently into his own. She fingered his fine, red hair, his armour, his weapons, as if she was searching for something. A knowing look entered her eyes as she gazed at his weapons.

“You’re from the Meiji era.” she stated factually.

“How in hell did you know?” he demanded, violet eyes widening in surprise.

“The blade of your sword is far too wide to be from the Warring States era, and the novelty ones they make in this time aren’t nearly of a calibre as high as yours are. The cut and style of your clothing is all wrong for the Sengoku Jidai, and we don’t wear those kinds of clothes here anymore. Well,” she fingered her red hakama, signalling her as a miko. “Not many of us anyway.”

“Those facts could be explained easily, though.” he said in wonder. She grinned brightly at him, and he had to catch his breath. This was the first time she had smiled at him and he gloried in the sight.

When she’s happy, she’s even more beautiful than when she’s pissed off.

The sight of her grin was doing things to his body that no woman had ever succeeded in doing before. Kenshin gazed down in amazement, then scowled for a moment before raising his violet eyes to meet her intense stormy stare.

Why the hell is she affecting me like this?!

The girl named Kagome seemed entirely oblivious to his predicament however, for which Kenshin would be eternally thankful. “But I’ve been to the Sengoku Jidai, remember? Barring the swords Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru-sama wore, I never once witnessed a blade that looks like the one you have, and, not only are your clothes dated, but your accent is not one from the Warring States era, nor from this one.” she said, grinning in her triumph. Kenshin shook his head at the confounding woman.

“What do you mean ‘barring the swords of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru-sama’?” he asked, his tone betraying his curiosity, as well as the way he kept cocking his head at her.

Her smile turned sad. “Inuyasha was a hanyou. Sesshoumaru-sama was his half-brother, a full inuyoukai. They each had a sword that was forged from a fang of their father’s, as well as Sesshoumaru had a sword called Toukijin made from the fangs of a demon that was powerful enough to break the Tetsusaiga.”

“Demonic swords. Your imagination grows as time wears on I see.” Kenshin noted dully, rolling his lavender coloured eyes toward the opening of the well.

“Mister Battousai, if you came here from another time, than I certainly could travel between this time and another.” she stated matter-of-factly, and moved to climb the ladder that led to the interior of the flimsy edifice that a little more than an hour ago had threatened to collapse upon him.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, getting edgy. She turned her head, and regarded him solemnly.

“Getting out of this well before I freeze. You’re welcome to come to the house and warm yourself, I need to explain this time period to you in any case.” she replied, her tone flat once more.

“The pain is fresh.” he noted as she climbed. Without turning, she nodded her head, and he observed the slight heaving of the muscles in her back and shoulders. She gripped the rungs of the old wooden ladder more tightly in her white-knuckled hands and climbed out of the well. A hand appeared at the lip of the well, and without a thought, he too climbed up the ladder and accepted the outstretched appendage as she helped him over the edge.

Kagome moved away from him, the cloth of her miko robes whispering softly against the door as she slid it open a fraction of an inch. Flat, slate grey eyes viewed the sky shimmering with tendrils of falling snow with resignation. Her chest heaved as she attempted to breathe. In the distance, jii-chan’s cries for spiritual aid were getting louder, more desperate. Leaning her forehead against the wood of the door, she inhaled a long, shuddering breath.

“Inuyasha. I never told you, but you mean the world to me. You‘re out there somewhere, and I want you to know that I love you. I always will, you baka hanyou. Wherever you are, be happy for me. You deserve no less.” she murmured, gazing up at the sky, even as her nerve endings registered the feeling of a hand placed on her left shoulder.

“Don’t say goodbye,” she heard Kenshin whisper behind her. “You’ll see him again, in this life or the next. Goodbyes are too final for that.”

Dazedly, she nodded her head, even as the long pent-up tears began to course freely down her cheeks. “It’s just -” she started, not caring about the snow as it began to cover her head in a soft dusting of cloud-white fluff.

“Just what?” he probed. Kenshin was no fool. She was trying to tell him something important.

“I was under the spell of a moth demon and shot him with one of my sacred arrows, putting him into a deep sleep. He doesn’t know I’m gone. That and, he now probably thinks I did it on my own volition. Kikyo found me, and took me from him. I didn’t want to leave, I’d have stayed with him forever. She took me, and shoved me down the well before it was sealed by the Goshinboku.” she explained, her index and thumb digits of both hand fiddling nervously together.

Kenshin was stunned into silence. From her tone, he could tell immediately that she wasn’t lying. His instincts had been better honed these past five years, and a repetition of Tomoe would not occur. Kagome, however was concealing nothing from him. Oddly, it made him feel special to think that she barely knew him, yet was entrusting a part of her life that was so personal into his keeping.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” she continued “Except that somehow, I feel like I can trust you.” she murmured, catching him off guard once more. He rested his chin on the top of her head for a moment, achingly aware of just how small this girl really was.

It’s as if she can read my mind.

This Kagome humbled him. “Thank you,” he said quietly as he gently squeezed the hand that was currently resting upon her shoulder in thanks.

“Dou itashimashite.” she countered, and one of her hands slid up her arm to grasp the hand upon her shoulder. Gently, she took his hand in hers, lowering the joined appendages so the hung loosely between them, and led him out the door.

++++

The shrine looked different in this time, Kenshin had to admit to himself. It was no longer run down, deserted or unkempt. Quite the opposite. The girl, Kagome was the daughter of the shrine’s owner, and did seem to have a powerful ki, indicating that she was a natural born miko. He had not thought women such as they existed after the Warring States period. Yet here was Kagome, the reincarnation of a miko from said era, whose ki he thought must be triple to ten-fold the magnitude of her predecessor’s. He could sense the power of the reincarnated soul, but the greater power of her own soul outweighed it.

Snow covered the delicate looking triangular roofs of the house, the wellhouse and the shrine itself, along with the outer buildings. In the middle of the white blanketed courtyard was the infamous Goshinboku Kagome had spoken of. Kenshin’s expertly trained eyes did not miss the large patch on the front of the tree where bark would never grow back.

If a hanyou really was pinned to it for fifty years, that explains it.

The tree itself emanated a powerful aura of its own, one he was itching to explore. It was by no means an evil aura, but rather it reminded him of Kagome’s. Warm, safe, comforting and all-consuming. A few words were spoken between the girl and her mother, and said woman turned a few glances his way every now and again as he stood by her side.

“Welcome, Kenshin.” her mother said brightly, and he smiled a little at her, and nodded.

“Where’s Inuyasha, dear?” the dreaded question. Kenshin stiffened at her side, and squeezed her hand. Kagome bowed her head, and her eyes took on a suspicious brightness.

“In eternal sleep unless Kikyo wakes him up again.” and that was all the girl intended to say. Ms. Higurashi shot her daughter a sad smile before placing a blanket over her shoulders. She turned to Kenshin, removing her own coat and placing it over his back.

“You’re shivering, dear.” she said kindly. “I’ll go back inside and get another one, don’t worry.” she assured him, just as the boy had opened his mouth to refuse her generous offer.

I am cold. I haven’t been this cold in a long ass time.

Kagome turned to him, and her eyes held such concern that once again he felt humbled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.” he said noncommittally, but she caught the slight gleam of emotion in his eyes.

Together, they walked toward the tree, drawn my its magnetic aura. They passed a very confused old man and little boy, and Kenshin smiled lightly and nodded in greeting as they stepped over the slight barricade -more like a picket fence in one of those lithographs from America sold at the ports of farmhouses in the wild countryside. With white picket fences. Docile farm animals would be standing nearby. And laughing, carefree children running amok in the fields.

How I wish I’d had that life.

As they stood before this Sacred Being, Himura Kenshin felt the first twinge of regret for the life he’d led. The feeling didn’t ebb, and he grimaced with the sheer physical shock to his system that this regret had caused. All those faces, all those innocent men. He’d ended their lives, ended their happiness. Kenshin thought of Akira Kiyosato and felt a tear leak from one of his own eyes.

And here I find myself in the company of a girl who is separated from the one she loves by something worse than death. Time is perhaps everyone’s ultimate enemy.

Her shoulders were shaking. Her now fog-grey eyes stared at the spot where Inuyasha had been pinned, and all the confusion and pain and fear decided to pour out of her in the form of her tears. She sobbed bitterly, and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a strong pair of arms enfold her and guide her to a very strong, very male chest. Kenshin. Kagome closed her eyes, and wept until she couldn’t anymore. All the while, the former Hitokiri Battousai held her to his heart, like a child would a favourite stuffed animal.

“Wherever he is, he is with you in spirit.” Kenshin told her quietly. “You are not alone. He is with you, as am I.”

Her eyes snapped open and grew wide as she tilted her face up to get a better angled view of his face. “You’ll stay, then?” she asked, voice tremulous, like a child lost.

“You didn’t even have to ask.” he said, sitting down at the base of the tree upon one of its roots, and drawing her down to sit next to him. “Tell me of him, if you will. You won’t get any pity from me like you would from your family. I can empathize, and I’m good at listening.” he found himself saying, and mentally ran himself through with his own sword.

Great, now she really won’t tell me.

She nodded, biting her lower lip and bowing her head to gaze intently at the pattern on the bark of one of the roots.

“Mama would just say ‘dear, how horrible!’ and attempt to console me. There is no consolation for something like this, though.” she said, gazing even more intently at the root, allowing one of her fingers to play lightly with the texture of the bark.

“I understand.” More than you know.

“Being from an era where atrocities and tragedy are commonplace, I can well believe it.” her head shot up and her eyes were now boring into his. “You must have been to hell and back, especially with your line of work. If you ever want to talk to me about it, I’m here.” she said kindly, clasping both of his hands in hers and softening her gaze.

Kenshin was reeling. Why? Why, why, why? Why when she is the one in obvious pain, does she put my welfare before her own?

“A-Arigato.” he mumbled, attempting to avoid the slate stare that was so determinedly trained upon his own.

“About Inuyasha. There’s so much to say that I think you’d get bored. But I found him pinned to this very tree by an enchanted arrow five hundred years ago after a centipede youkai pulled me into the well, demanding the Shikon no Tama. The dummy thought I was Kikyo. We didn’t exactly hit it off, if you know what I mean.” she began, as he leaned his head in her direction, displaying his growing interest.

Kagome told him of how he’d thought she was Kikyo, and demanded she remove her clothing. How he’d watched her bathe, and the beating she’d given him afterwards. She told him of how they’d grudgingly set off together on their quest, after Kagome had shattered the jewel as it was being carried away by a disgusting crow youkai. Of Naraku and his deception of Inuyasha and Kikyo, of how it had hurt her to see them together after she was reborn in a clay shell. Very soon she was telling him humorous stories of Inuyasha’s jealousy over Kouga, of the time they’d been led astray by the tiny Thunder youkai, Souten. She told him stories of every day life on the road and in the camp. Miroku’s lecherous ways, but how he had been slowly tamed by the sombre, yet wild-hearted Sango.

They laughed and cried together, sitting at the base of the tree that had started it all for her, as she remembered the good times along with the bad.

“-Kanna then appeared from behind Kagura, and she reflected the kaze no kizu and sent it right back at Inuyasha. He almost died from that particular escapade.” she said, and Kenshin’s grip on her hands tightened. “He didn’t, though.” she continued. “He didn’t ever die. Inuyasha was the strongest of us all, but really there were so many times where he ought to have died, but Fate it would seem was keeping her eye on that baka.”

I ought to have died too, so many times. Why am I still alive?

“Sometimes I can feel him.” she said suddenly and he looked at her, stunned.

“Oro?” he asked, and she giggled. “Huh?”

“You’re just cute when you say that.” she said, and laughed a little as he smiled and shook his head before she continued. “I don’t know if it’s his ki, his soul or just -his presence. That somehow because he’s been here, because five hundred years in the past at this very moment he’s there, sleeping, maybe that’s what does it. But I can feel him now, he’s not happy.” she said sadly, and trained her saddened eyes upon the sky.

“If he loves you and isn’t by your side, then I can see why he is not.” Kenshin said reasonably.

She looked down at her fingernails, and sighed heavily. “His blood is still beneath my fingernails. That demon possessed me, used me in order to destroy the son of the demon who killed his own father. Long claws sprang from my hands, and I..I shoved them through him, just like I almost did to Kaede-baachan. The blood’s still there, and I can smell it. I can feel it there, and it disturbs me.”

At Kagome’s dark reference to blood, Kenshin stiffened. “Inuyasha would always come back from battle covered in it. He’d always say it was nothing, that his being a half-demon had endowed him with extraordinary healing abilities like Sesshoumaru-sama. I would always bandage him up anyway, and get covered in his blood in the process. I have nightmares of it, bathing me, drowning me.”

“I have nightmares that are somewhat like that.” Kenshin admitted, amethyst eyes looking far-off, as if he were in a world of his own making, with no one else there but him.

“I can only imagine.” Kagome replied quietly, and stared up at the sky through the tree’s thick canopy of healthy dark-green leaves and its mass of pale pink blossoms that were falling and blowing everywhere, along with the snow.

‘Kagome?’ Kagome started, looking around the tree, and pinched herself. She yelped, and was assured that she was not dreaming.

“Did you hear that?” she hissed between clenched teeth. Kenshin merely nodded his head, and looked off towards the shrine in contemplative silence. Kagome noticed as he slumped his shoulders and his eyes grew sad. Somehow, the thought that he was upset was upsetting her. They’d both been through enough, he didn’t deserve to be upset like this. She laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, but his lavender gaze didn’t return to her.

‘Kagome, is that you?’ she head Inuyasha’s faint, hoarse voice ask again. Closing her tear filled eyes, she laid her free hand on the place where he had been pinned. The smooth texture tickled the tips of her fingers.

“Hai.” she murmured. “It’s me, Inuyasha.”

‘Where are you? I’m kinda surprised you’re not here.’ she heard him say.

“I-I came back.” she replied, looking down at the sad-looking red-haired boy she stood next to.

‘Keh. Got scared, did you?’ he teased good-naturedly, but her face faltered. A mental image of her incarnate telling her that neither of them were meant to be with Inuyasha, and the image of Kikyo kissing a stunned Inuyasha danced before her mind’s eye.

“Yeah. Never mind.” she said in a low tone, and almost looked away from the tree.

In the next moment, she, Kenshin and Inuyasha were together by the same tree, but the world was full of fog and clouds. Kenshin blinked in confusion, and held her hand tighter, surprising her.

“He means to protect me?” she thought, befuddled at the thought. Why would the Battousai protect her?

“Inuyasha!” Kagome said quietly, staring across the clearing at the hanyou who sat on the same root Kenshin had been resting on, eyes closed with a look of concentration upon his handsome face. Golden eyes immediately snapped open when he heard her voice.

“Oh! You are here, Kagome!” he exclaimed, smiling slightly as he turned to face her. “So, what are you worried about? I can smell your distress..”

“I just feel so helpless. I even hurt you, Inuyasha. I figured you’d be better off without me bothering you anymore. You have Kikyo now, after all.” her answer was made in a whisper, and Kenshin tightened his hold on her hand before letting her go.

“Will you stop going on like that?” he chided her.

Inuyasha’s eyes widened and immediately he arose and, using the Tetsusaiga as a prop, attempted to walk over to her. Apparently, he was totally unaware of Kenshin’s presence. Blue eyes met with violet as he nodded in encouragement before Kagome rushed across the clearing and steadied the hanyou.

“Your wounds, you’ll open them if you move.” she said quietly, and gasped as his clawed hands rested on her back and his strong arms pulled her into a hug.

“I need you with me. Haven’t you realized that yet?” he asked, and then the artificial reality dissipated, and she and Kenshin were once more standing at the base of the tree in Modern Japan.

‘Keh, come on back Kagome.’ she head him beckon her.

“I can’t! Kikyo pushed me before that tree sealed the well with its roots, Inuyasha.” she said, panic-stricken.

‘Use the sacred arrow. That’s what Kaede-baba said to do.’

“But I don’t have anything like that here!” she called to him, her voice near hoarse with her desperation to get back to him.

‘Stay where you are then, Kagome. I’m coming.’ his voice sounded confident, and she grinned despite herself.

“Typical reckless baka.” she muttered affectionately, then turned to Kenshin.

“Come with me? I think you’d feel more at home in the Warring States era where at least you won’t get arrested for possession of a weapon.” she said, shooting a hopeful smile at him.

She’s completely different now. If she smiles at me like that again, I’d do a lot more for her than just go back in time with her.

“Hai.” he said, sounding as confident as Inuyasha, and made a grab for his things.

The wellhouse suddenly exploded with the force of Inuyasha’s kaze no kizu, and Kagome’s face lit up. “Inuyasha!” she called.

A low, menacing growl came from beneath the rubble. “Kagomeeeee!”

“Hello to you too, stupid.” she said cheerfully and set off toward the well, waving a casual goodbye to her stunned family, and was closely followed by Kenshin. He was oddly quiet and withdrawn now, she thought worriedly.

“Who the fuck are you calling stupid?” demanded the thoroughly irate hanyou.

“The hanyou who always calls me a baka for no reason.” was the pert reply before the object of his ire turned and offered one tiny, delicately boned hand to a man he’d never seen before. “Come on Kenshin, the baka hanyou is right, it’s time to go.”

“Hai, Kagome-dono.” the former assassin replied quietly before gingerly taking the offered hand in one of his larger ones. His hand shook as it held hers.

“Who the hell is this, Kagome? Found another man already? It doesn’t take you long to whore yourself around, does it?” Inuyasha demanded hotly, though he didn’t mean the words. He was just surprised and not a little hurt that Kagome had seemingly befriended another male while they’d been separated. His scent was all over the little miko.

Inuyasha’s answer was an eerily calm, amber-eyed, red-haired male standing in front of a sputtering Kagome. “I am Hitokiri Battousai.” he said coldly, before lightly tugging on Kagome’s hand to jumping through the well with her.

Inuyasha looked after the pair, perplexed. “Who in hell is he?” he wondered aloud.

A scratchy, hoarse voice sounded from behind the hanyou. “If that boy was the Hitokiri Battousai, this does not bode well -or maybe it does, but it depends.” Kagome’s Jii-chan said.

Inuyasha’s ears flicked back, and he turned his golden gaze to the old man. “Yeah, on what?”

“On who’s side he’s on.” was the chilling reply.

“He seems to like Kagome enough, though so he’d probably be willing to help your group. Battousai had a reputation for fierce loyalty to those he displayed a liking for if I remember correctly.” Kagome’s Mama added, her blue eyes looking pensive.

“Was he a good or bad guy? That’s all the hell I need to know.” said Inuyasha, feeling more cross by the instant.

“Both, actually. He fought with ideals in his heart for a new Japan to be forged at the tip of his blade. Unfortunately, he chose to do this by becoming the most feared and skilled assassin of the Ishin government, siding with the Emperor. Just be careful with him, he could be a loose canon, although judging by how calm he’s been until you came along, I don’t think he’ll hurt Kagome.” Jii-chan replied.

“Fucking hell.” Inuyasha swore viciously, and leapt headlong into the well, claws grappling frantically at the sides of it, to try and get to the other side faster. It seemed Menomaru was not the only threat that was being posed. Now Kagome had brought an assassin right into their midst.

++++

At the other side of the well, Kagome and Kenshin emerged from the battered structure, and tumble over a few loose logs on their way out. Immediately, a bright orange ball of fuzz attacked Kagome, causing Kenshin to draw his sword and take the stance of Battoujutsu.

“KAGOME!” Shippou crowed happily, as Kagome grinned and returned the little kitsune’s embrace.

“I am glad to see you, Shippou-chan. Were you a good boy?” she asked, siding a glance to Kaede, who nodded.

“Yup, I was!” the fox youkai announced, and clung to her shoulder. Kagome turned to Kenshin, and smiled reassuringly at him. However upon seeing his stance, her smile gentled and she held up her hands, walking toward the golden-eyed assassin calmly, as she did with Inuyasha when he transformed into his youkai form.

“Too bad I can’t subdue him by saying ‘Osuwari’.” she thought.

“It’s okay, Kenshin. They’re not hostile, in fact quite the opposite. This is Kaede, the miko of the shrine of Edo, and Shippou-chan, a kitsune. They’re my friends.” she said, laying one of her upraised hands upon the wide sleeve of his navy blue haori, and looked intently into his eyes. Kagome was no fool. Kenshin’s eyes morphed from violet to gold when he was in his Battousai mode. This had to stop, and now before Inuyasha got back.

Kenshin’s eyes wavered, as violet fought for control over gold in their depths. Shippou jumped off her shoulder to land at Kaede’s feet, and took to watching the interaction between Kagome and the new man intently.

“Kaede-baachan! That man is scary!” Shippou whined.

“Hush, fox child.” the old woman admonished, for she herself had glimpsed the conflict in the man’s eyes. “He is a boy, Shippou about Kagome’s age. But he has the eyes of a killer and a child at once. Do not disturb them, Kagome’s trying to bring him around.”

Ignoring the chatter, Kagome took Kenshin’s katana and sheathed it in its scabbard at his hip. Taking his cold, calloused hands in her own, she approached closer to the confused boy.

“I know you’re in there and that you can hear me, Kenshin.” she whispered. “No danger is upon us, well not yet anyway. We’ll be facing a very dangerous demon soon enough, but there is no harm here. Their auras are pure, feel them.”

Kenshin lifted his head, and gazed intensely at the old miko and the kitsune, and nodded his mahogany head in mute agreement. “Sumanu, Kagome-dono.” he said quietly.

Kagome merely looked up into his now wholly violet eyes, and grinned broadly. “I’m happy you’re back! Don’t be sorry, there’s nothing to forgive. Let’s go, though!” she exclaimed, and began to drag him toward the forest of No Return.

“Just where in hell do you think you’re going with Kagome, assassin?” a gruff voiced hissed from behind them. The scraping of metal on leather and a whoosh signalled that Inuyasha had drawn Tetsusaiga, in its transformed state.

Narrowing his eyes, Kenshin turned to regard the hanyou with an imperious glare that so replicated the one Sesshoumaru usually sent their way that everyone visibly shivered. Biting back a growl, Kenshin stood his ground as the enraged hanyou advanced upon him.

“I am going with her as she wishes, because apparently we have a gigantic moth youkai to slay. I am a slayer. It would be a benefit to your small party to have my aid. I am also honoured to protect Kagome-dono, and I will do so. If you do not willingly allow me to do so, I will do so no matter.” he said in a tone that could freeze the Sea of Japan.

“I am the only one fit to protect Kagome.” Inuyasha growled. “What’s with you being so familiar with her anyway? ‘Kagome-dono’?!”

Kenshin shrugged nonchalantly. “I am being polite by utilizing the honorific suffix. Now if you excuse me, I have a demon to slay.”

“Not before you fight me!” Inuyasha bellowed, his wide golden eyes burning with fury.

“If you want to fight me, you are free to challenge me with that overgrown sword of yours after the battle is over and the offending youkai slain. Though you will inevitably lose. Now is there or is there not a giant moth demon out there stealing the souls of the living?” the former assassin demanded, looking nonplussed in the face of the hanyou’s ire.

“Indeed there is, Lord Inuyasha!” exclaimed Myouga as he settled onto Inuyasha nose, sucking a bit of blood before being rudely smacked to the ground below.

“Lord Inuyasha! Menomaru, the new Lord Hyouga is growing ever stronger and stealing the souls of every living thing! You’re the one so intent on stopping what your father started, so if you don’t mind, lets go!” the tiny flea demon screeched in outrage.

“Yeah, let’s get the hell out of dodge.” Kagome muttered, taking Kenshin’s hand and leading him toward their destination. Violet eyes met blue as they ran side by side, jumping over the protruding roots and falling branches and twigs.

“Ano Kagome-dono, where is ‘Dodge’?” he called uncertainly.

Kagome laughed up at him. “It’s a figure of speech!” she shouted, and began to run faster. Inuyasha was directly behind them, Shippou clinging desperately to his neck in a vain attempt not to fall off. His golden eyes remained trained on the pair ahead, but widened when Kagome turned her delicate head and her misty blue eyes found his own. She mouthed something, and smiled.

‘Haiyaku, sweetheart.’ she had mouthed, his sensitive ears picked up the whisper in her voice, the white silky triangles atop his head were sent perked in ever which way, and his butter gold eyes held all the questions, and hers all the answers. She mouthed it again, before turning once more and sprinting on ahead of Kenshin.

The assassin slowed a bit and as the hanyou caught up with him, he smiled his first genuine smile in years directed at anyone other than the beautiful miko ahead of them. “You’re a lucky man,” he called, much to the surprise of the hanyou.

“I know. When this is all over, Kagome and I will have a future.” he thought confidently to himself. “Unless she decides to go back to her own time.”

No. He wouldn’t let her. Inuyasha felt so weak when his Kagome was not by his side. His words to her earlier had been true.

‘I won’t run. Not without you. I can never leave you behind.’

The hanyou had come as close to telling Kagome he loved her as he was capable of. Even Kikyo had never heard such words uttered from his lips. His promise to protect the miko was indeed genuine. But the girl he truly loved, the one he’d been so anguished to have been parted from was sprinting faster than he’d ever seen any human go, she almost matched his demon speed. To his left, the assassin wasn’t doing too badly either.

Maybe that cocky bastard could be put to good use, after all.

++++

The fight was over, Menomaru vanquished. It had been by no means an easy feat, and everyone had been in awe of each others’ performance. To the majority of the group who’d never even set eyes upon Kenshin before the battle ensued, his speed and agility were nothing short of God-given. Not even Inuyasha could match the speed of Hitokiri Battousai once his target was engaged. The hanyou and the demon slayer had watched in awe as he had effortlessly performed Ran-Geki-Jutsu, of which he promised to explain later.

Kenshin, in turn had been in rapt awe of the backlash wave of Tetsusaiga, and of Kagome’s purifying arrows. She had said she’d possessed miko powers, but he hadn’t been quite certain of the veracity of her claim. Now, he realized she had understated her abilities on purpose, because apparently she wasn’t one to boast and gloat. The kazaana in Miroku’s hand had given him pause, however. When Kagome had related the tale of how the houshi and his antecedents had become cursed, she had wept bitter tears. Kenshin, however admired the monk’s courage. He stared at the thing that he knew would end his life without fear. That was truly amazing. The demon slayer was perhaps the enigma out of the group. She wielded her Hiraikotsu with fluid grace, killing hundreds of youkai in one swing. But she refused to speak on where she had learned the technique or of the circumstances that had led her to join the group.

Kagome had explained it all to him beneath the Goshinboku, but he was deeply disturbed by the taijiya’s reluctance to speak on it. It must have something to do with the disappearance of her otouto. To that end Kagome had also proved to be close-mouthed. Why would they be so reluctant to speak on the boy?

“Assassin.” it was the hanyou. Amethyst coloured eyes met soft gold.

His eyes are a softer version of mine when Battousai controls me.

“Nani?” Kenshin asked quietly.

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?” the hanyou asked, lowering his lean frame to sit cross-legged beside Kenshin.

“My past is something I refuse to speak on.” Kenshin replied smoothly, though his eyes now had a sad look to them. “I can, however explain the moves to you if you wish.”

“Sure.” Inuyasha agreed, more than a little dumbfounded by the Hitokiri’s words.

“The Hiten Mitsurugi sword skill involves speed and agility. Each technique is classified into five different categories.” he began, and inhaled sharply, greedily sucking in the oxygen rich air.

Kagome was indeed correct. The air here is much more pure than in my time or hers.

“Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is the sword style I was taught from the age of nine. The first group of moves is called Ran-Geki-Jutsu. It is compromised of three moves; Ryu-Kan-Sen, Do-Ryu-Sen, and Ryu-Sou-Sen.” he said, and proceeded to explain in detail the moves and speed necessary to successfully execute these attacks.

“That is amazing. Maybe we should practice and spar sometime, Hitokiri. I’d like to test my Tetsusaiga against your katana.” the hanyou remarked.

Kenshin shook his head. “Unlike you, my blade possesses no magic, and thus you would have an unfair advantage over me. I may teach Kagome to fight, to better defend herself and protect her loved ones, and you, if you would promise to do the same. But I refuse to pass on my kenjutsu ryuu to someone who will turn around and use it to kill. Too many bodies have fallen bloodied to the dirt because of my blade alone.”

Inuyasha just stared at the red-haired assassin in shock. “You mean you regret your actions?” He couldn’t comprehend -but then, he could. When he had been driven mad with rage over the Shikon no Tama and destroyed that village, he had felt the sharp sting of remorse, but it hadn’t been the same as the sheer physical pain that crossed Kenshin’s face now.

“Every day.” the other whispered, and left it at that. Instead, Kenshin opted to gaze briefly at Kagome, and allowed himself to smile a little.

“What are you staring at?” Inuyasha demanded, feeling the hot pulse of jealousy beat a thrum within his demon blood. A vein ticked a wild tattoo at his temple.

“Looking at a beautiful woman.” Kenshin said bluntly. “I feel at peace when I’m around her. I feel -joy. I have never felt truly happy in my life before meeting her. She didn’t run away in terror of me like all the others did. She just smiled and took my hand, and talked to me. Like I was a normal person.”

“Funny, that’s exactly how she makes me feel.” Inuyasha thought, as the jealousy lessened a little. Kagome did in fact possess an extremely calming aura. Maybe that was the only reason why this solemn young assassin was staring at her.

“No, he called her beautiful. I never called her beautiful.” the hanyou thought sadly. The closest he had been able to come was when she had cradled his head in her lap that first night of the New Moon after they’d been attacked by that spider demon. He’d told her she smelled nice. That was all. And here was a man actually able to admit the truth. The hanyou sighed.

“I think my experiences with Kikyo have left me incapable of expressing my feelings for anyone.”

“Daijoubou de gozaru ka?” the assassin’s calm, measured voice stabbed through the haze of his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Give it a rest, will ya?” the hanyou said irritably.

“You know if you actually allowed people to care for you, maybe others would allow you to care for them.” the former Battousai uttered cryptically, before shoving off of the rock and stood, stretching his long legs. For such a tiny man, his legs comprised the bulk of his body length.

“What the hell does he mean?” the hanyou wondered, more confused than he’d been before he’d sat down to speak with the solemn youth.

++++

Kenshin made his way toward the mid-sized fire surrounded by tiny, odd-shaped stones. He sat, drawing his knees to his chest and hugged them to him, though still grasping his katana tightly in the crook of his left arm. Kagome moved busily about the camp, having set a kettle filled with water on a rack over the fire to boil. Every now and again she would shoot an inquisitive glance his way, and he would return her gaze and smile lightly at the girl. As much as the demon slayer was an enigma, so too was this girl. More so because he seemingly knew everything about her adventures in this era.

Demo, I know nothing about what makes her who she is.

Kenshin wanted to know this girl, not know of her. He hadn’t felt this way for a girl in the entirety of his short life. He had never desired to know about Tomoe’s past, what she liked, why she acted the way she did. He had simply taken her for what she was, and left it at that. This girl, however made him desire to know her. It wasn’t like she was deliberately setting out to capture her attention, either. She divided her attention and affection equally among all the members of their little rag-tag band.

“Kenshin-kun, would you like some tea?” he heard her musical voice utter quietly.

“Hai, arigatou gozaimasu Kagome-dono.” he replied as quietly, slanting a brief glance up at her retreating form.

Kami, has there even been a woman more sweet and beautiful than this one?

He sighed. By rights she belonged with the hanyou, but the man was infuriating. If he loved this woman, then why didn’t he at make his affections known to her? It was odd, the way Inuyasha was holding himself at arm’s length from the woman he seemed to care for. Something had obviously happened long ago when Kikyo had betrayed him to have made him turn inward like this. It ought not to have mattered, though. Kenshin had lost Tomoe who had betrayed him, she had even ended her life upon his own blade. The difference between he and the hanyou was stark. He had forgiven the woman, and had been at peace with her death, because she had chosen to save him, knowing she would perish. Just as Tomoe had chosen her death, so had Kikyo. She had died to rid the world of the Shikon no Tama. But unlike Kenshin, Inuyasha had still not made peace with her memory.

This is ridiculous. That woman is no more the real Kikyo. That woman died long ago and has been reincarnated. This woman is a mere shell of the being she once was; even as Tomoe would be if she had been resurrected in such a manner.

The past, it seemed was bloody for all the people in the group, even the pure Kagome. To be haunted by the woman she had been, by the hanyou’s unintentional, though hurtful flaunting of her under her nose. Knowing the bloody life she had lived in another body long ago. That was truly what the term ‘hell on earth’ meant. Kenshin understood this with painful clarity. His violet eyes followed her movements as she ladled the tea into mugs to pass around to everyone. He stood, and moved toward her, picking up three of the mugs in his calloused grasp.

“Here, allow me.” he said quietly, and passed the mugs to the three stunned spectators. Afterward, he moved back to the fire, and sat down beside the object of his admiration, and began to silently sip at his tea.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

Kenshin turned to her, violet eyes grave. “Hai. It tastes very good indeed. It is a great reprieve from the sake I used to guzzle non-stop like a blithering fool.”

Her gasp caused him to bow his head in shame. “It is shameful to admit. But when one is haunted by dreams of blood and gore night in, night out the only escape I could contrive was the sake.”

“N-No. I..” she stammered.

“My master taught me the sword, but I learned to drink on my own. It is a shameful habit, Kagome-dono. I am sorry.” he said, and finished his tea. Grasping his katana, he made to get up, but was halted by a slim arm barring his way.

“No. Do not apologize to me for the hell you went through, Kenshin.” He noticed with surprise that she had dropped the honorific suffix.

“I never told you anything of my past and yet you seem to sense that my past was a nightmare. How is that?” he asked quietly.

“Your ki. It radiates your pain, Kenshin. Years and years of pain, blood and death.”

“This soul of mine is black, murderous and -worthless.” he muttered, turning his gold-flecked lavender eyes from her. The fire played eerie shadows over the rough planes of his face, and brightened his hair to a startling bright red, shot with orange and gold undertones.

From a distance, the others listened. Yet the former assassin was speaking so low that neither Sango, nor Miroku could hear accurately what he was saying, and Shippou was asleep. Inuyasha, however could hear every single word uttered from the Hitokiri’s lips.

“Iie, Kenshin. Your past is black, but your soul isn’t. Watch this.” she stared hard into his eyes, and they both began to glow pink.

She’s searching my ki. How is she accomplishing this?!

“I’m not invading your thoughts in any way. But your soul has a radiant brightness.” she said simply to his stiffened back. She observed the taut muscles visible through his navy blue haori with fascination. Kenshin really was a beautiful boy -man.

“You are the only one to have ever said there was good in me.” he whispered, closing his eyes and bowing his head. His ponytail fell over his face, causing a blood red veil to mask his strained features.

“There is good in almost everyone and everything.” Kagome said practically.

“Perhaps you are right. I am not as I once was, but my past actions can never be erased. I know clearly what happiness was to the people I protect. For the first time I begin to understand each person’s happiness and struggles. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu is quite an impressive skill but regardless of how skilled I become, I cannot accomplish the goal of a new era alone. And, I can never grant everyone's happiness. What I can do is protect people's happiness one by one.” replied to former assassin in the barest of whispers.

“Hai.” she said simply, gazing up at the twinkling stars. The night really was beautiful, crowned by a gleaming harvest moon and studded with millions of winking stars.

“You are an enigma to me.” Kenshin admitted at length, as her head snapped down to meet his gaze as he’d swivelled his head to turn toward her.

“Even as you are an enigma to me.” she shot back.

This is getting me nowhere fast.

“Then why don’t we get to know each other? For some reason, as you said at the Goshinboku, I trust you enough to tell you of myself.” she sucked in a breath, and stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. Her raven hair fluttered delicately in the night breeze, and her blue-grey eyes were large and luminous. Her hands were crossed demurely in her lap. She wore her ‘school uniform’ now, the shockingly short skirt and the tight-fitting white and green blouse knotted by a red scarf. But she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“You have yourself a deal.” she stated firmly, but her eyes belied the joy she felt.

The hanyou watched this interaction silently. So, the assassin was an object of fascination for Kagome. It was nothing new, he was that to everyone in the group, but, the only one of them he would ever speak to at length was Kagome. To the others, he was polite, yet said as few words as possible. The guy had to be interest in the girl from the future to be speaking to her this long. The pain that clutched at his heart was unbelievable.

‘Is this how she felt every time I went to meet Kikyo?’ he thought sadly.

Maybe he hadn’t lost her. Maybe all he had to do was come out and tell her, as the assassin had obviously told him to do. But he couldn’t. Something held him back, kept him silent. From having the only happiness he’d ever found in his entire life.

Kikyo.

Her memory was with him yet, and would likely remain for eternity.

++++