Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Not One of Us ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or the song One of Us. Don't bother suing me because I have no money.

A.N. - This fic was inspired by One of Us from the Lion King 2 Soundtrack. I'm not sure why, but it just stuck in my head until I wrote it down. The lyrics for the song are at the end, but I would recommend listening to the song while reading the story, if you have it. The story is a different take on the events of the first episode. I used the script of the first episode for most of it, but changed some bits, and ended it differently. I suppose I could have started at the end, but I wanted to give more background to the story.

I will be using the Japanese names for things because I feel that some words lose something in translation.

Kenshin trudged slowly through town, unconcerned despite the late hour. Although he didn't look like much: faded and much patched magenta yukata and white hakama, short, with a slight build. His only features that stood out were his long fiery red hair and cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. He carried a sword at his side however, and was more than capable of defending himself with it.

A young woman with blue-black hair, dressed in practice clothes and holding a bokken ran through the streets behind him. He heard her coming, but did nothing until she abruptly stopped behind him.

"Wait," she said. "Wait, Hitokiri Battousai." He resisted stiffening, but his mind was working frantically.

"How could she know who I am? I've never been in Tokyo before! And what does she want with me so badly?" Kenshin turned slowly to face her.

"I finally found you! You're much weaker looking than I expected, Hitokiri Battousai." As she moved to attack him, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oro!"

"Prepare yourself!" He stood stock still until she almost hit him before jumping high into the air. It was very graceful until his landing, which resulted in the breakage of a shopfront and caused a bucket to upend itself on his head. The young woman was shocked that he first evaded her and then acted like such a klutz.

"Are you really the legendary Hitokiri? I heard you slew three more people last night..."

"Rurouni...I am a wanderer. Merely a wandering swordsman, that I am. Do you think I could slay someone with this?" He offered his sword to her. She slowly drew it, but fell back in shock when it was fully unsheathed.

"What is this? The blade's on the wrong side!"

"A sakabato, it is."

"A sakabato?"

"It cannot slay anyone. And no evidence of it either, is there?" he asked, picking himself up off the ground and dusting off his clothes.

"True, there isn't a single chip on it. It looks as good as new."

"I've proven my innocence, haven't I?"

"You know...Battousai has been appearing every night..." she waved his sword in his face, jabbing with her finger to emphasize her point. "...killing people on the streets with his sword! Wandering around at this time of the day with a sword, anyone would think...But first, it's forbidden by Meiji law to carry a sword..." Just then, whistles sounded in the distance. "Is it the real one this time?" she asked, almost to herself. She dashed off, tossing the sakabato in the air. Kenshin clumsily attempted to catch it at first, but when she was out of view, it slid into his sheath smoothly and his whole demeanour changed.

In a street nearby, a large man stood, holding a sword dripping with blood with his left hand. Dead police officers littered the ground behind him, and he eyed the living ones in front with contempt.

"Weak. You are all too weak!" The police charged him, but he killed them with two swipes of his sword. The remaining officer took a defensive stance, looking like he'd rather run away.

"He's strong! He must be the legendary manslayer with this kind of strength..."

"That's enough, Battousai!" cried the young woman, running up behind the last policeman. She charged the large swordsman but missed. His slash hit her shoulder and her slide took her in front of a wall. He came at her again and she tried to defend, but his katana cut through her bokken easily. "Oh no..." He was about to kill her when Kenshin ran in from the side and carried her out of his range. All his sword cut was the wall she had been standing in front of seconds earlier.

"Rurouni?" she asked, puzzled.

"It's rather reckless to fight a real sword with a wooden one." More whistles sounded, along with angry shouts.

"Don't let him escape this time!" The large masked swordsman ran, calling as he went.

"I am Battousai! Hitokiri Battousai of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu!"

"Wait!" called the young woman, struggling to get out of Kenshin's arms.

"It's reckless, it is," he told her gently.

"The Kamiya Kasshin Ryu is my family's style! He's randomly slaying people in our name." She kept trying to go after the swordsman until she passed out in Kenshin's arms.

"A courageous girl..." he said out loud. "What should I do with her now?" he thought to himself. The situation reminded him of the last woman he had held. "Tomoe. She fainted the first time I met her as well. Except back then I was the killer. I was Hitokiri Battousai. Hopefully this girl doesn't meet the same fate as Tomoe. But what do I do with her?

"Wait, she said Kamiya Kasshin Ryu was her family's style. Maybe they have a dojo I can bring her to." He walked around Tokyo until he came to a compound with a sign that said 'Kamiya Kasshin Ryu' next to the gate. He knocked, but when noone answered, he opened the gate cautiously. Gently laying her down on a futon, he searched the dojo for other people, but found noone. What he did find was a basic medical kit, which he used to treat her sword slash before going outside to sleep. He stayed close to her room, in case she woke up during the night. Leaning against the wall, he fell asleep with his sakabato propped against his shoulder.

The next morning, he awoke when two tiny hands prodded him gently. "Hello," he said to the two little girls attached to the hands.

"Hello, who are you?" asked Ayame.

"Who are you?" repeated Suzume.

"I am a rurouni," replied Kenshin.

"Rurouni," repeated Suzume.

"Would you two like to help me make breakfast?"

"Yah!"

"Yah!"

Kenshin sat and stirred the miso while his two little helpers went off to get something. They came back carrying a daikon radish and an armful of green onions.

"This too."

"Oh, don't put in that much, no don't..." he tried to say, but it was too late. They had already dropped all of it in. The miso splashed up, and Kenshin stood, wiping it off his face with his sleeve.

"What are you doing?" asked the young woman, having woken up.

"Oh, you're up, are you? Your sisters are very cute. I have become good friends with them now."

"Friends!" said Ayame and Suzume, one after the other.

"I was just borrowing your garden for a bit to make breakfast. Care to join us, would you?"

"Here," said Ayame, presenting her with a tray of rice balls.

The young woman took one, asking, "you made this?" She took a bite. "T-this can't be..."

Kenshin nervously asked, "d-did you not like how it tastes?"

"You cook better than me." He fell over in surprise and relief. After breakfast, Kenshin left the dojo, despite Kaoru's attempts to get him to stay. After being reminded of what had happened to Tomoe because of him, he had no desire to repeat the past with another young woman. He did however stay near the dojo. After seeing how reckless and determined Kaoru was, he wanted to protect her if she went after the man calling himself Battousai again. Thus, he was there when her students arrived at the dojo.

"Everyone, thanks for coming!" she said. "We'll get Battousai tonight..."

"Um...actually..."one of the students began, "we're going to quit as of today...My friends all belittle me lately - asking if I study the style known for that murderer."

The next said, "my mother insisted I leave the school that sides with murderers...Even if I tell her it's not true, she doesn't believe me."

The third continued, "I can't go on..."

"We're sorry," all said. Kaoru was numb with shock. "We're sorry," they repeated, bowing and walking away. Kenshin watched from the shadows, even more determined when he heard how Kaoru was suffering because of his name. He left to find where the false Battousai was hiding to settle it once and for all.

Kenshin finally found where the murderer had been hiding in between killings, but he had left. One man remained to guard the place, and Kenshin forced the man to tell him everything before hurrying back to the Kamiya dojo, villain in tow. When he arrived, the murderer had Kaoru by the throat and was about to kill her. He forced the villain to open the door, surprising everyone inside.

"Nishiwaki, what is it?" asked Gohei.

"H-he's strong..." was all he got out before Kenshin put him out cold.

"R-rurouni?" stammered Kaoru.

"Remove that hand, if you will," Kenshin said.

"I remember you from yesterday..." said Gohei.

"So I should have defeated you back then.

"Y-you can't!" cried Kaoru. "You can't possibly beat him!"

"I see. Another fool talking about swords bringing out one's potential?" commented Gohei scornfully.

"No..." replied Kenshin. He walked slowly and deliberately forwards as he spoke. "A sword is a weapon. Swordsmanship is learning how to kill. That is the truth. What Kaoru-dono says is play talk that only those who have never stained their hands can say. However, I prefer Kaoru-dono's play-talk more than the truth, I do. I wish that in the world to come, her play-talk would become the truth."

"Get him! He should get a slow painful death!" yelled Gohei.

"Yeah," chorused the gang members.

"Run!" yelled Kaoru.

"Stand back!" ordered Kenshin. "I don't wish to hurt anyone."

"No one'll get hurt," said one thug.

"Only one casualty..." said another, "...and that's you!" They attacked Kenshin. Once he drew his sword, it was almost impossible to follow his movements, and he left groaning and unconscious thugs in his wake.

"H-he got four, or was it five guys in one swing..." stammered one. "It's witchcraft!"

"Red hair, a cross-shaped scar on his cheek...this guy..." said Gohei.

"I forgot to mention one thing," said Kenshin, turning slightly and resting his sakabato on his shoulder. "The swordsmanship of Hitokiri Battousai is neither Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, nor whatever original style you use. He uses the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, an ultrasonic killer style that is sure to slay anyone unless used with a sword such as this." He tilted his sakabato to catch the light.

"Then you're the real Hitokiri?" said Kaoru. Gohei dropped her before turning to face Kenshin.

"Interesting," he said. "We only need one Battousai in this world. I am the only one worthy of that name. If I defeat you, I am sure to be the strongest man." He drew his sword.

"I guess I have no choice," commented Kenshin.

"Die, Battousai!" said Gohei, raising his katana above his head.

"Over here!" said Kenshin from above his head before bringing his sword down hard on Gohei's fingers and sending him through the floor. "I have no regrets or attachments to the name Battousai, but I can't give it away to someone like you. Of course, with those fingers, you will never be able to swing a sword again."

"I can't believe this," said the only conscious thug. "They're all just knocked out. None of 'em are dead."

"Go to the police and tell them what this man has been doing," Kenshin ordered him. "Understand?" The man ran off as quickly as he could, whimpering. When he was gone, Kenshin turned to Kaoru. "I am sorry, Kaoru-dono, I am. I didn't mean to hide it from you. It's just, I didn't want to tell you if it was not necessary. Well, take care." He turned and began to walk away as Kaoru struggled to speak.

"You idiot!" she yelled.

"Oro!"

"Are you just going to walk away? How do you expect me to rebuild the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu without you? Can't you at least help me out a little? I don't care about other people's pasts!"

"However, now that this incident is over everything will be for naught if the real Battousai stayed here..."

"I'm not saying that I want Battousai to stay. I want you, the rurouni to sta..." She stopped mid-word and covered her mouth. "If you insist on going away, at least tell me your name. Not the name of the legendary Hitokiri. Your real name."

"Himura. Himura Kenshin."

"Kenshin. So why don't you be on your way now, Kenshin?" The doors shut, and since she had her back to him, she thought he had left.

"I'm a little tired of wandering," he said. She spun, happy that he had decided to stay. They worked out an arrangement that worked quite well. He would cook and clean, and she would teach in order to earn some money. It was a reverse of the usual order of things, but neither of them minded. But then, two weeks after Kenshin began living at the Kamiya dojo, everything changed for the worse.

Kenshin was out for an evening walk when he heard cries and the clash of swords. Ten police were being attacked by a group of thirty swordsmen. Kenshin joined the fight to help the police, and received a deep wound to his right shoulder early in the fight. It would've been over quickly if he had still been willing to kill, but it's much more difficult to defeat someone without killing them. Despite his best efforts, all the police were killed, and the swordsmen were closing in on him.

He had lost too much blood, and his movements were slowed. Just as he was about to be attacked en masse, police whistles were heard nearby. The attacking group retreated from the huge number of police on their way. Kenshin tried to follow to beat them, but he had lost too much blood. He stumbled, and only managed to get far enough away that, when the police arrived, it looked like he was trying to get away. He was so drenched in blood that it was hard to tell what was his, and what belonged to the dead officers. To make matters even worse, blood from the deep wound in his right shoulder had been running down his arm, and now covered his sword.

"Chief, we've found him! We've found the killer!" yelled one of the officers. Right at that moment, Kaoru showed up. When Kenshin hadn't returned home, she had gotten worried and gone looking for him. She arrived to find him standing near a pile of dead bodies, him and his sword drenched in blood. Even his hair was dripping with it, which looked particularly eerie. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, Kenshin. How could you!?" she cried.

"Kaoru-dono, it wasn't - I didn't kill them!" he said, anguished that she could believe him capable of such a thing. "And yet, at one point, I could have killed them. Not for no reason though, not like these men were killed," he thought to himself.

When she spoke again however, it was like she hadn't even heard him. "I knew that you were the Hitokiri Battousai when I invited you to stay with me, but you said you didn't kill anymore. And I was stupid enough to believe you!"

"Kaoru-dono, please, believe me. I didn't do this. I would never kill innocent police officers," he tried to make her believe him, but knew it was useless. She would never see him as anything but Hitokiri Battousai now.

"This man is the Hitokiri Battousai?" the police chief asked Kaoru.

"Yes," she said. It was the final betrayal.

"Arrest him!" the chief ordered, "but be careful. He's already killed fifteen officers." Kenshin cast one last pleading look at Kaoru before gathering the remainder of his strength. He leapt high into the air, over the heads of the startled police, hitting the ground running. He followed the faint trail the real killers had followed. Not to prove his innocence, but to make sure that the real murderers were brought to justice. He wasn't innocent, not really. He may not have committed this crime, but he was guilty of so many other deaths that it didn't really matter what happened to him. He ran until dawn before finally collapsing from a combination of blood loss and exhaustion.

Deception

Disgrace

Evil as plain as the scar on his face

Deception (An outrage)

Disgrace (For shame)

He asked for trouble the moment he came

Deception (An outrage)

(He can't change his stripes)

Disgrace (For shame)

(You know these Outsider types)

He asked for trouble the moment he came

(See you later, agitator)

Deception (An outrage)

(Just leave us alone)

Disgrace (For shame)

(Traitor, go back with your own)

He asked for trouble the moment he came

(See you later, agitator)

Born in grief, raised in hate

Helpless to defy to his fate

Let him run, let him live

But do not forget what we cannot forgive

And he is not one of us

He has never been one of us

He is not part of us

Not our kind

Someone once lied to us

Now we're not so blind

For we knew he would do what he's done

And we know he'll never be one of us

He is not one of us

Deception

Disgrace

Deception

Disgrace

Deception

A.N. - Well, that's what came to me when I heard that song. I hope everyone liked it. It was originally intended to be a one shot, but I may do a sequel if I get enough reviewers who want one. (Enough being about ten)