Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Stranded ❯ The Train Ride ( Chapter 1 )

Stranded

Chapter 1

After breakfast Yahiko took one more quick sweep of the perimeter of their home and the dojo, checking off a mental checklist of things that were done and places where certain items should were in retrospect to where they ought to be. He came to the conclusion that having a bucket inside the bathhouse instead of the storage shed would not ruin their vacation plans. Nodding with satisfaction he headed back to his family.

“Tsubame,” Yahiko said to announce his presence. He walked over to his wife of eight years and gave her a huge for strength. Tsubame would have to make sure the kids were comfortable, and make sure that they would behave. He was going to sit elsewhere so he couldn't help her with them. He found out that an old friend was also going to Kyoto. Yahiko wanted to talk to him so he was going to sit with him for the train ride there. His friend is unfortunately sitting in a different section of the train.

Yahiko picked up their luggage and headed to the train station in the afternoon sun, his family following behind him. His children, Hideyo at five and Yoko at seven, where running around impatient to have a new adventure. Tsubame was walking beside him.

They reached the train station just as the train came in. It roared its mechanical roar, blasted smoke from its smoke hole. There were people already there and some arriving. The train station was a busy place to be, with people running and yelling all over the place.

“Mommy!” Screeched Yoko as she saw the big train that would carry them to Kyoto. “It's so big.” Her round little eyes became big saucer cups as she looked at it with wonder and amusement. Hideyo's reaction was different than his sister's. When Hideyo saw the big monstrosity he became afraid. The train was so much bigger than he was, so much louder than him that it must be a demon. He ran over to his mother and huddled behind her kimono, pulling the folds over his face.

“Come on Hideyo-chan,” Tsubame said warmly, “it can't bite you.” She picked him up from where he was hiding. She wanted him to see the `beast' for what it was. Nothing. “Look Hideyo-chan,” she gently commanded him. She held him up high above the jostle of the crowds for him to get a better look at it. “There's nothing wrong with it.”

“No Mommy! No!” Hideyo cried from his perch on her arms. Tsubame lowered him to her chest and hugged him tightly to calm him.

The whistle for the last boarding call sounded. There was a rush in the throng of people as the workers hustled to their stations and the passengers hurried to the train. “Let's go Tsubame, the train won't stay much longer,” Yahiko said from her side. “Come on Yoko! Race me to the train!” He shouted above the noise, invoking on the playfulness of his daughter to get them to the train faster.

“Can I Mommy?”

“Yes you can Yoko, but don't run into any one. Watch where you're going.” Before she finished Yoko had already started running.

Yoko ran ahead of her father who was weighed down with their luggage. She stopped at a door, unsure if it was the right one or if her father was behind her. “Come on Daddy! Let's go!” She couldn't help the big smile that graced her lips as she looked at the train.

“I'm coming Yoko-chan!” Yahiko struggled with the luggage and trying to run, but he made it safely to the train. He stopped at the door with Yoko to wait for Tsubame and Hideyo. They reached the train just as the impatient Yoko climbed aboard. With help from a worker Yahiko pulled their entire luggage on the train. The train was crowded but they luckily reserved seats for their family, except Yahiko, to sit together. Yahiko stored their luggage and waited for them to sit in their seats.

“Be good for your mom, okay?” Yahiko asked of Yoko and Hideyo, looking a little hurt.

“Aw, we will Daddy! We promise,” they echoed together.

Yahiko hugged and gave a quick kiss to Tsubame before he left. Tsubame watched him leave until his back was hidden behind other passengers. Then her attention turned back to her kids. They were talking and playing just like normal, maybe Hideyo didn't mind the train so much now that they were inside and nothing terrible had happened.

Once every one had settled into their seats a train conductor stood in the front, “we are leaving now. Everyone ready? And make sure you stay in your seats at all times.” He left to go talk to the rest of the sections to relay the same message.

There was a lot of noise, people talking and moving around, but Tsubame just wanted to sit back and relax. Yoko and Hideyo were laughing and having fun until the train started to make some weird noises. People around them became silent too as they listened to the train. There was a couple of jerking movements and then the train was moving. It was still jerking around but it was moving forward.

Hideyo was wide eyed, looking everywhere for the source of the noise. Then he looked outside the window. Outside the earth, trees, everything was whizzing by. They were going faster than a horse could run. They couldn't see one thing clearly; it was all a colorful blur.

“Mommy, look!” Shouted Yoko as she too saw the outside world slide by.

Tsubame looked out the window but quickly wished she hadn't. It made her dizzy, and the jerking of the train helped very little. She just sat back in her seat, making herself as comfortable as she could.

“What do you think that is?” Yoko asked her younger brother as they saw a mesh of blues, reds, and yellows pass by the window. Hideyo just shrugged and looked out the window.

Hideyo grew tired of their game after half an hour of wrong guesses. He settled down and leaned back into his sit and soon fell asleep. Yoko didn't want to play their game alone so she sat back in her seat and looked around. There weren't any other kids on the train. The other passengers were old. Soon she fell asleep. Tsubame was also sleeping.

Shouting. Yelling. What's going on?

Tsubame was shaken awake.

“Mommy!” Shouted Yoko. “Wake up!”

Slowly Tsubame opened her heavy eyes to look up into her daughter's damp ones. Behind Yoko was Hideyo, a look of panic and confusion painted across his small face. They moved to the side to let her sit up. All around them there was shouting. People were getting out of their seats. Why? The train was stopped but it's too dark to see if they had reached the Kyoto station.

“What Happened?” Tsubame asked.

Yoko and Hideyo shook their heads. “It was like this when we woke up, Mommy,” Yoko explained.

A group of men were running around, shoving whoever got in their way. “Barr the doors!” One of the men shouted. They turned to the door and walked up to it. The door that the men were heading to was behind Tsubame's seat.

Before they reached the door it burst open causing screams from startled people. Tsubame bragged her children and hugged them to herself. Dark figures came into the train from the broken door into the light. The first man to be seen pulled a gun from inside of his coat. Aimed at the first shaken man and fired. It hit him dead on, right between his eyes. Blood squirted out of the hole that was blasted in his head. He went cross-eyed. Then fell limply to the floor.

“Ah!”

Panic ensued after that. The men fired randomly, killing whoever was in their way.

Tsubame covered Yoko and Hideyo's bodies with her own and threw herself on the floor. She lay there, protecting her children's lives. Someone stepped on her but she didn't mind as long as they thought she was dead. The dead weren't worth a bullet. There was a loud thud to her right. Some one had fallen down. She looked over to the person. The body was torn and bloody. Some one had stabbed the woman in her stomach, and then yanked upwards. There was a bloody gash with organs spilling out of it.

The smell of blood was thick in the air.

Tsubame was too frightened to scream out. She turned her head away from the dead woman. “Keep your eyes closed, don't open them.”

“Okay Mommy,” Yoko and Hideyo whispered back.

Most of the noise died down. There was still the murmur of voices but not he confusion that was earlier. Slowly Tsubame looked around them. The seat's cushions were ripped open, the stuffing covered in blood. Bodies strewn across the floors, piled on each other. There where three men huddled together talking, their voices carried over to her but not their words. They didn't look like the men that had attacked the train earlier.

Tsubame slowly and quietly stood up. Good, the men hadn't noticed her yet. “Stay still,” she commanded her children. Yoko and Hideyo moved a little to watch their mother confront the men. Tsubame was nervous about calling attention to herself after what just happened but these men looked confused about what just happened. “Excuse me Sirs, but-”

Everything went in slow motion for Yoko and Hideyo as the men turned around. The men looked dangerously at Tsubame, stopping her words in her throat. The man closest to her reached into his coat and pulled out a gun. He aimed at her. Yoko wanted to scream but was paralyzed by her fear. Fired. His aim wasn't as true as the first man's was. It hit Tsubame in her arm, throwing her back a step. Blood squirted out from the impact.

Tsubame staggered into the wall.

“Kill her!” Shouted one of the men. Yoko didn't know who said it, when her mother got shot she buried her head into Hideyo's solder and clamped her cold hands over her his eyes.

Another shot rang out. A painful scream escaped Tsubame's bloody lips.

Yoko could feel her brother silent tears from under her hand.

“Let's get out of here now! We got what we came for now let's go!”

“Okay, we can go now,” replied another man. Authority rang clearly in his voice.

Loud footsteps echoed in their ears a door banged open, then slammed shut.

The men are gone.

Yoko uncovered her brother's mouth. “Hideyo... Please! Hideyo!”

“Huh, Yoko?” His lip quivered with the difficulty of not screaming out.

“Stay here, I'm going to see Mommy,” she whispered in his ear.

Hideyo didn't want to be left alone. Isn't that what Mommy said before she got up? Before she screamed?

“No!” He reached out and grabbed his sister's arms. “Don't leave me!”

Yoko wasn't as brave as she tried to be. She broke down. She sat down her brother sitting up too and hugged him. They didn't have to move. Mommy would come to them.

It was getting late. Yahiko had promised Tsubame that he would come by before the kids and her fall asleep. He had better go now because they were on opposite ends of the train. “Yotaro-san, I'm going to go check up on my wife. I'll be back shortly.”

“Okay, I'll wait here for you,” he replied.

“Like you have anywhere else to go!” Yahiko teased jovially.

Yahiko started walking up the train to the section that held his beautiful wife. He looked out some of the windows as he passed by them. The sun had already set so it there wasn't anything to see but it helped steady him. As he walked he held onto the corners of the seats. Then all of a sudden the train started screeching, and it jerked about almost causing Yahiko to lose his balance. It screeched to a halt tossing lose belongs forward. Yahiko tightened his grip on the chairs so he would not fly forward.

When the train finally stopped it was a mess. There are boxes all over the place, people's food crumpled all over the place.

“What's going on?” Shouted a bewildered lady.

After that panic ensued. People were running all over the place trying to find some one that could answer all their questions. People were shoving past anyone that was in their way. Woman screaming and men shouting added to the confusion.

Then the door was blown inward, pieces of it slamming into nearby people knocking them unconscious. One piece of the door lodged itself into a man's head, most likely it killed him instantly. Yahiko felt the dirty aurora of men meaning to murder tonight long before the men boarded the train. As the first man pulled out a gun from inside his coat Yahiko ducked down just in time as the bullet went through the air where his head was.

Someone jumped up and attacked the first guy. While they were fighting some more men ran over and attacked the other men before they know what had happened. Yahiko was looking for a something to use as a weapon when the first guy's gun misfired. It hit the roof of the train; big pieces of it fell on top of Yahiko. He fell to the ground unconscious. Debris and dust flew everywhere, obscuring everyone's vision. The fighting turned into a mad house. People attacking everyone and anyone they were in arms reach of.

Slowly Yahiko regained consciousness. Somehow the pieces of the rood had rolled off of him. He crawled onto his side. His eyes were a bit fuzzy still but soon that would go away. When his eyes cleared he wished they hadn't. He saw a headless body in a pool of blood and when he looked to his other side there was more body mutilation. Then, something clicked inside Yahiko's still muffled brain.

If this happened here it must have happened near Tsubame! Oh Kami-sama! Let them be all right!

Yahiko pulled himself to his feet. It was a little painful. Something cold, wet, sticky started to slide down his face. His hand flew to his hair where it met a gash. Blood. And Pain. He staggered to the side as a wave of nausea kicked in. He fell to the floor. Unconscious again.

After a few minutes he awoke again. Severally tired, and annoyed that he had passed out. He had suffered more damage before. Besides that he has to go find Tsubame, Yoko and Hideyo. Make sure that they are all right. That's his duty as a father.

Yahiko stood up now, with all his will, hoping that he could make it to them. There were several moans that he didn't have to stop and look for. That could be Tsubame or Yoko or Hideyo they're moaning and he would be there to help them. It was hard for him to pass by with helping them. All of the years watching Kenshin help everyone nagging at him that he should that he had enough energy to stop and help them. But the truth was different. He wasn't strong enough, his energy could falter at any minute.

He's hearing and sight became blurry again. He couldn't hear any more moans. He could barely see the limbs he was stepping on. Is that voices he's hearing or just the wind.

There's a firm hand on his solder. There's a soft voice telling him to lie down. A tempting offer but he would not lie around while his wife or his children could be in danger.

A tempting offer.

“I.. I... I must... must find... my wife... ki... kids... they...they... find,” he slid slowly down to the floor too weak to do anything else.

“No sir. You shouldn't be walking with a wound like that on your head. Just lie down. I'm sure that your Wife and kids are just fine.” The soft voice whispered to him. Slowly pushing him to lie down. “I'm a doctor. I'm going to help you but you need to lie down for me to do so.”

“No!” Yahiko pushed out. He would not rest until he knew they were safe. “I'll, re... rest when... I... see... the... hem... safe... Please!” He crawled away from the doctor. He moved on, slowly but he moved.

“Okay,” the doctor gave in. “Some people are naturally stubborn and I think that your one of them. Seto! Seto come here and help me carry this guy!”

When Seto got to them, the doctor leaned down and put Yahiko's arm around his solder. Seto did the same and together they gently lifted Yahiko up.

“Tell me sir, where are you wife and kids?”

Yahiko couldn't force his mouth to obey him any more. He pointed ahead. Seto and the Doctor carefully walked forward. The doctor examining Yahiko's body for any more hidden wounds. When he was satisfied with seeing no more than a cuts and scraps he focused on getting Yahiko to a more secure location. A secure location would be in the front of the train, which is where he wanted to go anyway.

When they got there the place was already full of the wounded. Most of them either dead or dying.

There was a child's scream to his right, but he paid no mind to it.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Screamed a little girl with a younger boy in tow. They ran in front of him to the man he was carrying. “What's wrong with my Daddy?” She screamed frantically.

“One thing less to do,” the weary doctor whispered, sighing with relief. “This is your father?”

“Yes sir,” whispered the girl, a little more subdued now that her father wasn't going anywhere.

Yahiko stirred a little at the sound of Yoko's voice.

“Tell me, where is your mother?”

“Tsubame...” Yahiko whispered longingly.

“Mommy is over here. But she isn't moving and when we call her name she doesn't answer,” Yoko explained. She clutched her Hideyo's little hand, motioned for the doctor to follow her and lead them to her.

Seto, Yahiko and the doctor had to go around the people that where alive. Yoko and Hideyo just walked over the people that didn't respond to their little feet.

“Here is Mommy,” Yoko told the doctor. “Mommy, a Daddy is here. Mommy!” She shook her mother's bloody arm but she got nothing.

Yahiko opened his eyes and fixed them on Yoko. “Yoko, you're alright. Where is Hideyo?”

Hideyo rushed over to his father. He squeezed his father's leg between his small arms. “Daddy! Mommy is asleep, isn't she?” He looked with tear stained eyes at his father, begging to tell him that his mother is only sleeping.

“Tsubame...”

His eyes moved past his son, now noticing the dried blood that covered his sweet little face, past Yoko's to his beloved's bloody body. Yahiko cried out. He tore out of the prison that held him from Tsubame. He stumbled over to her limp form. He collapsed next to her. He reached out his still warm hand over to her face. Cold. Her face. Cold. Her neck. Cold. He leaned over to put his head over her heart. No beat. Nothing. His face smeared in her dried blood. She was shot in her chest. He moved his hands over to her arm. More dried blood. Cold. Soo cold.

Tears of realization streamed down Yahiko's face. “No. No! Tsubame! Don't leave me! Come back to me!” He clenched his fist. Then it unclenched by itself. Drained of all his energy, Yahiko fell limp over the dead body under him. He fell to the cries of his children.