[KFFDisc] That Which Lingers - Part 11 (draft)

This is a rough draft of Part 11.

This story is set in my own ALTERNATE REALITY universe which I've
called "The Nightwitch Tales" -- think of it as Rurouni Kenshin mixed
with various supernatural and paranormal elements.  Other stories in
this alternate reality are: "Night Visitor"; "All in the Family"; and
"Romancing the Wolf".
 
It takes place after the end of the Kyoto story arc.  After that, all
bets are off.  Elements of the Revenge story arc may show up in the
story.
 
WARNING:  This story is "semi-dark" -- it has dark elements
(violence, profanity, etc.) but it's not a darkfic!  Actually, there's

quite a bit of romance in it....     ^_-

As always, C&C is greatly appreciated!   ^_^

======================================================================
    THAT WHICH LINGERS:  A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic by MadamHydra
======================================================================
        Part 11:  RETALIATION
======================================================================

---------------
Disclaimer
    All rights and privileges to Rurouni Kenshin belong to Nobuhiro
Watsuki, Shuiesha, Sony Music Entertainment, and associated parties.
The characters of these series are used WITHOUT permission for the
purpose of entertainment only.  This work of fiction is not meant for
sale or profit.  Original portion of the fiction included here is
considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.

---------------
Text Conventions
    (  ) are character thoughts
    / / and // // represent various sorts of mental dialogue
    * ----- * ----- *  marks the start/end of dreams or flashbacks
    [ ] denote visual or time notes

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[the present, 11th year of the Meiji period, late summer]

-----------------------------------
 
    Aoshi looked at Saitoh and answered in a soft whisper.
 
    "The ghosts of the dead are walking in Kyoto."

    While Kenshin stiffened and went pale, Saitoh's reaction was
considerably different.  He smiled slowly and shrugged dismissively.

    "I'm leaving for Kyoto tomorrow by the first available steamship."
 Glancing at Misao and Aoshi, he drawled in a bored voice, "If you
want to come along, be at the harbor police station by dawn."

    Misao looked like she couldn't quite decided whether to throw
Saitoh's 'offer' back in his sneering face or to accept.  She looked
at Aoshi.  Although he seemed to recovering nicely, he was also
painfully weak and clearly not up to strenuous activity such as
traveling by foot.

    Aoshi gave Saitoh a cool nod of acknowledgment, then went back to
reading Okina's message again.

    Saitoh then glanced at Kenshin and raised a mocking eyebrow.  In a
malevolent sort of purr, the policeman murmured, "Interested in coming
to Kyoto, Battousai?  If the sightings aren't some moronic hoax, it
promises to be QUITE the reunion...."

    Kenshin's head jerked around.  Sano watched with alarm as his
friend's hand moved almost reflexively to hover over the hilt of his
sakabatou as the red-haired swordsman glared coldly at Saitoh.  And
was he imagining things or was there the briefest flash of gold in
Kenshin's eyes...?

    The red-haired swordsman said coldly, "I'm not in the mood to play
games, Saitoh.  And if you have any business to settle, we can handle
it here and now.  There's no need to go to Kyoto to do it."

    Saitoh seemed unruffled by Kenshin's unexpectedly hostile
response.  With an air of malicious amusement, he shrugged and said,
"Suit yourself."  The policeman's gaze fell on the heavily wrapped
black sword lying on the table.  "Then you can occupy your time by
keeping an eye on that weapon."

    "Take care of that damned thing yourself, Saitoh!" Sano angrily
shouted.

    "Idiot.  The situation in Kyoto is messy enough as it is.  I have
no intention of aggravating matters by carting such an obviously
dangerous item into the city."

    Curled up under the bed covers, Kaoru made a faint sound of
discomfort.  However soft, that little noise instantly grabbed
Kenshin's attention and broke the ominous tension between the two old
enemies.  Shaking his head, Kenshin eased out of his ready stance and
said somberly, "He's right, Sano.  I don't think that it would be a
good idea to take that sword to Kyoto."

    Sano felt an definite sense of uneasiness.  (For a moment there, I
thought they were going to fight it out, here and now.  The way he's
shifted in and out of the Battousai mood... he doesn't even seem to be
aware he did it... and Kenshin's usually a lot more even-tempered than
this....)

    The fighter abruptly noticed Tokio, who was standing off to the
side, her gaze modestly downcast... but Sano sensed that she was
paying very, VERY close attention to her husband.

    (What the...?  It's like she's picked up something odd about
Saitoh's behavior, but what could it be?  He seems to be acting like
his usual, nasty self....)

    "Later then, Battousai."  Saitoh turned and leisurely strolled out
of the clinic.  His wife lingered a moment to give them a polite bow
of farewell, then followed her husband.

    After the Saitohs' departure, Sano muttered, "That ungrateful
bastard!  He owes you big time for saving his wife's life.  And what
do you get?  Not a damn word of thanks and more of his damned taunting
and prodding!"

    Kenshin smiled ruefully.  "The fact that I help save his wife from
serious injury undoubtedly irritates him to no end."

    Aoshi said quietly, "I'll be leaving for Kyoto tomorrow."

    Misao said flatly, "WE'RE leaving for Kyoto tomorrow."  Her eyes
glittered ferociously as she thought, (Oh no, Aoshi.  You're not
leaving ME behind any more.)

    He gave her a wary look as she turned back to Kenshin.  "I really
don't want to run out on you guys, but...."

    Kenshin smiled gently.  "No, Misao-dono.  It sounds like Okina's
really worried about the situation in Kyoto.  He's definitely not the
type to panic.  If he says that... ghosts from the past... are
walking, then it must be more than mere rumor.  It's only right that
you be there in case he and the others need you."

    Aoshi said in a very neutral voice, "Okina says that although he
hasn't personally seen any of the supposed Shinsengumi or Ishin Shishi
troops, he did have a visitation of his own.  An old friend of his
who's been dead for over a decade apparently showed up in the Aoiya's
garden to drink tea."

    Abnormally quiet and subdued ever since the dream-like vision of
his father's death... and his father's supposed murderer... Yahiko
shivered visibly.

    Kenshin glanced at Aoshi and Misao.  "If you want to meet Saitoh
at dawn, you probably should get as much sleep as you can."

    It was a sign of Aoshi's general weakness that he didn't say a
word before heading straight for his bed in the clinic's wardroom.

    The ninja girl walked over to Megumi as the doctor continued to
monitor Kaoru's condition.  Misao whispered, "Will he be able to
handle the trip?" tipping her head in Aoshi's direction.

    "Yes.  Naturally, staying in bed would be the best thing for him,
but a sea trip should be no problem."  Megumi smiled tiredly.  "He
should recover completely as long as he doesn't engage in any
strenuous activity and reopens those injuries.  It's up to you to make
sure he takes it easy and gives his body time to recover."

    Misao scowled in grim determination.  "You got it.  Uh... I just
wanted to thank you so much for taking such good care of him.  I...
um, I heard you telling Kaoru that you had a... bad encounter with him
at the Kamiya dojo... when he was looking for Kenshin... but he wasn't
really himself at the time...."

    Megumi shrugged.  "I'm a doctor.  I do my best for my patients, no
matter how unpleasant or how much of an annoyance they are.  Just look
at Sano here...."

    "Hey!  What do you mean by that, Fox-lady!?" Sano yelped loudly.

    "Shhhhh!" said Kenshin, Megumi, and Misao simultaneously as they
all pointed to the semi-dozing Kaoru.

    Sano grumbled and stalked off to sulk while Misao went to Megumi's
room to get some sleep.  That left Kenshin and Megumi alone by Kaoru's
bedside.

    "Megumi-dono, how is she?" ask Kenshin as he crouched beside the
bed.  He slowly reached out to touch Kaoru's hand and got a brief
squeeze in return.  As he stared at her, he thought, (Kaoru... out
there on the porch, you lent me so much of your inner strength....  I
wish I could help you by giving you some of this supposed strength of
mine in return....)

    The doctor wearily brushed her hair out of her eyes.  "Actually,
it seems that her fever's gone down.  Perhaps by morning, it'll be
gone for good.  She's still very weak and I can't explain that.
There's no obvious cause like an infection."

    They both uttered a tired sigh.  Rising to his feet, Kenshin said,
"Megumi-dono, after all that's happened, you really need some rest
yourself."

    "Yes... I suppose so.  Oh, by the way, Yahiko brought some fresh
clothes for everyone."  She glanced uneasily at the bloodstains on his
hakama... the blood that hadn't come from Kenshin himself.  Those
stains had come from an impossible source... a mere dream.

    She eyed the carefully wrapped sword lying in the clinic's main
room with obvious distaste.  Ever since that thing had showed up, the
world seemed to make less and less sense.  She was a practical woman,
not giving to silly superstitions, but all the recent events involving
that mysterious black weapon made the strange sightings in Kyoto all
too believable.

-----------------------------------
 
    Kaoru could hear the sound of Kenshin's and Megumi's voices.  They
were talking about her... his voice tight with worry... the doctor's
voice calm and soothing.

    She felt so strange.  The feverish ache and soreness in her body
had finally gone away, leaving... nothing... almost an eerie void of
sensation.  Her mind seemed to be quietly floating, detached from her
tired, sickly body.

-----------------------------------
 
    As Megumi left to go to her room, her words reminded Kenshin of
Yahiko's strange behavior.

    (He's been so quiet.  It's so unlike him.)  He then remembered
what Yahiko and Sano had seen -- the Hitokiri Battousai in all his
bloody perfection -- and not just once, but twice.

    He quietly walked over to Yahiko who sat in a corner of the
clinic's main room, staring at the floor.

    (Kaoru....)  By some profound miracle, Kaoru had not been repulsed
by those mysterious visions of his dark past, but what about Yahiko?
Kenshin took a deep, silent breath.

    "Yahiko... are you all right?"

    The boy was silent for a long moment.  Kenshin was afraid that he
wasn't going to respond at all and felt a deep pang of dread and loss.
 After waiting a few minutes in silence, Kenshin turned and started to
walk away... then stopped when Yahiko suddenly spoke.

    "Kenshin...."
 
    He instantly turned around and said, "Yes, Yahiko?"
 
    The boy stared at the master swordsman standing in front of him,
his long red hair pulled into a high ponytail, his sakabatou ready at
his waist.  In a quiet, thoughtful voice, he said, "Kenshin.... do you
remember the faces of the people you've killed?"

    Kenshin gasped and flinched as if brutally struck.  But Yahiko
didn't appear angry or sickened.  There was no accusation in the boy's
voice, just a subdued, almost impersonal interest.

    Yahiko stared up at the man that he respected most of all... the
sort of man he someday hoped to be.  Looking into the expression of
sorrow and old anguish in those wide violet eyes, Yahiko had his
answer even before Kenshin said a word.
 
    "....yes...."  He wanted to avoid Yahiko's eyes, but he repressed
the urge with some effort.  "Yes... I remember their faces."  He
hesitated briefly, then said, "I've forgotten nothing of that time in
Kyoto.  Nothing."

    "All of them?"  Yahiko's voice seemed to contain an odd
combination of skepticism and awe.

    Kenshin finally had to look away.  "Yes... every one of them.
I... owe them that much.  I think... even acting as the Hitokiri
Battousai... somewhere deep inside, I already knew that each life was
valuable in its own way.  To forget them... to let all those people
blur together in a meaningless mass...."  He slowly shook his head.
"Each of them had family... lovers... hopes... dreams... and I took
those things away from them forever.  I can never forget that."

    "How... how do you manage to sleep at night?  How can you keep...
going?" Yahiko whispered.

    "Sometimes... it's not easy.  Sometimes... it's the hardest thing
in the world.  But friendship and... love... makes the most difficult
things possible... and worthwhile."

    Yahiko slowly rose to his feet.  He walked up to Kenshin and
stared up at him.  Then, to Kenshin's great surprise and relief,
Yahiko give him a small but genuine smile.

    "Thank you, Himura Kenshin."  The words had an odd note of
formality to them.  Without another word, Yahiko turned and quickly
headed for Dr. Genzai's room.

    As Kenshin stared after the boy, Sano quietly walked into the room
and looked at his friend without saying a word.  Not surprised by
Sano's presence, Kenshin whispered, "You're welcome, Myojin Yahiko."

    He turned to the fighter.  "Sano, why...."

    Sano shook his head slowly and said, "The kid asked me not to say.
 It's up to him to explain, if he ever wants to.  But... I think you
told him exactly what he wanted and needed to hear."

    Kenshin blushed and said, "Maa maa... I didn't even know the
question!"

    Sano grinned slightly.  "You didn't need to know."

    As Kenshin smiled a bit wistfully, the fighter added, "You looked
really scared there, for a minute."

    Kenshin stared at the floor.  "I was.  I've told all of you about
my past as the Hitokiri Battousai... but it's a very different thing
to see it with your own eyes....  I was... concerned that actually
seeing what happened...."

    Sano stiffened a bit.  "So that stuff we saw this afternoon...
that really happened?"

    Kenshin nodded.  "Yes...."  But he thought, (....except for that
very last moment... that younger version of me was AWARE of me....
It's more than just a past memory....)

    Unaware of Kenshin's musings, Sano said, "It was...."  His voice
trailed off.  The best words he could come up with was 'awe-inspiring'
and 'terrifying' but he suspected those were the very last words
Kenshin needed to hear.  Instead he shrugged carelessly and said, "Oy,
we're not that easy to get rid of.  You should know that by now."

    Kenshin looked up at Sano and gave him a warm, gentle smile, "I'm
sorry.  As Master Hiko keeps telling me, I can be a terribly slow
learner.  But I AM learning... thanks to all of you."
 
    Sano pounded Kenshin on the shoulder, then muttered, "Hell, I hope
we don't have to go through this crap every single time...."  His
voice faded as he wandered off to bed.

-----------------------------------

    After Sano retired for the night, Kenshin picked his sakabatou and
returned to the porch, leaving the front door open in case Kaoru
needed him.  He stared out at the garden.  In the silvery moonlight,
it looked beautiful... pristine... so different from the blood
drenched picture from sunset.  It was with her words, Kaoru had
managed to cleanse those ugly images from his mind... temporarily, at
least.

    His hand drifted up to touch one of the scars on his cheek.  It
was no longer bleeding, but he could still remember the burning sting
of steel slicing through flesh.  But that physical pain was nothing
compared to the inner pain those scars represented.

    (Kaoru now knows where one half of the scar came from.  Perhaps...
perhaps it's time I tell her how I got the other scar... and tell her
about... Tomoe....)

    The moon, just past the full phase but still bright, seemed to
bleach the color from the world, leaving it pale and white... as white
as that winter's day so long ago....
 
-----------------------------------
 
    In their house, Saitoh Hajime lay in his wife's arms, their legs
intertwined, his arm curled possessively about her waist.  With his
head pillowed on her chest -- the same chest that now bore a shallow,
day-old  sword cut -- he soon fell asleep to the reassuring sound of
her quietly beating heart.

    As she gently stroked her husband's hair, Tokio stared up through
the open window at the night sky....

    ....and patiently waited for the inevitable.

-----------------------------------

    Sometime later, Aoshi awoke to the sound of a dull thud, followed
by a thumping noise.  But it wasn't just any thumping noise.  He
identified the sound in an instant... the sound of flesh hitting a
hard surface.

    He soundlessly slipped out of the bed and cautiously made his way
to the main room.  The front door of the clinic was open.  He stared
disbelievingly at the scene illuminated by the merciless gleam of
moonlight.

    Himura was lying in a limp heap on the floor, his long red hair
blending almost perfectly with the thin trickle of blood steeping from
under his head.

    (But who could have possibly sneaked up on him....)

    Then he saw the other person in the room and it all made a
dreadful, twisted sort of sense.

    Kaoru dropped the small, bloodied stone statue she was holding --
one of the decorations scattered around Dr. Genzai's home -- and
picked up the heavily wrapped sword from the table.  But the sword's
wrappings, so carefully and securely tied by both himself and Misao,
fell open at her mere touch.  Now holding the black blade, she turned
to face him....

    ....and Aoshi saw the tears streaming silently down her face and
the terrible anguish in her blue eyes.

    "Kaoru!?  Why...?"  Off to the side, he heard the sound of a door
opening, but Aoshi didn't take his eyes off of Kaoru for an instant.

    Kaoru's mouth opened, but what came out wasn't anything like her
normal voice.  Her words were low, almost gutteral as she intoned, "It
ends where it began.  The Battousai and the Mibu's Wolf will both pay
dearly for their sins against Minobe Junichi."
 
    With those words, she brandished the black sword.  Aoshi collapsed
to the floor as all his wounds inflicted by that weapon suddenly
seemed to explode into agony.  By the time he managed to lift his
head, Kaoru had disappeared into the night, leaving behind only a
sprinkling of her tears.

    "KAORU!!!"

-----------------------------------
(end of part 11)

**********************************************************************

Next part:   Even more insidious losses to come.    ^_^

--------------------------------------------
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