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The Other Side of twilight - Part 2.

A Rurouni Kenshin x Tokyo Babylon fanfiction by Ariane Kovacevic, AKA Fuu-chan.





I grimaced as the foul stench of the dark green liquid came to my nostrils. Yuck, but this was even worse than I had thought it would be. Gathering my courage, I dipped the brush into the thick mixture, and started applying it on my only pair of hakama.

I had had no problem finding dye color in one of the many shops of Kyoto this morning. The only disadvantage I had had to bear with had been the walk to and back, tightly bound in the plainest of my kimonos. I had lost count of the number of times I had been on the verge of falling or tearing the infernal cloth. Ah well, what mattered was that I was going to be able to dye my hakama and thus make them unidentifiable once again.

Damn the Shinsengumi.

I had eventually managed to give them the slip and get back home safely...to find my mother waiting for me with anguished questions as to why I had returned so late. Fortunately she had let herself be convinced by the convenient excuse of the swordsmith being so busy that it had taken much longer than expected for me to exit the smithy with the repaired kodachi. Then my mother had started telling me how unwomanly the use of the sword was.

While carefully applying the dye on the hakama's fabric, my mind went back to the events of the last evening.

To the scream which had risen in the air, and to the man who had died in such a horrible fashion. Never before had I realized fully what using Onmyoujutsu to kill meant. I used the art to feel, to see beyond the simple world of most people. I used it occasionally to send lost souls to their final rest, and to cleanse places of small curses which plagued them. But to use the art for such a malevolent purpose....

I couldn't fully understand how one could do that.

There would be a stain shadowing the caster's soul, darker and darker each time he used his talent to kill. And then there would be the sakanagi, the aftermath of the casting, when a part of the spell, like the double-edged weapon it was, would blindly rush back towards the one who had freed it and strike. I had learnt very early to shield myself from this unavoidable side-effect, the elders had made sure I became an expert at raising wards to protect myself and those around me. The backlash was bad enough when one used neutral or innocuous sides of the art like I did; what terrible consequences were there when one deliberately used Onmyoujutsu to take a life?

I suddenly wished I could discuss this with my father. He would have been able to shed some light on this, perhaps...and I wouldn't have felt alone, or lost as I had found myself to be when I had awoken in the middle of the night.

"Tokio-san? Tokio-san?"

I started as the voice abruptly intruded into my reflections, and sent a few drops of green on the flat stone over which I had spread the hakama. Cursing under my breath, I set the brush on the dye-pot and turned to see the housemaid stepping down the terrace's corner to join me. Before I could say anything, she asked, her eyes wide at the sight of the half white, half green fabric, "What are you doing, Tokio-san?"

Suddenly self-conscious, I coughed, replying, "I'm dyeing my hakama as you can see, Hiroko."

She inspected my work with a more than critical eye, and then sighed. "You should have let me do this, Tokio-san." She shook her head, focusing on me. "Your father sent for you, you're needed in the main room with your mother. I think guests are just coming in." Guests? She gestured towards the hakama, adding, "I'll finish dyeing this for you. Go quickly, Tokio-san, please."

I nodded, quite surprised by all this, and stood up, starting towards the house's main room as fast as the wretched kimono allowed.

Guests, unannounced?

Wryly I thought it was pure luck I was wearing that plain but proper kimono, and that I had somehow missed staining it with dark green dye. I slid open the panel leading to the room and joined my mother, kneeling down beside her. She nodded at me, a half relieved, half reproachful expression on her face. I rolled my eyes heavenward in exasperation.

Yes, mother, I am ashamed of myself. I should have been wearing my ceremonial kimono, and redone my hair.

the truth was, I should have been wearing my hakama, that would have served her right. Damn those unexpected guests, but they had the worst sense of timing.

"Please come in."

I straightened my back, reflexively checking my hands were properly folded in my lap, and prayed this wouldn't be too long. Spying a glance of the visitors despite my bowed head, I felt my heart skipping a beat as I saw the two men's jackets.

Shinsengumi.

But.... Cold hit the pit of my stomach. What were Shinsengumi doing *here*, in the heart of our house?

"Those are my wife, Shiori, and my daughter, Tokio."

Both my mother and I bowed deeply in the same movement, wishing the guests welcome. I let routine take hold of my body, while I frantically fought the panic rising inside me.

This is a nightmare.

A nightmare!

As both men knelt down in front of my father, I carefully kept my head bowed, resisting the urge to clench my fists. Hell, why had my father demanded that both my mother and I be present for this? As soon as the question came to my mind, the answer followed, mercilessly simple: he was sending a message to the two Shinsengumi, saying, Look, here is all I have, there is nothing hidden, nothing for you to find here. With an inward sigh, I grudgingly admitted the reasoning's logic, and reported my attention to the two intruders. The first of them was Okita Soushi, and the second....

Eyes in which a cold fire burnt.

So cold it sent shivers down the spine of those who gazed upon them.

Those eyes were almost closed now, reduced to two slits so thin they gave off a comical and almost harmless impression which contrasted strongly with that harsh angular face whose features seemed to have been sculpted with a blade. Dear spirits, what was *he* doing here? Was this a mere coincidence?

"This will be a very short visit, Sumeragi-san. We're very busy at the moment, and besides we wouldn't want to intrude." I grinned inwardly when I heard Soushi's gentle, almost boyish voice, unable to help myself. I knew he didn't mean the first word of what he had said. They were here for a reason, and they wouldn't leave until they were satisfied.

I silently stood, in a movement as smooth as I could manage, and walked out of the room to get some tea. As I was closing the sliding panel behind me, I heard the other man's deep, oddly agreeable voice as he said, "There's been an increase in the number of murder reports recently, and--"

It was a really weird voice, both serious and mocking; there was an undefinable quality to it, something I couldn't have named, but...well, I liked that voice.

Walking along the corridor, I hit my brow with my right hand, whispering to myself, "Baka!"

I carefully set down the steaming cup of tea next to Soushi, cautious not to make the slightest sound, and in the same time I caught him winking at me. I allowed the faintest of smiles to come to my lips, thinking the rogue was lucky I couldn't kick his butt to teach him the price of having fun at my expense. I stood and slowly walked towards my father, kneeling down with my head bowed to serve him as well.

I had been able to relax somewhat when I had heard bits of the conversation. Both Shinsengumi captains had come to my father searching for clues on strange murders they could not explain. Because the name of the Sumeragi was associated with exorcism, they were merely checking the possibility of an inhuman origin in some of the recent cases of violent deaths. Of course my father could only tell them that nothing was amiss.

How could they have grasped the significance of Kyoto's spiritual balance being slowly but certainly broken?

How could they understand the meaning of the name "Sakurazukamori"?

"And then yesterday evening we discovered yet another strange murder. When we reached the crime spot, there was someone already at the dead's side. He looked like a boy who'd have grown too fast and without enough food. He ran away when we tried to talk to him, but what was most peculiar is I'm quite sure that scrawny boy wasn't the murderer. It was more like he was studying the corpse, as if conducting an investigation of his own. Now that I think about it, he had almost your daughter's build."

For a fraction of a second I froze, and shot a quick glance towards the man.

He was staring at me steadily, his dark eyes set upon me with a speculative light shining in them.

No.

Bow your head.

Smile like the brainless girl you're supposed to be.

Move, stand in one movement as you were taught.

Go kneel beside your mother.

There.

I focused on the hands neatly folded in my lap, and made myself breathe slowly in an attempt to quieten the mad, disordered beatings of my heart. Around me the discussion went on, but I didn't catch any other bit of it.

Curse the Shinsengumi.

Damn that man, he was far too perceptive for his own good. How had he been able to memorize my shape in the split seconds our encounter had lasted?




"Is there something troubling you, Saitou-san?"

I didn't look back towards young Okita as I replied shortly, "They know more than they're telling."

Okita Soushi laughed at that, as if I had made a witty joke. "Of course they do! Everybody has secrets; and the Sumeragi clan certainly has a treasure vault full of them!"

I looked back at him then, vaguely annoyed, and explained in a quiet voice, "That's not what I meant. Have you watched Sumeragi Tokio for instance? Our host's unmarried daughter walked as if she felt restrained by her kimono, as if she wasn't used to wearing one, and yet there was a smoothness to her motion, a fluidity in the way she moved, slowly and deliberately, an almost perfect mastery in the stern control she kept over herself." I sighed, shaking my head in incredulity. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she walks like one of us, she walks like one who has learnt the way of the sword." There was no mistaking the lithe, precise gestures of her hands when she had set the cup of tea beside me, or the very feeling of how her body had moved when she had stood up.

"You're kidding me, Saitou-san!" Okita Soushi chuckled , and then smiled at me that innocent smile of his which had fooled countless more gullible people. He sobered quickly though, adding in earnest, "You know that Sumeragi Tokio and I are acquainted. If she had been trained for the sword, I'd be aware of it. Perhaps what you've seen is the result of her being groomed to be the next head of their clan. I know that those preparations are very harsh and hard on her, she told me so once."

The next head of their clan, a woman.... Weird, but then the Sumeragi had hardly ever been anything close to conventional. It was none of my concern right now. I brushed away a long lock of hair which the breeze had placed right over my left eye, and told the captain of the first troops of the Shinsengumi, "Even if that explained it, it can never explain her hands. You should pay more attention to them when next you visit her, and watch carefully the calluses on them. Those come from sword training."

I chuckled as her image came to my mind, adding, "No wonder she's still unmarried at her age. That girl will never find a man willing to bear with her. She may try to hide it, but there's nothing meek or compliant about her."

"I think she'd be a perfect match for you, Saitou-san."

I looked sharply at Okita Soushi who was grinning widely, proud of himself and of his stupid sense of humor.

Laughing despite myself, I accelerated the rhythm of my walk and overtook the man who was still pretending to be a boy. Surprising though it was, Okita Soushi had let his guard down where this skinny, plain-looking girl was concerned. I had not, and I had clearly seen the iron discipline with which she had mastered her uneasiness when she had seen who the unexpected guests were. The kimono had felt odd on her, an unwelcome restraint in each and every of her movements. She didn't walk like a woman.

She moved with the feline grace of a warrior.

I smiled coldly as I remembered the fraction of a second for which she hadn't been able to hide her reaction at my comparing her to the boy I had almost caught yesterday.

The boy who had caught me by surprise instead, and had escaped.

I reflexively felt for my throat, but there was no pain, except the sting of failure. I wasn't used to that. I wouldn't make such a mistake again.

Setting my mind back on track, I pursed my lips as I considered Sumeragi Tokio's reaction to my words. She had frozen, almost imperceptibly, and I had felt it then, flashing briefly from her. The ken-ki, the battle aura those who knew the way of the sword radiated. Hers was defiant and proud although shadowed by doubts and fear. I was almost certain I knew yesterday's wretched boy's true identity; what I didn't know was whether she had been acting on her own, or on orders of her clan. I didn't think she was any threat to the Bakufu or to us, the Sumeragi had always remained neutral; and it was obvious when one talked with the current head of their clan that they fervently intended to remain so. It didn't matter, I would soon have the explanation for all this.

I would watch Sumeragi Tokio from now on.

And the next time, I wouldn't let her escape.

I grinned as a thought crossed my mind.

From now on, the wolf was out hunting.




I stared at the huge map of the city my father had spread on the low table. There were many marks on it, which formed familiar patterns here and there. They were the ancient seals set over Kyoto in times long past. Although they had no true existence in the real, solid world, they needed to be anchored in it, be it through shrines, old statutes or holy trees. I followed my father's fingers as he pointed them all out to me, detailing every pattern and explaining how each of them would influence the spiritual balance of the city.

Even though this was really interesting, I couldn't wholly focus my mind on what I was being taught. A part of me kept reminding itself why my father had chosen to start showing me all this all of a sudden. Years in advance. I wasn't supposed to gain this knowledge in such detail now, I wasn't supposed to know it until I was confirmed as head of the clan. I hadn't even tried to ask my father why he was doing this, I knew the answer to that, just as I knew he would refuse to discuss the matter.

It was a stupid mistake.

If the Sakurazukamori was even remotely like what I thought he must be, he wouldn't be content with battling my father for a few old seals in duels of Onmyoujutsu. He would want blood, and not necessarily my father's. The threat was on the whole clan.

On me.

On my mother.

On all the unfortunate souls who would cross his path whenever he felt like taking a life.

Eventually my father's voice faded, and he looked at me. "Do you understand, Tokio? Can you see them?"

I nodded, and on impulse added, "Yes, father, but could I get a look at this map alone for a while? I'd like to try and get an even better feeling of them on my own." He smiled in answer to my question, with what might have been a hint of satisfaction or pride. I watched him rise to his feet and then leave the room. Once he had slid the panel closed; I sighed wearily.

He had changed since that morning when he had tried to pressure me into becoming the perfect woman and future wife. The subject hadn't been breached again in the days which had followed. Oh his opinion on what a woman should be or shouldn't be hadn't moved a iota, but somehow the Sakurazukamori's declaration of war had changed everything. No, not somehow. My father had been forced to envision his demise, and what the consequences of that would be. There was no way Yuta could step in his place now, which left only me.

Working with me, teaching me more closely than he had in all my years of training, perhaps he was coming to realize that this mere woman was worth more than as a brooding mare. I smiled bitterly, trying to ignore the lump in my throat and the tears burning my eyes.

Eventually I managed to win free of the senseless pain in my heart, and focused on the map. This could be used as a formidable tool, I had no idea why my father hadn't done so. Composing my mind, I willed the spell to come to life inside me, discarding the use of patterns on the ground to help my focus. I didn't need them for this thing. The sounds within, the feelings grew until they were right, and then I let them out, allowing them to engulf me and take me *away*.

It was easier to discard the feeling of unbalance this time, even though I could tell it was growing. I winced reflexively when I glided over those seals which had been destroyed, feeling their absence, their deaths like a well of darkness which wanted to drag my soul down in its depths. There was something cold and lonely that came with the emptiness which had settled over those places where there should have been...something, a link between the material and the spiritual, an anchor. Crazy though it might have sounded, the places where those seals had existed *remembered*, and lacked this ethereal, unreal thing which had been part of their very essence.

Shock.

Cold.

I froze over one of the last patterns my father had showed me, unable to deny the powerful feeling which had taken hold of me. It was one of the small, outward seals. It was still whole, but...there was something wrong in the feeling of the place, like...like fear. As if clouds were gathering in the sky, tainting what had been a bright and sunny day up until now. As if a storm was bout to break, and--

I exhaled deeply, pulling myself out of the trance with difficulty. The feeling had been so strong that it had almost won over me. I stared at my intertwined fingers, and willed them to stop shaking. I couldn't ignore the warning I had just received. that seal was about to be destroyed, but it was perhaps still possible to save it.

It was folly to do this.

Folly.

Nobody was more aware of the danger than I was, but I couldn't allow this to happen unhindered. I didn't understand why my father hadn't moved to protect the place, but that worry was pale in comparison of the certainty I had. Unimportant though this small part of the whole web was, we had to make a stand.

I couldn't risk trying to counter him from here, I couldn't risk being trapped away form my body, but there was one thing I could do.

I folded the map carefully, stored it back where it belonged, blew out the candles and then went to my room. I grabbed the haori jacket from where it hanged, put it on, then took the kodachi and set securely on the belt on my left side. Then, denying the part of me which was loudly protesting against this madness, I left the house in silence.

Outside, night had fallen for more than an hour.




There.

I spotted the old tree right on the other side of the river. There was a bridge leading to it and beyond, wide enough for carriages. I ran on the paved stones, feeling the air around me almost crackling with a malevolent life of its own. I stopped as I reached the opposite shore, and watched what was before my eyes with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

A strong wind was blowing, booming in the ancient tree's branches as it mercilessly pulled at them. And the white rope circling its trunk, symbol of the seal set upon this place....

It had started.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to watch and analyze the swirling patterns of the spell which was slowly coming to life around the tree. It was masterfully well done, perfect in every single detail, *beautiful*, fragile in some places, but...I couldn't break it, not from here. In a fraction of a second, I made my decision and then ran right for the tree.

"An educated guess, but you're too late, little girl."

I fiercely denied the fear which had risen inside me as I had heard the whisper mixed with the wind, and turned as I reached the tree, my back to its trunk. Facing the threat. There was nothing to be seen, nothing but the darkness of the night for a normal eye.

What my eyes saw was another matter entirely.

There was no time to think, no time to carefully prepare.

Like fighting with the sword, but using another kind of blade.

Smiling to myself, I gathered the essence of the spell inside my heart, and did the only thing I could do. As the shining pattern of my enemy's spell was about to be completed, I unsheathed the kodachi and drove it into the ground at my feet, my right hand tightly closed on its hilt and the other held in front of my face, its fingers set in the correct position as they held the small ofuda which was the core of my defense. And so, I severed the Sakurazukamori's pattern, preventing it from being whole.

"Fool!"

I didn't even hear the furious hiss, focused as I was on holding my ground. Dear spirits, but that single spell of his was so horribly strong it was all I could do to simply stand in its way and use myself as a sword to cut through its structure. The wind around me howled, wildly flying the hair I had gathered into a high pony tail. I didn't know how long I was going to be--

Pain.

Somehow, I managed to keep the scream in my throat as something as sharp as a razorblade tore at my left shoulder. The pain was so excruciating that it blinded me for a fraction of a second, coming threateningly close to breaking my focus. When I regained my sense of sight, I saw on the other side of the bridge where I had stood moments earlier a tall, dark human shape with a bird perched on his left shoulder.

An eagle.

Shikigami.

I looked at my left hand and realized my whole arm was shaking. There was something viscous and warm running from three long, deep cuts which reached the bone on my shoulder.

Blood.

"Your father should have taught you that meddling into other people's business is a very bad mistake, little girl." His voice was soft, almost gentle, almost...familiar. Damn, it was the second time I had this strange sensation of--

Shrugging off the crazy impression, I grinned at him, out of sheer defiance. If he had the resources to push it now, I would die. My chance, the one chance I had depended upon all along, was that he needed to stay focused on his first spell, the one with which he was trying to destroy the seal. If not.... The bird of prey on his shoulder unfolded its great wings and flew off.

Rushing right towards me, talons ready to tear into my flesh again.

Focus, damn you.

Focus on the true enemy. The true enemy!

I closed my eyes, deliberately ignoring the threat, summoned all the strength I still had left within me and willed another spell to come into being. I never saw the eagle swooping down upon me, but I felt its talons opening deep cuts in my left arm this time, in an attempt to make me lose my focus and to make me drop the ofuda.

Like hell, Sakurazukamori.

Like hell!

I used the pain and the scream I couldn't deny anymore to voice and release the second spell. The fingers of my right hand desperately clenched the hilt of the kodachi as I fought to keep my balance while all my energy flowed away from me.

Dear spirits, it hurt. It hurt so bad....

My vision wavered when I opened my eyes, but I fiercely refused to accommodate the part of me which wanted to take shelter into unconsciousness. I needed to stay awake. Awake for.... Around the dark, threatening shape in front of me, the air abruptly erupted into motion as a myriad of miniature ravens came to life and swept down upon him, answering my summoning spell. They were mere weak shikigami, but they were many.

Slowly the shining pattern of the destruction spell started fading, bit by bit, but I waited. I had to be certain it would be impossible to rebuild it before I could-- I cried out as the eagle struck me in the back, up the left shoulderblade, and felt myself falling forward.

No, curse it.

No!

Biting my lower lip until I tasted blood, I sent darkness and pain away, and managed to keep my balance.

Around me, the pattern had started unraveling in earnest. It was over. On instinct, I drew the kodachi out of the ground, turning and striking in the same movement.

The blade was a part of me, it was my hand.

And it would strike where I led.

There was a shriek as the eagle recoiled, and I saw bright blood staining my blade. Grinning ferally in the night, I pushed myself upright, and ran down along the river, following its shore, unheeding of the blood painting my torn haori jacket.




Damn the girl.

I sent the anger away, gently stroking the eagle on my shoulder. I had no business blaming her for being perceptive and for having had the guts to act upon her intuition. She was a far more dangerous opponent than I had first thought. I smiled as I called to mind the images of how she had stood, struck at my shikigami with her kodachi blade and run into the night, all in a single motion of such fluid beauty I had caught myself admiring its perfection.

She was close to mastering her blade completely.

I had had no idea she was that skilled. I had thought she just played with her sword, but I should have known that one who had been trained to become the Sumeragi's head of clan would have the discipline and strength needed to learn the way of the sword. That was no substitute for talent, of course, but....

Talent, she had.

I smiled, satisfied all things considered. The old tree's seal could remain, I didn't care that much about it, it was after all nothing but one of the most insignificant parts of the web of seals protecting Kyoto. This little skirmish had taught me much about Sumeragi Tokio, and had made me realize she wasn't the pawn I had thought her to be.

A knight, whose movements on the chessboard were so unpredictable and fascinating....

Let her run away to safety and tend to her wounds.

Yes, let her.

Dealing with her would be a pleasure, a game I intended to regain control of very quickly. Sumeragi Tokio was now a prize on her own, and one I would give the attention it deserved. I wouldn't make the mistake of treating her lightly again.

I laughed in the darkness as a part of em remembered it had been a long time since I had last hunted a worthy prey.




I staggered against the wall, leaning my right hand upon it and fighting to get air inside my lungs. I had no idea how long I would be able to keep on walking. I was more or less sure the Sakurazukamori hadn't bother to chase after me. With a wry smile, I thought my small intervention must have left him a bit in the middle of a chaotic mess. To have a spell falling down around your ears couldn't be pleasant. Of course, the drawback was that even if I had saved that seal, I had forced him to notice me. Perhaps it would be for the best, if it made him divide his energy between me and my father....

Steps.

I vaguely saw someone walking in my direction, and fought to walk more or less normally. Shit, what was the man doing out at such an ungodly hour? It was really my luck that a--

Wind.

Cold.

My eyes widened in recognition and I tried to brace myself, in vain. The sakanagi struck me with such blind force that I dropped against the wall, unable to refrain from moaning in pain. It was so violent, so raw, it was like the eagle's talons, but tearing at me from within....

"Hey, kid!"

I hadn't had time to ward my self from the backlash of my second spell. Time, or strength left, damn it.

"Tokio-san?!"

I felt hands shaking me, and distantly fought I had heard that voice before. Fingers touched my left shoulder and I cried out, opening my eyes.

Two dark blue eyes were staring at me, cold concern shining in them. Dark blue eyes, which had almost the color of night, bright red hair and that long scar in his left cheek.... Yes, I remembered the red-haired samurai who was most likely hitokiri and who had been on the verge of killing me. He asked me softly, quietly, "You've lost a lot of blood. What happened?"

I tried to push him away and stand up, but all I managed was to fall upon him. Understanding I was in no state to hold a conversation, he passed my right arm around his shoulders and gently led me away, half supporting me. I willingly followed, unable to do anything else than fighting to stay conscious.

We walked for what seemed like an eternity, until at last we halted in front of a building which looked like an inn or a boarding-house. From far away, I heard my companion give an explanation for my presence to a woman who had appeared in the doorway, and then he led me up some stairs towards a room which had to be his own.

He carefully set me down in what felt like a futon but might have been bed sheets quickly piled to make some kind of mattress; and I felt my head swimming. Hell, I couldn't pass out now, I had to get back....

I suddenly felt his fingers on my bare skin, and realized he had undone the haori jacket completely, and was busy undressing me, at least partly. I lifted my right arm in an attempt to stop him, but he pushed my strenghtless arm away gently. He looked at me and said in a matter-of-fact voice, "I need to get a look at your wounds, Tokio-san, so I can see how bad they are."

It was logical, a part of me acknowledged that, but he was a man and this kind of thing was...unseemly? I told him in a weak whisper, "I need to get back home, I need to get back...now. I must--" Then I suddenly remembered I didn't even know him, so I asked, "Why are you helping me? Who are you?"

He tore bits and pieces of bed linens, using them to staunch the blood, and then replied while still working on the wounds, "You're not going anywhere tonight, Tokio-san. As to why I am doing this...." He looked at me, and smiled.

A gentle, beautiful smile.

It was not a hitokiri's smile, it was that of a nice, kind and caring young man; it was the kind of smile which always gave rise to a bittersweet feeling in my heart for some reason.

"You might have bled to death if I hadn't picked you up, you needed help, that's all. And to answer your other question, my name is Himura. Himura Kenshin."

Himura Kenshin. It was a good name. Yes, a good name.... I blinked, realizing I had started to drift away. There was still pain, a lot of it whenever I managed to focus enough on staying awake, but it was all growing dim, no matter how hard I tried to resist.

"Is this a person you killed?"

The faint, eerie whisper barely reached my fogged mind. For a moment, I wondered whether I had died without noticing, finding this to be quite vexing somehow. Then I saw a woman in my field of vision.

A young, beautiful woman with a feeling of unreality around her.

Fragile.

Sad.

Her eyes were veiled by something I couldn't have named. She came to stand next to me, looking down at me with what seemed to be complete indifference, as if seeing people bleeding from deep wounds was an everyday occurrence for her...as if death was something that she knew very well for living close to it all the time.

The red-haired samurai--Himura Kenshin--smiled at her, in relief as much as in...complicity? Affection? And he told her, "This is Tokio-san. I found her walking the streets like this. I checked her wounds, and they will heal if treated properly to stop the bleeding. She's very weak. Can you please take care of her, Tomoe-san?"

The young woman nodded and knelt down beside me. Then I felt myself going under once more, and this time I didn't fight it. I simply had no more strength for that. As darkness enfolded me, a single thought echoed in my mind.

I had to get back home.

I had to.

I had to.

I had....

I....

End of Part 2.


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