Rurouni Kenshin: From Where I Am

By: Shadow Chaser

 

Author’s Notes: This story is both a mix of fantasy, magic, and science fiction. There are many influences within this fic from various animes, programs, and books. Influences include: Stargate SG-1, Rurouni Kenshin (duh), Please Save My Earth, X-1999, and Dune. I like to thank Shinsengumi and Hecto for fansubbing Rurouni Kenshin!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Rurouni Kenshin’s creations. They belong to whomever they belong to. I am not making a profit out of this fanfic. This is only for entertainment. Please ask if you want to use my own creations of characters.

 

Timeframe: After the episodes with the Sanada ninjas, before the pentagram episodes.

 

Chapter 2 - Ghosts of Tomorrow

11^th Year of the Meiji Era - 1879

 

Kaori Santaro shivered a bit as the cold air of the night bit at her feet. It was unusually cold for the beginning of summer and the locals had called and predicted bad weather to be coming soon. As a cold breeze brushed past her she pulled her shawl closer to her, trying to keep warm. She didn’t like to be out at night, but her two charges had to stay so late over their friend’s house. It was on the order of their mother that she bring them home immediately. She adjusted her lantern and watched the shadows carefully, and fearfully.

Recently there had been news of a spree of murders occurring at the randomness times, some in the morning, some in broad daylight of Tokyo, some at night. All the murdered people were young teenaged women and men, like her age. But there were also children within the murders, all of them young ones brutally sliced in half with their guts pouring out for everyone to see.

The odd thing was when the attacks occurred in broad daylight, it was within some semi-busy area of the city. But no one saw anything. It was as if the victim was walking along then suddenly fell to the ground with his/her body sliced apart. And after that, the police had come to identify the cause but for some odd reason could not identify the method of attack.

The only consistency of the murders was that the killer attacked young people and children, and was very silent and mysterious in his killings. Kaori shuddered slightly at the rumors floating around about the murderer. Some said that it was a demon coming back to haunt Tokyo, others said that it was a ghost, while even others said it was a shadow hitokiri who must have dealt with the Ishinshishi and not have his proper payment at the end.

There was a sudden tug at her kimono skirt and she glanced down to see the chibi-elfin face of Nami, one of her charges.

“Kaori-chan…we’re cold,” Nami spoke, her voice soft and a bit hoarse as she was coming down with a summer cold of sorts.

“Hai, Kaori-chan…cold,” Nami’s little brother, Hiro added his assent.

“Don’t worry children, we’re almost home,” she shifted the lantern’s stick to her other hand and patted each of them on their head.

“I’m sad to say that you won’t be going home,” a gruff voice, spoke behind her and Kaori turned around, stifling a gasp of surprise and fear as through the dimness of her lantern, she saw an outline of a figure.

She couldn’t tell if the figure was male or female, and the way it spoke didn’t give a hint of its gender. There was a sudden gleam coming from the figure and she let out a small cry as she realized with a jolt of fear, that this was the murderer…the one that had been killing young women, men and children for the past week. Oh no…why…Kaori froze for a minute, her mind searching frantically for any way out of her current situation.

“Please…p-please don’t k-kill me…” she whispered fearfully as she pushed the children behind her.

The figure said nothing and then started to walk towards her.

Kaori backed away, trying to will her legs to move, to run from the murderer. She had to get to the authorities. She had to warn everyone, she had to get help. “Ch-children…” she found that her voice was hoarse, thick with fear.

“Kaori-chan…” Nami and Hiro whispered as they gripped her kimono tightly. She could feel their fear pouring out of them, mixing with her own fear.

“What…what do you want with us? D-Did we do anything to you?” she tried to make her voice sound brave, but she heard the tremors of fear that ran through her words.

“I just want you to die,” the figure finally replied then charged.

Kaori watched with glued eyes as the figure blurred from her vision. Her brain was screaming for her to run, but she felt so light and airy right then and there. It was as if the figure’s charge had mesmerized her somehow, kept her at bay.

She suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream as she felt a cool metal pierce her throat, followed by intense pain, then something warm dripped down the back and front of her kimono. She silently gripped the blade that had entered through the back of her neck; the sharp edge of the katana slicing through her hands. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. The only thing she heard was the blood rushing in her ears…her vision faded slowly, the lantern’s light waning, the children’s faces fading as she finally saw darkness.

She welcomed the blanket of darkness, embracing it to end her terrible torment.

* * *

Kenshin Himura closed his eyes for a brief moment, savoring the morning air. It was cool out, typical of the summers in Tokyo. But last night was a brief chill of what felt like winter. He didn’t know if it was a sign of bad things to come, but then again with the police commissioner sitting in front of him, it was already a sign of bad omens. The voice of Kaoru Kamiya yelling at her student, Yahiko Myojin was distant in the dojo beyond the house. He ignored whatever was going on in the dojo and focused all of his attention on the commissioner.

He opened his eyes once more then stared attentively at Kawaji Toshiyoshi, the police commissioner of all of the Meiji government. Usually Kawaji would send the police chief to come and meet him, but he figured that it was something grave that the commissioner had to talk to him about, probably something to do with the murders for the past week or so. He had heard rumors floating around, about the murders, but there weren’t any circumstantial evidence to support any of the rumors and he hoped that the commissioner would be able to clear things up. Not to mention that there was another murder of a young woman and two children last night.

“Himura-san, by now, you probably have heard of the spree of killings going on. So far they have been confined in the Tokyo region, only extending a bit out of the city’s boarders, but…” the commissioner hesitated, “I don’t know if the former capital, Kyoto will be attacked also…”

Kenshin nodded slightly at the news. It would be very bad if the murders continued all throughout Japan, but… “Is there a motive for these murders, Kawaji-dono?”

The police commissioner shook his head, his mustache drooping slightly, “No…none that we can figure out so far. All that we know is that the killings have been to young women, men, and children. It’s as if someone wants to get rid of the younger Meiji generation.

“The murders have been done by a person, or persons skilled in different types of kenjutsu. We could show you what the bodies looked like, but for some odd reason, they have been disappearing almost half hour after the attack. The only evidence we have of murders is bones that have been left behind with some sword scratches and blood pooled everywhere. We’ve only got the idea that whoever is behind the attacks that are killing men, women, and children is the fact of witnesses.”

Kenshin frowned slightly; he didn’t like the fact that the bodies were disappearing, “Witnesses?”

“Hai. Witnesses, who said that they were walking maybe next to the intended victim, or maybe saw the person in passing glance, then suddenly saw blood pouring out of the person and the person falling to the ground dead. That’s only in broad daylight. The nighttime ones were reported by friends and family members who were wondering about their loved ones. They told us the intended route that the person(s) would take at night and we searched the area,” the commissioner hesitated slightly, “we found the bodies along the route that the family members had told us.”

“So at first you accused the family members of devising a way of getting rid of their ‘loved ones’. But you didn’t find any evidence and connected the bones and blood to the ones killing in broad daylight,” Kenshin concluded and saw that the police commissioner agreed.

His frown grew deeper and silence reigned in the room that they were in. The only sounds that pierced the air were Yahiko’s voice doing his katas and various birds chirping in the air. Other than that, all of silent.

There was the distant sound of a knocking on the gate to the Kamiya dojo, but Kenshin ignored it as he focused on what the police commissioner had said. Random killings; men, women, and children…could it be a hitokiri like me, except he has not rested? He wondered.

Suddenly the door to the room they were in slid open and Kenshin glanced up from his thoughts to see a police officer, harried looking and half scared out of his wits standing there, breathing hard. “Kawaji-san! Another killing has been found. Just new,” the officer spoke in short bursts of air as he tried to keep his breathing steady.

Kenshin immediately got to his feet, his sakaba’s saya gripped tightly in his left hand. He glanced at the police commissioner and saw that he did the same, his eyes blazing with either fury or with surprise, he couldn’t tell.

“Where?!”

“Near the Akabeko,” the officer replied breathlessly but Kenshin was already on his feet breezing past the officer and heading towards the Akabeko. God help him if either Tae or Tsubame were the casualties of the recent murder spree. He hoped that it wasn’t them.

He was aware that the police commissioner was following behind him, and so were Kaoru and Yahiko, springing into action as a result of the news. He tried to ignore them and put on a slight burst of speed, going over the wooden bridge, passing by various people who were walking on the sides. He rounded a few corners then came to the main road where the Akabeko stood.

A crowd had already gathered and Kenshin pushed his way through. He made it to the center of the crowd and glanced down at the two bodies that were lying in the middle of the road, mutilated heavily with rivers and puddles of blood surrounding both bodies. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Tae and Tsubame were standing near the entrance of their restaurant, trying not to cry from the sight of the bodies. Thank the Gods that they were safe; Kenshin breathed a small sigh of relief but then glanced up at the crowd gathered.

Some people were crying out loud while others held a grim stoic look on their faces. A rhythmic marching of feet came from behind the crowd and Kenshin saw police officers shoving their way through the crowd then form a perimeter around the inner circle of people gathered, trying to block them from coming any closer.

“My God…” Kawaji’s raspy voice breathed next to him, unable to contain the horror of the brutal murders.

“Jumi…Kageo…NO!” a sudden screaming came from one of the people in the crowd and Kenshin snapped his head up, his eyes searching.

That was a cry he had heard many times, and now was no different. It was the cry of a man that had lost everything he had loved. A man without a family, without a wife or a daughter.

He identified the man and motioned to one of the police men to let him come forward, but also to hold him back if he did anything rash. “What happened?” Kenshin asked, quietly, trying to keep the man’s eyes focused on his.

“No…Jumi…” the man sobbed still staring at the bodies that laid on the ground.

“What happened?!” Kawaji snapped beside him and he could see that the police commissioner was stressed with the recent killing.

“J-Jumi and Kageo…were…g-going to shop. I left them for a minute then…” the man trailed off then suddenly lunged forward.

Kenshin caught the glint of a dagger being pulled from inside the man’s uwagi and rushed forward. With a blur he quickly disarmed the man and then pressure pointed him so that he would fall limp into the police officers hands. The man went down without a word, only the look of betrayal evident in his eyes.

“W-why didn’t you let me die?” he whispered, trying to move his frozen muscles.

“Killing yourself won’t bring your wife and daughter back. You must live for them, as they might have done for you,” Kenshin replied softly then turned from the man and knelt down by the heads of the two bodies.

He closed the gaping eyes of the two bodies then did a quick scan of their wounds. Not good…he thought to himself as he stood up then gave a quick nod to the commissioner who snapped his fingers and a team of police officers came in and draped the bodies with black cloth.

“Nothing more to see, minna, go now,” the commissioner ordered in an administrative tone.

The crowds made some noises of protest, but were shoved forcefully away from the bodies, now covered in black cloth. Kenshin watched as the people grumbled a bit then dispersed to elsewhere, some conferring with each other, while others tried to hide their tears from what they had witnessed. But they all left without protesting to the police officers. Only Kaoru, Yahiko and the rest of the officers remained.

“Go…file a report,” Kawaji spoke to one of the officers who promptly saluted and left the scene in a hurry, trying to not to throw up from the carnage. The police commissioner turned to the rest of his officers, “Continue with your patrol. Keep a sharp eye out for the murderer. I have a bad feeling that something like this will happen again.”

Kenshin watched as the other officers left, some whispering prayers to their gods, while others held a grim look. He turned to face Kaoru and Yahiko, both whom had shrank back to where Tae and Tsubame were peeking out of their restaurant. “Kaoru-dono, Yahiko…please go back to the Dojo. It isn’t safe for you two to be here.”

“Demo…Kenshin-“ Kaoru started, but quieted down as he gave her a look that pleaded with her to go back.

“Please, Kaoru-dono. It isn’t safe at the moment with the murderer running around. I’ll follow you back to the dojo in a few minutes,” he nodded his assurance then watched as Kaoru glanced once at the bodies, shuddered slightly and walked up the road, with Yahiko following silently. He knew that the boy was a bit shaken by the murders, the fact that they happened at random moments with such sheer intensity.

When they were far enough to not hear whatever the Police Commissioner had to say, Kenshin turned to him, “This isn’t random. The murderer is looking for some kind of specific target.”

“But what…?”

“The style in which they died was done by a well trained samurai, adept in kenjutsu…”

“Then…you’re saying…it was a former hitokiri?” Kawaji breathed out in horror.

Kenshin nodded silently, “It could be. The jutsu is a mixture of Hiten Mitsurugi and something else…” He couldn’t place his finger on the other part of the jutsu used to commit the murder, but it seemed oddly familiar. He did a quick mental search through his mind, delving into his past, though he really didn’t want to. Was there anyone that used the other type of jutsu that was used in this murder? No…no one that he had encountered before…

So why then was the jutsu so familiar?

“Himura-dono…” Kawaji started before a distant scream pierced Kenshin’s ears.

That scream was very familiar.

“Kaoru…” Kenshin whispered as he gripped his sakaba tightly and ran towards the scream.

* * *

Blood. Blood everywhere.

Kaoru had never seen so much blood in her life. She put a hand up to her mouth, trying to stifle another scream that was threatening to escape her mouth. Her first scream had alerted the murderer, but oddly, the murderer had not gone after her. Instead, it went after a group of people who were just walking along the bridge. That’s when the carnage began.

She had seen the people cower in fear, then suddenly split in half, blood gushing out of their ripped stomachs and chests. She felt woozy and lightheaded as she sank to the ground, her body shaking in fear as she watched the murderer systematically cut down the various people who were either paralyzed with fear, or trying to run away. Her mind was screaming for her to run, but somehow, she felt as if her legs were heavy bronze weights.

“K-Kaoru…” Yahiko crouched beside, her and out of her corner of her eye she could see that her student was also paralyzed with fear.

She watched as the murderer suddenly blurred out of sight. Where is it? Is it coming after me now? Her mind was frantic as she looked around for the murderer. She had a very bad feeling that she was the next target, or worst Yahiko because of his young age.

She suddenly sensed it before she saw the flash of a very sharp katana slicing down…

Slowly downward as her breathing became ragged and heavy in her ears. She felt like she was walking through a very thick mud. The katana glinted off the bright sunlight and came down towards Yahiko who had a pensive, shocked expression. Suddenly a reddish-brown haired girl, dressed in a hakama uniform, appeared out of nowhere and scooped Yahiko up and ran past the downward blade.

Time suddenly sped up as the blade crashed where Yahiko used to be, and Kaoru got her first good look at the murderer. She couldn’t tell if it was a he or a she, but she knew that with those glowing reddish-yellow eyes that this person was evil, full of malice and hatred. She followed the murderer’s gaze towards where the reddish-brown braided hair girl had set Yahiko down, and saw that she wasn’t really a girl, but more of an older woman, much older than she was. Her eyes were a dark blue, and they hinted at anger and a certain blood thirst for revenge.

“Too bad I missed…” the murderer spoke, its voice odd sounding and she saw the girl’s passive face suddenly light up with surprise and suspicion. “I won’t miss again…”

In an instant, Kaoru knew what the murderer meant.

She was the next target, and with the murderer standing right next to her…she wouldn’t have any time to run away.

* * *

The streets blurred past him as he ran as fast as he could towards the scream. He remembered on a cold, blizzard-like winter, a day that was forever etched in his mind. The same scream that he had heard when his sword sliced through soft flesh and a white kimono. He didn’t want that scream to happen all over again…he couldn’t let the scream happen again. But this time, it wasn’t by his hand, but by someone systematically killing innocent people, the teenaged generation of the Meiji Era, the people who were young children and who had watched their parents die at the hands of either the Ishinshishi or the Shinsengumi eleven years ago.

No, he couldn’t let Kaoru die. Every fiber in his being screamed at his legs to move faster, to save Kaoru…because…

Because…

Because…I care for her, more than I should. I let myself get close to another woman because there is something about her that I can’t explain…something that I saw in Tomoe. But this time, I won’t let her die…she will not be condemned to Tomoe’s fate because…

Because I love her, he thought fiercely as he rounded a corner and immediately narrowed his eyes at the scene.

Yahiko was safe, standing next to a…girl… No…a skilled swordswoman who had the deadly edge of a former hitokiri of the Meiji Revolution. But Kaoru…

He increased his speed and watched as the katana the murderer was holding come down in such a slow way. Close…he thought to himself as his gaze flickered from Kaoru to the blade and back. Too close…

Kenshin swept her from her feet just as he felt the breeze of the blade behind him, catching the ends of his hair. He skidded to a stop next to Yahiko and glanced at Kaoru who still had a shocked expression on her face.

“Kaoru-dono, are you all right?” he asked, doing a quick search of her face to see if there were any visible signs that she was injured. He could tell, from her eyes, that the only injury she received was one of considerable shock and fear.

“K-Kenshin…” Kaoru whispered slightly as she blinked her eyes, snapping out of her funk. He watched as her eyes suddenly widened, tears pricking on the corners of her eyes. “S-So…much blood,” she whispered fearfully.

He nodded slightly and set her down gently on the ground. Glancing over to Yahiko, who seemed to be fairing better than Kaoru, he saw the boy half drawing out his shinai. “Yahiko…protect Kaoru-dono. There’s something that must be taken care of right now.”

“Hai, Kenshin,” Yahiko replied, his voice quavering slightly and Kenshin stepped away from Kaoru, drawing his sakaba at the same time. He held it in a defensive position in front of him then turned his head to acknowledge Yahiko’s rescuer.

“I thank you for saving Yahiko. It seems that we both have the same goal-“

“Himura-dono,” the girl said curtly and Kenshin watched as she stepped up next to him, drawing out her katana… No it wasn’t a katana, but a sakaba like his. “Please understand, I am here on a mission to stop someone. This murderer is a pawn of the person I must…assassinate…” he could sense the hesitation of her using the word ‘assassinate’.

She must have been a former hitokiri, a highly skilled female one, who lead a peaceful life of not using her sword after the Revolution…but where did she get the sakaba? He wondered as he nodded then stepped back a little to let her go about her mission. It was a samurai’s code not to interfere in any one person’s matches and he had a feeling that something bad, no, evil…was on the way, following the murderer. If something bad did happen, then he would have to protect both Yahiko and Kaoru.

Suddenly his danger sense tingled and he looked around as a number of black dressed ninjas suddenly appeared, surrounding Kaoru, Yahiko and everyone else. His eyes narrowed as he gauged the ninjas, watching their glowing red eyes.

“Himura-dono, protect Kaoru-dono and Yahiko-san!” the girl yelled before charging at the murderer.

That was when the first of the numerous black ninjas launched an attack at him.

* * *

Author’s Notes:

Well, finally done with this chapter of the story. Sorry if it sounds so rushed…I’m itching to get typing on the battle scene of CH 3. Hope you enjoyed it so far! Next to work on is my Star Wars fics, especially Lusankya…and Ronin Warriors new story, CH 4. Oh yeah, reminder that I’m in school right now and so these chapters will be coming in slow. I’m wishing its summer break already!! ^_^x