I do not own Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin. If I did, then all my strange little crossover ideas would be displayed on the big screen and I would never have to ever get a real job.
P.S. I have no money, so there's no point in suing me.
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Brief Summary of Inuyasha for those of you who are not familiar with it:
Starts out with a girl named Kagome who is somehow transported to feudal Japan through a well. She meets up with a guy Inuyasha (loosely meaning "dog demon"). He obviously, is the hero of the series, and he is a hanyou (1/2 demon, 1/2 human). Along the way they meet up with a cute little fox demon named Shippou whose parents were killed by demons. They also meet up with a lecherous monk named Miroku who has a wind-tunnel in his hand that can suck everything into it (including himself one day). The wind-tunnel is a family curse that is passed down from father to son and was inflicted on Miroku's grandfather 50 years ago by the ultimate villain of the series, Naraku. Also, they meet Sango, whose family was killed by Naraku, and whose younger brother, Kohaku is brainwashed by him. Going on on the side is the sexual tension growing between Inuyasha and Kagome, and the conflict with Inuyasha's past love come back from the grave, Kikyou. Wow, that's a mouthful. For more info go to Sengoku o-togi Zoushi. Just search for it on a search engine.
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Rurouni Inuyasha
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"Kagome!"
On the site of a bloody battleground, two figures huddled, surrounded by death and chaos.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha..."
"Kagome..."
On the ground, strewn about, lay the bodies of friend and foe, similar in death.
"No...Kagome...don't leave me...please!"
A place of sorrow, to be forever scarred by the events that had taken place there...
"Kagome, I need you..."
It was a place that even time would remember.
"I love you..."
A gut-wrenching cry of grief was lost in the howling of the wind.
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Approximately 3 1/2 centuries later...
A strange looking man with long white hair and a battered sword at his side walked down one of the many alleys of Kyoto, his head bowed, his face obscured by the straw hat he wore. As he passed, whispers and mutters flitted past his ears.
"Battousai!"
"No, you fool! The battousai has red hair, not white. Besides, with that hunk of rubbish at his side he couldn't slay a grain of rice, let alone a skilled warrior."
Inuyasha smirked to himself as he walked by. It was true; the Tetsusaiga was little more than a piece of crap now that all of the demons had disappeared. He was the only one left; that he knew of anyway. Must be his human blood. Speaking of which.... Inuyasha looked up at the pale sliver of the moon; only a few more days until he was a full human again. Even now he hated the transformation that he had to undergo every 28 days. The loss of sight and smell, reduced to a weakling in mere seconds; it was amazing that these humans didn't just curl up and die. Of course, they never got to experience what it felt like to be him. Or what he usually felt like anyway. Stupid half human blood and all its strange and nonsensical quirks. The whole thing could just infuriate him. Kagome had used to accuse him of PMSing, whatever that meant....
Kagome....
What caused him to think of her just then? He hadn't thought of her in so long...had fought to push away any memory of her deep into the recesses of his brain.... A slight breeze tickled his nose. Kagome....
Inuyasha's ears perked up underneath his hat. That scent.... No, it couldn't be...she wouldn't even be born yet. Kikyou then? That's possible, though unlikely. An image of Kikyou crumbling into dirt flashed through his mind. Before he even knew what he was doing, Inuyasha had leapt onto the nearest roof, and was following the trail of the scent. He didn't have far to go; the scent lead to another nearby alley. It was mingled with another smell. Blood.
Inuyasha stopped short as he came across the dead body. It was one of the notorious Shinsengumi, identifiable by the blue and white gi the group wore. The Shinsengumi were reputed to have crossed swords with the Hitokiri Battousai many times. Inuyasha wasn't all too sure he believed in the rumors of the legendary assassin who fought for the Ishinshishi; it smelled like propaganda to him. But seeing this dead body made Inuyasha reconsider his earlier assessment. He hadn't seen a body this thoroughly killed since the feudal era, when demons still walked the earth. Could the famous hitokiri be a demon? No, the body had no demon scent on it, and besides the wounds were not made by claws, but by the swift, clean blade of a katana. Inuyasha sniffed the body again, attempting to pick up the scent of the killer. What?...He shook his head. It was the Kikyou/Kagome scent he had picked up earlier. Okay, now he was thoroughly confused. Was his mind playing tricks on him? He followed the scent trail further down the alley, determined to get to the bottom of this. As he went on, the scent got stronger, he must be getting close. Suddenly, he felt cold steel lightly grazing his neck, maybe drawing blood.
"Why are you following me?" a voice from behind him asked.
Inuyasha tried to clear his thoughts. How could this guy have snuck up on him? Damn it! He must have snuck up on him while Inuyasha was distracted by the scent....
"Are you another hired assassin? Or just another fool who wants to try his hand at defeating the Hitokiri Battousai?"
Battousai?
Somehow Inuyasha found his voice. "Do you really think me that much of an idiot? Would anyone challenge the legendary Battousai with this hunk of crap?" Inuyasha held out his sheathed Tetsusaiga. The katana's blade that had been pressed into his neck relented. Inuyasha turned around rubbing his neck and got his first glimpse of the legendary assassin of the shadows. His first reaction was one of surprise.
The hitokiri was not what Inuyasha expected. He was not a large man; in fact you could say that he was a tiny man. Hell, he didn't even really look like a man, with his slender figure and short stature. And that face. What a girlie face; well it was girlie if you could discount the cross shaped scar that adorned one cheek and the murderous glint of his narrowed eyes as he glared down at the Tetsusaiga. What a mess of contradictions this man was. With an ease that betrayed many years of experience, the Battousai flipped his katana back into its' sheath. He looked up at Inuyasha for an instant, glaring at him with unreadable yellow eyes, then looked back down at the battered old sword. He pulled the nicked blade a couple of inches out of the sheath, and then resheathed it.
"It gives off a strange ki," he said, handing the sword back to Inuyasha. "If you want to live, do not follow me anymore." The Battousai disappeared into the shadows. With him, also left the scent that Inuyasha had been following.
"Shit!" Inuyasha cursed.
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It had been a bad night. Not as bad as some, but still worse than others. Of course, for Himura Kenshin, better known as "Hitokiri Battousai" almost every night was bad. This night however, Kenshin had been playing bodyguard again, when a faction of the Shinsengumi had surrounded them. Before any of the other bodyguards knew what was happening, Kenshin had slain five with one sweep of his sword. But the numbers of the Shinsengumi were too great, and Kenshin and his fellow bodyguards had had to retreat with the political leader that they were guarding. Kenshin had brought up the rear, to make sure that no Shinsengumi could get to them. Only one single Shinsengumi member had managed to catch up with him, and while Kenshin fought the others had disappeared into the maze-like alleys of Kyoto. After Kenshin had killed the Shinsengumi member, he had had just a few seconds to disappear into the shadows before the rest of the Shinsengumi came. Seeing the dead body, some had cursed "Battousai" as they hurried into the alleyways, hoping to catch the elusive hitokiri that continually escaped them.
Kenshin sighed as he dumped bucket after bucket of water over his head. When would it all be over? He was growing weary.
"Oh, Tomoe," he thought, staring at his hands. "I don't know how much more of this I can take..."
"Himura-san?" a voice came from the doorway. Fleetingly, Kenshin considered using his god-like speed to escape, he really didn't want to deal with anyone right now. But, Karamaki Kazuo was an honest man, if a bit annoying, and deserved his respect.
"Yes, Karamaki-san?" Kenshin asked warily.
Ever since Kazuo had joined the Ishinshishi forces a couple of months ago, he had sort-of idolized Kenshin. Or rather, the Hitokiri Battousai. When Kazuo had actually met Kenshin, he, like so many others, refused to believe that a skinny little waif of a man could be the infamous assassin. After finding out that in fact, Kenshin was actually a year younger than him; Kazuo had challenged Kenshin to a match, which of course Kenshin had refused. Kazuo had simmered with animosity towards him believing that Kenshin didn't really deserve his title as the most valuable bodyguard in the Ishinshishi. However, that all changed a couple of weeks later, when Kazuo had seen Kenshin's battou jutsu in action. Now, Kazuo thinks it would be great if the two of them could be joined at the hip, much to Kenshin's chagrin.
"Oh, Himura-san, I was so worried!" Kazuo blurted out. "Why didn't you come back with the rest of us? Why do you always take such risks!"
Kenshin considered what Kazuo had said. Why did he always take such deadly risks? It's not as if he got some kind of satisfaction out of them. So why did he...?
"Karamaki-san, I am very sorry for worrying you."
Kenshin did not venture any information of what had happened the night before. His mind drifted to the strange man he had met just a few hours earlier. At first, Kenshin had thought it was just another one of the Shinsengumi, but the man's ki signature had told a different story. It was strange, energy had just seemed to be flowing from the man; it was almost as if he wasn't human...and that sword of his, it gave of a strange ki as well; it almost seemed like it had a pulse.... Was he an assassin, after the Battousai? No, he would have had weapons suitable for killing, and even though his sword had a weird ki, it definitely wasn't a killing sword. A spy maybe? That would explain the farmer with a sword get-up, although the hat in the middle of the night was a little conspicuous...and also the reason why the man had seemed reluctant to confront him. But one little thing about this analysis rubbed Kenshin the wrong way. The man hadn't seemed to be expecting him, instead it seemed as if he thought that he was going to find someone else, but who could that be? Another assassin?
Kenshin massaged his temples. It was just all too confusing, and he was tired. "Tomorrow," he resolved. "I'll figure it out tomorrow..."
"Figure what out tomorrow?" Kazuo asked, curious.
Kenshin realized he must have spoken those last few words out loud.
"Nothing," he said as he walked out of the room. Kazuo took a few steps forward to follow, but then thought better of it, leaving the hitokiri to make his way to his room in peace.
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"But you've got your father's sword, right?! C'mon, I believe in you? Don't you?"
"Keh. I wouldn't be so cheerful if I were you. I'm strong enough to survive his blows...but you'll be jelly any moment now."
"You mean...you're giving up?"
~I...I made her cry?!~
"Stop that! Now!"
"Y-you said I shouldn't be..."
"Shut up! I meant, let me protect you! Do you hear?!"
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Why now, after all these years? Why was he remembering her now?
Inuyasha stood before several graves. They had been the first ones to be buried in this place. Inuyasha ought to know, he buried them. Fairly recently though, many more graves had been buried here. When Inuyasha had first found the new graves, he had been angry. This was their spot! No one else deserved to be buried here! But he had eventually calmed down. No point in being pissed at the dead. Besides, he didn't know them, so who was he to judge? Maybe they did deserve to reside here with his loved ones. Who knows what kind of hardships these newcomers had faced, and judging from the amount of the new graves, they had all died in some sort of plague...or a battle.
Inuyasha glanced around the graveyard, internally issuing a greeting to the dead. The crosses of wood that had marked the graves had mostly rotted over the years, all except for the graves marked with stones. Inuyasha scanned the small graveyard again, his eyes settling on a grave that had an intact marker at its head. It looked fairly new, as if someone had been buried there recently, within the last couple of years or so.
Inuyasha turned back with a shrug to the graves of his friends.
There was Shippou, the little fox demon, who had never had a chance to be the man, the great man, that they had all known he would be; Sango, the young demon exterminator, who had never had a chance to reconcile with her younger brother, Kohaku; Miroku, the lecherous monk, who had planned to ask Sango to marry him when the quest was over; Kirara, the little cat demon, trusty companion and friend; and finally, Kagome, the girl from the future and, the one true love of his life. He had never had a chance to tell her that when she was still alive. He had always assumed that there was more time, that there would always be more time. But, their time had run out, and Inuyasha would always regret that he had never had enough guts, no, enough balls, to tell her the truth...that Kikyou was nothing but a mere shadow to Kagome's radiance. Kagome's light... Perhaps that was why he had always felt that he was undeserving of her; that he belonged with Kikyou in hell.
Inuyasha looked down at his sword. "I don't know why I kept you, you worthless piece of crap. You couldn't even save..." He trailed off, knowing it was really he, who couldn't save Kagome; it wasn't the Tetsusaiga's fault, it was his.
Inuyasha's eyes widened. There was that perplexing scent again! But what would the Battousai be doing here? Deciding that he would rather avoid a confrontation with the infamous hitokiri, Inuyasha leapt into a tree at the edge of the clearing. It wasn't that Inuyasha was scared or anything, it's just that he had problems with hurting humans, even if they were cold-hearted killers. He watched in silence as the small, red-haired man approached one of the graves. It was the newest one.
In the morning light, Hitokiri Battousai looked even more harmless than he had the night before. And the sad, melancholy look on his face, helped to create this illusion even more. Was this the grave of someone he had killed? Did the Battousai feel...remorse?
Inuyasha watched as the Battousai pulled out a small flask of sake, and poured it over the grave. He put his hand over a cross-shaped scar that Inuyasha had not noticed the night before and began to speak, softly. Inuyasha could just catch his words.
"It doesn't taste good to me anymore."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. What didn't taste good anymore? The sake? Or was it some sort of reference to the hitokiri's occupation? Inuyasha pondered this for a moment, watching the small man kneel in front of the grave, pulling a small bunch of purple flowers out of his sleeve.
"Tomoe..." he began tentatively, lowering his head to look at the ground. "Tomoe...I don't know if I'm the man you thought I was, the man you saw in me...but, when this is all over, I'm going to try, I really am. Until then...please..."
Inuyasha watched in amazement as the hitokiri tried to choke back a sob. This was a side of the killer that he'd never thought he'd see; never thought anyone would see. The Battousai regained control of himself, but his voice still quivered with pain.
"Forgive me."
Inuyasha leaned back against the trunk of the tree that he was sitting on. It seems that there was more to the Hitokiri Battousai than anyone would ever have guessed. The man that was renown for his skill with the blade, reputed to kill with cold efficiency, devoid of mercy; this same man could cry for a woman named Tomoe.
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Kenshin stiffened when he suddenly realized that someone had been watching him. He felt a powerful ki emanating from his left. He glanced to his left, not wishing to alert his watcher that he was aware of him. He fought a shudder of anger at himself. How long had that ki been there, watching him? How could he have not noticed it right away?
"Stupid," he silently told himself, repressing an urge to hit himself. "Stupid."
Gathering his wits, Kenshin sped across the graveyard with his god-like speed, landing lightly beneath the tree he felt the ki coming from, sword in hand. He heard a soft grunt of surprise.
"How long have you been watching me?" he asked, his voice quiet with fury. There was a soft rustle of leaves as a figure silently dropped from the tree. It was the man from the night before, Kenshin noted with mild surprise.
"I thought I told you not to follow me."
To Kenshin's surprise, he felt no fear in the ki of the other man. He scrutinized the face of the man in front of him; what he could see of it anyway. The night before he had only just been able to make out the man's features, so he had no real idea what the man looked like. Now the man had his hat pulled over his eyes, almost like he was hiding.
"Oi! I was here first!" the man said a bit angrily. Kenshin guessed that he was a bit given to anger. Wait...here first? Kenshin felt like smacking his head. How could he have so completely missed him?
"Well," Kenshin said, fingering his sword. "Why are you here?" His voice dropped an octave, simmering with menace. He wasn't too happy that this man was hanging around Tomoe's grave. He probably should just kill him; he probably should have killed him last night. So why didn't he? And why did he feel something telling him not to now?
The man sighed, and dropped down into a sitting position on a nearby rock.
"I guess you could say that I'm visiting." he paused, as if considering what to say. "...my family."
His family? Kenshin looked around him at the graves. Were some of these people that he had buried here so many years ago, this man's family? Apparently the man had caught Kenshin's confused look; he pointed to a corner of the graveyard where four trees were growing. For the first time, Kenshin noticed that underneath the trees were slightly raised mounds of earth. They were graves? How long had they been there? Kenshin glanced up at the man's face, wishing he could see his expression, but all he could see is the firm, hard line of the man's mouth. Kenshin found himself wondering about the man's age. From what he could see of the man's face, it appeared to be a youthful face, but the white of the man's hair belied that. And the sorrow in the man's voice when he spoke of his "family" indicated that he must have known them well, and those graves were at least twenty years old. Was the man just remarkably well preserved, like his own Shishou?
Out loud, Kenshin asked, "Who are you?"
The man sighed again, as if in resignation.
"I just know I'm going to regret this, but since I know who you are, well sorta, and I kinda butted in on your...um." He paused, perhaps regretting that he had reminded Kenshin of that fact.
"I guess you deserve to know who I am." The man straightened the hat on his head, allowing Kenshin his first good look at the man.
Kenshin's first impression was one of strangeness. At first glance the man looked normal, but if you looked at him for longer than a few seconds, you began noticing strange shapes in the man's face; his cheekbones were longer than usual, and his nose was longer than usual as well with a slightly darkened tip. But, it was his eyes that took the cake. They were obviously not human eyes; yellow with cat-like pupils, and from beneath the hat they almost seemed to glow.
Kenshin narrowed his eyebrows, instinctively reaching for his sword. "A demon," he said, with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
The man/demon shook his head calmly, not frightened in the least of Battousai's sword.
"Not quite," he said, "I'm a hanyou, my mother was human." He pulled off his hat in mock salute, revealing two fuzzy dog-ears. "My given name is Inuyasha, although over the years I've been called `Mutt', `Dog Breath', just plain `ole `you', and a whole bunch of others." He wiggled his ears as if for effect and there was a toothy grin on his face, as if he were enjoying Kenshin's discomfort. "And what's your name, Mr. Battousai?"
To his surprise, Kenshin found himself answering this strange, if friendly man.
"Himura Kenshin."
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Author's notes:
-Yeah, I know, Inuyasha is OOC, but I sorta figured that the notoriously immature hanyou that we all know and love would have matured at least a little in 3 1/2 centuries. He's definitely chilled out a lot.
-In my opinion, Kenshin as the Battousai, is pretty in-character, although if you don't think so you're certainly welcome to tell me so and how to fix it. That doesn't necessarily mean I'll take your advice, but I will consider it.
-Well, that's about it. I'll probably write this story until I get sick of it, but if you like it, review it, and I'll probably be more inclined to write more.
Green signing out.
P.S. I have no money, so there's no point in suing me.
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Brief Summary of Inuyasha for those of you who are not familiar with it:
Starts out with a girl named Kagome who is somehow transported to feudal Japan through a well. She meets up with a guy Inuyasha (loosely meaning "dog demon"). He obviously, is the hero of the series, and he is a hanyou (1/2 demon, 1/2 human). Along the way they meet up with a cute little fox demon named Shippou whose parents were killed by demons. They also meet up with a lecherous monk named Miroku who has a wind-tunnel in his hand that can suck everything into it (including himself one day). The wind-tunnel is a family curse that is passed down from father to son and was inflicted on Miroku's grandfather 50 years ago by the ultimate villain of the series, Naraku. Also, they meet Sango, whose family was killed by Naraku, and whose younger brother, Kohaku is brainwashed by him. Going on on the side is the sexual tension growing between Inuyasha and Kagome, and the conflict with Inuyasha's past love come back from the grave, Kikyou. Wow, that's a mouthful. For more info go to Sengoku o-togi Zoushi. Just search for it on a search engine.
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Rurouni Inuyasha
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"Kagome!"
On the site of a bloody battleground, two figures huddled, surrounded by death and chaos.
"I'm sorry, Inuyasha..."
"Kagome..."
On the ground, strewn about, lay the bodies of friend and foe, similar in death.
"No...Kagome...don't leave me...please!"
A place of sorrow, to be forever scarred by the events that had taken place there...
"Kagome, I need you..."
It was a place that even time would remember.
"I love you..."
A gut-wrenching cry of grief was lost in the howling of the wind.
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Approximately 3 1/2 centuries later...
A strange looking man with long white hair and a battered sword at his side walked down one of the many alleys of Kyoto, his head bowed, his face obscured by the straw hat he wore. As he passed, whispers and mutters flitted past his ears.
"Battousai!"
"No, you fool! The battousai has red hair, not white. Besides, with that hunk of rubbish at his side he couldn't slay a grain of rice, let alone a skilled warrior."
Inuyasha smirked to himself as he walked by. It was true; the Tetsusaiga was little more than a piece of crap now that all of the demons had disappeared. He was the only one left; that he knew of anyway. Must be his human blood. Speaking of which.... Inuyasha looked up at the pale sliver of the moon; only a few more days until he was a full human again. Even now he hated the transformation that he had to undergo every 28 days. The loss of sight and smell, reduced to a weakling in mere seconds; it was amazing that these humans didn't just curl up and die. Of course, they never got to experience what it felt like to be him. Or what he usually felt like anyway. Stupid half human blood and all its strange and nonsensical quirks. The whole thing could just infuriate him. Kagome had used to accuse him of PMSing, whatever that meant....
Kagome....
What caused him to think of her just then? He hadn't thought of her in so long...had fought to push away any memory of her deep into the recesses of his brain.... A slight breeze tickled his nose. Kagome....
Inuyasha's ears perked up underneath his hat. That scent.... No, it couldn't be...she wouldn't even be born yet. Kikyou then? That's possible, though unlikely. An image of Kikyou crumbling into dirt flashed through his mind. Before he even knew what he was doing, Inuyasha had leapt onto the nearest roof, and was following the trail of the scent. He didn't have far to go; the scent lead to another nearby alley. It was mingled with another smell. Blood.
Inuyasha stopped short as he came across the dead body. It was one of the notorious Shinsengumi, identifiable by the blue and white gi the group wore. The Shinsengumi were reputed to have crossed swords with the Hitokiri Battousai many times. Inuyasha wasn't all too sure he believed in the rumors of the legendary assassin who fought for the Ishinshishi; it smelled like propaganda to him. But seeing this dead body made Inuyasha reconsider his earlier assessment. He hadn't seen a body this thoroughly killed since the feudal era, when demons still walked the earth. Could the famous hitokiri be a demon? No, the body had no demon scent on it, and besides the wounds were not made by claws, but by the swift, clean blade of a katana. Inuyasha sniffed the body again, attempting to pick up the scent of the killer. What?...He shook his head. It was the Kikyou/Kagome scent he had picked up earlier. Okay, now he was thoroughly confused. Was his mind playing tricks on him? He followed the scent trail further down the alley, determined to get to the bottom of this. As he went on, the scent got stronger, he must be getting close. Suddenly, he felt cold steel lightly grazing his neck, maybe drawing blood.
"Why are you following me?" a voice from behind him asked.
Inuyasha tried to clear his thoughts. How could this guy have snuck up on him? Damn it! He must have snuck up on him while Inuyasha was distracted by the scent....
"Are you another hired assassin? Or just another fool who wants to try his hand at defeating the Hitokiri Battousai?"
Battousai?
Somehow Inuyasha found his voice. "Do you really think me that much of an idiot? Would anyone challenge the legendary Battousai with this hunk of crap?" Inuyasha held out his sheathed Tetsusaiga. The katana's blade that had been pressed into his neck relented. Inuyasha turned around rubbing his neck and got his first glimpse of the legendary assassin of the shadows. His first reaction was one of surprise.
The hitokiri was not what Inuyasha expected. He was not a large man; in fact you could say that he was a tiny man. Hell, he didn't even really look like a man, with his slender figure and short stature. And that face. What a girlie face; well it was girlie if you could discount the cross shaped scar that adorned one cheek and the murderous glint of his narrowed eyes as he glared down at the Tetsusaiga. What a mess of contradictions this man was. With an ease that betrayed many years of experience, the Battousai flipped his katana back into its' sheath. He looked up at Inuyasha for an instant, glaring at him with unreadable yellow eyes, then looked back down at the battered old sword. He pulled the nicked blade a couple of inches out of the sheath, and then resheathed it.
"It gives off a strange ki," he said, handing the sword back to Inuyasha. "If you want to live, do not follow me anymore." The Battousai disappeared into the shadows. With him, also left the scent that Inuyasha had been following.
"Shit!" Inuyasha cursed.
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It had been a bad night. Not as bad as some, but still worse than others. Of course, for Himura Kenshin, better known as "Hitokiri Battousai" almost every night was bad. This night however, Kenshin had been playing bodyguard again, when a faction of the Shinsengumi had surrounded them. Before any of the other bodyguards knew what was happening, Kenshin had slain five with one sweep of his sword. But the numbers of the Shinsengumi were too great, and Kenshin and his fellow bodyguards had had to retreat with the political leader that they were guarding. Kenshin had brought up the rear, to make sure that no Shinsengumi could get to them. Only one single Shinsengumi member had managed to catch up with him, and while Kenshin fought the others had disappeared into the maze-like alleys of Kyoto. After Kenshin had killed the Shinsengumi member, he had had just a few seconds to disappear into the shadows before the rest of the Shinsengumi came. Seeing the dead body, some had cursed "Battousai" as they hurried into the alleyways, hoping to catch the elusive hitokiri that continually escaped them.
Kenshin sighed as he dumped bucket after bucket of water over his head. When would it all be over? He was growing weary.
"Oh, Tomoe," he thought, staring at his hands. "I don't know how much more of this I can take..."
"Himura-san?" a voice came from the doorway. Fleetingly, Kenshin considered using his god-like speed to escape, he really didn't want to deal with anyone right now. But, Karamaki Kazuo was an honest man, if a bit annoying, and deserved his respect.
"Yes, Karamaki-san?" Kenshin asked warily.
Ever since Kazuo had joined the Ishinshishi forces a couple of months ago, he had sort-of idolized Kenshin. Or rather, the Hitokiri Battousai. When Kazuo had actually met Kenshin, he, like so many others, refused to believe that a skinny little waif of a man could be the infamous assassin. After finding out that in fact, Kenshin was actually a year younger than him; Kazuo had challenged Kenshin to a match, which of course Kenshin had refused. Kazuo had simmered with animosity towards him believing that Kenshin didn't really deserve his title as the most valuable bodyguard in the Ishinshishi. However, that all changed a couple of weeks later, when Kazuo had seen Kenshin's battou jutsu in action. Now, Kazuo thinks it would be great if the two of them could be joined at the hip, much to Kenshin's chagrin.
"Oh, Himura-san, I was so worried!" Kazuo blurted out. "Why didn't you come back with the rest of us? Why do you always take such risks!"
Kenshin considered what Kazuo had said. Why did he always take such deadly risks? It's not as if he got some kind of satisfaction out of them. So why did he...?
"Karamaki-san, I am very sorry for worrying you."
Kenshin did not venture any information of what had happened the night before. His mind drifted to the strange man he had met just a few hours earlier. At first, Kenshin had thought it was just another one of the Shinsengumi, but the man's ki signature had told a different story. It was strange, energy had just seemed to be flowing from the man; it was almost as if he wasn't human...and that sword of his, it gave of a strange ki as well; it almost seemed like it had a pulse.... Was he an assassin, after the Battousai? No, he would have had weapons suitable for killing, and even though his sword had a weird ki, it definitely wasn't a killing sword. A spy maybe? That would explain the farmer with a sword get-up, although the hat in the middle of the night was a little conspicuous...and also the reason why the man had seemed reluctant to confront him. But one little thing about this analysis rubbed Kenshin the wrong way. The man hadn't seemed to be expecting him, instead it seemed as if he thought that he was going to find someone else, but who could that be? Another assassin?
Kenshin massaged his temples. It was just all too confusing, and he was tired. "Tomorrow," he resolved. "I'll figure it out tomorrow..."
"Figure what out tomorrow?" Kazuo asked, curious.
Kenshin realized he must have spoken those last few words out loud.
"Nothing," he said as he walked out of the room. Kazuo took a few steps forward to follow, but then thought better of it, leaving the hitokiri to make his way to his room in peace.
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"But you've got your father's sword, right?! C'mon, I believe in you? Don't you?"
"Keh. I wouldn't be so cheerful if I were you. I'm strong enough to survive his blows...but you'll be jelly any moment now."
"You mean...you're giving up?"
~I...I made her cry?!~
"Stop that! Now!"
"Y-you said I shouldn't be..."
"Shut up! I meant, let me protect you! Do you hear?!"
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Why now, after all these years? Why was he remembering her now?
Inuyasha stood before several graves. They had been the first ones to be buried in this place. Inuyasha ought to know, he buried them. Fairly recently though, many more graves had been buried here. When Inuyasha had first found the new graves, he had been angry. This was their spot! No one else deserved to be buried here! But he had eventually calmed down. No point in being pissed at the dead. Besides, he didn't know them, so who was he to judge? Maybe they did deserve to reside here with his loved ones. Who knows what kind of hardships these newcomers had faced, and judging from the amount of the new graves, they had all died in some sort of plague...or a battle.
Inuyasha glanced around the graveyard, internally issuing a greeting to the dead. The crosses of wood that had marked the graves had mostly rotted over the years, all except for the graves marked with stones. Inuyasha scanned the small graveyard again, his eyes settling on a grave that had an intact marker at its head. It looked fairly new, as if someone had been buried there recently, within the last couple of years or so.
Inuyasha turned back with a shrug to the graves of his friends.
There was Shippou, the little fox demon, who had never had a chance to be the man, the great man, that they had all known he would be; Sango, the young demon exterminator, who had never had a chance to reconcile with her younger brother, Kohaku; Miroku, the lecherous monk, who had planned to ask Sango to marry him when the quest was over; Kirara, the little cat demon, trusty companion and friend; and finally, Kagome, the girl from the future and, the one true love of his life. He had never had a chance to tell her that when she was still alive. He had always assumed that there was more time, that there would always be more time. But, their time had run out, and Inuyasha would always regret that he had never had enough guts, no, enough balls, to tell her the truth...that Kikyou was nothing but a mere shadow to Kagome's radiance. Kagome's light... Perhaps that was why he had always felt that he was undeserving of her; that he belonged with Kikyou in hell.
Inuyasha looked down at his sword. "I don't know why I kept you, you worthless piece of crap. You couldn't even save..." He trailed off, knowing it was really he, who couldn't save Kagome; it wasn't the Tetsusaiga's fault, it was his.
Inuyasha's eyes widened. There was that perplexing scent again! But what would the Battousai be doing here? Deciding that he would rather avoid a confrontation with the infamous hitokiri, Inuyasha leapt into a tree at the edge of the clearing. It wasn't that Inuyasha was scared or anything, it's just that he had problems with hurting humans, even if they were cold-hearted killers. He watched in silence as the small, red-haired man approached one of the graves. It was the newest one.
In the morning light, Hitokiri Battousai looked even more harmless than he had the night before. And the sad, melancholy look on his face, helped to create this illusion even more. Was this the grave of someone he had killed? Did the Battousai feel...remorse?
Inuyasha watched as the Battousai pulled out a small flask of sake, and poured it over the grave. He put his hand over a cross-shaped scar that Inuyasha had not noticed the night before and began to speak, softly. Inuyasha could just catch his words.
"It doesn't taste good to me anymore."
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. What didn't taste good anymore? The sake? Or was it some sort of reference to the hitokiri's occupation? Inuyasha pondered this for a moment, watching the small man kneel in front of the grave, pulling a small bunch of purple flowers out of his sleeve.
"Tomoe..." he began tentatively, lowering his head to look at the ground. "Tomoe...I don't know if I'm the man you thought I was, the man you saw in me...but, when this is all over, I'm going to try, I really am. Until then...please..."
Inuyasha watched in amazement as the hitokiri tried to choke back a sob. This was a side of the killer that he'd never thought he'd see; never thought anyone would see. The Battousai regained control of himself, but his voice still quivered with pain.
"Forgive me."
Inuyasha leaned back against the trunk of the tree that he was sitting on. It seems that there was more to the Hitokiri Battousai than anyone would ever have guessed. The man that was renown for his skill with the blade, reputed to kill with cold efficiency, devoid of mercy; this same man could cry for a woman named Tomoe.
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Kenshin stiffened when he suddenly realized that someone had been watching him. He felt a powerful ki emanating from his left. He glanced to his left, not wishing to alert his watcher that he was aware of him. He fought a shudder of anger at himself. How long had that ki been there, watching him? How could he have not noticed it right away?
"Stupid," he silently told himself, repressing an urge to hit himself. "Stupid."
Gathering his wits, Kenshin sped across the graveyard with his god-like speed, landing lightly beneath the tree he felt the ki coming from, sword in hand. He heard a soft grunt of surprise.
"How long have you been watching me?" he asked, his voice quiet with fury. There was a soft rustle of leaves as a figure silently dropped from the tree. It was the man from the night before, Kenshin noted with mild surprise.
"I thought I told you not to follow me."
To Kenshin's surprise, he felt no fear in the ki of the other man. He scrutinized the face of the man in front of him; what he could see of it anyway. The night before he had only just been able to make out the man's features, so he had no real idea what the man looked like. Now the man had his hat pulled over his eyes, almost like he was hiding.
"Oi! I was here first!" the man said a bit angrily. Kenshin guessed that he was a bit given to anger. Wait...here first? Kenshin felt like smacking his head. How could he have so completely missed him?
"Well," Kenshin said, fingering his sword. "Why are you here?" His voice dropped an octave, simmering with menace. He wasn't too happy that this man was hanging around Tomoe's grave. He probably should just kill him; he probably should have killed him last night. So why didn't he? And why did he feel something telling him not to now?
The man sighed, and dropped down into a sitting position on a nearby rock.
"I guess you could say that I'm visiting." he paused, as if considering what to say. "...my family."
His family? Kenshin looked around him at the graves. Were some of these people that he had buried here so many years ago, this man's family? Apparently the man had caught Kenshin's confused look; he pointed to a corner of the graveyard where four trees were growing. For the first time, Kenshin noticed that underneath the trees were slightly raised mounds of earth. They were graves? How long had they been there? Kenshin glanced up at the man's face, wishing he could see his expression, but all he could see is the firm, hard line of the man's mouth. Kenshin found himself wondering about the man's age. From what he could see of the man's face, it appeared to be a youthful face, but the white of the man's hair belied that. And the sorrow in the man's voice when he spoke of his "family" indicated that he must have known them well, and those graves were at least twenty years old. Was the man just remarkably well preserved, like his own Shishou?
Out loud, Kenshin asked, "Who are you?"
The man sighed again, as if in resignation.
"I just know I'm going to regret this, but since I know who you are, well sorta, and I kinda butted in on your...um." He paused, perhaps regretting that he had reminded Kenshin of that fact.
"I guess you deserve to know who I am." The man straightened the hat on his head, allowing Kenshin his first good look at the man.
Kenshin's first impression was one of strangeness. At first glance the man looked normal, but if you looked at him for longer than a few seconds, you began noticing strange shapes in the man's face; his cheekbones were longer than usual, and his nose was longer than usual as well with a slightly darkened tip. But, it was his eyes that took the cake. They were obviously not human eyes; yellow with cat-like pupils, and from beneath the hat they almost seemed to glow.
Kenshin narrowed his eyebrows, instinctively reaching for his sword. "A demon," he said, with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
The man/demon shook his head calmly, not frightened in the least of Battousai's sword.
"Not quite," he said, "I'm a hanyou, my mother was human." He pulled off his hat in mock salute, revealing two fuzzy dog-ears. "My given name is Inuyasha, although over the years I've been called `Mutt', `Dog Breath', just plain `ole `you', and a whole bunch of others." He wiggled his ears as if for effect and there was a toothy grin on his face, as if he were enjoying Kenshin's discomfort. "And what's your name, Mr. Battousai?"
To his surprise, Kenshin found himself answering this strange, if friendly man.
"Himura Kenshin."
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Author's notes:
-Yeah, I know, Inuyasha is OOC, but I sorta figured that the notoriously immature hanyou that we all know and love would have matured at least a little in 3 1/2 centuries. He's definitely chilled out a lot.
-In my opinion, Kenshin as the Battousai, is pretty in-character, although if you don't think so you're certainly welcome to tell me so and how to fix it. That doesn't necessarily mean I'll take your advice, but I will consider it.
-Well, that's about it. I'll probably write this story until I get sick of it, but if you like it, review it, and I'll probably be more inclined to write more.
Green signing out.