Disclaimer: I don't own Ruroken, nor do I own the AU fic this is based on (lolo popoki's "Only the Beginning.")
"End of the Beginning"
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
--Winston Churchill
It was very early. The moon had already set behind the trees, and the Kohagi Inn, for the most part, lay dark and shrouded in silence. Candles had long ago been extinguished in all rooms save one. There, in the flickering light, Yuasa lay sketching.
His eyes were focused... his forehead furrowed, betraying his deep concentration. He was going off of memory for this image, and it was an old, faded memory at that. But the thought had attacked him; pounced him in the darkness as he lay defenseless in sleep. It had refused to let him rest until he poured it out of him. So here he sat, charcoal in hand, carefully smudging his marks into the paper. Shading here, adding crisp, black lines over there. The image was coming along nicely. He would be done soon, and would be able to sleep.
That was good. He was on duty for a fair chunk of the following day. Generally speaking, sleep made staying alert easier.
He added a final line and sat back, considering inking it. The idea appealed to him, and after a moment of digging, he found a nearly empty bottle of red ink. Yuasa found that he liked the idea of only inking the red of lips, hair and the occasional blossom. It would soften one image to shadows, while drawing attention the redhead. Carefully, he dipped his brush and shook off the excess ink.
There... almost done...
The scream came from nowhere, piercing the night and shattering the silence. The heavy brush fell from his hands, red ink splattering over his masterpiece, but he didn't notice. Yuasa was already on his feet, grabbing his wakizashi, and slamming the shoji open as he raced down the hall in the direction of the scream. The hall was crowded as men hurried into the hall in varying states of alertness. It was a madhouse, and Yuasa was having trouble moving in the mass. He had only moved a few feet when a hand reached out and pulled him out of the crowd. Yuasa focused on the owner of the hand, only to see a familiar face.
Yuasa did not miss the strain weighing on his friend, but he could only seem to concentrate on the woman's now silent scream. "Tsuji? What's the matter? Is everyone alright?" He moved to pass by, but his friend stopped him.
"Let's go back to your room," Tsuji quietly replied.
"But the scream..."
"There's nothing we can do about it right now. There's already a crowd forming. I—I was right next to it. I was the first there... You don't want to see..."
"See what?"
Tsuji ran a tired hand over his face. "Let's go back to your room," he repeated.
Yuasa got a good look at his friend this time. He looked terrible. As though he'd woken from some terrible nightmare. Or was still living it. His shoulders were slumped and he seemed exhausted.
Yuasa finally nodded and began weaving back through people as they made their way the short distance back to his room. Once inside, Yuasa's impatience finally won out, and he snapped, "Out with it. What happened?"
Tsuji couldn't answer, instead he was staring past Yuasa at something on the floor.
"Tsuji?"
The taller man moved past his friend, and scooped up the ruined picture, now stained in red. He it in one trembling hand, his head bowed. Then, to Yuasa's surprise, Tsuji clenched his hand and crumpled the picture. "He's gone," the guard whispered.
Yuasa blinked. "What? You aren't making any sense. Who's gone?"
Tsuji looked up and Yuasa fell silent at the sight of his friend's tearful face. "He's gone. Kenshin..."
Yuasa stared wide-eyed at his friend, not wanting to believe it, but unable to deny the truth written all over his friend's face. "When..."
"Last night... he... it was all over... Okami found him..." Tsuji shook his head, his voice catching. He looked again at the crumpled picture in his hand.
A simple charcoal sketch of Kenshin and the girl who he'd brought to the inn those months ago. Though now the image was stained red.
Author's note: For White Rabbit's OC exchange. This goes along with lolo popoki's awesome AU, "Only the Beginning" (which, by the way, has been nominated at the RKRC, so please vote!)
Thanks for reading. Please review!
Dewa mata!
Sirius