Assassin's Calling

Summary:

He ranked in 5th as one of the best in their assassin's guild, "crimson goblet". Known for his silent, almost maniacal killing spree, 18 year old Soujiro Seta was soon dubbed as the "the smiling death"… Those who lived to tell the nightmare can only describe him as a young man who smiles in frozen joy as he slaughters his victims and targets. Their boss has taken a liking on him for having consecutively zero detection, doing thoroughly clean job on his missions and for upholding their rule by staying out of society's way. But one person soon made him trade all of that for a better life… and he was bound by his destiny to kill her or be haunted for the rest of his life.

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine, though I dearly wished it was so. This goes the same for the rest of the chapters.

Author notes: For all you Soujiro Seta fans out there, including me. xD hope you like it.

Chapter 1

Close Encounter

Soujiro submerged both of his legs gushing out blood and smiled at the warm sunlight overhead. The running water would help in stunting the blood flow, but a little sliver of doubt remained and showed in his features as he tried to maintain his smile despite the intense pain radiating from his mangled wound.

He reminded himself again what happened. It wasn't a moment ago when he got these injuries…

--

Their boss was confident enough to assign him on a crimson mission… but it didn't turn out as well as he hoped. He managed to at least behead his target who had sliced a clean portion of his leg before he barely escaped. Hastily securing his bleeding leg with a piece of his torn garb, he made his way out of the encampment and avoided the guards as much as his mobility would allow. Soujiro limped his way into the gloom of the forest, lurking in places where the shadows of the night would conceal him. He managed to struggle through the early hours of morning until he finally reached the end of the enemy borders with barely enough strength to last him for a day's journey back to their base.

With all of his will and life at stake, he pushed himself until he lumbered into a quiet, secluded area of the forest. Morning had passed without his knowing. The sound of rushing water and chirping birds filled the area as the sunlight filtered through the branches. There seems to be a waterfalls here… He followed a trail in the area and was barely able to spot the seemingly hidden falls below, surrounded by tall growing trees. Noticing the way it appeared concealed to anyone glancing beyond, he decided to follow the way leading there and eventually stumbled over the majestic area. Sounds of rushing water and current filled the whole place, the water coming from a high source up ahead. The place was surrounded by a high cliff with trees growing till above, making it unnoticeable to the outside.

It was not worth the risk to rest at such a place with his pursuers high on his tail, but the sudden pain that shot out from his wound convinced him anyways.

--

The waters of the falls washed the blood from his leg as he sat with it submerged, watching his blood diffusing in the water like soft trailing red silk as the current carried it away to the river. He was in agony in different parts of his body where his target had unwittingly sliced him, but it was his left leg he feels for the most.

--

The heavy man Soujiro was assigned to assassinate deliberately went for severing his leg. Armed with a long-handled scythe that possessed its own wicked sharpness, he carried it with ease as he repeatedly swung it Soujiro's way with an agility that exceeded his leaner frame, nearly putting his life on the line had he been less of the assassin he was. But years of experience in the face of death and torment taught him the facts and skills that made him struggle for survival, to which he used. Soujiro managed to dodge at the last deadly hurl of the blade, only skinning his leg cleanly so that the skin lay in folds, flapping against his thigh.

The pain that accompanied this was almost bearable… until now.

--

Earlier he thought the rushing current would do something to stop the blood flow, but now as his vision started to fail him and his body turning weak, he soon knew it was a mistake.

Still, he kept his smile.

It faltered a little from the intense pain radiating from the mangled wound, but he held onto his smile. It was better to die this way, he thought. He felt for his vest, noting the familiar bulge of the kunai there and smiled contentedly. There was still chance that his boss will discover his decaying body, acquire the jeweled kunai and he'll be considered to have fulfilled his mission. With that thought lingering within him, he let his eyes slip close…

"Hey you!! Yes you!" a female voice called out. It seemed to be for him… Soujiro managed to open his eyes in surprise, but it was too late.

She was coming.

"How can you clean a whale in here!? Can't you understand the rules of this falls?" the annoyed female voice broke the line of his reverie as he turned to the direction of the voice behind him, trying to see who it was.

In his failing vision, he could see the outline of a female figure standing meters away from him, her hands on her hips in a universal gesture of frustration. But whatever was making her mad didn't matter in the least to him though. Soujiro stared fixedly at the young woman, unmoving, his dark innocent eyes registering concealed fear…

Her presence suddenly made him feel uptight. With this condition, he wouldn't be able to do anything about what happens next, and all his instincts told him to move away before it was too late.

But the young woman kept her stand. She did not go away.

"You shouldn't go cleaning your blood-bank of a fish in front of the falls and hog all the clean water for yourself!" she scolded, "We have to be greeted by a bloody river just when I'm going to do the laundry!" she yammered on, narrating the consequences of whatever he might have done.

She was starting to approach him, and desperately he scampered to get away, only to fall backwards to the water which was instantly tinted by the crimson coming from his blood.

The knowledge of why he must cringe in the presence of a helpless female did not occur to him; only the plain realization of being seen vulnerable and weak daunted him to move into hiding. He desperately tried the effort to stand again only to fall back, giving the water more specks of blood. Seeing no escape, he covered his wound as best as he could, sat down back in his position and tried not to appear disoriented as the young woman approached.

But his smile was faltering from the added pain brought by the effort of standing up, his leg wound insisting to gape open like a grotesque piece of meat. The blood flow came freely on the open wound, staining the waters with more crimson. He was starting to feel faint, making prim decisions difficult, but he held his hand guarded on his side in a helpless habit, prepared to make a quick grab for his katana if the time comes.

At the moment, the young woman sensed something was wrong with the picture.. She stopped to observe the falls.

Did the waters look a bit redder than before, or did all the fish died and generated the blood coloring? Either that or she was imagining things…

The man she was accusing was facing the waters when she saw him for the first time. He seemed like an innocent looking young man, perhaps lost in the forest and came to rest by the falls… except that innocent men like him didn't carry a deadly looking katana around and wouldn't bother harassing the waters with blood.

She recalled that when he saw her, he stood up as if trying to flee, only to stumble over the waters, and sat back down again. …Or did he? The young woman thought doubtfully. His actions were suspicious though, and it only caused her to investigate further.

"Hey what's---" the little shift he created gave view to the wounded leg. Even from afar, she knew that red gash wasn't a gigantic leech.

Soujiro didn't even have time to face her when she gave out a cry of horror.

"My god, you're bleeding!" she gasped, ran to his place collapsed beside him to take a look. Soujiro was feeling so faint it was almost impossible to do anything to stop her. But he tried and managed to release the blade from its sheath but he didn't have enough strength to do away with her in one slash. His vision was blurring tremendously, his senses starting to fail him as his frosted smile slipped in the face of this stranger kneeling before him. Soujiro found himself resigning to his own fate.

The young woman looked over the wound with a practiced eye, frowning deep. "Hey mister, how in the world did you even get this wound? Looks like someone did a fine job of making sure you lose a lot of blood." She was saying, but he could barely keep his eyes open even to listen.

He felt himself turning into the darkness… feeling himself lose reality and fall down, down to infinity…

Soujiro collapsed on the ground beside her.

"Oh no…" she completely paled before regaining herself, "Help! Senpai!!!" the young woman cried helplessly to her master down by the river. Then dropping on her knees, she tore away a large piece of her clothing, took off the soaked bandage on his leg and wrapped the clothing tight around it in an effort to staunch the blood flow. Already his complexion was starting to turn bluish, the tell-tale sign of encroaching death due to blood loss.

The young woman could only pray it would not be too late for him.