Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Better Off Forgotten ❯ Starting Over ( Chapter 2 )

Better Off Forgotten

Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long but my computer was broke and it took a while to get it fixed. The rest of the story will be updated a lot faster. Thanks to Kensvixen and ToheLlWiThNiCKS for reviewing and yes the Battousai will be in this one.

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Blurry images of faces swam into his line of vision. They seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite figure out who they were. Maybe he should just wait till he could see them better. Since that seemed like such a good idea, he lay his head back down on the pallet he had been resting on.

Then he started to hear the voices. At first they worried him. Was he hearing things? But then he realized that they were coming from the faces. He kept hearing the question "Are you o.k.?". Of course he was, why wouldn't he be? When he opened his mouth to try and tell them that, however, he couldn't force anything to come out.

He tried to remember what had happened but he discovered that he had no recollection whatsoever of the last few hours. He remembered that he had been wondering since he had left his master Hiko. How long ago had that been? Twelve, maybe thirteen years ago probably. Then he had met some people. Their names briefly around the top of his head but he was too tired to pin them down. Later he promised himself.

He slowy decided to let sleep win out, so the nearly black abyss was almost welcome when it came. As he slowly drifted off to sleep, the Kaoru and Megumi became instantly alert. They had been glad that he had woken and wished that he hadn't fallen back asleep. Not only was it dangerous for his type of injury but he also had nightmares. By the sounds he made, he was reliving his past as the Battousai. Sano had had to physically restrain him at one point where the thrashing seemed a serious threat to his health. At the moment though he was out with Yahiko. It had became obvious that the both of them were going stir crazy so between the two of them, Megumi and Kaoru had been able to convince them to go out and take a short walk. They had been driving everyone insane.

Kaoru did have to admit that she owed it to Sano. He had been the one to rush in and save Kenshin when the guy had been about the slash him. Kaoru and Yahiko had both tried but he had been too strong and Kaoru was forced to watch as the shimmering blade was raised high in the air and arms muscles strained to ready themselves for the downward blow but at the moment she thought she was going to loose Kenshin forever, the Sano had stepped in and defeated him. He had then ran off to get Megumi while Kaoru had tried unsuccessfully to awake the unconscious Kenshin.

Dragging herself back to the present, she looked down at the slumbering man. His eyes had alraedy tightened in concentration and she knew that was how they always started out.

For Kenshin's part, he had no idea what was going on. He saw himself fighting, killing. His hair was in a much higher ponytail than he usually wore it and his bright purple eyes that had always drawn attention to him, had turn a vivid gold. Enemies were attacking from all sides and he was slashing and cutting with no regard to their lives. The omly thing he could remember thinking was that he was helping the..the..revolution. He didn't like seeing himslef killing so many people and didn't understand why he was.

Deciding that he had had enough dreams, he woke himself up. His eyes came into focus a little faster this time and he was able to see the two women standing over them. He was able to identify them as Kaoru and Megumi. They had their backs to him and was conversing in low voices.

"Excuse me," he whispered, his voice sounding rough.

Both girls turned to the now awake Kenshin. he hadn't spoken since the attack, had never been coherent enough to form words. This was definitley a good sign.

"Kenshin, how are you feeling," Kaoru asked already knowing not only the truth but also the answer he would give.

"I'm fine, Miss Kaoru but may I ask what happened?"

"You were attacked by a guy who knew you as the Battousai," she answered softly.

"What? Why would a guy think I was the Battousai. I may have traveled a lot but I've never been anything besides a simple rurouni," Kenshin asked in disbelieve.

This caused both women to giev each other a questioning glance. Then understanding lit up Megumi's eyes and she motioned for Kaoru to follow her out of the room. Kenshin, confused, just lay and watched them leave.

When they arrived in Kaoru's room and slid the door shut, Megumi looked at Kaoru with sorrow filled eyes.

"What, what is it Megumi," Kaoru asked, not able to take the silence any longer.

"Sometimes, when someone takes a blow to the head they loose their personal memories. They still know how to count and such but they don't remember anything about their lifes. Even rarier still they'll forget only a small portion of their lives but I've never seen a case like htis before. He not only forgot his life as the Battousai but has filled in the gap with false memories," Megumi explained to Kaoru, tyring to keep her voice neutral.

"I don't understand. How do you know he has false memories?"

"He obviously recognized us when he woke up and we came into his life mainly because of his skills and his past. He also has to have taken out and edited memories of his the interference in his current life because of the Battousai. So do you want me to tell him or do you?"

"Neither, don't you see, Megumi this could be a good thing," Kaoru said becoming excited.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've seen his nightmares but you've never seen the look he gets in his eyes sometimes. He'll be his usual sunny self but his eyes will look so haunted, so..." she trailed off, not able to describe the look. "But if he forgets then it can't hurt him. he's already paid for his past. Please Megumi, allow him this one chance at peace.

"Kaoru you know as well as I that our past defines us. His past has made him who he is today."

"No, he was always a good person. Just please."

She felt herself nod her head. almost against her will. She didn't want Kenshin to hurt but deep down she knew this was wrong so she focused on her guilt and ignored the feeling that something bad was going to come out of this.

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O.k. there's the next chapter. Hope you like. Please read and review.