Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered ❯ A Blade Flashing in the Night ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Do I own Rurouni Kenshin and Co.? Hmm tough question... In case you didn't notice that this is a fanfiction site, I obviously don't own anyone that I write.

Shattered
By Lacrymosa

Chapter 1: A Blade Flashing in the Night
_________________________________________________________________ _________________________

In the dim moonlight that managed to shine a distilled light on the tatami mat floor of the room, the blood that glittered and shone with an eerie glow seemed almost black. The first thing that she thought as she gazed with a quiet detachment at the scene was that she would never be able to clean the walls and the mats on the floor of the liquid that they were drenched in, or ever be able to rid the room of the salty metallic scent of blood that bit into her lungs.

Only one figure remained standing, and he stood so still that she only realized that it was there when it resheathed it sword in a smooth motion, a resounding click echoing through the room. Below him was a mangled corpse, thick slashes carving grooves through his clothes and skin. The lone figure stood still for another few moments, and she could see the long hair pulled high into an elegant ponytail on the person's said. She first assumed that the person was girl, before she heard it say, softly, so very softly, "Sumanai." That deep baritone voice was distinctly male, and as he turned around to walk back towards the entrance, his walk only confirmed it. It was a long, striding walk, and it intrigued her because he seemed so atuned to his body, his movement so graceful that she hardly heard any rustling of his hakama. His fluent way of moving gave away his knowledge of kenjutsu more then the katana at his waist ever would, and she recognized it.

She was strangely still as the man suddenly stopped, and looked straight at the doorway were she was hiding. She tried to still any movements and willed herself to sink more deeply into the shadowed corner on the wall, a strange fear that she had never felt before crawling up her throat. She barely had anytime to feel surprise, only a deep dread as she heard the sound of a sword being pulled free of it's sheath, and her eyes widened in surprise as the man suddenly appeared in front of her. Everything seemed to slow down, she heard her own sharp intake of breath, and watched as the man reached towards her, fast, too fast, his hand clenched around the handle of his sword and bringing his curled fist towards her face. Her eyes followed the silver flash of the polished metal sword, a distinct sharpness against the burning amber gaze that bore down on her under wild tresses of strangely bright hair that framed the attacker's face. His eyes were deep, so deep that as her own eyes locked in a stare with his, she felt that she could have looked inside them forever and never have found the bottom. She couldn't put her finger on the emotions that she saw there, his eyes gave away nothing but a hollowness that happened when a person cut off their thoughts. The last thing she was aware of as the hilt of the sword smashed into the side of her temple, was the man's aristocratic face, and a large curving scar that ran down the soft skin of his left cheek in a smooth arc. And then she fell into a deep, cold darkness, so frigid and so black, she was sure that she had died.


Kaoru woke with a strangled gasp, her lungs pulling at her throat, begging for air as if she had almost been drowned in water.she came to her senses, her body shivering as it lay tangled in twisted blankets, her dark hair curling around the pillow in a long braid. She blinked slowly, letting her eyes grow accustomed to the darkness of the room, her eyes wide with shock and disorientation.

Slowly Kao felt her heart return to a normal beat, and managed to detach her legs from the tangled blankets. Even in the darkness of a familiar room, she felt suffocated by the shadows that crept and hide in the corners, and hastily flicked on the light.

The brightness that filled the room made her eyes twitch and narrow, and she drew her hand over her eyelids with a sigh, before she felt the burning against them lessen. She looked around the small room in a moment, gaining the comfort that came from knowing that everything was where it should be, nothing had changed, nothing was wrong.

The room was simple and small, The only furniture was a small dresser and night table with a lamp. In the far corner was a closet, big enough to hang the few clothes that were too big to fit in the dresser, as well as a pair or two of shoes. The door squeaked gloomily on it'S hinges, and she could still see the faint glow of the bathroom light that shone down the hall of her apartment. It was strangely quiet, even with her soft panting and the creaking of the rusty springs in her bed.

Kaoru sighed with a mixture of relief and dread. Relief, because she had managed to wake up again from the dream that plagued her nights without screaming or noticing anything that was out of place. Everything seemed normal. Everything was fine, at least, it was when she could just be awake and pretend that she was just a normal girl.

Dread, because she didn't know how much longer it would take for that moment in her past to completely separate itself from her life. The truth was, she didn't really think it ever would. She was the kind of person who kept her suffering close to her heart, and she felt that her sub-conscious was mostly likely just reminding her that everything that happened from that moment on had made her life hell. It would never disappear.

For four years, that dream had crept up from the shadows of her mind to play over and over in her sleep. Always she was powerless to do anything but watched as the same moment in her life played over and over again in front of her eyes. That moment in her life when she realized that life for people who had everything torn from them in one moment had little chance of gaining a sense of normalcy again. You can't piece you're life back together if there is nothing left for you to build it on. For her, that moment had happened when she had been fifteen years old, and watched as her father's lifeless body soaked in it's own blood before his murderer.

Closing her eyes, Kaoru tried, one of out many times, to recall what the killer had looked like. Already his features were dissolving in her mind's eye, swept away by her rational, conscious self, the part of her that was too afraid to look at the murderer face, too afraid to remember anything beyond those strange, cold, detached amber eyes that made her blood turn to ice. In the dream he was seen clearly, she knew, but she also knew that, because it was a dream, she was doomed to never be able to remember what he looked like when she was awake. The only thing that she was ever able to recall was the one thing that burned in her mind even when she was awake. That deep burning gaze... eyes that were a glowing amber in the darkness...

With a just the sound of her breathing in her ears, Kaoru spent the rest of the night alone in her empty room.


At first she thought the pounding in her ears was her heartbeat echoing through her body, before she finally realized that someone was knocking at her door. And shouting curses that were definitely directed at her.

She swung her legs dejectedly off the bed, and pulled a wrinkled bathrobe from a grungy pile of clothing on the floor, shrugging her shoulders into the threadbare material. Her feet stumbled across the carpet floor of the apartment, and Kaoru rubbed slightly at her eyes, trying to fight off the lingering drowsiness.

"I'm coming!" she called out, hoping to quiet the voice calling at her from the other side of the door. She knew the voice, but her mind hadn't put the pieces together of why her apartment building super intendant would be hollering at her at -- she glanced quickly at the glowing numbers on her microwave -- 7:00 in the morning.

Unfortunately, her response had the opposite reaction the she wanted. Instead of quieting the man down, he instead started pounding more violently at the door, telling her that she bet her sorry ass out there right now.

Kaoru finally felt the dread seep into as she crossed the kitchen towards her door. She knew that Hiruma Gohei had never been fond of her, and personally, she found the man quite imposing. But she had a feeling that she knew the reason why he had decided to call on her, obviously hostile.

Slowly she drew the door open, and Gohei immediately pushed his way past her, his bulk filling the small space of apartment like a smoking volcano.

"You little bitch," he snarled at her menacingly. "It's about time that I kick you out. Your rent is two months overdue, and no one is going to convince me to give you more time."

Kaoru said nothing back. She knew he was right, and she had no excuse, nothing she could say to convince him otherwise.

She remained impassive as the super intendant stormed into her room, pulling her clothes out of the closet and drawers and onto her bed. Kaoru followed him quietly, watching him silently as he continued to deposit her belongings. Her eyes followed his movements, as he tore her clothes of their hangers, tossed books and pencils of her dresser. Piece by piece he grabbed anything within his reach, and all of them he tossed onto her bed.

Kaoru watched him for a few moments, her head cocked slightly as she analyzed his movements.

"What are you doing." Her voice was strangely flat, with no fight left in it. Her tone was so emotionless, it was hardly even a question.

"I want you out of here by this afternoon. I don't care where you go, just be out of here before two o'clock so the new tenant can move in," he shot back at her, still continuing his rampage.

"I can do it myself, you know," Kaoru replied, he voice a little louder this time, even thought her eyes still stared straight ahead, not a Gohei, but beyond.

Gohei grabbed the wooden bokken that reclined against the wall, and looked at it for a few moments before tossing it carelessly onto the pile of junk on her bed.

Then he glared at her from across the room, before snorting indignantly. "Then do it."

Kaoru only watched him as he strided purposely through the kitchen and back out the door. It took her awhile to finally realize the weight of what he had said, and what it meant for her. It took her even longer to realize that she was crying.


Well here I am, thought Kaoru cheerlessly. On the streets again, but why I am surprised. I lost my job ages ago.

Looking at her from the regular passer-by's point of view, she really did seem like your regular derelict. She had sat down on the closest bench she could find to rest her feet for awhile, her large and tired looking suitcase her only luggage, except for the bokken and katana that looked strangely out of place from where they were tied on her back.

Kyoto was a big city. Kaoru knew this, she had been running around on their streets on and off since she was 16 years old, running away from numerous foster homes and now kicked out of her own apartment. She was pretty sure that she knew how big Kyoto was, but she had still decided to walk to the train station and save herself the money she would need to buy herself a ticket somewhere-- anywhere --instead of just taking the subway.

But, like she had said, Kyoto was a big city. She was beginning to wonder about how smart her decision to walk had been.

Well, she knew why.

She shivered slightly as she imagined what it would be like having to been squished inside the subway car like a bunch of livestock, and suddenly found the long walk to the train station much more appealing. But then again, she still had to face the many faces of the strangers, something that to her was more like a form a torture. But, she would have had to face it one way or the other. She was in a city, a city that she didn't even know why she wanted to leave it so badly, but a city none-the-less, and cities had people in them.

With a soft sigh, she wrapped her fingers firmly around the handle of her suitcase and heaved herself off the bench. It was time she continued on, and she needed to be able to get tickets somewhere before all the trains left, or else she would have to use the rest of her money for a room in a cheap hotel.

Only after a few steps did she feel the hair on the back of neck rise. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw, or rather, felt the steady amber gaze on her, and turned her head sharply towards them. Nothing. Just random strangers minding their own business.

But then...! A flash of silver that sliced it's way through the shadows in a dirty alleyway. Kaoru took a deep breath, trying to slow her heart beat down, her senses screaming at her to run as golden eyes peered at her from all around...

It took awhile for Kaoru to reorient herself as she realized that she was one the ground, on her hands and knees panting heavily. She closed her eyes again, willing herself to gain control over herself, when she looked up towards middle-aged woman who was shaking her shoulder gently.

"Sumimasen.." said the woman hesitantly. "Daijoubu desu ka?"

Kaoru chided herself in her head before forcing out a smile and replying, "Hai, daijoubu."

Kaoru scolded herself once more after she stood up and made sure that she kept her eyes looking forward the rest of the way. Really, she had thought that she had gotten over that problem, but obviously she was wrong. Maybe she had just been too distracted lately, it had been awhile since she had lost control so badly. Really, her father would be ashamed of how little she manipulate her emotions, hadn't he always taught her how to be strong and control her ki...?

She forced away the memories that those thoughts caused to come flooding in. Her father, teaching her diligently the way of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu...

It was after he had died that Kaoru became so distrustful of strangers. Blades flashing and amber eyes staring at her from everyone's faces even in the most cheerful of places, it be a festival or a dark alleyway.
She shook her head again. No, her problem wasn't normal.

Of course it isn't, baka, how many people do you think have delusions that everyone around her are sword-wielding murderers?

Once again Kaoru had to try to quench those thoughts, force them away somewhere in the back of her mind... preferably the same place where she kept the memories of that murderer's face...

So, she thought that, surely, after she left this place, this city, she go anywhere, be anyone and do anything she wanted. She didn't need to let the past control her future anymore, and maybe now she could begin to put her life back together, piece by piece...


The man at the ticket stand gave her a look that made her think that something was wrong with her. Quickly she scanned herself from her shoes up to her shoulders, just to make sure. Nope, she thought to herself. I'm a little grubby, but I don't look all that bad. It must be the katana.

"You want to buy a ticket at this time of day?" the man asked her slowly, as if she was senile. "The only train that leaves here today that isn't booked is heading straight for Tokyo. Un-reserved seat, of course. It will take awhile, it's a one way trip."

"I'll take it!" Kaoru cried, trying to sound enthusiastic, even though it wasn't all that hard. Tokyo was good, it was a big city and far away from Kyoto. She remembered the few clear days there when she was able to see Mt. Fuji. Her father had laughed when she pointed this out and told her that one day they would climb it together...

The man gave her another sceptical look before tapping a few keys on his computer. "That will be 8,000 yen, please."

Kaoru felt her face pale a bit as she dug around her wallet until she slowly drew out the correct amount. She watched apprehensively as the man studied the bills for a few moments before handing her the ticket.

"The train will be leaving at 3:00PM. Please enjoy your trip."

Kaoru walked away through the ticket gate. After pulling at her ticket to tug it out of the slot, she continued her way towards her platform, clutching the ticket in her hand. She wondered vaguely how much money she would have left for a hotel when she got to Tokyo. Well, if worst got to worst, she had no qualms about spending the night in a park. But the question was, what would she do after that?

How could she start her life over again?

Kaoru sat down on the bench with a sigh, and gave a short glance at the clock from where she sat. 12:36 PM. Still two hours and a half before her train would be leaving. She sighed and wondered vaguely if it would look odd if she started practicing her katas in the middle of a train station. Her fingers brushed the hilt of her bokken temptingly, before she decided that it would probably attract too much attention.

Her eyes were pulled towards the slightly worn-out hilt of the katana that lay beside her bokken, and picked it up, despite the slight trembling of her fingers. She stared at her fingers, white knuckled, as they gripped the smooth curve of the saya. For a few moments, she was lost in contemplation before her hand returned to the hilt and tugged the katana half-way out.

She shivered slightly at the sight of well-polished steel, before her eyes traced the sharp edge of the sword. And then she smiled almost wistfully at the small dents in the blade and at the way the metal reflected the fluorescent lights of the platform.

Quickly she resheathed the sword and put it back in it's place, and began to occupy herself in finding ways to pass the time before she would be on her was to Tokyo. She looked around at the other passengers waiting for their own train, but didn't find any of them all that interesting.

After awhile, Kaoru did the math in her head and figured that it would take a couple of hours to get to Tokyo, so she should be prepared to get there late. Kaoru sighed at the complications that were already forming, probably the outcome of her flimsy escape plan. She stretched her arms over her head, feeling a little satisfied as the tension in her back eased up a bit. Then she made herself comfortable for the long wait.

A few hours and an almost-stolen bokken later, Kaoru breathed a small sigh of relief as the screen across the platform announced the soon arrival of the train. She quickly gathered her small belongings and made her way to the line up behind the small number of people who were taking the same train.
Surprisingly, the train was not very crowded when she came in, in fact there were so little people other than the small crowd getting on now, she was surprised that the train hadn't been cancelled. Not as if she was ungrateful, she was glad to finally be on her way out, glad to finally going somewhere.

She had to admit, she wasn't even a little bit sad to be leaving Kyoto. It was strange that she felt to attachment to it, after all, Kyoto was a beautiful city, especially compared to a concrete jungle like Tokyo. And it had been her home since she was 16 years old. But at the same time, Kaoru just seemed to find something strange about Kyoto, almost like under the beauty of it's shrines and traditional buildings, Kyoto was hiding something sinister that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Kaoru made herself comfortable in one of the empty seats at the end of the train car. She knew that the trip would be a few hours long and that it was good to have a window seat, even if it would be dark for part of the trip. Even if she couldn't see anything out of it, just looking at something other then seat opposite would calm her down and make the trip seem longer.

Inwardly, she sighed. Tokyo. I wonder if I'm going crazy.

Of course you're crazy, a voice tauted back at her inside her head. Idiot, who in their right mind would act like you, if they weren't crazy?

This thought provoked a small chuckle. Kaoru was surprised at herself for a moment, before she began laughing hysterically at herself for being so sombre. The laughter made her feel good and feeling good felt... well, good. It made her scenario feel a little less complicated and a little more hopeful.

With a lurch, Kaoru felt the train begin to lurch, and she sat still as she fell into the rhythm of the train speeding down the tracks. The scenery outside her window was a blur as the train accelerated, and Kaoru sighed again. She was really here, she was really leaving. But the problem was, she didn't know where she was going...

Kaoru continued staring at the window until she placed her forehead against the cool glass. She blinked one, twice, looking at the scenery as she was whisked away from it. She closed her eyes and thought for a few moments, trying to find any hint at all inside her, any kind of emotion the truly regretted her decision.

She could find none. And it was true, Kaoru truly wasn't sorry that she was leaving. She didn't want to stay another day in the city where her father got murdered, after all.

That must be what Kyoto is hiding from me. The fact that even though it may seem like the most perfect place to live, underneath the beauty is drenched with spilled blood. I'm happy that I'm leaving, I'm happy that I don't have to live in that horrible place anymore. And nothing's ever going to make me go back.

Kaoru was brought out of her reverie by the sound of a trolley being pushed through the aisle. As if reacting to the sound, Kaoru heard her stomach growling menacingly at her. This almost caused her to laugh again, but managed to hold it in as the food cart got came into view.

Kaoru saw that she was limited to a few bento boxes, and some water bottles before she realized that she didn't really have any money to spare for food. But... she hadn't eaten since she left her apartment...

To hell with it all, she thought, feeling like a rebel as she bought a small bento box that conviently came with it's own drink. She thanked the man as she handed him the money and pulled her disposable chopsticks apart before she tucked in. The rice was slightly soggy, and had never been very found of her fish soaked in vinegar, but she had to admit, it was better than anything she could cook.

Kaoru felt slightly more content after she finished eating, and began to realize how tired she felt after a few moments of looking out the window again. When she began to yawn, she finally understood the depth of her exhaustion and fell into a light, but restful, sleep.


The rest of the ride went without any hitch, the train moving swiftly across the edge of Japan as it effortlessly skimmed away the miles separating Kyoto and Tokyo. Kaoru spent most of the time sleeping, and had to shaken awake nine hours later by a disgruntled man when the train finally arrived.

Her face flushed with embarrassment, she mumbled a rushed "Gomen nasai!" before she whisked herself off the train and into the landing platform of the train station. She made her way cautiously out of the empty building, it was practically midnight, after all. But despite this, the city of Tokyo itself seemed to be bustling with movement. Kaoru sighed, and sat down against the cool brick surface of the building beside her. Now that she was here... what did she do?

Of course you didn't bother to think of what would happen when you finally got here, she scolded herself inwardly. Kaoru no baka.

She looked into her wallet to check to see how much money she had left, and if she should bother to buy herself a hotel room for the night. Perhaps that wouldn't be too bad, what she needed was to get a job, get a new apartment, get a new life...

With a gasp and a curse over the few dirty bills that she had left in her wallet, Kaoru quickly decided to go the way of frugality and to just find the nearest pack to spend the night in. She would have to rough it but, just for tonight, she would just suck it up and make due with what she had. Maybe everything would be better tomorrow...

...if only that were true.

By the next day, things were looking much more bleaker and Kaoru was sure that she looked as miserable as she felt.

For starters, somewhere in the middle of the night it had begun to rain, and not just a short shower that she would have expected for early September, but a heavy blanket of wetness had seemed to descend upon the city, pulled and whipped around by a torrential wind that caused Kaoru to wake up shivering and thoroughly soaked through.

When she had finally gathered her drenched things and travelled more towards the heart of the city, she began to realize how hopeless her situation was. If she didn't want to spend another rain-battered night curled up on a bench, she needed to get money to buy a few nights in a cheap hotel. But how would she get money? No one would hire her as she was now, someone who was obviously homeless and penniless. And unless she wanted to beg on a street corner, she had no other way of getting herself some money. She didn't feel like degrading herself to begging from strangers, even though she was homeless, she didn't feel as if she was just a regular bum looking for the next meal. She still had her dignity, and she would hold fast onto it until she had no choice.

But the problem was, she didn't have any choices at all.

Kaoru stopped for a second and moved off the sidewalk -- and out of the rain-- under the hangover roof of a little caf to take her bearings and to rest for a few minutes. She glanced carelessly at a few of the people that passed by her before quickly looking away, afraid of what she might see. She glanced her eyes upwards, gazing at the towering buildings that stood out regally against the grey, cloud-covered sky. When she had lived in Tokyo with her father, she had been young, in fact, she had lived there practically since birth until she turned nine. She remembered their little apartment, and how large and unwelcoming the city had seemed to her then. It was no different now, but Kaoru wasn't afraid like she was when she had been younger.

She remembered how often they had moved around after they had left their apartment, how diligently her father worked to keep her happy when they on the move. She had never really understood why her father insisted every few months -- when she had just started to get used to the change -- that they would move again to another place. Always the reasons were the same. A better job, and nicer house, a safer neighbourhood. "I'm just looking for the perfect place to live, Kaoru," he would tell her. It took Kaoru awhile to realize that her father wasn't looking for anything, but running away from something.. She didn't know what it could be, but the suspicion was there, and it made her wonder what --or who-- her father was so afraid of.

Before they had left Tokyo, her father had been a lawyer. His income had been steady and made it so that they could fairly comfortably in the crowded city. Kaoru had never known her mother, who had died not long after Kaoru had been born, and had often felt the lack of motherly love, and despite the affection she knew father held for her, he had been stern.

When they began to move around, it was as if he had become a completely different person. At first, they had moved to a small prefecture outside of Osaka, her father renting a small dojo there. Her father was then no longer Kamiya Koshijirou, the well respected Tokyo lawyer, but a man that Kaoru no longer knew, a man that began to practice kenjutsu in a style that he called "Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu." This style, he told her, had been in her family for generations and it was time that he began to teach it to her. She didn't understand at the time why he was so bent on kenjutsu, but had trained as hard as she could and found the joys of the art. Until she was older, it had never occurred to her then that maybe her father had a different motive to why wanted to teach her kendo.

Kaoru fiddled with the handle of her suitcase, and brought her hands up to her hair to try and wring out some of the water. She was semi-successful, until she realized that it would probably only get soaked again if the rain didn't stop soon. She shivered slightly as she felt the moisture of her neck trace patterns down her spine.

She was brought out of her reverie by a man walking past her. There wasn't anything particularly odd about him, except for his hair's peculiar shade. For a second she thought he was gaijin, it was Tokyo after all, and she had seen gaijin before, but his face was definitely Japanese. His hair was a bright color of red, it's long strands pulled back in a low pony-tail at the base of his neck. He held a very domesticated aura about him, carrying a few bags of groceries and walking with a relaxed grace in his steps as he maneuvered around the mob of people. He was short but his walking stride was long and full of purpose...

...and she recognized it...

With a start, she bolted into the crowd. She could see the man's unmistakable hair as it stuck out, a bright contrast against the mostly black haired people. She called out, her voice in her throat, "Matte! Matte!" Pushing her way through multitude of the people around her, she called out again.

"Please wait! You, with the red hair!"

She saw him turn around, his eyes shining in puzzlement about why someone he hardly knew was suddenly there, panting, calling out for him. They were a startling shade of violet, his eyes, but Kaoru didn't note this. She saw him turn around, his hair brushing against his back gently, his face tilting at an angle as he studied her...

Amber eyes burning into her vision--

A soft rustling of hakama as his body blurs at a God-like speed--

The silver glint of the blade of a katana reflecting in the moonlight--

Fear catching in the back of her throat--

The smell of blood filling her senses--

The sharp pitch of screaming echoing in her ears--

And darkness so deep and so cold she thinks she has died...


A/N: And this is the first chapter of my RurouKen fanfic. Please R and R, I would really appreciate any feedback, it really helps! Please note that this is my first try at Rurouni Kenshin, and also at writing an AU.
Thanks for reading! (Unless you just skipped to the A/N, in which case, "Grrr!")

~Lacrymosa

Japanese Terms:

Tatami- straw mats used on the floors of most Japanese-style rooms
Sumanai- I'm sorry, exuse me (a more casual form of "sumimasen" )
Hakama- Sleeve like pants that is worn often in the series
Katana- Sword used by samurai
Bokken- wooden sword that Kaoru usually uses in the series
Saya- The sheath of a katana
Kenjutsu, Kendo- The art of practicing swordplay
Daijoubu desu ka?- Question meaning "Are you alirght?"
Hai- "Yes"
Ki- this is mentioned sometimes in the anime but more in the manga, it's kind
of like the life force in a person's body. Kenshin is able to guess an opponent's
next moves by reading ther ki.
Yen- The currency used in Japan. 100 yen is roughly $1.00 US
Bento- It's an old tradition of putting foods in specially made boxes,
they can be used for lunches, and are sold in supermarkets and shops in Japan.
Gomen Nasai- A more formal, "I'm sorry"
Gaijin- Foreigner, outsider, anyone who isn't of Japanese heritage
Matte- The first word that Kaoru calls out to Kenshin in the anime ( I'm not so sure of the manga)
meaning "Wait!"