Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Snow ❯ T-chan ( Chapter 13 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Serenitychan13 
Souzou finds a companion... and a lot more.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.21.2004 | Updated On: 10.02.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 195 | Status: Completed
Souzou finds a companion... and a lot more.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.21.2004 | Updated On: 10.02.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 195 | Status: Completed
It was almost sunset and it was starting to snow again. Souzou's heart was pounding almost painfully in his chest. If he kept going through the night, he could most likely get to where he was going by sunrise if not sooner. His mind was burning and his body was sore. He missed his family already. Was he really doing the right thing? Would he ever see his wife and daughter again? What about Sanosuke?
'I don't want to die,' he thought, fear gripping his heart for a moment.
A cold wind, carrying shards of ice, picked up. The little ice chips cut at his skin, sometimes making him cry out in pain. He wished he was home in his wife's arms. He wanted to see Toshio and Sanosuke again so badly. A particularly nasty gust brought up a shard that was sharp enough to split the skin of his cheek open. His nerves had been deadened by the cold, but still he could feel the grisly warmth of blood running down his face. At this point, he was grateful for any warmth at all.
When the wind picked up again, he realized that trying to go any further in this weather would be suicide. If he remembered correctly, there was a shelter around here somewhere. It was just an old cellar, the house itself long gone, but it would do until the snow let up. He never thought he would be so put off by the place where he had spent most of his youth. He and his friends were always tearing around here, usually after they had caused some kind of chaos. They would come here so they wouldn't be caught.
'Hmph... It's not like we ever actually hurt anyone,' he thought, half-smiling at the memories. 'But still... we were more trouble than we were worth...'
Somehow, as if his friends were there with him, Souzou found the old cellar. It was in worse condition than he first thought. The door seemed to be frozen shut and the inside was probably full of ice.
"Damn it," he growled, kicking the door sharply, hoping that maybe it would come loose or something.
It did, but just barely. The hinges were frozen too, but he managed to force the door open after a fair amount of pulling and a lot of swearing. Souzou was in possibly the worst mood he could ever remember being in. After one step, he found out the hard way that the stairs were covered with ice. More vehement swearing echoed around the icy cellar as his side hit the edge of one of the wooden steps. Rolling his eyes, he pushed himself to his feet and rubbed his side. The hit he had taken when he fell had been pretty bad.
'This one's definitely going to bruise,' he thought, wincing slightly.
Souzou sat down against one of the frozen dirt walls, drawing his knees up to his chest and shuddering. In a few seconds, he heard scratching sounds in the darkness. Looking around, he could barely make out the form of a little raccoon about four feet to his right. The tiny thing looked half-frozen. Tentatively, Souzou reached out a hand to it. A cold, wet nose touched his finger, then rubbed against his hand.
"Well hi there little guy," he said softly. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
The little grey creature seemed to understand and easily allowed itself to be picked up and held. Souzou was grateful for the company. Soon, his body and mind became aware of how tired he really was. The raccoon was already out of commission, snoring peacefully in his arms. In a few minutes, Souzou nodded off too, resting his head on his drawn-up knees.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -
The next morning Souzou woke from a dream that he was home with Midori and Toshio and Sanosuke. The sudden shock of the cold brought him sharply back to reality. Stroking the little raccoon in his arms helped to ease the stinging pain in his heart. Its sad brown eyes met his own and made him smile.
"I guess you need a name, right?" he said to the small creature, something in the back of his mind wondering what on earth he was thinking.
Bright eyes blinked curiously at him as the little raccoon tilted its head. He laughed as his friendly little companion climbed up on his shoulder. Apparently the creature was fascinated by his red bandanna. He twitched as the raccoon's coarse hair tickled his ear.
"Hey! Quit that!" he said, laughing a little as he pushed the raccoon's paws away. "I think I'll just call you T-chan. For Tanuki. Just so you know, I really don't think you should get attached to me. But I guess you can hang around for now."
T-chan chattered at him, obviously accepting his new name, and settled quietly on Souzou's shoulder. He smiled sadly and pushed himself slowly to his feet. He was stiff and sore from sleeping curled up against the wall. He ignored the pain in his mind and heart, not to mention his body, and came out of the cellar. It was still dark and he wasn't surprised in the least. He hadn't counted on getting much sleep. Without another thought, he started down the road again with T-chan on his shoulder.
'I should get there in about two hours,' he thought. 'I never thought I'd be coming back here...'
His heart clenched painfully. The truth was, he had never wanted to come back here. There were just too many memories. He wanted to forget about all the things that had hurt him. But deep in the bottom of his heart, he knew he couldn't. He could never forget Reika.
'I can't forget my little sister,' he thought, feeling tears in his eyes.
T-chan seemed to sense his new friend's pain and promptly poked his cold, wet nose into his ear. Souzou yelped and his thought broke off as he jumped about a foot in the air. He glared at the raccoon for a second, then started to laugh. Shaking his head, he reached up to scratch the little raccoon behind one ear.
"Well that's one way to get my mind off things," he commented.
The next two hours passed in relative silence. Memories flooded Souzou's mind. Some of them were happy. Some of them were funny. Some were just plain sad. All of them were painful. He missed his friends and what was left of his family. Most prominent in his heart and mind was the memory of his little sister.
"Reika," he whispered. "I have a feeling I'll be coming to join you soon..."
He turned down the familiar road and nearly fainted dead away at what he saw. The town he had grown up in, his home town, was gone. In its place was a twisted mass of ashes and charred wood. A few building frames remained standing, but everything was blackened. There was no sign of a living soul anywhere. The worst part was that it was fresh. The smell of smoke still hung around the place and it burned his tear-filled eyes.
"What the hell?" he asked aloud, his voice faint.
He ran along the streets of his ruined home town, looking for any signs of life. He found nothing, no one. Just an old sword that was stuck point-down in one of the burned houses. Kicking in what remained of the door, he picked his way into the wreckage. When he got a good look at the sword, his heart stopped for a second.
"Oh no..." he whispered, his whisper quickly becoming an anguished cry that bared all the pain in his heart. "Dad! NO!"
His father's sword. He would never just leave it. That could mean only one thing.
Souzou fell on his knees. He felt like dying and seriously considered driving his father's sword into his own heart right then. But he knew his father wouldn't want him to die like that. Tears came to his eyes, but he couldn't cry. His breath seemed to be trapped in his throat.
Slowly, almost mechanically, he pulled the blackened sword from the ground. He pushed himself up off his knees, picked his way out of his father's ruined house and left the burned town. With a heavy heart, he turned to go down another familiar path. The snow on the path was blackened with ash. Souzou felt like his heart was the same way.
He knelt beside the little grave stone. He had sworn that he would never come here ever again. With as much reverence as he could, he placed his father's sword behind his sister's grave stone. T-chan climbed down off his shoulder and went to inspect the unfamiliar object. Souzou touched the kanji characters carved into the smooth stone. They made up his sister's name. His memory of that day was clear as crystal.
'I don't want to die,' he thought, fear gripping his heart for a moment.
A cold wind, carrying shards of ice, picked up. The little ice chips cut at his skin, sometimes making him cry out in pain. He wished he was home in his wife's arms. He wanted to see Toshio and Sanosuke again so badly. A particularly nasty gust brought up a shard that was sharp enough to split the skin of his cheek open. His nerves had been deadened by the cold, but still he could feel the grisly warmth of blood running down his face. At this point, he was grateful for any warmth at all.
When the wind picked up again, he realized that trying to go any further in this weather would be suicide. If he remembered correctly, there was a shelter around here somewhere. It was just an old cellar, the house itself long gone, but it would do until the snow let up. He never thought he would be so put off by the place where he had spent most of his youth. He and his friends were always tearing around here, usually after they had caused some kind of chaos. They would come here so they wouldn't be caught.
'Hmph... It's not like we ever actually hurt anyone,' he thought, half-smiling at the memories. 'But still... we were more trouble than we were worth...'
Somehow, as if his friends were there with him, Souzou found the old cellar. It was in worse condition than he first thought. The door seemed to be frozen shut and the inside was probably full of ice.
"Damn it," he growled, kicking the door sharply, hoping that maybe it would come loose or something.
It did, but just barely. The hinges were frozen too, but he managed to force the door open after a fair amount of pulling and a lot of swearing. Souzou was in possibly the worst mood he could ever remember being in. After one step, he found out the hard way that the stairs were covered with ice. More vehement swearing echoed around the icy cellar as his side hit the edge of one of the wooden steps. Rolling his eyes, he pushed himself to his feet and rubbed his side. The hit he had taken when he fell had been pretty bad.
'This one's definitely going to bruise,' he thought, wincing slightly.
Souzou sat down against one of the frozen dirt walls, drawing his knees up to his chest and shuddering. In a few seconds, he heard scratching sounds in the darkness. Looking around, he could barely make out the form of a little raccoon about four feet to his right. The tiny thing looked half-frozen. Tentatively, Souzou reached out a hand to it. A cold, wet nose touched his finger, then rubbed against his hand.
"Well hi there little guy," he said softly. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
The little grey creature seemed to understand and easily allowed itself to be picked up and held. Souzou was grateful for the company. Soon, his body and mind became aware of how tired he really was. The raccoon was already out of commission, snoring peacefully in his arms. In a few minutes, Souzou nodded off too, resting his head on his drawn-up knees.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -
The next morning Souzou woke from a dream that he was home with Midori and Toshio and Sanosuke. The sudden shock of the cold brought him sharply back to reality. Stroking the little raccoon in his arms helped to ease the stinging pain in his heart. Its sad brown eyes met his own and made him smile.
"I guess you need a name, right?" he said to the small creature, something in the back of his mind wondering what on earth he was thinking.
Bright eyes blinked curiously at him as the little raccoon tilted its head. He laughed as his friendly little companion climbed up on his shoulder. Apparently the creature was fascinated by his red bandanna. He twitched as the raccoon's coarse hair tickled his ear.
"Hey! Quit that!" he said, laughing a little as he pushed the raccoon's paws away. "I think I'll just call you T-chan. For Tanuki. Just so you know, I really don't think you should get attached to me. But I guess you can hang around for now."
T-chan chattered at him, obviously accepting his new name, and settled quietly on Souzou's shoulder. He smiled sadly and pushed himself slowly to his feet. He was stiff and sore from sleeping curled up against the wall. He ignored the pain in his mind and heart, not to mention his body, and came out of the cellar. It was still dark and he wasn't surprised in the least. He hadn't counted on getting much sleep. Without another thought, he started down the road again with T-chan on his shoulder.
'I should get there in about two hours,' he thought. 'I never thought I'd be coming back here...'
His heart clenched painfully. The truth was, he had never wanted to come back here. There were just too many memories. He wanted to forget about all the things that had hurt him. But deep in the bottom of his heart, he knew he couldn't. He could never forget Reika.
'I can't forget my little sister,' he thought, feeling tears in his eyes.
T-chan seemed to sense his new friend's pain and promptly poked his cold, wet nose into his ear. Souzou yelped and his thought broke off as he jumped about a foot in the air. He glared at the raccoon for a second, then started to laugh. Shaking his head, he reached up to scratch the little raccoon behind one ear.
"Well that's one way to get my mind off things," he commented.
The next two hours passed in relative silence. Memories flooded Souzou's mind. Some of them were happy. Some of them were funny. Some were just plain sad. All of them were painful. He missed his friends and what was left of his family. Most prominent in his heart and mind was the memory of his little sister.
"Reika," he whispered. "I have a feeling I'll be coming to join you soon..."
He turned down the familiar road and nearly fainted dead away at what he saw. The town he had grown up in, his home town, was gone. In its place was a twisted mass of ashes and charred wood. A few building frames remained standing, but everything was blackened. There was no sign of a living soul anywhere. The worst part was that it was fresh. The smell of smoke still hung around the place and it burned his tear-filled eyes.
"What the hell?" he asked aloud, his voice faint.
He ran along the streets of his ruined home town, looking for any signs of life. He found nothing, no one. Just an old sword that was stuck point-down in one of the burned houses. Kicking in what remained of the door, he picked his way into the wreckage. When he got a good look at the sword, his heart stopped for a second.
"Oh no..." he whispered, his whisper quickly becoming an anguished cry that bared all the pain in his heart. "Dad! NO!"
His father's sword. He would never just leave it. That could mean only one thing.
Souzou fell on his knees. He felt like dying and seriously considered driving his father's sword into his own heart right then. But he knew his father wouldn't want him to die like that. Tears came to his eyes, but he couldn't cry. His breath seemed to be trapped in his throat.
Slowly, almost mechanically, he pulled the blackened sword from the ground. He pushed himself up off his knees, picked his way out of his father's ruined house and left the burned town. With a heavy heart, he turned to go down another familiar path. The snow on the path was blackened with ash. Souzou felt like his heart was the same way.
He knelt beside the little grave stone. He had sworn that he would never come here ever again. With as much reverence as he could, he placed his father's sword behind his sister's grave stone. T-chan climbed down off his shoulder and went to inspect the unfamiliar object. Souzou touched the kanji characters carved into the smooth stone. They made up his sister's name. His memory of that day was clear as crystal.