Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Snow ❯ Souzou's Decision ( Chapter 18 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Serenitychan13 
Souzou and Midori are so close to finding each other again! But will they? Souzou makes the hardest decision of his life.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.30.2004 | Updated On: 07.01.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 187 | Status: Completed
Souzou and Midori are so close to finding each other again! But will they? Souzou makes the hardest decision of his life.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.30.2004 | Updated On: 07.01.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.4K | Visits: 187 | Status: Completed
About a week later, Souzou was standing outside the Dakara. He wondered where he was, considering it was the only town he had come across besides his burned home town. It hadn't been there the last time he had come down this road. Just the same, a warm meal and a decent room was exactly what he needed. He was thinking about where he should stay when a hyperactive seventeen-year-old girl popped up at his side.
"Hey! Are you new around here?" she asked brightly. "Just passing through? Need a place to stay? Stay with us at the Dakara!"
Souzou looked down at the bouncing teenager, trying to sort out what the hell she just said. When the girl got a good look at him, her huge blue-green eyes got even bigger. She latched onto his arm, sputtering excitedly. Souzou couldn't remember ever having been more confused.
"You're the one she's looking for!" shrieked the petite girl, her voice rather loud for someone so small. "You fit the description perfectly! My God! She's been looking for you for about a week now!"
Souzou had no clue what was going on.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Who's looking for me?"
"A girl!" replied the teenager. "Looks like she's in her twenties, brown hair in a braid, kind of purple eyes ---"
She got no further. Souzou's heart stopped for a second. He pried the girl off his arm and took hold of her shoulders, looking her in the eye. Fear crossed her face for a moment. Turning slightly red, Souzou loosened his grip on her shoulders and tried to calm down.
"Where is she?" he asked, attempting to sound like he wasn't going to panic. "She's my wife... And if she's followed me, her life is in danger! Where is she now!?"
The girl looked fairly ruffled and took a step back, eyeing him suspiciously. Souzou quickly removed his hands from her shoulders. The last thing he needed right now was trouble with the police. Or a seventeen-year-old knocking his lights out, as she seemed ready to do.
"I think she's out looking for you," she said shakily. "I don't know where she is..."
"Do you have any ideas?" persisted Souzou.
She looked off into space for a moment, deep in thought.
"I don't know where she is now, but I can show you her room and you can wait for her," she suggested.
Souzou relaxed with a sigh.
"I guess that's all I can do right now," he said wearily.
The teenager gave him a big smile and bounced away, motioning for him to follow. Well this girl certainly had a unique personality. Funny, just about a minute ago, she was ready to give him a concussion. Now she was all bouncy again. He rolled his eyes, wondering vaguely if Reika would have been like that if she had lived. Mood swings... A bittersweet laugh escaped his lips and he started after her.
'Midori, what have you done?' he thought worriedly. 'I'm doing this so you won't get hurt...'
A small voice nagged at the back of his mind.
"But it will hurt her," it said. "It's going to break her heart."
He sighed again as he followed the hyperactive seventeen-year-old into Midori's room. He thanked the girl and sat down to wait. He looked around at her things, scattered around the room as if she had just fished through her bag in a hurry and rushed out to look for him. She just didn't seem to understand that she was safer back home. Well, she did understand, she just didn't listen.
'Maybe I should just leave,' he thought sadly. 'Then maybe she'll go home...'
But did he really want his beloved to think that he left her? He hung his head, ashamed of himself for thinking such a thing. There was no way he could do that to her. He wanted so badly to see her again, but then he knew he couldn't leave again. And the cold reality was that he had to go. He had to uphold his honor and the name of the Sekihoutai.
'But if I could just see her face one more time,' he thought in desperation. 'If I could just give her one more kiss... Just have one more chance to hold her in my arms again...'
Resting his elbow on his knee, he covered his eyes with his hand, imagining his loving wife's face. A single tear trailed down his cheek and he wondered if what he had felt in the bottom of his heart was true. Was he really never going to see his home and family again? He knew that if he Midori right now, there was no way he would be able to walk away. With a heart heavy as lead, he pulled out the pen and slightly crumpled paper he had brought with him. He had wanted to send just two letters to Midori, one when he arrived and had found the survivors. The other was for right before he went into battle. Sadly, he spread out one piece of paper and started writing an explanation to his beloved.
"My beautiful Midori," he began. "By the time you read this, I will have already left. I am not asking you to understand my actions. I only ask that you forgive me. I assume that the girl at the Dakara whom we have both seemed to run into will have told you I was here. I am only able to tell you that I cannot stay. If I were to see your lovely face again, I know in my heart that I could never turn and leave again. As I have told you, I must go and regain the honor of the Sekihoutai.
I know that I am a coward. I cannot even stay and face the woman I love because of the weakness in my heart. If you cannot forgive me now, all I ask is that you do so later. I love you with all my heart, Midori, and I always will. Please remember that. And I miss you so much that it is crushing my heart.
Midori, my love, I hope everything works out good in the end. The chance that I might come home is slim. However, I can feel in the pit of my stomach that I will not be. Yes, Midori, I am willingly walking into my death. But do not worry. I do not regret it in the least. I must ask you not to continue following me. You are only putting your life in danger. Please, I beg you, my wife, go home. Take care of Toshio and Sanosuke. Give them my love.
I admit that I am still afraid to die. It is only human nature. I must say that I am not afraid to die for the people I love. I cannot tell you in words how much I miss you. Let me put it this way: If I could just see your pretty smile one more time before I go, if I could just give you one more kiss, I could die the happiest man on earth. I love you, forever and a day.
With My Love Always,
Souzou
Souzou was barely aware of the little tear that escaped from his eye. He realized he was crying when another liquid diamond fell on the word "love". Leaving the note on a table and trying to ignore the nearly unbearable pain in his chest, he left the room. Without a word to anyone, he left the Dakara, collected T-chan from out of a tree and left town.
"Hey! Are you new around here?" she asked brightly. "Just passing through? Need a place to stay? Stay with us at the Dakara!"
Souzou looked down at the bouncing teenager, trying to sort out what the hell she just said. When the girl got a good look at him, her huge blue-green eyes got even bigger. She latched onto his arm, sputtering excitedly. Souzou couldn't remember ever having been more confused.
"You're the one she's looking for!" shrieked the petite girl, her voice rather loud for someone so small. "You fit the description perfectly! My God! She's been looking for you for about a week now!"
Souzou had no clue what was going on.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Who's looking for me?"
"A girl!" replied the teenager. "Looks like she's in her twenties, brown hair in a braid, kind of purple eyes ---"
She got no further. Souzou's heart stopped for a second. He pried the girl off his arm and took hold of her shoulders, looking her in the eye. Fear crossed her face for a moment. Turning slightly red, Souzou loosened his grip on her shoulders and tried to calm down.
"Where is she?" he asked, attempting to sound like he wasn't going to panic. "She's my wife... And if she's followed me, her life is in danger! Where is she now!?"
The girl looked fairly ruffled and took a step back, eyeing him suspiciously. Souzou quickly removed his hands from her shoulders. The last thing he needed right now was trouble with the police. Or a seventeen-year-old knocking his lights out, as she seemed ready to do.
"I think she's out looking for you," she said shakily. "I don't know where she is..."
"Do you have any ideas?" persisted Souzou.
She looked off into space for a moment, deep in thought.
"I don't know where she is now, but I can show you her room and you can wait for her," she suggested.
Souzou relaxed with a sigh.
"I guess that's all I can do right now," he said wearily.
The teenager gave him a big smile and bounced away, motioning for him to follow. Well this girl certainly had a unique personality. Funny, just about a minute ago, she was ready to give him a concussion. Now she was all bouncy again. He rolled his eyes, wondering vaguely if Reika would have been like that if she had lived. Mood swings... A bittersweet laugh escaped his lips and he started after her.
'Midori, what have you done?' he thought worriedly. 'I'm doing this so you won't get hurt...'
A small voice nagged at the back of his mind.
"But it will hurt her," it said. "It's going to break her heart."
He sighed again as he followed the hyperactive seventeen-year-old into Midori's room. He thanked the girl and sat down to wait. He looked around at her things, scattered around the room as if she had just fished through her bag in a hurry and rushed out to look for him. She just didn't seem to understand that she was safer back home. Well, she did understand, she just didn't listen.
'Maybe I should just leave,' he thought sadly. 'Then maybe she'll go home...'
But did he really want his beloved to think that he left her? He hung his head, ashamed of himself for thinking such a thing. There was no way he could do that to her. He wanted so badly to see her again, but then he knew he couldn't leave again. And the cold reality was that he had to go. He had to uphold his honor and the name of the Sekihoutai.
'But if I could just see her face one more time,' he thought in desperation. 'If I could just give her one more kiss... Just have one more chance to hold her in my arms again...'
Resting his elbow on his knee, he covered his eyes with his hand, imagining his loving wife's face. A single tear trailed down his cheek and he wondered if what he had felt in the bottom of his heart was true. Was he really never going to see his home and family again? He knew that if he Midori right now, there was no way he would be able to walk away. With a heart heavy as lead, he pulled out the pen and slightly crumpled paper he had brought with him. He had wanted to send just two letters to Midori, one when he arrived and had found the survivors. The other was for right before he went into battle. Sadly, he spread out one piece of paper and started writing an explanation to his beloved.
"My beautiful Midori," he began. "By the time you read this, I will have already left. I am not asking you to understand my actions. I only ask that you forgive me. I assume that the girl at the Dakara whom we have both seemed to run into will have told you I was here. I am only able to tell you that I cannot stay. If I were to see your lovely face again, I know in my heart that I could never turn and leave again. As I have told you, I must go and regain the honor of the Sekihoutai.
I know that I am a coward. I cannot even stay and face the woman I love because of the weakness in my heart. If you cannot forgive me now, all I ask is that you do so later. I love you with all my heart, Midori, and I always will. Please remember that. And I miss you so much that it is crushing my heart.
Midori, my love, I hope everything works out good in the end. The chance that I might come home is slim. However, I can feel in the pit of my stomach that I will not be. Yes, Midori, I am willingly walking into my death. But do not worry. I do not regret it in the least. I must ask you not to continue following me. You are only putting your life in danger. Please, I beg you, my wife, go home. Take care of Toshio and Sanosuke. Give them my love.
I admit that I am still afraid to die. It is only human nature. I must say that I am not afraid to die for the people I love. I cannot tell you in words how much I miss you. Let me put it this way: If I could just see your pretty smile one more time before I go, if I could just give you one more kiss, I could die the happiest man on earth. I love you, forever and a day.
With My Love Always,
Souzou
Souzou was barely aware of the little tear that escaped from his eye. He realized he was crying when another liquid diamond fell on the word "love". Leaving the note on a table and trying to ignore the nearly unbearable pain in his chest, he left the room. Without a word to anyone, he left the Dakara, collected T-chan from out of a tree and left town.