Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Snow ❯ And The Deed Was Done... ( Chapter 30 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Serenitychan13 
The final chapter draws to a close and with it, the life of a loving husband, a devoted father and a good man.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.08.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.0K | Visits: 376 | Status: Completed
The final chapter draws to a close and with it, the life of a loving husband, a devoted father and a good man.
Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.08.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.0K | Visits: 376 | Status: Completed
Midori was right in front of the stand, unaware of and unnoticed by the gossiping crowd around her. She was forcing back tears with all the strength she had. Her heart was on the snowy ground, broken, and she had neither the strength nor the desire to pick it up again. She swallowed hard, the tears in her eyes threatening to escape.
'This is so wrong,' she thought numbly. 'To kill an innocent man because the government can't keep their promises... It's wrong to start with, but why does it have to be Souzou? He isn't a criminal! He's the sweetest, gentlest man alive! How could they take him away like this!?'
All of a sudden, the entire crowd went quiet, with only a few bold whispers ringing out, each word audible to everyone, and none of them positive. Shuddering slightly, Midori turned around to see through tear-clouded eyes what they had only come to gawk at. As the crowd parted, the whispers grew louder, the people buzzing like blueflies. Midori was stunned at the condition Souzou was in. She knew it was bad when she saw him last night, but looking at the full extent of it, she gasped aloud. No one noticed or cared.
Souzou looked like he had been beaten half to death, dark bruises all over him. His body quivered every so often, as though he had nerve damage. He still wore the uniform of the Sekihoutai, but it was stained with blood - his own, his enemies' and his best friends'. To Midori, though, he still looked handsome in that uniform. His bandanna was still wrapped around her hand.
His hands were tied behind his back, as if they expected him to resist. Anyone who looked at his face could see that he had no intention of doing any such thing. He carried himself almost proudly, for a man being led to his execution, his shoulders back and his head high.
Though he was dying the death of a criminal, it was clear that he was going to take it as a warrior.
Inside, however, Souzou was a far cry from his calm and collected look. Quite the contrary, he was a nervous wreck. His heart clenched in terror, his whole life's memories flashing in his mind. With each step he took, he hoped he would just die of fright right then and there. The bullet wound in his shoulder burned in pain.
Pain... It took all the control he had in him to keep himself from visibly shuddering at the mere thought of the word. He remembered how much pain Reika had been in as she lay dying in his arms. Would it hurt at all for him? Or would it all be over in one clean stroke? Would he feel the cold blade slicing into his throat? His stomach turned and all of a sudden he felt very sick.
'Reika,' he thought, his mind slowly losing track of coherent thought as fear overwhelmed him. 'I'll be with you again soon...'
As they led him up onto the stand, he saw the sword in the hands of his executioner. The edge of the blade glinted wickedly in the pale early-morning sunlight. His stomach clenched and he would have vomited had he eaten anything in the past two days. Would it really be so bad to just faint right now and have them get it over with? He swallowed hard, forcing the morbidly welcome thought out of his mind.
'Coward,' he mentally berated himself. 'Just yesterday you knew you were walking into your death and now you're afraid of it...'
As the rough hands forced him down on his knees, he looked out at the crowd. The first people he recognized were Sano and Katsu, standing dead still at the back of the crowd. Their eyes and mouths were wide in horror and shock. His heart tightened painfully at the thought of how this would hurt them.
Then he saw Midori. He could have sworn his heart stopped right then. Their eyes met and a tear escaped from Souzou's eye. Midori had tears streaming down her face. Souzou knew it must be killing her to watch this, yet keep her sobs silent for the sake of his honor. He wished he could take his wife in his arms and kiss away her tears. He wished he had never agreed to lead the Sekihoutai in the first place.
Silently, his lips formed the words "I love you" and he smiled at Midori for the last time.
"I love you too, Souzou," whispered Midori, though she knew he couldn't hear her.
He didn't need to hear her. Each of her tears, now and all the times she cried in his arms, all of them said "I love you" to him. Souzou felt warm inside. He could see his wife's face and he knew she loved him, so he could die with a clear heart. Closing his dark brown eyes, Souzou bowed his head to the sword.
Midori froze in horror as the executioner raised his sword to complete his job. She wanted to close her eyes, to fall on her knees and scream, but she stood there, transfixed. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl around her. In a split second, the blade flashed in the light.
The deed was done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About an hour later, after all the crowds had drifted away, Midori still stood in front if the execution stand, looking up at what no one should ever have to see. Tears, still silent, were rolling down her cheeks. The grey, half-melted snow now bore an ominous dark red stain. A raindrop fell on Midori's face, mixing with her tears, then another and another. Soon it was pouring rain. Thunder crashed and lightning split the sky.
The first rain of spring washed Souzou's blood from the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'This is so wrong,' she thought numbly. 'To kill an innocent man because the government can't keep their promises... It's wrong to start with, but why does it have to be Souzou? He isn't a criminal! He's the sweetest, gentlest man alive! How could they take him away like this!?'
All of a sudden, the entire crowd went quiet, with only a few bold whispers ringing out, each word audible to everyone, and none of them positive. Shuddering slightly, Midori turned around to see through tear-clouded eyes what they had only come to gawk at. As the crowd parted, the whispers grew louder, the people buzzing like blueflies. Midori was stunned at the condition Souzou was in. She knew it was bad when she saw him last night, but looking at the full extent of it, she gasped aloud. No one noticed or cared.
Souzou looked like he had been beaten half to death, dark bruises all over him. His body quivered every so often, as though he had nerve damage. He still wore the uniform of the Sekihoutai, but it was stained with blood - his own, his enemies' and his best friends'. To Midori, though, he still looked handsome in that uniform. His bandanna was still wrapped around her hand.
His hands were tied behind his back, as if they expected him to resist. Anyone who looked at his face could see that he had no intention of doing any such thing. He carried himself almost proudly, for a man being led to his execution, his shoulders back and his head high.
Though he was dying the death of a criminal, it was clear that he was going to take it as a warrior.
Inside, however, Souzou was a far cry from his calm and collected look. Quite the contrary, he was a nervous wreck. His heart clenched in terror, his whole life's memories flashing in his mind. With each step he took, he hoped he would just die of fright right then and there. The bullet wound in his shoulder burned in pain.
Pain... It took all the control he had in him to keep himself from visibly shuddering at the mere thought of the word. He remembered how much pain Reika had been in as she lay dying in his arms. Would it hurt at all for him? Or would it all be over in one clean stroke? Would he feel the cold blade slicing into his throat? His stomach turned and all of a sudden he felt very sick.
'Reika,' he thought, his mind slowly losing track of coherent thought as fear overwhelmed him. 'I'll be with you again soon...'
As they led him up onto the stand, he saw the sword in the hands of his executioner. The edge of the blade glinted wickedly in the pale early-morning sunlight. His stomach clenched and he would have vomited had he eaten anything in the past two days. Would it really be so bad to just faint right now and have them get it over with? He swallowed hard, forcing the morbidly welcome thought out of his mind.
'Coward,' he mentally berated himself. 'Just yesterday you knew you were walking into your death and now you're afraid of it...'
As the rough hands forced him down on his knees, he looked out at the crowd. The first people he recognized were Sano and Katsu, standing dead still at the back of the crowd. Their eyes and mouths were wide in horror and shock. His heart tightened painfully at the thought of how this would hurt them.
Then he saw Midori. He could have sworn his heart stopped right then. Their eyes met and a tear escaped from Souzou's eye. Midori had tears streaming down her face. Souzou knew it must be killing her to watch this, yet keep her sobs silent for the sake of his honor. He wished he could take his wife in his arms and kiss away her tears. He wished he had never agreed to lead the Sekihoutai in the first place.
Silently, his lips formed the words "I love you" and he smiled at Midori for the last time.
"I love you too, Souzou," whispered Midori, though she knew he couldn't hear her.
He didn't need to hear her. Each of her tears, now and all the times she cried in his arms, all of them said "I love you" to him. Souzou felt warm inside. He could see his wife's face and he knew she loved him, so he could die with a clear heart. Closing his dark brown eyes, Souzou bowed his head to the sword.
Midori froze in horror as the executioner raised his sword to complete his job. She wanted to close her eyes, to fall on her knees and scream, but she stood there, transfixed. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl around her. In a split second, the blade flashed in the light.
The deed was done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About an hour later, after all the crowds had drifted away, Midori still stood in front if the execution stand, looking up at what no one should ever have to see. Tears, still silent, were rolling down her cheeks. The grey, half-melted snow now bore an ominous dark red stain. A raindrop fell on Midori's face, mixing with her tears, then another and another. Soon it was pouring rain. Thunder crashed and lightning split the sky.
The first rain of spring washed Souzou's blood from the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~