Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Evil Within ❯ Unseen Power - Puppet Master (3b) ( Chapter 4 )

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

Unseen Power - Puppet Master - TEW 3B




The Evil
Within
Chapter
3B - Puppet Master






Shinomori
Aoshi clenched his hands angrily as he walked into the forest.


"Rofocale,"
he muttered, his voice calm but laced with fury, "come out. I want to talk to
you."


What
about? The low, sharp voice asked
from the back of his mind.


Dammit,
you know what about. Just come out now!
Aoshi retorted angrily.


The
echoing voice did not answer any longer, instead a chilly, black aura seemed to
engulf him, and in seconds the disturbing sensation was gone, and in its place
stood a man almost as tall as he, with golden eyes that glittered in the
forest's shadows with dark hair and a smirk on his lips.


"Now,
what did you want to tell me?" Rofocale asked placidly, leaning back against
one of the trees.


"You
didn't listen to me." Aoshi hissed. "I told you that I didn't want to
kill Okina, but you made me do so…or at least, you tried to. You never
told me that you would be able to control me."


Rofocale
shrugged coolly. "It wasn't my fault. Remember, I told you that we
would be a single being, and you did not seem to be disturbed by it before."


Aoshi
narrowed his eyes angrily. "Being one entity is completely different from you
controlling me like…like…a puppet!" he stopped for a moment. "I remember
when Soujirou invited me to join forces with Shishio, you told me that I would
be their puppet." He sneered. "Turns out I'm yours."


Rofocale's
brazen smirk widened. "Like I said, it was your choice whether or not to
accept my offer without too much information about it…and you were one of the
few foolish enough to take my proposition without knowing everything about
it."


He
paused to take note of Aoshi's reaction.


Aoshi
narrowed his eyes angrily, too livid to retort.


"And
about your choice to join Shishio…you were wrong, ne?" he smiled
sarcastically.


"That's
completely different."


Rofocale
shrugged noncommittally. "In the first place, if you hadn't accepted that
kid…Soujirou, I think…you wouldn't have had to see Okina."


Aoshi
opened his mouth to retort, but he found that Rofocale was right. If he
had listened to him, Okina would not have had to fight him.


Rofocale
scoffed at his silence. "You know I'm right, Shinomori."


Aoshi
glared at him irately. Dame…even if he was right… he thought
somewhat indignantly, that doesn't mean he can control me like his puppet. But
somehow he couldn't get the words out.


"And…what
I said to Misao. I didn't want to tell her anything; were you making me
speak?" he asked carefully, eyes narrowed charily.


Rofocale
smiled again. "I just…let you say the words you wanted to. Besides,
the little bitch deserved it. She shouldn't be where she isn't welcome."


Aoshi
stiffened angrily at his reference to Misao. "I didn't want to speak to her
in any way." Deep inside of him, he knew this wasn't true, but what he had
said wasn't what he wanted to tell her.


Rofocale
seemed to know this, too. "You're lying; I know you are. You can't hide
anything from me Shinomori."


"That's
another thing you didn't tell me. You didn't let me know that you can hear
every single thought of mine." Aoshi pointed out, crossing his arms over his
chest.


"A
few people with very strong minds can hide their thoughts from me with some
effort." Rofocale regarded Aoshi coldly from head to toe. "Unfortunately, I
don't think you're one of them."


"You
still didn't tell me about it." Even to his own ears, he was starting
to sound like an irritating child.


"How
long will it take me to get this through your thick skull?" Rofocale snarled,
seemingly aggravated now. "It. Is. Your. Fault. You just agreed to my terms
without finding out about all of them."


To
Aoshi's surprise, Rofocale's argument made sense to him somehow. It was
his choice. He just selected the wrong one.


"Well,
it's not like you can back out of it. It's too late for that. Might as well
make the best of it. Use the strength I gave you. Use everything I gave
you." Like before, Rofocale heard what he was thinking.


Aoshi
glared at him. "All right," he responded sarcastically, "what do you
suppose I should do?"


"First,
back out of your deal with Shishio." Rofocale answered evenly, as if he
hadn't detected Aoshi's mocking tone. "Then you go into hiding. Take your
time to collect all your strength, to get used to all your new skills. Then
you go after Battousai."


"And
then?" the sarcastic tone in his voice hadn't disappeared yet.


This
time Rofocale didn't answer right away. "You accepted my offer because you
wanted Battousai. After you defeat him, it is up to you to do what you want."
He paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Is that all you need to say?
Because I really don't enjoy being back here."


"Back
here? What do you mean?"


Rofocale
dismissed his inquiry with a careless wave of his hand. "Never mind. You've
said all you wanted to, ne?"


Aoshi
shrugged.


Rofocale
rolled is golden eyes and cocked his head sideward in exasperation. "I'll
take that as a yes." Without another word, a black mist consumed him and he
was gone.





Aoshi
strode briskly towards Shishio Makoto's lair, mouth pulled into a malevolent
line.


He
walked past the guards, who agreeably let him pass, and straight into the large
room where Shishio was supposed to be in.


"Shishio,"
he began as soon as he passed through the huge doors, "I want to-"


"Shinomori."
Shishio cut in. "Houji told me that you left. One must wonder where you
went."


Aoshi
regarded him with icy indigo eyes. "That's none of your business."


"When
you work for me, everything you do is my business." Shishio replied calmly as
Komagata Yumi watched on with interested eyes.


"Unfortunately,
it seems like I don't work for you anymore." Aoshi said, his omnipresent
mask of placidity on.


"You
aren't?" Shishio asked sardonically. "Doushite?"


"You
didn't keep your end of the deal. I still haven't fought with Battousai."


"You
will."


"It's
too late." Aoshi replied coldly. "I don't want to have anything to do with
you or your little followers any longer."


Shishio
smirked. "You will regret this, Shinomori. I swear it. Because when the
day comes that my plans will have been fulfilled, you will be one of the
first to be killed."


Aoshi's
eyebrows lifted doubtfully.


"I'm
giving you one more chance to take it back." Shishio continued, breathing on
his pipe languidly.


In
response, Aoshi turned around and walked out.


Battousai
will be mine. I will find him, and
kill him all on my own, without any help from anybody.


A
chuckle emanated from deep within his mind. You still need me here,
Shinomori. Battousai will defeat you without my help.


What?
Like how you "helped" me with my fight with Okina? Aoshi
answered, still feeling resentful towards Rofocale for what he had done.


You
have to accept the truth, Aoshi. You need
my help. You need my strength. Without it, you will lose, but with it,
you will be able to slaughter him.





Author's
Notes: Erm…yuck could be the word that comes into mind. I know it's
still extremely boring and extremely sucky, but I do hope it becomes more
interesting in the next chapter…^-^ (It's gonna be the K/A
fight…wheeee…) I'm still begging for commies, ne? >_<

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3A
Chapter
4>>>
The
E vil Within
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