Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Undying Hatred ❯ Kenshin the Battousai - Unforgiven ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

It was a freezing winter morning in the outskirts of Kyoto. Snow fell lightly over the land in soft drifts, swirling gently on the back of an icy breeze. Already, everything was covered in a thin blanket of snow, which sparkled magically in the light of the rising sun. Tiny, slender icicles hung delicately from the roofs and overhangs of the surrounding buildings. Akinori was asleep on his futon, in a rather small dojo near the woods. He was still dreaming about the fateful day that his father had died. It had happened during the revolution. He knew that his father had been a leader of some kind, but he didn't know specifically anymore. He did, however, remember the day it happened so clearly that it was if he had it recorded in his mind:
His mother, his father, his sister and himself were gathered around the table one night, eating dinner, when there had been a knock at the door. His mother had gotten up to answer it, had come back half a minute later and told her family that no one had been at the door. His father had thought it was strange, but decided to let it pass. A few moments later there was yet another knock at the door. This time, his father had gotten up to answer it. A few seconds passed and they all heard the ringing of metal against metal, the sound of a sword being drawn. He had heard his father speaking frantically, before he had screamed. He and his mother had run to the door, finding his father had been stabbed through the heart and killed. While his mother collapsed in a fit of sobs, he had run outside into the dark night, and saw him. A small, slender man with fiery red hair, pixie-like features and a long scar on his left cheek. His sword, still unsheathed and dripping with his father's blood gripped tightly in his right hand. The man had glared down at Akinori with those horrible, golden eyes. Emotionless, terrifying. The eyes of a murderer. Lightning flashed across the sky and it began to rain, matting the man's hair against his face. He had smirked at Akinori, a sick amusement in the smile that still made Akinori's blood boil to that very day. The man sheathed the blood-drenched sword, before turning and disappearing into the darkness and the rain...

Akinori sat bolt up right, breathing heavily. The hairs along the back of his neck were standing on end again. They always did when he had that nightmare. He sighed deeply, and gazed out the window at the mystifying landscape. He had lost the rest of his family after that. His mother had committed suicide less than a year after his father's murder, leaving him to take care of his little sister, who had been 5 at the time. She had gotten deathly ill, and being only a child himself, he hadn't been able to save her. He had been living off of the money his family had left him ever since. The sky outside was a light gray, a rainbow of beautiful pinks, oranges and blues nearer to the sun. He had a feeling this good weather wouldn't last. In never did. Reluctantly, he forced himself to get out of bed and over to the small closet to get dressed into one of the few pairs of cloths he owned. He wanted to go and buy himself some food for that day before the city got too crowded.
Meanwhile at the Kamiya dojo, everyone was still fast asleep except Ms. Kaoru Kamiya. The black haired young woman was busily finishing what housework she was too lazy to finish the day before. She was on her hands and knees, furiously scrubbing at a stain on the kitchen floor, which had been made a few days earlier when Yahiko had thrown food at her, complaining it tasted like rats. What she wondered was how he knew what rats tasted like. Smiling slightly at the joke she had made in her head, she scrubbed a little bit harder, having given herself a small energy boost. She didn't always work so hard, and even she herself wasn't completely sure on what made her want to that day. She simply couldn't satisfy herself, no matter how clean the dojo got, she felt like she hadn't done enough. Once the stain was gone, she stood up and tossed the cloth carelessly onto the table. She stretched her aching arms on her way to Kenshin's room.

Hey, Kenshin." She whispered, shaking him gently by the shoulder. He snorted rather unattractively and woke up. "Hmm?" He asked, his way of greeting her and asking her why she was there in one convenient word. He nuzzled his face into his pillow sleepily. "Do you want to go get breakfast with me in town? You know Yahiko. He'll sleep until noon if we don't wake him. He'll never know we're gone." Kenshin smiled and shifted comfortably and rolled over to look at her. He smiled sweetly, his loving, violet eyes twinkling. "That I do, Kaoru-dono." She smiled back. The sound of his voice was always so reassuring and refreshing. "Well, get dressed then. I'll go and get some money." She chirped merrily, and strode out of the room. "We should really bring Yahiko something. He's going to be angry when he finds out, that he will." Kenshin said loudly after her, but she was already too far away to hear him.