Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ When Angels Fall ❯ The Imminent Setting Sun ( Chapter 2 )

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

When Angles Fall:

The Imminent Setting Sun

By:Kiamirei

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and its characters don't belong to me and
I'm not claiming they do.

It had been a week, and Kenshin was utterly exhausted. He'd gotten a
little sleep, but for the past five days he had been awake for the
entire night. That fact resulted, naturally, in a shortened temper as
Kaoru and Yahiko went about their daily arguments as he did the
laundry. Even Ayame and Suzume were getting on his nerves. It was a
little cold out still and he was so tired that even the light hurt his
eyes a little bit. However, he was able to hide all that -another
trick learned during the revolution- and by all outward appearances
Kenshin Himura was in perfect spirits and full of energy. After all,
he did not want anyone worrying about him. It was his job to protect
them, not

(like I protected Tomoe. Not like that. She's dead now. I killed her.)

the other way around, and he would do almost anything to keep it that
way.

There was another factor, too, that was beginning to get to him. His
thoughts were getting harsher. If somebody bumped into him as he was
walking down the street, instead of smiling his hand started to go for
his sword. The movement was almost imperceptible, but it was there all
the same. When Kaoru's cooking was bad, he found himself wanting to
just not eat it, instead of appreciating the fact that she was trying
hard to make a good meal, and that the food was coming from the girl
herself, which always made it taste better to him, as he always had in
the past. But the worst thing of all was that, almost unconsciously,
he was beginning to think that his Sakabatou was a stupid weapon, one
that no true warrior would wield. If he knew these thoughts existed,
he would have countered that he was

(of course I was a warrior. Did I not fight for my ideals? Did I not
work for a new era?)

not a warrior, and never had been. He'd been the Hitokiri Battosai.
The man did not, though, and so he got up that morning as usual. He
had not slept at all the night before, as he had not for the past five
days, so when it reached the time that he normally got up in the
morning, he stood and stretched. After that he proceeded to get
dressed, and pull his hair back. Then he exited his room.

Kaoru-dono isn't up yet, he thought. She must have been tired last
night. Oh well. At least now I get to make breakfast. She tries, but
her cooking still needs a lot of work.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"It has to. Otherwise, Gohei won't pay us."

"Yes, but with that swordsman, whatever his name was, there it might
fail."

"Don't worry about it."

"I just want to make sure we get paid, that's all. Why are we doing
this anyway?"

"What are you, stupid?"

"No, I mean why does he want her dead?"

"Because he's dense, and he's a failure. And he wants revenge. How
should I know?"

"Yeah...I guess it really isn't our business anyway. Hehe...don't kill
the messenger! That's all our job is anyway, ne?"

"Yeah. She'll get the message all right. In the form of poison..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was lunch in the Kamiya dojo, and the usual chaos reigned.

"Hey, ugly," Yahiko said, "why don't you just let Kenshin cook? I
mean, you're so bad at it!"

"Treat your teacher with more respect! Don't complain! At least I'm
feeding you at all! You don't do anything around here, so just shut
up!"

"Ah, there's no point in listening to ugly girls anyway!"

"Ugly! I'll show you ugly!"

"N-now Kaoru, there's no need for that pan....just put it down...come
on....I was just joking..ha..ha...."

"Get back here, you!"

Kenshin laughed, and Sanosuke made his usual comments. It was a little
cold, like a fall day, but the sun was shining and the birds were
singing. By all outward signs, it was just another normal day. Except
that it wasn't. Hidden on the wall that enclosed the house, two men
sat very, very still. They didn't want the swordsman to notice them.
The trees were in the way a little bit, but they pushed the branches
out of the way when they could tell that the girl and the young boy
had sat down again. After hearing the exchange, they both came up with
the conclusion that both people were insane. Both men dug into the
pouches at their sides, making more noise than they would have wanted.
It wasn't very loud, though, for the girl and the boy said nothing
about it, nor did the two men.

Kenshin had indeed heard them, though, and murmured something to
Sanosuke, who was sitting next to him.

"Now, now," Kaoru said, "it isn't polite to tell secrets. What's
wrong?"

"Nothing, Kaoru-dono. I was just telling Sano that he shouldn't
complain about your cooking, that I was."

"Sanosuke! You freeloader! If you don't like the food, stop leeching
off of us!"

"Hey," Kenshin said mildly, "let's just eat."

"A-alright."

For the next few minutes, all was peaceful, except for the unseen
tension building up in Kenshin and Sanosuke. Then, at the exact right
moment, Kenshin jumped up towards Kaoru and shoved her to the ground.
She smacked her head painfully on the ground, but was otherwise okay.
The former fighter for hire, on his part, ran towards the wall, where
he knew that the two men he had been told about would be.

The would-be assassins saw the fighter coming towards them, and their
nerve failed. Each was off in a separate direction, running as fast as
their legs could carry them. Without any hesitation, Sanosuke took a
running jump and leapt right over the wall, chasing one of them.

I'll just go back for the other one later, he thought.

Kaoru, not understanding the situation, was indignant.

"Kenshin! What were you thinking? That hurt!"

"G-gomen, Kaoru-dono. It's just that there were these two..."

"Two what?"

"K-Kaoru," Yahiko pointed. "What are those? They're darts, aren't
they? Kenshin, what's going on!"

Smiling to hide the pain he felt as much as to calm the other two
down, Kenshin reached for the four darts that had lodged itself in his
back. He pulled them out, ripping skin along with it.

"I-it's nothing. Just these darts, see?"

"What? Why? Kenshin, are you alright?"

"Of course, Kaoru-dono it's just

(poison, it's just poison, I know already, they may kill me...but not
if I have anything to say about it no wannabe assassins could ever
kill the Hitokiri Battousai.)

a couple of darts. I'll go see Miss Megumi anyway, though. Please wait
here. Sano went after the people who sent these darts to

(kill them, he better kill them or I'll kill him)

ask them what happened. He'll get to the bottom of it don't worry.
I'll be all right, that I will. I-I just need to..to.."

With that, Kenshin fell. Quickly Kaoru caught him.

"Kenshin? Kenshin? Kenshin! Kenshin! Wake up! Yahiko! Get Dr. Genzai
or Miss Megumi!"

"Right!"

"And run fast!"

"I will!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Miss Megumi, will he be alright?"

"I think so. He took a lot of poison, though, and he may be
unconscious for a while. Had I not gotten here sooner, he probably
would have died. But his condition is stable now, and he should live.
When he wakes up, though, he should take it easy for a few days. Have
him stay in bed."

"When will he wake up?"

"In two to three days."

"What?!"

"He should be alright. Just calm down, both of you."

"You know," came Sanosuke's voice, "those darts were meant for you,
Kaoru."

"No!"

"Sorry to break it to you."

"T-then it's...it's my fault, isn't it. It's always my fault!"

Kaoru clenched her fists, trying to hide the tears that were filling
her eyes. She wanted to burst out crying, half because she felt so
scared, half because of the guilt and the rage that she was feeling.
Once again she found herself berating herself. But before she could
get very far, Sanosuke rolled his dark brown eyes and cut in.

"Don't you dare start with that. I can tell you whose fault it really
was...if you're not too busy blaming yourself, that is."

"Tell me."

"Remember that former student, the annoying one that just won't go
away?"

"Gohei?"

"Yeah. Gohei. I caught up to one of the two people he sent out and
found out they were assassins sent by him -not too skilled though, if
you ask me. Kenshin saw them, and told me to go after them."

"If he saw them, why didn't he just tell me? He could have done
something besides take the darts for me! He's always doing that! He
could have died!"

Kaoru was crying now, and it was, surprisingly, Yahiko who put his arm
around her shoulder.

"Calm down," he said. "Kenshin knew exactly what he was doing. Don't
blame yourself. If he'd gotten up to attack the assassins, they would
have shot him with their darts anyway. And then they still could have
gotten you. Or all of us!"

"That's right," Sanosuke agreed. "Kenshin handled it well, and he's
going to be okay now. Isn't that right, Megumi?"

"Yes. He'll be fine. Just have him do as I instructed -oh and also if
you could change the bandages and rub some of this aloe into the
wounds each day it would be helpful."

"Was it that bad?"

"Not really, but the tips of the darts were barbed, and meant to catch
the skin and rip it a lot when they're pulled out. Just to help it
heal faster and cleaner, do as I say."

"Alright."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Two days later, Kaoru had just finished doing as Megumi had asked for
the second time. To her relief, Kenshin had stopped bleeding by the
first morning. To her dread, he still did not look much better. He was
deathly pale, as if dead already, and he was cool. The fever had gone
down, and instead of burning hot his skin was now clammy, and a little
sticky. He smelled of sickness, and had not moved since the fever
broke, as far as she could tell. Undeniably, though, he was better
than he had been. The flush in his cheeks had disappeared, and he had
stopped thrashing around. While the fever had lasted, the man had been
pulling out strands of his red hair (which was now a little stringy)
and muttering to himself. Kaoru could not understand a lot of what was
said, but what she had heard she knew that she did not like. It wasn't
really the words that was unnerving, it was the tone in which he spoke
them. They were haunting to her, and frightening. His voice changed
from being so miserable she wanted to cry just hearing the sound to so
cold that she slid herself back a foot or two before realizing what
she was doing. But then he had stopped and entered his current state.
She wasn't sure which she liked better. He had been restless and
undeniably sick before, but he looked dead now. The girl shivered and
left to join Yahiko and Sanosuke.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was the morning of the third day. Birds were singing outside, and
the sun bathed the room in rays of warm light. The silence inside the
room was marred only with the rustle of sheets as a single figure sat
up in the futon he had been laying in. Slowly the man stretched, and
let loose a yawn. The man suddenly felt dirty, and immediately knew
that he had passed some sort of sickness. He felt around for his
sword. It was near his side. He reached around to his back and felt
the bandages. After only a moment's hesitation he pulled them off. He
pulled the tie from his hair -red but a few shades lighter than blood-
and changed the style from a low ponytail to one that was much higher.
Kenshin, awake for the first time in three days, drew the sword at his
side, frowned at it, then looked at his reflection -out of twin, ice
cold pools of the deepest, darkest amber.