It's modern day. The streets are rife with violence;
corporations are corrupt; assassinations, commonplace. Himura Kenshin, known only as Battousai, is
a shadow assassin for an organization so secret even he
doesn't know who truly runs it. BUT Battousai has an even
bigger secret; one that if it were ever discovered would mean more than his
death...it would end in the total annihilation of his soul. Battousai is not only the deadliest assassin
to ever prowl the dark streets of night...he is also a vampire, one of the
oldest still in existence…and a rarity among his kind.
He has a soul.
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Rurouni Kenshin & Samurai X Original Japanese Version ©N.
Watsuki/Shueisha * Fuji-TV * SME Visual Works Inc. * Sony Pictures
Entertainment
All Fanfics created by Chiruken (me)
were written for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for
publication or sale.
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Tears of Eternity
by: Chiruken
He
felt…unclean. He always did after
completing his assignments. All the
water in the world could never wash away the blood. He could wash his body…as he’d just done in one of the multitude
of safe houses set up around the city exclusively for that purpose…scrubbing
until his skin felt raw, clean the filth from his clothing, but his conscience
was permanently stained.
His lips twisted bitterly in a parody of
a smile. His ‘conscience’, he thought
harshly, chest constricting with the ancient hurt bewilderment. One such as he should be incapable of such
basic emotions inspired by a conscience.
Guilt should be as foreign to him as the sky was to fish. To the best of his knowledge, none of the
others of his kind were afflicted as he was.
No…he was special…cursed with being unique. It set him apart from the others. To have a conscience, one must first have a soul.
He shook his head sharply, angered by
his dark thoughts. His mind had been
traveling the same road of self-condemnation for centuries. It never changed anything and was, he’d
discovered, an exercise in futility. It
was pointless to feel guilt. His very
survival depended upon that very same substance which so disgusted him.
He sighed, his momentary anger
evaporating as quickly as it manifested, and crossed the unlit parking lot, the
faded red brick apartment building looming dark and unwelcoming. A small square of light cast from a first
floor apartment feebly illuminated a narrow patch of cold concrete. He blinked in surprise, steps faltering as
he felt an odd but familiar ‘tickle’ in his mind signaling a rudimentary form
of undisciplined telepathy. He looked
up, startled, and found himself staring into the uncurtained window of the lit
first floor apartment. Time ceased to
flow as the distance vanished and he found himself gazing into oceanic sapphire
eyes set in a delicately featured face framed by strands of dark hair held back
in a high pony-tail by a ribbon matching the exquisite eyes. She leaned forward into the window,
returning his unwavering perusal with one of her own. There was a moment of startling clarity in which he felt drawn to
the unknown young woman gazing down at him with such intensity it stole his
breath away. In that instant he felt an
overriding need to know her…to possess her.
With a quick indrawn breath he tore his
gaze from hers and all but ran the rest of the way across the tenebrous parking
lot to the relative safety of the entrance illuminated by the flickering light
of a fluorescent bulb above the door.
He shivered and reached for the knob, shaken by his frightening fixation
on a stranger as fleeting as it had been.
Stepping through the door into the dimly lit stairwell, he swallowed
nervously, acknowledging that it hadn’t bee as short-lived as he wished it to
be. He shook his head sharply in an
attempt to drive the uncharacteristic thoughts from his mind and hastily moved
through the heavy fire door into the narrow hall of the first floor.
He hurried down the hall, steps silent
on the threadbare and stained rug as he made his way towards the privacy of his
apartment. He ignored the multitude of
odors assailing his senses, not all of which were pleasant, as he passed the
battered and scarred doors with faded paint lining the hall, intent on avoiding
his neighbours.
His steps, brisk and silent, faltered as
he passed the third door on the left side of the hall, amber gaze swiveling to
take in the number. One eleven…He shook
himself and put on a burst of speed.
SHE was behind that door. The
young woman with the mesmerizing sapphire eyes lived in that apartment…he could
feel it. He slammed the door to his own
apartment closed with a bang. He leaned
back against it and closed his eyes, hands clenching into fists at his
sides. He drew in several deep breaths
in an effort to reestablish his customary cold detachment. With a growl of frustration he thumped his
fist against the solid, scarred wood at his back and pushed away from the door
to stalk across the cramped apartment, carefully picking his way through the
darkness, golden eyes flashing in irritation at his inability to calm his
uncharacteristic agitation.
Suddenly feeling the weight of his
activities from earlier that evening, he spun on his heel and headed for the
tiny bathroom, stripping the clothes from his body as he went, leaving them to
lie where they fell, mind fixed on one thought…wash the stench of blood and
death from his body. He stepped into
the shower, nearly falling in his haste, and cranked the taps on full blast,
pulling the stopper simultaneously. He
gritted his teeth as the cold water hit his body like thousands of stinging
needles. Bracing his hands against the
wall, he bowed his head, closing his eyes tight, and allowed the cold water to
wash over him, trying to envision the stains on his soul being washed down the
drain.
Ten minutes later, he heaved a weary
sigh and closed off the taps. Lifting
his arms slowly, he wrung the excess water from his hair and reached for a
towel, briskly drying himself. His head
snapped up, amber gaze alert, as a soft knock sounded on his door. He dropped the towel and grabbed a clean
pair of jeans, swiftly stepping into them before gathering his discarded
clothes scattered on the floor and tossing them into the plastic lined laundry
hamper concealed behind the door in the bathroom. Satisfied that his apartment was returned to its usual level of
tidiness, he approached the door with a puzzled frown. He could think of few who would willingly
seek out his company for amicable reasons, yet he could sense no hostility from
the other side of the door. He paused
in the act of reaching for the knob when his keen hearing picked up a soft,
unfamiliar voice whispering on the other side.
“Oh God, what am I doing?”
His curiosity piqued, he opened the door and froze, momentarily stunned speechless. It was HER. The young woman from apartment one eleven…the young woman with the captivating blue eyes. God, he thought reverently, she’s even more beautiful up close. He recovered from his surprise quickly. “Yes?” He asked in a polite, neutral tone.
“Ah…” She stared at him with wide
anxious eyes and licked her lips in a gesture of nervousness, drawing his
attention there. His amber gaze snapped
back to her blue one and he waited patiently for her to continue, silently
berating himself for allowing himself to be distracted. As the seconds ticked by and she remained
silent he quirked an inquiring eyebrow.
Finally she held up a glass measuring cup and cleared her throat. “Can I borrow some sugar?” The words emerged in a breathless rush, her
hands, wrapped around the cup, trembling.
His lips quirked up in amusement, amber
gaze warm and appreciative. This was a
first for him. He’d never been
subjected to the neighbour needs sugar routine before. He held his hand out, watching in
fascination as a flush crept into her face, and waited for her to relinquish
the measuring cup that she was clutching tight enough her knuckles were turning
white. “One cup?” She nodded, but didn’t surrender the
cup. He waited a moment longer, his
amusement growing. “Um…miss…I need the
cup.” He gently reminded her.
Her blush deepened as she handed the cup
over. “Kaoru.” He tilted his head to the side curiously,
waiting for her to elaborate. “My
name…it’s Kaoru.” She gestured down the
hall. “One eleven.”
He quickly cleared his throat to cover
his amused chuckle and stepped to the side, gesturing for his tongue-tied
neighbour to enter. “Kenshin. It’s a pleasure.”
**To Be Continued…**
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