Subject: [KFFDISC] In the Heart of the Wolf: Prologue(Rewrite) Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 16:49:24 EDT From: RuriHari@aol.com Reply-To: kffdisc@NABIKI.COM To: kffdisc@NABIKI.COM Its re-edited ^^ "she is made for him as Tokio is for me."-- Kokoro Ch 8(c) by Jade One Meiji 16, Spring, Tokyo: Aoshi watched as Misao left his side to greet Kaoru and the rest of the party. He stood next to Kenshin who was watching the scene unfold before him. "About Saitou Hajime, I got the information you requested." Kenshin remained quiet but Aoshi could tell by his posture and the way his muscles moved that he was waiting for an answer. "He's in Hokkaido now. I couldn't get the details of his mission... but he's doing well." Aoshi said after a moment. He kept his eyes on Misao as she played with Kenji. Kenshin's eyes closed for a moment, he let out a breath. He leaned his back against a sakura tree. "Have you decided to have a final match with him?" Aoshi asked after another moment of silence. Kenshin watched as Kaoru laughed, "No. I'm glad he's okay." He sighed and looked up into the sakura tree. "After all... its his life that's in peril now." Aoshi watched a sakura petal's decent to the ground "... true." he said. Meiji 16, Winter, Hokkaido: An innkeeper looks up as he hears the sound of the inn door opening. From the vast vacant ink black night, enters a man from the swirling snow. He stands on the woven mat on the floor and stamps his boots out before approaching the desk. "Hello, may I help you in reserving a room?" the inn keeper said. "I am looking for a man or a group of men, did they come by with a raven haired woman?" "I'm sorry sir, no one by that description has been at this inn or been seen around this inn." "Thank you." he said shortly and turned back to the door. "Excuse me sir, but if I may say something?" the inn keeper said after a moment of hesitation. The man turned. "Yes?" "Its snowing heavily out there and its quite windy, may I suggest that you stay here for the night before going on your way?" "No," the man said. "I must find her." he pulled the wool overcoat around him tighter, pulling the collar up to ward off the icy wind and stepped back out into the snow. In the Heart of the Wolf A Saitou Fanfic Prologue: Endlessly Dark Sky Kaoru woke up startled by the sound of banging on the door or the Kamiya gate. She pulled on a haori over her plain white robe and slid open the door wincing at the bite brisk dampness of the cold night air and the light of the half-moon. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. "Go back to bed Kaoru-dono." he said as he walked past her silently and fluidly as he melted back into the darkness. The pounding did not stop, but it did slow down a bit. Kaoru's heart almost beat along with the insistent pounding as she watched from her door at the spot where he had turned. Her ears straining to hear what was going to happen next. The pounding had stopped. Kaoru could almost hear the sounds of voices. "...p me..." "... saitou ...?" Kaoru's eyes widened. Sleep had left her a while ago, so Kaoru was now awake. She walked to the end of the wooden walkway and saw that the sitting room was lit. She could hear muted voices inside. The door slid open, Kenshin met eyes with her and he said, "Make tea please." Kaoru nodded as Kenshin slid the door shut again. She shuffled to the kitchen, no longer aware of the cold night air or the darkness. She had grown accustomed to it. The night seemed as if it was anticipating something, as if... as if... Kaoru wondered as she took out four cups and placed them on a tray. What was going on? She placed the tea pot next to cups as she wondered what Saitou was doing here in the middle of the night. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the kettle. She quickly took it off of the fire not wanting to make any noise. Kenji was asleep. She added tea leaves and poured the water. The steam warming her hands and then quickly leaving them cold again. She took the tray in her hands careful not to spill and then shuffled back to the room. As she approached the room, the door slid open and Kenshin stepped aside to let her in. "Arigatou," Kenshin said softly as Kaoru entered. Kaoru put the tray on the ground then looked up, she managed not to gasp at Saitou's face. It was haggard and pale. His eyes that were once cold and calculating, were lifeless and dull. "Kenshin... what... happened?" Kenshin pressed a cup of tea into Saitou's hands. "Kaoru-dono..." Kenshin started to say, he looked at Kaoru for a moment as if he remembered something important and then said looking down, "... Tokio is missing." Kaoru's eyes widened. "But... but... how?" "I don't know..." Saitou said slowly and calmly. Kaoru smiled at him and said, "It will be all right, we'll find her." she said. "We will help you. For now rest, worrying about it now won't do anything." She rose and opened the door. "I'll come back with a blanket and futon, he sleeps here tonight." "... thank you..." Kaoru turned to look back at the two men and nodded. She stepped out onto the wooden walkway and said to herself, "Saitou, there is no love lost for the many times you've tried to bring the battousai out, but tonight," she paused a moment to gather her thoughts, "tonight, I've seen into the heart of your soul, rather, tonight I saw how your soul was taken." -------------- Notes: 1) The lines from the first scene are from the final chapter of the Kenshin manga, it can be found at www.miburo.com, it was translated by Project RK. 2) After much consideration and a conversation with a Saitou fan, I reread my Wolf fic and realized that Saitou is a hard character to write about and expand on, especially when there's two different ways to portray him. ^^;; (he and I discussed this too) a lot of writers often take an approach of the two sided Saitou (cold hearted, business-like policeman/loving warm husband) and others make him completely cold. Also I wrote Wolf before Watsuki wrote the *final* chapter. But don't worry! I'm still writing it, its just that I need to weed out ooc Saitou scenes and reoutlined the story. I got stuck at chapter 4 and realized that I wrote myself into a wall. In fact after looking at the newer story, it's tighter and a bit more plausible. ^^ (Ruri nicknamed the story Ruroni Kenshin 2: Saitou's Story) Interestingly, after I reoutlined the story and looked at my sketchy story, I have better respect for Saitou and for his wife Tokio. ^^;; Infact, I realized that a woman that would be Saitou's wife would have to be strong, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Anyways that's enough from me. ^^ Enjoy the prolouge -- Rurichan.