Subj: [kff] flori-dono's Arashi 10a
Date: 4/17/00 7:25:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time

A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction by Flori-dono
weebei17@hotmail.com
http://members.dencity.com/flori-dono/fics.html

ARASHI by flori-dono

Disclaimer: This is a Rurouni Kenshin-inspired fan fiction. The author is
not making any
money out of this. The characters of Rurouni Kenshin belong to Watsuki
Nobuhiro, Shounen
Jump, and Sony and others that should be mentioned but were not.

PART 10a

"I want you to kill the Hitokiri Battousai..."

The words kept on echoing in my mind like the mournful tolling of bells.
Kill Shinta? Oh, how the gods must be enjoying my predicament.

"Arashi?"

"What's the plan?" I asked, still unsettled with a decision. The question,
a
sudden urge to mask the thunderous beating of my heart.

"The Battousai will be lured up the mountains where an assassin of the
bakufu awaits. Our real job is to weaken him, but if we kill him, then more

money will be ours. And of course, wouldn't that be better?"

"How will the Battousai be enticed to go there?"

"I believe that his wife is a bakufu spy."

Tomoe?

"And I don't think we have to worry about that."

I tried my best to look calm even if I was really taken unawares.

"I see..."

"So, will you do it?"

"Hai," I said.

What happened next was a blur. I remembered of some more prattle about what

we were supposed to do but I was only half listening. My mind was far from
tactics.

"Arashi, this will be executed three days from now, so listen up. I know
your thoughts are straying!"

I blinked my eyes. His short reprimand suddenly snapped me out of my
troubled thoughts.

"What would I get for this?" I asked unexpectedly, surprising even myself.

Kotake-sama was also taken aback.

I heard Hiro laughed derisively.

"Now who's not interested in money?"

Kotake-sama ignored the malicious comment.

Silence.

"Your freedom," he said. I looked at him in the eye, I couldn't fathom the
mien I saw in them. All I knew was that he understood me too well, and it
made me feel uneasy. I almost couldn't hide anything from him. No matter
how
adept I had become in concealing my own emotions and intentions, he would
always see through me. It was really unnerving.

He smiled slightly, as if he could read my thoughts.

"Three days?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered, totally understanding my change of topic. "I hope you
would be well enough by then. I want this to go smoothly. There would be no

room for mistakes. Understand?"

"Hai sensei," I murmured.

"Now go," he said, dismissing me. "Hiro stay, I want to talk with you."

I got up the room slowly but not before hearing Hiro say, "bitch". I
stopped
but resumed walking.

Kill Battousai...

I didn't know how I got out of the room without collapsing. I had to hold
on
to the post to keep me from falling to the ground. I didn't know what
pushed
me to agree to this insane plan, but I did. Could I kill Shinta? No, I
could
not. Not even if he would had offered me all his gold, I wouldn't. But I
couldn't just back-out. This was my only chance of freedom. I wouldn't kill

Shinta but I had to do something so they wouldn't question. Now, I must
find
a way to tell him of this. But how? I wasn't well enough to travel back,
and
I couldn't go out of the compound without any of the guards knowing.
Security was as tight as that in the imperial palace. How?

***
Two more days before the mission, I still hadn't thought of a plan.

I placed more medicine on my wound. The herbs which Tomoe had given me were

almost gone. Tomoe...

How could she betray him? I had thought that she loved him. I could feel it

in her, I had sensed it. Perhaps, Kotake-sama was wrong. No, I guess I was
the one who was wrong. Poor Shinta, the person he loved the most was the
one
he should hate the most.

I looked outside and I could see the other Shadows training for the
mission.
Even if they would train for a week, they wouldn't be a match for Shinta. I

had fought him and had observed how he did battle. I gave my comrades
twenty
seconds at the most. Enough time before they get killed. I felt sorry for
them in a way, because they were also pawns in this sordid game.
Unfortunately there really were people who were weak enough to let
themselves be victimized, and I was one of them. But not any longer...
***
I was standing in the forest with a thick shower of snow falling on the
ground. Before me was Shinta, kneeling on the forest floor. He was all
bloodied and he had several wounds. He was weak. I came to him but he
couldn't see me. I reached out to help him but my hand just passed through
his body. I was calling out his name again and again but he just couldn't
hear me. I yelled and I cried until I have no more voice nor tears to
spend.
All of a sudden, he fell down. He lay there and I knew that he had stopped
breathing. And then, I felt myself being plummetted into a dark abyss.

And then I woke up.
***
They said dreams were prophetic, if so then what did my dream suggest? I
had
this weird feeling at the pit of my stomach. Something will happen and I
did
not know what. Kami-sama if you could hear me just this once, even if it
would cost my freedom, please let Shinta live!
***
This time, I didn't don my trademark cloak. I was dressed like everybody
else, in our black ninja uniform. I was nervous, my hands actually shook as

I knotted the strip of cloth I used to tie my hair. I unsheathed the katana

and looked at it. It was the same sword Kotake-sama gave me years ago. And
in those same years, I had made full use of it. Perhaps if the sword could
talk, even it wouldn't be able to say how many people it had drawn blood
from.

"Ready?" the ninja beside me asked.

"Ready..." I answered.

Three hours before the mission. Whatever would happen after then would
either make me or break me. It would all be up to me.
***
"Arashi!"

I turned around.

"We'll be leaving soon," I answered.

"I know," Hiro said. "But you won't be leaving with them."

I slid my hand to my side where my scabbard was placed. It wasn't time for
any jokes. Every minute counted, every precious minute of Shinta's life.

"If you want a fight Hiro, I'll give it to you," I said silently. "But
after
this mission."

I heard him snicker.

"Oh really?" he said. "How can I be sure you'll execute this mission? Isn't

the Battousai your friend?"

I stilled. How did he...

"Surprised eh?"

I turned around slowly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Hiro took his time walking towards me.

"Simple Arashi, just as I said, you can not kill the Battousai because he
is
your friend."

"You're talking nonsense," I said and started to turn back but Hiro drew
his
sword and stopped me.

"Don't lie now Arashi because I always had you followed. I never trusted
you."

I gritted my teeth.

"I don't care if you trust me or not. Kotake-sama..."

Hiro laughed.

"Kotake-same? You think he trusted you? That's a laugh..."

I swallowed hard. I didn't think I wanted to hear what was next.

"Arashi," he continued. "For an assassin you're so naïve. He just uses you!

So you think he will give you your freedom as soon as you finish this?
Well,
you're wrong. He has instructed me to kill you. He thinks you're a
liability. He thinks that you know too much."

"I don't believe you," I said in a surprisingly calm voice, even though
deep
inside I was scared, angry and bewildered. Did Kotake-sama really want me
dead?
"Believe me or not Arashi," he said. "I don't care either. I'm only here to

kill you."

I heard the horses move away. I turned around. They were leaving without
me.

Then I felt Hiro moved behind me. I swiftly drew my katana and blocked his
thrust.

"Pretty good," Hiro said.

I saw the determination in his eyes. And I knew I had no choice but to
fight
him. The sooner I kill him, the sooner I would get to Shinta. I just hoped
that there would be enough time left. Hiro was a very skilled swordman, and

I doubted if our battle would end in just mere seconds.

"Let's start," I said.

***
TSUZUKU


NOTES:
1. yes, i know how much a cliffhanger this one is. but i wanted to know
some
feedbacks before i continue the story. and besides, i'm having a hard time
writing the next part. i don't know how to write good action scenes so i'm
still reading some books. right now, my head is swimming with techniques
and
battle sequences that i don't know how to start writing them down.

2. somebody asked why i'm posting "chapters" by installment and are only
about 3-5 pages long. well, my answer is, i get bored writing about the
same
stuff easily so when i write, i have several fics open and write on which
one i fancy. as a result, i'm currently laboring over 4 rk fics, 1 wk fic,
2
eva fics, and 1 yh fic. it's hard for me, but who can i blame but myself.

3. arashi is a 10 part short story although these 10 parts actually only
compose book 1 of arashi. yes, i am planning to have a book two and it
shows more about arashi's life during the new era. anyway, i know this
would
rather be useless since i haven't finished book one yet, but after
completing it, can somebody tell me if i should stop there or if should i
continue with book two. please?

4.i'm still trying hard not to have too much parallelism between arashi and

kenshin, but i think it is fated that there should be. well, when i started

writing arashi, i wasn't plannng it to be this long. i just had this idea
of
a female hitokiri (inspired by a fic by madamhydra)and i didn't have a real

plot. i just typed as what i had in mind.

5.i'm a very paranoid person (really). my friends can attest to that. so
excuse me for this long explanation, perhaps it is not so important, but i
felt like writing excuses. so please bear with me.