*sweatdrops a little* Yes, yet another RK fic, and AU to boot. The pairings haven't been determined, and I haven't really figured out who the villain will be. I started writing this fic a while ago (back when I was actually in school), and while I was sick, I was re-reading it, when the words just came to me again. Not sure if I'll continue with this, but I thought I'd appease some people out there who read my stuff at the very least.

Dedication: Kirstian, who has always been there for me, as a crazy friend, and supportive imouto-chan.

To some, it would seem like a gift that the Heavens bestowed upon her. To her, it was nothing but a curse, pure and simple. Sixteen year old Kamiya Kaoru was 'blessed' with an unnatural ability, one which would've seen her burnt at the stake had she been born in the 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts. Fortunately for her, she lived in more modern times, where TV could dull the edge of living, and numb all senses. Unfortunately for her, she was not susceptible to TV's siren call.

She had always grown up with an awareness that she was different than the other children but ever since she had turned sixteen, the awareness had become much more prominent. She tried desperately to block it out. When Kaoru had been younger, the images had confused her, and her parents had chalked it up to an overactive imagination. Little Kaoru knew otherwise. The snatches of images that she caught involved children she would see later on in a cast or with bruises on their arms. She knew it wasn't normal, but she didn't want to tell anyone. She had been afraid of what would happen to her.

Then came the darkest day of her young life, when she had turned ten. So traumatic was the experience that she had blocked it from her memory. Where once she was a lively child, she now kept to herself. She surrounded herself with books, her intelligent mind absorbing all the information she could find.

Unlike other sixteen year olds preoccupied with thoughts of dating and following their dreams, Kaoru had a mission to fulfill. It was one she knew she'd go through with once high school was completed. She had no friends, with the exception of a next-door neighbour who knew nothing of the truth. She had no one she could count on. From an early age, she had learned that the only person she could ever rely on was herself. Everyone else had a tendency to die on her.

Inhaling sharply, she went through her gymnastics routine once more. Bars were her favourite. She jumped up to catch the lower bar, nimbly swinging so that she would propel her slight weight to the bar above. From there on, it was a series of graceful moves, and twists - ones that left the audience gasping in awe. It would always look as if she would miss but she always caught at the last minute. Sweat beaded upon her forehead as she frowned in concentration. Her muscles responded to her mind's control, and releasing her hands from the bar, her body tucked itself to perform several somersaults before finishing off with a perfect dismount.

She arched her back and bowed, lithe legs moving one in front of the other. Kaoru gave a cursory nod to her coach and accepted the towel, wiping away her body's exhaustion. The scores came out and the crowd roared. It had been no surprise - she had been the heavy favourite to win this year's competition.

The slight twinge on her temples turned into a full-fledged pain. Muffling her cry with the towel, she hunched over, breathing deeply to control it. No, no... she thought to herself. The images assaulted her mind - a beautiful woman smiling with joy, the utter devotion upon her fiancé's face, the terrified screams, and a shiny blade that came down and struck her body repeatedly. Kaoru clutched at her head, and she couldn't help the moans that emerged from her.

"Stop..." she whispered.

Tanaki Megumi, her coach, turned around to look at her. "What's wrong, Kaoru?" she asked as soon as she saw the pale complexion on her star gymnast's face.

Kaoru shook her head, not hearing the crowd's cheers, only the roaring in her head, and the throbbing pain in her mind. She sank to her knees, blue eyes wide with horror as the victim's face implanted itself into her memory. She wasn't sure when the woman's cries became her own.

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

"Are you sure you're all right?" Megumi had good reason to be worried. Beyond the fact that she was Kaoru's coach, she had looked upon the younger gymnast as a little sister. She knew that both Kaoru's parents had passed on when she was young. Thankfully, they had been well-insured, and she had grown up in the care of an uncle.

Kaoru waved off Megumi's concern. "I'll be fine. You're such a worry wart," she grumbled half-heartedly.

Though it made Megumi smile, she knew that all wasn't right. She had seen the look of terror on the girl's face and the pain that had caused her to shriek uncontrollably, overpowering the sound of the crowd in a horrific crescendo. Kaoru's face still looked white, and her tiny form appeared more fragile than ever.

Kaoru began hesitantly, "Megumi-san, if you knew that something bad was going to happen - and you could stop it, what would you do?"

That question caused Megumi's brows to draw together, upsetting the balance of her pretty face. What type of question was that? Was Kaoru in some sort of danger? She glanced at Kaoru suspiciously and tried to phrase her answer as carefully as possible. If there was something wrong, anything she said could trigger the other girl into doing something rash. "It would depend," Megumi replied cautiously.

"On what?"

"On what that bad thing was, who it was going to happen to, and what it has to do with you."

"Oh..." Kaoru stared off in the distance. "So if I didn't know the person, and it didn't concern me, I shouldn't do anything about it?"

Megumi detested questions like that. Her responses always seemed to cast her as a villain. "No, it's not to say that you shouldn't do anything about it, but that you have to be careful. There are times where we don't know everything, and we shouldn't just jump in and do something when we know nothing about it."

Now, Kaoru's brows were joined together. "I see..."

"Just promise me, Kaoru. Don't do anything stupid." Seeing the younger girl glare at her, Megumi corrected herself. "I mean, don't do anything without thinking it through. I know you think you're alone sometimes but there are people who would be really upset if anything happened to you."

Kaoru snorted. "Please. The only thing anyone has ever cared about is me winning the gymnastics trophy."

Megumi's eyes widened. "No! You have that all wrong..."

"Do I?" Kaoru responded bitterly before seeming to catch herself. Then, as if shutters came over her, she said, "I'm sorry, Megumi-san. I'm not being fair to you, am I? I'll be fine. The migraine just overwhelmed me."

The weak smile did little to console Megumi of the younger girl's mental state.

***********

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully. Her aunt had fussed over her, and her uncle had given her his usual dispassionate look over at her before reverting his attention to his paperwork. Falling back on her bed, she slung her arm over her head and stared at the ceiling. The fan's blades went around in perfect circles, lulling her into a near hypnotic state.

Then came the onslaught again. Resembling a series of snapshots, terror filled her eyes as the woman was stabbed repeatedly. Her beautiful white dress was stained obscenely with her blood, and the assailant's chant of "Die die die" went on like a skipping record. The pain rushed against her temples unexpectedly, and her hands grabbed her head.

"No... stop... no... don't hurt her... please..." Tears fell down unnoticed as she concentrated on willing away the images and pain. "I can't do anything... no..."

The blade came down one last time, coated thickly with the victim's blood - the woman screamed no more, but Kaoru did.

Her aunt came rushing into her room, taken aback by the sight of her niece. Her eyes were wide but unseeing, and her cheeks were tear-stained. But it was the screams of pure unadulterated horror that gripped Tokio's chest in a vice.

"Kaoru?" she whispered hesitantly.

The young girl gave no indication of having heard her. She simply stared towards the ceiling at the fan.

Then, she watched as the blades slowed down before coming to a stop. Kaoru blinked away whatever had held her captive, but her eyes still held that fear. At the doorway, Saitoh Hajime stood there watching his niece observantly.

Tokio pulled Kaoru into her arms, and could only hold her as the younger girl sobbed. She looked upwards to meet the eyes of her husband. He nodded before leaving.

It was strange. How had he known to turn off the fan?

**********

Kaoru fought the shakes that threatened to wrack her body. Those images, that poor woman - what was she supposed to do? She was only a sixteen year-old student. She wasn't even sure anyone would believe her. Her aunt, Tokio, had tried to find out the truth.

"Please, Kaoru. If something's bothering you, I want to help."

Kaoru had shaken her head. "Nothing's wrong. It was just a nightmare."

She had been lying and they both knew it. One didn't simply have a waking nightmare in the middle of a gym as well. Somehow, Tokio knew deep down in her bones that both incidents were related.

"But..."

"But nothing," Kaoru had replied coldly, holding up her hand as if to silence her aunt. If only she knew how much she was acting like her uncle at that moment. "I'll be fine. Just leave me alone."

The last attack had shaken her. It had caught her completely by surprise and had been so powerful. She hadn't been able to control herself. She shuddered, clutching the thin jacket around her body as if to ward off some imaginary cold. She had left after school and just started walking. She wasn't sure where her feet were leading her.

Suddenly, the awareness stole upon her once more. The sounds around her died out and Kaoru looked up in horror. A lone image flashed through her mind - a Victorian style house with the most beautiful garden out front. She began running. If she wasn't mistaken, she saw the name Himura on the mailbox.

Even as her feet slapped against the pavement, she wondered what on earth she would say to them. She could hardly go up to the lady of the house and say, "Excuse me. I've been having recurring flashes of you getting murdered horribly in your home. I really am not a psycho."

Kaoru skidded to an abrupt halt. There it was, the house that she had seen in her mind. Then, she noted the yellow tape surrounding the place.

"Excuse me, young lady. Can you please move back? This is still a crime scene."

Horror crowded her every sense - her eyes widened in disbelief, and her jaw fell. "Wh-at?" she managed to get out.

"Some woman got stabbed violently in her own home yesterday," the policeman said rather clearly despite the stick in his mouth. "Now, please move back."

Someone had died. She had seen it all in her mind, and she hadn't done anything to stop it. Her feet gave out as she sank slowly to the ground.

"Miss? Hey! Miss! Snap out of it!"

She continued staring blindly, the woman's screams of terror ringing horribly in her ears, and the image of her frightened expression imprinted into her mind.

She might as well have killed the woman herself. She had done nothing to stop it. An innocent woman had died because she hadn't done anything. It was all her fault.

The police officer shook her. "Hey! Look, I know it's kinda freaky but..." his voice broke off at the sight of her expression. "Oi, what is it?"

"I saw it..." she whispered. "I saw it all..."

He grabbed her shoulders. "Look here, this is a serious crime here. Are you telling me you're a witness to the stabbing?"

She blinked before responding, "No, I wasn't actually there. I saw it though... in my mind."

The man stared at her for one long moment before laughing. "Listen, little girl, I think you've seen too many horror movies- "

Kaoru slapped her hands over her face, harsh sobs shaking her tiny frame. "I didn't save her. I didn't do anything to save her."

The police officer sighed. Emotional females. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with the lot of them. He lifted her up rather gently and asked, "No one could've done anything for her. It was apparently a totally random act. She probably was home during a robbery, and the guy just stabbed her cos' he didn't want any witnesses."

Kaoru continued crying, and he sighed once again, scratching his head. "What the hell am I supposed to do with some crying chick?" he muttered to himself. "Oi, did you know her?"

She shook her head.

"But you're crying for her."

Kaoru nodded.

"Why?!"

She shrugged. "I tried explaining it. You wouldn't believe me. I let someone die because I didn't do anything about it." Her voice became filled with determination. "I could've stopped this and I didn't."

The young police officer backed away. She was getting just a little bit too freaky for him.

"It will never happen again," she said resolutely before standing up to leave.

He stared at her departing figure. "What the hell was that all about? And why does she look so damn familiar?"