Disclaimer: Watsuki Nobuhiro owns them. I can only dream. Please don?t sue.

Summary: Kenshin?s past comes back to haunt him and a new danger starts
to hunt in Tokyo.

Rating: R

Info: The author sits here and gnaws at her fingers, worrying that she
is losing it. By it she means the story (the other it she lost long ago.
She found it again a few years ago but then she put it away somewhere
safe and forgot where that was, oh well). Please give me an opinion, I
could use the feedback.

 

A KILLING MOVE

By COLLEEN

_

Chapter 12a

_

Kenshin and the Sea Green Lady both turned a moment too late. Like a
dark wave the killer swept past them, dealing his blow to the girl in
passing.

Because she was keeping her body visible and touchable the killer
actually felt the usual resistance of a blade moving though flesh. If he
had stuck around afterwards he would have been amazed to see the lady
fall apart. Literally.

Kenshin reached out for her as she fell backwards while coming undone.
First her blue green kimono simply blinked out of existence. Kenshin
noticed, with a part of his mind that always analyzed everything, that
she did in fact not have any feet.

Unfortunately the rest of her did not vanish as easily as her outer
clothing did.

With eyes wide in panic and her mouth opened in a soundless scream the
ghost?s body arced back against the air before fracturing like a piece
of pottery improperly fired in a kiln. The shards that had once made up
the whole of her fell off, disappearing as they shattered to the ground.
The entire event happened so quickly that when Kenshin made it to her it
was in time to catch at nothing but the air.

He looked around at the empty courtyard, worried. ?Ghost dono?? He
turned around to check the dojo behind him and noticed a letter pinned
to one of the posts with a kunai.

Kenshin used one of the few swear words he remembered from the
bakumatsu. He knew that his abilities were a bit off balance since Kyoto
but to let someone attack and leave a note before..... Kenshin shook his
head ruefully; there really wasn?t anything he could have done. The man
had come out of nowhere. His presence, the ki that Kenshin could read
others by had been missing. Although Kenshin had seen him go past he had
felt nothing but emptiness before, during, and after the attack.

That and the man?s speed almost reminded him of Seta Soujiro. He didn?t
seem to be quite that fast thank goodness but combined with the
inability to sense him it probably made him seem faster than he really
was. Also, even though he had been unable to read Seta?s intentions in a
battle, the boy had not been emotionless. True, those emotions had been
locked away and layered over by a sense of amusement but Kenshin had
been able to a least sense his presence if not what he would do.

That hadn?t been the case here.

Kenshin walked over and pulled the little throwing knife out of the
note. Tucking the blade into the sleeve of his gi he opened the letter
and started to read.

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

?It was him, it was him, it was him, it was.... ?

*no*

?He came back, he came back, he...?

*No*

?It was Tsuneo, it w...?

*NO IT WASN?T*

The ghost?s scattered pieces would have continued to argue with each
other but those parts that held her common sense were already moving
towards one another. As each piece met up with another they clicked back
into place like some grisly jigsaw puzzle. Those voices that had
continued to talk or scream or sing half-forgotten melodies stilled one
by one as they were joined to the whole. When the last bit of her
snapped into place the will power that let her keep her presence in the
world reasserted itself. With a push of that power she reached out and
parted the shroud that separated the world of the living from where she
had fallen to.

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

Kenshin quickly tucked the letter he had been reading into his sleeve
when he felt something grasp at reality and twist it. Turning towards
the disturbance he saw the Sea Green Lady step out of the air.

?Ghost dono what..... ?? His sentence bled off as he looked into the
dead girl?s eyes. Where they had originally been a light brown with
hints of amber, they were now a gold only slightly tainted by the darker
colour they once held.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Hana describing the
ghost?s eyes as, ?brown, probably a very light brown by now.?

?Ghost dono, your eyes...?

The girl closed those same eyes and sighed. ?They?ve gotten lighter,
haven?t they??

?Hai.? Kenshin waited a moment to see if she would explain. When it
appeared that she would not he asked her. ?Ghost dono what happened to
you? I would not have thought that a sword would bother you at all, that
I would not.?

?It wasn?t actually the sword that did that to me,? she told him. ?It
was being startled.?

?Startled?? Kenshin said in some disbelief.

?Hai. Staying in this world takes a certain amount of will power.
Startle me enough and I can lose myself for a moment.?

?And your eyes??

She hesitated a moment before answering. ?Every time I expend a lot of
energy they get lighter. I suspect that when I lose the colour in them
entirely that I will no longer be able to keep myself here. Did they
change much??

?Well.... they use to be more brown than gold and now they are more gold
than brown.? Kenshin said, not knowing how to explain it any better.

The ghost nodded, ?oh well it was bound to happen sometime. I couldn?t
go around not using large amounts of energy forever.?

The ghost looked around the garden for a moment. ?Enough about me. Did
the killer leave anything??

?Ah no,? Kenshin said, mindful to avoid letting the letter in his sleeve
make crinkly noises. He had read enough of it to know that he didn?t
want to involve anyone else. In fact now that he knew that the ghost
could actually be injured he hoped to divert her attention away from the
killer before further harm came to her.

The ghost had a feeling that the red head wasn?t telling her everything
but she couldn?t be certain. She knew she might be reading him wrong as
she was still shaken by the attack. After another glance around the
grounds her drifting mind finally realized that Zenko was gone.

?Ghost dono??

She started. ?Yes??

?It would appear that we can?t do anything more tonight. I will be up
early tomorrow and if you would like we can continue then.?

?Errr yes, that would be fine,? she said, glad not to have to come up
with some excuse to leave. Zenko?s absence was bothering her and she
still couldn?t quite shake the feeling that the killer had been Tsuneo
despite the fact that he was dead and definitely gone. So before she
went looking for the other ghost she wanted to quietly check on Hana.
?Until tomorrow then.? Not willing to expend even a small amount of
energy she actually let Kenshin walk her to the gate rather than
disappearing in some dramatic manner.

At the gate they bowed to each other and said goodnight. As soon as
Kenshin slid the gate closed behind her the big rurouni smile that he
had kept plastered to his face was wiped away. Eyes narrowing and taking
on a darker hue he took the letter out and opening it started to read it
again from the beginning.

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

_

Chapter 12b

_

The ghost hurried through the streets to Hana?s house. Still shaken by
her recent loss of self she was unable to move as quickly as she would
have liked to. Worry followed her. A baseless worry she was sure but
like all unreasoning dread she wouldn?t be able to shake it until she
saw that Hana, at least, was safe.

Tsuneo was dead, she was sure of that. In her anger at what he had done,
in her fear of what he actually was, and in her sadness at what had been
lost she?d found the ability to avenge Shioko?s death.

It hadn?t been pretty.

She knew she had lost herself another way the day she achieved revenge
for Shioko?s death. She kept thinking that one-day she would regret it.

But it hadn?t happened yet.

It was also the day she learned to focus enough to effect the world
around her. Still, she would have gladly given it up if Shioko could
still be here, happily charming everyone she met with a word and a smile.

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

This late at night the area where Hana ran her business was quiet and
empty. The dead girl hurried through the closed shops, glad that Hana
kept her home and business close to each other. Having picked up some
speed as she went she closed the last of the distance to Hana?s place so
fast that when she stopped she actually skidded the last few feet.

Hana?s house sat quiet and bathed in moonlight. The Sea Green Lady had a
good feel for the living as well as the dead and she could sense the
presence of three people in the house. So Hana probably had some of her
family over and there was nothing to worry about.

The ghost sighed, she realized that it wasn?t good enough. She hadn?t
been able to sense the killer until the moment he had been upon her. She
hadn?t even gotten a good look at the man. The only reason she still
worried that it was somehow Tsuneo was that it had felt like him. That
same emptiness that she had felt in Hana?s grandson had been present in
the man that had just tried to kill her.

An emptiness they could only seem to fill by hurting and killing things.

The Sea Green Lady couldn?t really get cold but she wrapped her arms
around herself anyway. Some chills are from more than just bad weather.

The ghost crept carefully up to Hana?s house. The old woman?s threat
from earlier was still fresh in her mind. The dead girl was quite
certain that Hana wouldn?t hesitate to get rid of her that way.

After all she had done it to her grandson.

Which, she reminded herself, was the other reason that the killer
couldn?t possibly be Tsuneo. Not only was he dead but he was definitely
gone. She started to feel herself relax; of course she was worrying over
nothing.

And then the door slid open.

If the Sea Green Lady had had a beating heart it would have been in her
throat. She stepped back, wondering how she would talk her way out of
this with Hana when a young girl, about five years old, peeked out
around the door.

The little girl blinked and fisted at her sleepy eyes a bit before
focusing on the woman before her. The lady just stared at her like she
was scared of her. The girl giggled, the laughter brought on by the
thought that maybe the woman thought she was a ghost.

Although she didn?t know why the little girl was laughing the Sea Green
Lady smiled back at the child in response to the laughter.

?Hello,? she said to the small person in front of her.

?Hello,? the little girl said. The word a bit muffled by a sudden attack
of shyness. Now that the woman was actually talking to her she felt a
tad nervous with the stranger. Oops.

?I?m not supposed to talk to strangers,? she said.

?Aa, then I should go,? the ghost told the girl.

?Oh. Where??

The Sea Green Lady held back part of the smile that threatened to
overtake her face. She was afraid that if she didn?t it would turn into
full-blown laughter. ?I have to go find someone I know.?

?Who??

Another smile. ?His name is Zenko; he?s a bit of a goof.?

?Giggle. Is he funny??

?Very.?

?Giggle.?

Realizing that Hana could show up at any time the lady started to back
away from the child. ?You should go back to bed before your grandmother
gets worried.?

?Ok.? The child turned to go. ?Lady??

?Hai??

?My name is Shioko, what?s yours?? She turned back to look at the woman.
The lady was looking at her in absolute terror. Scared, the little girl
quickly turned around again, suspecting that something icky was sneaking
up behind her and that was what was scaring the woman.

?Shioko? I?m so sorry.?

The girl turned back to see a very sad Sea Green Lady looking at her.

?Why?? She asked, confused.

The Lady started at the question, hesitating a moment before answering.
?I?m afraid I?ve forgotten what my name is,? she said.

The little girl giggled again. ?Will you tell me when you remember it
again??

The Lady smiled and nodded. ?Sure, now you really should go back inside.?

?Ok, oyasumi nasai, lady.?

?Oyasumi nasai, Shioko-chan.?

The ghost waited until the girl went back into the house and closed the
door before staggering away. Her legs trembled more now then they had
after she had been shattered.

She lurched her way over to another building and leaned against it for
several minutes.

It took those few minutes to calm herself down. Finally, she decided
that that was enough shivering and shaking. The girl was not the Shioko
she had known any more than the killer was Tsuneo.

She pulled herself together, smiling at the thought that at least this
time it wasn?t literally. It was time to find the annoying dead guy. She
had left Zenko to his own devices for too long. The ghost was a
fledgling but he had more than enough anger in him to tap the same
abilities she could. The man was trouble just waiting to happen. With a
sigh and a final look back at Hana?s house she went off in search of the
dead gangster.

_

End of Chapter 12

_

Note: The Sea Green Lady?s eyes are not meant to be like Kenshin?s. It?s
just that yellow seemed the colour that they would turn from brown.
Eventually, if she lost enough power (although there is more to that
than what she told Kenshin), her pupils would be transparent. If that
happened then her entire eyeball would appear white (and creepy).

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