50th Oro
[ooc; I don't know which side was supposed to win the attack on the prison and I also don't know how long it was supposed to last... so... if this is totally wrong someone tell me and I'll fix it. I'm trying not to point at one side or the other. Kaoru-mun, I hope you don't mind, but I'm assuming that she answers the door of her apartment.]
The sun was just beginning to rise, the light illuminating the destruction around the prison. Portions of the battle were still going on, but for the most part both sides had thinned and Kenshin believed that those remaining could handle the threat without his aid.
He moved down the street through the carnage--bodies strewn everywhere, primarily of ghouls but occasionally a normal citizen. Although, he realized that most of the normal people who fell were turned to ghouls themselves, so it was difficult to tell how much damage the resistance had actually taken.
It was too familiar. As he walked he avoided stepping on the "dead" as well as he could. Even though he continued to remind himself that they were already dead--something beastly done to the once human-beings turning them into monsters--they had had a human shape. And despite their non-living status, they still bleed. The blood was cold, but it was still blood. And he was covered in it head to toe... just like it had been in the bakumatsu.
He still clenched the sakabatou in his hand. The blade now stained and chipped. How ironic that he'd carried the first sakabatou for ten years with never using the blade, and had had the new one for less than a year... He moved to wipe the blade as he walked with the hem of his haori--a clean cloth not a luxury at the moment. It was clean, but he could still see blood on it. Then again, even though he had not killed--before tonight--for ten years he could still see and smell blood on his hands and his clothes and in his hair. Why else did they think he enjoyed doing the laundry so? It was his attempt to try to wash it away.
His mind swirled, trying to find an answer. Had he done wrong tonight? Was this the first pebble to be chipped away from his goal of never returning to the path of a hitokiri? He hadn't returned to being battousai... at least he didn't think he had... No, his shishou had helped him so that that would not happen. He valued his life now for the people in it. He would not return to the monster that lived only to kill others with no regard for its own life. And right now...
"Kaoru-dono..."
He felt tired. Which was understandable, since the beginning of this horrendous curse he'd slept a total of maybe three hours. He was exhausted to the point that he could have easily collapsed on the street that instant, but he needed to reach her. She'd asked him to come to her--to come back to her. He'd worried that the City had driven her away from him with the last curse, but she'd still asked him to come. He hoped his appearance wouldn't frighten her. She had said herself that he should put the monsters to rest... but he still looked like that man from ten years ago at this instance, save for his tired, gentle expression.
He managed to trudge into the building and slowly made his way to her door. He lifted his hand, his knuckles rapping twice.
With a gentle creak the door opened, and relief swallowed him seeing her for the first time in days. His knees felt weak suddenly--her very presence relaxed him. He managed to get one sentence out before everything else went black.
"Kaoru-dono..." he smiled. "Tadaima... de gozaru..."
The sun was just beginning to rise, the light illuminating the destruction around the prison. Portions of the battle were still going on, but for the most part both sides had thinned and Kenshin believed that those remaining could handle the threat without his aid.
He moved down the street through the carnage--bodies strewn everywhere, primarily of ghouls but occasionally a normal citizen. Although, he realized that most of the normal people who fell were turned to ghouls themselves, so it was difficult to tell how much damage the resistance had actually taken.
It was too familiar. As he walked he avoided stepping on the "dead" as well as he could. Even though he continued to remind himself that they were already dead--something beastly done to the once human-beings turning them into monsters--they had had a human shape. And despite their non-living status, they still bleed. The blood was cold, but it was still blood. And he was covered in it head to toe... just like it had been in the bakumatsu.
He still clenched the sakabatou in his hand. The blade now stained and chipped. How ironic that he'd carried the first sakabatou for ten years with never using the blade, and had had the new one for less than a year... He moved to wipe the blade as he walked with the hem of his haori--a clean cloth not a luxury at the moment. It was clean, but he could still see blood on it. Then again, even though he had not killed--before tonight--for ten years he could still see and smell blood on his hands and his clothes and in his hair. Why else did they think he enjoyed doing the laundry so? It was his attempt to try to wash it away.
His mind swirled, trying to find an answer. Had he done wrong tonight? Was this the first pebble to be chipped away from his goal of never returning to the path of a hitokiri? He hadn't returned to being battousai... at least he didn't think he had... No, his shishou had helped him so that that would not happen. He valued his life now for the people in it. He would not return to the monster that lived only to kill others with no regard for its own life. And right now...
"Kaoru-dono..."
He felt tired. Which was understandable, since the beginning of this horrendous curse he'd slept a total of maybe three hours. He was exhausted to the point that he could have easily collapsed on the street that instant, but he needed to reach her. She'd asked him to come to her--to come back to her. He'd worried that the City had driven her away from him with the last curse, but she'd still asked him to come. He hoped his appearance wouldn't frighten her. She had said herself that he should put the monsters to rest... but he still looked like that man from ten years ago at this instance, save for his tired, gentle expression.
He managed to trudge into the building and slowly made his way to her door. He lifted his hand, his knuckles rapping twice.
With a gentle creak the door opened, and relief swallowed him seeing her for the first time in days. His knees felt weak suddenly--her very presence relaxed him. He managed to get one sentence out before everything else went black.
"Kaoru-dono..." he smiled. "Tadaima... de gozaru..."