That Sinking Feeling... Back on Deck of the Rengoku! [1/2 Opening Theme - it's growing on me!] [no ads because this isn't a damned Hecto sub] Water sloshed somewhere nearby, with the groan of metal under pressure adding a strange counterpoint. Takani Megumi was cold and wet, strands of her long black hair plastered to her face. She sat up slowly, not being able to see anything in the total dark that surrounded her. Living near the Kamiya Dojo, and having seen all her friends fighting for some reason or another, she couldn't help but pick up a few tips. The floor shifted slightly, almost as if it was uneasy as she was. She traced the lines between the metal plates and rivets under her, recoiling in disgust when her fingers brushed some unknown, sticky substance. She sat there long enough to lose all sense of time, and when a heavy, metal door clanged open, she jumped in surprise. A slight figure stepped in, carrying a flickering yellow lantern. A long, dark shape at his waist proved to be finely crafted katana, the confident way he strolled over to her suggesting he would be just as comfortable wielding it in battle. His short black hair was slightly tousled, but his blue gi and hakama were immaculate. The guttering lantern revealed a youthful, smiling face, innocent and welcoming. He was a total stranger to Takani Megumi. Shielding her dark adjusted eyes from the light, she tried to call out, but her suddenly dry throat choked her words. The young man stood over her, smiling as if she was an old friend he hadn't seen in years. "Aaa... you're awake now, Megumi-san! It's good to see you're all right." "Who... who are you...?" She croaked, licking her lips and swallowing in an attempt to moisten her throat. He only smiled again, the hint of a giggle dancing in his dark eyes. Megumi clutched the collar of her tunic closer to her. "Where am I?" "This is the battleship Rengoku. Shishio-san's been waiting an awful long time for you to wake up." "Ren... goku?" "Sou yo, ne... Can you stand up?" He did not offer his hand to help her. Megumi struggled to her feet, looking around her warily. Of course, she didn't remember boarding the ship, nor did she know the name Shishio... Or where her friends were. Surely she didn't come alone... The young man turned away from her, yet Megumi knew he was still smiling. What was so funny, she wanted to scream, glaring at his slender back. "If you kidnapped me so I'd make that opium again, I swear you've wasted your time... Kensan and the others will..." "Aaa... Gomen nasai, Megumi-san... But I don't think you're going to be rescued anytime soon... Shishio- san's made sure of that. He doesn't really want a repeat of the last time we were on the Rengoku..." Something clicked in Megumi's brain... Shishio Makoto... The man who tried to take over Japan, Himura Kenshin's successor as the Hitokiri Battousai... But he died!... His once burnt body spontaneously combusting during his first and final fight with Kenshin, or at least, that's what Kensan told her... "Sou... Soujirou? That's your name, isn't it?" He turned and beamed happily at her. "You guessed!" "But... Shishio's dead! That's how Kensan came back to us in Tokyo... What do you mean he's been waiting for me... And this ship... It was blown up... Sanosuke told me what happened in Kyoto..." Soujirou shrugged. "Little matters like that don't really bother Shishio-san that much. He's very strong, you know that? But, I don't think he'll mind me telling you that it's because of Sagara-san that he's brought you here." "Nani --" "The Rengoku was only one step in Shishio-san's plan for taking Japan, but while it was a fairly minor one, Shishio-san didn't like how it was destroyed so easily by Sagara-san's bombs. He decided that having bombs and guns would help in the Kuni-tori... Am I boring you?" The nonchalant question took Megumi off guard. She shook her head automatically, then blurted out, "Sanosuke and Kensan won't be too far behind me... They'll rescue me soon..." "Hmm... They won't be much of a problem... Or at least, Himura-san isn't. He's already here." "Kensan's -- What have you done to Kensan?!" Soujirou's eyes opened wide in joy. "Would you like to see?" [ad break - it actually is a Hecto sub!] [That Air Smash thing] [Playstation game - Rurouni Kenshin] [ad for Slayers Great] [end ad break] He led her out of the room, her slippered feet stumbling in the darkness. Down a metal corridor they went, Megumi looking around fearfully. With Sou-jirou's lantern being the only source of light, she walked close behind him, but inwardly, she recoiled from his seemingly innocent smile. This boy, raised to be the ultimate evil by Shi-Shi-O Makoto, who supposedly left him to seek his own answers to life, and now was leading her deeper into a dead ship... she didn't understand any of it. How she got here was of less concern to her than how he got there, or what had happened to the red haired samurai she called Kensan... "I thought you left Shi-Shi-O, Sou-jirou... " "Iie. Did Himura-san lie to you too?" "Nan deshite!? Kensan is not a liar!" She raised her hand to slap Sou-jirou across the face. "He lied to me. He said that by protecting the weak, he'd found a way of atoning for his own sins. He said that if I left Shi-Shi-O-san, and tried find my own answers to life, I'd find that peace is with protecting those who were weaker than me, and that I would come to care for them. But it was Shi-Shi-O-san was right..." Sou-jirou closed his eyes in delight, his smile sweet. "The strong live, and the weak die. That's the only answer in life." Megumi stared at him, lowering her suddenly nerveless hand. "If it wasn't for Kensan, I would have died..." "Well, that just means that you're weak, doesn't it?" She stared at him in amazement. Sou-jirou continued. "Himura-san is very strong. That's how he's managed to live this long. But the people he cares for are weak... He has to keep protecting them. The weak only live because of the strong. Shi-Shi-O-san taught me how to be strong so I could live for myself, not only on the pity of weak people. That's why you're still alive, because a strong man like Shi-Shi-O-san needs you alive. It's rather funny, you know," he turned to look at her. "That if you look at it in a particular way, Shi-Shi-O-san's saving your life." "What... What does Shi-Shi-O want with me?" "He wants Sagara-san to tell him where he got the bombs that blew up the Rengoku." "Sanosuke will never tell him that!" Sou-jirou shrugged, and continued walking down the corridor. Megumi had to run a couple of steps to catch up to him. "Matte... Matte yo!" He stopped at a metal hatch, running his fingers along one side. Megumi noted, with a start, that the hatch had no hinges... Sou-jirou hung the lantern on a nearby hook, and reached into the sleeve of his gi, bringing out a candle stump. He lit it from the lantern, and opened a small peephole in the hatch. As he threw the candle in carelessly, Megumi managed to see a slumped figure in the room behind the hatch before the flame went out... catching a glimpse of matted red hair, pale skin, a scarred cheek... "KENSAN!!" She screamed, flinging herself at the door. Again, the rurouni was covered in darkness. Megumi turned on Sou-jirou angrily. "What have you done to him? I swear, if he's been harmed in any way --" Sou-jirou blinked innocently. "Himura-san is a very strong man. That's why we had to give him something to keep him weak. Shi-Shi-O-san was explaining it to me, except I had something else to do, so I didn't really get what was going on." "Kensan... " Megumi strained at the peephole, trying to see if Kenshin was conscious. "Let him go! You only need me, you said, so let him go!" "Gomen nasai... But I can't." Sou-jirou spread his hands and shrugged. "It's not really my place to decide. But you know, even if I was, I still wouldn't..." "Me... gumi-dono...." The sound of a body hitting the cold, metal floor, and dragging itself slowly, painfully along came from the room. Kenshin's voice was weak and soft. "Kensan!" Megumi threw herself at the hatch. Sou-jirou suddenly slammed the peephole shut. He closed his eyes and took the lantern from the hook, taking a step down the corridor. Megumi lowered her hand, reaching into her pocket surreptitiously. They only needed me to lure Sanosuke here... they won't need Kensan if I'm gone, she thought. Forgive me... Kensan... Sano... "Sou-jirou?" "Hai?" He turned back to her. "I... I have a headache... But it's all right, I have something here for it. You wouldn't happen to have any water with you, would you?" The look Sou-jirou gave her was the closest the Tenken would ever come to exasperation and disbelief. Megumi flushed when she realised what she had just asked. "Never mind." She muttered, and brought out a small white packet from her pocket. A tiny character was inked on the paper, which she covered with her thumb. Tearing a hole in the packet, she shook out a small pill and put it in her mouth. Closing her eyes, and swallowing, she bid farewell to everything, to her life as a respected doctor, to her friends at the Kamiya Dojo, to the samurai behind the hingeless metal hatch and to a foul mouthed and hotheaded young ruffian she finally realised she... The ship was suddenly rocked by a loud explosion, knocking her to the ground and the lantern from Sou- jirou's hand. Not having any water to wash the poison pill down, she coughed involuntarily and spit it out. "Aaa..." Sou-jirou put a hand to his forehead. "I forgot to mention... Shi-Shi-O-san didn't want to wait too long for the bombs, so he's trying to make them himself... I think I'd better go see if everything's all right..." He ran off, leaving the lantern and Megumi sprawled on the floor. Megumi stayed there for a minute, not knowing what was going on, when she suddenly remembered Kenshin. Picking up the lantern, she got up and opened the peephole in the hatch, holding the lantern up to it. "Kensan? Kensan! Daijoubo desu ka? Kensan!" "Megumi-dono..." The voice was louder, but only because Kenshin managed to drag himself to the door. Red highlights shone, and when Kenshin's face moved into the light, Megumi gasped to see how worn and thin he was, blood running from one side of his mouth. His violet eyes were bloodshot and dull. "Daijoubo... de gozaru..." Kenshin slipped, and fell to the floor again. Gritting his teeth, he dragged himself back to his feet and clung to the hatch. "Kensan! I'll get you out of there! Just hang on Kensan!" Megumi looked at the hatch frantically, scrabbling at its edges. "There's no hinges, Kensan! I can't open it!" Her voice roughened with desperation, she began throwing herself at the hatch. "Iiya... yamero onegai, Megumi-dono..." Kenshin took a ragged breath. "You can't get in through that door..." "Demo, Kensan! If you stay in there, you'll die..." "There is a hole... on the main deck... they lowered me down here from there... And I can't climb back out, I..." Kenshin fell again, his legs too weak to support him. I don't know what drug they've given him, Megumi thought, and I don't have my kit with me... "Just hang on, Kensan..." She turned away, only thinking that she had to get up onto the main deck somehow, when Sou-jirou appeared before her, smiling cheerfully. "You!" "Hai, hai..." Sou-jirou's face was smudged with black powder and his hair a little more bedraggled. "Your room's ready, Megumi-san." "My... room?" Sou-jirou wiped at his cheek with his sleeve, but only succeeded in smudging it more. "Aaaa... how messy." He sneezed. Taking the lantern from Megumi, he shut the peephole again, and started walking back down the way they came. Casting a last, worried glance at the hingeless hatch, Megumi followed Sou-jirou, not knowing if she'd be back. Not knowing if Kenshin would survive. Not knowing if Sanosuke would fall for Shi-Shi-O's trap. [Heart of Sword Ending Theme - with the cool ending sequence, not the second one.] Jikai, Rurouni Kenshin. Is Shishio actually still alive? Why does Soujirou act like he is? Can the Rengoku stay afloat for much longer? Can Sanosuke manage to save both Megumi and Kenshin? What made Soujirou believe Kenshin was lying to him? Will Megumi attempt to commit suicide again? Is RHK_oro getting too used to Hecto fansubs? Will RHK_oro stop ripping off his RPG sessions for fanfics? Will RHK_oro start ripping off his RPG sessions for fanfics because that's a really good idea? Do Megumi-nee-dono and Misao-dono like RHK_oro's writing? Even though it's ripped off from his RPG sessions? Can someone please forward this to Kaoru-dono and Sano? Should RHK_oro write a yaoi fanfic for Aoshi-kun? Will RHK_oro ever sort out his relationship problems? Should RHK_oro turn yaoi IRL? Should RHK_oro attempt a doujinshi version of his fanfic? Will RHK_oro learn to write Nihongo properly? Has RHK_oro asked enough questions? Is that the Bokken of Doom (tm) heading for RHK_oro's head? Or is it THE Stale French Bread Stick? Is someone really going to hit RHK_oro with -- ~ THUNK ~ "Orooooo..."