Author's notes: This story was written as a response to TFME's fall fanfiction contest. It alternates between Kaoru's and Kamatari's point of view on the attack on the Aoiya. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: None of the characters mentioned in this story are mine. I have only borrowed them for entertainment purposes.

The Sword of Life and the Reaper's Scythe

Hennya had fallen. The little brat actually beat him. Well, these things happen. But not to me.

The girl turned to face me, ready to fight. She definitely had a true fighting spirit about her. Not one to take lightly.

"Well, you seem different from that little girl who lets every little thing ruffle her feathers ." I waited for the response. The little weasel girl puffed up, ready to charge.

"We're not different," the older one said calmly, stopping the younger one in her flight, "but when I take the ribbon out of my hair and put on this uniform, gender no longer matters to me. Maybe you and I aren't so different either."

It was a thought. "Maybe. I guess," though not one I was going to dwell on. "But not when it comes to skill. There's a big difference between Kamatari the Great Scythe and an ordinary swordsman."

The girl whispered something to the little weasel, probably an attack strategy. 'Whatever it is, I'm ready for them.' "Well come on, come on!"

"You don't have to tell me when to start!" The girl ran head on towards me, and I swung the scythe down at her. Then I sensed the weasel coming at me from the side. 'So that's their plan.' I knew I'd missed the swordsgirl as soon as she jumped, but I had the other one. With only a slight movement of my arm to the staff, I sent a whiplash down the chain. Perfect. A perfect strike.

The older girl saw it too and yelled, "Misao!" Ha. As though yelling could do any good. The little brat went sailing back the way she came and landed on the lower roof. She didn't rise. I knew I probably hadn't killed her, having only struck her abdomen, but she was out of the battle. I looked back at the older girl. 'One down, one to go.'

Kaoru

Yahiko did it. He really did it. And using one of Kenshin's attacks . I had no idea he was able to learn the Hiten Mistarygi Ryu by simply watching Kenshin's battles. Even after he passed out, I wasn't worried. Yahiko had earned my faith.

Misao was ready to go. It was our turn to fight. The scythe woma - er - guy started off by insulting Misao, who was unfortunately easy to rile.

"Don't listen to him, Misao. You're doing just what he wants," I tried to quiet her. "Misao and I aren't different," I said to our opponent, "But when I take the ribbon out of my hair and put on this uniform, I pay no attention to gender. Maybe you and I aren't so different either."

While the scythe man remarked on a difference in skill, I was studying his weapon. For whatever reason, I'd always found myself to be calculating and calm when on the fringe of battle. Whether it was something my father passed on to me through training or some odd quirk of my own, I used it to the best of my benefit.

The blade of the scythe was huge, and partially balanced by a weighted chain. It probably weighed 60 or 70 pounds. 'Use your opponent's weakness to your advantage.'

"Misao," I called under my breath, "Look at the scythe. It must weigh about seventy pounds. Although heavy weapons carry tremendous force, they aren't as swift or agile as smaller ones. If they miss, the attacker is left wide open. I'll be a decoy, and when he misses me, you target his vitals." Judging by the vengeful grin on Misao's face, I guessed she'd read a bit too much into that last part.

"Come on, come on!" The scythe man started to goad me.

"You needn't tell me when to start," and I ran towards him. The calm was gone, and I hardly thought. Everything I did was reflexes and muscle memory. My mind didn't think, but my body did. Although, I can't say a part of me wasn't scared as I ran towards my opponent. That scythe was incredibly strong and looked like something straight out of a nightmare. But I didn't let such thoughts distract me. We had to win. I had to see Kenshin again.

Don't dodge too soon, or he'll be able to redirect and strike. As the scythe came down I jumped out of the way. "Now, Misao!" I called. Misao ran in with her kunai.

'No, the chain!'

He was using the chain as a defense. I felt a cold wave rush all over me. 'Misao.' "Misao!" She landed on the roof, unconscious.

Kamatari

"Pretty good. You thought you'd take advantage of my heavy weapon's weakness. You were only half right, though. Although I call my weapon the Great Scythe, it's actually a Great Chain Scythe. By using both the chain and scythe in alternating waves, I use both attack and defense. And all of my attacks are interchangeable between the chain and scythe. Including this one -"

No playing around with this girl. She was as determined to win as I was. My ultimate attack has never failed. Whatever it touched was destroyed. As I began to swing the scythe above my head, the rising, welcomed feeling of true battle came to me. This was the part where real blood was shed.

The attack took a great amount of strength, and I reveled in every part of it. The Great Scythe, the weapon of mass destruction. Everything it touched was obliterated. The girl could do nothing but run, and it was only a matter of time before I trapped her and killed her. The scythe grazed the walls of the Aoiya, leaving them as dust. Every sensation traveled from the blade down through the staff and into my hands. It was an extension of myself. The chain sent back it's broader sensations, and with deft movements I told it where to go. Transferring the energy from one hand to the other, from the chain to the blade, with every turn.

The little weasel was up again, I could sense. "There's nothing you can do. That's useless!" I yelled above the cyclone of debris flying around the scythe. She threw her kunai anyway.

"I told you that was useless!" All her kunai were blocked save one, which would never reach me anyway. 'Yes,' the sword-girl was charging at me. She thought she had a chance to get through. I gave the scythe what extra force I could as the blade swung around, flying right towards her side. I anticipated the feeling of the light resistance as the blade seared through her left shoulder, downwards through her ribs and straight across her heart. Instead, I felt the break. Like a small explosion in the staff of the scythe. 'What the hell is happening?' The very next thing I knew, I held the broken staff of the scythe in my hand. The blade and chain lay at my feet.

"We knew we couldn't get through the scythe, so we had to target that," the girl explained, catching her breath. "But my sword wasn't sharp enough -"

"And my kunai weren't strong enough," the weasel added.

"So we used Misao's kunai as a wedge and my sword as a hammer."

"Now finish him off, Kaoru! Beat him up!"

The older girl just looked at me. "Please, sir, won't you take your men and go? You can't win now that your scythe is broken, so there's no point in fighting any further."

She was laughable. "Can't win with a broken weapon, huh? The same could be said about you." Her wood sword had been broken at the shaft.

"That's not true. The essence of the Kamiya Kasshin School is to control the pace of battle, not the death of one's enemy. So even though the blade of my sword may be broken, I can still fight using the hilt."

She really was an interesting little girl. "You don't appear to be bluffing ." But she wasn't the only one of us strong enough to win with a broken weapon.

"Looks like you're finally starting to take Kaoru seriously," the brat on the roof piped up. Yeah right.

"What are you talking about?" I said over my shoulder. "I've been taking the two of you seriously the whole time."

The weasel didn't believe me. She didn't get it. "I take every mission Lord Shishio sends me on seriously. I do all I can to fulfill my duties perfectly. You can't be a transvestite half-heartedly, doll. I can't be Lord Shishio's love because I don't have a woman's body, and I can't be his best warrior because I can't beat Soujiro the tenken. As a man or a woman, I can't be Lord Shishio's favorite - I'm always the odd one out. So I serve him to my utmost abilities. Fighting for Lord Shishio is all I have. I just can't loose!"

Kaoru

"Finish him now, Kaoru!"

I couldn't do what Misao said and still be true to the Kamiya Kassin School. My sword was used only to protect, not to bully the defenseless. So I asked my fallen opponent to leave with his men.

However, in breaking the scythe, I'd also broken my own weapon, as the scythe-man pointed out. But I was hardly defeated. I explained the reasoning behind the Kamiya Kassian School, and told him that I could still fight using the sword's hilt. He didn't laugh. He had yet to take Misao or I lightly.

Misao didn't realize that, though. As the scythe bearer explained himself, I understood why. Unlike Henya, who fought for his own sake, Kamatari fought for his leader.

I watched as he drove the end of the broken staff into the chain and began to spin it. 'Think, Kaoru, you have to keep going.' He lifted the flying chain and scythe off the ground and threw them towards me. I dove under it and struck his knee, feeling the bone give way under my sword. But my opponent was defeated.

"I'm sorry," I said regaining myself, "but I can't lose either. I made a promise to Kenshin to go back with him to Tokyo. Tell your men to leave. Those who are injured and unable to move on their own, including you, will be taken care of here."

Kamatari

She was naïve. Defeated by an ordinary girl with a wooden sword. No, it wasn't even her status that stung. If she'd been a master of the sword, it wouldn't have made a difference. I failed. I'd failed Lord Shishio. I could never bear to stand before him and tell him that. I'd rather die.

"You must be joking, kid. I can't go back to Lord Shishio in such disgrace." As I drew my legs in towards me, trying my best to ignore the shooting pain, I pulled out the stiletto from my obi. 'Lord Shishio is my life. If I've failed him, what life can I have?'

I blinked my eyes in pain before I could even register what happened. As the world faded before my eyes, I realized. "You little -"

Kaoru

"I cannot go back to Lord Shishio in such disgrace," the needle caught the sun's light and reflected it sharply. 'No, don't,' my mind screamed. Then I saw Misao. She'd jumped off the roof and hit the scythe man in the back of his neck. I ran forward to catch him.

"You little ." he hissed at her, and then he lost consciousness. If Misao hadn't gotten there .

"I really don't like the guy," she explained, "and I don't get this cross dressing thing, but I do understand the part about fighting for someone you love."

I looked down at my defeated opponent. Even if he had almost killed me, I couldn't help but feel sorry for having beaten him. Rather, I felt sorry that he'd lost. Like Misao, I understood very well what fighting for someone you love was like. Maybe. Anyway, that leap off the roof had to have hurt Misao's ribs even more. Our storm was over, and there was damage to repair.

Author's notes: This fanfic was written in response to TFME's fall challenge. I hope you enjoy this P.O.V story. Reviews, as always, are appreciated (even if it's only telling me where I went wrong).