Disclaimer : I do not and will never own Rurouni Kenshin. >:( Oh well.

A Twist of Fate - Chapter 1

It was a peaceful evening in Kyoto, during the Bakumatsu. Battousai was sitting in a restaurant trying to eat something. Che... everything tastes like blood nowadays. he thought to himself.

Just then, a young lady of about 14 walked into the restaurant. She wore a gi and hakama, not the traditional kimono. Men who were sitting there drinking sat and stared.

"Welcome. What would you like ?" the attendant asked.

"A bottle of sake please." she answered.

She drank a small portion of the sake and smiled to herself. Two of the men stood up and approached her. "Oi, woman. Drink with us." She looked up at them without any expression. "We're the ones who help the civilians do dangerous work ! Asking you to pay us back isn't unreasonable !" one of them shouted.

"Ahou." sounded a voice from the back of the restaurant.

"Who's that talking !" they prepared to draw their swords. The whole restaurant went silent.

"Heh. At least you're clever not to talk back." one of them said. "Yeah, you got back your life." the other one folowed.

"Of course. Luckily the one you met with was me, if not you wouldn't be living anymore !"

"Nani ?!" the angry man was halfway drawing his sword when it was stopped by a short man who tied his long orange hair in a high ponytail. "I'm warning you, after you get violent it'll get rougher. With fake royalists like you, the future Kyoto will not remember you. If you don't wanna get killed, you better go to the village where its safer."

"Yeah ! Yeah !" "Fake royalists should get outta Kyoto !" the people in the restaurant echoed.

The two men were driven out of the restaurant. "Che ! Dammit !" one of them cursed loudly.

"Sorry for the trouble." Battousai said as he walked out. "Thank you !" the shopkeeper said.
"That youngster sure showed them !" "What a man of morale !" the people in the restaurant started talking as soon as Battousai left. The young girl was still sitting there, partially in shock.

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When you drink sake that tastes like blood, it becomes harder as the days pass... In the past its never affected me... Battousai looked up into the night sky. Shishou...

The sakura blossoms of spring
The starry nights of summer
The full moon of autumn
The white snow of winter
These should make sake nicer to drink ! But why do I feel that its so hard to swallow down ? Is this one of the symtoms of a disease ? Am I sick somewhere ? To be sick huh... maybe I am sick ! Its already been one year since I fought with shishou... Why did he have to stop me ?

"All right... he's coming this way ! He's on his way to his own death !"

"Oi... do we really have to kill him ?"

"What crap are you talking about ? You've also been beaten down by him, do you think its such a small matter ?" it was the two men who wrecked havoc back at the restaurant earlier.

"But its not right to kill people !" one of them protested. "Baka ! Its the Bakumatsu ! Its alright to kill a person !"

"You're right." came a voice beind them. They slowly turned a around, only to find a ninja who wielded two swords connected by chains. "Those who stand in my way, will die !"

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"Tasukete !" one of the two men who managed to escape the ninja came running out of the valley into Battousai's path. "Tasuke..." All of a sudden, a sword was driven through the middle of the man's face. He dropped lifelessly onto the ground in front of Battousai, and the ninja walked out.

"Are you Hitokiri Battousai ?" the ninja asked coldly.

"Looking for me ?" Battousai replied.

"No matter how low you hide yourself, everything about you has been found out by me. And because it has been known, I have to wait here and kill you. Die !" He launched one of his swords at Battousai.

Its one of the Bakufu subordinates ! Battousai thought to himself as he slashed the sword away. The ninja stabbed one of his chained swords into the ground. And its not the ordinary warriors of rule, They're the same as me... The ninja wrapped the chains around Battousai's body and jumped onto a nearby roof. Never leaving a trace in history... they're the Shadow Warriors !

"Die, Battousai !" the ninja cried as he launched at Battousai. Battousai yanked one of the chained swords off the ground and into his hand, gave an almighty yell and stabbed the lunging ninja. Blood was splattered in all directions, and Battousai sensed a motion behind him.

I've been watched ! It was the lady from the restaurant... the title of Battousai cannot be discovered so early !

"I wanted to thank you for fending off those men back at the restaurant, so I followed you. When they say that the violence you can find these days is like raining blood... that scene just now it was really, raining blood !" Battousai turned around just in time to catch the lady as she fainted.

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Author's ramblings : Whew ! Hows that for a chapter 1 ? I had a little problem for some of the translations, so I had to make up some of the speeches. I have no idea where the idea for this came from... it just popped into my head on night... no wait actually in the middle of the night we had a blackout and I was lying in bad waiting for the fan to come on when I got it... whatever... I'll stop referring to Kenshin as Battousai by chapter 2, cos thats when Kaoru introduces herself, and also when things start to get interesting. Hehehehe.... expect lotsa KK stuff, but I think Kaoru will be quite OOC, cos when I imagined her, her tone of voice and all was kinda gruff, but its the Bakumatsu, so I didn't expect anything less. ^^x
Its Christmas eve today ! Happy holidays RK fans ! >;)