Hi people

This chapter isn't beta read. It's a small one so I said 'oh well.'

I'm sorry it took me forever to get this one out. I've been working on my 'InuYasha' website. I've also been writing a Cowboy Bebop fan fic. (What can I say, I have a thing for Spike and Faye fics.)

Chapter 3 will take longer. It's huge and needs a beta reading. You guys probably won't see it for at least 2 week to a month! lol

Anyway- on to the fic

PS: I'm sorry about the problem with chapter 1. I had to go change text files into webpage format at geocities because I still don't have a word program

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Chapter 2: Loneliness

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Shinta leaned back against the wall as people crowded about Kaoru's parents lush estate. Kaoru's home was so unlike his tiny apartment, he actually felt cramped in the large area; mostly due to the guests. The claustrophobic confines of being surrounded by so many people made him feel more than uncomfortable, he felt completely isolated.

Everyone was talking to everybody else. How was he supposed to start a conversation? What would he talk about if he even did get the chance to? He put the thought aside and decided that a drink would be the best thing at the moment.

He picked up a cup of the red tart liquid that was suppose to be fruit punch and made his return to a place near a huge picture window.

Kaoru was lost among the roaring music and laughter of people. He hadn't seen her once since they arrived.

One of Kaoru's friends nudged her.

"Mmm... who's the handsome red head with the killer eyes?"

"Oh..." Kaoru paused. "His name is Shinta," Kaoru lifted her eyes. "Don't get any ideas Megan!"

Megan giggled and raised a brow, "Why? Is he taken?"

"Well...uh..no.." Kaoru shied away. Her cheeks turned the faintest shade of rose petal pink.

Shinta turned around and finally spotted Kaoru. He wanted to tell her he had enough, he was going home. He strode across the eggshell white tile floor and stopped directly in front of her.

"I'm going home," He bravely announced.

Kaoru sighed and placed her hands on her hips, "I thought a deal is a deal?"

"I came, but you didn't say how long I had to stay."

Megan began to giggle with delight. "It was just like Kaoru to scare off any man that happened to cross her path."

Shinta looked down at his watch. "I'll stay another hour as long as you don't leave my side."

Kaoru latched onto his arm, "I'd like to show you around." She looked back at Megan and childishly stuck her tongue out.

Shinta sweat dropped and pulled away a little. He wasn't use to the clingy affections of a woman. Kaoru was the first one who ever paid this much attention to him; he kind of liked it in his own little way.

She opened the fancy fusuma doors that led into the gardens.

The two walked outside and into the maze of flowering bushes. "So, where are your parents?" Shinta curiously asked.

"My mother died along time ago ...and... my father is currently in America settling a corporate merger."

"I'm sorry about your mother..." Shinta lulled.

"It's ok... I was very young and I barely remember her."

They walked along until they reached the swimming pool in the back yard. Kaoru sat down on a bench, pulling Shinta down and forcing him to sit beside her.

"It's a nice place," Shinta sighed.

The area was dim. What little light there was, refracted off the pool water. The deep blue aura cast upward, highlighting the entire garden. It was beautiful. Every few minutes, fireflies could be caught dancing over the water, lowering, rippling the clear blue and dancing back upward and zip toward the trees.

Shinta calmly sat back and relaxed; Kaoru was the only person who truly made him feel comfortable.

"How do you like the party?" She asked.

"Boring," He groaned. He proceeded to lean forward and place his chin into his palms and rest his elbows on his knees.

"I suppose you'd rather have your nose back into a book than be out here with me."

His head shot up, "That's not what I said."

Her eyes lowered, "But that's what you meant and want."

He frantically shook his head, "You're putting words in my mouth."

"Are you saying in your own little way," Her fingers began to skip up his chest, forcing him to lean further back, "You like me?"

He fell off the bench, "Define like?"

"You know?"

He swallowed, clearing his dry throat. "Um... I like you." He got back up to his feet. "I mean you're nice." He tried to explain his definition of 'Like'.

"Shinta!" She cooed. "It's not some big secret." She shrugged a little. "I'm usually never sure about anything. I am sure about you."

"Sure?" His eyes widened a bit and curiously stared at her.

She shyly blushed. "I like you...a lot."

He calmed down and collected his nerve. He had to be gentle. His head lowered. "If you want to be more than a friend.....I can't.... I mean...um..." He couldn't find the exact words. "It's not you."

"I see." She got up and angrily looked at him. "It is me, isn't it?"

"No!" Shinta replied.

"Are you gay?" Kaoru gasped.

"NO!" Shinta held up his hands. He was over come by her straight forward behavior.

She said not another single word. She already bit off more than she could chew. Kaoru headed back for the party.

"KAMI! I'm stupid!" Shinta cursed himself. "Kaoru! Wait!" But it was too late. She had gone back inside.

Shinta found his way out and made it to his car. He drove away without a single goodbye. He would have to do something to make it up to her. Maybe explain why he has never had a single girlfriend.

"Everyone always leaves." He told himself that ever since he was very little. If he ever wanted to survive, he'd have to be strong and smart. That was the meaning behind learning Samurai sword fighting. It takes both the brain and strength to be the best.

When he got back to his apartment, Shinta threw his keys to a table and immediately plopped down onto the couch. He laid back, his feet up onto the cushions with a slight bend in his legs. Curiously, he stared at the ceiling.

Quietly, he concentrated on what he wanted and what his future demanded. After all, he wanted to be a historian more than anything in the world. Slowly his eyes shut only to have the rest of his senses awaken with the sweet scent of white plum, the same tantalizing fragrance he smelled earlier.

Shinta opened one eye and looked at the coffee table. Tomoe's diary laid staring back at him. He sat up and placed his feet on the floor. He felt his heart thud against his chest cavity for a second and the sound of his pulse invaded his head. It told him to pick it up and read. His fingers skimmed over the frail binding, he was a bit anxious to read, maybe even afraid of what it would reveal.

"It's just a book, someone's words. It's just their thoughts. A written thought has never killed anyone."

He opened it and began to read the words inside. It appeared the woman was quite dignified. Her grammar for the time was well done and her script was perfect.

*"Dearest Akira.... We're finally to be married, my heart sings for the joyous day to arrive. We'll never be parted again."*

Shinta continued to read. The first year's worth of writing was rather pleasant. She was truly happy with this Akira person, and it seemed like true love.

Then it happened, he came to a page where the ink had been washed partially away. The pages were stained with water marks, most likely tears.

*"Akira, they have taken you from me. From what I was told, assassinated by the Battousai.......Why?"*

That was all that was on that page. It seemed like rather emotionless words, yet there were tears shed. He read further and the hours ticked away like seconds. His weary eyes tearing with each yawn, but he couldn't give up reading, not until he finished.

*"It rained blood and he was there. Blood rained from the sky and defiled the night air with its smell. He made it rain blood. I woke up at an Inn. I'm surrounded by his kind, but only he makes the sky cry red."*

Shinta found the words rather disturbing, but continued to read the story as if it had enchanted him. He couldn't help but to feel like it was a part of him, a part of his own history, but how could that be? He wasn't even thought of, or his parents, Kami rest their souls.

*"I was asked to be his sheathe. 'His Sheathe?' A murderer's sheathe. Kenshin's Sheathe or the Battousai's Sheathe? Are they the same?" *

Sweat trickled down Shinta's face and a few tears flowed closely down his cheeks. The emotions in the words were over-powering. Her emotions must have been embedded into the pages, he could feel the pain that had seared her heart into darkness.

Shinta continued on with the reading and reached the last page. Her words were less dark and more of forlorn.

*"It's been five months since we were married. I am Battousai's sheathe. I keep his life in balance. I am the one that keeps him from the darkness. I even told him that he could be happy as a farmer; all he needs is seeds and land. No more killing. Then why am I sad? Could it be because the first gift he gave to me was death?"*

Shinta quickly shut the book, he rested his forehead against the hard cover. He unlocked part of the mystery of the Battousai's past. This woman's husband killed her beloved and she married him. Why would she do such a thing as marry her true love's killer? Shinta's breath caught and his pupils dilated as a strange vision entered his mind. It was so fast he barely could make it out. A sword came down, slicing through two people. Shinta's eyes changed to amber.

"No!" He shouted.

The book fell to the floor as he lifted his hand and pressed his palm to his brow. Shinta hissed allowed, the pain scorching his mind was excruciating.

"Why now!" Tears ran down his face. He passed out cold.

To be continued…