What we do in the beginning

[katananokokoro]

Date: February 7th, 2060
Time: Early morning-mid afternoon
Place: Kenshin's safehouse, New Meiji Lower Districts
Characters: Kenshin, Megumi, Saitoh



The road went on. Snow crunched under his feet, chilling them. Icy fingers slid along his arms, trickled down the back of his neck. He couldn't stop walking. Weary. Bent. His sword leaving red trails on the snow, red petals in the air.

You did this

Aa

He tripped and nearly fell. The snow jabbed at his hand like needles. A mouthful clutched in his palm, pressed in his mouth to hide his breath, but it was hot. It was all hot and cold at the same time and he was looking...Searching... No... Following. Just ahead. There she was. The woman with the long black hair. He wanted to reach for her. Wanted to step away. His hands... they weren't meant to touch. They were only meant to kill. She turned slightly as if she had heard his step, paused and he could see a cell phone pressed to her ear.

"You can't stay out here," he told her. "It's dangerous."

"I have to. Hello? Hello?!" Her voice rose in desperation. "Is he hurt?" And then she pinned him with wide dark eyes. "I'm looking for Sa-chan."

No. No! The darkness snapped around them. Just the two of them. The snow.

"Sa-chan. I'm looking for Sa-chan!"

"No, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Sa-chan!"

Comments

[katananokokoro]

She was saying something. He couldn't understand it right now. His heart was slamming in his ears, his breath scratching at his throat. His legs trembled underneath him as he slowed to a walk. The drug had evaporated, and his body twitched with the need to eat, to drink, to rest. His shoulder was on fire and his head pulsed an agonizing rhythm.

"A...almost th...there," he said between breaths. The safe house seemed so far away, even though it was only a few steps. He pushed himself forward, sweat trailing itching and cold down his face...and soon they were there. The padlock unbroken. The window also unbroken, nor had the seal inside been jarred.

"C...can you stand?" he asked,and when Megumi nodded, he set her down and fumbled with trembling cold hands for his messenger bag. Flipping it open he searched with cold clumsy fingers for the key, bracing his shoulder against the wall so he wouldn't fall over.

He found the key after a short moment and it took him a few tries to fit it into the lock because his hands were trembling too much. Finally, though, he managed and pushed open the door. It was a small safe house. But his favorite. Well insulated from the wind on one side, it was dark and warm. A nest of blankets made up the middle and the boxes were stacked around like a tiny cave. There was even a rice cooker that he'd managed to get working.

He beckoned for Megumi to go first and waited until she had done so to make a brief glance of the area before slipping inside himself. Shutting the door. Bolting it, and then sliding down it to sit on the floor, Kitetsu digging into his back but he didn't care.

That...had been...entirely too long of a run.