Rurouni Kenshin is the properties of Nobuhiro Watsuki-san not mine. This is just an experiment of my own imagination.

Summery: Everyone in the Kenshingumi has a secret to hide or some great sin that they have committed what if Kaoru Kamiya was no different. What if she two had something to hide.

Shinkan

A lone figure stalked the cobble-stoned streets of Tokyo. It was what people would call the bad part of town. The smell of sweat and urine permeated in the air mixing with the stench of liquor and what not. Drunkards lay stretched out in random parts of the streets as geishas wandered the streets selling their bodies for money. The occasional opium junky would pass the mysterious person but even in an intoxicated state they gave the shrouded figure wide berth. Why you might ask? Well perhaps it was the dangerous air that seemed to radiate off the person.

I am the shadow that precedes death

Better yet it could be the person's manner of dress. A black sleeveless haori lined with thin red strips and matching western style pants. On both arms were leather bracers and a black metal pole was strapped to their back. Clad in such attire this almost child sized assailant was quite imposing even without very much height. But it also could have been the beauty of this mysterious traveler, which was a rare thing for the poor fools that lurked here to see. Loose midnight tresses blew along with the wind in the chilly night air while snow white skin glowed ethereally in the light of the moon. But most striking was the wanderer's eyes.

I am the thing that whispers to you in the dark

Twin pools of sapphire nearly black in appearance stared ahead. Truly this was a woman of the likes none of which these swine had seen in quite some time. Ten years to be exact. But this beauty appeared to be more like a doll rather than like her dark mother who was like a tall pillar of ice. For truly that is what she is. A doll that smiled for all much like a little boy name Seta Soujiro. But the naïve façade was gone tonight. In its place was a woman full grown who had seen too much and done too many things that she would never completely forgive herself for.

I am a murderer of hundreds if not thousands

She made her way to a graveyard just up the road ever ignoring the gaping group of sober men who stood just across the street. The woman had someone to visit. In her arms she carried a large bouquet of flowers. Some of the flowers were white others red and yellow with occasional bloom of purple. So colorful were these flowers they seemed to glow a light all their own. A light the warrior wanted to pass on to her mother's soul that like her had been soiled in blood.

Hate me, destroy me

She wasn't Kaoru Kamiya when she came to this place where souls were laid to rest. That name was meant for the daughter of Katashi Kamiya master of the Kamiya kaashin ryu. No she was someone totally different from the daughter of a man that spent most of his adult life developing a way to change the art of swordsmanship. She was her mother's daughter when she came here. She was the Shinkan or Kaoru Nanashi daughter of Michikin. No one at the dojo knew this. Then again even the spies of the Aoiya knew nothing of her.

Or better yet forget me, ignore me

No one not even the Meiji government knew who or what she truly was. They only saw her as Kaoru Kamiya assistant master, tomboy, and friend. Not even Kenshin who in her secret heart of hearts she loved suspected anything. He wasn't the only one with a murderous past to hide. Now she stood before Michikin's grave. Kaoru stared at plain wooden post that marked her mother's resting place. And she wondered what she could have done differently to save both her parents.

My path to hell is well paved

She had only been eight years old at the time they came for them. The clan that fought in the shadows, even more deeply than the Battousai or even the wolf of Mibu. Michikin had been a member of the clan since birth but when she was sent on a mission in Izu far from the clan's reach she met and fell in love with Katashi Kamiya. Knowing she would be hunted Michikin altered her appearance and married Katashi soon after. They ran, not settling down in one place until they reached Tokyo. And even then they were careful. As soon as she was born Kaoru's mother planned to school her in her bloodlines art of killing kaze no kumori.

Redemption is beyond my ability to claim

By the age of five Kaoru was a full-fledged killing machine. Katashi knew nothing of what his wife had trained their daughter to do. That was until they were found just three more years later. Kaoru and Michikin were a whirlwind of motion and grace. Katashi watched in awe and horror as mother and daughter fought in tandem with the swiftness of a falcon and agility of a serpent. They spared no one, not even the ones who begged for their lives. So distraught at what he was seeing Katashi didn't even feel the knife that was pressed to his back until it was too late.

All I remember is the shame

"Hello momma, I know you said not to promise but you know me I just had to say it one last time". Kaoru set the flowers on Michikin's grave and traced the characters of her mother's marker with her fingertips.

(Flashback)

Katashi Kamiya laid his head in his wife's lap. Michikin stared at him with a broken expression but no tears were spilt. Kaoru stood next to her with a child like confusion set firmly into her features. Katashi stroked Michikin's hair lovingly trying to convey all his love through the one touch. Blood poured forth from his mouth and his back. He was dying he knew it and so did his wife. "Live for me". The plea in her husband voice broke what little wall of ice Michikin held around herself and a tear fell from her eye. But as the light in Katashi's eyes began to fade Michikin shook her head fiercely.

My name shall be carved into your grave

Without warning Michikin plunged a dagger into her stomach. She hunched over her now dead husband in pain. Kaoru who had once been confused now knew what was happening to her beloved parents. Her eight-year-old mind had finally processed what was happening. "Finish it" Michikin coughed up blood. Tears sprang to Kaoru's eyes, as she perceived what her mother was ordering her to do. But the little warrior didn't hesitate in following Michikin's command. "They will pay momma I promise," she said as she raised her sword above her head. By all intents and purposes it was too big for her, but Kaoru was able to wield the weapon just fine.

Then maybe you can take some of the blame

Michikin smiled weakly but didn't dare look up into her daughter's eyes. "Never promise my precious, my Shinkan". And with that Kaoru let her sword fall without even a whisper to signal its passage.

(End flashback)

"I made them pay momma, I made them pay with blood and tears" Kaoru said almost absently. "I don't know why papa insisted on that they would leave us alone". "They never cared about happiness and peace". "They didn't want to give me up and I didn't care if they tried". "Uncle Nobutaka was the last of them, I know you would have been proud of him he did survive longer than the others after all". Kaoru giggled almost childishly. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sano think I'm still in Hokkaido, I'm tired of lying them momma". Kaoru laid her head on the marker and breathed deeply. She could almost imagine her mother was still living holding her through the night like she used to.

For I have little to lose and everything to gain

"Do you think I should take them to Osaka to show them the truth? They deserve at least that much" But just like she expected Kaoru received no answer. Again she sighed in almost frustration. "I don't think they would understand momma".

I can only hope to see you again

Kaoru stood to her feet and brushed the dust from her pants. She turned away from the grave and began to walk away. But then she stopped when five men approached her. Each man held a knife and advanced on her with evil smirks. "All right there miss if ye come quietly than we' won't haveta urt ye" one of them said. The others sniggered. Kaoru merely plastered on her doll faced smile and rolled her eyes. "I would suggest you leave by the time I draw my weapon otherwise none of you will leave here alive" she drawled. Involuntarily each of the men took a fearful step back. And that was all the time Kaoru needed. Her staff was actually a sword that she drew from its sheath housed across her back.

They'll never hear me coming

Indeed those men died swiftly and painfully. Kaoru spared no one for they had seen her at her mother's grave and she didn't want anyone to know of her secret. Although the skirmish no sound could be heard. No screams not even the sound of extreme amounts of blood flooding the ground could be heard. Even as Kaoru calmly walked away from the bloody scene not a sound could be heard. Just like the namesake her mother had given her. She knew as soon as she went back to the dojo that she would have to be Kaoru Kamiya again but as sick and twisted as it was Kaoru enjoyed being the Shinkan if only for a little while again.

I am the silence before eternal sleep

THE END