Opium Dreams

A mysterious woman arrives in Tokyo . She has the face of an innocent, but behind her peaceful amber eyes lie dark secrets she alone knew...

I won\'t let them get to me. I won\'t let them get to me. I won\'t let them get to me. I won\'t let them get to me...

The words flowed through Takada\'s mind like a chant. He was making his way through the hallway, walking as though in a daze. His eyes were wide and unfocused and a grin twisted his face. He looked like a man who had lost his sanity. And he might very well have.

Some time after Hannya left, Takada Kanryu underwent a transformation. Gone was the cowering, imbecilic man who was scared nearly out of his wits of the men who were supposedly out to kill him. In its place was someone hysterical, driven by one goal.

And that goal was to kill.

\"I won\'t let them get to me,\" he kept on murmuring. His voice rose and fell in time with his steps. Some detached part of him wondered where his feet were leading him. And when they stopped right in front of the door to the armory, he found his answer.

I won\'t let them get to me...

Takani Megumi stared at the pale shining metal of the tanto that the Onimabashu leader left her. Shinomori Aoshi might have given her a way out of her misery but he was making it hard for her. To commit harakiri meant that she would have to make a choice. To live or to die. That was the question she was facing now.

She knew in her heart of hearts that suicide was the easy way out. It meant freedom from all that made her life unbearable. However this was the only way for her to regain the family honor which she threw away when she joined Takada\'s opium ring. Her shame would remain her own but at least, her blood would cleanse that which tainted her family\'s honorable name.

And so with quiet resolve, Megumi lifted pale, slender fingers to clutch the cold metal of the dagger. She held it close to her heart, her head bowed and eyes shut tightly. Anyone who saw her then would have thought that she was deep in prayer. The way her head was lowered and the intense look on her pale, beautiful face were like those of fanatic devotees. It was actually inspiring.

But Takani Megumi was neither praying nor fanatically devoting herself to some supreme being. No. In her mind were two dark, soulful eyes boring into her amber orbs, softly pleading even when cruel words spat out of his mouth.

In the darkness of the room, the soft sheen of the metal glinted as Megumi raised the blade above her, ready to plunge it down to her stomach.

Kenshin leapt back two steps, eyeing the masked ninja warily. The one called Hannya had a strange fighting style that baffled the red-haired swordsman. It was as though his limbs actually stretched out of their sockets to pierce through his guard. How does he do it? What trickery is this? Kenshin thought to himself.

From the corners of his eyes, he saw the empty stairs that led to the landing above. It was only minutes ago that he had persuaded Sanosuke to let him handle the fight with Hannya while he went to ensure Megumi\'s safety. The former fighter-for-hire had protested of course but after a while he finally gave in. It was another first for Sanosuke. He was usually so stubborn, bull-headed even. He was not the type to back down from a fight. But this time, he did. This led Kenshin to surmise that Sano really did care for the healer more than he let on.

But enough of these distractions, Kenshin admonished himself as he returned his attention to the fight at hand. The ninja was preparing to attack once more and Kenshin quickly adopted a stance.

Sano took the stairs two steps at a time. He was panting hard, his heart beating as though it would burst out of his ribcage. He did not even notice the still unhealed wound on his shoulder bleed anew from the exertion. Only one thing was on his mind.

\"Megumi!\" He shouted, flinging the door open to the first room in the hall.

It was empty.

Where is she? \"Megumi!\" He called once more. He ran outside, trying the next room. Still empty. \"Megumi!\"

Megumi\'s smooth brow quirked a bit when she heard a muffled voice that sounded vaguely familiar. Her arms were shaking. What she wanted was the sort of death calm that came over her early this morning, the calm that had spurred her to meet Hannya in the forest and follow him back here. She wanted that dead feeling desperately now and not this fluttering in her chest. She wanted to feel nothing. Isn\'t that what death was about?

With a cry, Megumi swung down, her arms forming a small arc. She expected closed her eyes, fully expecting the blade to cut her skin and pierce her heart. She was waiting for the brief pain that came right before the welcoming darkness.

What she encountered instead was hard, unyielding force. There was no pain.

Rapid sounds could be heard near her. Someone in the room was breathing heavily as though trying to catch his breath. Megumi was afraid to open her eyes. Afraid of what she would see. Afraid that it wasn\'t real.

\"Kitsune no baka!\" Sano\'s voice pierced the darkness, his tone rough with emotion.

** TO BE CONTINUED **