Kenshin could feel his still heart break to see the callous way such a sweet and well-meaning girl's family could regard her. Shishou had been hard on him growing up, but in his own, albeit inhuman, way he had cared for him when he had been a boy. Sadness lingered in his eyes, not for himself or his memories but for her. It was a palpable sadness that he was sure she could feel.
It made what he was to show her next all the more difficult.
The young boy, kneeling across from the leader that would be his guiding star in years to come faded away, the scene shifting to a quiet and night with a dark and starless sky. The estate pictured was fanciful and elaborately decorated, denoting someone of class and status. A patrol of guard, two humans and one werewolf, walked the grounds in a pattern that seemed familiar to all of them. They talked, laughing as close friends might, not knowing the danger that lurked all around them.
"You're truly going to let free her so that you might marry? Ah, that I had been born a woman to win your heart in such a way, Master," came the teasing of a clearly well-cared for human slave. The leader of the guard detail, the were, laughed in response.
"Forgive me my impulse, but she is far prettier than I imagine you to ever be in another life," he went on, all smiles. "We need such happy moments, don't we?"
As soon as the words were uttered, the were paused in his tracks, catching a scent on the wind and sensing that something was wrong before his mortal could. A figure darted across the path, startling the trio.
"Show yourself!" the werewolf demanded, setting off into a sprint after the mysterious figure while his companions took time to draw their blades, far too much time as it turned out. A flash of steel and both mortals were dead within a second, another figure descending from a vantage point on the walls with speed and decisiveness above and beyond that of most humans his age. The were whirled about, facing a slight, red-haired young man, an assassin who had little time to make a final strike against his true target's head, opting instead to press his advantage where he had it by successfully slicing off the werewolf's right arm, much to the supernatural's surprise. Clearly not a warrior by nature in spite of his kind's reputation, the wold stumbled back, eyes wide as blood flowed and coated the otherwise peaceful environment. A human.
Kenshin stared down at his prey, his expression cold and impassive, readying his blade to strike the final blow, a given victory thanks to the shock his opponent suffered. The last thing the young assassin expected was for the wolf to lunge forward, claws on his left hand sharpened to swipe at his face. The boy dodged, his reflexes not quite quick enough to avoid a single claw as it raked down his left cheek.
"I won't die! Not here. There's someone... I love..." he sputtered, the impassioned speech meaning little to Kenshin as he moved forward, separating the wolf's head from his shoulders in a single, clean strike. A hint of disdain lingered in his cold eyes for a moment as he dragged a finger down the length of the wound on his cheek, as though he disbelieved its existence.
What followed was a series visions depicting the numerous assassinations performed against supernaturals and their supporters at the hands of a young boy, no longer innocent as he embraced the truth of what it meant to chase his ideals. The visions were bloody, each one showing the light of passion and sincerity dying in his eyes.
And then one night, in the wake of a bloody battle against a fae, the cold iron of his blade coated in blood, Kenshin turned at the sound of footsteps approaching the scene of this assassination. Eyes widened to recognize a human woman, her white dress stained with the blood that had flown in his previous battle. Witnesses. He was not to leave witnesses.
"You have made it rain blood..." she mused, her voice soft and weary. She'd been drinking, obvious as she tripped taking a step toward him. Young eyes wide, Kenshin looked in that moment to be a boy again, the teenager he'd lost during his years in the war, and he stepped forward to catch her as she fell into his arms, unconscious.
Tomoe. His first love to answer Sayuri's. His wife.