AUTHOR: Winter
SPOILERS: Not really, it's AU, but will include a bit of Kenshin's canon past, as seen in the OAVs.
RATING: R
SUMMARY: Kaoru is a swordswoman on a journey with her childhood friend. But she has a dark mission of her own, one that pits her against the ideals of katsujin-ken. When she runs into a band of assassins led by the deadly Battousai, both are forced to re-evaluate what it means to live -- and to love. AU.
DISCLAIMER: "Rurouni Kenshin" is owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki, etc. I make no claims.
FEEDBACK: Would be very much appreciated.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've adored "Rurouni Kenshin" since I first saw the series almost 10 years go, but this is my first attempt at actually writing a fanfic for this series. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
This idea has been floating around in my head for a couple of months now. I tried to put it aside so I could concentrate on my other outstanding fic, but it's gotten to the point where ideas for this fic have kept me distracted from more important tasks. So, I figure it's just best to put pen to paper (so to speak) and get it out of my system. :)
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One
"There may come a day, my Kaoru, when you will be forced to take a life. I can only hope that should that day come, you will understand what it truly means, and can act in accordance with the principles of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."
The words floated in and out of her mind, repeatedly. In fact, there was not a single day that went by when some fragmented memory of her father, or of his advice, did not wind its way into her consciousness. It had been two years since he was brutally slain, but the grief and rage over his death had not subsided.
Kaoru Kamiya had simply gotten adept at hiding it.
Her father had been her sanctuary, her strength. Life had always been difficult for the two of them, but Kaoru would not lie to herself -- it was because of the choices her father had made in raising her. She couldn't fault him for that, though, and was proud that he had shaped her into who she was: a powerful fighter, fiercely independent, and sharply intelligent. However, after his death, things had become infinitely harder. It seemed that while Koshijirou Kamiya yet lived, people had retained a measure of awe and respect for him. But after his passing, that feeling was not transferred to his sole child and heir. Coupled with the despair at losing her anchor in life, Kaoru had descended into a pit of depression and rage. Needless to say, that only further alienated her from the other villagers, who simply could not understand why a young woman would devote herself to the sword, completely forgoing her duties.
Her father had been the current Master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, a style that adhered to the principles of katsujin-ken -- that the sword should be used to protect. While he lived, he had trained several of the other young men in the village, but there had never been a Master of the style that was not a Kamiya. And so, Koshijirou had resolved to teach his only child, Kaoru, to carry on the lineage of their family.
People had felt it was wrong, naturally. They whispered that if Koshijirou was adamant that the style be carried on by a Kamiya, then he should have wed again, and fathered a son. But Kaoru's father was a passionate man, in all areas of his life, and he had loved his deceased wife with that fierce passion. Kaede Kamiya had been the center of his existence, and upon her death in childbed, he had vowed he would never take another woman to wife. Again, it was whispered that Koshijirou simply felt no other woman could measure up to his Kaede, and towards this, the other villagers were sympathetic.
Kaoru's mother was legendary for her grace and beauty, her wit and charm, her skill and poise. As a child, before it became common knowledge that Kaoru was training in swordsmanship, people had commented in awe on how Kaoru had inherited her mother's beauty. But that, too, had been tarnished the day her father was killed, and was all the more reason that people turned their backs on her. With her beauty intact, she may have yet been offered good marriage prospects, especially with her lineage. But the scars, and her non-conformance, and her infamous lack of ability in the kitchen, had relegated her an outsider.
And so, Kaoru had spent the last two years of her life rebuilding her spirit, redoubling her efforts at mastering the art her father had entrusted her with, and working hard to ignore those who continued to whisper behind her back. She had only one friend through the entire ordeal. Kaoru admitted, many times over, that she may not have survived the death of her father had it not been for the support Tomoe lent her.
Tomoe Yukishiro was two years her elder, and her complete opposite. Where Kaoru was fiery, combative, and completely hopeless when it came to domestic tasks, Tomoe was the picture of calm, grace, and beauty. The other women of the village would point out Tomoe to their own daughters as the epitome of the feminine, and all the young men were smitten by her. Everyone loved Tomoe, and fully expected her to settle down soon.
Kaoru snorted, sure that by this time everyone back home was shaking their heads ruefully, wondering what went wrong, speculating that she had somehow corrupted the pure innocence that was Tomoe. While it was common knowledge that Tomoe dabbled in herb-lore and healing, and she was loved all the more because of it, Kaoru was the only one outside of her own family who knew how deep that passion went. Behind her mask of demure propriety, Tomoe had a burning desire to become a healer, to study with the experts, and to save lives.
The young swordswoman imagined that it was the very day that had so destroyed her that had infused this same drive in her best friend. The dead from that day had numbered over a dozen, the dying more than that. And even more of those who lived still bore the scars. Tomoe, with her gentle spirit, had resolved all the more that she would someday be in a position to prevent such tragic loss of life.
Which had, inevitably, led the pair to where they were now -- in the mountains, on a treacherous path to the city of Mizuni, which was on the western shore of the country and a good three hundred miles from their own village of Nari.
"Rise and shine, Tomoe!" Kaoru called cheerfully to her companion, who was still nestled into the rough-skin roll they used to pack their belongings. Her only response was a muffled groan as the figure buried herself deeper into the covers.
Sighing, Kaoru couldn't help but grin at the familiarity of the action. Tomoe did not like waking up before dawn. Rising smoothly to her feet, Kaoru marched over and none-too-gently nudged the sleeping roll until Tomoe was forced to peek out from under the cover. "Not this early again?" she murmured sleepily.
"Yes, this early again. We have a lot of ground to cover, and only a limited number of daylight hours to cover it in."
"You're like a machine, Kaoru," Tomoe grumbled as she finally rose, immediately turning her attentions to folding up her belongings.
"It comes from all those years of Father working me from dawn to dusk," Kaoru grinned, used to the rigorous training schedule the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu demanded. "Besides, if you slept any longer, I'd have been forced to make our breakfast -- and you'd have been forced to eat it."
Tomoe gave her a sharp look before replying, "Good point. It was better that you woke me up."
Kaoru made a face, but there was no ill-will behind it. She was the first person to admit her cooking was horrible, and that she loved the food that Tomoe made, even out in the mountains from scraps. The two quickly fell into their new morning routine, having already been on the road for the past two days. While Tomoe made breakfast, Kaoru re-packed their belongings and cleaned up their campsite. Once finished, the two sat in companionable silence enjoying the meal, and the sunrise.
After a while, Tomoe asked, "How long do you think it will be before we reach Mizuni?"
Kaoru chewed her food thoughtfully, trying to gauge how far they had traveled. "I'd say another week, maybe more, especially if this weather doesn't hold. The mountain paths are more difficult than I expected, and we're not making quite as much progress through them."
"Hmm," Tomoe mused in thought. After a moment she gave a rueful smile, "And to think, I almost attempted this on my own."
"So you're admitting now that it would have been suicide?" Kaoru challenged her friend with a glint in her eye. It was quite difficult to forget the heated argument they had the night Tomoe decided, once and for all, that she would leave her home behind and pursue schooling in the city of Mizuni, where a reputed female doctor was said to take in and train other young women. Despite Kaoru's attempts to convince her otherwise, Tomoe had insisted that her mind was made up. Seeing the truth behind that, Kaoru resolved to go with her, but Tomoe had adamantly refused to involve her friend. She knew as well as Kaoru did what the people in their village would think, and say. But Kaoru had stopped caring long ago, and she forced herself to acknowledge that she was leaving nothing behind if she left Nari.
In fact, heading to Mizuni with Tomoe would put her that much closer to the dark, dark dream she had been nurturing since her father's death.
After a battle of wills, Kaoru had, naturally, come out the victor. Tomoe saw reason, and the two made plans to gather some maps, tools, necessities, and rations, and head out into the mountains two mornings later.
"Yes," Tomoe smiled brightly, no hint of sarcasm in her face or tone, "I don't know what I would have done without you."
Kaoru eyed her friend, then smiled in return. "Good, now that that's finally settled, we should be on our way."
.
Kaoru inhaled sharply, trying to draw more breath into her oxygen-deprived lungs. Despite the fact that they were traveling through relatively low-altitude passes, the constant uphill and downhill transitions were taxing. Tomoe was doing her best to keep up with her, but Kaoru knew she was not as used to the physical rigors, and so Kaoru constantly slowed their pace. Finally, Tomoe called out in exhaustion, "Let's stop here, just for a moment."
All too happy to agree, Kaoru nodded, dropping her pack and sinking to the ground, Tomoe following suit. Looking ahead of her, Kaoru noted that the pass soon widened out into a valley. If they could get there, and perhaps cross the majority of it before nightfall, it would provide a good campground. Glancing up at the sky, she noted that the sun was already past mid-day. They had at most another six hours of daylight before they would be forced to stop for the night.
Opening her pack, Tomoe pulled out a handful of dried fruits, passing some of them to Kaoru. Kaoru accepted them gratefully, deciding to take the time to examine her maps. She double-checked the route they had planned out before, the same route that most travelers were said to take through the mountains. After a few minutes cross-referencing the map with their surroundings, Kaoru determined that they had indeed been taking the correct paths. The last thing Kaoru wanted was for them to get steered off-course by inadvertently taking a wrong direction somewhere.
"Is everything alright?" Tomoe asked.
"Umm..." Kaoru frowned, unable to pass up the opportunity to tease her friend a little. "I think we may have gotten turned around somewhere back in the last pass..."
"What?!" Tomoe exclaimed, reaching for the map.
Kaoru swiftly yanked it out of her reach, shaking her head remorsefully. "I'm really sorry, but we're going to have to backtrack, and figure out where we went off-course."
"You can't be serious!"
"Oh, don't worry... I'm not."
It took a moment for the words to sink in, before Tomoe narrowed her eyes. "You're evil."
"I know," Kaoru smiled, rolling up the map and tucking it away. "But you feel better now, right?"
"I--" Tomoe stopped for a moment to consider, then laughed. "I guess I do. Panic sure does give you a lot of adrenaline."
"You have no idea." Kaoru stood, stretching her arms and legs carefully to loosen up the muscles. "Ready to head out again?"
"I suppose," Tomoe sighed heavily.
The two trudged ahead, keeping up a light conversation to help pass the time. They had only covered a couple of miles before Kaoru noticed an odd sight a few hundred feet ahead. At the base of one of the taller cliffs was a tumble of rocks, some of which were still settling. Tomoe noticed it too, drawing in a sharp gasp. "Is that a rockslide?" she asked, looking around them for signs of the same thing happening again.
"It looks like it," Kaoru mused, staring intently ahead. "I hadn't really considered it when we first headed out. We have to pass by there, anyhow. We should check it out -- but be careful."
Tomoe nodded, and the two moved ahead more cautiously. Having covered half the distance, they noticed movement among the rocks, and Kaoru exclaimed, "I think there are people trapped in that!"
Tomoe had seen too, and now she suddenly raced ahead.
"Tomoe, wait!" Kaoru called out, and upon realizing she would not slow down, took off after her. She shook her head ruefully, wondering how people had always considered her the impetuous one.
The two raced to the tumble of rocks, calling out to the two men that were attempting to pull a third from under the rubble. They managed to get him free just as Kaoru and Tomoe arrived, taking a moment to catch their breaths.
"Are you alright?" Tomoe asked the tall, lanky man standing closest to them. His brown hair was in disarray, the red bandana across his forehead soaking up the blood from a large gash across his temple.
The man seemed very surprised to see the two of them and took a few moments to answer. Kaoru took that time to inspect the other two, who seemed to be in much worse shape. The one man with jet black hair piled atop his head had collapsed, clutching his arm tightly to his chest. The third man that was pulled from under the rocks was, to Kaoru's surprise, misshapen -- and not because of the rockslide. He had pallid skin and obviously suffered from stunted growth.
"We got caught by the rockslide," the man with the bandana stated, seemingly still in a state of mild shock.
Kaoru mentally huffed -- they knew that much already. But taking a curt tone with the men was probably not the best choice of action, considering what they had been through. "Are you okay? Can you and your companions walk? It would be much safer to get out of this area, down into the valley below. There's no telling if the rocks up there will shift again."
As Kaoru spoke, Tomoe kneeled beside the two injured men. The small one looked considerably worse than the other, the rocks having visibly smashed several of his bones. Already, the young healer was frantically trying to stem the blood flow by tightly bandaging their gashes with whatever material was available to her.
"I think I'm okay," the man replied, casting a worried glance at the other two, "Kiyo, Beshimi..." he called to his companions, kneeling next to Tomoe beside them. He grimaced, taking in their state. Kaoru, too, dropped to her knees on Tomoe's other side. "What can I do?" she whispered softly.
"Do you have anything we can use as a splint?" she asked, her attention divided between the two men.
Kaoru thought for a moment, then nodded, reaching into her pack.
"Zanza..." the small man to Tomoe's right called out. The man with the bandana responded, shifting his attention.
"What is it, Beshimi?"
"Give my regards..."
"Hey!" the man called Zanza silenced him sharply, "don't talk like that!"
Kaoru pulled out a set of small wooden practice knives, buried deeply in her pack. She handed them to Tomoe, who simply nodded, indicating that they would do. Using her own small blade, she quickly sliced off the bottom of the pants Kaoru had forced her to wear for the journey, to provide more bandage. As she worked, Kaoru could only watch, feeling utterly helpless.
Beshimi continued, shaking his head weakly despite Tomoe's efforts. "Better you... look to Kiyo..."
"Beshimi!" Zanza warned again, the panic obvious on his face.
The man, Kiyo, who had been silent up to this point, struggled to sit up. "Zanza's right, Beshimi," he wheezed, "save your energy."
But Beshimi could only shake his head, as Tomoe sat back and considered them both for a moment. She nodded gravely, deciding she had perhaps done all she could for the man called Beshimi, before turning her attention back to Kiyo.
Kaoru continued to watch for a moment before finally tearing her eyes away to survey their surroundings. "Did you see what happened?" she asked Zanza quietly.
He shook his head, "It was all so sudden. We were journeying back to our campground, to meet up with the rest of our group, when we heard this rumbling. We realized what it was immediately, but before we had time to react, the boulders were crashing down on us. Beshimi was struck first."
Kaoru looked up at the cliffs above them, assessing the likelihood that another round of rocks would come down. But she realized she really had no way of telling.
"Kaoru?" Tomoe called her attention, "get out my water jug."
Kaoru did so, handing it over, feeling a little sheepish for not having though of that earlier. Tomoe offered it to Kiyo, who took several sips, before handing it back. Beshimi was in much worse condition, so Tomoe could only drizzle a bit into his mouth. She turned back, handing the rest to Zanza, then tending to his injuries.
"Thanks," he took a long swallow, gave the two an assessing look, but didn't say anything.
Finally Tomoe stood. "I've done what I can for the moment. We should move them away from here. Can you stand?" she addressed Kiyo. The man looked uncertain, so Tomoe knelt once again to help support him to his feet. Zanza easily picked up Beshimi, and Kaoru grabbed their packs as the group headed out of the pass.
"Which way are you guys headed?" Zanza finally asked.
"West," Kaoru supplied, "to Mizuni."
"Where's the rest of your party?"
"It's only us."
Zanza was silent a moment before remarking, "Seems a bit dangerous, two young women traveling by themselves." He eyed the twin swords hanging at Kaoru's waist, and she could see his eyebrow lift in question at the fact that she carried both a bokken and a katana. "Decoration, or do you know how to use those?"
"She knows how to use those," Tomoe interjected.
"We're perfectly fine," Kaoru added at the same time.
"All the same, you two are welcome to head back with us to camp; we're headed West as well, for the time being. And we could use your help with Kiyo and Beshimi a while longer; there are no healers in our group." At this, he looked at Tomoe.
"Your group?" Kaoru inquired.
"Yes, we're sort of like workers for hire. We travel a lot, take odd jobs where we can find them. We're a bit of a rag-tag group," he smiled at them, and Kaoru noticed that under the dirt and grime and blood, he was quite handsome.
She noticed that Tomoe was looking at her, giving her that look that she knew meant Tomoe was about to do something she wouldn't approve of. Kaoru tried to shake her head at her friend without being too obvious, but Tomoe had turned to face Zanza, "Of course we'll accompany you back."
Kaoru sighed.
"How far is your camp?"
Zanza shrugged, "Not far. We were headed back from our last job anyway, they should be around here somewhere."
Kiyo gave a light laugh, "Zanza is notorious for his lack of direction, but he's actually not wrong this time. Another few miles to the campground."
Kaoru frowned, wondering how they were to supposed to support the three men all the way there. Zanza seemed to be holding his own, though, despite carrying Beshimi's weight. He was apparently a lot tougher than he appeared. Perhaps they were used to hard work, Kaoru reasoned, trying to shrug off the prickling sensation running through her. Besides, they had no reason to stay at their camp long. Tomoe could use the group's supplies to properly tend to the men, they could perhaps trade a few trinkets here and there to restock their own supplies, and then head their separate ways.
Glancing up, she noticed Zanza eyeing her.
"So, you know our names; what are yours?" he asked.
"We don't know your names."
"I'm Zanza, this is Beshimi, and that's Kiyo."
"I meant your real names."
Zanza blinked. "Those are our names. We gave up our previous identities long ago."
"That's an odd thing to do," Tomoe mused.
"As I said, we're a rag-tag group. A lot of us have... baggage. But we've decided to make the best of our lives by casting off our old identities."
"That seems very admirable," Tomoe smiled at him. Kaoru only rolled her eyes. While she loved her friend, she could be awfully naive sometimes.
"I'm Tomoe Yukishiro, and this is Kaoru Kamiya."
"Pleased to meet you." Zanza grinned. "So what brings the two of you out into the mountains by yourself?"
"You sure do ask a lot of questions," Kaoru remarked.
"I'm curious."
"As I said, we're headed to Mizuni."
"By yourselves."
"Yes."
"That seems a little strange."
"So you've implied."
Zanza laughed, then stopped abruptly as a wave of pain shot through his chest. "Ow, I must have cracked a rib," he grimaced.
"You'll have a lot more than that cracked if you don't hand over your belongings, now," a deep voice rumbled from behind them.
The group whirled around to face the intruder, and noticed four other men emerging to join him.
"Shit!" Zanza cursed under his breath, his gaze shifting from the companion he still carried to the five bandits.
"We have nothing of value to give you," Kaoru stated firmly.
The apparent leader of the group eyed her appraisingly before sneering, "I doubt that. But at the moment I'm more interested in what your friend has hidden in his coat there."
Kaoru shifted her glance to Zanza, taking a second look at the thin white coat we wore. Sure enough, there was a small bulge on the inside bottom, barely visible. Apparently it was a hidden pocket, with something sewn inside of it.
Curious.
"Hand it over," the leader commanded again. He was a large man, with a thick black beard that hung almost to his chest. His skin was weathered and rough, probably from several harsh winters spent in the mountains. Kaoru decided he must belong to one of the several mountain bandit groups that hassled travelers. Stories of them abounded, and it was almost guaranteed that any group passing through this area and displaying any measure of wealth would be attacked.
It was also the reason that she came visibly armed.
Kaoru withdrew her bokken, slipping easily into the first stance of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. "As you can see, my companions are injured. We simply wish to return safely and tend to the wounds. I would encourage you to leave without causing any trouble."
The men erupted into a fit of mocking laughter. "You actually expect us to just go away because you're brandishing that stick at us?"
"Yes."
And with that, Kaoru leapt. She brought her bokken down, hard, smashing it against the skull of the nearest man. Before they had time to react, she had whirled out of the way and struck a second soundly against the knee, brining him crumbling to the ground.
Finally, the bandits drew their weapons, but Kaoru was a blur of grace and precision as she deftly delivered one calculated blow after another. Zanza, Kiyo, and a half-conscious Beshimi could only watch in awe. Before they had taken five breaths, Kaoru was still again, poised dangerously over the group of men who now lay sprawled on the ground, clutching smashed bones and broken limbs.
Kaoru held her position for three seconds before finally lowering her bokken and re-sheathing it. Turning to glance at Tomoe, she noted the small smile hovering over the woman's lips. Kaoru nodded, "Let's go." Too shocked the argue, the men obeyed.
They had traveled a fair distance in silence before Tomoe stopped, lowering Kiyo to the ground. "I need to re-adjust some of the bindings," she told them, "and check on Beshimi. We should rest a bit, as well."
Zanza didn't argue and carefully set Beshimi down next to Kiyo, before taking a seat himself. Kaoru rummaged through her pack to pull out a still-wrapped loaf of bread, handing it to Zanza. "Here, it isn't much, but it'll give you guys some energy."
He accepted it gratefully, finally breaking his silence. "Back there, that was... something."
"I told you we could take care of ourselves."
It was Kiyo who responded, "Are you from the West, then? Women here are not trained in such arts, but it is a little more common in places like Mizuni."
Kaoru shook her head. "No," she admitted, "I was raised in a village here in the East." She didn't offer anything more, and from the look on her face, they decided not to ask.
Tomoe continued to work in silence, her frown deepening as she examined Beshimi. She had only a limited supply of salves with her, not having expected that she would need them for anything more than tending to a few scrapes or sprains. And dealing with something like this fell far outside of her limited range of experience.
If she were honest with herself, she would admit that Beshimi would not survive. Already he was slipping in and out of consciousness, probably from the pain. She had no medicines with her that would be strong enough to dull his senses.
Again she felt the firm resolve within her, the knowledge that she had made the right decision in leaving her family behind. They simply did not understand, she reasoned. While she could not shake the shame she felt at having forsaken her duties, she knew she could not have lived with the regret of choices left unmade. She also knew that her family would be stained with the mark of dishonor, but she hoped that in time she could prove herself and make up for it.
With that vow in mind, Tomoe finished what she needed to do, and the group headed out again. They continued that pattern for the last few miles: covering a certain distance, stopping to rest, letting Tomoe check the splints and bindings and blood flow, then starting forward again.
It was nearing sunset when Zanza finally spoke, "We're almost there."
They had long since entered the valley that Kaoru had spotted that morning, and traversed a good deal of it before veering slightly to the north. To Kaoru's surprise, the valley dipped even further, revealing a moderately sized enclave bordered by a mountain cliff on one side. It was a beautiful spot, secluded, and
from the sound of it, a stream was running nearby. Although in these mountains, a 'stream' could just as easily be an eroded path caused by the ice melting at the top of the peaks far above."Zanza!"
They were greeted by a young man racing out towards them. At least, he looked young. He was short, with a dark hair framing his boyish face.
"Tenken," Zanza greeted in return, "you're on watch?"
"Yes," he nodded, "What happened?"
"Rockslide."
Tenken nodded, taking support of Kiyo from Tomoe. "And you are...?"
"Travelers, they came across us and helped." Kiyo told him, now short of breath. "Yukishiro-san here is a healer, her friend Kamiya-san is--"
"Accompanying her," Kaoru filled in.
"They've been a huge help," Zanza added as they moved ahead, coming across a few more men milling about, obviously preparing the camp for night-fall, and who were giving them curious looks.
"We had expected you back much sooner," Tenken told him, "and worried that perhaps something had happened."
Zanza shook his head. "The jobs went fine. It was just on the way back that we got caught. I'm fine, for the most part, but we should get Beshimi and Kiyo settled somewhere. If there are any medical supplies that Yukishiro-san can use, we need those as well."
Tenken took another glance at Beshimi, paling slightly. The diagnoses for him was now more than apparent.
"I'll alert Battousai," he whispered, and was gone.
Zanza motioned for Tomoe and Kaoru to follow him as he led them back against the cliff-wall to where a single tent stood. They entered quickly and set Kiyo and Beshimi down in two of the three cots laid out inside.
"What do you need?" Zanza asked Tomoe suddenly.
"Excuse me?"
"To heal them," he clarified.
"I... You should know, I'm not a true healer."
"You're better than anything we've got. Just pull them through this."
Tomoe replied softly, "I'll do the best I can. You should sit, too; I can at least look at your ribs."
At that moment, the flap to the tent was thrown open as another man came through. He was clad in dark blue and had flaming red hair pulled into a high ponytail. His frame was not large, but he had a commanding presence that sent an unexpected bolt of fear down Kaoru's spine.
"So, you're the two outsiders that were brought into my group." His tone was as cold and hard as steel.
"This is our leader, Battousai." Zanza explained to them quietly.
As the man approached, his stride crisp and graceful, Kaoru took one look into his flinty amber eyes and felt panic rise within her. That look, that stance, the way the sword hung dangerously from his side, was unmistakable.
Rag-tag group of odd-job workers be damned; they were amongst a group of assassins.
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