Rurouni Kenshin: Quest for the Ultimate Style

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Rurouni Kenshin or the Book Musashi by Yoshikawa Eijii, although I did make up Ijii Bakari

Author's note: When I originally wrote this, it was called The Miyamoto Style, but due to a message from an RK fan who understands Japanese culture and language much better than I ever will I had to edit it extensively. Don't hesitate to correct me or ask questions about what I write, but remember that we aren't all knowledgeable of Kendo and Kenjutsu terms, so I won't be including many names of official stances and things of the like unless they appeared in the actual RK Anime or Manga. Also, I put the last name after the first name, which may confuse/infuriate some of you who are used to the Japanese style of the last name going first. I do this so people who aren't accustomed to this (such as my friend who edits this) can understand it. This story also takes place shortly after the final chapter of the Rurouni Kenshin manga. For those who only have seen the anime, Yahiko is fifteen at this point.

Chapter One: The Challenger

The rain had gone uninterrupted in Tokyo for five days, and the inhabitants were becoming impatient. The streets were very muddy and not fit to be traveled by anything smaller than a horse, but one lone figure walked the streets of Tokyo that day. He wore a basket hat and a traveling cloak that was barely soiled despite the weather. He walked on and on in the pouring rain until he reached a small Dojo not far away from the city's center. The sign on the door read: "Kendo School Kamiya Kasshin Style". The young man smiled and mumbled, "And so my journey begins." He then proceeded to knock on the door.

"Yahiko, could you answer that?" he heard a woman say.

"But it's raining!" he heard a young man answer, "Why don't you go?"

"Because I'm cooking and you're just lazing around, now GO!"

"Fine Ugly, I'll get the door."

Yahiko opened the door to the outside and said, "Whaddaya want?"

"I'm here to challenge the master of the Kamiya Kasshin style if he is present." replied the man in a kind tone. Yahiko looked surprised for a moment, as no one had ever challenged the Dojo throughout the years that he had been there.

"I'm afraid that the Master has been dead for a long time, but I guess you could fight me. I am Yahiko Myojin, one of the two assistant masters of Kamiya Kasshin."

"You're 'Thousand Knives' Yahiko Myojin? I didn't anticipate that I would be able to face you! Your reputation is quite extensive where I'm from! "

"Really? That's… surprising. Where exactly are you from anyway?"

"I'm from Kyoto, and as I understand it, the both of us were fighters in Shishio's revolt."

"You were there too? Where did you fight?"

"I'd tell you, but the rain is starting to seep through my cloak. Might we continue this conversation inside?"

"Sure, Follow me."

The two of them walked into the dojo, and Yahiko offered to take the young man's cloak and hat. The young man accepted, and Yahiko got his first glimpse of the young man. He towered over Yahiko at six feet, extremely tall in those days, and his voice was so deep that Yahiko believed that he was a full grown man, but he was anything but that. He was wearing a white gi (karate uniform) that was kept clean by the cloak with the exception of the mud stained shins of his pants. His hair was pitch black like Yahiko's, but instead of sticking up, it fell down on his face in a messy pattern so that it covered his forehead completely and much of it fell around his eyes.

"I just realized something," said Yahiko, "I never learned your name."

"Oh, my name? It's Ijii Bakari. Now what were we talking about? Oh yes, we were talking about the revolt. My Master's lived very close to Mt. Hiei where the troops were originally gathered for the attack. We were some of the first to see them coming, and the two of us waited for them to pass before we attacked them from behind."

"Wa-wait a minute! You and your master? Weren't there others in the dojo?"

"Actually, I was my master's only pupil at the time, and I don't believe that he's had another since. But as I was saying, the two of us attacked from behind and took out a good number of peons before we were attacked by some humongous swordsman who was no less than 25 meters tall! He stunned the both of us for a while, and got away before we could fight him face to face."

"That could only have been Fuji! He almost killed me, but another swordsman stepped in and saved me. His name was Seijuro Hiko. Have you heard of him?"

"Have I ever! He's my master's rival! He always went rambling on how he'd beat him one day. He was too old to keep up with Seijuro's strength, though. The only time that the two of them actually fought was over a barrel of high quality sake. The two of them fought until they were too tired to fight anymore. That was about the time of the Meiji revolution though, so it was at both of their primes. That must have been one great fight to watch, eh?"

"Yeah, it must have been amazing. Well, I think we've talked about the past enough. You came here to face me, right? Well, why don't we get started?"

Yahiko walked toward the wall where the shinai (bamboo practice swords) were kept and threw one to Ijii. Ijii caught it by the shaft between his right index and middle fingers.

"As you wish. To what point do you wish to fight to? Unconsciousness? Disarmament?"

"How about until one of us surrenders?"

"In that case you'll be the loser, for I will never give up!"

Ijii flipped the shinai so that he held it by the hilt and rushed towards Yahiko at a speed that Yahiko did not think him capable of. Yahiko barely had time to take a stance before Ijii stopped short of him, crouched down, and tried to sweep Yahiko's feet out from under him with the shinai. Yahiko jumped, but Ijii pivoted the rest of his body around so that he landed a kick to Yahiko's shoulder with his left leg. Yahiko managed to recover from kick as he staggered backwards well enough to see what Ijii was doing next: a downward strike to Yahiko's head.

Yahiko yelled, "Kamiya Kasshin style succession technique, HADOME!" He caught the shinai between his fists, while still holding on to his own shinai. He then yelled, "Kamiya Kasshin style succession technique, HAWATARI!" Yahiko thrusted the hilt of his shinai into Ijii's armpit and, with all his strength, threw Ijii over his head with it.

Yahiko then turned and jumped into the air as high as the dojo ceiling would permit. He then yelled out, "Pseudo Ryu-Tsui-Sen!" and dove towards the still flying body of Ijji Bakari. Ijii was not unconscious, quite the opposite, in fact. He launched his own shinai as if it were a kunai (throwing knife) straight into Yahiko's unguarded face! Yahiko was so unprepared for this that he lost all focus on his attack and gave Ijii a chance to recover once he actually hit the ground.

Once Ijii had stood up, he realized his grave mistake. Yahiko was now in possession of both shinai, one on his back and one on his hands, and he himself had no weapon but his own two hands. He was fine with that, though, and rushed towards Yahiko punching wildly. Yahiko barely had any time to block these hits, as it seemed that Ijii's speed had risen since he lost his weapon.

Ijii landed several hits on Yahiko before he sidestepped him and took back his own shinai. Yahiko was in a daze. How could Ijii suddenly become this quick? Was he holding back before? But before Yahiko had time to react, Ijii had landed a hit with his shinai to Yahiko's shoulder from behind. Yahiko turned around and was greeted by a barrage of wild slashes that seemed to be coming out of nowhere. Yahiko held his ground, but realized that he was going to lose very soon if he couldn't stop Ijii's shinai. Yahiko remembered that the Hadome had been very effective against Ijii, so he looked for a downward slash among the attacks. He soon found one, and once again shouted, "Kamiya Kasshin style succession technique, HADOME!" and once again caught the shinai between his fists, only to realize that there was no one holding it. He heard a voice from behind him say, "Looking for something?" Yahiko felt the smooth touch of a boken (hard wooden sword) on his neck. Ijii had left his shinai, grabbed a boken from where it was hanging on the dojo wall, and now had Yahiko in a choke hold with it. "I…," Yahiko stammered, "I surrender."

So? What'd you think? Please send me any and all comments/criticisms that you have!