Bushidou
By: Sky Fairy 77

Full Summary: 140 years ago during the chaos and revolution that surrounded the end of the Tokagawa era, there lived a man named Battousai the Manslayer. Battousai carved the way into the new Meiji era. It was said he was undefeatable. But at the end of the revolution, Battousai mysteriously disappeared. Some say that it was because he killed someone he shouldn't have. Others say that the new government wanted him out of the way. But whatever it was Battousai the Manslayer had become a legend. Eleven years after the foundation of the Meiji Era, sixteen year old Yahiko Myoujin dreams of being the greatest samurai in all of Japan. But it is no longer the age of swords and samurai; Things in the world are changing. Chained to the Shuei Syndicate, one of the notorious groups of yakuza in Tokyo, Yahiko sets off on the adventure of his life. Instructed to deliver a mysterious package to one of the houses for the yakuza. Yahiko finds himself in the midst of terror and violence, as he helps to chase down serial killers, drug dealers, pirates and those who conspire to bring down the government.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. But I don't own some of the full summary. Parts of it belong to the people whoown Rurouni Kenshin anime and wrote the script for it… and i have to look how they are soon...

AN: Hey everyone, Sky here! So yes I'm bringing to you yet another story. So after thinking about it away it seemed silly, all of my stories have been set in modern times and I haven't once tried one set in Japan during the Meiji era except for my first story which I wrote at like age 11… Clearly that's no longer up anymore… So this will be my long-term project now. Its gonna be like maybe 30 chapters or so…? I'm not quite sure quite yet because it's only the 1st chapter right now, so I'll face all the other problems when the time comes.

Note about the title: I really wasn't sure what to call this story most of the time its easy for me to come up with titles but this one... So anyways I'm not sure whether or not it fits and i would like your opinion on it. Thank you!

Yahiko was tired of the endless walking. His feet were aching from the miles he had walked so far and blisters were beginning to form on the sensitive areas of his feet were forming large blisters. And did they hurt. On top of his extremely sore feet he was itching from all of the dust he had gotten on him from his journey. As he walked the dust from the dirt road was stirred up more and more with all the different people who were busy traveling it. There were many carts, horses, and people on the road heading for Kyoto.

"Get out of the way!" shouted a man riding ahead of a carriage. "Make room for Meiji Government. Get off the road!"

Yahiko just had time to dive into a ditch on the side of the road in order to avoid being trampled by the speeding carriage. He tumbled down the rough slope feeling rocks hit various areas of his body knowing that in a few hours he would be hurting all over. He stopped at the bottom where he hit his head on a particularly rock. For a moment his vision flashed between darkness and reality. He blinked hard several times and the darkness faded from sight. He scrambled his way up the slope all the while cursing the rich government officials, "Damn rich bureaucrats. They watch where they are going." Angry and sore he began to dust the dirt off of himself. He noticed several small tears in his yellow yukata. Cursing his fate his got back on his way and moved onto the road. He hadn't taken more than two steps when he tripped onto the road. Standing up he saw that his sandal had a small jagged rip in the strap that held his sandals together. "Damn it! Just my luck, it must have ripped when I fell." He went back to the side of the road and sat down on the ground trying to fix the strap.

"Excuse me? Do you need any help?" a soft voice interrupted his concentration. He looked up at the person to tell them off and mind their own business when he saw whom the speaker was. His mouth instantly went dry and he could feel his cheeks heating up. A small delicate girl stood before him. She had short brown hair that fell gracefully around her face. He couldn't help but stare her eyes were beautiful and bright orbs and her lips seemed so inviting. 'She is really beautiful…' She shifted nervously under his gaze and finally Yahiko looked away unable to think of anything to say in front of the girl. She shyly brushed away a stray lock of hair from her face and focused her attention on the ground embarrassed. Her eyes fell site on the sandal that was held in Yahiko's hand. " Oh let me help you with that." She quickly kneeled down next to him and took the sandal in her care.

"Hey you really don't need to…" he managed to sputter, but the girl did not seem to hear him.

She busied herself with the task at hand repairing Yahiko's sandal. She pulled a crimson handkerchief from her kimono and put it to her mouth. 'What on earth is she doing?' he wondered watching her fascinated. Carefully the girl bit down on the edge of the cloth and began to slowly pull it in the opposite direction. It caused the cloth to form a small tear. Placing it in her lap she tore a long narrow strip. Examining the sandal, she set to work. Nimble fingers worked with the cloth weaving in and out, forming a new and temporary strap. "There you go," she smiled brightly at him, "Its fixed for the moment and should hold up until you reach your destination. There you can find a shop to do the proper job for you."

"Tha… thank you…" Yahiko stuttered looking away from his sandal and knowing that his face must be beat red by now.

"Tsubame! Tsubame, hurry up!" a tall woman resembling the girl was calling her. Her arm stretched high into the air to make sure that Tsubame would see her. "Come on, we are leaving this area and you don't want to be left behind." She turned her back to them and was once again busy with the work she was doing in the back of their cart.

"I must be going. It was a pleasure to meet you." she stood up and bowed. " Hopefully we will meet again someday." She turned and began to ran to her cart.

Yahiko stood up quickly not wanting to part without saying something. "Hey, Tsubame!" he called cupping his hands around his mouth hoping that she heard him. She turned around and faced him a few yards off, "I'm sure we will meet and again! And thank you!" he waved her off and he could tell that she was blushing from the attention. She waved once again before she scrambled into the cart and disappeared into the horizon. 'I know we meet again, someday…' Smiling to himself, he made his way down the road again onwards towards his destination.

It was now high noon and the sun was in the center of the sky shining down on the travelers. Beads of sweat dripped down Yahiko's face soaking his yukata as they fell off of his face. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a cart or a carriage." The thought of a cart brought his meeting with Tsubame to his head. Unconsciously a grin began to spread on his face. 'She was pretty and so kind too.' he thought remembering the way she had helped him with his sandal. But as he thought about their meeting he remembered what he must of looked like to her. 'She probably just took pity on me because I looked like a helpless kid or a poor beggar boy.' He laughed at the truth in the statement.

He could almost see his mother at that moment. "Don't worry, Yahiko. One of these days things will be better. I promise you that. We will be living on in a better place and things will all work out of us. Just you wait. You'll see, everything will be fine in the end."

"Heh… This is sure a better place," he scoffed. " Walking during the hottest time of day in the middle of nowhere and covered in dust, tired, and sore. Sure mom this is a better place." His hand tightened around the hidden within his yukata. 'It will all be over very soon…'

AN: I know. I know… Horrible and short right? I tried to make it longer but I don't know it just wasn't coming and well I wasn't about to force it. So yes as you can clearly see this story will be from Yahiko's POV/focused in a way. I'm trying to keep the characters IC as possible so hopefully I'm doing a halfway decent job. Next chapter there will be a lot more characters introduced such as a psychopath killer and a certain rurouni we all know and love. The story will definitely move along more in the next chapter not like here where it kinda stood still… Hopefully you all liked it. I'm still considering changing the spacing on it but I'm not sure yet. Please review and tell me your comments so I can try to incorporate them into the story.

-Later