I was ten the first time I heard mention that my father knew how to use the sword. I had begun my study of my mother's sword style at that time. I had grown up with a somewhat skewed view that she was the man of the house; my father seemed to be a passive, calm person. He was playful and encouraging, but I always felt that the man was weak. He was not someone I aspired to be, as all boys should of their fathers. My father had always let us walk all over him; he seemed to be a pushover at times. I was never sure how my mother could love such a man, with all the strength she possessed.
I had, over time begun to resent my father. He was not what a father should be. As a boy, my friends would laugh at him. What they saw was a man doing women's work, laundry or cooking, and my mother teaching kendo. It was embarrassing
It was my "brother" Yahiko, who told me that my father was a swordsman. I had found it difficult to believe that the sword Yahiko carried had once belonged to my father. Somehow, Yahiko aspired to be him, but I just couldn't see why. There was nothing there but a meek, humble person with no strength. I wanted to be someone strong. I had mastery of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu before I was thirteen. It was not enough to challenge me.
The summer of my 15th birthday, my mother decided we should travel to Kyoto to visit some friends that they had not seen in a few years. My father, however, was hesitant. "Kyoto is not a place for the young," I would hear him say from time to time.
My mother would reply, "It's not that way anymore."
I would ask, "What way?" but they would never answer. What I assumed they spoke about was the revolution, a time when people could not walk the streets at night without fear of a hitokiri. My parents never talked about that much. What I learned about it, I learned from lessons in town. Perhaps that was where my father grew up. I never knew for sure. He never told me about his childhood. For that matter, I had few stories of the history between him and my mother before their marriage. I did know that he was too timid to ask her, so eventually she asked him to marry her.
We planned to leave for Kyoto in June, the month of both of my parent's birthdays, and stay until the end of July, when my birthday took place. My mother convinced him that it was a special occasion, and they owed their friends a visit. It had been a few years since they had seen them and it wasn't right to always make them visit. This caused my father to make a remark about someone or other having not visited in fifteen years. "That's different," my mother said. The subject was dropped.
A few days before we planned to leave, my mother and father went into town for supplies for the journey. Yahiko was in the dojo making repairs, there was no class today. I was cleaning the equipment outside. I had become quite familiar with the natural sounds surrounding the dojo, the pound of a hammer, the chirps of the birds, the creek behind the house. I easily noticed the creak of the doors into the estate, my head shot up to see who was there. Mother and father wouldn't be back yet, Tsubame worked until late in the evening, and there were no students today.
This was a ragged man walking toward me. He wore clothing that appeared to have at one time been white, now yellowed with time and mud, there was a black symbol I couldn't read on the back of his coat. I recognized it to be the same as the one Yahiko had sewn into his shirt. The man was unshaved, his hair was long and loose, held out of his face by a red band. As he stumbled along I heard him mutter something about change, but I didn't hear it all. I went back to cleaning, thinking that if I ignored him he would go away.
"Yo Kenshin! Where is everybody? Where's Jou-Chan?" This man must have known my father. I turned around to face him, and I realized he had been talking to me.
"I am not Kenshin," I stated, simply.
He recognized this quickly, "No, you're not. Sorry kid- you look just like him. I guess things do change. He is still around here, right?" he asked. This man must have known my parents before I was born. At my nod he said, "So you haven't had any trouble since I left, good."
"Look sir, my parents are out shopping for our journey to Kyoto. They may be gone a few more hours, maybe you should come back to visit later." If mother were her she would have slapped me for my lack of hospitality.
"I was actually looking to stay here for a few days," he said. "So why don't you be a proper host and invite me inside for a drink." I decided it would be best to let Yahiko escort the man back to the road. I excused myself and walked into the dojo, where Yahiko was finishing patching a hole in the wall.
"Yahiko, there's a guy out here who will not leave. He says he wanted to stay here a few days. Maybe you could come get rid of him." He seemed surprised, as he followed be out of the dojo and into the bright sunlight. Shielding his eyes, he squinted across the yard.
"Yahiko! You're all grown up!" the man called from a distance. Yahiko jogged across to meet the older man, who clapped him on the shoulder as soon as they met.
"Sano, its good to see you!." Yahiko said to the man.
"God, its been forever, kid. You probably god kids of your own by now."
"Not yet. I just got married about two years ago. You remember Tsubame?"
The man, Sano, nodded. "I figured it was only a matter of time."
"Where have you been for fifteen years?" Yahiko asked. There was a bit of resentment in his tone.
"Oh, just here and there. China, Britain, America, you know. Nothing like home though. Speaking of which, you probably sold the flat?" he asked.
"Yeah, a few years after you left there was a fire down there. I got some of your stuff out, its in storage here somewhere," Yahiko told him.
After about 10 minutes of small talk between the two men, it was clear they had forgotten about me. I cleared my throat, and Yahiko was the one to speak first. "Oh, sorry. Kenji this is Sagara Sanosuke. He is an old friend. Sano, this is Kenshin and Kaoru's son, Kenji."
"So they finally got the guts to get married and make babies. I could tell you were Kenshin's kid. You look just like him without the scar. Not to mention the attitude." The last comment was lost on me. I didn't know what he meant by the attitude part. I always felt I was more like my mother. "The swordsman's spirit, kid," he said, noticing my confusion.
"That man is not a swordsman," I said in a flat tone.
This seemed to anger Yahiko. He then said, "He is the best swordsman I have ever known, Kenji. He just doesn't need to be one anymore." His grip had tightened on the sakabatou.
Sano noticed this and asked, "Is that Kenshin's?" At Yahiko's nod, "Genpukku right?" He paused and ran a hand through his messy hair. "So you're all going to Kyoto. What's the occasion?"
"Kaoru thought it was long overdue to visit Aoshi and Misao. Tsubame and I are tagging along. I am sure you are welcome to come along with us if you stick around that long."
"Sure- sounds fun, kid. Oh! Right you really aren't a kid anymore.
I had been left out of the conversation long enough. I withdrew into my own thoughts, and went back to cleaning the equipment. Something was bothering me. The weak man that I knew to be my father was a swordsman, and a good one by Yahiko's conviction. Why did no one tell me this. Why didn't I learn his sword style instead of my mother's? I was stirred from my thoughts by Yahiko, "Kenji- be a good host and make some tea for our guest." It bothered me the way he treated me like that sometimes. I looked back at them before I entered the house, and noticed that Yahiko had dropped his voice and turned away from me. I couldn't tell what he was telling the man, but it seemed to stir anger in the visitor's face before it was calm again.
My parents arrived soon after tea, and the same kind of reunion occurred between them and this man as did with Yahiko. This Sano character was actually fairly interesting. He was a brotherly figure to my parents and Yahiko. It was strange to see this man fit so snugly into our family unit.
Sanosuke told us stories about his adventures across the world. He had told dozens when Yahiko finally excused himself. It was past sunset, and Tsubame would worry. My mother instructed me to clean the dishes, and after I finished I was shooed off to bed. As I lay there trying to sleep, I heard what sounded like an argument.
"He doesn't know, does he? You guys never told him." Sano was the one speaking. "Yahiko mentioned that fact to me earlier."
"There was nothing to tell, Sano," I heard my father say, rushed.
"Kenshin, the boy doesn't even believe you carried a sword. How could he not know about his legendary father?"
"It is best that he believes that I am not a swordsman. I didn't want to be legend, Sano, and you know that. You know as well as anyone what we went through! It is best to leave the past in the past." After a short pause, I heard a shoji door open and my father spoke again in a firm tone, "Do not bring this up again." I was intrigued. What was legendary about my father? What was his sword style? What was it about my parents' past that they were keeping from me?
please give me your feedback.