Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or anything associated with it. I own nothing except my undying admiration for the greatest swordsman in the history of all manga and anime. As well as all the feels that the OVA Trust and Betrayal fills me with. The ending of that movie gets me every damn time. This fic is dedicated to Older Woman who has been writing probably the greatest Rurouni Kenshin fanfic of all time. Go check out her work it is very very well done. Please read, review and enjoy!
The Grave
Damn that baka deshi for his stubborn foolishness!
I thought for likely the thousandth time since Kenshin and I parted ways and for the thousandth time, as much as I tried to deny it to myself, my anger turned to worry for my apprentice.
It doesn't happen often, but every now and then as I go to the village for another bottle of sake, I hear rumors of a so called demon in Kyoto. A demon who fights for the Ishin Shishi known only as Hitokiri Battosai, said to have slaughtered hundreds of soldiers of the bakufu single handedly. There's not a doubt in my mind that this Battosai is the very same boy that I took under my wing. Or at least he used to be.
An assassin. I knew the patriots would use him for such work. He'd make the perfect weapon, skilled beyond measure, capable of escaping quickly into the shadows and worst of all, he truly believed in what the patriots were spouting with his whole heart. He sincerely believed in building a better world and the poor fool had no idea of the way the world actually worked.
And that world will take that strong and caring soul and twist it into a hollow killer. Why did he have to be so naïve?!
So lost in my thoughts I didn't realize that I was walking on a familiar path until I was almost upon…that place.
The graveyard.
It still stood to this day, although some of the crosses have rotted and fallen over. I've thought about taking care of this place but…I don't like to come here. I've only been here one other time, the spring after Kenshin left. I came here to try and find…well faith I suppose. Faith that the world wouldn't ruin that pure soul that I had discovered in that boy. It didn't help. Now this place just serves as a reminder of a foolishly pure soul that will be forever stained by the blood he spills.
I was still debating whether or not to go around the graveyard when before I knew it I was…
My eyes widened as a feeling of utter shock, a shock I hadn't felt since the day I first beheld this graveyard. There was a new cross here that hadn't been here before, with a purple shawl wrapped around it. I walked towards it almost in a daze.
He had been here. He had come back to this place but why? Who did he make this grave for?
A small breeze blew as I neared the cross, carrying it the smell of blood and…white plums?
A woman's scent, a woman who must have been very important to Kenshin to have kept her shawl and brought it here.
I gazed at the cross with a heavy sorrow. Upon reflection, I know exactly who he made this grave for. It's not for the woman, he probably gave her a proper grave in Kyoto. No he made this grave for himself, for the naïve, kindhearted boy that he used to be before the war.
Baka deshii…I thought sadly. You young fool, you've finally realized haven't you? That no one, no matter how skilled they are, can bear the weight of the happiness of all people. You stupid, stupid fool.
That last thought was directed to myself just as much as to my apprentice. I was a fool as well. I should have fought harder to keep Kenshin with me. I should have done something more. For a moment I hoped that Kenshin had stopped here on his way to visit me that he would come back to me but I knew he would feel too ashamed to face me. Too fearful of how I would judge him for what he's done.
I'm sorry Kenshin. I'm so sorry for everything you must have gone through. Please be alright deshii.
I looked up at a sky that had the same colors as that fateful day and the words that had led both of us to this point, wondering if it was all a mistake on my part. A mistake I made, a mistake that ended up putting a simple boy through so much pain and agony.
"Boy, what's your name?"
"Shinta."
"A child's name, too soft for a swordsman. From now on, you are Kenshin."
"Ken…shin?"