*A/N - I know, I know! I'm being a bad writer, skipping around on everything, but I have a very good reason this time! I wanted to get this out so I could move on to other things, but it seems that this one is going to be like Stolen Away and be almost it's own arc. Yay for free time and Oklahoma ice storms! I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, that I do not. So, in honor of being good fans, you should leave this one alone, that you should. ~Tardis*
You know, it's pretty strange the things you learn in life. However, multiply that strange feeling by a hundred, and that's what you get when your dad is Battousai. Yeah... I hate my life....
Chapter 1:
The Sword
In a boy's life, there is no greater role model than the father. Unfortunately for me, that never happened, because, in the Himura house, nothing was as it was supposed to be. Our makeshift, unconventional family, which consisted of the weirdest people imaginable, were only drawn together by one person: my father.
My father was probably the strangest of them all. He didn't take on the responcibility of being the bread-winner (that was Mom's job) and instead took on cooking and cleaning, when the students of Kamiya-Kasshin Ryu, my mother's sword style, didn't have to. In fact, my father almost had absolutely no masculine qualities. He wasn't all that special in a way, mainly because he was a very quiet, reserved person who didn't believe in violence. A pacifist. Never once did I hear scolding from my father, regardless of what I had done. He would smile and tell me it wasn't the best idea in the world and then try to get my mom to settle down. That was his only redeeming quality. He and I were complete opposites. He wanted peace and quiet, the everyday things in life, simple wonders... I wanted action, suspence, some meaning in life. I wanted to be a great swordsman, while my father, regardless of how supportive of me he was, always wanted to be a family man and settle down and stay there.
My mother was the polar opposite of my father, yet equally strange. She was a master in swordsmanship and taught countless students at our dojo. She was the type of person with a huge spirit and an even bigger heart. She was a very good Mom, no matter how many times I spent doing extra work simply for the crime of being her son after practice. She was always a loving, caring person who just didn't take crap from anyone. She was loud and bubbly and very weird, but most importantly, my mom was the best teacher anyone could ask for. She taught me everything about Kamiya-Kasshin Ryu by the time I was ten, and then continued to teach me other skills that she said "only came from experience". However, no matter what, no one could honestly say that I got along with my mom. Like oil and water, my mother never understood me and I never could understand her. Even though both of us lived, breathed, ate, and slept kenjutsu, we detested each other during practice... but at home when I had a problem, she was always there to solve it. I love my mom and always will, no matter how cruel she is in the dojo.
Then there was Yahiko, my makeshift uncle. He was about seven years younger than my mom and they acted like siblings. When I say "acted", I mean fought. Even into adulthood, they acted my age most, if not all, of the time. He was a bad influence and sadly the assistant master of Kamiya-Kasshin Ryu. He spent all of his free time either picking fights, gambling, or piling up that tab he had going at the Akabeko, despite the fact that he was now married and had his own son now. However, ever since I was little, Yahiko had been on my side. According to him, he grew up in the shadow of my father and under the teachings of my mother, so of course he was scarred for life. He wanted to get me into as many of his habits as possible and on more than one occasion I went gambling with him or picked fights with him and/or other people. But mostly Yahiko. However, he had a sword (a real one) so I always had to be extra careful when I picked said fights so that I didn't get a crushed collar bone thanks to that stupid thing. Seriously? What was the big deal about that sword if it didn't really have a blade anyway?
Next there was Miss Megumi. She was a doctor from Aizu that knew my father from waaay back ("Further back than I care to admit, Kenji-chan!"). She had moved away before I was born, and then later moved back to Tokyo when I was about nine. Her reason? She had looked for her family for a long time. When she finally found their graves, she was at peace with herself and went back to her friends, my parents. However, I have to admit that she was about as crazy as the rest of us and was always trying to steal my dad away from my mom, but it was all a joke, but my mom always reacted in the funniest ways... until I got hit upside the head... then it wasn't nearly as funny anymore....
Getting out of Tokyo, our friends from Kyoto were also in this group. Shinamori Aoshi was a very good shinobi in his day, he even used to be the leader of the Oniwabanshuu, but now he, like my father, was only living for the simple things in life. He was quiet and calm, never acting out of turn and always providing a calming ki to the usually unstable environment thanks to Yahiko and my mom. Shinamori Misao, Aoshi's wife, was a lot like my mom and they were best friends. They would talk and talk for hours when the Shinamoris came up from Kyoto every year to see us. Misao was bubbly and loud and very obnoxious. She would constantly torment me, but like my mom, she did have a caring streak... her's was just miniscule. Oh well, I always had a comeback... usually they involved the words "weasel girl". I must admit, whoever came up with that nickname for her was a genius.
All of these people were my family, but almost none of them respected me. Either they called me a "Kenshin clone" (which honestly, where did they get that from? Sure I look like my dad, but we had nothing in common! We didn't do anything the same!) or they were saying that I still had a lot to learn. It was irritating. However, I had finally decided that was going to change.
I stumbled across the second biggest discovery of my life when I was ten. My mother had firmly decided that I was ready and that I had learned everything about Kamiya-Kasshin that she could teach me. I had learned the ougi, which was suprisingly difficult for such a laid back style, and now I just needed to wait for an opportunity to use my knowledge. I was giddy and my head was probably as big as Mount Fuji when I ran into a once-in-a-lifetime chance to prove myself.
One of my mom's students, around my age, was backed up against the end of an alley while several men surrounded him. Each swung makeshift clubs and other random weapons. The leader had a sword.
"So Juji, are you going to get us that money or not?" the man with the sword asked menicingly as his katana looked ablaze in the setting sun. Juji, a fairly new student and almost a hopeless case, was standing there with a look that plainly said he was about one more glare away from wetting himself.
"Hey!" I called out from the entrance to the alley. The five guys all turned around and looked at me. I was still in my training gi, but I had left my bokken at home since I was just out to get tofu for dinner. I didn't even think about that fact until I had already turned the attention of the thugs to myself. That was okay, though... I could totally beat them with just my hands!
"What's this? Another brat?" the leader asked. The men around him chuckled. That pretty much set it off... My temper was going to be the death of me someday...
"Wanna try that again, punk?" I hissed back as I narrowed my eyes. The men didn't seem to take me seriously, but they would regret that in about five mintutes....
"Why you little bastard! You're going to pay for that!" one of the men yelled at me. One more anger mark and I was gonna punch his lights out.
"Oh really? Why don't you just try it?" I asked. The leader seemed to take me a little more seriously than the others and as my eyes narrowed all the more, he smiled.
"Okay, kid. Amuse me. You wanna fight, meet us at the shrine just north of here tomorrow at sunset. Fail, and that money Juji owes us will come out of your ass," the man offered. I was contemplating it. I knew it was a trap, but if there were two things in this world I couldn't stand, it was men with big egoes and the oppression of the weak, and both of them were staring me in the face.
"Deal," I said as I walked through the part in the men to Juji and led him out of the pack and walked him home.
When I came home well after sunset, I knew I was going to be in trouble. Naturally, the Spanish Inquisition was waiting for me when I got home and I had to recall all of my action from the time I left to the time I walked through the door to Mom. I simply lied on the part about the upcoming duel and instead said that Yahiko asked me to do something. My mom bought it, but my father smiled knowingly and walked away. If possible, that just made me more irritated.
That night I came up with a battle plan. I accounted for every turn or trickery the battle could take and prepared accordingly, but there was a big problem with all of this: my bokken. I couldn't hope to beat a skilled man with a sword with a wooden sword even if it was pretty strong. Most importantly, it wouldn't break a sweat cutting through that for any man who knew an ounce of how to use a sword. Man, if only I could get something metal... even that useless sakabatou of Yahiko's---
--That's it! I would get the sakabatou! My instant revelation saw no flaws in the plan... but there was the inevitable question: how would I get it? Yahiko certainly wouldn't lend it to me, in fact he'd probably laugh, push me around, make fun of me, and then reject my request without a second thought. Steal it? Maybe... but how would I do that? Yahiko hardly ever parted with that thing... unless he was training at the dojo... Thank Kami that tomorrow was a training day!
So, with the promise of stealing the sakabatou in the morning, I went to sound and dreamless sleep...
*A/N - Yay! A whole chapter done already! Too bad it wasn't on Stolen Away, though... which is probably where I should focus my efforts. Oh well. New chapter of both hopefully up soon! ~Tardis*