Title:
Hi all I've been gone a while! Life's busy lately. It will be a story for the writers anonymous action contest. It takes place after Yahiko's Genpuku at the end of manga 28 of this series and in the past through flashbacks shown in italics. Kenshin's son is shown at the end of said manga, but I know not what his exact age is at that time. I suspect around three years of age though. I got inspired to write this when the song Frozen by Madonna came on the radio the other day.
Disclaimer: I own only this story and my OC Taijou Rinku and any others I create.
Warnings: Fighting, so I guess some violence.
Summary: Troubled by memories Kenshin is unable to sleep easy at night. When a visit to the summer festival in Kyoto leads to the disappearance of his son with all the signs of a kidnapping, what will Kenshin, who is now unable to hold a sword or fight due to his condition, do now?
Chapter 1, Abducted?
Swords clashed. Sparks of metal went flying. The two swordsmen were evenly matched in spite the difference in age. Both knew only one would walk away. The taller of the two brought down his sword to strike the other, however the other was faster and smaller thus able to avoid the downward slash. Both knew this battle had ended as the smaller plunged his sword into the taller, and elder man's stomach.
Blood splattered everywhere. Elder fell. He never felt the pain as the sword was drawn back. His last thoughts were with her. His face smiled as his spirit left its body, knowing that she would be safe as the younger walked off.
Blood splattered everywhere. The younger stood, and walked away. His hands, and face covered in it, it did him little. Wounds on his arms, and legs, he could ignore them. Even the rain pounding down on him, and the corpse before him did not stir any emotion from the young red head. Then what was this strange pain in his chest? Was it…her? Did her cries cause him this pain?
He shot up breathing heavily, sweat running in beads from his face, eyes wide in shock, his heart beating painfully fast. A full 10 minutes he sat there with his hand on his chest. It took him that much time to calm again.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru's voice came from beside him quietly.
"This one is alright. It was just a bad dream, that it was." he said smiling warmly at her.
"You seem to have those more and more lately. Are you sure it's alright?" Kaoru said sitting up and running her hand through her messy hair to get it out of her face.
"This one does not know. Fragments of my past make up this dream, but this one cannot grasp their meaning." Kenshin sighed as he got up and put on his clothes.
"Maybe you should talk about it, get it off your chest. I hear it's suppose to make you feel better if you talk about things that bother you." Kaoru said following his example. Kenshin smiled sadly.
"Perhaps, this dream is of this one's past. This one killed many as you know well. One was an elderly man. This one at that time killed without feeling, but that man changed that in a way. This one remembers well still all that he said." Kenshin said as he followed Kaoru out and set to making them breakfast. Kenji was still fast asleep, Kaoru decided to leave him be. She listened as Kenshin told her for the first in a long time about his past.
HE watched from a distance. His next target was sitting among friends. They were drinking, and seemed to have a good time. The elder man who was his target though didn't seem to enjoy himself much. It wasn't until late that evening that he left though. HE followed the man quietly.
"You don't have to hide in the shadows boy, I know why you are here." the man said when they nearly reached his house. HE said nothing, and stepped out of the shadows. The man gasped softly.
"A child…" he breathed. The boy before him was no older than his own daughter, far too young to be a manslayer.
HE moved surprisingly fast, and sliced the elder man's arm. The elder man winced some, and jumped back while unsheathing his sword.
"I have only one request. It is me you were sent to kill, so kill only me. Leave my daughter unharmed. She should not have to lose her life due to the sins of my past." the elder man spoke quietly when he noticed his daughter at the door of his house. HE was surprised by this request, but nodded his agreement.
The former samurai and the Hitokiri faced off before the eyes of the young girl, no older then the young Hitokiri himself. The former samurai sighed as he watched his young opponent with sad eyes.
"I was once like you. A manslayer, a man who killed without remorse or even anger. A man with a frozen heart." the samurai spoke. HE said nothing, and attacked without hesitation.
HE came in from the side slashing at the elder samurai's back. HE failed, the samurai read him like a book and blocked. HE didn't give the man time to find an opening though, and quickly slashed at the man's head, chest, and abdomen only to be parried almost strike for strike. Taking advantage of his size, he tried for a low stab to the groin area, but was blocked. He slipped on the wet ground, but didn't waver. The damage was done though, and the elder samurai used the opening to strike the younger Hitokiri's side.
The little girl watched all this with fear, and slight interest. She gasped softly whenever either fighter got hit. HE noticed, but didn't let it distract him. The older man ignored her it seemed. His earlier hesitation seemed to have vanished in the thick of the fright. HE had to end it now, too much time had been wasted already.
HE backed up, and sheathed his sword. The samurai did the same. They stood in a stalemate, waiting, watching. Which would move first, which would give an opening? Neither knew, but both knew it came down to who was the faster man. Lightening lid up the sky. The little girl shivered, but neither fighter before her seemed phased by the thunder.
With the next strike of thunder the two men launched at each other. The samurai hesitated, and knew he had lost. The young Hitokiri buried his sword in the man's stomach. The Hitokiri turned, disappearing into the darkness. The strangled cry of pain was the last thing he heard as he walked off.
"She watched the whole time, even as this one plunged his sword into the old man's stomach. Only after this one left did this one feel the strange throbbing in my chest, that I did." Kenshin said, finishing the tale with a sad, pained look on his face.
"I-" Kaoru began, but was interrupted by a door opening.
"Mama?" Kenji murmured walking out of his room, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Kaoru smiled, and went to pick up their five year old son.
"Good morning sweetie." she said softly to the little boy.
"I was going to say, perhaps you're thinking about the past too much lately. Maybe you need some distraction. We should go to the spring festival this afternoon." Kaoru said, sitting her son down with a bowl of rice.
"Perhaps you're right, this one has been doing a lot of thinking lately. Let's go to the summer festival, this one would like that." Kenshin agreed.
~Time has passed~
Kenshin, Kaoru and Kenji walked through the beautifully decorated streets of Tokyo toward the center of the city, where many stalls had been set up. Stalls with foods for everyone to try, stalls with games for the little ones like catching goldfish which the children would get to keep and many other games. All to celebrate that the spring had come and to honor the gods.
People from everywhere came to Tokyo for this festival. They would come from as far away as Holland in Europe, to witness this festival. As every year the city was bustling with life, and happiness. Kenshin smiled as his son walked in between him, and Kaoru looking around excitedly.
"See anything you'd like to do, Kenji?" Kenshin asked, laughing as Kenji tugged at his mother's kimono to get her attention. Kaoru smiled, and let her son pull her over to the goldfish game.
"Hey Kenshin!" came a voice from the crowd. Kenshin turned around, and smiled when he saw Yahiko run up to him.
"Hello Yahiko, enjoying the festival with Tsubame-dono?" Kenshin asked warmly. Yahiko blushed faintly and nodded.
"So where's Kenji and Kaoru?" Yahiko asked looking around.
"Over there by the goldfish game." Kenshin chuckled as he turned back and saw Kaoru keep Kenji from running right over to the goldfish and explained the game again.
"So where's-" Kenshin began only to be stopped when someone pushed him out of the way. He blinked confusedly, then frowned as more people brushed past him, and he heard the sounds of swords clashing.
In a matter of seconds the happy festival goers panicked, and ran every which way to avoid the fights that broke out following the fighting group of men who passed them.
"KAORU! KENJI!" Kenshin called trying to get past the fleeing people, and grabbing Kaoru's hand pulling her to him. They were forced to go with the mass of people until they reached an intersection where they could escape the fleeing mass.
"Where's Kenji!" Kaoru cried looking around worriedly.
"Kaoru go to the akabeko, and stay there. Kenji knows to go to the Akabeko if he gets lost. This one will go, and find him." Kenshin said before disappearing into the mass of people to look for his son.
It took him a long time to reach the area where once the fish game had been and now dead fish lay among broken glass. He looked around hoping to find his son cowering away under a table somewhere, but found only the boy's shoe on the ground a few miles from the fishing game. He continued to follow the directions he got from fleeing people. He got much useful information on the ones fighting. Supposedly one young man, and seven or eight elder men identified as assassins.
Kenshin was soon at the edge of the city. A man sat there holding a piece of fabric. He was injured badly.
"Sir that fabric, did you see where it came from?" he asked the man as he helped him back into the city and to a doctor.
"A child, a boy with red hair. She had him in her arms suddenly. I imagine my companions will kill him if they catch her." the man said, his face clouded with remorse.
"This one will stop them." Kenshin said when he left the man in the care of the doctor and rushed to the edge of town again. The man had told him they were headed east from there trying to trap their target, but the girl was fast, and light on her feet. She easily avoided every blow, and protected Kenji while she did so.
~Somewhere east of Tokyo~
"Stop crying you little brat, or I will kill you in their place." she hissed slashing a guy in the chest. Kenji whimpered, and tried to stop crying.
"Get her!" the assassins cried.
The woman holding him wore a plain crimson kimono, wooden slippers. Her hair was dark brown as opposed to most Asian people, and almond shaped onyx eyes. Her face showed some aging.
She gasped some, and dodged another slash at the boy by tossing him into the air, and parrying the strike before catching him again.
'I-I'm not as fast as I used to be…' she thought jumping back and pulling out some smoke bombs, and throwing them at the assassins.
"Damn! Don't let her get away!" they screamed. She giggled quietly, watching them run around from her spot in a tree not two feet from where she'd been standing earlier. She had Kenji sitting on her lap, with her hand over his mouth to keep him silent.
Once they were gone she jumped down, and put the boy on her shoulders since he missed a sandal.
"What's your name kid?" she said smiling up at him.
"Kenji." Kenji said not happy with being carried. The lady didn't seem to care much, and carried him to a small house just outside of the city. Once there she set him down on the bed.
"You hungry?" she asked.
"I have to go home." Kenji said climbing off the bed, and walking to the door.
"You'll stay here for the night, tomorrow we'll go back to the city and find your parents." the lady said. Kenji looked at her angry, but since the handle of the door was out of his reach he couldn't leave.
Soon the smell of food filled the little house, and Kenji who'd been sulking about his predicament couldn't help but feel hungry now. He tried his hardest, but eventually he gave in and ran to the table to eat. He'd lost his fear a few hours earlier when it became clear she meant what she said. She'd even asked about his parents' names, and where he lived if he knew that.
~Later that evening~
Kenji sighed softly. He lay on the lady's bed and had fallen asleep about an hour after claiming he wasn't going to. The lady smiled at him and covered him with her blanket.
"Sleep little one, tomorrow we will have a long day ahead. Your parents will probably worry and be looking for you.
~At the Kamiya dojo~
Kenshin sat out on the front porch. He stared at the door sadly. He'd searched all day and well into the night, but there was no trail of the woman. He found the men chasing her, but they had lost her. They could at least tell him that his son was still alive. They'd been quite helpful once he mentioned he was once known as Battōsai the manslayer.
Sighing softly he stared at the sky.
"It wasn't your fault Kenshin, you did what you could. We'll find him. I'm sure of it." Kaoru said joining him. Neither of them could sleep, so they sat on the porch hoping that their child would be okay.
Okay, this is chapter one. I'm going to try and make chapter 2 soon. If anyone has any hints on how to make the action scenes more…action-y and the fighting scenes look more…uhm like a fighting scene I'd would love to hear from you and see some examples.