Chapter Ten: Ghosts of the Revolution
For a few, long moments, Kenshin and Tetsunosuke stood frozen before the waiting Hajime Saito.
"What's wrong, you two? Are you just going to stand there and let the girl get caught in the Gatotsu?" Saito questioned; getting a soft growl from Tetsunosuke from his right, and a silent stare from Kenshin for the comment. Without saying a word, Kenshin started to move forward, but was prevented from doing so when Kaoru gently grabbed the sleeve of his gi to stop him.
"Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin murmured, understanding what the girl wanted to say when he saw he uncertain look.
"It'll be fine, right?" Kaoru quietly asked, as she gave both rurouni a concerned glance.
"Either way, Kaoru-san, it's life he's after...The fight can't be avoided." Tetsunosuke stated, calmly.
"Still...either way...it somehow feels...as though you two won't be here with us, after this." Kaoru said, getting calm smiles from both of the men for that.
"For some reason, I feel the same way, Kaoru-san." Tetsunosuke agreed, as he put aside his foreboding, and braced himself for the coming fight.
"Come." Saito ordered, getting glares from both rurouni.
"Aren't you the challenger?" Kenshin asked. Saito snorted in contempt, then returned to his Gatotsu stance.
"Fair enough...I'LL BEGIN!!" Saito shouted, as he charged at Kenshin first, then swiped at Tetsunosuke when the younger Wolf attacked from the side. With a deft leap, Tetsunosuke dodged Saito's slash, then crossed his two blades in front of his face; forming a steel 'X' in front of him.
"Nibai Okami Kiba!" Tetsunosuke howled, snarling when his blades met those of Saito's.
"He's become quite strong in the past ten years...But not strong enough." Saito mused, as he freed his katana from Tetsu's twin blades, and slashed him across the chest.
"Tetsu!" Kaoru, Yahiko, and Yutaro shouted, alarmed when they saw blood gush from the younger rurouni's chest.
"D-don't worry about me! Stay where you are!" Tetsunosuke shouted, when it seemed to him that the two boys were about to rush to his side. He turned when he heard the sound of steel sinking into flesh, and heard Kaoru's horrified cry when Saito's Gatotsu Zero-Shiki connected with Kenshin's side; pinning Kenshin to the wall. With rage taking over reason, Tetsunosuke got to his feet again, sheathed one of his katana, and prepared to launch one of his other attacks.
"You turned your waist to avoid the point...A quicker reaction than expected. Still...Not good enough!" Saito snarled, as he freed his katana from Kenshin's abdomen, gashed the smaller man's chest, and kicked him from midair as he fell. The older rurouni hit the floor hard, skidded a little ways before stopping, and struggled into a kneeling position.
"Saito..." Tetsunosuke growled, "Don't forget about this 'worthless rurouni' either." Saito had no sooner turned when he saw a red blur heading his way, and felt the tip of a katana sink into his waist.
"You..." Saito growled, his amber eyes narrowing in fury when he saw the look in Tetsunosuke's now blood-red gaze.
"Yes. I realize that fighting like this, against you, ten years ago, would have meant seppuku...But we are no longer in the Shinsengumi. My life is mine to live as I please...And the choice is mine to give it however I wish. I can protect people now, that I wouldn't have been able to before...Thanks to the strength the Shinsengumi gave me...and the horrible tragedies that I saw happen within their ranks. I've just found something to live for again, after so long...and I am not going to let you take it from me." Tetsunosuke murmured, as he gave Kaoru and both boys a meaningful look, and as the former Third Unit Captain snarled at his audacity.
"You wouldn't deserve seppuku, even if you asked for it. I'll just kill you here and now, like the traitorous dog you are." Saito said, then forcefully knocked Tetsunosuke back away from him, removed the younger wolf's sword from his side, and flew into a Gatotsu that would have ended his life, were it not for Kenshin returning to the fight before it could land. The loud sound of metal striking metal filled the dojo; muffling the sound of Tetsunosuke's impact with one of the walls.
"Useless effort!" Saito roared, then knocked Kenshin into the same wall.
"So strong...Stronger than I remember..." Tetsunosuke thought, blearily turning his head when he heard Kenshin land next to him.
"Tetsu-kun." Kenshin said, quietly, not even turning his head to look at him as he spoke.
"What?" Tetsunosuke asked, foggily.
"Leave the rest to me." Kenshin said, then added, "Stay out of this, from here on out."
"Okay." Tetsunosuke softly agreed, wincing a little when his back protested against any movement, and when Kaoru shouted their names in alarm, and rushed over.
"Tetsu! Kenshin!" Kaoru cried, as she got closer; yet paused when she noticed what Tetsunosuke had missed because of his dazed condition; Kenshin's eyes had changed color again.
"Amber eyes..." Kaoru thought, before Saito's voice brought her out of her musings.
"Move, little girl." Saito demanded, glaring at her when she turned to him and stubbornly stood her ground, "Get out of the way." With a shake of her head, Kaoru continued to silently stare Saito down...until a hand gripped her shoulder.
"Kaoru-dono...see if you can move Tetsu-kun." Kenshin whispered, then gave Saito a cold glare, "Let's go."
"Kenshin..." Kaoru muttered, as she watched the other rurouni move to stand in front of Saito. Then she returned her attention to Tetsunosuke. The younger rurouni still looked a little woozy from having been knocked into a wall at full speed, but appeared to be aware enough to allow her to help him get to his feet. They both looked up when they heard Kenshin charge at Saito, and were as amazed by the increase in speed as Saito appeared to be.
"He's gotten faster..." Saito thought, as he launched another Gatotsu...only to have Kenshin disappear right before his eyes.
"Gone?.!" Saito added, before the flash of a blade forced him to look down and kick Kenshin away from him in almost a panic.
"What's the matter, Saito? Did he get a little too close for comfort?" Tetsunosuke asked, jokingly, as Kaoru gave him a disbelieving look. Kenshin was fighting for his life, and here he was, taunting the man who was threatening it?.!
"What is he..." Kaoru's mind shouted, her outrage turning into bewilderment when she saw that Tetsunosuke's eyes had also changed. No longer was he the calm and sometimes haunted former Wolf of Mibu...now, he had almost the same look in his eye that Saito now had. The crimson eyes were now tinged with bright gold; almost like autumn leaves shining in sunlight.
"I don't need any input from you, Ichimura." Saito grumbled, as Kenshin got to his feet across from him, and gave him a look that would have even frozen a demon in it's tracks. Tetsunosuke shrugged, then removed himself from Kaoru's shoulder; nodding politely to her as he did so.
"Tetsu?" Kaoru wondered, when she saw that there had been no recognition in the younger man's eyes.
"Could it be...? Could they have both reverted to their true selves?" Saito mused, then added, "As the Battousai battles me, he reenters his soul of ten years ago...he becomes who he had been. And Tetsunosuke is acting as he had back then, as well...As the Shinsengumi's 'Peacemaker'..."
"There's only one way to determine whether or not the Battousai has returned... use the true Gatotsu. From here on out, there is no holding back!" Saito murmured, as he readjusted his stance, then shot a warning glance at Tetsunosuke.
"Don't stand in my way, Peacemaker." Saito warned.
"You've already knocked the shit out of me, Saito...I'm barely standing on my own, as it is." Tetsunosuke replied, grimacing as he braced himself with one arm as he bent to retrieve his fallen sword. Saito smirked at that, then said nothing more as he prepared to send the perfected version of his attack at the man that now stood before him. As the other ex-Shinsengumi unleashed his attack on Kenshin again, Kaoru could only stare at Tetsunosuke. The man that now stood beside her wasn't the Ichimura Tetsunosuke that she had come to know; this man was strong and self-assured, despite the wounds Saito had given him earlier in the fight. There was even a certain amount of cunning in his bright red eyes that had not been there before.
"No two ways about it...This isn't the same Tetsunosuke Kenshin and I had found that night. Who on earth was the Peacemaker, anyway?" Kaoru wondered, snapping to attention when she heard Saito go through a wall with a tremendous crash.
"Damn! He turned as he dodged...filling his blow with centrifugal force!" Yutaro shouted, amazed by the prowess that he'd just seen.
"Got that right. I can only say that I am glad it isn't me facing that man right now." Tetsunosuke added, sounding honestly relieved about that.
"Why do you say that?" Kaoru asked.
"Lady, I wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against Kyoto's worst nightmare." Tetsunosuke amended, honestly.
"However strong Gatotsu may be, when it's shown four times in a few minutes, any idiot can come up with a few ways to counter it." Kenshin said, the hard edge in his voice signaling that he too was in a completely different mindset, "Get up Saito. A ten-year duel can't end this quietly." He was answered by some chuckling from Saito, as he slowly made his way back into the training hall.
"My orders are to evaluate your strength...But I don't care about them now...I will now kill you." Saito growled, as blood dripped down his face from an injury to his forehead, and from the corners of his mouth.
"Quit posing. You know I'm the one who will kill you." Battousai softly retorted, as a chill traveled down Kaoru's spine, and as her legs collapsed out from under her.
"Stop...Someone stop them...or the Kenshin we know will be gone!" Kaoru muttered, then silently added, "And the Tetsunosuke we've come to know as well!"
"Somebody stop them!" Kaoru screamed, tearfully, her words suddenly spurring the man at her side into action.
"Tetsu!.?" Yutaro and Yahiko yelped, as the other rurouni left Kaoru's side.
"What have I...Why was I just standing there?.! I've got to try and stop this! If I don't, then Saito-san and Kenshin will both die!" Tetsunosuke thought, as the shriek of steel on steel again sounded within the dojo.
"What?.?.!" Battousai and Saito snarled, as Tetsunosuke got inbetween them, and held them apart with his swords.
"Get out of the way, Page of Hijikata Toshizo. You have no place in this fight." Battousai growled, as his enraged amber gaze pierced through the younger swordsman's already injured frame.
"Move aside, unless you want to be branded as a traitor and share in Yamanami's fate." Saito threatened, in a tone that chilled and burned Tetsunosuke right to his core.
"Hang on, Tetsu! Help is coming! Just hang on!" Okita's voice shouted, in the back of Tetsunosuke's mind.
"I certainly hope so, Okita-san...I can't hold them off for too much longer!" Tetsunosuke replied, uttering a strangled cry when he felt his arms give out from under all the pressure that was being put on them, and both fighters threw him to the side and continued their duel; not even giving him a second glance as they did so.
"Sorry, Okita-san. I couldn't hold them..." Tetsunosuke thought, as he struggled to get back to where she was standing.
"Tetsu..." Kaoru murmured, tearfully.
"G-gomen. I couldn't..." Tetsunosuke managed, from between gasps.
"Are you back to your usual self again, Tetsu?" Yutaro asked, worriedly. The other rurouni nodded.
"I think so...but I still don't know what had caused it..." Tetsunosuke replied.
"Whoa...Kenshin looks out of his mind!" Yahiko muttered, as he stared at the now-amber-eyed man in disbelief.
"You're wrong! That's not Kenshin! That's Hitokiri Battousai!" Kaoru shouted, as confusion appeared on Yahiko's face, and as disbelief showed itself on Yutaro's.
"He's Battousai again!" Kaoru screamed, as she grabbed Yahiko by his shoulders and shook him.
"I don't get it..." Yahiko said, confusedly.
"His mind's reverted to who he was before he started wandering." Tetsunosuke murmured, then added, "Just as my own mind had done, a little bit ago."
"What brought you back, Tetsu?" Yutaro questioned; hoping to find an answer so they could bring Kenshin out of his madness.
"Kaoru-san's voice, and her words, brought me back to the here and now...But I don't think it'll work for Kenshin." Tetsunosuke replied, startled when another voice agreed with him.
"Yeah...That ain't gonna happen so easily." Sanosuke said, as he and Megumi entered the dojo; the street fighter leaning heavily on the female doctor's shoulder as he walked.
"Sanosuke!" the four yelped, surprised to see him finally conscious.
"We can't stop those two. Kenshin and his foe...they're back in Kyoto during the Bakumatsu...not Tokyo in Meiji. Our voices won't reach them, no matter how loud we call." Sanosuke stated, grimly.
"The only one who can stop this fight is someone who lived through the Bakumatsu...Someone who had experienced the havoc in Kyoto." Tetsunosuke added, as he placed a hand to his bleeding chest and grimaced.
"What about you, Tetsu? Can't you do it?" Yahiko asked. Tetsunosuke shook his head.
"My voice has changed too much in the ten years since the end of the Bakumatsu. Even Saito wouldn't recognize it as being my own, now." Tetsunosuke said, then added, "And Kenshin wouldn't have had the opportunity to have met me when I was younger, so he wouldn't know my voice at all, in this state."
"He's using Gatotsu again!" Yutaro shouted, as the taller warrior charged at Kenshin again.
"The Shinsengumi never did know when to withdraw." Battousai muttered, irritably. Saito uttered a real growl under his breath, before replying.
"The first rule of the Shinsengumi...'Act in a manner befitting a samurai'!" Saito snarled, "Fleeing an enemy proves your lack of determination!" With barely even a batted eyelash, Kenshin knocked the sword from Saito's hands with his left fist.
"With his bare hands!" Megumi yelped, shocked at this development.
"If he used his sword, he'd create an avenue for attack." Sanosuke quietly noted.
"You seem to know quite a bit about this, Sano." Tetsunosuke said, getting a very slight shrug from the ex-street brawler in answer to it.
"I'd seen a few swordfights while traveling with the Sekihoutai, so I know what to expect." Sanosuke replied, his tone far more subdued than what his friends were used to hearing.
"So, you choose your pride as Shinsengumi over your life. Works for me." Battousai intoned, as he swept his sword downwards in an attempt to dispatch Saito, only to have it knocked from his own hand with the belt from his opponent's uniform!
"I have you!" Saito roared, as he let loose some lightning fast punches that had Kenshin gagging up blood in seconds.
"Ken-san!" Megumi cried, horrified by what was going on in front of her.
"He's got no chance without a sword!" Sanosuke shouted, gritting his teeth when the maddened police officer removed his jacket, and wrapped it around Kenshin's neck.
"Damn!" Tetsunosuke mentally growled, as he struggled unsuccessfully to get back to his feet.
"This is the end!" Saito growled, as he hefted Kenshin above his head, and started tightening his grip on the cloth noose.
"He's going to strangle him to death!" Yahiko shouted, in alarm.
"No...Nothing so passive...He's trying to break his neck." Tetsunosuke muttered, "And I can do nothing to stop it..." They were all surprised, yet again, when Kenshin somehow freed himself from Saito's deathgrip, and they both stood panting in front of one another before they flew towards each other again.
"STOP THIS!!" an authoritative voice shouted, startling all who were within the building into looking at the now-open door at the speaker.
"Snap out of it, Saito! Your mission was to evaluate Battousai's strength!" the stranger continued, his words having the desired effect on the two fighters as they skidded to a halt, and directed their glares towards him.
"This is what I have lived for. I cannot allow even the super-intendant-general to interfere." Saito growled, with a smirk that showed he was starting to return to his senses.
"I know very well of your pride as Shinsengumi, but I don't want you or Himura to waste your lives here." another voice murmured, as its' owner entered the dojo.
"...I see, so you are the one behind Saito Hajime...Former warrior of the Satsuma prefecture, now Chief of Internal Affairs for the Meiji government, Okubo Toshimichi." Battousai added, as looks of confusion and surprise came from all of those within the building.
"I'm sorry to resort to such crude methods...but we had to know the extent of your abilities." Okubo murmured, apologetically, then asked, "Will you talk with me?"
"Sure. I'd like nothing better." Battousai agreed, coolly.
"Feh. The best duel I've had in years, and suddenly it's a conversation." Saito grumbled, irritably, as he picked up his coat again, and slung it over his shoulder. Before he walked out, however, he did one thing that mystified Kaoru and the rest; he offered a hand to the downed Tetsunosuke, and helped him get to his feet.
"We'll have to wait for another opportunity to duel." Saito muttered.
"You're lucky." Battousai growled, to the retreating man's back. Saito paused, looked over his shoulder, and smirked back at him.
"You are!" Saito retorted, then continued walking.
"Saito! Mission report!" the super-intendant-general demanded.
"Himura Kenshin is useless...But Himura Battousai may still have something to offer." Saito murmured, before he walked out into the night; disappearing into the shadows once again.
"That man...He's the best spy in the police force...but I never know what he's thinking." the super-intendant general muttered, as he watched the Wolf go.
"And you never will. He's as much an enigma now, as he was when he was the captain of the Third Unit." Tetsunosuke said, still looking in the direction Saito had gone with confusion on his youthful features. Then he sighed and shook his head. Even if he understood the meaning behind Saito's actions this evening, it still wouldn't make the older Wolf's motives any clearer.
"As Tou-san used to say...Let sleeping dogs lie." Tetsunosuke mused, as he turned to look at the man that had just arrived. Okubo returned his and Battousai's gazes evenly.
"I have a carriage waiting outside. Come with us." Okubo offered, getting a stubborn refusal from Kenshin as his answer.
"Not a chance. I'm not alone in this." Battousai replied, his own words seeming to make him realize something as his eyes widened, and he stiffened a little bit.
"Kenshin?" they all asked, before he roughly punched himself in the forehead.
"This incident has already involved...sessha's friends. You will talk with us all here." Kenshin demanded, as he looked at Okubo again; his eyes their usual purple hue once more. Tetsunosuke chuckled when Kaoru ecstatically grabbed Kenshin from behind in what could only be called a 'flying tackle', only to have Kenshin pass out with a pained 'Oro' in her arms.
"Such is life in this dojo..." Tetsunosuke thought, as he gave the group a bemused look, then limped over to Megumi so he could also have his own wounds looked at.
"Okubo-sama?" the super-intendant general asked, as he gave the higher-ranking man an uncertain look. Okubo nodded.
"We'll do as he says. We need Himura's strength right now..." Okubo murmured, the amusing scene seeming to not reach him as his thoughts turned to a darker, more dangerous subject...
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
When all of the wounds had been properly tended to, they all found themselves seated in front of Okubo.
"I won't waste any time with discretion, so I will tell you straight out. Himura...In Kyoto, Shishio plots again." Okubo murmured, gravely. Immediately, alarm bells began to sound within Tetsunosuke's mind. And he noticed when Kenshin's posture stiffened as well.
"That's straight out?.! Who the hell's Shishio?.!" Sanosuke asked, impatiently.
"Hey! Watch your mouth!" the super-intendant general snapped, angrily.
"Shishio Makoto. Once sessha emerged from the shadows to fight as a free-striking swordsman against the Shinsengumi and its' allies, Shishio Makoto, another Choshu revolutionary, lived the role of Hitokiri of the Shadows.' In other words, he's the successor to 'Hitokiri Battousai'." Kenshin explained, somberly. Kaoru, Sanosuke, Megumi, Yahiko and Yutaro all stared at Kenshin in shock; Battousai's successor?.!
"We've never heard of him!" Kaoru said, voicing her confusion and that of her companions.
"And there were very vague rumors that were going around at the time when I was in the Shinsengumi." Tetsunosuke murmured, thoughtfully.
"Aa. He worked in the shadows and is almost completely unknown. Even sessha had no direct contact with him...But how could this be? Sessha had heard that Shishio died in the Boshin War ten years ago." Kenshin said, as he gave Okubo and the lower-ranking man a scrutinizing look. A look that the other two men could not meet.
"So, he didn't die, after all. He was erased by his comrades." Tetsunosuke stated, quietly, then added, "A man whose life is a dark secret can be made to disappear into even greater darkness for the good of everyone. It wasn't that hard for either side to do that, during that chaotic age."
"We had...no choice at the time. Shishio Makoto's skill at the sword was as great as yours' Himura. But he also had ambitions and greed beyond imagination. His reason for taking on the task of hitokiri was only to let the revolutionary officers feel his power and presence...completely unlike you, who only wished to fight for your comrades, and for the weak. Some of the assassinations Shishio committed can never be revealed...to do so would turn the Meiji government on its' head. If we'd entered the new age with Shishio alive, he could use that vulnerability to get his hands around this nation's throat." Okubo grimly explained.
"An Achilles Heel, in other words...a weakness only someone with an evil mind would exploit." Tetsunosuke mused aloud, getting a nod from the government official for that.
"So he was killed in the chaos of the Boshin War...wasn't he?" Kenshin questioned.
"Yes. We killed him...or so we thought. We even had oil poured on him and the body burned...But even with his body engulfed in flames, Shishio Makoto survived. And now, he's gathered many battle-mongers who crave blood and flesh, and weapon-merchants who hate the peaceful times; creating a powerful army of soldiers. He's made the dark streets of Kyoto his base, plotting to trigger a war of vengeance that would split this country in two. And it would be split with the secrets of his assassinations...The many troops we had sent to deal with him have all been annihilated. You are our last hope, Himura. Please, for the people of this country, got to Kyoto once again." Okubo pleaded. For a few, long moments, silence reigned, then Kaoru spoke up.
"Does that mean you want...Kenshin to assassinate Shishio Makoto?" Kaoru asked, meekly.
"To put it bluntly, yes." Okubo replied, quietly. This got a number of angry responses from a few of those in the room, (namely Sanosuke and Megumi), but a much calmer response from Yahiko.
"All this talk about Meiji and government...Guess this kid doesn't understand...But I do get that if things had been different, Kenshin would've been the one being erased." Yahiko stated, intelligently.
"Well said, Yahiko-kun." Tetsunosuke agreed, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that that would have happened, had things turned out differently.
"Okubo-sama, I understand that you need 'Hitokiri Battousai' to help you, but Kenshin is no longer a hitokiri. We will never allow Kenshin to leave for Kyoto." Kaoru said, boldly.
"Idiots! Don't you realize how serious this...!" the lower-ranking man shouted, before Okubo called him down.
"Stop, Kawaji." Okubo ordered.
"Okubo-sama?" Kawaji asked, bewildered by his superior's actions to no end.
"We can't expect an answer to such a situation right away." Okubo murmured, then looked at Kenshin, "Please think about it over the week, Himura. A week from now, on the Western 'May 14th' I will return to hear your answer." Okubo said, as he put his coat back on, and prepared to leave.
"Okubo-san..." Kenshin called. Okubo paused and looked back at him.
"You've lost weight, these past ten years." Kenshin murmured, a bit concernedly. Okubo only gave him a wan smile before answering.
"To build a new era...is more difficult than to destroy an old one. Sad but true." Okubo stated, tiredly.
"I'm inclined to believe it, Okubo-sama." Tetsunosuke said, as he watched the official walk towards the door.
"I'll anticipate a favorable reply." Okubo said, before stepping into the darkness...never to return.