Chapter 12

Sword That Will Not Lose

            "My lord, Takoya has returned."

            "Good. Let him in."

            Takoya entered the room and went straight to the front of the man sitting on the raised platform before kneeling in front of him. Then Takoya looked at him. For a shogun, the man's quite young, only a few years older than Takoya. This, and the fact that the young shogun was also a skilled swordsman and brilliant strategist, Takoya knew that the shogun could have led the battle to stop the rebellion himself.

            "I hope you bring good news."

            Takoya quickly pushed away his wondering thought.

            "Yes. I have killed the rebel leader."

            "How about the others?" The question was from the aide who sat to the shogun's left.

            "They have abandoned the rebellion and returned to their homes."

            "You're supposed to annihilate them!"

            "Honda-san, my order is to stop the rebellion at all cost and using any method that's effective. That's all. And I have carried out the order."

            "What did you do? Ask their leader to a personal match to determine the outcome of the war?"

            Takoya's silence confirmed Honda's question. Honda turned toward the shogun who watched the whole exchange quietly.

            "My lord, according to the book of the thirty-six stratagems written by the Chinese, we should bolt the door so that the thief can not get away. Takoya-san failed to do that."

            The shogun sighed mentally. He really didn't agree with Takoya's action, nor does he like his senior advisor's tendency to use colorful phrases.

            "I do recall that my order doesn't mention anything about Takoya having to do anything other than stopping the rebellion, nor did I tell him about what methods he could use."

            "But my lord, think about the implications…"

            "Doesn't the book also say about letting the enemy off in order to subdue him easily?"

            "Yes. But Takoya also could have lost the fight with Hideshi."

            "Could. Not have. A huge difference. Now, all of you please leave the room so that the two of us can be alone for a while?"

            "But my lord…"

            "Now!"

            Everybody in the room except the Shogun and Takoya left. Takoya had a questioning look on him. The look was greeted with a wry smile.

            "So, Takoya, how long have you been thinking about retiring?"

            "You… you…"

            "I feel insulted. We grew up together, remember? The title doesn't change anything between us, as long as you don't let it."

            "I wouldn't, Ryo."

            Silence interrupted their conversation, with each one of them deep in their thoughts. One of them was thinking about wanting to spend his life in peace while the other was thinking about the effects of the action's of his friend's thinking will have on the moral of the army. Finally Ryo spoke.

            "You know about this sword," he said while pointing to one of the swords on the sword rack on his left."

            "Yes. It once belonged to Amakusa, and when your ancestor defeated him, the sword was taken as a token of victory, and a reminder to your family to be always ready to lead the army."

            "Good. Unfortunately the story is wrong. Amakusa's sword was broken during the fight with my ancestor who used this sword. The sword of heaven."

            "Tenken?"

            "My ancestor crafted it using the metal from heaven."

            Takoya listened attentively when he realized that something was wrong.

 "Why are you telling me all this?"

            "You may be the first person outside my lineage to know this or you may not."

            Takoya instinctively raised and put his right hand on the hilt of his sword while Ryo casually took the sword off the rack and got down from the platform where he normally sat.

            "Ryo…"

            "I know why you wanted to do it, so you should also understand my position."

            Takoya watched his friend silently.

            "To the death?"

            "No. Only one strike with full power."

            Both of them assumed battou-jutsu stance and began to move quietly toward each other, watching each other for an opening. At last they finally got into the striking range of each other and they kept watching. Suddenly the door leading to the room was opened. There were flashes in the two opponents' eyes and a deafening clash filled the room. Blood sprayed the ceiling while a broken blade was embedded on the wall. A few seconds later a woman's scream filled the room.

            "Oi! Busu! Get up! Not only you're ugly, but you're also lazy. We're late for practice. Now get up before your face gets uglier."

            Kaoru promptly woke up and chased after the ex-pickpocket who already had a head start with a bokken.

            "Yahiko! Wait till I get you! I'm going to beat your face to the ground."

            While chasing Yahiko, suddenly a voice called her.

            "Kaoru-dono."

            "Wait a minute Kenshin, I almost got him."

            "Kaoru-dono."

            "Please wait."

            Suddenly a pair of hands held her shoulders and shook her.

            "Kaoru-dono, please wake up."

            Kaoru's eyes fluttered open. A fuzzy image of someone shaking her shoulders filled her view. Then the image got sharper as Kaoru realized that Soujiro was looking at her with a bit of concern.

            "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

            "No," Soujiro answered. "I was already awake when I heard you shouting in your sleep."

            Kaoru's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Then their conversation came to an abrupt end as Kaoru got up and prepared herself for the day's training.

            Soujiro shook his head watching Kaoru perform the attack. Although the technique is good enough, considering that the technique is defensive in nature, Soujiro felt that Kaoru wasted time and energy by making a small mistake by bending her arms a little slow while swinging down her shinai. A mistake which was imperceptible to all but experienced hitokiris.

            "Put more effort into the attack. I can detect from the swing that you didn't put your mind into it totally. Instead, you hesitated and that causes the attack to slightly slow in the execution.

            "But I have tried my best and put everything into it.

            "Soujiro, your mind is not into the attack. Your attack is pathetic! How can you become strong if you can't concentrate in a fight? Do you want to be weak? Like those you have killed in the village. They were weak. Do you want to be like them?"

            "No Shishio-sama I want to be strong!"

"You're wrong, Kaoru-dono. You didn't try your best, nor did you put everything into your attack. Even Ken-san and I are unable to do that.

"No. That's quite wrong. Repeat it.

"Understood.

"Carrying your shinai in that manner will be disadvantageous to yourself.

"Sorry. I will not forget.

"Swing it harder!"

"Yes.

            "Not good enough! Remember what I told you about hesitating in your attack a few days ago."

            "I will repeat the attack."

            Kaoru coughed for air to fill her lungs. She could feel her body trembling from the strain the run put on her body. Soujiro had told her to sprint at her full speed, telling her not to stop until he told her to. The run she endured on the first day was never as hard as this one. And Soujiro seemed to be very involved in her training since then, sometimes displaying expressions and behaviors that were beyond her reasoning. As if…

            "You must run faster, Kaoru-dono."

            "But I have sprinted non-stop for almost an hour and now I can't even move my legs properly."

            "Stop for a second and the wolves will be able to catch you. Without a weapon with you, the wolves will tear you apart. Run, boy! Run! Do not stop your run if you still value your life. If you're lucky, the wolves will finally leave you alone. Hahahahaha."

            "You're just lazy, woman!" Soujiro shouted in anger.

            Kaoru's eyes widened. Soujiro's always quite serious whenever she trained under his supervision, as if he's training her to become a super being or something. But today he snapped and shouted at her. Then it hit her. He has endured harsh training to achieve his potential, as was Kenshin. Kenshin. This may be the reason why Kenshin doesn't want to train her, although being asked repeatedly. He doesn't want her to experience all this. Extreme tiredness. Muscle spasms. Dehydration. Body pushed to the breaking limit. She watched as the expression on Soujiro's face changed into an apologetic one.

            "Sorry. I… I was…"

            "I understand," she interrupted with a smile. "I will run again, faster this time."

            "You should take a rest now."

            "No. I'll do that later. Thank you for being strict with me. I really needed that after all these recent years."

            Soujiro watched as Kaoru began her sprint, noting the increase in speed and determination.

"Come in Misao."        

Misao entered the room, trying to guess why Aoshi called for her during night time, something he didn't normally do. Then again, he didn't call for her during daytime, either. It was her who always approached him. So what he must be about to tell her must be very important. Misao tingled with excitement. She could see clearly where Aoshi sat, looking intently at the paper in his hand.

"Sit down."

Misao took her place directly in front of him, with only a low table separated the two of them.

"Do you know why I asked for you?"

"Yes. You wanted to pledge your undying love to me and wanting me to say the same to you," she thought dreamily to herself.

"What did you say?"

Misao began to get nervous as Aoshi lowered the paper to stare at her. Sweats began trickling down her head.

"Uh… Nothing. I didn't say anything." "Please, Kami-sama. Don't let him hear what I may have said just now."

The change of look on Aoshi's face showed that he seemed to be satisfied with her answer. He handed her the paper he was reading.

"This…"

"Investigate this man. I want to confirm whether the report is correct."

Misao took the paper from his hand and began to read it. A foreigner was going around Japan, defeating several fighters and killing a few of them, not caring whether they were from the Shogunate or an Imperialist. He seems to be a street fighter, utilizing only his hands to defeat his opponents. The strength the foreigner displayed seems to be almost equal to…

"Equal to Anji?"

"Yes. Or you can also say that his strength may equal Sagara's. But comparing their strength is not my concern now. What is more important is that the report is confirmed. That's why I'm sending you. If possible, find out his motives as well. It may be useful in determining where he stands in the problem."

"Problem?"

Aoshi's silence reminded her that to know more may not be good for her.

"I'm sorry. I will leave tomorrow in the morning."

Misao got up and began to walk toward the door when Aoshi's voice stopped her.

"Be careful."

She turned and smiled briefly at him.

"I will."

As Misao closed the door behind her, Aoshi took out two pieces of papers and read them. He wondered why the reports stated that Battousai and Kamiya are spotted in different locations at the same time. Perhaps Battousai was already involved in the matter, he thought. Aoshi decided that he will ask Misao to go and find out what was going on between the two once she has finished her assignment. Then he remembered something and took out an empty piece of paper and began to write on it.

Kaoru gasped as Soujiro disappeared from her view. Only footmarks left by him are visible in the clearing around her. Kaoru closed her eyes while her hands hold the shinai tightly as she tried to determine where he was by using the sound of his steps. But it was futile. There were sounds of footsteps from everywhere.

            "It was quite impossible to detect me by the sounds of my steps, Kaoru-dono," Soujiro's voice suddenly appeared from her left.

            Kaoru gritted and swung her shinai in that direction. Only empty air awaited her attack.

            "In some battles, you have to use your mind and instinct to be able to guess correctly what and how the enemy will take action, thus react accordingly."

            Kaoru attacked upwards, but Soujiro was not there either.

            "Most people emit kenki that allows you to have a general understanding of how they think and what type of attack they will use."

            A shove to her back sent Kaoru tumbling to the ground. She quickly got up and saw Soujiro walking to the place where he kept his sword. Kaoru followed suit.

            "That's all for today."

            "What day? It's already night."  "I shall prepare dinner."

            "There's no need for that."

            "Why?"

            "I've already done that while you were trying to detect where I was. See? The soup is already boiling."

            "But…"

            "If you opened your eyes just now you would have seen me sitting here, cutting the ingredients."

            "……"

            They had their dinner quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. As Soujiro finished his meal, he saw that Kaoru, who finished earlier gazing skyward. He glanced in the direction where she was watching.

            "The moon is crescent-shaped tonight."

            "Yes." Kaoru shifted her attention to Soujiro.

"Kaoru-dono, as much as I enjoyed supervising your training, I'm afraid we have to go our own separate way tomorrow."

"But why?"

"I have told you about by my ongoing quest. But don't worry. Judging from your progress, I think you're able to manage your training on your own."

            "Soujiro… I like to thank you for teaching me."

            "You're welcome."

            A few moments of uneasy silence passed before Kaoru spoke again.

            "Soujiro…"

            "Yes?"

            "Remember about the other day when I attacked you with your eyes blindfolded and you evaded my attack easily? I would like to know how you managed to read what my moves were. I still haven't figured out how you did that after all this time."

            "Your sword is a sword that will not lose."

            "Eh?"

            "Look at your shinai."

            Kaoru did as told.

            "I still don't understand."

            "Can you gain proficiency in using it just by looking at it?"

            "No."

            "Then, telling you the answer without you finding its meaning by yourself would be like trying to teach sword techniques to someone without letting him practice the moves. He can describe them, but that's all he can do. So, unless you find out its meaning by yourself, you will not be able to fully understand its strengths and weaknesses. When you do understand its meaning, you'll also be able to differentiate it and the sword that hungers for victory."

Soujiro lied down to sleep, leaving the woman staring at the shinai questioningly.

Author :

Sorry for being missing in action for quite some time. I had some problems with this story (I lost all of my rough drafts and idea sketches from chapter 12 and above as my files suddenly went dead on me, including the backups.) Then there were those personal problems.

Yep, Jason, as you can see, this chapter is already quite different from the previous built.

Editor:

Truly, Terry's best piece of work to date.  An absolute must read. A+++