Author's note: I'm entering the final stretch now. Please be patient, and please stay with me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or anything else having to do with him. I own Isuzu, Katashi, and Katarou. That's it.

Chapter 13

Once back at the dojo, the group went their different ways, Yahiko to practicing with his shinai, Kaoru to fixing dinner, Sojiro to his room, and Sano and Kenshin to the back porch. Kenshin stared off into the distance, regretting the setting sun.

"Sano?" Kenshin asked the man to his left. "Do you ever regret the end of a day?"

Sano studied Kenshin. He knew exactly what Kenshin was getting at, even though he hadn't said it. "It's ok. We'll break the curse, and you can go back to your normal life."

"But we only have two days left to figure this out. Two days, Sano. It's a little, well, scary," Kenshin admitted, fingering his sakabato.

Sano started, surprised that Kenshin would tell him something like this. Hitokiri Battosai never got scared, and now Kenshin showed that he trusted Sano enough to tell him he was.

"It's fine. We'll get Katashi, Katarou and Isuzu to talk, figure this out, and save you both. And then you can go back to loving Jou-chan, as long as Sojiro doesn't steal her." Sano smirked, getting up. Kenshin whirled around to look at him, but the street fighter was already gone.

Does Sojiro like Kaoru-dono? the rurouni asked. No way.

Maybe?

No, Battosai.

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"Kaoru-kun? Do you need any help?" Sojiro asked, watching Kaoru as she sliced up the fish for dinner. "I'm pretty good at cooking."

"Thanks, Sojiro-kun, but I think I've got this covered," Kaoru said, smiling at him. "Why don't you go watch Yahiko, give him a few tips?"

Sojiro nodded and exited the kitchen, headed towards the dojo. Upon entering, he saw Yahiko, drenched in sweat, on all fours, his right hand still grasping his shinai.

"Yahiko!" Sojiro yelled, rushing forward.

"Kenshin!" Yahiko yelled, standing up and staring at Sojiro for a few seconds before he shook his head and corrected himself. "No. Sojiro. What is it?"

"Are you alright?" Sojiro asked, alarmed. "You look horrible."

Yahiko smirked. "Just training. It's hard to do it by yourself." Yahiko's face lit up. "Hey! Will you fight me? Just a three hit match?"

Sojiro looked taken aback. "What?" Never had he expected this child to ask to fight him. As Shishio's right hand man, if any child had ever asked this, they would be dead in about thirty seconds. Maybe more. Sojiro shook his head, clearing it of these thoughts. Not just a kid, Yahiko. Not Shishio's man, but stuck in Kenshin's body.

Yahiko was still talking. "Well, Kenshin never will, so I figured I'd ask you. I'm a really good fighter, you know. I've taken down a whole bunch of people."

"Like Henya-san," Sojiro said, his face clouding over. Never had he wanted to remember his fallen comrades. "Yes, I know."

Yahiko's face fell, and a sympathetic expression took over for his joy. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you were part of the Juppongatana as well."

"Yeah," Sojiro whispered. "Yeah." A smile appeared on his face. "I'll spar with you, Yahiko, but on one condition."

"What?" Yahiko asked, a smile on his face.

"Loser cleans up after dinner."

"You're on!" Yahiko yelled, grabbing a shinai off of the wall and tossing it towards Sojiro, who surprisingly caught it. "But I'm not holding back!"

Sojiro whipped the sword around, testing its weight, and coming to rest in a ready position, the shinai pointing down. "Neither am I!" Sojiro shouted, just before taking off at a run towards the boy. Yahiko was obviously surprised by this burst of speed, but recovered well. Just before Sojiro met up to the boy, he slowed down greatly, giving Yahiko a chance to see him as he struck out.

Yahiko blocked with ease, attempting to fling Sojiro's sword to the side, but Sojiro held on tight. Using the force that Yahiko had used to push Sojiro's shinai, he swung the sword around, slamming it into Yahiko's side.

Yahiko backed off, coughing slightly. "I'm sorry, Yahiko," Sojiro said, trying to help the child. "I forgot this was practice."

Yahiko nodded before assuming his ready position again. "That was a hit. A valid one, too. Let's do this." With a burst of speed, Yahiko advanced forwards, aiming a hit at Sojiro's head. He ducked, avoiding it easily, and swinging his sword up, he stopped the movement of Yahiko's shinai. Yahiko, however, gave him a smug look before shoving his sword around and hitting Sojiro in the side, just as Sojiro had done in the first round. To his surprise, it hurt quite a bit.

Staggering back and holding his side, Sojiro smirked. "You learn quickly, but now I'm not holding back at all," he said lunging at Yahiko, who jumped up to avoid the shinai. Whipping it to the side, Sojiro attempted to hit the boy, Yahiko narrowly dodging it.

Then, Sojiro brought the sword to his side, assuming the stance for Shukuchi. He's a kid. Remember. This is just practice, Sojiro's mind reminded him, causing Sojiro to shake his head, clearing the death glare from his eyes. Stepping forward towards a confused Yahiko, Sojiro tore the shinai through the air, performing a perfect, but extremely weak Shukuchi.

Yahiko stumbled back, holding his chest. "Wh-what was that?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"Shukuchi," Sojiro answered, feeling slightly sorry for the kid. "I didn't mean to hit you hard. Are you okay?"

"Perfectly," Yahiko answered, giving him a thumbs up and a smile. Nothing gets to him, does it? Sojiro asked himself. His eyes drifted to Yahiko's hand, and he gasped.

Blood was leaking from a cut above Yahiko's chest, presumably from Sojiro's shinai. Rushing forward, Sojiro took a closer look at the wound. There was no way that a shinai should have delivered such a cut with such a weak move.

"Something's wrong," Sojiro said to himself as he examined Yahiko. "Very wrong."

"What?" Yahiko asked, looking down to see the blood. "What happened?" Looking up and at Sojiro, he pointed to his side. "You, too!" Yahiko said, gesturing towards where Sojiro's blood trickled down his side.

It was then that Kaoru walked in the room. One look at Yahiko and Sojiro, and she burst into accusations. "You did this, didn't you?" she asked Sojiro. "Why'd you attack him? What could possibly make you attack a kid?"

"Hey!" Yahiko said, trying, and failing to get Kaoru's attention.

"How could you? He's just learning swords! He's not like Kenshin or anyone else you've fought! How?" Kaoru screamed, grabbing a shinai off of the wall and pointing it towards Sojiro. "HOW?"

"He didn't do anything!" Yahiko shouted back at her, finally getting her to notice him. "We were sparring, and I guess something happened. If you haven't noticed, Sojiro's bleeding, too."

"Oh," Kaoru said, turning to look at Sojiro's side. "How'd this happen?"

Sojiro shrugged, flipping the shinai so he could examine it. His eyes trailed over its length, a shine catching his attention near the end. Running his hand over the tip, he felt something prick his hand. Protruding just slightly from the tip of the shinai, so small that it wasn't detectable unless you knew it was there, was a metal spike. As he scanned the rest of the shinai, he could see hundreds of these little spikes, hidden well among the wood.

"Someone's switched out your shinai for these ones, Kaoru-kun, and they seem to be quite lethal, from what I can tell," Sojiro informed her, offering the shinai handle first to her. "Look closely, and you'll see what I mean."

Kaoru marveled at the spikes for a moment, in which Yahiko did the same with his. "But who switched them?" he asked in Sojiro's direction.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaoru asked, still looking at the shinai. "It was one of the Hiromasus. I don't know what their grudge is against us, but they seem pretty determined."

"Is it possible they had a bad experience with Hitokiri Battosai?" Yahiko questioned the two. "Maybe one of their relatives was killed and-"

Suddenly, Yahiko collapsed on the ground, sweat pouring from his twitching body. "Yahiko!" Kaoru screamed, dropping the shinai and rushing over to him, followed closely by Sojiro. "How hard did you hit him?" she asked, kneeling by him.

Feeling his forehead, her expression fell. "This isn't good," she said, turning to Sojiro. "Go get Megumi! Those spikes were-"

Kaoru watched as Sojiro's eyes rolled back in his head and as he fell forward, crumpling in a heap much like Yahiko was in.

"-poisoned!" Kaoru finished.

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