disclaimer: i don't own rurouni kenshin, but i do own my original charecters... but you can use them if you want.
the suzaku and his friends arrived at ten o' clock the next day, excited for their lessons. kaoru and tsuki were cleaning and preparing the dojo for the class to come. yahiko came over right after the students arrived. when they arrived, kaoru called for all the students to come into the dojo.
'' okay. is this everyone?''
'' hai'' they all called out.
'' okay. i'm himura kaoru, i'll be your sensei. this, '' she pointed to tsuki, '' is kanata tsuki, she will be your sempai. and this is miojin yahiko. he is the current master of the kamiya kasshin ryu and he'll be your shishou.''
'' hai, kaoru sensei'' they all chimed at the same time.
'' okay, everyone who has experience with swords go with yahiko. the rest of you split into two groups and go with tsuki and me. understand?''
'' hai'' they said again as they began to split into their groups. suzaku, gini, and naruku went to yahiko's group. everyone else went with kaoru and tsuki.
'' okay. so you three have had lessons before?''
'' hai, yahiko shishou'' they said.
'' i'd like to test your skills. i will spar with each of you and we'll start where i think we should. '' yahiko instructed them. they lined up, suzaku was first. he stepped up. 'hm, he's definatly got experience, but not enough. this kid'll go far as long as he keeps focused.' ''one of you give us a signal'' yahiko said as he got into stance.
giri stepped forward. '' 3, 2, 1, go!'' he yelled. yahiko and suzaku flew at eachother. suzaku attacked with a downward strike, yahiko dodged to the side and spun around, striking him in the back with his bokken. '' never let your opponent get behind you. okay, naruku, your turn.'' the next two fights went pretty much the same. after the matches, yahiko had decided what he was going to teach them. '' okay. first of all, before you begin training, you have to know the basis of the kamiya kasshin ryu.. the sword that protects. you know, you can never kill, never hold a sword that kills.'' he stated.
'' you have a sword on your obi.'' suzaku pointed out. '' isn't that agianst the kasshin ryu?''
yahiko unsheathed his sword and showed the boys the reeverse blade. '' this was given to me by a good friend, the man i have always wanted to be. '' they looked at the reversed blade of the sakabato with awe. '' it's the perfect weapon for the kasshin ryu. now, i want you all to do 500 swings, building upper arm strength is important.'' yahiko watched their form and made sure they weren't slacking.
kaoru and tsuki did the same lesson plan and taught the students the basics of the style and basic swings.
back in kyoto
kenshin and kenji were on their first mission together. kenji had finally healed enough to return to battle, and the two had been sent on an important bodyguard mission. they were assigned to guard an official at the top of the meiji government. the man sat in his carriage and kenshin and kenji walked on the outside, kurama was inside in case someone got in.
'' remember your training, and keep your senses of full alert.'' kenshin said to his son as they left the inn. the first half of the trip was rather uneventful, however, that didn't last.
they werejust about to enter the outskirts of the city when kenshin and kenji sensed several hostile ki's charging them from 3 different sides. 'kuso' kenshin thought to himself, '' are you ready kenji? do not hesitate... i cannot protect two people at once.''
'' hai, otou-san'' kenji said, with confidence. ' i won't freeze like last time, i'll help father' kenji decided.
'' kurama! get out here. we're under attack!'' kenshin yelled. as soon as kurama came out, sword drawn. the first wave of rebels came, kenshin and kenji took them down before they even got close to the wagon. ' fifteen down' kenshin thought, '45 more...' it was still hard to kill them, even though he knew he had to. the second and third wave came at the same time. kenshin and kenji weren't able to keep them all off and five passed through, only to be killed by kurama.
'' you'' one man said as he walked out of the shadows. '' you are hitokiri battosai, are you not?'' he asked kenshin. '' i am. but this is not a place for talk'' kenshin said as he sheathed his sword, preparing for the battojutsu. '' it's a place to die.'' the tokugawa soldier charged kenshin, but his attempt to dodge the battojutsu was futile. kenshin felt his sword slice through the man's body. the last wave of men watched in horror as their leader was effortlessly cut down. most of them ran away, but the ones who stayed were killed by kenji.
the official was delivered to his destination unharmed, just as yamagata had predicted.
from that night on, kenshin and kenji were sent on more and more missions together. everyone knew that bottosai was back, but, they also knew another name. another name that froze the blood of men. battoryu. patalions of men would stand frozen when they saw the sight of hitokiri himura battosai, and his son, himura battoryu, with their glowing golden eyes, and hair the crimson color of blood.
news of the pairspread far and wide, eventually reaching tokyo, reaching the ears of all thier friends, kaoru, sano, yahiko, they all heard the stories.
'' i... i .. i won't belive it.'' kaoru said, '' i won't belive that my hustband and son have become... cold blooded killers'' she wailed as sano tried to comfort her... she remembered the stories of battosai, and didn't want her kenshin to become that man agian, nor did she want that fate to bestow itself onto her son.