Note: Hi! I'm trying to translate this story I'm writing from my native spanish into english. Obviously, english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me for any mistake. I'm still learning.
HEART OF SWORD
(Translated)
150 years ago, with the arrival of Commodore Perry in Japan, the Edo period came to an end, passing into an era of chaos and violence: The Bakumatsu. In this context, a man known by the name of "Hitokiri Battousai" emerged in Kyoto. This man was one of the fundamental pillars during the Meiji Restoration. His skill with the sword was unrivaled. He was one of the most feared and important assassins of the time, and in the midst of the carnage of war, he killed and charted the new path for the Meiji era. But once the war ended, he disappeared without a trace. As time passed, stories about him emerged. He was considered the strongest samurai on the face of the earth and was nicknamed Battousai, the manslayer.
Thus begins our story, in Tokyo, in the 11th year of the Meiji period.
I
The legendary swordsman
Tokyo, 1878.
The sun's rays had not yet broken through the cloudy skies at that early morning hour, and the unfathomably dark fog shadowed the streets of Japan's capital.
A young traveler dressed in a white hakama and navy blue kimono, with a pair of black arm guards on his forearms, and with his long blood-red hair tied in a high ponytail, was walking through the narrow streets of the city. His leisurely pace, as if he were in no hurry whatsoever, and his unusually short stature accompanied by a calm expression on his face, did not frighten anyone, for he did not look dangerous. However, despite that, the daishō he wore at his waist attracted strong attention wherever he passed and kept people away from him, basically because it had been two years since the carrying of swords had been banned.
That was the reason why a bold girl ran after him, with not at all silent steps, carrying a bokken in her hands.
"Stop there, Battousai!"
The man stopped mid-step, turning slightly to focus his curious violet gaze on the girl who proudly towered behind him with her wooden sword pointed at him.
He had felt her coming, of course. He had sensed with an ease born only of experience the approach of her raging ki, but he had decided to disregard it until she decided to act.
"Mm?" he expressed with a soft tone, observing with a fake astonished expression the face of his "attacker".
To his amazement, it was a girl, no more than 18 years old as far as he could observe, with long black hair tied in a ponytail, and a pair of defiant blue eyes that watched him angrily, something he could not understand. What had he done to upset her?
"Your two months of terror and murder are over. On guard!"
Wait... months of terror and murder? That caught the attention of the red-haired samurai, who only managed to utter a soft and confused "oro" at the ravenhead's words. He did not say anything else, he just looked at his aggressor with an expression that made it clear that he didn't understand what she was referring to.
"Don't play innocent with me, only a murderer would break the law and walk around with swords!" she spat, then launched into the attack at the maximum of her speed.
He saw her coming, and foreseeing her movements, when she was about to graze him, he easily made a powerful leap to dodge her, a gesture that left him precariously standing on a narrow wooden fence on one side of the lonely street.
"Miss, I think you have the wrong person. I'm just a wandering swordsman, with no family and no profession." He murmured in a soft voice, seeking to calm the girl's exalted spirits. Reckless girl, he thought, with some irritation in the background of his mind, though he did not allow that to show in his affable expression. "I know nothing of recent murders or months of terror. I haven't killed anyone. I'm just passing through town, I arrived recently."
He went back down to the firm floor, then gave a meek little smile to the blue-eyed woman in front of him, in an attempt to calm her down.
"Then, why are you carrying a daishō? No one should walk around with a sword, not even a swordsman, it's against the law." She replied, giving him a look of suspicion that he tried to avoid as best he could.
With a sigh, he brought his hand to the sword in his belt and drew it gently, noticing (and ignoring) the slight shiver of fear that ran down her spine.
"Do you think I could kill someone with this?"
The young girl, despite her better instincts telling her to stay away from the weapon, found herself leaning in slightly, noticing something that made her let out an inevitable gasp of surprise as she grasped the handle of the sword with a somewhat shaky hand.
"This is... A sakabatō? And it looks like it has no use? I can't smell any blood on it…"
"That's right." He concluded, without giving another answer, while sketching another reassuring smile in the girl's direction, trying to make her relax a little, so as to avoid attracting someone's attention at that time of the morning.
"So you really are…"
"Yes, a wanderer." The red-haired man nodded, picking up the weapon from the girl's hands and sheathing it in a dexterous movement that showed that he was used to doing that.
"You shouldn't carry that sword, it will…" The sound of the police whistle interrupted what the girl was saying, making her tense up and her eyes light up again with the fury that had diminished while she was talking to the swordsman. Without further ado, she turned and ran off in the direction she could hear the bustle, leaving the red-haired man behind and saying in a loud voice: "The police! This time it's him for sure!"
A weary sigh escaped the lips of the once again lonely man. For a minute, he stood motionless, staring at the spot where the girl had disappeared. From what he had gathered from the woman's words, there was someone in the area posing as Battousai, and using his name to kill people. That made him a little nervous. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but that didn't mean it was any less annoying than the previous times. It seemed that in every major city he visited, there was some idiot pretending to be the Hitokiri Battousai, and when he confronted them, they barely lasted a few minutes against him. Hopefully, this one will be less of an embarrassment than the others, he thought wryly, sighing heavily again.
"There seems to be serious trouble in this place." He muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes slightly as the sound of a sword slashing flesh reached his sensitive ears, followed by a crazed, distinctly male laughter. Instantly, he broke into a sprint at full speed, following the path the black-haired woman had made a few moments ago.
In the distance, as he approached, he heard the echoing voice of the strange girl he had just encountered.
"Stop there, Battousai!" was the shout that echoed through the streets and finished telling the red-haired man the location of the blue-eyed girl.
Stopping on a street, he saw the girl. And the scene ended up freezing the blood in his veins, causing the mask of the kind wanderer he had perfected over the last 10 years — and used to use to reassure people — to fall for a few moments allowing his eyes to burn in the old amber.
The girl stood against the wall, a bleeding wound on her shoulder, her bokken bent to the floor as her blue eyes, terrified yet still filled with cold pride, were focused on the giant who was currently towering over her, laughing and calling everyone a pathetic weakling.
Damn, the red-haired man thought, launching himself with a burst of speed forward, just in time to grab the black-haired girl and pull her out of the path of the sword that was already descending towards her, meeting nothing but a hard wall in its path.
"Forgive me, but you are being very careless." He murmured to the girl in his arms, his gaze fixed on the man now at his back, not allowing the girl to notice the gold glinting in his eyes.
The supposed "Battousai" just looked at them, taking a subtle step back from the intense and dangerous gaze of the samurai, but hearing more policemen approaching the place made him get in motion, running out of the place while shouting:
"I am Himura Battousai of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu!"
The ravenhead, already back on her feet, tried to follow him with a " wait !" escaping her lips but was stopped dead in her tracks when the samurai, with an innocent expression, grabbed her ponytail and pulled it gently back, much to her frustration.
"One moment, miss…"
"Let go of me!" She spat, furious, trying to hit him with her wooden sword, a gesture that the male, with his tramp mask back in place, dodged by mere instinct, directing a look with eyes like saucers at the girl. How violent, he thought, a bead of sweat running down the back of his neck.
He raised both hands in a conciliatory gesture, trying to make peace between them, while searching for the words that could bring her to her senses, and incidentally, calm her down a bit:
"I'm sorry, but chasing that man after having been injured is not wise." He muttered, lightly pointing to the girl's injured shoulder. "We know the name of his dojo, it is not necessary to rush without thinking…"
He was cut off abruptly by the angry voice of the blue-eyed woman:
"Kamiya Kasshin is my dojo! That man has committed all those atrocities under the name of my family's style!" Oh. That explained why that girl was so determined to defeat that huge monster: "When I find him, I will...".
This time, she was the one interrupted, when the redhead grabbed her ponytail again and pulled it back, this time with less care than the previous time, because that hasty girl was already starting to irritate his nerves a little.
"I've already told you that chasing him is useless. He is out of our reach." Agilely, and without bothering to ask for permission, he grabbed the ravenhead and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, to the great astonishment of the latter who for once remained completely mute while he headed down a nearby street, making his withdrawal from the scene. "We'd better leave before the police arrive."
Kamiya Dojo.
Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Assistant Instructor: Kamiya Kaoru. The violet-eyed young man stared at the wall, reading the tablets there while behind him, an old man he had found in the dojo finished cleaning the wound of the young woman he assumed was Kaoru.
"Oro?" he whispered, dumbfounded, when he noticed that there were no students' names on that wall.
"We were never a big dojo." The black-haired woman mumbled sadly at the samurai's confusion, keeping her blue eyes glued to her lap, "We only had a handful of students, but they all worked hard. But two months ago, Battousai started his killing spree and attacked innocent people in the streets. One by one, the students left the dojo, because of their fear for Battousai. And the townspeople no longer come here, let alone sign up.
An imperceptible sigh escaped the lips of the swordsman, who bowed his head slightly. Even at that time, the name Battousai caused people to dread it, and while that would have made any other man proud, it did not make him proud: he had only become a hitokiri in order to pave the way to a time when people could live without fear.
"I can't think of any reason why he would want to tarnish the name of the dojo, if it really is Battousai." He said with some caution, glancing briefly at the black-haired woman.
"I have no idea, but if I don't stop him soon…"
"I understand." Turning his body with just a movement of his heels, he headed towards her, giving her a gentle smile while he murmured: "But it would be better if you finished with those patrols since that man is much stronger than you are."
He ignored the outraged " what ?" that the blue-eyed woman uttered, and instead just put on a more serious, but no less kind expression in her direction.
"It is important for a swordsman to know his opponent's strength, as well as his own." His voice was kind, but firm, as he fixed his soft violet eyes on the blue ones of the girl who remained with a gesture of stubbornness under his gaze: "Hunting this man could get you killed. Forgive me, but you should not sacrifice your life just for the honor of your dojo."
Kaoru merely stared at the red-haired man with growing anger within her chest at the words that, though it pained her, were true and she knew it. But knowing it didn't mean she was going to sacrifice her pride and honor like that. And she was going to make it clear to that swordsman.
"This dojo was founded by my father, who saw the atrocities of the Bakumatsu. For ten years, he fought defending the ideal of the sword that protects life, he was not a murderer. But half a year ago, he was sent to the Seinan war. The world in which he died was far from the world in which he wanted to die. That man who calls himself Hitokiri Battousai has already killed more than ten people. This dojo founded by my father, his ideal of protecting people's lives is being defiled by that serial killer!" Her blue eyes, now filled with crystalline tears caused by the recent pain of her father's death, and by the pride pained by the red-haired man's words, remained fixed on the emotionless face of the samurai who continued to stand in front of her, watching her with sudden impassivity: "But I think a wanderer would not understand it."
He, for his part, simply looked at her for a few moments. The sword that protects life? Even he, who protected the weak around him with his sword, knew that many times to protect lives others must be killed. A world in which it was not necessary to kill anyone was nothing but utopian, even if he wished it were not so.
He smiled slightly, narrowing his violet eyes with some sudden condescension towards the innocent ravenhead as he stepped a little closer to point kindly:
"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't think you should fight with a wounded shoulder. The best thing to do now is to act more cautiously." With silent steps — which were only born after years of acting in the shadows — the man headed for the exit, opening the door of the dojo gently, "After all, if your sword can't protect your own life, how can you protect the lives of others? And besides... I doubt her father would have preferred the honor of his dojo over the life of his beloved daughter."
With that, he left the place leaving behind a surprised blue-eyed woman who stood watching the door in amazement, being dimly aware of the old man who was finishing bandaging her injured shoulder.
"I'm done." the man said, wiping his hands with a white cloth.
"Thank you, Kihei." She murmured in reply, fixing the white gi to hide her shoulder again.
"Miss Kaoru, don't take his words seriously. After all, he's just a wanderer, and he's not very trustworthy, especially with those swords."
"You're right.
The next few days passed slowly, and Kaoru for once in her life paid attention to someone's advice and stopped looking for the Battousai during the nights while the wound on her shoulder healed.
In truth, it had been a completely unconscious response for she had had no intention of paying any attention to the wanderer to begin with. Although she had tried her hardest not to let the words of that violet-eyed rurouni affect her, they had done so anyway, giving her great headaches, and stinging her pride every time she remembered that he had saved her like it was the easiest thing to do. To her deep frustration, she had found it inevitable to listen to him after that, knowing that what he had said had been no more than the truth. That murderer was much stronger than she was, and she could not even pretend to defeat him with her wounded shoulder.
She had spent the last few days in a bad mood unbearable even for herself, and when she had no longer endured being locked up in the walls of the dojo, she had decided to go out for a walk around the city with Kihei following her, to buy some things she was missing in the pantry.
In the market, the angry shouts, the whispers of people, and the sound of the police whistle caught her attention.
"What's going on?" she wondered, naturally curious, unconsciously raising an eyebrow as she approached to see the source of the commotion, becoming transfixed when she saw the redhead from a few days ago dodging a policeman's grip, an innocent expression on his face, violet eyes wide with the spontaneity and mild amusement of a small child.
"Hey, stop it! Come with us quietly!" an officer shouted at that very moment, as if that would convince the swordsman to stop and let them arrest him, when he had been able to pass through so many towns without getting into that same trouble.
How persistent he is, the samurai thought with some slight frustration hidden behind his mask of innocence, a bead of sweat running down the back of his neck as he again dodged another policeman's grip with agility and almost embarrassing ease, as he jumped to get a couple of meters away from him, avoiding being grabbed again. Others would have given up by now.
"Oh, the wanderer!" He heard a female voice say, which sounded slightly familiar. Turning his head, he saw a girl approaching him with a slightly worried expression on her face: "What are you still doing here?"
Oro ? The aforementioned wanderer stared with open curiosity at the girl, unable to recognize her at first glance. Where had he seen her before? She was pretty despite her clear youth, he couldn't deny it, though she wasn't a great beauty like other stunning women he had seen in the past. But finally, when he locked his cautious violet eyes into her bright blue ones, he recognized her, and instantly sketched a small gentle smile towards the kendoka.
"Oh, Kaoru-dono. I didn't recognize you, dressed in such feminine clothes."
That clearly bothered her, anyone could have noticed. With a vein throbbing in her temple, and snorting like an angry goose — an amusing but not at all feminine gesture — the girl turned and walked away from the redhead, sneering over her shoulder:
"Well, I won't help you then."
"Ororo?!" He exclaimed, plastering a "help, please" expression on his face as he extended a hand towards the retreating girl. He didn't really need her help, but he would prefer to settle the problem with those policemen in a peaceful way, without having to resort to running away at full speed, or knocking them unconscious with a blow from the blunt side of his sakabatō.
Despite his semi-humorous act with the blue-eyed woman and the police, the crimson-haired swordsman was attentive to the slightly hostile ki he could sense coming from the old man accompanying the young woman. That man was hiding something, and he was about to find out what it was, he thought, giving him a subtle glance with his eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion.
"Oh, for the love of... Okay, what did he do?", the girl questioned at that moment, turning to the nearest police officer who for a second seemed to have stopped his attempts to catch the samurai.
"Obviously, he has violated the law prohibiting the carrying of swords. And... wait, aren't you the girl from Battousai's dojo?"
Uh, oh. A flare of anger set the girl's ki ablaze, something that brought a grimace to the wanderer's usually relaxed face.
As the blue-eyed girl stepped forward to face the policeman, the swordsman cautiously backed away from the eye of the coming storm, eyes wide as saucers awaiting the reaction of the black-haired girl, who he knew would respond with anger at the words uttered by the officer.
He was not wrong.
For a few minutes, all that followed was shouting from both Kaoru and the police officer. The discussion made no sense at all, but the swordsman — with a look of total bewilderment — decided to stay on the sidelines and not intervene in any way, so as to avoid drawing the officer's attention back to himself.
When things began to get excessively heated, the old man finally interceded.
"Wait a moment, officer. We can settle this peacefully." He said in a calm voice as he approached him and held his hand, instantly attracting the attention of the red-haired man who fixed his suspicious violet gaze on what was happening at that moment. Noticing Kihei leave a bit of money — a clear bribe — in the policeman's hand, he let out a small grunt inaudible to those around him.
He was so disappointed to see how things were after the Bakumatsu. He had risked his life, his mental health, the lives of others... for what? For a new corrupt government to take the place of the old one. It was true that there were still some important imperialists in the government who were trying to hold out the promise of a new era of peace and better for all, but they were so few that he could count them on the fingers of his hands, and he would probably have fingers to spare.
For that reason, over the past ten years the red-headed man had put on an act. While pretending to be a pacifist wanderer who killed no one in an attempt to keep the inept government off his tail, he had actually been guided by the principle of his old enemies, the Shinsengumi: Aku Soku Zan. Slay evil immediately. Although he had once, many years ago, vowed not to kill anyone after the war, he had quickly realized that such an ideal was impossible in the times they lived in. He was a hitokiri from the bottom of his being, and always would be. He moved in the shadows, from city to city, like some kind of strange vigilante avenger, somewhat ironic considering his past. He saw evil people proliferating like cockroaches under a rock, and the police were unable to do anything to effectively protect innocent people who were unable to defend themselves from bandits or yakuza, so he responded with his sword accordingly. Of course, he did not enjoy killing. He hated killing, especially if he was facing beings so weak that they were not even capable of defending themselves. Besides, he did not take the lives of the innocent. Therefore, he carried a sword that allowed him to defeat bandits without killing them, and only killed when it was absolutely necessary.
"For this time we forgive them, but next time we will not be so kind." The officer said, pulling the samurai out of his thoughts, as he retreated with his companions through the crowd of people in the marketplace.
Next time, I dare them to try to catch me, the wanderer thought cynically, feeling a spark of amusement just by thinking about those men trying to catch him in a race in which he would use all his speed. It was a rather amusing mental image, to tell the truth. However, he didn't let it show on his face, and kept his self-imposed mask firmly in place. With a slightly expressionless face, he turned in the direction of the still irritated ravenhead who now stood beside him, deliberately disregarding the white-haired elder.
"The police are not trustworthy at all these days." He muttered, echoing his earlier thoughts, barely loud enough for the blue-eyed woman to hear.
"Oh, it's not that... What are you still doing here anyway? I thought you'd already left town. Did you stay for some reason?"
"No, nothing in particular." He denied, giving a brief look of disdain to Kihei, who was watching him impassively, but in his ki there was open hostility towards him. For what reason, he didn't know. But he would find out later. "More importantly, have you found out anything about the murderer?"
Kaoru blinked, confused by the sudden change of subject, and even more so by the friendly smile that he was giving her. She almost blushed, for he was quite handsome, but kept a firm grip on her own reaction so as not to embarrass herself. She didn't even know this man, she couldn't react like a little girl in front of him.
"Well, there is a suspect, actually. In the neighboring village there is a dojo called Kiheh-kan." She rumbled, informing the red-haired man of her suspicions. She didn't know why she was doing it, but something in him told her that maybe he could be of help... Or actually, she just wanted someone to listen to her and not patronize her as if she were a 5-year-old girl. "Well, actually it's not a dojo anymore, but a gambling house. A few months ago, a former samurai took control of that place. He's huge. Suspicious, isn't it?
"Ah."
Narrowing his eyes, which suddenly glowed an icy metallic blue as he dropped his act a bit, the samurai focused his suspicious gaze on the white-haired old man behind Kaoru. His ki held no restraint and clearly indicated that he knew something about the matter, but the wanderer didn't want to say anything about it yet. He couldn't do so without revealing part of his abilities, which would possibly make him the object of the suspicions of the blue-eyed woman again, who by the way was still talking at that moment, though the red-haired man was no longer listening to her words, as he was more focused on staring at Kihei. He backed off a bit at his intimidating gaze, then made his retreat after saying something about going to make dinner.
"That was the man who cured you the other night, wasn't he?" he questioned, his now cold blue eyes following the aforementioned man suspiciously through the crowd until he lost him and was no longer able to follow him with his eyes.
"Kihei? Ah, yes. I guess you could say he's my house-keeper. I met him shortly after my father's death. He was outside the dojo, injured, and I've been looking after him ever since. And he worries about me, a girl who practices kendo all day. He thinks it would be better for me to sell the dojo and live a normal life." The blue-eyed girl explained, with a soft touch of affection in her voice and in her eyes as she looked at the same spot he was looking at that moment.
"Do you know where he came from?" the red-haired man asked suddenly, lightly raising an eyebrow at her.
"No, I never asked him."
Oro ? That answer completely unsettled the man, who forgot his suspicion for a second and gave the girl a look of disbelief, staring at her with a comical expression, as if she suddenly had two heads with three eyes. Could she really be so naive and unwary, not to say foolish, as to let a complete stranger into her house without at least asking him where he came from?
"Aren't you a little trusting?" He asked in a kindly voice, although he was still looking at her with clear astonishment in his eyes, which were again violet, something the distracted girl let pass as an effect of the afternoon light.
"No, I don't think so." She answered, bringing her lapis lazuli gaze to the handsome young man's face, smiling a little smile at him, who stared at her with wide-eyed amazement: "Everyone has something they prefer to keep secret. So do you. Don't you have your own reasons why you're a wanderer?"
"Ah. I guess you're right." He mumbled in reply, lowering his head slightly so that his crimson bangs covered his eyes, thus preventing her from seeing the surprise that lit up his violet irises at the kindness (albeit negligent) the blue-eyed girl was showing.
He sighed, sketching a small smile. He had never expected to hear someone who was so... receptive to accepting the past and mysteries of others. That was a nice thing, even for a person like him. But the black-haired woman's next words made him look up in complete shock.
"I don't think you can afford to pay for an inn. Wouldn't you like to stay at the dojo?"
Really, how could she be so trusting? That was going to get her into serious trouble one day, and the samurai knew it. However, it was not his place to tell her, so he chose to decline the offer in a kind voice.
"No, I have something to do. Thank you anyway."
With one last polite smile towards her, the rurouni turned to wander into the crowd, already with a destination in mind.
Although he was highly suspicious of Kihei and his deceitful and hostile ki, he figured that most likely that dojo that Kaoru-dono had mentioned earlier was involved in the whole fake Battousai thing, so he set out to go investigate. He figured it would take him a while to get to the village, so he should walk as fast as possible if he wanted to get there before sunset.
"Oh, wait!" Kaoru hurried to stop him, unconsciously reaching out a hand to prevent him from going any further, though she stopped mid-step, a slight blush lighting up her cheeks, suddenly embarrassed by her impulsive actions, "I... I wanted to thank you for the other day. You saved my life, and I didn't thank you for it."
Oro ? He turned slightly, blinking with some curiosity at the blue-eyed girl who seemed quite flushed at the moment. That made him smile with amusement that he didn't even bother trying to hide.
"Don't worry about it. A wanderer doesn't care about such things. And neither should you."
Without further ado, he turned and walked away, leaving behind him a stunned and curious black-haired woman, who stared at his back with open interest, while he, making use of his short height and slender build to slip through the people, promptly disappeared into the middle of the crowd, something he had become adept at in recent years, as he pondered again about this Kiheh-kan fellow. So he's located in the next town over... that explains why I didn't find any information here.
Even though he made the walk at a good pace, and the miles of distance slipped under his feet with unusual speed, it still took him more hours than he had originally planned to reach the neighboring village, and even longer still to find the dojo Kaoru-dono had mentioned.
Said place was rather ramshackle, and surrounded by a great deal of hostile and negative ki that caused the wanderer's mask to instinctively slip as his control over his emotions faded a bit: an automatic response to sensing nearby threats (weak and pathetic in his opinion, but threats nonetheless). This caused his violet eyes to turn into the cold and dangerous amber that used to be the cause of nightmares in Kyoto, more than ten years ago.
"Excuse me." He said from the doorway of the compound, in a low, calm, cold voice that would give even the bravest man a chill. When he received no answer, he insisted again in a slightly louder tone, which showed some of his irritation at having had to make the trip there, and also not being received: "Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me...
He was suddenly interrupted when the door to the enclosure was flung open by a surly man who didn't even bother to look down, and thus didn't see the red-haired man at first until he looked down a bit, startled to see the male standing there, his head bowed so that his gold-colored eyes were not visible.
Noticing the visitor's short height, the man relaxed and his ki began to exude confidence. This one is a complete idiot, the samurai thought with contempt as he perceived it, rolling his eyes at such an incompetent reaction. Only idiots judged by people's appearance.
"All right, what the hell do you want, shrimp?"
If I were a person susceptible to insults, I would have killed you for that. You're lucky I'm patient and don't mind being insulted by my appearance, the red-haired man replied mentally, still hiding his gaze behind his bangs, not bothering to say that out loud. First, he would get the information he needed. Then he could break a couple of bones of the thugs that abounded there and who were approaching his position, obviously curious to know who was around at that hour.
"I'm looking for the boss. Is he here?"
"Master Hiruma is not here, come back later." The man replied, with a grumpy gesture that almost made the swordsman laugh sardonically. Almost.
So… Hiruma, huh, he mused inwardly, with a small spark of amusement that he had to hold back to keep a smile from curving his lips and giving him away prematurely.
"Oh, so he's called Hiruma." He looked up slightly so that the other man could see the glint of his dangerous eyes through the red locks of his bangs.
"What, you didn't even know that?" the other man said in response, a small shudder of fear running through him as he was affected by the gaze of the so-called "Kyoto demon", even if he didn't know who he was facing.
"I was under the impression that he claimed to be Hitokiri Battousai. But it's clearly not him. Battousai wouldn't leave an idiot like you in charge." He smiled, with such a predatory gesture that the thug found himself taking a step back in clear panic before noticing the large number of thugs that had just surrounded the red-haired man. That restored some of his confidence.
One of the ruffians asked him who the runt was, which made the samurai roll his eyes. They were all idiots, definitely. This was going to be a boring fight.
"It's a rat. A dead rat. Kill him." The man spat, making the swordsman grin. He could put an end to that now.
He raised his head finally and with his golden eyes blazing with the flames of hell, he lunged at the bandits, drawing his sakabatō with blinding speed.
Meanwhile, in the Kamiya dojo, Kaoru was alone sitting in seiza position, reading some dojo records while sipping some tea.
"Miss Kaoru."
Or, well, she was alone until Kihei appeared behind her back, scaring the ravenhead to death, so much so that she twitched like never before at the old man's surprise appearance. Placing a hand on her chest, right over her racing heart, the blue-eyed girl sighed deeply and shakily due to the shock.
"Good heavens, Kihei! You scared me. What's wrong?"
"I wanted to discuss the sale of the dojo with you." The man replied, to the surprise and confusion of the girl, who stared at him for a few moments without understanding what was going on. This was a serious conversation they had had before. Several times, in fact. And it always ended the same way: with her refusing to sell her family's dojo.
"I told you, I'm not going to sell the dojo." She replied, in a kind and still somewhat confused tone. She didn't understand why he had to bring it up again.
"I already have all the paperwork done. All that's missing is your signature." He continued, ignoring the words of the ravenhead, who suddenly had a bad feeling about the situation, and who stared at him with her innocent blue eyes wide open like saucers, "And then the property will be ours."
It was then that the door of the dojo opened loudly behind Kihei's back. A huge guy — who Kaoru recognized as the supposed Battousai on sight — entered the compound with a malicious smile on his lips and being followed by a group of mean looking men armed with swords, each with evil intentions painted on their countenances. It caused a shudder of terror to run through the girl, though she took it upon herself to squelch it and replace it with determination. She would fight for her dojo.
"You.." she mumbled, her pupils fixed on the face of the monster who had been murdering people in the name of her style.
"The owner of the Kiheh-kan. My younger brother, Hiruma Gohei." Kihei said, watching with disinterest as the girl who had trusted him slid back to pick up one of the wooden swords hanging on the wall and then stood on guard. He thought it was mildly amusing: "I don't like to settle things like that. I would have preferred it to be legal, but you came close to discovering my brother's identity. By pretending to be a kindly old man, I tried to gain your trust and get you to sell us the dojo, but your stubbornness to practice kendo all day long won out over your kindness.
"Kihei..." the blue-eyed girl muttered, not knowing what else to say, unable to find something, anything, she could say to the old man at that moment. She had considered him her friend, and now she felt so betrayed that she couldn't put it into words.
"I had my brother kill some people and use the name of your dojo, posing as the Hitokiri Battousai, because his strength is legendary, although I don't think he is still alive. Thanks to his name, we had control of the events for the past two months. If my calculations are correct, this land will be worth 5 or 6 times more because of westernization. The dojo is just a waste of space."
The cruelty in the old man's words made the girl's eyes sting and fill with translucent tears of both pain and anger. How could someone be so cruel as to deceive her for months and then mock her like that? It was inhuman in her opinion. Dishonorable. Shameful.
"My brother tells me you preach about the sword that protects life. Interesting, when you have no one to protect but yourself," said the monster, Gohei, his malicious gaze fixed on the figure of the girl who stood silent, tense and defensive under his scrutiny, "If you don't attack me, I'll have to do it myself."
That got her moving. She lunged at him, but the battle, if it can have that name, was brief as she was pitting her bokken against an actual katana, which cut his wooden sword like butter on the first try. Promptly, he had her by the neck of her gi, raising her above his head and holding it there with a crazed grin on his face.
"Women who preach that can't fight. My goal is violence, my essence is murder, that's what kendo is all about." Gohei snarled, keeping her in his grip, to the despair of the blue-eyed girl who was helpless before the hands of such a monster.
While his brother held the girl in his grip, Kihei used a small knife to make a cut on the palm of the female hand he could reach, using the blood that spurted from the wound to sign the sale papers of the dojo he had been guarding.
"These lands are ours now. The Kamiya dojo no longer exists."
He was interrupted by a pained groan that echoed from the doorway. A man, unusually pale, was standing there. Gohei recognized him on sight and, irritated, snapped at him:
"Nishiwaki, what is it?"
The man now recognized as Nishiwaki could not answer more than a few stammers that managed to be identified as one word: "strong". After that, he fell to the floor like dead weight, unconscious.
And behind him, a figure appeared.
"The rurouni..." Kaoru whispered, utterly astonished, as she watched the red-haired man step inside the dojo, leaving his zori at the entrance as tradition dictated. His cold blue eyes watched the assembled men with a disdain that made the girl's hair stand on end.
"I apologize for being late." He said, with a look of utter contempt for the man holding the girl, as he walked towards the group with only his tabi. "Please let Kaoru-dono go."
Gohei, upon closer inspection, recognized him as the red-haired man from a few nights ago, the one who had managed to save the Kamiya girl from his sword. He remembered the predatory golden eyes of the swordsman, but now seeing them blue, he guessed that the previous color had been nothing more than a trick of his imagination, so he did not flinch from the red-haired man's presence.
"You again," he growled, turning slightly to face him, "Do you also preach about the sword that doesn't kill?"
A cold smile curved the rōnin's lips at the attitude of the thug, who seemed to be extremely confident about his abilities. Another fool, like everyone he had fought that night.
"No." he replied, moving with the stealth and grace of a cat, then standing in the middle of the group, his senses sharpened to the max due to the hostility in the atmosphere. Absent-mindedly, he calculated how he could move to defeat all those bandits in a matter of seconds, at the same time analyzing his surroundings with a single sidelong glance: "A sword is a weapon, and kendo is the art of killing. Describe it as you will, but that is its true nature. Kaoru-dono's words are the sweet and innocent words of one who has never killed, and are nothing more than an idealistic dream. Perhaps, someday, when evil is eradicated from this world, then they can become reality, but I don't see that happening anytime soon."
Gohei grunted in response to his words, suddenly dropping the girl he held in his hands, who hit the ground with a muffled thud, letting out a soft whimper of pain.
"Brother, don't you mind if I kill him?"
"Not at all, he's a nobody. You can kill him."
That made the red-haired man's cold smile curve his lips again, this time slightly wider and more dangerous as Gohei's companions approached him until they surrounded him completely.
"You heard him, kill him!" their leader roared, as Kaoru, kneeling at the spot where she had fallen to the ground, shouted in a desperate voice:
"Run, wanderer!"
Never, he thought, his eyes turning amber as he saw the attacking intentions of the thugs surrounding him.
"I don't like to hurt someone if it's unnecessary. Get out of here before you get hurt." He warned them in the instant that the sonorous click he made when he used his thumb to free the sword a little from the sheath resounded in the place. Holding the latter with his left hand, he waited.
They laughed and launched themselves at the samurai shouting idiocies about how there was only going to be one dead, and it was going to be him.
Fools, all of them. The red-haired man sighed, irritated, then launched into his own attack at the precise moment the men were within range. With a single unsheathing of his sakabatō, five men fell to the ground, unconscious and most likely with more than one broken bone.
Surprise seemed to take on a life of its own inside the dojo as the men, one after another, fell to the floor in motionless heaps, none being able to even touch the fast samurai who moved among them with precision and something that could even be termed as elegance.
"He-he-he's taking out four or five men in one blow... Is it magic or something?" Kihei stammered, recoiling in fear.
No, Kaoru thought, her blue eyes following the wanderer's movements or at least those she could see, with fascination and utter amazement. It's not magic. He is incredibly fast. The speed of his sword, his movements, and his ability to read his opponents... that allows him to take down several opponents in just a few moves.
Unbeknownst to her, Gohei was thinking exactly the same thing, as he watched with growing horror what was happening in front of his eyes. Within seconds, all his men were on the ground, dead or unconscious, he wasn't really sure.
"One thing I forgot to mention..." the samurai said, standing in the middle of the fallen bodies of his opponents. Fixing his eyes, of a fiery and menacing gold color on Gohei's face, he continued in an icy voice: "Hitokiri Battousai's technique is not the Kamiya Kasshin, nor any other technique you use. He uses a style of kendo created in the Sengoku period, designed to fight several enemies at once. It is called Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu. If it weren't for the sakabatō, they would all have been killed."
He smirked, resting his sword on his shoulder in a relaxed gesture as he watched surprise color Gohei's expression. He heard the startled gasps of Kihei and Kaoru in the background, but deliberately ignored them, more focused on the massive monster in front of him, suddenly pale under the force of his golden gaze.
"It can't be... You're the Hitokiri Battousai?" Kaoru whispered, looking at him with wide eyes, unable to believe her ears. It was not possible that that kind man who had saved her life was the most lethal hitokiri of the Bakumatsu... It could not be that that wanderer with soft violet eyes was the most feared being that had walked the streets of Kyoto...
The red-haired man grimaced slightly as he felt the fear resonate in Miss Kaoru's ki. He wasn't going to hurt her, she had no reason to be afraid of him... But he knew that she had probably grown up hearing the absurd rumors people told of the Hitokiri Battousai, and so it was natural for her to panic just knowing that he was this legendary figure. He didn't like it, but he understood it.
"There can only be one Battousai in the world." Gohei said, stepping forward with his sword in his hand, scowling heavily as he tried to look menacing, though to an opponent he came across more like a real clown.
"On that we are in agreement. I have no affection for the title Battousai, but I can't let an idiot like you use it. I should have taken care of you the other night... However, I can do it now." He replied, with a serious and deadly expression on his face, as he turned his sakabatō slightly so that the sharp side of the weapon glowed menacingly towards the impostor who had been killing innocents in his name.
"You have guts, I admit it... But you should do something about your arrogant attitude. I'll keep the Battousai title for myself!" Gihei roared, raising his sword to attack the red-haired man, not a very smart move. He should have run away when he had the chance.
"I'm sorry, but... you're dead." was the samurai's reply, who to Gohei's confusion, was nowhere in sight anymore. He didn't even see death coming, when suddenly darkness consumed him, and he fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from a cut the red-haired man had made from his shoulder to his hip as he jumped and fell over him. "I cannot allow you to continue committing atrocities in my name, least of all against the innocents of this era. And you…"
He fixed his cold amber eyes on the face of the old man who, pale, watched him from a corner. He raised the sword towards him, pointing it at him with a stance that indicated he was willing to use the blade of the sword on him as well.
"For being the architect of this, your punishment will be the worst." At his words, Kihei fainted, falling into a puddle of his own urine. Out of fear, he had released his sphincter, which caused the samurai to wrinkle his nose in complete disgust at the old man's cowardice. Sheathing his sword after making a motion with his wrist that caused some of the blood to drip from the blade, he approached the fallen man and picked up the papers from the sale of the dojo, then tore them up without a second thought. "Like all cheaters, they are cowards by nature."
Kaoru surveyed the bodies lying around her, rising from where she had fallen so that she could check them more closely. She was about to yell a couple of things at the red-haired man — at that damned murderer — when a groan of pain to her right made her gasp as she realized something important. Very important.
"They... are alive. Wounded, but alive... All of them. And there's no blood...
And they were. Sore, and clearly with some broken bones and bruises scattered all over their bodies thanks to the blows from the blunt side of the sakabatō, Gohei's men were still breathing and without any mortal wounds. Without any blood or cuts in their flesh. Only bruises that would not cost them their lives in any case, and they were already even beginning to move, regaining consciousness after the time they had spent in blissful unconsciousness.
"Of course they are alive, Kaoru-dono." The samurai replied, approaching her with slow, measured steps, his violet eyes once again fixed on the black-haired girl. He gave her a cautious look, fearing that she would be terrified by his proximity and start screaming like a soul in pain (it had happened before), but when she showed no other reaction than to give him a look of absolute astonishment and confusion, he decided to inform her something in a kind voice: "Don't take me for a ruthless killer who kills everyone who crosses him. I have never used my sword to kill for the pleasure of seeing blood. I use my sword for the weak, and all these men are weak, plus technically they were not the ones who hurt you or the innocent people killed by Gohei. He was the real evil here, as he was using these weak men to do his will. People like him threaten the peace of this new era that brought so much pain to those of us who fought for it.
With a weary sigh, he fixed his eyes with a stony gaze on one of the fallen men who was just waking up, and who seemed to be less injured than the others in the dojo.
"You... Clean up this mess and take your comrades with you when they react. I never want to see them carry a sword again, is that clear?"
The thug nodded his head repeatedly, panic etched on his face, suddenly aware that he was facing someone who could have killed them all without even breaking a sweat, and for some reason had spared their lives. He was grateful for that, especially after seeing that Gohei was dead. He was the best swordsman in the group, and if he had died so easily, then it was obvious that that samurai far surpassed the skill any of them could have.
For the next few minutes, the kendoka and the samurai were absolutely silent as they watched the fallen men react and stand up amidst groans of pain. Under the piercing gaze of the red-haired man, the men who were better were on the move and helped those who were more seriously injured to move, besides taking the old man with them and the corpse of their boss. Soon the dojo was empty besides its owner and the hitokiri.
"I'm sorry, Kaoru-dono." He turned to look at the blue-eyed girl with a small embarrassed smile curving the corners of his lips. His sweet, violet eyes were focused with a regretful gaze on the face of the kendoka, who found herself softening a bit before him. "I had no intention of deceiving you, though I would have preferred to keep my identity a secret. Yes, I was the Hitokiri Battousai during the revolution, but I left that name behind ten years ago, and now I am just a wandering swordsman who helps the weak and tries to protect this country from true evil through the ways of the Aku Soku Zan."
The girl watched him, with a crystalline gaze full of innocence. She had just seen that man murder another man in front of her eyes, but for some reason, she couldn't really be upset with him for that. Battousai had saved her. It couldn't really be like the rumors said, could it? I mean... he looked like a good person, despite everything. He didn't look like a bloodthirsty monster, nor had he laughed while killing Gohei, nor was he bathing in his opponent's blood. In fact, it seemed that the death of that monster weighed heavily on him, she could see it in his eyes, even if he also seriously thought it was the best thing to do (which she disagreed with).
"I'm sorry for the damage my reputation has caused you, Kaoru-dono. I think I'll leave now."
With a last small embarrassed smile towards the girl who was watching him with something akin to regret, the red-haired man turned to leave, but was rudely interrupted by the voice of the kendoka, who shouted after him:
"Wait a minute!"
ORO ! Surprise was evident in the samurai's gesture as he turned to look at the now irate ravenhead who was watching him with eyes suddenly blazing with ill-contained fury.
"How am I supposed to carry on with the dojo by myself? Can't you stay for a while and give me a hand? I don't care about people's pasts!" The woman exclaimed, using anger to cover the despair she was feeling at the moment. For some reason, she didn't want him to leave. With one hand gripping the shoulder that had been somewhat injured in her little fight with Gohei, she took a step forward to better face the samurai who was watching her in a daze from the door of the dojo. At that moment, with that surprised expression, he didn't look at all like the dangerous assassin she knew him to be.
"With what happened with Kihei... You should care a little, don't you think?" He remarked in a voice too wise for his very young appearance, as he looked at her with some condescension in the depths of his violet orbs.
"Well... Perhaps... a little..." she replied, admitting this with a distinctly sour mood, though a slight blush of embarrassment illuminated her cheeks.
He sighed in response. It seemed that this girl was in serious need of some company. So much in need as to ask him, an assassin, the most lethal of assassins, to stay with her without even a moment's hesitation.
"Anyway, it would be best if I left. Now you can regain the honor of the dojo, and if the real Battousai were to stay, it would only be a problem." He muttered, keeping his feelings on the matter behind a firm mental barrier and putting on his wanderer mask with a kind and somewhat childish smile on his features.
"But I don't want Battousai to stay! I want the rurouni to stay…" She covered her mouth with a hand, suddenly aware that, firstly she was being incredibly rude, and secondly she seemed to be begging the red-haired man, and she had too much pride to beg. Blushing at her impudence, she turned her back on the hitokiri, muttering between her teeth: "If you want to leave, leave, but at least tell me your real name. Battousai is the title you were given as an imperialist all those years ago. Though I suppose you won't tell me your real name…"
The swordsman watched her for a few short moments with his violet eyes, his face devoid of emotion. On the one hand, he knew that leaving would be the best thing to do, as it would prevent the problems that seemed to follow him everywhere from affecting the bluish-eyed girl. But on the other... who knew what kind of person she would bring into her house next time, since she seemed to have a tendency to invite dangerous people to stay with her.
It wasn't his responsibility to take care of her, far from it, but if he could do it for a few days or weeks... he supposed it wasn't wrong for him to do so. At least, until she understood that she shouldn't be so incautious with the people she brought into her home.
With an inaudible sigh, he closed the shōji door behind him, watching as Miss Kaoru's shoulders seemed to slump with sudden dejection.
"Himura." He said, catching the attention of the blue-eyed girl who quickly turned to look at him, her eyes wide with surprise at hearing his voice inside the dojo, "Himura Kenshin. That's my real name."
He sketched a friendly smile at the astonished face of the girl who, mute, stared at him with something akin to disbelief and relief shining in her blue eyes.
"I'm a little tired of traveling. A wanderer never knows where he will go or how long he will stay, so if you don't mind, I'll stay for a while." Kenshin concluded, making the girl's face light up in a smile of true joy, because it seemed she wouldn't have to stay alone yet.
"And... Wait a second…" Kaoru said suddenly, narrowing her eyes slightly in the direction of her new companion, who suddenly froze as he felt the wariness begin to glow in the girl's ki. Was she regretting inviting him to stay? Had she just really realized who he was and would back out? He wouldn't blame her if she did, not at all. "If you fought in the Bakumatsu... How old are you?!"
Oro ! The unexpected question nearly sent him face-first to the ground in surprise, and almost immediately brought a smile to the swordsman's face at first. Then, for the first time in what seemed like many years, he let out a truly hearty laugh of innocent amusement, with pure happiness in his tone of voice, laughing for a good few minutes to the complete indignation of the blue-eyed woman. In response, she grabbed a bokken from the nearest wall and tried to hit him for laughing at her, forgetting in her anger that she was trying to hit the strongest samurai in Japan. She failed in her attempts, again and again, and as he nimbly dodged her amid soft laughter, hopping back and forth around the dojo to stay out of her attack radius, Kenshin couldn't help but think with amusement that his stay in that place would be somewhat entertaining and interesting.
"You don't look any older, you can't be more than thirty, Kenshin!"
And so the story begins, with the arrival of a wandering swordsman named Kenshin Himura in a town near Tokyo, in the eleventh year of the Meiji era.
Notes:
Author's note #1: So obviously this is a What if... story. In this story, Kenshin didn't stop being Battousai at the end of the war, or rather, he doesn't have the absolute refusal to kill as he does in canon. The idea came to my mind while rereading the manga and I thought what would have happened if Kenshin was still Battousai? And I don't mean the bloodthirsty killer, but the cunning hitokiri who doesn't like to kill, but does it because it's necessary.
Author's note #2: I don't consider Battousai and the rurouni as two distinct entities, as many fics portray him, but rather as two distinct attitudes of the same person. I consider the rurouni's personality as a mask to cover Kenshin's cunning as a hitokiri, as a method he uses to avoid the government, which would surely wish to kill him like Shishio if he had remained the assassin.
Author's Note #3: For the most part, I base this on the manga in its entirety, and only use some basic Japanese terms such as titles, suffixes, names of some objects, etc.