DISCLAIMER: We both know I don't own Soujiro, ShiShiO, Kenshin, Senkaku, or any of the other characters that are making Watsuki Nobuhiro and his corporate sponsors/affiliates rich. If I did, I wouldn't need to worry about tuition, renting an apartment, or saving for a trip to Europe this summer. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If not ... chikushou, aku baka!
That reminds me ... my Japanese is next to nonexistent. Don't fault me for it. At least I'm trying.
Happy reading!
ANTI-DISCLAIMER (would that be just a "claimer?"): Some of these characters ARE my own creation, as well as many elements of the setting; the town of Ichibou, Kim Young-eun, Karachi Hoebu, Yamashina Ito, and several other minor characters are my own ideas. Use your head. If it never appeared in anywhere in the Kenshin series, then it's probably mine. Not that anyone cares but me.
SPOILERS/BACKGROUND: To Kenshin TV ep 61, "Remaining Ju Pon Gattana, Choice of Life."
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CHAPTER 9:
SENKAKU
The town hall of Ichibou was large structure, but it looked like it had been smaller not so long ago and had been expanded recently, and by architects who were concerned more with doing a quick job than a good one. It was only one story, though the roof was noticeably higher in the center than in either of the two wings. The center section, which looked to be the original part, was substantially more solidly built than either wing, and whoever had put together the later construction was clearly incapable of works such as the domed skylight in the middle of the building. The structure stood in the center of a small, crude, and dirty plaza not far from the northern edge of Ichibou. Crimson torchlight burned hotly in the windows, outlining the silhouettes of leather-armored guards stationed by the entrances or patrolling near the windows. More torches and lanterns outside the house illuminated the plaza as well as any street in Ichibou other than South Street.
Soujiro approached the main entrance fearlessly, making no effort to hide. There were eight guards on duty, but most of them didn't look like they knew how to handle a razor blade, much less a katana. A pair of katanas in leather sheaths hung by his hip, but he did not move by a fighter, at least not to the untrained eye. He seemed to be no more than a village boy taking a stroll.
They moved to block his path immediately, just as he expected. "Who goes there?" one of them called.
"Is Senkaku here?" Soujiro called out in reply.
"He's busy!" the guard snapped.
Soujiro's eyes darkened. *He'd better be busy alone,* the black thought ran through his mind. He doubted that Young-eun would still be in the town hall, if she had ever even been brought here. Senkaku was probably simply drunk or busy tormenting some poor captive and didn't want to be interrupted. The man never involved himself with anything constructive that ever went on inside a town hall. 'Constructive' was simply not part of his nature. Soujiro did not let any of this show in his smile, his eyes, or his voice, however.
"Well, then, I want you to get him a message for me," Soujiro replied politely. "Can you do that, please?"
"I'll see what I can do," the guard replied sourly. He seemed to take some offense at Soujiro's attitude. Soujiro didn't know why; he didn't bear the guard any ill will. If anything, Soujiro should be the one offended; at least he had taken a bath recently.
"Good," Soujiro answered. "Please tell him that Seta Tenken-no-Soujiro is giving him fifteen minutes to prepare, out of respect for a former master. Tell him that he should have a combat medic ready, too. He might need it." Soujiro's smile never wavered in the slightest as he spoke, and it actually brightened as he turned to leave.
The guard bristled, though Soujiro had spoken as politely as he knew how. "Is that a threat?" he asked dangerously.
Soujiro was already walking away, however, and the warning was directed at his back. "Of course," the blue-clad assassin replied over his shoulder. *I thought it was pretty obvious,* he thought to himself as he walked away.
"Hold it!" the guard called again. Soujiro did not miss a stride. The man made a move to run up behind him, then thought better of it, then started forward again, then finally backed off and let Soujiro leave. A momentary flash of surprise darted through Soujiro's mind. The man wasn't as dumb as he looked.
Soujiro spent the next ten minutes or so in the Shinto shrine a pair of blocks east of the town hall. He was not praying, but he wanted a quiet atmosphere to meditate and warm up before he confronted Senkaku. He had not given Senkaku those fifteen minutes out of pure generosity. The warning itself was the generous part; Soujiro had not planned to march straight in to confront ShiShiO's former crony immediately.
The shrine was completely empty, and it was fairly clean as well. It was set on a tiny rise within the town, less than five feet above the main streets, but high enough that the mountains were visible from the northern windows and entrance. There were six dim lamps casting light into the central chamber, two by each of the three doors, one facing all directions save south. Soujiro smiled. This was a lot closer to what he was used to. There was very little furniture, and the decorations were simple, but somehow it didn't stand out as impoverished. The central chamber also seemed a lot bigger than it actually was, because of the lack of furniture and the slightly higher ceiling.
Soujiro stood in the center of the room for a brief minute, facing the north entrance and allowing the brisk draft of the north wind to ripple through his hair and clothes. Slowly, steadily, calmly, he slid the sakaba free of its unadorned sheath and held it horizontally in front of his forehead, almost in a salute to the north wind coming down from the mountains to meet him. Images trickled back to him, images of the spirit of the north wind that he had spent the evening with on the roof of the blacksmith's home. The wind in her hair, her smile, the relaxed muscles, the light in her eyes when she had let her guard down for him.
He had not realized then exactly what effect those had had on him; he still didn't, but it didn't matter. He did know that he would never find out one way or another if he just let her vanish. That was the way of the world sometimes, and he had seen it in action a thousand times without ever experiencing it for himself: people never realized the value of anything until it was gone.
He lowered the katana and his body into a fighting stance.
Anyone who might have stopped by the Shinto shrine of Ichibou in the space of those next few minutes would very likely not have believed their eyes. There was a dark whirlwind twisting around the room, a dark blue blur dotted with occasional metallic flashes of firelight on steel streaking from one corner to the other, even up the walls. Occasionally the blur would resolve into the form of a small boy soaring through the air, only to blur and vanish again once his feet touched solid ground. All at once, the boy vanished completely from human eyes, only to reappear in the middle of the room once again, standing still except for the fluid movement of sheathing his katana.
"Time's up," he whispered into the wind.
The room was plunged into complete darkness as the severed tips of all six torches dropped to the ground, scattering into dull, leaden embers. Soujiro had cleanly clipped them all off with the Oh-Waza-Mono blade on his final pass around the room, each within a fraction of an instant of the one before.
Waiting only long enough to ensure that he had not just started a fire, Soujiro strode back out into the street that led back to the town hall. Images of Young-eun still flashed occasionally through the corners of his mind, but it was as if he was sealed off from them somehow. It was a sensation he was used to feeling, and he did not even fully realize that the mindset had returned to him. It was the mindset of the Tenken. The sky was overcast and the streetlamps were few and far between even this close to the town hall, but Soujiro knew what anyone who happened to catch a glimpse of him would see. He was smiling like a child on a feastday.
Soujiro stopped in a dark, sheltered alcove as soon as he came within sight of the town hall. The guard had been tripled in the fifteen minutes since Soujiro turned his back on it. Soujiro was actually impressed. The guard had taken him seriously enough to deliver the warning, it seemed. He wouldn't have believed it. However, Soujiro was not in the mood to waste time with guards. He slipped back into the shadows of an alley.
As quickly as he could manage without making too much noise, Soujiro climbed up onto the roof of the two-story building next to the little plaza surrounding the town hall. He seemed to be spending a lot of time on roofs lately. Once there, he crouched low and tiptoed to the edge facing the plaza. Fortunately, the closest streetlamps were all some distance away, and none were bright enough to reach this far up, anyway. The pitch blackness of the sky was working in his favor. The streetlamps and the torches of the guards were the only light, and they weren't much. Soujiro backed up slowly across the roof of the building, keeping himself lined up with the building across the plaza. Once he reached the far end of the roof, he crouched even lower and leaned forward, tapping one foot on the ground behind him slowly. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, he sprang forward.
He coiled his body as he reached the end of the roof and sailed off into the night sky. His powerful legs propelled him far above the reach of the streetlamps and torches, especially since the guards on the ground didn't even contemplate the possibility of an attack from above. Fortunately, this was not exactly the world's largest plaza; it was barely wider than South Street. Soujiro's legs proved equal to the challenge, and he landed softly on the roof of the town hall of Ichibou with almost five feet to spare. He had to roll to absorb the impact, but Shishio had taught him that before he had even outgrown the clothes Shishio had found him in. Once on the roof, Soujiro turned his attention to the glass skylight above the central chamber of the town hall. Again, he crouched low, and drifted silently across the roof until he had a good enough angle to look down. As soon as he did, a familiar face came into view.
Senkaku looked the same as ever. He was surrounded by a small gaggle of cronies, and all looked like they were holding a contest to see who could go for the longest without taking a bath. He sat on what might even have been a small throne at the back of the central chamber. A large council table covered with maps, papers, and other paraphernalia occupied the middle of the room, immediately below the skylight. The only door to the council chamber was barred from the inside with a heavy oaken beam, and the doors themselves looked fairly secure as well. The person talking to Senkaku attracted Soujiro's eyes as much as Senkaku himself, however. Soujiro recognized him even though his back was turned; after all, his back had been turned the first time Soujiro has seen it as well. It was the man that the owner of the Red House had called Genji. He was wearing a brown Western-style outdoor jacket and pants, and a thin, black cloth sweatband around his forehead. A katana hung in an unadorned scabbard by his left hip.
Soujiro dearly wished that he could hear what Genji was saying. Apparently the man had connections to both Senkaku and Yamashina. He didn't need to wonder about Senkaku's replies, however. The man's voice was so loud that it carried all the way up to the skylight, and it was as tight a voice as Soujiro had ever heard from him.
"Dammit, Genji!" was the first thing Soujiro was able to hear as soon as he had gotten himself settled. Genji murmured something in response. He seemed to be trying to calm Senkaku, to no avail.
"How the hell is he going to ..." Senkaku exploded again, but Genji cut him off with some sharp words that Soujiro couldn't hear. The response was apparently very icy, however, because Senkaku's back stiffened at the words.
"Yes, if he comes, I'll fight him!" Senkaku snarled.
There was a ferocious crash and a shower of broken splinters of glass as the skylight scattered into the room and Soujiro landed softly on the council table. There was a great deal of screaming and cursing, but neither Senkaku nor any of his minions came at Soujiro right away. Senkaku and Genji had been standing far enough away that the glass did not touch them, but many of Senkaku's guards were not so lucky, and the rest did not seem eager to charge the new arrival, even with both of his swords still in their sheaths.
Soujiro broke the momentary silence after all of the glass had fallen. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Senkaku. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Surprise and frustration contorted Senkaku's face. "Guards!!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
But Soujiro had already planned on this. He sprang backwards from the table and crossed the room just as Senkaku's retainers in the room moved to unbar the door to let the rest of the guards on the outside in. The sakaba sword flew from its sheath at the same instant. The two guards that had been by the door had already turned their backs to lift the beam away; they were the first to go.
"Aoi Fusenmei Batsu!" he said as he reached the door. He did not attack the two of them directly from behind. Instead, he sprang and pushed off one side of the doorframe. His momentum carried him all the way to the other side of the doorframe ... straight through the two men lifting the beam off from its supports. They went flying sideways, rolled over ungracefully several times, and did not try to get up. The rest of the guards that had been moving towards the doors stopped dead in their tracks; most took a slow step or two backwards. Soujiro did not move a muscle. He kept his attention focused on Senkaku and Genji. A clamor and a pounding began behind him as the guards struggled with the doors, but Soujiro was unconcerned. Unless they had a battering ram or were willing to set the building on fire, they would not be breaking through anytime soon. The people already in the room demanded his attention.
"Call them back," Soujiro called to Senkaku. "You know what will happen if you don't."
Senkaku made a sound in his throat and hesitated, and almost looked as if he were about to accede when Genji interrupted, "Boy, you know how to make an entrance, but you're the one trapped, not us! Kill him!"
One guard embarrassed himself by jumping forward a step, then leapt back with a frightened whimper when he realized that none of his companions had followed him. Soujiro just smiled at him, and he backed up a few more steps for good measure. The rest of the guards simply stood where they were and looked at each other, and at the two men gasping through their teeth in agony on the floor.
Genji did not give up so easily, however. "Vermin!" he shouted at his men. "Whoever brings him down gets triple their pay this month! Get him!"
A chorus went up among the guards. "Triple?! Get him!" They came at Soujiro in a rush, swords bared. Soujiro's smile only widened. It was probably going to be necessary to eliminate the other guards before he could fully concentrate on Senkaku and Genji, anyway; they were just making it much more convenient.
The first guard to reach Soujiro tried to drive his sword straight through Soujiro's heart, but Soujiro spun to the ground and smashed the man's shins with the flat of his blade. The man's momentum flipped him up and over the crouching assassin, and he crashed headlong into the bar on the door behind Soujiro. He was already twitching in pain before he fell to the ground.
From his crouched position, Soujiro dove to meet the next two attackers. He was about to take out one of them immediately when he realized that the other was winding up for a truly mindless swing. Instead, he pulled back at the last minute, catching the first man's katana on his own to hold him in position for a second. Then, as the other man brought his sword around, Soujiro leapt back, and the man swung around and sliced deep into the thigh of his own companion. His friend couldn't block it, because his sword had been held high by Soujiro's parry until a split second earlier.
As Soujiro leapt back, he had planned to use the door as a springboard and lunge back in at the guard before he could react, but at the last instant before he did, he noticed something small and dark streaking toward him down the center of the room. He twisted aside widly and dove to the floor, much to the surprise of the guard who had just cut down his own friend, and there was a dull 'thunk' as a pair of spiral darts thudded into the wooden door behind him. Genji had not been fool enough to think that Senkaku's soldiers would be enough to stop him after all. The man had thrown them away as a diversion, and it had nearly worked. Soujiro had never seen spiral darts in action before, but he knew enough to know that they were usually poisoned.
Fortunately, the guard in front of Soujiro was not quick enough to take advantage of the former Tenken's momentary imbalance. Without rising to his feet, afraid to give Genji any larger a target than necessary in case he had any more of those darts, Soujiro whirled his legs and twisted the rest of his body a moment behind them. The log roll was generally a desperate technique to avoid a death blow while on the ground, but at the speed Soujiro was capable of, it was a little more useful. He rolled right through the shins of the guard in front of him, but the roll also carried him up the middle of the floor just as the remaining four guards were beginning to close in on him down the sides of the chamber, forcing them to stop and change direction. Soujiro rolled all the way to the council table before he gathered his feet under himself again.
Quickly, Soujiro burst back into the group of men now converged in front of the doors where he had been standing moments earlier. With four other men all larger than Soujiro in the way, and Soujiro wise to the fact that Genji was a danger even at this distance, the man would not get another shot. The man had just proved something that Soujiro had suspected for a while, however; this Genji, whoever he was, was not just an administrator or spokesman.
A few quick flashes of sakaba steel later, all but one of Senkaku's soldiers lay unconscious on the floor in front of the door. Soujiro left the last one standing deliberately. He had spared the largest of all the original eight, and Soujiro danced around in front of him, almost seeming to toy with the man's katana. Soujiro was not playing around, however. He constantly maneuvered the man back and forth, and then backwards, one step at a time, using the man as an unknowing human shield against Genji's darts.
Genji was no fool, however, and quickly realized what Soujiro was up to. "Nogushi, get out of the way!" he shouted as he moved to one side to try and get a better shot around the side of the larger man from across the room. Soujiro could see his fist clenched around another dart. He had been right to worry.
Soujiro realized that this was not exactly the most efficient way to be going about things, and that he was going to be in a worse pickle if he continued to dally. Quickly, he caught the last guard's sword with his own, twisted it aside, and slid his own blade down the blade of his opponent's. The hilt of the sakaba made a muffled thud as it rammed into the guard's abdomen, and a sickening groan was all the sound that the guard could manage as he keeled over to the floor. Now Soujiro was free to concentrate on the last two people in the room. Genji was clearly the more dangerous, but Soujiro's attention was almost involuntarily drawn to Senkaku for a moment.
Soujiro remembered Senkaku's fight with the Battousai. The man had been using heavy bladed gloves back then. His taste for unique and cumbersome weapons hadn't changed, but the gloves were gone. In their place, Senkaku held a gigantic two-handed sword, with a hilt nearly the size of a quarterstaff. The blade was significantly longer than Soujiro was tall, and nearly as wide as well. Soujiro's eyes widened. So much for old dogs and new tricks. Sometime since Soujiro had last seen him, Senkaku had taken up the Zanbatou.
Genji made a move as though he were about to fire another dart at Soujiro, but thought better of it. Soujiro had already dodged two of them while in the middle of a pitched melee and taken by surprise. His odds of hitting with Soujiro aware of him and free to move as he wished were virtually nil. Eventually, he relaxed slightly. Soujiro did not bite, however. None of the battle-readiness had left his stance, and his hand was conspicuously close to the hilt of his katana. He was only inviting Soujiro to attack him, and Soujiro was not that close even had there not been a huge table in the way.
Eventually, once he realized that Soujiro was not going to attack before he was ready, Genji spoke. "So you're this Seta Soujiro that I've heard so much about since yesterday," he drawled.
"Hai," Soujiro responded cheerfully. Actually, he realized that it was probably not entirely true; Senkaku had never really known that much about him. Nonetheless, it did not seem worth explaining. He probably wouldn't do a very good job of explaining even if he wanted to. *Smile and say yes, Soujiro,* he told himself.
"And you want to know where Young-eun is, I assume?" There was almost a kind of anticipation in his voice, as though this were leading somewhere, but Soujiro could not fathom where he was going with it. His eyes narrowed at the mention of Young-eun, but he did not allow it to ruffle his composure. Of course they knew that was what he was here for. What was the point of asking?
"Hai," he answered again, though his smile had taken on a somewhat more feral edge to it now.
Genji's only answer was a cold stare. Suddenly, however, an equally cold grin split his face, and he raised his katana at Soujiro in mock salute. "Excellent! You two should have a lot of fun together." Senkaku and Soujiro both stared at the man like he had gone mad. Soujiro was convinced that he might very well be.
"Senkaku, you can work your way back into good standing with Yamashina with this, but if you don't bring him down, I suggest you find a low-profile way out of Ichibou before he or I find you again. We don't tolerate failures very well. Oh, and Soujiro ... the only way you're going to get any closer to her is through him. Maybe you can beat a few answers out of him."
Soujiro ignored Senkaku's sharp "What?!" and directed his gaze at the brown-garbed samurai. "Maybe I could beat them out of you, too," he responded cheerily.
Genji shrugged. "You could, if I were staying to watch. Unfortunately, I can't. I'm sure it would be entertaining." To Senkaku, he hissed, "Kill him or die." He was already in the air as the last left his lips, his katana fanning out in front of him to shatter one of the high windows in the west wall of the chamber. He rolled through the shower of glass and vanished into the night outside. Moments later, the sounds of the guards pounding on the outer doors vanished as well.
Soujiro stared at the window, at first not even trusting the man's departure, but the sense of the man's aura was definitely fading. The man had to be half insane. Together, he and Senkaku probably had a chance against him, if he had been as good with the sword as he was with those darts. Instead, he had left Senkaku in the lurch. What on Earth had he been talking about, he couldn't stay? It wasn't that he had been afraid to fight; Senkaku had shown more signs of anxiety than Genji had. Did he really think that Senkaku could beat him? If he did, then Senkaku had to have learned a lot since the last time Soujiro had seen him. If not, then he had to have a reason for essentially sacrificing Senkaku to him.
Slowly, Soujiro let the mysterious samurai out of his consciousness and turned to Senkaku. The man was at least not trembling at the sight of Soujiro the way he had before, and his size and strength made the Zanbatou less awkward for him than it would be for most. Soujiro thought he caught a few remaining flashes of uneasiness below the surface of his mien, but the mere fact that he had to look twice to see them told him that Senkaku had been doing more than bullying people since Soujiro last left him.
"I'm impressed, Senkaku," Soujiro called. "It looks like you've learned a thing or two since Shingetsu." The thought actually rankled Soujiro a little bit; Himura and Senkaku had both gotten stronger since Shingetsu, but Soujiro really hadn't. He hated falling behind. He hid it as well as he hid anything about his inner personality, but there was a fiery competitor behind that smile.
Senkaku gave him a fiendish smile. "Why don't we find out?" With that, he lunged to the attack, Zanba sword held low and pointed slightly upward in front of him. Soujiro eyes widened in surprise as the sword split the council table in half as Senkaku lunged through it. He danced aside, and Senkaku skidded past him, almost to the door. He did not even bother trying to parry; the force of the impact alone might have sent him crashing against the wall. Soujiro realized that that was probably Senkaku's intention in the first place.
Senkaku wheeled around quickly, surprisingly quickly for someone bearing so cumbersome a weapon, and took a defensive stance. Soujiro was surprised again; Senkaku had never been one to take such a stance. His balance was better as well. Apparently he had paid some special attention to that after that had cost him an inglorious defeat at the hands of the Battousai.
Nevertheless, Soujiro relaxed a little. The fact that Senkaku had taken a defensive stance reminded Soujiro that the former overlord of Shingetsu had never seen him fight before; even when he and Himura had traded blows in Shingetsu, Senkaku had been nearly unconscious. Senkaku had no idea what Soujiro was capable of; all he knew was that Soujiro the Tenken had been the highest of Shishio's followers.
Furthermore, Soujiro could see that Senkaku was already a little rattled. He was keeping his composure better than he had at Shingetsu, but not that much better. Soujiro decided to pry the cracks a little. "How's the jaw, Senkaku?" he asked politely.
Senkaku's answer was a roar and another lunge. This one was slower than the first one, however, and Soujiro was not a blind fool. Senkaku pulled up short and swept horizontally with the Zanba sword, but caught nothing but air. He followed up quickly, but he could not keep up with the Tenken. Soujiro did have to duck away to get out of the reach of the Zanbatou; Senkaku had a much longer reach with the colossal blade than with the special gloves he had worn before. However, there was a hitch in his stride as he readied himself again. He didn't realize until moments later that Soujiro had scored a small hit on his calf as he moved away. Had he been any slower, Soujiro might have gotten the base of his spine instead.
Soujiro stopped at the remains of the council table and began tapping his foot quietly on the ground behind him. "Poor Senkaku," he grinned. "Fighting to defend someone who just left you by yourself."
"I don't need the help of that Shinsen reject," Senkaku snarled. With that, he charged again, putting a little more weight behind his swing this time.
Soujiro dodged again, but actually missed an opportunity to counter thinking about Senkaku's words. Senkaku probably assumed that he already knew something about Genji. Shinsen ... reject? That could explain a lot.
The obvious approach was to simply ask about it. "Shinsen reject?" he asked casually. He did not lower his guard a fraction, however. He did not intend to miss another opening.
Senkaku laughed. "You didn't know? He probably would have been one of the better ones among them, but they turned him away. Seems they didn't trust his dedication to their principles. Go figure."
*Aku. Soku. Zan.* Soujiro thought to himself. He pictured the man named Genji in his mind again. *Nah.*
"I thought the Shinsen Gumi gave everyone with enough skill a chance to prove themselves," Soujiro mused aloud.
Senkaku laughed again. "His cousin had just gotten kicked out of the order for being a loose cannon. The captains didn't want to take that kind of risk again, said that he and his cousin had too much in common. That really pissed him off."
"Enough to fall in with an Ishin?"
"Enough." Soujiro caught the change in Senkaku's voice, and was ready for the attack. Another fierce flurry of blows followed, as Senkaku victimized the floor, walls, chairs, table shards, everything but his target. Soujiro flitted away from each attack as if Senkaku were barely moving.
Eventually, Soujiro disengaged, adding a little flourish to it by somersaulting off the flat of the Zanba sword. He landed behind the ruins of the table, which by now was little more than a pile of wood chips. His smile gained a small tinge of smug satisfaction. Senkaku stopped to line up his next attack, but the man was breathing hard. That was one of Soujiro's advantages that even ShiShiO had never paid much attention to; even after using the Shuku-chi, Soujiro still always had breath to spare. He had not used anywhere near that level of speed against Senkaku. Senkaku was much stronger than most men, but trying to swing a Zanba that quickly was sapping even his endurance.
Soujiro whipped his sword into position in front of him. "Where's Young-eun?" he asked. The question burned the inside of his eyes, but nothing of his inner feelings reached his smile.
Senkaku's mouth curled into a wicked smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he mocked. "Tasty-looking wench, isn't she?"
Soujiro's smile faded, though only for an instant. "I would not take that tone of voice, if I were you," he said icily. "Even if you do kill me, I doubt that you'll work your way back into good standing with Yamashina talking about her like that."
Soujiro knew he had pushed the right button. He had assumed that Young-eun had to be with Yamashina, if she wasn't with Senkaku, or at the very least, out of Senkaku's reach, and the thought obviously did not sit will with the new Lord Mayor. Red rage boiled up in Senkaku's eyes, and his stance with the Zanbatou shifted. His grip changed as well, the left hand dropping back to the base of the hilt and his right
moving up to just below the blade. He held the blade pointed out in front of him, almost like a spear.
*It can't be,* Soujiro thought. *He can't possibly be thinking of trying that with a Zanba!*
"To Hell with Yamashina, but first, to Hell with you!" Senkaku roared as he surged forward.
Soujiro set himself quickly, then rolled in under the thrust of the Zanba. He used the sakaba to keep the Zanba above him; it was not as dangerous catching it from underneat, since its momentum was carrying it and Senkaku forward. With his other hand, he tore the Oh-waza-mono blade from its sheath at point blank range; the hilt crashed straight into and up underneath Senkaku's crotch. Senkaku's forward momentum and the upward thrust of the Soujiro's second sword sent him flying through the air, well above the prone form of Soujiro. A howl of pain and rage broke from his lips as he crashed into his own high-backed chair at the rear of the chamber. The chair crumbled into splinters, and the Zanba fell from Senkaku's grasp.
Soujiro could have finished Senkaku effortlessly then, but he could have done that some time ago, and he wanted the man conscious for a little longer, at any rate. Besides, he was grinning from ear to ear and fighting down the urge to laugh uproariously.
"The Gatotsu?!" Soujiro chuckled disbelievingly. "With a ZANBA?!" Senkaku's only response was a serious of strangled noises punctuated with gross expletives. Soujiro put his hand over his mouth to partially hide his smile. The momentum of the Gatotsu was hard enough to control with a katana; with a Zanba, it was lunacy, and Senkaku was no Shinsen Gumi captain, either. He had probably seen Genji use it once or twice, and maybe Genji had even told him something of the mechanics behind it, but certainly not enough for him to use it effectively. Especially not with the Zanbatou. Soujiro doubted that Genji told him much, anyway; samurai were notoriously closemouthed about their techniques.
Senkaku was leveraging himself to his feet again with the Zanba, but he was clearly having trouble standing, and the weight of the Zanba on his arms would only increase the more he was hurt.
"Let's try this again," Soujiro repeated. "Where's Young-eun?"
Senkaku snarled and forced himself fully back onto his feet. A desperate light was beginning to blossom in his eyes, and Soujiro took a defensive stance. Desperate men became more vulnerable, but they also became more unpredictable.
"If you tell me," Soujiro said, his voice growing colder with every word, "you can still get out of town before Yamashina gets to you. I'm a lot closer."
Soujiro could see that Senkaku was wavering. He could see that his men were only unconscious, not dead, but he could not possibly known that Soujiro was not here for a kill, and he wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment anyway. Nevertheless, he was stubborn, and Genji's threat obviously still loomed large in his mind. He spat another string of curses at Soujiro, but they did not have the vehemence behind them that his last ones had.
Soujiro did not waste this opening. Senkaku was on the verge of cracking, and Soujiro did not want to give him any time to recover. He was in a hurry. "Aoi Denkou Ryu," he called, "Kuushuu!" (1) He sprang into the air, his sword blurring as he came within striking range of Senkaku. Senkaku was too tired to get the Zanba sword above his head in time to even make a feeble attempt at defense. Soujiro scored two quick hits on Senkaku's shoulders, knocking him to the ground again, then sprang off the wall a few feet behind him, soaring almost to the ceiling as he catapulted himself back to where he had been standing before.
"Senkaku," Soujiro breathed, surprised that his breath did not turn to frost as it left his lips, "if you make me knock you out, and they find you, they'll know you didn't kill me. Things won't go so well for you then. If you tell me where she is, you can get out of Ichibou now. While you can still walk."
Senkaku rolled over and propped his head up to look at Soujiro, but either was not making any effort to stand again, or could not. He looked torn between deciding to spill and telling Soujiro to go to Hell.
"Where is she?" Soujiro asked again, lining up for another strike and taking a step forward.
Abruptly, Senkaku collapsed, splayed out in front of the remnants of the chair that had been his seat in Ichibou. "The mines," Senkaku said. "They took them ... to the mines."
There was a steely hiss as Soujiro's sword slid back into its sheath. "Arigatou," (2) he said politely. The lightheartedness had returned to his voice again.
Soujiro turned and walked back to the center of where the great table had stood only minutes earlier. He turned for one last look at the fallen despot. "Sayonara, Senkaku. Good luck," he said in farewell. With that, he drove himself skyward, grabbing the frame of the shattered skylight and hoisting himself back onto the roof.
The cold wind out of the north had slowed but not abated. Soujiro closed his eyes and turned his face northward, basking in the breeze for a moment. On the roof of the town hall, the full force of it swirled around him, ruffling his hair and clothing. The breeze brought back memories of the previous night, of the spirit of the north wind that had spent the late hours of the night with him. Now she was spending the late hours of this one in captivity. So soon after baring her heartfelt yearning for freedom in front of him, she had been all put thrown into a cage. A cold flame burned in the back of his eyes as he opened them and turned towards the west.
*Time to do some spelunking, Soujiro,* he thought grimly to himself. *Time to free the wind.*
* * * * *
(1) Air raid
(2) Thank you
STILL TO COME: Chapter 10, "The Iron Mines." These chapters just keep getting longer, so I can't keep putting them up two or three at a time, especially now that I'm back at college and my time is becoming spread thin again.
Soujiro finally gets to see firsthand the iron mines that he has heard so much rumor and hearsay about. He also finally gets to square off against Genji, and more of the story surrounding the would-have-been Shinsen Gumi comes into focus. However, the one piece of the puzzle that Soujiro is looking for is not at the mines anymore, and Genji is much better than Senkaku about holding his tongue.
Once again, thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and enjoyed this work; this is my first fanfiction that I've ever written for online publishing, and I'm overjoyed to have gotten as positive a reaction as I have. Thanks for all your comments! I really appreciate them!
That reminds me ... my Japanese is next to nonexistent. Don't fault me for it. At least I'm trying.
Happy reading!
ANTI-DISCLAIMER (would that be just a "claimer?"): Some of these characters ARE my own creation, as well as many elements of the setting; the town of Ichibou, Kim Young-eun, Karachi Hoebu, Yamashina Ito, and several other minor characters are my own ideas. Use your head. If it never appeared in anywhere in the Kenshin series, then it's probably mine. Not that anyone cares but me.
SPOILERS/BACKGROUND: To Kenshin TV ep 61, "Remaining Ju Pon Gattana, Choice of Life."
* * * * *
CHAPTER 9:
SENKAKU
The town hall of Ichibou was large structure, but it looked like it had been smaller not so long ago and had been expanded recently, and by architects who were concerned more with doing a quick job than a good one. It was only one story, though the roof was noticeably higher in the center than in either of the two wings. The center section, which looked to be the original part, was substantially more solidly built than either wing, and whoever had put together the later construction was clearly incapable of works such as the domed skylight in the middle of the building. The structure stood in the center of a small, crude, and dirty plaza not far from the northern edge of Ichibou. Crimson torchlight burned hotly in the windows, outlining the silhouettes of leather-armored guards stationed by the entrances or patrolling near the windows. More torches and lanterns outside the house illuminated the plaza as well as any street in Ichibou other than South Street.
Soujiro approached the main entrance fearlessly, making no effort to hide. There were eight guards on duty, but most of them didn't look like they knew how to handle a razor blade, much less a katana. A pair of katanas in leather sheaths hung by his hip, but he did not move by a fighter, at least not to the untrained eye. He seemed to be no more than a village boy taking a stroll.
They moved to block his path immediately, just as he expected. "Who goes there?" one of them called.
"Is Senkaku here?" Soujiro called out in reply.
"He's busy!" the guard snapped.
Soujiro's eyes darkened. *He'd better be busy alone,* the black thought ran through his mind. He doubted that Young-eun would still be in the town hall, if she had ever even been brought here. Senkaku was probably simply drunk or busy tormenting some poor captive and didn't want to be interrupted. The man never involved himself with anything constructive that ever went on inside a town hall. 'Constructive' was simply not part of his nature. Soujiro did not let any of this show in his smile, his eyes, or his voice, however.
"Well, then, I want you to get him a message for me," Soujiro replied politely. "Can you do that, please?"
"I'll see what I can do," the guard replied sourly. He seemed to take some offense at Soujiro's attitude. Soujiro didn't know why; he didn't bear the guard any ill will. If anything, Soujiro should be the one offended; at least he had taken a bath recently.
"Good," Soujiro answered. "Please tell him that Seta Tenken-no-Soujiro is giving him fifteen minutes to prepare, out of respect for a former master. Tell him that he should have a combat medic ready, too. He might need it." Soujiro's smile never wavered in the slightest as he spoke, and it actually brightened as he turned to leave.
The guard bristled, though Soujiro had spoken as politely as he knew how. "Is that a threat?" he asked dangerously.
Soujiro was already walking away, however, and the warning was directed at his back. "Of course," the blue-clad assassin replied over his shoulder. *I thought it was pretty obvious,* he thought to himself as he walked away.
"Hold it!" the guard called again. Soujiro did not miss a stride. The man made a move to run up behind him, then thought better of it, then started forward again, then finally backed off and let Soujiro leave. A momentary flash of surprise darted through Soujiro's mind. The man wasn't as dumb as he looked.
Soujiro spent the next ten minutes or so in the Shinto shrine a pair of blocks east of the town hall. He was not praying, but he wanted a quiet atmosphere to meditate and warm up before he confronted Senkaku. He had not given Senkaku those fifteen minutes out of pure generosity. The warning itself was the generous part; Soujiro had not planned to march straight in to confront ShiShiO's former crony immediately.
The shrine was completely empty, and it was fairly clean as well. It was set on a tiny rise within the town, less than five feet above the main streets, but high enough that the mountains were visible from the northern windows and entrance. There were six dim lamps casting light into the central chamber, two by each of the three doors, one facing all directions save south. Soujiro smiled. This was a lot closer to what he was used to. There was very little furniture, and the decorations were simple, but somehow it didn't stand out as impoverished. The central chamber also seemed a lot bigger than it actually was, because of the lack of furniture and the slightly higher ceiling.
Soujiro stood in the center of the room for a brief minute, facing the north entrance and allowing the brisk draft of the north wind to ripple through his hair and clothes. Slowly, steadily, calmly, he slid the sakaba free of its unadorned sheath and held it horizontally in front of his forehead, almost in a salute to the north wind coming down from the mountains to meet him. Images trickled back to him, images of the spirit of the north wind that he had spent the evening with on the roof of the blacksmith's home. The wind in her hair, her smile, the relaxed muscles, the light in her eyes when she had let her guard down for him.
He had not realized then exactly what effect those had had on him; he still didn't, but it didn't matter. He did know that he would never find out one way or another if he just let her vanish. That was the way of the world sometimes, and he had seen it in action a thousand times without ever experiencing it for himself: people never realized the value of anything until it was gone.
He lowered the katana and his body into a fighting stance.
Anyone who might have stopped by the Shinto shrine of Ichibou in the space of those next few minutes would very likely not have believed their eyes. There was a dark whirlwind twisting around the room, a dark blue blur dotted with occasional metallic flashes of firelight on steel streaking from one corner to the other, even up the walls. Occasionally the blur would resolve into the form of a small boy soaring through the air, only to blur and vanish again once his feet touched solid ground. All at once, the boy vanished completely from human eyes, only to reappear in the middle of the room once again, standing still except for the fluid movement of sheathing his katana.
"Time's up," he whispered into the wind.
The room was plunged into complete darkness as the severed tips of all six torches dropped to the ground, scattering into dull, leaden embers. Soujiro had cleanly clipped them all off with the Oh-Waza-Mono blade on his final pass around the room, each within a fraction of an instant of the one before.
Waiting only long enough to ensure that he had not just started a fire, Soujiro strode back out into the street that led back to the town hall. Images of Young-eun still flashed occasionally through the corners of his mind, but it was as if he was sealed off from them somehow. It was a sensation he was used to feeling, and he did not even fully realize that the mindset had returned to him. It was the mindset of the Tenken. The sky was overcast and the streetlamps were few and far between even this close to the town hall, but Soujiro knew what anyone who happened to catch a glimpse of him would see. He was smiling like a child on a feastday.
Soujiro stopped in a dark, sheltered alcove as soon as he came within sight of the town hall. The guard had been tripled in the fifteen minutes since Soujiro turned his back on it. Soujiro was actually impressed. The guard had taken him seriously enough to deliver the warning, it seemed. He wouldn't have believed it. However, Soujiro was not in the mood to waste time with guards. He slipped back into the shadows of an alley.
As quickly as he could manage without making too much noise, Soujiro climbed up onto the roof of the two-story building next to the little plaza surrounding the town hall. He seemed to be spending a lot of time on roofs lately. Once there, he crouched low and tiptoed to the edge facing the plaza. Fortunately, the closest streetlamps were all some distance away, and none were bright enough to reach this far up, anyway. The pitch blackness of the sky was working in his favor. The streetlamps and the torches of the guards were the only light, and they weren't much. Soujiro backed up slowly across the roof of the building, keeping himself lined up with the building across the plaza. Once he reached the far end of the roof, he crouched even lower and leaned forward, tapping one foot on the ground behind him slowly. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, he sprang forward.
He coiled his body as he reached the end of the roof and sailed off into the night sky. His powerful legs propelled him far above the reach of the streetlamps and torches, especially since the guards on the ground didn't even contemplate the possibility of an attack from above. Fortunately, this was not exactly the world's largest plaza; it was barely wider than South Street. Soujiro's legs proved equal to the challenge, and he landed softly on the roof of the town hall of Ichibou with almost five feet to spare. He had to roll to absorb the impact, but Shishio had taught him that before he had even outgrown the clothes Shishio had found him in. Once on the roof, Soujiro turned his attention to the glass skylight above the central chamber of the town hall. Again, he crouched low, and drifted silently across the roof until he had a good enough angle to look down. As soon as he did, a familiar face came into view.
Senkaku looked the same as ever. He was surrounded by a small gaggle of cronies, and all looked like they were holding a contest to see who could go for the longest without taking a bath. He sat on what might even have been a small throne at the back of the central chamber. A large council table covered with maps, papers, and other paraphernalia occupied the middle of the room, immediately below the skylight. The only door to the council chamber was barred from the inside with a heavy oaken beam, and the doors themselves looked fairly secure as well. The person talking to Senkaku attracted Soujiro's eyes as much as Senkaku himself, however. Soujiro recognized him even though his back was turned; after all, his back had been turned the first time Soujiro has seen it as well. It was the man that the owner of the Red House had called Genji. He was wearing a brown Western-style outdoor jacket and pants, and a thin, black cloth sweatband around his forehead. A katana hung in an unadorned scabbard by his left hip.
Soujiro dearly wished that he could hear what Genji was saying. Apparently the man had connections to both Senkaku and Yamashina. He didn't need to wonder about Senkaku's replies, however. The man's voice was so loud that it carried all the way up to the skylight, and it was as tight a voice as Soujiro had ever heard from him.
"Dammit, Genji!" was the first thing Soujiro was able to hear as soon as he had gotten himself settled. Genji murmured something in response. He seemed to be trying to calm Senkaku, to no avail.
"How the hell is he going to ..." Senkaku exploded again, but Genji cut him off with some sharp words that Soujiro couldn't hear. The response was apparently very icy, however, because Senkaku's back stiffened at the words.
"Yes, if he comes, I'll fight him!" Senkaku snarled.
There was a ferocious crash and a shower of broken splinters of glass as the skylight scattered into the room and Soujiro landed softly on the council table. There was a great deal of screaming and cursing, but neither Senkaku nor any of his minions came at Soujiro right away. Senkaku and Genji had been standing far enough away that the glass did not touch them, but many of Senkaku's guards were not so lucky, and the rest did not seem eager to charge the new arrival, even with both of his swords still in their sheaths.
Soujiro broke the momentary silence after all of the glass had fallen. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Senkaku. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Surprise and frustration contorted Senkaku's face. "Guards!!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
But Soujiro had already planned on this. He sprang backwards from the table and crossed the room just as Senkaku's retainers in the room moved to unbar the door to let the rest of the guards on the outside in. The sakaba sword flew from its sheath at the same instant. The two guards that had been by the door had already turned their backs to lift the beam away; they were the first to go.
"Aoi Fusenmei Batsu!" he said as he reached the door. He did not attack the two of them directly from behind. Instead, he sprang and pushed off one side of the doorframe. His momentum carried him all the way to the other side of the doorframe ... straight through the two men lifting the beam off from its supports. They went flying sideways, rolled over ungracefully several times, and did not try to get up. The rest of the guards that had been moving towards the doors stopped dead in their tracks; most took a slow step or two backwards. Soujiro did not move a muscle. He kept his attention focused on Senkaku and Genji. A clamor and a pounding began behind him as the guards struggled with the doors, but Soujiro was unconcerned. Unless they had a battering ram or were willing to set the building on fire, they would not be breaking through anytime soon. The people already in the room demanded his attention.
"Call them back," Soujiro called to Senkaku. "You know what will happen if you don't."
Senkaku made a sound in his throat and hesitated, and almost looked as if he were about to accede when Genji interrupted, "Boy, you know how to make an entrance, but you're the one trapped, not us! Kill him!"
One guard embarrassed himself by jumping forward a step, then leapt back with a frightened whimper when he realized that none of his companions had followed him. Soujiro just smiled at him, and he backed up a few more steps for good measure. The rest of the guards simply stood where they were and looked at each other, and at the two men gasping through their teeth in agony on the floor.
Genji did not give up so easily, however. "Vermin!" he shouted at his men. "Whoever brings him down gets triple their pay this month! Get him!"
A chorus went up among the guards. "Triple?! Get him!" They came at Soujiro in a rush, swords bared. Soujiro's smile only widened. It was probably going to be necessary to eliminate the other guards before he could fully concentrate on Senkaku and Genji, anyway; they were just making it much more convenient.
The first guard to reach Soujiro tried to drive his sword straight through Soujiro's heart, but Soujiro spun to the ground and smashed the man's shins with the flat of his blade. The man's momentum flipped him up and over the crouching assassin, and he crashed headlong into the bar on the door behind Soujiro. He was already twitching in pain before he fell to the ground.
From his crouched position, Soujiro dove to meet the next two attackers. He was about to take out one of them immediately when he realized that the other was winding up for a truly mindless swing. Instead, he pulled back at the last minute, catching the first man's katana on his own to hold him in position for a second. Then, as the other man brought his sword around, Soujiro leapt back, and the man swung around and sliced deep into the thigh of his own companion. His friend couldn't block it, because his sword had been held high by Soujiro's parry until a split second earlier.
As Soujiro leapt back, he had planned to use the door as a springboard and lunge back in at the guard before he could react, but at the last instant before he did, he noticed something small and dark streaking toward him down the center of the room. He twisted aside widly and dove to the floor, much to the surprise of the guard who had just cut down his own friend, and there was a dull 'thunk' as a pair of spiral darts thudded into the wooden door behind him. Genji had not been fool enough to think that Senkaku's soldiers would be enough to stop him after all. The man had thrown them away as a diversion, and it had nearly worked. Soujiro had never seen spiral darts in action before, but he knew enough to know that they were usually poisoned.
Fortunately, the guard in front of Soujiro was not quick enough to take advantage of the former Tenken's momentary imbalance. Without rising to his feet, afraid to give Genji any larger a target than necessary in case he had any more of those darts, Soujiro whirled his legs and twisted the rest of his body a moment behind them. The log roll was generally a desperate technique to avoid a death blow while on the ground, but at the speed Soujiro was capable of, it was a little more useful. He rolled right through the shins of the guard in front of him, but the roll also carried him up the middle of the floor just as the remaining four guards were beginning to close in on him down the sides of the chamber, forcing them to stop and change direction. Soujiro rolled all the way to the council table before he gathered his feet under himself again.
Quickly, Soujiro burst back into the group of men now converged in front of the doors where he had been standing moments earlier. With four other men all larger than Soujiro in the way, and Soujiro wise to the fact that Genji was a danger even at this distance, the man would not get another shot. The man had just proved something that Soujiro had suspected for a while, however; this Genji, whoever he was, was not just an administrator or spokesman.
A few quick flashes of sakaba steel later, all but one of Senkaku's soldiers lay unconscious on the floor in front of the door. Soujiro left the last one standing deliberately. He had spared the largest of all the original eight, and Soujiro danced around in front of him, almost seeming to toy with the man's katana. Soujiro was not playing around, however. He constantly maneuvered the man back and forth, and then backwards, one step at a time, using the man as an unknowing human shield against Genji's darts.
Genji was no fool, however, and quickly realized what Soujiro was up to. "Nogushi, get out of the way!" he shouted as he moved to one side to try and get a better shot around the side of the larger man from across the room. Soujiro could see his fist clenched around another dart. He had been right to worry.
Soujiro realized that this was not exactly the most efficient way to be going about things, and that he was going to be in a worse pickle if he continued to dally. Quickly, he caught the last guard's sword with his own, twisted it aside, and slid his own blade down the blade of his opponent's. The hilt of the sakaba made a muffled thud as it rammed into the guard's abdomen, and a sickening groan was all the sound that the guard could manage as he keeled over to the floor. Now Soujiro was free to concentrate on the last two people in the room. Genji was clearly the more dangerous, but Soujiro's attention was almost involuntarily drawn to Senkaku for a moment.
Soujiro remembered Senkaku's fight with the Battousai. The man had been using heavy bladed gloves back then. His taste for unique and cumbersome weapons hadn't changed, but the gloves were gone. In their place, Senkaku held a gigantic two-handed sword, with a hilt nearly the size of a quarterstaff. The blade was significantly longer than Soujiro was tall, and nearly as wide as well. Soujiro's eyes widened. So much for old dogs and new tricks. Sometime since Soujiro had last seen him, Senkaku had taken up the Zanbatou.
Genji made a move as though he were about to fire another dart at Soujiro, but thought better of it. Soujiro had already dodged two of them while in the middle of a pitched melee and taken by surprise. His odds of hitting with Soujiro aware of him and free to move as he wished were virtually nil. Eventually, he relaxed slightly. Soujiro did not bite, however. None of the battle-readiness had left his stance, and his hand was conspicuously close to the hilt of his katana. He was only inviting Soujiro to attack him, and Soujiro was not that close even had there not been a huge table in the way.
Eventually, once he realized that Soujiro was not going to attack before he was ready, Genji spoke. "So you're this Seta Soujiro that I've heard so much about since yesterday," he drawled.
"Hai," Soujiro responded cheerfully. Actually, he realized that it was probably not entirely true; Senkaku had never really known that much about him. Nonetheless, it did not seem worth explaining. He probably wouldn't do a very good job of explaining even if he wanted to. *Smile and say yes, Soujiro,* he told himself.
"And you want to know where Young-eun is, I assume?" There was almost a kind of anticipation in his voice, as though this were leading somewhere, but Soujiro could not fathom where he was going with it. His eyes narrowed at the mention of Young-eun, but he did not allow it to ruffle his composure. Of course they knew that was what he was here for. What was the point of asking?
"Hai," he answered again, though his smile had taken on a somewhat more feral edge to it now.
Genji's only answer was a cold stare. Suddenly, however, an equally cold grin split his face, and he raised his katana at Soujiro in mock salute. "Excellent! You two should have a lot of fun together." Senkaku and Soujiro both stared at the man like he had gone mad. Soujiro was convinced that he might very well be.
"Senkaku, you can work your way back into good standing with Yamashina with this, but if you don't bring him down, I suggest you find a low-profile way out of Ichibou before he or I find you again. We don't tolerate failures very well. Oh, and Soujiro ... the only way you're going to get any closer to her is through him. Maybe you can beat a few answers out of him."
Soujiro ignored Senkaku's sharp "What?!" and directed his gaze at the brown-garbed samurai. "Maybe I could beat them out of you, too," he responded cheerily.
Genji shrugged. "You could, if I were staying to watch. Unfortunately, I can't. I'm sure it would be entertaining." To Senkaku, he hissed, "Kill him or die." He was already in the air as the last left his lips, his katana fanning out in front of him to shatter one of the high windows in the west wall of the chamber. He rolled through the shower of glass and vanished into the night outside. Moments later, the sounds of the guards pounding on the outer doors vanished as well.
Soujiro stared at the window, at first not even trusting the man's departure, but the sense of the man's aura was definitely fading. The man had to be half insane. Together, he and Senkaku probably had a chance against him, if he had been as good with the sword as he was with those darts. Instead, he had left Senkaku in the lurch. What on Earth had he been talking about, he couldn't stay? It wasn't that he had been afraid to fight; Senkaku had shown more signs of anxiety than Genji had. Did he really think that Senkaku could beat him? If he did, then Senkaku had to have learned a lot since the last time Soujiro had seen him. If not, then he had to have a reason for essentially sacrificing Senkaku to him.
Slowly, Soujiro let the mysterious samurai out of his consciousness and turned to Senkaku. The man was at least not trembling at the sight of Soujiro the way he had before, and his size and strength made the Zanbatou less awkward for him than it would be for most. Soujiro thought he caught a few remaining flashes of uneasiness below the surface of his mien, but the mere fact that he had to look twice to see them told him that Senkaku had been doing more than bullying people since Soujiro last left him.
"I'm impressed, Senkaku," Soujiro called. "It looks like you've learned a thing or two since Shingetsu." The thought actually rankled Soujiro a little bit; Himura and Senkaku had both gotten stronger since Shingetsu, but Soujiro really hadn't. He hated falling behind. He hid it as well as he hid anything about his inner personality, but there was a fiery competitor behind that smile.
Senkaku gave him a fiendish smile. "Why don't we find out?" With that, he lunged to the attack, Zanba sword held low and pointed slightly upward in front of him. Soujiro eyes widened in surprise as the sword split the council table in half as Senkaku lunged through it. He danced aside, and Senkaku skidded past him, almost to the door. He did not even bother trying to parry; the force of the impact alone might have sent him crashing against the wall. Soujiro realized that that was probably Senkaku's intention in the first place.
Senkaku wheeled around quickly, surprisingly quickly for someone bearing so cumbersome a weapon, and took a defensive stance. Soujiro was surprised again; Senkaku had never been one to take such a stance. His balance was better as well. Apparently he had paid some special attention to that after that had cost him an inglorious defeat at the hands of the Battousai.
Nevertheless, Soujiro relaxed a little. The fact that Senkaku had taken a defensive stance reminded Soujiro that the former overlord of Shingetsu had never seen him fight before; even when he and Himura had traded blows in Shingetsu, Senkaku had been nearly unconscious. Senkaku had no idea what Soujiro was capable of; all he knew was that Soujiro the Tenken had been the highest of Shishio's followers.
Furthermore, Soujiro could see that Senkaku was already a little rattled. He was keeping his composure better than he had at Shingetsu, but not that much better. Soujiro decided to pry the cracks a little. "How's the jaw, Senkaku?" he asked politely.
Senkaku's answer was a roar and another lunge. This one was slower than the first one, however, and Soujiro was not a blind fool. Senkaku pulled up short and swept horizontally with the Zanba sword, but caught nothing but air. He followed up quickly, but he could not keep up with the Tenken. Soujiro did have to duck away to get out of the reach of the Zanbatou; Senkaku had a much longer reach with the colossal blade than with the special gloves he had worn before. However, there was a hitch in his stride as he readied himself again. He didn't realize until moments later that Soujiro had scored a small hit on his calf as he moved away. Had he been any slower, Soujiro might have gotten the base of his spine instead.
Soujiro stopped at the remains of the council table and began tapping his foot quietly on the ground behind him. "Poor Senkaku," he grinned. "Fighting to defend someone who just left you by yourself."
"I don't need the help of that Shinsen reject," Senkaku snarled. With that, he charged again, putting a little more weight behind his swing this time.
Soujiro dodged again, but actually missed an opportunity to counter thinking about Senkaku's words. Senkaku probably assumed that he already knew something about Genji. Shinsen ... reject? That could explain a lot.
The obvious approach was to simply ask about it. "Shinsen reject?" he asked casually. He did not lower his guard a fraction, however. He did not intend to miss another opening.
Senkaku laughed. "You didn't know? He probably would have been one of the better ones among them, but they turned him away. Seems they didn't trust his dedication to their principles. Go figure."
*Aku. Soku. Zan.* Soujiro thought to himself. He pictured the man named Genji in his mind again. *Nah.*
"I thought the Shinsen Gumi gave everyone with enough skill a chance to prove themselves," Soujiro mused aloud.
Senkaku laughed again. "His cousin had just gotten kicked out of the order for being a loose cannon. The captains didn't want to take that kind of risk again, said that he and his cousin had too much in common. That really pissed him off."
"Enough to fall in with an Ishin?"
"Enough." Soujiro caught the change in Senkaku's voice, and was ready for the attack. Another fierce flurry of blows followed, as Senkaku victimized the floor, walls, chairs, table shards, everything but his target. Soujiro flitted away from each attack as if Senkaku were barely moving.
Eventually, Soujiro disengaged, adding a little flourish to it by somersaulting off the flat of the Zanba sword. He landed behind the ruins of the table, which by now was little more than a pile of wood chips. His smile gained a small tinge of smug satisfaction. Senkaku stopped to line up his next attack, but the man was breathing hard. That was one of Soujiro's advantages that even ShiShiO had never paid much attention to; even after using the Shuku-chi, Soujiro still always had breath to spare. He had not used anywhere near that level of speed against Senkaku. Senkaku was much stronger than most men, but trying to swing a Zanba that quickly was sapping even his endurance.
Soujiro whipped his sword into position in front of him. "Where's Young-eun?" he asked. The question burned the inside of his eyes, but nothing of his inner feelings reached his smile.
Senkaku's mouth curled into a wicked smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he mocked. "Tasty-looking wench, isn't she?"
Soujiro's smile faded, though only for an instant. "I would not take that tone of voice, if I were you," he said icily. "Even if you do kill me, I doubt that you'll work your way back into good standing with Yamashina talking about her like that."
Soujiro knew he had pushed the right button. He had assumed that Young-eun had to be with Yamashina, if she wasn't with Senkaku, or at the very least, out of Senkaku's reach, and the thought obviously did not sit will with the new Lord Mayor. Red rage boiled up in Senkaku's eyes, and his stance with the Zanbatou shifted. His grip changed as well, the left hand dropping back to the base of the hilt and his right
moving up to just below the blade. He held the blade pointed out in front of him, almost like a spear.
*It can't be,* Soujiro thought. *He can't possibly be thinking of trying that with a Zanba!*
"To Hell with Yamashina, but first, to Hell with you!" Senkaku roared as he surged forward.
Soujiro set himself quickly, then rolled in under the thrust of the Zanba. He used the sakaba to keep the Zanba above him; it was not as dangerous catching it from underneat, since its momentum was carrying it and Senkaku forward. With his other hand, he tore the Oh-waza-mono blade from its sheath at point blank range; the hilt crashed straight into and up underneath Senkaku's crotch. Senkaku's forward momentum and the upward thrust of the Soujiro's second sword sent him flying through the air, well above the prone form of Soujiro. A howl of pain and rage broke from his lips as he crashed into his own high-backed chair at the rear of the chamber. The chair crumbled into splinters, and the Zanba fell from Senkaku's grasp.
Soujiro could have finished Senkaku effortlessly then, but he could have done that some time ago, and he wanted the man conscious for a little longer, at any rate. Besides, he was grinning from ear to ear and fighting down the urge to laugh uproariously.
"The Gatotsu?!" Soujiro chuckled disbelievingly. "With a ZANBA?!" Senkaku's only response was a serious of strangled noises punctuated with gross expletives. Soujiro put his hand over his mouth to partially hide his smile. The momentum of the Gatotsu was hard enough to control with a katana; with a Zanba, it was lunacy, and Senkaku was no Shinsen Gumi captain, either. He had probably seen Genji use it once or twice, and maybe Genji had even told him something of the mechanics behind it, but certainly not enough for him to use it effectively. Especially not with the Zanbatou. Soujiro doubted that Genji told him much, anyway; samurai were notoriously closemouthed about their techniques.
Senkaku was leveraging himself to his feet again with the Zanba, but he was clearly having trouble standing, and the weight of the Zanba on his arms would only increase the more he was hurt.
"Let's try this again," Soujiro repeated. "Where's Young-eun?"
Senkaku snarled and forced himself fully back onto his feet. A desperate light was beginning to blossom in his eyes, and Soujiro took a defensive stance. Desperate men became more vulnerable, but they also became more unpredictable.
"If you tell me," Soujiro said, his voice growing colder with every word, "you can still get out of town before Yamashina gets to you. I'm a lot closer."
Soujiro could see that Senkaku was wavering. He could see that his men were only unconscious, not dead, but he could not possibly known that Soujiro was not here for a kill, and he wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment anyway. Nevertheless, he was stubborn, and Genji's threat obviously still loomed large in his mind. He spat another string of curses at Soujiro, but they did not have the vehemence behind them that his last ones had.
Soujiro did not waste this opening. Senkaku was on the verge of cracking, and Soujiro did not want to give him any time to recover. He was in a hurry. "Aoi Denkou Ryu," he called, "Kuushuu!" (1) He sprang into the air, his sword blurring as he came within striking range of Senkaku. Senkaku was too tired to get the Zanba sword above his head in time to even make a feeble attempt at defense. Soujiro scored two quick hits on Senkaku's shoulders, knocking him to the ground again, then sprang off the wall a few feet behind him, soaring almost to the ceiling as he catapulted himself back to where he had been standing before.
"Senkaku," Soujiro breathed, surprised that his breath did not turn to frost as it left his lips, "if you make me knock you out, and they find you, they'll know you didn't kill me. Things won't go so well for you then. If you tell me where she is, you can get out of Ichibou now. While you can still walk."
Senkaku rolled over and propped his head up to look at Soujiro, but either was not making any effort to stand again, or could not. He looked torn between deciding to spill and telling Soujiro to go to Hell.
"Where is she?" Soujiro asked again, lining up for another strike and taking a step forward.
Abruptly, Senkaku collapsed, splayed out in front of the remnants of the chair that had been his seat in Ichibou. "The mines," Senkaku said. "They took them ... to the mines."
There was a steely hiss as Soujiro's sword slid back into its sheath. "Arigatou," (2) he said politely. The lightheartedness had returned to his voice again.
Soujiro turned and walked back to the center of where the great table had stood only minutes earlier. He turned for one last look at the fallen despot. "Sayonara, Senkaku. Good luck," he said in farewell. With that, he drove himself skyward, grabbing the frame of the shattered skylight and hoisting himself back onto the roof.
The cold wind out of the north had slowed but not abated. Soujiro closed his eyes and turned his face northward, basking in the breeze for a moment. On the roof of the town hall, the full force of it swirled around him, ruffling his hair and clothing. The breeze brought back memories of the previous night, of the spirit of the north wind that had spent the late hours of the night with him. Now she was spending the late hours of this one in captivity. So soon after baring her heartfelt yearning for freedom in front of him, she had been all put thrown into a cage. A cold flame burned in the back of his eyes as he opened them and turned towards the west.
*Time to do some spelunking, Soujiro,* he thought grimly to himself. *Time to free the wind.*
* * * * *
(1) Air raid
(2) Thank you
STILL TO COME: Chapter 10, "The Iron Mines." These chapters just keep getting longer, so I can't keep putting them up two or three at a time, especially now that I'm back at college and my time is becoming spread thin again.
Soujiro finally gets to see firsthand the iron mines that he has heard so much rumor and hearsay about. He also finally gets to square off against Genji, and more of the story surrounding the would-have-been Shinsen Gumi comes into focus. However, the one piece of the puzzle that Soujiro is looking for is not at the mines anymore, and Genji is much better than Senkaku about holding his tongue.
Once again, thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and enjoyed this work; this is my first fanfiction that I've ever written for online publishing, and I'm overjoyed to have gotten as positive a reaction as I have. Thanks for all your comments! I really appreciate them!