Kokoro No Itami Nakunaru Made Zutto

Kokoro No Itami Nakunaru Made Zutto

By: Hitokiri Gentatsu

Rating: PG

Author's Note/Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. He belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha 'Jump Comics', and Fuji Television.

Chapter Five: "For the Protection of the Weak"

"Kenjitsu is a method for murder. You can decorate it with all sorts of pretty words but that is what it is."

Hiko Seijuro

OVA 1

(Subtitled)

He walked through the woods on the north side of the village where Akira said the bandits would enter the village. He made no noise and left no indications of his passing. He was merely a shadow and nothing more. His amber tinted eyes took in the area around him with a look that was devoid of all emotion, for emotions had no place in the middle of a battle such as this. His shadow blended in with the other shadows as he moved from tree, to bush, to rock with no indication whatever that someone was there. He was in search of his foes but only that. He would not attack them just yet. He only hoped to find them and gage their strength before returning to the outskirts of the village and to the open space he had chosen for this confrontation.

Kenshin had no intention of fighting all fifty men his unnamed opponent had. Rather, he wanted to call their leader out for a one on one duel, hoping to appeal to whatever sense of honor the man possessed.

"That is a foolish enterprise," the hitokiri muttered disagreeably.

Kenshin said nothing. Both the runouni and the hitokiri within himself were working together: the rurouni's fighting skills strengthened by the mindset of the hitokiri and the hitokiri's sword and rage tempered by the mercy and forgiving heart of the rurouni. Kenshin had struck a bargain with his darker self in this way. The hitokiri would be allowed to fight but his sword would henceforth be controlled by the rurouni to prevent the shedding of any more blood. The hitokiri had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement, sensing the rurouni's resolve to keep his vow no matter what happened. They would thus be able to exist together, two parts of the same whole and in this manner they could live in the new peaceful era. The rurouni would prevent the hitokiri from killing again for though his soul was that of a hitokiri, his heart was not.

A slight noise to his left alerted him to the fact that he was nearing the enemy's camp. Soon the telltale crackle of a fire and the heavy steps of perimeter guards reached his ears. He smiled a cold smile and walked on still undetected by his foes. He closed his eyes and shut out all other sounds around him. Soon he detected two more guards in the woods but only one that was near enough to be a threat. Kenshin moved on, nothing more than a shadow, until he spotted the guard who was pacing out steps back and forth in an even pattern, totally unaware that he was being watched. Up until a few months ago the guard would have already been dead, probably unaware that he had even been killed or by whom.

But now Kenshin waited a few moments to gage the man's movements and then he slipped passed the guard. He had walked for another few moments when he detected movement to his right. It was another guard, his back turned to Kenshin. This one seemed to sense that someone was watching him though because he turned around and stared hard at the shadowy space beneath a tree that Kenshin had jumped into when the later saw him. Kenshin remained still, hardly daring to draw breath, while the guard stared into the shadows around him. After a few moments of fruitless searching the guard shrugged, muttered something and continued on his rounds.

"Why didn't I sense him?" Kenshin wondered as he moved on, his senses alert for more danger.

After what seemed like an hour but was probably, in reality, only a few moments he reached the edge of the camp. He saw about twenty men seated around a fire, grumbling and cursing.

"Damned swordsman!" one spate as he touched his bandaged side, his dark eyes smoldering with ill-concealed rage.

"I will kill him next time," another boasted as he swung a sword clumsily.

"Who does that young upstart think he is?"

Kenshin recognized these three as part of the group that had attacked the nuns and their charges.

"He is no concern of yours." A cold voice sliced through the air and all grumbling stopped. "This young swordsman will be mine. You just take care of 'business' in the village and I will deal with him."

The men laughed and exchanged leering glances, talking about the attributes of various women in the village. A shiver ran down Kenshin's spine at the sound of the voice. The Battousai recognized it but couldn't put a name or face to it. All he knew was that whoever the man was, he had known him in the past. He watched the shadows, searching for the owner of the voice but could see nothing.

"He must be on the other side of the fire," Kenshin thought.

The hitokiri agreed with that assessment. They watched for a few moments until the order was given for the group they were watching to move out.

"That man, whoever he is, is dangerous," the hitokiri said quietly in his mind and Kenshin nodded in agreement as he made his way back to the village.

*

Kenshin reached the outskirts of the village several moments later, his senses on edge. He had nearly been discovered by one of the guards, who had almost bumped into him. He had not sensed this guard's presence and he now suspected that his enemy, whoever he was, had ninjas in his employ for they were the only type of fighters that could sneak up on him unaware and who could hide their presence from him.

He waited calmly for the bandits to appear. When he had left, they were just beginning to move toward the village. Kenshin knew he was only a few minutes ahead of them but he had still arrived at the outskirts of the village first. He leaned against the trunk of a tree nearest the village, his eyes closed and his manner deceptively lazy, with his arms folded across his chest, listening for signs that the enemy was drawing near.

Finally, the sound of footfalls coming toward his position reached his ears. Still he remained as he was, slightly hidden by the shadows that always seemed to hover around him. The footfalls drew closer and Kenshin could hear the sound of muted grumbling and swords being drawn. He smiled inwardly and opened his eyes into slits, to better gage his opponent's arrival onto the field of battle.

At last they came into view and Kenshin's eyes snapped closed again. He pushed himself from the tree and took a stand directly in the path the bandits were traveling on. He stood there, eyes closed and a hand held loosely over the hilt of his sakabatou. The wind whipped his red hair around him and the faint moonlight picked out the cross-shaped scar on his left cheek.

The bandits stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths slack and eyes wide and staring. Kenshin could feel the fear running through them and he smiled a cold smile. Clearly they had not been expecting the Hitokiri Battousai to be waiting to meet them.

"This will be the last night you terrorize the people of Yasuo Village." His voice was soft but it had a cold, hard edge to it.

The men before him said nothing. They mutely stood there trembling with fear. Kenshin paused a moment and opened his eyes. They were glowing amber and narrowed in rage.

"The villagers desire only one thing…to live in peace," he said as he took a step forward.

The bandits backed away but did not make any move toward him. Battousai smiled at them, enjoying their fear and the power it gave him.

"This village and everything in it belongs to us by right of conquest," a cold voice to Kenshin's right said.

Kenshin turned and saw a shadow detach itself from the side of an abandoned house.

The man was taller than he was and was dressed from head to foot in unrevealing black. Kenshin could distinguish little else about the man except for his eyes, which burned with an icy coldness. He knew he had seen those eyes before but could not place them.

"Then I offer you a challenge." Battousai flicked his thumb and about a quarter inch of his blade became visible in an unmistakable challenge to his opponent. "If I win then control of this village will return to its rightful owners."

"And if you lose, Hitokiri Battousai, I will have your life but I will take it from you slowly." The cold voice laughed.

"I agree to those terms." Kenshin bowed and waited, his hand held loosely over his sword hilt in a lazy stance that often fooled his opponents.

The man came forward into the clearing and stood there, measuring Kenshin as his men made a ring around the combatants.

"I'm going to make you pay in blood for the deaths of so many innocents who were loyal to the Shogunate."

Kenshin stood impassive and unmoving, waiting for the man to make the first move, his eyes burning.

"Come then, take your revenge on me as I deserve but know this; there has not been a day that I haven't felt pain at the thought of those I have killed in cold blood and that I haven't wished my life could be given in exchange for theirs," he said in a flat tone.

The shadowy figure before him laughed and launched into his first attack, a Hirazuki aimed at Kenshin's chest.

"Is he Shinsengumi?" Kenshin had no time to wonder or even think as the two swords collided with a resounding ring that echoed through the town.

The two circled each other and traded blows but neither one was able to get through the other's defenses in order to hit. Battousai crouched in battoujutsu stance and glared at his opponent with narrow eyes, trying to anticipate his next move.

"You're as fine a swordsman as they claim, Battousai. It's a pity that you must die."

Battousai frowned at the man but refused to rise to his baiting and made no move to attack.

"If I die here then so be it but I will prevent you from harming another innocent person. I will take you down with me if you manage to kill me."

At that moment he charged the man, jumping into the air to avoid the man's defensive slash. He spun in midair and got in behind his opponent to hit him in the back with his sakabatou's dull side. The man staggered but did not fall from the blow and Battousai's eyes widened in surprise. No one had ever remained standing after that move.

"You think I have never seen your technique before, Battousai? Everyone knows of it if only in rumor and many have had the privilege to see it in action or to die on the blade of the one who wields it."

The man's cold voice broke through Kenshin's haze in time for him to see the sword coming at his unprotected side. Battousai moved out of the way of the strike and aimed another blow at the man's head. He blocked the blow and slashed at Battousai's face and the man's sword cut nothing but air. Battousai smiled a cold smile that was reflected in his bright amber eyes. The man charged again and Battousai sidestepped, watching him go sailing passed him.

"It's time to end this." Kenshin drew his sakabatou and the sword whistled, slicing the air as he spun on the balls of his feet, the target the back of the man's neck.

But the man was suddenly not where he had been and the blow never met flesh. The Battousai felt a flare of pain in his side. Unconsciously, his left hand went to the wound and it came away red from the blood that was staining his gi darker. His eyes widened in surprise and then he fell to the ground, his hand clutching at the wound as the pain of it washed through him and his eyes glaring up at the man as his blood dripped from the other man's katana.

"Not nearly good enough to beat me." The man stared down at him, hatred glowing in his eyes as he flicked the blood from his blade.

Battousai glared back at him as he rose slowly to his feet, testing the extent of the wound, trying to determine if it would interfere with his next attack. The wound was painful and muscle was damaged by the feel of it but he could continue the battle. He sheathed his sword again and smiled grimly at his opponent, his eyes burning with anger. He hated being wounded but he quickly compensated for the wound and was able to stand before his opponent with apparent ease.

"You should know better than to underestimate your opponents and overestimate your own abilities," he said in a conversational tone.

If the man was surprised at his ability to ignore the pain of his wound he gave no sign. Both Kenshin and the Battousai knew they would pay for it later. The man smiled and stood waiting for the next attack to come. Battousai narrowed his eyes and charged again. The two swordsmen fought on for several minutes, neither one holding anything back and neither one able to land a telling blow.

The sound of their swords clashing rang in the air and several of the villagers came out of their homes to see what was happening. Silently, they watched the two swordsmen involved in a dance of death. The villagers watched the battle, each with their own thoughts. They all saw the young swordsman they had shunned was defending them from their attackers and were awed by his compassion. They also felt ashamed at their treatment of him for the past few days. He was fighting for them even though they had not given him cause to want to help them. The villagers prayed within their hearts that the nameless swordsman would free them from the bandits grip but even more they prayed they would be granted a second chance to show him the respect that was due any person, even one who smelled of blood as he did.

*

The Battousai jumped back from a sword thrust aimed at his chest and watched his opponent warily. He blinked the sweat from his eyes and waited. His body was growing tired and his energy was waning, but he would not give up. The muscles in his arms and legs were screaming in pain and sweat coated the rest of his body, seeping into his many wounds, making them sting. He had a cut above his right eye, were he had gotten in to close to the man during a Hirazuki attack. There was a deep gash in his sword arm above the elbow where he had let his guard down in a vain attempt at a Ryu Sou Sen and another deep gash across his back where the man had gotten in behind him.

His opponent stood on the other side of the clearing, calmly flicking Kenshin's blood from his blade and putting it back in the guard position. The worst Kenshin had been able to do to him was a few broken ribs and some bruises. He had tried nearly every attack he possessed but, unlike his opponents in the past, this one refused to fall. He took the blows as if they were merely an annoyance. It was rapidly becoming apparent that if he didn't find a way to end this duel and soon, he would most likely die and the villagers would suffer for his decision to confront the bandit's leader. It was also becoming apparent that he had to make a choice: either he must hold to his no killing vow and possibly die for his beliefs or he must break his vow and have his soul die.

"Must I become the hitokiri again? I don't want to return to that life. There must be a way…"

There were still two attacks Kenshin hadn't tried against his opponent because he still wasn't sure of the speed required for one now that he carried a sakabatou and had hardly any strength or energy left for the second to be truly effective. The first was a multiple hit attack that he had yet to get a feel for using a sakabatou. The second was the modified Ryu Tsui Sen he had used before, which had seemed to have grown in power since he started using it with his new blade. It was almost as if this technique had been created for the sakabatou. It was his most powerful attack and the only one likely to bring his opponent down, provided that the man did not dodge the blow but did he have enough room for that attack this close to the forest edge and, more importantly, did his body have enough energy and strength left to jump the required height for the blow to have enough power behind it?

Battousai scanned the clearing and found there was just enough space for the move. The branches of the nearby trees were too far away to impede his flight and there was plenty of landing room.

"I'll have to be fast so he doesn't see what I am planning to do."

He rose from his crouched position and smiled at the man before charging straight at him so fast he was nearly invisible. At the last moment he leapt high into the air, higher then he had ever gone before. He hung there for a moment before hurtling back to earth with his sword at the ready.

The force of the impact jarred through his arms and he could hear bones breaking under the power of the blow. He felt the man crumple beneath him and heard a scream, just as he felt a searing pain in his shoulder and in his chest. He knelt on the ground, his hair hiding his face and his right hand gripping the hilt of his sakabatou, chest heaving. His left hand was wrapped around the hilt of a tanto that the man had used to stab upward as Kenshin descended. The force of that descent had driven the tanto up to the hilt into his chest. The world around him was becoming dark, then light, and then dark again as his eyes refused to work properly.

He tried to sit up but found himself following forward instead. He rolled over to avoid driving the tanto deeper into his body and screamed. A sudden pain flared in his shoulder as the dart in it was driven deeper into it. The shock of pain cleared his vision for a moment and he saw the man lying on the ground a few feet away from him. He was unconscious, his body sprawled out at an odd angle but Kenshin could see his chest rising and falling.

His body suddenly began to grow cold and the vision before him became blurry around the edges. Too late he realized that the dart must have been coated in poison. The clearing became darker and he could hear shouts but only dimly. He smiled. He had saved the people of Yasou Village and had not had to break his oath to Tomoe to do it.

"They are safe and will live peaceful lives now," he thought with a detached part of his mind.

He brought his sakabatou up to his eyes and looked at his reflection in its shining surface.

"Thank you Shakuu-dono for giving me a chance to prove my words to you were true and not just idealistic nonsense. I can only hope this sword finds a more worthy owner than I to wield it for its true purpose.

He closed his eyes and saw the serene and beautiful face of his wife, Tomoe, and smiled.

"Tomoe…I…am…coming…" he whispered faintly as the world around him vanished into darkness.

*

The villagers gathered around him in a tight circle, not knowing quite what to do. Someone pushed through them until they reached the center where Kenshin lay. The woman knelt down beside his still form and rolled him over to take the dart out of his shoulder. She scanned the dart's length and found a trace of the poison. Her eyes widened when she looked at the color of the substance that covered the dart. She rolled him back over and pulled the tanto from his chest and noticed the same substance coating the blade.

"A double dose…" she thought and her heart skipped a beat. "Whoever this man is they wanted to be certain he died in most painful manner possible."

She lifted Kenshin up and he moaned loudly, already in the poison's deadly grip. His face was flushed and his body burned with fever. It would be a race against time to save his life. She rose and was surprised that he weighed no more than some of the children she cared for.

"Let me through. This man needs to be tended to quickly."

The crowd parted and let the nun through. She moved quickly though the town reaching the safety of the shrine in a few moments. She took Kenshin inside to a room usually reserved for the highest-ranking nun and gently laid on the futon. She called Shibohu and the others to aid her asking them to watch Kenshin while she got her supplies. As she went to retrieve her medicinal herbs, Takako wondered if she would be able to save the young man's life. She also wondered what members of the Shinsengumi were doing this far away from Kyoto. Could it be that they were still searching for her?