Beyond Rurouni Kenshin: The Meiji Era: Arashi no Hitomi (The Eye of the Storm)
By: Shadow Chaser
Started: 7/29/02. Completed:
Timeline: Meiji Era – 1898 (Meiji 30)
Author's Notes/SPOILER WARNING:
This story is based mostly off of the manga version, with slight changes following the Episodes 1-63 of the anime series. For those who have not read the Revenge Arc/Jinchuu Arc this will feature quite a bit of spoilers. Also for those who have not seen the 2nd OAV – Seishou Hen, this will also be featured in here. I changed some of the events in the OAV to suit my own purposes in this fic. Pointer One: I kept Kaoru alive…for many reasons, which will be explained in the fic. I do not own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters; they belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro-sama who is the creator and God of Rurouni Kenshin. Please do not sue for infringement. This fic has more of the Rurouni Kenshin anime feel (slapstick silliness and seriousness at the same time).
Chapter 2 – Flames of Suspicion: The Akabeko Rescue
Kenji held onto Kitsune's hand tightly, not so tight as to cut off the circulation to her hand, but tight enough that he wouldn't loose her in the busy mid-morning crowds. It seemed as if everyone was getting ready with food, presents or whatever for the Summer Festival. He politely pushed his way past people, dragging Kitsune along with him, who didn't seem to mind being dragged along and was oohhing and aahhing at the sights and sounds of the mid-morning crowds.
Finally he reached the stall that sold the tofu his mother would be looking for. Placing the bowl down in front of the owner, "Four rectangles of tofu please…fresh."
"Hai…that would be…" the owner never got to finish as a sudden loud boom went off very close to where they were.
Instinct immediately took over Kenji's senses and he wrapped his arms and hugged Kitsune close to him as wooden shards, filled with glass pieces filled the air, making the crowds scatter, screaming. He turned and ducked, feeling a few of the shards pound into his back, some of them biting into his skin. When the dust cleared, he risked a look up and his eyes widened in horror. Where once the entrance to the Akabeko restaurant stood, there was a gaping hole and fire raged all around the building. Tae…Tsubame…Shin-ya…he realized that Yahiko's family was still in the burning restaurant.
"Kitsune! Run back to the Dojo! Tell the others what happened to the Akabeko!" he grabbed the small girl by the shoulders and saw that fear was in her eyes but she nodded numbly. "Go!"
"H-Hai!" she took off as fast as she could and Kenji watched her leave. Another crackling of a beam falling brought his attention back to the falling Akabeko. He hoped Kitsune would be able to get back in time to warn Yahiko, but he had a feeling that Yahiko would already be on his way…
There was a crowd forming and he noted that some of the people were grabbing buckets of water to slosh onto the burning restaurant, but it wasn't enough. The fire brigade would have to come and put something like this out, or just let the restaurant burn down. He tried to push his way through the crowd, but saw that they were too thick in numbers. That's it…time to do it differently, he jumped high into the air and past the crowd then landed lightly in the middle of them.
Some of the crowd gasped at his unexpected arrival, but he ignored them and grabbed the nearest person, "Have they evacuated the people?!"
"H-Hai! But there are still a few left in there!" the man stuttered with fear and Kenji growled in the back of his throat then released the man roughly. Suddenly, beyond him he spotted Tae Sekihara, the owner of the Akabeko. She was covered in ash and was coughing violently.
"Tae-san," he came over to her and knelt down next to her, "where are Tsubame and Shin-ya?"
"Kenshin?" was the confused reply of Tae as she blinked soot away from her eyes then they suddenly widened, "Oh! Kenji! They're still in there! Hurry!"
Kuso, he cursed silently as he ran past the other men who were trying to stop the fire and paused for a split second before heading into the inferno. He distantly heard the cries of the men not to go in there, but they were drowned out by the roar of the flames that now surrounded him. "Tsubame! Shin-ya!" he yelled as loud as he could, trying to make his voice project over the roar of the flames. "TSUBAME!!!"
"HERE!!!" he distantly heard Tsubame's reply to his left and carefully made his way in the direction of the call. He held up one of his arms to shield himself from the licking flames.
"TSUBAME!" he called again.
"Here!" her voice was much closer and he pushed open a falling door to see her clutching her son close to her with what looked to be a wet blanket wrapped around them. Tsubame looked like she had been burned slightly and some of her hair had been singed off, but her son, Shin-ya didn't look too bad, except for the fact that he was wailing loudly.
"Tsubame-san!" he knelt next to her, ducking to avoid a shard of falling wood that landed next to him.
"Kenji! Thank the Gods," Tsubame coughed a little, "I…I…"
"Shhh," Kenji hushed the older woman, "tell us later. Right now we have to get you and Shin-ya out or else Yahiko would have my head." He helped her up, making sure that she was underneath his arm so that if a falling beam of fire were to drop, he would get hit first and she wouldn't be able to suffer any damage.
He turned and was about to make his way back when suddenly the door that he came through, it's support beams suddenly crumpled…leaving them trapped within a wall of fire. We are so…he bashed the thought away as he narrowed his eyes trying to see if there was any other way to get out.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu Sou Sen!" a new voice called out, and the embers were blown away. Kenji ducked as the flying shards of burning wood flew out in different directions. When he felt that there were no more, he looked up and grinned.
"You look like you need help," Yahiko said, sheathing his sakabatou and coming over to them.
"Hai," Kenji replied.
* * *
Yahiko was in the middle of watching a sparring match between his two most advanced students, Iori Arai and Chizuru Raikouji, when the explosion was heard in the distance. Everyone had stopped and looked in the direction of the main part of the city. A tendril of smoke from the distance floated up in the air and he felt as if someone had choked the air out of him. He hoped that the explosion didn't occur at the Akabeko…
"What's going on?" one student asked.
"Explosion?"
"Terrorists?"
"Be quiet," Yahiko hissed at them then glanced at both Iori and Chizuru, both of them in the middle of a fighting stance. "You two, keep and eye on the younger ones."
"Hai, Myojin-sensei," the two of them replied at the same time and Yahiko walked to the front entrance.
"Yo, Yahiko," Sanosuke's voice spoke behind him and he glanced briefly back before poking his head out of the front entrance to see.
"You know anything about this, Sano?" he asked.
"Nothing," Sano replied.
"I should go help, there will be injured if something happened; Kitsune is there too," Megumi spoke from behind the two of them and they turned around.
"No way, Megumi," Sano shook his head and held up his hands, "not without me. And I think Kitsune's gonna be fine with Kenji…he would know how to keep her safe."
"I'm going too," Yahiko desperately wanted to know if his family was safe. Gods help him if the Akabeko was the one that exploded.
"Then who's keeping an eye on Jo-chan?" Sano asked and was about to say more when Yahiko spotted the small figure of Kitsune running towards them, a bit soot covered but otherwise fine and out of breath.
"Kit-chan!" Sano leapt ahead of him and scooped up his daughter in his arms, "Kit-chan, where's Kenji?"
"H-He…told…me…r-run home," Kitsune was taking deep gulps of breaths every time she opened her mouth, "Akabeko…big…boom…"
That was all Yahiko heard as he ran past Sanosuke, his left hand gripping his saya in a stranglehold. Not the Akabeko…not Tsubame…Shin-ya…thoughts of his family ran through his head as he pictured their smiling faces. No! They're not dead! They can't be! He tried to squash the images of their charred bodies out of his mind, and instead tried to focus on the lovely and beautiful face of his wife Tsubame…their four-year-old son, Shin-ya.
Yahiko barely noticed the crowd gathering up ahead while the fire brigade had arrived and was trying to douse the flames of the Akabeko. His feet ran on instinct as he leapt to the rooftops to avoid the crowd and finally leapt in front of the inferno that engulfed the Akabeko. No!
"Sir! You can't be here!" a fire marshal grabbed his shoulder suddenly, but he shrugged it off violently and steeled himself.
Tsubame…Shin-ya…he kept the two names running through his head as he charged into the inferno. Blinking his watering eyes against the acidic smoke, he tried to look beyond the walls of red-orange flames. "TSUBAME!" he yelled.
"TSUBAME!" a voice echoed him and Yahiko perked up hearing Kenji's call.
"Here!" was the distant reply, very distant that a normal human wouldn't have heard it, but with Yahiko's training and acute hearing, he followed it.
Yahiko suddenly dived to his left as wooden beams crashed around him. Kuso, he cursed silently as he felt some of the burning embers hit him. He got up and saw that the door to the kitchen had collapsed. This was where he heard Tsubame's voice and he figured that Kenji had gone in before him to save Tsubame and Shin-ya. Which meant that Kenji was trapped on the other side. "Better hold onto something Kenji-kun," he muttered underneath his breath as he drew his sakabatou.
It was relatively new, but it worked as good as Kenshin's old sakabatou. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu Sho Sen!" he charged at the fallen door and blasted it open. A while ago, when Seijuro Hiko came to visit them, which was pretty rare, Yahiko had demanded that he teach him a few of the basic Hiten Mitsurugi techniques and Hiko actually relented.
"You look like you need help," he sheathed his sakabatou and looked at Kenji then at his wife and son, relief filling his heart as he saw that Tsubame and Shin-ya weren't hurt that much.
"Hai," Kenji replied.
* * *
Kenji was actually quiet surprised that Yahiko had blasted the door open with one of the techniques of Hiten Mitsurugi, but he didn't bother to ask as Yahiko came over and offered his protection to his wife and son, shielding them like he was doing. He would have to ask where did Yahiko learn Ryu Sho Sen later…right now, they had to get out of this burning building.
"You know how to get out?" he asked, giving Yahiko a sideways glance.
"Yeah…I think…" Yahiko was much better at directions than he was and frankly with everything on fire, everything looked the same, which added to Kenji's confusion.
They slowly made their way through the inferno, covering their nose and mouth so not to get smoke inhalation, but nothing was protecting their eyes from the watery smoke that was filling the room. In a matter of minutes, Kenji started to feel very lightheaded and he wanted to rest, but he knew that if he stayed within this inferno, he would be cooked alive while he was unconscious.
"Come on, Tsubame-chan…a little more," Yahiko's voice was a bit muffled by the sleeve of his gi covering his mouth.
"I…know…" Tsubame managed to cough out.
"Look! Tsubame-chan!" Yahiko pointed ahead of them and Kenji was relieved to see a peek of light coming from walls of fire. They were almost there…
A sudden wailing from within the flames, not from the small form of Shin-ya, alerted both him and Yahiko. "Nani?!" he whispered as they continued slowly.
"Sounds like someone is still in there…" Yahiko stated, "sounds like a baby." Kenji noticed that the grip on his sakabatou was tightened. "I'm going back," his adoptive brother said and made a move when Kenji shot his hand out, stopping him.
"Get Tsubame-san and Shin-ya-chan out of here. I'll go back," he said, staring into Yahiko's brown eyes, which were narrowed.
"You've already been in here too long, Kenji," Yahiko argued but Kenji shook his head.
"Your family needs you. Tend to them…I'll be out quickly," he replied and took off.
"Oi! You're not Kenshin, you know!" Yahiko's call echoed back to him and Kenji just smiled.
"I know," he whispered mostly to himself as he prepared for another onslaught of heat and flames, "but you're also too old to be risking yourself…" He followed his heightened sense of hearing to the wailing of a baby and ran into the flames once more.
* * *
Yahiko gritted his teeth in frustration. Why did Kenji have to be like Kenshin? Damn the stupid baka if he gets himself killed…I should be the one racing into those flames…I am the protector of Tokyo after all…but…his thoughts sobered as he glanced at his wife who was hunched over by the wet blanket. Kenji knew that if I got myself killed, then Tsubame and Shin-ya would be very sad. Yet…Kenji isn't worried that if he gets himself killed, Kaoru would also be sad…
Finally they stepped into the sunlight and Yahiko squinted slightly against its harsh glare. It was then that he noticed a roar around him, not from the flames of the remnants of the Akabeko, but from the crowd and firemen gathered around. They were cheering him.
"Yahiko!" Megumi's frantic voice alerted him and he looked beyond the crowd to see Megumi pushing her way through the crowd, yelling that she was a trained doctor so that the crowd would let her through.
"Megumi," he greeted then glanced at Tsubame who looked like she was having a hard time breathing.
"Put her down Yahiko," Megumi ordered, crouching next to him and Yahiko obeyed, letting his wife kneel on the dirt ground gently. "Hmm…smoke inhalation…minor burns…" she ran her eye all over then turned her head, "I need a bucket of fresh water! Right now!"
"Is she going to be okay?" Yahiko was a bit apprehensive about his wife.
"She's going to fine. She just needs a few small bandages to keep her minor burns from festering. She's a smart woman to shield herself and your son from the fire with a wet blanket," Megumi smiled slightly and Yahiko allowed himself to relax slightly. "By the way, where's Kenji?"
Before Yahiko could even get a word in, a sudden rumble behind them made all of them turn around. A collective gasp rose in the air as the burning remains of the Akabeko, unable to be saved by the firemen, started to crumple upon each other. No! Kenji's still in there! He shook an invisible fist at the Gods, hoping that they would be able to spare Kenji's life and let him get out in time before the whole thing turned into rubble.
Suddenly the burning building teetered for a split second…then fell down, creating a plume of dust and smoke that engulfed the street. "KENJI!" he shouted into the dust then ducked and covered his eyes as the smoke came barreling towards them.
It was a few minutes later when the smoke cleared that Yahiko was able to look up again. His jaw dropped a few centimeters as he saw Kenji, crouched in a small ball, one arm looking an angry red the other holding onto something. It was a baby…
"Ano…" Kenji's voice sounded a bit rough and Yahiko figured that the young man inhaled a bit too much of the smoke. "Whose baby is this?"
"Shima!" a woman suddenly cried out and pushed her way forward, then collapsed next to Kenji. "Oh Shima!" she took the baby away from Kenji's arm, and Yahiko noticed that tears were in her eyes as she hugged her baby close to her. "How can I ever thank you, young man?"
"It's okay, ma'am…" Kenji replied then got up, a bit more slowly than usual, Yahiko noted.
"Oi, Kenji? Daijabou?" he asked, getting up and walking over to his adoptive younger brother.
"I'm okay," Kenji replied, waving his concerns away. Yahiko narrowed his eyes as Kenji had lied practically in front of his face, just like what Kenshin used to do. He knew that the young man wasn't okay…and in fact looked like he got more than singed…he got burned on his arms and his face had a slight red-tinge on it.
"Yeah right baka," he threw back at the younger man, "stop acting like you're okay. You're not, so let's get Megumi to look you over, ne?"
"Aa," Kenji replied, not really listening to him.
Yahiko heaved sigh of frustration and scratched the back of his head. If Kenji ever got married and had a son, he figured that the whole Himura line would be just as stubborn as Kenshin had been.
* * *
After they had settled into a shop just across the now smoldering ruins of the Akabeko, with the wounded on tables or just sitting in the various chairs the owner had produced for them. Kenji was grateful for the fact that there weren't too many who were seriously wounded as most of them were either suffering from smoke inhalation or just minor burns. A sudden cough built up in his throat and he choked on it slightly.
He had been checked out by Megumi, who cautioned him not to exert himself for the rest of the day for the fact that he had been in the blaze for a long time, breathing in a lot of harmful smoke. But she had told him that it wasn't permanent and he would be fine within a few days. He was glad for that, but then a twinge of pain alerted him to the burns on his left arm. Pulling up the sleeve of his heavily burnt gi, he flexed his fingers, wincing slightly as the pain from the stretched and crisp skin rasped against his bandages.
Megumi had also told him that his hand would take at least two days to heal without scars, meaning he couldn't really grip his saya if he wanted to draw his sakabatou. Not to mention that he had sunburn like burns over his face and a deep diagonal cut directly underneath his left eye, a present the burning Akabeko decided it should leave him as he was getting the baby out. And I'll have to get a new gi…ahhh…and I liked the green one, he frowned slightly then glanced up as footsteps approached him.
"Tsubame-san?" he looked up into Yahiko's wife's face.
"I've brought you some tea…the store owner said that you should have sake, but I told him that you did not like to drink," Tsubame's voice was a bit tired and weary but as she set the cup down, Kenji grabbed her hand with his uninjured one.
"Arigatou, Tsubame-san," he said to her, "please get some rest. Yahiko-kun would be worried."
Tsubame just smiled and left him. Kenji watched her disappear to another room in the store then glanced at his tea sitting next to him. He reached over and picked it up gently with his right hand and took a sip of it, letting the warm tea run through his body. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall he was sitting next to.
Who would have wanted to bomb the Akabeko? Was it something against Yahiko? Or was it something else to get the attention of the Kenshin-gumi, no, the Kenshin-gumi died the day his father died, it was now just a group of very close friends. He had heard from the stories his mother, father and Yahiko used to tell to him to get him to sleep…all about the troubles and adventures they had. The former Kenshin-gumi was notorious for attracting the worst kind of trouble, ranging from mere petty duels, to people who wanted revenge from back in the Meiji Revolution days.
"Oi, Kenji," Yahiko's voice startled him from his light doze, "we're leaving."
"Hai," he got up, a bit painfully, and settled his sakabatou comfortably within his hakama's belt. Looking at Yahiko, he noticed that the older man had a few bandages here and there and a few of his fingers were covered in bandages. "Burnt?"
"Like a crispy chicken," Yahiko replied, giving him a faint grin, "should have gotten Sano here. He's the chicken-head."
Back at the Kamiya Dojo, Sano suddenly sneezed…startling his daughter.
"Right," Kenji replied then glanced around and saw that most of the patients who have been treated had left already and Megumi was just packing up her medicine that she had hastily packed into a black bag.
"I'm ready, we can leave now," Megumi had finished saying her thank you to the store's owner when suddenly the owner approached them.
"Himura-san," the owner addressed him and Kenji caught a glimpse of a fleeting look on both Megumi and Yahiko's faces before they were replaced with masks of impassivity. "Here are the four rectangles of tofu you have asked."
"Ah, arigatou," Kenji took the tofu bowl and bowed slightly, "how much would that-"
"No cost, Himura-san," the store owner waved his hands, "not after what you did to save those in the Akabeko. This is my thank-you gift to you."
"Uh…" Kenji was at a sudden loss for words then bowed deeply, "arigatou gozaimasu."
"Let's go," Yahiko called again and Kenji bowed once more before following his friends out.
As they walked the streets back to the Kamiya Dojo, Kenji noted that both Yahiko and Megumi were very silent, Yahiko especially since he was at least a bit talkative. But he realized that the older man was probably thinking of the past events and also wondering who would destroy the Akabeko…
As soon as they reached the front gate, small figure ran to them until Kitsune's spiky black hair could be seen. "Okaasan!" Kitsune yelled and Megumi stooped down to catch her little girl in a hug.
She walked in followed by Tsubame holding a sleeping Shin-ya. By the entrance to the main building of the dojo, Kenji could see his mother sitting next to Sanosuke, a relieved expression on her face.
"Oi, Kenji, you should really stop spacing out," Yahiko tapped him on the back, carefully avoiding the little nicks of cuts that he had sustained when the Akabeko first exploded.
"I'm not spacing out," he replied, and walked in, before giving a small punch to Yahiko's shoulder.
"Yes you are," a brief flash of pain shot through his left arm as Yahiko returned the punch.
Kenji narrowed his eyes and gave Yahiko a wiry grin, "You wanna take that bet?"
"Sure."
"All right…I challenge you, Yahiko Myojin, protector of Tokyo and master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu to a duel, this afternoon!" Kenji felt elated as he hoped Yahiko would accept his challenge.
"Not accepted," Yahiko's plain and simple statement brought him to halt in the middle of his trek to the main building the dojo. He stared at Yahiko with an open mouth.
"Nani?!"
"You're injured, so no way you can draw your sakabatou," Yahiko had the oddest grin that made him look like fox, "besides…Megumi would have my head…"
"You're spending way too much time with the Fox," Kenji muttered underneath his breath as he somehow saw fox ears appear on Yahiko's head then disappear with a flash.
"Besides," Yahiko didn't really hear him; "I'll toss you onto the roof so you can't get down, eh Kenji-kun?"
Kenji immediately felt a wave of fear roll through him, but it was gone as he realized that Yahiko was taunting him and annoyance filled him. Just what was his brother getting at? He knew that Yahiko knew he hated roofs. Of course he loved climbing them…just getting down from them was a slight problem for him…
"While you're off worrying about that, I'll be training my students," Yahiko gave him another grin then left him standing in the middle of walkway.
Kenji stared at him then closed his eyes and shook his head. He felt like throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation when he realized that he was still holding the tofu bowl that he still had to give to his mother. "Okaasan," he called to his mother while walking up to her, "I've brought the tofu."
* * *