A New You and Me, A New Us
By Anime no Miko
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I wish I owned Rurouni Kenshin. I know, I know ... so do you, ne? ^_~ Who does? Watsuki-sensei (and fellows), of course!
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-- Prelude: The Beginning of a New Era --
He began his training in the intriguing art of an assassin at the young age of seven under none other than Seijuro Hiko, the 13th Successor of the Hiten Mitsuruyi Ryu Assasin's Style. As every apprentice in this kind of profession, Kenshin Himura, originally named Shinta, learned the basics of an ordinary criminal first, shoplifting, car stealing, money washing, and the like. All of that he came to master along with the handling of knives and firearms, both pistols and long guns. After this initial education in primitive criminal methods, came his introduction with high technology weapons and computers, and his practices in camouflage, disguise, espionage, and hacking.
Such a dedicated and skilled student he turned out to be, that Hiko ultimately taught Kenshin the secret principles of the Hiten Mitsuruyi Ryu sword fighting technique. Truly sword fighting seemed outdated and swords were regarded as relics of the old era of the samurai, nevertheless the Hiten Mitsuruyi Ryu had been such an effective, powerful and versatile sword fighting techinque, capable of serving as a technique for protecting others as well as killing without compassion, that it constituted everything that a modern assasin might wish for, all in a single sword and philosophy of heart.
Because Kenshin had the spirit, strong determination and needless to mention, the talent, he excelled in every task imposed by his master, including doing unrelated activities like household chores. But things never last for eternity and eventually, the student has to leave the school and his master behind to face the world on his own, putting in practice what have been learnt. And it is usually the master who decides when, but if for any circumstances the student is the one to decide, tradition dictates that he leaves with his master's blessing. Yet in Kenshin Himura's case it wasn't Hiko who decided it was time for him to leave, nor did Kenshin leave with Hiko's blessing, in the sense that he left without having completed his mastering in the style.
And so, at the age of fourteen and having trained for nearly seven years under one of the greatest, if not the greatest, masterminds within the criminal sphere, Kenshin Himura left the security of his only known home and walked out into a Japan turned upside down by the feverish ambitious pursuit of the Tokugawa Enterprises' wealth. He was inmediately hired despite his young age, by the Tokugawa Enterprises, the leading unrivaled enterprise in those times and the cause of all the turnmoil, and served them clearing the perimeter of gangsters, the mafia, solitary criminals and the attacking rival companies. And he assassinated if needed. Swiftly. Mercilessly.
No one ever saw his face to remember during these times of chaos and blood running, but rumors were that he carried a sword and had unusual red hair and an x-shaped scar on his left cheek. He was known as the Hitokiri Battousai and was feared and regarded with awe not only during the four years that lasted the Tokugawa chaos, but afterwards as well, becoming almost a legend.
Five years after the end of the Tokugawa turnmoil, five years after leaving behind the twisted life of a criminal, Hitokiri Battousai, now retaking the name of Kenshin Himura, stood still a legend. A living legend in the beginning of a new era …
~ ~ TBC ~ ~
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Just wanted more people to read this ... see if it's worth a first chappie ^-^