Author's Note: As you can clearly read from the chapter's title, this chapter has the rematch between Mina and her arch rival, Shion. In other news, I guess I should tell you readers ahead of time that I'll be updating this fic once a week from now on as I have stuff from school to deal with, not to mention other stories I'm writing. I'll talk about those later, but for now, let's just get to the story.
Chapter 19: Nullified; Rematch with Shion
The very next day, I was greeted by the warmth of Kenshin's arms. They were still wrapped around me, his cheek nestled against mine, his body pressed against my back, and his palm resting over my hand. I smiled as soon as I realized he was still with me, my cheek nuzzling against his scar.
"Hm...," Kenshin began to awaken. "Oro..., oh, good morning, Mina," Kenshin greeted me with a yawn.
"Good morning, Kenshin," I greeted him back with another nuzzle.
"Well, we should get up now, that we should," Kenshin began to move to his feet.
"Wait, Kenshin," I tugged on his sleeve, pulling him back to his previous spot, "just a little longer," my head made it's way to his shoulder.
"Okay," Kenshin nodded, petting my hair as pressed his lips against my temple.
How much I wanted time to just freeze at that moment. This was one of those rare moments we would just sit there, a moment in which nothing could interrupt us, a moment that I could always reflect on whenever I was feeling blue. I felt as if I could melt as he held me in his arms, my face was burning over the simple fact that he was holding me. I began to sink into another world of slumber, but then someone just had to interrupt it.
"Battousai, Kensai," a knock on the door suddenly interrupted his embrace, "Katsura-sama summons you."
"Hai," Kenshin called.
"Dammit," I cursed under my breath, "whenever I try to get close to Kenshin, something always has to interrupt. Fate, why must you always intervene with every moment I have with him?"
"Mina, let's get going," I suddenly snapped out of my conversation with myself, finding Kenshin on the other side of the room.
"Oh... coming, Brother," I simply smiled.
Duty had called, I had no choice but to set aside my feelings. Just as I always did whenever we had a mission of some sort, I wiped away the smile on my face, straightening the curve on my lips into a straight line and arching my eyebrows. I had stopped wondering what Katsura had wanted whenever he called Kenshin and I, it was always for the same reason. The reason was always an assignment, a very dangerous one at that. Most missions he gave us was always something suicidal such as hold off the Shinsengumi with a small number of men, or assassinate this key person of whatever clan. Of course, the assassinations were a rare thing since Katsura had Shishio at his disposal. I'm pretty sure that man always got the job done, and in a gruesome manner I might add.
"Kenshin-kun, Mina-kun, I'm glad you came," Katsura greeted us as we took our usual seats in the room.
"What is our assignment this time, Katsura-dono?" Kenshin asked, knowing I always like having Katsura get to the point.
"I only need one of you for this assignment," Katsura answered, "and to be honest, I would like Mina-kun to take this one. Kenshin-kun, you will take the assignment if your sister refuses to partake in it."
"Hai," Kenshin nodded.
"May I ask what the assignment is, Katsura-dono?" I asked, raising my hand as I did so.
"I have a meeting with Saigo-san this evening in the Satsuma Camp," Katsura informed me, "the two of us will discuss the future of the Ishin Shishi. Mina-kun, I would like you to be my guard during the ordeal, that is, if you will agree to my request."
"Katsura-dono, I will lend you my skills for the meeting," I answered without a moment of thinking.
"Arigatou," he thanked me with a bow, "then I shall summon you later when it is time for us to leave."
"Hai," I bowed before making my way out of the room.
I'm not sure why I agreed to accompany Katsura to that meeting, was it because I didn't want to stay here and have to patrol Kyoto, or was it because Kensai had something else in mind. Shion, I know that voluptuous woman had captured her eye, I knew Kensai's dirty mind as if they were my own. It just sickens me to even dig into her mind, nothing good ever came out of it. Violence and sex, that was all she ever thought about, and God it just pisses me off that we share the same body.
"Are you sure you want to act as Katsura-dono's bodyguard tonight?" Kenshin asked as we left the room.
"What's wrong with that?" I continued treading down the hall, my eyes averted ahead of me instead of Kenshin.
It hurts me when I speak to him in my 'serious' mode, I always tend to not look him in the eye and have some kind of coldness in my voice, but then again, that's the same way he is when he's in his 'serious' mode, so I guess that makes us even, that it does.
"Being a bodyguard is much different than fighting in the front lines," Kenshin informed me, "you're protecting a life, a very important one at that, one that can very well change the course of history, that it can."
"I'm well aware of that," I said as my pacing began to speed up.
"Unlike the front lines you can't afford to fail," Kenshin called as I made my way upstairs.
"I know," I called to him, waving the back of my hand, "I know."
As soon as I reached my room, I knew that Kensai had something to say.
"So we'll see Shion again, huh?" she asked. "It's been a while since our little encounter."
"Kensai, don't remind me," I spat at her, plopping myself at the table, "and I'm the one that's going to see her, not you."
"We share the same body, don't we," Kensai asked as I pulled out my tobacco pipe, "I can see everything you see, just as you can see everything I can see."
"You're thinking nasty things again I see," the thoughts in her wretched mind entered my own as I lit the pipe. "Are there ever times when you don't think about sex or violence?" I sighed as I inhaled the contents of the tube. "Never mind," I answered my own question, looking into her mind for a second, "I shouldn't have asked, that I shouldn't."
"Shouldn't you get dressed for the occasion?" Kensai suddenly changed the subject.
"What do you mean?" I asked, taking another puff of tobacco. "You want to impress Shion, don't you?" I thought I realized her intention.
"I didn't see it like that, but that's a thought," I could picture Kensai giving me her sinister smirk, "but no, that's not it. The top leaders of the Ishin Shishi are probably going to be at this meeting, I bet they're all going to be dressed up all nice while you're dressed in that blood-soaked kimono and hamaka."
"I guess you got a point there," I sighed as I took my last puff of the day.
I didn't want to wear anything too fancy for the meeting, if I were to dress up as nice as I did during Kodomo-no-Hi incident, I wouldn't be able to execute most of my attacks without ripping some part of my kimono. Sure the newly bared skin might distract the attackers (what perverts men are), but that means I would probably have to throw away the garment after. I guess there was only one other outfit I could wear that wasn't too fancy and that I didn't mind ripping, it was a light blue kimono with a splash of lavender on the sleeves and bottom that came with a navy blue belt that could be tied as a ribbon in the back. I didn't really like the outfit to be honest, it made me look like one of those housewives, all I needed to get the entire look was to tie my hair into a bun. I think I got this outfit from one of the maids when I ripped my uniform after a mission and I had no clean kimonos to wear, I'm pretty sure all the men were gawking at me when I had it on.
Not many people accompanied Katsura and I when we went to the Satsuma Camp, probably only fifteen people came with us altogether. All of them were also dressed in semi-formal clothing, though they weren't very well groomed, most of them didn't even shave for the occasion. It was somewhat late when we arrived, the camp had changed somewhat since I was last here. The shacks that housed the troops were patched up a bit, not very well though. Large pieces of bark were patched over areas where holes once lay, the roofs were covered in masses of bamboo leaves to make up for missing tiles, and the training fields were as dry as ever, there was not a sight of green in the patch, the only apparent colors were black, gray, yellow, and brown. The commander's barracks was probably the best maintained structure in the entire camp, though it was still breaking down. The building's roof was made of dried grass, though it was stacked together perfectly, not one string of hay was sticking out, the walls were made of oak, but a large piece of bark was still found on this structure, the bark located on the east wall. The shoji doors to the interior would've been perfect if there wasn't a small puncture in the middle of the door on the left. It didn't matter how the place looked, a military camp is not supposed to look grandeur, all that matters is how it holds up during battle.
"Saigo-san, it's me," Katsura called for his comrade as he rapped his knuckles against the door.
"Please, come in," the door slid open to reveal a familiar face. "Oh it's you," the individual flashed me her mask of happiness.
"Shion," I simply nodded as I entered the room, my eyes never meeting her's as I spoke.
"I shall take you to Saigo-sama," Shion informed the two of us, taking the lead as we walked down the hall. "You look well, Mina-san," Shion suddenly spoke a few moments after a walking.
"Arigatou," I responded, my eyes still not meeting with her's.
It was rather crude I was acted toward her, but I couldn't bring myself to face her after that stunt she pulled on me the last time. Ick, I cringe at the thought of remembering that little event, and I cringe even more if Kensai was in control when that took place.
"Is something the matter?" Shion arched her face toward me, trying to look me in the eye.
"There is nothing that's the matter, that there isn't," I responded, turning my eyes elsewhere.
"You can discuss it with me," she tried to move in closer, this time a look of concern on her face.
"There is nothing to discuss," I responded once more, this time with a turn of my head.
Thankfully we reached the meeting room shortly before Shion could open her mouth again. Saigo was there, sitting in the far end of the room, his knees pressed against one of the rock-hard pillows soldiers used for sleeping. Shion took her place beside Saigo, setting her two blades beside her on the floor as she sat. I took my place on the pillow in front of Shion, my eyes shutting once I had sat down, still not wanting to make eye contact with her. Katsura took his place on the mat next to me, and soon, the meeting began. I had no intention of hearing what was being discussed, I had enough of listening to what Katsura has had to say because of all the mission briefings he'd go over nearly every day. My thoughts lay dormant during the majority of the time, returning to reality with the sound of a loud thump to the ground.
"Are you crazy, Saigo-san?!" was the first thing I heard after the thud.
"How is it crazy, Katsura-san?!" I opened my eyes to witness Saigo yelling at my leader. "Now is the time to move out of Kyoto and make our way to Edo!"
"That's suicide and you know it, Saigo!" Katsura spat. "We don't have enough men to do such a thing! If we can barely hold out against the Shinsengumi, what makes you think we can fight the entire Bakufu?!"
I turned to Shion for a moment during this entire ordeal, shutting my ears away from the bickering that had ensued between two great men who were now acting as mere children. She remained there with her eyes shut, fingers curled on the part of her kimono that clothed her legs, and above all else, unmoving. She was acting as a traditional woman as always, but that quickly came to a halt. The next thing I had known, Katsura had begun to draw his sword, and then Shion's eyes suddenly shot open, her hands quickly grabbing her long blade, her right hand quickly prying it out of it's oak case and holding it towards Katsura's throat in the next moment.
"Don't you dare draw your blade!" the hitokiri growled as her eyebrows arched.
"I'd turn that blade away if I were you," my fingers slowly wrapped around the scabbard of my katana.
"Mina-kun, you're only making things worse," were the only words that had escaped my leader's lips as he stood there frozen in fear.
"Well then, isn't this a great way to settle things," Saigo suddenly blurted. "How about it, Katsura, we have the woman decide with their swords? Of course, we won't have them kill each other, but nevertheless..."
"Agreed," Katsura suddenly volunteered my services without my input.
"But sir...," I tried to change his mind only to find myself jumping away from a steel blur that was hurled in my direction.
"You heard Saigo-sama, Mina-san," Shion said as she slid her shorter blade out of it's sheath, "the decision will be decided by our swords, so draw your blade!"
"Damn!" I cursed as I began to remove the steel slab.
Before I could draw my blade, Shion had already taken the initiative, jumping toward me with her left foot extended. I had no time to react, I soon found the force of her kick pressed against my abdomen, sending the rest of my body in the direction of the attack. My back hit against the shoji doors, causing the paper thin walls to break the moment the rest of my body followed through. I pushed myself back and into the outdoors using my sword as some kind of pole. Shion had followed soon after, this time her blades leading the way instead of her foot. I had to react at that moment, and though I could not cause any damage in the process, it was still a valuable tactic. My katana slid out of it's oak case within a split second, catching the other curved steels in the process. Shion and I began to press our blades forward with all our strength, and she was obviously overpowering me. However she did not see the true intention of why I was engaging her in that contest of strength. As we pushed, my left hand was sliding my sheath from my belt, and once it was fully unveiled, I swung it upward toward her skull, breaking the contest by knocking her to the ground.
"What's going on here?!" a crowd suddenly began to form around Shion and I.
"It's all right," Katsura called to the men, "let these two fight and don't interfere."
"What kind of leader are you?!" I wanted to yell, but the words just couldn't leave my mouth. "Don't you care about my well-being?!"
I turned my attention back to Shion at just the right moment, watching her fasten her two swords at the hilt to create her preferred weapon, the double-bladed naginata. She spun her twin-blades at me as she charged, the blade slicing the ground just as a windmill cutting a river. In that very instant she charged, I felt her ki, learning the next attack she would use. A spin turning into a stab, it was just as I predicted, but it was rather simple to evade with the god-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. In that very instant the spin had turned into a lunge, I had already leapt high into the air, my sword leading the way as I fell back to the earth.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Tsui-Sen!" I screamed as I brought my blade toward her skull.
"You've improved," Shion smirked for a second, but her figure suddenly vanished from the air.
My sword had sliced the ground instead of flesh, Shion had disappeared, no, she moved somewhere, but how. Wind began to whistle from above shortly after, and it was pretty obvious who it was.
"Akai Chi Ryu, Koukuukougeki!" Shion screamed, the longer blade of her naginata piercing the air as the tip made it's way toward my skull.
It was a surprise attack, I was barely able to leap out of the blade's path. I thought I could counter after her blade was still engraved into the ground, so I rushed in without thinking.
"Too slow, Mina-san," Shion grinned, a sparkle in her eyes as she spoke. "Akai Chi Ryu, Yama-No-Ten!"
The scales of the earth began to rise from the ground, flying in my direction as the blade rose from the floor. The speed the debris flew toward me was rather fast, but still not fast enough for me to evade. I jumped to the side, only to find another wave in my direction, this time, the shorter blade slitting the earth as the debris flew.
"Do-Ryu-Sen!" I struck the ground with my own blade, throwing my own set of debris against the oncoming onslaught.
'Impossible,' I thought to myself after the rocks had returned to the ground, 'she was able to evade the Ryu-Tsui-Sen at the last moment, and was able to counter at the same speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's god-like speed. How is she...?'
"You're wondering how I was able to attack you with very same power you use, correct?" Shion suddenly broke my thoughts as if she were reading my mind. "Akai Chi Naginata Ryu and Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu are said to have come from the same schools. Don't think that your martial art is the only one that uses god-like speed. Let's not forget that there's even an art that surpasses god-like speed."
"Surpasses?!" the thought had crossed my mind for the very first time.
"The Shukuchi," Shion continued, "though I have yet to see it. Now let's not waste time on idle chatter," Shion readied her spear again, "let's put an end to this shortly, shall we?"
"You want to end this now huh?" I asked, lowering my sword. "If you say so, then...," my fingers began to crawl toward the restraint on my hair.
"I will put an end to this now!" Kensai roared as the ribbon came undone.
Shion was left unmoving by our change, she was as calm as ever as Kensai took up my sword. I knew which attack she was going to use, it was her favorite style. Sliding my sword back into it's case, arching my legs forward, it was the Battoujutsu, our best skill. Kensai wasn't going to kill her, nor did she have any intention to, after all, she was fixing her eyes on her chest, just as all men she walked passed did. Actually, now that I think about it, her large bust was a handicap, that's what Kensai must've seen other than admiring her form. Shion had sprung forward first, Kensai quickly followed. Shion was going in for a side swing from above, her blade slitting the throat of the wind as it was pulled toward the earth. Kensai had anticipated this, and her tactic quickly came into play. She thrust upward with my sword still sheathed, the outer curve of the case planting itself under her bust, halting her right arm above her right breast as they pushed against each other thanks to the support of the sheath.
"It ends now," Kensai quickly withdrew my katana from it's sheath, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, Ryu-Kan-Sen!" Kensai spun behind Shion, the sheath letting go at the moment before the inner curve of my sword struck her neck.
Shion fell rather quickly, her face landing first in the dirt, but I'm sure that chest of her's cushioned her fall to an extent. Kensai stood there for a moments admiring her victory, fastening the ribbon back in my hair as she did so.
"Excellent, Mina-san," Katsura applauded after the battle.
The rapping of hands followed from the rest of the crowd that had gathered. My face began to flex a smile for a few seconds, but it quickly disappeared as I scratched the back of my neck, turning it into a blush instead. One clap began to catch my ear, it was coming from where Shion had fallen. She was already on her knees, her usual smile on her face as she applauded. It was rather nice to be the center of attention at that moment.
"Now will you go with what we had planned?" I turned back to Katsura who was now speaking with Saigo.
"Hai," he nodded.
Victory was mine, it's something I would be proud of for a while, not anymore though. I realized a few seconds later that the victory was Kensai's, not mine. The only way I won was by releasing the barrier that had separated us, allowing her to fight my own battle. I was merely her replacement during the victory ceremony. Well, it wasn't really a victory ceremony, it was just some time alone in the hot spring close by. It was too late at night to go back to Kyoto; Katsura, the men, and I had to stay for the night. No one had dared to peek into the spring as I bathed, probably scared that I would do the same thing to them what I had to Shion.
"If only Kenshin was here to see that," I remembered the first day I came to this camp, the first time I had fought Shion and lost. "Oro?" I heard splash coming from the other side of the spring.
"That was quite a show you pulled there," I soon found my back pressed against another's body, their fingers wrapped on my shoulders.
For some reason, had no intention of hitting the other person, or yell at them to get out of the spring, after all, she deserved to be in here just as much as I did.
"Arigatou, Shion," I said turning my face toward her for the first time since the incident.
"You didn't enjoy it, did you?" she suddenly asked, burrowing her face onto my neck.
"Enjoy what?" I asked.
"The little incident back at the Cho Shu inn a while back," she answered. "If you were embarrassed by that action I had put upon you, gomen."
"Why me, Shion?" I asked. "Why not fall for some guy...?"
"I'm no longer interested in men," Shion interrupted. "Ever since Keisuke died, I can never love another man," Shion continued, "please understand that."
"I understand, but...," I turned my entire self toward her, "I'm not interested in women, please understand that."
"I understand," Shion turned toward the steaming liquid.
"But, that doesn't mean I can't be your friend," I told her.
Yeah, I said it. I actually did want to be her friend, she was pretty reliable and trustworthy, not to mention she saved my life. I could get over the fact she was attracted to me, just as long as she didn't try anymore stunts like that kiss.
"That's good enough," Shion dove toward me, her arms quickly wrapping my neck.
I couldn't just leave her hanging, so I had to hug her back. No you perverts, we didn't do anything else, we just hugged each other for a few seconds. It was nice to finally have someone else I can talk with other than Kenshin, not to mention he was a guy so I couldn't talk about some things with him. Shion and I just sat in the spring for a few more minutes talking about random things, such as things that have been going on in our clans, humorous events that happened recently, and other things.
"Mina-san," Shion suddenly changed the subject.
"Please, Shion, drop the 'san'," I told her, "we're friends now, aren't we?"
"Oh, gomen, Mina," Shion corrected herself, "but there's something I have to ask. Was that you that had defeated me moments ago?"
"Of course," I put on my best fake laugh, "who else could it be?"
"Those eyes during the last moment of our fight," Shion continued and the smile began to melt from my face, "they were...terrifying. As bright as gold and as narrow as a wolf's, those weren't your eyes."
"What are you trying to say?" I asked, trying to hide my knowledge of Kensai.
"There is someone inside of you," Shion continued, "a person who is not really you, is that correct? I've seen her before, months ago when you fought with that Sanada ninja on the rooftop. I may have not been watching the entire fight, but from what I saw, that wasn't you during the final event. When you tore at that ninja's clothing, I knew something was wrong, you aren't the type of person to violate one when they're already down, and when I say violate I mean it in more ways than one. That helped give the impression you were interested in women, but after I had placed that kiss on you, it was apparent that you had no interest at all. Mina, is there something you're not telling me?"
"Of course not," I lied, "it's just that, well...there are times when...when I..."
'Oh man, now how am I going to get out of this one?' I asked myself in my head.
"Hm," my eyes fled elsewhere, finding my an escape from this conversation. "Say, Shion, how did you get that scar?" I noticed a rather dull mark between her breasts.
"This," Shion pointed at the tissue, "it was when you tried to fight Saito last year, remember?"
"Oh, well, sorry about that," I apologized.
"Don't worry about it," Shion responded with her usual smile.
"Well, I'm going to get going now," I smiled as I wrapped my towel over myself, "see ya!"
"That was a close one," I thought as I changed back into my kimono.
"Why won't you let her get to know me?" Kensai's voice asked in the back of my head.
"She wouldn't want to know you," I hissed.
"I think she does," Kensai chuckled.
"Nani?!" my hand suddenly began to shake. "My ribbon?!" I realized I had taken it off when I went into the spring.
As quickly as possible, I rummaged through all my clothing looking for the dark lavender material. It was inside my kimono, I pulled it out quickly and fastened it in place as fast as I could.
"Damn," I heard Kensai swear from the back of my head.
I had to keep Kensai away from Shion, I know what fate she already had in store for my friend. Unfortunately, the two were already destined to meet once more...
Chapter 19 Liner Notes
About Shion's martial art- The Akai Chi Naginata Ryu is the only other martial art that uses the same god-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, as well as the ability to read the user's opponent's moves (yeah, I know it's a lame concept, but Mina needs someone to keep her in check). The Koukuukougeki attack (roughly translated, it means 'air attack') is similar to the Ryu-Tsui-Sen, just that it uses a naginata instead of a sword. Shion's Yama-No-Ten (it translates to English as "Mountain of Heaven") is the equivalent to the Do-Ryu-Sen, only that Shion strikes the ground with both blades of her weapon, one following the other to create two projectile attacks.
(Next time: "Winter has fallen rather quickly, my thoughts begin to linger back to that day we met. The shadows begin to linger back into the picture rather slowly, the devil of the clan is ready to strike, her demons painting the powder white snow a grisly red..." -Himura Mina)
Author's Note: So how was it? Why don't you readers leave me a review, I could use the encouragement, but don't flame me. Anyway, as I said earlier, I'm working on other fics other than this one. This story is more than halfway done, but Mina's story will continue in 'Crimson String Book II: A Rurouni's Path', expect to see many new heroes and villains in that one. Other than that, I'm also working on two other stories. The first one I'm also working on is a side story to 'Crimson String' titled 'When Angels Lost Their Wings', it's also co-written by Crystal from ff.net (thanks for reviewing nearly every chapter Crystal. ^_^x). 'When Angels Lost Their Wings' is a story about Shion and Misanagi and the impact that Mina had on their lives, it's a shoujo-ai fic, and I highly doubt there will be a lemon or anything like that in the fic. I should also add that Aoshi and Misao will appear in it. The second fic I'm working on is an interactive modern day RK story called 'Romance of the Meiji' where you play as Kenshin and try to get him a girl friend by the end of the year. There are nine girls who are candidates who could be Kenshin's girlfriend, those nine being Kaoru, Tomoe, Megumi, Misao, Shura, Yumi, Misanagi, Mina, and Shion. I'll post that one up when I finish all the chapters. So in the meantime, leave me a review on 'Crimson String', but not a flame, and if you have any suggestions on what I should do with the interactive fic, please feel free to leave some in your review. Well that's it for now, later people. (God that's probably the longest author's note I've written!)