Disclaimer: Once again, no, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Just remember,
Ayame Hikaruu is mine, so keep your paws off! P
Another Boarder: Kenshin Meets His Double
'Think back, to the revolution. There you will find all the answers you need.' Her words burned into Kenshin's mind. After bringing the groceries into the dojo, Kenshin had returned to the tree. There he sat, contemplating her words. 'She wants me to think to the past... But will I really find the answers?'
"Kenshin?" He was suddenly, stirred from his trance as he heard Sanosuke's voice call out to him from below. "Yes, Sano?" "It's time for lunch. Ya coming down, or what?" "I'll be right there, Sano." He jumped down from the tree once again, walked in, and sat down to eat. Yahiko was eating quite slowly, acting as if he were trying to choke it down, and Kenshin simply sat there without touching it.
"What's wrong Kenshin? Usually you're the only one who likes my cooking," said Kaoru. "Oh, it's not that, miss Kaoru, I'm sure it's quite delicious... I've had a lot on my mind lately, that's all." He finally began eating, though his mind was elsewhere, focused on what the girl had said. 'Think back... think back, to the revolution... all the answers you need...'
When he had finished, he stood and said, "If you'll excuse me, I have to go now." "Hey, where're ya going, Kenshin?" asked Sanosuke. "There is... some unfinished business I must attend to." Without another word, he walked outside. He went into the forest, where there was a clearing, and sat down against a tree. 'Now, I can think back without fear of being disturbed.'
He bowed his head and closed his eyes, deep in thought. Soon, images began to flash through his mind. A sword reddened with blood. People falling, dead before they hit the ground. Men rushing to defend their villages. Warriors fighting in vain against a single man. Quickly, the images strung together, into a single memory, a replayed vision from the past.
As bodies fell to the ground around him, the Battousai stared coldly into the night. He was a bloodthirsty killer, with only a thread of a conscience to keep him human. His sword sliced through body after body, streaks of warm blood flying through the air, settling upon the ground like a crimson rain. All around was death and destruction, and the men of the village grabbed whatever they could to defend themselves and their families, but it was all in vain. The legendary Battousai was thought of as invincible, cutting down whoever was foolish enough to oppose him. On and on through the night, screams could be heard, the agonized moans of pain, cut short with the swing of his sword. High above, the full moon lit the sky, crimson in color, almost as homage to the Battousai's slaughter. Finally, he thought that the last scream had been silenced. As he turned to walk away, however, he heard the sound of sandals hitting dirt. "Walk no further, red. I wish to fight you, and prove that I am the one who deserves the title, 'Strongest of the Imperialists.' " The Battousai turned to find a young girl with silver hair standing defiantly in the street, staring at him with her crystal blue eyes. "Go home, little girl. It is dangerous to meddle with the Battousai's affairs, that it is." Then, for the first time, he truly looked into her eyes. "I see. You appear to be a little girl, but you have the eyes of a manslayer. Very well, I will fight you." Faster than could be seen by the average person, the girl had rushed in, and the scrapes and tings of metal against metal were soon heard. For the first time, the Battousai had found a worthy opponent, no less in this teenage girl. But the girl was more than worthy, and the Battousai was cocky and drunken with sadistic pleasure. In an instant, the girl's foot connected with his face, and he found himself on his back, with a sword at his chin, and his own sword obtruding from the ground ten feet away. The girl stared coldly down upon him and said, "For a strange reason, I don't wish to kill you as I have so many others before you." Keeping her foot on his chest so as to prevent him from getting away, she sheathed her sword. "Instead, your sword should suffice as my prize." She released him from her hold and drew the Battousai's sword from the ground. She withdrew a cloth from her uniform and wiped the blade off; the blood had dried and dirt caked the tip. "Farewell, my red-headed samurai." Then, she pulled out a bottle and tossed it to the ground, creating a puff of smoke. When it dissipated, the Battousai was left alone, on the ground, surrounded by his own destruction.
When at last Kenshin had come back into alertness, he realized who the strange silver-haired girl was. 'That girl... she is the same one who had almost killed me in the revolution. But what has she come back for? Does she wish to finish what started back then? No, that can't be... otherwise, she would have struck me down in the market... It must be something else.'
"So, remember me yet, red?" Kenshin was startled by this voice, standing straight up. He looked above him, where the girl had been staring down at him from a branch for the last few minutes. "How did you..." "Sneak up to you without being detected? Your Ki senses aren't perfect, ya know, red. Someone as skilled as me could-" she disappeared from sight, and reappeared right beside him, "-be standing right next to you and you'd never know." Kenshin jumped, startled. "Of course, you were kind of shut off to the world, so that helped."
"Please tell me, how do you know the Hiten Mitsurugi style?" Kenshin said, turning back to look at her. However, she was nowhere to be found. "Over here, red." He looked back behind himself again, and sure enough, there she was, hanging upside-down from a tree limb. "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything in good time. But first," she said as her stomach grumbled, "ya got anything to eat?"
* * * * *
"Hmmm-mmm... This is delicious! You've got no idea how long it's been since I've had a home-cooked meal." Inside the dojo, the girl was hanging upside- down once again, this time on one of the rafters. In her hand was a wooden bowl filled to the brim with rice balls. "Oh! I'm sorry! I never told you my name! I'm Ayame." She stuffed a rice ball into her mouth and continued, "Orme Hikru." Swallowing the rice ball she corrected, "What I meant to say is, Ayame Hikaruu." "Ah... Yes, Ayame... Could I ask why you're hanging from the rafters?" "Oh, it's just a habit of mine. Hanging upside-down is just something I do to relax myself."
She bent herself upward and put the bowl on the rafter just as Sanosuke walked in. "Hey Kenshin, I thought I heard you talking to some- WOAH!" Ayame allowed herself to go back into a hanging position, smacking into Sanosuke's face. "Ow... you've got a REALLY hard head, ya know that?" said Ayame, rubbing the back of her head. "What's with batty?" "She is an old friend... sort of." "Where'd she come from?" "I'm a wanderer. Just like red over there," Ayame said, grabbing the bowl and beginning to eat again.
"And by the way, don't call me batty. Got it, shrimpy?" "Why you!" Sanosuke swung a punch, but Ayame dodged by swinging to the left. "Zat all you got?" She dodged another punch to the right, then ate the last of the rice balls and threw the bowl into Sanosuke's face. "Hah! Couldn't even hit me!" She dropped down to the floor and took the bowl off his head, saying, "Hey, are you okay?" Sanosuke's face was red and filled with splinters, and he was looking away with a defiant pout. "Sorry, must've thrown it too hard. That's another habit of mine... I don't rightly know my own strength, so I tend to overdo things."
"You've certainly proven that, that you have. I wanted to ask you a few questions, though. If you're ready, that is." "Sure thing. Ask away." "First, I want to know who taught you the Hiten Mitsurugi style of swordsmanship." "Well, that's a long story... It started when I was about five years old... In the village where I lived, there was a fire. The villagers tried to put the fire out, my parents among them. It was all in vain, though. In a few minutes, the entire village was engulfed in flames.
"It didn't look like there was any escaping, but just as it looked like the end, a man came down from the trees surrounding the village and picked me up. He took me to safety, but... My parents perished in the fire. I found out that the man who saved me was a samurai who called himself Hiko." "HIKO!?" "Yes, Hiko. Did you know him too?" "Hiko was my Shishou... But he never mentioned that he took anyone else in." "He never said anything about you, either. Anyway, he started training me immediately, though I had to use a Kodachi because of my size. A few years later, the revolution started, and Hiko pulled a move no one expected... He put ME in the army! Well, in a way. I was more of a hitokiri than a soldier... I think you know what happened next." Kenshin put his hand up and scratched the back of his head, saying, "Yes, no matter what I do to try to erase the revolution from my mind, I won't forget that fight, that I won't."
"Well, after the fight, I just wandered off. Don't really know why, I just did. In my travels, I heard that you did the same... I even heard that you made a vow to never kill again. I know it sounds corny, but you helped me turn my life around. After hearing what you did, I had my blade converted to a Sakabatou too. Oh, in case you were wondering, your old sword is hanging in a museum in Aoiya. None of them really believed me when I said it was the Battousai's sword, but they took it anyway because I said I'd give it to them for free, as long as they let me see it whenever I wanted. Well, that's pretty much all the important stuff, right up until now. Anything else you want to know?" "Yes... You say Hiko taught you what you know. How is it- and I might even add, why is it- that he kept us secret from each other?" "You should take that up with Hiko. I had no idea you were trained by him too until now. Hey, I guess that sorta makes you my big brother, doesn't it, red?"
By this time, Sanosuke had pulled most of the splinters from his face, and was listening intently to the conversation. "Ha! Lucky you, Kenshin. I almost feel sorry for you, having bat girl for a sister." Ayame reached up to Sanosuke's face and said, "You missed one," as she pulled a stray splinter from it. "Oh, thanks." 'Thwap!' The back of Ayame's hand cracked into Sano's nose, and she said. "And don't call me bat girl, either. I can't help it if hanging upside-down relaxes me."
"It seems as though Sano has met his mach, that it does. But having you for a sister wouldn't be as bad as he seems to think, in any case." "At least SOMEONE appreciates me. I'm glad it's you, though, and not shrimpy over there." "You little brat!" Sanosuke leapt at her, but she sidestepped him and put him into a headlock. "Hey! Let me go!" "Say uncle!" "NO!" She held him tighter into the headlock and repeated, "SAY UNCLE!" At this, Kenshin was having quite a laugh. "Kenshin! She's your sister, do something!" "I would, but it's too funny, Sano, that it is."
* * * * *
"So you're Kenshin's adopted sister? How strange... I never imagined Kenshin with a sister," said miss Kaoru, as she took a break from sword practice. "In a sense. By the way, the rice balls you cooked were delicious. Red told me to help myself to as many as I wanted." "Finally, someone else realizes my cooking talents!" "I say it just runs in the family," taunted Yahiko, who as resting as well. "WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" "That's not really possible, seeing as we're not blood relatives."
"You're sure you don't want lessons? Even just a tiny bit?" "No thanks, I'm all set," replied Ayame, patting her sword. "So it really IS a real sword." "Hey, why does she get to have a real sword?" "Because, pipsqueak, I've had the right training. Besides, it's just a Sakabatou." "You mean you use a reverse-blade sword just like Kenshin?" "Right on the nail. In fact, I use it JUST like red. And I mean exactly, if you catch my drift." "Are you really trying to say that an ugly girl like you knows the Hiten Mitsurugi style?" retorted Yahiko.
"If I were you, I'd choose my words a little wiser, Yahiko," said Kenshin, who had just walked in carrying newly done laundry. "Unless you want to end up like Sanosuke, that is." "No way! Look at her! Her hair isn't even the right color! It's all white, and stringy!" 'Smack!' Yahiko was silenced with a flog to the head as Ayame's hand collided with his skull. "I'm very sensitive about my hair. Make fun of it, I'll kill you, touch it, I'll kill you. All figuratively speaking, of course."
"I'll make a m-mental n-note of th-that..." said Yahiko, dizzy with pain. "Ayame strikes once again," said Kenshin with a laugh, as he set the clothes down. "At this rate, I'll have no boarders left. When can I hire you?" joked Kaoru, referring to the fact that they were all pretty much freeloaders, with the exception of Kenshin, who actually did dishes and laundry. "You're not planning on staying though, are you? I can barely feed these freeloaders as it is, let alone take in another." "Don't worry, I'll pull my weight around here. In fact, I'll probably pull enough weight to make up for those other two LIGHTweights." "We'll see about that..." 'Though I'm not sure if I can throw Kenshin's sister out... oh dear.'
So, Ayame is Kenshin's sister, eh? Other than that, this chapter was pretty uneventful, wasn't it? Well, there'll be plenty more action and a little foreshadowing in the next one, so please R&R
Another Boarder: Kenshin Meets His Double
'Think back, to the revolution. There you will find all the answers you need.' Her words burned into Kenshin's mind. After bringing the groceries into the dojo, Kenshin had returned to the tree. There he sat, contemplating her words. 'She wants me to think to the past... But will I really find the answers?'
"Kenshin?" He was suddenly, stirred from his trance as he heard Sanosuke's voice call out to him from below. "Yes, Sano?" "It's time for lunch. Ya coming down, or what?" "I'll be right there, Sano." He jumped down from the tree once again, walked in, and sat down to eat. Yahiko was eating quite slowly, acting as if he were trying to choke it down, and Kenshin simply sat there without touching it.
"What's wrong Kenshin? Usually you're the only one who likes my cooking," said Kaoru. "Oh, it's not that, miss Kaoru, I'm sure it's quite delicious... I've had a lot on my mind lately, that's all." He finally began eating, though his mind was elsewhere, focused on what the girl had said. 'Think back... think back, to the revolution... all the answers you need...'
When he had finished, he stood and said, "If you'll excuse me, I have to go now." "Hey, where're ya going, Kenshin?" asked Sanosuke. "There is... some unfinished business I must attend to." Without another word, he walked outside. He went into the forest, where there was a clearing, and sat down against a tree. 'Now, I can think back without fear of being disturbed.'
He bowed his head and closed his eyes, deep in thought. Soon, images began to flash through his mind. A sword reddened with blood. People falling, dead before they hit the ground. Men rushing to defend their villages. Warriors fighting in vain against a single man. Quickly, the images strung together, into a single memory, a replayed vision from the past.
As bodies fell to the ground around him, the Battousai stared coldly into the night. He was a bloodthirsty killer, with only a thread of a conscience to keep him human. His sword sliced through body after body, streaks of warm blood flying through the air, settling upon the ground like a crimson rain. All around was death and destruction, and the men of the village grabbed whatever they could to defend themselves and their families, but it was all in vain. The legendary Battousai was thought of as invincible, cutting down whoever was foolish enough to oppose him. On and on through the night, screams could be heard, the agonized moans of pain, cut short with the swing of his sword. High above, the full moon lit the sky, crimson in color, almost as homage to the Battousai's slaughter. Finally, he thought that the last scream had been silenced. As he turned to walk away, however, he heard the sound of sandals hitting dirt. "Walk no further, red. I wish to fight you, and prove that I am the one who deserves the title, 'Strongest of the Imperialists.' " The Battousai turned to find a young girl with silver hair standing defiantly in the street, staring at him with her crystal blue eyes. "Go home, little girl. It is dangerous to meddle with the Battousai's affairs, that it is." Then, for the first time, he truly looked into her eyes. "I see. You appear to be a little girl, but you have the eyes of a manslayer. Very well, I will fight you." Faster than could be seen by the average person, the girl had rushed in, and the scrapes and tings of metal against metal were soon heard. For the first time, the Battousai had found a worthy opponent, no less in this teenage girl. But the girl was more than worthy, and the Battousai was cocky and drunken with sadistic pleasure. In an instant, the girl's foot connected with his face, and he found himself on his back, with a sword at his chin, and his own sword obtruding from the ground ten feet away. The girl stared coldly down upon him and said, "For a strange reason, I don't wish to kill you as I have so many others before you." Keeping her foot on his chest so as to prevent him from getting away, she sheathed her sword. "Instead, your sword should suffice as my prize." She released him from her hold and drew the Battousai's sword from the ground. She withdrew a cloth from her uniform and wiped the blade off; the blood had dried and dirt caked the tip. "Farewell, my red-headed samurai." Then, she pulled out a bottle and tossed it to the ground, creating a puff of smoke. When it dissipated, the Battousai was left alone, on the ground, surrounded by his own destruction.
When at last Kenshin had come back into alertness, he realized who the strange silver-haired girl was. 'That girl... she is the same one who had almost killed me in the revolution. But what has she come back for? Does she wish to finish what started back then? No, that can't be... otherwise, she would have struck me down in the market... It must be something else.'
"So, remember me yet, red?" Kenshin was startled by this voice, standing straight up. He looked above him, where the girl had been staring down at him from a branch for the last few minutes. "How did you..." "Sneak up to you without being detected? Your Ki senses aren't perfect, ya know, red. Someone as skilled as me could-" she disappeared from sight, and reappeared right beside him, "-be standing right next to you and you'd never know." Kenshin jumped, startled. "Of course, you were kind of shut off to the world, so that helped."
"Please tell me, how do you know the Hiten Mitsurugi style?" Kenshin said, turning back to look at her. However, she was nowhere to be found. "Over here, red." He looked back behind himself again, and sure enough, there she was, hanging upside-down from a tree limb. "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything in good time. But first," she said as her stomach grumbled, "ya got anything to eat?"
* * * * *
"Hmmm-mmm... This is delicious! You've got no idea how long it's been since I've had a home-cooked meal." Inside the dojo, the girl was hanging upside- down once again, this time on one of the rafters. In her hand was a wooden bowl filled to the brim with rice balls. "Oh! I'm sorry! I never told you my name! I'm Ayame." She stuffed a rice ball into her mouth and continued, "Orme Hikru." Swallowing the rice ball she corrected, "What I meant to say is, Ayame Hikaruu." "Ah... Yes, Ayame... Could I ask why you're hanging from the rafters?" "Oh, it's just a habit of mine. Hanging upside-down is just something I do to relax myself."
She bent herself upward and put the bowl on the rafter just as Sanosuke walked in. "Hey Kenshin, I thought I heard you talking to some- WOAH!" Ayame allowed herself to go back into a hanging position, smacking into Sanosuke's face. "Ow... you've got a REALLY hard head, ya know that?" said Ayame, rubbing the back of her head. "What's with batty?" "She is an old friend... sort of." "Where'd she come from?" "I'm a wanderer. Just like red over there," Ayame said, grabbing the bowl and beginning to eat again.
"And by the way, don't call me batty. Got it, shrimpy?" "Why you!" Sanosuke swung a punch, but Ayame dodged by swinging to the left. "Zat all you got?" She dodged another punch to the right, then ate the last of the rice balls and threw the bowl into Sanosuke's face. "Hah! Couldn't even hit me!" She dropped down to the floor and took the bowl off his head, saying, "Hey, are you okay?" Sanosuke's face was red and filled with splinters, and he was looking away with a defiant pout. "Sorry, must've thrown it too hard. That's another habit of mine... I don't rightly know my own strength, so I tend to overdo things."
"You've certainly proven that, that you have. I wanted to ask you a few questions, though. If you're ready, that is." "Sure thing. Ask away." "First, I want to know who taught you the Hiten Mitsurugi style of swordsmanship." "Well, that's a long story... It started when I was about five years old... In the village where I lived, there was a fire. The villagers tried to put the fire out, my parents among them. It was all in vain, though. In a few minutes, the entire village was engulfed in flames.
"It didn't look like there was any escaping, but just as it looked like the end, a man came down from the trees surrounding the village and picked me up. He took me to safety, but... My parents perished in the fire. I found out that the man who saved me was a samurai who called himself Hiko." "HIKO!?" "Yes, Hiko. Did you know him too?" "Hiko was my Shishou... But he never mentioned that he took anyone else in." "He never said anything about you, either. Anyway, he started training me immediately, though I had to use a Kodachi because of my size. A few years later, the revolution started, and Hiko pulled a move no one expected... He put ME in the army! Well, in a way. I was more of a hitokiri than a soldier... I think you know what happened next." Kenshin put his hand up and scratched the back of his head, saying, "Yes, no matter what I do to try to erase the revolution from my mind, I won't forget that fight, that I won't."
"Well, after the fight, I just wandered off. Don't really know why, I just did. In my travels, I heard that you did the same... I even heard that you made a vow to never kill again. I know it sounds corny, but you helped me turn my life around. After hearing what you did, I had my blade converted to a Sakabatou too. Oh, in case you were wondering, your old sword is hanging in a museum in Aoiya. None of them really believed me when I said it was the Battousai's sword, but they took it anyway because I said I'd give it to them for free, as long as they let me see it whenever I wanted. Well, that's pretty much all the important stuff, right up until now. Anything else you want to know?" "Yes... You say Hiko taught you what you know. How is it- and I might even add, why is it- that he kept us secret from each other?" "You should take that up with Hiko. I had no idea you were trained by him too until now. Hey, I guess that sorta makes you my big brother, doesn't it, red?"
By this time, Sanosuke had pulled most of the splinters from his face, and was listening intently to the conversation. "Ha! Lucky you, Kenshin. I almost feel sorry for you, having bat girl for a sister." Ayame reached up to Sanosuke's face and said, "You missed one," as she pulled a stray splinter from it. "Oh, thanks." 'Thwap!' The back of Ayame's hand cracked into Sano's nose, and she said. "And don't call me bat girl, either. I can't help it if hanging upside-down relaxes me."
"It seems as though Sano has met his mach, that it does. But having you for a sister wouldn't be as bad as he seems to think, in any case." "At least SOMEONE appreciates me. I'm glad it's you, though, and not shrimpy over there." "You little brat!" Sanosuke leapt at her, but she sidestepped him and put him into a headlock. "Hey! Let me go!" "Say uncle!" "NO!" She held him tighter into the headlock and repeated, "SAY UNCLE!" At this, Kenshin was having quite a laugh. "Kenshin! She's your sister, do something!" "I would, but it's too funny, Sano, that it is."
* * * * *
"So you're Kenshin's adopted sister? How strange... I never imagined Kenshin with a sister," said miss Kaoru, as she took a break from sword practice. "In a sense. By the way, the rice balls you cooked were delicious. Red told me to help myself to as many as I wanted." "Finally, someone else realizes my cooking talents!" "I say it just runs in the family," taunted Yahiko, who as resting as well. "WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" "That's not really possible, seeing as we're not blood relatives."
"You're sure you don't want lessons? Even just a tiny bit?" "No thanks, I'm all set," replied Ayame, patting her sword. "So it really IS a real sword." "Hey, why does she get to have a real sword?" "Because, pipsqueak, I've had the right training. Besides, it's just a Sakabatou." "You mean you use a reverse-blade sword just like Kenshin?" "Right on the nail. In fact, I use it JUST like red. And I mean exactly, if you catch my drift." "Are you really trying to say that an ugly girl like you knows the Hiten Mitsurugi style?" retorted Yahiko.
"If I were you, I'd choose my words a little wiser, Yahiko," said Kenshin, who had just walked in carrying newly done laundry. "Unless you want to end up like Sanosuke, that is." "No way! Look at her! Her hair isn't even the right color! It's all white, and stringy!" 'Smack!' Yahiko was silenced with a flog to the head as Ayame's hand collided with his skull. "I'm very sensitive about my hair. Make fun of it, I'll kill you, touch it, I'll kill you. All figuratively speaking, of course."
"I'll make a m-mental n-note of th-that..." said Yahiko, dizzy with pain. "Ayame strikes once again," said Kenshin with a laugh, as he set the clothes down. "At this rate, I'll have no boarders left. When can I hire you?" joked Kaoru, referring to the fact that they were all pretty much freeloaders, with the exception of Kenshin, who actually did dishes and laundry. "You're not planning on staying though, are you? I can barely feed these freeloaders as it is, let alone take in another." "Don't worry, I'll pull my weight around here. In fact, I'll probably pull enough weight to make up for those other two LIGHTweights." "We'll see about that..." 'Though I'm not sure if I can throw Kenshin's sister out... oh dear.'
So, Ayame is Kenshin's sister, eh? Other than that, this chapter was pretty uneventful, wasn't it? Well, there'll be plenty more action and a little foreshadowing in the next one, so please R&R
