^_^ I'm glad you all like me so much! As for Kenshin going blind...well, you'll just have to wait and see. Oh, and Gomen Nasai a million times in advance for the extreme OOCness and lack of accurate information. (PPL WANTING TO WRITE THEIR OWN FICS, DO _NOT_ USE INFO FROM ME! I'M NOT RELIABLE!) Heck, I might as well call this an A/U and be done with it....
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
Flashback
Shishou - old word meaning Master
Baka Deshi - idiot pupil
Baka - idiot, stupid, moron, fool, you get the idea
Yadda yadda, I think you get it by now!
__________________________________________
"What do you mean!"
"So you're saying he's blind now?"
"How could something like this have happened?"
Kenshin was still looking around, rubbing his eyes and squinting periodically. Dr. Genzai sighed, and ignored the questions from the other three.
"Kenshin, do you recall, from during the fight, if your attacker hit you in the face with his sword? And where?"
Kenshin blinked, then looked thoughtful.
"Um, the flat of the sword landed here, here, and here." Kenshin pointed to parts of his face as he spoke.
"And…the blade cut here, here, here, here, here…and yes, here - directly across my eyes!"
"That nasty no-good cheater! He _was_ trying to blind him!"
Sanosuke growled in the back of his throat as Yahiko yelled.
"But he did not succeed. However, Kenshin, I'm afraid I can't do anything about your eyesight from this point. If it is possible, then your eyes will be able to heal themselves; otherwise you'll just have to learn to live with it."
Dr. Genzai excused himself as the others tried to figure out how to cope with this devastating revelation. For a few minutes, no one said anything at all. Then Kenshin got up and walked off.
'So this is how it goes, huh. Shishou would be rolling in his grave if I wasn't pretty sure he's still alive. How am I supposed to protect the ones I love if I can't see what I'm fighting against?'
Pausing at a corner of the dojo, Kenshin thought for a moment before jumping, grabbing the roof edge, and swinging himself over. It was getting on late afternoon, and it was getting a lot darker to Kenshin's eyes. Briefly wondering where his Sakabatou was Kenshin lay down on the roof and for once, tried recalling his past instead of trying to forget about it. He wondered what his instructor would have said if he was here.
"Wait, I know exactly what he'd say. 'Being a master swordsman means not being dependant on your normal senses. If you think a little eye trouble can stop you, then break your sword now and save your enemy the time!' He never liked it when people were pessimistic, that he didn't."
It was a warm afternoon, and despite just being freed from over a month's enforced rest Kenshin fell asleep on the roof of the dojo.
"Kenshin! Keep up, baka deshi! You're falling behind!"
"Coming Shishou! Ah!"
A very young Kenshin ran as fast as he could, while wearing a pack as big as he was and twice as heavy. In front of him, a man watched as he tripped over a tree root and landed right on his face.
"Owww…"
Little Kenshin whimpered as he sat up and held his aching face. His Shishou frowned.
"Well? What's taking you so long?"
"It hurts, I don't think I can keep going Shishou…"
The man spat on the ground.
"Himura, I am very disgusted at this display of juvenile behavior! How do you expect to even understand the basics of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu if this is how you behave after a little bump on the head? Feh!"
Little Kenshin looked up at his sensei, still whimpering a little. The man growled in the back of his throat.
"Well then, if seeing is too hard for you, then you'll just have to go about blind-folded!"
"B-But Shishou, then I'll fall down even more!"
"That's because you depend on your eyes! You depend on them to see for you! A master swordsman does not need his eyes, or even his ears, nose, or mouth! A blade cuts through the air without having any of those things! So should you!"
In the middle of his shouting, the man whipped out his sword. It was a double-bladed Katana, dangerous to both it's opponent and it's wielder if the wielder was not skillful. Little Kenshin's whimpering stopped abruptly as the man sliced though the air with it, the wind singing over the twin edges.
Suddenly he leapt forward, still swinging the Katana, and using the speed characteristic of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu seemed to vanish but was actually running around very fast. Little Kenshin froze as a few red hairs floated down, neatly snipped from his head. But when he tried looking around he seemed to be alone.
'I can't see him, where is he?'
After looking around futilely, Little Kenshin squeezed them shut.
'Shishou's right, I can't find him because I think I should be able to see him in order to find him. But what if I…'
A full minute passed, and then Little Kenshin whirled to his left. His Shishou was there, blade pointed right at Kenshin's head. It was less then an inch away from his nose.
"Good work baka, you're finally learning!"
The man sheathed his sword and waited for Little Kenshin to clamber back to his feet…
S
Kenshin woke up with a small start, before remembering where he was. It was just dusk now, which for his new level of eyesight meant it was almost pitch-black. He sighed to himself before he heard the thing that had woken him up in the first place.
"KENSHIN! IF YOU'RE STILL HERE, THEN ANSWER ME AND COME HAVE SOME DINNER!"
'Kaoru-dono sounds very upset. I hope she does not blame this on herself.'
Kenshin moved slowly over the roof to where her voice was coming from. In the murk he could see her, more or less. Kenshin could tell from the tone of her voice that her face was very worried looking.
"Give it a rest Kaoru, I doubt he's still here."
Kaoru turned to glare at Sanosuke.
"But -"
"Don't worry about it, Kaoru! No way would Kenshin just leave and never come back over a little thing like this!"
Yahiko was grinning, even Kenshin could see that.
"You call something like this LITTLE! You little brat, I'll-"
"Hey, watch it ya old hag!"
"WHY YOU-"
Kenshin sighed as his two close friends Kaoru and Yahiko began smacking each other with their wooden swords. Sanosuke wisely stayed out of it.
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
Flashback
Shishou - old word meaning Master
Baka Deshi - idiot pupil
Baka - idiot, stupid, moron, fool, you get the idea
Yadda yadda, I think you get it by now!
__________________________________________
"What do you mean!"
"So you're saying he's blind now?"
"How could something like this have happened?"
Kenshin was still looking around, rubbing his eyes and squinting periodically. Dr. Genzai sighed, and ignored the questions from the other three.
"Kenshin, do you recall, from during the fight, if your attacker hit you in the face with his sword? And where?"
Kenshin blinked, then looked thoughtful.
"Um, the flat of the sword landed here, here, and here." Kenshin pointed to parts of his face as he spoke.
"And…the blade cut here, here, here, here, here…and yes, here - directly across my eyes!"
"That nasty no-good cheater! He _was_ trying to blind him!"
Sanosuke growled in the back of his throat as Yahiko yelled.
"But he did not succeed. However, Kenshin, I'm afraid I can't do anything about your eyesight from this point. If it is possible, then your eyes will be able to heal themselves; otherwise you'll just have to learn to live with it."
Dr. Genzai excused himself as the others tried to figure out how to cope with this devastating revelation. For a few minutes, no one said anything at all. Then Kenshin got up and walked off.
'So this is how it goes, huh. Shishou would be rolling in his grave if I wasn't pretty sure he's still alive. How am I supposed to protect the ones I love if I can't see what I'm fighting against?'
Pausing at a corner of the dojo, Kenshin thought for a moment before jumping, grabbing the roof edge, and swinging himself over. It was getting on late afternoon, and it was getting a lot darker to Kenshin's eyes. Briefly wondering where his Sakabatou was Kenshin lay down on the roof and for once, tried recalling his past instead of trying to forget about it. He wondered what his instructor would have said if he was here.
"Wait, I know exactly what he'd say. 'Being a master swordsman means not being dependant on your normal senses. If you think a little eye trouble can stop you, then break your sword now and save your enemy the time!' He never liked it when people were pessimistic, that he didn't."
It was a warm afternoon, and despite just being freed from over a month's enforced rest Kenshin fell asleep on the roof of the dojo.
"Kenshin! Keep up, baka deshi! You're falling behind!"
"Coming Shishou! Ah!"
A very young Kenshin ran as fast as he could, while wearing a pack as big as he was and twice as heavy. In front of him, a man watched as he tripped over a tree root and landed right on his face.
"Owww…"
Little Kenshin whimpered as he sat up and held his aching face. His Shishou frowned.
"Well? What's taking you so long?"
"It hurts, I don't think I can keep going Shishou…"
The man spat on the ground.
"Himura, I am very disgusted at this display of juvenile behavior! How do you expect to even understand the basics of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu if this is how you behave after a little bump on the head? Feh!"
Little Kenshin looked up at his sensei, still whimpering a little. The man growled in the back of his throat.
"Well then, if seeing is too hard for you, then you'll just have to go about blind-folded!"
"B-But Shishou, then I'll fall down even more!"
"That's because you depend on your eyes! You depend on them to see for you! A master swordsman does not need his eyes, or even his ears, nose, or mouth! A blade cuts through the air without having any of those things! So should you!"
In the middle of his shouting, the man whipped out his sword. It was a double-bladed Katana, dangerous to both it's opponent and it's wielder if the wielder was not skillful. Little Kenshin's whimpering stopped abruptly as the man sliced though the air with it, the wind singing over the twin edges.
Suddenly he leapt forward, still swinging the Katana, and using the speed characteristic of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu seemed to vanish but was actually running around very fast. Little Kenshin froze as a few red hairs floated down, neatly snipped from his head. But when he tried looking around he seemed to be alone.
'I can't see him, where is he?'
After looking around futilely, Little Kenshin squeezed them shut.
'Shishou's right, I can't find him because I think I should be able to see him in order to find him. But what if I…'
A full minute passed, and then Little Kenshin whirled to his left. His Shishou was there, blade pointed right at Kenshin's head. It was less then an inch away from his nose.
"Good work baka, you're finally learning!"
The man sheathed his sword and waited for Little Kenshin to clamber back to his feet…
S
Kenshin woke up with a small start, before remembering where he was. It was just dusk now, which for his new level of eyesight meant it was almost pitch-black. He sighed to himself before he heard the thing that had woken him up in the first place.
"KENSHIN! IF YOU'RE STILL HERE, THEN ANSWER ME AND COME HAVE SOME DINNER!"
'Kaoru-dono sounds very upset. I hope she does not blame this on herself.'
Kenshin moved slowly over the roof to where her voice was coming from. In the murk he could see her, more or less. Kenshin could tell from the tone of her voice that her face was very worried looking.
"Give it a rest Kaoru, I doubt he's still here."
Kaoru turned to glare at Sanosuke.
"But -"
"Don't worry about it, Kaoru! No way would Kenshin just leave and never come back over a little thing like this!"
Yahiko was grinning, even Kenshin could see that.
"You call something like this LITTLE! You little brat, I'll-"
"Hey, watch it ya old hag!"
"WHY YOU-"
Kenshin sighed as his two close friends Kaoru and Yahiko began smacking each other with their wooden swords. Sanosuke wisely stayed out of it.
