Disclaimer: I in no way own RK or any characters affiliated with it. I merely borrowed them for my tale.

A.N. Okay. Prologue out of the way, on to chapter 1!!!

Once again, any and all reviews are welcome!

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Secrets of the Revolution

Chapter 1

The night was unusually dark. There was no moon to be seen and clouds coated the sky, blocking out any trace of stars. There was a cool night breeze that rushed through the foliage of the dense forest.

No one could see the two shadows that stood side by side in the brush.

They didn't utter a word, they didn't move a muscle. They just stood rooted in spot, staring intently at the road before them.

Several minutes passed with no sounds except for the occasional rustle of leaves from the wind. Then slowly and faintly, footsteps could be heard. They built up more and more. From the sounds, there were only 4 people in the group that approached.

Unbeknownst to them, they were all about to be killed.

"Himura, I want you to stay here, and watch. Don't involve yourself." said Hideki. He turned to look at the hitokiri-virgin standing next to him. Himura nodded and swallowed. This was his first night on the job, and even though he wasn't involved in the actual murders, he was still nervous.

There was only one reason why Himura was even there: to witness first hand what a manslayer did and to see if he could handle it. Killing another with a sword wasn't a clean task, nor was it an easy one. The killer usually looked his victim straight in the eye before spilling their blood. The blood was always the worst. There was always so much of it. Could Himura handle it?

The group of four men grew louder as the approached. They had obviously been drinking from the rowdiness they exuded. The target was really only one of the four. But assassins of the Choshou faction were instructed to leave no witnesses. It was an unfortunate turn of luck that the other three were in the presence of their doomed companion.

"Hideki?" Himura whispered.

"Yes?"

"Is it hard?" Hideki paused and looked at his companion. There wasn't much age difference between the two, maybe 6 months. But it was that extra difference that gave Hideki a look of an adult, with his hardened eyes and emotionless face. It was apparent that he had seen and caused a fair amount of bloodshed in his short life.

"You learn to cope." was the reply. Himura nodded and set his eyes back on the road.

At that moment, all four men came into clear view. They all wore swords at their waists. It wasn't unusual to see that during this time of war.

"Stay here until they're all dead."

With that, Hideki was charging swiftly, but quietly towards the unsuspecting men. Himura watched in awe at the speed of the hitokiri. He knew that he was just as fast, if not faster, but to see a true manslayer make his way towards his kill was.. frightening.

The only alert the four men had was the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Before any of them could register this fact in their heads, one stood dead, a sword at rest straight through his heart and sticking out his back. Hideki removed the sword in one swift movement just as one of his targets charged. He pivoted on one foot, threw all his weight behind his sword and neatly sliced the man in half at the waist; blood splattered everywhere as a sickening shriek pierced the night. Without a moment's hesitation, Hideki jumped over the torso of his latest kill and swiftly chopped the head off victim #3, then calmly shoved his sword, straight to the hilt, into the head of the fourth and final man.

The entire attack took no more than 15 seconds.

Hideki removed his sword and watched the corpse fall lifelessly to the ground. Himura stood in the forest, his heart raced, sweat poured down his face and his eyes were wide. How the hell am I supposed to do that?! He thought.

Hideki used a bit of cloth that he carried with him to clean the blade of his sword before re-sheathing it.

"Himura, come here."

Himura left the safety of the dark forest and walked up to Hideki. He couldn't take his eyes off the four bodies and the blood. There was so much blood.

He felt his stomach lurch as the coppery stench invaded his entire being. Before he could even form a coherent thought on the scene, he turned and vomited all over the road. He could feel tears stinging his eyes at his own humiliation. They definitely wouldn't allow him to help now. Not if he was such a baby about this.

He wanted nothing more than to help. He wanted to fight for a new peaceful era, and when it was achieved, he wanted to protect it. How could he possibly have such ideals when the job he was recruited for made him throw up?

Himura vomited some more, unable to stop himself. He was bent over, hands on his knees and taking deep rasping breaths, fighting to regain some semblance of control when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't want to look up at Hideki, he was too ashamed.

"Don't be embarrassed." Hideki said softly, "I threw up the first time I watched a brutal murder like this one, too. Hell, I didn't stop throwing up until I learned to deal with it. It took me 3 months."

Himura wiped his mouth with his sleeve, feeling slightly better, and stood straight again. His eyes level with Hideki's. He nodded mutely and surveyed the scene again, forcing himself to look at what his own future had in store for him. Hideki watched the young samurai's face intently, looking for any tell tale signs that he wasn't up for this job. There was a strange look on Himura's face; Hideki didn't quite know how to interpret it.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Himura?"

Himura turned his amethyst eyes to Hideki's piercing blues. In a heartbeat, Hideki knew..

"Yes. I'm sure."

Himura Kenshin was going to be a legend.
Hideki had been absolutely right. Since that night 4 years before hand, Himura had become unbeatable; the strongest of all Imperialists. He was nicknamed Battousai due to the speed of his battoujutsu, the very same one he used at the training grounds.

The first year of his life as an Imperialist he was a shadow assassin; better than what Hideki had been. That thought didn't bother Hideki at all. No, in actual fact, it was better that Himura had a high profile rather than Hideki. For that entire year, as Himura killed in the streets of Kyoto, Hideki killed within the ranks of the opposition; both murdering for an ideal Japan, both completely unaware that they were killing their way into the history books.

It had been one year after Himura joined the Choushu faction when something terrible happened. The Shinsengumi, another group of samurai, had attacked a "secret" meeting of Imperialist leaders, Katsura included. Hideki was the one who saved the many high ranking officials that were present by throwing himself into the fray, thus totally blowing his cover as a hitokiri and revealing himself to the Shinsengumi.

The attack caused the Imperialists within Kyoto to scatter. All ties were cut from one and other. Himura disappeared into the night, along with what Katsura described as his "sheath"; Tomoe. Himura Tomoe. Himura Kenshin's wife.

Hideki, recovering from his injuries from the battle with the Shinsengumi, heard about Himura taking a wife and immediately felt a terrible sense of foreboding. And his hunch wasn't wrong. Six months later, Himura's sword found its path straight into the back of the woman he loved, killing her. This gave birth to the now famous cross-shaped scar on his left cheek.

Himura and Hideki were reassigned to act as bodyguards to other Imperialists.

During those four years, Himura and Hideki never once crossed paths. They only heard about the other through other imperialists and through Master Katsura. But one fateful night, they reunited.

Hideki ran through the narrow alleys of Kyoto with the swiftness and silence of a shadow assassin. He was chasing a group of Shinsengumi, who were chasing a group of imperialists. Katsura was a member of the group. The mere thought made Hideki quicken his pace.

He rounded a corner and at the end of the alley before him, he saw a sight that made his blood run cold. Katsura, bent low to the ground, supporting a fallen companion, was surrounded by Shinsengumi.

There had to be about 20 of them and Katsura was no match for them. Hell, even Hideki wasn't a match for 20 at once. If he could get them to chase him, thus giving time for Katsura to escape, it would be easy to defeat them all. But the Shinsengumi weren't stupid. They knew who Katsura Kogoro was, and they also knew that killing him would bring their victory even closer.

Where the hell is his guard? Hideki cursed.

Mustering up all his strength and will, Hideki ran at top speed towards the group. A few feet from their backs, he planted his feet firmly on the ground and easily launched himself over the group, doing a little flip and landing directly in front of Katsura and blocking half the group from him.

Then he felt it. Very faint, but it was there. A familiar ki. Himura Battousai had arrived. Hideki felt the rush of wind and heard the slight impact of Himura's feet on the ground behind him. Hideki knew that Himura was blocking the other half of the Shinsengumi. Suddenly, both manslayers felt it. A connection between them both long since forgotten, but forged the moment they smiled at each other 4 years ago.

"If you don't want to die, then leave" Himura growled to the surrounding samurai. There were a few chuckles from the squad.

"Two against twenty? Don't make me laugh." One voice grumbled.

"Sir, that red-head, it's the Battousai!" one terrified voice exclaimed from behind Hideki.

"The Battousai isn't a match for me." The first voice grumbled. "ATTACK!"

"Yare yare." Hideki sighed.

Both hitokiri's un-hooked their swords using their thumb, both attacked at the same time.

Katsura and his companion, one Yamagata Aritomo, watched in awe as Battousai and Hideki worked with each others strengths and weaknesses and easily killed, one by one, the entire Shinsengumi squad. Not one word was spoken between the two. no, the communication between them was far deeper rooted.

The four men found themselves standing in a large pool of blood. Katsura and Yamagata could hardly believe their eyes as they surveyed the work of the two assassins. Hideki and Himura re-sheathed their swords and looked at the two men. They stood in silence for several moments.

"I should never have separated you two." Katsura said softly.
Himura had changed drastically in the last four years, Hideki noted. The innocent amethyst eyes were gone. Instead, he now had piercing amber eyes. Every man who was on the receiving end of one of Himura's penetrating gazes found themselves literally shaking. His face had matured into that of a man's, and he and ditched the green gi for a dark blue. His hair was still as red as before, but no longer could it be considered "flaming red". no, Himura had taken too many lives. His hair was blood red.

Hideki, Himura noticed, hadn't changed at all. He still held his emotionless face, and piercing blue eyes. His features were still young looking, Hideki didn't look like he had aged one bit since they last saw each other. But there was an aura about Hideki that was different. He was jaded before, but Himura sensed something different. He didn't know what, but he felt it. Almost as if Hideki was warring within himself over something. The black gi he wore four years ago was still present, and very ratty looking. And the bandages were still there as well, they had faded to a yellow colour though, most likely due to sweat and blood.

They continued to stare at each other from across the room; neither had spoken a word since the fight. Katsura was checking on Yamagata, and had left the two men alone.

"It's been a long time, Himura."

"Yes."

Silence.

"Have you been well?" Hideki tried again.

"Yes."

Silence.

Hideki sighed inwardly. The friendship, it seems, has long since dissolved. Himura had become too hardened in the last four years for anyone to break through his menacing exterior and gain some semblance of trust and friendship. He had found his way of dealing with the bloodshed.

The silence was deafening as Hideki stared off into space, lost in his own internal battle, forgetting that Himura was even in the room as the sight and smell of blood invaded his senses. His heart rate increased, as he felt the blood pounding in his ears. It was the call of the killer within him. Urging Hideki to lose all semblance of control and give into the urge to kill. Bloodlust was a horrible demon that Hideki had been fighting within himself for quite some time.

"Have you given yourself a first name yet?" a voice said quietly, snapping Hideki out of his mind. "Or should I think of one for you?" Hideki looked up at Himura, who wore a grin on his face, not too unlike the one he wore before. Hideki stared and slowly broke into his own grin.

"Why is it so important that I have a first name?"

"Because you owe me your first name, in exchange for mine I so unwittingly divulged to you four years ago." Hideki chuckled to himself as he bent his head low, staring at his hands on his lap. Himura's grin widened.

"I'll tell you my name, Himura."

"Then you have one?"

"Of course."

Himura paused.

"What's the catch?" he asked. Hideki looked up and smiled over at his friend.

"You have to guess it first." At that, Himura threw back his head and shouted with laughter. Katsura entered the room at that very moment, astounded to see the two most feared assassins in all of Kyoto laughing... Out loud. He smiled. Seems he made a fatal error on his own part by separating them. I wonder what would have happened to those two if I had kept them working together, he thought.

"Master Katsura, is Yamagata-san alright?" Hideki asked, immediately sobering at the presence of Katsura. Katsura nodded and seated himself between the two samurai.

"Yes, he'll be fine, thanks to you two."

"I'm glad we made it on time, Master Katsura." Himura said. Katsura nodded, silently agreeing. If they hadn't shown up when they did, the revolution would have ended tonight, the imperialists would have lost. A silence fell upon the room as Hideki and Himura waited for Katsura to say something more, while Katsura was lost in thought. He stared down at the tatami mat before him, recalling Yamagata's words a few minutes before.

"Those two, they're unbelievable. We can't lose them at such an important time."

"I agree Aritomo, and I don't plan on losing them, but if they choose to leave, I cannot stop them."

"They must not leave! They cannot! We need them. Kogoro, make sure they stay together. I have a job for them and they need to be in top form. Better than they were tonight." Yamagata said from his bed. Katsura stared down at him, wide-eyed.

"A job that needs them to be better than they were tonight? I don't think anyone could ever surpass the connection they shared. They fought as one unit."

"No, even a soldier like me knows that's not true, Kogoro, so don't bother trying to convince me. Himura and Hideki can become stronger."

Katsura didn't like where this conversation was headed.

"Are you saying....."

"They must learn each others technique."

Katsura's eyes widened even more.

"No! Absolutly not! I won't allow that! A samurai never reveals his own techniques to another!"

Yamagata watched his comrade vehemently argue his point, and he knew that Katsura was indeed right, but for the job he had in mind, those two had to know the other's technique.

"I don't want them fighting 10 or 20 men, I'm talking about 50 or 100."

"50? 100! You're talking about setting them lose on an entire army squad!"

"Yes."

"NO!"

Katsura's passion in that last word caught Yamagata off guard.

"Why?"

Silence.

Katsura stared at his lap. He didn't like the sounds of Yamagata's plan. It sounded like he wanted Himura and Hideki to become shadow assassins again. Uselessly killing people, it was what turned both young men into the heartless bastards they were now.

No, Katsura swore he wouldn't allow that to happen again.

"Because I promised myself that I wouldn't turn them into shadow assassins again. They were pure hearted when the first arrived here, and now the lust for blood deep within their souls, and their constant battle against it has turned them into the emotionless hitokiri's you saw tonight."

Katsura had been wrong. They weren't emotionless, as he found out tonight. No, in fact, they seemed to come alive when they were in each others company. Maybe the idea wasn't such a bad one. And Yamagata did argue that they wouldn't be shadow assassins, but imperial army soldiers. Plus they would still be protecting.

"Master Katsura?" Hideki said quietly, snapping Katsura out of his thoughts. He looked up at Hideki, his child-like girly face was emotionless once again, the laughter completely forgotten and lost in his piercing blue eyes. He looked over at Himura, his face, slightly more mature, but still making him look very young and almost girlish was also impassive, his eyes were that chilling amber colour and watching Katsura intently.

"I'm sorry, but I have something important to ask you two."

Himura and Hideki exchanged glances. Master Katsura seemed a little ill at ease with respect to whatever he wanted to ask. He took a deep breath.

"I need you two to teach each other your techniques."

They both froze, suddenly knowing why Katsura felt so uneasy about the request. Another samurai knowing your technique was dangerous, especially at this time, during a war. "I would never ask this unless it was absolutely imperative. I also know it takes a great deal of trust between two samurai for them to share their techniques and I know you two haven't seen each other in four years but.." Himura and Hideki had reached a silent decision as Katsura tried to explain his request.

"We understand Master Katsura, you would only make such a request if something huge was going to happen." Hideki said, cutting the flustered man off. Katsura looked up at Hideki, then over at Himura.

"I trust Hideki, I'll teach him."

"And I trust Himura, I'll teach him."

Katsura looked at his two prized assassins as they agreed to this outrageous request. His respect for both men skyrocketed and he knew that there would be no way he could ever repay them for their unselfish services during the revolution. But his next request would be a sure test of their patience.

"I need you do to it in three weeks."

"Three weeks! Master Katsura, with all due respect, I can't learn the Hiten Mitsurugi style in three weeks! Even if a master teaches me. It took years of training for Himura to get to the level of skill he's already attained."

"I agree, whatever style it may be, it would take longer than three weeks to learn it." Himura added.

"I know boys," Katsura sighed "But in three weeks time, I need you two to be ready to take on an army of soldiers." He suddenly looked very old and weary as he ran a hand over his face. The revolution had taken begun to take its toll on him. Himura and Hideki watched in silence.

"I will do all that I can to learn Himura's style in three weeks, Master Katsura." Hideki said bowing and touching his forehead to the floor before Katsura. Himura did the same.

"I will learn Hideki's style to the best of my abilities, sir." Himura added. Katsura smiled at the two. Their spirit and courage on this day engraved on his mind forever.

"I thank you both." Katsura said, and showing his own respect, bowed before the two samurai.