Disclaimer: RK and characters don't belong to me, I merely borrowed them
for my tale.
A.N. Okay, obviously I managed to shock those who reviewed my story. Yay! Yes, I decided to make Hideki a woman even before I started writing the fic, while it was just a thought in my head. I will explain my reasoning all in good time, I promise, but for now, ON WITH THE SHOW!
Enjoy!
R&R pls!
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Secrets of the Revolution
Chapter 4
Kenshin stared with shocked amethyst eyes and dropped the wakazashi in his hands. It landed with a dull thud on the soft earth of the forest.
"Oro..."
Hideki was a woman.
Kenshin was totally shocked as he gaped at Hideki's exposure. He blinked rapidly, and immediately covered the girl with her gi. He sat down on the wet ground and scrambled to make sense in his mind what he just saw.
'Those were breasts. Definatly breasts. But Hideki's a guy. Not a girl. So I must be hurt somewhere and losing blood. That's it, I'm hallucinating,' Kenshin thought. He then proceeded to check himself over looking for any wounds. None. Kenshin swallowed and looked down at Hideki again.
"I was hallucinating." Kenshin said firmly, then grabbed the blood soaked gi and opened it again.
He froze.
"I'm not hallucinating! Ororororororororo!!!" Kenshin fell over and backed away from Hideki. "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy SHIT de gozaru!"
'Kenshin no BAKA! Guy or not, Hideki is bleeding badly! Stop the bleeding! Worry about gender later!' Kenshin's mind screamed. He rushed straight to Hideki's side and paid no attention to the obvious 'womanly attributes' that Hideki was showing at the moment as he cleaned the wounds and dressed them using the sliced up bandages. Well, at least the ones that were remotely clean. He did it quickly and closed the gi once again.
Leaning against a tree, Kenshin propped his sword on his shoulder, sighed and looked down at the unconscious guy.. err.. girl. His, no, her breathing was laboured and she was in obvious pain.
"We have to get back to the house. At least there I'll be able to take care of that wound better." Kenshin mumbled to himself. He took a deep breath and got up, pushing himself off the tree and walked over to Hideki's lifeless body.
He gently sat her up, and draped her right arm over his shoulders. He scooped her up into his arms and stood up. She was so light! Why the hell hadn't he noticed that before?! Wait, he had noticed, but never thought any thing of it. At least now the weight difference made sense. He sighed and looked down at the young girl in his arms as he began walking.
"Why are you here?" he asked softly, knowing she couldn't hear him. What had caused her to dress like a man and become a manslayer in the revolution?
'She's a gifted swordsman... errr... swords... woman. WHATEVER! She's gifted. She even has a firm grasp of reading ki, and being able to block hers. She's been a Hitokiri for 4 years and fooled everyone! At least, I think she fooled everyone. I don't know if she's told anyone. Katsura probably knows. He's a very smart man, so he probably knew the second he laid eyes on her.'
'But then, if he knew she was a girl, he probably never would have allowed her to become a manslayer. Okay, scratch that idea. Katsura defiantly does not know. So then why did she become a manslayer? Why does she deny her gender and introduce herself as a man?'
More and more questions flew through Kenshin's head as he made his way down the mountain, carrying Hideki the entire time. Questions were one thing, but emotions were totally another. All sorts of emotions were running though his being, confusing him to no ends. But one was most prevalent.
Anger. He was pissed that she lied to him, and to everyone else. But then, she was probably feeling the worse about not telling anyone her secret, and she probably had a damn good reason for wanting to be a manslayer. Of course, the only way for that to happen is if she became a he. And that's exactly what she did. She was constantly putting her life in danger and Kenshin didn't like it one bit.
He was no stranger to women. Hell, he was an 18 year old man. He knew women. He knew they were softer, weaker, gentle creatures. They smelled differently, they moved differently, there was an aura about all women that made them seem helpless and defenceless. Kenshin always protected women. They were made to be protected. All the women he knew, even Tomoe, were quiet, subservient beings that lived to cook, clean, and wait on the man or men of their lives. He never knew women such as Hideki existed.
Hiko's strange outlook on women hadn't helped Kenshin as he grew up either. His master always viewed women as pleasurable beings, which were made to be with... sexually. He pounded the Hiten Mitsurugi style into Kenshin as much as he pounded that viewpoint. Lucky for Kenshin, he paid no never mind to Hiko's view on women casting it aside as drunken babble, since that was usually when Hiko would go on rants about women. He learned his own way, and through Tomoe, that women were gentle and didn't always like to be treated as objects for a man's pleasure.
However, Hideki had thrown a wrench into his thought processes on women the second he sliced her bandages off. Here was a woman who was strong and totally self sufficient. She lived on her own for the last 4 years, he knew that for sure. She could have been alone for much longer. She was independent, ambitious, emotionless... a killer. She was a manslayer. He could smell the blood from her.
Her strength and skill was no mystery to him either, he had seen it first hand. Something stirred deep within him. Remorse? Regret? Pity? Did he feel sorry for her? That she had to live her life like this? Away from her true calling as a woman? Kenshin looked down at the girl in his arms as he continued walking.
Her gi had parted slightly, showing the slight curve of her breasts, and the valley between them. He felt the stirring again. No. It wasn't any of the thoughts that had flashed in his head moments before. It was lust. For the first time in his life, he felt the stirring of lust that Hiko had drawled on about every time he drank excess amounts of sake. However, Hiko always talked of lust when concerned with quiet, demure women; the dainty women, wearing beautiful kimonos and intricately tied obis. Those kinds of women had never caused him to react the way he was as he looked down at Hideki. Not even Tomoe stirred lust into his being. She was pure and virtuous. She never caused him to feel the burning need he was feeling as he looked at Hideki. Whenever he and Tomoe were... together, it was always gentle, soft, and slow.
But Hideki was different. Here was a woman, laying in his arms, who looked like she never wore a kimono, or tied an obi in her entire life, and she was stirring the most primitive desires through Kenshin.
"Kuso, damn you Shisho!" he grumbled. He blamed Hiko for his one sided view on women. Kenshin never knew women could be like Hideki. Strong, skilled and still appealing to a man. He always believed women to be the weaker sex. HA! The thought now made him want to laugh out loud. Hideki was the only person with enough skill to fight him to a draw. Not that he had an ego about his skill, but when your name strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies, you have a tendency to feel a bit proud.
"Weaker sex indeed, de gozaru yo." He muttered, casting lustful thoughts from his mind as he forced himself to concentrate on anything but the unconscious girl in his arms.
He had been walking for several hours at this point, so he stopped, gently laying Hideki down, and dropping himself down to sit next to her. He leaned against a tree and propped his sword against his shoulder, as usual. He looked down at Hideki's sleeping form and allowed his eyes to roam over her features.
She was beautiful. He couldn't deny that. When she was a he, everyone commented on her pretty face. Calling her "pretty boy" and the taunts were ever worse when Kenshin was with her. He too had a pretty boy face, he couldn't deny it. But her younger, less masculine features had always been attributed to her youth just like Kenshin. Never her gender. It was never questioned.
He vaguely remembered the bandages she had wrapped around her body. There was extra wrapped around her abdomen, thickening her waist and hiding her curves to make her look more like a man. The bandages that had bound her breasts were tight, flattening them and making her look powerfully built in the chest. The loose gi had covered any discrepancies that may have been present. She had been successful in her attempt to turn herself into a man. However, now that he knew, she would never look like a man again. Not after almost all of her body had been revealed to him.
Kenshin shook his head to clear his thoughts again. He hated thinking like that. He felt that thinking about another woman like he was currently doing, was betraying the memory of his dead wife. He couldn't do that.
Kenshin looked at the sword tucked into her hakama ties at her waist, then to her hands. Her small hands that were covered in calluses from wielding a sword for many years and stained from the blood of men she had killed. Kenshin frowned at that thought.
As attractive as she was to him right now, she was still the same person who, hours before hand, had pulled a sword from her chest and then proceeded to use it as a weapon. She was strong. Probably made of something stronger than anyone he ever met. And she was jaded. He could see it in her eyes as she fought. Something in her past caused her to be what she was. She was also fighting a battle with inner demons. Twice last night he felt the change in her ki. He knew it was bloodlust since he himself had experienced it. Maybe her constant battle with the demon caused her to have such strength. She would have to if she could use two katanas against an army of shinsengumi and come out unscathed.... Well, sort of. Kenshin was still in awe of the power she exuded as she swung those swords without hesitation.
He sighed and looked away from her, leaning his head against the tree and stared up into the early morning sky.
He needed some sleep. He and Hideki had been awake for over a day with little food. They had been sparring each other yesterday morning, walking half a day to get to base camp yesterday evening, standing in a clearing last night waiting, and locked in a brutal battle just hours before hand. With the previous days events flowing through his mind, Kenshin lowered his head, and slipped into a light sleep, the last thing he saw was Hideki sleeping next to him.
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Hideki slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes opened ever so slightly only to see the handsome red-head leaning against a tree next to her and sleeping. Slightly disorientated, Hideki sat up, only to have a sharp pain erupt at her side. She grimaced and grabbed her chest. That's when she noticed her bandages had been cut away and used to wrap her wound.
Memories flooded back into her mind. Himura punching her, tearing open her gi to get at her injury, using his short sword to slice off the bandages, then his shocked face. Her secret was out...
And it was Battousai the manslayer who had discovered it.
"Oh shit." She mumbled.
"'Oh shit' is right." came a reply. Hideki slowly turned towards Himura, expecting to see very angry yellow Battousai eyes. She was shocked to see amethyst eyes looking back at her. They weren't angry. There wasn't a trace of anger in any of Himura's features. There was something different, something she had never seen in his eyes before as he continued to stare at her.
'He's lost his trust in me', she thought as she stared right back at him. 'This secret should never have been kept from him, especially since he taught me his sword style.'
She felt horrible. She always had. She hated keeping her secret. But it was necessary for her if she was going to do what she could for the new era. She knew the second her secret was revealed she would have to leave the imperialists. But somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she wasn't ready to leave yet. Leaving now wasn't an option open to her. She felt that her job wasn't done yet. The war hadn't reached the point of no return yet. There were still battles to be won and an old empire to be torn down.
Of course, with the revelation on hand, she knew that her time with the Battousai was over. Gone was any friendship and trust they had forged between each other over the last few weeks the second he sliced her bandages off. She would miss his company; they were good friends, and being in his presence somehow helped in her inner battle too. Once again she would be alone during this war. And for the first time, as she stared into his amethyst eyes, she didn't want to be alone.
"Uhm..." Himura held up his hand to stop her.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"About as well as I should feel considering I was impaled by a sword a few hours ago." was her reply. She stood up, using her katana as a brace to rise onto shaky feet. Himura was immediately on his feet, ready to help. She glared at him, then put her sword in her sash at her waist. The worst part about her secret being revealed was that Himura would now treat her like glass, as he did any woman. Even though he knew she was tough. Hell, she had been his sparring partner for 3 weeks!
Kenshin sensed, as well as saw, her anger at his gesture to help her stand. He backed off, not wanting to insult her. She had, after all, survived this long in the revolution without his help.
"Well, it was nice getting to know you Himura, I swear the secrets of the Hiten Mitsurugi will come with me to my grave" Hideki said. She turned her back to Himura and began to walk away, slightly wobbly since she was still weak from blood loss and lack of nourishment.
Kenshin was confused. He didn't want her to walk away. He didn't want to lose her companionship. As he looked at her now, he knew that he would never act upon his desires. For one, the friendship they had meant more to him than any sexual encounter would, and for another she would probably skin him alive. He knew that their togetherness over the last few weeks had meant a lot to her too, yet she was easily turning her back to him and walking away. Had he angered her? Was she pissed that he had forced his help upon her, much to his own shock and her dismay?
"Then again, I lied to you, why should you trust me?"
Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. She thought he didn't trust her anymore. And if it were anyone else, he wouldn't. Admittedly, if it were anyone else, he probably would have killed them. But not her. Not Hideki. He still trusted her. Maybe more now than he did before.
"I still trust you, Hideki." Himura said quietly. Hideki stopped dead in her tracks. "I'm impressed more than anything. You kept your true gender from me. And we lived together for 3 weeks."
Hideki laughed.
"Himura, you are the only person alive right now who knows I'm not actually a man." she said, turning back around to face him. He noted her voice had changed slightly, it wasn't as rough or deep like what he was used to, it was slightly softer, more feminine. "That's 18 years of keeping my true gender from EVERYONE. A mere three weeks with one person isn't that difficult for me. But I'll admit there were a few times when I was sure you would find out." She smiled.
"It was the sparring that gave me a slight hint. But I thought nothing of it." he replied, smiling back.
His smile coupled with his amethyst eyes and red hair caused Hideki's stomach to clench. Himura had always been handsome, but now with the Battousai gone from his eyes and the true Kenshin standing before her, she saw both sides, and found the man on a whole to be particularly divine.
Okay, so the attraction had been there from day one. It wasn't much since it couldn't have been at 14 years of age. But she had found him cute that first day. Only a passing thought, and never dwelled upon again, at least not until three weeks ago. Sitting in that room, waiting for Katsura and staring at each other, Hideki's appreciation for Himura's looks increased tenfold. She had grown up in their four years apart, as had he. He was much more matured in the face, although the amber eyes were as frightening as rumoured, her fright towards him was fleeting and never felt again. She was probably the only human being alive at the time that wasn't afraid of the Hitokiri Battousai.
That lack of fear caused them to strengthen their friendship. And the trust they had was far more important than the strange sensations that would burn in the depths of her stomach any time she stole a glance at him. Act upon her desire for him? No. She would never do that.
She wobbled slightly on her feet, exhaustion, starvation, thirst and blood loss all combined to make her look and feel terrible. She closed her eyes and covered them with her hand. Kenshin, hating to see her like that and not caring about the repercussions, covered the few steps between them and grabbed her elbow, steadying her.
"Let me help." he said softly. She opened angry eyes at him and jerked out of his grasp. He was treating her like glass, just as she expected him too.
"I don't need help!" she said angrily. Unfortunately, her anger was quickly dispelled as her movements caused her stomach to heave and her vision to cloud over. Clenching her eyes shut and covering them again, she ordered her body to behave and act stronger. She didn't want to be weak. She didn't want to rely on anyone. But her body ignored her, fed up with the abuse it went through in the last day. She swayed more and her legs gave out under her. Kenshin was there to grab her before she hit the ground.
He knew why she was angry. She thought he would start treating her differently. He thought he would too, and had every intention to.
"You're badly injured Hideki. You're exhausted, hungry, and you've lost a lot of blood. I'm helping you whether you like it or not." Kenshin said firmly as he scooped her up into his arms again. She tried to fight him, but he was stronger than she was in her weakened state. She couldn't fight him. He started walking again, towards their final destination.
"Himura, not like this. This is degrading. Please let me walk." Hideki said softly against his chest.
"Only if you'll let me help you." He said firmly. She nodded against him. He stopped dead and put her back on her feet. She swayed again and fell against him, her face pressed into his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close. He could feel her breath against his skin, causing him to shudder inside. His own face was buried in her neck and as he breathed, she felt shivers run down her spine. Her hands pressed flat against his chest, her body pressed firmly against his. Both clenched their eyes shut and tried to push all indecent thoughts from their heads.
It was the smell that brought them back to reality. Both of them were still covered in blood. It was on their clothes, in their hair, and whatever had been on their skin had been washed away from the rain. But the smell was still there.
Overpowering. Disgusting.
Simultaneously they pushed away from each other. Any attraction that had been between them was lost forever in that moment. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both knowing what the other was thinking. Friends and friends only. Nothing more nothing less.
Kenshin knew then and there that man or not, he would treat Hideki exactly the same. Hideki knew that even if she was a girl, he would continue to regard her as a swords master and a manslayer first and foremost.
"Just let me help you, you can barely walk on your own." he said and stepped up to her. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and draped her right arm over his shoulder, holding it in place with his hand. Hideki nodded, unable to deny the simple fact that she was pretty much useless in her condition. Leaning most of her weight on Himura, they began the long walk back to the house.
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It was nearly dusk when the finally reached the training grounds and the house where they were staying. They had taken their time leaving the forest and making their way back, stopping frequently to rest and listen to see if they were being followed. They had found a clean river and washed whatever stench of blood off themselves they could, as well as having a bit of water to drink. Himura, blushing slightly, unwrapped and cleaned Hideki's wounds. He washed the bandages as best he could in the river, then rewrapped the ugly red cuts.
As they drew nearer the house, they could see lights burning beyond the windows. Someone was waiting for them. There was a soldier standing at the main entrance to the house, and he saw the approaching manslayers. He opened the door and ran in.
"Yamagata-sama! Katsura-sama! They're back! Battousai and his companion are back!" the young man exclaimed, bursting into the room where Katsura, Yamagata and Shinsaku were waiting. The three men left the room and followed the young soldier outside.
Hideki saw the four men emerge from the house and felt Himura's arm tighten around her waist. The moment of truth, when everyone would find out about her. She was dreading this moment and glanced over at Himura, for some sort of consolation from his amethyst eyes. But all she saw was amber. He had reverted back to his Battousai self at the sight of the men before them. She bowed her head, looking at the ground as they came to a stop before the men.
"Himura! Hideki! Kami-sama you're alive!" Shinsaku exclaimed, wearing a broad grin.
"Are you two alright? What happened? Where have you been?" Katsura asked. Himura released Hideki's right hand which lay upon his shoulder and held up his hand.
"I'll explain everything, but first" he said, Hideki winced; he was going to tell them. After all, he had a right to, and he never said he wouldn't. Himura was honest with everything, especially to Master Katsura. "Hideki is badly hurt. I want to tend to his wounds before anything else. I'll explain everything when he is resting comfortably."
Hideki froze, but kept her head low. His? HE?! Had Himura actually lied to Master Katsura?!
"Of course, I'm terribly sorry." Katsura said and gestured towards the house.
"I'll help you. His injuries are partly my responsibility." Yamagata said.
"Thank you, Yamagata-san, but with all due respect, a samurai doesn't like looking helpless and wounded. Even to comrades and leaders. I've already tended to his wounds as best I could in the forest, and now I'm sure he would prefer to keep the extent of his injuries just between us both." Himura said. Hideki relaxed slightly.
"Himura is right. What can we do to help?" Katsura asked as they entered the house. Himura made his way down the hall to the room where Hideki had stayed before.
"Please boil me some water, and bring me clean linens to wrap the wound. There's also a medical kit in the kitchen with some healing salve in it. If you could bring that to me I would appreciate it." The three men left the room immediately to do what was asked of them, the soldier had remained outside, standing guard at the door just as he had been when Himura and Hideki returned.
"You didn't have to do that Himura." Hideki said softly as Himura gently sat her on the floor, closing the shoji door and then unfolding her futon in the middle of the room.
"I know. But if I told them the truth, they would have forced you out of the imperialists. Probably by killing you. I don't want that. Besides, I don't want to lose my friend." He said, and then reached out his hand towards her. She took it and he helped her into the futon, covering her up to her neck.
The shoji door slid open again, Katsura, Yamagata and Shinsaku all holding something in their hands as they placed it next to Himura. Then all three left the room.
"We'll be in the tea room when you're finished Himura." Katsura said as he closed the door shut again. Himura went to the small trunk at the corner of the room and pulled out Hideki's yukata and brought it over to her. With his back turned, Hideki removed her blood soaked gi and hakama and donned her yukata.
"Why did you turn around? You've already seen me." Hideki said simply as Himura faced her again. He looked up at her, his eyes amethyst again and smiled.
"A woman shouldn't be naked before a man who isn't her husband." He said grinning. Hideki narrowed her eyes at him.
"Was that a shot?" she asked. Kenshin smiled innocently.
"I wouldn't dream of taking a shot at you my dear." He said as he opened the medicine box and pulled out the bottle of salve.
"That was a shot." she grumbled as she shrugged out of the yukata, allowing it to fall about her waist as she sat on the futon. Kenshin blushed slightly and removed the bandages from her wounds. She looked at him in interest. "You're blushing."
"Aa."
She smiled.
Using some of the clean linen, Kenshin wet it with warm water and washed the wounds carefully and thoroughly. Hideki watched him as he carefully applied some salve on the entry and exit holes left from the katana. She marvelled at how gentle his hands were, knowing full well the power that the emitted when he held a sword. She felt very little pain through the whole procedure. Kenshin picked up the rest of the clean linen and used it to wrap around her, the salve kept it in place as he continued to wrap it around her. He was silent the whole time. His eyes didn't roam once, she noted. He looked only at her wounds, and nothing else. A gentleman to the end. that was Kenshin.
"Done. Nothing strenuous for the next few days. You're going to rest, you got it?" he said as she pulled the yukata back on.
"Yes, brother."
Kenshin froze, still holding the bottle of salve. He looked up at her, amethyst meeting blue.
'Brother, she just called me brother,' He thought. She smiled at him and he felt himself smiling back. 'I liked it.'
"Excuse me, dear sister, but there are three very important people in the other room waiting for an explanation." He said, replacing the lid on the medical box. "Rest. I'll check on you once they leave"
"Promise me you'll take care of yourself first. Get something to eat." She replied, sinking down onto the futon and pulling the sheets gently over her. He nodded then stood up and left the room quietly, ensuring to close the shoji behind him.
'I defiantly could get used to her calling me brother.'
'I really liked being called sister.'
A family bond grew between Himura and Hideki that day.
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A.N. Okay, no cliff hanger this time, I can't do it again. This chapter was just for explanation purposes. I didn't want Kenshin to fall for Hideki. He loved Tomoe, and he loved Kaoru. That's it for romantic love for Kenshin as far as I'm concerned. But we all know he's fiercely protective and he loves/loved several other people in his life as a man would love his family. So I figured a family relationship would be better for those two.
As for the attraction thing. Well, who wouldn't be attracted to the red- head? I mean really? In the anime/manga there were several women who were attracted to the baka-rurouni. As for Kenshin's attraction to Hideki, c'mon! He's an 18 year old! We all know that at 18, men are at their sexual peaks so I had to write it in. Besides, I always wondered why Kenshin's taste in women went from one extreme (Tomoe and her perfect breeding) to the other (Kaoru, and her fiery temper, bad cooking, and complete inability to do anything wife like). There had to be someone along the way to change his mind. I figured why not Hideki??
And besides, once I decided to introduce the idea of brother/sister, the whole attraction thing was totally forgotten. I didn't want something like that between them in the long run. It was just that initial sorta thing when you see someone and find them really attractive, then you get to know them better and your opinion changes and you love them like a brother/sister.
*shrugs* Anyways, I hope you liked it, R&R!
P.S. Thanks for all the reviews! :D
A.N. Okay, obviously I managed to shock those who reviewed my story. Yay! Yes, I decided to make Hideki a woman even before I started writing the fic, while it was just a thought in my head. I will explain my reasoning all in good time, I promise, but for now, ON WITH THE SHOW!
Enjoy!
R&R pls!
___________________________
Secrets of the Revolution
Chapter 4
Kenshin stared with shocked amethyst eyes and dropped the wakazashi in his hands. It landed with a dull thud on the soft earth of the forest.
"Oro..."
Hideki was a woman.
Kenshin was totally shocked as he gaped at Hideki's exposure. He blinked rapidly, and immediately covered the girl with her gi. He sat down on the wet ground and scrambled to make sense in his mind what he just saw.
'Those were breasts. Definatly breasts. But Hideki's a guy. Not a girl. So I must be hurt somewhere and losing blood. That's it, I'm hallucinating,' Kenshin thought. He then proceeded to check himself over looking for any wounds. None. Kenshin swallowed and looked down at Hideki again.
"I was hallucinating." Kenshin said firmly, then grabbed the blood soaked gi and opened it again.
He froze.
"I'm not hallucinating! Ororororororororo!!!" Kenshin fell over and backed away from Hideki. "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy SHIT de gozaru!"
'Kenshin no BAKA! Guy or not, Hideki is bleeding badly! Stop the bleeding! Worry about gender later!' Kenshin's mind screamed. He rushed straight to Hideki's side and paid no attention to the obvious 'womanly attributes' that Hideki was showing at the moment as he cleaned the wounds and dressed them using the sliced up bandages. Well, at least the ones that were remotely clean. He did it quickly and closed the gi once again.
Leaning against a tree, Kenshin propped his sword on his shoulder, sighed and looked down at the unconscious guy.. err.. girl. His, no, her breathing was laboured and she was in obvious pain.
"We have to get back to the house. At least there I'll be able to take care of that wound better." Kenshin mumbled to himself. He took a deep breath and got up, pushing himself off the tree and walked over to Hideki's lifeless body.
He gently sat her up, and draped her right arm over his shoulders. He scooped her up into his arms and stood up. She was so light! Why the hell hadn't he noticed that before?! Wait, he had noticed, but never thought any thing of it. At least now the weight difference made sense. He sighed and looked down at the young girl in his arms as he began walking.
"Why are you here?" he asked softly, knowing she couldn't hear him. What had caused her to dress like a man and become a manslayer in the revolution?
'She's a gifted swordsman... errr... swords... woman. WHATEVER! She's gifted. She even has a firm grasp of reading ki, and being able to block hers. She's been a Hitokiri for 4 years and fooled everyone! At least, I think she fooled everyone. I don't know if she's told anyone. Katsura probably knows. He's a very smart man, so he probably knew the second he laid eyes on her.'
'But then, if he knew she was a girl, he probably never would have allowed her to become a manslayer. Okay, scratch that idea. Katsura defiantly does not know. So then why did she become a manslayer? Why does she deny her gender and introduce herself as a man?'
More and more questions flew through Kenshin's head as he made his way down the mountain, carrying Hideki the entire time. Questions were one thing, but emotions were totally another. All sorts of emotions were running though his being, confusing him to no ends. But one was most prevalent.
Anger. He was pissed that she lied to him, and to everyone else. But then, she was probably feeling the worse about not telling anyone her secret, and she probably had a damn good reason for wanting to be a manslayer. Of course, the only way for that to happen is if she became a he. And that's exactly what she did. She was constantly putting her life in danger and Kenshin didn't like it one bit.
He was no stranger to women. Hell, he was an 18 year old man. He knew women. He knew they were softer, weaker, gentle creatures. They smelled differently, they moved differently, there was an aura about all women that made them seem helpless and defenceless. Kenshin always protected women. They were made to be protected. All the women he knew, even Tomoe, were quiet, subservient beings that lived to cook, clean, and wait on the man or men of their lives. He never knew women such as Hideki existed.
Hiko's strange outlook on women hadn't helped Kenshin as he grew up either. His master always viewed women as pleasurable beings, which were made to be with... sexually. He pounded the Hiten Mitsurugi style into Kenshin as much as he pounded that viewpoint. Lucky for Kenshin, he paid no never mind to Hiko's view on women casting it aside as drunken babble, since that was usually when Hiko would go on rants about women. He learned his own way, and through Tomoe, that women were gentle and didn't always like to be treated as objects for a man's pleasure.
However, Hideki had thrown a wrench into his thought processes on women the second he sliced her bandages off. Here was a woman who was strong and totally self sufficient. She lived on her own for the last 4 years, he knew that for sure. She could have been alone for much longer. She was independent, ambitious, emotionless... a killer. She was a manslayer. He could smell the blood from her.
Her strength and skill was no mystery to him either, he had seen it first hand. Something stirred deep within him. Remorse? Regret? Pity? Did he feel sorry for her? That she had to live her life like this? Away from her true calling as a woman? Kenshin looked down at the girl in his arms as he continued walking.
Her gi had parted slightly, showing the slight curve of her breasts, and the valley between them. He felt the stirring again. No. It wasn't any of the thoughts that had flashed in his head moments before. It was lust. For the first time in his life, he felt the stirring of lust that Hiko had drawled on about every time he drank excess amounts of sake. However, Hiko always talked of lust when concerned with quiet, demure women; the dainty women, wearing beautiful kimonos and intricately tied obis. Those kinds of women had never caused him to react the way he was as he looked down at Hideki. Not even Tomoe stirred lust into his being. She was pure and virtuous. She never caused him to feel the burning need he was feeling as he looked at Hideki. Whenever he and Tomoe were... together, it was always gentle, soft, and slow.
But Hideki was different. Here was a woman, laying in his arms, who looked like she never wore a kimono, or tied an obi in her entire life, and she was stirring the most primitive desires through Kenshin.
"Kuso, damn you Shisho!" he grumbled. He blamed Hiko for his one sided view on women. Kenshin never knew women could be like Hideki. Strong, skilled and still appealing to a man. He always believed women to be the weaker sex. HA! The thought now made him want to laugh out loud. Hideki was the only person with enough skill to fight him to a draw. Not that he had an ego about his skill, but when your name strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies, you have a tendency to feel a bit proud.
"Weaker sex indeed, de gozaru yo." He muttered, casting lustful thoughts from his mind as he forced himself to concentrate on anything but the unconscious girl in his arms.
He had been walking for several hours at this point, so he stopped, gently laying Hideki down, and dropping himself down to sit next to her. He leaned against a tree and propped his sword against his shoulder, as usual. He looked down at Hideki's sleeping form and allowed his eyes to roam over her features.
She was beautiful. He couldn't deny that. When she was a he, everyone commented on her pretty face. Calling her "pretty boy" and the taunts were ever worse when Kenshin was with her. He too had a pretty boy face, he couldn't deny it. But her younger, less masculine features had always been attributed to her youth just like Kenshin. Never her gender. It was never questioned.
He vaguely remembered the bandages she had wrapped around her body. There was extra wrapped around her abdomen, thickening her waist and hiding her curves to make her look more like a man. The bandages that had bound her breasts were tight, flattening them and making her look powerfully built in the chest. The loose gi had covered any discrepancies that may have been present. She had been successful in her attempt to turn herself into a man. However, now that he knew, she would never look like a man again. Not after almost all of her body had been revealed to him.
Kenshin shook his head to clear his thoughts again. He hated thinking like that. He felt that thinking about another woman like he was currently doing, was betraying the memory of his dead wife. He couldn't do that.
Kenshin looked at the sword tucked into her hakama ties at her waist, then to her hands. Her small hands that were covered in calluses from wielding a sword for many years and stained from the blood of men she had killed. Kenshin frowned at that thought.
As attractive as she was to him right now, she was still the same person who, hours before hand, had pulled a sword from her chest and then proceeded to use it as a weapon. She was strong. Probably made of something stronger than anyone he ever met. And she was jaded. He could see it in her eyes as she fought. Something in her past caused her to be what she was. She was also fighting a battle with inner demons. Twice last night he felt the change in her ki. He knew it was bloodlust since he himself had experienced it. Maybe her constant battle with the demon caused her to have such strength. She would have to if she could use two katanas against an army of shinsengumi and come out unscathed.... Well, sort of. Kenshin was still in awe of the power she exuded as she swung those swords without hesitation.
He sighed and looked away from her, leaning his head against the tree and stared up into the early morning sky.
He needed some sleep. He and Hideki had been awake for over a day with little food. They had been sparring each other yesterday morning, walking half a day to get to base camp yesterday evening, standing in a clearing last night waiting, and locked in a brutal battle just hours before hand. With the previous days events flowing through his mind, Kenshin lowered his head, and slipped into a light sleep, the last thing he saw was Hideki sleeping next to him.
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Hideki slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes opened ever so slightly only to see the handsome red-head leaning against a tree next to her and sleeping. Slightly disorientated, Hideki sat up, only to have a sharp pain erupt at her side. She grimaced and grabbed her chest. That's when she noticed her bandages had been cut away and used to wrap her wound.
Memories flooded back into her mind. Himura punching her, tearing open her gi to get at her injury, using his short sword to slice off the bandages, then his shocked face. Her secret was out...
And it was Battousai the manslayer who had discovered it.
"Oh shit." She mumbled.
"'Oh shit' is right." came a reply. Hideki slowly turned towards Himura, expecting to see very angry yellow Battousai eyes. She was shocked to see amethyst eyes looking back at her. They weren't angry. There wasn't a trace of anger in any of Himura's features. There was something different, something she had never seen in his eyes before as he continued to stare at her.
'He's lost his trust in me', she thought as she stared right back at him. 'This secret should never have been kept from him, especially since he taught me his sword style.'
She felt horrible. She always had. She hated keeping her secret. But it was necessary for her if she was going to do what she could for the new era. She knew the second her secret was revealed she would have to leave the imperialists. But somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she wasn't ready to leave yet. Leaving now wasn't an option open to her. She felt that her job wasn't done yet. The war hadn't reached the point of no return yet. There were still battles to be won and an old empire to be torn down.
Of course, with the revelation on hand, she knew that her time with the Battousai was over. Gone was any friendship and trust they had forged between each other over the last few weeks the second he sliced her bandages off. She would miss his company; they were good friends, and being in his presence somehow helped in her inner battle too. Once again she would be alone during this war. And for the first time, as she stared into his amethyst eyes, she didn't want to be alone.
"Uhm..." Himura held up his hand to stop her.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"About as well as I should feel considering I was impaled by a sword a few hours ago." was her reply. She stood up, using her katana as a brace to rise onto shaky feet. Himura was immediately on his feet, ready to help. She glared at him, then put her sword in her sash at her waist. The worst part about her secret being revealed was that Himura would now treat her like glass, as he did any woman. Even though he knew she was tough. Hell, she had been his sparring partner for 3 weeks!
Kenshin sensed, as well as saw, her anger at his gesture to help her stand. He backed off, not wanting to insult her. She had, after all, survived this long in the revolution without his help.
"Well, it was nice getting to know you Himura, I swear the secrets of the Hiten Mitsurugi will come with me to my grave" Hideki said. She turned her back to Himura and began to walk away, slightly wobbly since she was still weak from blood loss and lack of nourishment.
Kenshin was confused. He didn't want her to walk away. He didn't want to lose her companionship. As he looked at her now, he knew that he would never act upon his desires. For one, the friendship they had meant more to him than any sexual encounter would, and for another she would probably skin him alive. He knew that their togetherness over the last few weeks had meant a lot to her too, yet she was easily turning her back to him and walking away. Had he angered her? Was she pissed that he had forced his help upon her, much to his own shock and her dismay?
"Then again, I lied to you, why should you trust me?"
Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. She thought he didn't trust her anymore. And if it were anyone else, he wouldn't. Admittedly, if it were anyone else, he probably would have killed them. But not her. Not Hideki. He still trusted her. Maybe more now than he did before.
"I still trust you, Hideki." Himura said quietly. Hideki stopped dead in her tracks. "I'm impressed more than anything. You kept your true gender from me. And we lived together for 3 weeks."
Hideki laughed.
"Himura, you are the only person alive right now who knows I'm not actually a man." she said, turning back around to face him. He noted her voice had changed slightly, it wasn't as rough or deep like what he was used to, it was slightly softer, more feminine. "That's 18 years of keeping my true gender from EVERYONE. A mere three weeks with one person isn't that difficult for me. But I'll admit there were a few times when I was sure you would find out." She smiled.
"It was the sparring that gave me a slight hint. But I thought nothing of it." he replied, smiling back.
His smile coupled with his amethyst eyes and red hair caused Hideki's stomach to clench. Himura had always been handsome, but now with the Battousai gone from his eyes and the true Kenshin standing before her, she saw both sides, and found the man on a whole to be particularly divine.
Okay, so the attraction had been there from day one. It wasn't much since it couldn't have been at 14 years of age. But she had found him cute that first day. Only a passing thought, and never dwelled upon again, at least not until three weeks ago. Sitting in that room, waiting for Katsura and staring at each other, Hideki's appreciation for Himura's looks increased tenfold. She had grown up in their four years apart, as had he. He was much more matured in the face, although the amber eyes were as frightening as rumoured, her fright towards him was fleeting and never felt again. She was probably the only human being alive at the time that wasn't afraid of the Hitokiri Battousai.
That lack of fear caused them to strengthen their friendship. And the trust they had was far more important than the strange sensations that would burn in the depths of her stomach any time she stole a glance at him. Act upon her desire for him? No. She would never do that.
She wobbled slightly on her feet, exhaustion, starvation, thirst and blood loss all combined to make her look and feel terrible. She closed her eyes and covered them with her hand. Kenshin, hating to see her like that and not caring about the repercussions, covered the few steps between them and grabbed her elbow, steadying her.
"Let me help." he said softly. She opened angry eyes at him and jerked out of his grasp. He was treating her like glass, just as she expected him too.
"I don't need help!" she said angrily. Unfortunately, her anger was quickly dispelled as her movements caused her stomach to heave and her vision to cloud over. Clenching her eyes shut and covering them again, she ordered her body to behave and act stronger. She didn't want to be weak. She didn't want to rely on anyone. But her body ignored her, fed up with the abuse it went through in the last day. She swayed more and her legs gave out under her. Kenshin was there to grab her before she hit the ground.
He knew why she was angry. She thought he would start treating her differently. He thought he would too, and had every intention to.
"You're badly injured Hideki. You're exhausted, hungry, and you've lost a lot of blood. I'm helping you whether you like it or not." Kenshin said firmly as he scooped her up into his arms again. She tried to fight him, but he was stronger than she was in her weakened state. She couldn't fight him. He started walking again, towards their final destination.
"Himura, not like this. This is degrading. Please let me walk." Hideki said softly against his chest.
"Only if you'll let me help you." He said firmly. She nodded against him. He stopped dead and put her back on her feet. She swayed again and fell against him, her face pressed into his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close. He could feel her breath against his skin, causing him to shudder inside. His own face was buried in her neck and as he breathed, she felt shivers run down her spine. Her hands pressed flat against his chest, her body pressed firmly against his. Both clenched their eyes shut and tried to push all indecent thoughts from their heads.
It was the smell that brought them back to reality. Both of them were still covered in blood. It was on their clothes, in their hair, and whatever had been on their skin had been washed away from the rain. But the smell was still there.
Overpowering. Disgusting.
Simultaneously they pushed away from each other. Any attraction that had been between them was lost forever in that moment. They stared at each other for a few seconds, both knowing what the other was thinking. Friends and friends only. Nothing more nothing less.
Kenshin knew then and there that man or not, he would treat Hideki exactly the same. Hideki knew that even if she was a girl, he would continue to regard her as a swords master and a manslayer first and foremost.
"Just let me help you, you can barely walk on your own." he said and stepped up to her. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and draped her right arm over his shoulder, holding it in place with his hand. Hideki nodded, unable to deny the simple fact that she was pretty much useless in her condition. Leaning most of her weight on Himura, they began the long walk back to the house.
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It was nearly dusk when the finally reached the training grounds and the house where they were staying. They had taken their time leaving the forest and making their way back, stopping frequently to rest and listen to see if they were being followed. They had found a clean river and washed whatever stench of blood off themselves they could, as well as having a bit of water to drink. Himura, blushing slightly, unwrapped and cleaned Hideki's wounds. He washed the bandages as best he could in the river, then rewrapped the ugly red cuts.
As they drew nearer the house, they could see lights burning beyond the windows. Someone was waiting for them. There was a soldier standing at the main entrance to the house, and he saw the approaching manslayers. He opened the door and ran in.
"Yamagata-sama! Katsura-sama! They're back! Battousai and his companion are back!" the young man exclaimed, bursting into the room where Katsura, Yamagata and Shinsaku were waiting. The three men left the room and followed the young soldier outside.
Hideki saw the four men emerge from the house and felt Himura's arm tighten around her waist. The moment of truth, when everyone would find out about her. She was dreading this moment and glanced over at Himura, for some sort of consolation from his amethyst eyes. But all she saw was amber. He had reverted back to his Battousai self at the sight of the men before them. She bowed her head, looking at the ground as they came to a stop before the men.
"Himura! Hideki! Kami-sama you're alive!" Shinsaku exclaimed, wearing a broad grin.
"Are you two alright? What happened? Where have you been?" Katsura asked. Himura released Hideki's right hand which lay upon his shoulder and held up his hand.
"I'll explain everything, but first" he said, Hideki winced; he was going to tell them. After all, he had a right to, and he never said he wouldn't. Himura was honest with everything, especially to Master Katsura. "Hideki is badly hurt. I want to tend to his wounds before anything else. I'll explain everything when he is resting comfortably."
Hideki froze, but kept her head low. His? HE?! Had Himura actually lied to Master Katsura?!
"Of course, I'm terribly sorry." Katsura said and gestured towards the house.
"I'll help you. His injuries are partly my responsibility." Yamagata said.
"Thank you, Yamagata-san, but with all due respect, a samurai doesn't like looking helpless and wounded. Even to comrades and leaders. I've already tended to his wounds as best I could in the forest, and now I'm sure he would prefer to keep the extent of his injuries just between us both." Himura said. Hideki relaxed slightly.
"Himura is right. What can we do to help?" Katsura asked as they entered the house. Himura made his way down the hall to the room where Hideki had stayed before.
"Please boil me some water, and bring me clean linens to wrap the wound. There's also a medical kit in the kitchen with some healing salve in it. If you could bring that to me I would appreciate it." The three men left the room immediately to do what was asked of them, the soldier had remained outside, standing guard at the door just as he had been when Himura and Hideki returned.
"You didn't have to do that Himura." Hideki said softly as Himura gently sat her on the floor, closing the shoji door and then unfolding her futon in the middle of the room.
"I know. But if I told them the truth, they would have forced you out of the imperialists. Probably by killing you. I don't want that. Besides, I don't want to lose my friend." He said, and then reached out his hand towards her. She took it and he helped her into the futon, covering her up to her neck.
The shoji door slid open again, Katsura, Yamagata and Shinsaku all holding something in their hands as they placed it next to Himura. Then all three left the room.
"We'll be in the tea room when you're finished Himura." Katsura said as he closed the door shut again. Himura went to the small trunk at the corner of the room and pulled out Hideki's yukata and brought it over to her. With his back turned, Hideki removed her blood soaked gi and hakama and donned her yukata.
"Why did you turn around? You've already seen me." Hideki said simply as Himura faced her again. He looked up at her, his eyes amethyst again and smiled.
"A woman shouldn't be naked before a man who isn't her husband." He said grinning. Hideki narrowed her eyes at him.
"Was that a shot?" she asked. Kenshin smiled innocently.
"I wouldn't dream of taking a shot at you my dear." He said as he opened the medicine box and pulled out the bottle of salve.
"That was a shot." she grumbled as she shrugged out of the yukata, allowing it to fall about her waist as she sat on the futon. Kenshin blushed slightly and removed the bandages from her wounds. She looked at him in interest. "You're blushing."
"Aa."
She smiled.
Using some of the clean linen, Kenshin wet it with warm water and washed the wounds carefully and thoroughly. Hideki watched him as he carefully applied some salve on the entry and exit holes left from the katana. She marvelled at how gentle his hands were, knowing full well the power that the emitted when he held a sword. She felt very little pain through the whole procedure. Kenshin picked up the rest of the clean linen and used it to wrap around her, the salve kept it in place as he continued to wrap it around her. He was silent the whole time. His eyes didn't roam once, she noted. He looked only at her wounds, and nothing else. A gentleman to the end. that was Kenshin.
"Done. Nothing strenuous for the next few days. You're going to rest, you got it?" he said as she pulled the yukata back on.
"Yes, brother."
Kenshin froze, still holding the bottle of salve. He looked up at her, amethyst meeting blue.
'Brother, she just called me brother,' He thought. She smiled at him and he felt himself smiling back. 'I liked it.'
"Excuse me, dear sister, but there are three very important people in the other room waiting for an explanation." He said, replacing the lid on the medical box. "Rest. I'll check on you once they leave"
"Promise me you'll take care of yourself first. Get something to eat." She replied, sinking down onto the futon and pulling the sheets gently over her. He nodded then stood up and left the room quietly, ensuring to close the shoji behind him.
'I defiantly could get used to her calling me brother.'
'I really liked being called sister.'
A family bond grew between Himura and Hideki that day.
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A.N. Okay, no cliff hanger this time, I can't do it again. This chapter was just for explanation purposes. I didn't want Kenshin to fall for Hideki. He loved Tomoe, and he loved Kaoru. That's it for romantic love for Kenshin as far as I'm concerned. But we all know he's fiercely protective and he loves/loved several other people in his life as a man would love his family. So I figured a family relationship would be better for those two.
As for the attraction thing. Well, who wouldn't be attracted to the red- head? I mean really? In the anime/manga there were several women who were attracted to the baka-rurouni. As for Kenshin's attraction to Hideki, c'mon! He's an 18 year old! We all know that at 18, men are at their sexual peaks so I had to write it in. Besides, I always wondered why Kenshin's taste in women went from one extreme (Tomoe and her perfect breeding) to the other (Kaoru, and her fiery temper, bad cooking, and complete inability to do anything wife like). There had to be someone along the way to change his mind. I figured why not Hideki??
And besides, once I decided to introduce the idea of brother/sister, the whole attraction thing was totally forgotten. I didn't want something like that between them in the long run. It was just that initial sorta thing when you see someone and find them really attractive, then you get to know them better and your opinion changes and you love them like a brother/sister.
*shrugs* Anyways, I hope you liked it, R&R!
P.S. Thanks for all the reviews! :D
