Soujirou sat down in the shade of the roadside shrine and sighed, taking the katana from his belt and leaning it against the bench within close reach. He ran a hand through his hair, watching the dust dance free from it and drift across the setting sun like so many tiny fireflies, each haloed in glowing ruddy light. The breeze stilled itself, as though halted by some invisible wall, leaving the air to thicken and become muggy, almost difficult to breathe in.
"Natsu," he murmured, his soft voice lost in the vociferous cries of the insects in the grass, creating a din that should have been impossible for their tiny size. "Summer already." The boy leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and watching the sun vanish behind the mountains, outlining in red and gold fire before true dusk settled in. Really, he wasn't that tired, and he had gotten a late start; he would travel more after he had rested a bit, and after the evening cool settled in.
Ignoring his resolve to move on after the night had descended, Soujirou lingered in the shelter of the shrine, which was so old and run-down that it was impossible to tell what kind of a shrine it might have been; little was left but the low altar (that he had mistaken for a bench) and the roof overhead. Decaying away though it might have been, there was a peaceful, resting quality to it that made the boy reluctant to leave. It was the kind of calm peace that he felt only immediately after an exhilarating fight or in the few moments that he remained awake before sleep claimed him.
At long last, the rurouni moved on, albeit somewhat regretfully, traveling under a blanket of darkness and millions of stars, their dim light nevertheless sufficient for him to see by. As he trod the dirt road that had seen hundreds of weary travelers by both day and night, Soujirou let his mind wander, keeping only a scant eye on the road and a half-ear open for any alarming sounds.
Peace was not something that he sought, rather something that he welcomed when it came but otherwise did not deliberately seek. After all, the life of a rurouni was to wander, to assist those in need and protect those who could not protect themselves. To be a rurouni was not to seek peace, but to seek conflict. How else could one help those who so desperately needed rescue? For a rurouni to seek peace was for a rurouni to cease being a rurouni.
Through the early hours of the night, this became something of a mantra repeated endlessly in his mind, a chant that danced its way up through his throat only to be foiled by his ever-smiling (but currently closed) mouth. For a rurouni to seek peace was for a rurouni to cease being a rurouni. For a rurouni to seek peace was for a rurouni to cease being a rurouni. For a rurouni to seek peace was for a rurouni to cease being a rurouni.
When he finally left the road and chose a lofty tree branch as his bed for the night, he was sick to death of hearing it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"...and so thank you very much," Soujirou was saying, taking the package of anpan from the man with a slight bow. "Hontoo ni ii desu ne?"
The man waved off his thanks with a fearful glance for the sword he bore at his side. The moment Soujirou had entered the restaurant, a heavy fog of silence had descended on the cheerful atmosphere with almost unnatural force--and from the deliberate avoidance of looks at him (as well as the pointed ones at his katana) he well knew what the cause of that silence was.
Still, that didn't stop him from buying lunch. It was nice to be able to sit down at a table and eat for once. And he hadn't had anything sweet in such a long time that he had to restrain himself from tearing the paper and neatly tied string, flinging open the box, and devouring all four of the sweet-filled pastries on the spot. But it was also clear to him how much of a disturbance he was causing to the customers and the workers themselves, so he graciously decided to vacate his place before somebody fetched the police to arrest him for carrying a sword.
He allowed himself a slight snort of contempt as he stood and slipped his feet into their zori, then left the restaurant, ignoring the ostentatious sighs of relief behind him. Kesatsu. Saitou-san was the only one who even properly knew how to use a katana, and so far all of his experiences with the police only led him to believe that rurouni were *really* needed in this police-filled world--if only to keep the police from completely botching their duty. They had absolutely no tact at all, no skill, and were totally stupid. Baka desu ne.
Not that Soujirou had much tact. Just smile at the evildoer and cut him down. What was it that Saitou-san always said? Ah yes. "Aku Soku Zan." "Evil Swiftly Slain." That was...rather what Soujirou was doing, sometimes to the distress of the same police that should have been doing that in the first place. Soujirou did their jobs for them and they got so upset...you'd think that they'd be grateful, not trying to hunt him down as though he were a criminal himself!
Soujirou frowned, then glanced down and realized that he was holding the box of confectionery in his hands, the paper and string long since discarded. His hands were acting on their own, without thought. Those hands that so easily slew those of evil were currently lifting the wooden lid of the small box, letting a sweet waft of scent rise up, teasing his nose. Those hands had no thought, were only obeying the mind--though whether that was with the mind's knowledge or not was a different story.
With a laugh, Soujirou put all such thoughts out of his mind and focused directly on the anpan, biting into the sweet bread and tasting the custard therein, sweet and creamy, wonderfully light and dissolving on the tongue. As he ate, he craned his neck up, as though this would enable him to see further down the road.
South, he was now traveling. And if he kept on traveling south...he would come to Kyoto. From south to north, then north to south. He refused to think about anything deeper at the moment, fully enjoying his sweet.
If he kept going south he might find Himura Kenshin.
Soujirou put that thought firmly out of his mind and bit into his second anpan.
Note: Um, I don't know if they had anpan back then, but doesn't it seem like the kind of sweet Sou-chan would like? ^_^ And I know this is going slowly, but it should pick up the pace pretty soon. Gomen!