Chapter 2
The heat of the inferno room must have gotten to me. When I expressed my last train of thought, there was an ankling of worry in it. Worry would mean that I would care if Kenshin were to die or not in this fight, and as I said before after I defeated Fuji, I don't care about that.
Kenshin did get up and his mind was clear enough to defend against Shishio's mental barrage of his philosophy.
It might be to some onlookers that Shishio and practitioners of the Hiten Mitsurubi style share a common philosophy. They realize that the mind is ultimately the stronghold of the heart. If a person feels a seed of doubt in either his abilities or beliefs, then you have an advantage over your opponent. Some people think we excessively talk, but those people are fools to not realize that words are weapons that can hurt and maim even more than swords.
That is the only similarity between Shishio and the Hiten Mitsurubi school. The principles of the Hiten Mitsurubi don't care about faceless governments. Shishio wants to become that government to fight off other governments. We defend the people on the individual level. Shishio did not even defend Seta when he was an abused orphan. Governments will come and go, and corruption and governments go hand-in-hand. It is the individual that can change. It is the individual that lives. It is the individual that matters.
Listening to Kenshin argue with Shishio, I am finally satisfied that it was not a mistake to take him in again and train him. He no longer has the incomplete mentality when he was 14 years old and had left me to become the Hitokiri. His life and purpose as an Hiten Mitsurubi swordsman is complete.
It would be less annoying that he didn't die though. It would be a waste for me to get that scar from the Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki for him to only die now.
The physical battle resumes. After some flashy and pointless flame- throwing by Shishio, I see Kenshin blocking Shishio's sword and maintaining the block even though his reverse-blade had become red-hot with the flames. Good, he's not becoming distracted. It's better to be burned a little by attacking rather than burning a lot by evading. Unfortunately in the next attack, the flames obscured Kenshin's view and reading of Shishio, and Shishio was able to grasp him off the ground.
Hmpt. I would like Shishio to try that on ME. I'll need to reprimand Kenshin for letting himself be caught twice in one battle. For that matter, I'll need to ream him out for this annoying tendency to not catch onto moves until it's shown twice to him.
I hear over the roar of the inferno flames my puny deshi's, "smell of gunpowder" before Shishio's glove ignites and explodes. A ball of smoke and fire hides everybody's view until we see Kenshin's body throw out of the smoke and into the ground, his gi and chest smoking and charred.
I reach out my ki to try to read Kenshin. Nothing.
I'm starting to get irritated at this Shishio with his constant gloating. It's one thing to defeat my baka deshi, but it's another to trounce the Hiten Mitsurubi principles, I tell myself. I release the hem of my mantle to grasp the sheath of my sword, preparing to come out of the background when I sense a sudden spike of ki to my left. It is an intensely focused ki, battle-hardened and purposeful, and even vengeful? It is Hajime Saitoh.
I wait to observe this man who is said to harbor animosity towards Kenshin since the days of the Revolution. The one with the wolf-eyes that is not quite amber like Kenshin's hitokiri persona.
I wonder, who he is avenging?
I see Saitoh crash through the red doors, zooming towards Shishio. He leaves a wake of destruction in his path. Not a bad technique but a bit wasteful as energy is diverted to the ground when he makes those furrows.
There is a faint ringing sound when Saitoh's sword connects. Another surprise from Shishio. He's wearing a skull band that thwarts Saitoh's attack. After the second hirozuki attack by Saitoh, I knew that this wolf would not be the one to defeat Shishio. When Saitoh was brought down by the second exploding glove, I prepare myself to come out into the open again.
A fleeting thought crossed my mind that if Saitoh died, at least he could find satisfaction at being brought down by the same technique as his rival. No better, no worse.
Shishio is out of gloves and so I know I will not be brought down to the same level as my baka deshi - not that I will lose or anything. Inconceivable.
I prepare to announce myself like any honorable fighter would, but then the rooster-head named Sano decides to intervene. I consider stepping in anyways, but some instinct tells me that this youngster needs this battle to stop something that's been haunting him for quite a while. At the very least, he needs to be humbled. There's a reason why every single school emphasizes both defense and offense.
Again, I settled down to wait my turn. I expected a short wait, but Sano engages in a verbal battle, resuming what Kenshin had started. Hmmm.., so, baka deshi, I see you're passing down the Hiten Mitsurubi principles. I supposed I should be mollified a bit, but I still believe that you need the swordskills to back up those principles.
The battle is short and pathetic. Good heart, but absolutely one-sided.
I take one step out, but then the ninja, Aoishi, shows himself. This could be interesting. I see that he has a wound on his chest that matches mine. Kenshin must had been getting better at controlling the ougi, restraining the power, as Aoishi is up now. I get a better view of Aoishi's eyes. They are ice blue but they do not have the dull look of someone who has given up on life and is willing to throw it away.
His eyes contradicts the reality of his situation - that in a post- Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki condition, he cannot withstand a fight with a swordsman of Shishio's caliber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Thanks to my first three reviewers for the feedback. (
The heat of the inferno room must have gotten to me. When I expressed my last train of thought, there was an ankling of worry in it. Worry would mean that I would care if Kenshin were to die or not in this fight, and as I said before after I defeated Fuji, I don't care about that.
Kenshin did get up and his mind was clear enough to defend against Shishio's mental barrage of his philosophy.
It might be to some onlookers that Shishio and practitioners of the Hiten Mitsurubi style share a common philosophy. They realize that the mind is ultimately the stronghold of the heart. If a person feels a seed of doubt in either his abilities or beliefs, then you have an advantage over your opponent. Some people think we excessively talk, but those people are fools to not realize that words are weapons that can hurt and maim even more than swords.
That is the only similarity between Shishio and the Hiten Mitsurubi school. The principles of the Hiten Mitsurubi don't care about faceless governments. Shishio wants to become that government to fight off other governments. We defend the people on the individual level. Shishio did not even defend Seta when he was an abused orphan. Governments will come and go, and corruption and governments go hand-in-hand. It is the individual that can change. It is the individual that lives. It is the individual that matters.
Listening to Kenshin argue with Shishio, I am finally satisfied that it was not a mistake to take him in again and train him. He no longer has the incomplete mentality when he was 14 years old and had left me to become the Hitokiri. His life and purpose as an Hiten Mitsurubi swordsman is complete.
It would be less annoying that he didn't die though. It would be a waste for me to get that scar from the Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki for him to only die now.
The physical battle resumes. After some flashy and pointless flame- throwing by Shishio, I see Kenshin blocking Shishio's sword and maintaining the block even though his reverse-blade had become red-hot with the flames. Good, he's not becoming distracted. It's better to be burned a little by attacking rather than burning a lot by evading. Unfortunately in the next attack, the flames obscured Kenshin's view and reading of Shishio, and Shishio was able to grasp him off the ground.
Hmpt. I would like Shishio to try that on ME. I'll need to reprimand Kenshin for letting himself be caught twice in one battle. For that matter, I'll need to ream him out for this annoying tendency to not catch onto moves until it's shown twice to him.
I hear over the roar of the inferno flames my puny deshi's, "smell of gunpowder" before Shishio's glove ignites and explodes. A ball of smoke and fire hides everybody's view until we see Kenshin's body throw out of the smoke and into the ground, his gi and chest smoking and charred.
I reach out my ki to try to read Kenshin. Nothing.
I'm starting to get irritated at this Shishio with his constant gloating. It's one thing to defeat my baka deshi, but it's another to trounce the Hiten Mitsurubi principles, I tell myself. I release the hem of my mantle to grasp the sheath of my sword, preparing to come out of the background when I sense a sudden spike of ki to my left. It is an intensely focused ki, battle-hardened and purposeful, and even vengeful? It is Hajime Saitoh.
I wait to observe this man who is said to harbor animosity towards Kenshin since the days of the Revolution. The one with the wolf-eyes that is not quite amber like Kenshin's hitokiri persona.
I wonder, who he is avenging?
I see Saitoh crash through the red doors, zooming towards Shishio. He leaves a wake of destruction in his path. Not a bad technique but a bit wasteful as energy is diverted to the ground when he makes those furrows.
There is a faint ringing sound when Saitoh's sword connects. Another surprise from Shishio. He's wearing a skull band that thwarts Saitoh's attack. After the second hirozuki attack by Saitoh, I knew that this wolf would not be the one to defeat Shishio. When Saitoh was brought down by the second exploding glove, I prepare myself to come out into the open again.
A fleeting thought crossed my mind that if Saitoh died, at least he could find satisfaction at being brought down by the same technique as his rival. No better, no worse.
Shishio is out of gloves and so I know I will not be brought down to the same level as my baka deshi - not that I will lose or anything. Inconceivable.
I prepare to announce myself like any honorable fighter would, but then the rooster-head named Sano decides to intervene. I consider stepping in anyways, but some instinct tells me that this youngster needs this battle to stop something that's been haunting him for quite a while. At the very least, he needs to be humbled. There's a reason why every single school emphasizes both defense and offense.
Again, I settled down to wait my turn. I expected a short wait, but Sano engages in a verbal battle, resuming what Kenshin had started. Hmmm.., so, baka deshi, I see you're passing down the Hiten Mitsurubi principles. I supposed I should be mollified a bit, but I still believe that you need the swordskills to back up those principles.
The battle is short and pathetic. Good heart, but absolutely one-sided.
I take one step out, but then the ninja, Aoishi, shows himself. This could be interesting. I see that he has a wound on his chest that matches mine. Kenshin must had been getting better at controlling the ougi, restraining the power, as Aoishi is up now. I get a better view of Aoishi's eyes. They are ice blue but they do not have the dull look of someone who has given up on life and is willing to throw it away.
His eyes contradicts the reality of his situation - that in a post- Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki condition, he cannot withstand a fight with a swordsman of Shishio's caliber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Thanks to my first three reviewers for the feedback. (