Standard Disclaimers apply.
Translation glossary... fusuma=indoor door, jou-chan=young lady, kuso=bullshit or shit, saiai=beloved, koishii=dear or darling, Bakumatsu=Revolution, Hyoikyo=possession, tasukete=helpmate or HELP!, senshi=Old Teacher, kirei=beautiful,
Enshi=Northern township(my own)
Chapter Six
Reunions and Decisions
A fierce pounding on the fusuma to Kenshin's room made the red haired man roll over onto his stomach and groan. "Not now, Juno-san. It's too cold to get up yet." He mumbled into his pillow only half awake and pulled the warm quilts up over his head. Juno Fusha was the matronly proprietress of the boarding house he had stayed in while investigating rumors of three unexplained murders in the village of Rohan, and she believed everyone needed to be awake when the Sun
peeked over the horizon. She had made certain Kenshin was awake bright and early every fridgid morning he had stayed with her. To his consternation the pounding continued with an irritating persistence until he finally opened his eyes and joined the ranks of the alert and aware.
Laying beside him, with her mass of raven tresses spread out across his pillow and tangled with his own long length of fiery red hair, was the beautiful face of Kamiya Kaoru. Kenshin stared at her for a full minute in absolute shock, until the memories of the day before began to filter back to him bringing a tender smile to his sleepy face. A languid feeling of lazy warmth descended over him, and he relaxed remembering what had happened between them on this futon. The ferocious pounding of a huge fist on his door rudely interrupted his loving absorption with the woman in his bed, and he realized that was what had woken him up.
Kenshin pulled himself up onto one elbow glaring at the offending door wondering who in the hell could be beating on his fusuma this early in the morning. Looking towards the only window, he noticed that the light of the Sun was just barely starting to penetrate through the cracks in the wooden covering. It could not be the proprietor or his wife because Kenshin had left strict instructions several days ago that he was not to ever be disturbed in the mornings, and they had been very respectful of that request. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as once again he wondered who was braving his wrath by waking him up so early. The answer to his question was not long in coming as the next round of beating was accompanied by a loud and decidedly crude voice.
"Hey, wake up in there. You two should be reacquainted with each other again by now, and you should be done with whatever else you've been doing. So get up already. We have things to discuss. Kenshin? Are you planning on sleeping all day? Do I have to come in there and pull the two of you out of that bed? Kenshin??"
"Kami... Master!" Suddenly it did not matter how cold the air or the floor was, Kenshin leapt out of bed and raced to the door. "I'm awake, Master. I'm awake, but I need a few minutes to... ahhh, freshen up, alright?" Kenshin was praying the impatient man would agree, and not just come barging in. He shot an anxious look over his shoulder at the still sleeping Kaoru, and sent another fervent prayer to Kami-sama to keep his Master on the other side of the door for a few more minutes. Dammit.
"Freshen up?" A round of coarse laughter passed easily through the rice paper of the fusuma. "What's the matter, baka-deshi? Aren't you appropriate for company yet, or is it that the jou-chan is indisposed?" More laughter followed the off color statement. "Perhaps you need assistance?"
Kenshin sighed in exasperated irritation. "He will never change," he muttered under his breath and gave up the ruse. "Very well. If you could be patient a little longer, we will only be a few moments, Master. I am most grateful for your understanding in this matter. Thank-you for waiting."
"Very well. But do not make me wait all day out here." Hiko's voice lost its sarcastic edge and took on a decidedly insolent tone. "It's cold and windy out here on this poor excuse for an engawa, and my patience has just about been used up trying to get your lazy ass out of bed."
"Yes Sir." Asshole. Kenshin abruptly went back to the futon and gently shook Kaoru awake. "Koishii, wake up. We have a problem."
Kaoru opened sleepy blue eyes and looked at her lover in bemusement. "Oh Kenshin, when don't we have problems" her hand touched the cross scar on his cheek tenderly. "Tell me, what terrors and horrors do we have to face today?"
"Seijurou Hiko."
"Whaat?!" She sat straight up with a look of alarm on her pale face. "Where?"
"He's outside the door."
"Right now?"
"Right now."
"Kuso!"
"Kaoru!!" Kenshin's amethyst eyes widened in alarm when he heard her curse outloud.
"What?" she looked at him innocently. "What?"
Giving her a smile that said he was not fooled by the look, he threw her yellow yukata right in her face. "Here, get dressed. He's not going to wait much longer."
Hurriedly the two pulled on their robes and rolled up the fulton and folded away the bedding as quickly as possible. "Whew," Kaoru exclaimed in releif. "I'm glad that didn't take long. All right," she waved Kenshin towards the door. "Go let the monster in before he does something rotten."
Kenshin rolled his eyes as a hundred and one things his Master could do just to be spiteful tumbled though his mind as he walked to the door and opened it.
"It took you long enough." Hiko glared at Kenshin through narrowed green eyes even as he secretly examined him from head to toe. Inwardly he frowned as he saw for himself what Saitoh had told him. Kenshin was thin and pale and definitely did not look at all like himself. Outwardly he maintained his persona of impatience and irritation. "I see your manners haven't improved since the last time I saw you." At the confused look on Kenshin's face, he clarified. "You haven't invited me in yet. Idiot."
"Please, come in, Master. Forgive my tardiness." Asshole. Kenshin rarely cursed out loud, but what he muttered in the back of his mind was his own business.
"Thank-you, my baka-deshi." Hiko savored a private chuckle as he observed Kenshin's obvious attempt to remain respectful in the face of his absolutely inexcusable rudeness. "He does have patience. I have to give him that." The thought settled in his mind as his eyes searched for and found the young lady who had left Myojin-san and himself at the Police Station so cursorily the day before.
"Ahhh, I see you are in... good health, Kamiya-dono." He watched Kaoru blush furiously at his suggestive innuendo. "I am glad." His long legs carried him to the small table to one side of the average room. "I was quite worried when Myojin-san told me you had rushed off on your own to find this baka without waiting for anyone to go with you." Sharp emerald eyes pierced through her as he sat down on the smooth wooden floor. "That really wasn't very responsible of you, was it?"
Kaoru found herself fidgeting with her hands, and totally unable to meet Hiko's gaze just then as he reprimanded her in front of Kenshin for her careless behavior. "No, I suppose it wasn't." She felt embarrassed and foolish, and a deep reddish stain burned up her neck and colored her cheeks.
Hiko smiled with a touch of malicious pleasure at the girls obvious discomfort. "Touche." He thought. "Payback for the ship." He settled his large frame on the floor next to the table, and turned an expectant gaze on her. "Good, I'm glad you can see that. Now, make yourself useful and go brew some hot tea. I'm absolute freezing." When Kaoru did not move right away, he looked at her with one elegant black brow raised sardonically. "You do know how to brew tea, don't you? We all know you cannot cook, but you can brew a pot of tea?"
"Ewwwww!" Kaoru stomped her small foot in anger, and swung away from Hiko and stormed to the kitchen area mumbling violently under her breath.
"You really shouldn't do that. She can be a bit formidable when she gets angry." Kenshin sat down across from his Master. "Besides that, she can be vindictive as well."
"Vindictive?" Hiko looked questioningly as Kenshin. "She is just a little girl. What could she possibly do?" He cast another thoughtful look in Kaoru's direction. "Vindictive you say?"
"Um-hum. She never forgets anything, and she will exact her retribution eventually." He cast a loving but apprehensive look in the dark haired woman's direction where he could hear angry muttered words and threats drifting out. "She always remembers."
"Hmmm. Can't say I'm afraid of one little jou-chan whose no bigger than my finger." A rare smile curved his stern mouth making Kenshin gape. "But, she has got a lot of spirit. I have learned that the last few days traveling with her. I'm not sure I could take a steady diet of her or not. She is nosey, she is stubborn, and she is far too opinionated for her own good. I can only imagine what her temper must be like." He let a devilish smile curve his thin lips. "I hope you are up to the
challenge, I am not sure if I envy you or not." The sideways glance caught a faint blush creeping up Kenshin's cheeks as he lowered his eyes. "However; she would be a rare tigress to try and tame and claim as your own. Yes, she would."
"Why do you say these things, Master? Why do you speak so basely about Kaoru-dono as if she were a prize to be won or a commodity to be bought? She is one of the kindest and finest women I have ever known. I would know why you feel you can speak of her in such a crude and disrespectful way?" Kenshin's voice sounded like a low growl to Hiko and it surprised him. This was a tone he had never heard from his apprentice directed toward him before. 'How interesting.' He thought. 'I think I've actually made him angry. I wonder why?'
A thoughtful look passed over Seijurou Hiko's face unseen by his apprentice. Emerald eyes, usually so hard and impenetrable, softened a fraction and rested insightfully on the young red haired swordsman. He considered Kenshin's reactions to his off color statements for several moments as he studied his stony profile. 'He loves her.' The realization of that fact startled Hiko a little bit. He knew Kaoru loved his apprentice, and he was aware that Kenshin had some feelings for Kaoru, but, love? Love had not come to his mind, but it was obvious to him now as he listened to the carefully restrained fury in Kenshin's voice that he loved her deeply. The younger man was fighting very hard to maintain his control so as not to disrespect his senshi, but he was still looking for a way to defend Kaoru's honor. Hiko felt a small bud of humilty start to grow in his heart if not a touch of guilt. 'Alright,' he said to himself. 'I'll try to respect this relationship... as much as I can. God knows I'm too used to torturing him to avoid it completely.'
"I only meant that such a high spirited woman is rare to find, especially one who already loves you." Emerald eyes looked thoughtfully at the woman in question as he tried to salvage the situation. "Women like that are difficult to live with because the man never knows who is the head of the house. Him or her. So, the man tries to make it an equal relationship, but there are few men strong enough to accept that kind of a relationship, and he ends up breaking her will and destroying her spirit." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kenshin raise his eyes and look thoughtfully at Kaoru as she poured boiling water into the tea pot. "A broken woman is a terrible thing, Kenshin. She becomes a shadow of her former self, and slowly wastes away until despair and uselessness eat her soul completely away."
"But why would any man want to break such a beautiful thing as a strong spirit in the woman he loves? Is that not one of the things that drew him to her in the beginning?" Kenshin's voice was low and thoughtful.
"Yes, but the reality of it is not what he expects. He begins to feel threatened by her. She is as emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes as physically strong as he is and his male prowess cannot accept that. So, he must diminish her and make her less than he is in order to preserve his sense of personal power and superiority over her."
"But that is wrong, Master. A strong woman is a gift to her husband not a burden."
Raven eyebrows raised in astonished surprise. "Why do you say that?"
"Because, a strong woman can stand beside a man and help him as well as another man. Whether she is helping him fight for their lives, or just helping him make a life together, her added ki and physical strength should be considered a tasukete."
"A help mate?"
"Yes. People are supposed to help each other irregardless of position or social class, why should it be different for a man and his aisai? She is the one he goes to for comfort and solace when he is weary or downhearted. It is in her arms where he finds love and acceptance. His wounds are mended by her hands. The warmth of her body next to him keeps the cold of the long winter nights at bay. She is everything to him." Kenshin's words became soft and filled with emotion. "She is his life, why would she not be his equal as well?" Deep purple eyes turned to gaze seriously at his Master's hard planed face. "Why would any man want to break the will and spirit of such a woman? Such a thing would be a wonder to behold and experience. He should get on his knees every day of his life and thank Kami-sama for allowing him to call her his wife."
Hiko did not get the chance to answer because Kaoru came plodding back to the table with the tea tray laden with teapot, three cups, some fruit and bread, and a few other things that looked like they might be eatable that she found in Kenshin's cupboards.
Kneeling down with practiced ease, she carefully sat the tray on the table and handed each man a neatly folded white napkin.To Hiko she said, "Your tea, Hiko-san." Her voice was dripping with honey as she handed the large man a previously poured cup. Kenshin eyed her with worried violet eyes. He knew she was her most dangerous when she was like this. He watched in uneasy silence as Hiko took a swig of the tea from his cup. Kaoru was smiling her sweetest and most beautiful smile as she looked straight forward, hands folded subserviently in the lap of her yellow yukata. "Oh Kami..." Kenshin's mind moaned in desperation. "Kaoru, what did you do?" But all he could do was watch and wait. He did not have to wait long.
"Sssppplllltttt..... aarrghhh..... Kuso!!" Hiko spat the offending liquid out of his mouth all over the floor. "What in the hell did you do to it you little .... " he stopped himself just before he said something they would all regret. Instead he turned a furious yellow-green glare in Kaoru's direction only to find her still setting with the sweet serene look on her face, hands folded demurely in her lap seemingly oblivious to his difficulties. "Are you trying to poisen me, jou-chan?" He groweled shoving the cup under her nose.
Kaoru took the cup almost absent mindedly from Hiko's furiously trembling fingers, and filled it with fresh tea. She added a small amount of honey and stirred it in with the small bamboo whip and handed the cup back to him all the while maintaining her facial expression. After he had taken the cup and sniffed it for any foreign odors, he took a careful sip and found the tea to be quite tasteful.
"Well, this is much better."
"You can apologize to me now, Hiko-san." Kaoru's voice was bright and airy like they had been discussing something very pleasant or even humorous. Kenshin coughed as he choked on his tea. He had been watching the entire exchange with horrified merriment as Kaoru exacted her retribution from his surly Master for his earlier insult, but this was outrageous. His eyes were huge with uneasy expectation as they slid to and fro between the two antagonists.
"I can what? What did you say to me, jou-can?" He emphasized the young lady trying to make her back down and learn her place, but she did not acquiesce. Her face and demeanor remained unchanged.
"I said, you can apologize to me now."
"For what may I ask?" Sarcasm and irritation filled his deep baritone voice.
"For insulting me earlier. Of course." Stupid.
"Insulting.... What on earth are you talking about you stupid girl? I haven't insulted you. I was merely asking if you possessed the skilled needed to prepare a suitable pot of tea. I see no reason for you to try and kill me because of that." He was looking at her like she was the biggest idiot in the would. "Baka-jou-chan." He muttered.
"Arrogant bastard...." she muttered back, and Kenshin's head shot up over his teacup.
"KAORU!!" He admonished her fiercely his eyes turning a light shade of amber.
Thick black lashed blue eyes dropped in apology. "Sorry..." she mumbled.
"What did you say? I don't think I quite heard you?" Kenshin leaned toward her and lifted her chin with two of his fingers. "Would you repeat that please so everyone can hear it."
Kaoru met those pale amber eyes knowing she had gone too far, but she was damned if she was going to regret what she had done. She understood she should not have said what she just had, but he had deserved it. At least she thought so.
"Kaoru? I'm waiting." The voice she loved so much was tainted with hard disapproval, and she flinched a little beneath it abrasion. 'He's really mad at me.' She chewed on her lower lip in worry.
Clamping her eyes tightly shut so she didn't have to look at his face, she opened her mouth and said, "I am sorry." just loud enough for him to hear and waited for him to chide her for her bad behavior like he usually did, but nothing happened. His fingers did not let go of her jaw, and he did not say anything either. Kaoru was not sure what to do next, so she just sat there and waited getting more uncomfortable by the second.
The two men watched the girl scrunch her eyes shut and squeak out an apology, and then just sit like a stone statue doing nothing. Hiko was trying very hard not to give into laughter just from looking at the silly picture she made, while on the other hand, Kenshin was looking at her face waiting for her to open her eyes so she could see everything was alright, and that he was not really mad at her anymore. In fact, he was having a difficult time not laughing a bit himself over her behavior, but he could not allowed her to be blatantly disrespectful to his Master no matter the circumstances. Even if the arrogant so and so did deserve it.
Finally one blue eye peaked open and saw amused violet ones watching her closely. The other eye opened and Kenshin's whole face came into focus. The anger was gone, and he seemed to be waiting for something from her though she could not think what else he wanted. After all, she had apologized to the big...
"Wh-what?" She looked at him in puzzlement spreading her hands out in confusion. "What else?"
Smiling with gentle humor, he leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek then whispered. "Everything is alright now, Koishii, but you had better watch your manners and your language from now on or I may be forced to use more drastic measures to curb your behavior." Her eyes widened with alarm as her mind started to imagine what 'drastic measures' meant, but he just smiled and kissed her cheek again.
"Are you finished?" Hiko's dry bored voice interrupted their small private moment, and Kenshin rolled his eyes in irritation. "I told you, we have things to discuss, and I really do not have time to watch the two of you play house."
"All right, Master." Kenshin turned an impatient look onto his senshi's arrogant face. He had reached the end of his patience, and his voice reflected that fact as he spoke. "I am so very sorry that we have caused such a delay in your busy day. Please," He spread his hands wide in open invitation. "Please, continue with whatever it is that is so damn important that you must be here at this ungodly hour causing havoc and duress and whatever other mischief you can?"
"My, my... you should have had a woman in your life years ago, Kenshin. You have actually grown some backbone." Then the sardonic smile suddenly vanished and Hiko became coldly serious, his eyes turning to green ice. "All right, lets cut through all the bullshit." He tried to pin Kenshin with a fierce glare to emphasize the importance of his visit, but to his inner consternation, he found it had no affect. The other man continued to look at him in angry impatience.
"I am here because I had a long talk with your friend Hajime Saitoh yesterday, and he told me some very interesting things about you and your latest mission."
Kenshin's eyes falmed golden amber and his voice dropped to a deep threatening tone that made Hiko take a closer look at him. "Just exactly what did he tell you?"
"He told me a few things about the Taki Mountains, some mysterious murder reports, and rumors of..." He paused and watched Kenshin's face closely. "Hyouko."
"Why in the hell did he do that?" Despite his damaged ki, Kenshin's fury was a tangible thing around the three people in the room. As his voice deepened and evolved into the growl of a feral beast, his eyes exploded into sunbursts of liquid gold sending shivers of unease up Hiko's spine despite all his years of training and fighting.
"No one else was supposed to know." Kenshin's head dipped slightly causing his eyes to take on a wolfish look increasing the sense of danger growing around him. "We agreed to that. We agreed it would be best that only the two of us know about this." With teeth bared and lips pulled back in a snarl, his voice rose high on a note of ferocious incredulity. "WHY IN THE HELL DID HE TELL YOU???!!"
Hiko felt a flash of shock and... pain? pierce through his heart and soul when he heard those bitterly cried words spoken from his apprentice. He had expected Kenshin to be surprised at Saitoh's revaluations to him, but this explosion of anger and venom had caught him completely off guard. Instinctively he pulled away from the enormous amount of negativity he felt emanating from Kenshin's damaged ki. It was actually painful for him to let it touch him. This was going to be more
difficult that he had originally imagined.
"Kenshin," he began in a calm and reasonable tone. "Let me explain."
"Explain? Explain? Explain that it appears I can trust no one, even among my own enemies." He threw his head back and barked a horrible grating sound that should have been laughter but failed. Hands white with rage raked through his long red hair nearly yanking it out by the roots in large handfuls. Kenshin's control on his raging fury was sliping.
"Why does this anger you so much? That Saitoh has told me about your experiences? Or the fact that I know at all?"
"You even have to ask?" another attempt at laughter failed. "Oh please, I had always believed you to be the most intelligent man I had ever known Master, yet you can ask me a foolish question like that. I feel insulted you would waste your breath on such blather. Huurmmph."
"I don't understand what you're saying, Kenshin. What does my intelligence have to do with your anger?"
At last Kenshin achieved some form of laughter, but it was a bitter ironic sound that made Kaoru shudder and flinch even as she reached out a comforting hand and laid it on his tense arm.
"How much amusement did you enjoy at my expense over this little tale, my beloved senshi? It must have lasted you through at least two jugs of good sake. How many times did you toast the insanity of your baka-deshi?" His voice was hard and cold as the frozin ice lakes, and it seemed his eyes were becoming a dark rich golden color that began to take on an eerie other worldly glow. As Hiko and Kaoru watched the aberrant phenomenon in mounting unease, those frightening eyes started to cast what appeared to be a faint yellowish glow of pulsing light outward into the shadowy confines of the room.
At that moment a sense of profound nervousness seized Hiko and he found it difficult to speak higher than a mild conversational tone. "So, you assume because of our past associations together, that I would not believe anything he told me." Suddenly Hiko's hands became very important to him, and he began to clean his nails. He could not look at Kenshin's face, or his eyes.
"Master, you hardly believe in Kami or Buddha, why should you even consider that anything in this tale of mine is or could possibly be truth or fact. I know you too well." Kenshin covered his face with his hands. Suddenly all the fury and rage seemed to just drain out of him leaving him weak and spent. "God, how could Saitoh have told you? You of all people in this world? Why you? I might have been able to accept anyone else, but not you. Not you... not ever you. Oh Kami...."
"Kenshin..." Kaoru's gentle voice and her touch on his shoulder made him drop his hands and look at her. "What is this all about?" Concern and a look of fear clouded her beautiful face, and he tried to smile reassuringly, but failed miserably.
She was so beautiful. She was his light, his solace... his life. "Don't worry, Kaoru-kirei." His voice was no more than a echo of itself. "Everything is alright. Please do not be afraid or upset.It will all work out. I promise." A gentle calloused hand stroked her pale cheek as he looked at her worried face. "Maybe you should go to the other side of the room until we are finished with this. I do not know if you should hear it."
Deep worry and alarm clouded her eyes. "Are you trying to keep something from me, or hide it from me. Kenshin?"
"Neither. I am just not sure I want you exposed to it, Kaoru." His eyes had become very sad and distant.
"Exposed?" What a strange word.
"Yes. It is nothing like we have ever experienced before, and I have not yet decided what to do where you are concerned yet. I have to keep you safe, koishii. If anything happened to you, I could not ... " Amber eyes closed tight and he pulled her close pressing their foreheads together for a moment. "I would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to you because of this. Do you understand?"
"Is it really that dangerous?" she sounded frightened.
"I will not lie to you, Kaoru. The things I have seen and heard; there are things that I know now but dare not speak even to myself." His voice took on a odd quality she had never heard before. " I have never known what it meant to be afraid, Kaoru. To be truly afraid, but I have seen the face of Hell and I cannot take you there. I cannot take you to a place where I am too afraid to go, but know I must. You are too important to me. Please understand. Please." The urgency of his voice begged her to trust him.
"Kenshin," The sound of a low baritone voice interrupted the intimate moment between the red-haired Samurai and his Lover. "Do you really think I can set here and watch you like this and not believe every single word you said to Saitoh? If I had not already believed everything you told him, I would not be sitting here trying to talk to you about it." Hiko's voice was a quiet sturdy anchor pulling Kenshin back to the reality of his present situation. He backed away from Kaoru and looked at his Master with fading amber eyes filled with distrust and doubt.
Kenshin's face was guarded and skeptical as he faced Hiko. He was unsure whether to believe him or not. The man had so often played at words with him that he found he did not totally trust what he had just said. "Are you saying you believe me? You actually believed what I told
him?"
"Yes."
"All of it??"
"All of it. Every single horrible, bloody insane, terrifying, and unholy word." He met Kenshin's amber gaze straight forward without wavering trying to show the younger man that he said was sincere. "And it scared the living shit out of me. I am not certain how you survived with your mind and senses intact, Kenshin. There are not many who could after seeing what you have. I do not know if I could have. We will see."
"You believe me...." Kenshin's voice was barely above a whisper and both Kaoru and Hiko had to strain to hear him.
"Yes, dear boy. I believe you." Hiko's hand grasp Kenshin's shoulder for emphasis.
Kenshin dropped his head until his chin touched his chest and his long red hair fell forward to obscure his face. Shoulders that were so much thinner than the man he had been weeks earlier began to shake and tremble, and his hands reached out groping for and finding Kaoru's. Grasping them with urgent need, he hugged them close to his wildly beating heart. The rasping sound of a voice filled with uncontrollable emotions leaked out through the tangled strands of his hair. "You truly believe me, Master?"
"Yes." Hiko's tone was gentle and reassuring in the face of Kenshin's emotional storm.
"Thank-you, Master. Thank-you." And tears began to fall onto the four clasped hands over Kenshin's heart.
"Oh Kenshin." Kaoru felt tears burn her eyes as she finally understood that Kenshin was experiencing a sense of profound relief and disbelief, and a sense of having his soul reprieved over a matter that had weighed more heavily on his conscience than most. His honor had been restored in the eyes of his Master. The baka-deshi was not the fabricator of insane outlandish tales. Seijurou Hiko believed him.
Kaoru pulled her hands free and wrapped her arms around his trembling shoulders. Pulling him into a comforting embrace, she nestled him against the warmth of her breasts and began rocking him gently back and forth. His arms slid around her waist and he buried his face against her softness seeking out the solace of her nurturing warmth.
"Everything will be alright now, koishii." Her voice soothed him. "Everything will be alright. I will hold onto you, and everything will be alright." A gentle hand stroked the back of his head and his hair in a calming fashion, and slowly the trembling in his body began to fade away.
"Hiko-san?" Narrow green eyes that had been contemplating a scuff mark on his boot, slid in her direction and met her worried blue gaze. "Could he die? Doing whatever this thing is Saitoh told you about? Could Kanshin die doing it?" Kaoru's eyes searched Hiko's introspective face. "Is it really that dangerous?"
"Yes, Kamiya-dono." He nodded in sympathy. I am sorry, but it is that dangerous. I am planning to go with Kenshin and Saitoh now that I know what they are facing, and it is true, what we must do could kill all of us, but it is something that must be done. It must be done!" His voice was harsh and hard in his convictions. "There is no other way."
"There is no other choice?"
"No, there is no other choice. Innocents are dying, and the world has become the playground of the Hyoukyo."
Kaoru had heard Hiko say that word to Kenshin once before, but she didn't know what it meant. Her brows creased in deep thought. "I have never heard of hyoukyo before, and you said innocents are dying. What does one have to do with the other?"
Hiko looked at Kaoru's lovely face. 'Strong women.' He thought. 'Equals.'
"Hyoukyo stands for someone who is possessed by a demon or a devil. See if you can figure the rest out yourself. I don't want to be the one responsible for giving you any information about this bloody situation."
"Demons? Devils? Innocents dying?" Kenshin stirred in her arms trying to pull away as he spoke. His voice was muffled voice tinged with anxiety.
"Don't Kaoru. Do not think about it. Stop thinking about it NOW. Don't.... " Kenshin knew how intelligent Kaoru was, and how logically her mind could work when she applied herself, and he desperately needed to stop her from thinking about this. But it was already too late.
"OH KAMI!!!" she cried. "Oh God, noooo..." The horrified plea filled the shadowy room as reality hit Kamiya Kaoru. Everything had started to fall into place. The things Hiko had said. 'Murders, demon possession, innocents, unholy... "They are killing the children! Oh God, please tell me they are not killing the children?" But one look at Hiko's stern emotionless face confirmed her worst fears. "No. No. No. No. Nooooooo...." She buried her face in Kenshin's hair and cried in horror.
"Oh God, Kaoru... I told you not to think about it. I told you to stop." Kenshin pulled himself from her embrace and crushed her against him in his. "Dammit," he cursed. "I did not want you to know anything about this. I did not want it to touch you." One of his hands pulled her head against his shoulder and nestled her face snugly against the warm curve of his throat while he pressed his cheek tightly against the side of her neck. His other arm wrapped around her body and pulled her tightly into him as he tried to absorb her pain into his own flesh. "Koishii, please do not cry. Please. I cannot bear it when you cry. I do not know what to do when you cry this way." Hot tears began to slid down his face, and his arms tightened around her. "Please, Kaoru. Do not cry like this. I am sorry, my little one. I am so sorry."
"She is a strong woman, Kenshin." Seijurou Hiko gripped Kenshin's shoulder in a strong hand. "Stronger than you give her credit for, I think." Pale violet eyes looked at Hiko's face in helpless pain. "All you need to do is hold her until she comes to terms with what her mind has discovered for itself, then she will move on. It a woman's way." He tried to nod reassuringly but Kenshin was too worried about Kaoru to notice. "I think maybe the two of you need to take care of each other for a while after all of this turmoil and upheaval." Hiko caught Kenshin's gaze and held it firmly. Kenshin nodded and rested his cheek against Kaoru's forehead.
"What is Saitoh's plan now?" he asked flatly. "I feel completely thrown off the path, and I am not sure where to go or what to do at the moment. I feel much confusion, Master."
"I know you do, and I think I understand why. But I do not want you to worry about the plan, all right." The deep voice started to sound almost comforting to Kenshin. "Saitoh and I are going to start looking at the things that need to be done, and the things and people that must be protected. One or the other of us will visit you as often as needed to keep you updated on our ideas so don't think you are going to be left out of the loop." Green eyes searched deepening amethyst for understanding, and found it. "But your main focus is on getting your body well again Your ki is very badly damaged, you are thin and hysically weakened. You are practically defenseless the way you stand now, and you will be no match for them if you return too soon, and I have no intention of allowing you to become a sacrifice... again."
Hiko'o emerald eyes moved to gaze thoughtfully at the young woman in Kenshin's arms. "You have far too much to live for, my boy. It's time you did some living." Having said that, he climbed to his feet and walked to the door of Kenshin's room. Then he paused. "Remember one thing, my deshi, we are all only human even if what we face is not; however, even the smallest soul can overcome the most insurmountable odds if he fights with his whole heart and soul and always keeps foremost in his mind those things that are the most precious to him." And he turned to leave.
"What is most precious to you, Master?" Kenshin's concerned voice stopped Hiko dead in his steps.
"Precious to me?" He was stunned by the question.
"Yes. I know why I will fight to live. I will fight for Kaoru and Yahiko, Sano and Migumi-san. I will fight for those I consider to be my family; the people I love. I will fight to stay alive so I can come back to them when this is over. I will even be fighting for you, Master, but I wonder, what will you fight for? I cannot remember you ever holding anything close to your heart. There is no one person, no one thing. Tell me Master, you are not planning on... " The soft voice pulled at heart strings Hiko did not want to listen to right now. He could not listen to them right now.
"There are things close to my heart, deshi. Important things I find very much worth fighting and living for. So, do not worry, I do not intend on becoming a sacrifice either." The loud thuds of his booted feet on the wooden floor echoed in the room long after he had left.
*********
"So, how did he look to you?" Saitoh spared a glance for Hiko over the stack of papers on his ever laden desk.
"Terrible. He looks like a damn scarecrow with purple eyes." Hiko snorted and slumped in the hated wooden chair in front of Saitoh's desk. "He's too thin."
"I told you what he looked like. I cannot believe you are surprised." Narrowed topaz eyes studied him for a moment in derisive boredom. "And how was the girl?"
"Kamiya?" Dark eyebrows raised in puzzeled amusement. "She seems to be fine. None the worse for wear if that is what you are getting at." Saitoh chuckled knowingly and reshuffled his papers then lit a slender cigarette.
"No, that was not exactly what I was getting at. What I meant was, do you think she is strong enough to be of any viable help to him, or will she just prove to be a pleasurable distraction while he is recuperating?" Grey smoke filled the air around Saitoh's head and the smell of burning tobacco make Hiko wrinkle his nose.
"You know that's a nasty habit, Saitoh." They had dropped the honorifics once they decided to work together.
"Really, and how much worse is it than drinking yourself into amnesiac oblivion, my dear Hiko?"
"Touche. All right, enough pleasantries, where were we?"
"The Kamiya girl."
"Oh right. I think she is just what the kid needs. She is strong, she is forceful, and she has got something that none of the other women in Kyoto have."
Saitoh's thin eyebrow's raised in interest as he took another long drag on his cigarette. "Please, enlighten me. What is this unique attribute she possesses that no one other woman has? I must admit, I am just dying to know."
Hiko smiled cynically. Siatoh really was a sonofabitch, but he was finding himself starting to appreciate his acrid personality. "Well, if you must know, she is in love with him."
"Really? How quaint."
"Saitoh you really are an asshole."
"I know." A twisted sardonic grin crossed his lips. "It is one of my best qualities."
"Of course." Hiko waved his hand in agreement and the two men laughed.
"So, she loves Battousai. I had wondered about that for sometime, but was never truly interested enough to find out. However, this does work out to all of our benefit in this particular case." He stubbed out the butt of his finished cigarette. "If she loves him, then she will be more likely to be completely open with him, thus giving him everything he needs as well as assist in replenishing his ki with some much needed life energy."
"Mmmmm, I think one of those particular needs has already been addressed." The look he shared with Saitoh was lasivious. "And it would seem now that a very strong bond has started to form between them."
"Really, how strong?"
"I am fairly certain my deshi is in love with her as well. He became very defensive of her today while I was there. In fact, he actually had the balls to lose his patience with me and snarl in my face."
"Good heavens. Now that IS a definite change. I did not think the Battousai had a confrontational bone in his body except when he had a sword in his hand. I am surprised."
"No more than I. He rose to the occasion to defend her honor to me as well, which I must say impressed me. I hate to admit it, but I think she is good for him. I think she will make him a stronger fighter."
"Are you serious? A better fighter because of a woman? That is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Have you been dipping into the sake a little early today, Hiko?" Saitoh laughed and picked up his ink quill.
"No. I have not. I am completely serious. She has given him a real reason to fight."
"A reason to fight?" Saitoh was puzzled. "Explain."
"He has a reason to live. It will make him fight harder and better so he can come back to her. He wants a life now, and that is something he has never thought about before."
Saitoh pursed his lips and considered this piece of information intently. "I had not thought of that either. Not in that way. Hmmm..." His eyes dimmed and took on a faraway look, and he seemed to drift away lost inside his own thoughts. In his mind he could see a soft smile, gentle long lashed brown eyes; he could feel the silky softness of her long chestnut hair as it slid though his fingers like satin. He would not even let his mind speak her name. It had been months, or was it years? Saitoh was not even sure how long it had been since he had seen her, but he could still summon her image to his minds eye with little effort. 'My dear wife.' He shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly trying to force the memory back where it belonged. Back into the place
where he did not see her everyday anymore.
"Saitoh?" Hiko watched the strange look pass over his friends face, and he felt a twinge of worry start. "Are you all right, my friend? You look rather... distant."
"I... I'm alright. Yes, I am fine. It is nothing to worry about." A faintly trembling hand grasp another report and he bent over it in mock concentration, but Hiko was not fooled. He knew something of importance had just occurred. Saitoh was hiding something. Something sad.
"I will be going on my way then. You know where to reach me if you need me."
"Yes." Was the short reply. "Thank-you, Hiko."
"Of course." He turned and walked out of the office with his thoughts still on Saitoh's odd silence. "Sargeant Izukia?" His deep voice startled the mild mannered assistant.
"Ohh, ahhh... yes sir, S-seijurou-san? What c-can I do for y-you?" Izukia had not gotten over the shock of meeting Hiko from the day before.
"Is there someone in Captain Fujita's past that you know about? Someone important that perhaps he has left behind or lost? Someone special like a mother or a sister or something like that? I am just wondering if you know."
"Well...." Izukia thought for a moment. "I did hear a rumor that the Captain was married once a long time ago, but no one was ever really sure. Nobody ever dared ask him about it."
"Married?" Hiko frowned. Saitoh with a wife? Strange.
"Yes. The rumor was that he had left his wife in Enshi when he joined the Bakumatsu, but know one knows whatever happened to her or if she was even real or not. If its true, then she would have been very young when he left her because he joined the Bakumatsu before Himura-san did."
"Yes. More than 12 years ago. Depending on how old she was, she would be in her late 20's or early 30's by now, if she is real, or... if she is alive." Thoughts began to tumble through Hiko's head. "I wonder if that is what made him look so sad?"
"What did you say, Sir?"
"Nothing. Thank-you, Sargent. Carry on." Saitoh having a wife was a very interesting bit of information. It cast a very strange light on the ex-shinsingumi wolf. Hiko felt the beginning of an urge of curiosity that would eventually blossom into a need to know.
**************
The pale yellow light of the Sun rose and faded into afternoon as the day dragged by and turned colder. The passage of time seemed to move on relentlessly despite grief, despite loss, despite the cries of the lost and dying souls pleading for mercy. Time knew not the emotion of mercy. It knew not the meaning of solace or comfort. It simply was, and it moved forward as it always had, and as it always would.
The group of people stood around the small grave with hands clasp and heads bowed. Many of them were weeping piteously while others were unmoving and stone faced.
This was the fifth child to be found dead, no... not dead, slaughtered. Slaughtered in the woods high on the mountain slopes and tossed carelessly over a cluster of scrub brush.
She was perhaps only five years old, and she had been found torn to pieces. Her little arms and legs were ripped from her body and lying on the ground around her mangled torso, and as with all of the others, her small fragile chest was pulled apart. All of the thin ribs were broken and thrust backwards with a murderous ferocity, and her tiny heart was gone. The shredded and torn flesh inside of her chest cavity proved to all who examined the body, that the heart had not been cut free. It had been ripped out by a hand with tremendous strength and great force.
The real horror of this child; however, was that no one knew her. She was no ones daughter, no ones kin. Not one soul in the village recognized her face, and that meant only one thing to them.
It meant the Hyoukyo were everywhere. Perhaps covering all of Japan, and no ones child was safe. "They are all going to die." One devastated young mother whispered as she dropped a white orchid on the nameless child's grave. "No one can save them now except Kami-sama. We must pray to Kami and beg for help. We must pray." Everyone nodded and murmured in agreed.
"Yes, we must pray. That is our only hope."
**************
Yahiko tentatively knocked on the door to Kenshin's room. It was early afternoon, and he hoped he was not disturbing anything, but he did not want to wait any longer. He was worried about Kenshin too, and he wanted to see him for himself.
"Kenshin...?" He called then waited for a response, but heard nothing. "Hummm..." He knocked again a little louder and firmer. "Kenshin?"
"Nani?" Kenshin's voice sounded tired as it wafted through the rice paper.
Yahiko wondered if he'd woken the swordsman. "Ummm... are you awake?" He asked.
"Yes, who is there?" The voice was closer to the door now.
"Yahiko. I was wondering if you were up to more visitors today? Or if you'd rather, I will come back later when you feel a little better." As much as he wanted to see Kenshin, he did not want to push him into more visitors if he was too tired. If he needed to, Yahiko would wait a little longer to see his mentor.
But the next instant the fusuma was thrown open and Yahiko was yanked informally inside by the front of his gi. Before the young man could gain his feet or his bearings, he found himself caught up in a close embrace that pressed his face tight to Kenshin's chest. The strong arms of the swordsman held him with a sense of fierceness that Yahiko was not sure he understood, but it made him feel good inside. Really good, and he let his arms wrap themselves around Kenshin's waist as he hugged him back.
"I missed you, Kenshin." His voice was so quiet Kenshin was sure he was the only one who heard what Yahiko said. "I really missed you. Why were you gone so long?" The strong young arms tightened a fraction.
"I know I was gone a long time, and I am sorry." A gentle calloused hand stroked the back of the boys head comfortingly. "I could not help it. I am sorry if I worried you." He glanced down at the dark head pressed against his chest. "Were you worried?" Yahiko nodded his head almost imperceptibly. Kenshin did not say anything else he just tightened his arms around the boy and dropped his cheek down to rest it on top of the shaggy black head. Then a moment later he whispered for Yahiko's ears only. "I missed you too, Yahiko. Thank-you for taking care of my Kaoru while I was gone. You are growing into a fine man and I am very proud of you. That I am."
As they pulled apart, violet eyes met light brown in a look of deep understanding and respect. "I am very proud of you, my boy." Kenshin smiled and playfully ruffled Yahiko's hair while the boy protested loudly though he was smiling too. Laughing with good natured companionship, they walked the rest of the way into the room.
"Look, kioshii. We have more company." Kenshin's voice interrupted Kaoru in the middle of brushing her long black hair. "But this is good company, that it is." He clarified with a chuckle when her head whipped around in alarm.
"Yahiko!" She jumped up and hugged the boy. "It's good to see you. Are you alright? Has Hiko-san been treating you well? What happened yesterday after I left? Where did you sleep last night? Are you hungry? Are you tired?" Question after question tumbled out of her mouth in her happiness and relief to see him.
"Geez, Kaoru. Can you slow down for a minute. I can't even remember what the first question was that you asked me. How do you expect me to answer so many questions at once? Did you even breath during all of that?" He looked at Kenshin in incredulity. "How does she do that?" Kenshin just laughed and hugged them both.
A short while later the three were setting around the small table munching on tea crackers and fruit while Yahiko proceeded to tell Kenshin everything that had happened in the weeks during his absence. Most of it was business and life as usual, but Kenshin was so hungry for any news from home he listened intently to every word. He laughed at Yahiko's stories about Tae, Tsubame, and the Akebeko. He was concerned to hear how many people seemed to be getting sick and needing treatment at the clinic, but he was pleased to know Dr. Gensai was doing well. There were more questions about the dojo, the new students, and Yahiko's training with Kaoru.
Kenshin wanted to know if there was any knews from Sano yet, or a letter from Migumi in Aizu, or if they had heard from Aoshi and Misao, even though the Aoiya was only a couple of miles away farther inside the city. There was one bit of news he was not prepared for, but found himself extremely pleased to hear. Seta Seujiro, The Tenken had resurfaced after having gone missing for the last full year.
In a letter from Aoshi, the Kenshin-gumi had been informed Seta-san had been found starving, ill with a terrible cough and fever, and near death just outside of Kyoto on one of the country roads by a member of the Onniwabanshu. He had been brought back to the Aoiya immediately for medical care. Aoshi said it had been touch and go with him for awhile and they had not been certain he would live, but the Tenken was strong, and he was finally recovering well and finding a place of comfort for himself within the walls of the Aoiya.
"It is strange," Seta-san had said one day to Aoshi, "that it should be my enemies who came to my aide and saved me, when all of
my friends had deserted me. How completely ironic this world has turned out to be." It seemed the Tenken was finally starting to find some of his answers to life. Kenshin's face held a warm smile of understanding by the time Yahiko and Kaoru finished telling him about Seta Seujiro.
"I would like to see him." Violet eyes shone with a reflective light empathy. "I would like to see Seujiro-san. Kaoru..." An earnest look captured her eyes. "I want to go tomarrow. Will you help me? I am not sure I can go alone. I am still so tired." Kaoru knew how hard it was for him to ask her for physical help considering how strong of a man he had always been. Her heart went out to him, but she simply took one of his hands between hers and squeezed it.
"Of course, Kenshin. We will both go with you. Yahiko and I. Then we will both be there to help you if you need it, and we will all go to the Aoiya tomorrow and take a look at the Tenken for ourselves. All right." Her blue eyes looked lovingly at him then slid to Yahiko for confirmation.
"That's right, Kenshin. I wanna see this guy myself especially after all the stuff you told us about him. If he's a good guy now, then he's gotta be pretty incredible."
"Yes, Yahiko." Kenshin agreed quietly. "He is incredible. Remember, he was the one who broke my original reverse blade sword during just one Battou-jusu pass."
"I remember."
"Then remember to respect his honor as well as his sword."
"I will." Yahiko bowed his head in conscious regard of his Mentor's words.
To be continued.... Please Review.
Translation glossary... fusuma=indoor door, jou-chan=young lady, kuso=bullshit or shit, saiai=beloved, koishii=dear or darling, Bakumatsu=Revolution, Hyoikyo=possession, tasukete=helpmate or HELP!, senshi=Old Teacher, kirei=beautiful,
Enshi=Northern township(my own)
Chapter Six
Reunions and Decisions
A fierce pounding on the fusuma to Kenshin's room made the red haired man roll over onto his stomach and groan. "Not now, Juno-san. It's too cold to get up yet." He mumbled into his pillow only half awake and pulled the warm quilts up over his head. Juno Fusha was the matronly proprietress of the boarding house he had stayed in while investigating rumors of three unexplained murders in the village of Rohan, and she believed everyone needed to be awake when the Sun
peeked over the horizon. She had made certain Kenshin was awake bright and early every fridgid morning he had stayed with her. To his consternation the pounding continued with an irritating persistence until he finally opened his eyes and joined the ranks of the alert and aware.
Laying beside him, with her mass of raven tresses spread out across his pillow and tangled with his own long length of fiery red hair, was the beautiful face of Kamiya Kaoru. Kenshin stared at her for a full minute in absolute shock, until the memories of the day before began to filter back to him bringing a tender smile to his sleepy face. A languid feeling of lazy warmth descended over him, and he relaxed remembering what had happened between them on this futon. The ferocious pounding of a huge fist on his door rudely interrupted his loving absorption with the woman in his bed, and he realized that was what had woken him up.
Kenshin pulled himself up onto one elbow glaring at the offending door wondering who in the hell could be beating on his fusuma this early in the morning. Looking towards the only window, he noticed that the light of the Sun was just barely starting to penetrate through the cracks in the wooden covering. It could not be the proprietor or his wife because Kenshin had left strict instructions several days ago that he was not to ever be disturbed in the mornings, and they had been very respectful of that request. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as once again he wondered who was braving his wrath by waking him up so early. The answer to his question was not long in coming as the next round of beating was accompanied by a loud and decidedly crude voice.
"Hey, wake up in there. You two should be reacquainted with each other again by now, and you should be done with whatever else you've been doing. So get up already. We have things to discuss. Kenshin? Are you planning on sleeping all day? Do I have to come in there and pull the two of you out of that bed? Kenshin??"
"Kami... Master!" Suddenly it did not matter how cold the air or the floor was, Kenshin leapt out of bed and raced to the door. "I'm awake, Master. I'm awake, but I need a few minutes to... ahhh, freshen up, alright?" Kenshin was praying the impatient man would agree, and not just come barging in. He shot an anxious look over his shoulder at the still sleeping Kaoru, and sent another fervent prayer to Kami-sama to keep his Master on the other side of the door for a few more minutes. Dammit.
"Freshen up?" A round of coarse laughter passed easily through the rice paper of the fusuma. "What's the matter, baka-deshi? Aren't you appropriate for company yet, or is it that the jou-chan is indisposed?" More laughter followed the off color statement. "Perhaps you need assistance?"
Kenshin sighed in exasperated irritation. "He will never change," he muttered under his breath and gave up the ruse. "Very well. If you could be patient a little longer, we will only be a few moments, Master. I am most grateful for your understanding in this matter. Thank-you for waiting."
"Very well. But do not make me wait all day out here." Hiko's voice lost its sarcastic edge and took on a decidedly insolent tone. "It's cold and windy out here on this poor excuse for an engawa, and my patience has just about been used up trying to get your lazy ass out of bed."
"Yes Sir." Asshole. Kenshin abruptly went back to the futon and gently shook Kaoru awake. "Koishii, wake up. We have a problem."
Kaoru opened sleepy blue eyes and looked at her lover in bemusement. "Oh Kenshin, when don't we have problems" her hand touched the cross scar on his cheek tenderly. "Tell me, what terrors and horrors do we have to face today?"
"Seijurou Hiko."
"Whaat?!" She sat straight up with a look of alarm on her pale face. "Where?"
"He's outside the door."
"Right now?"
"Right now."
"Kuso!"
"Kaoru!!" Kenshin's amethyst eyes widened in alarm when he heard her curse outloud.
"What?" she looked at him innocently. "What?"
Giving her a smile that said he was not fooled by the look, he threw her yellow yukata right in her face. "Here, get dressed. He's not going to wait much longer."
Hurriedly the two pulled on their robes and rolled up the fulton and folded away the bedding as quickly as possible. "Whew," Kaoru exclaimed in releif. "I'm glad that didn't take long. All right," she waved Kenshin towards the door. "Go let the monster in before he does something rotten."
Kenshin rolled his eyes as a hundred and one things his Master could do just to be spiteful tumbled though his mind as he walked to the door and opened it.
"It took you long enough." Hiko glared at Kenshin through narrowed green eyes even as he secretly examined him from head to toe. Inwardly he frowned as he saw for himself what Saitoh had told him. Kenshin was thin and pale and definitely did not look at all like himself. Outwardly he maintained his persona of impatience and irritation. "I see your manners haven't improved since the last time I saw you." At the confused look on Kenshin's face, he clarified. "You haven't invited me in yet. Idiot."
"Please, come in, Master. Forgive my tardiness." Asshole. Kenshin rarely cursed out loud, but what he muttered in the back of his mind was his own business.
"Thank-you, my baka-deshi." Hiko savored a private chuckle as he observed Kenshin's obvious attempt to remain respectful in the face of his absolutely inexcusable rudeness. "He does have patience. I have to give him that." The thought settled in his mind as his eyes searched for and found the young lady who had left Myojin-san and himself at the Police Station so cursorily the day before.
"Ahhh, I see you are in... good health, Kamiya-dono." He watched Kaoru blush furiously at his suggestive innuendo. "I am glad." His long legs carried him to the small table to one side of the average room. "I was quite worried when Myojin-san told me you had rushed off on your own to find this baka without waiting for anyone to go with you." Sharp emerald eyes pierced through her as he sat down on the smooth wooden floor. "That really wasn't very responsible of you, was it?"
Kaoru found herself fidgeting with her hands, and totally unable to meet Hiko's gaze just then as he reprimanded her in front of Kenshin for her careless behavior. "No, I suppose it wasn't." She felt embarrassed and foolish, and a deep reddish stain burned up her neck and colored her cheeks.
Hiko smiled with a touch of malicious pleasure at the girls obvious discomfort. "Touche." He thought. "Payback for the ship." He settled his large frame on the floor next to the table, and turned an expectant gaze on her. "Good, I'm glad you can see that. Now, make yourself useful and go brew some hot tea. I'm absolute freezing." When Kaoru did not move right away, he looked at her with one elegant black brow raised sardonically. "You do know how to brew tea, don't you? We all know you cannot cook, but you can brew a pot of tea?"
"Ewwwww!" Kaoru stomped her small foot in anger, and swung away from Hiko and stormed to the kitchen area mumbling violently under her breath.
"You really shouldn't do that. She can be a bit formidable when she gets angry." Kenshin sat down across from his Master. "Besides that, she can be vindictive as well."
"Vindictive?" Hiko looked questioningly as Kenshin. "She is just a little girl. What could she possibly do?" He cast another thoughtful look in Kaoru's direction. "Vindictive you say?"
"Um-hum. She never forgets anything, and she will exact her retribution eventually." He cast a loving but apprehensive look in the dark haired woman's direction where he could hear angry muttered words and threats drifting out. "She always remembers."
"Hmmm. Can't say I'm afraid of one little jou-chan whose no bigger than my finger." A rare smile curved his stern mouth making Kenshin gape. "But, she has got a lot of spirit. I have learned that the last few days traveling with her. I'm not sure I could take a steady diet of her or not. She is nosey, she is stubborn, and she is far too opinionated for her own good. I can only imagine what her temper must be like." He let a devilish smile curve his thin lips. "I hope you are up to the
challenge, I am not sure if I envy you or not." The sideways glance caught a faint blush creeping up Kenshin's cheeks as he lowered his eyes. "However; she would be a rare tigress to try and tame and claim as your own. Yes, she would."
"Why do you say these things, Master? Why do you speak so basely about Kaoru-dono as if she were a prize to be won or a commodity to be bought? She is one of the kindest and finest women I have ever known. I would know why you feel you can speak of her in such a crude and disrespectful way?" Kenshin's voice sounded like a low growl to Hiko and it surprised him. This was a tone he had never heard from his apprentice directed toward him before. 'How interesting.' He thought. 'I think I've actually made him angry. I wonder why?'
A thoughtful look passed over Seijurou Hiko's face unseen by his apprentice. Emerald eyes, usually so hard and impenetrable, softened a fraction and rested insightfully on the young red haired swordsman. He considered Kenshin's reactions to his off color statements for several moments as he studied his stony profile. 'He loves her.' The realization of that fact startled Hiko a little bit. He knew Kaoru loved his apprentice, and he was aware that Kenshin had some feelings for Kaoru, but, love? Love had not come to his mind, but it was obvious to him now as he listened to the carefully restrained fury in Kenshin's voice that he loved her deeply. The younger man was fighting very hard to maintain his control so as not to disrespect his senshi, but he was still looking for a way to defend Kaoru's honor. Hiko felt a small bud of humilty start to grow in his heart if not a touch of guilt. 'Alright,' he said to himself. 'I'll try to respect this relationship... as much as I can. God knows I'm too used to torturing him to avoid it completely.'
"I only meant that such a high spirited woman is rare to find, especially one who already loves you." Emerald eyes looked thoughtfully at the woman in question as he tried to salvage the situation. "Women like that are difficult to live with because the man never knows who is the head of the house. Him or her. So, the man tries to make it an equal relationship, but there are few men strong enough to accept that kind of a relationship, and he ends up breaking her will and destroying her spirit." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kenshin raise his eyes and look thoughtfully at Kaoru as she poured boiling water into the tea pot. "A broken woman is a terrible thing, Kenshin. She becomes a shadow of her former self, and slowly wastes away until despair and uselessness eat her soul completely away."
"But why would any man want to break such a beautiful thing as a strong spirit in the woman he loves? Is that not one of the things that drew him to her in the beginning?" Kenshin's voice was low and thoughtful.
"Yes, but the reality of it is not what he expects. He begins to feel threatened by her. She is as emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes as physically strong as he is and his male prowess cannot accept that. So, he must diminish her and make her less than he is in order to preserve his sense of personal power and superiority over her."
"But that is wrong, Master. A strong woman is a gift to her husband not a burden."
Raven eyebrows raised in astonished surprise. "Why do you say that?"
"Because, a strong woman can stand beside a man and help him as well as another man. Whether she is helping him fight for their lives, or just helping him make a life together, her added ki and physical strength should be considered a tasukete."
"A help mate?"
"Yes. People are supposed to help each other irregardless of position or social class, why should it be different for a man and his aisai? She is the one he goes to for comfort and solace when he is weary or downhearted. It is in her arms where he finds love and acceptance. His wounds are mended by her hands. The warmth of her body next to him keeps the cold of the long winter nights at bay. She is everything to him." Kenshin's words became soft and filled with emotion. "She is his life, why would she not be his equal as well?" Deep purple eyes turned to gaze seriously at his Master's hard planed face. "Why would any man want to break the will and spirit of such a woman? Such a thing would be a wonder to behold and experience. He should get on his knees every day of his life and thank Kami-sama for allowing him to call her his wife."
Hiko did not get the chance to answer because Kaoru came plodding back to the table with the tea tray laden with teapot, three cups, some fruit and bread, and a few other things that looked like they might be eatable that she found in Kenshin's cupboards.
Kneeling down with practiced ease, she carefully sat the tray on the table and handed each man a neatly folded white napkin.To Hiko she said, "Your tea, Hiko-san." Her voice was dripping with honey as she handed the large man a previously poured cup. Kenshin eyed her with worried violet eyes. He knew she was her most dangerous when she was like this. He watched in uneasy silence as Hiko took a swig of the tea from his cup. Kaoru was smiling her sweetest and most beautiful smile as she looked straight forward, hands folded subserviently in the lap of her yellow yukata. "Oh Kami..." Kenshin's mind moaned in desperation. "Kaoru, what did you do?" But all he could do was watch and wait. He did not have to wait long.
"Sssppplllltttt..... aarrghhh..... Kuso!!" Hiko spat the offending liquid out of his mouth all over the floor. "What in the hell did you do to it you little .... " he stopped himself just before he said something they would all regret. Instead he turned a furious yellow-green glare in Kaoru's direction only to find her still setting with the sweet serene look on her face, hands folded demurely in her lap seemingly oblivious to his difficulties. "Are you trying to poisen me, jou-chan?" He groweled shoving the cup under her nose.
Kaoru took the cup almost absent mindedly from Hiko's furiously trembling fingers, and filled it with fresh tea. She added a small amount of honey and stirred it in with the small bamboo whip and handed the cup back to him all the while maintaining her facial expression. After he had taken the cup and sniffed it for any foreign odors, he took a careful sip and found the tea to be quite tasteful.
"Well, this is much better."
"You can apologize to me now, Hiko-san." Kaoru's voice was bright and airy like they had been discussing something very pleasant or even humorous. Kenshin coughed as he choked on his tea. He had been watching the entire exchange with horrified merriment as Kaoru exacted her retribution from his surly Master for his earlier insult, but this was outrageous. His eyes were huge with uneasy expectation as they slid to and fro between the two antagonists.
"I can what? What did you say to me, jou-can?" He emphasized the young lady trying to make her back down and learn her place, but she did not acquiesce. Her face and demeanor remained unchanged.
"I said, you can apologize to me now."
"For what may I ask?" Sarcasm and irritation filled his deep baritone voice.
"For insulting me earlier. Of course." Stupid.
"Insulting.... What on earth are you talking about you stupid girl? I haven't insulted you. I was merely asking if you possessed the skilled needed to prepare a suitable pot of tea. I see no reason for you to try and kill me because of that." He was looking at her like she was the biggest idiot in the would. "Baka-jou-chan." He muttered.
"Arrogant bastard...." she muttered back, and Kenshin's head shot up over his teacup.
"KAORU!!" He admonished her fiercely his eyes turning a light shade of amber.
Thick black lashed blue eyes dropped in apology. "Sorry..." she mumbled.
"What did you say? I don't think I quite heard you?" Kenshin leaned toward her and lifted her chin with two of his fingers. "Would you repeat that please so everyone can hear it."
Kaoru met those pale amber eyes knowing she had gone too far, but she was damned if she was going to regret what she had done. She understood she should not have said what she just had, but he had deserved it. At least she thought so.
"Kaoru? I'm waiting." The voice she loved so much was tainted with hard disapproval, and she flinched a little beneath it abrasion. 'He's really mad at me.' She chewed on her lower lip in worry.
Clamping her eyes tightly shut so she didn't have to look at his face, she opened her mouth and said, "I am sorry." just loud enough for him to hear and waited for him to chide her for her bad behavior like he usually did, but nothing happened. His fingers did not let go of her jaw, and he did not say anything either. Kaoru was not sure what to do next, so she just sat there and waited getting more uncomfortable by the second.
The two men watched the girl scrunch her eyes shut and squeak out an apology, and then just sit like a stone statue doing nothing. Hiko was trying very hard not to give into laughter just from looking at the silly picture she made, while on the other hand, Kenshin was looking at her face waiting for her to open her eyes so she could see everything was alright, and that he was not really mad at her anymore. In fact, he was having a difficult time not laughing a bit himself over her behavior, but he could not allowed her to be blatantly disrespectful to his Master no matter the circumstances. Even if the arrogant so and so did deserve it.
Finally one blue eye peaked open and saw amused violet ones watching her closely. The other eye opened and Kenshin's whole face came into focus. The anger was gone, and he seemed to be waiting for something from her though she could not think what else he wanted. After all, she had apologized to the big...
"Wh-what?" She looked at him in puzzlement spreading her hands out in confusion. "What else?"
Smiling with gentle humor, he leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek then whispered. "Everything is alright now, Koishii, but you had better watch your manners and your language from now on or I may be forced to use more drastic measures to curb your behavior." Her eyes widened with alarm as her mind started to imagine what 'drastic measures' meant, but he just smiled and kissed her cheek again.
"Are you finished?" Hiko's dry bored voice interrupted their small private moment, and Kenshin rolled his eyes in irritation. "I told you, we have things to discuss, and I really do not have time to watch the two of you play house."
"All right, Master." Kenshin turned an impatient look onto his senshi's arrogant face. He had reached the end of his patience, and his voice reflected that fact as he spoke. "I am so very sorry that we have caused such a delay in your busy day. Please," He spread his hands wide in open invitation. "Please, continue with whatever it is that is so damn important that you must be here at this ungodly hour causing havoc and duress and whatever other mischief you can?"
"My, my... you should have had a woman in your life years ago, Kenshin. You have actually grown some backbone." Then the sardonic smile suddenly vanished and Hiko became coldly serious, his eyes turning to green ice. "All right, lets cut through all the bullshit." He tried to pin Kenshin with a fierce glare to emphasize the importance of his visit, but to his inner consternation, he found it had no affect. The other man continued to look at him in angry impatience.
"I am here because I had a long talk with your friend Hajime Saitoh yesterday, and he told me some very interesting things about you and your latest mission."
Kenshin's eyes falmed golden amber and his voice dropped to a deep threatening tone that made Hiko take a closer look at him. "Just exactly what did he tell you?"
"He told me a few things about the Taki Mountains, some mysterious murder reports, and rumors of..." He paused and watched Kenshin's face closely. "Hyouko."
"Why in the hell did he do that?" Despite his damaged ki, Kenshin's fury was a tangible thing around the three people in the room. As his voice deepened and evolved into the growl of a feral beast, his eyes exploded into sunbursts of liquid gold sending shivers of unease up Hiko's spine despite all his years of training and fighting.
"No one else was supposed to know." Kenshin's head dipped slightly causing his eyes to take on a wolfish look increasing the sense of danger growing around him. "We agreed to that. We agreed it would be best that only the two of us know about this." With teeth bared and lips pulled back in a snarl, his voice rose high on a note of ferocious incredulity. "WHY IN THE HELL DID HE TELL YOU???!!"
Hiko felt a flash of shock and... pain? pierce through his heart and soul when he heard those bitterly cried words spoken from his apprentice. He had expected Kenshin to be surprised at Saitoh's revaluations to him, but this explosion of anger and venom had caught him completely off guard. Instinctively he pulled away from the enormous amount of negativity he felt emanating from Kenshin's damaged ki. It was actually painful for him to let it touch him. This was going to be more
difficult that he had originally imagined.
"Kenshin," he began in a calm and reasonable tone. "Let me explain."
"Explain? Explain? Explain that it appears I can trust no one, even among my own enemies." He threw his head back and barked a horrible grating sound that should have been laughter but failed. Hands white with rage raked through his long red hair nearly yanking it out by the roots in large handfuls. Kenshin's control on his raging fury was sliping.
"Why does this anger you so much? That Saitoh has told me about your experiences? Or the fact that I know at all?"
"You even have to ask?" another attempt at laughter failed. "Oh please, I had always believed you to be the most intelligent man I had ever known Master, yet you can ask me a foolish question like that. I feel insulted you would waste your breath on such blather. Huurmmph."
"I don't understand what you're saying, Kenshin. What does my intelligence have to do with your anger?"
At last Kenshin achieved some form of laughter, but it was a bitter ironic sound that made Kaoru shudder and flinch even as she reached out a comforting hand and laid it on his tense arm.
"How much amusement did you enjoy at my expense over this little tale, my beloved senshi? It must have lasted you through at least two jugs of good sake. How many times did you toast the insanity of your baka-deshi?" His voice was hard and cold as the frozin ice lakes, and it seemed his eyes were becoming a dark rich golden color that began to take on an eerie other worldly glow. As Hiko and Kaoru watched the aberrant phenomenon in mounting unease, those frightening eyes started to cast what appeared to be a faint yellowish glow of pulsing light outward into the shadowy confines of the room.
At that moment a sense of profound nervousness seized Hiko and he found it difficult to speak higher than a mild conversational tone. "So, you assume because of our past associations together, that I would not believe anything he told me." Suddenly Hiko's hands became very important to him, and he began to clean his nails. He could not look at Kenshin's face, or his eyes.
"Master, you hardly believe in Kami or Buddha, why should you even consider that anything in this tale of mine is or could possibly be truth or fact. I know you too well." Kenshin covered his face with his hands. Suddenly all the fury and rage seemed to just drain out of him leaving him weak and spent. "God, how could Saitoh have told you? You of all people in this world? Why you? I might have been able to accept anyone else, but not you. Not you... not ever you. Oh Kami...."
"Kenshin..." Kaoru's gentle voice and her touch on his shoulder made him drop his hands and look at her. "What is this all about?" Concern and a look of fear clouded her beautiful face, and he tried to smile reassuringly, but failed miserably.
She was so beautiful. She was his light, his solace... his life. "Don't worry, Kaoru-kirei." His voice was no more than a echo of itself. "Everything is alright. Please do not be afraid or upset.It will all work out. I promise." A gentle calloused hand stroked her pale cheek as he looked at her worried face. "Maybe you should go to the other side of the room until we are finished with this. I do not know if you should hear it."
Deep worry and alarm clouded her eyes. "Are you trying to keep something from me, or hide it from me. Kenshin?"
"Neither. I am just not sure I want you exposed to it, Kaoru." His eyes had become very sad and distant.
"Exposed?" What a strange word.
"Yes. It is nothing like we have ever experienced before, and I have not yet decided what to do where you are concerned yet. I have to keep you safe, koishii. If anything happened to you, I could not ... " Amber eyes closed tight and he pulled her close pressing their foreheads together for a moment. "I would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to you because of this. Do you understand?"
"Is it really that dangerous?" she sounded frightened.
"I will not lie to you, Kaoru. The things I have seen and heard; there are things that I know now but dare not speak even to myself." His voice took on a odd quality she had never heard before. " I have never known what it meant to be afraid, Kaoru. To be truly afraid, but I have seen the face of Hell and I cannot take you there. I cannot take you to a place where I am too afraid to go, but know I must. You are too important to me. Please understand. Please." The urgency of his voice begged her to trust him.
"Kenshin," The sound of a low baritone voice interrupted the intimate moment between the red-haired Samurai and his Lover. "Do you really think I can set here and watch you like this and not believe every single word you said to Saitoh? If I had not already believed everything you told him, I would not be sitting here trying to talk to you about it." Hiko's voice was a quiet sturdy anchor pulling Kenshin back to the reality of his present situation. He backed away from Kaoru and looked at his Master with fading amber eyes filled with distrust and doubt.
Kenshin's face was guarded and skeptical as he faced Hiko. He was unsure whether to believe him or not. The man had so often played at words with him that he found he did not totally trust what he had just said. "Are you saying you believe me? You actually believed what I told
him?"
"Yes."
"All of it??"
"All of it. Every single horrible, bloody insane, terrifying, and unholy word." He met Kenshin's amber gaze straight forward without wavering trying to show the younger man that he said was sincere. "And it scared the living shit out of me. I am not certain how you survived with your mind and senses intact, Kenshin. There are not many who could after seeing what you have. I do not know if I could have. We will see."
"You believe me...." Kenshin's voice was barely above a whisper and both Kaoru and Hiko had to strain to hear him.
"Yes, dear boy. I believe you." Hiko's hand grasp Kenshin's shoulder for emphasis.
Kenshin dropped his head until his chin touched his chest and his long red hair fell forward to obscure his face. Shoulders that were so much thinner than the man he had been weeks earlier began to shake and tremble, and his hands reached out groping for and finding Kaoru's. Grasping them with urgent need, he hugged them close to his wildly beating heart. The rasping sound of a voice filled with uncontrollable emotions leaked out through the tangled strands of his hair. "You truly believe me, Master?"
"Yes." Hiko's tone was gentle and reassuring in the face of Kenshin's emotional storm.
"Thank-you, Master. Thank-you." And tears began to fall onto the four clasped hands over Kenshin's heart.
"Oh Kenshin." Kaoru felt tears burn her eyes as she finally understood that Kenshin was experiencing a sense of profound relief and disbelief, and a sense of having his soul reprieved over a matter that had weighed more heavily on his conscience than most. His honor had been restored in the eyes of his Master. The baka-deshi was not the fabricator of insane outlandish tales. Seijurou Hiko believed him.
Kaoru pulled her hands free and wrapped her arms around his trembling shoulders. Pulling him into a comforting embrace, she nestled him against the warmth of her breasts and began rocking him gently back and forth. His arms slid around her waist and he buried his face against her softness seeking out the solace of her nurturing warmth.
"Everything will be alright now, koishii." Her voice soothed him. "Everything will be alright. I will hold onto you, and everything will be alright." A gentle hand stroked the back of his head and his hair in a calming fashion, and slowly the trembling in his body began to fade away.
"Hiko-san?" Narrow green eyes that had been contemplating a scuff mark on his boot, slid in her direction and met her worried blue gaze. "Could he die? Doing whatever this thing is Saitoh told you about? Could Kanshin die doing it?" Kaoru's eyes searched Hiko's introspective face. "Is it really that dangerous?"
"Yes, Kamiya-dono." He nodded in sympathy. I am sorry, but it is that dangerous. I am planning to go with Kenshin and Saitoh now that I know what they are facing, and it is true, what we must do could kill all of us, but it is something that must be done. It must be done!" His voice was harsh and hard in his convictions. "There is no other way."
"There is no other choice?"
"No, there is no other choice. Innocents are dying, and the world has become the playground of the Hyoukyo."
Kaoru had heard Hiko say that word to Kenshin once before, but she didn't know what it meant. Her brows creased in deep thought. "I have never heard of hyoukyo before, and you said innocents are dying. What does one have to do with the other?"
Hiko looked at Kaoru's lovely face. 'Strong women.' He thought. 'Equals.'
"Hyoukyo stands for someone who is possessed by a demon or a devil. See if you can figure the rest out yourself. I don't want to be the one responsible for giving you any information about this bloody situation."
"Demons? Devils? Innocents dying?" Kenshin stirred in her arms trying to pull away as he spoke. His voice was muffled voice tinged with anxiety.
"Don't Kaoru. Do not think about it. Stop thinking about it NOW. Don't.... " Kenshin knew how intelligent Kaoru was, and how logically her mind could work when she applied herself, and he desperately needed to stop her from thinking about this. But it was already too late.
"OH KAMI!!!" she cried. "Oh God, noooo..." The horrified plea filled the shadowy room as reality hit Kamiya Kaoru. Everything had started to fall into place. The things Hiko had said. 'Murders, demon possession, innocents, unholy... "They are killing the children! Oh God, please tell me they are not killing the children?" But one look at Hiko's stern emotionless face confirmed her worst fears. "No. No. No. No. Nooooooo...." She buried her face in Kenshin's hair and cried in horror.
"Oh God, Kaoru... I told you not to think about it. I told you to stop." Kenshin pulled himself from her embrace and crushed her against him in his. "Dammit," he cursed. "I did not want you to know anything about this. I did not want it to touch you." One of his hands pulled her head against his shoulder and nestled her face snugly against the warm curve of his throat while he pressed his cheek tightly against the side of her neck. His other arm wrapped around her body and pulled her tightly into him as he tried to absorb her pain into his own flesh. "Koishii, please do not cry. Please. I cannot bear it when you cry. I do not know what to do when you cry this way." Hot tears began to slid down his face, and his arms tightened around her. "Please, Kaoru. Do not cry like this. I am sorry, my little one. I am so sorry."
"She is a strong woman, Kenshin." Seijurou Hiko gripped Kenshin's shoulder in a strong hand. "Stronger than you give her credit for, I think." Pale violet eyes looked at Hiko's face in helpless pain. "All you need to do is hold her until she comes to terms with what her mind has discovered for itself, then she will move on. It a woman's way." He tried to nod reassuringly but Kenshin was too worried about Kaoru to notice. "I think maybe the two of you need to take care of each other for a while after all of this turmoil and upheaval." Hiko caught Kenshin's gaze and held it firmly. Kenshin nodded and rested his cheek against Kaoru's forehead.
"What is Saitoh's plan now?" he asked flatly. "I feel completely thrown off the path, and I am not sure where to go or what to do at the moment. I feel much confusion, Master."
"I know you do, and I think I understand why. But I do not want you to worry about the plan, all right." The deep voice started to sound almost comforting to Kenshin. "Saitoh and I are going to start looking at the things that need to be done, and the things and people that must be protected. One or the other of us will visit you as often as needed to keep you updated on our ideas so don't think you are going to be left out of the loop." Green eyes searched deepening amethyst for understanding, and found it. "But your main focus is on getting your body well again Your ki is very badly damaged, you are thin and hysically weakened. You are practically defenseless the way you stand now, and you will be no match for them if you return too soon, and I have no intention of allowing you to become a sacrifice... again."
Hiko'o emerald eyes moved to gaze thoughtfully at the young woman in Kenshin's arms. "You have far too much to live for, my boy. It's time you did some living." Having said that, he climbed to his feet and walked to the door of Kenshin's room. Then he paused. "Remember one thing, my deshi, we are all only human even if what we face is not; however, even the smallest soul can overcome the most insurmountable odds if he fights with his whole heart and soul and always keeps foremost in his mind those things that are the most precious to him." And he turned to leave.
"What is most precious to you, Master?" Kenshin's concerned voice stopped Hiko dead in his steps.
"Precious to me?" He was stunned by the question.
"Yes. I know why I will fight to live. I will fight for Kaoru and Yahiko, Sano and Migumi-san. I will fight for those I consider to be my family; the people I love. I will fight to stay alive so I can come back to them when this is over. I will even be fighting for you, Master, but I wonder, what will you fight for? I cannot remember you ever holding anything close to your heart. There is no one person, no one thing. Tell me Master, you are not planning on... " The soft voice pulled at heart strings Hiko did not want to listen to right now. He could not listen to them right now.
"There are things close to my heart, deshi. Important things I find very much worth fighting and living for. So, do not worry, I do not intend on becoming a sacrifice either." The loud thuds of his booted feet on the wooden floor echoed in the room long after he had left.
*********
"So, how did he look to you?" Saitoh spared a glance for Hiko over the stack of papers on his ever laden desk.
"Terrible. He looks like a damn scarecrow with purple eyes." Hiko snorted and slumped in the hated wooden chair in front of Saitoh's desk. "He's too thin."
"I told you what he looked like. I cannot believe you are surprised." Narrowed topaz eyes studied him for a moment in derisive boredom. "And how was the girl?"
"Kamiya?" Dark eyebrows raised in puzzeled amusement. "She seems to be fine. None the worse for wear if that is what you are getting at." Saitoh chuckled knowingly and reshuffled his papers then lit a slender cigarette.
"No, that was not exactly what I was getting at. What I meant was, do you think she is strong enough to be of any viable help to him, or will she just prove to be a pleasurable distraction while he is recuperating?" Grey smoke filled the air around Saitoh's head and the smell of burning tobacco make Hiko wrinkle his nose.
"You know that's a nasty habit, Saitoh." They had dropped the honorifics once they decided to work together.
"Really, and how much worse is it than drinking yourself into amnesiac oblivion, my dear Hiko?"
"Touche. All right, enough pleasantries, where were we?"
"The Kamiya girl."
"Oh right. I think she is just what the kid needs. She is strong, she is forceful, and she has got something that none of the other women in Kyoto have."
Saitoh's thin eyebrow's raised in interest as he took another long drag on his cigarette. "Please, enlighten me. What is this unique attribute she possesses that no one other woman has? I must admit, I am just dying to know."
Hiko smiled cynically. Siatoh really was a sonofabitch, but he was finding himself starting to appreciate his acrid personality. "Well, if you must know, she is in love with him."
"Really? How quaint."
"Saitoh you really are an asshole."
"I know." A twisted sardonic grin crossed his lips. "It is one of my best qualities."
"Of course." Hiko waved his hand in agreement and the two men laughed.
"So, she loves Battousai. I had wondered about that for sometime, but was never truly interested enough to find out. However, this does work out to all of our benefit in this particular case." He stubbed out the butt of his finished cigarette. "If she loves him, then she will be more likely to be completely open with him, thus giving him everything he needs as well as assist in replenishing his ki with some much needed life energy."
"Mmmmm, I think one of those particular needs has already been addressed." The look he shared with Saitoh was lasivious. "And it would seem now that a very strong bond has started to form between them."
"Really, how strong?"
"I am fairly certain my deshi is in love with her as well. He became very defensive of her today while I was there. In fact, he actually had the balls to lose his patience with me and snarl in my face."
"Good heavens. Now that IS a definite change. I did not think the Battousai had a confrontational bone in his body except when he had a sword in his hand. I am surprised."
"No more than I. He rose to the occasion to defend her honor to me as well, which I must say impressed me. I hate to admit it, but I think she is good for him. I think she will make him a stronger fighter."
"Are you serious? A better fighter because of a woman? That is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Have you been dipping into the sake a little early today, Hiko?" Saitoh laughed and picked up his ink quill.
"No. I have not. I am completely serious. She has given him a real reason to fight."
"A reason to fight?" Saitoh was puzzled. "Explain."
"He has a reason to live. It will make him fight harder and better so he can come back to her. He wants a life now, and that is something he has never thought about before."
Saitoh pursed his lips and considered this piece of information intently. "I had not thought of that either. Not in that way. Hmmm..." His eyes dimmed and took on a faraway look, and he seemed to drift away lost inside his own thoughts. In his mind he could see a soft smile, gentle long lashed brown eyes; he could feel the silky softness of her long chestnut hair as it slid though his fingers like satin. He would not even let his mind speak her name. It had been months, or was it years? Saitoh was not even sure how long it had been since he had seen her, but he could still summon her image to his minds eye with little effort. 'My dear wife.' He shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly trying to force the memory back where it belonged. Back into the place
where he did not see her everyday anymore.
"Saitoh?" Hiko watched the strange look pass over his friends face, and he felt a twinge of worry start. "Are you all right, my friend? You look rather... distant."
"I... I'm alright. Yes, I am fine. It is nothing to worry about." A faintly trembling hand grasp another report and he bent over it in mock concentration, but Hiko was not fooled. He knew something of importance had just occurred. Saitoh was hiding something. Something sad.
"I will be going on my way then. You know where to reach me if you need me."
"Yes." Was the short reply. "Thank-you, Hiko."
"Of course." He turned and walked out of the office with his thoughts still on Saitoh's odd silence. "Sargeant Izukia?" His deep voice startled the mild mannered assistant.
"Ohh, ahhh... yes sir, S-seijurou-san? What c-can I do for y-you?" Izukia had not gotten over the shock of meeting Hiko from the day before.
"Is there someone in Captain Fujita's past that you know about? Someone important that perhaps he has left behind or lost? Someone special like a mother or a sister or something like that? I am just wondering if you know."
"Well...." Izukia thought for a moment. "I did hear a rumor that the Captain was married once a long time ago, but no one was ever really sure. Nobody ever dared ask him about it."
"Married?" Hiko frowned. Saitoh with a wife? Strange.
"Yes. The rumor was that he had left his wife in Enshi when he joined the Bakumatsu, but know one knows whatever happened to her or if she was even real or not. If its true, then she would have been very young when he left her because he joined the Bakumatsu before Himura-san did."
"Yes. More than 12 years ago. Depending on how old she was, she would be in her late 20's or early 30's by now, if she is real, or... if she is alive." Thoughts began to tumble through Hiko's head. "I wonder if that is what made him look so sad?"
"What did you say, Sir?"
"Nothing. Thank-you, Sargent. Carry on." Saitoh having a wife was a very interesting bit of information. It cast a very strange light on the ex-shinsingumi wolf. Hiko felt the beginning of an urge of curiosity that would eventually blossom into a need to know.
**************
The pale yellow light of the Sun rose and faded into afternoon as the day dragged by and turned colder. The passage of time seemed to move on relentlessly despite grief, despite loss, despite the cries of the lost and dying souls pleading for mercy. Time knew not the emotion of mercy. It knew not the meaning of solace or comfort. It simply was, and it moved forward as it always had, and as it always would.
The group of people stood around the small grave with hands clasp and heads bowed. Many of them were weeping piteously while others were unmoving and stone faced.
This was the fifth child to be found dead, no... not dead, slaughtered. Slaughtered in the woods high on the mountain slopes and tossed carelessly over a cluster of scrub brush.
She was perhaps only five years old, and she had been found torn to pieces. Her little arms and legs were ripped from her body and lying on the ground around her mangled torso, and as with all of the others, her small fragile chest was pulled apart. All of the thin ribs were broken and thrust backwards with a murderous ferocity, and her tiny heart was gone. The shredded and torn flesh inside of her chest cavity proved to all who examined the body, that the heart had not been cut free. It had been ripped out by a hand with tremendous strength and great force.
The real horror of this child; however, was that no one knew her. She was no ones daughter, no ones kin. Not one soul in the village recognized her face, and that meant only one thing to them.
It meant the Hyoukyo were everywhere. Perhaps covering all of Japan, and no ones child was safe. "They are all going to die." One devastated young mother whispered as she dropped a white orchid on the nameless child's grave. "No one can save them now except Kami-sama. We must pray to Kami and beg for help. We must pray." Everyone nodded and murmured in agreed.
"Yes, we must pray. That is our only hope."
**************
Yahiko tentatively knocked on the door to Kenshin's room. It was early afternoon, and he hoped he was not disturbing anything, but he did not want to wait any longer. He was worried about Kenshin too, and he wanted to see him for himself.
"Kenshin...?" He called then waited for a response, but heard nothing. "Hummm..." He knocked again a little louder and firmer. "Kenshin?"
"Nani?" Kenshin's voice sounded tired as it wafted through the rice paper.
Yahiko wondered if he'd woken the swordsman. "Ummm... are you awake?" He asked.
"Yes, who is there?" The voice was closer to the door now.
"Yahiko. I was wondering if you were up to more visitors today? Or if you'd rather, I will come back later when you feel a little better." As much as he wanted to see Kenshin, he did not want to push him into more visitors if he was too tired. If he needed to, Yahiko would wait a little longer to see his mentor.
But the next instant the fusuma was thrown open and Yahiko was yanked informally inside by the front of his gi. Before the young man could gain his feet or his bearings, he found himself caught up in a close embrace that pressed his face tight to Kenshin's chest. The strong arms of the swordsman held him with a sense of fierceness that Yahiko was not sure he understood, but it made him feel good inside. Really good, and he let his arms wrap themselves around Kenshin's waist as he hugged him back.
"I missed you, Kenshin." His voice was so quiet Kenshin was sure he was the only one who heard what Yahiko said. "I really missed you. Why were you gone so long?" The strong young arms tightened a fraction.
"I know I was gone a long time, and I am sorry." A gentle calloused hand stroked the back of the boys head comfortingly. "I could not help it. I am sorry if I worried you." He glanced down at the dark head pressed against his chest. "Were you worried?" Yahiko nodded his head almost imperceptibly. Kenshin did not say anything else he just tightened his arms around the boy and dropped his cheek down to rest it on top of the shaggy black head. Then a moment later he whispered for Yahiko's ears only. "I missed you too, Yahiko. Thank-you for taking care of my Kaoru while I was gone. You are growing into a fine man and I am very proud of you. That I am."
As they pulled apart, violet eyes met light brown in a look of deep understanding and respect. "I am very proud of you, my boy." Kenshin smiled and playfully ruffled Yahiko's hair while the boy protested loudly though he was smiling too. Laughing with good natured companionship, they walked the rest of the way into the room.
"Look, kioshii. We have more company." Kenshin's voice interrupted Kaoru in the middle of brushing her long black hair. "But this is good company, that it is." He clarified with a chuckle when her head whipped around in alarm.
"Yahiko!" She jumped up and hugged the boy. "It's good to see you. Are you alright? Has Hiko-san been treating you well? What happened yesterday after I left? Where did you sleep last night? Are you hungry? Are you tired?" Question after question tumbled out of her mouth in her happiness and relief to see him.
"Geez, Kaoru. Can you slow down for a minute. I can't even remember what the first question was that you asked me. How do you expect me to answer so many questions at once? Did you even breath during all of that?" He looked at Kenshin in incredulity. "How does she do that?" Kenshin just laughed and hugged them both.
A short while later the three were setting around the small table munching on tea crackers and fruit while Yahiko proceeded to tell Kenshin everything that had happened in the weeks during his absence. Most of it was business and life as usual, but Kenshin was so hungry for any news from home he listened intently to every word. He laughed at Yahiko's stories about Tae, Tsubame, and the Akebeko. He was concerned to hear how many people seemed to be getting sick and needing treatment at the clinic, but he was pleased to know Dr. Gensai was doing well. There were more questions about the dojo, the new students, and Yahiko's training with Kaoru.
Kenshin wanted to know if there was any knews from Sano yet, or a letter from Migumi in Aizu, or if they had heard from Aoshi and Misao, even though the Aoiya was only a couple of miles away farther inside the city. There was one bit of news he was not prepared for, but found himself extremely pleased to hear. Seta Seujiro, The Tenken had resurfaced after having gone missing for the last full year.
In a letter from Aoshi, the Kenshin-gumi had been informed Seta-san had been found starving, ill with a terrible cough and fever, and near death just outside of Kyoto on one of the country roads by a member of the Onniwabanshu. He had been brought back to the Aoiya immediately for medical care. Aoshi said it had been touch and go with him for awhile and they had not been certain he would live, but the Tenken was strong, and he was finally recovering well and finding a place of comfort for himself within the walls of the Aoiya.
"It is strange," Seta-san had said one day to Aoshi, "that it should be my enemies who came to my aide and saved me, when all of
my friends had deserted me. How completely ironic this world has turned out to be." It seemed the Tenken was finally starting to find some of his answers to life. Kenshin's face held a warm smile of understanding by the time Yahiko and Kaoru finished telling him about Seta Seujiro.
"I would like to see him." Violet eyes shone with a reflective light empathy. "I would like to see Seujiro-san. Kaoru..." An earnest look captured her eyes. "I want to go tomarrow. Will you help me? I am not sure I can go alone. I am still so tired." Kaoru knew how hard it was for him to ask her for physical help considering how strong of a man he had always been. Her heart went out to him, but she simply took one of his hands between hers and squeezed it.
"Of course, Kenshin. We will both go with you. Yahiko and I. Then we will both be there to help you if you need it, and we will all go to the Aoiya tomorrow and take a look at the Tenken for ourselves. All right." Her blue eyes looked lovingly at him then slid to Yahiko for confirmation.
"That's right, Kenshin. I wanna see this guy myself especially after all the stuff you told us about him. If he's a good guy now, then he's gotta be pretty incredible."
"Yes, Yahiko." Kenshin agreed quietly. "He is incredible. Remember, he was the one who broke my original reverse blade sword during just one Battou-jusu pass."
"I remember."
"Then remember to respect his honor as well as his sword."
"I will." Yahiko bowed his head in conscious regard of his Mentor's words.
To be continued.... Please Review.