Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rurouni Kenshin characters, Kiena
Himura, or Kiera Nakamura. The last two are owned by my friends and I
don't know the names of all the people who own RK.
Chapter 3: Swords and Things
"I need a sword. Now," she ordered. Looking the old sword maker in the eye, she repeated herself. "Now."
*
* *
*
"Huh?" Kiriko asked, blinking a few times. "You want us to get real swords? Well, I guess that makes sense."
"Of course it makes sense! This is a war. You do not use shinais in wars," was the rebuttal from Hiko.
"He has a good point. We will just look silly, like little children, if we use shinais," agreed Kiera, her face a mask.
"Where do we get these swords?" asked Kiriko as in defeat. They soon had set off, heading for the acclaimed sword maker in Kyoto. Kyoto was about a day away, for Kyoto was smaller than it was in the 21st century. They all had their book bags and had changed into their extra pair of training clothes (gis and hakamas).
They were quite a sight, all with dark, navy blue gis and either white (Kiena and Shinta), black (Kiera), or charcoal gray (Kiriko) hakamas. They left at around midday, stopping for dinner, and continued throughout the night.
"What is in that book bag of yours anyway?" asked Shinta when they stopped for dinner.
"Let's see . . . There is a first aid kit, a food stash, cooking supplies, my regular clothes, my extra pair of training clothes, my laptop, money, some good reading books. And, at the moment, my shinai," replied Kiriko, a happy-go-lucky grin on her face at his shocked expression.
"How does it all fit in there?" he asked.
"It is a very large backpack. Trust me," was the only answer he got out of her.
They arrived at the sword maker's workshop the next morning. Upon hearing the sounds of a metal working inside, they entered. Waiting at the door, in the dim light they could make out a figure in the corner hunched over some project, banging away at the anvil.
"Yes?" came the gruff greeting. The man never looked up from his work. When they did not answer, he finally stopped hammering and looked them over.
"If you please, sir, we are here to buy some swords," cautioned Kiena. The man's attention snapped over to her. "We were told to come here."
"I suppose you are some more soldiers, aren't you?" he asked. There was venom in his voice at the word soldiers, Kiriko observed.
"No, we are not. We are swordsmen, just plain swordsmen," interjected Kiera before Kiena had a chance to reply. Kiriko nodded at this comment, thankful to Kiera for cutting off Kiena's answer. This would be interesting.
"Well, then, what will you pay for a sword each? My prices are higher than normal sword makers." he asked.
"Great, it is just our luck that-" "-Hiko sends to an expensive sword maker, it is not?" said the twins. Recognition flashed for a second in the man's eyes at Hiko's name, and they all caught it.
"You four want swords or not? Tell me a price."
"What do you have? We will make our selection then." announced Kiriko, looking around. There was quite a collection of swords in the room, but one stood out in her eyes. It was near the top and had a layer of dust on it, but looked quite ordinary. "What about that one?" she asked.
"That one? Oh, I doubt you would want that one. It is too plain for most," he stated. "Everyone wants the shinest blades and no one really ever looks up top."
"The shine quickly dulls on blades of those who do not care, while those who do not look at the entire selection are often careless," countered Kiriko. "Let me see the sword."
He pulled it down from the rack and handed it to her. Kiriko unsheathed it and tried it in a few practice swings. It felt perfectly balanced in her hands. She instantly knew it was the one she would have.
"I will take this one. You three better chose yours quickly," she said, sheathing it. The others made their picks, and Kiriko, being the only one with money, paid for them all. It cost most of their money.
They then headed for the training camp, where a local reformist group trained. The group was the Ishin Shishi, the same one Hiko's apprentice was in. Hiko had told them where it was located.
As they walked towards the training camp, they were confronted by some samurai. While they were not even half way to the training grounds, they had started to hear the grunts from the trainees already. These samurai were not in the mood to chat, to say the least.
"What are three girls doing with swords? And what is this wimp of a boy doing with them? Maybe we need to teach them all a lesson," asked one samurai who reeked especially badly. Actually, they all smelled really bad.
Holding her nose for emphasis, Kiena stated,"You all must have really poor hygiene to smell this bad!"
"I agree," came from Shinta, while a "Here, here!" came from Kiriko. Kiera stayed calm and collected, as usual.
The samurai advanced and the four drew their shinais from habit. This succeeded only to insult the samurai even more.
"You going to try and beat us with those little sticks?" spat one of the samurai.
"These little sticks are too good for the likes of you. We could beat you with our bare hands without even trying," jibed Kiera. The rest of them nodded and put their shinais away with her.
"I suppose we are to put down our swords?"
"No, no, no. You may keep them. They will not do you any good, so it does not matter to us," continued Kiera. She attacked first, then Kiriko, Kiena, and Shinta followed a second behind. The samurai were all down before they even knew what hit them.
A figure watched from the shadows. Kiena turned around and thought she caught a glimpse of something, but it was gone before she be sure. Believing it as nothing, she turned and followed the others.
They reached the training grounds without further mishap. Upon their arrival, they saw two people waiting as if for someone near the entrance. Surprised when the two people approached them, they held their ground,
"Yes?" asked Kiriko, laying her wrist on the hilt of her new sword as if to say 'I know how to use this.'
"Do you realize the men you just took out were of the Tokugawaw Shogunate?" asked the taller man.
"Should we?" was the reply from Kiera. He seemed slightly surprised that there was not a 'leader' of their little group.
"Well, I believe you should, for they, the Shogunate, will declare you an enemy for that little act."
"Is this the Ishin Shishi?" interjected Shinta, who had been looking around, appearing as oblivious to the conversation as Kiena. Nice save, thought Kiriko.
"Yes. Is there a certain reason you asked that?" asked the smaller man. He held an enormously large sword and looked as if he knew how to use it.
"We were thinking of joining, and since we are to be declared an enemy of your enemies, it would be the probable thing to do," answered Kiena. She turned to the taller man. "What is your name, if you will excuse me for asking?"
"My name is Katsura. And you four are . . ." replied the tall man. The smaller one had wondered off somewhere by then.
"I am Nakamura Kei, this is Nakamura Yuki, we are distant cousins, not siblings, and they are twins, Himura Shinta and Himura Kenji," finished Kiriko, realizing that he would most likely not let them join if he knew some of them were girls. Recognition flashed quickly in his eyes at the name Himura, Kiriko noticed. "We fight only as a group, the four of us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reviewing! This is my first fanfiction as you should know, and I am very excited about it. Please review and I shall try and get the next chapter out by Saturday, 11/29.
If you have any suggestions, please tell me! Thanks!
R&R!
Himura, or Kiera Nakamura. The last two are owned by my friends and I
don't know the names of all the people who own RK.
Chapter 3: Swords and Things
"I need a sword. Now," she ordered. Looking the old sword maker in the eye, she repeated herself. "Now."
*
* *
*
"Huh?" Kiriko asked, blinking a few times. "You want us to get real swords? Well, I guess that makes sense."
"Of course it makes sense! This is a war. You do not use shinais in wars," was the rebuttal from Hiko.
"He has a good point. We will just look silly, like little children, if we use shinais," agreed Kiera, her face a mask.
"Where do we get these swords?" asked Kiriko as in defeat. They soon had set off, heading for the acclaimed sword maker in Kyoto. Kyoto was about a day away, for Kyoto was smaller than it was in the 21st century. They all had their book bags and had changed into their extra pair of training clothes (gis and hakamas).
They were quite a sight, all with dark, navy blue gis and either white (Kiena and Shinta), black (Kiera), or charcoal gray (Kiriko) hakamas. They left at around midday, stopping for dinner, and continued throughout the night.
"What is in that book bag of yours anyway?" asked Shinta when they stopped for dinner.
"Let's see . . . There is a first aid kit, a food stash, cooking supplies, my regular clothes, my extra pair of training clothes, my laptop, money, some good reading books. And, at the moment, my shinai," replied Kiriko, a happy-go-lucky grin on her face at his shocked expression.
"How does it all fit in there?" he asked.
"It is a very large backpack. Trust me," was the only answer he got out of her.
They arrived at the sword maker's workshop the next morning. Upon hearing the sounds of a metal working inside, they entered. Waiting at the door, in the dim light they could make out a figure in the corner hunched over some project, banging away at the anvil.
"Yes?" came the gruff greeting. The man never looked up from his work. When they did not answer, he finally stopped hammering and looked them over.
"If you please, sir, we are here to buy some swords," cautioned Kiena. The man's attention snapped over to her. "We were told to come here."
"I suppose you are some more soldiers, aren't you?" he asked. There was venom in his voice at the word soldiers, Kiriko observed.
"No, we are not. We are swordsmen, just plain swordsmen," interjected Kiera before Kiena had a chance to reply. Kiriko nodded at this comment, thankful to Kiera for cutting off Kiena's answer. This would be interesting.
"Well, then, what will you pay for a sword each? My prices are higher than normal sword makers." he asked.
"Great, it is just our luck that-" "-Hiko sends to an expensive sword maker, it is not?" said the twins. Recognition flashed for a second in the man's eyes at Hiko's name, and they all caught it.
"You four want swords or not? Tell me a price."
"What do you have? We will make our selection then." announced Kiriko, looking around. There was quite a collection of swords in the room, but one stood out in her eyes. It was near the top and had a layer of dust on it, but looked quite ordinary. "What about that one?" she asked.
"That one? Oh, I doubt you would want that one. It is too plain for most," he stated. "Everyone wants the shinest blades and no one really ever looks up top."
"The shine quickly dulls on blades of those who do not care, while those who do not look at the entire selection are often careless," countered Kiriko. "Let me see the sword."
He pulled it down from the rack and handed it to her. Kiriko unsheathed it and tried it in a few practice swings. It felt perfectly balanced in her hands. She instantly knew it was the one she would have.
"I will take this one. You three better chose yours quickly," she said, sheathing it. The others made their picks, and Kiriko, being the only one with money, paid for them all. It cost most of their money.
They then headed for the training camp, where a local reformist group trained. The group was the Ishin Shishi, the same one Hiko's apprentice was in. Hiko had told them where it was located.
As they walked towards the training camp, they were confronted by some samurai. While they were not even half way to the training grounds, they had started to hear the grunts from the trainees already. These samurai were not in the mood to chat, to say the least.
"What are three girls doing with swords? And what is this wimp of a boy doing with them? Maybe we need to teach them all a lesson," asked one samurai who reeked especially badly. Actually, they all smelled really bad.
Holding her nose for emphasis, Kiena stated,"You all must have really poor hygiene to smell this bad!"
"I agree," came from Shinta, while a "Here, here!" came from Kiriko. Kiera stayed calm and collected, as usual.
The samurai advanced and the four drew their shinais from habit. This succeeded only to insult the samurai even more.
"You going to try and beat us with those little sticks?" spat one of the samurai.
"These little sticks are too good for the likes of you. We could beat you with our bare hands without even trying," jibed Kiera. The rest of them nodded and put their shinais away with her.
"I suppose we are to put down our swords?"
"No, no, no. You may keep them. They will not do you any good, so it does not matter to us," continued Kiera. She attacked first, then Kiriko, Kiena, and Shinta followed a second behind. The samurai were all down before they even knew what hit them.
A figure watched from the shadows. Kiena turned around and thought she caught a glimpse of something, but it was gone before she be sure. Believing it as nothing, she turned and followed the others.
They reached the training grounds without further mishap. Upon their arrival, they saw two people waiting as if for someone near the entrance. Surprised when the two people approached them, they held their ground,
"Yes?" asked Kiriko, laying her wrist on the hilt of her new sword as if to say 'I know how to use this.'
"Do you realize the men you just took out were of the Tokugawaw Shogunate?" asked the taller man.
"Should we?" was the reply from Kiera. He seemed slightly surprised that there was not a 'leader' of their little group.
"Well, I believe you should, for they, the Shogunate, will declare you an enemy for that little act."
"Is this the Ishin Shishi?" interjected Shinta, who had been looking around, appearing as oblivious to the conversation as Kiena. Nice save, thought Kiriko.
"Yes. Is there a certain reason you asked that?" asked the smaller man. He held an enormously large sword and looked as if he knew how to use it.
"We were thinking of joining, and since we are to be declared an enemy of your enemies, it would be the probable thing to do," answered Kiena. She turned to the taller man. "What is your name, if you will excuse me for asking?"
"My name is Katsura. And you four are . . ." replied the tall man. The smaller one had wondered off somewhere by then.
"I am Nakamura Kei, this is Nakamura Yuki, we are distant cousins, not siblings, and they are twins, Himura Shinta and Himura Kenji," finished Kiriko, realizing that he would most likely not let them join if he knew some of them were girls. Recognition flashed quickly in his eyes at the name Himura, Kiriko noticed. "We fight only as a group, the four of us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reviewing! This is my first fanfiction as you should know, and I am very excited about it. Please review and I shall try and get the next chapter out by Saturday, 11/29.
If you have any suggestions, please tell me! Thanks!
R&R!