Author's Note: Well folks, I tried to update this in the window I promised but had the dreaded writer's block about how I wanted to stage the simultaneous fights going on between Kenshin/Hashimoto and Kaoru/Maita so I dug out ep 29 and the fight with Saito at the dojo and ep 52 when Kaoru battles Kamatari to refresh my memory. Thank you all readers (8019 hits—arigatou!) and especially my reviewers including the two new ones, Valese and Inferno-Hero (who also made me a favorite). There are two more chapters and then I'll work on the synopsis for the sequel.
Glossary of Japanese terms and words
Koto—A zither like stringed instrument
Sokyoku—Music of the koto
Nani—What?
Jinsoku Kawa—Literally 'River Rapid'—since the shrine was located at the part of the river where the rapids were, hence the name.
Wakizashi—Japanese sword, shorter than a katana, used mostly for defense.
Chudan and Jodan—two basic moves of kendo—chudan is cut to middle level and jodan is the sword lifted overhead.
Shiseiji and baishunfu—Bastard and Whore
Hirazuki—Sword style specialized by Shinsengumi that is a horizontal thrust done with both hands, one at the hilt and the other against the blade.
THE BATTOUSAI UNLEASHED
In the reception room of the Kamiya Dojo, the gaily dressed throng were standing about, eyes on the entrance as they waited for the blushing bride to make her appearance. The musician continued playing the haunting sokyoku first with the tatigoto then with the koto as Kenshin and Sanosuke knelt before the budusan, also waiting.
Kenshin sat with his mind eagerly on the events about to take place that would once again make him a married man. His face bore a serene smile that faded as his acute sense picked up an insidious evil, like a miasma and he whirled around as Misao, Tamiko, and Megumi holding on to a stunned Dr. Gensai hurried into the room.
The three miko attendants came rushing in, halting both the conversation and music as they came up to Kenshin, gasping for breath. Misao was first to speak in a frantic manner.
"Himura! Himura! Something's wrong!" the shinobi maid cried as Kenshin shot to his feet.
"What happened?" he asked abruptly, his eyes swirling amber and narrowed.
"We went to get Kaoru to escort her here and when we got to her room, she was gone," Misao panted, her teal orbs wide with fear.
"Nani??" Sano snapped as Tamiko came forward with the bloody tsuno kakushi in her hands.
Kenshin wordlessly took the wedding headwear in his hands and his heart caught at the bloodstain on the ivory silk. He whirled from the gathering and sprinted down the hall to Kaoru's bedroom, which he stopped in and scanned around for any clues as to what may have happened. He then spotted the note stuck to the wall by the open shoji with Maita's dagger. He strode over and yanked the dagger from the wall to retrieve the note. He unfolded and read the curt missive:
Battousai,
If you ever want to see your bride alive again, come alone to the Jinsoku Kawa shrine at the far end of the river. I will be waiting.
Hashimoto—Commander of Akai Ryu
"Kuso!" Kenshin growled, his entire body quivering with black murderous rage. He shredded the note and rushed out leaving the torn paper in his wake. He left the room and came face to face with Sanosuke, Yahiko, Aoshi, and Misao who had gotten their weapons and looked ready for battle.
"Hashimoto's got Kaoru and he's demanded I go to the Jinsoku Kawa shrine. That's where he has her." He turned and headed toward his room to retrieve his sakabatou. Re-entering the hall, he slipped the blade in his waistband and made to brush past the foursome but a firm hand detained him.
"Hold it, Kenshin. You're not going alone, I'm going with you," the former fighter-for-hire stated.
"Me too," Yahiko piped up. "You're not leaving me out this time."
Misao nodded as she said with alacrity, "The leadership of the Oniwabanshuu will also lend its assistance." She glanced at Aoshi to confirm the declaration and he nodded.
Kenshin's eyes went from face to face and he nodded. "Hai. Let's go now, we can't waste a minute." He disappeared out the shoji in a flash, and the other three followed. . .
Down by the river rapids, three black horses, bearing three figures swathed in black, the largest with a large sack came to a halt before a dilapidated shrine building that appeared deserted. A sharp whistle by one and within seconds several black clad individuals came out to assist in the swift transportation of the bundle into the building.
Inside, Hashimoto sat on a cushion as he supervised the delivery of the unconscious Kamiya Kaoru, clad in her wedding kimono as the sack was removed from her supine form. He clapped his hands in satisfaction as he commented to his minions.
"Excellent, excellent! This will bring the Battousai to us so we can deal with him and remove his meddling. He will be here to retrieve his woman, especially on his wedding day. Take her to the meditation chamber at the right and make sure she's tied securely, she'll be a handful when she comes to, I hear she's quite the wildcat."
"Hai, Hashimoto-sama." The two underlings took Kaoru and went off to do his bidding.
As they exited, Maita removed her mask and scoffed, "Some wildcat. She was as easy to capture as a lamb. I could've taken her alone."
The Akai Ryu leader smirked as he said, "You sound like you'd like another chance."
"I would. Kamiya is known as the "Kenjutsu Princess" throughout Tokyo, I'd like nothing better than to test that foolish assumption," Maita sniffed as she reached for her katana.
Hashimoto chuckled as he rose and took his mistress in his arms. "I just may give you the chance to back up those bold words, Hana-chan. . . ."
By the river bank, four figures raced along as the sun hid behind some clouds, dimming the already fading daylight. Himura Kenshin was leading the way, a good three or four lengths ahead of the others, his pace quickened by his god-like speed as he was filled with a savage urgency intensified by his fury.
Hashimoto he said to himself if you so much as touch a hair on her head, I'll see to it that on this, my wedding day, you enter the afterlife by my hand. Anyone who dares to take what is mine will pay with their lives, I will show no mercy. And those who took her will pay dearly for each drop of blood she has shed, this I vow
The group came to the embankment that led to the abandoned river shrine, its arch and tattered talismans fluttering in the autumn breeze. The others finally caught up to Kenshin who was staring up at the arch, frowning as he considered his next move.
Aoshi came to him and said, "We must move with caution. Hashimoto has guards everywhere." Kenshin grunted and nodded as his mind was whirling, devising tactics and plans.
Misao also came to the two men and suggested, "I could do what I did before, climb up the bank and hide within the surrounding bushes until the sun sets then investigate to see where they are keeping Kaoru-chan."
Yahiko said impatiently, "We need to get up there. Who knows what they've done or they're doing to Kaoru. What are we waiting for?"
Sano admonished the youth, "Take it easy, punk. We can't move to fast, you heard what Shinomori said. Just chill out, okay."
Kenshin then spoke, "We're going to lay low until sunset. Aoshi, you and Misao-dono get close to see where they're keeping Kaoru and stay hidden until we join you. The rest of us, we'll hide down here by the river and then when the sun sets, we'll move."
"Hai." Aoshi and Misao both took off, moving swiftly up the bank, concealed among the rushes.
Kenshin sighed as he turned to Sanosuke and Yahiko. "We'll just wait for the cover of darkness. I doubt Hashimoto will do anything until I arrive. He likes to use his hostages as bargaining chips."
Sano looked at his buddy closely, noticing something very different about him. "Are you sure you're all right, Kenshin?"
The former hitokiri returned the gaze, his eyes amber in color but there was a noticeable difference, in the amber hue there was a reddish tone, like a glaze of ruby over the gold. It gave the normally serene features of the rurouni a savage look, one that bespoke of danger to anyone who dared to cross him. Sano shuddered in spite of himself, having never seen Kenshin's eyes so furious.
He answered in a cold monotone. "I'm fine, Sano. Let's head for the woods and wait, come along Yahiko." He gestured to the sullen youth and led the two of them to a copse of trees that led to the shrine. . . .
Inside the shrine, in a small meditation chamber, Kaoru had awakened and noticing her hands bound stirred and sat up, her head aching as she felt the dried blood on her temple. She winced as she lifted her arms together and fingered the now disarrayed bridal coiffure, the dried blood matting the raven tresses where the wound had bled. She glanced at her wedding kimono and was relieved to see that the heirloom garment was still intact.
Kaoru stood up slowly, and surveyed her whereabouts taking in the chamber, which was sparse and confining, with just a small window and a bench. She glanced about, looking for a way to escape or a weapon and found a bamboo pole that she could use for a makeshift bokken. As she headed over to examine it, the sound of a lock clicking prompted her to resume her seat on the bench facing the door.
The door creaked open and Hashimoto and Maita entered standing before the captive kendo master with evil smirks as they observed her disheveled appearance. Maita was first with a quip.
"Well, well it looks like the blushing bride is a little worse for wear, eh?"
Hashimoto stepped forward and took Kaoru's chin in his hand. "But still as lovely as ever," he stated evenly as Kaoru jerked away, her eyes glittering as she glared at her captors.
Maita scowled at her lover's attentiveness to the girl as she snapped, "Her looks won't save her. It's her perceived skill I want to see." She fingered the hilt of her katana, as if to unsheathe it, at the ready.
"All in good time, Hana-chan." He took a seat on the bench beside Kaoru, who recoiled as he spoke conversationally, "Kamiya-san, forgive me for disrupting your wedding, but I am quite anxious to have a meeting with your intended. I do hope he's intending to acknowledge my invitation."
"Don't worry," Kaoru spat. "Kenshin will be more than happy to oblige you, he'll see to it that you pay for taking me. But he'll bide his time, waiting for just the right moment."
Hashimoto chuckled in delight. "I would expect nothing less from the Battousai. But alas, I am an impatient man and do hope, for your sake, he hastens for if he does not come by the midnight hour, I shall deliver you to him, dead."
Kaoru paled as the man's soulless umber eyes bored into her, the message from their frigid depths clear. . . .
Outside, Misao and Aoshi crept stealthily behind the shrine temple, their presence imperceptable as the famed Oniwabanshu. Aoshi scanned the perimeter of the shrine grounds, noting the guards stationed at the arches, wakizashi at their sides. He gestured to Misao and she nodded then silently followed as they inched closer.
Hiding in the thick bushes flanking the main shrine temple, Aoshi and Misao moved along the side, peering into the small windows. The first revealed the main sanctuary where Hashimoto and Maita sat on cushions in deep conversation. Aoshi nodded and they continued spotting a small group of men practicing kendo moves of jodan and chudan. They continued the investigation and found nothing until Misao came to the last one. She peeked inside and saw Kaoru, lying on a wooden bench, slightly battered but alive as she saw that her friend was breathing. Relieved, she gave a signal to Aoshi as they both headed back into the woods to report to Kenshin. . . .
Down by the river in the outlying wooded area, Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sano all lay in wait, each lost in separate reveries as the sun made its decent behind the mountains in the distance.
Yahiko crouched beside Kenshin, his mind swirling with everything he had discovered this day. He was still feeling the pang of resentment at having been so ignorant of the goings on in his own home. The way Kenshin and Kaoru had kept him in the dark, first about their new faith and then about their involvement in Itikaku Mizu, a hanare Kirishitan group that was under siege fired up his anger. But his rage was borne of hurt that even after a year of being a vital part of the Kenshingumi, they had not trusted him enough to reveal these facts to him. It hurt him deeply and he brooded about it as he worried about what that involvement may mean to Kaoru's safety.
Sanosuke knelt behind some thick shrubbery as he too pondered about the situation now before the Kenshingumi and he shook his head at the unbelievable circumstance. Even when they all had faced almost insurmountable odds against Shishio Makoto, Amakusa Shougo, and even Yukimura Enishi, one thing had remained as a constant that led to ulimate victory and that was their working together, a whole. Now it appeared that Kenshin and Kaoru had cut themselves off, getting involved in the group that was the target of renegade former shogunate soldiers, inviting disaster. And disaster had come a-calling, as now Jou-chan was captured as bait for the former hitokiri that was the scourge of the Shinsengumi. He wondered idly if it would ever change, if former enemies of Himura Battousai would ever let the reformed assassin live in peace with a normal life.
The man in question was also squatted down, watching both the advancing darkness and the shrine buildings, his mind burdened with conflicting thoughts and feelings battering at him relentlessly like storm waves. Kenshin was being tossed amidst a maelstrom of emotions that ran the gamut from worry for his bride to self-recrimination to frustration to an almost palatable hatred for Hashimoto that morphed into a fury that he had never before experienced. This anger was so intense it pulsated throughout his being, giving him a thirst for blood the likes that had never been even when he was at his heyday as the Ishin Shishi's most formidable hitokiri. He unconsciously reached and took hold of the hilt of his sakabatou, almost caressing it as he pictured Hashimoto prone on the ground, the blood seeping into the dried ground as his life ebbed away and a slow cruel smile came to his lips as he relished the thought. The vow of never killing again forgotten, death was lurking in the heart of Battousai as he watched the sun set. Kenshin bided his time as he almost eagerly waited for the opportunity to spill blood.
The sun began to sink lower behind the mountains, the orange glow gradually fading as darkness began falling, night slowly but surely approaching. Kenshin rose to his feet, yet still in a crouch as he spoke in a low tone to his companions.
"It's time."
Yahiko and Sano both got up and followed Kenshin as the headed to the shrine grounds, soundlessly as they picked their way toward the main temple building. Once to the main perimeter, Aoshi and Misao had joined them as they all strategized.
Aoshi spoke first, "The guards will be easy to subdue, they don't appear to be very skilled. They're wearing wakizashi, no katana."
Kenshin asked abruptly, "Did you see where they have Kaoru?"
Misao nodded. "Hai. She's in a inner chamber, a little worse for wear but alive."
Kenshin closed his eyes and thanked Kami above for His protection. He then said with his fury barely in check, "And the shiseiji Hashimoto, did you spot him?"
"Hai, he's in the main temple sanctuary with a woman, Battousai," Aoshi stated.
"Hai, and very cozy too." Misao nodded and became dismayed when a thought occurred to her. "Himura, I've seen that woman before. She was the one taking care of the children in the Itikaku Mizu meeting at the dojo a few days ago."
Kenshin's amber orbs widened slightly as he digested this news and recalled the conversation he had with Danjuro concerning the way Akai Ryu seemed to know every move the Itikaku Mizu made and they both came to the same conclusion, that there was a spy in their midst. Kenshin's own suspicion had grown when Kaoru had relayed to him about Maita's aloofness and downright hostility that had miraculously vanished. He cursed as he mentally berated himself for being so blind.
Kenshin's eyes narrowed to his hitokiri death glare as he scowled darkly. "No matter. His fate is sealed and if she's allied with him so is hers. The shiseiji and his baishunfu will both dance into the afterlife on my blade."
Everyone gaped at the man who wore so many faces and were astonished to see what must have been the Hitokiri Battousai that nightmares of the Bakumatsu were made of. All signs of the placid rurouni were gone as Kenshin's countenance was hard and cold but for his eyes, which were glowing like rubies as the amber turned to scarlet. It made all of them somber and a little fearful as they contemplated the transformation.
Misao drew her kunai from her gi. "Feh, we'll make quick work of them."
Kenshin nodded as he began to rattle off assignments. "Aoshi, you and Misao take the front guard at the temple and any of Hashimoto's soldiers that may be about." He then turned the others. "Yahiko and Sanosuke, you two take care of the guards in the shrine grounds and then meet us in the temple."
Both nodded but before they went off, Yahiko, frightened by the change in Kenshin approached his hero with trepidation. "K-Kenshin?"
The ruby orbs pinned him. "Aa?"
"C-can I ask you a question?"
Kenshin's face softened as he gazed at the youth. "Hai, Yahiko?"
Yahiko swallowed hard as he continued, "Why didn't you and Kaoru tell me about becoming Christians?"
Kenshin suddenly felt a chill as he realized his murderous thoughts and brusque behavior of before were not in line with his new beliefs but he felt the struggle and conflict tearing at him within as he battled with his terror of losing the one person most precious to him. He closed his eyes and called out to his Savior and in answer, the Battousai retreated. His expression then changed and Kenshin opened his eyes, which resumed their violet hue as he took a deep breath and answered.
"I'm deeply sorry for not telling you, Yahiko, that I most certainly am. But the beliefs Kaoru and I are now embracing are new to us and sometimes difficult to understand. We know that they are the opposite of our former faith. We weren't sure how to tell you."
Yahiko nodded as he immediately understood. "Arigatou Kenshin, for telling me."
Kenshin smiled at the boy and affectionately ruffled his head. No Yahiko, arigatou to you for with that question, by asking it you helped me get my serenity back. "Let's go rescue Kaoru." And they raced off to the temple. . . .
Back inside, Hashimoto sat with Maita flanking him as some of his henchmen lit lanterns, illuminating the sanctuary. The lanterns were placed high in preparation for the battle that was forthcoming, the flames leaping above the shades as the soldiers of Akai Ryu were gathered before their commander.
"We're ready, Hashimoto-sama. Just say the word and we'll slay the Battousai for the honor of Akai Ryu."
Hashimoto rose to his feet and reached for the hilt of his katana. "Arigatou but iie I alone will have the duty of sending Battousai to the afterlife."
"Then come and embrace your fate. But be aware that many a foolhardy opponent harbored the very same ambition and have been soundly defeated." The low baritone voice spoke from the side in cold authority laced with rage. The last rays of day silhouetted the diminutive figure in the open doorway, sword drawn and at the ready, flamed topknotted tresses blowing in the breeze.
The guards all drew their weapons and crouched into battle stances as their leader held up a hand to subdue them.
"Go outside and join the others. I'm sure Battousai did not follow my request completely and brought his friends. They should be no trouble for you to take care off."
"Hai." The swordsmen bowed and sprinted out of the sanctuary.
Hashimoto stepped before Kenshin and bowed mockingly, "Ahh Battousai. How good of you to accept my invitation, welcome. I am indeed honored."
Kenshin strode forward his face in a dark scowl, eyes narrowed golden slits. "You left me little choice but for me to come having been so cowardly as to have kidnapped my bride. Where is she?" he demanded in a growl.
Hashimoto grinned evilly as he replied, "Are you so eager for her to bear witness to your demise?"
"You shouldn't boast of your victory before it occurs," Kenshin countered. "IF it happens."
Hashimoto ignored the jibe as he ordered Maita over his shoulder. "Go and retrieve Kamiya-san. It is only fitting that on the night of her wedding day she see her intended one more time before he meets his doom."
She turned to leave then remembering something, turned back. "Etsuyo, you made a promise to me."
"I have not forgotten, Hana-chan. You shall have what you wish. Now go." He dismissed her with a wave then turned to his opponent, drawing his sword.
"Prepare yourself for death, Battousai!"
In the dark chamber Kaoru sat on the bench and shivered in both the evening chill and fright, not knowing what was going on. She rose to her feet as the door slid open and Maita entered.
She used her dagger to slice the bounds as she sneered at the young woman, "Come with me. Your groom has arrived and it should be quite entertaining. Etsuyo wants you to watch him send the legendary samurai to his death."
Kaoru said hotly, "Don't be absurd. Kenshin is far more powerful than either of you could imagine."
"Spoken like the true whore of the Battousai," Maita jeered as she reached and wrenched Kaoru's arm, eliciting a cry of pain from the girl.
Kaoru's eyes narrowed to sapphire slits as she countered, "It takes one to know one."
Maita gasped as she reached back to issue a slap to Kaoru's alabaster cheek but the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu used her lightning reflexes to halt the blow in motion as she tightened her hold on Maita's wrist.
"Don't take me lightly, Maita. I've battled the likes of Kamatari the Death Scythe of the Juppongatana and won so be very careful. Why don't you prove your point in an honest fight?"
Maita wrenched her hand away with a grunt. She reached for her katana and snarled, "I'll cut you to shreds!" With a cry she drew the blade and crouched in a battle stance.
Kaoru needed no further invitation as she reached for the bamboo pole she had spied earlier during her captivity. She squared off, holding the makeshift bokken with both hands.
"Come at me!" she railed. . .
In the sanctuary, Kenshin and Hashimoto were circling each other, gauging their opponents as the battle light entered their eyes.
Hashimoto said conversationally, "Seems like old times, eh Battousai? The Ishin Shishi and the Shinsengumi locking horns once again. Welcome back to the Bakumatsu."
"I would prefer to keep the past where it belongs," Kenshin responded, "in the past."
Hashimoto continued, "I suppose you would. After slaying the woman you loved to add to the countless others that died by your hands I would think you'd have some scrap of decency, however slight."
"You dare to speak of decency?" Kenshin's eyes narrowed to ruby tinted gold slits as he growled, "Abducting an innocent woman on her wedding day to lure her groom to be slain makes you as vile and base as I was as a hitokiri. You bastard!"
"Enough useless prattle and infantile insults," Hashimoto barked. "The time has come to usher you into hell!" He drew his katana and got into a familiar stance, the attack called the Hirazuki, which all members of the Shinsengumi used, their trademark. But there was also that variation that was attributed to the Wolf of Mibu himself Saito Hajime, the Gatotsu as Hashimoto prepared.
Kenshin got into his batujitsu stance, his eyes glaring balefully as he said flatly, "Let's go. . . ."
In the meditation chamber, Maita and Kaoru were locked in battle, both also fighting to the death as Maita baited the bride-to-be.
"It's laughable that you think you can defeat me with a mere bamboo pole," she scoffed. "Your title of 'Kenjutsu Princess' is a sham and now I'll prove it!" With a cry, she ran forward with a mid waist thrust that Kaoru parried easily in spite of her wedding kimono.
As she effortlessly dodged the thrust Kaoru sniffed, "Is that the best you have? Really, it's a bit disappointing."
"Shut up," Maita snapped. "I haven't even gotten started."
"Then give me your best and be quick about it," Kaoru ordered. "I grow weary of your cackling."
Her face mottled almost purple with rage she faced Kaoru and spat, "Now die, Kamiya!" as she raced toward her, katana raised for a vertical slash. But Kaoru twisted her body and with the bamboo pole swung horizontally and struck Maita in the back hard, causing the woman to stumble with forward momentum. As she fell forward, the katana flew from her hand and clattered as it slid across the floor.
But Kaoru wasn't done as she rushed forward and brought the pole down savagely on Maita's right shoulder, dislocating the arm from the joint as Maita screamed in pain, her right arm now useless.
Kaoru tried to feel compassion but thoughts of her wedding day spoiled built the rage in her. "Get up and we'll finish this."
Maita struggled to her feet, gasping and wincing yet reaching for the discarded katana taking it into her left hand. "Ha, I can slay you with my weaker hand as well as my stronger one." She held the blade before her like a lance.
She ran forward with a feral cry and her crazed visage showed triumph as it looked that the evil blade was headed for a direct hit to skewer Kaoru's heart. But the assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, having held a bokken in her hands from early childhood aimed low and holding the bamboo pole horizonally before her, smashed the pole into Maita's right knee, shattering the bone and causing the woman to crumple to the floor, flat on her face.
Maita screamed as the combined pain of her injured shoulder and shattered knee caused her to lose consciousness. Kaoru threw aside the bamboo pole and lifted the woman to lay her on the bench.
"I'll send someone to tend your wounds," Kaoru muttered to the still Maita as she opened the door to hurry to where Kenshin was. . . .
The night had completely fallen causing the sanctuary to be almost eerie in appearance illuminated only in candlelight as the two hitokiri from the Bakumatsu fought, both with the energy born of violent rage. Hashimoto ran at Kenshin, his own desire to be the one to defeat the legendary Battousai, the only member of the scum Imperialist Ishin Shishi that eluded the mighty Shinsengumi driving him.
And Kenshin was livid by the outright audacity of the leader of the Akai Ryu to dare to take his treasure, his bride. No man who was foolhardy enough to try to threaten that which he held dear would escape the fully unbridled wrath of the Battousai. Amber eyes with a scarlet tint promised death as the denied groom relentlessly swung his sakabatou.
The clang of steel meeting steel rang out and echoed in the large sparse room as the two men attacked each other tirelessly. Kenshin's god like speed gave him the advantage mostly as he dodged each thrust of the Hirazuki, countering by using the Ryu Tsui Sen to deliver a blow to the neck, stunning Hashimoto momentarily.
He panted as he recovered, ignoring the pain as the nerves responded. "You're still as strong as ever, Battousai. I've not had such a worthy opponent in a long time."
"So you stoop to kidnapping to secure an opponent to fight you," Kenshin mocked, disdain plain in his voice. "And you attack helpless innocent people that just want to be free to worship their God. You're lower than the lowest vermin, Hashimoto."
"Humph! You can stand and judge me when the blood of thousands stains your hands. And you have the arrogance to believe that your belief in a foreign god will wipe away that blood and atone for all your sins. You're a fool, Battousai."
Kenshin resheathed his sword. "I may be a fool, Hashimoto, but at least I'm, trying to atone for my sins. Can you say the same? Your hands are as bloody as mine are from the Bakumatsu as well as they are on all the mishaps with Itikaku Mizu, from the attacks against Danjuro-san to the fire that nearly killed nearly fifty innocent people. You have the same blatant disregard for life that led to your dismissal from the Shinsengumi." He resumed his battoujitsu stance. "Come and try to defeat me."
Hashimoto prepared as he resumed the Hirazuki form and dashed forward, using a form of chudan that had the blade aimed for Kenshin's chest. The latter dodged and used a Ryu Shou Sen to counter but not without Hashimoto managing to injure him, causing his blood to stain his wedding gi at the right shoulder.
Hashimoto chuckled as he noted the stream of blood that ran down Kenshin's front. "Forgive me, I seemed to have ruined your wedding clothes. Well, no matter since they will be the clothes you wear to the your funeral pyre."
Kenshin took in a deep breath as he glanced at his wound and said, "Again I must point out that claiming victory before it actually happens is a foolhardy thing. You really shouldn't boast before you've earned that privilege."
Unknown to the combatants, they were joined by Kaoru who had made her way to the sanctuary and gasped as she spotted the blood streaming down the front of Kenshin's gi.
"Kenshin!" she shrieked as she ran forward, her own pains forgotten as she saw the man she loved hurt.
"Huh?"
At the sound of her voice, the former hitokiri turned to see his bride rushing forward. Unspeakable joy and relief filled his heart as he turned to gaze at the love of his life but it proved to be his undoing as he was momentarily distracted. Hashimoto grinned evilly as he saw his chance and charged forward with a driving jodan, almost assuring instant decapitation of its victim. But this was the Battousai and his senses alerted him to the oncoming danger and so Kenshin used his penultimate attack, the Kuzo Ryu Sen with his godlike speed, hitting all nine major body points on Hashimoto flawlessly. The leader of the Akai Ryu stopped as if in slow motion and collapsed face down as blood began flowing from his wounds.
Kaoru watched oblivious to the hideous tableau before her like one in a dream as she came towards her groom and plastered herself to him bursting into tears. Kenshin became only aware of the scent and feel of his bride as he tossed his sakabatou aside and crushed her to him.
"It's all over now, koishii. Shhh, it's all over and you're safe now, that you are. . ."
Outside, the combined efforts of Aoishi and his double kodachi, Misao and her expertly wielded kunai, Sanosuke with his fists and a well placed Futae No Kiwami, and Yahiko with his shinai and his own combinations of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu and Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu made short work of the Akai Ryu inner guard. Black and red clad prone bodies were strewn around the shrine grounds as the foursome gathered to converse.
Yahiko was the first to speak as he said breathlessly, "Wow, we really gave it to 'em."
Misao joined in the crowing as she exclaimed, "You said it! They were no match for us."
Sanosuke smirked as he raised a fist and said, "Yep, they never knew what hit 'em the poor devils."
Aoshi stood there with his usual silent and sullen presence when his eyes narrowed at the sound of someone approaching from the shrine steps. Three unexpected figures emerged from the staircase and at the sight, four pairs of eyes widened in surprise.
"Well, well here you all are," Saito Hajime drawled as he strolled up to the group nonchalantly as if he were inquiring about a routine traffic tie-up.
Sano replied tersely, "Yeah, and as usual your timing stinks, Saito. Kenshin and Hashimoto are inside fighting and we still don't know if Jou-chan's okay."
Kamioka Danjuro came to the group, his face lined with worry as he heard the last comment. "We should go in the temple and lend our assistance."
Another deep bass voice said scoffingly, "Humph, if I know my baka deshi, he's in there giving it his all. He may be a baka, but his skill is unparalleled. And he was my deshi, after all." Hiko Seijiro the thirteenth joined the throng as two figures came out of the temple.
"Look!" Yahiko pointed out. "It's Kenshin and Kaoru!"
The group rushed over as Kenshin and Kaoru, looking somewhat disheveled yet well, descended the stairs and came to the others, hand in hand.
"What did I tell you," Hiko said matter-of-factly as everyone greeted the couple.
NEXT---ANOTHER OBSTACLE