The Story of Yuki

Sir Hiko beckoned them to come inside, where a strong fire was being fueled from a neat fireplace. They sat on the table, across from him, looking intently at him.

"There was a young woman who I found running up Mount Hiyae, blinded by tears. She collapsed, blood all over her, and I was afraid that she would die. But then I realized that she wasn't covered in her blood, but that of someone else. So I took her near the waterfall and lay her there, until she would awake."

"A young woman…" Kaoru blinked, "Covered… in blood?"

"When she woke up, she found me standing over the waterfall, looking away from her. I told her that she was safe, and that she should go back where she came from." He had a cup of sake in his hand, and he sipped it at the moment, "She told me that her mother had been slain in front of her. And she started crying again."

"Wait, what does this--?" Misao began.

"Don't you see? She said she wanted justice, she said she wanted to kill the man whom slaughtered her parents. She said he slaughtered everyone in her family that night. She was the only one who was spared."

"It wasn't until she said that the assassin who killed her family had a cross-shaped scar… that I began to see what had happened." He grit his teeth, "I knew right away that it was my apprentice. At first, I wanted to find him myself, and destroy him. But then, this girl was willing to learn from me. The Hiten Mitsurugi style. She had heard of me from somewhere, I have no idea how. It turned out she was running towards me all along. At the time, I truly believed that my apprentice had become a murderer, so I trained her, hoping she would bring an end to his reign as the battousai."

Miss Kaoru's eyes widened, "How old was she?!" she suddenly said, quite strongly, "You said she was a young woman… but surely… surely she was younger than ten? Was she six?"

"No. She was only five years younger than my apprentice at the time. She had outmost potential for her age. A will that was similar to my apprentice as well. She vowed to bring down the assassin. I trained her for five years, but by that time, the revolution was already far from over, and I hoped that she would finally come to peace with herself. She was a very pure, innocent, young woman. But then…"

"What happened next?" Shura asked.

"When she was seventeen, her skills had surpassed that of even Kenshin's the last time I saw him. Before I knew it, she had learned all that I could teach. And she wished to learn the last move… the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki."

"When I questioned her, she demanded that she would be satisfied forever once she learned the attack that could render anyone helpless. I told her that it was beyond murder, and that the act itself of teaching her the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki would end my life. But she didn't care. She told me that she still wanted to destroy my apprentice. But she didn't know that he was thought to be dead. He was rumored to have died right after the revolution. When I told her this, she was outraged. After telling her that I had only held it in so that she wouldn't know the truth, and that I thought she was ready now to accept it, it changed her."

"The next day while I was drinking sake, she assailed upon me. We fought for about an hour, running around the forest and jumping off trees. She had truly learned the skill and had been holding back her true potential from me all this time. After she had told me all the pain I caused her, and how she really wanted to kill my apprentice, I knew I had to end her life. I used the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki on her, but since I didn't have the heart to destroy her completely, I had only used the sheath of my sword. I was almost certain she was dead, so I laid her on the waterfall, where I left her five years ago. The next day, she was gone."

"Wait, so why did you just leave it at that?!" Kaoru demanded.

"When I saw she was gone, I thought there was a possibility that she could still be alive, so I went in search for her. Later… I heard from rumors in town that she was stolen from the waterfall from some slave traders, and that while dead, she was sexually raped. But when I searched for the rumored slave traders, I found no trace of them whatsoever. It was a pity. I felt guilty about what I had done… but I realized that she was dead from the beginning. Her mind… I realized, was only for revenge."

Miss Kaoru was trembling.

Shura looked at her, "Things like these always happened a long time ago. There were worse cases before the Meiji Era and the Revolution…"

Miss Kaoru was still trembling. Finally, she said, "Who was your apprentice?"

"Mirami, Shiai." He said, "But I gave her another name, and since back then I had the impression I had to make something that Kenshin would recognize, I named her something that I knew would strike Kenshin immediately. I gave it to her so it would knock some sense on my apprentice."

"Another name…?" Kaoru froze. Her blood started to quicken.

"I gave her the name of the woman who had scarred Kenshin ten years ago." He looked at Kaoru straight in the eyes, "Yukishiro."

------

Kenshin's eyes opened.

"Miss… Megumi?" He muttered, seeing a blurry image of her above him.

"Sir Ken." She said, quite angrily, "Why do you keep fighting?"

"I'm sorry… that I am." Kenshin said, "My enemy… truly knows the Hiten Mitsurugi skill. My opponent… surpasses that of the battousai…"

Suddenly the door opened, "Hey!" Sano shouted, "Where's miss Yuki? She's gone!" Yahiko was right behind him.

"Yeah, I thought she was majorly injured from before. What happened to her?"

Kenshin shook his head, "Don't worry, she'll be ok." He said, "She'll be ok… two more days…"

Miss Megumi looked at him, "NO!" she practically screamed, "You're not even in good health yet. What do you mean two days! You don't intend to fight the assassin again."

"I already…"

"No! Sir Ken, I will not allow you! Even if it means drugging you! I will not let you fight again! Your body is in critical condition, you are not in any—"

"Don't worry." Sano said, "Kenshin will be—"

"NO! At least two weeks!" Miss Megumi said.

"But by then, the assassin will already have killed more people" Sano said.

"Then warn the entire city! Surely they'll plan something!"

"What are you talking about?! Are you suggesting that I…"

"Yes! YOU! Otherwise, you'll have to just leave them all in danger. You have to bring up the issue and make sure everyone stays safe during the night in order to prevent the assassinations."

"There's no way. Kenshin is gone"

"Yes, there is a way." She pushed him out the door with her.

"H-hey!" Yahiko protested.

"Stay with Kenshin!" Megumi ordered him, "Let me knock some sense into this guy!" she pulled him over far far away from the building to an isolated area.

"You can do something."

"How?!"

"Contact the police."

"The… police?!"

"You know what I mean."

"What do you mean, I've got no idea!"

"We need his help. If there's anyone else who can help us, it's him, and you know who I'm talking about."

Sano froze, "No WAY!"

"From last I heard, Sir Saitou was reported in the head of the department. All we need is to telegraph him."

"Noo!"

"Yes! Otherwise—"

"I doubt he'll help us again!"

"Why don't you tell him who we're up against? I bet he will be ThRiLlEd. Also, although he's Kenshin's arch-rival from the revolution, he was the leader of the Shinsengumi. He'd be happy to avenge his fallen comrades."

"I… I…" he paused, "Fine! But this is the one and ONLY time I'll be doing this." He grit his teeth, "Although he helped us fight against Shishio, he's still a man that I'd hate to acquaint myself with."

Miss Megumi smiled, "Good. At least you'll feel much safer at night."

Sano sighed, "Give me a break."

A sudden voice appeared, "Tell me about it."

Miss Megumi and Sano turned around, surprised, to find Yuki, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, "That freak from the Revolution? You've gotta be kidding."

------

"Who… is Yukishiro…" Miss Kaoru asked.

"Now tell me." Hiko said, "Before I say anything else. What is the situation? How is my apprentice?"

"I'm sorry." Miss Kaoru said, "I should have told you…"

"When the rest of the Kenshin-gumi went to Yamasaki village, we met a woman in patches. She said she had lived in the revolution and her mother was killed by an assassin she could not remember. She claimed that she was 17, and that her name was Yuki. Do you think…"

"It may only be coincidence." Hiko said, "Tell me about the impersonator."

"He knows… or she knows… the Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki… with double katana's."

Hiko's eyes widened, "How would you know?"

"Kenshin was hit with it. And he passed out."

"With that kind of attack, he would be dead. So it obviously is not--"

"No. The blades were reversed ... for that purpose" Kaoru said, stronger, "She didn't want to kill him… yet."

"Reversed…" Shura and Misao echoed.

Sir Hiko stood still, "No. She was dead. It cannot be."

"I'm sorry…" Kaoru was trembling, "I'm just as shocked…" she continued to tell him the entire story, from when they first met Yuki to the day when she was left with Kenshin. Now it was Sir Hiko's turn to be impressed.

"Stupid Apprentice…" he muttered again, "There's no more time." He said, suddenly, "We have to begin now."

"What do you mean?" Miss Kaoru said.

"What is that strapped upon your back?" Hiko said, "It's a sword, is it not?"

"…uh-?!" she gasped, touching the hilt of her wooden sword.

"Hopefully, you know the basics." He said, seriously, "Otherwise, It would take longer than a week."

"Sir-! What are you--?"

"There is no more time. We must go to the waterfall, now. Your training begins in five minutes from now."

Shura and Misao blinked, "How about us--?"

"Sorry." Hiko said, "Only one student at a time. This girl is the true friend of my apprentice… I could tell from the first day I saw her." He looked at her, "You are the reason why he desires to live."

Kaoru blushed, "Sir---"

"You have finally settled the anguish in his heart. A true sword has a sheath… but a true warrior has a shield, the partner of the sword that he wields.

ONE WEEK LATER---

Saitou sighed, "I don't see any promise, boy." He said to Sano, "I've been here for six days and seven nights, and I still haven't seen the assassin that you speak of."

"Look, you don't have to look at me." Sano said, "You saw Kenshin. You know that the assassin is real."

Saitou laughed, "I didn't think such a man would be that intimidated, but then again, I am the Wolf of Mibu. They have every reason to fear me."

"I'm pretty sure if the assassin could take the battousai down, he would have almost no trouble doing the same to you." Yuki said, from behind them.

"Oh, it's miss conceited again." Sano said, grumbling.

Saitou looked at her and laughed, "All of you think of the battousai too highly. Then again, I shouldn't even call him battousai. He's now merely Kenshin Himura, a man who has gone soft after the revolution."

"How ironic, calling me conceited, after hearing Mr. Saitou from the revolution." Yuki said back to Sano.

"The Shinsengumi were always feared during those times." Saitou said, smiling, "I'm sure you can understand, survivor."

"Actually, I wasn't afraid at all." She said, "One of my friends was in the Shinsengumi. His name was Okita."

Saitou glanced at her, and she stared at him back. "Oh, is that so?" he paused, "It was a pity, his disease. I'm pretty sure you've heard."

"Yes. I felt sad for him."

"Anyhow." He combed his hair with his hand, "It's over."

"He told me of the battousai." She said, "Before he died, that is."

"He was quite popular at the time." Saitou said.

"What did he say?" Sano demanded.

"He told me about his style… the … Hiten Mitsurugi."

"So THAT'S how you knew about it before!" Sano said, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Who's this Okita guy you speak of?"

"He's dead." Saitou said, "He was my apprentice."

Sano blinked. "Oh…"

Yuki glanced at them, "I don't know, Sir Saitou." She said, innocently, "The way I perceive the situation, the assassin may just be analyzing his opponent before fighting him."

Saitou grinned, "Now THAT, would be a good idea. However, now that the battousai is healing, he should attack soon before both of us assail upon him."

"I've been training all week." Sano said, proudly, "I've done it for Yahiko, because he won't be able to fight, and I promised him I'd smack that assassin good." He grinned, "I can use the Futae no Kiwami with everything except my left leg."

"Idiot." Saitou said.

"HuH?!"

"You shouldn't give away your weaknesses. Now even I know about it. You're careless, did I mention that?" He grinned, "And even if you did improve, you'd be nothing compared to the assassin."

Yuki also smiled, "You seem quite confident." She said, "Sure, we're smiling about it right now, but let me tell you when the assassin shows we will all be more tense then ever. Well… except me, that is."

Saitou glanced at her, "According to statistics, your luck is up." He said, "Just because you've survived all this time… don't think you don't have it coming to you."

"Is that why you've been guarding me more than everyone else?"

"Yes." Saitou said, "The assassin hasn't killed you yet, which is very unlikely. He may want to settle the score first with you when he strikes next, so I've been taking the safest pre-caution for your sake." He put his hands to his lips and closed his eyes, "You should consider yourself in debt."

Man… Sano smiled… I can't believe it, but I see what he's saying. He's been thinking like me all along, that somehow the assassin might be related to this girl. Saitou's no fool! He's got the rat in the hole, all right. Yes!

"What are you smiling about, boy?" Saitou suddenly asked.

"Oh… nothing… nothing at all." He flashed a smile at Yuki, and she sighed loudly.

------

Kaoru screamed, spinning a 360 in the air before landing face first into the water of the river.

"You're lucky that the water is deep today." Sir Hiko said.

Kaoru stood up, water dripping from her training uniform, panting, "You're too fast…" she panted, "I can't… keep up…"

"No excuses. Before, you couldn't even block one strike. Now you can block five, I'd say that's a big improvement."

She held up her wooden sword, "I told you before, I only use the Kamiya Kasshin style to fight. I do not intend to learn any of the Hiten Mitsurugi."

Hiko grinned, "You've already learned more than you could imagine." He smiled, "Again, come at me!"

She rushed, all she saw was a blur as she accelerated to her maximum speed. She rose her training sword over her head and—

"Ahh!" she found herself falling into the water again.

"Faster!" Hiko said, "Your lunge isn't calm enough. It's full of too much force, your heart is beating too hard, your breathing is too deep. All of these break the flow of your speed. Disregard all of them!"

She rose again, holding her wooden sword.

"You cannot concentrate upon an attack if you aren't focused. Now strike, again!"

She waited until she found her impulse, like he had told her before, and lunged.

"As soon as your impulse to strike awakens within you…" he had said before, "That is the time to strike… leave no split second in between the interval. Your impulse and attack should be one… and the same. Trust your mind, and your body will perform automatically. A true swordsman trusts his mind, and knows what is best to do through impulse."

She didn't know why it came so naturally to her this time. Later on she guessed it was because of the fact that she had seen that exact same expression on Kenshin's face whenever he fought, so much, that she was able to emulate the exact same feeling upon herself.

For some reason, Sir Hiko was approaching much faster towards her now. Her legs had caught on such a fast pace, that her acceleration burst forth as strong as an explosion, sending her closer to him ever faster than before.

Suddenly she splashed upon the water yet again.

When her head surfaced again, she spit out the water from her mouth, "Oh… it's helpless." She said, "I knew I'd…"

Sir Hiko laughed.

"What's so funny?!" She asked him, "Am I really that pathetic?" she was about to cry at that moment, all that frustration hit her harder than before.

Sir Hiko laughed louder. Kaoru's eyes started to water.

"I'm sorry…" he said, chuckling, "It's just that I didn't expect I would use the battoujitsu in order to stop your attack."

Kaoru's heart suddenly rose, and she suddenly felt warm all of a sudden. Now the tears gathering upon her eyes fell, but not out of anguish, but of pure happiness.

"You mean…" she paused, "You used the battoujitsu?!"

Hiko Seijiro grinned, "Just consider yourself lucky it wasn't the Amakakeru Ryuu No Hirameki."

Kaoru smiled, "Then I'm set?" she asked him, "Am I ready—"

"No." Hiko's smile vanished, "You are still of no use to my apprentice." He said, coldly, "You're progression was fast, but not nearly as fast as I hoped."

Kaoru's mouth dropped, "I've only had three hours of sleep this entire week and you still don't think after all those squats with the two water buckets upon my shoulders… of trying to stand with one foot upon the wooden peg for almost two days, which I finally got, and getting slammed by your sheath made out of bamboo more than 500 times already, you don't think…"

"From the squats, you've increased your explosive speed when you lunge. From standing on the peg, you've learned how to master the art of concentration. And… from all those attacks you've been hit with, you've learned perseverance, and what to expect an attack from a sword to be like."

"Those 500 different strikes were all the different various ones from the Hiten Mitsurugi, correct?"

"Those are the 500 basic strikes. There are over 1000 more if your opponent may counter those attacks in any series of ways."

"This is crazy…"

"For example, while I do my Battoujitsu, in slow motion, dodge it and follow up with something."

She did as she was told, and suddenly she found herself falling in the water again.

"You need more blocking practice." He said.

"But you already showed me… all the strikes…" Kaoru protested.

"I've only performed the 500 strikes once. You need to see it at least 100 times more before you'll be able to learn them fully! Let's begin."

"Oh nooooooooooo!" Kaoru screamed, as she tried her best to block all the merciless attacks of Sir Hiko.

------

"I want a rematch." Sano said, as he found Saitou smoking under the moonlight, "I need to test my skills, how they've improved."

"Another fist fight?" Saitou asked, chuckling, "Are you sure?"

"I'm totally." Sano said, "I vowed I would beat you."

"I'm sorry." Saitou said, "That will never happen, and you should know so."

"Not with my… Futae no Kiwami!" He rushed at Saitou

"What a fool." He dodged Sano's attack easily and quickly moved aside from Sano's other hand and foot as it began to execute a finely well thought out combo.

"Quite a move." Saitou said, dodging the 14th attack, "You must've been thinking about it this whole week!"

"True!" He said, using all his limbs at once.

"No use." Saitou said, dodging his one attack at once and chopping him down to the floor. Sano lay, panting.

"Hey—hey—" he panted, "Why—why didn't it work?!"

"Imbecile." Saitou said, "All I have to do is look at your shoulders. Your every move is most predictable." He paused, "Your speed is fine, but your attacks are aimless. I only have to move a centimeter to reduce the damage by half, and it only takes three centimeters in order to dodge it."

"Thanks… I'll… keep that in mind."

"Also, find a new move. Your opponent will be expecting every one of your attacks. A new move will help you."

"My last move was—though!"

"Too easy to dodge." Saitou said, "Here, do something like this—" He rose his hand up into the air…

------

Kaoru screamed again and fell face first into the water.

She scrambled up again, "Brr, it's freezing now." She commented.

"Out of the 500, you can now block 186 successfully." Hiko said, disappointedly, "That's less than 50 percent." He told her, "You need three more days."

Kaoru stood up, she was now even more beat up then ever. She didn't know what made her so strong to go through all this training. The whole week, she had been hiding her sores, and all the aches upon her body.

"Four more days." Hiko said, changing his mind, "You're fortunate. I'll let you rest in my cabin tonight."

Kaoru's mouth watered, "Re-really?! But sir…"

"You need a days worth of recuperation so you could focus better." He said, seriously, "Sleep your heart out, but remember, as soon as you wake up…" he paused, "Training will commence, and it will be harder."

Kaoru bowed.

"I will stay outside tonight, and meditate." Hiko told her, "Go, now."

Kaoru thanked him and limped to the hut. All she remembered afterwards was that she couldn't believe what was happening to her.

She continued boldly even when she thought she would pass out. Whenever she fell in the water, she breathed gently in the water to rejuvenate her energy. But she couldn't understand what made her push so hard, like never before. Even now, her body was trembling, and she could barely stand to face Hiko Seijiro. But… as she drew closer to the cabin's bed, she figured all this power… it was… from Kenshin.

She fell face first into the futon and everything became black

------

"Better" Saitou said, as Sano lunged more powerfully, "You have to adjust your attacks as soon as you see me move. Correct!" Saitou side-stepped quickly and slid with his foot back two meters, still in stance.

"One last thing." He paused, "Don't try too hard. You tend to miss things right under your nose when you do that."

"Saitou, use your sword." A voice called over from the window, "Use it with the sheath. It will help Sano, that it will."

Saitou looked back at Kenshin, "He wouldn't last a second." He exclaimed.

"So he would with two swords against him." Kenshin said.

Sano gulped, "What are you talking about?! OF course I could. All I have to do is dodge his attacks and then disarm him! Then I'm all set!"

"Fool." Saitou said, "You are far from it." He picked up his sword with the sheath still on, "Gatotsu!" He caught Sano on the left shoulder and pushed him back.

"ARGHH!" Sano cried out, falling over.

"Too slow." Saitou said, "Get up."

"You've gotta be kidding." Sano said, gasping, "You expect me to…"

"The assassin may be faster." Kenshin called out.

"Fine." He stood up, "I got it now. Let's go!"

Saitou grinned.

------

Kenshin Ending Theme Song…