Rurouni

By: Lady Jaye

Chapter 7: The Sakabatou

Gohan and his father stared up at the bright stars. A full moon hung in the sky between the two Earths. The young half-Saiyan wondered briefly which Earth was theirs. His mother must be worried sick.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think…about Radditz?" His father didn't answer him, but instead cast his gaze in the direction of the Kamiya family shrine. His brother had been in there for nearly two hours now. Goku had accidentally stumbled upon him in it, and had paused to look at him before quietly leaving. Radditz had been sitting cross-legged before a small altar on which he had lit several candles. When the breeze was right, Goku could occasionally smell the incense from where he stood. Secretly, the grief of his brother gave him a sense of guilt. He had never even thought to give a prayer for his dead parents or people.

"What's up guys?" Kururin asked as he joined the two of them. Tienshinhan soon joined them.

"We're just thinking."

"About Radditz?"

"Yeah."

Goku looked back toward the shrine. He saw Kaoru knock lightly on the door before walking in. By all rights, he should be in there too. But he wasn't.

The Supreme Kai and Kibito had left after the meeting. The Kaios had explained the situation to his brother and his friends before going on to explain how their universes differed. Apparently the Supreme Kai hadn't realized that in his universe it had been Radditz instead of Turles that had originally come to Earth to meet him. That had caused a tense moment, and had seemed to further pain his older brother.

After the discussion, Kaoru had decided, insisted actually, that they sleep at the dojo tonight before returning to Thain's Mountain in the morning. She had served them dinner, which had been rather horrible, but no one dared mutter a word about after she gave them all dirty looks. His brother had been the only one to eat though with any kind of relish. Sanosuke had made a comment that he wasn't supposed to get used to the food, which had caused Kaoru to throw a pan at him. After that, no one dared to say a word. Goku still remembered the conversation about Thain's Mountain.

"Thain's Mountain?" His brother had said.

"You've heard of it Kenshin?" Sanosuke had asked.

"Yes, this one has heard of it. They say a wise old man lives on top of it, but it is a dangerous climb, that it is. It is fortunate that everyone here is able to fly."

"You've seen it then?" The half-elf had asked.

"Once. It's in the Asturian Mountains. It's about seventy miles northwest of the North Wood Forest, where my Master lives."

"The Asturian Mountains? That's way up north. Where your Master lives, isn't that were the two of you lived when he trained you?"

"Yes. He took me a few times on training into the mountains, but we never went close to Thain's Mountain. I know that Master Hiko always wished to climb it someday though, that he does."

Radditz's Master, Goku thought. He must still be alive then. Radditz had also called him Master Hiko, which meant that his brother had taken up his master's family name. The four of them suddenly turned their heads to the front gate, where they sensed an approaching Ki.

They saw a man walking toward them, a human man. As he approached they saw that he also carried a sword at his hip. The swordsman paused next to them, with his long red hair picking up the traces of bright moonlight and earthlight. Jade green eyes seemed to judge them for a moment before the man nodded to himself and began walking toward the shrine.

"Who was that?" Gohan asked. His father shook his head. They watched as the swordsman walked unannounced into the little shrine and joined his brother and his friend. After a few minutes, they saw Kaoru leave and walk toward the house, which took her past the four.

"Um…Miss Kaoru? Who was that?" Gohan asked. The human paused to study them before answering.

"That was Hiko Seijuro, Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi style of swordsmanship. He's your uncle's master."

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"What has happened Kenshin?"

"Much, Master." Kenshin went on to explain the day's events to the patient Seijuro. After he was finished, his master leaned back as he studied his apprentice. The strain, while invisible to others, was clearly visible in the face of his adopted son.

"The universes breaking apart, that is not a pleasant thought, that it is not."

"No."

"What are ye going to do?"

"This one will accompany the others to Thain's Mountain. After that, I am not sure, that I'm not." Kenshin watched as his master thought about that. He hoped that Seijuro would come. His master had said before that he wanted to see what was on top of the mountain.

Seijuro, meanwhile, was staring off in the direction of Goku's Ki. So Kenshin had a brother and a nephew. His apprentice had said that there was another Saiyan and his half-human son as well in addition to the group. Apparently this Saiyan claimed to be a prince. If the man was as arrogant as Kenshin said he was, then Seijuro would have to drop him down a few pegs. The swordsmaster had little tolerance for arrogance.

"Master?"

"Yes Kenshin."

"Will ye be accompanying this one to Thain's Mountain?"

"Yes, although…"

"Although what?" Seijuro flashed his apprentice a wry grin.

"Although this one wishes that ye would have forewarned him. Thain's Mountain is much closer to home than Leilani is, that it is. Ye might have saved your master the journey!"

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Trunks hesitantly took a bite of his breakfast; the memory of last night's dinner was still fresh in his memory. To his surprise, it was actually quite good.

"This actually tastes good!" His father made the mistake of making. An angry Kaoru brandished her wooden sword at the Saiyan prince.

"Excuse me?!"

"It's a compliment woman! Why didn't you cook like this last night?!"

"Who says I cooked breakfast?!"

"Yeah, if Kaoru cooked it, we'd die of double food poisoning!" Yahiko exclaimed.

"My cooking isn't that bad!"

"Well, it's certainly a good thing that Sir Ken knows how to cook, otherwise I'd be treating several new patients," Megumi said, to Kaoru's irritation. The woman glared at the elf before sitting down with a huff.

"It's not my fault. I really don't understand it. I do everything that Kenshin does, but his food always ends up tasting better!" Kaoru pouted. The others stared at her in disbelief.

"You mean…" Vegeta sputtered, "that Radditz cooked this?!"

"Yeah, isn't it great?! It's nice to know that there's at least one person around here that can cook!" Kaoru hit Yahiko for that, causing a brief argument between the two. Goku stared at his brother, who was seated calmly next to his master. Radditz can cook?! Goku shook his head in disbelief. If Chi Chi found out about that, he'd never hear the end of it.

As much as this surprised the others, this fact didn't seem to faze the Dei-sho. Although they didn't need to eat, they took the offered meal anyway out of respect as guests. However, the three of them were very anxious to get going.

"We must leave soon," Lo-Pei said finally. The three Dei-sho watched as the mortals looked up from the meal to look at them.

"I agree," Kando said. "Time is precious, we mustn't waste it."

"We will be ready soon, Master Kando," Seijuro answered.

"Very well, Master Hiko."

Trunks couldn't help but sneak peeks at Seijuro, Kenshin, and Kaoru. He hadn't had much in the way of formal swordsmanship training, and here he was with three swordsmasters! Although he hadn't seen them in action yet, he could tell by the way they carried themselves that the three fighters were very skilled. The half-Saiyan hoped he'd get a chance for a lesson.

Kenshin caught Trunks looking at him again. He'd watched the young half-Saiyan practicing with his sword this morning while making breakfast. Trunks was skilled, but the Saiyan could tell that he hadn't had much for formal instruction.

"Your sword has excellent craftsmanship, Trunks," he said. Trunks gave a start as he realized that not only had Radditz noticed him watching, but Seijuro as well.

"Yeah it is. May I see yours? If it's not too much trouble I mean." Kenshin paused, then slid his sword out of his sheath before handing it to the young man.

Trunks gave a gasp as he looked at it.

"What is it Trunks?" Goku asked.

"The blade, it's on the wrong side!"

"It is called a Sakabatou, a reverse-blade sword," Kenshin told him.

"But you couldn't kill anyone with this!" Trunks exclaimed as he looked at the other Saiyan. He felt a shiver as he looked into Radditz's eyes.

"That sword is not meant to kill Trunks. I once used the sword that kills, but now I only use the sword that protects people, that I do. Whether it be a planet or a person that this one meets on the street, my sword will be used to protect people."

"The sword that protects people?"

"That's nonsense! A sword is meant to kill people!" Vegeta yelled. Goku eyed the suddenly drawn look on his brother's face.

"This one will not argue with that. I know much better than ye might think about the truth of that statement. However, I will not use my sword to kill, that I will not."

"You coward!" Vegeta yelled, but Kenshin ignored him. However, none of his friends would take that.

"KENSHIN IS NO COWARD!!!" Kaoru yelled angrily. Sanosuke and Yahiko were both on their feet, ready to defend their friend's honor. However, it was Seijuro's, not Kenshin's, voice that stopped the incoming fight.

"Ye presume to judge a man that ye do not know? That is a fool's folly. Perhaps ye should wonder as to why a man refuses to kill than to jump to conclusions, that you should." Vegeta glared at Seijuro, trying to provoke the swordsman, but the master swordsman wouldn't rise to the bait. With an angry growl, Vegeta stormed out of the house.

"Father!" Trunks yelled and rose to go after him.

"He'll be okay Trunks. Vegeta's not going anywhere," Goku said. The Saiyan turned to his brother.

"Why won't you kill, Radditz?"

"A story for another time perhaps. And please, Son Goku, please call this one Kenshin." Goku winced. He hated it when Vegeta called him Kakarott, you'd think that he could at least call his brother Kenshin instead of Radditz.

"Trunks, if you are interested, I'd be willing to teach you some of the Kamiya Kasshin style," Kaoru said. She'd been watching his sword practice this morning as well.

"Kamiya Kasshin?"

"Yes, it is a style of swordsmanship that my father developed. He refused to use swords that gave only death. The Kamiya Kasshin style teaches swordsmanship without killing."

"Is that the same kind of fighting that Master Hiko uses then?"

"No," Kenshin said. "The Hiten Mitsurugi is not the same kind of swordsmanship as the Kamiya Kasshin."

"What kind is it?" But neither Kenshin nor Seijuro would answer the young man. A gruff female voice interrupted them.

"As interesting as this conversation is, we need to be going," Risha said. The others looked at each other before standing up.

"Let's go then," Tienshinhan said. As the others filed out the door, Piccolo eyed Radditz. A Saiyan who won't kill? He'd like to see that. Even Goku and Gohan would kill if it was absolutely necessary.

Everyone took to the air and began to fly toward the north. Vegeta took the lead, still agitated from earlier, which caused everyone to leave him some distance. His accusation of Kenshin had lowered his reputation among the residents of Gaea.

Trunks lagged behind as he pulled out his sword and studied it. A sword that protects people… He looked ahead at Radditz and wondered why the Saiyan would no longer kill.