Hikari
By KCSobe
Disclaimer: Once again, we don't own it, so don't sue. It's not like we have any money anyhoo...
A/N: Well, the story is going along pretty well so far. We're not entirely sure how long it will be, but we want to aim for over 20 chapters, but you never know. Also, other characters from RK will be showing up in later chapters, so no need to worry. Thanks to all our reviewers!
Long Forgotten
The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, and Kyoto slept peacefully on, blanketed by a silvery fog. However, Kenshin was already up, and carefully easing his way out of the dojo. After a sleepless night he was anxious to return to the scene of his argument with Sagara.
The low wall was exactly as he had left it: in ruins. The crater, the jagged fragments of stone embedded in the earth, the fissures racing outwards from the point of destruction- all was hauntingly familiar.
Kenshin remembered the corpse in the hotel. The way it had slumped against the gaping hole like a broken puppet, limbs sprawled out uselessly. He remembered Sagara's blind fury as he destroyed the wall with a single punch. Had he found the murderer at last?
Stooping down, Kenshin scraped some of the dust from the rubble into his hand, and deposited it into his pocket. To be absolutely fair, he should probably notify Saito of this sudden development, and they could examine Sagara's record, as well as compare the two powder samples.
He began trudging towards Kyoto. His first promising lead in the entire investigation, and his feet still dragged along listlessly. Why should it matter if Sano was the murderer? Kenshin suddenly and vividly recalled the expression of beaming delight as Kaoru introduced him to Sano. The way she teased him like a younger sister, and the way Sano had tried to protect her, like an older brother. How would Kaoru react when she discovered that Sano was a cold-blooded killer, serving the likes of Shishio Makoto?
What was Sagara's motive in all this, anyway? He didn't seem like the greedy type, or particularly ambitious. Still, it hardly mattered. Now that the trail had been picked up, the Hitokiri Battousai would be able to follow it straight to the former fellow patriot. He could feel himself smile in anticipation. Now that would be a fight to remember.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant Fujita? There's a man here to see you." The woman who worked at the main desk of the police station called timidly. Saito's permanent frown deepened into a scowl. Could these idiots not do anything by themselves?
"What is it?" he snapped, not even looking up from his desk. A man stepped in to his office and closed the door behind him.
"I think I've found one of Shishio's assassins," a calm voice stated from the doorway of his office. Saito looked up to see the Battousai looking down at him impassively.
"Really," Saito stated, trying to look unimpressed. Only two weeks, and the Battousai had achieved more results than he had in two months. "Who is he?"
"One Sagara Sanosuke. Look at this," here Kenshin dumped the fine grains of smashed rock he had collected onto the table.
"It's identical to the powder at the crime scene." Saito examined the mound carefully. "Where did you find it?" Kenshin waved his hand impatiently.
"Never mind that. What's on Sagara's profile?" Saito stood, and walked over to the large set of files in the corner of his office. Several minutes passed, in which Kenshin shifted from one foot to another, and Saito cursed the amount of people with names beginning with S. Finally, he found the correct set of papers.
"Several charges of illegal gambling, drinking, disturbing the peace, brawling in the streets…" Saito abruptly trailed off.
"What is it?" Kenshin asked, trying to get a closer look at the list. Saito smirked.
"It seems as if you've been hunting down the wrong path. Sagara can't be Juppon-Gattana."
"What?" Kenshin blinked, momentarily stunned.
"His charges have dated back over a period of two years. Our intelligence agents have informed us that Shishio's men were deployed only six months ago. The time frame is completely wrong."
"It's impossible. I'm positive that Sagara is the murderer," Kenshin replied flatly. His instincts were never wrong, and he just knew that the murder scene and the wall were somehow connected.
"I'll admit it's a strange coincidence, these two powders, but it's a dead end," Saito shrugged.
"No. I will continue to investigate."
"Fine. But we don't exactly have infinite time, so you'd better be quick."
Kenshin nodded coldly, and stalked out.
Sano opened the gate to the dojo, and made his way over to the porch. While it was a little earlier he normally preferred to be up, he wasn't sure he felt comfortable with Kaoru and Yahiko alone with Himura.
Automatically, his mind replayed the confrontation. The way Himura had looked at him, and in a movement too quick for the eye to track, had shot his sword out of the sheath and come inches away from decapitating him. That was a level of skill beyond any he had encountered, and Sano wondered what dark secrets lurked behind the smiling façade.
It was painfully obvious that "Shinta" was a fake identity. So who was the red headed swordsman, with his shifting violet and amber eyes? What was his purpose in renting a room at Kaoru's dojo, and how could Sano protect Kaoru and Yahiko from this menacing stranger?
Sano's thoughts began to wander, and almost unbidden, a long suppressed memory came to mind.
Spring in the small village was always chilly, and tonight was no exception. Sano was hurrying back to the farm, blowing on his hands to keep them warm. Looking up, he saw the smiling face of his older brother, Sagara Sozo.
"You've practically outgrown your old jacket, Sano." Sozo laughed gently.
"That's okay! I'm not cold at all!" Sano lied unconvincingly. He knew money had been close to nonexistent after the death of their parents.
"Well, it'll be summer soon, anyway. But for now, wear mine." Sozo pulled it off, and handed it to Sano. Eagerly pulling it on, Sano grinned.
"Hey, Sozo, do I look like you now?" Sozo ruffled his little brother's hair.
"Exactly like me. In fact, the jacket really looks better on you. You should keep it."
Suddenly, Sozo stiffened. Turning, he whispered to Sano, "Stay here for a moment. I think there's something wrong." He smiled reassuringly, and cut through an alley to the street running parallel to them.
Sano waited for a minute or two, and then cautiously followed his brother's path through the alley. He emerged into the other street, but froze, still halfway in the alley.
His brother was standing with their father's old katana drawn. He faced a man who was crouching in an attack position. The man had dark brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and was wearing the uniform of an Ishin Shishi patriot. However, his eyes seemed to glow dangerously, and without warning, he sprang into a lunge. Sozo brought his katana down to parry, but he was too slow. The sword bit deep into Sozo's chest, and blood sprayed out of his mouth, as he crumpled to the ground. There he lay, motionless, next to another corpse. The man looked in silence at Sozo's body for a moment, and then laughed softly.
"Witnesses never seem to put up much of a fight," he sneered, and then drove his sword into Sozo's chest once more. In a smooth motion, he cleaned the blade, and disappeared back into the shadows.
Sano emerged from the alley, and ran to his brother's side. Sozo's eyes were already clouded in the haze of death, but he seemed to sense his brother's presence.
"Sano…" he tried to speak, but blood trickled out of his mouth instead of words, and with a faint gasp, the last breath left his body.
" SOZO!"
Sano winced at the raw pain of the memory. Twisted by grief and hatred for the unknown assassin, his younger self had left the village of his childhood, and embarked on a series of never ending fights, determined to make him self strong enough for revenge. It wasn't until he had met Kaoru that he finally let go of his all consuming desire for vengeance, and began to live a normal life.
Suddenly aware of another presence, Sano glanced across the yard to see Shinta, leaning against the opposite end of the porch, arms folded. They exchanged a silent glaring match, each trying to make the other back down.
"Shinta!" Kaoru exclaimed happily. "And Sano! You're here already?" She was oblivious to the palpable tension between the two men. "You'll have to wait for food, I'm afraid. Come on Shinta, since you're up, we should make breakfast!" She grabbed his arm, and dragged him inside.
Sano frowned at the easy familiarity with which Kaoru greeted Shinta. She had grown attached to him over his brief stay, and he wasn't sure he would be able to break the news to her. She seemed to like him so much, and he hated to see Kaoru's trust shattered yet again. If she knew that Shinta was lying to everybody about his past, and that he was probably the murderer… Sano sighed. That was the main problem. Was Shinta truly the murderer?
The evidence was circumstantial at best. He'd seen Shinta at two of the murder sites, and knew that Shinta was lying about his past. Not to mention that lie about going to sleep early. His fighting skills were phenomenal, and his aura reeked of danger. However, Sano hadn't exactly caught him in the act of killing anyone. Fed up with the supremely tiring process of thinking, Sano shrugged it off.
Like they always say, 'Guilty until proven innocent.' Wait, that's not it... Oh whatever. He's still guilty in my book.
Kenshin looked questioningly at Kaoru. Instead of pulling him to the kitchen, she had led him straight to the training room. Glancing at him, she blushed slightly under his inquisitive gaze.
"I realized that I still owed you a swords lesson. Since nobody else is up but Sano, who doesn't count, now's the perfect time. That is, if you still want to," Kaoru added uncertainly.
"Of course, Kaoru-dono. It was thoughtful of you to remember," Kenshin blurted hastily. A swords lesson? This should be… interesting. Still, I don't want to hurt Kaoru-dono's, I mean Kaoru's feelings.
"So," Kaoru grabbed two shinais from a shelf, "I thought we should begin with the basics. Do you know how to hold a sword?" Kenshin thought frantically.
"Like this?" He gripped the shinai slightly too high, a mistake common for beginners.
"Almost. Let me adjust it a bit," Kaoru reached over, and tugged his hands into position. Feeling her fingers brushing his, Kenshin could feel his face begin to burn uncontrollably. She was so close to him that he could see each strand of hair hanging loosely from her ponytail. A beautiful blue ribbon, seemingly out of place in her simple attire, held the rest back. Diverting himself roughly from contemplating how that ribbon matched her eyes so perfectly, Kenshin tuned back into her lecture.
"There are five basic forms, or stances, known as Jodan, Seigan, Gedan, Hasso, and Wakigamae. Let me demonstrate Jodan…" Kaoru moved into position. Kenshin mimicked her clumsily. As she led him through the mechanics of lunging and blocking, he continued to disguise his familiarity with the movements. Finally, Kaoru seemed ready to conclude the lesson. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. Time to get back to work.
"I don't normally do this after the first lesson, but we can try some basic sparring! You seem like you've spent some time handling swords, and it's important for you to be able to pull all the skills together," Kaoru said firmly.
Maybe I didn't do such a great job disguising my skills after all, Kenshin thought, as he stepped back to the proper sparring distance. It should be easy enough though…How good can Kaoru be?
As he waited for Kaoru to give the signal to start, he prepared himself to take the first blow. There was no need to drag the round out forever, when he was planning on losing anyway. Kaoru dropped her raised hand. The match was on.
She sprang forward with an aggressive strike aimed for his chest. Kenshin had not counted on her impressive speed, and his hitokiri skills refused to remain dormant. He sidestepped easily, and before he could stop himself, spun around and lashed out with a vicious slash to the back of her head.
To his partial amazement, she managed to barely evade the blow by jumping backwards. Feinting a jab to the left, Kaoru immediately launched into a thrust towards his right shoulder. Deciding that to remain in the match any longer would pose a risk to both Kaoru and his identity, Kenshin dropped his own shinai, and reading the path of her swing, caught the tip of her shinai in a flawlessly executed blade-catch.
Meeting her astonished expression with a gentle smile, Kenshin cleared his throat.
"It appears to be a draw, Kaoru-dono."
Kaoru felt stunned. What had just happened? The moment the sparring match started, Shinta had gone from a promising beginner to an incredible swordsman. She stared at the end of her weapon, still caught in Shinta's hands, and remembered the dizzying speed of his only attack. Realizing that an awkward silence had fallen between them, she took the two shinai and replaced them on the shelf.
"That was… amazing! How did you become so good? You were like a whole different person!" Kaoru gushed, as she turned back to face Shinta.
He seemed relieved that the quiet had been broken, but she couldn't help noticing the shadow that flitted across his face. Behind the happy exterior, he seemed to suddenly be depressed. Had she said something wrong?
"This one learned it a long time ago," Shinta replied shortly. Seeing how sad he looked, Kaoru longed to comfort him. Impulsively, she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I understand if you don't want to talk about the past. After all, everybody had secrets, but the present is what matters," Kaoru spoke hesitantly, searching for the right words. Evidently she had found them, for Shinta stared at her for a moment, as if seeing her for the first time.
"Thank you," he whispered, so low she almost missed it. Then louder; "This one will go make breakfast." She watched him make his way to the kitchen. He had seemed so lonely and vulnerable- a side of Shinta never seen before. What else did she not know about him?
"Uh…Kaoru-dono?" Shinta turned, looking uncomfortable. "This one was wondering… Well, that is… Would you like this one to give you cooking lessons?" Kaoru felt a grin creep up on her face.
"I would love that, Shinta."
Kenshin sat, staring at the wall opposite him. Sleep was eluding him for the second night in a row, and he could feel his eyes drooping with heaviness. But his mind kept replaying the morning spent with Kaoru. The cooking lesson, while not particularly successful, had been fun. They had talked about her dreams of mastering Kamiya Kasshin-ryu, now almost impossible after the death of her father. She had shared memories of her childhood, and her plans for Yahiko's training. They had talked about their favorite activities, and the best way to spend the rest of the day.
Kaoru was different from other girls. She was optimistic and upbeat, but for brief moments, Kenshin could see signs of a much deeper and wiser person, hiding just under the surface. He found himself hoping for Kaoru's sake that Sano was not the murderer. The fragile innocence that surrounded her like a halo would be shattered, and Kenshin could not imagine destroying such a vital part of Kaoru's self.
Spending time with Kaoru was like looking in to a window of an alternate reality. He felt an incredible yearning to truly be Shinta. Shinta would be able to live happily ever after with Kaoru. But the Battousai could not afford to have such feelings. Sentiment made you weak.
When she had told him that she didn't care about his past, he had felt his heart lift with excitement. She was unknowingly offering him a chance to leave behind the world of darkness and death, and step into the light. Kenshin shifted restlessly. Japan was still recovering from the revolution, its balance in the larger world precarious. His duty was to the people, and to the government, not to himself. Japan needed the Hitokiri Battousai, and he had sworn long ago to protect his people. He would not, could not, abandon his vow now, and even as he felt himself descending further and further into the darkness, drowning in the blood of others, Battousai he would remain.
"Kaoru! Surprised to see me?" Takani Megumi laughed as Kaoru opened the door.
"Megumi? You're back! Wait until I tell Sano, and Yahiko, and Shinta!" Kaoru exclaimed. She beamed at her friend, and then opened the door wider so that Megumi could come in.
"Who's Shinta? A new love interest? About time, I should think. After all, you haven't had a boyfriend since… Wait… Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Megumi teased, a pair of fox ears mysteriously appearing on her head. Kaoru felt her left eye begin to twitch, ever so slightly.
"Shinta is lodging at the dojo. Unfortunately, he's out shopping, but," Kaoru began.
"A likely story. Of course, I don't blame you for not wanting your boyfriend to meet me. I'm sure he'd be head over heels in no time!" Megumi interjected.
"Shinta is NOT my boyfriend!" Kaoru snapped. Before she could lose her temper entirely, Megumi raised her hands in surrender.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Anyway, can I have some tea? I'm simply parched!"
"Of course!" Kaoru bustled around, getting the necessary ingredients. As she began to boil the water, she stuck her head out the back door and yelled,
"Sano! Yahiko! Come see who's here!"
Sano strolled in, his hands in his pockets.
"Kitsune? Is that you?" Sano stuttered, his ears inexplicably turning red.
"Who else would it be? I just got back from Aizu last night!" Megumi informed him. "Of course, I couldn't wait more than a day to see you three!" She winked flirtatiously. Sano rolled his eyes.
"So what's Shinta like?" Megumi asked Yahiko, as he helped himself to some leftovers from the night before.
"Himura Shinta… Well he's kind of funny. He cooks, and does laundry, and stuff. And he's short, but he can be really nice to," Yahiko answered between bites.
Himura? Why does that sound so familiar? Megumi found herself wondering. Had she read his name somewhere? Just then, they heard the sound of the door sliding open.
"This one is back, with food for breakfast!" A voice called out cheerfully. A man entered the room, with bags dangling from each hand.
Megumi stared in shock. The teacup slipped from her suddenly shaky hands. It landed on its side on the hard tatami mat, spilling its contents everywhere. Unable to tear her eyes from the man's face, she made no motion to clean it up.
"Megumi? Is there something wrong? Shinta?" Kaoru asked in a puzzled manner. Megumi was behaving so strangely. And Shinta seemed to have paled slightly, or was that just her imagination?
Megumi shook her head in a daze, and the spell was broken. Kenshin cleaned up the spilt tea, stammering apologies. After reassuring Kaoru that she wasn't ill, Megumi turned to Kenshin, and shot him a dark look.
"I hate to leave so soon Kaoru, but I just realized I have an appointment in half an hour. I'll visit you again later. Perhaps, Shinta," Megumi smiled sweetly at Kenshin, "would be so kind as to escort me home?"
"Certainly, Megumi-dono. This one would be honored," Kenshin replied hastily. He quickly opened the door again, and led her outside
Kaoru was left staring at the closed door in mute surprise with a small tingling of jealousy. What had just happened?
Before they had gotten more than half way down the main road, Megumi whirled around so she was facing her escort.
"Himura Kenshin… We meet again."
A/N: Hmmm... Yes, well, we just had to end it here, didn't we? You might not understand why Megumi would know Kenshin's real name, but you'll get it soon. Hope you like! Review please! Ciao!
Next Time on Hikari!
An old enemy from years ago has tracked Kenshin down and found him in Kyoto. He's bent on one thing: Revenge...