WARNING: Spoilers! If you don't know who Kenji is, please read at your own risk!
WITH DUE CREDIT: This fic was loosely spun off from two fics - "Over the Sting" by sasori and "Chronicles of a Rurouni", one of my earlier fics.
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Yesterday's Shadow is Tomorrow's Twilight
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Chapter 13: Simmering Tides
"ATCHOO!"
Soujirou and Enishi sat side by side along the wooden chairs of a roadside store wedged between a hill and the impending forest.
"Are you all right, Yukishiro-san?" Soujirou turned towards his friend.
"Shut up," Enishi rubbed his nose and sniffed, "this is all your fault." He took the steaming cup of tea beside him and drank it to its dredges.
With his own cup in his hands, Soujirou made no reply. He stared at the liquid in the container, content to just watch it ripple as his hand shifted every other moment. The morning had been warm and friendly so far. He wondered briefly what new challenges would await them further in the day.
"Thank you," the words formed without him really thinking about it, "Yukishiro-san."
"Hmph," Enishi set his cup aside, "give your friends a bit more credit sometimes."
"Of course," the younger person smiled.
"We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," the white-haired man's look was distant.
"And we can't keep dwelling in the past!" Soujirou agreed cheerfully, raising his cup in a mock toast before downing it in one gulp. "Aaah... mornings after rain are the best!"
As if on cue, Enishi sneezed again.
"You're paying for tea," he growled after he composed himself, glaring at his amused partner from the corner of his eyes. "This is all your fault," he repeated.
"But Yukishiro-san..." Soujirou blinked, "... we're almost out of money already... how much more tea are you going to get?"
"As much as it'll take to stop this confounded cold," was the immediate reply, completely missing the point about them being penniless. He was about to say something else when his eyes appeared to have found a new target. Noticing the change, Soujirou turned to look in the same direction Enishi was looking at.
It was Kenji, and he stood before the two wanderers with a curled and tucked stable whip over his shoulder, face unapproachable. In his other hand, he held a bridle secured to two impatient stallions behind him. One of the creatures tossed its hair and stamped its front legs on the ground in an action which indicated that it did not like the pause. A small, roofless carriage made of wood trailed the sturdy horses, and a large box of sorts was fastened to a corner of the carriage with a few tight ropes.
Although Soujirou opened his mouth several times, he was unable to ask about the scene. "Himura-san," he decided to inquire about something he was familiar with, "I thought you were going to the nearest village to ask about routes?"
"Kidnap some horses while you're at it, very professional," Enishi sipped his tea nonchalantly. The youngest of the trio bristled and resisted the urge to throw the whip in Enishi's face.
"This is just a sideline that'll keep us busy until we get to Kyoto," the young boy was saying, as he tossed a bag which clinkered towards his two companions. Soujirou caught it and stared questioningly at the boy. "I found someone in the marketplace asking if we could deliver this box of gimmicks to Kyoto for the amount in the bag." Kenji explained.
"And you agreed?" An incredulous Enishi boggled, then shook his head. "I thought you had more brains than to do something as dangerous as that."
This time, Kenji did throw the whip into Enishi's face. "It's /not/ like he gave me any room for objection!" The boy fumed. "I was asking around for routes to Kyoto which didn't involve going through major civilizations, and then the next thing I knew, I had all these things in my hands." The exasperated expression on his face told a tale of silent torture. "That man then appeared from nowhere and said he needed someone to bring the box to Kyoto inconspicuously," the boy sighed. "After he shoved the bag of clinkers to me, he scooted off and..." he closed his eyes, "... here I am..."
His two companions were relatively unimpressed at the tale.
"You need to learn to fib better than that," Enishi had removed the whip from his face and let it fall into a heap before his feet, completely unaffected. "Although I still don't see why you kidnapped the horses for..."
"Yukishiro-san," Soujirou's smile was beginning to look forced, "who /just/ told me to give my friends a bit more credit?" Turning back to Kenji, he continued, "That was a strange person you met there, Himura-san. What did he look like? Did he say anything else?"
"Was about your height," the boy gestured towards the smiling wanderer, "had a straw hat with a black veil all around it, so I couldn't really tell what he looked like. He wore some pretty normal looking farmer clothes, though, and had this really large basket on his back."
"What an elaborate set up," Enishi commented, "pity it'll only make him stand out among all the other people."
Ignoring the white-haired man, Kenji carried on, "He said, and I quote, 'That bag will see you through your trip to Kyoto. I'll look for you when you get there~', and got himself lost in the crowd." Putting a hand on his forehead, the young boy mumbled, "I couldn't find him again after that. Since we /are/ going to Kyoto, might as well do him the favour. Of course I know it's dangerous, that's why I'm discussing it with you guys, isn't it?"
"We're not doing it," Enishi's reply was immediate, and firm. There was a nervous glint in Kenji's eyes after he heard the statement, which did not escape Soujirou's notice. He was about to protest, but held back to think about something.
"What are you hiding from us, Himura-san?" His smile had simmered and he stared seriously at the youngest of the trio, who quickly looked away. "You wouldn't have accepted any kind of offer from a complete stranger if there wasn't something more to the story."
Kenji's eyes began to roam left and right, from one rock on the ground to another. When the silence stretched, he frowned and finally said, "He knew."
The aura around his two companions grew questioning.
"He knew who I was," Kenji bit his lower lip, "he addressed me as Himura Kenji."
There was silence.
"Don't tell me..." Soujirou grimaced, with a hand on his chin. Quickly, he looked up, straight into Kenji's eyes. "Himura-san! Are you sure it was a /man/ of my height who talked to you?"
Shaken slightly by the sudden vehemence, the boy nodded dumbly.
"Very very sure?" The blue-clad wanderer pressed on, surprising even his older companion seated beside him. "It was a man, and not a man who spoke and behaved like a woman?"
At this, recognition flickered over Enishi's face, and he too turned to stare expectantly at Kenji, awaiting his answer.
"I don't know, Soujirou," Kenji had an eyebrow raised in sheer confusion, "he spoke and behaved like a man to me..."
Blinking, Soujirou broke eye contact and looked away, covering his mouth with his hand pensively. "... I must be thinking too much... ?"
"What's wrong?" Kenji asked reflexively.
"Just wondering if it could be an acquaintance of ours," Enishi replied. "Maybe not," he added, after a while. "But if he knew your name..."
"I think it's highly possible that Saitou sent him."
Both Soujirou and Enishi turned to look at Kenji after he made the statement, then to look at each other. "There's only one way to find out, Himura-san," Soujirou eventually said while nodding towards the small bag Kenji had thrown to him, in his hands. Kenji thought he could hear the wanderer gulp.
While Soujirou slowly loosened the string around the neck of the bag, Enishi huddled nearby and glanced over his shoulder. Both peered apprehensively at the contents. Kenji was curious, but thought the better of joining the crowd. They would probably be head-bumping instead of investigating what was in the bag. Wisely, he stood where he was and awaited the conclusion.
A crow shrieked.
"You know," Soujirou was still looking in the bag, face set in tight consideration, "if Saitou-san paid us half of what was in this bag everytime he sends us on our way..."
"..." was Enishi's enigmatic addition.
"And come to think of it," Soujirou put a finger on his lower lip and stared at the skies, "he hasn't paid us for our Tokyo stint yet either! AAH!" Soujirou shot to full height quickly, hands curled into fists. "No wonder we're having budget deficits!"
The cup he had in his hands rolled off and hit the ground with a fantastic shattering sound.
"That one's gonna cost," Kenji observed.
"Oops!" Soujirou beamed brightly.
He was promptly beaten up.
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"And anyway," it was Soujirou again, now with small strips of plaster
decorating his cheerful face. He had mounted the driver's seat of the carriage
and had the bridle in his hands, ready to start the stallions off, "that's
how we knew that the person wasn't sent by Saitou-san, Himura-san!"
"He wouldn't have paid us so much if the future of Japan depended on it," Enishi snorted. He rested comfortably against the secured wooden box with his hands poised leisurely over his head as a pillow stand-in. "And we wouldn't have needed to do this job at all if /somebody/ hadn't forced us to use the money in the bag to repay the shopkeeper for his broken cup," the man stared at Soujirou's squirming form at the front of the carriage.
"I'm really sorry about that, Yukishiro-san," Soujirou turned around slightly and grinned, pointing at a particularly nasty bump on his head, "but you guys have beaten me up enough, haven't you? Let me off already, please?"
In response Enishi just looked away. Kenji then held out the piece of paper he had been inspecting to Soujirou. "Soujirou, I found this buried under the pile of money in the bag."
"Hm..." Soujirou looked thoughtfully at what Kenji was holding out. There was a tidy-looking cross with squares at each intersection, a circle encompassing it all. At side of one particular extended path, there was a star marked outside the circumference of the large circle. "... doesn't make sense to me," he smiled, genuinely puzzled.
"So it's just a random sketch then?" Kenji bit his lips. "I'm pretty sure it must contain something important."
"Maybe, maybe not," Soujirou stole a glance at Enishi, noticing that he had closed his eyes and was not paying any attention to the conversation. "Well, shall we be on our way, Himura-san?" He asked the young boy happily while raising the whip.
Kenji nodded. As soon as he did, a loud neigh punctuated the fresh morning air, and a few strong gallops later, the horses and their carriage, along with the people inside, were on their way.
As the scenary whizzed past them in a blur, Kenji noticed that Soujirou seemed to know his way around like the back of his palm. "Do you know how to get there without going past crowded places?" He shouted, trying to fight against the loud winds beating against their ears. After all, that was what he had been going around town asking about.
"With a horse, it wouldn't matter, Himura-san," Soujirou's voice drifted easily to Kenji, "we'll just rush as quickly as we can through the villages, and nobody will notice or care!"
"How long more to Kyoto, then?" The boy could not help asking.
"I'd say give it a day or two, Himura-san," Soujirou nodded as he replied. "Don't worry, just take it as an excursion, and time will pass in the twinkling of an eye!"
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Kenji admitted that he thoroughly enjoyed the ride on the carriage. They stopped
every now and then to freshen up the horses and to rest a little themselves,
always finding a nearby stream of cool, welcoming water and a field of rich
pastures. The horses they were given were strong and full of stamina, ever ready
to move out and thunder their way through small villages or larger cities. The
skies began to look dangerously dark near evening, but the clouds slowly got
left behind as they moved out of the region.
When the sun completely vanished over the horizon, they were already near the western borders of Gifu. The trio dismounted and managed to sustain a small fire in a clearing in a nearby forest. Dinner consisted of rice balls Kenji had ran off during one of their breaks to grab from a nearby village. It was sparse, but no one complained.
Eventually, Soujirou broke the silence. "We should get to Kyoto by early afternoon tomorrow, at this rate," he smiled at nothing in particular, "those horses can really gallop!"
"You seem pretty sure that we aren't in some sort of a trap by the enemy," Enishi retorted. He was leaning against a tree, hooded by shadows.
"Yes," Soujirou readily agreed, "call it gut instinct!"
"Hmph," the stoic man waved a hand, "I'm not going to pull you out of trouble this time."
His darker-haired counterpart smiled in his general direction. "Of course not, Yukishiro-san."
"It could turn out to be a good thing, whether that man I met in the marketplace was hostile or not," Kenji interrupted, "if he was hostile, we'll just be luring the enemies to ourselves. Good chance to take care of them before Saitou the cop breathes down our neck again. If he wasn't, well, then we got for ourselves a pretty big reward for something so simple. No?" He looked around at his companions.
"You may be right, Himura-san," Soujirou nodded. Enishi merely kept his peace. "Yukishiro-san, are you going to stay up late to ponder dark, evil thoughts again?" There was a pause. "Because if you are, would you mind taking first watch? I'm very tired from driving the two stallions around." The blue-clad wanderer's smile was brighter than the flames of the campfire. For his part, Enishi grunted something which sounded vaguely positive. "Thank you!" Soujirou beamed.
"I wonder what's in that box?" Kenji pondered aloud.
"Bottles of wine," Enishi's reply was faster than Soujirou could say i-don't-know. "I heard them knock against each other when I was resting near the box just now."
"Hmm... that's strange," it was Soujirou, and he had a wondering look on his face, "why would anyone want to get a box of wine bottles into Kyoto via a sub-route?"
A brooding quietness dwelled on the trio for a while.
"We'll find out tomorrow," the gruff, knowing voice of Enishi eventually said, "I'm sure."
... to be continued
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25/8/03
xd@tougenkyou.net
A/N
Aaaaaaaaaahhh slow moving chapter to shake the angst off me. More action to
come, I hope! *_*x
I concede to everybody and anybody who thinks the previous chapter was sweet. *grovels* I guess that would include jbramx2, Firuze Khanume, April-san and... sasori? And just to omake, I argued with myself until 4am (it be true!) before finally writing that out... my beauty sleep!! WAAH!
jbramx2
I'm afraid I don't know of any sou/misao fics that are completed either... or
maybe I haven't been paying enough attention (the rk section on ff:net is 85%
k/k, after all XD). I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far! *_*x I will
work hard! Dynamic prose is not my forte - I prefer action! XD
Firuze Khanume
ALMIGHTY AUTHOR'S REALM!! I don't know what else to say. XD Yeah, I've found
a new excuse for loopholes in plot, besides creative license. XD
April-san
m(_ _)m Katajikenai! *hands a tissue for the soda-ed dictionary O_Ox* It /would/
be weird if Enishi said that. I think Soujirou would have laughed in his face.
XD And yes, of course I know who your favourite pairing is. It was kind of like
the first thing I saw when I clicked on your profile page. XD
Tanuki-dono, Silver Nightingale
Aah, I'm looking forward to Kyoto as much as you gals (guys?) are! :D
Shahrezad1
I agree with what you say, in that if Soujirou or Enishi will eventually get
around to talking with Kenji about Kenshin, they would probably beat around
the bush first. Not that they're considerate or anything, but it just seems
in their character to do such a thing. I think the term is 'testing waters'?
XD
sasori
o_Ox Stay! Stay on the path!! *clings onto sasori quickly* Don't go... until
you please please please please tell me if you're working on that continuation
to "Over the Sting"? *puppy eyes* I need a glimmer of hope!! *sob*