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 14: Bridging Trusts
The sun had not yet risen to its full glory before Enishi's grip on his sword
began to tighten.
Soujirou, still manning the horses and guiding them down the dirt path, glanced back questioningly at his companion. Kenji, too, noticed the movement and blinked, tensing himself.
"Experts on our tail," was all Enishi mumbled, his narrowed eyes darting left to right. Slowly, his hand reached for the hilt of his sheathed sword.
"Now, now, Yukishiro-san," Soujirou's bright and perky voice stopped him. "We're not going to be able to do anything very productive on a moving carriage."
Almost as soon as he finished that statement, a loud rumbling sound caused all three to snap to attention at what was about to befall them. A pile of tumbling logs dove at them after being dis-anchored from their original hiding place on an overhanging branch just up front, with tremendous speed, and it took all of Soujirou's strength and tact to rein the horses back from charging into doom, guiding them instead down the next available side-path into the shrubbery.
Panicked, the stallions began to leap and hop over anything and everything in the way. The side-path, though obscure, was rather well-walked on and posed no major problem to the carriage and their passengers, besides the occasional obligatory bump. Several shadows began flickering by the sides of the vehicle, indicating that their pursuers were beginning to make their presence known.
"I'm going to try to shake them off," Soujirou said, still smiling. He was no longer seated, though. "So don't try anything funny yet, guys."
The road immediately ahead forked into three sub-paths, and Soujirou took the left. Kenji semi-guessed that it was because of the large and thick trees situated by each side of that path which would make trailing a carriage from beside it dangerous and awkward. The shadows did cease after a while, but as soon as the carriage broke free from the throng of trees, they returned with added vigour. Soujirou actually appeared to be enjoying himself, swerving in all the possible directions he could to evade being caught up with. All Kenji could do was to grab onto the sides of the carriage and hope very hard that he didn't get tossed out when the wheel hit the next large stone.
"Having fun yet?" Enishi's monotonous question could be heard over the noisy roar of wooden wheels on gravel. As wild as the ride was getting, the expression on Enishi's face told a tale of a leisurely picnic stroll, and not a deadly hit-and-run carriage chase. He was even yawning, Kenji noticed with abrupt displeasure.
"Haven't had so much fun in years!" The Tenken replied, with a goofy smile on his face. He reared the horses up so that they neighed with a triumphant sounding tone, before stomping their fore legs onto the ground, forming a lethal cloud of dust. Immediately they were off at top-speed again, sliding through the forest like they were water slipping through cracks. The light began to get progressively brighter as they traversed the terrain, even as the shadows previously hot on their tails began to pull further and further away.
Finally, with a great fanfare, the horses broke through the boundary of the forest and trudged out onto a wide, grassy clearing.
There was just one problem.
The clearing ended in a sheer drop.
"Hmmm..." Soujirou frowned, guiding the horses slowly towards the cliff's edge, peering down at it.
"Soujirou, there's a bridge there," Kenji pointed further down the large crevasse. True to his words, there was a long, almost invisible bridge stretching across both canyons, swaying gently in the undercurrent breeze. The carriage was driven there immediately, for they had not a moment to lose.
When they looked at the bridge from a close distance, however, it did not look as hopeful as it initially appeared to be.
"This filmsy little thing wouldn't hold the weight of two horses and a carriage," Enishi made his commentary with his arms on his waist in a disapproving manner. He had gotten off the carriage and was currently eyeing said bridge with irritation.
"It can fit one person at a time?" Kenji suggested.
"Our pursuers are catching up, Himura-san," Soujirou said while unbuckling the reins and bridles from the horses, who tossed their heads around while stamping their hooves edgily. "They'll definitely catch us if we try to cross it, and by simply slicing the ropes off, they can send us plummeting to a grisly death." His lips pursed slightly.
In reaffirmation, voices drifted through the winds into their ears, reminding them that the people who were after them were closing in fast.
"No way the horses can jump this gorge with a carriage in tow, either," it was Enishi this time, and he hacked at the ropes which fastened the box to the carriage until they were no more. Lifting the box with a single hand, he continued, "so we'll need a distraction."
Kenji had a strange sense of deja vu.
"Himura-san!" Soujirou chirped in his overly cheerful voice again, clasping his hand dramatically together. "Can you PLEASE be the distraction again??"
"If it involves drawing another damned scar on my face," the boy snarled, smoke literally hooting out from his ears, "you can forget about it!"
"Oh no, don't worry about having more scars on your face," Soujirou shook his head. "Just be a good boy and run as fast as you can across the bridge, see?" He pointed at the creaking bridge, just to be sure Kenji knew what he was talking about. "And once you get to the other side, be a good boy again and pull the pins holding the ropes of the bridge out, then toss them into the ravine and run as quickly as you can into the forest on the other side and hide yourself?"
The information was disseminated too fast in too short a period of time, causing Kenji's head to swirl slightly. In the split second that he finished processing the instructions, though, he saw a loophole in the theory and quickly asked, "What about you guys?"
Soujirou held his shinai against his shoulder and flashed a daft looking smile. In his other hand he held reined the two stallions, now free of their burden. "We're going to stay behind and do some cleaning up."
As the boy blinked, Enishi shoved the wooden box into his hands, making him balk slightly. The weight proved to be nothing as soon as he regained his balance, however, and he was reduced to staring blankly at it. "So I'm supposed to take this thing, run across the bridge, find a way to collapse the bridge, and then go into hiding?" He repeated what he thought he had heard.
"Indeed you are," Enishi cocked an eyebrow.
"..." Kenji's lips pursed quizzically. "... they may have guns." He pointed out.
"Ah yes," the happy voice of Soujirou once again penetrated the sullen air, "while that may be true, Himura-san, we have absolute confidence that you will make sure none of the bullets will even graze a loose thread." He laughed in a way that made Kenji unable to believe him. Without turning around to look at the boy, he went on, "Trust us, Himura-san. Even if just this once. We'll join you in no time."
"They're coming," Enishi helpfully informed, lazily pointing at the rather large group of black-clad ninjas who were now clearly within sight and sound.
"Himura-san, we don't have a moment to lose," this time, Soujirou did turn around. And he was not smiling. "Just this once, I beg you! Trust us!"
It wasn't that Kenji didn't trust them. He was just too concerned about what they were going to do after everything was over to really want to leave his two companions on one side of a crevasse without giving them a way to retreat. Clamping his mouth shut, however, he turned quickly and approached the filmsy looking bridge as fast as he could, box in hand.
Sometimes, trust involved hearing the reasons for certain undesirable actions - after they had occurred.
"You'd better make good your word!" He found time to turn around and shout at the duo, now poised and ready. Soujirou had that infernal smile of easy confidence back on his face - and that usually did not bode well for his opponents. As for Enishi, his sword was already out of its sheath, and that did not spell a good day for whoever he was facing either. Kenji's footsteps began to fade as he slowly departed the scene. Just as Soujirou returned his attention to the front, he saw that their pursuers were now within a good attacking distance, and that they certainly looked menacing enough to strike.
"Good day, gentlemen," the boyish wanderer nodded. "Is it right for me to conclude that you are not here to talk?"
Most of the men facing them drew their weapons in an instance.
"Well then," Soujirou held his own weapon out, "shall we begin?"
He did not wait for an answer, bringing the bamboo sword down against the backsides of the two horses he was reining to send them into a frenzy. Releasing the bridle in his hands, the stallions began to charge towards the only path they could take flight down - and in their passage, brought down several of the men standing in their way.
Or at least, that was what Kenji thought he saw was happening before the first bullet whizzed dangerously past his left ear. He was still set in running momentum, however, and so barely managed to shave away from the next bullet, aimed at where he would have run into if he hadn't pulled the brakes in time. An intuition called for him to duck, which when he did, sent two more bullet zipping over his head, taking a few strands of astray hair along with it. /Oh cruds,/ was all the boy could think as he braced himself, and dashed down the bridge towards his unknown destination - faster than he had ever known he was able to run.
The armed man found himself only able to get three more shots in - all of which hit the wooden planks of the bridge instead of their intended target - before feeling an intense pain burst from his right elbow, forcing him to drop the weapon and clutch onto his now numb arm with despair. Another strike had hit him against his knee and that pretty much disabled him for a long time to come. It had taken all but a few seconds after the horses had charged down the lane, and victory was already clearly in sight.
"Not good enough," Soujirou flitted out from being a blur to stand in front of the gasping men. He still had a foot raised as a precaution, in case someone should lash out suddenly. "Now, are you perhaps more in the mood to tell me more about yourself?"
"Who the hell are these guys?" There was already a murmuring that arose within the crowd of fallen men. "They're not humans!"
"No?" Soujirou smiled, realizing he was not getting an answer. "How about I throw you some questions and you answer me? Like say, how are you related to the Yuugure?"
After they had turned to eye each other questioningly, a larger man to the left replied, "We don't know what you're talking about, mercenary. Are you going to hand the box over or not?" He sneered, none too amiably. In his right hand, hidden beneath his sleeve, he loosened the small gun he had tucked. "We know you're transporting top-secret government documents to Kyoto! Now hand them over before you get hurt!"
"Top-secret government documents?" This time, it was Soujirou's turn to offer his audience an inquisitive look. He then smiled vibrantly. "I see! I see! So that's what this is all about!" And as if that was not enough, the boy laughed merrily.
Thinking this to be his break, the large man whipped out his gun and positioned it to shoot at the laughing wanderer, in the blink of an eye. However, he did not know that there were some things faster than the blink of an eye, and even before he could touch the trigger, he felt a looming presence behind him, holding a threatening edge against his neck.
"Try moving," Enishi suggested, "you'll love what's going to happen to you if you do." He pressed his blade closer. "Oh, and drop that gun while you're at it, hm? Don't anyone else of you dare move, either!" Raising his voice for the last statement, the man sternly swept his gaze around the others, some of whom cowered and others of whom were about to protest, but seeing that he had one of them held hostage, decided against it.
"I would listen to him if I were you," Soujirou walked around the people, who were quite unable to get up anyway due to certain injuries at vital areas. He deliberately and carefully kicked all disarmed and abandoned weapons into the chasm. "Because unlike my sword, his sword actually has a lethal edge to it!"
"You're too late!" One of them shouted. "We've sent a few people to go after that boy you gave the box to already!"
Soujirou and Enishi exchanged knowing glances.
"Well, all the best to them," Soujirou beamed, kicking the last of the visible weapons down into the gully, where they would never see another day again. At that very moment, a few aggrieved shrieks surged through the air, followed by the whistling sound of broken ropes and falling debris, ending in a crescendo of a massive bump of wood against cliff. The men stared in horror at the crevasse.
The bridge was no more.
Standing over the pins of the bridge, which he had undoubtedly unfastened the ropes from, Kenji surveyed his handiwork with an even face. Noticing that he was under observation, the boy glanced briefly up to acknowledge the men, before quickly turning tail and vanishing into the thick foliage behind him. Soujirou walked slowly over the edge of the cliff and glanced towards its side, noticing that while one side of the bridge had toppled due to Kenji's interference, the other side was still holding on quite well, and the entire length of wood was dangling freely in the air against the sheer drop. Clutched desperately onto anything that was strong enough to hold them until help arrived, the three men in the same black uniform as their pursuers looked down at the pitch-darkness which would greet them them should they let go, gulping so hard, the blue-clad wanderer could almost hear them.
"All right," Soujirou spun around and addressed the crowd with another cordial smile, "sad to say, my friends, we do not know of these documents you speak of. Perhaps you should try your chance elsewhere - we are in a rush, you see, to meet up with someone in Kyoto."
"We've been following you since that government dog handed the goods to you," another man growled, "don't play dumb!"
Soujirou had already began hopping on his feet. "Hm..." he was still smiling, although there was an impatient edge to his tone. "... I'm really sorry, but we really don't have time for this. Yukishiro-san!" He signalled slightly. The man lowered his weapon from his intended target and started on a dash towards the the cliff.
He vanished almost as soon as it looked like he was going to run straight into the valley, but when he appeared again a while later on the /other/ side of the canyon, the men were bug-eyed with disbelief. Soujirou, still hopping, only turned slightly to bow, before vanishing completely - then reappearing on the other side of the crevasse as well, beside the white-haired man. They then strolled leisurely into the forests beyond, not bothering to look back even once.
There was silence thereafter. Not too many of the men were able to believe what had just transpired. It had, after all, happened in the span of just a few minutes. It was practically like a dream that never happened.
"Oh my, oh my," a low, husky voice brought the men's attention back into the present. "What a sight we've got here!"
It was the same farmer Kenji had been approached by in the marketplace. He still wore the same get up, although he now had in tow a large scythe which gleamed against the glare of the late morning sun. The ease of which he swung the deadly weapon around in did not amuse the injured men very much, and some of them were already struggling to get up and flee.
"Called me a dog of the government, didn't you?" The voice became sly. The large blade of the scythe was moved easily across a nearby tree, the large trunk giving way and collapsing with a sickening crack. The person then held the scythe primed.
"I'll show you what this dog can do."
... to be continued
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28/8/03
xd@tougenkyou.net
A/N
Hmmm... forgive me if the action here seems strange - it's just in the middle
of it all I realized Soujirou AND Enishi are too, TOO strong for a group of
random bandits. -_-x *note to self - throw stronger opponents at them next time!*
*note to self again - do not write fanfics when having hallucinations from fever*
Kyoto by the next chapter! m(_ _)m Thank you for staying with me!
jbramx2
I'm so glad I'm still keeping people intrigued. XD Hope this chapter well, didn't
ruin the intrigue too much. o.Ox
Shahrezad1
That's an interesting thought, Shah, but actually, the pretext of this fanfic
was based on the Seisouhen (which I think I mentioned in the prologue), in which
Kenshin was *ahem* rather abruptly killed off by the directors of the show so,
well, Kenshin won't be appearing unless in flashbacks! O.Ox
Tanuki-dono
Aaah, a rocket on my back. XD I only wish. XD But as a writer, I think you understand
how when inspiration comes, you just can't stop writing? XD
Zeromaru: Chaos Mode
Interesting name, that. O.Ox Shukuchi! Yeah! I wanna see it too! XD Will try
to incorporate it somehow... thanks for the review!
EK
Really glad you find the fic acceptable!! :D