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 16: Kyoto Tourney
"Don't pull such a long face!" Kamatari was telling Enishi as he led
them down a crowded alley. "I'm not going to feed you to crocodiles!"
"I would rather you do that," Enishi was one sentence short of rolling his eyes, "than keep us in the dark about your agenda." Behind him, Soujirou laughed nervously. Even Kenji was beginning to get goosebumps. These people were scaring him.
"Hmph," the spy put on an offended expression, "meaaaaaaaaaanie! Sou-chan, I don't see how you can hang out with a pot of cactus like this for so many years and not feel anything!" He complained loudly to the wincing Soujirou.
"I-Is that so? Ahahahaha!" The wanderer was at a loss of words. "Maybe I'm shock-absorbant?"
Trailing slightly behind, Kenji tried to hide his face somewhere nobody could see. Another couple of strangers dashed past him with loud squee's, reminding him of the encounter just slightly earlier that day when they had just arrived at the city. At the remembrance, his head jolted upright and he began to pay more heed to the surroundings. In an instance he could see that they were heading where everyone else was also headed. "Hey," he spoke out loud, "are you bringing us to that newly opened tavern you were talking about?"
Kamatari turned around and smiled. "You can tell, boy? Very perceptive!"
"Well, it's kindda obvious we're going where the crowd's going..." Kenji gestured around him. "I don't suppose you mind telling us why?"
"Just because you're such a smart young man," the spy giggled, "I'll let you in on a little!"
The group grew silent after that, although they kept walking, allowing the noise from around them to take charge until they could find a way to blend in.
"We are actually holding," Kamatari began, "a friendly tourney at the opening of the tavern."
Enishi looked evenly at the person beside him. "'We'?"
The police spy nodded, putting a finger on his lips to indicate that these words were not to be spread. "The constabulary, of course. We foresee a fair amount of trouble in Kyoto, what with the Yuugure pulling some really, really long strings behind the scenes, so we wanted to weed out some grassroots leaders to aid in our mission. We decided there's no better way and time to do it than this."
"Which, I suppose, is why you're 'delivering' wine bottles to the store on it's opening day?" Enishi asked, although he very well could have simply left the question unasked, for the farmer-guised man merely chortled.
"We'll definitely see a few experts this evening," he continued, "even you may find it entertaining, Sou-chan!"
"You seem pretty sure about this," Enishi blandly muttered.
"Well, what can good men not resist?" The spy winked and almost struck a pose there and then. "Good wine, good money, good women, and a good challenge, of course! We've got the wine and women part covered, now all the men's gotta fight for is the money! Nothing makes for a better challenge, don't you think?" The sparklies suddenly appearing around Kamatari could almost be seen. "It's a perfect plan! This time we'll crush that underground weapon-trading ring once and for all!"
They stepped from the small alley into a rather large, grassy plaza, currently overflowing with what must have been at least half the population of Kyoto. Although nobody in particular spoke too loudly, their combined voices made an intensive murmur rise above the crowd, rendering any sort of conversation inaudible unless at close range. Kamatari quickly led them towards a sheltered portion near one of the corners of the square, where there were several men moving crates and boxes around. "Hey, boss!" He squealed, catching some of the men's attention.
"If it isn't Kamatari-san!" A man with short, cropped hair and a twisted bandanna around his forehead stepped forward, wiping the sweat off his brow with the towel hung on his neck. He motioned towards his men and they continued to work at their tasks. Returning his attention to Kamatari, he noticed the box in his hands. "You brought it!" He smiled ambiguously, taking the crate from the farmer-guised spy. "In one piece too! Thanks! This is the last one for today!"
"Glad to be of service," the spy did a mock salute, grinning from ear to ear. "How's everything coming along?"
"Preparations are great," the labourer quickly replied with a nod, "now we just have to wait for the people to show up and do their stuff! We've singled out a few so far. There should be more to look out for come night time."
"What a way to pull a recruitment drive," Enishi mumbled under his breath. Immediately, he was given a suspicious glare from the other man.
"And who may these people be... ?" The man shot Kamatari a questioning look.
In response, Kamatari flapped his hands about in a friendly manner. "They are our friends. I'm sure Saitou has told you about them."
A wave of recognition swept over the man's face in the instant Saitou's name was mentioned, and it took him quite a while to recover. By then, his countenance had melted into a half-disdainful, half-amused look, and his eyes were tapered as he wittered, "Oh. Yes. He /has/ told me about them."
Kenji wondered what exactly Saitou had told the man.
"So anyway," the moment of tension passed quickly enough, and the man quickly addressed Kamatari once more, "are you going to join in the tourney and beat some wannabes up just for fun?" His grin was reciprocated.
"I would love to!" Kamatari lifted his scythe once and struck it against the ground, sending a slight tremour pulsating through the small wareshop. "Unfortunately I have some things I need to talk to you about first. Sou-chan?" He turned around and called out to the wanderer in a sweet voice, hands clasped. "You'll find something to entertain yourselves with until I come find you, won't you?"
"Awww, that's too bad!" Not to be defeated in cheeriness, Soujirou chirped his reply, "But we'll walk around a little. See you later, Kamatari-san! Let's go wander a bit, Himura-san!" He tapped the boy on his shoulder and motioned towards the area outside. The boy nodded quickly and followed the smiling man. Soon, they vanished into the sea of people, still chattering away, not noticing that they left the enigmatic Enishi behind.
Even Kamatari looked at the white-haired man strangely. "Not going to join your comrades?" He asked in a sultry voice.
The man looked away, fishing a folded piece of paper out from his pockets. Silently he thrust it in Kamatari's face, who was bug-eyed with surprise at the sudden action, but graciously accepted the paper and unfolded it carefully. His eyes grew wider when he saw what it was and immediately his head snapped up to stare at the more composed Enishi. "Where did you-"
"In that bag of clinkers you gave the redhead," Enishi interrupted with a slight smirk. "I see. So this note really belongs to you. That solves quite a bit of problems." He held a hand over his face, obscuring it. "Of course, it also adds a lot more questions to the list..." Pulling his hand down to reveal a single, intensive eye, he continued, "... You met up with someone related to this entire Yuugure saga, didn't you?" It was evident that he had to exercise a great deal of self-control to keep himself from snarling. He was, after all, not someone who liked to be manipulated around while being kept in the dark. "Who was it?"
Kamatari's smile had turned chilly within the second he asked the question. "It is not your business to know."
"Sure," Enishi rolled his eyes, undaunted, "keep anymore information from us and we're liable to go around causing more random mayhem than what we did in Tokyo," it was more a fact than a threat, and Kamatari knew it, "besides, I had been hoping to hear it from you personally than to play my own game of speculation." He shrugged. "Guess there's no point if you don't trust me."
"What are you talking about?" Kamatari frowned, truly concerned. "If I didn't trust you, I would be talking with you with something else right now!" He tapped at the sturdy handle of his scythe in indication.
"Well, thank you for holding back," the white-haired man simpered slightly, and Kamatari could not help but wonder if he had really meant what he said. "Just so you know," Enishi continued, "I can only think of one person in the whole of Kyoto at the moment who has connections to this case and could possibly know about that old-styled code, and still be using it." He closed his eyes and spun around on his heels to face the great outdoors. "I don't suppose I need to tell you who I think it is. All right, come find us when you think you're ready to tell us what that crabhead wants us to do this time." He had a hand raised in a silent farewell, and was already strolling into the masses of people.
"Enishi," Kamatari's voice was firm and solemn. It succeeded in halting the retreating swordsman. The spy shifted slightly so he was in full view of the wanderer's back. "Don't," he smiled with a frown, "always jump to conclusions. There are more people depending on you than you ever give yourself credit for."
There came to pass a short moment of silence between the duo. As quickly as it came, it passed, and Enishi had began his slow walk into the crowds again. Watching him until he disappeared entirely, Kamatari let his smile turn empathic.
"Kamatari-san?" The man who had been quietly listen to the entire conversation broke into Kamatari's thoughts. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Aah! Yes, yes!" Snapping out of his reverie, the farmer-guised person almost laughed at himself. "Now then..."
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"Hmmm..." Kenji's head resembled a curious cat among a sidewalk of
meat and poultry products, bobbing from one area to another in quick succession.
"I've never been to such a crowded place before... It seems pretty fun!"
Beside him, the dark-haired wanderer laughed. "Really, Himura-san? You've never... ?"
The boy simply shook his head. But his mood was not dampened by his quick visit down memory lane about his unfortunately detached childhood. He continued to take in the sights until a particularly large crowd in the center of the plaza caught his attention. "I wonder what they're doing there?" He pondered aloud, pointing at the rowdy pack. Soujirou turned to look in that direction as well.
"I wonder too," he smiled. "Shall we go find out, Himura-san?" Soujirou offered, and was immediately replied with a hearty nod from the young boy. Before he even said anything else, Kenji had started on a run towards the throng, leaving the blinking wanderer staring at a cloud of dissipating dust. Finding the entire episode to be hilarious, Soujirou could barely contain his laughter as he followed his young companion. Boys will be boys, he grinned inwardly.
It was surprisingly easy to squeeze their way through the large men who had gathered around a makeshift ring of sorts in the center of the plaza, where two lethal looking gentlemen were squaring off with a couple of kendo swords. Loud cheering, toasting and random object throwing came from the sidelines where the crowd was gathered, and Kenji was awe-struck at the scene before him.
He had definitely seen sparring in his life before - the dojo had no end of that during practice. But in those times those who did not participate were made to kneel stiffly in a circle around the competitors, after which said competitors would then proceed to try to score points by striking at vital spots. And they were always armoured, too! Nothing, Kenji decided, he had experienced before had made his blood boil in anticipation like the event that was now taking place before his eyes. This was raw battle, something he had never had but always wished to have a taste of. He could feel his eyes following every single move of the two fighters, accessing their abilities and analyzing in split seconds maneuvers that would outwit their skill.
So absorbed he was in his viewing, he almost didn't catch Soujirou as he uttered, "This must be the tourney Kamatari-san was talking about!"
A few more strikes from the larger of the fighters were all it took for the duel to be over. A singular loud cheer rose into the air when the umpire stepped forward to announce the winner, a large man with rippling muscles, wearing a frayed, sleeveless gi and a worn looking brown hakama. Most of the men, obviously drunk, began to sing a victory song of sorts. The others took to throwing pieces of paper into the ring. Very rowdy, Kenji decided, but pretty cool!
"Well that was a quick victory," Soujirou had a disappointed pout on his face, "wasn't it, Himura-san?"
"Maybe..." Kenji scanned the ring carefully. The umpire was now shouting for new challengers, while the current victor stood smugly in the center of the ring with arms crossed over his chest. Suddenly remembering something, he turned around to stare at Soujirou with a foxy grin, "Hey Soujirou," he put on his best good-boy tone, "this is some sort of a /drinking/ festival, isn't it? I don't suppose we could toast a few cups as well, hmm?"
He was rewarded instantly with a knock on his head. "Himura-san," Soujirou was still smiling, but his voice dripped with icicles, "if you get drunk and knocked out, I can guarantee you Yukishiro-san will think that dumping you into the Japan Sea with an anchor attached to your feet is a good way of making you sober again." The smile was still there. "I will not even try to talk him out of it."
A shiver most definitely crept up Kenji's spine. "I get your point," he mumbled. The men behind him began to clamour closer, and he held a hand up in defense. "It's getting a bit too unruly around here, let's-YIKES!" The last sentence ended abruptly when a man drowning in his drunkenness stumbled one step too much and tripped the young Himura, who proceeded to land flat on his face against the ground.
The loud cheering suddenly hushed into deathly silence.
"Hi... Himura-san..." Soujirou's smile twitched slightly.
"Ooouch..." Kenji pushed his face out of the dirt, shaking his head slightly. Somehow he managed to get into a kneel. He would have spun around and unleashed his stored vocabulary of scathing remarks on the man who had pushed him if he hadn't noticed how the aura around the crowd had completely changed. Even Soujirou was staring at him strangely.
Before he could ask, however, the umpire broke out in a shrill shout, "This young man has arisen to the challenge! What great enthusiasm youngsters nowadays can show! Let us cheer for his participation!!"
The silence was immediately engulfed by a resounding, joyous cheer of the men who were in one accord in voice and movement. Soujirou's smile really did twitch this time, and Kenji was horrified beyond proper expression. He slowly got to his feet and tried hard not to crane his neck too much to get a good view of the hulking man standing before him, probably going through a thousand and one ways of how to skewer him on the end of his wooden sword.
"Arara..." Soujirou slouched slightly in defeat. "... Himura-san, you really are a trouble-magnet, aren't you? ... Hm?" His eyes shot up and was naturally drawn to a tall, hooded man standing directly opposite him. Like himself, the man was not moving along with the other drunks in shouting some inane cheer or another. He merely watched the ring with an impassive concentration, until he could feel someone's eyes on him. Looking up, he exchanged a brief glance with the unsmiling Soujirou, before withdrawing quickly into the mob behind him, where he thus remained out of sight.
"Is the kid doing what I think he's doing?" Enishi's voice drew Soujirou back into the present. He had found the duo again after his short spat with Kamatari and did not look very pleased at what he saw.
Soujirou turned around, smiled, and shrugged. Then his face lit up. "Say, Yukishiro-san! Wanna wager on the winner?"
Behind him, Kenji bodyfaulted.
... to be continued
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31/8/03
xd@tougenkyou.net
A/N
Yaay! Kenji finally gets to kick some butt! ... at least, in the next chapter.
XD More appearances from Mr. Mysterious Man! What, you know who he is already??
o.Ox No! Don't tell me! XD So, anyway, who wants to wager on the winner? I try
my best to update quick, but don't kill me if I sometimes take a long time!
^_^x;;
Zeromaru: Chaos Mode
Bah, small crevasse is nothing for Da Tenken and Da Psycho! *gets mugged by
fangirls* Ehehehe... ^_^x After all, if Kenshin can do it, I'm sure they can
too. Will Kenji ever start to fight?? Yes, of course he will!! :D Been planning
it for chapters! I hope I don't disappoint the readers in this aspect!
CurlsofSerenity
O.Ox I'm glad he's not too! *shudders at the thought of angry Kenji fangirls...
and fanboys?*
EEevee
Revenge Arc on Cartoon Network??? O_Ox Wow... All I have is the manga and brief
memories of the anime. XD Nahahhaha Kamatari can really name-call when he wants
to. *agrees*
April-san
APRIL-SAAAAAAAAAAAN *GLOMP* :D :D :D Eh? Two Towers week?? O_Ox;; I'm sorry,
I didn't know about that... Should I go rescue you from Helms Deep with my tarnished
mythril armour??! *dons a paladin lance* XD Don't be so perceptive about the
mysterious man, muahahah!! And don't worry, I haven't forgotten that I'm supposed
to pack Soujirou up after everything to send to you so you can braid his hair.
^___^x
kenshin_admirer
O_Ox Thank you so much for your kind encouragement! m(_ _)m The crevasse could
or could be not the same one Kenshin jumped - I prefer to leave some things
to the reader's imagination. ^______^x But yeah, you can tell where I derived
inspiration of that scene from. *nod nod*
jbramx2
Kenji /IS/ traumatized. XD Just hiding it really well. *giggle* I'm glad you
liked Kamatari. O.Ox I thought I made him such an airhead I was gonna get hacked
by his scythe. XD Enishi saying 'dorks'... nahahahaha!! He is Da Master of Funny
Language. XD
Silver Nightingale
Yes, shady guy... creature of darkness... etc etc. ^_^x Now, I wonder who he
could be, hm? *maniacal laughter* Glad you liked the intro!! XD
sasori
Mail is in your inbox even as I type! XD