A Wanderer's Sword:

A Sequel to "Broken Hearts"

Ch. 12

A Broken Man

Sensei sat miserably at a makeshift table drinking away his pain with his fifth sake. He had been very irritable for days and had not let a living thing in his sight without yelling and screaming like a mad-man about leaving him to think. Rumors went around camp that he was planning something huge for the woman prisoner, because so far not a single one of them knew what the hell they were doing.

Sensei, himself, wasn't even all that sure. Years of drinking and drugs had slowed his thinking so much that an ape could probably beat him in an IQ test. He hadn't always been this way, a long time ago he had been a respected teacher, a loving brother, and even a father. But since the war he had turned utterly cold and hateful, and when his family was killed by a plague and his friends died in the famine that followed he lost his sanity altogether.

He suddenly slammed his cup down on the table and it creaked in protest. "Where is the damn sake!" he said fumbling around drunkenly. His vision was blurry and doubled as he waved his hands about in an effort to find the jug of sake that sat on the table in front of him.

As his hand touched the jug he lunged for it but it fell over and broke open, spilling all over him. He burst out laughing and sucked the sake from his clothes. Suddenly his laughs turned to sobs and he beat his fist once again on the table, a long crack splicing through the board.

He placed his head in his hands and sobbed pathetically, the voices of his past filling his ears. "Older brother, you shouldn't drink so much. You know you'll only get in trouble with Yuki." came Junpei's happy voice in his ear.

"I know!" Sensei could remember saying. "I'm such a bastard!"

"That's for sure…but man was that fun!" Junpei said interrupting himself with a loud belch.

"Whoa!" Sensei remarked. "Look who's gone and become a man now!"

Sensei looked up blearily into the distance remembering that night with a smile. Yuki, his wife had yelled at him endlessly for coming home drunk, and Junpei's voice kept echoing in his mind, "I told you so, I told you so!"

Tears filled his eyes as he remembered the look on his son's small face when he had hit him. He could never wipe that image from his mind, the blood on his nose, the silvery tears that dripped down his bruised cheek. He never drank a drop from that day on until—until the day his little boy died in his arms.

"Akito…" Sensei sobbed. "Oh Akito, I never meant to hurt you."

"You okay boss?" Yuske called from a distance.

Sensei looked up angrily. "Get out of here! Didn't I tell you to leave me be!" Sensei said lunging at him. "Get the hell away from me!"

But Yuske dodged his attempts at hitting him and merely walked off. Sensei fell pathetically to the ground with a loud thump hitting his head painfully against a tree trunk. He lay still, blood pouring from his head, moaning helplessly.

Sensei blinked his eyes in the dim light, all around him was a blur of shapeless shadows. He was laying on his back, on something that felt amazingly similar to damp straw and something cool and rather wet was stroking his forehead. He blinked again and struggled to make out the dark figure that hung over him.

"You don't have very faithful friends…" came a voice he didn't recognize, but then again maybe he did.

"Who—are…" but he gave up the attempt.

"Shh…" said the woman kindly. "Just keep still and everything will be okay. You've got a nasty cut on your head, that you do. Goodness, I'm talking like him aren't I?"

"Like who?" Sensei said his eyes finally coming into focus and seeing her bright face for the first time.

"Never mind." said Kaoru softly. "Now you just lay still there and I'll go get some fresh water."

But when she picked up the bowl and attempted the stand up he grabbed her. "Wait!" he said looking perplexedly into her eyes. "Who are you?"

"Goodness you have lost your memory." Kaoru said. "Well perhaps it will come back in time."

Once more she attempted to stand up, but once again he held her back. "But wait, who are you?"

"You may call me Kaoru, Mr. Sensei."

"But who's—"

"You are Mr. Sensei, this is your…hut, and I am going to go get some fresh water. Stay still now."

"Please don't go." He insisted. "I'm quite fine. I'd much rather you just stay here."

Kaoru shrugged and sat down again with difficulty, she wasn't really in any condition to be waiting on anyone but herself. She starred off into space for a while and then smiled down at Sensei who was watching her with interest.

Sensei suddenly frown and attempted to say something, then he stopped. After a while he seemed to convince himself to try again. "Uh—Kaoru—I don't remember but—are you—well are we—what I mean is."

"No." Kaoru said shortly.

"Then—who—well I noticed that you're uurr—well…"

"Yes, I'm expecting." Kaoru said happily. She paused for a moment then continued. "I'm most certain it's a boy…" she said having wanted to talk to someone for ages, "He kicks way too much to be a girl…plus it's just mother's intuition you know."

Amazingly he seemed, well, amazed. He nodded encouragingly and continued to stare deeply into her eyes. He seemed to be paralyzed by her beauty.

"Mr. Sensei," Kaoru said blushing angrily "I do believe you're staring."

"I'm sorry…" he said glancing away for only a moment. "It's just that, well I've never seen anyone quite as beautiful as you are Miss Kaoru."

Kaoru's heart began to ache painfully as he called her this; the memory of all the years that Kenshin had called her this, even after they were married. It wasn't something one would think to be personal, it really wasn't, but when he said it she remembered how Kenshin would whisper it in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Are you okay?" Sensei said touching her hand delicately.

Kaoru wiped the tears from her face and struggled to make her heart stop throbbing in her chest. She looked up finally. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

"I'm sorry if I upset you…" Sensei said sitting back sleepily. After a long silence he said, "Miss—" her eyes closed painfully, "Kaoru…I was just wondering, why exactly are you here…I mean…you do have a family…don't you."

"Yes." Kaoru said fighting back tears.

"Then…" he struggled to understand. "why don't you go to them? Why do you stay with me?"

"Because…" Kaoru struggled not to break down, she wished more than anything that he would be mean again so that she would not feel sympathy for him, so that she could hate him again.

He reached out a weary hand and lifted her cheek. "Please…don't feel you must hide your tears from me…"

Kaoru began to sob and he took her into his arms. "Shhh…" he said soothingly. "I'm sure it will all be okay…"

TO BE CONTINUED

If you're a little confused…we've gone back in time. This is before the last chapter.