Past and Future
By Hitokiri-san (hitorkiri_battousai_ishinshishi@yahoo.com.hk)
Disclaimers: If the time turner thing really did work the first thing I do will be going to the past and killing Nobuhiro-san off before he could say "RK is mine." Unfortunately the time turner only exists in my perverted imagination so you know what I'm trying to say.
A/U: first, let me apologize for the shortness of the chapter. Mainly because I won't be able to write for the next few days I'm posting this up for the time being. But don't worry, I will finish this story ~ somehow. =^.^=
Ch 10 Broken Trust
Katsura passed through the thick clump of bamboo bushes, annoyed that they had blocked his line of sight to the courtyard. While all the men had focused their attention on the destruction of the headquarter, Katsura alone knew better. The roof could be fixed, the floorboards could be replaced; but the sixth sense of a samurai was not to be ignored...
"...wait! I remember telling Katsura-san I'm the only one left in the Himura family." Katsura recognized it as Himura's voice. A blend of puzzled relieve found its way into his heart - who was Himura talking to at this hour of the day?
"This is not good. Well then, I need to get away before Katsura-san finds us." Another voice sounded, slightly deeper than the original, but eerily similar.
"Wait! Demo..."
"It'll be alright, he'll believe you."
Brows furrowing Katsura parted the last stalks of bamboo, now feeling chilled by the whole conversation. It wasn't that hard to understand...Himura had a brother and had carefully hidden this fact from him. This annoyed him - and furthermore, it sent a wave of doubt down his stomach.
Somewhere in the man's heart had always thought it was easy...*too* easy...to achieve the boy's unwavering loyalty. He did trust Battousai, and completely; but as it was, Katsura was too practical a person to believe that child prodigies often jumped out of nowhere with a fantastic legendary sword style and ended up in the Kiheitai waiting for him.
It was just...weird.
Previously concealed thoughts came back to him - what if Himura's brother... "that" brother, in fact - was a Shisengumi? A Shogunate kenkaku? If that was the case, this late-at-night meeting could only mean one thing...
...Himura was a spy.
The very thought sent ice cubes sliding down his spine.
The only way to find out...Katsura Kogoro walked straight out to the courtyard, his fear temporarily forgotten. Hiding was merely pointless; the hitokiri's ability to sense ki was undoubtable. For any and every reason he *had* to prove Himura's innocence. No way a pure boy like him could be a traitor.
The short topknot swayed as the Choshu Lord snapped his head up in anticipation, bracing himself for the final answer...
...only to find the assassin standing alone in the courtyard, the soft moonlight washing over his nearly delicate features. If the boy had sensed his superior he didn't show it; his face was half-turned and he seemed to be musing on some distant memory, eyes fixed over the brim of the garden wall far ahead.
Oh hell, he'd missed the guy... Katsura kicked himself mentally.
"Himura?" he inquired softly, wondering at his best hitokiri's insensitivity. Perhaps he was just pretending, that's all.he was pretending to be on a midnight stroll...Katsura didn't want to think along that line. Himura would never lie to him.
Or would he?
An almost inaudible gasp filled the air as Battousai spun around to face his superior. Katsura could hardly believe it. Unless Battousai was delving on some extra-complicated love triangle problem, he *should* be able to sense anyone existing miles around him. He almost smiled at that thought.
Himura, in love? He was still a child, no matter what everyone thought.
And yet he had to burden the heaviest burden of all - this world is full of irony, isn't it?
"Katsura-san! I..." the boy swallowed the "couldn't sense you" back into his stomach, knowing it would make no sense whatsoever. " I was thinking." It seemed like his ki sensing ability was completely lost in this case. // This was *not* looking good. //
Katsura peered closely into his face, making the hitokiri boy shift uncomfortably. "Thinking, huh?" He didn't really dare accusing the boy openly; that could result in Battousai killing him on the spot if he *was* a traitor. Or spy.
// What about the other person earlier on? What about the demolished roof? Would 'thinking' end up in such a disaster? // Suspicion welled up inside him as Battousai blinked guiltily. One hell of a swordsman as he was, the boy was never good at communicating, let alone lying.
// He makes a pathetic spy if anything. // Sighing at Battousai's ludicrous expression of culpability, Katsura felt his anger fading away into curiosity.
"Himura. Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Sincere ebony eyes searched emotion-filled mauve ones, and for once Battousai averted his gaze.
Good. He's even turning away now. What a wonderful liar. Katsura thought, half grim and half mildly amused. "Himura?" he prodded.
"...Nothing, Katsura-san. Nothing. " Battousai told him, not sounding particularly convincing. Or particularly convinced himself.
Deciding that dwelling on this longer might not be beneficial for either of them, Katsura changed his tactics.
"The roof over the corridor was reduced into ruins." Katsura said, more of a question than an actual statement.
"Aa." Replied the boy, not bothering to sound impressed. He rubbed a hand against his temple wearily; he was in no mood for interrogations. Strangely enough, Katsura reminded him of Saitou - how both of them liked to imply crafty half-questions to weasel the truth out of you.
Thinking of Saitou did nothing to relieve the insistent throb stirring in his head. He couldn't come up with any other reply, so common sense informed him it was best to keep silent.
As if it was.
"Anou...Katsura-san, will you please excuse me, I have....some pressing matters to attend to." Battousai bowed uneasily, knowing how impolite and absurd this must sound. He didn't care; maybe part of him was still hoping he could revert to the peaceful Meiji era again. How silly of him.
As his tabi thudded against the well-worn stony floor of the courtyard, Battousai closed his eyes and scowled with his back to Katsura. Any kind of interaction wasn't his intention for the time being. All he wanted was...was....
He didn't know what.
And so the hitokiri trudged slowly back to his assigned room in the inn, not bothering to put any amount of effort at courtesy. He knew the rurouni would be looking for him shortly and that was all he wanted to know.
*~*
He had changed, somehow.
He couldn't say in what way, but plainly Himura was *never* like that.
Katsura was fairly confused. The whole situation was nothing like he'd expected. If Himura was a spy for the Shisengumi, he sure was a horrible one - a boy who didn't even know how to lie.
Maybe he was just being over-suspicious. Everyone had his own secrets, right?
But then -
"What do you think?" the Choshu Lord asked.
A figure materialized in the dark. "Interesting indeed."
"You mean he?" Katsura said, tilting his head towards the way the hitokiri went.
"Aa. Who would know that Hitokiri Battousai is a child in the core?"
"I told you before."
"I didn't believe it - completely."
"I understand, it may be quite - hard to imagine." Katsura said with a regretful sigh.
"You want me to check on him? Make sure he's not a traitor? Though I really doubt it." A general smirk.
"Why?"
"Hitokiri don't necessary have to lie. Spies do."
A soft shuffling of the bamboo bushes, before all returned to silence.
And the person was gone.
*~*
" Where the heck would the rurouni go?" Battousai thought idly as he slid through the corridor back to his own room. The whole inn was awake by now; woken up by the big resounding crash resulted by the roof breaking off. As usual no one was in his way (or didn't dare to be), leaving him to brood on his own problems without being disturbed.
What's with his ki sensing ability, anyway? He stopped abruptly in the corridor and shut his eyes, feeling for the warm presence of human ki nearby...anyone's...or at least Katsura's...
No such luck. All he felt was simple emptiness and nothing more.
He glowered at no one in particular. How was he going to fight without his sixth sense? Deciding to leave this for later the hitokiri turned around a corner.
And a shadow extracted itself from the mass of shadows, frowning.
A/U: And again, my usual endings: re-reviews!!
Koe-760-kun: Sorry for not replying to your letter sooner, I was hurrying to get this chapter out - the main reason is that I will be getting my computer cleared of all files in an hour...so I'll have to post this up and quick. ~ Oh, and when I say "ideas are leaking out of my mind like crazy" I sorta mean ideas are now running away before I can pin them to the ground.....*smirk* And then, about your fic, I am so surprised I got Kenshin at the 3rd part! Call me Bakumatsu freak, but I think it'll be really cool if Kenshin can just bring you back there and see how you can survive. Stupid idea, maybe the fic's getting into my head ~! Wah, all that thing....sounds like your spirit got out of your body....and it's actually hard to imagine how you can't remember most of the things in one day, the worst accident I got was when I played basketball and someone tripped me and I broke my wrist. It was in Grade 5 I think, and fortunately it's the left wrist or I'll be dead the whole school year. I think it's really annoying having to be depressed the whole time *sniffles* I can't imagine losing interest in RK, that'd be horrible. Promise me you'll be more careful in horseriding, ne? (And I am sort of a teacher's pet too, but in Maths & Physics lessons I can be horrible...*snicker*
Boomerang-chan-kun: You got an evil virus?!? Is it that recent one mentioned in the news? *bats virus with closed eyes* he's dead, isn't he! I'm sorry I may not be able to update too soon, I havto wash my computer of all files coz it got a bad egg program ...^.^ I'm really sorry for the short chapter! Oh, and I've just discovered you're 2 years younger than I am ~ And now I am accepting Anonymous reviews! I s'pose no one will flame me, ne? You're like Misao-chan aren't you? Full of energy...! Aw, that must have hurt, rolling down the stairs....and speaking of Misao-chan, I've just tried your Character Quiz, and I got Himura Kenshin ( again! I got him in another quiz) You're good! I don't how to create quizs or something.
Liemtenshi-kun: *pouting idly, thinking how you're enjoying the ice rink* it sucks! I have a very stupid English project about stupid questions - on Spirited Away and some other random things, they 're so stupid asking you questions like "Why didn't like ?" It IS stupid! And then some other questions like "What is the difference between fashion and fad?" I think I 'll have to do it however...*resolved with a sigh*
Sapphire-eyes-kun: Again~my story got washed to the fourth page! I really hate that, you know. Anyway, sorry for the shortness of this chapter~ *backing away with a frightened smile* no don't hurt me....
Are-en-kun: *producing a watermelon from nowhere* Oh, I suddenly realized I don't really like tomatoes anymore...*the camera switches and there are BOXES of watermelon down there* OHOHOHOHOHOHO! Anyway, I think it's spelled Bakumatsu...I don't know if I am going to add Tomoe in, I really have no idea where the heck the story's going. ^^ And I am trying to keep events to normal so that things don't change too much~ currently Zenei and his buddies are drinking sake and taking a rest at my home...
Lilfrozenfire-kun: Please continue reading, I'm off for a few days....anyway, plz review! Any comments are appreciated.
LittoGrrlStephanie-kun: Thanks for the review! I hope you continue enjoying the story.
The Sacred Night-kun: About that question, I think -san means either Miss/Mr/Mrs that kind of thing, -chan is for children and for intimate calling but can be insulting as well, -dono is the archaic form of -san. -kun is for friends and something like that, I'm not too sure about this one...^^ In a way I really like WAFF, but not in a yaoi way. I just can't make the two of them fighting each other....
Kandy-kun: Thanks for that! I'll be updating soon - after my computer got ridden of stupid sucking programs that jammed it.
Lucrecia LeVrai-kun: Katsura's gonna be suspicious, and surely Kenshin can't let him know~ thanks for the compliment, I'll be working on it!
CharlieTheOtakuNymph-kun: Please continue reading!
Disclaimers: If the time turner thing really did work the first thing I do will be going to the past and killing Nobuhiro-san off before he could say "RK is mine." Unfortunately the time turner only exists in my perverted imagination so you know what I'm trying to say.
A/U: first, let me apologize for the shortness of the chapter. Mainly because I won't be able to write for the next few days I'm posting this up for the time being. But don't worry, I will finish this story ~ somehow. =^.^=
Ch 10 Broken Trust
Katsura passed through the thick clump of bamboo bushes, annoyed that they had blocked his line of sight to the courtyard. While all the men had focused their attention on the destruction of the headquarter, Katsura alone knew better. The roof could be fixed, the floorboards could be replaced; but the sixth sense of a samurai was not to be ignored...
"...wait! I remember telling Katsura-san I'm the only one left in the Himura family." Katsura recognized it as Himura's voice. A blend of puzzled relieve found its way into his heart - who was Himura talking to at this hour of the day?
"This is not good. Well then, I need to get away before Katsura-san finds us." Another voice sounded, slightly deeper than the original, but eerily similar.
"Wait! Demo..."
"It'll be alright, he'll believe you."
Brows furrowing Katsura parted the last stalks of bamboo, now feeling chilled by the whole conversation. It wasn't that hard to understand...Himura had a brother and had carefully hidden this fact from him. This annoyed him - and furthermore, it sent a wave of doubt down his stomach.
Somewhere in the man's heart had always thought it was easy...*too* easy...to achieve the boy's unwavering loyalty. He did trust Battousai, and completely; but as it was, Katsura was too practical a person to believe that child prodigies often jumped out of nowhere with a fantastic legendary sword style and ended up in the Kiheitai waiting for him.
It was just...weird.
Previously concealed thoughts came back to him - what if Himura's brother... "that" brother, in fact - was a Shisengumi? A Shogunate kenkaku? If that was the case, this late-at-night meeting could only mean one thing...
...Himura was a spy.
The very thought sent ice cubes sliding down his spine.
The only way to find out...Katsura Kogoro walked straight out to the courtyard, his fear temporarily forgotten. Hiding was merely pointless; the hitokiri's ability to sense ki was undoubtable. For any and every reason he *had* to prove Himura's innocence. No way a pure boy like him could be a traitor.
The short topknot swayed as the Choshu Lord snapped his head up in anticipation, bracing himself for the final answer...
...only to find the assassin standing alone in the courtyard, the soft moonlight washing over his nearly delicate features. If the boy had sensed his superior he didn't show it; his face was half-turned and he seemed to be musing on some distant memory, eyes fixed over the brim of the garden wall far ahead.
Oh hell, he'd missed the guy... Katsura kicked himself mentally.
"Himura?" he inquired softly, wondering at his best hitokiri's insensitivity. Perhaps he was just pretending, that's all.he was pretending to be on a midnight stroll...Katsura didn't want to think along that line. Himura would never lie to him.
Or would he?
An almost inaudible gasp filled the air as Battousai spun around to face his superior. Katsura could hardly believe it. Unless Battousai was delving on some extra-complicated love triangle problem, he *should* be able to sense anyone existing miles around him. He almost smiled at that thought.
Himura, in love? He was still a child, no matter what everyone thought.
And yet he had to burden the heaviest burden of all - this world is full of irony, isn't it?
"Katsura-san! I..." the boy swallowed the "couldn't sense you" back into his stomach, knowing it would make no sense whatsoever. " I was thinking." It seemed like his ki sensing ability was completely lost in this case. // This was *not* looking good. //
Katsura peered closely into his face, making the hitokiri boy shift uncomfortably. "Thinking, huh?" He didn't really dare accusing the boy openly; that could result in Battousai killing him on the spot if he *was* a traitor. Or spy.
// What about the other person earlier on? What about the demolished roof? Would 'thinking' end up in such a disaster? // Suspicion welled up inside him as Battousai blinked guiltily. One hell of a swordsman as he was, the boy was never good at communicating, let alone lying.
// He makes a pathetic spy if anything. // Sighing at Battousai's ludicrous expression of culpability, Katsura felt his anger fading away into curiosity.
"Himura. Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Sincere ebony eyes searched emotion-filled mauve ones, and for once Battousai averted his gaze.
Good. He's even turning away now. What a wonderful liar. Katsura thought, half grim and half mildly amused. "Himura?" he prodded.
"...Nothing, Katsura-san. Nothing. " Battousai told him, not sounding particularly convincing. Or particularly convinced himself.
Deciding that dwelling on this longer might not be beneficial for either of them, Katsura changed his tactics.
"The roof over the corridor was reduced into ruins." Katsura said, more of a question than an actual statement.
"Aa." Replied the boy, not bothering to sound impressed. He rubbed a hand against his temple wearily; he was in no mood for interrogations. Strangely enough, Katsura reminded him of Saitou - how both of them liked to imply crafty half-questions to weasel the truth out of you.
Thinking of Saitou did nothing to relieve the insistent throb stirring in his head. He couldn't come up with any other reply, so common sense informed him it was best to keep silent.
As if it was.
"Anou...Katsura-san, will you please excuse me, I have....some pressing matters to attend to." Battousai bowed uneasily, knowing how impolite and absurd this must sound. He didn't care; maybe part of him was still hoping he could revert to the peaceful Meiji era again. How silly of him.
As his tabi thudded against the well-worn stony floor of the courtyard, Battousai closed his eyes and scowled with his back to Katsura. Any kind of interaction wasn't his intention for the time being. All he wanted was...was....
He didn't know what.
And so the hitokiri trudged slowly back to his assigned room in the inn, not bothering to put any amount of effort at courtesy. He knew the rurouni would be looking for him shortly and that was all he wanted to know.
*~*
He had changed, somehow.
He couldn't say in what way, but plainly Himura was *never* like that.
Katsura was fairly confused. The whole situation was nothing like he'd expected. If Himura was a spy for the Shisengumi, he sure was a horrible one - a boy who didn't even know how to lie.
Maybe he was just being over-suspicious. Everyone had his own secrets, right?
But then -
"What do you think?" the Choshu Lord asked.
A figure materialized in the dark. "Interesting indeed."
"You mean he?" Katsura said, tilting his head towards the way the hitokiri went.
"Aa. Who would know that Hitokiri Battousai is a child in the core?"
"I told you before."
"I didn't believe it - completely."
"I understand, it may be quite - hard to imagine." Katsura said with a regretful sigh.
"You want me to check on him? Make sure he's not a traitor? Though I really doubt it." A general smirk.
"Why?"
"Hitokiri don't necessary have to lie. Spies do."
A soft shuffling of the bamboo bushes, before all returned to silence.
And the person was gone.
*~*
" Where the heck would the rurouni go?" Battousai thought idly as he slid through the corridor back to his own room. The whole inn was awake by now; woken up by the big resounding crash resulted by the roof breaking off. As usual no one was in his way (or didn't dare to be), leaving him to brood on his own problems without being disturbed.
What's with his ki sensing ability, anyway? He stopped abruptly in the corridor and shut his eyes, feeling for the warm presence of human ki nearby...anyone's...or at least Katsura's...
No such luck. All he felt was simple emptiness and nothing more.
He glowered at no one in particular. How was he going to fight without his sixth sense? Deciding to leave this for later the hitokiri turned around a corner.
And a shadow extracted itself from the mass of shadows, frowning.
A/U: And again, my usual endings: re-reviews!!
Koe-760-kun: Sorry for not replying to your letter sooner, I was hurrying to get this chapter out - the main reason is that I will be getting my computer cleared of all files in an hour...so I'll have to post this up and quick. ~ Oh, and when I say "ideas are leaking out of my mind like crazy" I sorta mean ideas are now running away before I can pin them to the ground.....*smirk* And then, about your fic, I am so surprised I got Kenshin at the 3rd part! Call me Bakumatsu freak, but I think it'll be really cool if Kenshin can just bring you back there and see how you can survive. Stupid idea, maybe the fic's getting into my head ~! Wah, all that thing....sounds like your spirit got out of your body....and it's actually hard to imagine how you can't remember most of the things in one day, the worst accident I got was when I played basketball and someone tripped me and I broke my wrist. It was in Grade 5 I think, and fortunately it's the left wrist or I'll be dead the whole school year. I think it's really annoying having to be depressed the whole time *sniffles* I can't imagine losing interest in RK, that'd be horrible. Promise me you'll be more careful in horseriding, ne? (And I am sort of a teacher's pet too, but in Maths & Physics lessons I can be horrible...*snicker*
Boomerang-chan-kun: You got an evil virus?!? Is it that recent one mentioned in the news? *bats virus with closed eyes* he's dead, isn't he! I'm sorry I may not be able to update too soon, I havto wash my computer of all files coz it got a bad egg program ...^.^ I'm really sorry for the short chapter! Oh, and I've just discovered you're 2 years younger than I am ~ And now I am accepting Anonymous reviews! I s'pose no one will flame me, ne? You're like Misao-chan aren't you? Full of energy...! Aw, that must have hurt, rolling down the stairs....and speaking of Misao-chan, I've just tried your Character Quiz, and I got Himura Kenshin ( again! I got him in another quiz) You're good! I don't how to create quizs or something.
Liemtenshi-kun: *pouting idly, thinking how you're enjoying the ice rink* it sucks! I have a very stupid English project about stupid questions - on Spirited Away and some other random things, they 're so stupid asking you questions like "Why didn't like ?" It IS stupid! And then some other questions like "What is the difference between fashion and fad?" I think I 'll have to do it however...*resolved with a sigh*
Sapphire-eyes-kun: Again~my story got washed to the fourth page! I really hate that, you know. Anyway, sorry for the shortness of this chapter~ *backing away with a frightened smile* no don't hurt me....
Are-en-kun: *producing a watermelon from nowhere* Oh, I suddenly realized I don't really like tomatoes anymore...*the camera switches and there are BOXES of watermelon down there* OHOHOHOHOHOHO! Anyway, I think it's spelled Bakumatsu...I don't know if I am going to add Tomoe in, I really have no idea where the heck the story's going. ^^ And I am trying to keep events to normal so that things don't change too much~ currently Zenei and his buddies are drinking sake and taking a rest at my home...
Lilfrozenfire-kun: Please continue reading, I'm off for a few days....anyway, plz review! Any comments are appreciated.
LittoGrrlStephanie-kun: Thanks for the review! I hope you continue enjoying the story.
The Sacred Night-kun: About that question, I think -san means either Miss/Mr/Mrs that kind of thing, -chan is for children and for intimate calling but can be insulting as well, -dono is the archaic form of -san. -kun is for friends and something like that, I'm not too sure about this one...^^ In a way I really like WAFF, but not in a yaoi way. I just can't make the two of them fighting each other....
Kandy-kun: Thanks for that! I'll be updating soon - after my computer got ridden of stupid sucking programs that jammed it.
Lucrecia LeVrai-kun: Katsura's gonna be suspicious, and surely Kenshin can't let him know~ thanks for the compliment, I'll be working on it!
CharlieTheOtakuNymph-kun: Please continue reading!
