DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor will I ever own Rurouni Kenshin. I am making no profit from this and I will remove this if requested to do so for any legitimate reason.
WARNING: This story is rated R for violence, so if you do not like graphic depictions of people dying I suggest you find something else to read.
Author's Notes: So much for getting back on schedule. Anyway another chapter posted and comments welcome as usual.
The Last Battle of the Bakumatsu
Chapter 20
Misao breathed heavily as the sweat cascaded down her face. The morning had turned into afternoon and she ached all over from the constant exertion. Across the same field on the bank of a river Sano stood smirking. Sweat glistened on his skin but it was from being in the hot sun all day.
Misao urged herself on and attacked him again but he swayed out of the way. Before she could react, he punched her in the stomach, following up with a kick. She blocked it but it was still strong enough to knock her back off her feet. He had been controlling his strength but he wasn't going easy on her and she still felt every hit.
"Do you know why you are losing?" Sano's level voice allowed her to relax. He had mostly taunted her the entire time as they battled in what he called training.
"You're better," was all Misao could say between heavy breaths.
"No, your skill is good but you lack fitness." His summary didn't impress her.
"I'm fit enough, I train all the time," she replied defensively.
"You're fit enough to battle the lowlifes of the Meiji era but not to match someone from the Bakumatsu. How strong do you want to be?"
She carefully considered what she was about to say. "I want to be as strong as my grandfather." She seemed to be reaffirming herself as well with her determined statement.
"Then we have a lot of work to do," he sighed. He scratched his head and wiped some sweat from his forehead.
"You don't have to make it sound like it's impossible," she complained.
He started pacing toward the river. "The student will usually only be as strong as the master."
"What the hell does that mean?" She yelled as her frustration got the better of her.
"It's like I said when I fought Aoshi, I had no master so I'm basically self taught. I can help you hone your skills but I can't teach you much more, other than the Futae-no-Kiwami and your fitness levels."
She listened but she still took offence at his comment about her fitness. "Why do you think I'm not fit, I was fighting you all day, isn't that enough?" She ranted at him as they reach the river.
He scooped up some water from the river and splashed it on his face. "It's not just about your stamina. Everyone has their physical strengths. Kenshin had his speed and I have my strength. Others like Aoshi have a balance between speed and strength," he felt a little annoyed as she interjected.
"I know all that, and I have a good balance of both speed and strength," she noticed that he was shaking his head.
"You have a balance but it isn't as good as it could be. When you reach your body's limits, improving one aspect would mean you weaken the other. However you can still improve both your speed and strength. Basically you can raise your fitness to a higher level. You may think that it won't make much of a difference but it will." He drank from the river again as she pondered his answer. He had a passing thought of checking on Outa. However, he was sure his brother would be still practicing the task he had been set.
Outa sat cross-legged on a rock in the field. He had heard Sano and Misao's voices fade as they headed to the river but he didn't move from his position. He looked like he was meditating but he was trying to sense his surroundings to the point where he could feel someone's presence.
Both Sano and Misao had given him tips. However, they didn't always agree on the methods they used to hone their own skills. In the end it was left to him to take on board their advice and make up his own mind about how to best develop his own awareness.
After a few minutes arguing his two companions had started their own training. He had watched intermittently as they basically fought each other but even Outa could see Sano was barely trying. However as he watched he started to pick up the changes that Misao, in her frustration, was overlooking.
Sano's movements weren't as fluid as Misao's and he remembered that she had told him that she knew kenpo. What she hadn't realised was that he was slowly learning her moves and copying them almost perfectly. At times he was fighting back with a technique identical to her own and she barely noticed until he hinted at what he was doing. Outa slowly got tired of watching and decided to get back to his own task, since he wouldn't be able to participate. It was something that reminded him of being back in Shinsuu with his Dad.
After a hard days work the pair of them would sit in the field enjoying the cool breeze that came before sunset. They sat in silence sitting side by side. If he closed his eyes for too long, his father would move to a new position. He wouldn't know what happened until he opened his eyes. Slowly, he learned to detect his father's movements. He had only caught his father a couple of times but he saw the similarities with what his brother wanted him to learn.
Something else had occurred to him as he meditated, he was enjoying his life in Tokyo. He had barely thought of home and his family. When he did, he didn't miss them. In a way he had joined a new family, even if it was a strange one. Sano was so much like his father that they could have been the same person. Megumi was the mother he barely remembered. She kind, patient and showing little hints of affection for Sano, even if she didn't openly admit it. Misao had become like an older sister but she was more energetic and cheerful than his real sister.
The people at the dojo were also included with Yahiko and Kenji like brothers. Yahiko was the stronger older boy willing to mentor him. Kenji the weaker younger boy that he felt obliged to look after, even if he only showed his indifference for the boy. Kaoru was like a mixture of sister and mother, possibly an aunt. She was strict and demanding as a master but then kind and patient after lessons. Kenshin was another revered adult and everybody was quite happy to reminisce about his deeds from the past.
On instinct more than anything else, Outa snatched the shinai by his side. He swung it upward and towards the perceived threat. It took him by surprise that when he opened his eyes, there was another pair staring back from the other end of the shinai. The boy quickly hid his shock and his fear as he maintained an emotionless stare at the slightly built man standing next to him. The man's long dark hair blew across his face but he could still see the cool eyes appraising him. If the man had been as skilled as his father at silently moving through long grass, he could have been in trouble.
"Enemy or ally?" Outa spoke despite a dry throat. It occurred to him that the man just wanted directions but he dismissed that thought.
"Considering your dress like that idiot Sano, I suppose I'm an ally." Katsu didn't recognise the boy but he had heard of Sano bringing one to Tokyo. Katsu was surprised as the shinai was thrust forward, poking him in the forehead.
"Why should I believe you are an ally when you call my brother an idiot?" Outa didn't relax, as a surprised Katsu smiled at the loyal boy before him.
"Let me introduce myself," he announced as he stepped back so that he could bow as he spoke. "I'm Tsukioka Katsuhiko, currently a struggling publisher of an antigovernment newspaper but former loyal member of the Sekihoutai." He heard the boy's breath catch in awe as he realised that the man in front of was a part of the same group as his brother.
He relaxed his shinai as he stood up, the rock boosting his height so that he was standing at eye level with Katsu. "I'm Higashidani Outa, pleased to meet you." He bowed deeply to Katsu, who found the show of politeness humorous.
"I see you got all the manners that Sano never had," he joked and he watched the boy smile at the comment. "So where is your brother?" Katsu's question came as he looked around the field for them again.
"They probably went down to the river, come on I'll show you." He jumped down from the rock and started trotting off towards the river. Katsu followed but at a more sedate pace, content to get there in his own time rather than rush like Outa. When he came to the top of the bank he could see down to where Misao and Sano were by the riverside.
Misao was wading in the shallow water. She splashed it on her arms and legs in the hope that it would soothe some of her aches. Sano was lying on his back by the side of the river enjoying the sun. He absently chewed a piece of grass and was clearly in no hurry to be anywhere.
"You're a hard man to find," Katsu called as he descended the bank. Sano gave him a brief glance before turning his face back toward the sun. Misao examined him a little longer than Sano but then went back to washing herself.
"So what's so important that it brought you out during the day to find me?" Sano asked but didn't look at his oldest friend.
"You're not being very considerate after I went to all the trouble of finding you a new partner." Katsu smirked as he showed renewed interest in what he was saying.
"So you actually found one?" Sano looked at him with a little disbelief but Katsu wanted to draw out the moment.
"Considering your ingratitude I don't know if I should tell you," his aloof statement didn't seem to affect Sano much. There was a pause before Sano appeared to sigh in defeat.
"Well if you're not going to tell me by choice…" Sano allowed his offhanded comment to hang in the air. Katsu tried not to look worried but he was. It was especially true when Sano rolled and stood up in one fluid motion. He took a firm grip on Katsu's clothes and lifted the smaller man over his head. Misao let out a small cry as she cleared away from the river so that she wouldn't get caught in any splash.
Sano was holding Katsu effortlessly despite his constant struggling. "So you going to talk or do you want to get wet?"
"Do you know you're being really childish?" Sano smirked up at him. He could feel the ex-gangster's muscles tense up. "Old man Matsumoto came to me," Sano looked at him doubtfully but unceremoniously placed him back on the ground.
"I thought he would have been the first person you went to see?" Sano queried as he waited for his friend to readjust his clothes and answer him.
"I did but he said he wouldn't know where he could find one. Then this morning he sent one of his errand boys to find me but said if I wanted it, I'd have to bring you along."
Sano started laughing but Misao looked completely lost. "Who's this Matsumoto?" she asked as she put her sandals back on.
"He used to be a Yakuza heavy weight before the revolution," Katsu spoke as Sano looked distantly at the river. "After it ended, he retired and set up a small store in the slums, although he still sold swords and some other weapons. Just about every major Yakuza boss owed him a favour, so they let him be. He may have been retired but if you wanted to know something in the Tokyo underworld, then you asked him."
"I got my first job working for him," Sano looked at the group around him as he continued. "I had heard about him and wanted to get work as one of his errand boys. I was only twelve and he said he already had plenty of help. He didn't like the symbol for evil on my back. I said I'd show him what it meant and then picked a fight with his other helpers. They were a couple of years older than me but after an hour I was the only one still standing. After that I had plenty of work from him," Sano seemed to find more interest in his memories than anybody else.
"I thought you said no one protected you?" Misao's question went unanswered by Sano so Katsu spoke up.
"Matsumoto would only give you work but if you failed you had to hope that you died trying otherwise he'd find you. There were always rumours about how brutal he was, so usually only the destitute samurai ever tried anything," Katsu's commentary ended as Sano spoke up again.
"He was always telling me to change my clothes because it made me too distinctive. I never did, even though it caused me a lot of trouble because people started to recognise me. In the end it didn't matter because I never once failed to get the job done. By the time I was fifteen no one dared challenge me but I was getting tired of the work. So Matsumoto gave me my first sword and told me to get lost. After that I became Zanza for the first time," Sano found some amusement in his old name as he started to walk towards the road.
"Wait, why are you called Zanza?" Misao asked having never really known the origin of his underground name.
"You'll find out," Sano called over his shoulder. "You too Round Cheeks, time for you to meet a Tokyo legend." Sano patted Outa on the head as he walked alongside him. Misao and Katsu fell into step behind them as the headed to the slums of Tokyo.
Sano strode straight into the dilapidated store without bothering to knock or announce his presence. He knew that Matsumoto could sense him and didn't bother waiting. The store was bare as Sano moved through it followed by Misao, Outa and Katsu. They were a little more hesitant but thought it was safer to stay one step behind Sano than being anywhere else. Sano entered the back room that had no windows but was still lighter than the front of the store.
Misao almost gasped in awe as she stepped into the room. The walls and some racks in the room were loaded with various weapons. They ranged from standard swords to some of the most bizarre things she had ever seen. They all seemed to glint in the candlelight as they moved to the back of the room where Matsumoto sat on a stool.
He appeared to be balancing his thin frame on the stool with a walking stick. To Misao and Outa he didn't seem possible of being a former Yakuza leader but when he opened his eyes she recognised the strength in them. "So you brought your little brother and the grand daughter of one of the great Oniwabanshu leaders." Matsumoto's voice was quiet but strong. He calmly examined both of them while Sano looked around the room.
He was trying to spot what he had come for. "Hey old man where's…" Sano began to speak but Matsumoto waved him off to the far corner of the room.
"It's over there, take it since no one else would want it." Sano didn't need to be told twice as he headed in that direction. As Sano wandered away Misao and Outa looked over a variety of swords nearby. Katsu remained off to the side waiting patiently.
"Makimachi Misao, I have something for you." Matsumoto gestured for her to come closer. She cautiously approached while Katsu watched them closely from where he was leaning against the wall.
"What is it?" Misao asked as she stood guardedly watching him. He picked up something wrapped in cloth and offered it to her. She warily took the slightly tattered fabric but she could feel that it had once been a very delicate piece of cloth. She peeled it off to find a well-made black kodachi that had hints of gold inlay decorating the hilt.
"I believe that its twin was enshrined in a temple in Kyoto. They belonged to your father, didn't they?" Matsumoto waited patiently for her to respond.
Misao didn't take her eyes of the kodachi. "They did but how did you know and how did you get it?" Misao urgently queried him.
"Your father and I used to trade information. That information saved both of our lives several times. I didn't come across this until several years after the war. The widow of a samurai had fallen on hard times and came to me to sell it. I never thought that I'd be giving it to his daughter after so many years." Matsumoto had a smile on his face as she drew the perfectly clean and sharp kodachi.
"So old man, how much for the two swords?" Sano called from the other side of the room.
Misao snapped out of her daze and looked back to Sano. "What the hell is that?"
"A zanbatou," the old man spoke in an authoritative tone as Sano lifted the heavy sword. "It's the sword that suited him the most and earned him the name Zanza. Which brings me to the price of these two items."
Sano replaced the zanbatou where he found it and walked back to Matsumoto. "So how much?" even before Sano spoke, he recognised the look on the old man's face.
"I'll give you them both along with all the information I have on the recent Shinsengumi activity but you need to fulfil the debt you owe to me." Sano eyed the old man suspiciously, knowing he did still owe him a debt.
"The price of the two swords, the information and my debt is a lot to give for one job. You must be getting old," Sano watched him closely. He surprised that he didn't snap back with a withering retort like he used to when he questioned his age.
"I am too old for this kind of work and I'll be leaving Tokyo soon. It seems that over the years I have started owing people favours rather than them owing me. Fortunately you have arrived just as they called in their favours, so I can leave Tokyo having paid all my debts." The old man went in to a coughing fit but waved away Misao as she offered her help.
"It's still a high price to pay for my help." Sano was wary knowing that this man knew the value of things and wasn't normally so generous.
"Possibly but I am asking for a lot," Matsumoto continued after having regained his composure. "I need you to fight. I need you to make sure they don't come back after you beat them. I need to see a rampage that was the trademark of Zanza," the old man's eyes narrowed as he stared at Sano.
"What do you mean you don't want them to come back?" Misao interjected the brief staring match between the two men.
"Some of the heads of the Yakuza are worried by a new gang trying to gain some power in Tokyo. They're from China but unlike the local Yakuza, they use firearms. The Tokyo Yakuza are afraid to confront them but then they heard that Zanza was back. Using you seemed easier since the leader of the new gang is a woman called Sia Chiu." Matsumoto watched Sano as his eyes closed and he bowed his head.
Slowly a smirk spread across his face and for a moment Misao and Outa almost didn't recognise him. "So that self-absorbed tigress has come to Tokyo." Sano chuckled, lightening the suddenly oppressive atmosphere.
"You know her?" Katsu asked beating Misao to the question. She didn't protest as she awaited the answer.
"Yeah, we had a little run in when I stowed away on one of her ships. She tried to recruit me but wasn't impressed when I insulted her. After I beat up half her men, she was smart enough to retreat. She said something like she'd kill me if she ever saw me again. At the time, I don't think she thought she'd ever see me again. It's going to be something to see the look on her face." He continued to smirk and seemed too willing to get involved in this fight.
"Fine, we'll do it but I want to know everything you know about my father as well." Matsumoto looked calmly at Misao after her fervent demand.
His eyes were telling her that she shouldn't have asked for that. "I don't know anything worthwhile to you."
"You have to know something, you were able to recognise his sword," Misao desperately responded. Her hand tightened into a fist until her knuckles turned white.
"I only recognise them because he threatened to used them against me. I used to be a brutal man and I know the look in someone's eyes when they are capable of such things. I lived by treachery, not by honour, so yielding was easy for me. I only wish we were comrades because he was a talented man in the art of persuasion. I could have used someone like him." The old man had taken on a malicious aura and Misao bit back any retort about the integrity of her father.
"Well I have no interest in this," Katsu tiredly commented as he decided to leave.
"No one asked you," Sano replied light heartedly as Katsu disappeared out the front. "I'll trust you to keep your word old man. Don't make me come and find you," Sano turned and picked up the zanbatou from where he left it.
"Here is all the information you'll need," Matsumoto handed a few notes to Misao before turning to Sano. "And you, make sure that they never want to set foot on Japanese soil again." Matsumoto looked at Sano's back as he stared out the door. Sano looked over his shoulder with his trademark cocky grin plastered on his face.
"Don't worry old man, there's going to be a rampage that's all Zanza. All of Tokyo is going to know that you don't defy the symbol for evil." He walked out the door with Outa and Misao following in his wake.
Matsumoto waited a few moments before he moved to a side room and sipped from a cup of cool water. "So it's almost over, just one more person I'd like to see." Matsumoto mused to himself as he stared at his reflection in the water. A contented smile was on his lips as he moved to his office. He collected the information that would be required to pay for his last deed in the Tokyo underworld. He smiled as he contemplated the end to his life but dismissed it as he prepared his final act in Tokyo.