Popped this one out even faster than the last one, and I'm even less pleased. :( But it's something, right?
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is the creative property of Watsuki Nobuhiro and all companies affiliated with its license.
Trodden Path
Rurouni Kenshin
by D. Reed
The Village Idiot
"It's the Battousai! Get him!"
Such a common and cliché greeting, he decided – especially after hearing it many times over his six years of wandering. And after six years, he had learned a valuable technique; a useful method of evasion that his master never could have taught him.
"Oro?"
Playing the role of a fool. Kenshin found that this routine had been the most effective means of chasing off anyone who had the guts to challenge him. Years of dangerous scuffles and nearly broken vows had worn at him, and so he sacrificed his dignity for the sake of peace. Pretend to be an airhead, fumble with the sakabatou, fall over. The well-practiced routine was foolproof, as long as a real threat was non-existent.
"Look at me – see? I can't really use the sword. I'm just a wanderer. I don't have a care in the world," said his actions. "I'm harmless, I promise."
But he couldn't shake the bloody ghosts in tow – they told him otherwise as they reached for him with bony dead hands behind closed eyelids. You can't fool us, they said. We know who you are.
Even if his act worked on others, he couldn't fool himself.
200 words.