Mama Himura

Chapter 9

Tokisha awoke slowly and tried to look around but found that her vision was very cloudy and blurred. After a moment or so she was able to see clearly and saw that she appeared to be in an old temple of some sort but she couldn't be completely sure. She tried to get up but found that her hands were tied in front of her to a pole in the corner of the small building. She tugged at the ropes for several minutes but the knots were just too tight and she decided to save her energy and once again looked around at her surroundings.

"Where… am I?"

"So you're awake are you?"

Tokisha looked in front of her and saw the man from the other day but this time she actually got a good look at him and her eyes went wide with shock at who she saw before her. He had shoulder length jet-black and cold deep brown, almost black eyes but what surprised her was his facial features. He looked strangely similar to Kenshin in the face, a sharp chin but soft cheekbones, giving him an almost feminine look, just like her son and that face reminded her of someone else as well…

"Ya… ya look just like my husband, that ya do…"

The man chuckled, "Don't get your hopes up, Tokisha, I'm not your husband… Mamoru died twenty years ago, remember?"

"Unfortunately I do but… where am I and why did ya bring me here?"

"We're somewhere outside of town first off and secondly I brought you here so Battousai would come."

"I don't understand, that I don't."

"It's simple my dear, Battousai, of course, is going to come and rescue his mother and when he does I'm going to kill him."

"I don't understand… why do ya want ta kill him?"

"He took something precious from me and I'm going to make him pay for it."

"What could possibly be so important ta ya that you want ta kill someone!"

The man snorted in disgust and looked away from her, "He took my son from me."

"What do ya mean… he took your son?"

"Battousai killed my boy… eleven years ago in Kyoto."

"But… but Shinta took many lives, that he did, I'm sure he did it ta protect himself, my son wouldn't hurt someone unless he had to, that he wouldn't."

The man suddenly came up and knelt in front of her, taking her chin in his hand in a surprisingly gentle grip, as if he were being careful not to actually hurt her as he looked directly into her eyes, "I saw it with my own eyes! My son was out in the woods and Battousai came out of nowhere and killed him in cold blood and left! He didn't even try to hide the kill… in fact… he seemed to be proud of it!"

"Shinta wouldn't hurt someone for no reason, that he wouldn't!"

"The Shinta that you and I knew twenty years ago wouldn't, but Battousai would! Our kind Shinta is dead, why can't you see that, Emma!"

"E… Emma? How… how do ya know my real name?"

The man's eyes widened slightly and he moved away from her to stare out the door then Tokisha suddenly recognized her captor, "K… Kakeru? Is it really you?"

The man was silent but he nodded slightly and tears came to her eyes, "Oh Kakeru… what happened ta ya? What made ya turn so cold hearted?"

"Battousai… my heart died along with my son and I intend to avenge his death and kill the manslayer… tonight."

"Kakeru… ya can't! I won't let ya hurt my son!"

"Damn it Emma!"

He went up and took her shoulders, shaking her slightly, "How can you possible still call that… that monster your son! He's a cruel, heartless murderer! He killed my boy and countless others without a second thought and yet you want to protect him! I'm glad Mamoru's dead, his heart would shatter if he saw how his family has turned out."

Tokisha's eyes flashed in anger and tears of rage slid down her face, "Ya leave Mamoru out of this! I love my son, that I do, whether he's killed or not! He lives with the guilt of his past everyday, that he does and he wants nothin' more than to erase that past and bring back the lives he's taken…"

"Well guess what, he can't! He's a monster and I intend to make him pay for what he's done!"

"You're the monster, Kakeru… how could ya betray us like this…"

Against her will tears started to slide faster down her face and she looked away from him. Kakeru reached over and took her face between his hands and, to her surprise, smoothed her tears away, "Don't cry, I didn't want you involved but I had no choice, Battousai has to pay for taking my boy away from me. Tell me, Emma, what would you do if someone had killed Shinta?"

"I can't tell ya that, that I can't… but don't take him away from me… I've been lookin' for my little boy for twenty years, that I have and I finally have him back… oh please Kakeru don't make me lose him for good, I can't live without my son, that I can't."

"You have for all of these years."

"Because in my heart I knew that he was alive, that I did and that kept me goin', that it did. I don't understand how ya could do this ta us… Shinta adored ya, that he did!"

"Yes… but he was too young to remember me… or my son… and that Shinta is dead, he's only Battousai now."

"That's not true… how can ya turn against us like this? I looked up ta ya like a brother, that I did… I… I loved ya, Kakeru…"

Suddenly there was a shout outside the door, "Stranger! I'm here!"

Kakeru smiled, almost sadly and kissed her cheek before standing up to leave, "I love you as well, sister, but… your love isn't enough to take away the hate in my heart that I have for that man out there. He took my son from me and even though you are kind enough to forgive him… I cannot, just wait here, this won't take long then I'll return you to your home."

"Kakeru! Wait!"

He ignored her shout and left the room, leaving Tokisha in the darkness to cry in anger, pain and helplessness alone.

OUTSIDE

Kenshin was thoroughly ticked off when he'd left the dojo but the run over took away a lot of his rage so he was much calmer now and was more than ready to fight. The stranger came out of the temple and smiled smugly at him, "It's about time you showed up, manslayer, did you have trouble finding the place?"

"Sorry, I'm not too great with directions when I'm angry. Now where's my mother?"

"She's fine and she will continue to be as long as you put up a decent fight."

"That will be no trouble at all but before we begin I would like to know one thing, that I would."

"What's that, Battousai?"

"Why are you after my life?"

"You took the most important thing in my life away from me and I am going to make sure that you pay for that, now shut up and fight boy!"

Kakeru charged forward at Kenshin and thrust at his side but he easily dodged by stepping to the side. Kakeru anticipated this and suddenly turned and slashed at Kenshin's side, catching him off guard long enough to leave a deep cut in his side just under his ribs. Kenshin let out a groan of pain and jumped back, holding the wound for a second before pushing the sharp stinging sensation into the back of his mind so he could concentrate once more on the fight.

Kakeru laughed, "It seems as though you've lost a lot of your spark since the other day, Battousai."

"Don't worry, I have plenty of spark left so shut it and let's get back to fighting."

"That's what I wanted to hear!"

As they were fighting they didn't notice a figure slip past them and into the shrine. Tokisha had started struggling to get lose from her bonds once she heard the battle start outside, she had heard a shout of pain but she didn't know who it came from. Deep down she didn't want either Kenshin or Kakeru to get hurt, she loved them both but as long as she was tied up she couldn't do anything to help them. Suddenly the door opened and there was someone next to her, she looked up and smiled at her rescuer, "Hiko? What are ya doin' here?"

"Helping, are you alright?"

"Yes."
Hiko cut the ropes and pulled Tokisha to him for a tight embrace, an unconscious sigh of relief leaving him as he did so, "I'm glad he didn't kill you, I thought he'd taken my job away from me."

Tokisha slapped him gently and smirked, "I'll get ya for that later, that I will but right now I have ta help Shinta, that I do!"

Hiko followed her outside and she let out a gasp when she saw the fight that was going on. Kenshin had a deep gash in his side and was bleeding quite a bit and Kakeru had a busted lip and apparently a few hurt ribs from where he was holding them before he charged at Kenshin again. Tokisha took a step to stop the fight but Hiko caught her wrist, "You can't go out there."

"I don't want either of them ta die, that I don't! I have ta do somethin', that I do!"

"Then stay out of the way, that's how you can help. Kenshin won't kill him, no matter how angry he is so, don't worry about that and if worse comes to worse… I'm here to step in."

Tokisha nodded and turned her attention back to the fight, seeing Kakeru wipe the blood from his mouth, "Now I see why you were the most feared man in the revolution, you fight like a demon."

"That's how I stayed alive but that's the past, I'm no longer Battousai, and what I did as a manslayer I did because I was fighting for what I believed in, just as everyone else was."

"I don't care what reason you have for fighting! I fought in the revolution myself for the Satsuma clan alongside the Choshu clan!"

"Then why are you fighting against me now?"

"Because you killed my son! He was the only person I had in this world and you took him from me in the blink of an eye, I didn't even get to tell him goodbye because of you!"

"I killed many sons… and uncles and fathers, yours wasn't the only one."

"I don't give a damn about everyone else's sons, if they forgive you then that's their business but I will never forgive you for killing Tamano!"

Kenshin arched an eyebrow when he heard that name, "Tamano? Dark hair, light blue eyes with a scar across his nose and he was missing a finger on his left hand?"

"Yes!"

"You don't understand the circumstances behind his death, he…"

"I don't care, all I care about is killing you to avenge him now shut up and fight!"

Kakeru watched as Kenshin sighed and sheathed his sword, getting into his battou-jutsu stance. When he saw Kenshin put up his sword anger suddenly filled him, "Draw your sword and fight me boy!"

"I intend to, but only when I'm ready but I'll warn you one last time, back down."

"Never! I will make you pay for what you did to Tamano! Now die!"

Kakeru charged at him but Kenshin waited until the last second then drew his sword with god-like speed, hitting him directly in the side, sending him several feet away. As he tried to regain his breath Kenshin came to stand in front of him and looked down at him with blank eyes, "Now listen to me, Tamano was a good companion of mine, we were both soldiers in the Choshu clan but what you don't know is that I was ordered to kill him."

"W… what… do you… mean…"

"Tamano was a traitor, he was giving information to the Shinsengumi as well as other clans and we almost lost because of it. One night he tried to kill Katsura but when I tried to stop him he ran and I was ordered to kill him and… as much as I hated to I killed him, and that is what happened. That is the only reason I killed him… because I had no other option, your son was a brave soldier but he made the wrong choices. Now, do us all a favor and turn yourself into the police… this battle is over."

Kenshin turned and headed towards the others but Kakeru picked up his sword and cut Kenshin in the back of the leg, causing him to fall to the ground. He got up and stood above Kenshin to kill him but Hiko ran between them and knocked him away, raising his sword above Kakeru's chest, "I'm not as kind as my stupid apprentice here, I don't give second chances…"

Before Hiko could attack Tokisha ran up and covered Kakeru's body with her own, getting a gasp from both Hiko and Kenshin as he stood to join them, "Mother… what's going on?"

"Don't kill him… please… Kakeru doesn't deserve that, that he doesn't, he's suffered enough, please, Hiko…"

Hiko groaned and put his sword away, "You're just like your idiot son, you're both too soft."

Kenshin chuckled softly and looked down to see Tokisha running a hand through Kakeru's hair, then he looked up at her as a tear slid down his blood stained face, "I'm sorry Emma but… but how can I forgive him?"

"Kakeru… ya can't hate Shinta for something that he couldn't help, that ya can't."

Kenshin flinched as he moved his leg to carefully kneel in front of them, his voice genuine and soft, "Sir, I apologize, I know that means nothing to you but… I'm sorry, I didn't want to kill Tamano, that I didn't. You don't have to forgive me, I don't expect you to, I understand why you hate me…"

Kakeru interrupted him, "I don't hate you, Shinta… I hate Battousai! When I saw you kill Tamano I didn't want to believe that it was you but… I saw your face and you look just like your father… there was no mistaking that face…"

"How… do you know my real name?"

Kakeru chuckled, "I remember you when you were little… you and Tamano would… wave sticks around and pretend that you were samurai in the yard and your father would yell at you when you ran through the garden as you were playing. I wanted to believe that you were still that child and not Battousai but… I couldn't run from the truth. I had grown to hate Battousai so much that I forgotten who you really were but even so I can't forgive you, Shinta…"

"How can you know about that? No one knew about me as a child except for my mother."

"You don't remember me, but I remember the day you were born, you're father was so proud… and so was I… that day I had promised to look after you if anything had ever happened to your parents. But… when Mamoru died you were sold and I assumed you dead… until that night you killed Tamano then I had to take in the fact that my nephew was alive…and a murderer."

"N… Nephew!" Hiko and Kenshin both asked in complete shock

"You mean to tell me that… you're my… uncle!"

Tokisha answered his question, "Yes Shinta, Kakeru is Mamoru's older brother… your uncle."

"If he's my uncle then that means that… that I killed… my… my cousin…"

Don't you just love my cliffies :). Any ways, I decided not to turn evil, I got a visit from Battousai and he threatened to make my life miserable if I didn't update so, here I am! Well, it's almost over, YEY! (I'm sure you're all very happy about that) I'll have the next chappie up either later today or tomorrow so stay with me, 'k, love ya.