RK Quote of the Day:
Yahiko (drunk): "Myoujin Yahiko is al'ays sober! Bring on arrows, guns, anythin'!"
Sanosuke: "Yeah yeah. I'm gonna put you down now."
Inuyasha Quote of the Day:
Miroku: "It's irrational. It's impossible. It's against my religion."
Inuyasha: "You ought to be arrested."
Author's Note: I think I'm being influenced by Nobuhiro Watsuki's random notes that he leaves in the Rurouni Kenshin manga. I have decided that I'm going to start posting my favorite RK and Inuyasha quote of the day at the top of each chapter. Also, nothing major here, just some things that may be of interest to you.
First of all, thank you all for your reviews. This story has turned out to be much more complicated and longer than I had originally planned. However, it seems to be working out fine, don't you think? I wasn't quite expecting the response that I've gotten, so thank you all again. I do try to answer questions in the reviews or try out suggestions that have been made.
Second of all, after this story is finished (whenever that is), hopefully by Christmas, I have another Rurouni Kenshin story brewing around in my twisted brain. It's not fully developed yet, but I think it has potential. It will mostly be a Saito centered fic, although other characters will play large roles as well.
Recap: The last time we left our other heroes, it was a day of reunions. Kenshin accidentally met Hachi in the forest, who went then went with our scar-faced hero to join the others. Miroku was very surprised (and pleased) at the sudden presence of his old friend. On another note, Kagome was still on the run with Aoshi and Misao when Inuyasha caught up with them. It was a tearful, but very happy, reunion between husband and wife.
Kenshin, Miroku, Kaoru, Yahiko, and Hachi are now on their way to reunite with the others.
The Samurai of Tomorrow
Chapter 33: Totousai
"Hachi, what were doing way out here?" Miroku asked. Their small group was currently floating over a large section of the forest. Kenshin had gone back down to the ground to make sure they were still going in the right direction.
"I was in one of the human villages, Master Miroku. It's much easier to find food there."
"Is that so?" the monk asked dryly. "Then tell me Hachi, why were you using my image?" Judging from Kenshin's description, Hachi must have been transformed as him. This wouldn't be the first time that this had happened. Miroku had once been tied up and nearly thrown into a river because Hachi had been impersonating him among several villages.
He had been accused of flirting with the village woman and swindling the people out of their money, of all things. Of all the ghastly things to accuse him of. He still didn't understand why his so called friends had originally sided with the villagers. Even Shippo had told them they could throw him in the river.
At least Kagome had finally, and reluctantly, come to his rescue and proved that he was innocent. For once.
"Hachi, were you pretending to be me again so that you could get free food?"
"Master!" Hachi protested. "I would never do that!" You did before, Miroku thought.
"How's that any different than you?" Kaoru asked the monk suspiciously. "Inuyasha and Shippo told me that you would always pick the richest house in a village that suddenly needed to be 'exorcised', just so you could get free food and lodging!"
"And sometimes more," Yahiko added dryly. Inuyasha had also told them about all the times Miroku would relieve people of their earthly possessions.
"I resent that comment! I was…I am a perfectly pious monk!"
"You know Kaoru," Yahiko pointed out. "Miroku's not really much better than Sanosuke. They're both a couple of bums."
"Yahiko!"
"Give Miroku some credit," Kaoru smiled. "He's a far more creative bum than Sanosuke."
"Hey!" Miroku protested again.
"I hate to interrupt," Hachi said. "But Kenshin wants back up."
The transformed youkai floated down low enough that Kenshin was able to leap out of a tree to reach them. They floated back up into the sky as the swordsman wiped his brow before peering off into the distance.
"Not far now," Kenshin said. "Inuyasha has probably picked up our scent by now, that he has. He will wait for us to catch up before going further."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Inuyasha? What is it?" Kagome asked. Her husband looked down at her and smiled. Despite all that had happened recently, despite the fact that her flesh wasn't real, he was happy.
Kagome was back and that was all that mattered to him.
His golden eyes brushed over Aoshi and Misao before looking through the trees. The human man oddly reminded him of Sesshoumaru, which automatically irritated the hanyou. Not that he necessarily disliked Aoshi, after all, he had been trying to protect the women.
Aoshi just had the personality of a stump, that was all.
"What are we waiting around for?" Misao demanded. For some reason, the young girl made him think of a weasel. He wasn't sure why.
"I'm waiting for a certain perverted monk, one of our descendants, my brother's reincarnation, and his sword wielding woman who can't cook," Inuyasha barked. Misao glared at him. Aoshi raised an eyebrow.
"Uh…Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. The hanyou smirked, but refused to say more. The priestess sighed before turning a glare on him.
"Sango wants to know too," she smirked suddenly. Inuyasha's ear twitched at that as he gave her a confused look.
"Sango?" he asked in surprise.
"Uh huh," she answered. Another ear twitched as he suddenly sniffed her bow.
"Is she in there?" he asked curiously.
"What? In my bow?" she exclaimed.
"Why not? Miroku accidentally trapped his soul in Yahiko's bokken. Stupid monk."
This time it was Misao and Aoshi's turn to look at him in surprise. The young girl's mouth gaped open comically before she voiced both her and Aoshi's silent question.
"What?" she asked.
"Who's Yahiko?" Kagome questioned.
"Myoujin Yahiko. He's our descendant."
"What?" Misao yelled again.
"Really?" Kagome asked. "What's this about Miroku and Sesshoumaru? What sword wielding…" She paused as Inuyasha sniffed once, smirked, and looked up at the sky. Even though he had picked up on Hachi's scent, he was still a little surprised to see the others floating down on the back of the transformed tanuki.
"Hey! Inuyasha!"
A curious Kagome watched as a young boy waved from Hachi's back. Her eyes drifted down to his bokken, which had an unusual amount of spiritual energy centered in it. Then they drifted to a young woman, and finally to the red haired swordsman, who had a strange cross-shaped scar on his face, peering down at them.
He also had Sesshoumaru's face markings.
"Kaoru! Hey Kaoru!" Misao yelled.
"Kagome!"
"Miroku?"
"KENSHIN? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?" Misao yelled.
"Oro?"
Everyone paused at that last remark. Misao, and Aoshi as well, stared at the youkai markings on the swordman's face. Kenshin sweatdropped as Misao leaned forward to peer wide eyed at the blue crescent moon and red stripes.
"Are those tattoos?" she asked.
"Oro?" Kenshin asked.
"They are, aren't they!" Misao exclaimed. "Kaoru! How could you let him get tattoos?"
"Oro!"
"They're not tattoos," Yahiko muttered.
"They're tattoos! They have to be tattoos!"
"Oro? Oro?"
"Those are Sesshoumaru's markings…" Sango said to Kagome. The priestess nodded her head as she agreed. She could now feel the youkai aura surrounding the red haired man. A sudden thought occurred to her as she stared again at Miroku.
Sango? She asked silently. Sango caught on to her thoughts and agreed. It was worth a try. The dead youkai slayer was tired of only being able to communicate with Kagome.
Inuyasha watched curiously as Kagome's bow glowed briefly in her hands. Before he could ask however, he turned his head to bark at Misao.
"Kenshin's got those stupid markings because he's got my brother's youkai soul inside him Wench!" he yelled. "He's his reincarnation! Now shut up and stop asking stupid questions!"
"SIT!"
Wham.
"Ow!" Inuyasha yelped. Aoshi and Misao, now used to this, simply shook their heads. It was quite obvious who had the power in this relationship. Kenshin and the others, however, simply stared.
"ORO!" Kenshin exclaimed again. He nervously looked over at Kaoru, who was eyeing the fallen hanyou with interest. An eyebrow twitched on the agitated hanyou as he jumped back up to glare at an equally irate Misao.
"It's not my fault!" Inuyasha protested to Kagome. "This Weasel Girl is…"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A WEASEL?"
"I am! Weasel! Weasel! Weasel!" He yelled. Miroku sighed within the bokken. Apparently Inuyasha hadn't matured very much in the last few centuries.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome warned.
"No, wait! Kagome!" Inuyasha protested.
"Sit boy."
And so, Inuyasha was body slammed yet again. Miroku chose this moment to come to Misao's defense.
"Inuyasha, I must protest! The lovely Misao does not resemble a weasel!"
"Exactly!" Misao smirked victoriously. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared down at the prostrate hanyou.
"Indeed, she resembles a ferret," Miroku continued.
"WHAT?" she bellowed.
"What's the difference?" Yahiko whispered. Kaoru bent down low to whisper back.
"I think that's the point."
"Then again," Miroku started to say. "Ferrets don't have such fine womanly…"
"MIROKU!" Sango finally yelled. All eyes turned to stare at the bow in Kagome's hand. Inuyasha stared at it from his vantage point on the ground before smirking over at the dead monk.
"You're in trouble now, you useless monk. You're wife's here."
"S..Sango?" Miroku stuttered.
Aoshi watched with deeply hidden fascination as the possessed bow began to club at the equally possessed bokken. This had to be one of the strangest incidences of his life so far.
"But Sango!" Miroku protested loudly. The bow clubbed the wooden bokken again, which was hobbling across the ground.
"You lecherous monk! Get back here!" Sango commanded. Miroku continued to hobble the bokken way from her, resulting in a comical chase.
"Hey Yahiko, why don't you go help your ancestor?" Kaoru suggested.
"Which one?"
"I think Sango's got it covered," Kagome said dryly. Inuyasha smirked again before turning to look at Kenshin. The two men exchanged looks before the hanyou finally nodded.
"I think it's time that we went to see Totousai. Your sword still needs to be fixed."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Gojin paused before the metal doors before he pushed them open. The youkai walked in to see Naraku peering at a large map. It didn't take him long to figure out that the map was of China and Eastern Europe.
"My Lord?" he asked.
Naraku looked up from his maps. He glanced over at the two human police officers standing guard before looking back at his incarnation. The snake youkai bowed and knelt before Naraku.
"Don't you realize that this is the Meiji Era?" Naraku pointed out dryly. "There is no more feudal system."
"Yes, I do, My Lord." Gojin continued to bow anyway.
"Good."
A pleased Naraku turned to regard a beautiful woman at his side. He handed her a few signed documents and ordered her to leave. The woman bowed before exiting from the room. Gojin could barely hide his surprise as she left.
"She's a member of the Imperial house!" Gojin exclaimed. Naraku smirked as he took a sip of sake. The letters that he had given her would be read by Emporer Meiji himself. Everything was going as planned.
"Gojin," Naraku said. "It appears that Inuyasha and his friends are away from home. Our hanyou friend has left relatively few people behind to protect the Western Lands."
"But my Lord," Gojin asked carefully. "Isn't part of the Wolf tribe in the Western Lands?"
"The Wolf tribe will be having problems of their own, soon enough," Naraku said. "As will Inuyasha's wench of a daughter." Gojin gave him a questioning look, so he continued. "Inuyasha has plenty of enemies, my dear Gojin. There are plenty of youkai on the Chinese mainland that lost to him and his allies during the Great Youkai War. I've merely convinced some of them to join me."
"Do you wish for me to accompany them, my Lord?" Gojin asked. Naraku briefly looked at a map of the British Isles before smirking at the snake youkai.
"No. Your 'sister' will be accompanying them. I want you to return to Kurashiki. My demonseed is still in the process of being moved. We have some unwanted trespassers heading that way."
"The wolf and the fox?" Gojin questioned.
"Yes, but you should also be wary of the two humans as well. This Sagara Sanosuke shouldn't be a problem, but you should be careful of Saito Hajime. He is nearly the equal of Sesshoumaru's reincarnation, the Battousai." At least he was, before Kenshin's youkai soul began to awaken.
Naraku had taken the time to thoroughly investigate the history of the Meiji Revolution. He had become intrigued by the Ishin Shishi and the Shinsengumi. If he had only been awakened a decade earlier, then he would have turned the civil war to his own advantage.
In fact, he very much would have liked to have employed the services of Shishio Makoto. He was still trying to determine if the former hitokiri had any surviving remains. If he did, then perhaps Shishio could be resurrected like the Band of Seven had been.
Whatever he would have done, he could still act. The Revolution was still very much stamped on the minds of the mortals. He could still use the bloody legacy of the Bakumatsu for his own purposes.
"Gojin. Be off," he ordered.
"Yes, my Lord."
With that, Naraku dipped his pen into a bottle of ink and smiled. Japan was his for the taking. Then after that…
China. Russia. Europe. The Americas.
A sudden idea occurred to him and he halted Gojin. The snake youkai paused at the doorway.
"Gojin, send the Turk in," Naraku ordered. He watched the snake smirk at the mention of the dark sorcerer.
"As you wish, My Lord."
"Gojin, I may very well be sending a new ally to Kurashiki to help you. You may find him…interesting," Naraku said. Gojin raised an eyebrow before he bowed and left. Naraku smirked.
Perhaps there was an even better way to resurrect Shishio that didn't require the use of his ashes.
He smirked again as he turned back to his maps. Who would have guessed at the things that these mortals would accomplish? As soon as he controlled a powerful navy and a strong trade network, the other nations of the world would begin to fall before him. All humans and youkai would have to bow before him.
Then he would truly be the most powerful.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Totousai! Hey, Totousai!"
The old man gave a snort as he was awoken rudely from his nap. He yawned, scratched his nose, stretched, and peered bleary eyed up at the silver haired man glaring down at him.
"Oh. Inuyasha. What brings you here? Did you break the Tetsusaiga again? You young fool, you mustn't be so reckless with it…"
Bam.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. "Don't hit Totousai!"
"Yes, you really are rather reckless at times when it comes to the Tetsusaiga," Miroku agreed. Inuyasha turned to glare at them before staring irately down at the old man.
"I didn't break the Tetsusaiga," he growled. "I need you to fix Kenshin's sword."
"Who?" Totousai asked.
"Kenshin," Inuyasha said. "He's Sesshoumaru's reincarnation."
Totousai stared at the red haired human. Kenshin silently studied him back as the others gaped at the wrinkled old man. The old youkai eyed first the swordsman's face markings, then the two swords hanging at his side. One of them looked very familiar. The old man scratched his head as he peered more closely at Kenshin.
"Hmm…Sesshoumaru…" Totousai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Nope, sorry. The name doesn't ring a bell."
Bam. A red welt formed on top of the old man's head.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled again. The now irate hanyou narrowed his eyes at the old man.
"You mean to tell me that you forgot?"
"Hmm, yes, I'm afraid so."
"You senile old bastard!" Inuyasha fumed. "Don't you even recognize the Tenseiga when you see it?" Totousai rubbed the welt on his head as he peered again at Kenshin. This time, he did actually recognize the sword.
"Ah, I see," Totousai muttered to himself. "How is it that a human can wield the Tenseiga? I made it specifically for Sesshoumaru out of a fang from his and Inuyasha's father." Inuyasha muttered darkly to himself as he raised another fist. However, Yahiko saved him the trouble.
"You crazy old man!" Yahiko yelled as he slammed his bokken down on him. "Inuyasha just told you! Kenshin's the reincarnation of Sesshoumaru!"
"Ah, I see," Totousai said, rubbing yet another welt. "Sesshoumaru, how did you break the Tenseiga? You shouldn't take after your younger brother."
"He didn't break the Tenseiga!" Inuyasha barked. "He broke his sakabatou!"
"His what?" Totousai asked in confusion. Both Inuyasha and Yahiko fumed at the bewildered old man.
"Oh dear," Miroku murmured. "This is getting us no where."
"Yes," Sango agreed. "I suppose that we or Kagome should take control, as usual."
"Hey Kagome," Misao whispered. "Can this crazy old guy really fix Kenshin's sword?" A flying rock beamed her in the head.
"Of course I can!" Totousai yelled indignantly. "I made the Tetsusaiga AND the Tenseiga."
"You look like a crazy old man to me!" Misao yelled.
"Misao," Aoshi murmured. "That will do." Misao gave him a surprised look before shutting her mouth. The former Okashira silently watched as Kagome and Kaoru ganged up on Inuyasha and Yahiko. The young boy had a brief battle with his teacher before the priestess effectively stopped the fighting by glaring at them.
As Aoshi himself had learned, Kagome's glares were very effective. He was secretly glad that he didn't also wear an enchanted necklace. The Obiwaban wasn't sure if he could handle being sat like Inuyasha. Unfortunately, for both he and Kenshin however, Misao and Kaoru had both become very interested in the idea of the sit collar.
If Kagome tried to put one on him, he very well might be forced to flee. His sword would unfortunately have no effect on the evil that was called Higurashi Kagome.
Aoshi looked up as he realized that the strange Totousai was now examining Kenshin's broken sakabatou. The former Okashira was still coming to terms with the fact that the Battousai had a youkai soul. However, perhaps it did make sense.
Even so, it was still slightly disturbing to see the youkai marks on his face.
"Hmm," Totousai murmured. "A reverse edged sword. I have never seen a sword like this before. Do you wish me to reverse the edges?"
"No," Kenshin answered. "This one prefers that his sword remain sakabatou."
"You can't kill with a dull sword," Totousai pointed out.
"No, this one can not."
Totousai paused and studied the human for a long time. His eyes seemed to fade inward, as if recalling some long forgotten memory. Then they refocused and studied the other sword hanging at Kenshin's side.
"Hmm, perhaps you are finally worthy of the Tenseiga," Totousai murmured softly. "Your father would be pleased."
"Oro?" Kenshin asked.
"Nothing lad," the old man answered. "Give me a day. I'll have your sakabatou ready by tomorrow."
Kenshin bowed to the old man and watched as he shuffled off to his cave, muttering to himself. Such a strange old man. The former hitokiri smiled. He like the old man, there was something very comforting in his strangeness.
"All right!" Yahiko exclaimed. "Your sakabatou's getting fixed!"
"Yes, and it will be even stronger than before," Sango replied. "Kenshin's blade was made by humans. But with Totousai reforging it, it's strength at least be strengthened by tenfold."
"Oro?" Kenshin asked in surprise. He hadn't expected that. Yahiko stared wide eyed after the old man before looking up at Inuyasha. The hanyou smirked down at the boy before nodding after Totousai.
"The old man's crazy, but Sango's right. Totousai may act like a senile old fool, but his work is beyond compare. Kenshin couldn't ask for a better swordsmith," he said.
Yahiko grinned. Maybe some day he could get Totousai to make him a sakabatou of his own. He blinked as Inuyasha began to follow after the old man.
"Inuyasha?" he asked. The hanyou paused to look first at him, then at the others.
"I'll be right back," Inuyasha said. "I need to speak with Totousai alone."
The others shrugged as they sat down and began to converse. They had much to catch up on. While the others talked, Aoshi stood off by himself and stared at the cave. His fingers unconsciously touched his own weapon as he stared after Totousai.
The old man could increase the strength by tenfold? Perhaps he should consider having the youkai reforge his own blades as well.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Hey Totousai," Inuyasha said. "I need to talk to you."
Totousai looked up from the now glowing pieces of the sakabatou to regard the hanyou. Unlike usual, the hanyou lord had dropped his usual gruffness. Apparently something was on his mind.
"What?" he asked. Inuyasha dropped to his heels beside the old man and looked at the broken blade. Then, to Totousai's surprise, he plucked several strands of silver hair from his own head and handed it to him.
"These should give the sword even more strength, shouldn't they?" Inuyasha asked. "Mine and Sesshoumaru's swords are made from our father's fangs. My hair should give Kenshin's sword more strength."
"Hmm," Totousai muttered. He took the offered pieces of hair and examined them. "Yes, these should give the sakabatou added strength."
"Yeah, well, just don't tell Kenshin about this," Inuyasha ordered. "I don't want him to know."
Totousai chuckled to himself as he laid the strands of hair down. Leave it to Inuyasha to hide the fact that he cared. The old man looked up from his work as Inuyasha stood up to leave.
"Inuyasha, sit a moment. There is something you must know."
Inuyasha looked back at him in surprise before sitting back down. He crossed his arms and stared boldly at the old man. So very much like his father, the old man thought.
"Well, what?" the hanyou growled. Totousai blew some fire on the broken sword before he turned to the hanyou lord.
"Inuyasha, you must make sure that Kenshin keeps the Tenseiga with him at all times."
"Huh? Why?" Inuyasha asked. Totousai had an unusually serious expression on his face. The old man heated the blade some more before he answered.
"Inuyasha, you know what happens when you are away from the Tetsusaiga. Your sword holds your youkai blood in check. If you are away from it and in danger, your father's blood takes control of your body. You lose yourself and your human soul is slowly devoured by your youkai half. In that state, the only thing you desire is to kill."
"Yeah?" Inuyasha asked quietly. "And what's this got to do with Kenshin?"
"Kenshin is different, but his situation is not unlike yours. He has Sesshoumaru's soul in a mortal body. During his lifetime, you know how incredibly powerful your brother was. Very few youkai could match him. Now that very same soul is within a frail human body. The very fact that Sesshoumaru's youkai markings have appeared on Kenshin's body shows you how powerful it is."
Inuyasha stared at the old man. He had an uneasy feeling about where this was going.
"Go on," he said. The old man sighed and continued.
"As strong as Kenshin is, the fact is that Sesshoumaru's soul hasn't fully awakened. If and when it does, his mortal body may not be able to handle the sheer power of his own youkai soul. The Tenseiga may very well be what is keeping that soul in check. If separated from it, his fate may very well be like yours. If in a life or death situation, he will become a creature that only knows how to kill and will delight in it. If the very power of his soul doesn't destroy his body first, then Kenshin will fight until he himself is killed."
Inuyasha stared at Totousai for a long time. The sounds of laughter outside reached his sensitive ears, as well as a loud 'Oro!' He sighed before he slowly stood up and looked down at the old man. Then, unexpectantly, he gave the old man a respectful bow and left.
"Thank you Totousai," he said. "I understand why my father commissioned you."
Totousai stared after the hanyou. As childish as the hanyou still acted sometimes, even he was amazed at how much Inuyasha had matured. He was getting more like his father every day. That very thought caused him to smile.
The old man blew more fire on the sword before placing one of Inuyasha's silver strands of hair on the glowing blade. Then he picked up his hammer and went to work.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Naraku studied the dark skinned man. The sorcerer claimed to have been born in Istanbul nearly two centuries ago. He had been exiled from the Ottoman Empire by the sultan himself, at the urging of his advisors. Basir had been declared a heretic by the Muslim sultan and supposedly executed.
"Basir," Naraku said. "Can it be done?" The sorcerer smirked darkly as he bowed to the youkai. At last he was able to practice his dark arts, without fear of retribution.
"Yes, Lord Naraku," Basir said. "It can be done." Naraku smiled at that. Shishio Makoto would be resurrected after all.
He couldn't wait until Sesshoumaru crossed paths with the former hitokiri again. It should be…interesting.