Same old disclaimer drill…
Here's what many have been waiting for! Drum roll please… The Okita-Battousai confrontation!
Blood and Blades
He hadn't seen Sou in a while. Idly, well, about as idly as a Choushu bodyguard could possibly be on guard duty, Kenshin wondered what his good friend would be doing on this quiet full moon night. Katsura was having one of his many meetings and Kenshin stood guard. Oh Crap! Kenshin winced as his belly rumbled. He needed a privy and the nearest one was a good street's sprint away. Dare he trust the other bodyguards to protect Katsura-san whilst he answers the call of nature?
In the end, his bowels decided it. He excused himself from his fellow guards and left. Bare seconds after he left, a group of shadowy figures moved stealthily up to the inn where the Choushu leaders were gathered. They were the Shinsengumi. Saitou sniffed the air like a hound on the scent. They were close. Very close. He fancied he could smell the stink of treason against the Shogun.
His colleague stifled a cough and prayed it went unnoticed. Saitou shot him a sideways glance. Okita should be resting with that cough. The building loomed before them, dark and forbidding except for a faint glow in the upstairs window that betrayed the meeting place of the Ishinshishi.
"Tereda-ya…" Saitou whispered. "This is the place our sources named."
"Hai," Okita replied, his face set in a grim look of determination. This time, there will be no escape for those Ishinshishi… Let Battousai be there, please… His cough had been worsening. It would be a matter of time before his body fails him. Before then, if only for once, let them meet…. Okita had dreamt of this. The best the Choushu had to offer against the Shinsengumi's Okita.
Whose blade would be swifter? Often in such battles, only one would walk away… Almost whimsically, Okita picked a bright red flower from a nearby bush. The red reminded him of his young friend. No, the red was too dark, not like the bright flame of Kenni's hair. What would Kenni think if he could see Sou here, waiting to kill? Absent-mindedly, he tucked the bloom inside his clothes.
Conversation died as the men took their places. A third of them were dispatched to the rear of the inn to cover any back door. The two captains waited until everyone was in position. Then…
"We are the Shinsengumi! Surrender or else!" Okita shouted out as Saitou kicked in the door. Swords were drawn. Battle cries shouted. All hell broke loose as the Choushu and Shinsengumi warriors clashed.
The scent of fresh blood hit him like a blow to the face. Battousai ran like the wind to the scene of battle. The Ishinshishi were most likely outnumbered by their enemies.
Please, Katsura-san, don't be hurt! Katsura would no longer draw a sword himself. That was why he needed the swords of others to protect him. He raced through the alleys to the back where Katsura was sure to make his escape. Battousai would be there to hold off the Miburou so Katsura can get away. He recognized the colours of the Miburou under the glow of the full moon. The blood lust was descending on him quickly…
"Thank kami you're here!" Sakamoto bellowed out as he held off a samurai. Katsura was hurt, a wound to the back when he and two bodyguards were surprised on the stairway. The other men weren't so lucky.
"Get him away from here," Kenshin hissed as he sliced through the Shinsengumi warrior threatening Sakamoto. Sakamoto lifted Katsura's arm over his shoulder and made a getaway as fast as they possibly could into the maze of back alleys. Umeko would have her medicine box ready on such nights. It would not be the first time she would be woken from her sleep to treat an injury like this.
Battousai was now in charge, covering the escape route of his Ishin comrades as the survivors fled the battle. The air was thick with blood. So much blood… The alleyway was drenched in it. Any Shinsengumi foolish enough to challenge him wound up lying on the ground with his late comrades.
Inside the inn, Saitou tensed as he sensed a familiar ki, that of Battousai, whom he had encountered on several occasions previously. He impaled an opponent, driving the blade home through the heart.
"Captain Saitou! Captain Okita! They're escaping to the alley!"
Battousai must be there. Both captains sprinted out. A cloud had covered the moon. They saw a lone swordsman standing amidst the dead. He was slight, almost a boy. But this was no reason to doubt his prowess. There was none in the captains' mind that this was Battousai.
Amber eyes glowed demonically from beneath blood red bangs. On hearing the arrival of their captains, the survivors backed off to allow them a chance to strike down the arch-enemy of the Shinsengumi. This was an honour both captains had laid claim to. Okita fancied his eyes were playing a trick on him as Battousai sheathed his sword. There was something about his stance…
The moon slipped out from behind the clouds, illuminating the pale corpses and the killer…
Kenni! Okita's heart froze for the barest of minutes. This must be a nightmare. Gentle Kenni wouldn't be a cold-blooded killer, would he? Kenni is not Battousai. It must be some sick illusion that painted Kenni's face on that of the hitokiri…
Sou… The hard amber eyes melted for the barest second into soft violet. Battousai has done his part. The Ishin survivors had more than enough time to escape to a certain little restaurant where Umeko waited with the bandages. Kenshin knew he could escape into the night. However, tonight, he was facing the Shinsengumi's best swordsmen. Saitou Hajime and Okita Souji…
Their eyes met. Okita fought to control his voice. "So we finally meet, Battousai…" Absently, he took the flower from his clothes and crushed it, scattering the petals to the night breeze as if an offering to his fallen comrades. He reached for his sword as he stepped forward.
Sou, do you really want it to end this way? Eyes turning fierce amber, Kenshin held his ground, adopting his battou-jutsu stance. The angry cross-scar on his cheek showed, a blemish on his otherwise flawless face. Just as tonight was going to change their friendship forever.
"Okita, stay back," Saitou cut in suddenly. "You have not been well…" he added in a low voice. Ever the observant one, Saitou had noticed the silent exchange and surge of emotions in his colleague, the slight tremor, the almost unnoticeable slip of his calm façade, the slight hesitance in his step. Okita knew Battousai, kami alone knows how…
Puzzlement crossed Okita's face as he froze in mid step. Saitou was serious and even Okita wasn't going to test the man's patience or his blade when he was in such a dangerous mood. Predictably, Saitou went into his Gatotsu stance. The clash of steel filled the air as the battle raged. It was fierce.
Saitou Hajime and Kenni were evenly-matched. Neither could inflict serious harm on the other although neither gave any quarter. The third captain and Battousai both lived up to their reputations. Okita never knew so much skill and power was packed into the pint-sized Kenni. Again and again, Battousai parried Saitou's blows and Saitou blocked his.
No! Not now! Okita screamed silently in panic as a spasm of coughing took hold of him. There was blood on his hand, his blood, just like that terrible night at Ikedaya, only more. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was a voice yelling his name. "Sou!"
"That coward escaped. He distracted everyone by yelling out Okita's name. While everyone was looking at Okita, he smashed his sheath into my jaw and escaped…" Saitou growled as Yamazaki the medic tended to his injuries.
"Saitou, can you please keep this secret?" Okita whispered. It was obvious Saitou knew or guessed at it. Saitou waited till he and Okita were alone before replying. "Of course, you ahou… What would the Shogun think if he finds out the Shinsengumi's captain Okita has been friends with a Choushu hitokiri? What do you intend to do? End your friendship? Challenge Battousai next time?"
Okita shook his head sadly as he coughed. "Saitou-san, I guess there wouldn't be a next time for me…" He wiped blood away from the corner of his mouth.
Kenni, why do you have to be Battousai?
Sou, I'm sorry things have to end this way… From a nearby tree, Kenshin peered cautiously through a spyglass borrowed from Sakamoto. He watched as Saitou left Okita. Poor Okita was coughing into a basin. The redhead page Tetsu was scurrying about fetching fresh water and clean towels for the sick room as his master, Demon Hijikata, hollered at him to move faster or the pigs would beat him to it.
Kenshin stifled a giggle. That tone of voice reminded him of his shishou. Silently and unnoticed, he slipped off into the night that was already turning into day. At least Sou was alright, for now…
Sayonara, Sou…