Same old disclaimer drill: I do not own the two animes, Ruronin Kenshin and Peace Maker Kurogane.

Why does Kenshin wear Tomoe's scarf? How will the duel end?

Duel between Demons

"GO!" Umeko swung her naginata down and leapt back a safe distance as both combatants charged. Kenshin was holding his bokken in the battou-jutsu stance. The evening wind whipped at Tomoe's old scarf that he has worn around his neck. Okita for his part had his bokken raised before him, ready for the classic three strike of the Tennen Rishin Ryu.

Ryouma let out a low whistle of admiration as Kenshin brought up his bokken to deflect Okita's. The crack of wood resounded in the quiet evening. Indeed this was a clash of dragons. Hotaru let out a squeal, as did Tetsu. Tatsu simply went pale and dropped to his knees. For a while their bokkens caught. The young men's eyes met over their bokkens.

"Kenni! Please duel with me as Battousai!"

"No. I can't control that demon once I let him out."

Okita threw aside Kenshin's bokken and lashed out with a furious kick that temporarily threw Kenshin off balance. "Battousai! You are fighting with Captain Okita, a demon of the Shinsengumi! So fight!"

"Hey, that's a foul!" Ryouma cried out a warning. Kenshin did a mid-air somersault and regained his balance in time to deflect Okita's next attack. He retaliated with a well-placed kick to Okita's shin. "Sou, you are not a demon!"

"Foul for Kenshin…" Ryouma muttered. "What don't you guys understand about a friendly match?" Once more, the bokkens clashed. "Dammit! Kenshin! Show me the best moves of your legendary Hiten Mitsuguru Ryu!"

"It's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, you bloody Miburou!" Kenshin growled a warning. His eyes were turning into a dangerous amber shade. "Besides, I never completed my training'cause I ran away to join a revolution."

"You what?" Okita choked and bent over. Battousai had an opening. Raising his bokken high, he brought it down in a vicious arc. Seeing the movement from the corner of his eye, Okita brought his up to strike at Kenshin's exposed chest. The wind ripped the scarf from around Kenshin's shoulders, sending it into a tree nearby.

"What happened?" Tetsu peered out from behind his fingers. The silence was more frightening than the furious fighting. Tatsu was gaping like a stoned goldfish. Hotaru had simply fainted and was being attended to by Umeko.

The fighters were poised as if frozen. Only their heavy panting broke their stillness. Okita had his bokken bare millimetres from the centre of Kenshin's chest. Kenshin's bokken hovered dangerously close at an angle to Okita's exposed neck.

"A draw!" Ryouma declared. Both fighters drew apart in silence. Kenshin went to retrieve his precious scarf while Okita discreetly coughed and spat out the blood in his mouth. "Thank kami that's done with." Ryouma plopped onto the grass. He hadn't noticed his own knees were shaking from the sudden release of tension.

"Sou, do you really think of yourself as a demon?" Kenshin asked quietly as he helped Sou to his feet. Okita nodded sadly. "I am a Demon's Child. Even the men in my patrol call me that behind my back."

"They are all blind ahous. You are not a demon's child. I have seen you play with the children. No demon can be liked by children that much. I know you are not one, unlike me… I am a demon when I am Battousai. I scare even myself. I'm terrified that one day, I will not be able to return to myself…" Kenshin was shaking visibly. "I am scared of myself. I am scared of Battousai…"

Okita started. He never knew Kenni felt that way. Okita understood fully. It was like the time he came close to killing Tetsu. He had subconsciously crossed that line then, only Hijikata's timely intervention saved him from killing the pup who was to be his friend. Kenshin had not yet completed his training. Maybe he did not have the full discipline required to control his own power.

Someone or something had to pull Kenshin back from the brink. Was that why Battousai wears his wife's scarf round his neck? He had teased Kenni for wearing a lady's scarf once at a friendly tea and promptly apologized when Kenni explained it belonged to his late wife.

That scarf was whipped away by the wind during the duel. Okita should have been killed. Unless it was some fundamental thing inside…

Okita gripped Kenshin's arm. "Kenni, that is not true. I believe in you. You will be able to conquer that Battousai you fear. Maybe you should continue your training."

"Master Hiko's probably still mad at me. He ordered me not to show my face around his mountain after I told him I was running off to join a revolution." Kenshin shrugged with a sad smile.

Okita opened his mouth to say something but stopped as Tetsu and Tatsu, having recovered, came running over to help him. Umeko was holding the medicine chest. Thankfully, there was no real need for her blood-slowing herbs and bandages this time. Swords were returned to their rightful owners.

"May we meet in better circumstances, Kenni." Okita bowed politely to Kenshin

"Same to you, Sou." Kenshin smiled as he bowed and turned to leave with Ryouma and comrades. Ryouma was carrying the still unconscious Hotaru on his back.

"Say, Okita-san. Is Kenni really the Battousai?" Tetsu asked innocently. He thought he had heard that dreaded name mentioned in the heat of their duel. Okita smiled and replied. "Oh, Kenni's just Kenni. He is not the Battousai. He's just a normal young man with dreams for the future like you and me."

"Say, Okita-san… If Hijikata-san asks why you are all bruised and muddy…"

"I'll just say I tripped, right?" Okita fixed the Ichimuras with a look that challenged them to say otherwise. "Let's get back to the HQ before Hijikata-san gets all worried."

Kenshin stole a glance at the trio as they walked ahead of them. Umeko was chiding Ryouma over his recklessness in calling Kenshin out. They say the men of the Shinsengumi are demons, born and bred. Maybe for some of them it is true. But not for Sou. Even if he is the student of the Demon Hijikata, Sou is Sou, the kindly brother who loves sweets and spinning tops with the orphans.

Like him, like Katsura, Okita Souji was simply fighting for what he believed in.

Author's notes:

In the RK manga, Kenshin mentioned that the Shinsengumi used tactics that gave them an unfair advantage over the Choushu Ishin. The miburou favoured surprise attacks using superior numbers, effectively swarming over and overwhelming the enemy. However, he quickly points out that the Shinsengumi's methods though not in the samurai code of honour, was justified to them because they were fighting for what they believed in. Just as Kenshin believed then that his assassinations were justified in order to bring about the Meiji Restoration.