Author-chan's notes: HIYA!!! Happy is me! I've got over hundred reviews here now, and I feel so happy that people are supporting my modest little fic. Thank you guys so much!!! A-chan hugs everyone.
Uh, I seem to have a little problem. Apparently when the votes were cast to determine Akira's last name, the votes were split down the middle between Kyosato and Kiyosato. So to determine which name to use from now on, I'll be re-watching my copy of the first OAV in subtitles to find out which one was used there. I'll be using the spelling they use there. Which happens to be Kiyosato. Sorry to everyone who wanted Kyosato!
Oh, and to T. Marauder, who asked what Sano's age is currently in the fic, he's 36, as I mentioned in the last chapter. This story does after all take place 17-18 years after the RK series does and 2 years after the OAV. (Also I realize the quote you mentioned was supposed to be said to Kenshin rather than Chizuru. I purposely wrote it like that. I'm so pleased that someone caught that! )
So, a quick recount of how old everybody in the RK universe (as well as any original characters) is in the fic: Kenji and Chizuru are 17. Yahiko and Tsubame are 27. Megumi is 39, Sano is 36, and Chou, I'm guessing, is about as old as Sano, give or take a few years. Kenshin (if he was still alive) is 45, Kaoru (if alive) is 34, and Shinigami is a bloody kami and is freaking ageless. However, Kenshin as Kenichi is currently a cooing four-month-old baby while his "brother" Sasuke is a one-year-old (plus a few months). Our idiotic thieves are 19 (Haru and Sai), 20 (Shou), and 21 (Shingo and Genji). Saito should be 52 at this point and the elusive Hiko is 61. The mysterious Yamaguchi-san is who knows how old, since he is so darn mysterious. Misao and Aoshi are 33 and 43, respectively. Shishio and half of the Juppongatana are dead, crispy and living "down under" while the other half are scattered about the world, and I have no clue how old each one is. Enishi (if I did my calculations right) should be hovering around 40 while his sister, Tomoe, and her fiancé, Akira, are relaxing in the Afterlife and age doesn't really matter when you're dead.
Key:
"talking"
'thoughts that can only be heard by thinker, a.k.a. private thoughts'
/thoughts that can be heard by thinker and spirits, a.k.a. telepathy/
### indicates scene/time change
Like Father Like Son
(Chapter Eleven: Kidnapped)
Back at the Akabeko
"Do you believe in ghosts?" Chizuru's words swirled in Yahiko's mind. The tanned swordsman blinked at the young woman. Did he hear her correctly?
"Why do you ask that, Chizuru?" Yahiko asked slowly. Chizuru sighed.
"Earlier today, I saw someone," Chizuru began, frowning slightly as she remembered the incident, "His name is Yamaguchi. He and I are cousins, though he's old enough to easily be my uncle. And although he and I are related, I never learned his first name."
"Why is that?" Yahiko inquired, when he noticed Chizuru had paused in her story.
"It is forbidden to speak it," Chizuru answered in a ghost of a voice, "Yamaguchi-san did something unforgivable by my family's standards, and was disowned long ago. In fact, although I call him 'Yamaguchi-san' that name has been forbidden to him. He has long since taken a different name, but I never learned it."
"What could this guy have done that was so unforgivable?" Yahiko asked, slightly confused.
"When he was nineteen, many years before I was born," Chizuru answered, "he left home. After that, Yamaguchi-san was disowned by the family. I've even heard that he took on a different name when he left."
"Nani?!" Yahiko yelped, "That makes no sense! Why would your family condemn leaving?"
"I don't know," Chizuru murmured, "But in my family, it's against the rules to leave home. I, like Yamaguchi-san, also ran away from home."
"To be with Kenji, right?"
"Hai," Chizuru nodded, "My family would never allow me to marry some unknown swordsman, especially in an age where swords were dying."
"No offense, Chizuru, but your family is crazy," Yahiko muttered, "So you met this Yamaguchi. What else happened? Just seeing this guy couldn't have gotten you so riled up."
"It's not just that," Chizuru agreed, "Yamaguchi-san knew all sorts of family secrets. Secrets that I was never taught, because I had left home before I could be told. Yamaguchi-san is also incredibly strong. Someone as powerful as Yamaguchi-san, especially since he knew so much, had to be eliminated. My family had sent out waves of assassins after him. I had heard that he had died two years ago. And when I saw him walking down the street, I thought it was a ghost."
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Yahiko yelped, "You mean to tell me that your family tried to kill off some guy just because he was strong, knew some secrets, and left?!"
"Hai," Chizuru nodded, "You see, what I'm worried about is what if my family will hunt me down like they did Yamaguchi-san. They didn't before because I wasn't powerful or knowledgeable. But if my family ever discovered that both of us were in Tokyo then they would send more assassins. This time the assassins would be after me too, just for convenience sake."
"Shimatta," Yahiko cursed, "Don't worry, Chizuru. We'll protect you, Kenji, Sanosuke, and me. We've dealt with some really bad stuff before, so a couple of assassins should be nothing."
"Thank you," Chizuru murmured, "But you still don't understand Yahiko. It's not just the assassins, it's Yamaguchi-san himself. He's dangerous, and there is no way you can defeat him."
"We'll see about that," Yahiko growled determinedly.
###
Back at the dojo
Sano was feeling a bit more confident now that the five thieves that broke into the dojo were now deathly afraid of him. Well, make that four out of five of the thieves. One of them, the tall brunette that was obviously the leader, was glaring at Sanosuke. The former gangster glared right back. Who did this punk think he was?
Suddenly, Sano had an uneasy feeling, and it was coming from that punk! Something was wrong…But what?
"Oh sh–" Sano began, as realization hit him with the force of a speeding train. But the realization hit him too late. Genji, the leader of the thieves, had struck before Sano could even finish his curse.
BANG!!! the loud explosion of the gun in Genji's hand echoed throughout the dojo as the bullet found a target: Sano's left shoulder.
"KUSO!!!!!" Sano snarled at Genji, all but howling in pain as he clenched his right hand over the scarlet wound.
"Not another step, Zanza-san," Genji hissed coolly, still pointing his gun at Sano, "The next one will rip apart your heart if you come closer."
"Damn you," Sano raged, wanting nothing more than to turn the other man into chopped liver, "Let Kenichi-chan go!"
"Kenichi?" Genji drawled, flicking a glance to the tiny bundle still clenched in Shingo's arms, "So that's what that little noise maker is called…" Suddenly, Genji whipped his arm around so that the firearm was no longer facing Sano, but the sleeping baby.
"Boss?!" Shingo yelped, seeing the gun being pointed in his direction.
"Oi, Zanza," Genji said coldly, "If you try to stop us from leaving, I'll shoot the kid."
"Nani?!" Sano and the other thieves cried out.
"Let him go, you bastard!" Sano yelled, but didn't go any further in fear that Kenichi would be killed.
"Uh, boss?" Sai spoke up, clutching the stolen sakabatou in his grasp a little bit more tightly, "We all agreed it would be nice to steal some stuff for some extra cash, but to kill a kid? That's going a bit far, don't ya think?"
"Shut up, Sai," Genji growled, "Or I'll kill you too!"
"Boss, you've flipped your lid!" Shingo yelped, looking desperate. After all he was the one holding Kenichi.
"Let's make a deal, Zanza-san," Genji said in a voice like smooth silk, "You let us leave without making a fuss, and I won't kill the kid. When we finish making our getaway, I'll send someone to leave the brat at the police station, anonymously of course. Though if you tell the police to expect us, I'll have my delivery boy end this little one's life very, very quickly. Understand?"
"Yeah," Sano grit out, "But understand this, punk. You have no idea what you're doing or who you're going to anger with your actions. And you better pray with all your damn soul that it will be me who finds you and not Kenichi's father or, worse, the ghost of his grandfather."
"Empty threats," Genji shrugged, turning away to leave, "Let's go men."
"This is a bad idea, boss," Sai muttered under his breath, but made no other argument as he and the other thieves left, taking the red-haired babe with them.
Meanwhile, Sano could do nothing but stare after them as they ran. The gangster felt a hot pain race up his arm, reminding him of his wounded shoulder.
"Kuso, this is worse than when Saito stabbed me," Sano growled, as his body began to weaken. Sano fell to his knees as a combination of pain and blood-loss began to defeat his fighting spirit.
"G-Gomen," he murmured to no one in particular as he fell to the ground, lost in a sea of black unconsciousness.
###
Back in the Spirit World
Kaoru bid farewell to Kiyosato. She had spent some long hours talking to the other ghost, and the two had become friends. She had ended up spilling nearly her entire life story to him in that time, from her childhood, to her life with Kenshin, and even her death. She also told Kiyosato about what her husband was doing, reincarnated in the body of a tiny baby. The man listened to it all, sharing her worries and offering advice as well as comfort. For some reason, Kaoru found it very easy to talk to him.
From him, Kaoru had actually learned very little; at least, she learned less than he had learned from her. She found out he had died during the Bakumastu, from an assassin. To her surprise, Kiyosato wasn't angry with his murderer for his death. He explained that his killer didn't need his hate, he hated himself for Kiyosato's death enough for the both of them. Plus the murderer had atoned for his sins, and it had been many years.
"Besides, Himura-san," Kiyosato had said, "I am happy here in the afterlife, happier than I ever was in life. Here, in death, I was able to wed the woman I was denied in life."
Kaoru still said she didn't understand, but Kiyosato had simply laughed and said she had to have been murdered by that particular assassin to understand, so it was perfectly fine that she did not.
"Men change, Himura-san," Kiyosato told her during his explanation, "My killer was no exception. He's a different person now, and no longer deserves my hatred."
For awhile, Kaoru had worried that Kiyosato's killer was Kenshin, but he reassured her that his killer was very much alive at the moment. That had rested Kaoru's fears. Reincarnated or not, Kaoru still considered her Shinta to be just as dead as she was. That plus Kenshin had only been sent after high officials during the Bakumastu, and Kiyosato had told her he was just a common soldier, and not even a good one.
Kiyosato had just gotten to telling her more about the wife he had married in the Spirit World, but Kaoru suddenly felt the urging to return to the land of the living.
"I think Shinta needs me," Kaoru had explained, "It's very urgent."
"I understand, Himura-san," Kiyosato had said gently, "Go to him."
"Maybe we can talk some more later," Kaoru had suggested, "Maybe we can get together in the living world and talk with Shinta together! Maybe you can bring your wife."
"Maybe," Kiyosato had shrugged, as he waved good-bye to Kaoru, smiling slightly. As soon as the dark-haired woman disappeared, another one took her place, creeping out of the shadows that she had been hiding in since Kiyosato and Kaoru had started talking.
"Tomoe," Kiyosato breathed, smiling at his white-clad wife, "So you have been watching all this time."
"Hai," the woman nodded, sitting down next to him gracefully. Yukishiro Tomoe, Himura Tomoe, Kiyosato Tomoe, whichever name people cared to call her, was still the same as she was in life with her dark eyes and hair with a pale face and red lips. Like Kiyosato she still bore the wounds that had caused her death. The ruby red blood that had seeped out of the long vertical wound that had killed her had stained her once immaculate white kimono. Despite the wound, she was still a beautiful woman, and she had lost none of her willowy grace when she died.
"Kaoru-san is just as I imagined her," Tomoe continued, referring to the other woman who had been there moments ago, the woman who was now Himura Kenshin's wife, "So beautiful, so kind, so perfect for him…"
"Jealous?" Kiyosato teased, trying to hide his own jealously for the redhead that had been his wife's husband in life. Kiyosato Akira didn't hate Himura Kenshin, but he couldn't deny that he felt jealousy towards his murderer.
"No," Tomoe shook her head, "I have you. You are the perfect one for me, the one who loved me even after life had stopped for both of us. And you shouldn't be jealous of Kenshin, anata. He is my past, and he considers me just his past as well. Kaoru-san is his past, present, and future, his soul mate."
"Tomoe-chan," Kiyosato murmured, holding his wife's hand, his eyes downcast, "Kaoru-san and Kenshin-san have problems ahead of them, don't they? That's why we have to look after them."
"Hai," Tomoe nodded, "I'm worried for them, and us as well. We'll end up tangled in this plot as well."
"What do you mean?" Kiyosato asked, looking up at her porcelain features.
"Something is stirring that should not be," Tomoe murmured, her dark eyes cloudy, "And this something will cause the bloody rain to fall once more…"
###
Back at the dojo
Kaoru entered her family's dojo, as silent as a shadow. Just one quick glance told the beautiful spirit that something was wrong. The dojo gate was open. The gate was never open, unless there was someone here. And everything was silent, too silent for the building that once housed the loudest yells and teasing.
Kaoru's ghost floated towards the main dojo, hoping to find something, some clue to what happened. Why was she feeling so uneasy? Then she saw something that made her stop cold.
"SANO!!!" Kaoru cried out, running over and kneeling next to her fallen friend. The spiky-haired former fighter for hire had blacked out, and his shoulder was a mess of crimson and torn flesh. She tried to wake him, but her hand only passed through his body. The dead could never touch the living.
"Sano, wake up!" Kaoru begged urgently, "What happened? Who did this to you? Where are the others?"
"Ugh," Sano moaned, "K-Kenichi…"
"What about him?" Kaoru prompted, not caring that he couldn't hear her, "What happened to the baby? Sano, what happened to my husband?!"
"SANOSUKE!!!" a voice behind Kaoru shouted. Kaoru turned her head to see Kenji enter the dojo and drop the sack of rice he had been carrying. The young redhead raced over to the older man, and began checking his wounds.
"J-Jou-chan?" Sano murmured, opening his eyes a crack. He could have sworn he had heard Kaoru's voice, and when he had awoken to blue eyes staring at him, he had been so sure that it was her, his (all but) little sister. But as his eyes focused, he saw it was Kenji, not Kaoru tending to his wounds.
"Sanosuke, what happened?" Kenji asked, as he pressed a piece of cloth torn from his sleeve to Sano's gaping wound.
"Did you get them?" Sano murmured drowsily.
"The guys who did this to you?" Kenji guessed.
"The bastards who took Kenichi," Sano corrected. As soon as those words came from his lips, Kenji's face turned as white as a sheet.
'Kenichi…he's been kidnapped?!' Kenji thought in horror.
Unseen by the men, Kaoru screamed, the pain of losing her beloved worse than death.
###
Kenji wanted to scream. He wanted to deny what the wounded man before him had said. But more than anything, he wanted to throttle the men who dared to take his son away.
"Stay here, Sano," Kenji ordered softly, standing up, "I'm going to get Megumi and then I'm going to hunt down whoever thought it wise to kidnap my child."
"Kenji," Sano called, as the younger man reached the doorway, "They took the sakabatou too. You're weaponless and there were five of them, but four of them didn't want to go along with the fifth and kidnap Kenichi. The guy you're after is called Genji. Brown-hair and tall. You probably just need a bokken as long as you avoid the gun. Go get Kenichi back."
"Hai," Kenji nodded, "And thanks."
"Thank me by hitting that idiot over the head with a Ryu Tsui Sen," Sano muttered, closing his eyes.
"Aa," Kenji nodded as he grabbed a bokken on the wall and left.
Unknown to him, behind him trailed the ghost of his mother. Kaoru was no longer wearing usual kimono, but rather a white gi and dark blue hakama, the training outfit of the Kamiya Kasshin dojo. A ghostly bokken was gripped in her hand, her aura all but screaming her rage of what happened. In response to her anger, the sky began to darken, as if it too was furious.
"Don't worry, anata," Kaoru said, holding back tears, "Kenji and I will find you."
###
At the police station
Sawagejou Cho sat at his staring at the piece of paper in his hand. It was an arrest warrant for a group of five thieves. They were just petty thieves, the kind that broke into houses and stole stuff while the owners were away. They weren't much of a challenge.
However, when Cho glanced down the list of the places they had stolen from, the newest one caught his attention. They had robbed the Kamiya Dojo. Cho knew that place, he had visited it several times. He also knew who lived there currently, as well as those who used to live there.
"What sort of idiot would try to rob Battousai's family?" Cho muttered. He almost pitied those poor fools. Even though Battousai was dead, Battousai's brat was more than enough to do the job.
"Maybe I should arrest those idiots before Battousai's brat gets to them," Cho muttered as he stood up, "I heard the boy isn't as soft as his father was…"
Yep, there he was, Cho the Sword-Collector, evil minion turned "good" minion, off to save poor pathetic thieves from getting pummeled by a blunt sakabatou. Aw, what the heck? Who was he fooling? He didn't care if the five thieves got their heads smashed open like melons or sliced in half like logs. All he cared about was getting as far away from his evil twisted paperwork as possible. And capturing those idiotic thieves gave him the perfect excuse.
"Oi, Officer What's-your-name!" Cho yelled at the young cop that was at the front desk, "I'm going out to arrest some dangerous criminals and bring them to justice. Finish my paperwork, will ya?"
"B-But Sawagejou-san!" the younger officer sputtered, "You're supposed to do that, not me!"
"Are you questioning my orders, underling?" Cho barked, glaring at the younger man. The other officer cowered in fear.
"N-no sir," the unnamed officer croaked. The policeman knew better than to challenge his superior. Lieutenant Sawagejou had a reputation of being a frighteningly scary person well versed in the art of swordsmanship. There were rumors circulating in the police station that the lieutenant was a former assassin and that he had been trained by a Shinsengumi captain. No one was stupid enough not to think twice when confronting the red-clad swordsman.
"Good," Cho nodded at the officer's answer as he left, his trademark red coat fluttering behind him.
###
Back with Shinigami
Shinigami was frowning. Something had gone wrong. Sure he knew that those thieves would rob the dojo, but he hadn't expected them to kidnap Kenshin-san!
And Kaoru-san had meet Akira-san in the Spirit World! That was certainly unexpected. But it wasn't a bad thing, just unexpected.
But still, the fact that there were unanticipated factors popping up in his grand plan made Shinigami worried. What if something else unexpected, something bad this time, happened? How would Shinigami's plan be affected? How would Kaoru and Kenshin be affected?
Shinigami sighed. One thing at a time, right? He would worry about the future when it came, not sooner.
Besides, since he had sent that false arrest warrant to Cho-san, which would mean that Cho would be able to save Kenshin-san, not to mention the sakabatou. And Cho would know where to return the sword and the baby. After all, with his distinct looks, who else who Kenshin-san be related to, but the Himura family? And Cho had seen the sakabatou before. After all, he had gotten an unsightly bruise, three broken ribs, and a fourth cracked one from that sword, not to mention an ache in his chest whenever a storm approached. And since the sakabatou was a non-killing weapon, Cho wouldn't want it in his collection.
And, if his plan went smoothly enough, Cho would gain an ally from this arrest, and Shinigami would get another important player in his plot.
Yes, everything would work out…Shinigami hoped.
###
At a shrine somewhere in Tokyo
The man known to Chizuru as Yamaguchi knelt in front of the shrine's altar, his hands pressed together in respectful prayer. After he finished, he stood, gave a respectful bow, and exited the small shrine to head towards the graveyard next to it. Instead of clapping twice and folding his hands in respectful prayer, as was custom, Yamaguchi continued standing, a slight smirk gracing his lips, as he stared at the neat rows of stone markers.
"You might as well come out," Yamaguchi drawled, "You know I can sense you."
Laughter echoed throughout the graveyard. The sound was hollow and cold, more mocking than kind. It seemed to come from every corner of the cemetery, from every unnatural shadow that hung around in that place. Fragile pink cherry blossoms fluttered on the ground at Yamaguchi's feet, even though the season for the flowers had passed nearly a month ago.
"Sakura. Cherry blossoms. The stair-steps to heaven. The divider between the living and the dead," Yamaguchi noted in a slightly morbid tone, his calm smirk never wavering from his face.
"Why have you come here?" a voice hissed in Yamaguchi's ear, "Your presence is not needed nor is it welcome, spirit medium."
Suddenly, Yamaguchi was no longer alone in the grave infested enclosure. But he had never been alone. Sitting on each grave-marker was a transparent person, a ghost.
"I seek answers," Yamaguchi said clearly, addressing the ghostly audience in front of him, obviously used to this sort of confrontation.
"What do you want, medium?" the ghosts asked, watching him warily. Yamaguchi's smirk grew. He had the upper hand in this situation. The ghost knew that even though they were no longer alive, if Yamaguchi desired it, they would all suffer great pain at his hands. He could give them endless torture, or seal them away in the Spirit World for all eternity. Yamaguchi opened his mouth to voice his request.
"I want to know what happened to Hitokiri Battousai…"
Author-chan's notes: And so here it is, chapter eleven. As you can see, the plot thickens, even more! Yamaguchi is a spirit medium, and is related to Chizuru! Well, at least we know where Sasuke got his spirit seeing abilities…
And a brief cameo by the sakura (cherry blossoms) again. In case people don't know, cherry blossoms have been seen as the stairway to heaven. They have also been seen as symbols of death since although they are very beautiful, they don't last long, only a week or so. And for those who watch X/1999 or Tokyo Babylon, you should remember the whole thing with cherry blossoms being pink because they feed off the blood of the corpses buried beneath them. Morbid huh? Sakura happens to be the national tree/flower of Japan.
And to JML and Kanzen ne Tsuki who wondered who the heck Yamaguchi was, let me say something: Yamaguchi is a pivotal character in this fic. Part of who he is was revealed in this chapter. The rest of his identity will come later. But I'm sure I left enough clues to tell everyone who he is exactly, if you know what to look for. I'll say one more thing: Yamaguchi-san is not an OC! He's in the RK universe already…Honest!
Thanks to everyone who supported my fic, and I'm sorry I'm not mentioning all of you by name…Please forgive me!
Uh, too lazy to do a glossary…I think I only used words that I've already defined before, so it should be okay…If you have any questions though, feel free to ask.
Well, R&R!