Author-chan's notes: Hi all! I recently got another L'Arc-en-Ciel CD, and I'm playing it right now. smiles Ah, L'Arc…
Anyway, here is chapter 31 (that many chapters already?) Enjoy!
Like Father Like Son
(Chapter Thirty-one: Confrontations)
Aoiya
The Aoiya was celebrating. Shinya, Kenji, and Kenichi had just returned, all of them unharmed and well.
And after the panic of the other day, the celebrating was necessary.
Misao and Sano had engaged in a drinking contest, both of them laughing their heads off. Megumi continued to scold both of them as they both kept falling all over the place. Tsubame and Chizuru giggled at the sight while sipping their own cups of alcohol. Meanwhile, Kenji and Kenichi both disappeared upstairs, presumably to go to sleep since it had been a long day for both of them, especially Kenji who didn't sleep at all the other night. Shinya and Yahiko also vanished.
That left Sasuke, the older Himura brother, and Shinomori Aoshi, the stoic leader of the Oniwabanshu, alone to sit at a table together quietly. Neither of them had much to say, nor did they wish to join in the celebrating. In Sasuke's case, he was too young to drink and Aoshi wouldn't touch the stuff.
While the others were making plenty of noise, for Sasuke and Aoshi it almost seemed as if all was silent.
"Sasuke-kun."
"Oro?" Sasuke answered, startled at the sudden call of his name, as well as who had spoken. Shinomori Aoshi was not one to speak often.
"Do you know what your name signifies?" the Okashira of the Oniwabanshu asked.
"Well, 'Himura' means –"
"I was not speaking of your family name," Aoshi interrupted.
"Oh," Sasuke said quietly, looking down at the floor. What exactly was Aoshi trying to ask from him?
"Sasuke for Sarutobi Sasuke," Aoshi murmured, "The most famous of ninja from the early days of the Tokugawa. A strange name for a swordsman."
"Aa."
"But not strange for a ninja."
"What are you saying, Shinomori-san?" Sasuke asked pointedly.
"I can feel it in your ki," the Okashira said, "It is not your destiny to be a swordsman. Perhaps your name is a sign. You should try your hand with the Oniwabanshu."
"But I…" Sasuke sputtered, "Kamiya Kasshin Ryu…"
"It does not call to you," Aoshi said calmly, "Just as it does not call to your brother. Both of you should train elsewhere."
"That's not true!" Sasuke shouted, standing up swiftly. Aoshi simply looked at him coolly.
"I can see it in the way you both move," Aoshi said logically, "You move with the gait of one who shuns weapons. You are a hand to hand fighter in your soul, a martial artist. And your brother has the grace of one who has already mastered a sword style much more advanced than Kamiya Kasshin."
"That's impossible," Sasuke protested, "You've only seen him a short time! Ken-nii is clumsy! He trips into the laundry all the time!"
"As did your grandfather, and he was the greatest swordsman Japan has ever known."
"You don't understand," Sasuke muttered, "Tou-san loves Kamiya Kasshin. And even though, even if, neither of us is suited for Kamiya Kasshin, we will stick by it."
"I never said that you should give up your current style," Aoshi shrugged, "I was simply offering both of you the chance to do some extra training."
"I…"
"Think on it."
qpqpqpqp
The others all thought that Kenji was asleep. Far from it, in fact. The red-haired swordsman was simply laying on his futon staring at the ceiling. Part of him was nervous that Kenichi would disappear again, so he paid extra attention to the room next to his and Chizuru's, the one Kenichi had disappeared into. He wanted to believe that Kenichi was asleep and that he could too, but part of him was still scared. The last time he believed that his son was "asleep"…
Kenichi never clarified exactly what it was that he was doing that night. Kenji wasn't an idiot. There was something that Kenichi was hiding. He started putting together things in his head as he kept staring at the endless white of the ceiling. Hamano Genji would never have simply come into the Aoiya and kidnap Kenichi. Aoshi would have sensed him. So that meant Kenichi had to have gone out of the Aoiya by himself.
It didn't hit Kenji right away, but he slowly noticed that Kenichi was not wearing his clothing from the other day, or any other clothing that the Himura family owned. Kenji did not like Western clothing that much, and the shirt that Kenichi was wearing was much larger than anything that Shinya or Yahiko owned.
Kenichi was wearing borrowed clothing. Why? And who did the clothes belong to?
Other things pressed against his mind too. Hiko-sensei was dead.
Kenji moaned as the images floated up into his mind. Blood all over the place…A much too still body under a red/white sheet. He had to bury the body himself, alone. Hiko-sensei was not allowed to die! Not yet! Murder, it was murder…
Strange green-gold eyes danced in the next vision. Kenji gritted his teeth as he recalled the strange child who dared call himself "Shinigami" who had watched over Hiko's body so calmly. Yet those eyes were not cold, not exactly. Spirits…
Ghosts…Were the PBKB real? The ghosts from the Bakumatsu that said he looked nothing like his father, were they real? Kenji was caught in a world where he wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't.
Did he really see ghosts? Did he speak with a kami? Or was it all just a dream that his overworked worried mind made?
Kenji rolled over to his side. He had almost killed today. He hadn't, but what if he had? What would have happened?
What if? What happened? Why? Is this? Reality…Illusion…Does it matter?
Questions danced in Kenji's head over and over. The redhead snarled, wishing he could simply rip out his brain.
'Too much,' Kenji's thoughts hissed, 'It's too much!'
"Damn it all to hell," Kenji snarled softly, his eyes sparking with amber fire.
"O-Otou-san?"
"Kenichi?" Kenji blinked, his eyes settling once again to blue. His youngest was standing in the doorway, this time properly dressed in a blue gi and white hakama.
"Anou," Kenichi began, blushing slightly as he looked away, "Are you alright?"
"Just tired," Kenji sighed as he sat up and gestured for Kenichi to come in, "And confused."
"Confused about what?"
"Everything," Kenji laughed as Kenichi sat down on the futon with him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Kenichi asked seriously. Kenji raised an eyebrow. Wasn't that supposed to be his line? Wasn't Kenji the parent?
"Will you answer?" Kenji murmured softly, looking down at the floor, "Kenichi, you are not one to talk much. Sometimes I feel when I'm talking to you that you're hiding so much from me. Sometimes I wonder if I'm looking at your true face. Have I ever seen your true face?"
Small pale fingers touched Kenji's face, turning it so that his eyes locked into bottomless violet pools.
"Who are you, Kenichi?"
"I am me," came the soft answer, "Nothing more. Nothing less."
"Then who am I?" Kenji whispered, "And Sasuke? And Kaa-san?"
"You are you," Kenshin replied sincerely, "People make a mistake. You are not me. I am not you. Nor are you Sasuke, nor is Sasuke you. I am not Sasuke either, and he is not me. O-Okaa-san is her own person as well. You are not your father, or your mother, or your children, or your wife. And they are not you."
"Ken—"
"O-Otou," Kenshin sighed, with one of his small sad smiles, "You are yourself, as I am myself. We cannot be anything else, no matter how hard we try. The Kenichi you see everyday is me. The one who cooks and cleans and trips and smiles and wants you not to worry. The one who loves you and the rest of our family."
"I—" Kenji's rely was cut off when Kenichi smiled at him and stroked his hair, gesturing for Kenji to lay back down on the futon.
"Go to sleep, O-Otou-san," Kenshin soothed, "You've had a long day."
"Aa," Kenji murmured, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Part of Kenji's mind was protesting about something. Something about how Kenichi was reversing their roles, but Kenji gave it no mind. He was too tired to care. Kenshin softly tiptoed out of the room as a drowsy Kenji stretched out onto the futon.
As Kenji drifted off into dreamland, he suddenly realized that he still had more questions that he had never asked.
qpqpqpqp
Outside
Yahiko and Shinya sat across from each other on the engawa, both of them completely silent. Neither knew how to start. Shinya fiddled a bit with the teacup in his hands, turning the pale porcelain around carefully and stroking the pale flowers painted on the side. Yahiko simply stared at his cup.
"You know, I stole the sakabatou."
Shinya looked up, surprised at his father's words, not quite sure he had said them or if it had been simply part of his imagination.
"Like father like son, eh?" Yahiko laughed softly, putting down his tea.
"Why did you?" Shinya asked, licking dry lips.
"Pride," Yahiko answered, shrugging, "I had a lot of pride back then. That bastard Gohei…He mocked me. Said I couldn't handle a real sword. So I stole the sakabatou. Not the smartest move in the world."
"True," Shinya nodded, smiling softly. Yahiko frowned a bit.
"Weasel girl was right, you know," Yahiko sighed, "You are a lot like me. Hot headed, a brat…"
"Oi!"
"You worry me, Shinya," Yahiko murmured, "You are more reckless than I was. And unlike me, you won't have the world's greatest swordsman at your back.
"I am not mad at you because you stole the sakabatou," Yahiko continued, his face grim, "That is Kenji's right, not mine. However, I am angry at the fact that you almost made me loose another precious person."
"Tou-san?"
"Damn it, Shinya!" Yahiko growled, his hands tightening into fists, "Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I were? You could have died out there! Yakuza, the black market, what were you thinking?.!"
"I don't know," Shinya said softly, looking down at the wood paneling below him.
"I've lost a lot of family, Shinya," Yahiko murmured, "People I've cared about. They died before I was ready to let them go. And I'm not ready to let you go either, Shinya."
"I understand," Shinya said truthfully.
"You've been one damn bastard lately, too," Yahiko added, "All the barbs you've been throwing at Kenji and his family…That was uncalled for!"
"Yeah, it was," Shinya agreed, his face full of guilt, "I suppose I've done a lot of stupid things. Things I can't apologize properly for."
"So how are you going to apologize?" Yahiko asked.
"That's the question," Shinya shrugged, "Any suggestions?"
The look on Yahiko's face was pure evil.
"Well, we can start with ten thousand practice swings," Yahiko began, his face full of mischief.
"Ten thousand!" Shinya yelped, "That's ten times the amount you give to your advance class! And besides, I didn't bring my bokken!"
"Don't worry, you can use mine," Yahiko cackled.
"But you weigh yours!"
"Better for building up muscle," Yahiko grinned, ruffling Shinya's bangs, "I'm punishing you for putting yourself in danger, so I'm going to remedy that. You'll be strong enough that you won't need Kenji to back you up!"
"But I'm already an assistant master!"
"Punishment, Shinya-chan!" Yahiko scolded.
"Don't call me 'chan'!" Shinya snarled, returning to his usual bad tempered mood.
"We really are alike," Yahiko laughed, before heading back into the Aoiya, "And we still need to ask Kenji what his punishment for you would be. After all, you did steal his sakabatou…"
"Tou-san!"
And then there was laughter. It seemed, for the Myojin family, things were looking up for now.
qpqpqpqp
Enishi's house
After dropping off Genji and Chou's katana off at the police station, Sai and Akimoto had headed off to Enishi's home. Sai snickered to himself. Boss Broom was going to be furious when he discovered that Sai had not only captured Genji, but had gotten a lead on Yukishiro.
'Good thing Boss Broom wasn't in the police station when we got there,' Sai thought to himself with a smirk, 'Now I can take all the credit and he will have to take me to soba and sake! Maybe I can convince him to get me more cigarettes.'
"We are here," Akimoto murmured, startling Sai out of his schemes.
"Uh, are you sure?" Sai asked, blinking strangely at the small old home in front of him. He had expected something a little bit more…grand. Wasn't Yukishiro supposed to be some sort of former crime lord or something?
"Hai."
"Well, let's go in," Sai urged.
Akimoto frowned quietly to herself, 'Yukishiro-sama is sure to be alright. If he met up with an opponent he could not handle, he is smart enough not to stick around. He should be alright. He is alright, ne?'
Slowly, Akimoto entered the building. The main room, the one that Enishi used as a sitting room, dining room, and kitchen, seemed well enough. There were two other rooms, a guest room and Enishi's own bedroom. Akimoto remembered that the night they brought Himura-san back home, Himura took the guest room, while she stayed in Enishi's. Enishi, on the other hand, spent the night in the main room. Akimoto was almost positive that he had spent the night awake, not bothering to sleep at all.
That worried her. He entered a fight with so little rest. And he barely ate as well…But he was sure to be alright.
Right?
"Yukishiro-sama?" Akimoto called, "Are you here?"
Silence answered her. Sai, in the meantime, decided to explore the rest of the house, and had walked into the guest room.
"Ah, Akimoto-san," Sai gulped as he stared into the room, "Y-you might not want to come in here."
"Nani?" Akimoto blinked as she pushed the police officer aside.
Then she began to scream.
All of the furniture inside of the room had been smashed to bits and thrown viciously around. But the true spectacle was pinned to the wall.
The bloody corpse of Yukishiro Enishi was slumped against the wall and the only thing holding it up was his own sword, stabbed through his heart.
Above his head were a set of kanji, painted onto the wall with sticky red paint…or perhaps it was blood.
'Jichuu.'
qpqpqpqp
Akimoto was still crying, curled up in a blanket. It had been an hour since they discovered Yukishiro's body. Chou and a group of officers had finally arrived on the scene to clean up the mess and to answer questions.
"Boss," Sai licked his lips, putting his normal insults aside as he spoke with his commanding officer, "Do you have any idea who could have done this?"
"Yukishiro had a lot of enemies," Chou shrugged, as he stared at the red kanji staining the wall, "But whoever it was, they knew Yukishiro well."
"Eh?"
"Jichuu," Chou gestured with his head to the kanji on the wall, "Remind ya of anythin'? I'll give you a hint: it has something to do with the Bakumatsu and the Ishin Shishi."
"Tenchuu," Sai breathed, putting his knowledge to use, "But I still…"
"Back when Yukishiro was younger, he had a thing against Battousai," Chou began, "Destroyed a lot of stuff. Buildings and what not. Trashed the Kamiya Dojo too. Back then, he called it Jinchuu, a sorta play on words with Tenchuu."
"Tenchuu, Justice from Heaven," Sai murmured, "Jinchuu, Justice from Man. You're saying that someone was trying to copy Yukishiro's Jinchuu?"
"No," Chou shook his head, "If that was the case, then the aim would have been to make a person suffer as much as possible. That didn't happen. 'Sides the kanji here is different. It's not Jin-chuu; it's Ji-chuu."
"'Ji' from 'Jigoku', as 'Ten' is from 'Tengoku'," Sai murmured, staring at the bloody kanji as his mind started working, "And this Jichuu focused more on assassination than suffering, like Tenchuu. So this is more of a play on words with 'Tenchuu', but the meaning is all reversed, more so than Jinchuu. Jichuu, Justice from Hell."
"Aa," Chou nodded, "Scary, huh? Like the Bakumatsu all over again."
qpqpqpqp
Aoiya; later that day towards sunset
Chou, Sai, and Akimoto entered the Aoiya in silence. Akimoto's normally pale face was red and puffy from crying.
The adults didn't notice a pair of wide violet eyes peaking around the corner.
"What happened?" Megumi asked as she rushed over to greet them. She quickly supported Akimoto and helped the younger woman to a seat.
"It's Yukishiro Enishi."
"Enishi?" Megumi gasped, "I haven't heard that name…What is he doing here?"
"Relax, he helped Kenichi; he's one of the good guys," Sai soothed, "Or at least, he was…"
"Was?"
"Yuki-Yukishiro-sama is dead," Akimoto hiccupped, "Murdered…"
"Someone was trying to send a message, I think," Sai murmured, "This won't be the last of the deaths."
"There was kanji written on the walls when we found 'im," Chou supplied, "Wrote out 'Jichuu'."
"Hell's Justice," Megumi whispered, "But then who was the message for?"
"Haven't a clue," Sai shrugged.
"Was there anything else to the message?" the female doctor asked.
"You can sorta say that," Sai shrugged, "The way Yukishiro was propped up against the wall; he was sitting down with his sword skewered through his chest. And I didn't notice until after they took the body away, but someone carved two slashes on his face."
"Slashes?"
"Yeah, crossing over each other," Sai nodded, "In the shape of a cross."
There was a sharp intake of breath. Sai dimly noted that the others had come over to listen as well.
"We must not tell Kenji about this," Chizuru murmured, "Or Kenichi. Knowing Kenichi, he'll feel completely guilty, and Kenji is too tired to deal with anything like this right now."
"Aa," Sai nodded, "We'll keep quiet."
None of them noticed the flash of red hair quickly turn and disappear.
qpqpqpqp
Aoiya rooftops
After listening to Sai's description of the crime scene, Kenshin had quickly disappeared upstairs and to the roof to avoid getting caught.
He knew the scene that Sai painted with his words. He had seen it in his darkest nightmares; a memory from the darkest days of Enishi's Jinchuu.
Only the body on the wall was Kaoru's.
"Anata?" Kaoru murmured as she shimmered into view.
"Enishi is dead," Kenshin said hollowly.
"Nani?"
Kenshin opened his mouth to explain further, when he was suddenly interrupted.
"BAKA DESHI!"
Kenshin turned paler.
"Anata?"
"BAKA DESHI!" roared Hiko Seijuuro the Thirteenth as his ghost shimmered into view. Kaoru was glad to see that, unlike the rest of the PBKB, Hiko had chosen not to appear as he had when he died. She doubted that Kenshin could take the strain.
"Shi-Shishou," Kenshin gulped, frozen in place as he stared down at the glaring ghost of his master.
"Baka deshi," Hiko growled, "Where have you been?"
"Anou, K-Kyoto?"
"Don't you dare lie to me, baka deshi!" Hiko roared, nearly blowing Kenshin off the roof with the force of his bellow, "None of us could find you, or even sense where you were! Do you have any idea how wor—"
"Look, Takumi! Old man Hiko is gonna say it!" Kaito's voice suddenly chirped out of nowhere, "He's going to say that he was worried about Himura-san! I knew he was secretly a big softy!" Kaoru felt like smacking herself over the head as she saw Kaito sitting on the roof eating dango like the scene before him was some sort of kabuki play. Takumi, the poor soul that he was, sat next to him, looking completely frustrated, as always. Behind them, more PBKB members sat, watching the proceedings, including Kiyosato and Tomoe.
"Shut up," Hiko growled at the beheaded ghost, before looking back at his deshi.
"S-sessha was in Kyoto!" Kenshin protested.
"Impossible," Takumi scoffed, "We searched and would have felt it if you were. Even Hiko would have felt it, even though he just recently died!"
There was a long pause after that.
"Holy crap, Hiko's dead," Kaito gasped, "Damn that feels so weird."
"Shouldn't that have sunken in by now?" Hiko asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I-I don't know," Kiyosato blinked, "This is very strange. It's like we know you're dead, yet not…"
"I've felt that way too," Tomoe agreed, "I don't understand…It's almost like someone doesn't want us to understand what is going on."
"It feels like our minds our just skipping some really important details," Takumi murmured, his hand on his head as if it ached, "Kami-sama…Hiko is dead!"
"We've established that," Hiko drawled.
"You don't understand," Kiyosato murmured, "You're dead. You're part of the PBKB. That means, Himura-san killed you! Oh, kami-sama, I remember now. There was mention…Shinigami forced you to kill!"
There were a few gasps from the crowd of ghosts, many of them murmuring to each other. How could they have missed that? How could they have missed the importance of all of it? It was almost like there was something in their heads, something that didn't belong there, was just forcing them to forget, to look over the important details. But it was fading now.
They cast pitying looks in Kenshin's direction. The redhead suddenly became very silent, wholly absorbed with staring at his hands.
"Enishi…Enishi is dead too, de gozaru," Kenshin murmured softly.
"Nani?" Tomoe gasped, "That can't be! I would have known! I keep track of him…"
Kenshin couldn't say anything as a few tears ran down his former wife's face.
"Murder," Kenshin finally choked out, "It was murder. Whoever it was, they were trying to send a message to me."
"But that's impossible!" Kiyosato protested, "No one capable of killing Enishi could have known that you were alive."
"Alright, what the hell is going on?.!" Kaito growled, his eye twitching, "This is too strange. I mean, I know I'm a baka, but I'm pretty sure no one else is!"
"This is very odd," Takumi agreed, "We all lost track of Himura-kun, we all couldn't find him afterwards, in Kyoto of all places, and then we didn't realize the gravity of the situation. There are too many of us in the PBKB to not have realized that something was up."
"Spells," Kiyosato growled, "Someone put an elaborate spell on us. Keep us in the dark."
"You don't say," Takumi said dryly.
"Who put it on us, and why?" Kaito asked, "They would have to be very powerful."
"It would have to be a kami," Kaoru murmured thoughtfully.
"Shinigami," Kiyosato hissed, "You damn kami, show yourself! The PBKB demands your attention, NOW!"
"Eh?" came a familiar voice. Within moments, Shinigami's form shimmered into view, followed by the ghostly form of a ninja none of them recognized.
"Kiyosato Akira-san," Shinigami greeted with a smile, "and the rest of the PBKB. I'm here as summoned. How are you?"
"Cut the pleasantries," Takumi growled, glaring at the diminutive kami with the rest of the PBKB, "We know what you did."
"Eh?" Shinigami and his ninja companion blinked, looking quickly at each other.
"The spells and making Himura-san kill again!" Kiyosato clarified.
"Kenshin-san killed again?" Shinigami whispered, looking over at the quiet redhead.
Kenshin smiled bitterly, his eyes tortured, "You were there, Shinigami-dono."
"No, I wasn't!" the kami protested, his green-gold eyes wide, "I've been in Osaka all month! I just got to Kyoto after I heard you calling for me, Akira-san. And I'm not like those other kami; I can't be in two places at once. That's why I have assistants to help me with my job!"
"So there's an impersonator out there?" Kaoru gasped.
"I can vouch for him," the ninja with Shinigami offered, "I was with Shinigami-sama all month, and I know as well as any ghost that Shinigami is not omnipresent."
"Who are you, de gozaru ka?" Kenshin asked, narrowing his eyes at the strange ninja, "You seem familiar."
The ninja laughed, "Himura-kun, I'm wounded! You don't remember me?"
Kenshin shook his head. The ninja grinned again before his form wavered and then shifted to a much older version of himself.
"Okina-dono!" Kenshin blurted out, instantly recognizing the Oniwabanshu ninja this time. Last time he had seen Okina was on Misao and Aoshi's wedding day, the old man beaming happily at his adoptive granddaughter.
"It's been awhile, Himura-kun," the former Oniwabanshu member smiled before reverting to his younger self, "And you as well, Kaoru-san."
"Okina," Kaoru greeted, "Gomen for not being able to attend your funeral. I caught a bad fever and couldn't make it out of bed. Shinta had to take care of me."
"Ever the dutiful husband, ne, Himura-kun?" Okina chuckled, before sobering, "Care to explain what's going on?"
"And what's this about killing again?" Shinigami added, looking disturbed, "Last time I checked, you retired from being my assistant, Kenshin-san."
"Someone looking like you ordered Shinta to kill Hiko-san," Kaoru said quietly.
"Hiko Seijuuro-san? The Thirteenth?" Shinigami clarified, "But he's not due to die for another six months! He's been one of my most faithful assistants for years and I wanted to get him personally."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Shinigami-sama," Hiko muttered as he made his way to the front.
"Shimatta," Shinigami whispered as he stared at Hiko's ghost, "This isn't right!"
"And Enishi," Kenshin murmured, "Yukishiro Enishi is dead, de gozaru."
"Nani?.!"
"And someone cast a mass spell over all the ghosts in Kyoto," Takumi added, "We were left oblivious and helpless to a great part of the situation."
"Chikuso," Shinigami snarled, his eyes fading to pure gold, "I was so busy in Osaka I didn't notice anything strange in Kyoto!"
"We were tricked, de gozaru," Kenshin realized, his eyes wide.
"All of us," Tomoe murmured, tears for her brother still on her face.
"Who would impersonate a kami?" Kaito asked.
"Another kami," Shinigami growled, his face pure fury, "Or someone working for them."
"Shinigami-sama," Okina murmured, "Do you think…"
"Hai," Shinigami nodded, "It's him."
"Oro?" Kenshin blinked. Shinigami shook his head.
"Okina-san, please go back to Osaka," Shinigami sighed, running a hand through his hair, "We'll resume our tasks when I come back."
"Go get 'im, Shinigami-sama," Okina grinned and then vanished, Shinigami not far behind.
"We'll better be going as well," Takumi added, glancing around at the other PBKB members, "We've got to tell the other ghosts what's happened."
There were a few polite bows before the group of PBKB disappeared into the sunset.
"Anata," Kaoru murmured, looking at her too silent husband.
"Trickery," Kenshin growled, his eyes sparking with amber.
Then, without another word, he stormed back into the Aoiya.
qpqpqpqp
Tomoe's grave; nighttime
The night was clear, the air crisp and cool. The stars glinted in the velvet sky, the moon fat and round. Somewhere in the distance, someone was playing a flute, the eerie melody floating through the empty air. It was a perfect night.
Kenshin didn't notice any of it.
The rest of the Aoiya had already gone to sleep, after the long day. Akimoto, Sai, and Chou had gone to the police station after delivering their news to the Aoiya, and were staying the night there. Kenji in particular had been knocked out since his talk with Kenshin earlier in the afternoon. And Kenshin's odd ki signature allowed him to slip under Aoshi's senses. As a result, it was rather easy for Kenshin to slip away to Tomoe's grave unseen.
Sitting next to Tomoe's grave alone, the ex-hitokiri was wholly absorbed with staring at his hands. Pale skin, short fingers and small palms met his gaze. Something inside of him insisted those hands should be bigger. Something else insisted they should be covered with blood.
'Sessha can't escape,' the redhead thought, still staring at his hands, 'To have broken my vow…and for what? For trickery from someone I didn't even know. Sessha…I should have realized that it was not Shinigami-dono. Now shishou is dead because of my mistake. And Enishi…'
"Anata?"
"Kaoru," Kenshin murmured, looking up to see his wife fade into view next to him, "you should be asleep, de gozaru."
"You need sleep more than I do," Kaoru retorted, sitting down next to him.
There was silence between the pair.
"It's not your fault, you know."
"Oro?" Kenshin blinked up at his wife.
"It's not your fault," Kaoru murmured, "Hiko, Enishi…It's not your fault, Shinta."
"Whose is it, if not mine?" Kenshin replied bitterly, the cutting tones of the hitokiri invading his speech, "They died because of me. They died needlessly."
"But it wasn't your fault!" Kaoru protested, "You were tricked! We were all tricked!"
"I should have realized that!" Kenshin yelled, his eyes tinted gold, "It was my mistake!"
"Our mistake, anata, our mistake," Kaoru whispered, wrapping her transparent arms around him, "Mine, the PBKB, all the ghosts, Hiko…We all were tricked. You can't take all the blame."
"Sessha…"
"Kenshin no baka," Kaoru murmured, "You can't keep beating yourself over this. It won't fix anything."
"Then what should sessha do?"
"Find out what's going on," a new voice suggested. The couple looked up just as Katsura's ghost shimmered into view.
"Katsura-san," Kenshin gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at his old commander.
"Himura-san," Katsura bowed in greeting, "It's been awhile."
"A lifetime," Kenshin smiled lightly. Katsura smiled as well before his face straightened.
"I had some trouble finding you at first," Katsura admitted, "When you were not at the Aoiya it took me awhile to realize you were here. Unfortunately, I do not have the same connection with you as the rest of the PBKB. Or your wife for that matter."
"Sessha is sorry for the trouble then," Kenshin said politely. Katsura simply waved his apology aside.
"Tomoe-san just gave me an update on what has been happening, Himura-san," Katsura said seriously, "I don't like it. None of us do."
"Aa," Kenshin agreed, "Neither do I."
"Keep an eye out," Katsura advised, "Something is going on that we cannot even begin to comprehend. We are ants on a go board. We have to figure out the game before we get crushed."
"Where should we start looking?" Kaoru asked, "We don't have much to go on."
Katsura laughed, "You do not need to go looking. Considering the tendency of your lives, everything will come to you. You just have to watch for it."
"And Kenji?" Kenshin murmured, looking up at his former commander, "I have no wish for him or the others to be dragged into this business with the dead."
"Unfortunately, I think he may already be involved," Katsura frowned, "Our fault, I think, when we decided to make him aware of the Spirit Focus. But we'll try to keep him out of it."
"Shinigami-dono wasn't telling us everything," Kenshin commented.
"He's soft-hearted," Katsura shrugged, "He wants to keep us out of his problems."
"Why?" Kaoru asked, "His problems are already ours."
"Why indeed?" Katsura chuckled, before turning serious again, "Himura. You probably don't know about this, but there are rumors flying about in the Spirit World. Apparently Shinigami-sama is at odds with Enma-sama."
"Enma-sama?" Kaoru gasped, "The god of the underworld?"
"Aa," Katsura nodded gravely, "Normally, the two are quite close; their duties often coincide, after all. It's only been within the past decade that the two have come to odds. It's very strange."
"You think Enma-sama has something to do with what's been going on?" Kaoru asked, her eyes wide.
"It is a possibility," Katsura replied, "If that is the case then we need to walk very carefully. Mortals were never supposed to get involved with the affairs of kami."
"But we're not mortals anymore, Katsura-san," Kenshin murmured, "We are dead, spirits. We are fair game for kami."
qpqpqpqp
Elsewhere in Kyoto
Throughout the darkened streets of the old capital, silence prevailed broken only by the sound of soft music. It was a flute, by the sound of it. Shinigami sighed, closing his eyes, simply enjoying the music as he sat down on a red arched torii of one of Kyoto's many shrines. The night could almost be…peaceful.
"So," Shinigami suddenly called out into the night, "Are you going to continue buzzing around or are you going to come down and talk to me?"
Shinigami didn't bother to open his eyes as he felt, rather than heard, a tiny insect flutter over to land next to him. When Shinigami opened his eyes to glance over at the creature he was met with green-gold eyes identical to his own. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn he was looking at his own twin.
"Konbanwa, Shinigami-sama," his double greeted with a polite bob of his head. Shinigami simply frowned at his doppelganger.
"Don't try playing cute with me," Shinigami replied curtly. His twin simply smiled widely.
"You sound unhappy, Shinigami-sama," the other chirped, "Whatever could be the matter?"
"Perhaps it has something to do with a certain brat masquerading as me," Shinigami hissed, his eyes growing more metallic, "Stop mocking me, brat, and take off that disguise."
"Don't like it?" laughed the doppelganger. But he complied, letting the magic that had held his form melt away, leaving him in his true appearance. Across from Shinigami sat a young man with brown hair and aquamarine eyes.
It was Seishiro, the same man that Akimoto and Enishi had met in at the yakuza hideout.
"You have been pretending to be me for the past week," Shinigami snarled at Seishiro, his eyes blazing like the sun, "In that time you have caused the deaths of two men not scheduled to die, had a part in casting several illegal spells, and interfered with lives meant to be left in peace!"
"Speaking of Battousai-san, ne?" Seishiro smiled, his eyes narrowing, "You have a soft spot for him."
"He was meant to be left alone," Shinigami hissed in warning.
"Don't be so naïve," the shape-shifter scoffed, "You know better than anyone that Battousai-san would never be left alone. He is too useful. And I must thank you; you all but handed him to us on a silver platter."
"That was not the point!" the small kami howled.
"You planned to keep him away from us," Seishiro grinned, not loosing his smiling countenance, "but you failed, Shinigami-sama."
"Kenshin-san would never go with you," Shinigami hissed, "I tested him when he first was resurrected. You tested him with your little stunt with Hiko-san. The hitokiri sleeps and chooses to do so! He will never become the hitokiri again!"
"My master knows certain persuasions," Seishiro smiled calmly, "Battousai-san can still kill."
"Not for you," Shinigami whispered coldly, "Not anymore. If need be, I will make sure he goes against you."
"That is not unexpected," Seishiro shrugged, "No matter what, though, he is already tangled in this."
"Not if I can help it," Shinigami growled. Seishiro simply laughed.
"So kind-hearted," Seishiro mocked, "That will be your downfall."
"Don't speak to me about downfalls, brat," Shinigami hissed, "You can't do anything to me. You are not your master."
"Touché. I suppose we'll be seeing more of each other soon, Shinigami-sama," Seishiro smiled as he stood up, feathers already sprouting on his arms, "If you wish to know, Enma-sama already sent greetings to your little pet 'non-hitokiri'."
Then, with a faint laugh, Seishiro was gone, a large crow already flapping away into the night.
Shinigami snarled to himself, looking less and less like the child he portrayed. Seishiro was the right hand man of Enma, well versed in sword skills and magic, having been taught by Enma himself. Shinigami was thankful for one thing though; Seishiro's supernatural abilities were mostly limited to transportation and shape-shifting. His sword skills were amazing, which was unsurprising considering who his father was. And it was these sword skills that made him the right hand man of Enma.
"Damn it," Shinigami hissed quietly, "Why did you have to be the imposter, Seta Seishiro?"
-
Author-chan's notes: PHEW! Done with this chapter! I hope everyone liked the bit of father son bonding! I made sure to put both of those scenes before all the heavy stuff so that their value would not be lessened.
So now everyone knows whom Seishiro is related to! So, yes everyone, it was not your imagination that Seishiro seemed so much like Soujiro. Like I said before, I want to bring in as many people from the original series as possible.
And I know someone out there is going to kill me for killing Enishi…sighs
Hopefully everyone got the difference between Jichuu and Jinchuu. And please forgive any mangling of the Japanese language when I made up "Jichuu". winces
And yes, Shinigami is actually innocent, so all you Shinigami haters, please stop hating him. The real Shinigami hasn't been in the story since the first arc when Kenshin was a baby!
Hopefully everyone is digesting this chapter carefully. It is longer than usual, and there is a lot of heavy plot in here. (Had to listen to my Samurai X OAV soundtrack to get the right feel for some of the scenes.)
Next chapter is (probably) the last chapter of the Kyoto Arc, and then will be transitioning into the Revenge Arc, so prepare for a time skip soon.
And lastly: Happy New Years!