Just a few days ago, Kenshin was receiving orders to track down and assassinate the Lord of the Western Lands. Now, under the starlit sky, she was tending the flames of a fire and cooking fish for the imp and child. It was a whirlwind of events, to say the least. Jaken and Rin were sitting nearby, gabbing about something or other. Sesshoumaru sat nearby, relaxing against a downed tree and gazing at the crescent moon.
After the duel, Kenshin had quickly ducked away to grab her personal affections. A kimono without a giant gash down the middle of it would be a really nice start. Of course, during the little trip away from the group she had just a bit of an existential crisis. She definitely remembered dying. She remembered the feel of the blood rushing from her, the strange sensation of her body literally shutting down, and then darkness. There was a brief bright light, and then she was staring up at the impassive face of Sesshoumaru.
Rin and Jaken were bickering about something foolish, and the fish were nearly half-way done. So, in the meantime, Kenshin pressed her palms to her knees and stood up. She moved herself over to the Lord and knelt down next to him.
"Do you require anything?" she asked quietly, her violet eyes raising to the moon.
"I do not eat human food." he said dully.
"That may be, but this one suspects you may drink water, that she does."
Sesshoumaru leveled his eyes, as deep as liquid gold, to her face. He could see the scar that was on the left side of her face. It was odd to him. "That scar. How did you come about it?"
Her violet eyes drifted down, locking with his for a moment. A hand raised, small fingers lightly touching the center of the cross shaped scar. She brushed it, and the expression on her face changed to that of a tender one. As if she were remembering something fond, something sweet.
"This scar," she murmured, trailing a finger from her temple down to her chin. "Is from a man this one was told to kill." she explained. Her fingers twitched, and she trailed the adjoining scar, right under her eye down to just below her ear. "And this one is from the woman of the man he loved. Tomoe. She… made this one believe we were in love, that she did. But it was retribution for murder, that it was. This one must now wear this mark of shame. The feelings they possessed, the love they shared for one another. Forever carved into this one's skin." she explained, her voice soft and low.
"Hmph. Ridiculous. I will never understand mortals and their love." He said this last word with an odd bite, as if he were disgusted by it.
She lowered her eyes to the dancing blades of grass in front of her, lightly trailing her fingertips across the tops of them, "This one does not believe that, Lord Sesshoumaru. You seem to understand compassion. You awoke this one from the dead, that you did."
"Do not misunderstand, human. I did not revive you out of compassion or kindness." he said curtly.
"Then why did you do so?"
"Mind your own business, human."
"Kenshin. This one's name is Kenshin Himura. Otherwise known as the Hitokiri Battosai." she corrected.
"Do not be so bold as to presume I will remember your name, Battosai." Hitokiri Battosai, was it? So this woman before him was a manslayer who perfected the art of battojutsu. It would certainly explain why she was a formidable foe for a human. He briefly remembered learning battojutsu from his father, a very long time ago. He doubted that this woman's ancestors were crawling out of mud huts when he was learning the art of the sword. "How did you become so skilled with a sword?"
"Oro?" she asked, slightly tilting her head. That question caught her off guard. "This one learned it from her Master. Hiko Seijuro. It is called the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, that it is." she confirmed, lightly rubbing her scar again.
"Hmph." he noised, and then looked away from her. "Begone, Battosai." he said. It was rude and sudden, but he was internalizing this information. Perhaps she might be a good tool to utilize in the future. But for now, he needed to think.
Kenshin rose from her knees and gave him a light and respectful bow before returning to the fire. The fish was done! So took it off the fire and offered it to her new traveling companions. However, her violet eyes soon rose to the silhouette of Sesshoumaru, framed by the starry skies. He was an enigma wrapped in a mystery.
