Warnings: AU Japan. Violence and Swordfighting
Chapter 3: Cryptic Messages and Swords
Mount Atago was northwest of Kyoto with a long, winding dirt path that started from the forest base and climbed steadily upwards. It was the highest mountain in the prefecture and boasted breathtaking views of the city below, if one had the fortitude to make the four hour hike to the peak. Having lived in Kyoto for almost half her life, Kaoru had actually visited the Atago shrine before with the Saitou family when Tsutomu was born, praying for protection from fire.
But because she had visited the shrine, she knew there was no house or building besides the honden at the top. Still, the map indicated to follow this path up before diverging off about three-quarters of the way up, if the drawing was accurate. She hoped there would be some sort of sign to indicate a building, lest Kaoru was forced to circle around the mountain in search of this elusive Hiko Seijurou.
But first, she had to get closer to the apex. Arriving at the base of the mountain, Kaoru looked up where the path meandered between a cluster of trees and disappeared under the canopy of thick leaves. Already, sweat trickled down to her juban, creating an itchy sensation at the nape of her neck. With the sticky weather, she had meant to travel light with just her sword, but Tokio's carefully wrapped bento box seemed to weigh like a rock. Still, this was her only lead to finding Kenshin so Kaoru couldn't let this opportunity pass. Galvanizing herself with the thought of finally getting some information, Kaoru stepped onto the path and started upwards.
The shade provided by the trees offered welcomed relief from the summer sun and Kaoru found her stride easily enough. She passed by a few people heading down from the shrine and heard a voice or two behind her. Still, it was quiet enough that she could enjoy the birds warbling to one another and the rustle of small animals darting back and forth along the trees and ground. The path was mostly dirt with a few stone stairs to ease the ascent. Kaoru almost wished she had her work boots on. Even though she hated the uniform, the boots provided more support and comfort than her zori sandals on the uneven terrain.
An hour passed and Kaoru came across less and less people. She relished the quiet soaking into her bones. Here, the atmosphere was so different from the hustle of Kyoto or Toei. The wilderness grew more apparent as more trees and rocks surrounded her, hushing any distant sounds from the city below. Kaoru stopped to rest for a few minutes, taking note of the sun dipping lower in the west and her position up the mountain when she heard the noise of several people coming down in her direction. She stood off the path and allowed a family of five to pass by, the children chattering while the parents kept a sharp eye on their footing. The youngest, who looked to be about Tsutomu's age, saw her and waved.
Kaoru smiled and waved back. The parents noticed her sword and herded their children to the other side of the path, urging them along quickly. She wasn't offended; without her police uniform on, she could be just as easily a disgruntled Choshu rebel or part of the yakuza. It was always better to be cautious when around a swordsman.
Kaoru continued upward. Based on the amount of time that had passed, she estimated that she was close to three-quarters of the way up, but whoever had given her the map hadn't been so kind as to set out a sign for her. Kaoru resigned herself to a slow scan of the woods beyond the main path. Her steps slowed, squinting through the scattered sunlight for some sort of trail beyond the one she was on now. Another hour passed, with no sign of a path leading off the main one. Just when Kaoru seriously started to question herself for following a map so blindly, she caught sight of a tiny scrap of bright red cloth caught by some branches.
Absently waving off insects that buzzed around her, Kaoru stared at it for a long minute and realized that it had been deliberately tied. A surge of excitement caused some weariness to fall away. She started searching for anything else unusual in the area until she finally thought she saw a sign of a barely broken trail just beyond it. It was so subtle she would never have seen it without the cloth.
It was the best chance at a path she'd found, so Kaoru stepped off the main trail and into the forest itself, carefully stepping around the roots and vines that proliferated the area. She followed the nearly indiscernible path of treaded grass and leaves, hoping it was a person and not an animal who had walked in this direction. After another half hour, she noticed the trees starting to thin out until Kaoru found herself in a grassy area. Five hundred feet in front of her was a house, faint puffs of smoke drifting lazily from within.
Kaoru drew in a deep breath, feeling her heart thump faster as she hurried closer. She stopped a few feet from the entrance. "Hello?" she called out and craned an ear to listen.
No one answered.
Taking a brief moment to study the wooden structure, Kaoru noticed that it was well-built, with chinked walls and a tight row of smoothed wooden planks covered with leaves for extra protection. Next to the house was a pile of wood, already chopped and dried, waiting to be used. A clothesline extended from one corner of the house to a pole, but it was empty.
The door was open but she couldn't see inside because of the noren covering the top half of the threshold. Kaoru tried to focus on her hearing, hoping to catch the sound of someone moving inside, only to realize an eerie silence permeated the area. If it weren't for the smoke, Kaoru would have thought the place was abandoned.
Debating with herself for a few seconds, Kaoru finally decided to look inside. She had climbed all this way to meet this mysterious Hiko Seijurou. It seemed odd no one was here. Was she expecting too much from her mysterious map giver? Or was this some sort of trap against her, although Kaoru couldn't fathom anyone would want to do that. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be extra careful because she didn't know what awaited her. "Hello?" she called out again. When no response came, she reached out to lift the noren.
But just as Kaoru touched the cloth, something cold pressed dangerously close to the artery on the left side of her neck. She froze.
"Were you never taught that it's rude to enter someone else's house without their permission?" a deep voice rumbled from behind her.
Instinctively, Kaoru held her breath. She hadn't even heard anyone approach her from behind. Slowly, gingerly, she moved her hands up by her head in sign of surrender. The sword, now resting on her shoulder, kept a firm pressure against her skin as she straightened up. Without turning around, Kaoru replied calmly, "My apologies. I called out and received no answer. I was just checking to make sure everything was okay."
"Or, more likely, you were looking to rob an old man of his prized possessions. Who are you?"
The sword pressed a little more threateningly into her neck, enough that she had to tilt her head to the side to prevent it from cutting her. "I'm not a robber," she said evenly, hoping her voice remained steady even though her heartbeat quickened. She swallowed hard and added, "My name is Kamiya Kaoru, and I'm the Inspector of Toei City."
The man behind her snorted. "Well, Inspector, in case you haven't noticed, this isn't Toei. You're not even in the right prefecture. You're also not wearing the new-fangled Western uniform. So I'll ask you again: who are you?"
"I'm not lying, " Kaoru insisted. "May I turn around?"
The blade didn't leave her neck, but it didn't press in any harder either. Kaoru hoped he wasn't wondering if it was easier just to kill her and hide her body than to deal with her. She didn't move, giving him time to decide, but her body remained tense with the threat of imminent danger. She was ready to jerk away in an attempt to save herself, but she had little hope of making it with the sword that close to her vitals.
Then, almost as suddenly as it had appeared against her, the sword moved away. "Turn around," he said, with a hint of challenge in his voice - as if he dared her to attack him.
Kaoru kept her hands up as she slowly pivoted on one foot to face the man. Just as she was about to open her mouth to convince him she wasn't lying, her jaw dropped to the floor.
The man towering over her was no old man. In fact, he was the epitome of masculine build, with a huge muscled chest barely contained by the white cloak draped over his shoulders. His hair - dark, and long, and full - framed a long angular face with piercing eyes. He towered over her, but there was an intensity about him that almost overwhelmed her against the house. As their gazes met, Kaoru almost shuddered under the barely contained power resonating from him.
A hundred thoughts crossed her mind in those few seconds, including a few about her safety, but one dominated all others. "You're not old!" she blurted out. If he was a day over thirty, she would eat her uniform boots.
The man smirked down at her. "Why, thank you. But that still doesn't explain who you are and why you're here." He made no move to put his weapon away, keeping it between them.
Kaoru shook her head a little, trying to focus on the situation. "I told you the truth. I'm Kamiya Kaoru and I'm a police inspector. I'm here in search of information on a man named Himura Kenshin. Do you know him?"
The man narrowed his eyes. He studied her for a long while and Kaoru tried not to shudder under the sharp gaze. It felt like he was trying to look directly into her soul. Finally, he sheathed his sword - a shirasaya used for storage, she noticed with some surprise. "No, I don't." And then, as if nothing had happened, he bent down to pick up the pile of wood against the wall of the house. "What did he do? Don't tell me the shogunate is finally going to arrest him after all these years."
Kaoru studied his leonine movements and stepped aside as he pushed the noren away to enter the house. Between his silent approach and overwhelming confidence, this man seemed as dangerous as her sensei. Still, he had the opportunity to hurt her and didn't. Taking the question as an invitation to come in, she followed him under the noren and glanced around quickly. Aside from the usual household wares, the room contained nothing else threatening, not even a sword stand. Standing at the door, Kaoru returned her attention back to him and remarked carefully, "If you don't know him, how would you know he's a wanted criminal?"
"Ah, a sharp one, are you?" Despite the words, he didn't seem impressed as he squatted before the banked fire and started to stir the flames higher. Once satisfied it would catch, he fed the logs in, one by one. "Even if I don't live in the city, I follow the news like everyone else." A sudden thought seemed to occur to him and he shot her a speculative look. "Your name is Kamiya, you said? You're the Inspector who managed to arrest Udo Jinei without killing him."
She raised her eyebrows and nodded. "I am."
"Hn," he grunted in response. Thinking he would say more, Kaoru waited patiently as he poked at the fire until the wood started burning cheerfully. Then he abruptly stood up. "You caught me in the middle of trying to catch my dinner. If there's nothing else I can do for you, you should start back down the mountain before it gets dark."
Kaoru glanced out the door at the sky and noticed that the sun had started to dip a little lower. She turned back in time to see Hiko pick up his fishing supplies. "Wait! You're Hiko Seijirou right?" She reached into her gi and pulled out the envelope with the map in it, holding it out. "Someone sent this to me at my house this morning. Inside is a map to your house with your name on it." She stepped a bit closer to him so he could take it.
Hiko put down his fishing basket and accepted the envelope, pulling out the map. He studied it a long while before snorting in annoyance. "Damn ninjas," he muttered, "I thought they were sneaking too closely around here." He folded up the paper and handed it back to her. "Well, now that you found me, why are you here?"
Kaoru returned the paper to her gi. Remembering that Tokio had packed the largest bento they owned for her, she got an idea and moved to take it out. "I brought some food. I wouldn't mind sharing it in exchange for conversation." She held the heavy box out towards him.
Hiko cast her a considering look, which then slid to the bento. "Show me what's inside."
Kaoru knelt down and quickly untied the furoshiki. She took the lid off the food box, relieved to find enough onigiri and tightly arranged side dishes to satisfy a hungry man of Hiko's stature.
He looked her over, then at the food inside. "You made this?" he asked, sounding skeptical.
Kaoru fought a scowl, wondering if she should be insulted. "No, my mother did."
"Good," Hiko said, nodding. He rubbed his chin in consideration, then finally said, "Why not?"
In just a few minutes, Kaoru found herself seated on a tatami mat, the bento between them. Hiko produced some hot tea and poured some for her. Kaoru laid out the two layers of the bento and realized there was enough food for three people. Her stomach growled, reminding her of the hard trek she went through to find him. "Thanks, Tokio-san," she murmured, smiling to herself. Tokio must have packed extra, just in case. Hiko sat down across from her and she gestured for him to go first. "Please, help yourself, Hiko-san."
Hiko picked up his chopsticks and started to eat. "So, what do you want to talk about?""
Kaoru picked up one of the onigiri and started to nibble on it. Now was her chance to get some sort of answers. "You must know something related to Kenshin. Otherwise why would someone send me this map to your house?"
"Oh?" he replied blandly, reaching for more food.
Unsure of how to take his indifferent response, Kaoru nevertheless soldiered on. "Kenshin's missing. The last time I saw him, he told me he was heading to Kyoto to help an old friend. That was over three weeks ago, and there's been no news since. I've come to Kyoto to look for him, but I've had no leads all week, except this letter."
Hiko continued eating, seemingly unconcerned. "I don't know what to tell you. I haven't seen him. Maybe you should go talk to whoever left you that letter."
"I would, except I don't know who left it." She thought about that for a moment. How, exactly, did the person giving her the map know where to find Hiko's home? "You said something about ninjas earlier. Who are they?"
"Well, considering they never stopped to introduce themselves after spying on me, I'm not sure. They simply observed me for a time and then left when I finally decided to confront them. That was a while ago, and I haven't felt their presence since."
"I see." If the ninjas had come around a while ago, Kaoru couldn't be sure it was them that had left the map for her.
"And what about you?" Hiko asked in between bites. He was making quick work of the bento. "What does the Inspector of Toei want with him if it's not to make an arrest?"
"Er, well…" Kaoru looked away, willing herself not to blush. It was a good question. What was she going to do with him when she found him? Yell at him for worrying her and demand he return home immediately? Or maybe instead of yelling, she'd just hit him over the head for making her risk her job to make sure he wasn't dead. Kaoru had been so focused on trying to find him that she never considered what to do if she actually did.
She noticed Hiko watching her closely, his expression turned contemplative. He was doing that thing again, the one that felt like he could see beyond her exterior to the truth within, and she felt her face start to heat up. Then he let out a sort of amused snort, as if he finally understood something. "Ah. So you are looking for him not as an officer of the law, but as a… friend."
She picked up her tea, trying to hide her reddening cheeks behind the cup. "We're just getting to know one another," she said, taking a sip and then another so she didn't have to talk.
Hiko paused in his eating to keep staring at her. Then he let out a sigh, as if in defeat. "My baka deshi certainly knows how to pick them."
Kaoru choked on the tea she was drinking, sputtering into coughs until her chest stopped heaving. She narrowed her eyes, wondering if he casually mentioned that fact on purpose in the middle of her taking a sip. "You're Kenshin's master?" she rasped, trying to catch her breath.
"Don't get too excited. I haven't seen that idiot in over a decade."
"But you lied to me about knowing Kenshin!"
Hiko resumed eating at a serene pace, undisturbed by her reaction. "Not quite. I knew a scrawny kid named Kenshin once. He was my apprentice. But then he ran off to some stupid civil war that wasn't his business before his training was complete. I don't know this 'Himura' Kenshin you're looking for at all. I hadn't heard his name until a few months ago, when Kyoto was all abuzz about a hitokiri being arrested."
Kaoru wanted to lecture him on the fine lines of knowing 'Kenshin' but not knowing 'Himura Kenshin'. But she decided now was not the time, not when she could finally get some information about the wayward rurouni. "So you won't forgive him for leaving? He was just a child at the time and his heart was in the right place."
At that, Hiko's dark eyes lifted up, flashing. It was the first strong reaction from him Kaoru had seen, slightly alarming in intensity. "Does that make his actions right? Instead of listening to the wisdom of his shishou, he went off and - like an idiot - got used as a pawn by men fighting for power. It darkened and stained his soul, and it caused him untold turmoil he could have easily avoided had he simply listened to me. And for what? His actions alone couldn't even bring victory to the side he chose because of the chaos in his heart."
Kaoru bit her lip, wanting to reason with him despite the truth of Hiko's words. "He also saved countless lives, back then and even now. He's wandered for ten years to atone for his sins. Isn't that enough?"
"That's not a question you should be asking me."
He was right, but it was hard not to be so defensive on Kenshin's behalf. She let it go to focus on the task at hand. "Fine, then. Do you have any idea where Kenshin would go in Kyoto? Anywhere I can start looking for him?"
"I thought you were the intelligent type. I already told you I haven't seen him in years. I don't know the Himura Kenshin who would be familiar with Kyoto, and I don't know any of his friends." Hiko shrugged his broad shoulders. "Basically, you wasted a trip here."
Deflating from the lack of any leads, Kaoru stared down at her teacup. Why would somebody send her here if it wasn't to help find Kenshin? Was she wrong in thinking this mysterious map sender was an ally? No, there had to be a reason for someone to lead her to Kenshin's teacher of all people. "But why would somebody send me here if it wasn't to help find Kenshin?" she asked him.
Hiko suddenly arose from the mat and Kaoru, startled from her thoughts, followed his graceful movements as he strode to the far corner of the house. Picking up a long bundle wrapped completely in cloth, he brought it over and tossed it to her. She caught it out of reflex and stared at it for a moment. From the shape and length of it, it had to be a sword. "What's this?"
Her host crossed his arms across his chest as he watched her with a calculating gaze. "This and a bottle of sake appeared on my doorstep a few weeks ago. The sake I drank. That, I wonder… maybe it's a clue."
She untied the knotted string holding the cloths together until it fell away to reveal a plain saya. Her heart jumped at the sight of the familiar sheath before thudding faster. Fingers shook as Kaoru gently touched the tsuka. The ito wrap felt warm, as if Kenshin's palm had just held it and left heat lingering on the silk. Was this what she thought it was?
Taking in a deep breath, Kaoru unsheathed the blade completely, allowing the fire to catch the reflection of the sword. They both stared at the weapon in her hand for a long moment until Hiko finally broke the silence. "Well, that's not something you see every day."
Sliding the blade back into its sheath, Kaoru simply stared at it, dumbfounded. Out of the thousand possibilities she had considered in her trek up here, receiving the sakabatou was not one of them. She didn't know what to make of it. "This is Kenshin's."
"Hmm," Hiko sat back down on the mat, his cloak billowing out with a snap behind him. "Kenshin's, you say?"
"Wait, you said there was also sake?" Kaoru's brow furrowed, then bolted upright in realization. She remembered Kenshin telling her he'd visited his master's home back when he had traveled to Kyoto with Saitou. He'd mentioned something about leaving a bottle of sake for him then, too. "It has to be Kenshin! He must have brought the sakabatou and left it here. He told me he left some sake with his master a few months ago, but this one was new, right? That must mean he's come by here again." Then she turned a peeved frown onto Hiko. "But you told me you hadn't seen him!"
"I didn't," he said, unperturbed by her glare. "For all I knew, the ninjas left it behind as an apology, and I'm not one to turn down a free drink. Besides, why would my baka deshi possess such a weapon? He's a wanted hitokiri on the run. And why leave it here now?"
Hiko's infallible logic drained some of Kaoru's annoyance as she considered what he had said. "To your second question, I don't know," she replied slowly. "But to the first, he's given up his hitokiri ways and has made a vow to no longer kill. As I said earlier, ever since the war ended, he's wandered around the country, helping people he met along the way. He settled down only recently in Toei."
Expression turning thoughtful, Hiko considered her, like he was piecing things together little by little. "Has he now? Then why is he back in Kyoto?"
"I don't know." She contemplated the situation but without further information, speculation was utterly useless. There could be a million reasons why Kenshin had left his sakabatou with his master. Perhaps it was a peace offering, telling his shishou without words that he was no longer a hitokiri. But that just made her more worried. Wherever Kenshin had gone, he was no longer armed. Or if he was, it was with a live sword.
"Well, it can't be a coincidence that the idiot drops off his katana and then disappears, only for you to show up at my doorstep weeks later," Hiko said. He nodded towards the map in her gi. "If I had to venture a guess about all this, I'd say someone sent you here to find that sword."
Somehow, that made sense to Kaoru. "Do you think it was Kenshin?" Kaoru asked, frowning in thought. "Maybe he's gotten into some trouble?"
"He's no artist, but I'd like to think he could draw a better map than that. But those ninjas that were poking around here might know something. They might even be working together."
Kaoru nodded. Too bad there was no way to chase the ninjas down at the moment. But there was still a chance Kenshin had left the sakabatou with the intention of retrieving it later on, seeing as carrying a sword around tended to bring unwanted attention. And if that were the case, it meant that he would eventually come back for it.
Hiko clapped his hands to signal the end of the meal and then took a sip of his tea. "I wouldn't assume the worst just yet. Kenshin might be an idiot prone to finding trouble, but he is capable. I trained him, after all."
She smiled a little, grateful to hear a little optimism however sideways it came out. But it faded when Kaoru realized she was no closer to an answer than she was this morning. Still, whatever was going on, sitting here wouldn't help her figure out the situation. She reached over and started cleaning up the bento, wrapping it back in its furoshiki. "Could I ask you a favor, Hiko-san? If Kenshin comes back here looking for his sword, please tell him I have it. And tell him he also better have a good reason why he's disappeared for weeks on end without telling anyone!"
"Sure, I can do that. Consider it repayment for sharing your food with me." Hiko tilted his head. "Heading back to Toei, are you?"
"There's nothing else I can do here. My leave only lasts one more day, and I need to get back to my city before I get into any more trouble with the Inspector General." Kaoru stood up and girded the sakabatou on her obi, next to her own sword, then picked up the wrapped bento. "Thank you for your hospitality," she added politely.
He grunted. "Trust Kenshin to find the one woman in the entire world who carries a broken sword as if that's normal." Hiko's gaze slid to Kaoru's eyes and he asked more quietly, "So he's wandered freely for the past ten years?"
Kaoru nodded, probably a touch too eagerly in an effort to convince Hiko that Kenshin had changed. "He's done a lot of good. He carries his remorse deeply. But I think maybe he's starting to realize that his grief won't bring anyone back and he can still do some good in this world."
"Hmph. I doubt he's thought about it that far," Hiko scoffed. But the thoughtful expression remained and Kaoru hoped that meant he was willing to forgive Kenshin if they ever met up again.
Offering a little bow, Kaoru turned to head out the door. She lifted the noren, noting the sun had sunk deeper into the horizon. There wouldn't be much time to get down the mountain before it got completely dark.
"Do you plan on using that sakabatou?" Hiko suddenly said behind her, stopping her in her tracks.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, then down at the sword. She had it at hand, so why not? It might even reassure Tokio from worrying too much about her not carrying a true weapon. "I might borrow it until I can find its owner. I used it for a bit during my fight with Udo Jinei."
"Then you know it's not quite like a regular katana." Hiko stood up and threw his cape back. "Before you go, let's have a spar, shall we? You should know how to wield a reverse blade properly if you're planning to use it in a fight."
Kaoru remembered when she had tried to use the sakabatou against a strong opponent like Udo Jinei. Its subtle differences from the katana and her lack of familiarity with it had resulted in a poor outcome. Unlike Kenshin, who had mastered it over ten years of travel, Kaoru had barely managed to do more than poke Kurogasa like a flea trying to dig into a bear's thick fur. She bowed. "It would be an honor."
Kaoru followed him outside to a wide grassy area which overlooked much of the prefecture. In the distance, Kyoto glowed with the last remaining rays of daylight. The sun, surrounded by clouds streaked with red and orange, continued sinking ever so slowly into the horizon and shadows followed in its wake. Higher up in the mountains, the light of millions of stars glittered brighter than Kaoru had ever seen them. Kaoru imagined the Saitou family finishing their own dinner, enjoying the last of the fading light together.
But standing in front of Hiko now, that family life felt far and distant. She nervously unsheathed the sakabatou, carefully noting how it felt in her hand. As she stared at the sharp edge of the blade facing her, it struck Kaoru that Kenshin had, after the end of the civil war, always faced opponents with the dangerous side of the weapon threatening him. He would rather himself be hurt than to kill another human being again. The thought was sobering.
She turned her gaze back to the man in front of her. Her eyes adjusted to the growing darkness as she watched Hiko standing motionless. His cape billowed out behind him under the playful fingers of the summer wind.
"Are you ready?" Hiko called out.
A chill crawled down her spine. She had trained under two completely different styles and endured learning from two men with different ideas on training. No stranger to pain or hard work, she had sparred with all types of people and their kenjutsu. It was interesting and fun and it kept her on her toes. But Kenshin had told her that his Shishou had been ruthless with his training because the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu demanded speed and strength beyond those of normal people. Kaoru had only seen a glimpse of Kenshin fighting and his moves were usually faster than the human eye could comprehend. She'd always wanted to see his full power on display and spar with him to gauge his strength. And now she was going to see his sword style up close - demonstrated by his master.
Kaoru swallowed hard and regripped the sakabatou. Now was not the time to second-guess herself. "Ready," she called back, moving back into an attack stance.
"Come."
The single-worded command spurred Kaoru into a sprint towards Hiko, yelling to buoy her nerves and confidence. She tightened her grip on the sakabatou and slashed diagonally from his shoulder down.
From the fragmented rumors about Battousai, he was named thus because he had mastered every technique of the fast draw attack. Kaoru concluded that battoujutsu was one of the key components of the Hiten Mitsurugi technique, devastating and effective. So when Hiko didn't draw his sword until she came within striking distance, she prepared herself for a quick draw-block-counterattack motion from him.
But instead of defending against her slash, Hiko sidestepped her attack completely and pivoted to strike her sword. He made contact, and the resulting clash reverberated up Kaoru's arm hard enough to nearly dislodge the sakabatou from her grip. Her arms flailed up and knocked her body off-balance. Gritting her teeth, she backed up a few steps for space against the next attack while trying to recenter herself from the hit.
Hiko pressed his advantage forward, his weapon blurring with such speed that Kaoru almost lost sight of it. Almost blindly, she lifted up the sakabatou with both hands to protect herself from a downward thrust. It came down so hard her arm nearly buckled under the pressure. Kaoru turned her entire body to the left, causing Hiko's nihontou to slide off harmlessly. At the same time, she used her right thigh and hip to block a kick that would have ended up in her midsection. She spun away and around to face him, but a jolt of pain shot up her entire leg when she put weight back on it.
"Hooo, you've got good reflexes," Hiko said in approval.
"Or just one too many boots to my stomach," she muttered. Between Saitou's brutal training and Udo Jinei striking and slicing her abdomen six months ago, Kaoru marveled that she wasn't permanently covered in bruises or scars in her torso.
Smirking, Hiko beckoned her over. "Attack me again and this time, don't strike me as if you're only aiming for a vital spot. With that reverse blade, it doesn't matter so much where you hit as much as landing a solid blow on your opponent. Power is important but your energy should be put into striking both hard and fast. When you're surrounded and you've got a blunted edge sword, the speed of incapacitating your enemy is most important."
Kaoru nodded, realizing Hiko was right. "Okay. Here I come!"
Hiko had her attack over and over again until her body shook from the strain of blocked attacks and her arm could barely hold the sakabatou up. In retrospect, Kaoru should have known this impromptu training session wouldn't turn out very well for her. But despite the pain and bruises and smarting pride when Hiko jeered at her lack of skills, the sakabatou steadily sat more comfortably in her hands and it didn't feel so alien anymore. It would take a lot longer to master the blade but at least she could hold her own with it.
Sweat poured into her eyes but she didn't dare take a hand off the sword to wipe it away lest she leave herself open to attack. She started to come at Hiko again and again of her own volition, determined to at least strike him once and make him lose that smug confidence. The master didn't object, using a combination of scorn and instruction to correct her form.
Hiko called the training session to a halt as darkness began to overtake the training ground and Kaoru couldn't see a foot in front of her. "It's too late for you to travel down the mountain now so you'll have to stay here for the night. You can take the futon," he told her. "I'll sleep outside."
Exhausted from the intense spar and equally disgruntled she hadn't so much as grazed his cloak, Kaoru nodded without argument, and limped inside. No wonder Kenshin was so good, if this was what he had to endure every day, Kaoru thought dimly. Finding the futon, she dropped into it and was asleep as soon as her head was down.
She awoke a little after dawn, her body sore and protesting when she sat up. Hiko was nowhere to be found, but Kaoru noticed a steaming bowl of porridge and two small grilled fish within arms reach. Her stomach growling, she downed the entire meal within minutes. She stood and stretched out her muscles as best she could before hunting for a way to wash the dishes.
Hiko returned after she rinsed the plate and started wiping it dry. He carried a long eared rabbit in one hand. "You're finally up, are you?"
"Yes. Thank you for your hospitality, Hiko-san, but I need to get back before my mother insists the entire police department swarm Mount Atago to search for me." Kaoru bowed deeply. "I appreciate everything you've done."
Grunting, Hiko waved her off. "Then go. Don't forget what you learned here."
"I won't." Kaoru bowed again, then gathered up her belongings to start back home. Every movement brought a fresh wave of aching stiffness all over her body. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to," she muttered to herself.
AN: I want to give a shoutout to JazzQuirk who has done an amazing job fixing up the chapter. Without her help, this would definitely not be as good as it is now. Check out my profile to find her quickly.
Next Chapter: The return home