Disclaimer: No chapter of this collection is affiliated with Nobuhiro Watsuki or the Kenshin franchise. I hope the fanwork is enjoyable~
Hello readers,
You may want to treat the first chapter of Kyoto No More as a sort of prologue if it suits. This one-shot series will go chronologically in order of RK universe's timeline. I didn't write it in chronological order though, so please excuse the slight irregularities. (I didn't realise all the Hiko ones would pile up at the beginning. Hehe, oh well!) Please enjoy!
Chapter 2.
Alone, finally.
The booming voice screamed himself hoarse. He ran into the snow, long coat trailing behind him. Throat dry. A set of footprints pressed on into the distance: one long line of unbroken steps—unbroken resolve. The skies were weary now, and light was fading.
'He's gone. He's… he's really gone.'
The burly man slumped into his shoes, weighing himself down. What have I done? He'd given his baka-deshi over to the wolves. After a long moment, he stepped back inside his shack, sitting in silence. Unable to sleep for days. Knowing that in all the sounds of swords clashing, of gunfire and cannons blowing, they'd be one more soldier amongst the great turmoil, one more cry in the war. One that would haunt his dreams for years to come. He'd never sleep well again.
The baka-deshi was gone. His Kenshin was gone. And he resorted to his sake, withdrawing from the world again; abandoning everything wretched that had corrupted his little, sunlit boy. And as the rim of the sake dish touched his lips, he recoiled, spasming backward. The taste of blood had returned. And it would never leave again.
It would be a decade before his sake tasted good again.
Baka-deshi: Idiot apprentice/ disciple
Writer's Notes
I'm sure you've figured out this is Hiko's reaction to Kenshin's departure for war. It must have been hard for him to go back to his quiet, loner life after Kenshin. :/
-earl