hey everyone! moonlight rurouni here.
thanks for the reviews by the way! :3 (this one actually got a couple this time)
hope you like the chapter, and this one will try to type the next one ASAP
oh and btw: does anyone have any plot ideas? this one's ideas so far are...well let's just say that they suck rocks...TT_TT
DISCLAIMER: still no...
CHAPTER 6: honest
We silently walk inside of the dojo and my parents sit down and wait for me to join them, but they get the message when I stay leaning against the wall across from them.
"Kenji, you know about the Bakamatsu correct?" my father asks, and I nod coolly.
"During those times, initially, I was apprenticed under Hiko Seijuro, the thirteenth, and current master of the Hiten Mitsuguri-Ryu. This one was his apprentice for six years until this one ran away to join the Tokugawa regime." I see his eyes dull with sadness, and I can tell with out him saying anything, that that was probably one of the biggest mistakes of his life. "After, this one's llife basically went downhill. The killing. This one was a hitokiri for the Meji government, and slaughtered many people, including one man named Kiyosato Akira. " my father hangs his head in shame, although I don't exactly know why. "The grave that we visit every year? Belongs to Tomoe, the first person that this one loved. And also the one person this one regrets killing the most." I stay silent for a moment when the words register in my head. He…KILLED her? how? I thought he said that he loved her!
"Tomoe was Akira-san's fiancé, but after this one killed him, she allied herself to people who wanted this one dead. She was sent to find what my weakness was…when she became the weakness that they seeked." As he continues talking, his voice becomes more depressed, and I don't know if I'm imaginating it or not, but his scar seems to become more vivid as he speaks. "When she tried to call it off…she found out that it was a trap. This one had to fight his way through a forest, against some of their men, and in the process, lost several of senses aside from scent and taste. This one was about kill their leader, when in mid slash, I caught the scent of hakubaiko." Tears prick the corners of this eyes. "Tomoe knew what was happening, and tried to protect this one, but, this one ended up killing her as well as their leader. After this, this one returned to the Ishin Shishi, but immediately after the war ended, this one became rurouni… this one expects that you know the rest…"
I look at the broken sounding man that it my father. I remember that there's a saying that a scar made with a grudge will say vivid, and I know that when my mother first met him, the scars look much more vivid. But they're faded now.
"Doesn't that mean the grudges are over?" I blurt, sounding like a child again. My parents look at me with a question in there eyes. "The scar. Why-?"
"Why do one feel regret although past grudges have been resolved?" my father says, asking the question for me. "Because, although this one has come to terms with the past…doesn't mean that it will cease to haunt this one."
I nod silently, again at a loss for words. We all stare at each other, the silence weighing heavily on us when we hear the dojo doors open.
"Ken-san? Are you there? Hello?" we hear someone calling from outside.
"Megumi-san? What are you doing here?" my mother calls out to greet her.
"Really Kaoru? Don't you remember what the date is? I'm here to check Ken-san's health." She says in an insulted tone, but her eyes are smiling. She turns her gaze to me. "Kenji! I didn't see you there/" she gives me a critical once over and I can't help but feel like I'm being examined. She turns to my mother. "Is Kenji going to continue…because," and she leans over and whispers something into my mother's ear. When she hears this, her eyes widen.
I know that the pause was probably for the words 'Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu' but I didn't hear what she said after. And already it's nagging me.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU CAN'T JUST BARGE IN LIKE THAT!"
Oh gods. I think, as I flinch in surprise.
"They might not even be at home, you brainless-" and the front door bang open again, this time revealing a fuming Saya, along with another teenaged boy who looks around my age who I vaguely recognize. Then my eyes fall on the man that barged in. He's wearaing a white jacket that's definitely seen better days. He has a wild looking face, but his eyes are kind. Only when I finally look at his hands, do I realize who he is. His hands that are hevily bandaged.
I look to my parents, who's faces mirror mine, but I have to do a double take afer looking at Megumi. Megumi, who's always calm and seriene, her face is so pale, pailer than a sheet, and her pupils are dialated.
She starts walking towards him as if she in a dream. "Sano?" she breaths.
He nods, and holds a hand up to her. She raises her own hand as if she going to take his….
And slaps him.