Chapter Three
Megumi sat back with a sigh, when she, once again, finished tending to Hiko's wounds.
"This is becoming too disturbingly familiar, Hiko-san. I had hoped that I would not have to bandage any more wounds for you." Megumi murmured, noticing when he gave her a grim smile in answer to that.
"Fate is working against us, Takani, in that respect. There isn't much that can be done about it...All we can do is hope that whatever he has planned, we'll be able to stop it." Hiko stated, his fierce amber eyes glinting strangely in the early evening sunlight as Megumi slowly opened the door that led outside. She didn't dare to argue; since even she could sense that Hiko was in a dangerous frame of mind.
"It isn't in my power to stop him from fighting. Ultimately, it will be his decision what he will do when the time comes." Megumi mused, turning to look when Kaoru, Kenshin, and Sanosuke looked in on them.
"Hiko-san, how are you feeling?" Kaoru asked, as she cautiously looked in on him from where she sat.
"Do you even need to ask, Kamiya?" Hiko replied, wincing as he tried to settle back and get his tense body to relax a little bit. It took a few moments for the trio outside to think of anything more to say, but, when the silence was broken, surprisingly enough, it was Sanosuke who asked the first question.
"Have any idea which way they'll come from, Hiko?" Sanosuke questioned. The older swordmaster gave him an unreadable look, then shook his head.
"An enemy can come from just about any direction, except directly below. Don't rule out any possibilities, even if they seem slim." Hiko murmured, in a tone Kenshin had never heard before. Sanosuke nodded. Both he and Kenshin knew this from experience, but it still unnerved Kenshin just how much his master's aura had changed from the way he'd always known it.
"The way he is now, almost reminds me of a warlord! He's trying to read Enishi's moves in advance and plan his own while doing so..." Kenshin mused, feeling almost startled when his master's gaze turned to Yahiko.
"Does your apprentice know how to read ken-ki, Kamiya?" Hiko asked, getting at first a widening of eyes from Kaoru, and then a lowered head.
"Iie, Hiko-san. That is one thing I don't know how to teach, even though I know that it would do him in good stead in the battle that is coming." Kaoru replied, uneasily.
"But I'm willing enough to learn, Seijuro-sensei." Yahiko said, meeting Hiko's amber gaze with determination, and getting a vague nod from the Thirteenth master.
"Then that will start early tomorrow morning. Be ready." Hiko warned, as the boy quietly agreed to it. Kaoru (and especially Kenshin) could only stare at the elder warrior in wonder and shock; even in the shape he was in, he wanted to help get Yahiko ready for the coming battle?.!
"Shishou, what do you have in mind?" Kenshin wondered, as they numbly watched Hiko's door close, and then went about preparing for whatever Yukishiro Enishi was going to throw at them.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
The next day, Yahiko's ken-ki training began, under the watchful gaze of Hiko. With amazing speed, the only inheritor of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu started to pick up the skills needed to survive in a serious battle.
"It took me almost a full month to come as far as Yahiko has in such a short amount of time." Kenshin thought, as he watched his master from where he sat. Hiko was standing off on one side of the yard, his amber eyes taking in every move the young swordsman made, as he learned the tricks of the swordsmen that had gone before him. Yahiko, meanwhile, stood with a blindfold wrapped around his head; following Hiko closely with the tip of his shinai.
"Remember, you won't always be able to hear an opponent. In some situations, ken-ki will be all you can depend on. It will tell you where your opponent is at any given time." Hiko advised, getting a nod from the boy to let him know that he understood.
"Unless, of course, you run into someone like Sojiro..." Kenshin mused, watching as Yahiko removed his blindfold, bowed to Hiko, and then rushed off to train some more within the dojo itself.
"Daijobu ka, Shishou?" Kenshin asked, finally breaking his silence in his master's presence. The Thirteenth master nodded.
"I can only wonder what the full plans of Yukishiro Enishi will be. Who are his main targets?" Hiko murmured, his fierce golden eyes narrowing when he thought of the white-haired killer's attempt on his own life, and his narrow escape from it.
"The whole lot of us, and especially Jou-chan." Sanosuke said, joining in on the conversation as he entered the yard; meeting the gaze of the swordmaster evenly as he did so. Hiko sighed.
"You are more than likely right about that, unfortunately. And there would be no convincing that hardheaded woman to leave from here and go hide somewhere safe...Already, the enemy has the upper hand, and we haven't even raised our swords yet." Hiko growled; knowing that Kenshin knew what he meant, and how dire the situation would be, when the battle finally came to pass.
"Only five days left till Enishi's deadline...Yahiko isn't gonna be ready in time." Sanosuke muttered; inwardly cursing the bad timing, and his still-healing right hand.
"It all depends on his determination. One more set of 'eyes' wouldn't hurt, and might mean the difference between being caught unawares, and having our defenses ready." Hiko stated, his words bringing into the minds of both Kenshin and Sanosuke just how much of a difference there now was in his persona. No longer was he the world-weary hermit who lived beyond society; now he was a man of authority...A much-needed tactician in this new time of personal turmoil.
"His knowledge will be invaluable in the coming fight...but I can only wonder if he'll even return to being like he was before, afterwards. There may not be anyone alive now whose voice can reach him, if his mind is indeed in a state like mine had been in the first fight against Saito in ten years." Kenshin mused, grimly, as he remembered that battle, and how the Battousai within him had awakened just to fight the Wolf of Mibu earlier that same year. Would the Hiko Seijuro he had known when he was younger return after the fight was over, or was the change in the elder swordsman's demeanor permanent?
"I guess we won't know till that time comes...If it even has the chance to come, at any rate." Kenshin thought, as they all turned to look when Kaoru called them in for lunch, and yet Hiko remained where he was; gazing somberly at the sky above him, and the gathering clouds in the west.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
That night, while the rest of the dojo slept, Hiko lay in his futon and stared at the ceiling. In the back of his mind, he could still see his defeat at the hands of Enishi and, even though it still angered him greatly, he felt a slight twinge of doubt as well.
"Do I still have the strength to protect? Will I be able to raise my sword and defend the people here from this threat? There are still some things that I will need to know, before the fight comes..." Hiko mused, as he slowly sat up; hissing in pain when his wounds protested against any sudden movements.
"Hiko, are you still awake?" Sanosuke's voice asked, from outside of the room where Hiko was staying.
"As though I could sleep now. What is it you want, Sagara?" Hiko questioned, as the ex-street brawler entered the room with some rolled-up papers in hand.
"Thought you might want to have a look at the layout of the dojo, and some maps of the city. Might give a better idea how to plan for the attack." Sanosuke muttered, as he sat down across from the older man, lit the lamp, and then started spreading the maps on the floor. Grudgingly, Hiko had to admire the younger man's insight...Already, the hard lessons learned in Kyoto were bearing fruit.
"Where did you get these? The government offices are all closed now, and normal civilians can't enter at all." Hiko murmured, as he silently perused the maps; impressed by how much detail each of them had.
"My friend Katsu drew these a while ago, and gave them to me after I had taken care of some last minute business. The dojo layout is the original, though." Sanosuke muttered, as he watched Hiko silently assess the maps; golden eyes taking in as many possible attack routes as the mind behind them could hold.
"Land and sea are well accounted for, since the police force here seems to be a little bit better than the one in Kyoto...That leaves only underground and..." Hiko murmured, his eyes narrowing as a troubling thought crossed his mind.
"And what?" Sanosuke asked, turning when Kenshin entered the room. The elder swordsman shook his head as though to clear it, then glanced at Kenshin.
"Is there anything else that I need to know? Are there any facts that you left out?" Hiko questioned, getting a shake of the head from his former apprentice as a response.
"Sessha has told you everything, Shishou...Nothing regarding that time was left out." Kenshin replied, as a frustrated sigh escaped from the swordmaster.
"And nothing is known about his recent actions, aside from what has already happened...Then all that could be done has already been seen to. The only thing we can do now is wait." Hiko growled, and the three of them then lapsed into thoughtful silence.
"Sessha can only hope that we'll all come through this alive..." Kenshin mused, as he gazed at the maps; his feelings of foreboding only growing as the minutes slowly ticked away...bringing them ever closer to the day when Enishi would come, and another desperate battle would begin.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
In his mansion not so far away, Enishi smiled as the moon bathed his face in its soft glow. He was another day closer to the vengeance he'd waited so long for...
"Four days from now...and my Jinchuu will finally begin! I can hardly wait!" Enishi eagerly thought; as excited at the prospect of causing the former hitokiri pain, as he had been on the first day he'd stepped back onto Japanese soil. Blood had already been spilt in the name of his revenge...and yet, he was still thirsty for more.
"Soon the Battousai will know what it means to be in a 'hell on earth'...And Nee-san, wherever you are, I hope you will be watching!" Enishi thought, as the moonlight gave his smiling features and almost demonic glow before the moon itself was hidden behind some clouds...
Author's Note!
Sorry about the long delay between chapters, minna! (Writer's block has been a real pest for the past couple of months now). I also know that this chapter wasn't very exciting, either. But stick with me! The fighting is about to begin!
Gemini14