Chapter Six
It had been a few moments since Hiko had stepped off of the 'battlefield', and Sanosuke and Yahiko were still staring down their opponents.
"Jou-chan, how's Hiko holding up?" Sanosuke asked; calling out to her from over his shoulder, since he didn't want to take his eyes off of Banjin Inui.
"Megumi-san is bandaging his wounds now...I think she's relieved that his ribs weren't broken any further by Iwanbo." Kaoru replied, as she glanced back into the room behind her. On the wooden floor, lay Kenshin's master; the tall swordsman had just barely escaped death in his most recent battle.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stitch those wounds closed now?" Megumi asked, as she finished wrapping his torso in clean bandages.
"Quite sure...At any time...even this building can be drawn into the battle...We need to be ready to move...in case that happens." Hiko quietly replied; grimacing as he sat back up, and pulled his bloodstained gi back on.
"But you shouldn't be moving at all, Hiko-san." Kaoru stated, concernedly. This earned her a vague, rueful glance from the elder swordsman for that.
"And I can only say...that I wish I didn't have to...any time soon...I feel almost as though...I was within the Akabeko...when it was blown to pieces...No hangover...ever felt this bad..." Hiko muttered, tiredly; smirking slightly when Kaoru allowed herself a soft chuckle in response to that.
"Shishou, please don't say things like that." Kenshin said, as he entered the dojo.
"Feh...It's the truth of the matter...Baka Deshi." Hiko grumbled, then asked, "I take it that the yarou...in command of this private war...is still sitting in his balloon?"
"Aa." Kenshin replied, with a trace of irritation in his tone.
"Then the only thing...we can do...is wait till Myojin and Sagara have finished their fights." Hiko said, as he once again leaned back against the wall; uttering a weary sigh as he did so.
"He's so tired...and in a lot of pain. Yet he still fights, just like he did in Kyoto in front of the Shirobeko...But because the mastermind behind this is Yukishiro Enishi, this defensive battle is so much harder on his and Kenshin's spirits..." Kaoru thought, as she gazed at the two men. For the first time that evening, she couldn't help but notice that the situation had been reversed; thanks to Hiko's stubborn insistence on taking the first battle for himself, Kenshin was still in fighting shape...yet that had come at a price. The arrogant swordmaster was now too exhausted to even act like he had when he'd rescued Yahiko from Fuji's sword.
"Kamiya, I'm not about to die, here." Hiko's voice irritably said; breaking through her gloomy reverie and making her look at him.
"O-of course not!" Kaoru stammered.
"Then don't look as though I'm on my deathbed." Hiko muttered; his annoyance very easily seen and heard.
"It is all right, Kaoru-dono. No matter how hard it is, we'll keep fighting to protect the people of the present." Kenshin reassured her; ignoring Hiko when he grumbled something to the effect of 'Speak for yourself' under his breath, then gazed out the door at the two fighters standing beyond it.
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Banjin cursed angrily under his breath as he waited for the fight to resume.
"What's up? You seem irritated." Sanosuke stated, calmly.
"Shut up! Enough with the chattering. Hurry up and die! I have to keep moving!" Banjin impatiently said, as he growled at the ex-fight merchant in front of him.
"What? You still think you're going to fight Kenshin and Hiko?" Sanosuke questioned; getting an enraged glare from Banjin for that.
"Look who's talking, with his face drenched in blood!" Banjin roared, as he swiftly closed the distance between them; his gauntlet-clad arm raised and his fist aimed at Sanosuke's face...or, where it should have been. At the last second, Sanosuke ducked, and drove his right fist full-force into Banjin's face.
"Give up on fighting those two. They're way beyond you...and you have me to deal with instead!" Sanosuke snarled, as the force of his punch sent the other fighter backpedaling away from him.
"Feh! How's that! Your second nosebleed of the day!" Sanosuke sneered; watching closely as Banjin slowly straightened back up, and gave him his own almost-ghoulish grin.
"They're beyond me...? You're one to talk." Banjin growled, then shouted, "I'll show you who's out of whose league...with the Neo-Invulnerable Gauntlets! Here I go!"
"Bring it!" Sanosuke challenged, fiercely. With blood-chilling cries, the two men launched themselves at one another; meeting fist to fist in the first strike. Seconds flew by, as numerous blows were exchanged between them.
"After seeing it so many times...you didn't think your gauntlets would work forever, did you?" Sanosuke asked, as he blocked another blow aimed at his head.
"I see, even an idiot can learn." Banjin retorted; smirking when he got a growl from Sanosuke for that comment, then continuing, "But Muteki Ryu...isn't so simple!"
"Muteki Ryu! Gofubaku!" Banjin howled, as he caught Sanosuke in a partial headlock and knocked him across the yard.
"Muteki Ryu makes my whole body a weapon! How's that?" Banjin asked; looking even more annoyed than before when he saw Sanosuke nonchalantly crack his neck back into place, then smirk at him.
"Doesn't hurt. Farting would've done more damage!" Sanosuke replied, smartly.
"This is why...numbskulls are so hard to deal with!" Banjin growled, then thought, "If Gofubaku doesn't take care of him, simply hitting him won't either. Then that leaves..."
"I won't even give you a chance to strike!" Sanosuke mentally snarled, before saying, "Offense if the best defense!"
"Here I go!" the two men cried, before racing towards one another again. Watching his opponent's moves carefully, Sanosuke could almost tell what was coming next.
"Kick!" Sanosuke warned himself; preparing to counter it when Banjin did the unexpected. He actually ran up Sanosuke's body, back-flipped in over his head, grabbed both sides of his neck in a crushing grip, and threw him through the wall of the dojo!
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
"I'd move, if I were you, Kamiya." Hiko murmured, just seconds before the wall seemingly exploded, and Sanosuke flew by; crashing into the opposite wall.
"Sanosuke?.!" Kaoru and Megumi yelped, shocked by this turn of events.
"Grab, crush, and throw! A three-part move, Ashura-sai! This is Muteki Ryu, which brings together the best of all martial arts in the world! My power!" Banjin crowed, as his gaze turned to Kenshin and Hiko. He got nothing but an icy stare from Hiko, and a quiet rebuke from Kenshin.
"You are in the middle of a fight. Don't let your guard down." Kenshin murmured, not even looking up at Banjin as he said that. Moments later, Sanosuke was on his feet again.
"Sanosuke!" Kaoru called, as relief flooded through her.
"Wait!" Megumi yelped; silencing her before anything more could be said. And, in that brief silence, they heard wheezing gasps coming from Sanosuke's end of the room.
"His breathing is abnormal..." Megumi murmured, knowing from just hearing the pained gasps that some serious damage had been done.
"Ha! No wonder! Even the numbest of numbskulls is still vulnerable in the neck! He got the Gofubaku and Ashura-sai, which give four types of wounds from the strike, strangle, crush, and throw. There's no way he would be 'fine'! One more hit, and it'll be all over. But before that...You destroyed my previous gauntlets with some odd move! I have to repay you for that, or else I won't have closure! Now, come at me! Let's try it against the Neo-Invulnerable Gauntlets!" Banjin snarled, as he brandished one of his arms at the barely-conscious fighter. Almost instantly, they all noticed a change in Sanosuke; his painful-sounding breathing quieted, and his pain-glazed eyes cleared.
"...That's not right." Sanosuke growled; his voice rougher than what they remembered.
"What?" Banjin asked, not quite sure if he'd heard the ex-fight merchant right.
"You should be doing this." Sanosuke continued, as he shakily held up both fists, "You must be...quite conceited...to think you can stop the Futae no Kiwami with just one arm. I'll give you some advice from my experience...'Mastered' or 'mastery' is not something you can claim so lightly...You should tone down your stupidity and conceit...or you'll suffer more than just a light burn!" There was an uneasy silence that followed Sanosuke's words, and yet, both Hiten masters could sense the resurgence of the stubborn fighter's spirit.
"Futae no Kiwami. I'll give it to you just like you want! Now, get ready!" Sanosuke ordered, angrily.
"Enough with the jokes!" Banjin roared, as he smashed some of the floorboards at his feet with one fist, and gave the former fighter-for-hire a murderous look, "Not only one gauntlet, but two? Two you say?.! If I wanted to, I could finish you in one more hit! Why don't you think about the situation you're in?.!"
"Quit complaining! I'm going along with what you want, so shut up and get ready!" Sanosuke fired back. Kenshin could only guess what was going through his master's mind, when Hiko's expression deadpanned, and he muttered something under his breath before shaking his head in exasperation.
"Hey, Sanosuke! Tori-atama!" Megumi shouted, breaking into the heated argument with her usual boldness.
"Woman, we are in the middle...!" Banjin began, before Megumi silenced him with a glare.
"SHUT UP! Be quiet for a while!" Megumi snapped; actually managing to cow the irate Banjin into backing up a step.
"Megumi-san..." Kaoru murmured, quite surprised by this turn of events.
"Feh...glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that one." Hiko added, yet with a slight glint of humor in his amber-hued eyes at Banjin's expense.
"Same here." Kenshin agreed, wholeheartedly. Takani Megumi was not a woman to be messed with! She then turned her wrath onto Sanosuke.
"Do you plan to use that Futae no whatever? Are you serious? You do know what shape your right hand is in, right? It's wrecked! If you do that now, that's it! You're at your limit!" Megumi shouted; her ire only rising even further when a slight smirk appeared on Sanosuke's bloodied face.
"Hear that? This is the last blow!" Sanosuke announced, as Banjin gave him an unreadable look.
"Sanosuke..." Kaoru said, knowing that, after this, he would have to start from square one all over again.
"Baka. We've decided who the king of idiots is..." Megumi muttered; completely unaware when Hiko merely gave Kenshin a look that said it all.
"Not sessha, Shishou." Kenshin grumbled, managing a deadpan look of his own while he was at it.
"Gomen for throwing away all of your treatments, Kitsune-onna...But...when faced with this fool who claims to have 'mastered' it all...I can't turn back. The ones I have seen...who have mastered it all...are nothing like him. Good guy or bad guy...Those who have mastered their strength are those who constantly risk their own lives." Sanosuke murmured, as he gave Kenshin and Hiko a brief glance, before continuing, "There was a man who lost his life...in order to pursue his ideals...Another risked his life in order to save the world...turning himself into a crazed Fudo Myo-ou, challenging the whole world...Yet another fought to save the lives of those he hardly even knew, even though he himself was in rough shape...and almost died afterwards. You, however, have never risked your own life for anything, and have never fought anyone stronger than yourself...You probably only fight those who are weaker than you..."
"What?" Banjin snarled; gritting his teeth when Sanosuke's words touched a nerve.
"But because you had an excuse, you barged in on someone else's fight, intending to get your filthy enjoyment...I can't stand the sound of a fat toad croaking in his little pond, any longer!" Sanosuke said, as his spirit once again surged strongly through him.
"Sano has taken all of those examples of true strength to heart. Sagara Souzou, Anji, and Seijuro Hiko. He's seen their sacrifices with his own eyes...and possibly hopes to measure up to them, one day." Kenshin mused, watching Hiko's reaction to this closely. The older warrior was quiet, his ki surprisingly calm. His expression was one of deep thought, then he looked up again with a look that had seemed to fade in recent days...Even though his eyes were still not their usual dark color, the self-assurance had returned to them!
"I'll kill you! Prepare for total annihilation! Strike at me. Your right arm goes first! Then I'll yank your head right off your neck!" Banjin seethed, as Sanosuke silently stood where he was, gazing at his bandaged fist, as though in doubt.
"Are you having doubts now?.!" Banjin asked, furiously.
"It's always been a borrowed skill...It's a bit early, but I'm giving it back, Anji..." Sanosuke thought, returning to reality with a jolt when Hiko spoke up.
"Go to it, Sagara." Hiko said, before adding, "Show this fool how true strength is used."
"Yeah. I'll show you, Camo-baka. This is how...something...is mastered!" Sanosuke growled, as he flew at Banjin; shattering the gauntlets with that blow, and re-injuring his hand at the same time.
"His right hand and the gauntlets..." Kaoru muttered, in complete disbelief.
"It's a draw?.!" Megumi yelped, also quite stunned by this.
"No." Kenshin murmured; speaking for himself and Hiko, since they could sense that the final blow had been a decisive one. One moment, Banjin was aiming his fists at Sanosuke's head in a last-ditch attempt to crush his skull, the next, blood was spurting from every vein in his arms and he was going down with a scream of agony.
"The Futae no Kiwami is something that Bright King Anji developed for the lives that were lost, and that Sanosuke had risked his life to acquire. A truly destructive skill...One right fist versus two gauntlets and both arms. Game set, sessha thinks." Kenshin stated, as Sanosuke brought down Banjin completely with a head-butt.
"How does it...feel to fight someone stronger than you...?" Sanosuke panted, tiredly.
"I'll...kill...you...next time..." Banjin hissed, furiously, from his place on the floor. This earned him a smirk from Sanosuke for that.
"Come anytime. At least now you have an 'excuse'." Sanosuke retorted, then added, "But you will never win as long as you wear those gauntlets."
"What?.!" Banjin snapped.
"I don't think I'll lose to a guy who wears a gauntlet to cover his weakness...and claims to be undefeated, no matter how many times we fight. Before you get conceited from depending on your gauntlets, master yourself in the true sense. And then come back." Sanosuke said, as he turned his back to Banjin, and started walking towards the group.
"He won...but...Sanosuke's right hand..." Kaoru murmured, as doubt began to emerge.
"He will be fine. A limit is there to be overcome...What is beyond that, we call mastery...Sano and sessha have both learned that in previous battles." Kenshin said, looking aside when Hiko slowly got to his feet; wincing when his ribs and other injuries protested against it.
"Shishou?" Kenshin asked, as he watched his master pick up his sheathed sword, and return it to its' place at his side.
"The limit...is not something one can determine for oneself..." Kenshin thought, as realization dawned on him; Hiko was also thinking along those same lines, and was just as determined to overcome the limits his injuries had imposed on him!
"Ow. Start from step one...again." Sanosuke muttered, as Megumi gave him an irritated look.
"Seriously...I'd like some medicine that would cure stupidity." Megumi mumbled, peevishly, as she began the task of cleaning Sanosuke's hand and re-bandaging it as well.
"If you come up with any, send some the Baka Deshi's way." Hiko said, as he leaned against the wall almost casually; ignoring the annoyed glance Kenshin threw his way in answer to that.
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"It's...quiet now..." Yahiko's opponent said, then added, "Looks like the victor has been decided. Are you worried?"
"No way. Sanosuke won't lose." Yahiko said, confidently; his quiet, sure tone irking Otowa in ways he hadn't even though imaginable.
"Forget about it! It's not important! Why don't you stop standing around and come at me!" Yahiko then demanded, his shouts attracting the attention of those inside the dojo.
"My fight wasn't 'important'?" Sanosuke muttered.
"I'd say so." Megumi grumbled. They noticed when the elder Hiten master moved closer to the door; intent on watching what was about to happen outside.
"Don't worry. I will kill you. Do not rush me. I was just thinking about what method to use...Shall I pierce you with arrows? Or burn you with acid...? Or melt you with poison? I could easily do any of those, but they wouldn't repay you for the embarrassment of this wound...So, in order to kill you properly...it's time for the gadget that I acquired today." Otowa growled, as he unsheathed a sword, and stood ready.
"Now, let's start." Otowa said, with a smirk.
"This is the third battle risking my life..." Yahiko thought, then shouted, "All right!" With those words spoken, Yahiko's battle truly began. Almost easily, he blocked Otowa's blade; feeling some surprise when he found that it wasn't even sharp!
"Pretty dull for a favorite weapon." Yahiko muttered, "He's swinging randomly. His steps have no form. No matter what angle you look at him from...he's a typical novice swordsman!" Yet, he could sense when some tense ki came from behind him, and a glance proved that Hiko was watching the fight from the doorway, and that Kaoru was just joining him there.
"I don't know what kind of sword that is...but I am superior in swordsmanship!" Yahiko mused, as he rushed in.
"Wait, Yahiko! Do not carelessly attack a Shadow Instrument user!" Kaoru warned, just seconds before Otowa dropped what appeared to be a jar of some kind of dust between them.
"It's just as the girl says, boy." Otowa sneered, as the jar shattered, and its' contents were thrown into the air.
"Blinding powder?" Yahiko asked, as he tried to leap away from it.
"Poison?" Kaoru added, fearfully.
"Neither." Hiko growled, "Something that could prove to be far worse, in this situation."
"It is 'Bishamon's Powder'. Just as the name indicates, the sword and the powder are a pair whose power is only seen when they come together." Otowa crooned, then lashed out with an almost expert strike at Yahiko's head.
"Here I come!" Otowa cackled.
"He's fast! Totally different from before!" Yahiko thought, as he tried to dodge the blow; wincing when the sword changed directions and slashed his left arm.
"He changed directions in mid-swing?.!" Yahiko's mind yelped, not believing what he had just seen.
"No! Such an advanced move is impossible with his novice skills...which means that this is the power of the Shadow Instrument..." Kaoru thought, watching the fight in agonized silence. She could almost feel the tension running through the elder swordsman beside her...but he said and did nothing. Only watched with narrowed eyes.
"What's up with that!" Yahiko shouted, angrily.
"Do you want me to explain? It means that Bishamon's Sword changes any novice swordsman into an adept...It is an enchanted sword!" Otowa explained, sending Yahiko flying with a few more blows.
"There's no such thing...It's definitely a Shadow Instrument. There must be a trick..." Kaoru muttered; gripping her bokuto tightly as she said that.
"There is...but can they figure it out?" Hiko wondered, bristling slightly as Otowa sneered at the downed boy in front of him, and cleaned the blood from his blade.
"How do you feel, sword boy? Getting slashed to death by a novice swordsman? There is no greater embarrassment for you. Right?" Otowa crooned, as realization crossed Kaoru's face.
"I got it, Yahiko! It's 'magnetism'! He's using magnetic properties! Bishamon's Sword is a magnetic sword, and Bishamon's Powder, which is all over Yahiko, is iron powder! The mystery behind his high-speed auto-tracking sword is solved!" Kaoru said, as a look of displeasure crossed Otowa's face.
"Of course. A sword made out of a magnet would be too weak, so the trick is in the sheath...By installing magnets on the inside of the sheath, the sword will naturally absorb magnetic properties..." Kaoru mused, then asked, "So? I'm right on target, right?" Otowa smirked.
"Correct. Quite an intelligent girl. But that's the end of it. Knowing the trick doesn't tell you how to deal with it." Otowa said, impudently.
"That's all I need to know!" Yahiko shouted, "If I have to have everything explained to me, then Myojin Yahiko shouldn't be participating in fights risking his life! Here I go!" With that, Yahiko once again rushed at his opponent.
"Hmph. You're just charging at me like a bull...with intelligence equal to a bull's." Otowa growled, as he also charged.
"Don't take Otowa the Human Shadow Instrument too lightly!" Otowa howled, as he sent his blade screaming down at Yahiko's skull, not expecting what happened next. With a swiftness attributed mostly to desperation, Yahiko had grabbed Otowa's sword's sheath, and attracted the blade away from his head!
"What?.!" Otowa yelped, in consternation.
"Good move." Hiko thought, quietly impressed by the maneuver.
"If the trick to the high-speed auto-tracking is magnetic...then of course the sword would be attracted to the sheath more than the iron powder! I said I'd go full force, and, though I didn't want to use my thieving skills in order to live my life as a warrior...I can't lose to you!" Yahiko snapped, as he held Otowa at bay.
"You shouldn't take our Yahiko too lightly either." Kaoru murmured, with pride in her voice, as she watched Yahiko fling the sheath and sword away.
"Here we go! Miyomimane Ryu Tsui Sen!" Yahiko cried, as he leaped into the air for his final attack...but was stopped in mid-air by the spikes on Otowa's shoulders.
"Shadow Instrument Rikudoko!" Otowa cackled, as he drove the sharp spikes even deeper into the young swordsman's body.
"'Do not carelessly attack a Shadow Instrument User'. It's just as the intelligent girl says!" Otowa laughed, as the boy uttered a loud cry of pain, then went limp. Kaoru jumped when a growl emanated from the elder swordsman's throat, and that he was gripping his sheathed sword tightly.
"He's doing all he can to keep his anger reined in...He definitely hates being a spectator to something like this..." Kaoru mused, tensely watching when Otowa allowed Yahiko to fall.
"It's over! However, your effort, which made me use my last resort, is commendable...I will never forget your name, kid." Otowa said, then cackled, "Just kidding!"
"Ya...hiko..." Kaoru heard herself whisper, yet jumped when Kenshin's hand lightly gripped her shoulder.
"Kenshin...Yahiko is..." Kaoru started to say, tearfully.
"This isn't over yet, Kamiya. He's still holding his shinai." Hiko murmured, with something akin to pride in his voice.
"He's probably unconscious, but he's still alive." Kenshin added, then said, "You fought well, Yahiko. Leave the rest to sessha." Before he could even take one step, however, a small, weak voice stopped him.
"Wait...up...I can...still fight. Please...let me...keep fighting." Yahiko gasped, as he slowly got back to his feet, "If I keep getting protected...then I won't get any stronger." Yet, Kaoru could only feel alarm when her apprentice fell over again; the bloodstains only growing as he moved.
"It's fine, Yahiko! Let Kenshin handle the rest, and stay there! Yahiko!" Kaoru shouted; eyes widening when the stubborn boy pulled himself back up, and shakily gripped his shinai.
"Yahiko...do you know why sessha wields the sakabatou?" Kenshin quietly asked.
"...To not kill. In order to follow through with your oath to never kill again..." Yahiko replied.
"If you continue fighting, and die...sessha has, in effect, let you die. Sessha will not have any right to wield the sakabatou again..." Kenshin said, then added, "For this moment, sessha's belief rests in your hands. Fight and win!"
"It's impossible! What are you saying, Kenshin?.! I understand Yahiko's feelings, but battles to the death are not something that can be won by will-power and peer-pressure! Can't you see it?.! His body...he can barely stay standing! Barely holding his shinai! And his head is totally unguarded!" Kaoru snapped, aghast that Kenshin had said such a thing.
"Kamiya, the 'growth' of kids his age...may be faster than we may believe." Hiko said, not taking his eyes off of the battle for even an instant.
"Even the Rikudoko didn't finish you off..." Otowa snarled, then glared in the direction of the three people standing in the doorway, "And the cheesy dialogue...My entertainment is ruined..." And yet, he couldn't suppress the shudder that ran down his spine when he saw the fearsome looks in Kenshin's and Hiko's eyes.
"W-well, this is probably the time to flee. Based on his fight against Gein, I won't be able to beat him, or Battousai. It would be a shame to get hurt in a fight I joined to enjoy myself." Otowa nervously added, knowing that, though injured, Seijuro Hiko could more than just do a little damage in his current state.
"What're you looking at? I am your opponent!" Yahiko's voice hissed, as he assumed a ready position in front of Otowa.
"Heh, your mouth is still moving...I'll finish you with this. Your skull split by a novice. It will be a most disgraceful death." Otowa sneered, as he pulled yet another sword from a sheath athis side.
"This is the third fight risking my life. Only my third! I want to be strong...in the truest sense! And, in order to make that wish...a reality...In order to catch up...to his back...I will win! And keep fighting!" Yahiko thought, as he released a battle cry, and his ken-ki returned to almost full strength.
"Kamiya Kasshin Ryu! Hadome!" Yahiko cried, catching the blade of Otowa's sword with the backs of his hands!
"It seems the ougi has been passed successfully..." Hiko murmured.
"H-hai..." Kaoru agreed, as they watched Yahiko slide the backs of his hands towards Otowa for the completion of the move.
"Hawatari!" Yahiko shouted, as he aimed the hilt at Otowa's waist.
"You filthy brat! DIE!" Otowa yowled, as he sent the spikes on his shoulders at Yahiko again.
"Don't worry. None of us are going to die. We'll see you all again." Yahiko remembered, as that promise sent a resurgence of ken-ki through him.
"I can't die!" Yahiko cried, his words echoing what Kenshin had thought only two months earlier. With unprecedented strength, he hit Otowa hard with the hilt of his shinai, "Kamiya Kasshin Ryu! Hawatari!" Both fighters landed with a crash.
"I...did it..." Yahiko thought, as he gasped for breath, then looked aside; a bit dismayed when he saw the leering grin on Otowa's face across from him, and tried to get back to his feet again, "No! I haven't finished him yet...I have to stand up...if I fall now...I'll...lose..." As he passed out, he didn't feel it when Kenshin caught him, but he sensed the grim pride in both him and Hiko for a fight well fought. As Megumi treated the younger swordsman's wounds, Hiko again trained his senses skywards.
"Still two more to go." Hiko thought, and listened to Megumi's prognosis about Yahiko.
"He'll be fine. His ligaments and vital organs aren't terribly injured. They'll be easier to treat than some baka's right hand, or a certain stubborn swordsman's ribs." Megumi muttered, getting identical, unreadable expressions from both men for that.
"Thanks." Sanosuke grumbled, sarcastically.
"Feh. Think what you will, Kitsune-onna." Hiko said, irritably.
"However..." Sanosuke added, as he turned and looked down at Otowa, "Leaving this world laughing...He must have had no regrets."
"He's not dead." Megumi said, dryly.
"He probably couldn't believe his defeat...to a kid not even half his age." Kenshin mused, aloud.
"Maybe. But it didn't seem that way, from the sidelines. This guy took one look at you and Hiko, and immediately thought of retreating; even though he was in the midst of a fight. The explosive power of a man who is concentrating on attacking is different from a man who is thinking of retreating." Sanosuke stated.
"Sano." Kenshin said, with a bit of an order in his tone.
"I know. I won't say anything to Yahiko. It wouldn't help his morale to say, 'You won because Hiko and Kenshin were glaring at him over your shoulder'." Sanosuke agreed, promising to keep silent about that.
"And the one who fought was Yahiko...so it was also he who won." Kenshin added, quietly.
"So, how is it, Instructor? Your student's first growth?" Sanosuke asked, as all attention returned to Kaoru. Instead of standing, she was now kneeling; her legs having given from beneath her the moment the fight had ended.
"Huh?" Kaoru replied; shaking herself out of her daze for a moment, and looking back at them.
"How disgraceful. The student fought hard, and the instructor loses the strength in her legs." Megumi muttered, distastefully.
"No! That's not true!" Kaoru rebuked, then added, "Even though Yahiko won by being able to use Hawatari...I was just so relieved that he survived..."
"And so you got weak-kneed. Still disgraceful." Megumi prodded, as Sanosuke agreed with her. Kenshin only managed a slight, exasperated smile, while Hiko just shook his head; amused by what was going on, yet still keeping his senses on alert.
"Hey!" Kaoru snapped, blushing as she did so.
"Chattering during a battle...The utter stupidity of this crew remains unchanged." a familiar voice said, from the shadows. Startled into looking up, the three men looked back up at the hot air balloons that were still above them; their blood freezing in their veins when they saw that only one of them was still manned!
"Damn it! Kamiya!" Hiko's mind ranted, as he turned to race towards her.
"Don't worry. I won't be ambushing you, after all this. At least...I won't." Enishi's voice chuckled.
"Kaoru-dono! Hurry! Over here!" Kenshin cried, trying to get her to move away from what was now a dangerous spot. She yelped when she felt a pair of strong arms grab her, just as an impossibly long, claw-fingered arm slashed through the ceiling and rushed towards her. An instant later, she could hear a thundering heartbeat, and felt it when her rescuer gasped when the claws raked his back.
"H-hiko-san!" Kaoru yelped, when he'd skidded to a stop; staring up in astonishment at him with wide blue-grey eyes.
"A-are you all right, Kamiya?" Hiko managed, painfully, as blood oozed down his back from the deep cuts.
"Hai..." Kaoru replied.
"Shishou!" Kenshin shouted, looking about as stunned as Kaoru felt, as he dashed over to them.
"It seems even your master's eyes change color when it comes to women, Battousai." the creature on top of the dojo's roof cackled; leering at them from his vantagepoint.
"That...man's...arms and legs...are almost twice their normal length..." Kaoru muttered, as Hiko helped her stand back up, then he forced himself back onto his feet; face paling slightly when the move stretched the gashes on his back a little bit.
"Aa...He is an assassin who can attack from unexpected places due to his long limbs...But that left arm...is even longer than before..." Kenshin murmured.
"I lengthened it, spending fifteen years to do it. I was sixteen at the time, towards the end of my growth spurt, so I did have to be rougher." the new attacker said, calmly.
"You lengthened it?" Kaoru asked, in disbelief. She'd never even heard of such a thing before!
"Hey, did you think that we were born like this?" the man above them asked, sounding a bit insulted as he said that.
"Could've fooled me. You certainly look more like a youkai, than a human." Hiko muttered, with more than just a little of his usual cynicism; not even surprised when the creature ignored him.
"This body is the secret of the Yatsume Clan...famous for its' expertise in gold mining. The mining clans who support each era's ruler by mining gold. In competition against each other to discover gold the fastest...a secret method of 'Yatsume Body Construction' was discovered. By fitting metal bands on newborns, and increasing the number as the child grows, we shape our bodies to have long limbs suitable for crawling in the mines. It is the same concept as the long-necked tribes in Africa and foot-binding in China. This body is the pride of the Yatsume Clan, and the reason for our success! Because of this, it is our law to kill anyone who has witnessed it! Battousai, you're first! Then everyone else here will be massacred!" the creature growled, fiercely.
"Hmph. This beast howls a lot." the owner of the voice from before, muttered, as he stepped into the light. Sanosuke's face paled.
"Y-you...were...alive?" Sanosuke asked, stunned by who he now saw before him.
"You don't give me much credit. Starting with Ikeda-ya, I've been through many deadly battles in the Boshin and Seinan Wars...I was the only one of the Shinsengumi...said to be invulnerable." the man said, with a smirk, as he eyed each person before him with cold amber eyes.
"So, we meet again." Hiko said, as he stood and looked the policeman in the eye.
"Indeed...and you aren't in much better shape than you were when you arrived, are you?" the man asked.
"Well enough to fight...When I came here, your subordinate had called you 'Fujita'...I can only assume that your true name is Hajime Saito?" Hiko questioned; surprising Kenshin and the rest by this knowledge.
"Yes. Good assumption. Originally, I'd come to interrogate the Battousai on his ties to Yukishiro Enishi...but it seems that there's no reason to ask. His relationship seems to be the worst kind." Saito said, as he coolly took a drag from his cigarette, then strode forward.
"You don't know the half of it." Hiko growled, as he cast a scowl in Enishi's direction, then bent to pick up his discarded mantle (which, surprisingly enough, wasn't even damaged, and was right where he'd left it).
"But where will this new twist lead us? Does this Wolf of Mibu hold the key to victory?" Hiko silently wondered, as he watched and listened to what was happening in front of him...a sense of foreboding beginning to grow with every moment that passed.
Author's Note!
He's baaack! (Saito is, at any rate!) Hope this chapter lived up to expectations!
Gemini14