Cai: Alright, get on with it. I'm tired of hearing about how you got your stories back. I'm sure those that have stuck with your sorry ass want to read the next chapter.
RK15: (glares) You be mean Cailin. (Cai shrugs indifferently) Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to flip-flop108 for getting me off my lazy ass and reminding me that this story was floating around...-.-' (Smiles and hands flip-flop108 pocky) Arigato Gozaimasu!!!
Disclaimer: I would LOVE to own Rurouni Kenshin but I, unfortunately, am broke as well as owing my mother money i also don't have, so i must be content with simply owning the series...-.-'
The next morning, Kaoru woke up a little later then she normally did, arriving downstairs at eight instead of six. Well, it was the weekend, so it's not like she had school or anything. She arrived in the kitchen to an array of smells, and a picturesque stack of pancakes were sitting on the table.
"Ooh, paaaaaaaaaancaaaaaaaakes..." Kaoru drooled, staring at them with wide eyes. Kenshin chuckled.
"You want some?" He asked. "Sano and Yahiko haven't eaten any yet..." at that moment, said hungry boys came stomping down the steps. "Spoke to soon," Kenshin muttered.
"FOOD!!! I WANT FOOD!!" one of them shouted, though who it was remained an open ended question, Sometimes, Kenshin just thought they merged together at mealtimes, so that they sounded the same, and ate just as much as the other. Kenshin handed out three plates, and piled each of them high with pancakes.
"YAY! FOOD!!" Sano exclaimed, digging into his stack. Kenshin just stared, silently nibbling on his own pancake, as he watched the two boys finish theirs in record time. Kaoru too ate feverishly, though slow enough to actually taste the pancake and enjoy it. She wiped her mouth on a napkin after finishing the last of them and turned to look at her younger brother.
"Yahiko, go get ready to go to Maekawa-Sensei's dojo. I told him we would come today. And besides, Kenshin's going to come along as well. Maekawa-sensei wants to see how much talent he has. It should be interesting." Yahiko groaned, sighed in acceptance, finished up the last of his stack mournfully, but still dragged his feet as he went and got into his workout clothes. Kenshin and Kaoru finished up eating, then the irritable kenjutsu princess dragged Sano into the living room, away from the kitchen, and left him sitting on the large couch with orders to not move until they finished. Sano sat there, arms crossed, as he waited for one of them to come back. Kenshin hid a bemused smile, somewhat amused and confused at her actions but waiting it out nonetheless.
Kenshin went upstairs, both to change and to grab his gym bag. He wasn't going anywhere without that bag. Not that he expected anything, but a real sword was so much better off then a wooden one. He hurried back downstairs in record time, wearing loose clothes and carrying his blue gym bag. Kauro and Yahiko were waiting for him.
"Ah, there you are. Come on now, we're off to the dojo! You coming Sano?" Kaoru turned to the tall teen who was still sitting on the couch. He thought for a moment, debating, then nodded. The four of them headed out the door and into the small BMW parked around the side. They piled in, and drove off into the heart of the city, towards Maekawa's dojo.
They arrived just as class was starting, much to the sensei's relief. It had been bandied about that Kaoru was coming, so many of the students actually showed up. Kaoru smiled and nodded at many of the people, most of them were teenagers, and walked over to Maekawa.
"See, I told you that I would drag Yahiko along. Sanosuke Sagara came as well, as did Kenshin." Maekawa's eyes landed on Kenshin, and he sized the teen up. While looks may be deceiving, he could tell that Kenshin did know how to use a sword. It was all in the way he held himself. The teen's eyes were deep, and, while his face was smiling, Maekawa sensed an inner turmoil, almost as if the smile was there to cover up some deeper emotion.
"So, you want to have a match now, or after class is over?" Kenshin sighed. He couldn't get out of this one. He had promised the man a match, and he couldn't go back on it now, as mutch as he would like too. Next time, think before you leap Kenshin.
"How about after class? Then we can let them have their exercise and this one won't be interrupting anything." Maekawa thought it over and nodded. They sat down on a little stage at the back of the dojo and watched as the students went after Kaoru. Not very many managed to land a blow.
"She is pretty good," Kenshin noted. Maekawa nodded.
"Her father was one of the best around here as well. He had another of the preeminent schools, but many dropped out after he died a year or so ago. Now Kaoru teaches young children. Yahiko seems pretty good. The boy has a lot of potential. Is he the oldest of her students?" Kenshin nodded. Just then, someone walked into the dojo, hat pulled down to cover his face. He walked straight up to Kenshin and dropped a note in his lap, then walked out.
Kenshin looked down, a feeling of dread taking hold. He knew who this note was from. He opened it anyway.
Kenshin Himura (HB)
You are to come to the same dojo outside of town this afternoon at noon,
unless you wish your secret to be released into the media tonight,
and the house you are staying at will be burned,
along with everyone in it.
Shinko-Ryu
Kenshin crumpled the paper, furious, but controlled his anger before he did anything drastic. Maekawa was looking over at the teen, noticing how his hands tightened on the paper, then were consciously relaxed.
"Is everything o.k., Kenshin?" Maekawa asked, concerned. Kenshin forced a smile on his face.
"Yes, all is fine. Nothing to worry about." Kenshin sat in silence, just waiting for something, anything, to come. Unfortunately and fortunately, nothing did, and class ended. The students filed out, waving good-bye's to their sensei and Kaoru as well as thanks. Within fifteen minutes, the dojo was empty, save for Yahiko, Kaoru and Sano.
Maekawa picked up two of the practice swords, light shinai, and handed one to Kenshin. He took it, measuring it carefully, unsure of the dimensions of this type of sword, and stood opposite the sensei in the middle of the floor. His anger still burned, but was held in tight control. He couldn't let him get control of this match. It would not be allowed.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kenshin asked, hoping that maybe he would get out of it. Maekawa nodded his head. Kenshin sighed. No use getting out of it that soon. They faced off. Maekawa stared Kenshin down, his eyes trying to bore their way into his head. No such luck.
Since Kenshin was still running on anger, he wasn't in full control of his emotions no matter how hard he tried to be. He looked at the sensei, his senses heightened, his reflexes faster. And the man opposing him gulped. Kenshin's eyes had turned an amber-violet color, and they were filled with anger. This man, no, child was dangerous. Now that he thought about it, Maekawa thought he had smelled blood on the child.
"You are the challenger." Kenshin stated, his voice still sounding slightly like the Kenshin they knew. So he was in control partly. Maekawa shoved his fear aside. His school wasn't the best for nothing. He charged towards the boy, but no one was there.
"Over here." Kenshin's voice came from behind him. Maekawa turned sharply. This boy was inhumanly fast. Then the boy's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall, and they widened. It was 11:20. He only had forty minutes to get to the dojo. He decided to end it fast. He rushed at the man and hit him lightly with a side slash. Unfortunately, it wasn't as light as he would have liked. Maekawa flew backwards and landed a good five feet from where he had been standing. He groaned, then got back on his feet.
'Persistent old man. I really need to get going.' 'Then let me take over.' Voice pleaded. 'No. That's that. I will not become the battosai again. Not ever.' Kenshin yanked his thoughts from his internal struggle, returning to the outside world, and looked at the man who was slowly walking towards him. By looking at him, Kenshin could tell that there weren't any broken bones. Shinai couldn't do much damage.
"Pretty lucky shot there. Not bad power. But I won't fall for it again." He took the ready stance again. Kenshin sighed.
'LUCKY? Beat him to bits Kenshin! Now!' This inner battle was putting a strain on Kenshin's mind. Finally, he just sighed and glanced over at the sensei. He really didn't want to do this. He put the shinai at his side, and took a stance that the man didn't recognize. In fact, none of those watching, Kaoru, Sano, and Yahiko to be exact, knew what it was. Maekawa stared for a moment, evaluating, then he too took a stance, though this one was familiar. His shinai was in front of him, held at an angle to the ground, and his face was grim.
As he started the attack, Kenshin's shinai flashed out, faster then the eye could see, and knocked the bamboo out of the sensei's hands. Then it hit him full in the chest, sending him flying. He slumped to the ground, dazed, a little bruised, maybe a fractured rib or two, but otherwise ok. Kenshin had been careful. The teen dropped the sword and turned to the door, about to go give this Shinko-Ryu a piece of his mind. He stopped suddenly when he heard the sensei groan from behind him.
"Nice sparing with you Kenshin." Maekawa said, slowly sitting up, despite the pain. "I hope we can do it again sometime soon. I could tell that you were going easy on me. Oh, and some advice. Don't just give up on everything. Try again, try to make it right." Kenshin smiled at these words. If only it were that easy. Nothing was ever easy, especially for Kenshin.
"Sorry, this one must go. This one will see you at the house." Kenshin waved and ran out the front door. Kaoru, Sano, and Yahiko watched at Kenshin left, then turned to the man still on the floor.
"Um, did you know he was that good with a sword?" Kaoru snuck a glance at Sano, who shook his head. Maekawa looked over.
"If you look in his eyes, you can't see the bottom. Those eyes, they're so deep. I don't even know if there is a bottom. They just go on forever. I knew I was going to lose the moment I challenged him, at the mall. But that note he got. It's probably something very important." Maekawa's eyes were distant, staring off to an unknown end. Sano and Yahiko stared at where Kenshin went.
Said teen, at the moment, was running full speed to the outer edge of the city. As he turned right, he saw the decrepit dojo, sticking out like a sore thumb. He slowed down to a walk, and cautiously entered. In the middle of the room, he saw the same man who had given him the letter earlier.
"What do you want with me?" He snarled, furious. The man grinned.
"I want you to join me in taking out this stupid democratic government that is now running this country." He said, teeth showing. "My name is Isurugi Raijuta. I am the head of the Shinko-Ryu. Hello Battosai." Kenshin grew glacially calm.
"So that was your reason to threaten this one with burning Miss Kaoru's house to the ground?" He said softly. For those who didn't know him, he seemed to be perfectly calm. In fact, he was quite the opposite. If it was possible, he wanted to ring Isurugi Raijuta's neck. But he wasn't going to kill anyone anymore, so he was going to have to deal with beating him. "To make this one join you?"
"Of course. Nothing else would have gotten you out here in the first place." Raijuta pulled out his sword and barred it at Kenshin. The teen put down the blue gym bag and reached in, pulling out the sheath of an old sword. "What kind of sword is that?" He asked in bewilderment when Kenshin unsheathed it. Kenshin looked over.
"This sword is a sakabato. The blade edge and the dull edge are reversed. It was given to this one a long time ago." Raijuta sneered.
"So, the rumors were true. You told the commander that when you left, you wouldn't kill anymore. What a pitiful existence." His sword swung up. "You might want to give up on that pretty ideal if you want to beat me!" Kenshin held up the sakabato as the other sword swung down. Then Raijuta's sword began to waver. 'Huh? What's this?' Kenshin stood for a second, staring at it. 'MOVE YOU IDIOT!' Voice yelled. This seemed to snap the teen to his senses, and he jumped out of the way, but just barely. A wave of energy emitted from the place where the sword hit the ground, much like one of his attacks, Dorusen. Raijuta stopped his attack in surprise.
'He dodged it? But no one's ever dodged my izuna! He's stronger then I gave him credit for.' Raijuta thought, a sweat drop slipping down his face. While he had been thinking, Kenshin had taken advantage of the situation. The next thing Raijuta saw and felt was black, and extreme pain in his head. "Ouch" was the last word he uttered before he fainted.
Kenshin landed lightly on the ground, looked back at the man on the floor, and sighed. Raijuta wasn't as strong as he boasted. Well, the guy was bound to come after him again. For now, he would let him sulk over his defeat. Kenshin picked up the dropped sheath and placed the sword inside. Then he left, heading back to the dojo where his friends were waiting. This Shinko-Ryu would have to be dealt with sooner rather than later, and if Voice got his way, it would be permanently. Kenshin could not let that happen.
As is feet led him instinctively towards Kaoru's house, he looked down at the small cut he had received dodging that strange sword attack. It wasn't bleeding all that much, and it wasn't very deep. But when he pressed down on it, he couldn't feel anything. So, it had cut the nerves. Well, in a small cut, they might heal up on their own. He didn't realize that his friends were only a street away, on the other side of the houses he himself was walking by. He also hadn't realized that he had left the gym bag at the dojo with Raijuta. How soon he was going to find out his mistake.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Back at Maekawa's dojo, right after Kenshin left, the three teens were congregated in a huddle, debating on their next course of action as Kaoru helped Maekawa. They were all differing in opinion and Maekawa was offering no assistance in their course of action.
"Let's follow him," Sano finally decided. Yahiko nodded in agreement, and the two of them started to walk out the door. "Kaoru, you coming?" The girl was currently tending to Maekawa and paused, nodded and finished her wrapping. She bowed to the man, thanking him, then followed, bringing her shinai along as well.
"Kaoru-chan?" the girl swirled at the old man's voice, her blue eyes radiating curiosity. "Please, do not be too harsh on the boy. And be careful in what you say. Kenshin is very guarded and dislikes prying." His cryptic words made little sense to them, but Kaoru was determined to find out the secret behind the enigma that was Kenshin.
"I understand Sensei. I will. Thank you," she said, bowing again. Then, turning on her heel, she led Sano and Yahiko out the dojo's doors to search for their wayward friend.
The three of them started to trail the almost invisible tracks that Kenshin had left, asking people along the way if they had seen a short, red-headed boy running past here. They all pointed in the same direction, out of the city. It would take them a good forty minutes to even get to the edge of San Francisco.
"Wonder why he's going there. Must have some sort of business to do." Sano commented. As they reached the outskirts of the city, they turned right, and came face to face with an old dojo, obviously run down and in desperate need of repair. They heard nothing but silence, and, hoping for the best, figured Kenshin had already left. When they walked in, just to be sure, they found a man face down on the floor, unconscious. There was also a deep cut going through the center of room, as if some invisible force had sliced through the wood. Eyes widened and stared at the damage, all minds wondering the same thing.
'What the hell had gone on here? Where was Kenshin? What did he have to do with any of this?' When none voice these questions and no answers were volunteered, they turned their attention to the man who was unconscious on the floor.
"Isn't that the man who had given Kenshin the note?" Kaoru pointed out. Sano and Yahiko shrugged, then looked closer at the lifeless man.
"It might be, I never saw his face, so I couldn't be sure, but it sure looks like it," Sano said. Kaoru turned to her young pupil, who had been standing in almost complete awe of the destruction around him.
"Do you think that Kenshin did all this?" Yahiko asked. The other two didn't reply. They were too busy staring around at the damage. "If he did," Kaoru began, "I want to know where he learned how, and why he'd not in national level competition."
Come on you two. It's obvious that Kenshin isn't here, so we might as well leave. He's probably headed home as we speak. This might not even be his doing. Let's go." Kaoru turned to leave, but as she did, her eyes caught on a blue gym bag. She stopped. Wasn't that Kenshin's bag? She picked it up and turned to Sano, a question written plainly on her face. Sano walked over and took the bag from her.
"Yeah, this is his. So, he was here." Sano made a show of inspecting the bag. Then he slung it over his shoulder and walked out of the dojo, leaving the unconscious man behind him. Kaoru and Yahiko glanced around the room once more, then followed the tall teenager. Kaoru wanted answers and she was determined to get them as she stomped back towards Maekawa's dojo, black hair swinging in it's pony-tail. The boys stayed silent, unwilling to pester the unhappy teenage girl. All they did was follow her back the way they had come.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kenshin arrived at the dojo, and walked in. Much to his surprise, the only person there was Maekawa, on the dais in the back of the room. Maekawa opened his eyes, then they widened when they landed on Kenshin, flickering to his left and back up to the boy's face. The teen looked at his side, and his own eyes widened.
The teen cursed, realizing why people had stared at him strangely. He had forgotten the gym bag and had just shoved his sword into his belt out of habit, unaware he had even done so. "This one can explain the sword!" Kenshin raised his hands up, surrendering. Maekawa shook his head.
"I have a pretty good idea of who you are, Mr. Himura. And I won't turn you over if you can give me a reasonably good explanation on why you are here, in California." Kenshin sighed, then walked over to where the man was sitting and joined him. Maekawa stared at the red-head, watching the fluid grace in which he did everything, almost unconsciously. As he sat down, he propped the blade against his shoulder instinctively. The sensei noted how very guarded a person he was once more, and for good reason.
Kenshin sighed, his eyes unfocused and he seemed to be staring off into the distance, trying to come up with a way to tell his side of the story without being handed in.
"Well, the reason this one is in California because that is where sesha was born. Ever since my family moved from Japan to here, the Himura line has been kept. This one is the last remaining person, besides Hiko Seijuro, this one's master. This one's parents died in a plane crash, of which sesha was the only survivor. Taken in by my uncle, who was the heir to the Hiten Mitsurugi style, this one was taught the ways until he was twelve, when he went to help the people, by aiding the government, or so one thought."
"This one has been to every country for the government. Though it was a grave mistake, one was only a child when he began assassinations, all of twelve years old." Kenshin ignored the man's gasp of horror.
"When one was sixteen, he drafted for the army, to fight those who wished to harm the innocents, to try and pay back some of the wrong he had done in his life. And sesha left it when one was nineteen, traveling back home with the intention of never killing again. The sword will not kill either, unless it is turned over." Kenshin unsheathed the blade and showed it to the sensei.
"A sakabato. I've only heard of these. Where did you get it?" Kenshin looked at him.
"This one received it a long time ago, from a friend, of sorts. This one will not kill again. He refuses to." Kenshin looked down, slightly depressed. "Are you going to turn this one in?" Maekawa shook his head, brown eyes swirling with mixed emotions. Kenshin was a child wronged in a world where such practices should not have existed.
"No. I'm not saying what you did was right, and the reasons are your own, but the fact that the government used you is low, even for politicians. I won't hand you back to them, just to be used again. And besides, I don't think any harm will come from having someone as skilled as yourself around." Kenshin smiled, warm and bright.
"But, about Sanosuke Sagara…isn't he the son of…." Kenshin raised his hand.
"This one already knows. And one hopes that if my friends ever find out, they can be as forgiving as you have been. This one thanks you. And speaking of friends, where did they go?" Kenshin looked, puzzled, as Maekawa acquired a sheepish expression.
"Well, they decided to follow you, and find out where you went…hehe." Maekawa rubbed his head as Kenshin's eyes flashed open, wide and staring. Then he ran out of the dojo, heading back to the one he had left not that long ago.
RK15: Ok, I couldn't resist but to leave it off there! I'm sorry! but now that i have my story back, i promise to update faster!!
Draconic Ban-Sidhe: Ok, here's the chapter! Hope it answers your questions!
DragonWolfStar: Heh, i know how that feels. Thanks for the review though!!!
starfruit-22: Thank you for the support! It's great to get a review from one who enjoys this!
Chosha Kurenai: Oh, wow, Sankyuu...I'm so happy you find this interesting! Thank you for you comments. They really helped when i went to edit this chapter. If you find anything here, feel free to tell me. I'm always looking for a way to improve! Arigato!
MarbleGlove: Thank you! I'm glad someone appreciates it! I was hoping i did alright with the characters and it's always nice to hear that i did a good job from a reviewer!
Alexandria Jaganshi: Thank you so much!! I appreciate it!
Kitsune Kida: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you liked it! Here's the update!
flip-flop108: Awe, thank you! It's a pleasure when someone says that! I was so happy that you like it enough to reread it! You know, it was that review that kicked me in the rear and said 'Look, now that you have your storied back, why don't you UPDATE MORON!' I appreciated it!
RK15: THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS AND REVIEWERS!! POCKY TO ALL!! Constructive (note the word CONSTRUCTIVE) criticism is welcomed and wanted. All flames will be fed to Voice, who would probably appreciate the extra fire. Kenshin might not though...