Disclaimer: I do not own RK in any way, shape or form.
.::Chapter 6::.
"I still say this is unjust."
Kaoru glared up at him from her seat under the sakura tree, and he sighed for the umpteenth time that day.
"You destroyed my dojo, you fix it."
"I destroyed your dojo trying to save you," he pointed out, replacing shingles wearily.
"I needed saving because some psychotic jerk wanted to fight you!"
She immediately wished she could take back her words when he froze, his aura darkening.
"That is true, Kamiya-san. Forgive me. I will repair your dojo without further complaint."
He was buried in his shell again, that icy, cold exterior she had learned to hate.
It meant he was hiding from her.
"Mou," she muttered, sulking to herself. Suddenly, she had a positively brilliant idea.
"Hey, Kenshin? Could we train today?"
The spirit tilted his head backwards, offering a silent prayer to whatever kami were listening.
"I thought you wanted me to repair your dojo."
Her exasperated 'mou' was clearly audible as she replied, "You're sick of working on it for the day, aren't you?" She took his silence as a 'yes', and continued, "Well, since I wouldn't have needed saving if I was stronger, don't you think it would be a good idea to train me?"
When no complaints were forthcoming, Kaoru leapt to her feet and clapped her hands together smartly.
"All right then, let's get started!" she said energetically, striding towards the still-damaged practice hall.
Kenshin stared after her for a moment before sighing in surrender and following her.
This was going to be a long day.
"Kenshin?"
"Yes, Kamiya-san?"
"I feel like an idiot."
Kenshin observed his pupil calmly, her hands spread in front of her while she sat cross-legged on the broken floors of the practice hall.
"Why is that?"
"Because nothing is happening," she said, on the verge of growling. Kenshin's face was impassive.
"Then you must not be doing it right."
"How the heck am I supposed to do it, then?" she exploded, her aura crackling.
Kenshin relented and held a hand in front of him, palm up. His eyes narrowed slightly, and golden light burst from his fingertips, flickering across his palm. When he relaxed, the light disappeared.
"Ki manifestation is actually quite simple, which is why we're starting with it in your training," he said, nodding to his hand. "Try to picture your ki, and then simply concentrate it in your hand."
"I've been trying to do that for the last thirty minutes."
"You're probably not picturing the right thing," he said sagely. Kaoru stared at him.
"Shouldn't I be trying to picture what it was I just saw popping out of your hand?" she asked slowly. Kenshin shook his head.
"No, I doubt your ki is like mine. There are no two ki exactly alike, though they can be divided into several general groups: some flow like water, some crackle like lightning, some feel like sand between your fingers. Mine is of the flame variety," he explained, producing the flickering light again. Kaoru studied it, eyes narrowed in concentration.
"What kind of ki do you think I have?" she asked at length, after the flames had left Kenshin's fingers. He tapped a finger against his chin, thinking.
"My impression is that yours is the water variety," he said finally. "Try to imagine a waterfall, or a stream. Possibly rain."
Her eyes closed once again, and she cupped her hands in front of her, having a clearer picture in her mind.
Slowly, her hands began to fill with a swirling blue light, ripples running across it and making it glitter in the sunlight coming from various holes in the roof. Her eyes snapped open and the liquid disappeared, her concentration broken.
"Did I do it?" she asked eagerly, panting slightly with the mental exertion. A small smile pulled at the corners of Kenshin's mouth as he nodded. Kaoru's face broke into a grin.
"Yatta!" she exclaimed, flinging her arms into the air as she collapsed backwards onto the floor, closely followed by, "Ow!"
She sat straight up and rubbed her lower back ruefully.
"Stray sharp piece of wood," she explained. A thoughtful look settled on Kenshin's face as he considered her.
"Ki manifestation has other uses besides looking pretty," he said, a hint of a smile in his voice. "It can be used to defend against physical objects…such as stray sharp pieces of wood. Perhaps a demonstration would be useful?"
Kaoru's eager face was all the answer he needed.
With a decisive nod, he rose to his feet and examined the hap-hazard dojo. If he sent a ki blast at that hole…
Kaoru yelped as orange light flared towards a hole in the dojo roof, causing several pieces of what used to be shingles to fall above Kenshin's head. The spirit's eyes narrowed slightly as he summoned a cushion of ki, halting the falling objects with ease. Orange-red flames of his aura licked gently at the pieces of suspended shingles until Kenshin moved out from under them and recalled his ki.
The clatter of shingles on the dojo floor was followed by an eerie silence as Kaoru gaped at him and Kenshin stared back, unblinkingly.
"That," Kaoru declared belatedly, "was awesome."
A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
"You could probably create a usable ki cushion by the end of the week, if you meditated regularly to increase your spiritual strength," he hinted. Kaoru grimaced.
"And if I didn't meditate?"
"Then you will probably never be able to use ki manifestation for anything more than a 5-second light show."
"…Drat."
Kenshin lowered himself to the floor and sat in front of her, eyes closed.
It didn't take long for Kaoru to crack.
"So…"
He almost smiled. Almost.
"…Help me meditate?"
"But of course."
"So, how did it go?"
"Not so good, Shishio-sama. Kurogasa has been terminated."
"Ah, such a pity. Battousai finished him off?"
"No, actually. Kurogasa's own bloodsword turned against him."
"That idiot! Even in his death he failed me. Bah. So what's Battousai's status?"
"Still clean, still at the dojo, last seen training the girl he's staying with."
"Blast it all. Who else do we have lying around that could possibly corrupt him…?"
"Well… there's always me…"
"…"
"I am a water base, after all."
"…"
"And you had better hurry up before the Realm sends down some of their enforcers to eliminate him. The girl has a Guardian all her own that has been in contact with the higher-ups."
"Oh, fine. Go have some fun, Soujirou."
"With pleasure."
"You're doing well."
"That's good to know," Kaoru panted, leaning her hands against the dojo floor. "This ki manifestation business is harder than I thought it would be."
Kenshin's mouth curled.
"It would be easier if your ki was in better condition," he said, an almost teasing reprimand, "though I will admit that your ki is much stronger than it has any right to be, with your half-human nature."
Grinning at him wearily, Kaoru wiped the perspiration off of her brow and lifted her hands in front of her yet again.
"Maybe I'm just special," she said smilingly, concentrating her ki into her cupped hands once more. Kenshin paused.
"Maybe you are," he mused, pondering on Gensai's existence and his new ward's exceptional ki capabilities. The ward in question remained blissfully oblivious.
"Ha! I held it for 2 minutes this time!" she crowed, fisting her hands on her hips triumphantly. The spirit inclined his head slightly.
"Indeed. Perhaps you should take a break, or work on meditation now, since you've done so much with ki manifestation already," he suggested, rising to his feet. "I, myself, have things to do. Such as repair this decidedly dilapidated dojo."
"I thought you didn't want to repair the dojo."
Kenshin glanced at her sideways.
"Would you prefer to do it yourself?" he asked dryly. Kaoru cringed.
"Have fun."
"Hn."
Meditation wasn't so bad, once you got into it, Kaoru decided.
The inner sanctum she imagined was a mellowed dojo, the air charged with something that prickled the hairs on her neck. Her mind-self slowly picked a bokken from the wall and began a kata, flowing from one motion to the next. With each swing of the imaginary sword, she lost herself a little more. Or was she finding herself?
As the kata came to a close, she let the world inside her mind melt away and she reached for the power resting deep inside her soul.
She could see it in her mind's eye, washing over her and trickling through her fingers. It was a hazy blue cloud of liquid light, thick and almost palpable. Slowly, carefully, she grasped the cloud in her corporeal hands, tugging on it and pulling on it until it was stretched out as much as she currently could. It was thinner and larger now than it had been the last time she attempted this. She tapped on it carefully. Still as strong as before. A smile bloomed on her face as she took the sheet of stretched ki and imagined placing it in front of the dojo, protecting the gate from malevolence.
She nodded once to herself as she opened her eyes.
'I do not promise to save myself.'
She'd get stronger. She had to.
Katsura sighed wearily as he leaned back into his chair.
Life was not being kind to him of late.
As though it wasn't painful enough to have his offspring murdered at the hands of his enemies, his most loyal and most powerful Guardian had broken his vows and fallen.
It could be assumed that he was either dead or corrupted by now.
'Such a pity…'
"Katsura-san."
Katsura opened his eyes and observed the spirit in front of him.
Black bangs obscuring cold shuttered eyes that had seen entirely too much of both worlds.
"Shinomori. You have news?"
The spirit inclined his head slightly.
"Battousai has been located by one of our earth-bound Guardians."
"Oh?"
"Gensai-san reports that he has settled in a dojo, and appears to be uncorrupted."
Relief rushed through him as he processed the information.
"Take a unit and retrieve him."
"Aa."
"But Shishou, I am of age and of ability! It is my duty!"
The argument was growing old fast, but Kenshin stuck with it stubbornly. He was right on this point, darn it!
Too bad Hiko Seijuro never agreed.
"Baka, we've been over this already. You have only just become of age, and your ability is not at its peak yet. Your duty is to me, as your shishou. I won't let a student of mine go prancing off to save the world without finishing his studies."
That argument was growing old, too.
Kenshin scowled, fists clenching at his sides as he attempted to reign in his frustration.
He would win this dispute.
Kenshin paused in the middle of reattaching a shingle to the roof of the living quarters.
Something with a very strong ki was approaching.
A very familiar strong ki.
He grimaced.
'I am to be terminated already?'
Well, he wasn't about to go and die yet. He had a half-spirit to train and protect, and he refused to leave her in the middle of her training.
'Such a change of heart from my younger days…'
Shaking himself from his thoughts, he stood and braced himself for battle.
Kaoru would not be left unprotected.
--
Glossary:
Sakura- Cherry blossom
Dojo- A school for training in Japanese arts of self-defense. In this fic, kenjutsu
Mou- Kaoru's favorite word of exasperation, kind of like "Geeze!"
Ki- One's life energy, or aura
Yatta- Kind of like huzzah, yay, or even w00t. xD
Kurogasa- Black hat- Jin-ei's alias
Battousai- Kenshin's alias, meaning something like "Master of lethal sword drawing"
Bokken- A wooden sword
Kata- a routine for practicing various forms of martial arts; in this fic, kendo
Aa- Affirmation used by guys. I was going to just say "Masculine affirmation" but somehow that felt like "affirming masculinity" which it's definitely not.
Shishou- Honorable title for a master
Baka- Idiot
AN: Not much to say about this chapter. It's basically filler, I guess.
Luff on Misaoshiru for actually betaing it within a month!
Not certain when the next chapter will be out- I've got a plan for the rest of the story, but I'm having major difficulties writing one of the characters...
Ah well. Go read the "Twelve Days of Crackfics" while you're waiting.