Chapter 6: Kenshin vs. Chou!

The whole gym fell silent.

Chou stood in the doorway, smirking at all of them. "Well, now, Himura, what do you say?" He said, walking in slowly, his feet making large, echoing noises on the gym floor.

"I---I---I don't want t-to-" Kenshin stuttered.

"Oh… Don't give me bad sportsmanship," Chou said. "I believe… all you need is…" He then grabbed Kaoru by the ponytail and lifted her off the floor. "…a little inspiration!" He then laughed as if it was funny.

"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin cried.

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU FREAK!" Kaoru yelled, swinging her boken at him. Chou caught it and yanked it out of her hands, tossing it to the floor. Her eyes widened.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko cried, running at Chou with his shinai. Chou kicked Yahiko in the stomach. He dropped his shinai, grabbed his stomach, stumbled backwards, and fell down.

"STOP IT!" Sano yelled, running at him. "You dirty bastard!"

"I refuse to fight anyone but Himura," Chou said, glaring at Sanosuke. "-and if he doesn't fight, I'll kill this woman."

"What?!" Sano's eyes widened.

"Kaoru-dono…" Kenshin felt a sudden fear in his veins, not for his life, but for hers, and it made his blood run cold.

"I'll do it," Chou said.

Kenshin stood up. "I will fight with you!" He yelled, his eyes narrowing, but the glare of the lights hit his glasses, making it unable for Chou to see.

"That's what I wanted," Chou said, throwing Kaoru across the gym. Sano caught her, falling down from the sudden weight upon him.

Kenshin walked down from the stands and stood on the mat, picking up Kaoru's boken. This guy threatened to kill Kaoru-dono… Shouldn't he be in jail? Oh, yes, I remember. Yahiko said that the police are afraid of them… Then what am I doing out here?!

"I'll use my own boken," Chou said, pulling one off of the rope tied around his back. It seemed to be nothing more than a finely crafted stick. The only thing separating the butt of the sword and the wooden blade was a small indention. Despite its simplicity, though, it seemed to be stronger than Kaoru's, and better made to boot.

Kenshin and Chou stared each other down. Okay… Kenshin, you need to remember what you taught yourself a few years ago… I've never been good at this, and now I'm even worse! Oro… Come on, Kenshin, you need to get control of yourself, de gozaru yo. You're protecting Kaoru-dono… and everyone else come to think of it… Think, Himura, think!

Chou made his move before Kenshin could figure out what he was supposed to do. He saw him coming. His eyes widened, and suddenly, before he knew it, Kenshin had slid across the mat, crouched down with his boken raised high behind him.

Then, something snapped, and it wasn't his body. The blade of the boken fell off and hit the mat. Kenshin's eyes enlarged, and he felt a sudden wave of tension run over him. What do I do now?!

"Not bad," Chou said, running his hand over the bruise on his stomach. "-but now you can't do anything… Battousai."

Why do they call me Battousai?! He thought, but soon decided that he needed to find a weapon stronger than Kaoru's boken… and he needed it fast.

"KENSHIN!!!" Sano yelled out. Kenshin reached out and caught what he had thrown to him.

"Oro?" He said, looking at it.

"That's Hiko-san's boken!" Sano yelled.

Kenshin examined it. It was very, very similar to Chou's boken, if not identical, and he figured it was a very strong boken. After all, Hiko Seijirou would need a strong weapon. He himself was strong. It also felt about twice as heavy as Kaoru's.

"Let's go," Chou said, preparing for another attack.

Kenshin felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He felt his heart pounding, and he was feeling something he had never felt before. His hands tightened their grip on the butt of the sword, and his eyes narrowed more than before. All of a sudden, his mind came to an idea. He grabbed the broken boken off of the floor and threw it behind him. It hit the light box and all of the power went out. The gym darkened greatly.

I see well in the dark… Maybe now I have a slight advantage over him… Kenshin thought to himself. I just need to keep myself as quiet as I can to make sure he isn't fully aware of my position.

Sano looked blindly into the dark. Kaoru grabbed his arm. "Sano… why did he just do that?"

"I don't know…" Sano muttered. Damn… Why's he shielding himself in the dark? This was such a dumb idea. Stupid, stupid Sano!!! Damn!

Chou ran across the mat and threw his boken down at Kenshin. Kenshin heard it and blocked it with his own. The wood hit with a large clap noise.

Kenshin looked up through his glasses at the barely visible form of Chou. He gritted his teeth and kept at it, refusing to let Chou break his block…. But his vision had become blurry. He wondered if he was about to faint.

Chou was slowly gaining power over the red-head, pushing Kenshin's boken closer and closer to his face. He could tell that Kenshin was still putting up a fight, but he wasn't worried about losing. He might be the Battousai, but after all these years, he's easy. I can't believe that we even thought he was a major threat… ha… This guy's pathetic. Maybe they were wrong after all.

I can't lose…I can't lose… Kenshin repeated over and over, shutting his eyes tight and throwing all his weight into his block. Then…

Something in him broke.

"HAH!" He cried, sending Chou sliding across the mat. Kenshin's glasses cracked and then broke. Red liquid in the form of a scar cut across his face. He panted from the force of the blow as his blood dripped on the floor.

Woah… Chou rose up, and he could see what little light that shined through random places reflecting off of Kenshin's blood and the glass on the floor. I've never felt such strength. Now we're getting started… but I gotta remember that I can't bring him out completely yet… not that I could… but it'll all start falling into place later tonight. We'll get him yet, heh heh…

Kenshin felt the wood cracking on his boken. Oh, no… He thought, wanting to scream it. He then heard it break… but it was a sort of hollow sound. Then, the small amount of light shined upon it.

"A… blade…" Kenshin couldn't help but say aloud. It was now that he realized that his vision was no longer blurred.

Chou stood up and smirked. "I-"

All of a sudden, the lights came back on.

"Oro?" Kenshin blinked and his eyes returned to normal. Everything around him became blurry.

"What's going on in here?"

"Hiko-san!" Kaoru cried in relief.

Kenshin turned to look Hiko in the eyes.

"Huh?" Hiko immediately noticed Chou. "Get out of here!" Hiko threatened. Chou laughed and walked out, smirking his usual smirk.

"H--Hiko…" Kenshin said.

Hiko snatched the blade from Kenshin's hand. "BAKA!" He yelled.

"Oro?"

"What do you think you're doing? Challenging Chou like that… What kind of moron are you?"

"I--I was protecting Kaoru-dono… Chou threatened to kill her, Hiko-san!" Kenshin explained. "He said that if I didn't fight him and only me…"

Hiko laid his strong hand on his shoulder. "Go home."

"Y-yes… shishou…" Kenshin said.

"Shishou?" Hiko repeated.

"What?" Kenshin looked at him strangely.

"You called me-"

"What are you talking about?" Kenshin asked switching his broken glasses for his spare pair and cleaning off his face.

"Oi… nevermind."

"Goodnight…" Kenshin said slowly. He walked out of the gym and realized it had gotten dark.

Chou leaned against a wall, unnoticed. Now, it begins…