Chapter 21: The Kamiya Dojo
Kenshin closed the passenger side door of Sanosuke's car and found that Yahiko was in the backseat, staring out the window.
"I didn't expect to see you two together without arguing," Kenshin said idly.
"We just wanna know somethin', Kenshin," Yahiko said sternly, facing him with a stern look upon his face.
"Know what?"
"What the hell happened yesterday!" Sano blurted out.
"O-oro? I… I just lost my senses…"
"Not that!" Sano yelled.
"What we saw!" Yahiko responded immediately afterward.
"What… you saw?"
"Yeah!" They both said at the same time.
Kenshin blinked. "How would… I know what you saw?"
"Well… You were there," Yahiko said.
"Except, you were wearing a pink gi," Sano pointed out.
"-and you had that sakabatou with you," Yahiko butted in.
"Oro?" Kenshin asked.
"-AND there was a cross-shaped scar on your left cheek," They both said.
"I… think you had me confused with someone else…"
"Oh, that was you all right," Yahiko folded his arms, nodding. "-with all your 'de gozaru yo' and 'oro' and stuff."
"I can't say I know what you're talking about, de gozaru yo," Kenshin sweat dropped.
"Well, fine, but… Well, did you see anything?"
"O-oro?" Kenshin blinked a couple of times.
"Well, did you?"
"Uh-" Kenshin sank in his seat slightly. "I have something to-" He reached for the door.
Sano locked them and started the car. "Did you or not?"
"I've… been seeing strange things for a long time now…" He said quietly.
"You… have?" Yahiko asked.
Kenshin looked out the window as Sano began driving down the road. "I… I can't explain it… and I'm not sure I really want to. That would mean that I'd actually be giving in and admitting the crazy notion that I was-" He trailed off.
"Was what?" Sano asked, watching the road.
"Nothing…"
"Yahiko," Sano nodded.
Yahiko grabbed Kenshin's ponytail. "SPILL!" He pulled a pair of scissors out from his back pocket.
"ORO!" Kenshin cried, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
"Yeah, spill!" Sano coaxed.
"I-" Kenshin sputtered. "I-"
"You…." They both said, Sano pulling to a stop at the red light.
"I think that I… was someone else in a past life."
"To quote you…" Yahiko said, putting the scissors away. "Oro?"
"Who were you?" Sano blinked.
"Himura Kenshin."
"That's who you are now," Sano said, tilting his head to the side.
"Himura Kenshin was a rurouni who carried a sakabatou and protected people to repent for the sins he had committed."
"What would a rurouni with a reverse-bladed sword be able to do?" Yahiko laughed.
"Himura Kenshin… He was also known as Himura the Battousai."
"WHAT!" They both cried.
"Hey! Th-that's what you were calling yourself when you fought Saitou-san and Aoshi yesterday," Yahiko said.
"I know…" He muttered, prying his hair free from Yahiko's fist. "I'm starting to suppose that this isn't all just make-believe fairy tales and stupid talk from a bunch of psychos… I don't know why… but I'm starting to think… that I really am the Battousai."
"You can't think like that," Sano said, turning the corner. "-a-and even if you were… You're not anymore, so…"
"I was yesterday…"
"Feh, Saitou-san deserved every blow you gave him," Sano said, then switched on the radio, obviously claiming end to the conversation.
"Wh-where are we going?" Kenshin asked suddenly.
"Where do you wanna go?"
"Home."
"Whatever. I'll just-"
"No… turn up here… I want to go… to my home…" Kenshin muttered, pointing.
"O-okay…" He whispered, blinking.
-
Kenshin stood in front of an old building, dirty and abandoned.
"Kenshin… what is this place?" Sano asked. "You… live here?"
"I used to," Kenshin said, walking carefully up the steps and onto the wooden porch.
"You-WOAH!" The steps broke when Yahiko stepped upon them. "Damn…" He crawled up onto the porch. "You used to live in a place like th-" Yahiko froze. "You know… this place looks… strangely familiar…"
"Of course it does," Kenshin entered a large room and picked a piece of dusty wood off the floor, wiping it clean with his hand and sending a cloud into the air. "You lived here too…"
The piece of wood was a sign. KAMIYA KASSHIN-RYU, it said.
"H-hey! That's the tanuki's last name!" Yahiko cried.
"Yeah, that yours and Jou-chan's swordsmanship style, isn't it, Yahiko?"
"Who would teach that in a crappy place like this?" Yahiko stared at the sign.
"Kaoru-dono would… It is after all, where she lived back during the Meiji Era."
"WHA!" They cried.
-
Kaoru sat at her dresser mirror, running a brush through her hair. What I saw… The images of Kenshin from the day before flashed through her mind. Was it for real?… Did I really know Kenshin in a past life? "NO WAY! I'm talking crazy!" She set the brush down, looking around for her ponytail holder. "Wh-where is it?" She felt around under her dresser.
"Ow!" She cried when she bumped her head against the top. Her hand gripped against a piece of cloth underneath. "Hm?" She rose up and looked down in her hand and slowly took in a deep breath.
It was an indigo ribbon, stained with blood.
"So… it's true… but if Kenshin knew of his past… it would hurt him… I'd better… keep this to my… myself…" She tied her hair up in the ribbon.
Looking in the mirror, she gasped again, the image of his arms wrapping around her and pulling her to him entering her mind. "Oh…" She blushed. "Everything seems so vivid… His arms felt so strong and safe and warm… GAH!" Her whole face turned red. What am I saying! Did I have some sorts of feelings for Kenshin in the past!
-
Yahiko took the sign with his name on it in his hand, tenderly running his fingers down the lines of the kanji. "It's like… a dream…"
Kenshin leaned against the doorway, looking out at the city that had built itself up. "Hard to believe it's still here, de gozaru yo."
"This would make a great clubhouse," Sano grinned.
"Clubhouses are for kids, Sanosuke!" Yahiko whined.
"Then you should love it here!" Sano laughed.
"WHY YOU-" Yahiko jumped up and began chomping on Sano's head.
"The closer I come… the more vivid my memories are…" Kenshin whispered, walking down the halls. "This was Yahiko's and Kaoru-dono's room. This room was mine…" He ran his fingers down the long-since destroyed shoji of each room, a solemn look upon his face.
"You really… do remember…" Sano muttered, looking in Kaoru and Yahiko's old room.
"Yes…" Kenshin turned and headed out. "We can go now…"
"Let's come back tomorrow though," Yahiko ran off after Kenshin. "I feel so at home here!"
"Me too!" Sano yelled, chasing after them. "Let's bring Megitsune and Jou-chan too!"
"I'd… rather not drag them into it… They needn't remember… if they don't have to…" Kenshin said, getting in the passenger side. "Their lives are good to them, and that's all the matters to me, de gozaru yo. A story from the past won't change anything… The past is the past, and it will always be that way. You can't rewind time… but you can forget it… unless you're me… and it never goes away… de gozaru yo…"
Sano stood, watching Kenshin in the car. "My friend, you need to heighten your opinion of yourself. C'mon, Yahiko-chan."
"DON'T CALL ME CHAN!" Yahiko yelled. Sano laughed.