Chapter 26: The Sword is a Weapon
It was surprisingly silent as the Kenshin-gumi headed towards the front door of the house.
"It's strange… I expected that there would be guards here," Kenshin said, glancing around.
"Yeah," Yahiko began. "Jeez, I guess he didn't-"
"Stop, Yahiko!" Sano yelled, and Yahiko froze, mid-step.
"WHAT!" He complained.
"That brick is booby trapped!" Kaoru said, pointing down at the part of the path he was about to step on. The brick was raised slightly out of the ground, hinting danger.
"Oro? You think so?" Kenshin asked, leaning over it to check as Yahiko placed his foot onto a safe brick. "What if it was just an accident?"
"Houses like this don't have mistakes in the bricking," Sano said matter-of-factly.
"Plus, look…" Kaoru pointed all along the ground. "There are a bunch of them."
"Then, let's avoid them," Kenshin said, stepping around a few and winding his way up to the front door, followed by Kaoru, then Sanosuke, then a severely disturbed Yahiko.
"Do we… knock?…" Kenshin asked innocently.
"NO WAY! We have to storm the place!" Sano yelled, slamming his fist against his other hand. "This guy'll pay!"
"You're a bit edgy, aren't you," Kaoru said, her eyebrows flattened, a smirk playing on her lips.
"What're you trying to say?" He asked, blushing slightly.
"Are we going in or what?" Yahiko sighed.
"How do we get in?" Kenshin asked, jiggling the knob. "The door is locked."
"Step aside," Sano said, pushing the other three back a bit.
"Sano, what are you going to-" Kaoru began.
BAM!
His fist hit the door. Silence… Then, the door exploded!
"Boy, that was discreet. They'll NEVER know we're here," Yahiko said sarcastically.
"How… How did you do that?" Kaoru asked, a few hairs out of place.
"I dunno. I-" Sano began.
"Futae No Kiwami," Kenshin said precisely.
"Uh, bless you," Sano said.
Kenshin smiled knowingly. What he knew, he wasn't quite sure, but… eh…
"We'd better hurry and find Megumi before the guards and others get here," Yahiko said.
"Or even worse… We run into more booby traps," Kaoru said nervously.
"There will not be any more traps, I can assure you," A voice from the stairs caught the four's attentions. "-and Megumi is hidden somewhere in this house."
-
Hiko sat at his kitchen table, grading papers. He yawned and rubbed his eyes with his fist. "I'm so bored…" He said, getting up and grabbing a bottle of sake out of the refrigerator. "I like it better warm, but…" He took a large gulp out of it, and the phone rang. He lowered the bottle and scowled in frustration, setting it down on the counter and picking up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello. Is Himura-san there?" The other voice asked.
"Nope. I have no idea where he is," Hiko said casually. "When he gets back, I'll tell him you called. Who is this?"
"Seta Soujirou, sir," He giggled, making Hiko's eyes widen. "You do that!"
"How did you get this number!"
"Shishio-sama told me what it was. He knows everything," Soujirou said. "-but I was just calling on Kamatari-san's behalf. He wants to go to the dance with Himura-san. He would've gone with Shishio-sama, but Shishio-sama doesn't go to school, and he doesn't want to go, and even if he did, he would go with Yumi-san."
Hiko hung up the phone. "That child… Shishio, huh? Hmm…"
-
"Aoshi?" Kaoru exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"
"I thought I told you not to interfere, Himura," He said, glaring at Kenshin. "Go home. I'll take care of everything."
"How long have you been here?" Sano asked.
"I got here yesterday, but I've been crawling through the vents and destroying the traps set throughout the house. I can't get to all of them though. It appears a few work by computer, which isn't surprising, since Takeda Kanryuu has decided to spend his days as a hacker. Apparently computers are more effective weapons."
"So, he was the one who blew up the computers," Yahiko said. "He's known about us going to that school. It's the only school where that happened."
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to kill him myself," Aoshi said.
"Well, all right then," Yahiko said, turning around, froze, then turned back around. "WHAT! KILL HIM!"
"Yes," Aoshi said. "-and you'll all get in my way. Get out."
"Aoshi!" Kenshin cried. "I can't let you do that!"
"It's wrong to kill!" Kaoru yelled. "A sword is a tool to save people with!"
"Maybe in your imagination, but back during the Tokugawa Revolution a sword is a weapon to kill others with. A spy and ninja like myself will never miss his target… and back before I was reincarnated, Takeda Kanryuu did something unforgivable… and this is how I will put flowers on the grave."
"I knew you were creepy, but I didn't know you were a psycho," Sanosuke said.
"I won't let anyone die!" Kaoru yelled, holding her boken in fighting stance. "Good or evil, no one should expire without having a chance to change!"
"He didn't die the last time. He didn't change this time. Why should I give him another chance?" Aoshi's normally quiet voice was gaining an edge to it.
"-because it's the right thing to do!" Kaoru yelled. "My swordsmanship style was taught to me by my father! The morals of Kamiya Kasshin-ryu have been passed down for generations, and I've been taught well! Killing is wrong, and a sword is a tool to protect others!"
"Yeah, she's right!" Yahiko said, grabbing hold of his shinai.
"YEAH!" Sano agreed.
"No," Kenshin said, making them all stop and look at him.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked.
"It's not that way, no matter how much we want it to be… Even in this day and age, the sword cannot be put to rest, for some will never stop obsessing with the color of blood. It's been over a hundred years, but they refuse to let it die. They would rather have others die so they can achieve their goals than finally placing their sword at its rest and getting on with their lives. Some are bound and determined to take lives in stead of giving life to others."
"Fancy words, Himura. You always were like that," Aoshi said. "Well, not always."
"I don't understand things clearly yet," Kenshin said to Aoshi. "-but whether or not I'm going crazy or seeing my true past… I can't allow you to kill another."
"Then, you won't be passing this point," Aoshi said, drawing his kodachi.
"Aoshi, I don't want to fight you," Kenshin said. "Don't make me fight."
"The only thing anyone is ever forced to do is live, die, and pay taxes," Aoshi said. "If you don't want to fight, then it'd be best if you left."
"NO!" Sano yelled, standing in front of Kenshin. "We didn't come here to listen to you rag on about your beliefs in the sword! We came here to save Megumi! Now, I don't give a damn about what happened to you in the past! What matters is the present, and Megumi needs our help, so get the hell out of the way!"
"Sano…" Kaoru said, surprised.
"I admire your will, Sagara," Aoshi said. "Go save your precious Megumi… but leave Kanryuu… to me…"
"-but-" Kenshin began.
"Great! Let's go!" Sano yelled, heading past Aoshi and up the stairs. Kaoru and Yahiko quickly began to follow.
Kenshin looked up at Aoshi. "Aoshi… Please don't kill him…"
"You can't order me around, Himura," Aoshi said. "I've been wronged for too long. I lost four very close people… and I never got to put flowers on their graves… I wouldn't have had to… had Kanryuu not killed them…"
"The Oniwaban-shu," Kenshin said sadly.
"Only when you get past distractions can your mind see clearly, eh, Himura?" Aoshi said, walking past him. "Megumi is in the highest tower, but you'd best be warned… There are many traps here. Kanryuu was expecting you, see, and you're in danger of being killed."
"Well… it's not like it's the first time…" Kenshin muttered, heading up the stairs. "-but… remember what I said… Aoshi… they died, but… you can't keep hanging on and go out for revenge… My parents were killed just recently, but I'm doing my best to get over it. I couldn't have gotten this far without my friends… Maybe if you weren't so alone all the time-"
"I'm not alone," Aoshi said. "I have Misao…"
Kenshin smiled. "Yes, I suppose that's true… Well, see you…" He then ran to catch up with his friends.
Aoshi glanced up after him. "Himura…" He said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He slipped his kodachi back into his sheathe. "Himura Kenshin… Himura the Battousai… The two were the same… but completely different people." He shook his head and headed off down the hall.
"SANO! I can't believe you stood up to Aoshi like that!" Yahiko cried, running to catch up with Sano and his long legs.
"Jeez! I'm no coward! If you had stood up to him on the other hand-"
"HEY! SHUT UP!" Yahiko yelled.
"Where are we supposed to find Megumi?" Kaoru asked.
"THE HIGHEST TOWER!" Kenshin cried, running up next to Kaoru. "-but beware of traps because Aoshi said that the computer traps haven't been stopped!"
"I guess we'd better slow down then," Sano said, stopping.
"DAH!" Yahiko cried, running into the back of him.
"EEK!" Kaoru cried, running into Yahiko.
"ORO!" Kenshin cried, running into Kaoru.
"Uh… sorry about that," Sano said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You… stupid…" Kaoru growled.
"MOVE IT!" Yahiko yelled. " I don't really enjoy having my face planted into your back!"
"Right, my bad," Sano said, starting up the stairs more slowly and being followed by the rest.
(A/N: OMG, an update! I can't believe it! Even tho it was kind of a filler chapter... nothing really happened... sorry... but I'm still working on that writer's block... When stories get really long like this, I guess writer's block can kill you... but don't worry. I haven't abandoned this story. In fact, I'm slowly crawling out of the block with the success of my other stories. I can't really explain it, but success on other stories remind me of the success of this one, my most popular story, and I am really working to get the chapters out there. Please forgive me for the chapters taking so long. I'll do what I can to get the next chapter up assoon as I can think up something.)