Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin

When Sakura Blossoms Fall

Chapter 18: A New Weakness

A nervous sweat seemed to pour down his face, so much so that he felt as if he was drowning in it. His skin was cool and clammy and covered in thousands of tiny goose bumps. He tried to take a deep, calming breath, but instead ended up nearly choking on the fetid air. Something was terribly wrong.

Kenji suddenly realized that he had no idea where he was. He swung his head around in an attempt to discover his current location. It didn't take him long to recognize the river, the bridge, the nearby city.

Why am I in Tokyo?

The sun was shining brilliantly, not hindered by a single cloud, but for some reason everything seemed duller than normal, darker and less distinct. Despite the presence of hundreds of people just a matter of yards from the riverbank, it was silent. Kenji shuddered and turned away, his eyes frantically searching for a way out, when they stopped on a figure previously unnoticed, sitting on a log inches from the water. The man appeared in sharp contrast to his dim surroundings, clothed in a magenta gi and spotless white hakama, an all-too-familiar sword at his side. His head was bent down, and unmistakable vermillion bangs shaded his eyes from view. But Kenji didn't need to see the eyes to recognize the man. He frowned.

"Tou-san."

Apparently his voice had not accompanied him to this surreal existence, or Kenshin chose to ignore him. Either way, his attention was soon distracted from his deplored father by another familiar character from his past. He smiled gently as his mother stalked up to Kenshin, scowling. She looked much younger than he ever remembered her being. Could this have happened before she and his father had married?

He watched their short exchange with mixed feelings. Kaoru was obviously incensed about something, but it soon became clear that her greatest emotion at the moment was concern for her future husband. Kenji smiled as she "gave" Kenshin the ribbon from her hair. But then something else caught his eye. Something was coming down the river.

As the object drew closer he recognized it to be a man, standing on a raft that was traveling far too fast to be safe. Kenji shuddered as his face came into view. It wore a thoroughly demonic smile, accompanied by two dark hellish orbs with soul-piercing pupils where normal eyes should have been. Instantly Kenji knew it was the man Yahiko had told him of when Kaoru and Kenshin had refused to, the leftover killer from the Bakumatsu, Jin'e. And his Satanic excuses for eyes were fixed on Kenji's mother.

Kenji felt himself falling into a state of panic. Didn't they see him? He started to run forward to warn them, but to no avail. The hideous man on the raft got there first; two snakelike arms grabbed his mother from behind with inhuman speed, and Kenshin was forced to watch helplessly as she was pulled unwillingly away on the quick current.

"I assume this is your woman, Battousai."

Kenji froze next to the image of his father, the two redheads staring blankly in fear as Kaoru called her beloved's name. Kenji wanted to grab his father by the shoulders, to shake him and demand to know what was going on, why he wasn't going after her. But just as his arms extended to assault the man, the scenery began to disappear from under him. His father and the river faded, and suddenly he was somewhere else, a graveyard. There was his mother again, slightly older this time, and kneeling in front of a grave, crying. Then there was another man behind her, with eerie white hair and sharp glasses, attacking her from behind before she could protest and dragging her away, unconscious. His mother was a captive on an isolated island, she was seen again, violently ill, she was crying as Kenshin left; the images flitted in and out of Kenji's mind almost faster than he could follow. He clenched his eyes shut and sank to his knees, shaking his head violently to rid his memory of the pictures of the most important woman in his life suffering. Soon he vented the frustration into another emotion: anger. It was Kenshin, it was because of his father that all of these things had happened to her. How dare he . . .

Kenji's blood ran cold as he made another realization. Another scene had risen to his mind's eye, but this woman . . . that wasn't his mother. He squinted and stepped forward toward the sobbing woman. She turned accusing, tearful eyes on him, then parted trembling lips.

"How could you do this to me?"

He stumbled backward.

Chizuru?

The young swordsman bolted to a sitting position, gasping heavily for air. Soon he recognized that he was back in Hiko's cabin. It had been a dream.

Hiko sat watching him from a few feet away, his mouth curved upward in a sorrowfully ironic smile.

"Nightmares about the past?" he questioned quietly. "You really are abnormally like your father."

This time, Kenji didn't scowl upon hearing the comparison to Kenshin. It still upset him, but this time for very different reasons. He turned to his former master, extremely agitated.

"Hiko-san, am I really that much like my father?"

Hiko chuckled. "Of course. No matter how much you hate it, you were nearly identical as adolescents, both so foolhardy and stubborn and determined to become as strong as possible. Then you both ran off to war, and although I doubt you have regrets as intense as his were, it obviously wrought a lot of changes in you. And now here you are, years later, just as clueless and hopeless in love as he was." The man's smile faded by a barely discernable degree. "It's unnerving, really, watching you grow up so much like him."

Kenji didn't bother to disagree and sank desperately against one wall, passing one hand across his face.

Why did she look at me like that? As if I had done something wrong . . .

Hiko's words echoed in his befuddled mind, and he was forced to admit what he had been avoiding almost since infancy.

I really am like Tou-san, aren't I? Look at what I'm carrying because of the rebellion. Kaa-san suffered so much because of his mistakes. Chizuru . . . I'll end up hurting her too. It isn't safe for her to be close to me. I'm a wanted man.

He smiled bitterly as he recalled their conversation earlier that day. I suppose it's best that she wants me out of her life. It will be better this way. He sighed contentedly, finally relaxing.

Yes, she'll be safe this way, as soon as I'm in Tokyo.

"Hungry?"

Kenji glanced at Hiko and willingly took the bowl of soup extended toward him, his thoughts busy with plans to return home as soon as possible, until a soft knock on the door brought both of their heads up.

Misao entered at Hiko's short welcome, her eyes immediately traveling to Kenji.

"You had an argument with Chizuru, didn't you."

He nodded, sighing.

"I thought you might have gotten to her," she replied, seating herself next to him. She leaned forward to examine his face, and saw the small red scar just under his eye. A quiet chuckle proceeded from her lips.

So that's where she punched him.

"What makes you say that?" Kenji said, trying to ignore her slightly disconcerting amusement at what was left of his injury.

"Chizuru just informed Aoshi that she wants to be trained to become a member of the Oniwabanshu."

Kenji glanced at the kunoichi in surprise. "Really? That doesn't seem like her."

Misao just nodded. "And do you know what she said when he asked why?"

"What?"

"She answered, rather bitterly, actually, that she was tired of being viewed as a naïve little girl. And of course I knew that you never could have said something to make her feel that way."

Kenji smiled at her painfully obvious sarcasm. So Chizuru was trying to prove something to him. I guess it isn't really that surprising after everything I said . . . here and in China.

"So what brought that on?"

Kenji shrugged. "I was just trying to make a point. I don't know how we always end up fighting."

Misao grinned, shaking her head. "Well, you had better be of to Tokyo soon." She poked him teasingly on the face, making him flinch. "After all, I didn't know it was possible for Chizuru to get so angry. Just imagine what she'll do to you once she gets a hold of a kodachi and a few kunai!"