o.O Sessha has transferred to a new computer. Therefore, his chapters may be posted a bit differently henceforth. Sessha asks you to forgive him.
Also, messed with my last chapter's formatting, and erased all my underscores and greater than/less than signs and stuff that I used for spacing. I apologize greatly for the choppiness of that chapter; here's hoping this chappy comes out better. o.0
:) Hello, all. Welcome to Chappy 9 of the Sword of Seijuro Hiko. ( o.o) I sincerely hope everyone enjoys this chappy as much the others.
Note - Getting discouraged lately. After a particularly long night of work on this chapter, I awoke the next day to find that all of my work was gone. Needless to say, this ticked me off severely.
( ) on to the chappy!
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( ) --- --- ( )--
The Sword of Seijuro Hiko
Chapter 9
The Eyes and the Sword
(U) (U)
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P.S. - If no one could tell yet, I LOVE emotes.
A chill trickled down the spines of the three men, now held captive by the terrifying presence and power of Seijuurou Hiko. None moved for the longest time; whether by shock or grandeur or mortal terror, the Hiten master held them spellbound and utterly without drive or defiance. Staining his blade was a slight droplet of blood of the man named Katsura; slowly now it seemed to smolder into nothingness, as though the wielder of the blade found it offensive and burned it away through the sheer power of his will.
Hiko's eyes traveled to the deathly pale Ayane, lying on a rustic cot, bandages and blankets stacked in heaps over her small frame.
"Will she live?" Hiko asked quietly.
Slowly, hesitantly, the elderly doctor nodded. Hiko's blade quivered, and then withdrew from the throat of the Ishin Shishi leader, leaving a slight blue trail of light in its wake. Katsura noticed the luminescent trail with extreme interest, and a deep sense of foreboding.
I've seen that light before - from Kenshin's blade. Rarely, though... and only when he's giving it his all. he thought to himself. This man is barely moving and still that light follows his blade... is it his ki?
Quietly leaning back against the wall behind him, Hiko's gaze fixed on Katsura once more, sending a slight shiver down Katsura's spine once more.
Those eyes... they really are just like Kenshin's...
Closing his eyes, Hiko breathed deeply, and, to the ears of the doctor, quite painfully. It sounded to him as though there were a rattling in his chest that he was struggling to conceal; even Katsura was suspicious of a faint rattling sound he heard as the amber-eyed swordsman inhaled.
Exhaling slowly, Hiko bowed his head slightly, opening his eyes as he did so.
Such a menacing gleam to his eye... even if he is sickly or wounded, he claims to be Kenshin's teacher... Katsura's mind raced through possible things he could say or do to disarm the steadily thickening tension in the room. From his statement earlier - I suppose he is here to exact revenge on me for making Kenshin into a hitokiri. His shoulders sagged slightly. He'd be doing me a small favor to kill me for it; it's been haunting me since that first day... I better begin by figuring out the facts of this situation.
Noting the swordsman's vacant glare into the void, Katsura straightened his back, and composed himself as fully as he was able. " Are you the one who brought my sister here?"
Hiko, who had been sensing out the varying ki-aura of the Ishin leader and the poor girl lying on the floor, was totally unable to hide his shock at Katsura's question. "Sister!"
Katsura nodded, glad to have broken the ice, though uncertain why it mattered to the swordsman so. "Yes, she is my sister; I learned she was here late this afternoon and sent several of my best guards to escort her here... but she never arrived." The rebel leader clenched his fists tightly. " I've been panicking myself more and more with every hour... I was sure she was dead somehow, but I had no idea what I could do... I sent men to find her, and they reported a bloodbath down the street from here..." Hiko's eyes narrowed as Katsura continued. " I... was unsure what had happened after that... my guards dead, and Shinsengumi too... more than a dozen of them." At that, Katsura's voice grew tense. "Shinsengumi attacking my guards was understandable... and we are risking much being here right now. But I had no idea what they had done with my sister..."
"They were raping her under the assumption that she was dead." Hiko said in a voice of iron.
The Ishin Shishi leader's hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. "Somehow that does not surprise me. Nonetheless... she is only a child..." Unfettered rage came into Katsura's eyes. "And it was you who slew them all?"
"It was."
"I thank you then, for I surely would have hunted each one down and had them ripped asunder."
Silence befell the room, the three men absorbed in their own thoughts and concerns.
"So this is the face of our enemy, then," said Katsura in a strained voice. "A child becomes their enemy and prey. A mere child..."
Hiko's rage flared again. "Don't play so innocent, bastard!" he hissed violently. "You're no better than they are."
Silent for a moment in surprise, Katsura felt a slow burn of resentment welling inside him. He sat up straight and eyed his adversary coldly. "And who are you to say anything about that?"
Hiko thrust out his right arm, ignoring the screaming pain in his torso, his finger stopping inches before Katsura's face. "You are the man who recruited my fool apprentice to be your angel of death, are you not!"
"Yes." Katsura said flatly.
"Thus your answer your own question." growled the Hiten master.
"The two are nothing alike..."
Hiko laughed, a brassy, yet empty, sound. "What difference? The life of a child means nothing to either of you."
"The difference being," Katsura seethed, "that Kenshin wanted to-"
Hiko's laughter ceased abruptly, and madness came into his eyes. "Kenshin! So you pretend familiarity with your pet assassin."
Katsura growled deeply. "Kenshin came to me wanting to help end the war as fast as possible."
"And it was you who turned him into a demon of the night!" Hiko spat.
Katsura's face grew livid. "He is not a demon." he hissed.
"Don't be coy, baka. Murder by night, blood and death being the only thing you see - we both know what kind of life you've given him over to," returned the Hiten master hotly. "We know the madness of such an existence, and you knew full well what would -"
Katsura shook his head vehemently. "He is not like that. He's still sane."
"How nice," Hiko seethed, voice dripping with feigned sweetness, "that you can read the mind and soul of a fourteen-year-old hitokiri like an evening newspaper, eh?"
Katsura's patience broke; violently brushing aside Hiko's arm, he thrust his own arm out, finger directly pointed at Hiko's sword. "By the same token, one could ask YOU why you trained him to be the perfect killer!"
A faint rumbling sound could be heard from the giant swordsman's chest, foreboding and threatening. "That is an entirely different matter."
"I fail to see any difference," Katsura growled. "The boy has talent that most men could never dream of; the best swordsman and guards of the Shogunate are like elderly drunkards in comparison." Straightening, Katsura eyed the taller man with a gleam of violence shining through. "I've heard stories of him descending on elite swordsman like a cat upon a field mouse, slaying them more swiftly than the witnesses could even blink... His motions are as swift as lightning, and soundless as an owl; his form peerless, his technique flawless. Until the formation of the Shinsengumi, I was certain that he was without equal in all of Japan..." Katsura drifted off, closing his eyes slowly. "And it was you who made him into such a master of satsu-jin ken. So don't tell me you didn't know what kind of life he might live thereafter."
Hiko growled, his muscles tightening in a white-hot fury. Katsura opened his eyes again, eying Hiko without fear. "He asked me to put him to work towards bringing the Shogunate to its knees, and I did so. It was what he wanted," said he quietly, maintaining eye contact with his would-be captor. "It is war, swordsman. I will not pretend that it is a righteous thing to do, but it is the best thing to do."
Broken syllables and words came from Hiko's lips. "And... who are... you... to decide what is for the best!"
The elderly surgeon fell back with a cry - Katsura's eyes widened in surprise and sudden fear; the enraged swordsman had gone from sitting in a barely restrained rage to standing a glorious seven feet tall, left arm around the throat of the Ishin leader, his cloak whipping and twisting from his sudden movement, his basso profundo voice thundering so powerfully that fine china cracked and shattered at his speaking.
Such was the potency of Hiko's ken-ki that again a howling wind descended upon Kyoto, bowling men over in the streets, ripping tarps and tents off their ties and stakes, hurling whole baskets of wheat and soy into the sky. Silver-edged, pitch-black clouds enshrouded the moon, covering the whole of the city in a darkness so bleak that men a foot apart could no longer see each other, or even hear one another, through the whine and scream of the violent gales. Rain began to fall, slowly at first, stinging from the speed of the winds; gradually it came more heavily, more violently, as if the city of Kyoto itself were an evil to be pelted and scraped away under the force of the skies above.
Terror gripped the city now, sending even the most hardened warriors to their bases for shelter, or even to breaking into nearby buildings and sheds, desperately seeking protection from the power of the elements.
Mighty bolts of lightning reached across the skies, white and blue and violet, dancing tendrils of energy that shone so brightly that the nigh-inpenetrable darkness was swept aside, lighting the city up as though it were morning, then vanishing into the clouds and covering the city again in a bleak, unending blackness that threatened to overwhelm every person alive in that dying metropolis.
The thunder was deafening in the fullest sense, and it shook the ground so violently that the citizens despaired of the earth itself, fearing that it was also preparing to betray them. Families huddled together, warriors stood back-to-back with their comrades, and animals fled for the lives, only to be blown back into hiding by the rending gales that suffered none to pass.
The candle in the small infirmary flickered and faded, the blackness complete and all-consuming, save for the dangerous, beautiful electric arcs that lit up the skies, illuminating the chiseled features of Seijuro Hiko, and the blazing, scalding, golden light of his eyes.
Despite what his instincts said, Katsura refused to claw at his captor's battering-ram of an arm. He knew in his heart that no one could save him from the madman who even now slowly squeezed the life out of his body. Choking quietly, Katsura caught a glimpse of Hiko's angular face for a moment, half-revealed in the blue-violet light of the lightning outside, revealing sharply curled lips over snow-white teeth bared in a glower so fierce and intense as to stop the hearts of lesser men; then the light faded, leaving only the withering golden glow to illuminate the room.
The lightning flashed faintly as Katsura fought to remain calm, despite his body's screams for oxygen. As though granting an encore, the lightning flashed time and again, revealing always the face of the Hiten master, the elderly doctor, quivering in a corner, and his beloved younger sister, breathing slow and shallow, a cold sweat on her young face. Now, though, Katsura saw only shades of red, a crimson as deep and pure as that of the blood that fell on his head for the life of the young man he'd made into an assassin.
This then... is the end for me... his mind whispered. The end of my struggle, the end of everything... Choking again, what breath he could draw came with a cut-off rasp to it. The sound was morbidly interesting to Katsura. The sound of my death... heh, heh, heh... Death by asphyxiation... hardly... the way... I wanted to go...
He felt himself go limp, as his body and mind began to shut down. I'm so sorry, little sister... and Kenshin... I've only caused... more suffering... I never wanted it like this. . . .
The thunder flashed again, revealing a barely conscious Katsura, still held in a deathgrip by the crimson-drenched Hiten master...
...and the wide, fearful eyes of Katsura's sister.
"Brother!" she gasped, her voice rasping and uneven.
The golden light flared even brighter, and the lightning shone like the sun. Hiko's hand went limp, and Katsura crumpled to the floor, his lungs violently filling and emptying as swiftly as his heart could beat, rasping and rattling like a man brought back from drowning.
Despite his quivering body and flighty state of mind, Katsura's will was sufficient to force his body to begin crawling towards his sister's side, even as his captor/executioner knelt beside her, making a quiet sound that to Katsura's delirious, oxygen-starved mind, sounded oddly like sobbing.
Feverish, yet quite aware, Ayane reached weakly towards her older brother, who grasped her hand with near-equal infirmity, tears of relief welling in his eyes, spilling over and silently falling towards the floor.
The roar of the thunder faded now to a dull rumbling sound that came now and again, and the lightning, too, subsided to some degree, illuminating the room just enough for Ayane to see her brother's tears, and quiet enough for her to hear his gasping, yet joyous breathing.
Smiling weakly, she tried to pull herself to a sitting position, only to gasp as a sharp pain lanced through her right lung. Her brother's formerly weak hands suddenly gained strength, and he hauled himself powerfully to his feet, still drinking in air like a fish returned to the sea, gently, yet firmly, pressing her down to the cot. To her surprise, she felt a second hand, not her brother's, also push her down. She then remembered faintly seeing her brother being choked to death by a large man in a red cloak.
Her eye, blurry and weak, tracked upwards, widening in unabashed shock at Hiko's tear-drenched face, partly hidden in shadow, his many tears glimmering in the electric light.
"Hiko-sama!" she cried softly, again trying to raise herself, only to be firmly pressed down again by both men.
Katsura's mind clicked. -Sama; so she knows him pretty well... but how? Twisting himself slightly, he glanced sidelong at the swordsman, now certain that he heard muffled sobs from the hulking man. Faintly he saw the giant frame quiver and convulse - Katsura was dumbfounded. What in the name of...
Ayane, too, was held spellbound by the grieving swordsman. "Hiko-sama...?"
"Why on earth did you come to this place, girl?" Hiko choked out abruptly.
Ayane sighed slightly, laying back against her small pillow. Her eyes closed and she began to murmur to herself.
Katsura, confused in the fullest, looked back and forth between the two, trying to divine what exactly the link between them was. His eyes narrowed slightly as Hiko began to teeter back and forth, as though falling asleep.
A particularly bright flash of lightning bathed the room in a soft blue glow, and the elderly doctor's eyes widened as he beheld a steady flow of blood oozing from Hiko's torso and chest. Katsura, too, saw the wounds, and caught his breath sharply. Ayane, startled, opened her eyes and gasped as well.
"Should never - have come here, girl..." Hiko whispered, keeling forwards.
More out of wanting to prevent his sister from being crushed than from wanting to help his would-be executioner, Katsura leapt fowards and caught the giant man before he fell atop Ayane. His breath went out loudly, and he staggered under the immense weight of the swordsman.
The doctor glanced between Hiko and Katsura, eying the latter as if asking permission. Grunting, Katsura nodded, and the doctor leapt up and called for his assistants, and began gathering his tools.
Katsura hoisted the wounded man higher, and began to look for a cot. "It appears that now you are at our mercy, swordsman," he grunted. "Fortunately, I'm not the type to hold a grudge against a man."
And besides, I want some answers.
o.o o.o o.o -- New spacing thingy
o.o o.o o.o
An hour before dawn, Katsura left his sister's side and made his way to the room where they had put the man named Hiko. Quietly opening the shoji to Hiko's room, he shuffled inside and seated himself to Hiko's right side.
The elderly doctor eyed Katsura sidelong, dipping a well-worn cloth in a small saucer of water and applying the cloth to Hiko's forehead. "He's an incredible man, I'll say that much."
Katsura grunted. "Explain."
The doctor gestured by way of nodding towards Hiko. "Shoulder-to-waistline sword wound, about an inch and a half deep at the deepest point. His ribs are clearly marked at the wound line, and his center rib has almost been bisected by the attack. It's a miracle, and nothing short, that it did not break since the attack. Had that happened, one of his lungs may have been punctured."
Katsura blinked. "That's... amazing."
The elder chuckled. "It gets better. His muscles there have been cleanly torn; I admit, I'm at a loss to explain how he's been able to keep using that arm at all." The old man shook his head. "Anyhow, that's not all. He's also been stabbed in the torso, a little above and to the right of his stomach. Again, no vital organs were pierced, but his muscle tissue is in a shambles. His side was also slashed open from the wound."
The Ishin leader scowled. "Hiratsuki."
Nodding, the doctor continued, motioning to Hiko's head. "He's also running an extremely high fever, and he shows signs of extreme, and prolonged, mental duress. His blood pressure is extremely unsafe; I am willing to wager it would kill a normal man." At that, the doctor winced. "Also, he's showing signs of extreme malnutrition, but judging by his size, muscles, and bones, I think that it is extremely unlikely he is underfed."
Katsura motioned dismissively. "Doctor, what does that mean?"
The older man pinched the bridge of his nose. "That, and my observance of him over the past few hours, lead me to conclude that his metabolism and regenerative capabilities are... inhuman."
Katsura blinked again. "Inhuman?"
"He's been wounded for hours now, and the extent of the wounds should have killed him with the blood loss. His body just regenerates his blood at a rate like no other man in the world. His ability to heal is astonishing; though he did indeed require help when he appeared to us, had he simply taken rest for a few months and eaten right, I'm almost positive his body could have healed itself with no outside aid."
Katsura was silent for a moment, then leaned forward; in a hushed whisper, he asked, "What are you saying?"
The doctor shook his head and sighed. "He should be dead, and he's not. His wounds, his blood pressure, his mental state; he should have been dead hours ago. But he's still alive, and already beginning healing. I'm telling you that he's just not a normal human; if he even is human."
The Ishin leader's blood ran cold, and a violent chill ran down his spine. "If he's human? Doctor, what else could he be other than human?"
Silence reigned the room. An hour later, the sun began to rise, and still, neither man could find the will to speak.
o.o o.o o.o
o.o o.o o.o
Groggy was a term not readily applicable to Hiko. His perpetual state of paranoia and distrust of the world had molded him into an extremely light sleeper, awakening at a pindrop or the squeal of a mouse. This was a dangerous state of affairs, since he never slept without his sword at his side; Kenshin had learned early on to wake Hiko from a distance if he was sleeping longer than usual.
Today, Hiko awoke with a moan and a wince, his head throbbing with pain. His first instinct was to put his hand to his head, but when he tried to, he found his shoulder and torso to be positively on fire. Grunting, he let his arm rest by his side and instead focused on taking in his surroundings.
His vision was blurry, but he managed to make out a modest room filled with blankets, pillows, and large numbers of boxes. A bit fuzzily, he was sure he saw a large number of bottles of varying shapes and sizes, and what appeared to be assorted medical tools.
"So you're awake."
Hiko's eyes snapped to his left - there sat the man named Katsura, head hung low, as though a great weight had been placed around his neck. Hiko blinked for a moment, and then recalled the stormy night he had met Katsura. A deep growl began in his throat, but trailed off into another grunt as his head began throbbing all the more. Head still bowed, Katsura smiled wistfully.
"Don't try to move too much - you've been out for over a week now." Hiko's headache doubled in intensity.
"A week!"
"Indeed. Our doctor here has been caring for you during that time, although it's been something of a hassle on him with all the other wounded we have here as well."
Hiko decided to lay very still and gather his strength. He eyed Katsura very coldly. "And why exactly have you bothered to keep me alive?"
Slowly, Katsura raised his head and gazed at Hiko, his eyes bloodshot and heavy-lidded, his face red from tears.
Hiko's blood ran cold, and the fire in his soul seemed to go out with a quiet whisper of disbelief.
"She asked me to." said Katsura quietly; Hiko's expressionless face froze briefly, and then he faded into the bleak darkness of unconsciousness, his mind whisperingly denying it all.
His life, his lot, his friends, family, his student... and what had become of them.
He denied it all, and lapsed back into blackness.
END CHAPTER NINE. . . .
Author's Notes -
Akira Toriyama, eat your heart out. o.o
(o.o) This chappy gave me some MORE problems; especially since my time schedule has little room for writing anymore. That, and the aforementioned data loss, and my long-running bout with some odd lung condition for the past six months - O.0 Okay, I will stop making excuses. Suffice to say, I'm sorry I'm late again. ; ;
O.o I am going to do my best to finish this ficcie before the end of this year. After that... /shrug. I might write an FFXI one, but; / Time is the problem here. I just don't have lots of it.
Anyhow, I hope everyone liked this chapter. o.ob Please review!
Thanks for reading!