Kendo Club
Ch 15
Hello again everyone! Long time no see! (ducks tomatoes) HEY! Well to make up for it I've uploaded a wonderful chapter for y'all... or so Yanikei (my beta) says.
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A day, or perhaps later, the red head woke up to find himself lying on the stiff mattress with bright sunlight shining through the window to illuminate the entire room.
He sat up dazedly then sleepily rubbed his eyes and yawned. "What time is it?" the teen asked himself, slowly moving his head back and forth to survey his surroundings.
Casting out his ki, Kenshin realized that Katsura was just outside the room. Sure enough the lock clicked and the door swung open with a creak a few seconds later.
"Ah, I see you are awake Himura. I hope you slept well," the man greeted, stepping in and closing the door behind him.
"Yeah, regular hotel you're keeping here," Kenshin commented sarcastically.
Katsura laughed, "Ah yes. Not the most comfortable, I'm afraid."
The teen snorted ridiculously and looked away. "What do you want from me?" he asked impatiently.
The man smiled, again. "Actually, there's someone I would like you to meet."
Kenshin groaned, "I'm not very good with people."
"Don't worry about it."
Still grumbling, the teen slowly stood up, followed the leader of the organization across the room, then went out the door-he relished the idea that this was the first time he had left this room.
He continued to follow the man along a thin, metal balcony and railing then down metal steps to the concrete floor below.
Once they were standing on firm ground again, Katsura turned to look at a dark, shadowed archway on their right, "Hajime-san, come here please," he requested, his face showing a small smile.
The red head turned as a man dressed in a police man's uniform stepped out from the shadows to walk up to them. A sword hung ready at his side, the scabbard bumped against his leg as he moved. He inclined his head at the man and teen then stopped in front of them, "good morning, or late morning I suppose."
"Good morning Hajime." The manager of the organization greeted, and then turned to raise his hand at Kenshin. "Hajime-san, this is Kenshin Himura, he has just joined us."
Kenshin bobbed his head slightly, and then regarded Hajime with stern, wary eyes. "Hello, nice to meet you."
The police officer nodded, put a hand on the hilt of his sword and glanced at Katsura. "To you as well."
A knock on the door caused Kaoru to start and look up at the door in surprise.
"Come in," she called softly, closing the journal with a finger, marking her place as it lay in her lap.
To her surprise, Mr. Hajime walked in, then closed the door behind him and surveyed the room. "So this is Himura's room." He commented, walking over to the window and then turning.
"Why do you call him 'Himura'?" The teen questioned, but the adult didn't answer, instead he just glanced over at her,
His set expression shifted slightly when he noticed the journal on her lap, "You're reading Himura's journal. He won't like that," Hajime sighed, "he can be very protective when he wants to."
Kaoru frowned at him, "Kenshin wanted me to, and he told me to."
The adult made a noise that could be either a snort or a snicker, "I see." He tilted his head slightly to the side, "where are you?"
She stared at him, not understanding his question and soon they lapsed into silence.
"You're in here you know." The teen announced, gesturing at him with the journal, her finger still holding the place. "It surprised me."
"Yes, I would expect to be." Saito replied, sticking his hands in the pockets of the jeans, "What does he say?"
Kaoru dodged the question and countered, "Why were you part of this-"
He cut her off and finished sharply, "the Ishin Shishi? Back then, I didn't really have a reason. I was just a free-lance cop."
She considered this, and then asked, "when did you meet Kenshin, Hajime-san?"
"Either call me Saito, or Hajime but not Hajime-san." The adult replied shortly, and then sighed. "Actually I met Himura a few days after he joined the Ishin Shishi." He continued quietly, "It was difficult."
But the teen heard what he had said and asked curiously, "what do you mean?"
To her surprise, Kaoru's teacher walked over to the bed and sat down near her. His hand went to the front pocket of his shirt, but he stopped himself. "Damn Hiko, banning me from smoking in his house," he muttered angrily.
"Well?" Kaoru demanded impatiently.
Saito scowled, and then raised his head to stare at the wall opposite him as he spoke.
"I mean it was hard watching an idealistic young swordsman die, and become a hitokiri," he explained, but not as clearly as Kaoru had hoped.
She frowned confused at him, "what's a 'hitokiri'?"
The teacher snickered quietly and turned to look at her with mischievous amber eyes. "You're Japanese and you don't know what that word means?"
"Sorry if I haven't actually delved into my heritage yet," Kaoru snapped back, sitting back with her arms crossed and face set in a classic teen pout.
Saito stood up, brushed off his jacket then walked over to the door. "I never said you had to. Keep reading Kamiya-you'll find out soon enough," he added as he exited.
After he left and the door closed, Kaoru shook her head at the man's personality. "Weirdo." She commented before opening the worn journal once more and began reading…
The first time I received the black envelope, at first I thought it was a card of some sort, like the ones you receive on holidays. Then Katsura-san handed me a katana, different then the one I had been practicing with, and whispered, "clean Himura, make it clean and simple," in my ear before he walked away.
I still didn't understand what he was talking about, or what the envelope was for-at least not until I was back in my room alone and I opened it.
Written in white ink on the inside of the card was a short, but informative message:
Jenki Hermans
11 pm Crown Theater
One or two bodyguards
Take him into the alley and dispose of the man
Tenchu
'Surprised' is the best way to describe my reaction to the message. I was supposed to kill someone? In cold blood, with my sword?
Blindly I found the bed and sat heavily down on it. I read the card again, how was I expected to do such a thing?
Vaguely, from the recesses of my memory, I remembered someone saying to me that the way of the sword is to kill. But I never knew that that statement could be so true, or so painful. All I wanted was to protect people-not kill them.
After the night of that first mission, something happened. I'm not sure what… but everything was… 'different.'
The morning after, or the next time I woke up, I took a long, hot shower to get rid of as much blood as I could and then shed the bloodstained clothes I was still wearing. In clean clothes once again, I sat down on the bed. After thinking for a few minutes, I realized that I couldn't remember anything from the days before coming to this organization, and I didn't know how long I had been here.
Even after that disturbing realization, I didn't know what to do, how I should react to what I did and what was happening to me.
I suppose in the end I deiced to withdraw myself form the work and go on with this as if it were a job-something I couldn't help doing.
Katsura knew that when he had asked Himura to kill for him that it would change the teen, but there was no way he could have anticipated the real difference in the redhead's personality.
When the man first went to see Himura after the second night, he had given the teen a black envelope. Now he witnessed just what he had done.
He knocked on the door to the room and a soft voice answered, "Come in Katsura-san." Surprised, he turned the knob and slowly walked in. The teen was sitting on the small bed, his knees curled up to his chin and his thin, muscular arms wrapped around himself. Long bangs shadowed the face, and his hair spilled over his shoulders.
"How are you, Himura?" Katsura asked curiously, shutting the door and leaning against it.
"Fine," was the short, one-word reply. Katsura flinched. The teen had already adapted the short, terse way that hitokiri spoke.
He sighed, "Himura, I-"
The teen replied sharply, "Don't say it. I don't need your pity."
"I'm sorry Himura." The teen scoffed, and Katsura continued. "I really am."
For one second Himura turned to glance at Katsura through his bangs and the man found himself transfixed by the cold amber-blue eyes. Then the teen looked away again and he was freed.
When neither of them spoke for several minutes, Katsura turned around again and opened the door. "I'll leave you then," he said and went out of the door, closing it behind him.
After a few more nights, the teen began to lose himself to the world. To save himself he locked away the important parts of his mind and soul and continued to go on with the assassinations as best he could… losing more and more of himself each time he killed someone.
The violet-blue faded from his eyes to become cold, emotionless amber and his blood-red hair was always tied in a high ponytail.
Shinta had died long ago, perhaps even before the first time he had killed… when he had first held a sword.
When little more then a year had passed, or maybe it had been longer- time seemed to have little meaning in this place- Himura, or Battousai as he was now called by the members of the Ishin Shishi whom he rarely he saw, returned late one night after one of the few times he went out to browse the town while it was dark.
He walked quietly into the building, through the dark hallway and into the half-lit room, his footsteps barely making a sound on the concrete floor.
Near the side of the room was a small table and three people were sitting around it talking. As he came up to them Himura recognized Katsura, but the other two –also with swordsmen ki- were strangers.
Katsura looked up when Himura stopped beside them, making only enough noise to be heard. He smiled at the redhead, "Good evening Himura-san."
"Hello Katsura-san," he quietly returned the greeting, pulling off his hat to let the ponytail tumble down his back.
The other strangers looked up to stare at him and Himura also politely nodded his head at them, meeting their brown and blue/grey eyes with calm amber ones, then mumbling an awkward "hello."
"Himura-san, these are two guests of mine who are thinking of helping us." He waved a hand at the two men, "this is Makoto Shishio and Seta Soujiro."
The younger one-Soujiro- who seemed to be the same age as Himura, smiled and waved enthusiastically while the other just continued to stare at the redhead in a disconcerting way.
"You are the one known as Himura Battousai? Or Hitokiri Battousai to the people?" asked the second stranger with long, black hair and sharp features in a low, dark tone.
Red head bobbed his head and replied with a short, soft "hai."
Soujiro leaned forward and Himura, for the first time, noticed that the continuously smiling teen wore a sword, but then he spoke in a surprisingly eager tone. "Battousai-san, what would you say if I proposed a small duel between he two of us?"
'Battousai-san' thought on the suggestion for a few minutes while the other teen peered at him eagerly and Katsura and Shishio restarted their conversation again.
Finally, he replied, "Sure." He then uncovered the sword hanging at his waist, while at the same time Soujiro stood up and walked over towards him.
They moved towards the center of the room and stepped forward to face each other, hands on the hilt of their swords.
Himura tried to sense his opponent's ki- but there wasn't any. Either the teen was very good at repressing it, or he had none.
Deciding that it would be better to attack, since he wouldn't be able to predict the others movement as well, Battousai shifted into a battoujutsu stance, the attack his nickname had come from.
"Ah, I see." Soujiro commented, then stepped forward and crouchedin a battoujutsu stance also.
The two of them stood patiently, gazing at each other in silent appraisal as they waited for the other to move. The resulting silence was overwhelming since Katsura and Shishio had stopped their conversation to watch the duel.
Finally an unspoken command was given and the two teens darted forward, drawing their swords as they moved at unbelievable speeds. They poured all of their strength into the single, fatal attack and with a fierce clang and shout from the opponents-the swords met.
The duel was over as soon as it had started.
When Katsura and Shishio had waved away the resulting dust storm, they saw a curious sight.
The teens were standing stock-still in the middle of the room, their swords hanging from their hands at their sides. But the odd thing was that they were both staring at the other, as if caught in a daze.
A cracking noise made both of them start and look down to see that Soujiro's sword had cracked and chipped at the edge, making it unusable. Strangely, the same happened to Himura's a few seconds later. The duel had ended.
With a polite nod, Battousai sheathed his sword, turned on his heel and quietly walked past the table. "Good night Katsura-san," he said softly as he passed the man, then went up the steps and over to his room.
Meanwhile Soujiro was still gazing at his sword. "He is quite a worthy opponent," the teen commented before carefully sheathing the weapon.
I saw Shishio and Soujiro many times after that first night; they often visited to discuss business matters with Katsura-san. That also wasn't the only time I dueled with Soujiro, or Tenken as I discovered his nickname was, we had many other matches following that one, but usually carefully planned and fought.
I would say the two of us became friends, but that was not an available form of acquaintance in those days. We were more...well-acquainted business partners then friends.
Two years after I joined the Ishin Shishi (I am roughly estimating this time period) Katsura gave me a special mission. It was not an assassination as I first expected, but an order to seek out and find the leader of the Oniwaban group- and possibly make him an acquaintance of the organization and myself.
The envelope I received from Katsura-san stated the man's name was Aoshi Shinomori and I would find the Oniwaban headquarters in the popular restaurant 'Aoiya' on the outskirts of town.
I headed for the restaurant once night had fallen, wearing normal teenage clothes, a baggy sweatshirt hiding my restored katana. To be careful I had placed a bandage over my scar, wore my hair under a hat and refused to make eye contact with anyone – there was no need for a wave of chaos to occur.
Perhaps twenty or thirty minutes later I found myself standing in the dark alleyway behind the restaurant. I was forced to hide as a man brought boxes of supplies inside from his truck. But he had soon driven away. After a few minutes I slowly withdrew from my hiding place to step out into the alley and then quietly walk up to the now closed back door and knock. Once…twice…three times.
Himura stood on the doorstep, leaning against the wall while keeping a close look out for anyone coming near, and waiting for an answer.
The door clicked and swung open slightly causing the light and voices from inside to spill out into the darkness.
"Who's there? What do you want?" A spirited young female voice demanded from the other side of the doorway, easily overwhelming the other voices from inside.
The redhead replied quietly, "I want to talk to Shinomori-san." He answered, head down, still hiding in the shadows.
A soft gasp came to his ears, "Aoshi? What do you want to talk to Aoshi-sama for?" it demanded, anger masking the previous confusion.
"Just please go get him," Himura instructed, standing still and saying no more.
When he didn't respond further the female teen sighed, mumbled something under her breath then closed the door
A few minutes alter it opened once again, slower, more cautiously this time, and a tall, muscular from stepped forward to stand on the door still. "Who's there?" A monotone, male voice questioned.
"Shinomori-san, I presume?" The redhead replied similarly, in a soft emotionless tone.
The other presumably grumbled something under his breath and then stepped further out into the alley, demanding, "who is asking?"
Himura straightened and turned so the light from the doorway partially illuminated his slim, vertically challenged form. "I am."
Aoshi turned to gaze through the darkness at his mysterious companion. "And who is 'I'?" He asked cautiously.
The red head raised his head, then slowly pulled off the hat so his hair fell down into place.
In the dark, the leader of the Oniwaban was easily able to distinguish the piercing amber eyes and flame red hair.
"Battousai."
Himura smiled amiably, "so you have heard of me, I expected as such." He commented quietly.
But Aoshi was cautious, especially since he now knew that this teen was the terrifying and skilled Hitokiri Battousai. "Why are you here?"
The hitokiri tilted his head to the side while smiling, but it was a false smile – one to hide his emotions behind. "My commander Katsura-san asked me to contact you."
"Why?" was the one word answer.
Himura sighed, "to see if you would like to join our organization I suppose." He paused, "are you always so interrogative?"
Aoshi replied calmly, his face a mask, "with a hitokiri who I am not acquainted with… yes."
While the red head puzzled out a decent answer to that, the female voice from earlier, who had first answered the door, asked from within, "Aoshi-sama, who is it?"
Still keeping an eye on the shorter teen, the leader turned back and answered, "Come and see Misao-chan."
Soon, a smaller more slim figure joined Aoshi in the doorway, "I told you not to call me that anymore Aoshi-sama, we're the same age!" complained a young girl wearing a short skirt and t-shirt, her hair carefully done up in a braid.
The quiet teen didn't answer her complaint; instead he barely moved his head to glance over at Himura who still stood partially in the shadows. She followed his gaze and finally noticed the Hitokiri standing nearby.
"W-what? W-who?" Misao-chan asked, but was unable to form or continue her questions.
He bobbed his head and greeted softly, "good evening."
Finally she was able to say, all in a rush while pointing at him, "you're the Battousai."
Himura raised an eyebrow at her statement but didn't reply out loud.
Aoshi turned to address his outspoken female companion, cautiously watching the redhead. "Misao-chan, Himura wishes me to go with him to see, and most likely talk to, his commander. Will you look after the restaurant for me while I'm gone?"
The girl erupted in a shout of anger, "No way! I'm coming with you and that's that!" She glared suspiciously at the redhead who blinked at her clueless. "Who knows what Battousai here will do you in, in a dark alley or somewhere shadowy like that."
"Why would I do such a thing as that?" Himura questioned quietly, still smiling cluelessly at her.
Misao grumbled under her breath and turned away so her back was to him.
Aoshi placed a large hand calmingly on the top of the girl's head, causing her to quiet. "I'm leaving it to you to take care of the restaurant Misao, it's your responsibility."
"Aoshi-sama," she commented, turning around to clasp her hands and gaze at him dreamily.
Himura sighed noisily, bored by the conversation. "It was a pleasure meeting you Misao-san." He said, bobbing his head then turned to look at Aoshi. "I'll be waiting for you Shinomori-san, please do not take long."
With that, the teen disappeared.
"What the-" Misao questioned disbelievingly, eyes wide as she stared at the place where he had been seconds before.
The leader of the Oniwaban silently praised the redhead's skills then tilted the girl's head upward to look at him, "take care of yourself Misao, and I'll do the same for myself."
She pouted but then smiled eagerly, "Alright Aoshi-sama, I'll do my best!" She announced, raising her fist high into eh air.
"That's it." Aoshi agreed, gently shaking her head. "Now stay in there and stay safe."
Misao nodded then stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
After making sure the girl was safe inside, the leader stepped out into the once again dark alley. He stopped, turning every which way to find that other teen. When Aoshi caught no glimpse of red hair or amber. He cast out his ki, searching for a trace of the manslayer's own ki. But there was none, not for as long as he tried.
"Up here Shimomori-san, please follow me." Battousai's voice called to him from somewhere above.
Aoshi looked up and could briefly see a figure standing on top of the roof of the next building over. "How did he get up there!" was his first thought, and then a strong ki flickered into life from the figure he knew it to be Battousai. "He can suppress his sword spirit? How?" went the second realization.
But then it became weaker and further away from him. "This way Shinomori-san!" The red head called again, his voice moving as he spoke.
Shinomori walked quickly down the alley then turned left, following the faint spark of ki he could sense from his companion.
He moved from walking to running after having trouble keeping pace with the other teen. Battousai was much faster then he had thought, despite the fact he was jumping roofs.
The ki suddenly shifted direction and Aoshi skidded around a corner in order to keep up.
"No more thinking while you're running," Shinomori scolded himself as he began to run faster.
Once in a while he looked up at the roofs above him, trying to see his redheaded companion. But the hitokiri managed to stay out of sight all of those times, Aoshi could never see him.
Finally after they had begun running, or roof hopping, for a long time, the leader noticed that he was coming to the end of the series of alleys near the main road of the city.
"Nearly there Shinomori-san," called a soft voice from above.
Aoshi groaned, but continued running after the redhead. Now he wasn't sure this had been a good idea after all.
They crossed the main road, Aoshi by walking and he supposed Battousai by jumping.
A few blocks later the black haired teen realized with a panic that the ki he was following had vanished.
He began scanning around him with his eyes and ki while continuing to run down the alley, trying to sense the redhead.
"We're nearly there Shinomori-san. Only a few blocks more," informed a soft voice from at his side and Aoshi glanced over to see Battousai running next to him, easily keeping up. The leader silently wondered at how quietly- no, silently the teen could move.
They came to a large, dark alley with an abandoned office building standing alone at the end of the alley they were running down.
Beside him Shinomori noticed the hitokiri pause at the opening of the alley and look around carefully. "Please follow me Shinomori-san. Be careful."
The red head stepped out into the empty alley, and then suddenly vanished from Aoshi's sight to reappear at the entrance of the abandoned building. The red head waved Aoshi over and the taller teen carefully followed, watching out for other people.
Battousai gently pushed the front door open and held it for his companion before turning back and closing it behind them.
Aoshi followed the shorter teen down a dark, narrow hallway until they stepped out into the large, main room. Now the two teens walked diagonally across it to stop in front of a large, metal door.
"Katsura-san?" The red head called softly, knocking lightly on the door.
A few minutes later the door creaked open to reveal Katsura standing in the doorframe. He first noticed Battousai.
"Himura?" he asked, readjusting his glasses, "you've returned."
The hitokiri nodded, "yes, and I brought Shinomori-san with me." He stopped aside as the commander stepped forward to shake Aoshi's hand.
"It's nice to meet you Shinomori," the man greeted, smiling friendly. To the red head he instructed, "You may go to bed Himura. Thank you for bringing Shinomori here."
The redhead bobbed his head politely, glanced over at Aoshi then turned and walked quietly over to the metal staircase then up it and crossed over to his room.
Katsura waited until the teen had entered his room and closed the door before speaking. "Thank you for coming Aoshi-san. I hope Himura didn't give you any trouble."
"No, he didn't." Aoshi paused thoughtfully, "I didn't know you were the one responsible for Hitokiri Battousai."
The man looked confused for a few seconds until he said, "Oh, you mean Himura. Yes, our organization would be his so called 'employer.' He is very skillful and efficient with his work."
"Why do you call him Himura, instead of Battousai?" The teen questioned curiously, warming up to this man.
"Himura is his family name. I don't like to call him Battousai, it seems to remind him of the loss of his humanity because of what he's doing for us." Katsura explained emotionally, glancing up at Himura's closed door.
Their conversation lapsed into awkward silence as they stood in place on either side of the doorway.
But then the commander opened the door further and waved Aoshi in, saying, "Excuse my lack of manners Shinomori, please come in." Aoshi followed him inside and they shut the door behind them.
The next morning Aoshi was sitting at a table in the nearly empty small cafeteria room, eating the breakfast Katsura had recommended him to take advantage of. To his surprise a few minutes later Battousai walked through the double doors, shushing the few other occupants. The red head quickly scanned the room, not meeting anyone's eyes. When he noticed Aoshi, his expression didn't change, but the manslayer walked over to the table and sat down across from the other teen.
"Good morning," Himura greeted quietly, sliding onto the wooden seat.
Aoshi looked up at him in surprise but returned the greeting. "Good morning yourself." He paused, "did you sleep well last night?"
Battousai raised his eyebrows at the friendliness. "No," he sighed and lowered his chin onto his crossed arms that were resting on the table, "not anymore anyway." The teen questioned, "You stayed here overnight?"
"Yes, it was late by the time Katsura and I finished talking so he convinced me that it would be better to stay the night. I agreed since Misao can take care of the restaurant by herself." Aoshi replied, and then took a forkful of the pile of eggs on his plate.
Himura made an understanding noise then closed his eyes. It was so long before he moved that Aoshi thought his companion had fallen asleep.
To make conversation the black haired teen asked, "are you hungry?" As he raised another forkful of eggs to his mouth.
The redhead shook his head and said, without opening his eyes, "Not really." Aoshi insistently held a spare spoon near his companion's half-hidden face. "Not thanks, I'm not hungry," he disagreed without raising his head.
The teen was inwardly surprised at Battousai, how could he tell where the spoon was without looking? While thinking Shinomori finished off the rest of his breakfast meal, watching the other teen out of the corner of his eye.
"What did Katsura-san talk with you about Shinomori-san?" Himura questioned, gazing up at Aoshi through long flame-orange bangs with curious amber eyes.
Aoshi looked at him after pushing the plate off to the side. "He wants me to join the organization, to work along with you."
Himura raised an eyebrow at him, "and what was your answer?"
"Yes, I suppose." He paused, waiting for a reaction from the red head. When there was none Aoshi continued, "But the Oniwaban will only work alongside the Ishin Shishi, not with them."
Himura nodded agreeably, "I see." He smiled slightly, "well I look forward to working with you."
His Oniwaban companion regarded him for a few minutes before asking hesitantly, "Battousai-"
"Himura."
Aoshi nodded, "Himura then. Can I ask you a personal question?"
The hitokiri looked up at him, not answering but instead waiting for the teen to continue.
"How old are you?" Shinomori questioned curiously, blurting it out which was very unlike him.
Battousai raised his eyebrows and for a second an expression of surprise and confusion was visible on is face, the first display of emotion since he had become a hitokiri. But then the mask returned and he gazed at the other teen with a blank face, "nearly fifteen, I think."
The ninja looked surprised at the redhead. He definitely hadn't expected that glimpse of emotion. Everyone said that Hitokiri Battousai was a cold-hearted, emotionless killer, but the perhaps all of those rumors were false. "What do you mean, you think?"
Himura ducked his head back onto his arms so his face was hidden into the fabric. "Mmm mph nspht." He replied, the words coming out muffled because of the cloth.
"What did you say?" Aoshi questioned curiously, leaning forward partially across the table.
"I can't remember." The redhead sighed, "I don't remember anything from before I came here."
Aoshi stared at him; he hadn't had any idea that this was the situation Himura was in. Perhaps the hitokiri was more human then anyone knew. "Not anything?" he asked. This boy had become a hitokiri when he was only a little older then twelve?
Himura didn't answer, except to nod and then bury his face back in the cloth.
Shinomori stood up to stand beside the table gazing down at the dejected-looking teen, "I have to return to the restaurant Himura. But if you ever need anything, you're welcome to come and talk with me." When he finished speaking Aoshi walked around the table, across the room and through the double doors, leaving the red head sitting alone at the table.
I did see Aoshi after that, many times in fact. He came back to the building fairly often, either to receive requests (they weren't really orders) from Katsura, or to talk. In return I visited the restaurant a few times and there was always a hot meal waiting for me there. The odd thing is that I never saw Misao again, or anyone else who worked in the restaurant, and who I guessed was also Oniwaban. I suppose I should have asked Shinomori-san about her (Misao) sometime in our conversations, but I always either forgot or was hesitant about doing so.
Perhaps half a year, or a little more all I knew was that it was summer-hot, humid and noise. One day in the early summer I was sitting in my room on my bed reading, (when Katsura had learned I enjoyed to read he had began to collect books for me), when a black envelope shot out from underneath the door. In truth I was hesitant to open it, I had foolishly thought that since it was now summer I wouldn't be sent out every, or every other, night.
Finally I set the book aside, slid off the bed, walked over to and picked up the envelope. My hands shook as I slowly tore it open to reveal a name and address written on the inside in white ink.
For some reason my eyes only focused on the name of my next target:
Hiko Seijuro
DUN DUN DUN!
Hee hee.. this is so fun! I enjoyed writing this. Yes next chapter there will be a duel between Hiko and Kenshin.. something for all of you to wait on the edge of your seats for!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I appreciate all the comments, suggestions and ego-boosting compliments. XD
If anyone would like to read my NaNoWriMo novel (which I'm not even CLOSE to finishing) the first 'chapter' is under my account of "elvfnchild" on Please read it if you wish and I would appreciate reviews.
If anyone is wondering about my other fics... they ARE COMING! I'm in the process of writing most of them, and hope to have a major update after christmas break (second week of January).
I think thats it...
Please don't forget to review! (I'm asking you nicely!)
Merry christmas/hannukah/other and Happy New Year
ja ne,
miji-chan