Yay longer chapters! I hope the fight scenes aren't too confusing. It's written somewhat disjointedly for effect but maybe it's too much. Also, just a heads up, my updates will probably be a little more spaced now that the story's reached it's stride (wow, that doesn't make sense, does it?). I'll try not to make them longer than two weeks apart though!
Kenshin didn't necessarily want to knock Heiji to the ground. He did, however, want to create general mayhem, and lighting into the oblivious innkeeper's son seemed like the best way to go about that. Kenshin's shinai caught Heiji in the ribs, striking with enough force to lift him off the ground and send him flying towards the porch, shinai still in hand. That would hurt a lot, later.
The innkeeper's mouth had fallen open and he stared, frozen in place, as Heiji hurtled his way. Kaga gave a shout of surprise and Kenshin knew he was just as startled by the turn of events, but his honed reflexes kicked in and he jumped aside. Flailing, Heiji crashed into his father, missing Kaga by inches, but his shinai swung up and landed squarely between Kaga's legs.
Kenshin was already moving, racing across the courtyard to the back fence. He heard Kaga's choked moan, saw him grab Heiji's shinai and throw it aside angrily. The wooden sword busted through one of the porch's shoji doors with a loud rip. There was the crash of broken pottery.
Kenshin didn't look back. He was at the fence now, and in one smooth move he leapt up and cleared the six foot barrier, landing lightly if a little unsteadily on a back road. There wasn't time to see how Heiji held up from the strike−Kenshin would just have to hope a broken rib was the most his would-be opponent would suffer.
Kenshin ran swiftly in the opposite direction the wagon had stopped, brushing past a stray dog and a servant, both of whom regarded him with bored curiosity. He could still hear the innkeeper calling Heiji's name with frantic worry. Kaga was bellowing, and already there were disjointed sounds of pursuit−commanding shouts, feet running one way, then screeching to a stop and turning another direction. At least they weren't sure which way he had gone. Still, Kenshin knew he wouldn't be difficult to find. He slipped into a narrow ally, determined to make as many turns as possible while still headed away from the inn.
The wall that stared him in the face came as a shock. Kenshin's eyes swept over the dead end. The wall in front of him probably belonged to a well-to-do inn, as it was entirely made of wood with not a trace of paper. Kenshin wasted valuable seconds debating whether to turn around or destroy part of a building. As he heard the yells and sounds of tramping feet in the street he'd just left, he realized there wasn't enough time to run out of the ally. Through the wall it was.
He busted through with a thrust of the shinai, revealing what appeared to be a kitchen filled with cooks and serving girls. Knives of different sizes were carefully arranged on tables and there were large pots hanging over several clay ovens, contents already bubbling. Kenshin ignored the questioning stares and indignant shouts, running for a doorway thirty feet away that he knew should lead into the main entrance. He was brought up short just before his goal, a hand latching onto his shirt and dragging him backwards.
"What do you think you're doing, boy? You're going to pay for that wall you ruined! I've half a mind to flay the skin off your back!" Kenshin spun, shinai swinging down even as he took in the short, knife-wielding man berating him.
"Hold him, hold him!" Yoshinobu was pushing his way through the damaged wall, katana out of its sheath, a mere jump from Kenshin.
Kenshin's shinai met bone with a sickening crack, and the man holding him screeched with pain, dropping his knife and grabbing at his broken wrist. At the same moment, Yoshinobu leapt forward, katana aimed at Kenshin's throat.
Kenshin grabbed the closest thing at hand−a bowl of cold vegetables−and threw it at Yoshinobu's face as he rolled out of the way, grabbing the fallen knife as he did so. Yoshinobu knocked the dish away with a hand, his katana missing its target and slicing cleanly through one of the clay ovens. An open bed of embers glowed brightly, and sparks flew through the room. Kenshin winced as several landed on him.
The occupants of the kitchen were fleeing, only a couple staying to stare helplessly as their workplace was slowly decimated. Nobody noticed the as a handful of embers lodged in one of the walls.
One courageous man clasped his hands together pleadingly and inched closer to Yoshinobu, bent almost double in an obsequious bow. "Please, sir, take your fight outside! This is a very expensive kitchen! My m-" Blood flew from the man's mouth as the hilt of Yoshinobu's katana slammed into it.
"Shut up!" That was all it took for the stragglers to leave, leaving their coworker to cower on the floor near the ruined oven.
Kenshin stood with his back to the door, knife in one hand, shinai in the other. Just beyond the doorway, he could hear panicked voices, knew that the kitchen workers were telling anyone in the vicinity what was happening. There was a clatter behind Yoshinobu, and Kaga and two other men shoved their way in, panting. Yoshinobu chuckled and leveled his sword at Kenshin. "Well, this is familiar, isn't it?"
Kenshin gripped his weapons tighter, sneezing as the tangy scent of scorched pine crept into his nose. He could run and try to find a crowd to disappear into but maybe it would be wiser to incapacitate as many men as he could first. He wasn't sure how many people were traveling with the wagon, but he didn't think it was more than ten. If he could defeat these men, he would cut that number in half. That would give him a much better chance of leaving Ishibe without being tracked.
"Have you learned your lesson yet?" Yoshinobu persisted. "Are you going to give up without a fight, or do we need to knock you out this time too?" Yoshinobu's men were standing just behind the ruined oven, and Kenshin knew he couldn't get away without a fight. He would deal with Yoshinobu first.
"You're going to have to fight me." Kenshin snapped, counting on Yoshinobu to react with humor. As Kenshin expected, Yoshinobu threw his head back to laugh, and with a sharp flick of his wrist Kenshin threw the knife in his hand at Yoshinobu's arm. Kenshin saw one of the men reach forward to warn their leader, but he was too slow. The knife lodged deep in the soft crook of Yoshinobu's sword arm, and he screamed, katana falling to the floor as he hunched over, grabbing at the knife. Kenshin used the moment to leap over Yoshinobu's crouched form, spinning as he did so to hit the man in the head with his shinai. One down.
The man who had tried to warn Yoshinobu growled and swung at Kenshin's neck. Perfect. Kenshin stepped backwards, and the man leaned forward for a hit. His foot caught on the edge of the oven Yoshinobu had sliced, and he fell face first onto the uncovered embers. The man rolled over screaming, and Kenshin hastily looked away at the sight of his face, ugly red and already blistering.
"Kill that brat!" Somehow, the man managed to speak, and Kenshin pulled the shinai into a defensive position as Kaga and the other man still standing looked at him venomously. Kenshin stared at them, eyes daring them to attack. They had to, otherwise his plan wasn't going to work.
A loud pop issued from off to the side, and as Kenshin and his two opponents gave a hasty glance, the walls of the kitchen burst into crackling flames. For a brief second the scent of pine was overpowering, and then a wave of heat swept it away, its power almost enough to force Kenshin to the floor. He remained standing with an effort, trying to keep his shinai steady and wondering what had just happened. The stray embers must have kept alight in the walls until the wood finally caught fire. On the bright side, Kenshin no longer had to worry about seeing his plan to fruition. Kaga and the other man were backing into the street, shielding their face with their arms as they passed through the hole in the wall now surrounded by hungry flames.
Kenshin lowered his shinai and looked around, coughing as smoke quickly filled the room and crept into his lungs. The doorway he'd been trying to get to earlier was still relatively free of flames. He could make it through before the kitchen turned into a complete inferno. He hesitated though. The cook wounded by Yoshinobu had long since scurried off but Yoshinobu was unconscious, and the man who had been burned was still lying on the floor, his breathing shallow. Kenshin was torn. If he left the men he was essentially a murderer. But he couldn't ignore the fact that they'd just tried to kill him. Either way, there was no way he could save both of them.
Caught in his dilemma, Kenshin remained oblivious to the flames creeping higher. It wasn't until blessedly cool water splashed onto his skin that he became aware of the thickening smoke and the rising temperature.
"There's a boy in here!" Someone ran forward and grabbed his arm. "What are you doing, idiot? Get out!" Kenshin was shoved through the doorway, and someone else took him, yelling and pulling him away from the burning building. More men ran past, water sloshing out of the buckets they carried.
Kenshin let himself be led away from the scene, yielding under the firm hand that shoved him to the ground and obeying the stern command to sit and rest. His throat felt constricted and he began coughing uncontrollably. Kenshin guessed he had probably come close to dying while deciding whether or not to save his enemies.
As his coughing fit died down, he wiped his eyes and saw that he was sitting in the middle of the main road, either side lined with large inns and compact merchant shops. The fire had spread quickly down the line of tightly-spaced buildings, and the street was crowded with businessmen and travelers, all trying to save their livelihoods. No one was paying the least attention to Kenshin.
Kenshin allowed himself a small smile, and gripping his shinai he got to his feet, walking to the side of the road free of fire. This certainly qualified as general mayhem.
He didn't think he could pull of running just yet, but he walked as quickly as his overheated body would allow, glad that everyone rushing past was focused on the fire. Yoshinobu would probably expect him to turn back immediately, so Kenshin was going to make his way to the next town before taking a roundabout route back to Kyoto.
Kenshin wended his way through the narrow alleys, mind wandering. He was wondering what he would say to his shishou when he returned. He'd have to admit he had been wrong, and just the thought of it stung. Still, it was a small price to pay to return to the relative safety of his master's home. It would be nice if he could find a horse somewhere; Kenshin didn't know how far the next town was and a horse would make the journey less lonely.
"Arrogant." The word made Kenshin's heart beat double time, and he spun around with both hands on his shinai. A man stood in the alley hardly ten feet behind him, his long dark hair pulled tight into a ponytail. His right hand hung at his side with deceptive tranquility, holding a sword from his daishou. Kenshin swallowed. It was the man who had visited Hiko with Yoshinobu. Where Yoshinobu's ki was obviously malevolent though, Kenshin couldn't read this man's aura. That worried him.
"You think you can just run behind a few corners and be impossible to find?" Kenshin didn't respond. "Your ki shines like a beacon, boy. Kenshin, wasn't it?" Kenshin wasn't sure why he nodded. "Yes, I can see how much you've learned from Seijurou. You arrogant twit, thinking your clever fighting skills will be enough."
Kenshin felt obligated to defend his master. "I-"
"Arrogant!" The man interrupted sharply. "Leaving your aura unmasked like that, as if no one could read it."
"My ki . . ." Kenshin stammered, the words falling like rain on a summer day. Why hadn't he thought to hide his aura? Where had his training gone?
"You see now?" The man still wasn't making a move toward him. "So let me ask you, now that you find yourself like this," He made an all-encompassing gesture, "do you think Arimura Jisaemon will be as stupid as his men and fall for some pathetic attempt at trickery?" Kenshin's temper rose at the insult.
"Well if they're your men you're the one who trained them."
"Yes, and thankfully I only trusted them to get this far." Jisaemon lifted his katana lazily, inspecting the blade. "From what I remember of last summer, you have some talent as a swordsman. Humor me with a duel, would you?" The question was more of a courtesy than a request; he was already moving forward, deliberately slow.
Kenshin's hands were sweaty on the shinai. Either Jisaemon was certain he had superior skills, or he knew his men were close by and just wanted a chance to test Kenshin. Either way looked bad.
The pony-tailed man gave an inarticulate yell then and suddenly he was racing forward and Kenshin had no time left to think. He was fairly certain his shinai would be cleaved like a vegetable if he actually used it, so he was going to have to play keep away.
Kenshin jumped up at the last possible second, just as Jisaemon's katana stabbed outwards, and flipped behind his attacker. He pivoted mid-flip and swung the shinai at the man's exposed back. A gleaming sword appeared as if by magic though, expertly blocking Kenshin's blow.
"Ah, well done! How do you respond to this?" Kenshin managed to duck under the kick aimed at his chest, feeling the whoosh of air above him. Without pause he barreled forward, his head crashing into Jisaemon's stomach. Jisaemon staggered backwards several steps, but didn't fall to the ground.
Kuso. A tearing pain coursed over his scalp then and Kenshin bit back a cry. Jisaemon was pulling him up by his hair. "I told you, tricks won't work."
Kenshin just gritted his teeth and cocked his right leg back, swinging it between Jisaemon's thighs, hard. The grip on Kenshin's hair loosened slightly, but then he was slammed into the ground, his face scraping against the road. "I thought you knew how to fight with a sword, Kenshin, is this all you have?" Kenshin lifted his head, saw that Jisaemon was standing over him, daishou dangling at his side. Kenshin didn't think; his hand shot out and grabbed the wakizashi at Jisaemon's waist, ripping it from the man's hakama. In the next breath Kenshin sprang backwards, holding his new weapon at the ready. Now he could fight.
"I wondered how long that would take." Jisaemon didn't seem the least upset. "Now that we're evenly matched, I won't have to go easy on you."
Kenshin didn't have time to ponder the meaning of that. Jisaemon lunged at him, his sword a silver blur. It was all Kenshin could do just to block, never mind retaliate, and he realized it was a losing battle. Still, he refused to give up. Jisaemon must slip up sometimes.
He saw the mistake almost immediately afterwards, Jisaemon's hands loosening almost unnoticeably as he raised his katana. Kenshin struck then, aiming for the base of Jisaemon's sword. Metal sheared against metal and sparks flew. Then Jisaemon's sword spun from his hands, clanging against the wall before clattering to the ground. Kenshin's victory was short-lived though. He'd had to compromise his distance because of the shorter length of the wakizashi, and when Jisaemon's hand shot out he was close enough to grab Kenshin by the neck.
"Not bad, not bad." Kenshin tried to breathe but the hold on his neck was too tight. "Yoshinobu was right, in a few more years you'd be a great asset. We don't have that kind of time though." Kenshin opened his mouth, trying to speak, breathe, anything. Jisaemon was unsympathetic. "Sorry, you lost fairly. Now accept the ramifications." As all remaining air left him, Kenshin felt oddly comforted. He had disarmed Jisaemon. On a good day, he might even be able to beat him. Which meant . . .
He's not as good as shishou. And with this thought, Kenshin fell into the encroaching blackness.
Jisaemon's a little more hard-core than Yoshinobu. Kenshin didn't really have a chance with him. Looks like he's going all the way to Edo! That's proabably not a surprise, is it? ;) If you're wondering what the hell Hiko's doing, he's going to make an appearance soon, if not the next chapter, definitely the one after that.
ZukoFlame: I hope the fight scene delivered! And wishing you good luck on your chapter, I can't wait to read it whenever it's done!!
literaryrxn: Yup, you hit the nail on the head!
t42n24t2: Indeed
Ayesha: Haha, hardcore, I like that!