Before sunrise he headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. Kenshin was at the stove ladling rice into bowls for their breakfast when Yahiko stumbled into the kitchen more asleep than awake. The boy collapsed onto a seat cushion and yawned.
"Sano told me you remembered a fight." Yahiko stuffed his mouth and checked over his shoulder expecting Kaoru to walk in at any time. "So which one was it?"
"She was between you and a swordsman who splintered her shinai."
"Oh, that was when you guys got me out of the Yukuza. Did you ever run into them during the Bakumatsu?"
"The Japanese mafia was not a political target."
Kenshin left before anyone else came to breakfast and wasn't back by evening. Sano had tried to find out what was going on at the Department of Internal Affairs, but couldn't get past the front door. Okubo Toshimichi had been assassinated at Kioizaka. Security wouldn't allow anyone in the building and flyers were being passed around on the street.
This whole situation was reminiscent of when Kaoru's father died; voices murmuring in the streets, flyers being passed around about the war, the lonely dojo. This time the papers were about Okubo Toshimichi's assassination, but everyone was expecting another war. She hoped her father's sacrifice for peace wouldn't turn out to be a waste; the first anniversary of his death was in a couple of weeks and she wanted to give him good news.
Sano and Megumi stayed for a while after dinner, but Sano left to escort Megumi home when Yahiko went to bed. Kenshin obviously wasn't coming back tonight. Kaoru stood at the gate waving goodbye to them wondering if Kenshin really did leave without saying goodbye to anyone. The dojo already seemed like a lonely place and she didn't want to be here right now. A shinai was tucked into the obi tied around her waist so she had little fear of being out this late.
After spending all day plotting attack strategies with his enemy in order to eliminate an old comrade Kenshin was in a surly mood. Saito bent his head to light his last cigarette feeling just as disgruntled as Battosai and decided to have a little fun with him.
"Did you say goodbye to the Kamiya girl?"
Kenshin answered by thumbing the hilt of his sword to loosen the blade with a quiet click.
"Don't dawdle; you have five days to be in Kyoto." Saito smirked at how easy it was to get under his skin.
She rested her hands on the bridge's railing as he approached, so much for slipping out of town unnoticed. Recalling the way she spoke with Yahiko last night maybe saying goodbye wouldn't be too awkward. Saito believed they had a relationship which he still found irritating.
"We heard about Lord Okubo." She turned to face him although he made no sound.
"He was murdered by one of Shishio's men so I'm leaving now."
"Thank you for coming to say good-bye, but Yahiko is asleep and Sano is walking Megumi home."
"I know. If Kyoto falls, Edo – Tokyo – will be next."
"Have a safe journey." Kamiya pride kept her voice steady although her eyes focused on the fireflies in the reeds at the river's edge to avoid having him see how close she was to tears.
Kenshin debated bowing formally to her and thanking her for giving him a place to stay, yet in the end he simply vanished into the shadows.
The city wasn't much different than he remembered. Most significantly, the smells of smoke and death were long gone. He needed to find the sword-smith, but food would have to come first. The Aoi-Ya had been rebuilt to look exactly the same. Did they reuse the same boards? As the headquarters of the Oniwabanshu, ninja spies, it was a favorite target of the Emperor. The restaurant had a good reputation before it was leveled. Maybe some of the older men were still around.
The food was still good; however the atmosphere changed halfway through his meal. Only eat with comrades or in a dark corner, be quick and get out. A week in Kaoru's dojo and he forgot something so basic. An old man joined him as he rose to leave.
"No Battosai-dono, finish your meal. There are no enemies here."
"You remember me?" He sat.
"I have not gone blind yet."
"What business do you have, Okina-san."
"The reason you return to Kyoto now and in need of a blade." He wasn't surprised Battosai recognized him despite the wrinkles and grey hair.
"Your spy ring is still intact."
"As is your skill. How was the weather in Shingetsu Village?" The old man stroked his beard and smiled at the red-heads expression. "You apparently didn't like Shishio Mokoto's vision of the future Japan."
"No."
"You're welcome to stay if you want to continue this conversation, Battosai-dono. The bathhouse is out back and we have a few rooms available."
At about two-thirty in the morning Kenshin sat against the far wall with his sword propped against his left shoulder. He was staring into the dark trying not to fall asleep, trying to hold off the nightmares for a little while longer. His beloved wife sacrificed herself by running into the middle of his fight with the man she had hired to kill him; Kenshin's dragon flight strike sliced into her back before he realized she was in the way. She stabbed the man through the heart with a dagger. He hadn't noticed that the force of his blow caused her to release her grip on the short blade and its tip cut across the scar that went from the corner of his left eye to his chin. Between Akira and Tomoe he now had a cross-shaped scar covering his left cheek.
Kenshin's head ended up being supported by the arm resting on his bent knee despite his efforts. This time he wasn't holding his beautiful wife in the snow as thick sticky blood poured from the stab wound in her chest. There was only Tomoe's serene expression and black eyes that masked most of her emotions.
Delicate porcelain features faded into a bright grin and laughing blue eyes that startled him. Eyes that flashed and sparked when angry, yet just as quickly grew wide with worried concern.
"Sano? What happened to you? You need to see the doctor, man. Who beat you?"
"Hey, Tsunan. Don't worry about this bruise; someone tried to persuade me not to follow Kenshin to Kyoto. You got any more information on the assassinations that you didn't put in the flyers you've been spreading around?"
"I know a few things that the government doesn't want the public to know. If you're really going to Kyoto you need to take some of these with you."
"You made more grenades?"
"I found a way to make them just a small, yet twice as powerful. Shishio Mokoto needs to be stopped now."
"Hold on, how many do you think I'm going to need? Is it really this serious?"
"He took over one of the smaller mountain villages last year and now Shingetsu Village is not on the new maps. How many can you carry?"
"Thanks, man."
"Good luck, my friend."
"Have you taken the ferry before?"
"No, I haven't."
"Do you think he'll go back to being Kenshin soon?"
"I don't know, hopefully before he kills anyone."
"He was Ishin Shishi, what if he sees you patrolling and thinks your Shinsengumi?"
"There weren't any women in the Shinsengumi."
"Do you think he's already in Kyoto?"
"If he took the ferry, but I think he chose the Eastern Sea Road to stay out of sight."
"When are we gonna get there?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"He didn't say where he was staying?"
"No."
"How are we supposed to find him?"
"I don't know."
"Will he come back?"
"Battosai doesn't have any ties to us."
"What if Shishio kills him?"
"One more question and you're doing katas until you can't feel your arms."
"Already am, Ugly."
"Don't call me Ugly, Yahiko-chan."
"Battosai-dono, are you still searching for a new sword?"
Kenshin nodded. "I haven't been able to locate Shakku to make another katana for me."
"Shakku died a few years ago, his son Seiku was well trained, but now only makes tools and kitchen knives."
"There may still be a sword left from Shakku that he'll sell, where is he?"
"Misao can show you."
They arrived to find Seiku's son had just been kidnapped by one of Shishio's men who also wanted a sword made by Shakku. The old sword-smith's last known blade had been dedicated to a temple sending Kenshin and Misao off in different directions; one to the temple, the other to get help.
Kenshin saw a straw-haired man hanging a baby in a tree near the entrance. The man introduced himself Cho, one of Shishio's Ten Swords. He knew who Kenshin was and that his sword was broken which didn't irritate Kenshin nearly as much as when Cho confessed the purpose for bringing the infant. He easily deflected Cho's initial strike with his steel sheath and since the man intended to test the blade on the baby getting the sword from the temple was more important than bothering to defeat the man. When Kenshin knocked Cho out with an elbow blow to his temple he didn't wait for him to regain his balance. Kenshin immediately sprinted for the sanctuary.
When Kenshin returned to the temple entrance Cho was standing between the crying baby and a rather angry Misao, Okina and the child's worried parents. Misao was trying to edge around to take the man's back while Okina and Seiku moved slowly in the opposite direction to get Cho in a position where Misao could use her kunai. Kenshin knew from personal experience how deadly her throwing blades were.
They're response at seeing him exit the temple newly armed alerted Cho to his presence so Kenshin wasted no time in attacking. Fortunately for Saito the blade was another sakabato or there wouldn't have been anyone to interrogate on the location and layout of Shishio's lair. Not that Saito preferred to interrogate, 'Swift Death to Evil' was his motto for a reason after all.