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XDrAnDomPeRsoNXD - I'm very pleased to have you along for the ride. It's been a while since any of my unfinished works have gotten any reviews and I hope I can continue writing the stuff that makes readers like yourself enjoy and take time to review. Thanks and enjoy another chapter.
Chapter Eleven
//Lord Yukishiro sat tapping his foot as the recent reports were told to him. "And what of the third squad."
Katsura shook his head. "I'm afraid we haven't heard, sir."
Enishi stood up. "What about Master? Master Masanori was in that squad."
Yukishiro sneered at his son. "Sit down and be quiet."
Hinageshi shivered behind the door, listening silently.
"Take two others with you and find out what happened. If the mission was a failure, kill any who are remaining." Yukishiro drank some tea. "I don't want failures in my shogunate."
Hinageshi held back the tears, hurrying through the corridors to her room. Going to her closet she hoisted out the katana Masanori allowed her to carry, the double edged katana. Tying it clumsily she ran out of the house, searching all areas, keeping a low profile. It was dark when she found him and several others on the banks of the river just outside of town. "Master." Her voice faltered. She lifted his head onto her lap. "Please Master answer me." Tears sweld in her eyes and trailed down her cheek. "Don't leave me."
He swallowed managing to open his eyes a little. "Ah, Hinageshi. I just saw you in my..."
She sniffled. "Master, you're going to be alright." He nodded. "Lord Yukishiro said that you were a failure. That all your men were failures. He sent his own men to come and kill you." By now she was shivering. It was almost two weeks since her training with him increased.
"Don't cry child." He groaned some. "Tell me, do you know what Masanori means?" She shook her head. "How about Takeo?" Again a no. "Did you know I had an brother?" Another no. He continued. "My name, Masanori, means 'model of justice.' My brother's, Takeo, means 'valiant male.'" He shifted. "Do you know why I tell you this, child? No? It's because I feel that this will make for the best final lesson. I chose my path, but it doesn't mean that what I do is a model of anything but my own interests. Takeo, he chose to take a more peaceful route. These times are troubling but Hinageshi you are still a child in learning. From here I want you to take the path you see most fitting for you." He coughed. "Let my final lesson be this, it is not the name that decides a person, it is the person themselves." He motioned her to take his twin katanas. "I ask one favor my pupil."
She wiped at her tears. "Yes master, anything you wish."
He nodded slowly. "Good, good. I want you to take your dagger and finish my life, Hinageshi."
"No, I won't!" She moved so violently that the water splashed everywhere. Her head was down by his. "Please Master I couldn't. Anything but that."
"Put everything aside, this will be the test of your training."
She rose her head. Until now he was her trainer, her master, but now as he laied so close to death she realized that his influence was like a father's on her. For the first time she noticed how young he looked. Perhaps Tomoe's age, or even Kiyosato's. A leather handle touched her hand. Her master was pushing the dagger on her.
His eyes were closed and his breathing was difficult. "Right here, Hinageshi." He lifted his arm, pointing at his chest. "Show me how well I trained you." He gritted his teeth at her hesitation. "Do it now, Phoenix!"
Her heart lept and her hands shook, his voice startling her, but the blade had no problem cutting through the flesh. For a long while she lay bent over him, crying, her hands still on the dagger.
A warm light was the next thing she knew. She must have had fallen asleep. When she sat up the dawn was indeed breaking through. Her hands were still clutching the dagger, spotted with moist blood. She stared at her Master. He was motionless. A smile toyed with his mouth. Numbly she carried him over toward the bridge and buried him. The sun was high above when she finally left him and the others, wondering in a daze back to the Yukishiro home.//
Megumi worked tirelessly through the night. The group remained outside as she had requested. Iwao had decided to not tell the children right away, it was best to let them sleep. Megumi's hands moved methodically sewing the wounds. She was surprised that someone else like Kenshin could bare such a burden. Most of all she wanted to know, like the rest, who this girl really was. She checked her vitals after finishing. Getting up she stretched and then joined the group.
Iwao stood. "How is she?"
Megumi sat with the group. "It's finished. Her wounds are cleaned and bound. Now it'll up to her when she wakes."
They all sighed.
"I don't mean to pry but,"
Iwao nodded. "I figured you would noticed."
She looked down. "Those aren't normal wounds. I'm surprised she managed to survive those."
"It was difficult but she did."
Kaoru looked between the two. "What are you talking about?"
"When I removed her tunic I found that the wounds that she hand were overlapping partially healed severe injuries."
Yahiko glanced at Iwao. "Should I even ask or do you not know about those either?"
Iwao's eyes reflected the candles. "No, I know all to well about those injuries. She was a child, perhaps a little older than yourself Yahiko." He sighed, giving in. "She was an asassign for the Shogunate at the time. I had just been handed the leadership for the Heiwa and was coming from town when I found her on the banks of a river in Tokyo. It took her almost six months to heal, though to be completely honest I don't believe those injuries healed completely."
"That explains a few things, right Kenshin?"
Kenshin stared at the candle on the table. Her eyes were staring back. Even though she had tears in them her sword was still. He remembered toying with her first, how weak she was for crying over a simple man. But it wasn't simple, not to the girl he fought and for that she managed to be one of the few survivors against the Battousai. "If you will excuse me." He stood with a smile. "But I think we've all had a quite the evening."
Iwao followed. "I agree. It's been eventful. Thank you Megumi for looking after Lina." He bowed to them and left.