Chapter Five
Shinko could see Kyoto, sprawling out a few miles away, almost glowing under the afternoon sunlight. She'd realised that she was nearby yesterday, and decided to visit Misao and Aoshi, maybe even send a letter home via pigeon... The only obstacle was the two dozen bandits on the road in front of her.
"What are the rules here, Fatso?" Shinko asked her new apprentice, looking up at him.
"…Beat them up so that they learn not to mess with us and then take all their money?"
"Not quite, they have to learn not to mess with any travellers, and you're holding the shinai too tightly."
"Sumimasen." Muttered Hiruma, adjusting his grip. "Is this right?"
"Much better. Now, You thieves…what you're doing is wrong, but if you swear to give up your life of thievery, we'll go easy on you."
There was a snicker through the group.
"The little girl thinks she can take us on, with just the two of them? They don't even have real weapons!" Scoffed one.
"Don't call me little!" Yelled Shinko, just as touchy about it as Yahiko had been (still was occasionally, he'd never gotten much taller than Kenshin), before launching into her attack.
Most of the bandits never even got a chance to defend before the avenging shinai whistled towards them with deadly purpose.
*****
Kenji watched the wall of his dark room, dissatisfied. He had won, he had beaten Shinya, fought until the younger boy's knees buckled beneath him, but Shinya had not lost. Until he admitted defeat, he was still a competitor for the sakabato, and as such, still stood in Kenji's way. Their battle was still inconclusive, whether or not okaasan interfered.
It didn't matter though, because Kenji would fight until the battle was concluded, and he had won.
*****
"Look! Isn't Kyoto pretty, Fatso?" Shinko said, pointing to a large temple, surrounded by blossoming cherry trees, outlined in the red glow of sunset.
"Please don't call me that. My name is Gohei."
"Fatso suits better." Said Shinko, waving off the objection. "Anyway, now I'm going to show you the inn that Misao-san and Aoshi-san run. Okina used to run it, but he died…" Shinko was quiet as she remembered the cheerful, slightly eccentric old man, who had been an almost grandfatherly figure to her and Shinya; and Kenji too. "It's called the Aoi-ya."
"An inn?"
"No, you can't take this one over, it's the headquarters of the Kyoto oniwabanshu onmitsu."
"Oh."
"But anyway, we can easily get replacement Shinai here. Bokken too. Chichi used to take us to dojo all the time when we visited Kyoto. We'll go tomorrow morning. Some of them probably remember me. And if they don't want to help us, then we'll still be able to further your training." Shinko felt very mature as she said this. It was a very good teacher phrase. She grinned up at Hiruma, happily. Since she'd left Tokyo, it seemed like the weights of responsibility and tradition had lifted off her shoulders, and she was free to behave however she pleased.
*****
"Konbabnwa!" Shinko called, poking her head around the back corner of the inn. "Misao-san? Are you here?"
"Shinko!" Misao ran towards the girl, still exuberant in her thirties, and dressed in basically the same ninja outfit. "What are you doing here? We've been looking everywhere. Kaoru sent us a message saying you'd run away two weeks ago."
"I didn't run away, I went travelling. I left a note."
"…well, I guess that's okay. So long as you're fine. Why did you leave?"
"Kimono. And I was sick of everyone thinking I had to be a proper lady."
"Misao-chan, you should probably bring Shinko inside. It's late."
"Hai, Aoshi-sama!" Misao began to lead Shinko across the courtyard to the small building that Aoshi's voice had issued from.
"Wait, I have to get my apprentice."
"You have an apprentice?"
"Yep his name is Hiruma Fatso. He used to be one of Kaoru-san's students, but then he and his brother became crooks. Now I'm teaching him to be a rurouni and help people so that the Hiruma name will be well-remembered." Shinko grinned at Misao.
"Cool!" Misao grinned back. "He can stay here too then."
"Konbanwa Misao-san, Shinko-sensei." Said Hiruma, bowing as the pair came around the corner. Misao stopped dead in her tracks, staring.
"That's your apprentice?" she asked Shinko casually.
"Hai."
"Ooki!" said Misao after a pause. she paused again before elaborating, eyes wide. "Huge! Ginormous!!"
"I am Hiruma-des"
"Dozo yoroshiku. said Misao after another pause. "He's even taller than Aoshi-sama." She added in a whisper to Shinko. This was quite an achievement on Hiruma's part, since Aoshi was a full head taller than Sanosuke (He seriously is. He's almost twice as tall as Misao in the Manga.)
"…Well, I'm not sure if we have any futon big enough, but you can stay too, Shinko-chan's apprentice."
"Hiruma Gohei."
"Right, whatever." Misao waved a hand at Hiruma, already accustomed to his size. "Do you want to send Tsubame-chan and Yahiko-kun a message?"
"Yes please. Thank you, Misao-san."
"Doitashimashite" Misao grinned. "Dinner first though, the birds don't like flying at night."
"Dinner sounds great! I've nearly run out of supplies again. Do you know how much people eat?" Shinko pointed at the sadly empty-looking bag on Hiruma's shoulder that was for food (as apprentice, Hiruma got the bonus job of substitute packhorse.)
"We'll stock you up again when you go." And with that, Misao lead the incongruous pair inside to a tasty dinner, but then again, anything tastes good when you're hungry, and Misao had learned her cooking from Kaoru
*****
Shinko was practising with her battered shinai in the courtyard when Misao came out of her and Aoshi's room the next morning.
"Ohayo Shinko-chan." She said, leaning against the doorframe yawning. She was still wearing the loose white robe that she'd slept in, and her long black hair wasn't plaited yet.
"Ohayo Gozaimas, Misao-san." Shinko said, looking up briefly, distracted.
"You're up early."
"This was always the best time to train at home. I've already been awake for more than almost an hour."
"Impressive. What about your apprentice?" Misao asked, raising an eyebrow, and folding her arms across a body that had never quite lost its boyish flatness.
"He's old and needs to sleep. Anyway, he's only learning Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."
"Oh? What are you training I at the moment?"
"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu. Chichi learned it by watching Kenshin-san, Shinya and I learned it by watching chichi. I'm not nearly as good as Kenshin-san was though. Even Kenji can't learn it properly without a teacher." Shinko shrugged, and when Misao didn't reply right away, returned to her training. Flexing her calf muscles, Shinko drew in a deep breath, and leaped into the air, twisting her body to gain even more height, before bringing her blade down with all the downwards force of gravity behind it. Ryutsuisen.
A loud crash echoed through the quiet courtyard, and the cool, damp morning air was filled with flying shards of wood, as the Shinai shattered.
Misao whistled when the air had stilled again, pulling a shard of bamboo out of the framework of her door.
"I guess this sort of attack isn't made for a shinai…that attack from above, it was one of the moves unique to the Hiten style, ne?"
Shinko nodded, panting slightly. "I can't use it in a fight though. I'm not fast enough, or strong enough. Chichi says it's because I don't have a reason to fight, other than my own desires. All three of us, we know the style, but we could never master it."
"I doubt Yahiko-kun phrases anything so poetically."
"He doesn't even use it, other than to train. He said that he decided to become strong in Kamiya Kasshin-ryu, and that's what he did." Shinko shrugged, using the hilt of her shinai to brush her jagged fringe out of her eyes.
"Why did you learn it then?" Shinko looked up in surprise. No one had ever asked that before. No one other than Kenji and Shinya, who had learned it with her and their parents, knew that the three children of the younger generation of the Kenshingumi could even use the basics of the deadly, ancient style.
"I don't know…Shinya learnt it because Kenji learnt it, and we were inseparable. I wanted to learn it too, even though I've never seen Kenji as my rival…I guess it's part of the tradition of the sakabato…"
"That's hardly a good reason to fight. Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu is a style developed to protect the weak, as much as Kamiya Kasshin-ryu, despite being the most deadly of the Satsujin-ken."
"…Do you think that I should have stayed in Tokyo, Misao-san?" Shinko asked after a hesitation. Suddenly, running away from home seemed childish, and selfish.
"I don't know. I went travelling when I was your age. I was looking for Aoshi-sama, and met Himura when I was trying to rob a couple of thieves. I don't think you should have run out on Tsubame-chan like that though. She's been frantic."
"I should go back to Tokyo." Shinko said, tasting the words.
Misao didn't get a chance to answer before a young girl, dressed in a shinobi costume that was similar to Misao's ran into the courtyard.
"Haha!" She squealed, jumping into Misao's arms, her thick black bangs messily clipped back from her face.
"Ohayo Yuki-chan. You're energetic this morning." Misao said, fixing one of the clips.
"Hai!" Yuki grinned up at her mother, full of nine-year-old exuberance. She'd been in bed already when Shinko had arrived the previous evening, so her face went soft and blank with surprise when she saw the short-haired girl standing in the courtyard with a shinai hilt. After a few seconds she grinned. "Shinko Nee-san! When did you get here? Is Shinya Nii-san here too?"
"Not today, Yuki-chan… let's go eat breakfast."
"Hai!" Yuki jumped out of her mother's arms and grabbed one of Shinko's and Misao's hands in each of her own. "Let's !"
Shinko left the courtyard, holding the hilt of her shinai, and wondering what was the right course of action.
*****
Y'know what, Caseyedith? I do not think people are interested in my story. Thanks for your faithful reviews thus fa.
To everyone else REVIEW DAMMIT!! Also, next chap things are going to really start breaking from the original.