Chapter Eight

The afternoon that Kenji and the Myojin family were on the train to visit Kyoto, the girl they had gone to visit was barely a day and a half's walk from the Taheki inn, and the same distance from her destination. She had decided that she would go to Kyoto – maybe not to reconcile with her mother, but maybe to leave a note for her, or something... Shinko adjusted the Shinai on her hip and quickened her pace to a loping run, her hands tightly gripping the drawstring of the sakura-patterned bag that she kept her supplies in.

*

"Misao-san!" Tsubame called, running into the Aoi-ya as fast as her kimono would allow her. She was still neat and unrumpled after hours on the steam train. "Misao-san! Where is Shinko?" She greeted the slightly older woman warmly, hugging her before looking around.

"Auntie Tsubame! I saw Shinko-nee. She had breakfast with us the other day – is Shinya-nii here?" Yuki tugged excitedly at the long sleeve of Tsubame's kimono, before peering around looking for Shinko's twin.

Tsubame let go of Misao to stare at the nine-year-old in horror.

"Where has she been since then?"

"Mmmmm..." Yuki frowned, chewing on her lip. "I don't know – she left in the middle of breakfast. She had a big old man with her. He was scary..."

The anxious woman went even paler.

"But I liked him! He was nice too. Shinko-nee said he was her... apprentice." Yuki continued on cheerfully, oblivious to Tsubame's scandalised expression and her mother's awkward one.

"I didn't think Shinko had it in her..." Shinya said as he came in with his father and Kenji. Yahiko looked very worried as he noted his wife's expression.

"Misao-san, may I talk to you in another room for a moment?" Tsubame said, as Yuki pranced over to Shinya and Kenji with excited greetings. Yahiko had subtly sidestepped Yuki's hug and wrapped an arm around Tsubame's waist, rubbing his thumb soothingly along the base of her shoulder blade.

Misao looked from Tsubame's frantic form to Yahiko standing calmly – actually calm, not the tense stillness of a warrior about to attack – and nodded, sliding open one of the rice paper screens and leading the couple through.

As soon as his parents were out of earshot, Shinya, with Yuki on his back, turned to Kenji.

"So Shinko walked all the way to Kyoto with some man in tow..." He said with a grin that was a mixture of shock, respect, amusement, and jibing – the last directed at Kenji.

"It would seem so." Kenji said blandly, resisting the urge to hit Shinya.

"He wasn't some man! His name was Uncle Hiruma Gohei. He was even taller than chichi."

"I know that name..." Shinya and Kenji said, nearly in unison.

"When Kenshin-san first met Kaoru-san..." Shinya said, frowning.

"The murderer pretending to be Battosai." Kenji said, his dark blue eyes wide and turbulent. Shinya swore creatively.

"What do those words mean?" Yuki asked as the dark haired boy put her down and turned to Kenji.

"We have to find her." He said, hands fluttering panicked to the bag in which he had a shinai as well as a change of clothes for the trip. Tsubame had tried to persuade him to leave the bamboo sword behind, but he had adamantly refused, using the time-honoured excuse of he's doing it, this time in relation to Kenji.

"We should ask Shinomori-dono if he knows where she went, and you have to stay here – tell Yahiko-sensei. He'll be able to do more."

"You're going alone?" Shinya demanded, glaring.

"Of course – I'm faster than you." Kenji said, already walking towards the small garden-adjacent room that housed the small shrine, and usually, Shinomori Aoshi.

The tall, dark-haired man, who, just like Kenshin, looked younger than his age, sat in front of the small, Buddhist shrine, knees crossed and eyes staring blankly at the floor in front of him.

"Shinomori-dono." Kenji said respectfully from the door. To his credit, Aoshi didn't even flinch, standing up fluidly before turning to face the young man.

"Yes, Kenji-kun?" Aoshi asked, his dark eyes the same as Kenji's, except for something warm and fierce that had developed since he had fought Kenshin in this very city, and had come to understand whatever it was that Kenshin's son now lacked.

"Do you know which way Shinko-san went?" Kenji asked bowing slightly in greeting.

"Yes – if you leave Kyoto by the northern road, the town she was going to is two walk days along, near Biwa lake, Ishiba," Aoshi said simply, not bothering to ask for an explanation as he saw the fear and worry in Kenji's eyes. "Ja matte Kenji-kun." Kenji nodded and turned, running out of the Aoi-ya just as Tsubame began to shout at Misao – who probably hadn't even told them the fact that Shinko's 'apprentice' was a murderer and a thug.

*

Shinko gasped out a laugh as she saw Kyoto appearing beyond the rise, calm in the red light of the setting sun – her steady, long-distance run had managed to more than halve the time it should have taken to walk – this was almost the exact spot she had met the bandits last time. Although really, they were more like low-class thugs.

"Hello little missy," a voice came from just off the road. "I don't suppose you'd mind paying a toll, would you?"

Shinko stopped, seeing a short, wiry man with wisps of beard and dirty Western clothes sitting by the side of the road.

"Your toll? Are you with those bandits from last time?" Shinko demanded, stopping and placing her hands on her hips.

"Are you the young woman who was travelling with the old giant-man?" Asked the man, standing up and slipping his hands inside the loose zippered coat he wore.

"I'm Shinko – and I already told the others. This is wrong, and as a Rurouni committed to justice and honour and stuff, I'm meant to stop you." She pulled the shinai out of her bag, and stepped back, readying herself to meet the man if he attacked. "So go away."

The man laughed, running one hand through the tufts of his beard, regarding Shinko with a sneer.

"You can't be serious little girl." He said, pulling his right hand from inside his jacket, a heavy gun now held confidently in his thin, twig-like fingers. "No-one uses swords anymore – and a shinai is no better than a toy."

"I beat up a dozen of your thugs with one." Shinko said, wisely resisting the urge to blow raspberries at the gunman as her eyes fixed on the gun with a dreadful fascination – there was very little chance she could dodge a bullet. She wasn't nearly as good as Kenshin, so she would just keep buying time and hope for a lucky break...

"True. That's why I'm here – and I charge a much steeper price. Tanuki-sama was very annoyed at them." The man held out his free hand. "Now, Shinko-san, the toll is 10 yen*..." Shinko's eyes widened at the exorbitant sum.

"But – but..." Shinko stood behind her shinai, shifting nervously, her eyes trained on the man's eyes as she tracked the tip of his gun with her shinai.

"First I'll shoot your right foot. Then you're precious sword hand. Then I'll take your head off, and shake you to see how much falls out." The man said casually, aiming his weapon downwards.

"Nice to see you've got it so well planned." Shinko said nervously. A flash of movement caught her eye, dragging her attention over the shoulder of the battered western sweater. Red?

Some instinct prompted her to move, and she flipped back, landing on her knees three metres back, breathing hard as her ears registered the loud bang, smoke and dust from the road clouding her vision.

Not waiting for another chance to dodge bullets, Shinko grabbed her shinai and ran, sprinting towards Tokyo, her heart pounding.

"Kenji-san!" She yelled as she saw the flash of red hair again, running towards her. She skidded to a halt, feeling the worn straw soles of her sandals shred a bit more as she grabbed his arm. "Run!"

* (pov shift)

Kenji didn't need to be told twice, and his greater height let him easily keep up with Shinko.

"What happened?" He demanded, he'd never seen Shinko this distressed. He would have sworn on the Sakabato that he could hear her heart.

"Crazy guy with a gun... tried to shoot me..." She gasped, not slowing as they neared the gates "didn't wanna pay the toll." She rubbed her left hand on her yukata, transferring with an irritated scowl, and Kenji's eyes widened as he saw blood smeared across the dusty cloth.

"What happened to your hand?" He demanded, pulling her to a halt just inside the gate – Yahiko and Shinya would be here soon...

"Huh?" Shinko took a deep breath, visibly calming herself as she shut her eyes for a moment. When her beathing had returned to normal, she looked down, and winced as she saw the mangled shinai in her right hand, The 'blade' of the already battered weapon had shattered when she'd landed on it in her flip, and now there were splinters and rocks in her left palm, blood slowly oozing from the deeper grazes. "Oh...ow..."

"Shinko! Kenji!" Yahiko had to grab the side of the gate to stop himself from overshooting. Shinya ran up behind him, panting, as his father wrapped Shinko up in a tight hug.

"Chichi, Shinya..." Shinko pulled away from her father to look at them, her hands clenched together.

"Cross-dresser – Keep this up and you really will turn into a boy!" Shinya teased, wrapping one arm briefly around his sister.

"Shut up, baka." Shinko snapped, poking her tongue out. "I've been having adventures."

"In my clothes, with my shinai."

"I got an apprentice – beat that." Everyone stopped as she said that.

"Sumimasen, Shinko-san." Kenji said politely – he didn't trust the two Myojin males to be reasonable. "You do know that your 'apprentice', as well as being twice your height, was a criminal and a murderer?"

"Oh!" Shinko froze her eyes wide. After a moment, a look of disappointment and pain flitted across her face and she looked down. "I... forgot... but-"

"But what?" Demanded Shinya. "He could have killed you!" He stopped in front of Shinko grabbing her shoulders.

"He wasn't that bad! People had always been scared of him! What was he meant to do? Run the Akabeko in one of those stupid aprons?" Shinko shouted back, her eyes flashing.

"Shinko," Yahiko said quietly, separating his children. "What happened?"

"I fell on them."

Frowning, Yahiko gently took the smashed shinai away from his daughter and pulled her fingers open, exposing the grazes.

"How did you fall."

"I was dodging a bullet." She said with the characteristic Myojin bluntness, and more than a bit of sarcasm. The three men fell silent again, and a palpable aura of menace began to radiate from Yahiko – drowning out the ones emanating from the two younger swordsmen.

"Who the hell dared-"

"It's fine! I'm fine! I can deal with him myself." Shinko pulled back, stuffing her hands in her pockets and squaring her shoulders. "And I'm not coming home.

There was a loud silence as Shinko glared at her father, biting her lip.

"Why not?" Shinya asked after several long moments.

"Because I want to help people – and I want to know why I want to help people." She said stubbornly, not looking away from Yahiko's crushing stare. "I don't want to spend my time in kimono and waiting in the Akabeko."

"But-"

"You should go home – ototo, you need to train to take over the dojo after Kaoru-san and chichi."

"I'm not your oto-"

"Shinko," Yahiko interrupted Shinya's enraged denial, his voice sounding as tired as Kenshin's did when the violet-eyed man was asked about his past exploits. "Shinko, I'll stay here for a few days, after Tsubame-chan goes back. Before I leave, you will have a bout with me – after all, you're from a samurai family, you should have a genpukku. If I deem your swordsmanship adequate, I won't make you come home, otherwise, you return without an argument, okay?" Yahiko's dark brown eyes were so intense that they looked black as he held Shinko's gaze.

"Hai, chichi."

Satisfyied Yahiko nodded, and turned to Shinya. "You'll have to wait until I get back." He said with a wry grin at the boys outraged expression.

"Yahiko-sensei, I think I should take Shinko-san to see a doctor for her hands – and I doubt she wants to speak to Tsubame-san." Kenji said quietly, speaking for the first time since she had revealed her bullet-dodging activities. "You should go back and make sure that she isn't worrying." He watched the dark-haired man with increased respect as he nodded and left. It seemed that at least one of Shinko's parents understood something of her.

"Come on Shinya – let's see who can come up with the best excuse." Yahiko said, glancing over his shoulder at Kenji with a glare that promised unpleasantness if Shinko came back with a single chestnut hair out of place, or her yukata retied.

*

*NB on Toll: okay, now since 1800, around when this was set, the US dollar has increased its value about 26 times. I couldn't find statistics for the yen, but it's probably much more, since they have a rapid industrial revolution looming in their near future, as well as a pair of wars that leave the world bankrupt, and then getting rich again to become the cutting edge technological empire we know and love. (Also, they use sen -1/100th of a yen – the same way Americans use cents in memoirs of a geisha – forty years in the future). So, I'm thinking 10 yen at this point in time is about $20. Which is a lot for a fifteen year old rurouni, who is walking.