Hana's Story
A/n:I do not and will never own Rurouni Kenshin
Chapter Four: Hiko Seijuurou
'I forged silver-sheened swords for years, thinking I could compare with the best, so that after the storm clouds and rain have passed sunshine could make up for what is to come.' That was what was written on the hilt of the blade.
We were back at Seikuu-san's house; Seikuu-san was sitting next to his wife who held Iori on her lap. Okina-sama was sitting across from Seikuu-san's wife; Misao-chan was sitting on the ledge that was before the window. As for Himura-san, he was sitting near Seikuu-san with the sakabatou in front of him.
"Even though his own son hated him he kept making katana's for so many years…" Okina-sama started the conversation.
"He did so that his grandson could grow up safe. Shakkuu-san probably intended this as his death poem." Was my comment for that. Iori was ignorant to what was going on around him as he played with his toy.
"My father learned as time passed, how arrogant it was to think that a katana could build a new age." The sword- smith stated. This was going to be a long conversation, I can just feel it.
"But that was at the height of the Bakumatsu; no one could just do as they wanted to. He could not retire nor could he remain and suffer as chaos reached its peak. As a sword-smith living during the Bakumatsu, my father only continued to make katanas that kill…Thus he was forced to go against his principles in the hopes that the time of peace would come another instant sooner. It was with deep regret and a small prayer of hope that my father left this holy katana, the true sakabatou…"
"True sakabatou?" Misao-chan asked. She's really isn't the brightest person.
"Yes, when you forge a holy sword you don't just make one. Two or more are usually made. Of those, one which is well made is called the 'True One' and is offered to the Gods. The others are called 'Shadows' and are hoarded or given to other people." Seikuu-san explained. Okina-sama accepted this explanation, and Misao-chan was ecstatic about finding 'the Sakabatou that surpasses the old one.'
"Please take it Himura-san. I think my father would have wanted it that way."
Himura-san eyes had a faraway look to them; he's probably thinking of what Shakkuu-san told him when he parted. I wasn't there to hear what was being said but I know that after Himura-san left Shakkuu-san went after him with a sword in his hand and came back without the sword.
"Shakkuu-dono…for the true Sakabatou, this one offers ones humblest thanks."He finally said. This made everybody else in the room smile, but even thou I know that this is a happy moment I still can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen soon.
"We should be going." Okina-sama suggested.
"Take care." Was Seikuu-sans final words.
"Gojaru! Anfake. Anfake. Bye-Bye Anfake." Iori said. This made both me and Himura-san smile.
The next day started out peaceful, this surprised me, because Misao-chan is home, so I shouldn't be so quiet.
"It's really peaceful don't you think Hana-chan." I turned to see that it was Okon-san., she was in her pale yellow kimono, and had her hair tied up. I smiled at her.
"Yes it is indeed peaceful Okon-san. A little too peaceful." I suggested to her. She let out a small laugh that was joined with others, Shiro-san, Kuro-kun, and Omasu-chan came up from behind her. They were all dressed in their usual work clothes.
"I wonder what Misao-chan is up to?" Omasu-chan wondered.
"Probably sleeping, since it's so quiet." Shiro-san responded.
"I'll go check on her." I told them. I got nods in return. It's not that I don't like being with them, but I just don't feel conferrable, like I don't quite fit in.
"Misao-chan?" I whispered when I got to her door, that was slightly ajar. Peeking inside I found the room vacant of any life.
"I wonder wher…"
"YOU'RE LEAVING AOIYA!" Found her. I scurried towards where I hear the sound originate, Himura-san's room.
"WHY? NOW WHEN YOU FINALLY GOT A NEW SAKABATOU?" She screamed again. I'd be surprised if Himura-san wasn't deft by now. Sighing I opened the door silently. And wasn't really surprised by what I found. Okina-sama sitting there silently, and Himura-san and Misao-chan on all fours holding their heads in pain.
"Settle down now. Hana-chan make yourself conferrable, Himura is going to tell us the reason why he's leaving." Okina-sama ordered. I sat seiza near Himura-san .
"Your leaving?" I whispered to him and Misao-chan yelled at him to tell us. Himura-san didn't say anything for a little while instead putting on the hilt on his sword, since the wooden one broke.
"You don't want to tell us?" Okina-sama asked.
"Well after all we're perfect strangers. I have no right to ask you about matters close to your heart. " This is going to be good if Okina-sama is saying this.
"Then before you leave, you'll have to pay the bill for ten days' stay, seven yen and fifty sen." After this was said I chocked down my giggles as Himura-san practical turned to stone.
"The Aoiya is a restaurant and also an inn. A stranger has no right to stay for free." Okina-sama went on.
"Right on Jiya!" Misao-chan yelled.
"If you continue this I don't think he'll be able to respond to anything at all." I advised.
"Just tell us then, Himura why not! This child won't let you go that easily, and I don't think Hana-chan wants you to leave either." Himura-san glanced at me for a second before turning to Okina-sama.
"If this one stays here, others will become involved, In order to avoid involving anyone in battle this one left Tokyo alone, but in this latest matter, the Seikuu family became involved. If this one stays here you will also become more involved in this as well."
"What! You don't have to worry about that! I was taught Kempo by Hanya! It's not like I'm Iori!" Misao-chan exclaimed pointing to herself with a grin.
"Really?" Himura-san and I asked her, she fell to the floor after we said this.
"I understand, in the eyes of Shishio-san's men Misao-chan will be no different than Iori. Right Himura-san?" Misao-chan made a face as I said this. Himura-san just nodded and stood up to leave.
"You don't want to put anyone in danger, which is why you're going off to fight alone isn't it?" I whispered.
"I understand, and will respect your whishes Himura. When we find out about the other person you asked me to search for, Hiko Seijuurou, I'll send word for. The old ways of doing things are the surest." Opening the door Himura-san said thank you.
"Wait let me walk with you." I said standing up and walking to him.
"Why…why are you so distant all of a sudden? Is it because I know that you're Hitokiri Battousai? Well Excuse me, I don't care about your stupid past. Whoever you are the person I met wasn't the Hitokiri. I was the Rurouni." Misao-chan said in an attempt to stop his leaving. This causes him to laugh, which Misao-chan didn't like.
"Someone this one parted with in Tokyo said something like that to this one." Smiling he turned to look at her.
"But this one never expected to hear those words in Kyoto." This shocked Misao-chan.
"This one is sorry that this one never had a chance to tell you about Aoshi."
"I knew I couldn't count on you. I'll Show you, I'll find him by myself." With that Himura-closed the door.
We walked in silence for a while before I finally spoke up.
"Is this what you really want?" he paused for a second.
"No, it's not what this one wants, but it is what this one believes is right."
"I see." We were outside when I hear Misao-chan yelled Himura-sans name.
"You told Eiji in Shingetsu to be happy! Why don't you take your own advice! You're going to end up miserable if you try to do everything by yourself! You better remember it! You bastard!" Her antics still make me laugh.
"Hey Himura-san?" He made a sound to show he was listening.
"Will you let me stay with you?" This surprised him.
"Why?"
"Why else? Everybody needs somebody in their life, and the path you have chosen to walk is going to be a long one, you need somebody with you or you'll end up going mad. I'm probably just being selfish, but please let me stay with you." This stunned him.
"Don't you know how dangerous it is to be near this one?"
"Of course I know the dangers. Besides, on your first night at Aoiya didn't we agree that we were going to do this together?" He didn't look happy about it but he finally agreed to me staying.
We were in the forest on the outskirts of Kyoto, Himura-san had a pail of water in his hand, that's when we saw the flair. We looked at each other.
"Well that was fast." I commented.
"Hiko Seijuurou's whereabouts." Okina said handing Himura a neatly folded piece of paper. We were in the back of Aoiya talking so we wouldn't be interrupted. I had changed into the midnight blue kimono I wore to rescue Iori, but I also decide that just that would be way to conscious so I also slipped on my forest green kimono. I of course also had my weapons with me just not visible.
"We never suspected that it was a secret name, so he was difficult to find."
"This one is sorry… This one just realized it now. This one promised to tell Misao-dono about Aoshi, but in the end this one will have to leave it to you to tell her." I walked out then feeling that Okina-sama was going to tell Himura-san something I had no right to hear. So now waiting to the gate of Aoiya I started to think about the day we parted, and what would have happened if I had went with him.
"Hana-dono?" I let out an 'eep'
"Y-yes?" Himura-san was smirking at my reasons.
"Ready? This is going to get interesting."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
We were nearing the place where Hiko-san was supposed to be.
"Remember, no matter what do not interfere with what this one is going to do." I responded with a disgruntled 'yes.'
A man was sitting near a fire; he had long hair tied back in a low ponytail. He was wearing a different coat, by different I mean weird. Himura-san suddenly attacked the man, Hiko Seijuurou, Who responded by just jumping up in the air.
"Attacking a mere potter out of nowhere, it really has no style." He said as he landed behind Himura-san.
"Hiko Seijuurou is no mere potter." Himura-san said sheathing his sword.
"So it's you…"
"It's been a long time Shishou." He's kinda hot… not that I'd ever say that out loud or even admit that the thought crossed my mind…
"Well, now that you've had the gall to actually show you face here, what is it you want with me?" Hiko-san asked when we were all in his shack, that was full of pottery…
"It seems that Nitsu Kakunoshin is a rising new name in the world of ceramics. Wh pottery?"
"Pottery, whatever. It was just the easiest way to make a living without having to deal with a lot a people. So it doesn't really matter. My genius talent shows in whatever I do." Well isn't someone conceited, seems like Himura-san had the same thought as I did because he sweat dropped.
"You didn't answer my question. You came to tell me something that's hard for you to say, and well you're at it why don't you also explain who she is." He said pointing at me.
"I am still here. So I would really appreciate it if you didn't talk like I wasn't." I all but growled. I saw the corner of Hiko-san's lips twitch but that was the only conformation I got to say that he heard me.
"Then this one will say it straight out." Himura-san said while kneeling.
"The Instruction of the Hiten Mitsurugi School that this one left 15 years ago… this one asks it of you now."
"Absolutely not." Hiko-san said without hesitation. That's great, he had already known what Himura-san was going to ask, and still made Himura-san say it on his knees.
"You were the one who left fifteen years ago. Why now after all this time?" he continued as he got up and turned away. Just as He was about to leave Himura-san grab the edge of his coat.
"Please this one begs of you."
"Well that's something. You look like you're at the end of your rope." He said smirking.
"Alright! If you're asking, I'm listening." I'm pretty sure my jaw was on the ground.
"…but first, who are you. I don't like having strangers near me."
"Hana." I said recovering for the shock. He grunted in understanding.
"Hmm. So to put it simply. This man called Shishio Makoto is plotting to take over Japan. You, on the other hand are slowly reverting to the Hitokiri Battousai. You want to defeat Shishio without becoming the Hitokiri—in other words you need to be stronger than you are now." Hiko-san summed up everything Himura-san and I explained.
"Well, you know what they say; he who runs after two hares won't catch either one."
"Hiko-san!" I grumbled.
"I'm sure I taught you this. The sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the art of killing. Whatever pretty words you use, this is its true nature. Your own foolish ideals, or today's harsh realities… whatever you're trying to protect, its complete selfishness." Himura-san looked sad; at least that's what I saw. I had my head hanging down, my green kimono already discarded.
"Looks like fifteen years ago…you devoted yourself to the chaos of the Bakumatsu. That was your biggest mistake. After that we argued and parted on bad terms. You see before you the results. You may have gotten better with your sword, but your spirit hasn't grown at all ever since you were fourteen, my foolish pupil. Carrying wounds that cannot be erased, on your left cheek and on your heart. You're unstable teetering between the Hitokiri and one who has sworn never to kill again. You have even woken up Shishio Makoto, the Ishin Shishi's Ghost of the Bakumatsu." I was trying to hold back my tears, and the urge to interrupt Hiko-san, I promised Himura-san I wouldn't interfere no matter what.
So I did the next best thing: I tuned him out until he said.
"Maybe it was a mistake to teach you the Hiten Mitsurugi at all." Just then his 'door' was busted open my Misao-chan and a little boy with a shinai on his back.
"WHAT WAS THAT JUST NOW?" they yelled.
"What? Who the hell are you?" Hiko-san asked with a sigh. I don't blame him, trying to avoid people then having so many 'visitors' in one night I would be very annoyed.
"Misao-dono…Yahiko…" Himura-san said shocked but froze. There was a girl way younger than he both of us. She had dark blue, almost black hair, and was wearing a purple kimono.
"Kaoru-dono." So that was Kaoru… the person he left in Tokyo.
"These friends of yours?" Hiko-san asked snapping Himura-san out of his dazed state.
"Yes."
"It's like Grand Central Station in here today. People should know when they're not wanted." I giggled at that… not that anyone noticed or anything. Well maybe Hiko-san with his superhuman senses.
"Kenshin run outside and get some water. Go. There's only enough for one here. You can't expect the kids to go all night without anything to eat or drink." They argued for a little while before Hiko-san said:
"Don't stand here talking about it just go!"
"You were always such a slave driver." Himura-san said walking out.
"Hiko-san?" I asked. I got a 'yes.'
"You could possibly have also meant me when you said that right?" I asked in an annoyed sweet tone.
"Of course not, I said kids didn't I. If I was talking about you I would have added brat." This guy is seriously pissing me off. He knows it to that's even more frustrating.
"Why did you just stand there?" the boy with brown hair yelled.
"Exactly! If you couldn't speak you should have started a fight!" Misao-chan yelled. Kaoru-san looked down saying 'I suppose.'
"Geh. Just when it counts." The two said together.
"So…"Hiko-san started. That caught their attention. After staring at him for a while.
"Lemme ask you something. How old are you?" Misao-chan and the boy asked at the same time.
"43." No hesitation what so ever.
"What? There something wrong with that?" He asked when he saw their shocked faces. The loud two started yelling a conversation with each other that was almost amusing.
"Can I go on?"
"Please." Kaoru-san said.
"I know you know Kenshin, but why are you here?" This was directed to no specific person.
"Go for it." Misao-chan said with something the resembled a large spoon in her hand pointing at the boy.
"So Kaoru could see Kenshin." Now he had the spoon and it was pointed at Misao-chan.
"Your turn."
"Yeah, so Kaoru could see Himura."
"You're up." They said pointing at Kaoru.
"Well it was to see Kenshin."
"And…" they said. Then stared to nag her about it until she finally said:
"I wanted to see him so I left Tokyo, at that time I really didn't think I would ever see him again. At the Shirobeko, I thought I would hit him or something, but when I saw his face I just couldn't"
"What about you?" He asked pointing at me. That got everybody's attention, them apparently had no clue I had been standing here listening the whole time.
"Not that it's any of your business. He's my partner, and partners help each other when one needs it. Himura-san, though he never said it, needed my help."
"What! Since when have you two been partners?" Misao-chan asked. I gave her a clueless look.
"You didn't know?"
"No, I'm just asking for the hell of it!"
"We were partners during the war." Everybody but Hiko-san had a shocked look on their faces.
"What?" Now I know how Hiko-san felt.
"Exactly how old are you?" The two asked again.
"27. Why?" Hiko-san laughed.
"Hmm, I see. I don't know what you see in that wooden statue, but my stupid pupil seems to be popular."
"Who are you calling a 'wooden statue'?" The boy asked.
"Yahiko?" Kaoru-san questioned.
"No matter how much of a master you are you only know Kenshin as a pupil. The Kenshin we know is definitely no wooden statue!"
"Don't interrupt child." He said without missing a beat.
"I stopped getting news about my stupid pupil at the beginning of the Meji Era. What has he been doing with the Hiten Mitsurugi I taught him? That's what I want to know. Not from him, but from those I don't know who came to see him."
"This is going to be another long conversation isn't it?" I asked.
"Most likely." He said with a smirk on his face. And so the story began with mostly Kaoru-san and Yahiko-san telling it. I really didn't feel the need to listen to what I already know, but just in case he left something out.
Kenshin came in with a pale of water about five minutes after we were done with the conversation.
"Master, where shall this one put…"
"You spent the last ten years wandering the country righting the wrong as a rurouni. Did I take fifteen years to figure out the reason for the Hiten Mitsurugi School or were you atoning for the lives you took as a Hitokiri?"
"It…was both. And because of what this one said to you fifteen years ago, before one's eyes, people are suffering, people are in misery. Whatever the reason I don't want to leave them as they are."
"Even though you're a stupid pupil, when it comes time to act, you talk like a grown-up. Follow me! I will pass down to you the final mysteries of the Hiten Mitsurugi School." This shocked everybody.
"What? As a great-hearted swordsman I can't let Shishio take over the country. And I don't have time to look for another pupil. It'd be easiest to do it myself, but after all this time I'd just rather not deal with it." I knew it. There was an ulterior motive this.
"You have a responsibility. Stop Shishio Makoto." Hiko-san said seriously again. They walked outside, but then Kaoru-san spoke up.
"I came to Kyoto, without even thinking about the danger, are you angry with me?"
"Half of this one is, but the other half is relieved, somehow." He said without turning around.
"You don't know where Shishio's men could be, so be careful."
"Now need to fear when we're here!" Misao-chan and Yahiko-san said in unison.
"That's why he said it, because you two are around." I muttered.
"Hey brat!" Hiko-san called.
"What!" I yelled not amused at all with what he called me.
"If you want to watch you can, maybe actually learn something." I looked a Himura-san; he turned his head and gave a small nod.
"Fine." I said.