The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 2 - Blade & Fists
Kaoru was eating a breakfast consisting of the last of the rice and...the last of the rice. "It's too cold to go out running errands," she grumbled. "Where are friendly elves to re-stock the larder when you need them?"
She sighed. It was lonely in the little cottage these days. Of course she missed Kasshin and was still grieving for him after the accident; he was the one who had offered her a place to stay, after all. Yet she could not help missing him for selfish reasons, as well. The last time she had heard the sound of a human voice other than her own had been a day or so ago, when that warrior had crashed in from the storm. Before that, it had been weeks.
Speaking of the warrior, Kaoru wondered what he was up to. Almost, she had let him leave with that silly ribbon still in his hair, but at the last minute, she had decided it would probably be wiser to make him trade it for a more reasonable one.
"Kaoru-chan," she told herself sternly, "supplies are not going to magically appear while you sit here daydreaming. Time to get to work."
She finished the morning's chores, then set out on the long walk to the village. The crisp, clear air and frosty landscape would have been very pleasant if it wasn't so cold. Kaoru had bundled up in several layers, but the chill seemed to cut through anyway, especially when the wind picked up to sting at her face and other bits of exposed skin.
She began to whistle, partly to fill the silence and partly to take her mind off the cold. Again, she found herself longing for Kasshin's grandfatherly companionship; the trip had seemed so much shorter when they used to make it together.
Kaoru was thoroughly frozen by the time she reached the village. She decided to stop by Mama Sohma's house first, knowing that the plump matron loved to chat and would be pleased to entertain a visitor. Kaoru spent an enjoyable half hour or so warming up in front of the Sohmas' fire, listening to Mama chatter on and on.
"...So then there's that rat sittin' smugly up there in the tree with that dern cat clawin' and scratchin' for all he's worth and can't get high enough to reach it...ah, lordy, wasn't Tohru-chan laughin' so hard!" The talkative woman kept busy the entire time, occasionally interrupting herself to bawl good-naturedly at the small children who always seemed to be underfoot.
Eventually, Kaoru put down the knife she had been using to help chop vegetables, picked up the dried fish she had come to buy, and excused herself. "Mama, I'd love to stay longer, but I'm afraid I must be going now. I won't be able to make it home before dark if I let you talk your fill."
Mama Sohma burst into hearty laughter at Kaoru's rendition of a joke she was quite accustomed to hearing. "Go on then, girl, go on, don't let Mama talk yer ear off."
Kaoru was smiling as she went back out, thinking rather wistfully that it would be nice to have someone like Mama Sohma for a real mother. Kaoru had almost no memories of her own, who had died when she was very small. Shaking her head to turn her thoughts back to the task at hand, she scanned the street, wondering leisurely what she ought to pick up next.
Then her eyes fell on the tavern, and she stopped cold. Someone she knew quite well was just stepping through its doorway, calling over his shoulder as he did so. "Sano-kun! Let's go already, you've had enough to drink!"
Kaoru fled. For a few breathless seconds she thought that she might have escaped, that somehow he had not seen her. Then she heard the sound of his footsteps behind her - no one could mistake that inhuman speed - and she realized with a flash of anger at herself that she should not have run away. There was a chance, if she had stayed casual, that Sôjirô might not have noticed her, but now, it was too late.
She felt his hands on her shoulders and screamed out of pure reflex.
"I was right!" he exclaimed as he pulled her to a halt. "Kaoru-hime! It is you!" His face lit up, in that childishly sly way of his, as he finally got a good look at her. "Sano-kun!" he called. "It's the princess!"
Kaoru's other bodyguard come pounding up. "You found her!" he gasped, his face full of incredulity. He swore, then raged happily at her, "We spend months looking for you, and you don't show up 'til now, when we're on a completely different mission?"
"Nice to see you again, bird-head," she snapped. "Was it so hard for you two to just pretend like you didn't see me?"
Sôjirô laughed. "You know you would have been caught eventually, Prin-"
"Let her go."
Kaoru looked behind Sôjirô, and gasped. "You!" she exclaimed. It was that man - Battousai. He stood with a terrible grim look on his face, a naked sword in each hand; the tip of one just brushed the back of Sôjirô's neck, while the other was held to Sanosuke's.
"What the-?!" Sanosuke swore, wondering how on earth they had been taken by surprise.
"Let her go," the red-haired warrior repeated, his voice like pure steel.
Sôjirô smiled, unfazed. "You again. Did you not learn your lesson? You're not going to escape this time, Battousai."
"You're the guy!" Sanosuke sputtered. "The night of the snowstorm! You're still alive?!"
Kaoru stepped away from Sôjirô as realization hit her. "You did that?" she gasped. "That wound on his back..." She had been puzzled at how Battousai, who appeared to be such a fell warrior, had taken an injury from behind - it was no wonder, if his opponent had been Sôjirô.
The young man chuckled. "Was it you who patched him up, then? How ironic, Kaoru-hime, that you would care for the wounds of a man who came to this country to assassinate your father."
Kaoru gaped at him. "What did you say?"
"Kaoru...-hime?" Battousai's voice sounded oddly strangled. Kaoru turned to see that his arms had dropped down, the swords dangling as if they had become almost too heavy to hold.
"You're trying to kill my father?" she demanded, hardly able to believe it.
He was staring at her as if she had grown a second head. "The princess. You're the princess."
"Enough with the introductions," Sanosuke growled, pounding his fists together. "Get back, Princess. We're taking this guy down."
"I'm not done yet!" Kaoru shouted at him. Then she glared. "You're going to kill a man in front of me, Sagara Sanosuke?"
"Better dirty your eyes than let you get killed," he shot back.
Battousai's grip on the swords tightened convulsively as he glared at Sanosuke. "I would never slay a woman."
"Not even under orders?" Sôjirô wondered slyly.
Battousai's eyes were burning gold as they looked at him. "No." Then he sheathed his weapons in a deliberate manner, took a deep breath, and turned to Kaoru. She noticed uneasily that his eyes had faded back to blue. "Princess," he said quietly, "your father will not die by my hand." He shook his head. "There is no need, now that you have been found."
"But you were still going to assassinate him if I hadn't been found?"
His gaze was steady as he met her eyes, though strangely sad. "Yes."
Kaoru stumbled away, suddenly unable to bear the sight of him, or even of Sanosuke and Sôjirô, who were also men of violence.
"Wrong way, Princess," Sanosuke called after her.
"I'm not going home!" she shouted. "I am not marrying that man, even if it does supposedly mean peace for the country!"
There was a moment of silence. "Can I beat him up now?" Sanosuke finally complained, jerking a thumb at the motionless Battousai.
"Yes, let's get that out of the way first," Sôjirô agreed, but had only just grasped his own sword when Kaoru whirled around and rushed back.
"Oh no, not 'til I've got some answers, you don't!" She marched up to Battousai and glared straight into his face, which helped a little to stave off her intimidation. "Why?" she demanded. "Why?"
He took his time replying. "I'm afraid...Princess...that you don't quite - understand what it is like, to be enslaved to a master you hate, who orders you to do things you would give anything not to do."
"Aw, don't fall for his sob story," Sanosuke said in disgust. "He'll say anything to make you feel sorry for-"
"Though I think," Battousai continued as if Sanosuke had not even spoken, "that you may have at least a small idea, since you fled rather than be enslaved to him as well."
They stared at each other. Then Kaoru gasped. "Lord Shishio. You work for-"
Battousai bowed his head in acknowledgment. "I am his assassin."
"And you just go along with it?" she said hotly, "Doing whatever he tells you, answering his beck and call-"
"He trained me from childhood. When I tried to rebel or run away, he never punished me. It was always innocents who suffered."
He lifted a hand, just barely brushing his fingers against the tip of her hair ribbon, which was bright pink. It was the same one, in fact, that had been twined in his own hair not long ago. "I am glad, Princess, that such a thing might not have to happen this time. You realize...that if you refuse to return home, I must complete my original mission."
The understanding broke over Kaoru that there was one of two things at stake - her father's life, or her own happiness. One must inevitably be sacrificed for the sake of the other, and for her, there was no hesitation.
"Princess," Sanosuke pointed out, "we could just kill this guy and solve the problem right here."
Kaoru looked at her two bodyguards. Then she looked at Battousai, and saw the hand gripping his sword-hilt, the look of death in his face. The man had not only survived a duel with Sôjirô, but was seemingly unaffected by the wound and ready to fight again. Sanosuke certainly would be no match for him. Victory for either side was far from certain, and if her guards were not able to overcome him, she would be right back where she started, along with the knowledge that she had been the cause of bloodshed.
"No," she said. "No. No fighting. From any of you. Do you understand me?" To her surprise, Battousai bowed in deference, and within moments, Sôjirô had as well, shaking his head as if he thought the whole thing was rather silly.
"Princess," Sanosuke protested, "I'm telling you, the guy is a murderer, he's an enemy of the state, he's-"
He stopped in surprise when Kaoru walked over and studied him for a minute. Then she suddenly slammed her fist hard into his right shoulder, where she had detected the faintest spot of red. Sanosuke reeled back a step, unable to suppress a gasp of pain, and Kaoru watched the red stain spreading over the white of his clothes. "Battousai wounded you there, didn't he. Sanosuke, don't tell me you won't get hurt if you fight him."
He gave her a sullen look. "It's my job to protect you from guys like him."
Her temper flared up again. "Guys like what? Guys who make me breakfast and wear my hair ribbons without a murmur?"
"Hair ribbons?" Sôjirô wondered.
"Is it really that you want to protect me, Sanosuke?" Kaoru continued hotly, "Or is it that you're looking to salve your pride? Can't you just pass on a fight for once in your life?"
Sanosuke threw up his hands in disgust. "Whatever! Don't blame me, then, when he cuts your throat in your sleep."
"He already had the opportunity," Kaoru pointed out, "and he didn't."
"I assume that was before he knew your true identity, Princess," Sôjirô put in.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Battousai said icily.
Sôjirô raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Battousai? Then let me repeat myself. What if you were under orders? What about your supposed cost for disobedience?"
Battousai did not reply right away. He was thinking to himself, 'I will die, I will fight Shishio until he sends me to hell, before I let him make me kill another woman.' However, all he said out loud was, "Shishio can only push me so far."
Sôjirô asked in a deceptively careless tone, "And what would happen if you were to be 'pushed too far,' Battousai?"
Kaoru looked at Battousai's deadly expression and did not want to know the answer.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: "Hime" means "princess" (it's pronounced HEE-may). Used as an honorific, it's like saying "Princess Kaoru."
Sôjirô would probably have sensed Kenshin coming up behind him... Maybe he's so confident in his own abilities that he has the leisure to play it cool. And yes, Souji's a good guy here, mostly because he's the only one I could really see being able to land a serious blow on Kenshin.
By the way, the setting for this AU is neither Europe nor Japan, though it contains characteristics from both.