Suenagaku na Aki

arc (Ever stay autumn)

Chapter 1

'Father, I have trained so much, but I'm still not strong', she said to the man in front of her tentatively. She closed her eyes, fearing his reproach. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes to see her normally stern and strict father smiled.

"Aa, chibi. You're still not strong"

Fear forgotten, she glared at him. "What! Then what's the point of me learning all of this? I want to play outside, just like kids my age do. And I have yet to receive my dolls just like you promised!" She pouted and stomped her feet.

An adult woman sitting nearby giggled at her behavior. Her giggling annoyed the man. "Just look at your daughter" he said in exasperation.

"I'm looking at her, dear"

"I don't mean that!"

"Koshijiro, you always say that Kaoru takes after you more. That alone explains her stubbornness. Anyway, about the dolls, you DID promise her"

"I guess I did," the man sighed, admitting his defeat.

"Then, may I go out and play? I don't want to practice anymore," Kaoru asked expectantly.

"No"

Mist began forming in Kaoru's eyes.

"Don't cry. I can't stand seeing you cry" Koshijiro thought about something for a long time. Kaoru wiped her eyes, hoping that he would agree to her request. It was not going out to play that was on her mind, it's just that she didn't see the point of training in kendo. Plus, she was only a 7 years old girl and she desperately wanted to go out and play like other children.

Her father looked at his wife who nodded her understanding at his decision not to let Kaoru go out. He then looked at Kaoru. "Tell you what; I'm going to tell you a secret"

"A secret?" Kaoru's curiosity was aroused.

"Yes. But on two conditions"

"What are they?" Kaoru asked impatiently.

"One, no going out unless you're with me or your mother. And if I won't let you go out, you must promise not to cry"

"But…"

"This secret is only for brave men and women who learn Kamiya Kasshinryu" Koshijiro said in a storytelling voice.

"Girls too?"

"Girls too," He winked at his wife. "But you can go out and play now, because the second condition is even harder"

"Otousan, I want to know! I'm willing to do anything"

"Are you willing to train hard without complaining from now on?"

"Yes!" came the answer a second after the question was asked.

Koshijiro smiled triumphantly. "Very well, listen carefully, as I'm going to say this once. Are you sure you're going keep you promise?"

"Yes!"

"Very well. This secret is the one you should learn after you have learn the succession move"

"Koshijiro!" his wife admonished. "Surely you're not going to tell her THAT? She is just a kid"

Koshijiro went over to his wife and they had a heated conversation. He seemed to be trying to convince her about something. Kaoru didn't understand the rapid exchange between her parents, but hoped that her mother would let her father tell her the secret. She was bursting with curiosity. Then her mother threw her hands up and said something about hoping he was doing the right thing to which he answered that he was. With the debate settled, Kaoru became the focus of her father once more.

"Chibi, are you sure you want to hear the secret?"

"Yes!"

"Very well, the secret is 'Kamiya Kasshinryu has two guardians, light and dark, which are completely opposite of each other. When they meet each other, they will shatter the limit"

"What does it mean?"

"You will only understand it if you train. Now, rest for a while before we continue our training"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Busu, you're not only ugly, but you also have a very short memory"

The bokken in Kaoru's hands managed to land on Yahiko's head hard.

"Oi!" Yahiko protested while rubbing his sore head. "You're the one who forgot about what I asked"

"The hit is for calling me names, Yahiko-chan"

"Look at who's calling people names. I told you never to call me kid! Now, are you going to answer me or not?"

Kaoru mentally sighed. She felt he was the same as she had been, eager to learn something important and secret. Now she thought it had all been a trick played on her by her father to convince her to study kenjutsu. "The answer is no! There's no such thing as a super-duper secret and powerful technique that will allow you to show off to Tsubame"

"I don't remember mentioning her in our conversation!"

"Well then, you can think about her while you scrub the dojo floor spotless after we finished training"

"Che! If Kenshin was willing to teach me, I wouldn't have to be a student of an old hag"

"You can also pretend that Kenshin's teaching you while doing your 1000 practice strokes before cleaning the floor"

Fanning herself after a hard training with her own 'baka deshi', Kaoru fixed her gaze on the one man she cared more than anyone else. As usual, Kenshin always did the laundry at this time of the day. Although he was smiling as he goes about washing the clothes, Kaoru wondered whether the smile was genuine. 'He always smiles', she thought to herself, trying to dispel the negative thought. But then again she noticed Kenshin's smile was becoming more frequent since the fight with Enishi. Hearing about an ex-member of Juppongatana, Soujiro who smiled to hide the emotions and pains he felt didn't help to ease Kaoru's concern.

"Did sessha do something wrong, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin's innocent query caused Kaoru to blush and pretend to look at the tree near Kenshin. "No… nothing. Why do you think that?" Kaoru stammered out her reply. "You were looking at me as if I was a ghost," Kenshin said, smiling at her. 'There he goes, smiling again. And the use of 'this unworthy one' as usual' "Nothing, really. I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at the tree. I was trying to remember its age". Kenshin nodded and continued his work.

Kaoru continued her train of thought, trying to rationalize whether Kenshin's acting strange or not. But deep down, she knew that she had the answer already. The problem is that the answer leads to another question, a question that burned inside her mind, but could not be asked to everyone, especially Kenshin.

"Oi. Jo-chan. Time for feed my stomach. You should ask your slave to stop doing the laundry and cook lunch," Sano said, interrupting her thoughts. A bit upset at being called Kenshin's master although she knew he didn't mean it, she retorted back, "I wish that Megumi was here give you something to make your stomach smarter"

"You hurt my feelings. And my stomach's", Sanosuke said, pretending to be hurt by her remark

"Don't worry, Sano. The laundry is done. Sessha will cook lunch", Kenshin said, consoling him.

"Yosha! Long live Kenshin. Go for it", Sanosuke said, shoving Kenshin into the kitchen. Kaoru watched their antics.

Sure, she admitted to herself that she was happy to have Sanosuke around. In fact, she was so shocked when one day she opened the dojo door to find him asking about lunch that she practically stood there dumbfounded until Yahiko brought her to her senses with his name-calling. Over lunch, Sanosuke told them how he mistakenly took the ship to Mongolia or something. He just didn't know where he was. One thing for sure, as Sano told Kenshin, Yahiko and herself while stuffing himself, he wasn't in America.

Yahiko was quite angry when he was kicked out of Sano's house, or HIS house as Yahiko maintained, but the fact is that the baka rooster is back to stay. Adding to his stroke of luck, when Kenshin approached the police chief regarding the charges being held against his friend, he was told that the case would not be pursued, as the person Sanosuke supposedly assaulted was missing, and the police deemed it more important to find him first. Initially, Sanosuke was thoroughly interrogated, as he was suspected of kidnapping the man. But then he was released immediately. Kenshin's inquiries on the matter revealed that the release order was signed by from someone from police intelligence department in Hokkaido. Since then, Sano would appear at the Kamiya dojo almost every mealtime.

But as much as she enjoyed Sano's company, she didn't like being disturbed while she's thinking of something important. Confident that Sanosuke wouldn't bother her anymore, she sat down and tried to reconstruct her train of thought.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" Sanosuke said quietly while sitting to her left.

"What do you mean?"

"Feh. People always think that I'm stupid or something"

"Well, you are a bit thick-headed and don't like to think…" Kaoru said, trying to change the subject. A curious Sanosuke Sagara is someone she didn't need.

"Maybe I am stupid. But, even an idiot like me can tell that you're troubled by something"

Kaoru knew that there was no escaping from Sano's question. 'But I should not tell him what's on my mind', a part of her reasoned. 'Admit it, you really wanted to know about it. Think! This is an opportunity for you to find out', another voice in her reminded. "Well, Jo-chan? I'm waiting", Sano said impatiently. Kaoru let out a small breath. Turning to Sano, she asked, "What happened while I was gone?"

"Huh?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes. Either Sano was stupid or he didn't want to answer her. Judging from him asking his question to her a moment ago, she would settle for the later. "Is… there… something… that… happened… while… I… was… kidnapped… by… Enishi?" Kaoru said slowly, making sure that every word could be heard, leaving no chance for Sano to plead stupidity or deafness. "I noticed that Kenshin's somewhat changed", she continued.

"Oh. I better go and check on Kenshin. Maybe the food is ready," Sano tried to get up but felt but felt her hand on his right sleeve. Looking at her hung head, Sano chided himself for having such a big curiosity and even a bigger mouth. He sat again. "Nothing happened! Why do you think something happened?"

Kaoru remained still and quiet. Sano tried his last attempt to bluff her. "Nothing of importance happened. Except that we searched frantically for you"

"You are a terrible liar. Now I am sure something has happened. Whatever that had happened, Kenshin doesn't want me to know", Kaoru said softly. 'Shit! God, help me escape from her question. I promise I wouldn't gamble for a week'

As if Sano's prayer was answered, Megumi came through the front gate. Sano knew either he's very lucky or the god had answered his prayer, as Megumi visiting from Aizu was not something that happened everyday. He wondered whether he should go back on his promise not to gamble for a week…

Looking at Sano's awkward look and Kaoru's lowered head, Megumi teased, "What have you done this time, chicken head?" Indignant at her accusation but relived by her presence nonetheless, Sano rose. "I did nothing" He was surprised as Kaoru suddenly stood between him and Megumi. "That's a blatant lie" 'Shit. Now she's going to press me for information in front of Megumi. I'm dead. Megumi will certainly enjoy skinning me alive after this', Sano thought.

"He bad-mouthed my cooking as usual," Kaoru said while playfully punching Sano's stomach, causing him to kneel and gasp for air.

"Oh. I see. Sano, please learn to behave like a gentleman", Megumi said seductively while placing her index finger under Sano's chin. "I do like you a bit; maybe we can work on making the liking bit bigger, hmm?" She walked toward his left side and blew softly in his ear, tickling him. "Maybe if you knew how treat women kindly…" Sano began to sweat nervously as he felt nervous and wasn't sure that he could withstand Megumi's seduction attack on him any longer. Megumi giggled, adding to his discomfort even more. She looked at Kaoru. "But of course, even I, the most diplomatic person here, aside from Ken-san that is, have to admit that your cooking IS bad"

"Megumi…," Kaoru said, gritting her teeth.

Megumi ignored her. "Where is Kenshin? Maybe he's in the kitchen. I better go to him and let you continue your fight. Ohohoho", Megumi laughed while heading to the kitchen. Sano looked at her back as she walked away. He tried to say something so that Megumi would not leave him and Kaoru alone, but he couldn't think of anything. Finally, Sano forced himself to look at Kaoru.

"Forget that I ask", Kaoru said while keeping her downcast look on the wooden floor in front of her. "Just promise me that you will not tell anyone" She then walked away, leaving Sano with feeling of a guilt.

After that, Kaoru acted as if nothing has happened between them, teasing Sano and getting angry at Sano's remarks as usual. For his part, Sano was willing to comply, conveniently forgetting what has transpired between the two of them.

Shingo walked along the corridor inside the building, marveling at the weapons being produced there. He never thought a row of run-down houses could hide a weapon manufacturing facility. And the fact that it was located not far from a police station made it more amazing. 'These people in Shanghai sure are very clever', he thought to himself. As he walked toward the centre of the factory, he spied a blonde foreigner talking to some workers. He approached him after the workers left.

"Mr. Kari Neowinoshito?

The foreigner spun around and Shingo found himself looking into a pair of green eyes. "Neuwindst, not Neowinoshito. Karl. Not Kari. Karl Neuwindst. I just wish everybody here could pronounce my name correctly. Please wait a minute" Karl said as he looked into at a piece of paper. "You are Yamazaki Shingo, correct? I was told of you coming here. How can I help you?"

"Mr. No Win, I was sent to check on the weapons my master asked you to provide us"

"Sigh. Neu…windst … Why do I even bother? Anyway, I will show a sample of the weapon to you if you would please walk this way"

"Yes. I will walk like you do, although I find your slouching a bit disturbing"

Karl Neuwindst stared hard at him, trying to decide whether Shingo was putting him on. Deciding not to pursue the matter any longer, he led Shingo to a few boxes that are piled neatly. He opened one of the boxes to reveal a weapon that resembles two rifles being put together. The weapon was connected to a box, presumably containing ammunitions. Aside from the weapon itself, the box also contained a tripod. Henreich called for two workers to lift weapon out of the box and put it on the tripod. The workers quickly assembled the weapon in less than a minute.

"Mr. Yamazaki, I present you the with Gardner gun. With some modifications, of course"

"Gardner gun? I thought we asked for the Gattling gun. Are you trying to cheat us?", Shingo demanded, clearly annoyed.

"Calm down", Neuwindst said assuringly. "If I'm not mistaken, your leader said in his letter 'provide me with your best rapid-firing guns', and I am doing as instructed"

"Yes, he did. But…"

"The reason why I had not prepared the weapon until you came was to show you how easy it is to be carried and assembled. A Gattling gun with six barrels is three times heavier than a Gardner gun, which only has two barrels. Lighter weight means more ammunition can be carried along. Since it is not stated what the guns will be used for, we will also provide the five barrel version, which is better for fixed installations"

"How about the firing rate?" Shingo asked, still unconvinced.

"I assure you, the firing rate is almost on par with the Gattling gun. And, it also has two barrels that can fire simultaneously. Gattling gun can only fire from one barrel at one time. Let me tell you something. The inventor of this gun proposed its design to the American army but was turned down. The reason is not because the gun is not good. In fact, it is better than the Gattling gun. But the American army didn't see the need to replace the Gattling gun with something more advanced. The armies in Europe however, are rushing to equip their soldiers with this weapon"

"You have convinced me. But what of the modification you touted being done on this gun?"

"The use of automatic weapon firing and reloading. I believe this will be an advantage to your army. Of course, the guns cost more, but I believe that your leader will be satisfied with the improvements"

"Maybe he will. When can you deliver them to us?"

"Tomorrow, one of our ships will leave for Japan. So, if you agree, we can deliver the shipment of Gardner guns tomorrow. Or we can still provide you with the Gattling guns, if you still want them"

"We would like Gardner guns"

"So, that very much concludes our second transaction. How does your leader like his shipment of cannons?"

"More than satisfied"

"I'm glad. Personally, I take pride in producing cannons of higher quality than Krupp's. Someday I'll prove to them that they have made a mistake of firing me"

"And you want to prove it by trying to be our main supplier after we conquer Japan?"

"Well, Yes and No. Actually, one of the main reasons I like doing business with your leader is because he always pays first even before looking at the weapons. I do value a customer who pays up first. It's something of a great honor to me, with people trusting me by paying…"

"We can talk about money later, Mr. Neu…windst. Anyway, you have yet to show me the so-called secret weapon"

"Gladly, since your leader has already paid for them too. Why don't we go to the countryside so that I can give you a demonstration?"

"Well?" Karl asked after Shingo lowered his binoculars. From the place the two are standing, they could see the craters caused by the weapon

"It's amazing"

"But of course. I'm the one who designed and made it. So then, I will provide fifteen units of those"

"Ee? But the receipt you just gave me only mention about five units"

"Of course", Karl said with twinkle in his eyes. "But the ten additional units come with a condition"

"What is it?"

Karl walked away toward a table with a bottle of champagne and two glasses on it. "I will tell you as we enjoy this fine sake made in France"

Notes

1) Suenagaku na Aki literally means "forever, that is of the autumn" or in short, autumn forever. I admit, I do take some liberty with the words. But IMHO, 'ever stay autumn' sounds better. And the title will be less likely to be taken.

2) Gardner gun[s] have a crank that when turned, will cause the gun to load the bullets from a bullet case behind the barrels into the firing chambers and then fire them. While the Gattling design of rotating barrels and stationary loading chamber[s] is proven more versatile eventually and still being used up until now*[and is still in use today], in the last century, where portability and ease of deployment is[was] more important, the gardner gun design is[was] considered better**. Also, turning the crank is easier because it will cause the loading mechanism to turn, not the barrels. Plus, it can fire two-five[2 to 5?] bullets at one time. The five barrel version was being used for naval ships. But for more information, or for diagram[s] or pictures of the gun, please check your local library for books on weapons of [the] previous century or point your browser to the search engines.

3) I don't know whether I will provide more historical or technical backgrounds*** as this story unfolds (as I feel that maybe it will be not needed anymore), but I promise to at least explain what I deem are important.

4) This is a revised version of the revised version.

Fujifunmum - The first bite of food will always overwhelm the tongue with its flavor. Thank you

Ranma1517730129 - Sometimes, the gourmet knows more about food than an amateur cook.

Fujifunmum - Hmm… Point well taken. Since I'm lazy enough to cook up a similar meaning cryptic sentence, please refer to the one above.

keiko() - A poor man's soup will always start with a stone (at least in the story). Then few more ingredients are added in as the soup is being boiled over the fire, while the cook hopes that the resulting broth will taste good.

* : Of course, there are major modifications to the basic design, such as automatic or mechanized firing mechanism, but the basic rotating function is still still there

** : This, of course, have to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the writer's term better applies to that time and even then, to certain conditions. But, cost-wise, producing a two barrel gun was cheaper than a gun with six barrels because of the materials needed (obviously) and the complexity of the design. This is because the lesser moving parts being used in a design, the easier for it to be maintained.

*** : This refers to the characters' personal info or extra information. Of course, this mostly applies to the introduced characters as they're the one who needed the background information, but including it in the story too much will probably spoil the story.

This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum