Chapter Two: The Requests
"Two days ago," she took a breath, "it is my understanding that you had an encounter with my husband, Udo Jin-e, and saw him die."
Kenshin nodded and motioned for Chisa to have a seat on the stoop nearby. Kaoru felt a chill go up her back just at the mention of that evil man's name. She looked at Kenshin, ignoring the older woman, "Please don't do this. I don't like this at all…"
"Kaoru-dono, this person humbly has asked for my help. Allow me to hear her out." Kenshin touched Kaoru's arm, but she recoiled and returned inside to her room.
"Can we stay?" Yahiko asked, cranking a thumb at Sano too. Kenshin looked at Chisa, who smiled lightly, nodded, picked up her bag from the dirt, and took a seat.
"What can this one do for you?" Kenshin asked.
Chisa shifted her weight and tucked a few loose hairs behind her ear. "Well, Himura-san, there are two things I am asking really…and I'm not sure how possible either are." She looked at her feet and clasped her hands together. "You see, you seem to have influence with the police chief. It seems to me that he is using you to determine the credibility of who I claim to be."
"We shall see how much influence this one does have, but I do need to know what is being asked first." Kenshin began to feel uneasy.
"The first task is related to my property. You see, the police have several things that belong to me and I wish to be returned. The first is simple: Jin-e's pocket watch. I had it personally engraved as a gift. The second is less simple, as I am certain that it will be considered evidence: his wakizashi. This was another gift from my father to Jin-e before he left to join the Shinsengumi." Chisa counted the items on her fingers.
"The last, I fear, is the most complicated but most important to me." Her tired eyes met Kenshin's and he noticed an intensity that he didn't expect. "I need Jin-e himself. He is my husband and I wish to have his body for a proper funeral and cremation."
At this point, Kaoru made it well known that she couldn't help but to listen to what was happening in the side yard.
"Do you even know who that monster was?! Do you know what he did to people?! Or what he did to me?!" Kaoru was still red in the face but no longer from the sake from earlier. "He was a hitokiri; an evil, cold-eyed man who murdered hundreds! For you to speak so calmly about him, it makes me sick. You are an accomplice and I want you off my property."
"Kaoru-dono, this one was also a hitokiri. One would hope that his family would not be judged by his own sins." Kenshin was speaking to her, but looking at Chisa. "But, if you feel so strongly, this one shall have this conversation elsewhere." He stood to leave. "We can find somewhere else more private…"
He had called Kaoru's bluff. "Fine!" She growled and threw her arms up in the air, "You can stay here. Always so honorable! This one this and this one that! Oro!" Sanosuke and Yahiko could probably be heard laughing from the street. It was clear that Kaoru couldn't handle the thought of Kenshin alone with another woman, which made the two laugh even harder.
Chisa looked a bit confused, but chuckled at the pair and their amusement. "Kaoru-san, I do not wish to impose or certainly make you feel uncomfortable with my presence. Please know that my relationship with my husband is," she coughed and corrected herself, "was not as straightforward as your relationship with Himura-san seems to be." Sanosuke and Yahiko, who had stopped laughing, returned to giggling. Kaoru glared at them, but her face was again flushed red. She didn't bother to correct the other woman.
Kenshin, however, made the clear distinction. "Oh, Kaoru-dono is nothing like that. She simply has allowed this rurouni to take up residence here, and has somehow collected these two as well." He motioned to Sano and Yahiko who smiled and waved. They were certainly all suited for one another.
"Yeah, we keep her in line!" Yahiko smiled. Chisa found herself genuinely smiling back. She hadn't done that much in the past several months.
"I'm certain that you do!" She laughed and enjoyed the moment and then returned her gaze to Kenshin. Kaoru plopped down in her original seat.
"You had two requests. What is the second?" Kenshin's uneasy feeling returned.
"I just need someone to listen to me, and to hear my stories of how we got here today. How Jin-e left his mark on me in every sense of the word. You called me an accomplice," Chisa locked eyes with Kaoru, "and I'm not here to make a defense. I have none. I am not here to clear Jin-e's name. I am not here to tell a love story. What I simply want is for my voice to be heard."
Kaoru nodded, more satisfied with that explanation, but could still feel the hair on the back of her neck standing up.
"Before I begin, however, I want to know what happened, or how it happened. Jin-e has been acting as a hitokiri most of the time I've known him, and every time he left to go on a job, I felt that it would be his last. When he left last week, however, I told myself that things were fine. It was the most simple evening we've had in years. To think that I would be sitting in front of Himura Battosai one week later…"
"Kenshin please." The former manslayer implored.
"My apologies, Kenshin-san. I was simply making a point, but I understand. Just as Kurogasa and Udo Jin-e are different people, to me anyway, so are Battosai and Himura Kenshin. At any rate, I know that his death could not be simple as nothing in his life ever has been. Please tell me what happened, especially for this young lady to whom I'm certain I owe an apology." Chisa's eyes for the first time showed a spark of grief as opposed to simply exhaustion.
And so Kenshin told the story, sparing no detail. He told of how Tani was the target, and how Sanosuke saved his life, despite being stabbed. He told of Kaoru's kidnapping and the hair ribbon promise and the fight of her life against the shin-no-ippo. He even told that Jin-e had been the first in a long while to fight Battosai himself, going as far as to cause him to nearly break his promise to kill no more. Finally, he told of how Kaoru ultimately overcame the shin-no-ippo and how Jin-e ended his life as a hitokiri. He literally lived by the sword and died by the sword.
Chisa asked no questions, but simply nodded and appreciated Kenshin's candor. As he finished, she looked at Kaoru. "I want you to know how deeply sorry I am, as shallow as this may seem. I know that there is nothing I can do that will change what happened, or ease the trauma that you've experienced, but I do want you to know that I will live the rest of my life dedicated to atonement for what role I have played."
Kenshin felt a sting of familiarity for this mindset; a parallel he hoped the others would notice as well.
Kaoru was the first to break the seemingly endless silence that followed the apology. "Well, Kenshin told you our story, what is yours?"
Chisa stood, straightened her kimono, and sat back down. "I suppose now is the time…"
