Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Samurai X Fan Fiction ❯ A Strong Will ❯ Lull ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all affiliated characters and settings are the creative property of Watsuki Nobuhiro and all companies affiliated with its license and translation. The setting and characters are used without permission, at no profit to the author of this fanwork.

 

Warnings: Graphic violence, torture (later chapters), language. Rated M for a reason.

 

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Chapter 4: Lull

 

According to Suzuka's spies, there was no sign of Battousai in Kyoto. It had been six days, and the vice-captain began to wonder if perhaps they had miscalculated the direction the caravan was headed. Had it driven the wounded hitokiri back to Choshu? Or were they hiding somewhere along the route between Nara and Kyoto? Staring down at a crude map before him, he scowled. Matsuo was an impatient man, and he was running short on time before he too would join the ranks of the couriers who had already died - needlessly - in this venture.

 

It wasn't as if he disagreed with Matsuo on the basic principle. The Ishin hitokiri was a dangerous enemy, and it would be a fatal mistake to ignore the threat he posed. However, Suzuka did not agree with Matsuo's desire to pursue Battousai without aid from main Shinsengumi headquarters, nor did he agree with the idea to capture rather than eliminate him. It was dishonorable, inefficient, and suicidal. He had tried to tell Matsuo this much, but the man was too wrapped up in his grand plans to bother listening… and Suzuka had been too afraid of the captain's temper to push the issue any further than he already had. And so the manhunt continued, so far without any luck.

 

As if to dampen his mood further, the incessant rain had lasted more than long enough, he decided, and it was delaying the search. They had finally finished scouring every outpost, inn, and village from Nara to Kyoto, so far without any luck. After much debate, Suzuka had finally relented and gave his own subordinates permission to start searching the many shrines and temples that lay between the two cities; perhaps Battousai had taken refuge at one of those. Although most regional shrines could be counted out - the lay-priests would never agree to handle the blood from Battousai's injuries - Suzuka had a strong suspicion that the kokugaku-affiliated shrines would be more than happy to help any stray Ishin warriors. It had been difficult to deal with the uprising anti-bakufu kokugaku faction. Even if they didn't treat the wounds themselves, as blood pollution was still an issue, Suzuka was sure that Battousai's allies had had ample time to come to his aid.

 

At this stage, Suzuka almost wished a body would turn up instead. It would save him - and the bakufu, for that matter - an immeasurable amount of trouble. Maybe it would throw water on Matsuo's blazing ambition, or maybe nothing would. If Hijikata were to ever find out about this venture… they would both be dead.

 

With a sigh, he looked outside and fervently wished one of his spies would return soon bearing good news. He needed some, along with a flask of nice, hot sake.

 

--

 

Kenshin had rarely had the opportunity to enjoy rain, as he did now. Precipitation always seemed to set off his sense of balance, muddling his awareness during battle. But at rest, he found it to be rather relaxing, if not pleasant. It helped him meditate, which in turn whittled away idle hours as he lay upon the futon, healing under Hirokatsu's order of bed rest. He hated being injured, even though he did appreciate the small respite from the harshness of war.

 

He still had trouble shaking the nagging feeling that they weren't safe, however, despite Katsura's reassurances that the priests were loyal. With his barest knowledge of folk religious teachings, by all rights he should have never been brought there. One, he was injured, and he was pretty sure they'd violated just about every blood pollution law the priests were bound to, and two… he was a known murderer. The thought that these priests would just willingly ignore these facts were difficult for him to swallow, putting him on edge, even if he was in too much pain to do anything about it.

 

It had been fairly easy, at first, to deal with the pain. He had slept through much of the first day after he'd awoken initially at the shrine, but now that his body refused to let him sleep, the constant ache and throbbing became much more bothersome. Thus, the rain brought a welcome sense of peace in which he could meditate.

 

Katsura had been in to see him several times since he'd awakened three days earlier. Kenshin was constantly amazed that the man still took the time to check on his unworthy being, though he should expect it from the man who ordered him to take the lives of so many. He had wanted to ask Katsura about Tanaka's family, and if he had done anything to see if they were alright. He had a gnawing, guilty feeling that they'd been destroyed because of Tanaka's failure to kill him, but he couldn't be sure. His ghosts had a way of playing horrible tricks on his mind in a very brutal form of revenge.

 

He deserved at least that much, he supposed.

 

But before his mind could continue down that path, a sudden presence near the shoji pulled his mind out of the hazy meditative state he'd been in for some time. The strong ki was likely Hirokatsu's; the man had to have been a swordsman in his day, to have that kind of strongly self-assured aura that faintly reminded him of his shishou's ki. With a soft scraping sound, the shoji slid open and dim light filtered in, silhouetting Hirokatsu's large frame.

 

“Himura-san?” the healer's familiar voice whispered into the room. “Are you awake?”

 

“Aa,” Kenshin replied. “You may come in.”

 

Hirokatsu entered the room, carrying the familiar tray of herbal remedies and linen strips, followed by a priest holding the usual wooden bucket of hot water. The healer deftly lit a lamp after he'd set the tray down. Dim light spread across the room from the lamp, illuminating the healer's wizened face and casting shadows along the shoji and ceiling.

 

“How are you feeling?” Hirokatsu asked, taking the bucket from the priest and dismissing him with a thank-you and a nod.

 

“Restless,” Kenshin replied honestly, grimacing as Hirokatsu helped him sit upright.

 

Hirokatsu hummed in acknowledgement, helping Kenshin slide the simple yukata from his shoulders to expose a myriad of linen bandages swathing the hitokiri's middle and upper right arm. “And physically?”

 

Kenshin hesitated for the barest moment before he replied, “Uncomfortable.”

 

“As expected, though I must say that I'm impressed you're doing this well so soon,” Hirokatsu replied as he gently unwound the bandages. “You were pretty badly injured.”

 

The bandages fell away from Kenshin's abdomen to reveal a red, puckered hole in the flesh near his bellybutton, and a slightly longer wound in his left side. Both had been neatly stitched with black thread. Hirokatsu leaned in closer and began pressing around the stab wound with his fingertips. Kenshin tensed, gritting his teeth as the healer examined the wound.

 

“It's not infected, at least,” Hirokatsu noted, casting a pitying glance up at the boy. “But it will take some time to heal - it was pretty deep. Is your abdomen still hurting? I noticed you haven't been eating much still, even with a regulated diet.”

 

“It's a little sore,” Kenshin replied honestly. “And I'm just not that hungry.”

 

“Hm.” The healer said nothing for a few moments as he continued to press on the young man's stomach. Kenshin winced every so often when the healer's hands pressed on a sore spot, but he remained quiet. “You need to eat more - you're too small, can't afford to lose weight. You need to gain back what you've lost in blood, too, boy.”

 

Kenshin didn't reply as the doctor continued his examination, but he couldn't help but hate the fact that he felt so weak and in pain. It left him feeling vulnerable, and with Katsura there, his overwhelming need to protect his leader was battling with his sense of inability. And that hurt more than the wounds did, in the end.

 

“These are healing well, but to be on the safe side, I want you to continue to take it easy,” Hirokatsu said after another few moments. Deftly selecting a shallow black jar from his tray, he removed the lid and coated his fingers with the salve inside. Kenshin wrinkled his nose at the smell, and the doctor chuckled lightly as he began gently massaging the salve onto the healing injuries. “I know, smells awful, but I swear it works like a charm.”

 

After Hirokatsu finished applying salve and rewrapping bandages, he calmly put his supplies back in their proper places on the tray.

 

“There you go. Let me know if you're uncomfortable, and I'll see what I can do. For now, keep resting, and get some food in that body of yours,” Hirokatsu ordered, wiping off the excess salve on his hands with a cloth. “And I mean it about resting. No use in stressing out your body unnecessarily, so take this opportunity to let it heal.”

 

Kenshin nodded politely with a small smile, though despite the healer's assurances, he still had a spine-tingling feeling that he was too vulnerable, and he hated it. If anything, he had been trained to trust his instincts more than anything else; he wasn't going to let a few small injuries get in the way of his duty to protect Katsura while they were on the same premises. Shifting to watch the doctor leave, he winced as the movement tugged on his healing wounds. So maybe they weren't so small, but the fact remained that something unpleasant was likely coming.

 

He only hoped he would be up to dealing with it when the time came.

 

--

 

“Katsura-sama, may I have a few words with you?”

 

Katsura turned away from the open door, where he had been calmly watching the rain falling in the courtyard outside the room he currently occupied. Akira, one of the upper-level shrine priests, peered around the half-open shoji expectantly. Nodding, Katsura stood and knelt at the center of the room over a low food tray that held a teapot and two cups.

 

“Come in,” Katsura said. “I wanted to thank you anyway.”

 

Akira entered solemnly and knelt across from Katsura, and thanked him when the Ishin leader offered tea.

 

“There's no need to thank us,” Akira said after he took a hesitant sip. “After all, you're doing the hard work - taking on the bakufu. You might not like what I have to say, though.” At this, Katsura looked sharply at the priest, who sighed.

 

“Bad news?”

 

“I'm afraid so,” Akira replied. “A messenger from one of our affiliate shrines mentioned that there has been some troubling events. The Shinsengumi waylaid one of their head priests and… questioned him. About a renegade assassin on the loose in this area, the messenger said.”

 

Katsura frowned. Himura. They were still after Himura. “We should probably leave before we involve you as well.”

 

“I would agree, but it looks like Himura-san still isn't quite on his feet yet,” Akira noted solemnly. When Katsura glared down into his teacup, the priest added, “You are permitted to stay here as long as you need - I would never be the one to turn you out. We will delay them as long as we can, and hope that we're among the last of the places they look.”

 

After a moment of silence, Katsura said, “I don't want to take any chances. We'll leave as soon as Hirokatsu-sensei says we are able to move Himura without causing him further harm.”

 

“There may not be enough time for that, but we'll do our best,” Akira replied. “If we have to bring out our old, rusty samurai swords to do so, then so be it.”

 

Katsura looked pained for a moment, but nodded regardless. “Thank you for all your help. I don't know what we would have done if—”

 

Akira held up a hand, cutting him off. “No need to offer us your thanks. You and your men are the ones bearing the grunt of this whole mess, not us. This is the least we can do. Now if you will excuse me.”

 

Katsura bowed his head solemnly, watching the priest as he bowed, then stood and left the small tatami room. With a small sigh, he turned his attention back to the rain, this time wondering how much time they had before they were forced to move along. For Himura's health's sake, he hoped it would be a much longer while yet, though he had a rather ill feeling that their troubles were only just beginning.

 

--

 

Suzuka squeezed his eyes shut, massaging his lids with his fingers with the hope of chasing away the weary lines he was sure he felt forming there. It had been two days and still no word, up until that morning. The courier had brought in some more pleasant news than nothing, but they still seemed to have a long ways to go before they could pinpoint Battousai's whereabouts. And the longer they waited the better of a chance Battousai and his conglomerates had to heal and escape.

 

The news had brought reports of four suspicious shrines and temples in the region that seemed to have good connections with Katsura. Two of them were of the upstart kokugaku sect, which had openly been giving their support to the Ishin Shishi, drawn by the sonno joi motto that the rebels preached. Revere the emperor, and expel the Barbarians, including anything that wasn't indigenous to Japan. Like Buddhism.

 

Odd that they hadn't included the current writing system in their list of grievances, Suzuka noted wryly as he read over his spies' coded notes. That was Chinese too, after all. But that was a separate issue; the kokugaku sect really hadn't done much other than speak out against the Bakufu, and though that in itself was troubling, the Buddhists comprised more of the Tokugawa han's population than they did. If they did house the errant hitokiri, it would be one of the more outspoken actions that they'd performed. The fact that they had refused to aid the spies' investigation was expected, based on their current feelings towards anything tied to the Bakufu.

 

Thus, he was unable to eliminate them from the list just yet. The other two shrines were smaller and further into the woods, which would also make perfect hiding places. That, and they too had been unwilling to cooperate with the spies. Unlike the kokugaku, they hadn't had any other reason to act out against the Bakufu that he could think of. They should probably force entry with all four shrines, starting with the two non-kokugaku shrines. To him, they were more likely to house something suspicious.

 

He would have to relate his plans to Matsuo, however much he'd rather not. Matsuo would likely tell him to raid all four at once, burning them all to the ground. He'd rather not anger the gods any further and just raid quietly. For all he knew, Battousai might not even be in a shrine. They still hadn't confirmed that he had actually lived through the whole ordeal yet.

 

Much to his chagrin, the guard at his door announced Matsuo's arrival. Suzuka sighed; so his plans were going to have to be modified, now that Matsuo was here to find out about them. He nodded at the guard, who turned and spoke quietly into the hall. Matsuo appeared at the door shortly after, a scowl etched into his bearded face.

 

“Anything?” he demanded.

 

Suzuka nodded briefly. “My courier brought reports from the spies about a half hour ago. We've narrowed it down to four potential shrines, if that is indeed where the Battousai has chosen to hide himself.” Matsuo settled down across from Suzuka, looking intently at the spies' reports as he listened. Suzuka shifted nervously. “These are the four shrines that refused the spies entry. Two of them are kokugaku-affiliated shrines, and the other two are to village local gods.”

 

“It's not this one,” Matsuo pointed suddenly to one of the two non-kokugaku shrines on the map. “They've got a policy against violence in general. Other Shinsengumi members have had dealings with them before, and I've also heard that they're none too fond of the Ishin either.”

 

Well, that did help narrow it down some, Suzuka noted with a small nod of approval. “I was thinking we could infiltrate this one first, then. The kokugaku just don't like us; this shrine's priests really have no other reason to be against us unless they are hiding something.”

 

“That might be the case, but the kokugaku sect would also be more willing to hide Battousai if he's aiding the Ishin cause,” Matsuo replied. “We need to take all three down. Burn them to the ground.”

 

“But sir, only one place can be hiding the Battousai—”

 

“And all three have denied Shinsengumi spies access. They're in defiance of the law, and must be punished regardless. We're going to show the others what it means to stand up to us,” Matsuo snapped back. “Look, Suzuka. I know you don't want to have unnecessary bloodshed, but this is the only way we're going to prove to Kyoto that we're capable of handling things down here.”

 

Suzuka frowned, but he knew that any arguing with the captain would only get him into further trouble. “I understand, but our resources are only going to allow us to strike one at a time, especially if they have Battousai with them. We'll need to be careful how we proceed here.”

 

“Point taken,” Matsuo said easily. “That means we'll just have to be quick. Get the squad ready; we're going to leave as soon as the rain lets up.”

 

With that, Matsuo stood, shot Suzuka a warning look - no room for argument - and then excused himself. Suzuka sighed once he was out of the room. This was going to take some serious thought, and he didn't have much time. Never did, in the first place.

 

--

 

Hirokatsu left the room a little uplifted, as the boy seemed to be doing far better than he'd anticipated. The after-effects of the lead poisoning were a little troubling, but otherwise the wounds looked like they were healing. Himura was one of the better patients he'd had in a long while; the boy was obedient to his instructions - except his request that Himura eat more - rarely complained, and even offered to help dress his own injuries on occasion. Though a bit on the quiet side, Himura was rather polite, and this surprised the healer. He'd expected the hitokiri to be at least a little more… hard-edged and cold, he supposed.

 

As he rounded the corner, he had been too caught up in his own thoughts and nearly missed the aura of the Choshuu clan's commander. They nearly collided, and both seemed to be surprised to see the other.

 

“Katsura-sama,” Hirokatsu greeted, bowing his head lightly, taking note with some worry the concerned frown spread across Katsura's forehead. “I'm sorry; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.”

 

“Neither was I, Tatsumo,” Katsura replied. “I was looking for you anyway. Do you have a moment?”

 

“I do,” Hirokatsu replied.

 

Katsura looked around for a moment, then motioned for the healer to follow him. Padding quietly around the shrine, they soon found themselves in the room that had become Katsura's quarters during their stay there. Katsura quickly slid the shoji closed behind Hirokatsu, and the two of them knelt across from each other at the center of the room.

 

“How is he?” Katsura asked, keeping his voice low.

 

As Hirokatsu had expected, Katsura was still worried about Himura's condition. With a reassuring nod, he replied, “Himura is on the mend - further along than most would be in that situation. But he still needs a lot of rest. He's still getting over being sick from the leftover poisoning from the bullet, and his wounds still seem to be rather tender, even if they aren't infected. I want him to take some time off.”

 

Katsura bit his lip pensively as Hirokatsu relayed the details of the boy's current state of health, and it caused the older healer to frown. Something else was the matter, then, and it was making Katsura nervous to hear that Himura wasn't near being fully healed yet.

 

“That's good news,” Katsura said, but Hirokatsu saw past the half-truth. Good news that Himura wasn't going to die, and then there was the “but.”

 

“Is something wrong?” Hirokatsu finally asked. “What is it that you're not telling me?”

 

Katsura sighed. “I've been receiving troubling news from the monks at this shrine - that the Shinsengumi are looking for Himura. They've already sent spies here once, but they were turned away, as is shrine policy here. I'm afraid that we're running out of time to stay here; the longer we linger, the more in danger we all are.”

 

“You wanted to know if Himura's well enough to travel - flee - if we have to.”

 

It wasn't a question. Katsura knew it, and nodded uncertainly. “I'm sorry, Tatsumo. I didn't want to have to push him before he's ready, but…” He trailed off, biting his lip once more in worry. “We can't afford to lose him, not like that.”

 

Hirokatsu nodded in understanding. He too had had the feeling that their stay would be cut short, and that they would have to push Himura sooner than he would have liked. He knew Himura would never complain about it; if Katsura ordered it, the boy would comply immediately without a word.

 

“Then you'd best get moving before they arrive,” Hirokatsu replied. “Himura's barely going to be able to run, but he'll have a better chance at that than he will fighting.”

 

Katsura nodded. “We're planning to leave tonight, under cover of the rain, if possible. Can you… can you give something to Himura to help him make it through the escape?”

 

Hesitating a moment, Hirokatsu sighed before he said, “I do have a special herbal mixture, but it's not safe in his condition. It'll dull the pain and keep him moving long enough for you to make it away, but the after-effects aren't so… healthy, I'd say. It will be a gamble.”

 

Katsura shot him a determined look. “As long as he gets to safety alive, we can deal with that later. It'd be a far cry better than dealing with a corpse.”

 

The man had a point, but it didn't make Hirokatsu any less worried about this plan of action. “Let me speak with him about it first, and let him know what he's getting himself into. I think it should be up to him.”

 

For a moment, Katsura seemed to consider the idea before he nodded slowly. “Alright, then. I will speak with him about it, and you can fill him in on the details of this herbal concoction, since I don't know about it. Since we don't have much time…”

 

“I know. I'll get it ready now,” Hirokatsu replied, standing. “Be sure to give the kid a choice to refuse, Katsura-sama. He might have another plan up his own sleeves that we don't know about.”

 

Katsura nodded again in acknowledgement. “Agreed.”

 

“If you'll excuse me.”

 

Hirokatsu quickly left the room to gather the necessary ingredients, but he still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it was a bad idea. However, under the circumstances, they really didn't have many other options.

 

--

.end chapter 4.

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This chapter has been up at FFnet for a while, but I hadn't posted it here mainly because I was debating just letting this account stagnate and just sit here. I don't feel like I'm getting anything by posting my stuff here, but I don't think that's entirely fair to any random people who actually might be reading it at this site. So here it is. Hopefully I'll be in a good enough mood to post chapter 5 when I'm finished with it.

 

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