Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Battousai Unleashed ❯ Kirei Battousai ( Chapter 4 )

Kirei Battousai

Kenshin walked through a small village. He was counting the days silently. It was now 2 years, 5 months, and 7 days after Miss Kaoru had gone missing. For the past few months he had been hearing rumors of a ruthless killer for hire. This new man slayer was said to wield a powerful sword with a rose design. Hearing this, Kenshin could only surmise that whoever this man slayer was, they would know of what had happened to Miss Kaoru.
His narrowed violet eyes took in everything quickly and accurately. According to the small whelp that had been camped outside this village, he had only a few more houses to pass before he came to the bar where the man slayer was said to frequent. It had also been rumored that this particular battousai, as he had also come to be known, traveled with another. That was rare and curious to Kenshin. Not many man slayers worked together; most preferred to work alone.
He stopped his walk and turned to look to his right. He was there. Holding his head high, Kenshin entered the bar. Whispers were soon heard as the patrons of the bar recognized the red hair and cross scar on his left cheek.
"It's the Hitokiri Battousai!"
"Has he come to challenge Kirei Battousai?!"
"Kirei Battousai?" Kenshin wondered, "Why would a man slayer allow beautiful to precede his title?"
He would soon know, that he would.
A person in a dark cloak burst into the bar, panting.
"Please! I must speak to the Kirei Battousai!"
"Have a seat," a tall ebony haired man spoke, "The Battousai will be with you shortly."
Kenshin watched the man leave the bar and narrowed his eyes. So the Battousai was not stupid to simply be sitting in a bar, waiting. He had his companion wait instead; interesting. Soon the man returned, followed by a shorter figure, wearing a mask. The man was small and toned, about the same stature as Kenshin himself. He wore himself confidently and with an air of command. His clothing reminded Kenshin very much of something Misao would wear; however, these were purely black with occasional traces of red.
Tenryu led Kaoru to the person who needed her help. She had decided to stay with him a few months back and had also joined him in his profession. At first, she had been somewhat hesitant, but that had soon changed. While she remained the same caring individual she had always been, when she was on a job she was a completely different person. Every day she was becoming the master of the Hi Mei sword. She had already surpassed him in talent.
Kaoru sat across from the cloaked person and nodded her head for him to make his request.
"Please! My husband is going to kill me, Battousai! I fear for my life!" the cloaked person spoke, revealing herself to be a woman.
"Continue," Tenryu spoke smoothly.
The woman looked up at him and then the battousai.
"I want you to kill him before he kills me. I will give you anything you desire as your payment!"
Kaoru lifted her hand to silence the woman. She studied her eyes closely. This woman was sincere, she was very afraid. The woman gasped as the fiery blue eyes of the battousai locked onto hers. She pressed back further into her seat.
Kaoru nodded and stood, leaving the bar.
"Kirei Battousai will take this assignment," Tenryu spoke, "and collect the fee after job is over. I assume you have the details written?"
"Hai," the woman said, handing Tenryu a small scroll and leaving the bar.
Later, he and Kaoru exited the bar, and left for their home. Kenshin silently followed them. He was intrigued by the silence of this supposed Kirei Battousai. He was sly one. He did not show his face, or speak so that others could hear his voice. Kenshin knew this man slayer would be a formidable opponent. However, he had to know what had occurred to Miss Kaoru. And he had a feeling Kirei Battousai had the answer.
Tenryu stepped into his home, followed by the masked Kaoru. As soon as the door was closed, Kaoru took off the mask and sighed. The season was getting unbearably hot and she couldn't stand being in a mask all day. But she knew what would occur if anyone where to find out she was a woman. And so she continued to hide her identity since she had begun those months ago.
It had surprised her how easily she had become adjusted to killing for a living. Not to misunderstand Kaoru, she still felt the guilt gnawing at her conscious mind. However, the Hi Mei sword urged her onward. Every night the sword gifted her with added power and skill. And everyday it cursed her with sorrow and guilt. She felt as if she was betraying her family, herself.
"Kaoru-chan," Tenryu said gently, sitting next to her, "Daijobu?"
"Hai, Tenryu-kun," she smiled weakly.
"Liar," he said warmly, caressing her cheek, "Kaoru...you know you don't have to continue this line of work."
"It's all I have, Tenryu," she replied, "And you're all I have as well."
"Have you decided then?" he asked, hopefully.
"Hai," she whispered, "I.."
A knock at the door surprised them both. Who could it be? Kaoru quickly rushed to her room to change into a kimono and hide her sword. Tenryu opened the door and stepped outside. He scrutinized the short red-haired man before him. His eyes landed on the cross scar on the man's left cheek and they narrowed. What the hell was the Hitokiri Battousai doing here?! This did not bode well, he feared.
"Hitokiri Battousai," Tenryu addressed him.
"Mitsurugi Tenryu," Kenshin replied.
"Observant. Do come in," he replied, allowing Kenshin into the house and closing the door.
"Where is he?" Kenshin asked, "I have business with the Kirei Battousai."
"I'm afraid he isn't here at the moment. Please have a seat..."
"I would rather not."
Kaoru tied the last knot on her obi and gracefully glided into the living quarters.
"Tenryu-kun, who was at the...," she began and stopped abruptly.
The red hair, those violet eyes, it could only be one person.
"Kenshin...," she breathed.
"Miss Kaoru?!" he asked surprised.
"You two know each other?" Tenryu asked.
"Yes. Kenshin is the wanderer I spoke to you about, Tenryu-kun."
"Oh, I see. I had no idea he was the Battousai. What else have you been hiding from me about your past, little one?" he teased.
Kenshin's eye twitched slightly. They spoke to each other as if they were lovers. And Miss Kaoru seemed to have been living here for a long time. What the hell was going on?! He did not like this, he most certainly did not.
"Kenshin, how have you been?"
"Doing well. We have missed you, Miss Kaoru. Even Sano has remained at the dojo to wait for your return these past few years."
"Oh. I've been staying with Tenryu. He's been teaching me the Hiten Mitsurugi style so that I can better control the Hi Mei sword."
"I see," Kenshin shot a look at Tenryu, "Miss Kaoru, have you been allowing the Kirei Battousai access to your sword?"
"Iie, Kenshin. I am the Kirei Battousai," she revealed.
"Kaoru-san! How foolish can you be?!" Tenryu boomed.
"But, Tenryu-san, Kenshin is a friend."
"He's the Hitokiri Battousai! I have told you that you can trust no one with your identity!"
"It is fine. I will tell no one about this. But I must ask you to reconsider that job this evening. You once told me that a sword was a tool to protect, not kill."
"Things change, Himura," she replied, a blue fire in her eyes, "I am not who I used to be."
"But I can still see the real you in your eyes, Miss Kaoru, that I can..."
"Enough," Tenryu said, jealously.
He didn't like the way this was going. He could tell that this Kenshin, the Hitokiri Battousai, was the one that Kaoru had once been in love with. All his hard work to get Kaoru to love him instead would go to waste if he allowed him to stay.
"Tenryu-san..."
"Kaoru-chan, please. Go to your room and wait for me there."
Kaoru looked from on to the other. Both were important men in her life, but right now she felt supremely confused. Her love for Kenshin was coming back from the moment she saw him, yet her feelings for Tenryu were also present. It was a choice she realized. If she chose Tenryu, she could never go back to her old life. But did she truly want to go back to her old life? Did she want Kenshin?
"Iie, Mitsurugi-san," she said, determined, "I'm staying right here."
She had chosen neither, yet she had made her position clear.
"Gomen, Kenshin. But this is my life right now. I have a job to do and I will do it."
"Then I must stop you," he said, solemnly.
"I won't allow this to continue!" Tenryu said, pulling out a dagger and slicing at Kenshin's arm.
Kenshin winced as the small blade cut through his shoulder.
"Yamete!" Kaoru commanded, "This is my life and I want you BOTH to stay out of it! Tenryu-san, I am grateful for all you have taught me and I will drop off half of my earnings before I leave here tonight. Kenshin, you are a part of my past...and I will never forget you. But I told you before, I can never go back to what I once was."
That said, Kaoru walked calmly to her room and prepared herself for battle. She knew that Kenshin would be waiting for her, to stop her from killing that man. But she wouldn't back down. She had said she would take the job and she also saw the fear in that woman's eyes. What she hadn't realized, was that the woman was afraid of her as the Battousai, not for her life. She had been hired to lure the Kirei Battousai out so that the police could capture him.
That night, it was all too clear what the plan was.
"Well, done, Amara," a black haired, portly man praised the small woman.
"Arigato, Shinji. The Kirei Battousai should be here any moment now."
"Good. You may leave."
"What about my pay?!" she demanded.
"Heh. Foolish wench, you were doing your country a service, now get lost."
"You will pay for this, Shinji!"
The woman stalked off angrily. How dare he back down from the money promised her. She hoped the Kirei Battousai killed them all.
"Commander, we have the men stationed as per your orders."
"Good. We will have the Battousai in our grasp within the hour!"
Kaoru ran swiftly and silently, mask in place, toward the mansion. She could feel a thick tension in the air. She could not be sure if it was her impending battle with Kenshin or if something else was amiss. She frowned as she vaulted over the stone wall and landed on her feet, gracefully. Her hair was up in a bun under the mask to keep it out of the way and her sword pulsed at her side, as if warning her.
She stealthily walked into the courtyard. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and she spun to the left, her suspicions confirmed. It was an ambush. The police jumped out from their hiding places and quickly surrounded her. Her eyes narrowed and glowed a red fire. They charged and she withdrew her blade, taking them out like the wind; swift and almost undetectable. However, there were more than she anticipated.
Kaoru blocked the incoming sword and quickly slide her blade inside her opponents defenses, wounding him in the chest; a mortal wound. She continue on, feeding her blade the blood it desired. Deep within the recesses of her mind, she could feel the old Kaoru screaming for her to stop. However, she wasn't really Kaoru, not so long as she held this sword. She was the Kirei Battousai, and she had a job to do. She twisted her sword out of her latest opponent and back flipped out of range of another's sword.
Kenshin had arrived at approximately the same time and took a few minutes to study her technique. It was truly the Hiten Mitsurugi style, however, she had not perfected it as he had. He knew if they would battle, he would defeat her. However, it seemed at the moment that the odds were not in her favor and the last thing he wanted was for Miss Kaoru to be captured. He launched himself into the battle, surprising her and himself to no end.
The two fought back to back, Kenshin with his reverse blade sword, merely knocking down his opponents; while Kaoru, with the Hi Mei sword, seemed to relish in the bloodshed. When all the police were either dead or unconscious, Kenshin turned to her with a face of stone. Kaoru sheathed her blade and looked at him, the red fire still in her eyes. It seemed to call out to the Battousai within Kenshin, beckoning him to the impending battle.
"Kaoru, I cannot let you kill another person, that I cannot. This is not you."
"It is me, Kenshin," she spoke icily, "It is the me that I discovered through this sword."
As if in response to its master's mentioning of it, the sword pulsed red. Kenshin's eyes narrowed. The sword, that was it. Kaoru and Tenryu didn't realize that the sword seemed to have a life of its own. It was controlling Kaoru and not the other way around. He had an objective now, destroy the sword and set Kaoru free of its curse.
"That sword is controlling you, Kaoru," he replied with narrowed eyes.
"Iie. This sword obeys me and gives me the strength I need."
"I will not allow you to lose yourself to the evil in that blade, Miss Kaoru. If I must, I will fight you and defeat you, that I will."
"Then you will die, Kenshin," she replied calmly.
"This is not the Miss Kaoru that I know!" he screamed.
"That's right, I'm not! I'm the Kirei Battousai. Kaoru died a long time ago. She died when those ninjas came and you weren't there to stop her from taking up this sword."
"You will die, Kirei Battousai. I will have Miss Kaoru back," he replied, a wave of guilt washing over him.
Kaoru smiled beneath her mask and closed her eyes, shaking her head. If only it were that easy, she mused. She took off her mask and tossed it aside. Neither realized the lone shadow in the courtyard that watched in fascination as Kaoru spoke.
"Face me as the Hitokiri Battousai, Himura. If you win, you may have Kamiya Kaoru back," she said evenly, "If you lose, you will lose her forever."
Kenshin gripped the sword at his side tightly. He knew that Kirei Battousai was serious. If he did not fight her with all he had, he would lose; not only his life, but Miss Kaoru. And he smiled inwardly, Kirei Battousai knew he couldn't kill Kaoru with the reverse blade sword, but he could still defeat her; interesting. It was almost like she wanted him to defeat her.
"I accept your terms," he replied, with narrowed violet eyes that swirled with golden flame, "If I lose, I die. If I win, I take Kaoru back."
Kirei Battousai smirked and nodded her agreement, for it was no longer Kamiya Kaoru that faced Kenshin. The Hi Mei sword glowed as her eyes reflected red fire. For now, Kaoru was locked away so her emotions would not interfere with the battle.
Hitokiri Battousai rose to the challenge, a golden flame engulfing once violet eyes. In that split second it took each of them to recognize the nature of the other, they charged. Both pulled their blades out at the same time to increase the speed of the first slash. The battle for Kamiya Kaoru had begun.