Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ It Wasn't Always So ❯ One-Shot

It Wasn't Always So

By: Kiamirei

~Wow, it's been a long time since I've written something for this series…. and it's probably not very good… Anyway, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Please review this, or email me with your comments.

~:~:~:~:~ Indicates flashback and end of flashback.

Kenshin was, to say the least, surprised. Standing before him at the doors of the Kamiya dojo at midnight on the night of a full moon was none other than Saitou Hajime. It was all he could do to stutter as Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke asked from behind him who this strange man was, and why Kenshin was reacting the way that he did. His enemy smiled a small, cold smile at him.

"Battousai. How nice to see you again. Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"How did you find me?"

"It wasn't hard. While you were traveling I couldn't find a trace of you anywhere, but now that you've settled down it's been easy to locate you."

"Kenshin," Sanosuke growled, "who the hell is this?"

In truth, the former mercenary was frightened. Anyone who could startle Kenshin into silence was someone to be reckoned with, and undoubtedly an enemy. But before his friend could give an answer, the visitor introduced himself.

"My name now is Fujita. But Himura knew me as Saitou Hajime, just as I knew him as Hitokiri Battousai. It's been a long time, my friend. I've joined the police. Aren't you proud?" he sneered.

Sanosuke took a step forward, clenching his fists. Kenshin had spoken to him once of this man, fearing that he would find them and hurt Kaoru and Yahiko. He did not like the stories that the former assassin had told.

"Look here," he said. "I want you to leave Kenshin alone. Go. Now."

Saitou completely ignored him.

"Battousai, won't you invite me in? I must say that your manners have declined."

"What is it that you want?"

"What do you think that I want? What else would I track you down, follow you all over Japan, for?"

"I'm not going to fight you. I don't kill anymore. My sword has a reverse-blade."

"Then I'll destroy all of your friends until you do. Surely you know this."

Kenshin's eyes narrowed, and they flared amber for a brief moment. His hand strayed to the hilt of his weapon as he tried to decide what to do. After all, Saitou never made threats that he was not willing to carry out. He looked up for a minute at the full moon, and it reminded him -as it always did- of Tomoe. She had died because of him, and he did not want Kaoru, Sanosuke, and Yahiko to be subject to the same fate. There was, in the end, no other choice for him to make.

And he had to admit to himself that he was a tiny bit curious of how the ending to this duel would turn out. Their last one had been left unfinished.

"You can't really be thinking of doing this," Sanosuke said incredulously. Kaoru's eyes widened.

"Kenshin, don't!"

But the former hitokiri had already started walking forward as his enemy entered the dojo, and they positioned themselves so that there was enough room for a proper battle.

"Kenshin, please!" Kaoru begged. "Don't do this!"

"This isn't something that I can run from, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin told her relucantly. "This is an enemy that I cannot ignore. He's unrelenting, malicious, and will do exactly as he says."

Saitou smiled that cold smile again, but Sanouske noticed that there was a new, unreadable emotion in it, and saw it reflected in Kenshin also. Had these two been friends once? The thought seemed extremely unlikely, but could not be disregarded.

"Enemies. Unrelenting. Malicious," the wolf repeated softly. "That does describe our views of each other, doesn't it, Battousai. But there were times when it wasn't so."

Indeed, Kenshin thought. It wasn't always that way. Most times, but not always.

~:~:~:~:~

The moon was full. Kenshin paused as he walked down a near-empty street and stared up at it through the cold eyes characteristic of a hitokiri, thinking of how its pale color reminded him of Tomoe's skin. But everything reminded him of the woman these days, and he tore his eyes away from the thing, tracing his scar with his left hand as he held back tears. It had only been three months since her death. He had agreed to work for Katsura again, as a soldier this time, although his eyes still reflected his former occupation, and the man had sent him away late that afternoon, ordering him to "relax." As if that would ever happen. Tonight was the night that she had died, and he was absolutely miserable. The assassin walked through the doorway of a tavern he had been to a few times and sat at a table in a forgotten corner of the room. Shortly a waitress approached him.

"Good evening," the woman said to him pleasantly. "May I help you?"

"Sake."

"One moment, please."

She was back in a moment, and soon he was left to his own devices, which was how he wanted it. He drank the alcohol, and it tasted bitter again to him. When Tomoe had been alive, he had found the taste to be good, sweet, but after her death that had ended immediately. Kenshin remembered Hiko telling him once that if sake tasted bad, then something was wrong with the person drinking it.

Shishou had it right, he thought to himself. He had it right, because it tastes awful and I'm fucked up and I know it.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a group of armed men come into the tavern. A small curse escaped his lips as he realized that they were the enemy. The soldiers were not wearing their uniforms, though; perhaps tonight was their night to "relax" also -as much as one could ever relax during a war. He put a hand to the hilt of his sword, ready to fight his way out if need be. It was then that he saw him. Saitou. Their eyes locked, cold assassin's eyes meeting the feral eyes of the most powerful of the Wolves of Mibu. Kenshin readied himself for a duel, and tightened the grip he had on his weapon. He despised that man, he was grieving over Tomoe's death, and as a result, the battle would be welcome. But something was wrong, because after leaning over and saying something to his comrades, the other soldiers left and Saitou was alone. Soon the man was walking over to the table, and the Hitokiri Battousai stood up and prepared to fight. However, upon reaching the table, his enemy merely sat down, called the waitress, and ordered sake for himself. Suspiciously, Kenshin sat down also.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Saitou.

"Hello to you too, Himura. I wanted a drink." Saitou used Kenshin's last name, rather than his title, which led the red-haired man to suspect that a battle was not what was wanted at the time.

"What the hell is all this? What-why-"

"Why aren't we fighting?"

"Yes."

"Because tonight I'm not a wolf. And that look in your eyes makes it obvious to me that you're in no condition to fight, anyway."

"Hn."

They drank in silence after that, each watching for a possible attack from the other. Kenshin cursed himself for allowing his surprise to distract him so much. Finally, Saitou broke the silence.

"So what's wrong?"

"What?"

"You look like hell tonight -more so than you usually do, I mean."

"Why would you care? Is this a trick to get me to lower my guard so that you can attack me and have a chance of actually succeeding? Or is there an assassin watching us, prepared to kill me at your command?"

The man looked down, and Kenshin saw that he looked old, suddenly. Strangely enough, he regretted his words, although everything within him screamed that this man was most likely just trying to kill him once again, and that he was a fool for staying. Saitou looked up again, still looking aged.

"I told you already. Tonight, I'm not a wolf. As to why I care, it's simple curiosity. I want to know why the only swordsman that's a match for me is in such a state that he could be killed by any amateur assassin."

"Your words are insulting. Yet you came here of your own choice. Did you come to taunt me? Pettiness does not become you, Saitou Hajime," the Hitokiri Battousai said coldly.

"My words are the truth. You are offended because the truth is not what you want to hear. Are you going to sit here and be childish, or will you tell me what's bothering you?"

There was a moment's silence as Kenshin decided whether or not to trust the taller man. But what did he have to lose, really, as long as he remained on his guard? He spoke.

"Does the sake taste good to you?"

"Himura, I don't see what that has to do with-"

"It tastes like crap to me."

"I admit that it does taste pretty shitty."

"Shishou told me once that if the sake doesn't taste good, something is wrong with you."

"Your Shishou was right."

"Yes. Tonight, above all nights, the sake tastes the worst. You're always very informed, so you've probably heard rumors of my wife." And that was all that needed to be said.

Saitou had indeed heard rumors, which he had previously dismissed as false. The wolf took a drink again. So, it was true, then. Battousai had really killed his wife. He nodded slowly.

"You miss her, then?"

"How could I not? I didn't intentionally kill her, though it was my fault all the same. I…I loved her. Very much. I'd been a hitokiri for so long, I'd been around death so long, that I'd forgotten what life was like until she showed me. T-tonight is the three month anniversary of her death. But you're an enemy. Why am I telling you this? Even if we didn't hate each other, you'd never get it, and you'd never care."

"We understand each other, Himura. And we're both empty. That's why you tell me."

"Soo desu. And that's why I `look like hell,' as you put it."

The wolf was silent for a moment, and took a few more sips of sake as Kenshin downed the rest of his bottle. Then he spoke.

"I'm sorry. You and your wife should have had a kinder destiny."

It was only a few words, but it carried the weight of volumes. In a moment the raven-haired man had risen, put some money on the table for his drink, and left, leaving Kenshin alone with his thoughts once again. The next day they would be enemies again, and perhaps they would even kill each other, but something had passed between them anyway, and both men knew that they would not be able to regard the other with quite so much distaste -and certainly not hate- again.

There were other nights like that, too, always on nights of the full moon, when they had met somewhere unexpectedly and ended up discussing various things. They were always left with that strange reluctance to harbor any resentment towards the other, and were vaguely confused. The next day, though, they were enemies once again, and would fight with the ferocity appropriate for two such opponents. It was, in the end, a strange relationship.

~:~:~:~:~

"No," Kenshin breathed. "It wasn't always so, was it."

"And who knows. Maybe I'll even let you live out of respect for the past."

Without another word, the two men flew at each other as Kaoru clung to Sanouske, while he and Yahiko could only stare, dumbfounded at the caliber of the battle, and the speed at which the two opponents moved.

Well, that's it! Should I write another part to it? Please tell me what you think.