Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Alchemy of Gold and Silver ❯ Tensed ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13: Tensed

 

The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.

-David Starr Jordan

 

********

 

It was another day or so before Kenshin and Hiko returned to the house, and Sano could understand why. Watching them both hobble into the clearing was not an attractive sight. Both were covered in cuts and bruises -though Kenshin was more purple than flesh-colored- and Hiko was sporting a long, oozing wound that appeared to have been bleeding internally at some point, judging from the state of the bandages.

 

Which explained why it had taken them so long to arrive. Even once they had finished whatever training they'd been at, it would have taken another day at least for the old man to be able to walk right again. If a technique can do something like that to the old stone-man himself, I don't really wanna know what it could do to someone else.

 

While he was busy being impressed, Kaoru had let out a small noise and rushed over to them. Currently, Hiko was in the process of grumbling about how he was completely fine and not so weak as to need help dealing with a wound from a weapon without a blade. Kenshin, for his part, accepted her ministrations quietly, though Sano noticed he studiously avoided looking at her for longer than was necessary. For her part, as soon as she had discovered that they really were okay, Kaoru turned a couple shades of pink and backed off abruptly. What the heck's going on there? I feel like I've missed somethin'… He resolved to keep an eye on it, but said nothing.

 

Apparently forcing herself beyond whatever had caused her initial embarrassment, Kaoru looked at both of them expectantly. “Does this mean Kenshin has mastered the final technique?” she asked, clearly trying to mask the obvious eagerness in her tone.

 

Hiko and Kenshin wore matching smirks, which caused her smile to fade slightly, then renew itself at close to what Sano inwardly termed `full brightness'. “He's still nowhere near as good as me, but he'll do,” Hiko replied casually, waving a hand.

 

“Well, of course nobody's as good as you, Hiko-sensei,” Kaoru replied impishly.

 

“You bet- hey. Are you mocking me? You should know better than that, girl,” their teacher growled. But Kaoru just laughed lightly, and Kenshin shook his head. Nobody was taking any threat the old guy made on Kaoru seriously, and they all knew it was because he didn't mean a word of it.

 

Probably sensing that he'd been had, Hiko changed the topic abruptly. “I take it you'll be headed back to Kyoto soon, then?” There was something in his voice that Sano couldn't quite place. Was it… regret?

 

Kaoru's face fell, and any trace of amusement vanished from Kenshin's. There was still serious business to be attended to, after all. “Yes,” she replied quietly. “As soon as Kenshin is ready to travel, we should probably depart.”

 

“As soon as he's ready to go? Hmph. You obviously have no idea how long it takes to prepare a load of pottery for the road.” The imperious tone was once again in force, but a different current underlay this one. Sano was the first to pick up on it.

 

“Jeez, old man, you always gotta steal the show, don't ya?” He was rewarded by swift comprehension on the faces of the other two.

 

“Hiko-sensei, you're coming with us?” Kaoru asked incredulously. “I thought you didn't want to get involved in conflict.” The same question was evident in Kenshin's altered posture, though his expression betrayed nothing.

 

“Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to do anyone else's job for them. I'm going to peddle my wares. And, well, I don't want your old man giving me a lecture in the afterlife about not keeping my promises.” This was all grumbled and gruff, but anyone could tell from the way he looked at all three of them as he said it that it was all of them he was concerned for.

 

Before anyone could say anything in response, Hiko continued. “Hey Sano, why don't you help me with these bowls, and you two can get ready.” It wasn't really a suggestion, so Sano offered a shrug before following the old man behind the house.

 

Theirs was an odd relationship. Sano showed Hiko none of the deference he demanded in others, but the older man never took him to task for it. Perhaps it was because he made his respect known in less obvious ways, but Hiko treated him less as someone of his students' age and more as a fellow warrior. There was a certain amount of distance, but it was clear enough that as long as he did not interfere with training, Sano was a welcome guest as well. Perhaps it was simply because he never had been Hiko's student.

 

The old man wasted no time with preamble once they were safely out of earshot of the other two. “How much do you know about Makoto Shishio?”

 

Sano's breath hissed out from between his teeth, accompanied by a few clicks of the tongue. “Well, not much. Kenshin brought a bunch of data from somebody he used to know. The Oniwaban have no doubt been doing more recon since, but I don't know what they've found. “

 

A grunt of acknowledgement indicated that Hijo had expected as much. “Well, then, allow me to educate you. Even I've heard of Shishio, and that's saying something. He's not somebody to be carelessly trifled with. Though he would fall easily to someone like me, my apprentice will have much more difficulty.”

 

This time, there was no joke about Hiko's ego to be made. Sano knew he was speaking truthfully, and the fact that he had even seen fit to deliver this warning spoke to the gravity of the situation.

 

“This is not my fight, but there is one follower of Shishio that I will be dealing with. When you see the man, you will understand why. But this is not my fight.”

 

Sano understood the implications. “So Kenshin's alone in this one.”

 

Hiko shook his head. “He will not receive any assistance from me. This does not mean he should be alone. Should he be, he won't survive it.”

 

Sano finished stacking the earthenware. “I see where you're going with this, but it's not a problem. The missy and I will be there, and so will the rest of the Oniwaban. When Aoshi takes on a mission he sees it through no matter what he may have told Kenshin.” Sano was well aware that the group's involvement officially did not go beyond information-gathering. But if, as Hiko seemed to be suggesting, there was to be a full-scale battle on the streets of Kyoto, then there was no question that they'd be in the middle of it.

 

There was a nod, and they finished their work in silence.

 

****

 

In the meantime, Kenshin and Kaoru were left by themselves in the practice field. Both immediately went to work gathering the few things that they needed for the journey. For Kaoru, this amounted only to her scrolls and an extra set of practice clothes. Bundling them together in her room, she sighed at the complete lack of distraction that it provided.

 

It figured that she wouldn't be able to function normally the next time she saw Kenshin after her traitorous mind had produced such thoughts about him. She had initially been able to forget the awkwardness when she saw that he was injured, but after checking his numerous cuts and discovering that all of them had been well taken care of, she remembered with a great deal of embarrassment exactly how close this examination required her to be to him.

 

And now he probably thinks I'm out of my mind. Another sigh as she turned about, searching her room for anything she might have forgotten. Not that there would be anything; she just wanted to delay the inevitable long wait for Hiko and Sano. Then again… it seemed she didn't want to stall so much that she actually would avoid going out there again. At the same time as she didn't desire to deal with what would happen, she did really want to see him. This is ridiculous. I've been in here, what, half an hour? I'm not so dependent on him that I can't stand to be away from him for that long. That would be just pathetic.

 

And so she sat in her small, Spartan, private space for another ten minutes, before deciding that no, she didn't need to see him, she just really, really wanted to. Rolling her eyes at herself, she took one last glance around the space that had been hers for four years. She had an odd feeling that this would be the last time she saw it for a while. Satisfied, she slid the door open and stepped out.

 

From the side exit, she could hear murmurs of conversation from the rear of the house where Hiko and Sano were. She briefly considered going to help them, but realized there must be a specific reason Hiko-sensei had asked Sano alone to help him. Besides, at this point she was definitely procrastinating. While she wasn't needy, she wasn't a coward either.

 

As expected, Kenshin was sitting around the front of the house, and did not look up when she came within earshot. Nor did he register any type of recognition when she sat beside him, consciously deciding to put a good foot of space between them. Instead, his gaze was fixed on some unidentifiable point in the distance, mouth set in something of a frown, which was not itself unusual. It did bother her though, since by her estimation, he should be feeling happier now than he had been in a while. Hiko-sensei had agreed to teach him, and he had obviously mastered the succession technique.

 

His brow crinkled slightly, and she realized with trepidation that she had been staring. Quickly averting her eyes, she tried to find something more interesting than the minutiae of his facial expressions to look at. Unfortunately, there was nothing. So she settled for letting herself follow the lines of the forest landscape, searching out the redbirds she knew were active at this time of year.

 

“I met you once,” she blurted suddenly, “before all this began.” She could feel his eyes on her, though she dared not look at him again. “It was just before I made it here for the first time. I guess… you must have been leaving.”

 

“I was,” he replied. His voice betrayed no particular emotion, but she wondered how she could ever have thought of anything he said as “flat.” There were a myriad of tiny pitch variations in it, and it was almost expressive in the very fact that it was so tightly-controlled. But that's the thing, isn't it? It's never that he doesn't feel, only ever that he tries not to show it. The thought caused her heart to stir in sympathy. How horrible it must be, to have to hide your emotions, to lock them away.

 

“I had nearly forgotten it, but now that I remember, you were odd even then.” Still even-keeled, but with a hint of some emotion she could not name.

 

The corner of her mouth quirked. “Was I?” She briefly wondered if she should be offended that he continuously referred to her as strange, but decided that it was probably true anyway.

 

She heard the rustle of his clothing as he nodded, but he said nothing more on the subject. She suspected she knew what he was talking about anyway. It probably would have seemed quite strange, a little girl with bobbed hair and a sword almost as long as she was. It was actually a wonder that more travelers on the road hadn't stopped them and asked who they were. Then again, most people who went the back way like that tended to mind their own business.

 

“What do you think you will do? When all of this is over, I mean.” She snuck a sidelong glance at him, only to find that he was watching her. She slid her eyes back to the landscape quickly, trying not to react to the scrutiny.

 

“I don't know.” There was silence for a time, then Kaoru, somewhat uncomfortable in what was usually a companionable sort of quiet, spoke to fill it.

 

“I've been thinking I might go back to Tokyo. My father's old dojo is there. I think I might like to teach students as he taught me.”

 

She might have imagined it, but he spoke swiftly enough that she was beginning to think that he was finding the absence of conversation as jarring as she was. “And the boy Yahiko?”

 

“Oh, I'd take him with me if he were willing to go. Upkeep in that place wasn't that easy, and I could use the help. Of course, that's assuming it's even still there…” Kaoru came to the last thought with no small amount of dread. Was it possible that the dojo no longer stood? There would have been nobody to lay claim on it once she left, after all. Who could say what state it was in? “Sorry, I don't mean to be so morose. I really shouldn't complain.”

 

“It's fine,” he murmured. Then: “Kaoru-dono-”

 

Kaoru was about to tell him that honorifics were highly unnecessary- though she could not hide the slight thrill that accompanied his first use of her given name, but they were interrupted by the sound of heavy footfalls. They both stood immediately to greet the other two, who had emerged from behind Hiko-sensei's house laden with pottery. Not that either of them looked terribly weighed-down, mind you. Nevertheless, dutiful students that they were- or were trying to be- Kenshin and Kaoru both relieved some of the burden from the others, then turned to face the road. As she had learned the first time she had left, Hiko-sensei wasn't much for goodbyes, so her own to the place she had called home for four years of her life, feeling much more final than they had the first time, were silent and to herself.

 

****

 

Aoshi surveyed the group that sat before him. It seemed that their motley little band was ever increasing in size. All Kaoru's fault, no doubt. She seemed to attract the strong and the troubled towards her like some kind of magnetic force, and the Okashira was not so foolish as to discount himself from that number, either. It was not every day that he allowed his subordinates to bring manslayers into the heart of the organization, nor take off on their own for training.

 

I wonder if she even realizes the effect she has on people. After a bit of internal deliberation, he decided that it was highly unlikely. He supposed that her complete unawareness was actually part of that magnetism. She was what people needed her to be, and the transformations were subtle enough to be unconscious, and never complete enough to alter who she really was.

 

Leaving that train of thought for the present, the leader of the Oniwaban returned to the matter at hand. If the information his scouts were bringing him was true, he had but a scant week before Makoto Shishio launched a full-scale attack on the city of Kyoto, what he intended to be the starting point of a larger countrywide takeover of the most hostile kind. With the ink still wet on the treaties giving the Meiji official control of Japan, the place would once again be cast into civil unrest.

 

Unless, of course, the ragtag band in front of him could halt the invasion where it stood. He had sent messengers to his allies within the new government already, men who had not forgotten his late-game support of their efforts in the name of peace. Aoshi was not above cashing in favors when he needed to, and so he was certain that the emperor himself would soon have the information, and that military support- as much as could be offered from the ranks of a half-broken army- would be present to engage the main body of Shishio's force, recently bolstered by recruits from the losing side of the previous conflict.

 

Aoshi's special forces, however, would be left essentially to himself and the five in front of him, plus the few combatants the Oniwaban had readily on hand. Misao, Himura, Sano, Kaoru, and a man well-known as Seijuro Hiko were the only things standing between Shishio and his throne. For truly, that was what it would come down to in the end. He'd seen the numbers, and the battle between the main forces would work out in Shishio's favor unless he was killed or somehow taken out of commission.

 

Well, if it has to be six, I suppose this is the best group for the job, he thought resignedly, though there was no mistaking the fact that Hiko and Himura were both still major wild cards. He now had Sano's assurances to back up Kaoru's, both reason enough to trust the two, but there was no telling how things would play out on a field of battle, where only some of the troops knew how to work with each other.

 

He did not voice his doubts aloud, however. “Very well. I think our best method is to go with the plan you described. As much as I did not wish to become involved, there is little choice now. The Oniwaban, assisted by Hiko-sama, will take on the attack force. Sano, Kaoru, and Himura will attempt to infiltrate Shishio's fortress and take him down from there. We will make preparations for our defense this week, and in exactly five days from now, when the enemy attacks, we will be ready.” Truthfully, he did not feel comfortable sending such a small group into the heart of the fight, but he knew that they were simply too short on manpower to spare anyone else. Besides, it was not the numbers but the strength of the potential opponents that was the problem, and Aoshi was wise enough to know that while he himself may have been stronger than Sano or Kaoru, they were the ones who knew the most about their ally and the enemy. Besides, his leadership was going to be necessary in coordinating the larger outside defense.

 

I just hope that I have not overestimated their ability to handle this…

 

****

 

Four-and-a-half days later, Kenshin and the others were putting the final preparations on their plans. The former hitokiri himself was out in the practice yard, trying to keep his mind off the task ahead. He felt no fear for himself, but there was no denying that he was afraid of what was to come. He contemplated this as the first few fireflies of the evening began to emerge from their slumbers and filter out into the yard. Odd, how peaceful it is to just watch them.

 

They were temporarily disturbed when Yahiko ran past, no doubt working on more laps for his taskmaster of a teacher, and it occurred to Kenshin that he must be afraid for the others. Kenshin had never had friends before, and he wondered vaguely if this was what it felt like. If so, he wasn't entirely sure he was all that fond of the idea, or at least the sick sensation that built in his stomach when he thought of them coming to harm.

 

Hiko had disappeared shortly after they arrived, ostensibly to peddle his wares. In actuality, he was probably at one of the bars in the red light district. Kenshin would have rolled his eyes at the thought, but the years working for the Shishi had taught him that such places were often full of useful information. As were, apparently, former foes.

 

He glanced down at the paper in his hand, debating what to do about it, then hastily scrawled a reply on the back. It was a risk, to be sure, but he doubted any harm would come of it. And should the words written on it be true, well, it might make tomorrow's confrontation that much easier for all involved.

 

His ki sense told him that Kaoru was about to round the corner, and sure enough, a few seconds later he could see her approaching. It was slightly perturbing how easy it had become for him to pick her out of a crowd; even when he wasn't really paying much attention to surrounding ki signatures, he seemed to always know her approximate location.

 

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth- for right now, she was exactly who he needed to see- he met her halfway. “Excuse me, Kaoru-dono, but I wonder if I might borrow Yahiko for a moment?” Ever since he had arrived back at the Aoiya, he had been making a conscious effort to be more polite, though he still maintained a careful emotional distance from most people. He was coming to discover, however, this was impossible where Kaoru was concerned, and so he'd stopped trying. For whatever reason, she was different from everyone else to him- and that was just a fact. What it meant was something much more complicated, so for the moment he had chosen to treat her with much the same politeness as everyone else.

 

“Of course. Can I ask why?”

 

Even had the reason been a secret, he would not have been able to resist telling her. Another strange revelation to file away with the others about the effect of her personality on his ability to retain his former personality. As it was, there was no real secret involved. “I need him to carry a message, if that's okay?” Yahiko had been making himself useful to the Oniwaban by taking on tasks like these, since few knew the streets as well as someone who had grown up on them.

 

“Oh sure,” she replied. “Yahiko! Come over here for a second!”

 

The boy shot her a glare, but it was impossible to miss his admiration for his teacher or the swiftness with which he followed her instructions. “What do you want, busu?”

 

Kaoru's eyebrow twitched, though Kenshin guessed the gravity of the day kept her from clocking him as she would have otherwise. “Kenshin wants you to deliver a message.” She turned to him, and he continued.

 

“If you could take this to the Sakura Inn, and give it to the tallest man you see?” at the boy's nod, Kenshin relinquished the paper. “Thank you, Yahiko.” He did not smile, though the boy's obvious awe of him brought him close to it. While he was still not exactly comfortable with the idea of others admiring or emulating him in any way, he knew that whatever Yahiko took from him would be easily tempered by Kaoru's much larger influence, and so did not allow himself to worry about it overmuch.

 

As Yahiko dashed off, Kaoru offered him a small smile. “How are you holding up, Kenshin?”

 

He studied her for a moment, and was inwardly amused when her cheeks tinged a subtle pink and she turned, ostensibly to watch the selfsame fireflies that had preoccupied him moments before. Something about her lately had been… different, somehow. It seemed she was embarrassed by the strangest things. Before he had known her, he might have mistaken the lowering of her eyes for fear and been repulsed by it. Now, it was almost endearing, in a way, and he found he rather enjoyed having that effect on her.

 

“I'll be alright,” he replied, carefully keeping his earlier thoughts about worry out of his voice. “And you?”

 

“Me? I'm nervous, of course. But it's the good kind of nervous, I think.”

 

This confused him. “The good kind?” he repeated blankly.

 

She looked up at him, this time with no uncertainty. “Yeah, you know, like the kind that makes you all hyper-aware, jittery in your own skin. It's uncomfortable, but it makes you react faster. Megumi calls it adrenaline.”

 

He made a gesture of assent. He supposed that made sense. It had to be similar to the rush he felt when they fought. He had just never imagined someone might feel it outside of the battle itself. “Well there's no need to worry too much,” he said, though he was slightly unsure of his words. It was difficult to express exactly what he was trying to say, but he felt he had to tell her anyway. “You'll.. I'll…” he hesitated. “We'll be fine.”

 

She nodded easily, as though this was something she took for granted. “I know. We'll be there to look out for each other, and Sano, too. With a team like that, how could we lose?”

 

Kenshin could think of several ways in which they could lose, but he had a feeling that to list them would be missing the point somehow. Still, he knew he should say something in response to this proclamation, though his mind was a complete blank. How could conversation with her be so easy and so taxing at the same time?

 

Frustrated, he said the first thing that came into his mind. “I'm not going to kill Shishio.”

 

Her eyes grew wide, and it was her turn to struggle for words, so he plowed onwards. “I decided that you were right. He doesn't really have to die. I'm not an assassin anymore, and I'm working for a group that believes in peace, using a sword that does not kill. So… it makes sense.” He couldn't bring himself to tell her the rest; how making her dream possible had somehow become the thing he wanted more than anything else, how it had been the reason he'd even been able to learn the final technique of his style.

 

He didn't need to, though, because the smile that bloomed on her face following this proclamation could probably have outshone the sun. Then, to his surprise- and most likely her own- she closed the gap between them and wrapped slender arms about his back.

 

“Thank you, Kenshin,” she murmured into his shoulder, and her grip tightened.

 

He could fee her soft breath on his neck as he gathered her closer almost by reflex, and inhaled the scent of her hair, one he had come to memorize. He allowed himself to drown in her ki, in the spirit that had so fascinated and perplexed him since their meeting almost ten months ago. His mind went hazy as the two of them just stood there, and he forgot everything save that smell, her warmth, and the inexplicable, intense desire that time stop here and progress no more, to leave them like this for as long as they drew breath.

 

But they both knew that such a thing was not possible, and so when her hold on him loosened, he breathed once more, and reluctantly relinquished her to the outside world once again. She was flushed a bright scarlet, and he made no attempt to hide his amused smirk.

 

“I… I should sleep,” she stammered furiously. “And so should you. We have a great deal to do tomorrow, and-” he silenced her with a finger to her lips, and merely nodded his assent. The two parted ways there, Kaoru still tomato-red, each to their contemplations of tomorrow's mission, their future, and people they should not have cared for but did.

 

****

 

“…and it is our understanding that they mean to mount a counteroffensive. This information is still relatively new, but we believe a group containing the Battousai knows this location and will be here to confront you tomorrow, my lord.”

 

Makoto Shishio grinned maliciously. So, the Battousai thinks to confront me directly, does he? Good…

 

Aloud, he replied: “Excellent… let us make sure we are prepared for our guests, shall we?' Here, he turned and shot Soujiro a meaningful glance. The boy bowed once and disappeared into the next room.

 

“It seems this invasion is going to be more entertaining than I thought. Well, then, I say let them come. Then, when my sword is coated in the Manslayer's blood, I will know that there is no one left to stop me…”

 

****

 

Kiku's Corner

 

I'm a bit late this week, so I'll keep the notes short. Thanks to Beth for the edit of this chapter, and to GreyPhoenix for your review (I forgot to say so last chapter, so sorry about that). Until next week!

 

~Kiku~