Way of the Sword

CHAPTER 13

“I wish I brought my bo or some other kind of weapon with me,” muttered Hiro.

“Yeah, but if you brought your bo, you probably would attract more attention, don’t ya think?” questioned Sano.

“You’re probably right... but still...” Hiro could not shake off the ominous feeling settling inside of him. He muttered, “I wish I had my sai (1).”

“What?” asked Sano, not quite catching the last sentence.

“My sai,” answered Hiro, talking a little loudly. “I wish I had it.”

Sano raised his eyebrows, impressed. “You know how to use sai too? Full of many talents, aren’t we?”

“Hmph,” answered Hiro, looking in front of him. He watched Shuichi and Kaoru walking in front of him. Even though he was a couple meters away, he could hear Shuichi’s excited talking and laughter. The boy did not show any signs of being so closed to death only a few days ago. Hiro could not help but think that Shuichi’s recovery was largely due to Yuki. It was obvious the two had developed feelings for each other in the short time they had known one another.

Hiro’s train of thoughts were broken as his hand was taken into another’s person’s grasp. Turning his head, he saw Sano looking at him with worry in his eyes.

Holding on Hiro’s hand, Sano looked into the gray eyes. “Are you alright? You seem a little out of it.”

Hiro sighed. He did not mean to worry Sano or to be the cause of dampening his mood. Nodding his head, Hiro replied, “I’m fine. It’s just that after what happened last night, I can’t help but worry you know? And the fact that we are just walking, out in the open, without any weapons worry me.”

“Don’t you worry!” Sano said happily, in an effort to lighten Hiro’s mood. “My body is a weapon, baby!”

Hiro could not help but smile as he looked as his lover flexing his muscles, jabbing the air in exaggeration. Feeling his mood lighten, Hiro responded back. “Well, I know what your body is capable of from first hand experience.”

The hidden meaning did not go unnoticed by Sano, who smiled even wider. Before Hiro could react, Sano tilted his face down to steal a quick kiss, marveling the sweet taste. Breaking contact, Sano had a huge goofy grin pasted on his face. “The things you do to me man, the things you do.”

Shaking his head, Hiro could not help but laugh at Sano’s wide grin. “You look positively like a dork, smiling like that, you know. You will scare the children away.”

“As long as it doesn’t scare you away, Hiro-chan, I don’t give a damn!” Putting his hands behind his head, Sano took on a languid pace and started to whistle.

With a happy grin that almost rivaled Sano’s, Hiro fell in step to Sano’s steps, as the two continued to their way into town.

***

“Bye!” yelled Shuichi, waving to his friends. When he could no longer see the backs of Kaoru, Sano, and Hiro, Shuichi turned towards the massive front gate. He gave a knock, knowing that one of the servants was just within few feet of the doors. So it was not surprising when his light knock was answered.

A small square peep hole appeared and a pair of dark eyes looked out. Upon seeing Shuichi, the peep hole closed and the gate was opened.

“Shuichi-san! I was not told that you would be arriving!” said the servant, bowing low.

Chuckling, Shuichi waved the apology away. “It is okay. I didn’t even tell my uncle that I was coming. It just happened to be a spur of the moment thing.” He looked around, taking in the carefully sculptured yard, decorated with peach trees and bonsai. The splendor of his home was almost overbearing to him after spending so much time at Kaoru’s home. He turned his attention back to the servant. “Is my uncle home?”

“Hai. He is in his study. Did you want me to call him to your room?”

“No, no. I’ll go see him myself. Thanks.” After waving cheerfully, Shuichi made his way towards his uncle’s study. Upon arriving at the closed door, Shuichi stopped.

“Excuse me,” Shuichi called out. After hearing a reply from within, he slid open the doors and entered.

“Shuichi!” exclaimed Haruki. The older man rushed forward to embrace his nephew in a hug. “How come you didn’t let me know!”

“Hello, Ojisan!” Shuichi hugged his uncle back. His face blushed slightly from the embarrassment of a 19 year old still hugging his uncle. However, the embarrassment did not prevent from Shuichi from hugging the man who had become a second father to him.

“Let me take a look at you boy.” Haruki stepped back, holding Shuichi at an arm’s distance. “You look well. A little skinnier than before, but you are not sickly looking, so you must be healing quite well. Come, come. Sit down.” Haruki took his regular seat behind his desk, which was littered with business documents.

Shuichi sat across from his uncle, on the floor. Noticing the papers covering the desk Shuichi asked, “I’m sorry. Am I keeping you, Ojisan?”

“No, not at all. They are the same business as always.” Haruki hurriedly shoved the papers away, placing them on the ground. “So have you come back home? Or is this just a visit?”

“This is just a visit. I realized I haven’t sent any word to you and I didn’t want you to worry. Sorry for being so rude.” Shuichi bowed slightly.

“Stop acting all formal, Shuichi,” replied Haruki, waving away his nephew’s apology. “But you will be returning home soon, I hope? I don’t want to inconvenience the people you are staying with right now.”

“Of course,” replied Shuichi. He blushed faintly, as the image of the reason why he wanted to stay at Kaoru’s place popped into his mind. “Only for a few more days and than I’ll be coming home.”

“Why, that’s perfect. Your birthday is also coming up and it is an important day. I know I don’t have to remind you of the reason why.”

“Yes.” A nervous feeling settled in Shuichi’s stomach, but he willed it away.

“I was thinking we should hold a party. You must make a good impression with the people who you will be working with in the future.”

“Hai.” The nervous feeling returned and this time, Shuichi could not get rid of unsettling heaviness.

“Why don’t you invite your new friends as well? It’s the least you can do. Of course, we will be thanking them properly later on.”

“That’s a great idea,” agreed Shuichi.

The two continued to talk, both talking nonstop as if making up for lost time. Almost too soon, Shuichi looked outside and realized that the sky was slowly turning bright orange, warning about the upcoming evening.

“Ojisan, I must take my leave now.”

“Hmm... it’s already late afternoon. How quickly the time flew by.” Haruki stood up, with Shuichi following him. He accompanied his nephew towards the front gate. Haruki looked up at the sky, taking in the vision before him.

“Ne, Shuichi, doesn’t the sky looks as if it is bleeding?”

Upon hearing those words, Shuichi felt a slight chill run down his back. Without looking up at the sky, he replied, “I guess so.”

“Take care of yourself Shuichi. Just send word when you are ready to come home and I’ll go to bring you back.”

“Hai. Bye Ojisan.” With a bow, Shuichi left. He walked towards the end of the street, where they had agreed to meet. Already, he could see the figures of Sano, Hiro, and Kaoru. An unknown force willed Shuichi to run towards them. Even when greeted by his friends\' smiles, the chill that Shuichi felt did not go away.

***

K entered the home of his employer just in time for their meeting. He found his employer in the yard, gazing at the sky. Clearing his throat, K declared his presence and waited for his employer’s response.

“Shuichi has been seen in town. If my information is correct, he will be heading back to the Kammiya dojo right now. I believe he has companions. This time, I want you to kidnap him. I don’t care what needs to be done, just bring him back here alive. And don’t fail this time.”

“Hai.” With a nod, K turned around to take his leave.

“Ne, don’t you think that the sky is bleeding?”

The words stopped K mid-stride. Without bothering to look up, K replied, “Hai.” He paused. “But then again, isn’t it always bleeding?” With that, K left, not leaving any sign of his presence that was present only a few seconds ago.

“Hmm... so it would seem.,.” he muttered, in response to his assassin’s words. As he continued to look in the sky, he saw the dark orange hue suddenly turning into Shuichi’s blood.

***

“So how was your visit with your uncle?” Kaoru asked the petite boy walking beside her. Several feet ahead of them, walked Sano and Hiro, leaving Kaoru and Shuichi to walk by themselves. The younger man had been quiet since leaving town, a demeanor quite different to this morning\'s talkative Shuichi.

Hearing the question, Shuichi looked up from the ground he had been staring at, while walking. Giving a polite smile, he replied, “It was fine.”

Kaoru waited, expecting more word on Shuichi’s visit. Receiving none, Kaoru smiled gently at Shuichi. “You know, you can talk to me if you have a problem. I know we’ve known each other for only a short while, but I feel as though we’ve been friends for a long time.”

“Thank you.” Shuichi truly felt grateful upon hearing those words. After a few minutes of silence, Shuichi decided to take Kaoru upon her offer.

“Have you ever felt like too many things were happening all at once?” he asked.

“Hai,” answered Kaoru softly.

Shuichi nodded, not questioning Kaoru about her own experiences. “You know that I live with my uncle.”

“Yes.”

“He’s been like a father to me ever since my parents died.” Encouraged by Kaoru’s nod, Shuichi continued, his words threatening to spill over the carefully constructed wall he had built around his terrifying memories. “My parents died in a fire when I was four. The police came to conclusion that someone murdered them. Ever since then, my uncle took over the family business and became my guardian. Even though my uncle was good to me, I still could not forget about my parents. Their murderer was never caught you see, so I became obsessed in trying to find the culprit. That was what I was doing when I was attacked. The person who held the answer to the mystery was willing to talk to me and when he died, I felt as if I had lost all hope in finding my parents’ murder. But now, the murderer has been found.”

Shuichi paused, his breathing shaky. His mind was confused, different thoughts swirled around his head, all conflicting each other. “You know who the murderer was, right? I mean, it was all over town. Still is, in fact.”

“Yes, I do. A person named Mizuki, right?”

“Yes,” Shuichi nodded. “He used to work for my father.” Unconsciously, fists tightened, the knuckles turning white. “To know that my father’s own employer was the murderer...”

Kaoru remained quiet as Shuichi’s voice trailed off. She recalled her mother’s own death when she was child. At that young of an age, she was unable to comprehend why her mother went away, unable to stop crying for days. While now she was able to face that particular childhood memory with less pain, a tiny ball of sadness always accompanied the memory, seating itself on her chest. Looking at Shuichi, Kaoru could see how hard it was for him to be reminded of his parents’ deaths.

Taking in shaky breath, Shuichi willed himself to be stronger. By nature he was a happy person, rarely did he not have a smile on his face. However, the events of the last couple weeks seemed to hit him full force, as if a cannon ball hit him square on the chest. After another deep breath, Shuichi continued. “Now that my parents’ murderer is found, I don’t know what to do with myself. To find out the culprit kept me going all this time, a goal to work for. Now that goal is gone, I’m not quite sure what to do.”

Shuichi fell silent, thinking over another matter in his head that bothered him. Deciding to trust Kaoru, he cleared his throat and continued.

“The business that my uncle currently runs is a family business, like I said before. When I turn twenty, the business is suppose to be mine.” He paused, wearily looking ahead of him. “And I’ll be twenty in less than a month. At today’s visit, my uncle mentioned the matter and it is another weight on my chest. To run a business... I can barely subtract and add without mistakes, let alone run a business.”

With a sigh, Shuichi ran a hand through his hair, more out of habit than out of necessity to smooth his hair over. However, he had to admit to himself that he felt better than before. Talking to Kaoru seemed to help, even if none of his problems were solved.

Kaoru remained quiet, not sure how to respond to Shuichi. The poor boy had been put on a up and down emotional journey like the waves of the ocean during a storm. First he survived death, found out the murderer of his parents, and was soon to run his family business. And he fell in love, even if he did not mention it, though Kaoru, with a little smile on her face. Turning towards Shuichi, she said, “I don’t know what to say to make you feel better. But whatever you decide to do, if you ever need help, you will always have friends to help you. Never hesitate to ask us.”

Turning towards Kaoru, he smiled. With a slight bow, he replied, “Thank you so much, for so many things. I feel a lot better now.”

Impetuously, Kaoru grabbed Shuichi into a bear hug and gave a squeeze. When Kaoru let go, Shuichi was blushing furiously. With a wink, Kaoru stated, “Anytime Shuichi, anytime. Now let’s go, we don’t want to keep Yuki-san waiting, do we?”

Blushing even harder, Shuichi replied, “Hai.” He hurried to match Kaoru’s faster walking pace, looking forward to seeing Yuki.

***

Silently, K and Ryuichi tailed the four people walking. Thankfully, because it was so close to night, they had encountered no one else on the path and it was safe to assume that is was going to remain that way. There was two men who walked ahead of Shuichi and the girl. K could appreciate the distance between the boy and the two men who seem to be the biggest threat in his goal. K was determined to finish his job this time and severe his tie with that damned man. His employer was getting to get on his nerve and K just wished he could whip out his favorite revolver and shoot the annoying man. The thought made him wish for his revolver, which currently sat in his closet at home. Early on in his career, he had decided never to use the weapon during his job, only using it for personal amusement. Right now though, putting a bullet between the eyes of his employer seemed to have endless possibilities for amusement.

Ryuichi followed K, his eyes narrowed into a dangerous glint. He was still excited from meeting the famous Battousai last evening and the memory continued to pump endorphin in his body. While he wished to fight the man, he knew it was more important to kidnap Shuichi. He knew where the Battousai lived, he could always challenge for a fight later. For now, all he cared about was helping his friend out. A slight touch on the shoulder caused him to look towards his right.

K nodded towards Ryuichi and he nodded back. Both moved faster, closing in the distance between them and their goal. It was time to finish the job.

***

The large training room was empty except for a lone figure, just dimly visible in the light of setting sun, hunched over in the middle of the spacious area. The only noise that could be heard was the heavy breathing, coming in the forms of heavy pants.

Rasing his hand, Yuki wiped the beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. The hand was raised once again in a fruitless attempt to move his bangs out of the way. For the millionth time that afternoon, he wondered why he did not cut his hair shorter. His hair, dripping with sweat, was evidence as to how hard he had been training. How hard he needed to train.

Deep down, Yuki was sure that if last evening’s fight was to continue, he would have lost. In the current state of peace, he had no need to increase his sword skill, therefore always remaining in the same level of skill as during the war. However, it seemed as though K had continued to train, an obvious advantage over an ex-assassin as Yuki.

A tear faced vision came to his mind, making his gut tighten. Never again was he going to make Shuichi cry. With that vow serving as encouragement, Yuki straightened up, his had on hilt of his katana. Without turning around, he drew his sword, and asked, “You up for a spar?”

Kenshin, who had come in smiled and pulled out his katana in reply. “Hai.”

In the darkening room, two warriors battled, their blades nothing but allusions to the untrained eye.

***

It happened too fast for anyone to realize what was happening. They were walking underneath the trees, the area only a few minutes away from Kaoru’s home. Sano and Hiro both heard the rustling of the trees but too late. By the time they turned around, Ryuichi was in the process of pushing Kaoru away and Shuichi was being grabbed by K.

Instinctively, Hiro ran towards the intruders, Sano following close by. Cursing himself for not carrying any weapons, Hiro charged at K, only to be blocked by Ryuichi. “Sano!” Hiro yelled.

“Got it!” Sano ran past Hiro and Ryuichi, trying to reach K and a struggling Shuichi.

“Let me go!” yelled Shuichi. He kicked, but only in vain, as his foot connected to a solid wall of thigh muscle.

“Behave!” growled K, yanking the wrists in his grasp hard.

Shuichi yelped in pain. However, never the quitter, he continued to struggle. Trying to remember the self defense techniques he took as a child, Shuichi places the outer edge of his foot to the side of his attacker’s knee. Than swiftly, he pushed outwards, at an angle, in an attempt to break the knee. Instead, he was yanked harder before he could finish his techniques.

Muttering angrily underneath his breath, K drew his sword and with the hilt, placed a well aimed blow to the side of Shuichi’s head, causing the boy to go limp. And not too soon either, as one of Shuichi’s accompaniment was only couple of feet away. K stood up quickly and lifted the unconscious boy onto his shoulder as if carrying a bag of feathers.

Seeing the blow to Shuichi’s head, Sano ran forward, his fist raised. “You bastard!” The punch connected an air, as well did his follow up. The attacker was running away.

“Are you running away?!” Sano yelled. “Wimp! Come back here!”

Hiro’s punches, as if imitating Sano’s, also connected air, as his opponent dodged nimbly. However, Hiro’s roundhouse kick made a nice contact with the attacker’s jaw.

A shift of feet at the last second saved Ryuichi from having his jaw shattered by the powerful kick. Knowing he was never very good with his fists, he drew out his sword. His attention only focused on the long brown haired man in front of him, he never heard the woman from before coming up behind him.

Grabbing a long branch, about as thick as the handle of her shinai (2) at home, Kaoru attacked the brown haired stranger from the back. The blow landed solidly on the shoulder. She only had a split second before raising the branch to defend as the opponent’s katana slashed out. The top half of her makeshift weapon slid to the ground as the sword neatly sliced it in half.

Grinning grimly in satisfaction, Sano finally landed a punch to the blond’s face. However, it was not without a price. Jumping back, he faintly realized that his right side was bleeding, for he sacrificed getting hit just to land one himself.

Cursing from the blow, K held his katana out, ready for any other attack. “Come on! We got the boy!” Trying once more, he ran away. This time, due to the injury, Sano was unable to follow K.

“While this had been fun, I must take my leave.” With a smirk, Ryuichi jumped in the air, grabbing onto the lowest branch of the tree. With an agility of a cat, he climbed higher before his opponents could grab a hold of his dangling feet. Without a look back, Ryuichi jumped through the tree, dropping back on the ground when he felt he was far away enough from the two men and the girl.

“Kuso!” shouted Sano, unable to keep up, only able to see the disappearing backs of the attacks.

Hiro ran past his lover, moving an available speed. “I’m going to follow them,” he called over his shoulder. “You go back and get that cut treated.”

“Baka!” yelled Sano after Hiro. “You are outnumbered and unguarded!”

However, his words were lost as Hiro also disappeared from his sight. With a frustrated sigh, Sano punched his right fist into his left palm, the action sending sharp pain down his side. Taking in a sharp breath of pain, he dropped to one of his knees, his left hand going towards the cut.

“Sano!” Kaoru hurried over towards the fallen man and moved his hand away. Sano’s white top was soaked with blood and was now sporting a new tear. Untying the piece of fabric holding her hair up, Kaoru used the thick material to bind Sano’s injury. Hearing the sharp hiss of pain, Kaoru apologized. Then, putting Sano’s right arm over her shoulders, she helped him get up, trying not to touch the injured side.

“Come on Sano. We’ve got to go home and let Kenshin and Yuki know. Hiro knows how to take care of himself.”

Knowing what Kaoru said made sense, Sano nodded. He was in no state to run after Hiro and Kaoru could not hold her own without her weapon. With the help of Kaoru, Sano tried to walk as quickly as possible, hoping that Shuichi and Hiro would be alright.

***

Hiro ran quickly, his feet barely touching the ground. Silently, he thanked his Sensei for all those years of training. He put good distance between him and the two men ahead of him. As far as he could tell, the two men ahead still did not know they were being followed and Hiro intended to make it stay that way. Continuing to follow them, he found himself heading back towards the town he only left awhile ago.

***

K and Ryuichi ran swiftly. Both receiving blows that they had not expected too, neither were in their right state of minds. On top of that, no matter how light Shuichi was, the extra weight was slowing K down. The only thing occupied on both men’s minds was to hurry and deposit Shuichi to the employer.
As they got closer to the town, Ryuichi shook off the outer clothing that covered his gi top. Taking the removed clothing, he draped it over Shuichi, making sure to cover the boy’s head well. It would do until they arrived at their destination.

***

Without meaning to, as they made their way close to home, Sano leaned more and more on Kaoru. By the time they reached the gate, Sano was sweating with the effort and his breaths were shallow. The makeshift bandage was soaked through, even dripping a little.

Kaoru led Sano in through the open gate. She mentally thanked Kenshin for leaving the gate open in anticipation of their return from town. Another mental gratitude went to her years of training for letting her have the strength to support Sano’s increasing weight. As soon as she walked through the yard, she yelled out.

“Kenshin! Yuki! Yahiko!”

In response, Yahiko poked his head out first. A smart remark died on his lips as he saw Kaoru dragging a barely standing Sano in into the yard. “Kaoru! Sano! Daijobou?”

“Hurry, go fetch Megumi!” yelled Karou.

With a nod, Yahiko flew out the gates as Yuki and Kenshin appeared from the direction of the training room. In a flash, Yuki and Kenshin were at her sides, just as Sano fainted and fell forward. Yuki neatly caught the falling man as Kenshin searched anxiously for injuries on Kaoru.

“Kaoru-dono, are you hurt?” asked Kenshin, his violet eyes filled with worry.

“No, I’m fine. Let’s get inside and I’ll tell you what happened.”

Kenshin nodded, satisfied that Kaoru was not injured. The two followed Yuki, who carried Sano inside.

***

Hiro’s eyes grew wide as he stared at the place where the two men had disappeared into. A fear went up his spine as the unsettling feeling of the unknown settled deep in his stomach. He turned and ran back, his speed fueled by the need to share his discovery with everyone back at the dojo.

***

A moan escaped from the tiny lips, as the figure on the floor shifted slightly. Shuichi felt as if his head was going to explore. He opened his eyes into slits, and was grateful for the darkness, the only light coming from the solitary lantern sitting on the ground a couple of meters away from him.

“Are we awake now?”

Shuichi tempted to open his eyes a little more in response to the voice and he moved his head to search for the owner of the words. He immediately regretted doing so for two reasons. One, his head protested loudly in the form of releasing another stab of pain. Secondly, he wished to gods that he did not see who he saw.

“Why? I don’t understand...” he whispered, before promptly fainting once more.


NOTES:
1. sai - A weapon, used as a pair. It is made of metal, shaped like a three prong fork, the middle prong long and the side prongs short, usually referred to as wings. Think teenage mutant ninja turtle, although I forget which turtle uses it. Jessica Alba also used in Daredevil. The weapon was used as a defense against swords. Usually, another sai would be hidden in the back so that it can be thrown or used as a spare.
2. shinai - A weapon. Made of strips of wood bound together to look like a sword. People just starting to used the sword sometimes start out learning with this. Also, when hit, the strips of wood causes immense pain. Usually, brand new ones hurt more when hit because the wood and the bands binding them have not been stretched as much as used ones.