Way of the Sword

CHAPTER 3

The path was shaded by the dark green leaves overhead. The hot sunlight darted through what spaces the leaves forgot to cover. Within the cool atmosphere, a hobbling brown hair struggled to keep pace with a tall blond man who held a pink haired boy in his arms.

Yuki Eiri tried to walk slow, knowing that Hiro, with the damage done to his leg, could not possibly match Yuki\'s long stride. But habit was hard to break and Yuki found himself walking fast if he did not concentrate on his footsteps.

The two continued to walk in silence. The only noise that was audible was from the crunch underneath Hiro\'s footsteps and the quiet rustling of the leaves overhead. Yuki wanted to question Hiro about the incident but refrained from doing so. After what the young man went through, Yuki was sure Hiro did not need to be grilled and questioned by a stranger.

However, it would be nice if Yuki knew why all of a sudden he was accompanied by two strangers, one of them lying close to death in his arms. The pink haired boy was so light in his arms that Yuki forgot that he was there at certain times. Yuki refrained from sighing as he wondered why he could not just lead a normal life. Not only did he have no clue as to what had happened back at that house, but he still did not get his thirst quenched. Damn it.

Yuki forced himself to relax, knowing that if he let his irritation get the better of him, he might drop the frail boy in his arms. He looked down at the bundle in his arms, noticing the shallow breaths coming from the skinny boy. While Yuki\'s stoic expression remained the same, his mind was whirling in the same speed of his katana. I’m stupid, he thought to himself. I am really stupid. Why did he feel the need to help the mess in his arms, he did not know. All he did know was that he usually did not feel the urge to help people in need; after all, it was their own stupidity that got them in the mess. However, something about the person in his arms made Yuki change his policy of looking out only for himself.

Mentally shaking his head, Yuki stopped thinking about the matter. Preoccupying the mind gave your enemies an easy attack. He then realized that Hiro was breathing heavier than before. Yuki stopped in his tracks and a ray of sunlight hit the beautiful man, making his tall, lean, and muscular body glow with light. The man looked over his shoulder at Hiro.

\"Are you okay?\" Yuki asked.

\"Hai. I\'m alright.\" Hiro continue to walk, each step taking immense effort. He no longer felt the pain, abusing his hurt leg to the point where he was desensitized to the hurt. \"Umm, how much longer until we reach your friend’s place?\"

\"We should reach it before the sun starts to set.\"

\"Are you sure it is alright for us to go to your friend\'s place? Won\'t we be burdens to him? Or scare him in our state?\"
Yuki\'s stoic face twitched slightly as a tiny hint of a smirk played across his lips. \"My friend won\'t mind. He should be used to this by now. If not, he does not have the qualifications needed to be my friend.\"

****

\"Achoo!!!!\" sneezed Kenshin. The former battousai rubbed his nose in response to the sudden sneeze.

\"Kenshin, you okay? Are you coming down with a cold?\" Kaoru asked, bringing a tray laden with tea and tiny rice balls.

\"Hai. I am fine, that I am. Must be something in the air, Kaoru-dono (1).\" Kenshin stood up from his seat on the porch to help Kaoru with the tray. After setting the tray on the ground, Kenshin resumed his seat on the porch and gladly took the cup of tea offered to him.

Kaoru sat next to him and sipped her own tea. She stole a quick glance at Kenshin, whose deep purple eyes stared up at the sky, which was slowly turning a brilliant shade of orange with the warning of a sunset. She smiled contently, enjoying this peace with Kenshin. It was nice getting a break after the whole mess with Shishio (2). Her eyes took note that his left hand laid idle next to his leg. Kaoru switched her teacup to her left hand and tried to work up the nerve to grab that hand belonging to the man with whom she fell in love. Her peaceful expression soon turned into a scowl and her right hand stopped its journey as a loud noise interrupted the serene scene.

\"Ugly! Why didn\'t you tell me that you were having snacks? I\'m hungry from cleaning the dojo floor up and down. A growing boy like me needs to eat!\" Yahiko scampered across the ground and in swift motions stepped out of his shoes and swiped a rice ball from the tray.

\"Yahiko! Stop acting like a wild animal! You act like that in public and people will think I don\'t feed you or something,\" Kaoru scowled. She wondered how Yahiko always managed to come up at the most inopportune times.

\"You do starve me - with your cooking! In fact your cooking is almost pois-\" Yahiko\'s words stopped mid-sentence as Kenshin popped in another rice ball into Yahiko\'s mouth.

\"Ne, Yahiko, this rice ball is good, that it is. You should have some more, you should.\" Kenshin wanted to avoid another verbal battle between Yahiko and Kaoru. He did not want Kaoru to be in a bad mood, especially with all that she had went through while he was recuperating from his battle with Shishio.

Unfortunately, his effort was wasted as Yahiko and Kaoru engaged in another battle. Kenshin smiled, finding peace in the squabbling. A cool wind blew across his face, making the red strands of hair dance across his face. He closed his eyes, slowly fading out, the squabbling turning into a dim noise.
Kenshin suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.

\"Kenshin? What?\" Kaoru asked, surprised at Kenshin’s sudden movement.

Kenshin turned around and smiled. \"I think we have company Kaoru-dono.\"

No sooner than the words left his lips, there was a knock at the gate. Kenshin made his way across the yard to open the gate. His eyes widened slightly at the sight that greeted him.

\"Hello Kenshin.\"

\"Hello Yuki-san.\" Kenshin stepped sideways to let his friend and the stranger following him in. While Kenshin had known that it was his friend that was behind the gate, he did not expect Yuki to be carrying a bloody body or to be accompanied by a hobbling young man.

Kaoru had stood up upon hearing Yuki\'s voice. \"Yuki-san! How are you -\" She failed to finish the greeting when she saw that Yuki had not come alone. \"Yahiko, go get a basin with water and some clean cloth and bandages and place them in the guest room. Then go fetch Megumi. Hurry.\"

Yahiko nodded and took off, understanding the gravity of the situation.

\"Yuki-san, this way.\" Kaoru led Yuki to the guest room. Upon arriving, Kaoru made the bed on one side of the room. While Yuki laid the boy down, Kaoru made another bed on the other side of the room for the brown haired stranger. Just then, Yahiko, breathless, appeared with Megumi and Sano.

\"They were on their way to visit us,\" Yahiko explained. He struggled catch his breath and placed his hands on his head to allow more air in.

Megumi swept into the room and looked over the brunette\'s injury first. She undid the makeshift bandage on the right leg and noticed the deep gash underneath. Her long fingers worked quickly to clean and bandage him up.

\"What\'s your name?\" asked Megumi, as she bandaged the damaged leg.

\"Nakano Hiroshi.\" He winced slightly as he resumed the ability to feel the pain. He clenched his jaw, the pain becoming sharper and sharper. He closed his eyes and rubbed a dirty hand across his dusty face, trying not to notice the pain.

\"Well Hiro, you don\'t seem to have too much blood loss. You were smart in trying to limit the blood loss with your bandaging. Unfortunately, you still lost some blood and will be tired for the next few days. Also, because you added pressure to your injured leg, it is going to be extremely sore. You are also going to get an ugly bruise on your forehead, not to mention your arms,\" she said. The raven beauty\'s nimble fingers worked swiftly to patch up all the injuries. Megumi\'s dark eyes looked carefully at the bruises forming along Hiro\'s arms. Probably by blocking, thought the doctor.

With his arms being no longer burdened, Yuki went to the corner of the room where Kenshin sat. Yuki silently joined next to his friend, both knowing there was nothing for them to do while Megumi proceeded with her work.

Megumi finally turned to the pink haired boy. \"What\'s his name?\" she asked, looking towards Yuki and Kenshin. Yuki gave a slight shrug in response and offered no more details on the matter.

\"Shindou Shuichi,\" replied Hiro.

\"Hnn.\" The raven haired doctor undid the kimono, no longer soft blue due the dirt and the blood. While Megumi checked over the body, Kaoru went around placing lit candles, for the sun was almost gone.

Megumi frowned. Shuichi\'s body was covered with tiny but deep wounds, almost as if he had been stabbed with needles. Oddly enough, not a single needle was found on the body. The doctor cleaned Shuichi\'s body and covered him in ointment.

\"He is not doing too good,\" she sighed. \"He has multiple wounds, but I can\'t really bandage them unless I bandage his whole body, which is unpractical at this point. The bleeding has stopped and it won\'t continue, so nothing to worry about there. However, he lost a lot of blood and it is a safe bet he will not be waking up anytime soon.\" Megumi stood up. She saw Kenshin\'s questioning eyes directed at Hiro. \"And unless it is extremely important, I think it will be best if all explanations can wait until tomorrow.\"

Yuki stood up and stretched. \"Kaoru-san?\"

\"Hai?\"

\"May I have a drink of water?\"

NOTES:
1. Dono - an honorific, like -san or -chan.
2. Shishio Arc - Also known as the Kyoto Arc. In the anime, Kenshin-gumi (aka Kenshin’s group) goes off to fight a group of bad guys led by Shishio.