Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Tanabata Jasmine ❯ Last Stand ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The usual disclaimer: alas, I don't get to own any of the Rurouni Kenshin crowd. I suppose I can own Senzo, Yoshida and his gang of mooks though, ne?

Ah, mooks… gotta love `em.

Tanabata Jasmine Chapter 6

He was mostly blind, vision driven away by fatigue. The remaining four men closing on him were blurred shadows in the rain. Braced against the tree, relying on his own inner senses, Kenshin thrust the sakabatou in the direction of the largest threat he could perceive.

“Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu,” he hissed, “Ryu Kan Sen. If you want my life, suffer the consequences.”

Having uttered his challenge, he launched himself sideways. His double-handed strike slammed into the ribcage of an enemy with all the force he could muster. He had the advantage of surprise, at least; not expecting his collapse to be faked, his pursuers were only now drawing their weapons. The scrape of swords leaving sheathes jarred against his hearing. He landed on his feet, slid in the mud, and spun to face them.

His first strike, his ambush, had incapacitated one enemy. His second? The man whose ribs he had broken crumpled to the ground, face a mask of agony.

Two down, three remaining.

The easiest way to fight multiple opponents was to engage them one on one; separate them where possible, turn and strike. Wasn't that what he had taught Yahiko? But the strategy was impossible, here. All these swordsmen had to do was wait him out. His only option was to launch an all-out aggressive attack, in the hopes they would fall before his strength gave out. If he could do that - if he could manage that - he had a slim chance of avoiding their trap entirely.

He blinked water from his eyes, and realised he was on his knees. When did that happen? A snarl of hatred above his head warned him, and he swung the sakabatou up to meet the blade whistling toward his neck. The jolt shook his arms and nearly took the blade out of his hands, and his eyes widened with dismay. He no longer had the strength to stop it.

“Alive!”

And then the weight bearing down on him was gone, leaving him to fall backward into the muck. Gathering the tattered threads of his concentration, he rolled and staggered to his feet once more, furious with himself. He'd lost precious seconds of time, fading between awareness and sleep.

Before him, the reason for his reprieve was apparent. The large one - the one he'd challenged - had grabbed his attacker by the sword arm and flung him aside into the mud. A lethal attack averted, and a warning given.

“Who cares about `alive', Yoshida? He killed Hiro!”

“He did no such thing,” the one called Yoshida said flatly, turning to face Kenshin, sheathing his sword. “This man has sworn an oath not to kill. He will not break it for the likes of us.”

Kenshin stared back at him levelly, bringing his own sword up to guard. The one on the ground glared pure hatred at him, as Yoshida stepped forward. Two targets. He would deal with Yoshida first. The third—

Where was the third man?

Almost too late, he recognised the distraction for what it was. He dodged left and backhanded his third opponent in the face with the hilt of the sakabatou then pivoted on his heel and swung with the sheath. Iron slammed into the man's midsection, and he crumpled, cord dropping uselessly from his grip. Kenshin staggered backward to lean against a tree, gasping for breath. Three down, and they definitely wanted him alive. Treating him with kid gloves - there had to be an advantage in that—

“Very good,” Yoshida said softly, taking another step forward. His hand had moved away from his sword and into his gi. “But you can barely see, can you?”

Kenshin clenched his teeth and swung the sword up once again to face him. Yoshida stopped in his tracks, studying him for a brief moment. Then, fluidly, he swept his hand out from his gi, fingers splayed in a movement Kenshin's blurred vision couldn't follow. Reflexively, he jerked his head aside.

The first kunai missed, sinking into the bark behind him. The second nicked his ear and continued on, slicing through the leather tie in his hair. The third cut across his left shoulder and through the back of his gi, pinning him to the tree. He slipped in the mud with a hiss of pain, trying to find his balance again as he brought the sakabatou up in a desperate attempt to defend himself against an attack he couldn't see.

A figure reared up before him, sword held high; the second man, forgotten, who had already tried to kill him once. He barely registered Yoshida's yell of fury before the blade flashed down, biting through his shoulder and into bone. Truthfully, he started to fade into darkness before he felt the pain. His last reserves of strength had finally given out.

In the darkness and the pouring rain, Himura Kenshin fell.

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At the gambling houses, Sanosuke found an answer. It wasn't one he was expecting.

“Hai, hai!” The witness in question was a regular. Grinning like an idiot, and drunk. “I saw Himura. He was heading out east of Tokyo. I'm sure he'll be back in the morning when he's done.”

“Done doing what?” Sano raised an eyebrow. East? Where the hell is he going?

“He had a bunch of flowers. It's Tanabata night. Do I have to spell it out?”

You have got to be joking. “Thanks a bunch,” he said sourly. Not that he thought for a moment that Kenshin had some chick besides Kaoru he was wooing … Sano had enough faith in his friend to believe there'd be a logical explanation. But this guy was the first he had spoken to who'd seen the rurouni outside of the market place. “Was he with anyone?”

“Some guy, I think.”

He made a noncommittal grunt and stepped back out into the rain. If Kenshin had headed out of Tokyo, he wouldn't have a hope in hell of finding him, particularly in this weather. Besides, maybe he's made it back to Jou-chan's by now.

The streets were near empty now, flooded in parts. He stalked his way through the puddles gracelessly on his way back to the dojo, wondering whether he should tell Kaoru the rumour of Kenshin and the flowers. She was bound to take it badly. I can't help that. And if he isn't back by morning, then I'll head out after him.

He stopped short, several feet from the dojo, and sighed. Outside the gate, a woman stood, an umbrella similar to his own. It had been hours. Kaoru's irritation had obviously given way to worry.

“Oi,” he said softly. “You'll catch a cold out here. Why don't you wait inside where it's warm?”

“You're being too nice,” she said, sharply. “What have you heard that you don't want to tell me?”

She was bright, this one. He moved the last few steps to her side and smiled crookedly, then reached over her shoulder and pushed the gate open, ushering her in. Better just to tell the truth, he supposed. “There's a rumour, but that's all it is. Kenshin was seen leaving by the eastern road.” He held his breath, waiting for her reaction. A tantrum. A crying fit.

Instead, she said quietly, “It's getting late. Stay here the night, Sanosuke. I'll help you look in the morning, okay?”

He glanced at her in surprise. Her face was calm, although her blue eyes were etched tight with concern. Stupidly, he asked her, “You're not worried that he's left?”

“After Kyoto? No. Besides,” and Kaoru laughed shortly. “What man would abandon his home with nothing but a tofu bucket?”

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Yoshida yanked his kunai out of the tree, wiping them clean. As a distraction, they had been invaluable. Little harm done to the Battousai except for the cut across his shoulder. The sword, on the other hand … “You worried me,” he said calmly. “For a moment, I thought you'd killed him.”

His companion spat on the ground. “He's not the only one who knows how to use the flat of a blade. Though if I don't miss my guess, he won't be using that arm of his for a while.”

“Aa.”

Of his own casualties, Hiro was the worst. Even with the sakabatou, the throat strike he'd suffered at the beginning of the combat had hurt him badly. He'd have difficulty speaking, or even swallowing, for some time. The other two had managed, albeit shakily, to find their feet.

He had underestimated his quarry. He would not make the same mistake twice.

He stooped to wrap fingers in Kenshin's torn gi and hauled him upright. Unconscious, arms limp by his side, he held none of the ferocity of his earlier struggle. Yoshida stared into his face for a moment, and then hoisted the body over one shoulder.

“Senzo is waiting for us,” he said. “Don't forget the sword.”

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Sarahfreak: Hi! Thanks for stopping by to review. ^_^ I hope you like the rest of the story… I actually have it all written up until the very last chapter, which I'm working on now, so I should hopefully update in a reasonably swift manner.

::leaves pocky for BakaBokkenanyway:: Hope you had a good time in Las Vegas, hehe.