Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Twenty: Adapting to Circumstance ( Chapter 20 )

Note: The point in the RK timeline that this fic occurs is immediately after the Kyoto/Shishio story arc, which would be about the end of May, 1878. I am going to assume that a fairly large amount of time passes between that point, and the beginning of the next story arc (that being either the Religion/Shougo arc if you're going by the anime, or the Revenge/Einishi arc if you're going by the manga), as the end of the series takes place in the beginning of autumn. Ah, but wait, there's more! I had said earlier that I would use the English versions as a basis for names, attacks, etc., but with RK, there is one word that I just had to make an exception for, because it is so wonderful. Well, that about covers everything, so without further technical mumbo-jumbo, here's the next chapter!

 

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One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Twenty: Adapting to Circumstance

 

Thankfully for Kuwabara, the woman whom he had grabbed the broom from at the door to the restaurant also happened to be its owner, named Tae according to Kenshin, and decided to allow him to eat in the restaurant despite his lack of proper attire due to his display of valor. After a slew of compliments to Kuwabara from the patrons that had witnessed the fight outside, the group took their seats and placed their order, which Kuwabara did not give input on as he felt he had no right to do so without paying for any of it.

 

“Hey, you don't know any of our names but Kenshin's yet, do you?” began the small boy, jabbing his thumb at his chest with pride before indicating towards the others. “The rooster-head over here is Sanosuke, the ugly girl is Kaoru an-”

 

The boy was cut short when the young woman, Kaoru, slammed her fist into the back of his head, causing it to ricochet off the table rather harshly.

 

“And the ungrateful brat is Yahiko,” finished Kaoru, still glaring at the boy as he rubbed both injured parts of his head and grumbled.

 

“Uh…nice to meet ya'…” responded Kuwabara a little hesitantly. “I'm Kazuma Kuwabara, but you can just call me Kuwabara.”

 

“What, ya' don't like your name or something weird like that?” Sanosuke inquired rather skeptically, clearly still thinking Kuwabara was a little strange.

 

“No…it's just that no one ever really uses it…” replied Kuwabara, fidgeting a little. “Well…no one except my sister…and…”

 

Kuwabara did not have to say the name of the other person who called him Kazuma, however, for it was at this moment that Tae returned with their food, and everyone was momentarily distracted as they began to dig in. As Kuwabara desperately struggled not to just bury his face in the food and scarf down as much as he could, though, he noticed Kenshin giving him a knowing look.

 

“Your sister, she is not in Tokyo with you, then?” asked the swordsman, although the look on his face old Kuwabara he already knew the answer.

 

“No…” answered Kuwabara as he swallowed a mouthful of food, quickly trying to think about how he could explain his situation. “I…uh…haven't really seen her in a long time. I don't really think I'll ever see her again.”

 

“Have you tried to find her?” Kenshin continued with his questions, though he did so empathetically.

 

“I've kinda' given up,” stated Kuwabara, talking slowly so that he didn't say anything he shouldn't. “She's probably real far way by now anyway. I dunno'.”

 

“Man, how'd you get yourself into such a crummy situation?” asked Sanosuke, slightly muffled by the beef he had stuffed in his mouth.

 

“Sanosuke!” chided Kaoru with a glare in the tall man's direction. “You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, Ka- I mean Kuwabara.”

 

“No, it's OK,” dismissed Kuwabara, taking another bite of food before continuing. “Ya' see…I was kinda' part of this…special team. Whenever there was a really big baddy that needed to get his butt kicked, they'd call us.”

 

“Wow! Like some kind of special forces unit?” interrupted Yahiko excitedly.

 

“Yeah…somethin' like that,” Kuwabara replied before continuing. “Anyway, we were on a special mission, and things went bad. Things got all crazy, and somehow, I ended up here in Tokyo, and I have no idea where the rest of my team is.”

 

“Can't you just go back to the government?” Yahiko queried as though the answer was obvious.

 

“Well…not really. We're kinda' not…um…we're sorta'…well, we're not exactly with the government, exactly,” answered Kuwabara with much hesitation, scratching the back of his head as he realized he should not have let the conversation get this far. “I really shouldn't say anything else about it.”

 

Everyone gave an understanding nod and returned to their food, although Yahiko gave less of a nod and more of a disappointed slumping of the shoulders. For a short time, the focus became on the food in front of them as a three way battle for a particular large piece of beef broke out between Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke's chopsticks, with Kuwabara just barely restraining himself into neutrality. In the end, Sanosuke was the victor, and, with the beef no longer distracting her, Kaoru snapped her fingers and turned to Kuwabara.

 

“Oh! I almost forgot to ask,” she stated. “What style do you use?”

 

“Uh…” came Kuwabara's clueless response with an equally clueless stare.

 

“Your sword-fighting style,” clarified Kaoru. “What is it? I didn't recognize it when you fought.”

 

“Um…style? There are styles?” responded Kuwabara blinking in bewilderment.

 

Upon hearing this everyone present reacted in absolute shock. Sanosuke started to gag slightly on his food, Yahiko went slack jawed as his left eyebrow began to twitch slightly and Kaoru almost fell backwards. Even Kenshin, who had been very polite thus far to Kuwabara, was giving the young orange haired man a bug-eyed look.

 

“Let me get this straight…” began Kaoru once she had regained her balance. “You're telling me, that you were part of some special forces team and just beat up three trained police swordsmen up with a broom, but you haven't even been trained in a style?”

 

“Uh…yeah?” Kuwabara replied sheepishly, truly unsure why everyone was looking at him so strangely.

 

“Being self taught is very uncommon, but not unheard of,” commented Kenshin, having regained his composure. “However, if I am correct, you are not so much self taught, but are more simply relying on natural ability. That you can rely on this natural ability alone and be as skilled as you are is most unusual, that it is.”

 

“Is that good or bad?” Kuwabara asked, still very perplexed by everyone's reaction.

 

“That's not just good, that's incredible!” Kaoru exclaimed. “As Assistant Master of the Kamiya Kasshin Style, it would be almost criminal for me not to offer you this: how would you like to learn swordsmanship at my dojo?”

 

For a moment, Kuwabara just stared at the young woman blankly before cocking his head to the side slightly and blinking as if he was trying to get a different view of her.

 

“Wait…you teach swordsmanship?” he said finally.

 

“What's that supposed to mean?” spat back Kaoru angrily, suddenly looking very menacing, even with the bow in her hair. “Did you think that just because I'm a woman that I couldn't know swordsmanship? Is that what you're saying?”

 

“No, no!” denied Kuwabara fervently, shrinking away from the enraged woman, but after a moment, his honesty got the best of him. “Well…sorta'.”

 

At this point, Kaoru was positively fuming. The other three occupants of the table recognized the look and quickly shifted away from her almost instinctively. Kuwabara, now panicking, began to plead very rapidly.

 

“Wait! That's not what I meant! I mean, most swordsme- I mean swords-people don't wear pretty dresses or pretty bows,” he stammered as Kaoru raised her fist threateningly at him. “You know, most swords-people don't usually wear pretty things like your dress or your bows. Did I mention that those were pretty?”

 

“He does have a point, Miss Kaoru,” Kenshin added on Kuwabara's behalf. “You must admit, one would not assume you were a fighter at first glance.”

 

“Yeah, cut him a little slack, little missy,” concurred Sanosuke. “You at least have to give him credit for the begging.”

 

After all three men received a glare that clearly said they would not be spared after this one time, Kaoru sat back down in her seat and resumed a calmer demeanor.

 

“Anyway, I believe you should accept Miss Kaoru's offer,” advised Kenshin once the threat had passed. “She is an excellent teacher, and you would surely benefit from her training, that you would.”

 

“Um, you know I can't pay for anything like that,” Kuwabara explained, racking his brain for an excuse.

 

“That is true…” agreed Kaoru, but then sighed in despair. “But at this point, I can't really be picky about things like that. After all, I only have one student at the moment; so really, I'll take anyone with potential. I'd even let you live t the dojo if you had to.”

 

“Well…let me think about it,” replied Kuwabara. “I've got to figure some things out.”

 

With the jury now temporarily out on that subject, everyone went back to the remainder of their meal. There was conversation about various things, but Kuwabara neither paid much attention to them, nor did he participate. He had far too much to think about.

 

`That would be pretty cool to learn swordsmanship, and it would give me something to do if I really am stuck here forever,' he thought, weighing the offer he had been given before considering his other options. `But what about Kurama? If he's here somewhere, maybe he could find a way for us to get back home…'

 

This debate raged on in the young man's head all the way through the remainder of the meal, but when the food had disappeared and the bill had been paid, there was no clear victor. He was just as unsure about what to do next as he had been at the well house earlier in the day.

 

“So, how about it, Kuwabara?” asked Kaoru once the group had said farewell to Tae and exited the restaurant. “Have you thought about my offer for long enough?”

 

“Huh? Oh yeah…” the large boy responded, stalling for a few moments' more time. “OK, how about this: I'll stay and train with you tomorrow. I should know what I wanna' do by then.”

 

“Great! We'll head over to the dojo now and find a place for you to get some rest,” Kaoru exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement, and turned to walk down the road before calling back over her shoulder. “Yahiko, Sanosuke, go do today's errands for me so I can show Kuwabara the dojo, will you?”

 

So, the group split up into a trio and a pair, with such terms as “slave driver” and “lazy raccoon girl” being muttered by the pair as they left to perform their assigned tasks. For a short time, the remaining three were silent as they walked towards the dojo that would be Kuwabara's new home, at least temporarily. However, there was something bugging Kuwabara that he felt compelled to know about.

 

“Hey, Kenshin, how come those cop guys listened to you when you told them to lay off?” he asked out of the blue, catching Kenshin slightly off guard.

 

“Oro?” replied Kenshin rather quizzically.

 

“I mean...” began to continue Kuwabara before registering exactly what the red haired swordsman had just said. “Wait…what the hell was that?”

 

“Oro?”

 

“That! What in the hell is that? Is that even a real word?”

 

“Oro?”

 

“Stop doing that!”

 

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Eventually, Kuwabara had given up on trying to reason with Kenshin regarding “oro”, but thanks to this distraction, he never received an answer to his previous question. In fact, he himself had forgotten about it by the time they reached the Kamiya Dojo. As he had been shown his room, he had taken in the dojo grounds, which he had to admit were far better than expected. In the Tokyo he knew, one would have to be either incredibly rich or have had the land in the family for generations to have such a large piece of land. Of course, most families eventually gave in to the massive offers real estate entrepreneurs would give to them, leaving only a small handful left that retained their land, such as Kagome's family.

 

Even his room seemed larger than the one he had back in his home in the modern era, although that may have been because of the lack of his always scattered personal effects. To further his opinion of the facilities, he was shown a rather appealing looking bath house, which, to the relief of his hostess, he quickly made use of. Truthfully, though he smelled fairly offensive, he wasn't nearly as filthy as one would expect from spending such a long time without bathing in the wilderness fighting demons. It was only after he had finished bathing and saw what clothes were laid out for him that he had his first negative thought about the place.

 

`Just great…' he thought unenthusiastically as he picked up the wide, almost skirt-like, light blue hakama pants up and examined them. `They're makin' me wear a dress.'

 

However, realizing that he really had no choice in the matter, Kuwabara clothed himself what he assumed was the Kamiya Dojo's training uniform despite the pants' unwanted qualities and exited the bathhouse. As he was on his way back to the main building though, he was spotted by Sanosuke, who was quick to notice the boys apparent awkwardness in his new outfit.

 

“Not used to wearing that samurai stuff, huh?” commented the tall man with a chuckle as he chewed on a fish bone that was hanging out of his mouth. “Can't blame ya'. I wouldn't be caught dead in that stuff, myself.”

 

“I kinda' figured that,” replied Kuwabara as he allowed himself to smirk as he noticed the symbol for “bad” on the back of Sanosuke's shirt. “What's up with the symbol, anyway? That your nickname or somethin'?”

 

“Maybe if you decide to stick around, I'll tell you sometime,” answered Sanosuke flippantly before walking off towards the main building. “But for now, I'm takin' a nap.”

 

With nothing to do until dinner and lacking any company, Kuwabara decided to go explore the dojo. Since it was a dojo for training in the art of swordsmanship, he figured that there were at least some cool swords he could go check out. However, after exploring most of the grounds, he came up empty handed. Even the actual training area, which was the most interesting place on the compound in his mind, was simply stocked with wooden swords, which Kuwabara assumed were for practice purposes. It was as he exited the training room that he ran into Kenshin, who was carrying a stack of firewood.

 

“Having a look around, are you?” greeted Kenshin with a smile.

 

“Yeah,” confirmed Kuwabara, following in step with Kenshin, having concluded his self-guided tour. “Hey, d'ya know where they keep the swords in this place? I haven't really seen any.”

 

“Oh you won't find any real swords in the Kamiya Dojo, that you won't,” clarified Kenshin. “Students of the Kamiya Kasshin style use wooden swords because the style forbids them to use it to kill.”

 

“What? That's nuts!” Kuwabara blurted. “How the heck can you fight a guy with a wooden sword if he has a real one? That's just stupid.”

 

“A wooden sword may have its disadvantages, but the avoidance of death is a noble goal, that it is,” replied the red-haired swordsman calmly as though he had expected just that reaction. “Besides, didn't you yourself use a broom in such a situation today?”

 

“That doesn't count. Those guys were a bunch of wimps. I'm talking about if you're fighting someone that's tough,” Kuwabara clarified, dismissing Kenshins example with a wave. “I mean, you look like a guy that's been in some real life or death fights, right? Sometimes, it's either you, or the other guy. Someone has to bite the dust, ya know?”

 

“I understand where you are coming from, that I do,” said Kenshin patiently, setting down the firewood next to several other stacks against the bathhouse wall and taking a seat on the porch nearby. “In fact, there was a time when I used to think as you do, that killing was sometimes the only way a situation could be ended.”

 

Kuwabara stayed silent, realizing that now he was about to get the answer that he had not received on the way to the dojo. Taking a seat next to Kenshin, he watched the swordsman as he gazed outward, recalling events of the past.

 

“You asked earlier why those policemen listened to me when I told them to stop. The answer to that question goes back to over a decade ago,” Kenshin began. “During the Meiji Revolution, I fought on the side of the Imperialists, the group that now controls the country. I killed many people for them in the name of equality and justice during that war, and I was soon well known for my talents in this respect. Now, each day, I am trying to repent for those lives that I have taken, that I am.”

 

With that, Kenshin suddenly unsheathed the sword that was sheathed at his side and offered its hilt towards Kuwabara. The boy grasped the hilt, a little nervous, and examined the blade. What he saw was astonishing to him. The sword was everything that one would expect, save one detail: the blade was reversed, so that on what would normally be the cutting edge of the weapon, there was just blunt metal.

 

“I get it…” spoke Kuwabara finally. “You use this sword so that you don't kill people when you fight them, even though it's made out of metal.”

 

“Yes, that sword cannot kill anyone, that it can't,” confirmed the samurai. “Instead, I use that sword to protect people without ending the life of another. Miss Kaoru and others who use the Kamiya Kasshin Style may have wooden swords instead of reverse-blade swords, but the philosophy that they use is the same as mine, that it is.”

 

Kuwabara returned the reverse-blade sword back to its owner, who promptly sheathed it. However, the ex-Spirit Detective said nothing, as he was still trying to fully process what had just been said to him.

 

“Now then, I have to go make dinner for tonight,” stated Kenshin as he rose to depart. “You should go get some rest, Kuwabara. I suspect that Miss Kaoru will have some very difficult training for you tomorrow, that she will.”

 

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The next morning, Kuwabara immediately received the unexpected, that being a wakeup call. Still hazy from sleep, he had wrapped himself up in his covers mumbling about not wanting to go to school until Kaoru abandoned simply rapping on his door and tried the same process with his skull. Needless to say, this put the boy in a sour mood as he ate breakfast, frequently pointing out that the sun was barely up itself. Nonetheless, he did eventually run out of food to eat, and was forced to drag himself over to the training room where Kaoru was already waiting.

 

“Say, where's the little guy?” asked Kuwabara with a yawn. “Isn't he your student, too?”

 

“Yes, but Yahiko is going to be allowed to train on his own today,” replied Kaoru as a smirk graced her lips. “Since this is your first lesson, I'm going to put all of my attention on you.”

 

“Whatever,” Kuwabara mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “So, what first?”

 

“Well, you've obviously seen your share of combat, so we can skip some of the initial non-combat lessons and get right to practicing sword technique. However, we'll start with the basics in that respect,” explained Kaoru, picking up a wooden sword and tossing it to Kuwabara. “First, I just want you to start with a standard vertical cut.”

 

Scoffing, Kuwabara quickly placed the sword in both hands, raised it high above his head and brought it down until it almost hit the dojo floor. He was promptly smacked over the head with a wooden sword.

 

“Ow! What the hell was that for? I did what you asked me to!” roared Kuwabara, suddenly very awake and very angry.

 

“That was some of the laziest technique I've ever seen,” stated Kaoru simply, placing her wooden sword over her shoulder. “You brought the sword way too high over your head, followed through on the swing far too much, and your feat weren't in the proper position.”

 

Seeing that Kuwabara was blinking rather dumbly at her analyses, the Assistant Master sighed heavily and demonstrated. Unlike Kuwabara's swing, hers was much shorter in length, raising the blade just above her head and bringing it quickly down before stopping it at chest level, with the blade pointing straight out at a perfect perpendicular angle to her body. In addition, her feet had been shoulder-width apart when she started, with her right foot slightly in front of her left one, another thing that differed from Kuwabara's swing.

 

Grumbling, Kuwabara attempted to mimic what he had just seen. Again, he was smacked on the head with Kaoru's wooden sword.

 

“Straighten your back more.”

 

Smack!

 

“Your stance is too narrow.”

 

Smack!

 

“You're still raising your sword too high.”

 

“All right, that's it!” bellowed Kuwabara, absolutely livid with anger. “You saw me yesterday, you know I don't need to do this stupid kiddy crap! Hell, I bet I'm better than you are!”

 

Kaoru just stared at him for a moment as he smirked triumphantly at her. Surely, he had to be right. After all, he had taken down scores of demons in life or death fights. In his mind, there was no way a young woman who only used a wooden sword could be his equal.

 

“Why don't you prove that then?” said Kaoru finally and positioned herself several paces in front of Kuwabara. “If you beat me, we can skip the basics and move on to advanced techniques. If I win, then you have to do that vertical cut the whole day until you get it absolutely flawless.”

 

“Fine by me,” agreed Kuwabara with a chuckle. “You won't know what hit ya'.”

 

Wordlessly, Kaoru set herself in a balanced fighting stance, wooden sword held at the ready with both hands. Not wasting any time, Kuwabara quickly charged her with a furious battle cry, holding the sword to his side with the tip of the weapon pointing towards his opponent. When he reached striking distance, however, he did not thrust it forward as his stance indicated he would, but rather spun around to his left, slashing horizontally as he did so.

 

The maneuver failed utterly, for all that Kaoru had to do to avoid it was hop backwards slightly, leaving Kuwabara's back completely exposed for a retaliatory strike. All Kaoru did to finish the match was step swiftly forward and bring her wooden sword down onto the back of Kuwabara's neck. Since he was off balance due to his wild swing, this was enough to cause Kuwabara to fall onto the dojo floor.

 

“You're fast and strong, but your technique is terrible, which made your attack easy to predict and avoid,” chided Kaoru as Kuwabara growled in frustration and stood up off of the ground “Your physical ability has probably been enough to let you beat everyone you've ever faced before, but the moment you fight someone who has superior technique, it will end exactly like that just did.”

 

`If I could use my spirit energy, lady, my strength and speed would be enough to beat you,' thought Kuwabara as he grunted an acknowledgement, deeply thankful that no one had seen what had just happened.

 

Granted, the blow hadn't hurt him that much at all, but in a one hit duel, that was irrelevant to the outcome. Knowing this only made his loss all the more frustrating.

 

“Now then, let's get started on that cut of yours.”

 

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Several hours later, Kuwabara finally exited the training room with two incredibly sore arms and a newfound appreciation for vertical cut technique. He made it all the way to the porch outside his room when he was forced to sit down out of exhaustion.

 

`Holy crap, how can something that simple be so hard?' thought Kuwabara. `I guess it's gotta' work though. I mean, she did beat me in that duel thingy. I bet if I stayed here and trained, I'd become a real badass with a sword. Yeah, and when I can use my spirit energy again, I'll be invincible! That is…if I ever can use it again…'

 

Thinking about spirit energy turned the boy's thoughts to the reason why he had been hesitant about staying at the Kamiya Dojo in the first place. That is, the question of whether or not he should go looking for Kurama or anyone else who may have been hit by Naraku's attack. After a few minutes of pondering this, he finally reached a decision.

 

`If Kurama is here in this time, then he's probably looking for anyone else that might be here, too,' he reasoned. `And since he's probably better at finding people than I am in this time, being a genius and all that stuff, he's got a better chance of finding me than I do at finding him. Plus, I'd be easier to find if I just stayed here instead of wandering all over Japan.'

 

“The slave driver gave you a good beating, huh?” noted Yahiko, who shouldered his practice sword and walked over towards Kuwabara, who just nodded, breathing heavily. “Don't tell me that you're gonna' give up already? You aren't even done with your first day yet.”

 

“Not a chance,” answered Kuwabara quickly, grinning at the small boy. “If that chick can become as good as she is with this Kamiya Kasshin thing, then I bet I can become almost invincible with it.”

 

“Invincible, huh? Nah, I'm the only one that's becoming invincible with the Kamiya Kasshin Style,” retorted Yahiko confidently as he stared down at his new peer.

 

`Well, the good news is that the guys that live here are all right,' noted Kuwabara as he chuckled at Yahiko's challenge. `Who knows? I might even have fun here.'

 

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Note: Yes, I am aware that many of our heroes/heroines have now been MIA for two chapters of this fic, but have no fear folks, they will return in the coming chapters of this fic. Patience, as they say, is a virtue.