Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One for the Ages ❯ Chapter Twenty-five: Life as a Castaway ( Chapter 25 )

One for the Ages

By Gan Xingba

Chapter Twenty-five: Life as a Castaway

 

Kenshin had never really minded chores. In fact, he had always found them a little enjoyable, for they allowed him to pretend that he was just a normal man with a normal life, if only briefly. For now, however, even when he had finished hanging up the last of the clothes up to dry, this little fantasy of normalcy seemed to extend to the rest of his life, as well. He had no enemies to fight, and, more importantly, he had more friends to enjoy life with than ever. He was instantly reminded of this when Kuwabara came bursting out of the dojo holding what looked like a rice ball, tailed closely by Sano and Yahiko.

 

“Hey! I called that rice ball, it's the last one!” cried Sanosuke, his indignation fueling his sprint.

 

“You've already had more of them than all of us, Kuwabara!” chimed in Yahiko, trying futilely to keep up with the other two. “Stop being such a pig!”

 

“I got it fair and square, you're just being sore losers!” Kuwabara retorted before raising the rice ball up to his mouth in mid sprint in to claim his prize.

 

He never got the chance to bite down, though, for Sano quickly dove at the orange haired boy before that happened, tackling him to the ground. The rice ball was suddenly caught in the middle of a wrestling match between the two, constantly switching hands as they fought over it and made desperate attempts to take a bite. Kenshin smiled amusedly over the scene and let out a small chuckle. This had been a frequent occurrence since Kuwabara had started living at the Kamiya Dojo. The prize wasn't always a rice ball, but each little match followed the same pattern. Not surprisingly, Sano was always the one who came out on top in the end. After all, Sano was physically one of the strongest people, if not the strongest person, that Kenshin had ever seen. Kuwabara wasn't weak by anyone's standards, but he couldn't match Sano.

 

`Still…he always seems to fight like he has more strength than he actually possesses in these scuffles,' Kenshin noted as he watched the duel continue. `He's clearly not holding back…but it does make me wonder if he has somehow lost his true strength…'

 

Suddenly lost in thought, Kenshin failed to notice that the rice ball had accidentally been hit with considerable force by Kuwabara, and was now flying towards the his face. With a small squelching sound, the piece of food hit the swordsman right between the eyes, splattering rice all over his face and knocking him onto his back as he let out a feeble “oro”.

 

“My rice ball!” cried out Kuwabara and Sanosuke in unison, each wearing a look of the utmost horror.

 

This despair was soon replaced with physical pain as Kaoru's hit them both in the back of the head with what some might consider unnecessary vigor.

 

“I keep telling you that someone's going to get hurt in these little brawls, and now it's finally happened. You should both feel ashamed,” she chided as her two victims rubbed their new bruises.

 

“You're the only one that hurt anybody,” mumbled Kuwabara, promptly receiving a second blow to his cranium.

 

“Now, now, little missy, don't take out your anger on us,” Sano said as he slowly stood up, and then flashed a mischievous grin before continuing. “You're just mad that we'd never fight over the food you cook like that.”

 

Kaoru tried to hit him with another punch, but the lanky ex-mercenary quickly moved outside of her range and raced off, not eager to face any more of Kaoru's wrath. She seriously looked like she was considering chasing after him for a moment, but she managed to contain her anger to an “I'll deal with you later” look in his direction, before turning back to Kuwabara, who was still sitting on the ground and clutching his head, although now he was looking up at Kaoru with disdain. Undoubtedly, she had some punishment in store for him, and therefore Kenshin chose this moment to walk over to the pair.

 

“There is no need to give the boy a concussion, Miss Kaoru,” he stated with an assuring smile. “I am just fine, that I am.”

 

“Alright, I'll let him off of the hook this time,” relented Kaoru, and then looked down at her newest student with a wry smile on her face. “Just don't go acting like a blockheaded thug all the time, Kazuma, okay?”

 

At this, Kuwabara's eyes grew wide with bewilderment as he looked up at his Kaoru, and he lowered his hands slowly from the back of his head. Both Kaoru and Kenshin knew him well enough that simply calling him Kazuma, which Kaoru had been in the habit of doing, wouldn't get this kind of a reaction out of him, and all playfulness quickly left their expressions.

 

“Are you alright, Kuwabara?” asked Kenshin, kneeling down next to the boy.

 

“Yeah…it's just…” started Kuwabara somberly, looking down at the ground. “That sounds just like something my big sister would say to me.”

 

“Oh…” was all that Kaoru could really manage in response, unsure of whether an apology would be appropriate.

 

Rather unexpectedly, Kuwabara stood up and smiled warmly at her. The smile didn't look fake, which puzzled Kaoru and Kenshin even more.

 

“But y'know, that's probably a good thing that you're like her. After all, she's the only person who could keep me out of trouble. I still got in lots of trouble anyway, but it would have been a lot worse without her,” he said, and then chuckled as he recalled a few of the many lectures he'd had over the years. “Well, I'd better go clean up the dining room. See ya.”

 

Kaoru stared dumbfounded after the boy as he walked back towards the main building, not really knowing how to react. Kenshin however, was smiling knowingly.

 

“I believe he's finally come to accept his situation, that he has,” he said out loud for Kaoru's benefit. “I'm glad. Many people in his situation lose the will to even continue to live.”

 

“I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He's not exactly the type of person to be beaten down so easily,” Kaoru concurred, but after a pause began to muse out loud. “I just realized something, we never really did find out exactly what happened to his friends and family…it hasn't sounded like they are dead whenever he has talked about them…”

 

“That is a question I have wanted to ask as well, Miss Kaoru,” replied Kenshin with a nod. “However, I still believe it is too early to ask him about the details, and besides, I'm not all together convinced that he knows exactly what has become of his comrades either, that I'm not.”

 

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After over several weeks of playing hostess to yet another wandering, penniless martial artist, Misao was beginning to wonder if all red-haired young men were polite and intelligent. Most men that were as aware of their good looks as Shuichi was seemed to endlessly take advantage of them, but Shuichi was ever the perfect gentlemen, and even seemed to actively avoid using them for…well, anything. Not that he really had to do anything for them to have an effect. Recent conversations between Okon and Omasu had been dominated largely by debates on whether or not he was “too young”, although they generally ended up in agreement that he had been lying when he had said he was fifteen.

 

Misao, of course, was never really interested in him in such a way. It wasn't that she didn't like him as a person, in fact, she found him quite good company, but she only had eyes for one person for the type of thing that Okan and Omasu were talking about. That person was, of course, Aoshi Shinomori. At the moment, she had just arrived at the temple where he meditated every day, and where she came to bring him lunch every day. As she stepped into the temple grounds, here ears picked up the sounds of some kind of scuffle.

 

`Has someone attacked Lord Aoshi?' she wondered in a panic as she dropped the lunch she was carrying and raced off towards the sounds. `He never brings his kodachi to the temple, if someone with enough skill attacks him with a weapon…'

 

She rounded the corner and suddenly stopped as she saw the source of the sound. Shuichi and Aoshi were engaged in what looked like extremely intense hand-to-hand combat. At first, she felt relieved, for Shuichi and Aoshi had knew each other, albeit not very well, but that still meant that this was just a sparring match. Upon realizing this, however, she was a little shocked, for she had never imagined Shuichi to last but a few moments against Aoshi in combat. In due turn, this caused her to become just a tad bit angry, as it meant that Shuichi had been holding back significantly when Okon, Omasu, and herself had fought him. Just as she was thinking this, however, Aoshi spun away from a palm thrust from Shuichi and let loose a hard kick at Shuichi's side. While the redhead blocked it, the force from it was enough to send him skidding back a few feet, separating the two combatants.

 

“You weren't being arrogant at all, your footwork is quite remarkable,” Shuichi commented as he wiped some of the sweat from his forehead. “Wouldn't you agree, Misao?”

 

“Wha-of course it is! Lord Aoshi is the strongest person in the entire region, if not the entire country!” she answered enthusiastically, refusing to be surprised that Kurama had noticed her.

 

“That doesn't surprise me at all,” replied Shuichi, smiling at Misao's near worship of the man in front of him, and then bowing politely to that same man as was customary after a sparing match. “Well, I should head back to the Aoiya. It will be getting more customers soon and I will be needed. That was an excellent match.”

 

“Agreed, it was quite interesting,” stated Aoshi, returning the bow. “I shall head back as well. I used up too much energy to meditate well, so I may as well head back and eat there.”

 

The trio walked back towards the temple's entrance, where Misao scooped up the now probably squashed lunch she had brought as stealthily as she could. It wasn't until they were near the bottom of the temple steps that conversation started again.

 

“Perhaps I could find some rope and you could use a pair of wooden kodachi next time,” suggested Shuichi.

 

“Rope?” asked Misao, throwing the redhead a puzzled look over her shoulder.

 

“Yes, a whip is my primary weapon,” Shuichi replied smiling patiently as he always did when asked to explain something. “However, seeing as we wouldn't want to cause any serious injuries to each other, a rope would be a good substitute for a sparring match.”

 

“I have never encountered anyone at your skill level who uses such a weapon,” Aoshi remarked. “It would be interesting to see how you use it.”

 

“I'm afraid I'll be a bit rusty. I haven't used it since…” began Shuichi before pausing and wincing ever so slightly. “Well, since arriving here, I suppose.”

 

Misao suddenly felt a twinge of guilt as she noticed the sad expression that had flashed briefly over Shuichi's face. Something about the conversation had caused him to think about his comrades, of whom there had been no trace thus far. The rest of the walk back to the Aoiya consisted of Misao trying to lighten the mood with various topics of conversation and Shuichi pretending, poorly, to be in high spirits. When they at last returned, Shuichi and Misao headed towards the restaurant's kitchen to help with running the restaurant while Aoshi departed to eat. However, Kuro put his large hand on Misao's shoulder just as before she entered the kitchen itself.

 

“Hey, you got a letter from Tokyo today,” he said, pulling an envelope out from his shirt. You might want to read it before you get to work just to make sure it doesn't get dirty.”

 

“Right, thanks, Kuro,” she said, smiling as she headed out of the restaurant portion of the Aoiya and into the garden to get some privacy.

 

She looked down at the envelope and smiled. It was from Kaoru Kamiya, whom she had met during the small war against Makoto Shishio. Her and the rest of the “Kenshin Group”, as they were sometimes referred to for the sake of convenience, had ended up staying in Kyoto for quite some time to recover from their injuries, and over that time Misao and Kaoru had become good friends. The result was that they would occasionally correspond with each other through letters just to let each other know how their respective lives were working out. Still smiling, Misao unfolded the letter and began to read:

 

Dear Misao,

 

It has not been that long since I last wrote, but there have been some sudden changes going on over here at the dojo. Well, I suppose that really only one thing actually changed, I got a new student. He doesn't have any money, so he's another freeloader that I have to look after, but I just couldn't turn away from someone that shows this much potential. He's not exactly a master strategist, but he's really very strong, athletic, and a hard worker. I suppose I should tell you his name. It's Kazuma Kuwabara, although if you ask him he'll say it's “The Great” Kazuma Kuwabara…

 

`That name…' thought Misao, stopping suddenly, and after a moment's pause almost dropped the letter in shock. `That's the name one of Shuichi's friends!'

 

Without pause, Misao burst out into a full blown sprint towards the kitchen, almost causing Shiro to drop several bowls of miso soup as she flew on by him.

 

“Shuichi!” she called out with far too much volume for the relative smallness of the kitchen, drawing the rather panicked stares of everyone in the kitchen, and several from outside it. “The friend that you're looking for called Kazuma Kuwabara, does he call himself “The Great” Kazuma Kuwabara a lot?”

 

“Yes…” said Shuichi slowly before suddenly realizing why she would ask such a question. “Have you…?”

 

“Yep, we found him!” she announced joyously. “Tomorrow morning, we're taking the train to Tokyo!”

 

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Hiei was not the type of man who was at ease just sitting in one place for too log, and fortunately, working with Hajime Saitou as a policeman had proven to satisfy him in that respect. Saitou apparently lived in Tokyo, so after digging a little more for information in Osaka, the pair had taken a train from Kyoto to the capitol. Tokyo had been largely their base of operations, but while the missions they went on tended to be in that region, they were still varied enough to keep Hiei from growing bored.

 

Recently, it had become more and more frequent that Hiei was beginning to receive his own missions as he got used to the system. For a human, Saitou was regarded fairly well by the fire demon, but, as was the fire demon's nature, Hiei found himself enjoying the solitude of these new solo missions. At the moment, he had just wrapped up with the “neutralization” of a bandit that had been targeting Kanazawa's gold merchants, wreaking havoc on the city's commerce as an effect, and was now eating a small meal at a low key restaurant before taking the train back to Tokyo. Much to his chagrin, he had found food more necessary now that he had lost his spirit energy.

 

Halfway through the meal, he heard loud yelling coming from across the restaurant. Looking up, he could see that a group of five drunks was the source of the problem.

 

“Hey…hey…hey…you theres…shweet thing,” jeered one of them at a female patron, there with her husband and children. “Leave that guy and come over here so you can get some real lovin', huh? Huh?”

 

“Wha're you lookin' at, stupid?” yelled out another to the woman's husband. “You wanna' go? `Cause I'll go!”

 

Hiei, irritated with these men not for their amoral behavior, but for their volume, gripped his katana as he prepared to silence them. However, a young man had already walked up to the drunks. He was by no means an intimidating looking person, seeming to be of average height and weight, and he wore a kind looking smile. However, he was wearing what looked like standard samurai garb, albeit it was slightly worn, and wore a sword on his belt, though he lacked the usual ponytail or topknot that one would normally associate with a samurai, letting his short, black hair fall naturally from his head.

 

“Excuse me, but I think you guys have had too much to drink,” he said politely, still smiling. “You should probably leave before you get into some kind of trouble.”

 

“Trouble? You bein' the one in trouble,” retorted the first drunk, stumbling over his words as he stood up, ostensibly to try and fight the boy.

 

“I am? Well, I'll just have to get out of trouble then, I suppose,” replied the boy, still smiling.

 

The drunk lunged at the boy, but right before the man's fist connected, the boy dodged the blow with speed so great that Hiei was now suddenly very glad that the drunks had been causing such a fuss. The boy moved like lightning in retaliation, striking each man once with his fists in an instant. As the drunks collapsed to the floor and the boy apologized to the stunned waitress next to him for the commotion. Hiei had suddenly forgotten about his meal. Fighting bandits and crooks was all well and good, but this boy before him seemed like a challenge. Since his fight with Saitou, Hiei had been practicing his sword technique quite often, as technique would become more important without his spirit energy, and now he finally had a chance to truly test his skills. That was his favorite thing about this era, swordsmen could challenge other swordsman to duels, kill them, and no fuss was made about it.

 

The fire demon waited until the boy had left the restaurant, and then left to follow him, being careful to stay far enough back to avoid attention. Eventually, the boy entered a large garden near the center of the city and stopped to gaze out on the lake in the garden's center. Noticing that the garden was empty save the two of them, Hiei decided that it would be their battleground. He didn't want anyone to interfere in this test of his.

 

“It's illegal to carry a sword in public, boy,” stated Hiei as he walked up to within a few meters of the boy.

 

“Yeah, it is,” stated the boy simply as he turned around and smiled at Hiei. “I don't suppose you could let me go for this, could you?”

 

“Hn, don't be stupid,” responded Hiei coldly as he drew his katana. “You know as well as I that I wouldn't have bothered to follow you here this far if I intended this to be resolved peacefully.”

 

“You knew I could tell you were following me and you kept it up anyway?” replied the boy, his constant smiling now truly starting to annoy Hiei. “You must really be itching for a good fight. Still, you shouldn't be fighting people who are out of your league for no reason, or you won't last very long.”

 

“Hn, keep talking like that, fool. It will make it all the more satisfying to kill you,” Hiei spat back as he got into a fighting stance.

 

“Before we begin, I'm pretty sure it's proper to introduce ourselves before a duel,” said the smiling boy as he put his hand on the hilt of his katana. “I am Soujirou Seta.”

 

“Hn, there's no need to tell you such trivial information,” scoffed Hiei, disgusted with the “proper” nature of his opponent. “After all, it will just be useless when you are dead.”

 

Wasting no more time, Hiei rushed towards his opponent, the details of his uniform giving way to a blue blur as his speed increased rapidly. Soujirou seemed to make no move to dodge the attack as Hiei approached, but suddenly, as Hiei swung horizontally at the boy's torso, he seemingly disappeared. Hiei could barely keep his mouth from dropping open. That a human that who could never have received any sort of training on the use of spirit energy could move that quickly seemed unthinkable to him, but the rapid sound of footfalls from behind him confirmed that what he had seen was no illusion.

 

Fueled by desperation, Hiei whirled around in time to parry Soujirou's first strike and quickly leapt backwards onto the branch of a nearby tree to avoid letting Soujirou put him on the defensive. Unfortunately, Soujirou seemed to have no trouble jumping, and it took but half a moment for the boy to come flying at Hiei with that same unthinkable speed. However, a moment had been all Hiei had needed to regain his composure and, with adrenaline rushing through his blood, he parried the strike and launched a furious offensive. So fast were his strikes that one could barely separate the sounds made as each strike was parried, and the fight was moved from the tree back onto the ground as Soujirou dodged, parried, and all around nullified every last one of Hiei's strikes. Seeing that his attacks were failing, Hiei leapt back from his opponent, trying to find an opening.

 

`This boy…I can't touch him. He's as strong as Saitou, if not even stronger,' thought the fire demon as he caught his breath. `How could someone be this strong without even being able to use spirit energy?'

 

“Wow, you might be the fastest person I've ever seen,” complimented Soujirou, still smiling happily. “And that's saying something, since I've seen the Battousai himself in action. Unfortunately for you, I'm not only faster than you, but you telegraph your attacks pretty bad.”

 

“Shut up!” roared Hiei, once again rushing the boy in a rage.

 

That rage suddenly turned into frustration, for once again his attack was easily dodged, but this time, Soujirou started striking back. The speed of the attacks was almost too much for Hiei to even handle, and he received numerous shallow cuts as he was pushed back towards the lake in the middle of the garden. Knowing that he couldn't be allowed to get pushed back much further, Hiei again leapt towards a nearby tree, but this time Soujirou rushed after him so fast that Hiei couldn't even make him out until the boy had caught up. Hiei had no chance to block as Soujirou slashed into his side with enough force to send him slamming into the ground below.

 

Hiei rolled away and leapt to his feet just in time to avoid being decapitated, but before he could regain a fighting stance, Soujirou was upon him. Hiei suddenly found his sword being knocked from his hand, and he desperately dove after it. He snatched the blade out of the air before it even hit the ground, but when he turned to face his adversary, he found his neck suddenly resting on the tip of a katana.

 

“You fought well, but you never really stood a chance against me,” stated Soujirou with his seemingly eternal cheerfulness, “You're an interesting guy, though. I've got a feeling that we'll meet again, mister spiky-haired policeman.”

 

With that, Soujirou moved his sword away from Hiei's jugular, and dashed off into the garden before Hiei could regain his composure. Growling, Hiei stood up and sheathed his sword.

 

`Without my spirit energy, I simply am unable to beat the strongest humans of this era. I've been too focused on simply becoming stronger, and my technique has suffered for it,' he surmised as he checked to bleeding on his wounds. `Still, if this boy is as good as Saitou, he is definitely one of the strongest in the era. I'll have to ask Saitou about him when I get back to Tokyo.'

 

Taking one last look off in the direction that Soujirou had left in, Hiei left to go catch his train to Tokyo