Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ —¤: Boy meets dad :¤— ❯ Visiting Tomoe ( Chapter 2 )

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

I DO NOT OWN RUROUNI KENSHIN, THIS IS JUST A FANFIC MADE BY A TERRIBLY OBSESSED KENSHIN FAN SO PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! :P
 
I haven't read any of the manga and we didn't really get to see a lot of Kenji in the OVA, so I'm doing my own version of Kenji.
 
 
 
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Kenji planned to take the Tokaido route back to Tokyo, but he wasn't going home just yet. After a brief stop at the Aoiya to bid farewell to the Oniwabanshu, namely Misao and Aoshi as well as Okina the jijisan no hentai (perverted old man), he bought some flowers and headed to the spot where his father's first wife was buried to pay his respects.
 
It wasn't his first time visiting. He came with Master Hiko before, the price of which was to pay for the two jugs of sake the man loved so much as well as lugging buckets of water from the spring and to the bath house. For a whole month, everyday as he filled and refilled the man's bath. He learned the hard way how it pays to ask a favor from the swordsman, but it was well worth it in his opinion.
 
In order for him to understand his father, he had to cover every corner, turn every stone of his father's past and scrutinize it. His father's first wife was very well, a big stone to turn.
 
He knew about the story behind the death of one Tomoe Himura.
 
Knew that she was the reason why Battoussai the Manslayer turned into Kenshin Himura the wandering swordsman after the Bakamatsu.
 
Every time Kenji thought about her, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy in behalf of his mother.
 
The sun was high up in the sky as he made his way through the quiet cemetery. Stopping in front of a simple headstone, he placed a single jasmine flower upon it.
 
He brought his hands together, bowed and started praying. `I don't know if you can hear me, Tomoesan, and I don't even know if you know me.' He took a deep breath, feeling kind of silly talking to the woman like this. `You were my father's first wife, you saved him from the madness he was in during the Bakamatsu… but at what price? He wandered Japan for ten years, more after that even after he bore my mother a son, not allowing me to get to know who he was.' All the anger he felt for his father's absence resurfaced again and he tempered it down, calling upon his training under both Kamiya Kasshin style and Hiten Mitsurugi to calm himself.
 
That was his greatest weakness. Anger for his father's abandonment.
 
Taking a deep breath once more, he continued. `I just wish I had the chance to spend more time with him. Get to know him, not only as my father, but as a man as well… Is that too much to ask?' He asked almost bitterly. He didn't know why, but he just felt like pouring his heart out right now. `Every time I thought about it, I wonder why his child, namely me, couldn't have kept him from straying away from home again. Was I not one of these “weak” people he had to protect? Was I not important enough to him, the blood of his blood, flesh of his flesh? Was I of so little value to him that he chose to leave instead of spending time with me?'
 
He cracked one eye open, expecting lightning to strike from the heavens with the way he was talking to the deceased woman, but thankfully, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
 
`I apologize for the audacity. I don't know what came over me. I just want to look for answers… and the people who can help me seek them are no longer with us.' He finished praying and was in the middle of standing up when an intense breeze almost knocked him off his feet.
 
He could feel the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end, and out of pure instinct, his hand crept nearer the hilt of his sword, his stance defensive. “Who's there!” He demanded.
 
If it's answers you seek then it's answers you shall find, young Himura…
 
He whipped around, looking for the voice. “Who's there!!?” He demanded once again as he grasped the handle, ready to defend himself. Not only was there a chilly breeze in the middle of summer now, but there was also a fast and thick fog settling in.
 
Good luck…
 
Before he knew it, the thick fog encircled him, almost choking him from the thickness of the air. Beneath the panic that was settling on his heart at this bizarre occurrence, he grabbed his belongings and decided to make a run for it.
 
He never made it.
 
If an outsider would have seen it, with a flash of blinding light, Kenji Himura disappeared from the cemetery in Kyoto.
 
 
 
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The night was dark.
 
Sounds of leaves rustling in the air was the only sound that you can hear aside from an occasional dog howling.
 
Kenji stirred from his not-so-comfortable position on the ground. `What the heck happened?!' he asked himself as he sat up and checked himself for any injuries. `Was I attacked? If so, what attacked me?' This was very odd, very odd indeed. The last thing he remembered was feeling the air sucked out of him as he passed out.
 
He was still in the cemetery! But… it looked different somehow. The gravestone he was praying to hours ago was missing. Did he get robbed and get dumped somewhere else? Yes, that must have been it, he reasoned with himself as he got up and dusted his clothes off.
 
Mou! He silently cursed to himself with his mother's favorite expression. I guess I'll have to head home tomorrow then… no use trying to rough it out travelling tonight when he could have a warm bed at the Aoiya for him.
 
Picking up his belongings, which were still with him, he thankfully noticed, he walked out of the cemetery and into the streets of Kyoto. An uncomfortable feeling settled itself in his gut again, but he couldn't quite place it. It wasn't as if he was being watched, because he couldn't feel anybody watching him. There was no ki signature trailing him.
 
It just felt odd that's all…
 
Mentally shrugging he brushed it off and continued walking the familiar streets… that didn't look so familiar anymore. What the heck was going on here!?
 
As he turned a corner, he walked right into a sword fight.
 
His eyes widened at the sight - several men against a lone boy who seemed like he was still in swaddling.
 
His warrior spirit kicking in, he dropped his things to the ground and joined the fray. Unsheathing his sakabatou, he took down two samurais in one swoop. The third one seemed pretty determined and he was forced to apply a bit more strength into his attack to knock the man out cold.
 
The man's eyes widened as he struggled to stay awake to no avail. “T-Tomoe…” he whispered as he finally lost consciousness and fell into deep sleep.
 
Satisfied that he took down the men and helped the little boy out without shedding blood, he turned to the person he had just saved, expecting gratitude. Blue violet eyes met a pair of amber and he found himself face to tip with a bloody katana.
 
“Who are you?!” the boy in the shadows asked as he continued pointing his sword at Kenji's face. Kenji could feel the temper which he inherited from his mother rise. What an ingrate! I just saved his skinny butt and this is the thanks I get!? His grip tightening on the hilt of his sakabatou, he answered “I just saved your sorry ass, why don't you stop pointing your little toy at me and thank me instead!!!”
 
If it were any possible, the amber eyes narrowed more and came nearer as the owner came out of the shadows and stepped into the moonlight. “I don't recall asking for assistance and I didn't need your help,” came the reply that could have bent steel.
 
For the second time today, Kenji felt his breath knocked out of him as he gazed upon the face of the boy he thought was in trouble tonight. It might look decades younger, but the face was so uncannily like his own that he would have recognized that anywhere. He also noted the red hair. The only thing lacking from the man was his infamous X-shaped scar.
 
“O-otousan?!” he managed to squeak out, bracing a hand on the nearby wall to steady him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Remember that fight with Kenshin and Akira in Trust & Betrayal? Several bodyguards against Kenshin the assassin. I embellished it a bit and added more people to justify Kenji stepping in to help Kenshin so bear with me. Hehe
 
I thought that by NOT killing Akira, Tomoe wouldn't have the grounds to go after Kenshin, therefore, Kenshin and Tomoe will probably never meet in this fic. *laughs maniacally* This is NOT for Kenshin/Tomoe fans, I'm warning you.
 
Do me a favor and hit the “review” button please. =)