Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ —¤: Boy meets dad :¤— ❯ The Ishin Shishi ( Chapter 5 )

I wish I owned Kenshin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

- CHAPTER 5 -

 

 

If anybody thought that Kenji's integration into the Cho Su clan was going to be smooth, they were dead wrong.

 

The guy he met earlier, Iizuka, was probably the only one who didn't draw his sword or attempt to draw his sword when the Battoussai walked into the Kohagi Inn with Kenji in tow.

 

“We have an intruder!” came the warning shout and one Ishin Shishi samurai after another piled into the room, ready to defend their headquarters.

 

“He's with me,” explained the red-haired samurai, but that didn't pacify his fellow Ishin Shishi warriors either. Gasps of outrage at Kenshin bringing an outsider into their fold were buzzing around the small room where they were now gathered, almost squished together as more samurai arrived.

 

One warrior even went to the extent of shouting “Have you lost your mind, Battoussai!?” before a single piercing look from the young hitokiri silenced him.

 

Not that Kenji could blame them, because this was a time of war and you had to be careful of whom to give your trust to afterall, but the reality that he was going to war left a sour taste in his mouth.

 

“We need to see Katsura-san,” Kenshin said, his second sentence of the night surprising some of his comrades, since they've never heard him speak this much before. Again though, it was met with another chorus of protests.

 

“You can't be serious!”

 

“Why should we trust him? Who is he!?”

 

“Why does he need to see Katsura-san?”

 

“He's an assassin sent by the Shogunate!!!”

 

“Come on men, look at him,” said Iizuka who was still trying to calm some of the more enthusiastic samurai down. “He looks so much like the Battoussai, they could be brothers!”

 

Kenji stood still as a rock, trying to keep the emotions out of his face from that statement. He didn't know how the Battoussai was going to react once he FINALLY noticed the uncanny resemblance between them.

 

He stole a quick glance at his father who was looking at him like he was actually seeing him for the first time as well. I can't believe he never noticed how we looked so much alike, Kenji thought as he sweat-dropped, a little irritated at Kenshin's clueless-ness. How thick can you get!?

 

……

 

Several minutes later, Kenji found himself seated in front of the famous, or infamous, depending on which side you were rooting for, Kogoro Katsura. He avoided eye contact with the red-head as much as possible and tried to concentrate on his conversation with Katsura-san instead, ignoring the questions lurking in his young father's eyes.

 

Kenshin stared hard at the visibly calm Kenji. He admitted to himself that he didn't notice the resemblance between him and the guy earlier, blaming the dimly-lit streets and his curiosity about this stranger who appeared from nowhere, jumped into the middle of his assignment and offered his help afterwards and then sending him off-guard by talking about Hiko-sama like he did.

 

No one is supposed to ever see a hitokiri kill and he didn't know what to do with the teenager who looked so much like him, only with darker coloring. Iizuka was right as well, they could be mistaken for brothers if they were seen together. Kenji even had red hair, but it was darker than his…

 

He tried to recall what it was like before he was picked up by his shishou… he couldn't recall a lot of memories about his parents except for the fact that they were kind and they died of cholera before a band of slave traders picked him up. As far as he knew, he didn't have any living relatives left, he was an orphan. But this Kenji… he was older than Kenshin… and they looked SO much alike. Could it be possible that Kenji was some sort of long-lost brother? Was that why he felt some kind of camaraderie toward the boy, one which he usually didn't feel for anyone upon their first meeting?

 

He frowned, recalling Kenji's story about his parents dying. He had parents, so he guessed that meant they weren't related…

 

The young hitokiri tried to brush off the strange coincidence as exactly that - just a coincidence - and tried to pay attention to the conversation at hand.

 

“So you're really not related to Himura-san?” Katsura was asking Kenji for the umpteenth time. From the moment he met the look-alike, he was more concerned about asking Kenji about his relation to Kenshin rather than finding out if he was trust-worthy or not. Katsura-san seemed to trust Kenji immediately just because of how he looked.

 

The younger man just shrugged and smiled respectfully at the leader of the rebellion. Kenji thought that by neither denying nor confirming it, he wasn't really lying to them.

 

What they don't know won't hurt them became his mantra.

 

The second re-telling of his partial life story was easier than the first. None of the men could find a hint of any kind of lie with Kenji's story and Katsura-san seemed extremely pacified with the fact that Kenji was acquainted with Kenshin's master.

 

The issue of Kenji signing up for the Cho Su clan's cause was also brought up and the topic became serious. Katsura was kind enough to offer Kenji a room at the inn and told him that his skill was going to be tested in the morning.

 

Bile started rising from Kenji's stomach to his mouth again, with the thought of having to kill anybody. So far, none of them managed to notice that he was carrying a reverse-blade sword. Were they going to laugh at him? Kick him out and deem him useless?

 

“Gomen nasai, Katsura-san,” he interrupted politely, “But I think I should warn you right now that even if I offer you my sword, it is not a sword that kills,” he picked his sakabatou up beside him and unsheathed it, presenting it to the other two occupants of the room.

 

“What's this? The blade is on the wrong side!” Exclaimed Katsura who was inspecting the sword. The Battoussai had a thoughtful frown on his face.

 

“It's a reverse-blade sword, my father's legacy if you will.” Kenji explained, looking at Kenshin.

 

“How do you expect to fight a war using that piece of scrap?” The Battoussai said, scowling.

 

“I may not play an important role like you, Kenshin, but at least I can offer my assistance, how little it may be.” Calling the sakabatou a piece of scrap indeed, it was YOURS, baka! “Perhaps I can be one of your personal bodyguards, Katsura-san.”

 

The Battoussai frowned once more. Kenji was acting so familiar with him, calling him `Kenshin' when even Katsura-san calls him `Himura'. “How do you expect to protect Katsura-san if your skills are lacking?”

 

Kenji felt himself getting irritated. I'll show you who's lacking in skills! He had to restrain himself from Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki-ying his young father across the room. He had to bite his tongue from spitting out that in this day and age, he had more training than Kenshin had! “My skills are not lacking,” he bit out.

 

“Could've fooled me, what kind of person carries a reverse-blade sword in the Bakamatsu?”

 

“It is against the teachings of my sword style to kill people. My mentors taught me that a sword is used to protect.”

 

Kenshin scoffed. “A sword is an instrument of violence. The art of swordsmanship is learning how to kill.”

 

“My sword is used to protect, not kill.”

 

“It's either kill or be killed. There's no other way.”

 

“The Kamiya Kasshin Style is to invigorate the body.”

 

“The Shinsengumi wouldn't care if you `invigorate' them or not, they'll kill you on the spot if you stand in their way or oppose the Shogun.”

 

“The Kasshin style is all about protecting people. Doesn't the same go for your sword style as well?”

 

“How can you protect people if you are dead.”

 

“Who says I'm going to die!?”

 

“Carrying that piece of scrap you call a sword, you'll be dead in a week.”

 

“I beg to differ.”

 

“You spout ideals that belong to someone who has no experience in slaying people.”

 

“Didn't you hear me when I said that I had no wish to kill people? Only to protect them?”

 

“You are naïve.”

 

Kenji growled and engaged his father in a staring contest. Here he was talking to his father about protecting people and his father was trying to discourage him! Himura the Battoussai was certainly different from the rurouni Kenshin.

 

As Kenji and Kenshin glared at each other, Katsura watched on in amazement. He too promised his friend that he will no longer raise his sword to kill and was actually impressed with Kamiya-san's strength in his beliefs. But what was more fascinating was the fact that Himura the Battoussai was arguing with Kamiya. The ever-stoic hitokiri actually looked irritated with the kid's enthusiasm about what he believed in. It was a sight he has never seen before - the Battoussai showing some kind of emotion. While most of the Ishin Shishi seasoned warriors treaded cautiously around Kenshin Himura, this kid who looked uncannily like him, dared to argue with him!

 

Katsura cleared his throat, interrupting the battle of wills between the two.

 

“I respect your beliefs, Kamiya-san. I shall not force you to kill if you truly do not want to. At this moment, we are in need of more bodyguards to guard the key members of the Ishin Shishi from the likes of the Shinsengumi. I accept your offer.”

 

………

 

Hehehe! Gomen, I couldn't help myself from inserting lines from the RK series! <hides from the lawyers> Don't sue me please!