Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Sake on a Bloody Night ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer: "Rurouni Kenshin" is a masterpiece done by Nobuhiro Watsuki. No portion of it, in any way, shape, or form - except for the wonderful manga - belongs to me, or will ever belong to me. I may only hope and dream.

 

Hakubaikô: Sake on a Bloody Night

By Snowy

 

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He knew the man beneath his sword had something to live for, but he did not acknowledge it.

 

He knew the man beneath his imposing figure had a woman to go back to, that he joined the Kyoto Mimawarigumi to prove himself worthy of being her lover, her consort.

 

He knew why Akira Kiyosato had been killed by his sword, by the impeccable aim of Hitokiri Battôsai that unfortunate night blood rained on Kyoto's narrow streets.

 

He felt inclined to push his sword in further, perhaps to destroy the man's last chance at life, to dissect him—to remove his heart, and everything inside, but even he himself found the uninviting idea a bit too grotesque for the taste of a Chôshû assassin. Hagi merely wanted to restore the emperor to his rightful seat; the rule of the Tokugawa shogun were taking its toll on the people of Japan, and not many were able to survive the times when Tokugawa-loyal tax-collectors appeared to take the peoples' harvest and money. The emperor—

 

"Himura-san? Have you finished?" Several indiscreet members of the Chôshû party appeared from a nearby inn, ready with several bags to dispose of the body with, and were ready with rags to hastily clean the grounds before any Tokugawa-loyal soldier would patrol the streets near dawn. He silently slipped away, heading towards the Ikeda-ya, where he was almost steadily sure I'izuka-san was waiting for him—did he have another black envelope waiting in his hands? Tenchû had been cast over three times in the same day; and while his sword was not getting rustier nor were his skills, his nose was burning for a smell of something other than blood, his mouth was hoping for a taste other than sweat pouring down his face, and his hands were aching to hold something—even a cup of chilled sake—other than the hard, wooden handle of a sword.

 

Entering the Ikeda-ya for a brief moment, he told the hostess, "Tell I'izuka-san and Katsura-san I won't be meeting with them tonight." She gave him a long, hard stare, before she nodded to comply with his request, and slowly knelt in a traditional geisha form to open and close the door for Himura. Walking down the silent lane, he wondered whether any small restaurants were still open. Weirdly, his bloodthirsty sword had made his mouth thirsty for something cold. Water did not quench his thirst, and he did not want to trouble the inn's hostess, so he decided to venture out, looking if there were any other restaurants open other than the inn's own, that served un- and chilled sake. Wine would have suited his preferences alright, perhaps his senses too.

 

Going inside a dimly lit bar, he sat on one of their inside booths, and raised his hand reluctantly; a gentle-looking woman with soft, dark eyes, a scent of light perfume around her, a white kimono and a purple shawl came—"May I get you something?"

 

"Yes," returned Kenshin quietly, "Give me a cup of chilled juyondai."

 

The girl seemed hesitant, "Juyondai is best when it is slightly warm, and its taste will dissipate without it being just a little bit chilled. Perhaps you would like a cup of chilled urakasumi instead?"

 

Kenshin gave her a small look, and the girl feared for the sword that might unsheathe to the man's side, yet Kenshin consented, "Alright. Chilled urakasumi it is."

 

The young woman sighed, and left Kenshin alone to his own musings. He did not know the difference between juyondai and urakasumi and yet it did not really matter much to him. Any type of sake would indefinitely quench his thirst right now. Had he been satisfied with water at the Ikeda-ya, he would not have been responded to by that rather elegant woman. Perhaps he would get Katsura-san and Ikumatsu-san to teach him about the different types of sake.

 

She came back not a heartbeat later, a graceful smile adorning with her face and a cup of chilled sake in her hand, "Your sake." She carefully placed the cup down on the table in front of Kenshin, and left him with a trail of hakubaikô. His eyes followed her movements as she retreated back into the kitchen, and he sighed as he drank the urakasumi. It was not all that bad; while he would have definitely wished for the fragrant, fruity, and elegant taste of the juyondai, the settled and balanced flavor of the sake he was drinking now was definitely a new taste. He had tasted only three types of sake in his life, and they were all taken in after he'd killed on various nights: otokoyama, onigoroshi, and kikusui. Not all of them tasted like juyondai, which he had a brief taste of while at his master's, and none of them tasted like the indefinite taste of urakasumi.

 

And yet… no sake would ever compare to the delightful smell he'd been given the grace to get a whiff of this evening. He knew now that hakubaikô went very well with sake on a bloody night.

 

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A/N: If you couldn't have already guessed—yes, the lady serving Kenshin his urakasumi was none other than Yukishiro ('Himura') Tomoe. I was planning on making it a drabble, plain and simple and short, but then I'm also thinking of expanding the 'Hakubaikô' drabble to a strong of one-shots, showing events pre-Tsuiokuhen and post-Tsuiokuhen, all of them centered around Tomoe and Kenshin. As you can see, this is a fictional event that does not really go with the story line of Tsuiokuhen. Alright, I'm done rambling. (Laughs)

 

—Sincerely,

D.I.

 

P.S.: I don't know if juyondai is best chilled or warmed, and I don't know if urakasumi is best chilled or warmed, either. 0o