Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ When Angels Fall ❯ Falling Grace ( Chapter 5 )

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

When Angels Fall: Falling Grace

By: Kiamirei

-You know the deal. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. And email me at
Kiamirei @aol.com with your questions, comments, and critiques,
please!

Sanosuke had heard when Kenshin left the dojo, as Kenshin had not
tried to be silent in the least. As soon as he heard the gates close
the former fighter for hire sprung into action, shouldering a bag and
running into Kaoru's room.

"Jou-chan! Wake up! Now!"

"Hnn?...Sanosuke? Sanosuke! What are you doing in here? Pervert! Get
out! Go!"

"Shut up and listen! Kenshin left! Wake up and get dressed quickly,
then pack!"

"What?"

"Just do what I say! Hurry, damn you!"

He then ran into Yahiko's room and repeated the message. Within an
hour, the dojo had been locked up, Dr.Genzai and Megumi had been
hurriedly notified of their leave, and the three were running out of
Tokyo as fast as possible.

"Do you think we'll catch up to them, Sanosuke?" Kaoru asked
anxiously.

"Ah....I think so. Maybe later. He's got a good lead on us, but we
know the city better than he does in his current state."

"Soo desu."

"Sanosuke?"

"What, Yahiko?"

"When we /do/ catch up to him, then what?"

Sanosuke Sagara had no answer for that question.

They were out of Tokyo within the hour, and the next morning saw them
sitting down, eating some food Megumi had given them.

"Sanosuke," Yahiko asked, "how do you know that Kenshin went by this
way?"

"He told me that he had a lot of enemies in Kyoto, and he needed to
confront them. It's logical that he would go here. If not, then it
doesn't really matter anyway; Kenshin doesn't give a shit about us
right now."

Kaoru looked down, and Sanosuke was sorry he had said that last
statement.

"I-I'm sorry," he said awkwardly. "I know this is hard for you."

"It's okay...but I'll be so, /so/ happy when I get the real Kenshin
back."

She still doesn't get it, he thought. She'll never get it. But I can't
obssess about that now.

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Kenshin trudged down the dirt road, trying to remember his life for
the past ten years. After several hours, he gave up and concentrated
on remembering the way to Kyoto. To his surprise, he could remember
it, and suspected it was because he had a place in his heart for the
city, a place that even his years as a "wandering fool", as he was
beginning to think of those times, had not buried. He ate a short
lunch, and then continued on his way.

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It had been a week, and finally, finally, Kenshin had reached the
outskirts of Kyoto. He had no idea, could not even conceive, that
Sanosuke, Kaoru, and Yahiko were on his trail, only about a day behind
him. He stopped at the familiar market stands, the vendors replaced by
strangers who did not recognize him, and the inn he had stayed at so
often completely gone. It saddened him, but at the same time it made
him happy seeing that the people were reasonably happy, and Kyoto was
once again just another normal city. After eating breakfast, all alone
except for the wary eyes that stared at his two swords, he left the
part he knew so well, and walked to the place he dreaded, that
graveyard which he had forgotten that he had once fought hard to keep
Kaoru out of.

When he arrived there, a while later, he slowed his pace down and
walked carefully between the graves. He saw that the crosses were
still there, though they had been eroded by the weather. Ten years
changed much, but some things remained the same. Death, he knew,
always remained the same. The Hitokiri Battousai paused briefly to pay
his respects to the three graves of Kasumi, Akane, and Sakura, then
kneeled down, and looked up to face the empty grave of Tomoe. When he
had left to go fight as a soldier instead of an assassin, he had set
fire to her body and the house that they had lived in together. As a
result, he had no body for a grave, and no house to go mourn in, as
both had burned.

Incredibly, the blue cloth that he had worn all throughout the years
of the fighting was still there, now tacked to the cross that it was
draped around. Kenshin knew that Hiko had done that, and he bit back
tears.

"And so I stand here again, Tomoe. Please don't be too angry with me.
I must have had good reasons not to come back here. Help me, love. I
beg you. Right now is hard for me, but I know that I must bear it. I
have brought this down upon myself after I...after I...after, after I
killed you, fought, and then left so abruptly. I'm sorry! I'm so
sorry!"

He did cry then, bitter, salty tears running down his cheeks, wetting
his clothes and falling into the crevices of his scar. Kenshin had the
feeling that he had not cried in well over ten years, and the dam that
had been built up broke now, and he sobbed.

"I'd do anything to bring you back, Tomoe...I-I know I was wrong, I
know I was stupid...see what has happened to me? See what I have
become? But I was naïve! I never expected to live this long! How could
I have not understood what Hiko told me? Why didn't I comprehend? And
now it's too late, too late for everything. To late to begin again,
too late to be forgiven, too late to live. I must defeat my enemies,
but then, then I can be with you. Forgive me."

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Hesitantly, Kaoru and Yahiko followed Sanosuke into the dangerous part
of Kyoto, the part that Kenshin would be revisiting. He found a place
he seemed to like, and stood there, back against a wall, with Kaoru at
his side and Yahiko standing in front of her. They were in a dirty
place, with rats scampering about and mud on the walls. The
cobblestones were cracked and burnt buildings were near by. To the
right, a few urchins tossed a rock to one another, dirt in their hair
and on their tattered, faded clothing. Yahiko and Kaoru were appalled,
but Sanosuke was not surprised. He had lived in conditions exactly
like this. Presently, someone walked by. His clothes were much better
than those of the children near by, and he was clean, though he had
two days worth of stubble, and liquor was on his breath.

"Oi!"

The man turned.

"Hn?"

"Yeah, you. I got a few questions for ya."

The man looked over at Kaoru.

"Hey there, pretty. What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like
this? Is she my reward for information?"

Sanosuke looked at Kaoru, then at the man.

"Sure."

Kaoru gasped, but Sanosuke clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up," he growled. "Learn your place. Now, I have a few questions
for you."

Kaoru stopped talking, and Sanosuke nodded.

"Go on."

"I want to know if you've seen someone. He's pretty hard to miss."

"What's he look like?"

"Red hair, a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, and I'll bet
anything that he's wearing two swords."

"You can't mean..."

"Hai. Hitokiri Battousai. Have you seen him?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Well, let's just say I got a score to settle with him."

"Doesn't everybody. As a matter of fact, yes. One of my `friends' saw
him in a tavern just this morning. He skipped out of town, though. But
he hasn't been here for a while. Guess he'll be back, though. Took out
a reservation in an inn called Minako's Keep."

"You're pretty informed."

"I keep my eyes open."

"Don't we all. I tell ya, he's got a lot of nerve coming back here.
There's lots that would see him dead."

"Yeah."

"Well, come here then, and take her."

Kaoru immediately tried to move, but Sanosuke held her fast. Then,
when the man came closer, he punched him squarely in the jaw. The man
fell back, knocked unconscious.

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Minako's Keep was in a much better part of town than Sanosuke would
have expected, and they easily got a room there -under fake names, of
course. Kaoru had described Kenshin, and the clerk had been willing to
rent a room right next to it. They learned that Kenshin had used the
name Hiko, and wondered if the name had any special meaning to it.
Having unpacked what belongings they had with them, the three resigned
themselves to the long task of waiting until their friend, or former
friend, returned to his room.

It was night when Kenshin did return, and it was Yahiko who heard, as
he had gotten up to use the bathroom. As soon as the Hitokiri
Battousai was safely in his room, and Yahiko had finished his
business, he hurriedly woke up the other two. When it was determined
that the man in the room next door was indeed the one they had come to
Kyoto for, Sanosuke assigned watches so that they would not be
surprised when Kenshin left.

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With a start, Yahiko woke up. A sense of dread overtook him when he
realized what had happened, and he woke up Kaoru and Sanosuke with his
cheeks hot with shame.

"Yahiko," Kaoru scolded. "How could you have fallen asleep?"

"Gomen! I didn't mean to, really!"

"It's okay," Sanosuke said. "Let's go down stairs and see if we can
get any information on where he went."

Once again, the clerk was happy to give them information.

"Hiko?" she said. "Yes, he left two hours or so ago."

"Do you have any idea where he might be going?"

"No, sorry, but he did turn left, towards the wealthier section of
Kyoto."

"Thank you."

"Now," Sanosuke said as they walked down the street, "let's think. Why
would Kenshin go to the wealthy section? Most of the supporters of the
Shinsengumi here live in the slums!"

"Maybe there's some government official he's mad at," Yahiko said.

"Who could it be? The government is located in Tokyo, baka!"

"Oh. Well, don't blame me, I'm just a kid!"

"Ugh. Yeah, well....oh, wait. There is one person who works for the
new government that I can think of that Kenshin will want to go to."

"Who is that?" Kaoru asked.

"Saito. Saito Hajime."

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Hiko Seijuro walked with his jug of sake, carefully examining the clay
bowl he had made. He saw it was lopsided, and discarded it. As he drew
nearer to the clearing where the graves were, his heart fell. Passing
by always depressed him, because he was reminded of the promising
student he had lost. Today, however, he stopped dead in his tracks
when he saw the grave with the cloth tied around it, for footprints
were around it, and flowers were laid out. There was only one person
who would know who that grave was for: Kenshin. His baka deshi had
never visited the monument before to his knowledge, so Hiko guessed
that he had reverted to the way that he had been during the
revolution. Knowing this, he had a pretty good idea of who the boy's
target would be. The thirteenth master of Hiten swordsmanship
immediately headed towards downtown Kyoto, hoping he would get there
in time.