Chapter Text
*A Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction.
*I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. All rights belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki-sensei.
*Live Action movie verse, with some references to the Manga. Post “The Beginning”, and before the first movie, “Origins”.
Chapter Ten
September, 1875
Kenshin looked at the bottom of his empty wallet, and sighed.
“Oro.”
Why oh why was it always September that found him dirt broke? This time, he was stuck in Himeji City. Kenshin honestly didn't like being stuck, but this meant that his plan to go to Osaka was canceled. It's just as well, really. He really didn't want to get closer to Kyoto than necessary. However, an empty wallet meant he needed to find a job soon.
Kenshin's stomach growled and he sighed, mournfully. He walked down to the docks and just sat down, with a bamboo stick and an impromptu hook, with a worm on it, and cast the line into the salt water. He wasn't completely inept at fishing but he at least hoped he'd catch a bit of lunch. He was sitting there for well over and hour when a man who was dressed like a fisherman came up and smacked his shoulder.
“You're never going to catch anything sitting there, son!”
Kenshin jumped back in surprise, bumping his head on a timber pole.
“Oro...”
The fisherman burst out in deep rich laughter. He came over with Kenshin's make shift fishing pole and offered him a hand.
“You alright? I haven't seen you around here, before.”
Kenshin accepted the offered hand, and gave him his pleasant Rurouni smile.
“This one is unharmed, and is but a humble Rurouni trying to catch a bit of lunch.”
The fisherman nodded.
“So, you're broke, huh? Well if that's the case, I'll treat you to lunch. In exchange, maybe you can help me out, and tell me a little bit of your story.”
The fisherman took him to a food stall off the fish marketplace near the docks. He got them sea food yakisoba, with fried octopus, and squid, and takoyaki. Kenshin hadn't eaten such a meal before, but apparently the fisherman named Hiruko was a regular at the place. When they had finished eating Hiruko was sitting back against the wall, drinking sake while Kenshin sipped on some tea. Hiruko looked at him and smacked his knee.
“Well, son, what's your story?”
Kenshin sighed, unsure of where to start and how much to say to this fisherman.
“This one is a Rurouni on a mindless journey of atonement for all the lives this one took in the war, that I am.”
Hiruko knocked back some more sake and nodded.
“I see. Thought it might be something like that. You don't get scars like you have without seeing battle. I may not look like much, but I know what it's like to face hardship. I didn't walk until I was two and didn't speak until I was four. My father renamed me Hiruko after the Kami Ebisu, because he said I was a fortunate child and that I had a knack for swimming. Whatever hardships you've faced you've come out on top, to be here today. It's a shame really for someone who looks as young as you.”
Kenshin blinked.
“This one is twenty-six, that I am.”
The fisherman got wide eyes.
“EH?! Are you serious? You look like a kid!”
Kenshin laughed.
“So this one has been told many times before, that I have.”
Hiruko laughed, then.
“Why, you're only three years younger than me! Maybe you could help me out by doing some help with my fishing for me? I'll pay you for it.”
Kenshin blinked and smiled. An honest job was a good job.
“This one would appreciate the employment.”
Hiruko knocked back some more sake, and smacked his leg again.
“Sounds like a deal. You can stay with me if you need to.”
Kenshin sipped his tea and nodded.
“Much appreciated.”
For the next three weeks, Kenshin helped Hiruko unload his daily catch, and to take it to the fish market. It turned out Hiruko was quite the popular sea food provider to a couple of the food stalls there, including the one he had taken Kenshin to. He made a decent income for being a solo fisherman.
It was on the end of September, near the beginning of October that the peacefulness was disrupted. There had been word of a business man going around buying properties on the waterfront. Kenshin's curiosity had gotten the better of him and he looked into the matter. The business man had a reputation of being less than by the book. He was little more than a thug, skirting the new government's legal system.
Kenshin had half a mind to stay out of it, until he and Hiruko went to get something for dinner one evening. They went to Hiruko's favorite food stall and found the owner in a sad state. After having eaten the owner had sat down, seemingly dejected. Hiruko saw this and called him on it.
“Out with it Ichikawa. What's going on?”
Ichikawa heaved a heavy sigh.
“That business man, Iwami Katsuya, wants to force me out.”
Kenshin paused at hearing the name. Surely it wasn't the same man he had once known in Kyoto, right? The only man by that name he knew of had once been a low ranked Isshin Shishi supporting samurai from Choshu. Kenshin had a sliver of hope that it wasn't.
Kenshin sighed and met Ichikawa's eyes with his pleasant Rurouni smile.
“Perhaps this one will stay around tomorrow. You seem like you could use the support with this business man, that you do. Is that alright, Hiruko-dono?”
Hiruko sighed and nodded.
“Sure I can handle things. Keep an eye on Old Ichikawa for me, eh?”
Kenshin nodded.
“This one shall.”
The next day wearing his normal clothes, and having bathed, Kenshin found himself drinking nearly never ending cups of tea from Old Ichikawa. Everything was peaceful until that afternoon. That's when a few thugs showed up. They weren't the best put together and smelled like they could use a bath. With their uncouth looks, and hateful disposition, plus the katana they were all brazenly wearing made Kenshin surmise they were just hired swords.
It seemed like samurai values had really been destroyed in this Meiji Era. These men that could have been petty foot soldiers once, were now bottom of the barrel scum. Kenshin sat there as they came in.
“So, Ichikawa, are you going to be packing up, or are we gonna have to help you out?”
Kenshin doubted if their actions would be so kind. Ichikawa stood his ground.
“I'm not selling. I've been here for twenty-five years, and inherited this spot from my father. You can tell Iwami to look elsewhere, because my answer is no.”
The thug in the front sighed.
“I guess you'll die here, then.”
The thug drew his katana and Kenshin stood up. It had been a while since he has used the sakabato but it didn't mean his skills had dulled. He quietly walked over in between the thugs and Ichikawa, fixing the thugs with a hard stare.
“That's hardly peaceful. Ichikawa-dono said no, and this one will not stand by and allow you to harm him.”
The thug looked at Kenshin and laughed.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Kenshin's hand dropped to his sakabato.
“This one is but a humble Rurouni asking you to leave.”
The other thugs laughed.
“A Rurouni? What a joke!”
The thug in front rushed Kenshin. In a flash, Kenshin had done a Battoujutsu and had repelled all of them. Once on the main road, he saw there were more of them. Kenshin decided to teach them all a lesson in humility. Two Ryu Sou Sen and a Ryu Tsui Sen later all of the Thugs were hobbling away. One of the thugs growled.
“This isn't over, Rurouni!”
Kenshin sighed. He didn't think that it would be. He'd have to take the fight to Iwami, himself. Ichikawa gave Kenshin the most grateful expression he had seen from the old man, yet.
“Thank you so much!”
Kenshin sheathed the sakabato and met Ichikawa with the pleasant smile of the Rurouni.
“It was nothing. This one is glad to have been here to help out, that I am.”
Hiruko joined them, coming walking from the docks.
“Is everything alright?”
Ichikawa nodded.
“It is, now! Your young friend saw them out. Did you know he's a pretty good kenkaku?”
Hiruko sighed.
“I thought as much. I'm glad he was able to help you out.”
Kenshin laughed and smiled, but inside him he knew what had to be done. That night, he used his old skills as a Hitokiri and tracked down the one Iwami Katsuya. He found him in a western style mansion in the highlands north of Himeji-Jo. Slowly and meticulously, he attacked and disarmed the perimeter guards, and hopping the fence, silently made his way inside. As he did, he knocked out all the guards he came across.
Kenshin found Iwami in an office standing up, looking at some sort of plans. Iwami, having sensed someone come in, spoke without turning around.
“Takahashi, back already?”
Kenshin on hearing his voice knew that this was most certainly a man who had once been one of Katsura's in Kyoto. Kenshin sighed and spoke, his voice dropping an octave.
“Think again, Iwami-san.”
Iwami felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and as a cold shiver swept over him. He knew that voice. He slowly turned around to lay eyes on the man he knew as the Hitokiri Battousai. He swallowed and opened his mouth and Kenshin's eyes became colder.
“Don't even bother calling your guards. I've treated them all to a nap so we can talk. First off, you'll be canceling what ever plans you have for on the waterfront down by the docks. Second, you'll go to the police and turn yourself in for what ever crimes you've been involved in, and I'm fairly certain it's a long list.”
Iwami closed his mouth to swallow.
“You! I thought you died! I thought they killed you like they did Shishio!”
Kenshin shook his head and gave him a deadly smile only a Hitokiri could.
“Katsura-san let me go.”
Iwami forced a laugh in a false bravado.
“This is the Meiji Era, now! How do you expect me to live in a world where the soul of the samurai is dying out? Money is the only answer!”
Kenshin sighed.
“Wrong answer.”
After a Ryu Sou Sen, Iwami hit the floor. He now had a broken arm and a few broken ribs. Kenshin sheathed the sakabato.
“You will go to the police and confess, or I will come back here and remind you just who I am, Iwami-san.”
Iwami pissed himself and the smell of urine filled the air. Kenshin left him there, in the puddle of his own creation, and walked out of there like he owned the place. The next day the evening headlines would read 'Corrupt Imperialist Confesses All', with the litany of crimes Iwami Katsuya had confessed to.
Feeling like his job in Himeji City was finished, Kenshin prepared to head up to the cabin in the Kanazawa Wilderness for the winter. He went to Hiruko about it.
“Thank you for the work, but this one must be going.”
Hiruko sighed and smiled.
“Well if you're ever in the area and need some work, you know where to find me Himura-san. Oh, and here.”
Hiruko gave him an envelop filled with money.
“Your pay. It's been fun. Take care of yourself, man.”
Kenshin headed north and then east to the cabin that had been his winter refuge for many years. It was early October, and he had plenty of time to prepare for the coming season. The trip there he let what Iwami had told him sink in. Of course they had assassinated Shishio. He was more unhinged and ambitious than he, himself, had ever been. Kenshin didn't let this new information weigh him down. Life was starting look up, and he felt more at peace than he had had in a long time. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, that soon he'd find what he had been searching for.
T.B.C...
***
Author's note: I had to do Himeji because I absolutely love Himeji-Jo, and here's a Live Action movie fact. The scenes of Kiyosato Akira's death, and the assassination of Okubo Toshimichi were filmed there. Also, not the last Shinto reference I'm going to put in these. Ten down, two more to go. PandaLady, out!
