Rurouni Kenshin Fanfic
Rurouni Kenshin & Samurai X Original
Japanese Version ©N. Watsuki/Shueisha * Fuji-TV * SME Visual Works Inc. * Sony
Pictures Entertainment
All Fanfics created by Chiruken (me) were written for the
sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.
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Kaoru pressed her lips together in a thin line to hold in her
annoyance. It seemed as if she’d been
walking for hours, yet wasn’t that the same jizuu that they’d passed five times already?! “Um…Aoshi…you do know where we’re
going, right?” Not surprisingly, he
didn’t answer. She sighed in
resignation. She had no choice but to
rely on him…she was already hopelessly lost.
“Is it much further?”
Aoshi restrained himself from
pointing out that she was the one who insisted on this ridiculous
quest…barely. She’d insisted that she
knew exactly where she was going and only required his presence for
company. Now she expected him
to guide her? Honestly, how did the Battousai find the patience to deal with the
annoying girl?
Kaoru gritted her teeth at his
continued silence. He was quite
possibly the most boring companion she’d ever had the misfortune of spending
time with. His conversational skills
were virtually nonexistent. She
couldn’t see what Misao found so wonderful about him. In her opinion, Shinomori Aoshi was, simply put, a sour puss with
no understanding of how to have any fun.
“Oh look…there’s the jizuu…again.”
This time she didn’t bother stopping by the stone statue but continued
walking.
Aoshi sighed inwardly. Walking in circles was getting them nowhere
fast. “Where, exactly, are you trying
to go?” He didn’t like surprises, but
as a favor to the Battousai he’d agreed to this supposedly short trip without
asking any pertinent questions.
“Otsu.” Kaoru glared at her companion.
“Didn’t I tell you that in Kyoto?”
He shook his head silently.
“Oh. I thought I did.” She giggled nervously. “My mistake. Sorry.”
Aoshi halted and turned in the
opposite direction, raising his hand to point.
“Otsu is that way.” How many
hours did they waste walking in circles?
His patience was nearly at its end.
“Why are we going to Otsu?”
“Um…well…you see…it’s a little hard
to explain.” Kaoru blushed under his
implacable gaze. “Hiko-san mentioned it this morning when I was
visiting him.”
“Did he now? And why has that any bearing on why we’re
now going there?” Aoshi narrowed his
eyes suspiciously. To the best of his
knowledge, Hiko Seijuurou never just ‘mentioned’ anything. He’d heard something about a tragedy near
Otsu a number of years back involving the Battousai towards the end of the Bakumatsu.
Could that be what Hiko had ‘mentioned’ to Kaoru?
“Well…” Kaoru cleared her throat and averted her gaze from his penetrating stare. “He may have said something about Kenshin having lived there for a while…” She blushed and shuffled her feet wishing for all the world that she’d never thought of going to Otsu to find out for sure in the first place.
Sometimes Aoshi hated being
right. “Then why go with me and not the
Battousai?” It made no sense to
him. The Battousai was by far the best
choice for a journey of this sort.
Kaoru rolled her eyes. “I
thought that fairly obvious, Aoshi.”
“Enlighten me.” He folded
his arms over his chest and waited.
“Kenshin never once mentioned
Otsu. There has to be a reason,
right? So I thought I’d just go and
check it out on my own.”
“Is that a good idea? Battousai may not wish for his past to be
fully discovered. As you said, there
may be a reason why he’s never discussed it with you.” Inwardly, Aoshi had to admit to being
curious as well, but that didn’t excuse prying into someone else’s
affairs. Admittedly, he had been the
leader of the Oniwabanshu, an elite group of spies, and as such was, by nature, rather nosy
himself. But still, he doubted the
Battousai would appreciate his involvement in this escapade.
“But aren’t you even a little
curious, Aoshi? I mean, don’t you find
it a little odd that he’s never even mentioned Otsu? Not even when we were all in Kyoto the last time. And now, he disappears, sometimes for the
whole day. Maybe it’s something
important that we should really know.
Haven’t you noticed how quiet he’s been lately?” Kaoru drew in a gulp of air. “It isn’t as if he ever said don’t go
to Otsu, right?”
Aoshi almost smiled at her
convoluted reasoning. “Very well. However, the consequences of whatever we may
or may not discover in Otsu rest fully on your head, Kamiya Kaoru.”
“Sure, sure. No problem.” She smiled brightly and turned in the direction he’d
indicated. She was willing to agree to
anything just as long as she made it to Otsu within her lifetime…and before her
feet fell off.
Aoshi shrugged inwardly. He doubted if she fully realized the
possible extent of the repercussions of this foolish idea of hers. The Battousai, he knew, would not be pleased
when he discovered the truth behind their excursion today. And somehow he doubted that Kaoru would be
blamed. No, the Battousai would reserve
that honor for him and Aoshi wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable
retaliation that would be directed towards him. He smiled inwardly. At
least he’d be able to say he’d relieved his curiosity…if he survived long
enough.
**To Be Continued…**
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Author’s Notes:
1.This was originally written for a friend of mine who has never
seen Rurouni Kenshin…not even one episode.
That’s why a lot of the definitions are oversimplified…and many may seem
more than a little redundant. Sorry
about that to all you die-hard RK otaku’s.
2.I was inspired to write this after
reading a few other fic’s written in a similar vein. I liked the idea so much that I wanted to create one
(or…hehehe…several) of my own.
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Definitions:
jizuu: travelers good luck stone
Battousai:
Devoted to the Art of Sword-Drawing Master
Hiko-san:
Mr. Hiko
Bakumatsu:
revolution which ended around 1867 that was fought to end the Tokugawa
Shogunate’s control over Japan
Oniwabanshu:
Oniwaban Group, an actual historical group in charge of the guarding of Edo
Castle, but depicted here as a group of ninja’s or spies
otaku:
Fan