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.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kaoru glanced at
Aoshi again with a puzzled frown. He’d
been silent since they left the burnt remains of the house behind, but that
wasn’t surprising. Aoshi just wasn’t a
conversationalist. No, what had her
bewildered was the pinched expression he wore, almost as if he’d eaten a
handful of sour cherries.
Was it possible? Aoshi’s mind just couldn’t grasp the notion
that the Battousai could have fathered a child and then never mentioned
it. How could one keep silent about
such a thing for so long? He must speak
with Okina. He would know the
truth. It was either that or confront
the Battousai himself. Either way Aoshi
was determined to get his answers.
“Um…Aoshi…Is it much further?” Kaoru winced inwardly with each step. She needed a rest…or at least a moment to
rub feeling back into her toes. The new
geta she was wearing were nice to look at,
but not very comfortable for walking of this sort.
“Hmm?” Aoshi looked at her with a blank expression. “How much further is what?”
Kaoru’s jaw dropped. What had him so distracted? It just wasn’t like Aoshi. She closed her mouth with a snap. “The temple, Aoshi. I need to sit soon before my feet fall off.”
“Oh. That. Not much
further. It should be just over that
hill. And what’s wrong with your feet?” He glanced down but could detect no
discernable injury.
“Never mind. Just get me to the temple.” She gritted her teeth and fell silent. Honestly, men were so stupid. She closed her fingers around the toy she
held and gently caressed the smooth wood.
She frowned when she felt markings etched on the bottom. Curious, she inspected it and found faint but
unmistakable writing. Squinting in the
faltering light she read it to discover it was a name carved into the spinning
top. “Shinta?”
Aoshi halted in mid-step and tuned
to face Kaoru. “What did you say?”
Kaoru looked up with a frown. “Shinta.
That name is written here.” She
held the toy out to him for inspection.
“It must be the name of the child who owned it.”
Aoshi stared at the faint but
telling kanji. Thankfully she’d missed the more faded
writing. This sealed his
suspicions. There could only be one
explanation for this toy found at a place known to have been the Battousai’s
home and marked with the name Himura Shinta.
He gritted his teeth to hold in a rather virulent curse. Damn the Battousai for keeping such a thing
from Kaoru. This was not an
ideal way for her to discover this little secret.
“Um…Aoshi? Is something wrong?”
Kaoru had never seen him look so furious. For that matter, she’d never seen him with any
expression. “Do you know who this
Shinta might have been?”
Rather than answering her question
Aoshi turned away. “Let’s find that
temple.” Still holding the wooden top,
Aoshi strode away leaving Kaoru no choice but to follow or be left behind. He glanced down at the toy and frowned
thoughtfully. Though his suspicions
appeared to have been confirmed, the more he held the wooden top the more he
began to doubt. There was something
tickling the edge of his awareness, almost the feeling of reading someone’s ki, yet not. He was more aware of the small wooden object than he thought
possible. Yes, he could feel the
residue of heart-wrenching sorrow and pain, yet there was more to it. Something familiar…very familiar, but what
was it? He closed his eyes for a moment
and concentrated on the feeling. An
instant later, Aoshi’s eyes snapped open.
It couldn’t be. It just wasn’t
possible…was it? This feeling…this
lingering ki…it was identical to the Battousai’s! But that just couldn’t be right…could it? Aoshi shook his head sharply. No, it just wasn’t possible. Himura Kenshin was the Battousai’s
true name, not Shinta. There had to be
some other explanation for this odd coincidence.
Kaoru sighed and limped as fast as
she could as Aoshi strode away, seemingly lost in thought. What the heck was his problem anyway? He was acting very strangely. This behaviour was so out of character for
Shinomori Aoshi as to be almost frightening.
Ever since they found that spinning top he’d been acting, well,
irrationally. What was she
missing? What was the significance of
that child’s toy? And what was Aoshi
trying to hide from her?
Perhaps he’d find some clues in the
book he’d found. Aoshi was becoming
highly irritated by this mystery. The
Battousai had a lot of explaining to do.
At this point Aoshi didn’t care that the Battousai might not appreciate
being interrogated on such an intimate subject. Let him object, Aoshi thought grimly. That in itself would be a telling enough answer.
**To Be Continued…**
*** *** ***
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author’s Notes:
1.Okey Dokey…Chapter 3 up and running! O Happy Day!
2.To clear some things up:
The spinning top WAS destroyed (as far as we know) in the Tsuioku Hen
(?Memory Arc?) when Kenshin set fire to his former home. I decided to take some liberties and allowed
the toy to have survived intact (just a little char-broiled).
3.The blanket scenario is coming…I promise! Just not quite yet…soon though.
4.About the chapters being so short…sorry. I like things to be wrapped up into nice and
neat little bundles, so whenever I had a drastic change in scene I just ended
the previous chapter and started another one.
Also, when I first wrote this it was hand-written. I’m currently in the process of typing and
proofreading (or at least trying to) it.
5.This is the updated version…with the definitions included at the
bottom rather than in the middle of the fic.
Hope it makes it easier to read.
I’ll try to get the rest of the chapters fixed up ASAP, ‘k? Any future fics will NOT be written with the
definitions in the main body of the text.
I don’t like giving myself more work than absolutely necessary…I’m
allergic to work, you know.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Definitions:
geta:
Japanese wooden clogs
kanji: Chinese characters used in Japanese writing
ki:
spirit; soul; life force; aura