From: Jade One Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin (C) characters belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro (All Hail), Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and perhaps some others but most definitely not to me. I am borrowing characters without asking permission and I am not making any money out of this. Also I am not worth suing as I am a broke student. However this story and any characters I create do belong to me. I hope anyone who takes the time to read this will enjoy it. Thanks to Miss_Led-san for thinking up the name Black Cobra's <> Thought ** Emphasis :: :: Non spoken conversation Kokoro - Heart, Mind and Soul Part 11 By Jade One Time Frame: Day after Exchange Kyoto "Bye Jiyaaaa!" Misao hollered, waving one last time, before she turned and ran after the peculiar group who were travelling to Tokyo. She *was* going with them and she wasn't about to give them the opportunity to *accidentally* leave her behind. She looked angrily at Aoshi-sama's back. But she was. She was still sheathing about the way she had been informed of events. The thought was directed more at everyone who had been involved in the conspiracy, but for Aoshi it carried a double meaning. She growled, that she should have had to find out in such a way. Misao thought as she dodged nimbly through the early morning traffic. The question formed the basis of her second, and underlying reason for insisting upon coming. It didn't matter what that old man Shinichi had said, she'd spent nine years of her life, hoping against hope, that they would return. And then another year, after she'd decided, over Jiya's stringent objections that she wasn't old enough, searching for him, following even the slightest hint of a rumor. And then, that terrible time when she had found him... But that was over now. It didn't matter that it might be dangerous, she wasn't letting him out of her sight. She was going to ensure he came back and no one was going to gain say her! She skipped past the group, looking sideways as she passed Hiko-san. He seemed somehow more serious than the last time she had seen him. There was something which had been worrying him for a while. She wondered if had something to do with what those two men had said or whether it was the report the Oniwa Banshu had received last night on his deshi and his state of mind. His reaction to that had been rather forceful. "That's impossible. The Hitokiri Battousai is dead! The Ougi..." He had trailed off, suddenly thoughtful. She dodged nimbly through the crowds, letting her gaze stray past the strangely subdued Hiko, to rest on the other two people. There didn't *seem* to be anything special about them. They both wore traditional garments. The older mans hair had been cropped short but the younger man had allowed his hair to grow long. He was a swordsman though, so it was securely tied back. They were both swordsman and she knew the cane carried by the older man was just for show. Some trinket he had liked. But while they were swordsman there was nothing obvious to mark them as being special. Aoshi and Hiko though were another matter. After she'd fetched Aoshi-sama from the temple, she'd found out the full extent of the Aoiya conspiracy. As the two men had relayed their story, both Jiya and Aoshi-sama had nodded slightly as if reasons were becoming clear and then Jiya had told of the note they had received from the Tokyo Oniwa Banshu telling them of Kaoru-san's kidnapping and who was responsible for it. She was not a child, she should not have been spared the news and despite the fact she'd wanted to scream at them for not telling her, she'd kept uncharacteristically quiet although she didn't bother to hide her reactions. It wasn't as if she could. She'd continued listening, fitting together the pieces of the puzzle they were presenting as well as she could, even if at times was skeptical. It hardly made any sense but she ignored that, putting together the pieces but ready to knock some out later. Isn't that what her training had taught her? Before they'd asked for help though, Shinichi and Masujiro had offered a demonstration of their abilities. They'd offered it with such a matter of fact tone, with expressions saying that they'd seen disbelief a lot that she'd almost said it wasn't necessary but Aoshi, Jiya and surprisingly Hiko had said that it would be useful. She frowned, remembering Hiko's deep voice. "'You know about Hiten Mitsurugi. I would like to see something of Kouken Sokuuchi.'" Shinichi and Masujiro has shared a knowing glance but then the whole group had moved to the Oniwa Banshu's practice room. It had been an *interesting* demonstration and after it, Hiko, Jiya and Aoshi had seemed more willing to listen to them. Masujiro had chosen to demonstrate the technique and had moved to the center of the room. He had drawn his sword and stood at ease. "Shinomori-san, I don't propose that we actually fight all out but we are both skilled enough to control our blades so that we don't kill each other." Aoshi's eyes had flicked but at Hiko's reassuring nod he had seemed reassured. Masujiro smiled. He had not missed the reactions. "Kouken is about defense mostly, about knowing exactly what technique your opponent will use and to react accordingly," he recapped on their conversation just passed. "Do not worry, Shinomori-san, you will not hurt me," he had concluded falling into a more focused stance, following Aoshi with his eyes and small movements of his body. Aoshi slowly drew his kodochi. Ryusaki-san obviously believed what he said and Hiko-san thought that he could handle himself. He circled carefully, the man had some skills but he did not wish to hurt him. He'd swung in from the right but even as he'd moved he'd seen Ryusaki-san smile slightly and skip out of the way, turning slightly to keep facing him. The man's calm reassurance, "You will not hurt me," was almost as infuriating as Himuras cry to wake up but nothing showed in Aoshi's eyes or on his face. Instead he stood upright, crossing his swords before him in a casual stance and disappeared. Or rather, he reappeared everywhere else. Masujiro had smiled again and had closed his eyes murmuring something that the images were distracting, before he turned and drove forward, catching Aoshi's crossed swords and calling the move "Gokou juuji," even as Aoshi mouthed the words. Aoshi's eyes had widened slightly but he had quickly recovered falling back into the motion the water's flow. Misao had watched fascinated as Aoshi had continued to attack. It was actually rather confusing. There were so many images of her beloved filling the practice hall, that it almost looked like there was no space to move. But she knew that wasn't the case and besides which, Hiko-san and Shinichi-san did not seem to be having any trouble determining where Aoshi-sama was. They both watched, with the same half smile, each of them nodding occasionally as some move was made by either combatant. The room echoed with the clang of steel on steel as Masujiro turned back and forth, his single sword flickering as he caught each attack. Finally Hiko-san had nodded, a little deeper than the previous times and he had punctuated his nod with a sigh, indicating understanding of *something.* Whatever it was that he understood Masujiro used his reaction as a signal and had suddenly altered his stance, his movements quick and precise. Misao watched not understanding what he was doing, and barely following his motions. Masujiro has fallen out of his ready pose drawing his sword back, holding it upright before him... And then... Then Misao wasn't sure what had happened. It had happened fast, maybe not as fast as Himura-san or Hiko-san could be but it was still fast. Masujiro had shouted, "Restrain," even as he had lunged forward, his sword whipping out, thrust forward at a target she could not determine. But gradually the motion became clear to her, as the various Aoshi's which had filled the room either vanished or coalesced into one which bore a faint look of surprise, and was standing with the point of Masujiro's sword at its heart. His swords were held loosely. Aoshi narrowed his eyes, "Aa." He knew he'd lost. Masujiro's defense had been flawless, he'd moved, knowing exactly where to block and where to turn. Perhaps there was something in his technique. He was sure that Hiko-san had seen something more but what exactly was not something he was likely to discover. Misao frowned, skipping around a cart. <'Restrain,' just that one word. What had he done? What power did he have? 'Restrain.' The word echoed again... Nani?..> "*MISAO!!!*" Something screamed before she was hit solidly in the back. She stumbled slightly, falling but was cushioned by strong arms around her. Cloth snapped, its ripple and flow caught her eyes as she lent back, going limp and preparing to roll as she’d been taught but she went rigid with shock as a quicksilver flash passed through the air she had been standing in. "Aoshi-sama," she whispered, recognizing the fabric, he had saved her but then instinct born in long hours of drills took over. The force holding her tight, cushioning her from the ground vanished as she jumped up. She didn’t see Aoshi-sama move but onlookers , those who looked back while fleeing the impending violence saw the couple split, each diving away from any follow up attack, drawing their weapons as if the move had been practiced one thousand times together. She snapped her wrists, each hand drawing four small daggers as she jumped away from the place she had been on the ground. Aoshi drew both his kodochi before he somehow managed to kick the saya at their attackers. It tangled in the legs of one of them, making them fall and requiring the others to take care to avoid falling themselves and by then it was too late. Aoshi was among them, his kodochi working fast. Misao looked around, choosing her targets carefully. Kunai were good but she had a limited supply and their attackers seemed endless. Shinichi and Masujiro were together. Their faces showed nothing but intense concentration. Shinichi appeared to be ignoring everyone who was attacking him and was concentrating on defending Masujiro. Masujiro appeared to be doing the same. It was a odd way to fight perhaps, but it appeared to be working for them. Still Misao carefully threw several of her kunai, dropping two of the four attackers who had ganged up against Shinichi. He quickly handled the rest before spinning around to parry the blows of another lot of attackers. He did not appear to be having any trouble. She flicked her eyes back to Aoshi. He, as she expected was fine. He met his attackers head on, smoothly blocking their attacks and answering with his own. His trench coat, his usual attire when he chose to travel followed behind him. Kire... she sighed, a very inappropriate thought in battle, absently flicking two kunai to the right where they solidly impacted in the shoulders of two attackers who were trying to flank her. It was so predictable. Misao looked around for Hiko. She looked again. There was no one around, the area had been cleared fairly quickly as soon as the attack started and the Police hadn’t arrived yet. The only people who were around was the dwindling stream of attackers. She could see Shinichi, Masujiro and Aoshi-sama but she'd lost track of Hiko-san. His handy work lay all over the ground, surrounding everyone else in a neat ring of fallen foes. She looked again. There was something which was not quite right here, something about the people attacking them. She caught a flash of white in the corner of her eye. She spun, not thinking, four blades released in an underhand motion, her other hand raised to throw the others. *Ting... ting, ting... Ting.* The blade barely seemed to move as it swept her kunai aside. She froze, her arm falling to her side. "Hey!" His voice was stern. "Ara," Misao whispered, watching the ground, were her blades had fallen. "Gomen, Hiko-san. I didn’t know it was you." She looked back up at him. One eye brow twitched slightly. "Humph! Practice your aim. Two of them missed," was all he said as he walked by, dragging someone who was not dressed in the same way as the main attackers but whose empty saya clearly stated he had been an active participant. One who perhaps wished to blend into the crowd which was sure to gather when the Police arrived. That was it! All these baka attackers were dressed similarly. Misao began to collect her kunai, before the Police arrived, even as Hiko deposited his captive in front of Shinichi and Masujiro before he turned idly to watch Aoshi finish the last one. Misao fumed as she pried a kunai out of a wall. She kicked one of their attackers over, looking down at the semi uniform he seemed to be dressed in. She looked around. This was going to be difficult to explain, but maybe not as difficult as I thought. She recognised the uniform. The only major Yakuza group in Kyoto, the Dayside Dragons. she thought as collected the last kunai, slipping it away as she joined the others, gathering around Hiko's catch. "...definitely the leader," Hiko-san finished. "Aa, Hiko-san. I agree with you," Shinichi smiled, with a glance at his student Masujiro. "We felt him but we were a tad tied up." "I noticed. An interesting method of fighting you have though," he smirked. "Well Shinomori, have the Oniwa Banshu annoyed the Dayside Dragons recently or did they just decide to attack us for fun?" Hiko drawled. "We haven't provoked them lately," Aoshi replied calmly. Whthisss! The shrill whistle from a police officer sounded near by. "It's about time they finally got here but do we wish to question this one first?" "I think we need to. This attack, simplistic though it was, may only have been the first, assuming Niijima had anything to do with it. It *could* simply have been Yakuza trying to remove the two Okashira's of the Oniwa Banshu. But if Niijima did have something to do with this then I, for one, would like to try to avoid fighting the entire way to Tokyo. The rest of us should be fine but Misao here may run out of kunai," Masujiro finished, smiling gently at her. "Ah well, we drag him with us then," Hiko sighed, bending slightly to pick up their prisoner. "For a while at least," he added quietly, turning towards the train station. "Shall we go?" Jade One __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place. Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU! Tired of filling out forms and remembering passwords? Gator fills in forms and passwords with just one click! Comes with $50 in free coupons! Click Here ------------------------------------------------------------------------