From: "Jan Story" BAKEMONO A Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction by Jan Story /*Something’s wrong.*/ The boy strained his senses, reaching into the silent dark for the slightest hint of sound or the bright, sharp, hard focus of an attacker’s ki. Nothing. /*Something woke me up, and it wasn’t a nightmare.*/ Nightmares were nothing new to him, though he didn’t get them as often now that he had learned the discipline of meditation. Still, this wasn’t one of the monsters that still sometimes haunted his sleep. This was outside. Real. He rose, moving so silently that not even the covers rustled, and picked up the sheathed kodachi he kept always within hand’s reach. The unknown intruder must be good, to sneak undetected into a house full of Oniwabanshuu. He was just going to have to be better. Shadow in shadow, he moved through the house, past sleeping bodies alert even in sleep, silently gliding over floors deliberately left squeaky. Nothing. Only peace and silence, the only sound the quiet chirp of a cricket in the garden. No, wait a minute. There was a sound. Faint, muffled… a… *sniffle*? What kind of assassin *sniffles*? It was coming from the room where the girls slept. He looked in. Nothing. Only three mounded shapes of sleeping girls. Okon had kicked off her covers and her robe gaped open. He averted his eyes, his face flaming. Okon was scary enough when she was awake, always acting like she knew something he didn’t, some kind of grownup stuff, even though he was a whole year older. Omasu was actually *snoring*... he’d have to remember to tease her about that in the morning. And between them… The small blanket-covered lump between them had to be the Okashira’s little granddaughter. She had only come to live with them a few days ago; he didn’ t know much about her except that her parents were dead. /*Like mine.*/ She was too young for any training, so he hadn’t paid much attention to her. /*What’s her name, anyway… Michiko? Misato?*/ *Sniffle.* Tension flowed out of him. /*_That_ woke me up? Not an intruder, just a little kid crying?*/ He turned to go back to his room. *Sniffle.* /*She’s so little... younger than I was.*/ He found himself kneeling by her futon, laying a reassuring hand on her back. /*She’s trembling...*/ “Ssh, it’s all right, don’t cry…” “Kowai!” The little girl flung herself onto him. “Don’t let it eat me!” “Ssh, ssh. Come on, you’ll wake everybody up!” He held her tighter, trying to muffle her against his chest. “What was going to eat you?” “Ba-bake-mono,” she gulped. “It ate Touchan and Kaachan… I made myself real little so it wouldn’t see me...” /*Bakemono... the Okashira’s son was killed by an assassin... did she see? She’s so young...*/ He knew a dozen ways to disable an enemy and twenty ways to kill, but he had no idea how to comfort one terrified little girl. “It was over there.” She pointed to a dark shape against the wall. It was only the girls’ clothes, of course, but in the moonlight and shadows they had taken on strange and sinister shapes. /*Face your fear...*/ “Come on.” He picked her up, settled her in the curve of one arm. She clung around his neck, almost strangling him. He held up the sheathed kodachi. “Let’s take a look at this bakemono.” With silent steps he carried her a few paces, lifted the garment from its hook. “Looks dangerous. Should I kill it?” She gave a surprised giggle. “That’s not a bakemono! That’s my kimono, and Baachan’ll be awful mad if you cut it! I ripped my other one.” Okon murmured something in her sleep. “Lets go out in the garden so we don’t wake the others.” “I’m not s’posed to be out of bed,” she sniffled. “It’s all right. Sometimes when I have a bad dream I like to come out here for a while. My name’s Aoshi. What’s yours?” “Misao. I know who you are, you’re the big boy who trains with Jiichan.” He nodded. “My parents were Oniwabanshuu. When they... died... I came to live here and the Okashira started training me. He’ll probably train you too when you’re a little bigger. How’d you rip your clothes?” “Tryin’ to climb on the roof. I wanted to watch you train so’s I can learn too. So’s I can kill the bakemono. I didn’t know it was just my clothes.” /*Like me... but...*/ “You know what I’d do if I found a real bakemono in my room?” “Kill it?” He shook his head. “I’d try to recruit it.” “What does that mean?” “Well, even a bakemono would have to be really good to sneak into a house full of Oniwabanshuu. Right?” She nodded, not really understanding. “We’re supposed to be the best. After all, we guard the Shogun himself. Right?” “Mm!” That she knew. “So, anybody who’s strong and smart and sneaky enough to get in here must be really, really good. Good enough they should be one of us. And that’s what I’d do, I’d try to get them to be on our side, because the Oniwabanshuu should always be the strongest. Right?” “I… I guess so. You’re really smart and brave, Aoshi-niichan.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I guess I’d better get you back to bed. Ready?” “Okay.” He carried her back to her room. In spite of all the noise, the two older girls were still asleep. /*Some onmitsu. I’ve really got to tease those two tomorrow.*/ Gently he unwound her arms from around his neck and tucked her in among the soft quilts. “Oyasumi, Misao-chan.” “’yasumi, Aoshi-niichan,” she murmured sleepily. “Aoshi-niichan daisuki.” Silent as moonlight, he returned to his own bed. He could still feel the pressure of her arms, smell her little-girl sweetness, hear her soft whisper. /*Aoshi-niichan daisuki.*/ It glowed in his heart, warm and bright as a tiny sun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTES, EXPLANATIONS ETC. This comes from some stuff I cut out of Teruterubouzu. My daughter used to be plagued with monsters -- it's common enough for small children. So... three-year-old Misao meets twelve-year-old Aoshi? This is a year before he recruits Shikijou; I'd wanted to give that some kind of context, and the idea of being the strongest found its way in there too. The whole point of the story is, of course, little Misao's last line. This is actually the first part of a mini-continuity that will have either three or four stories in it. The final story is THE LEMON, which is giving me no end of trouble as lemons always do. I also had another idea while I was writing this, this one about Aoshi becoming Okashira and what happens to his budding relationship with Okon. I've only just had that idea, though, and haven't started writing it yet. --------------------------- 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------