DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...

Not a yaoi fic, not quite entertaining anyway but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.

Anyone willing to trade braincells can mail me at bread@bread.freeservers.com
Anyone willing to sell time can mail me at bread@bread.freeservers.com
Anyone willing to take over the fic is MOST MOST WELCOMED to mail me at bread@bread.freeservers.com

Chronicles of a Rurouni

Part Seven: Foolish Games

Well in case you failed to notice
In case you failed to see
This is my heart, bleeding before you
This is me down on my knees
And these foolish games are tearing me apart
Your thoughtless words are breaking my heart
~ Foolish Games
by Jewel


"What're you looking at?"
Caught a little off guard, Soujirou transferred attention from the river to the little boy now already by his side, beaming almost radiantly. Seeing the little light on his face, Soujirou could not help but also smile just as wide.
"Nothing in particular." The young rurouni said, then shifted his weight and prepared to go back to the Kamiya Dojo. Yahiko released his hands from behind his head and tottered quietly beside Soujirou, even if was just for accompaniance.
After all, they had a common destination.

Sano walked into the dojo, looking slightly less than frustrated. Kenshin looked up from his laundry just in time to spot the lanky young man walking aimlessly around the courtyards, biting on his usual piece of fish bone.
"Good morning, Sanosuke." Kenshin greeted with charm, smiling his generous morning smiles and snapping the dirt and water out of the clothes once again. "You seem distracted today." Kenshin further observed when Sano tripped over a protruding rock from the snow in the event of turning around to reply to Kenshin's greeting.
The white clad fighter shook snow from off his face, head, garb and then nodded. "I think I am." He nodded slowly. "There's been weird sounds coming from under the river where I stay..."
Kenshin soaked a garment into a bucket of water and then smiled. "Such disturbances are nothing to be worried about, Sano."
"No no, you don't understand." Sanosuke came closer. "It's not the supernatural we're all afraid of, it's that old cave down by the side of the cliff near the sea!" He mimicked zombie and tried walking around for no apparent reason at all other than pure entertainment, and ended up causing grevious hurt upon his own flesh.
Kaoru crunched ice and sauntered over. "What ABOUT the old cave? It's been sealed for ages! No one in Tokyo sane enough would want to open it up again." She grumbled elaboratively. Kenshin's eyebrows went up in surprise. Now that was something he hadn't really heard about. An old cave by the side of the cliff at the seas? Hmmm...
"But that's my point exactly!" Sanosuke leapt onto his feet. "I can safely tell you I'm telling the truth. That old cave is open, and if we don't re-seal it now, there are going to be areas in danger."
Kaoru stubbornly swatted Sano with her bokken, which although was easily avoided, was not easily retreated from. "I SAID!: No one sane enough in Tokyo would want to open that cave! BESIDES, the stone sealing it's been there for ages! How could it be removed just so easily? Huh?"
There was something sinister going on, Kenshin decided, but something which he had apparantly no knowledge to due to a not entirely full understanding of the shores by the river in the seas or the sands...
Perhaps this weird weather spectrum was brought about by the opening of this so-called dangerous cave... ?
Whatever it was, Kenshin decided, it would have nothing to do with the crisis he felt Soujirou and everybody in the dojo shared right now. He dipped the clothes right back into the waters, wondering deeply at the rippled reflections on the surface, wondering so very deeply...
"We're home!" A chorus of voices drifted in, sweetly, addressing the other three in the dojo courtyards with an ultimate sense of warmness. Even Kenshin looked up warmly and found himself unconsciously welcoming the duo back, or maybe even consciously acknowledging that he indeed, had a home to belong to...
... just like what Soujirou meant when he announced that he was 'home' to the dwellers of the Kamiya Dojo...
"Welcome back!" Kaoru, Kenshin and even Sano perked up at the entrance of the two newcomers. Soujirou slid open the door easily and stepped in, beaming brightly as usual. Yahiko came in soon, with his usual big, proud strides and confident face.
"Why Yahiko!" Kaoru's tone suddenly dipped into a playful muse. "How come you're with Soujirou?"
Whether it was the light or it was real, Yahiko's cheeks flushed a little red before his usual strong looking outlook took over. "How come I can't be with Soujirou? There's nothing wrong with him is there?" He bit back, fighting back like the Yahiko / Kaoru quarrel everybody in the dojo knew. Kenshin laughed good-naturedly and started snapping water out of his laundry. Even Sano looked somewhat amused.
"Of course I don't mean that." Kaoru's racoon image started to wade over eventually. "I meant, you mean you needed Soujirou to guide you back to the dojo? Awwww... can't blame a young boy could we... ?"
Everybody sweatdropped and the moments later became suspenseful. Kenshin could swear everyone would be defeated with just a feather shot from a catapult. They knew that without a doubt, Yahiko and Kaoru would start their full scale, everyday practice of The Classic Kamiya Dojo Master Disciple Defiance Exercise...
... which Yahiko dismissed with a mere snort.
"You can say whatever you like, I'm going to my room now." Yahiko held his head high, folded his arms across his chest and disappeared beyond the dojo courtyards with a quick twist.
Soujirou just grinned from ear to ear.
Kenshin was in a bit more of a shock.
Kaoru was practically trying to make sure this wasn't a dream.
Sanosuke's face just went into double fault system...
If shocks could come twice unannounced, Kenshin wasn't sure what he could expect next... he stared unblinking in the direction Yahiko last walked in, somewhat pleased but confused. Before long, however, there were slight snow-crunching sounds beside him and he looked up to observe Soujirou giving a slightly gloatish grin. "He's grown up, Himura-san. He's become quite ever so matured hasn't he?"
Kenshin stared in the direction Yahiko went, then back at Soujirou's sincerely pleased face. Slowly, his lips just shaped into a smile and those purple swirls of emotions simply lit up to show his overjoyed soul.
"He's grown up." Kenshin found himself agreeing, almost without conviction. "He's definitely, grown up."
It was a fine... fine morning indeed... while the dark clouds above were threatening to bring back the snowstorm which had occurred recently, the rest of the Kenshingumi were not easily perturbed by this. After all, the sun was still there, shining peacefully amongst the people on the land and defeating the dark clouds trying to hover beneathe it.
Peacefully? Indeed?
"Argh." Sano sighed in his usual frustrated manner, kicking around at a few pieces of melting snow. "I'll just go check out that tunnel by the sea." He further grumbled, before waving what vaguely looked like a farewell sign, disappearing beyond the dojo doors.
"Don't investigate too hard!" Kenshin jokingly shouted to air, finishing his final piece of laundry and standing up to carry the wooden bucket into the kitchen. Kaoru swung her shinai around and headed towards the dojo, determined to perfect a few strokes before she had a meal. The two of them vanished, almost simultaneously, into the main hall, leaving a pensive Soujirou staring at the door which led to the outside.
A tunnel... by the sea... ?
Without consciously knowing, Soujirou's determination balled his hands into fists, striding with slow, but purposeful steps towards the direction of the sea.
The sooner he'd settle this, the better.

Sanosuke stroked his chin gently and slightly touched the fragmented sides of the gapping tunnel hole opening carefully. "Hmmm... interesting..." He muttered to no one in particular, shifting his eyes to the side where the large rock blocking the tunnel had seemingly been rolled aside with bare strength.
Yet he knew it could not have been possible. Whoever did this must have had lots of troopers in his regiments to be able to roll such a massive stone aside in one night.
He then turned to stare at the pitch-black entrance of the hole, contemplating the effects he would receive if he staked his claim and went in. Alone. It would be a tough decision, and, nothing was so curious in that little dark hole that Sano felt a magnet effect on it anyway.
Why had he bothered, anyway?
Fighter's sixth sense...
Something big was bound to happen here. Sanosuke snorted, as the wind pulled over and whipped his hair and jacket up in a flurry of movement. No idiot would create such a dangerous scenario 'just for the fun of it'.
And definitely, no one sane enough to think.
The wild wind continued to howl through the ebbing sides of the lime caked tunnel walls. It was crying, the sound was so eerie, so disturbing, and yet so... peaceful in it's approach.
To go, or not to go?
"Good day, Sagara-san." A controlled voice burst into hearing range. Sanosuke turned around, fighting blood boiled to the top, as he readied himself for any ambush to face by the newly distorted voice in the winds.
A very weird looking Soujirou was boring into him.
Or rather, through him.
He was looking at the tunnel. Strange expression for that, too.
Soujirou's gi and hakama flipped about tenaciously through the wild whippings of the wind. He slowly approached the large entrance to the tunnel and appeared to be apparently in slow consideration, brows slightly creased in considering a notion.
"An extremely awful choice for a tunnel..." The younger boy pouted, creasing his face further.
"Yeh." Sano started slowly, unsure of what Soujirou's purpose here was. Although he did not seem antagonistic, Sanosuke knew he could never be sure, especially of someone who was under Shishio Makoto, the jerk of the century... Shrugging off all negative thoughts, Sano pointed to the walls of the tunnel entrance, knowing it wouldn't do very well to start a quarrel about minor things of the past right here.
That's right, the future was at concern here.
"The sides have been glossed with something of a slippery substance. It guess that's what facilitates the rolling away of the huge rock entrance." Sanosuke highlighted the basic happenings, looking at Soujirou while he did.
The younger boy nodded, and started to walk right inside.
"WAIT!" Sano shouted. "Don't! You'll get lost! Haven't you realized? This is just like another Mount Hiei maze in Shishio Makoto's haven!"
Soujirou's figure stopped slightly, but was not in a thinking pose. He turned around, eyes gleaming full with newly found determination.
"There is something I must find out, Sagara-san." His voice was calm but edging with calm wisdom all the same. The impulse of Soujirou's youth was not present, as if it had never been there at all. The terrors of living a bloodied life... had it consumed the young boy totally in this aspect?
Soujirou slightly disregarded everything else, like he was able to read anybody and everybody's mind, like he knew... like he lived through all possible circumstances...
Which was not necessarily false, either.
He blinked, turned around the walked further into the darkness. Before he gave Sanosuke a chance to bellow his opinion, Soujirou softly used the echos of the large tunnel walls all around to voice out a part of his own.
"If you'd spent half your life believing in a world so artifically created, and stepped out to find that you had lived in a world that had never existed, you will know why I'm doing this, Sagara-san. Please, please don't try to stop me."
The last shadows of the moving Soujirou was engulfed in the embraces of the ambiguous darkness.
*... to find that you had lived in a world that had never existed...*
If Sanosuke could laugh, he would. Painful irony, set in Sanosuke's final thoughts of the Sekihoutai had never been able to be brushed away right down to a time like this.
And to be reminded of someone who thought he'd never know?
But there was still some loopholes and gaps to be filled in. Without a single thought of remorse or regret, he buckled after Soujirou, also disappearing in the dark surroundings of the newly opened tunnel.
What would they find inside?

Soujirou's eyes had adjusted pretty well to the darkness and he was already scraping through some wall fungus for experiment. The whole tunnel had a wet feeling to it, although the soil was only muddy but not totally wet. Every step he took his slippers would stash through some soft mud, firm, but not holding on very well. Behind him, Sanosuke cursed as his foot sank into yet another inch of unstable mud.
The younger boy slightly chuckled. "Keep by the sides of the tunnel, Sagara-san, or you'll be cursing your way in and out." He smiled, experimentally testing the soil ahead of him. "The mud here is firmer." He commented, bravely taking another step.
Sanosuke said nothing, only followed Soujirou by sticking near the sides. He still cursed, anyway, although it was softer now.
"Why are you cursing?" Soujirou mused, reaching into his sleeves to take out the two tunnel map pieces. From the information he had garnered by touching here and there and remembering a few landmarks as well as major fork turns, he had come to know a rough outline of the tunnel and was ready to dispute the authenticity of the map.
And whether Murasaki had done it. In such a short time...
Behind him, he heard Sano suddenly stop in his step. A little startled, Soujirou turned around to confront the sudden halt.
"Are you cursing because you thought you shouldn't have followed me?" Soujirou smiled sweetly again, fiddling around with the maps to have a firm grasp on them. Paper were filmsy, once they dropped into the mud it was going to be a disaster.
Sano shook his head to Soujirou's above pronounced statement. "Following you was one thing, understanding what you said to me was another." He grunted, and faced the other's bright, wondering eyes. "You said you came in only to find out something based on the fact that you had lived in a world you never existed? That's fine with me. But how does that statement apply to the situation you and all of us are in right now?" Sanosuke inquired, almost carelessly, but an attempt, anyway.
Soujirou's eyes dimmed slightly. "Ah." He breathed. "That."
"Yes." Sanosuke nodded. "That."
Sighing, the younger boy slunk into a slight squat beside the lime covered tunnel walls. "Sagara-san, you are someone who had been through this phase of life before, isn't it?" Soujirou sighed.
"Of course." Sanosuke announced unbashedly. As if he was almost proud of the admittance of this fact, only that he wasn't really 'proud'.
"Wasn't it painful?"
The addressed stop to think about it. No, he didn't really need to think about it, it was obvious how painful living away from the Sekihoutai had been. For years and years and years, the lifestyle he thought was going to be prevailant throughout the land turned out to be a life which now had never existed.
It was painful to shear away from the life he always thought existed. "Yes." Sanosuke softly agreed. Of course it was painful.
"Wasn't it awe-inspiring?"
Sanosuke started. Awe-inspiring? He hardly called a life like his after the Sekihoutai 'awe-inspiring'. Did Soujirou knew what he was talking about? All those morals and beliefs they had practiced in a world created by situations, to suddenly throw them away, to suddenly realize this world had never been there at all... awe... inspiring?
"Didn't that awe simply screamed at you to prevent any other parallels from happening... ?"
Hmm. Now *that* was true.
If he couldn't have happiness in his world previously, at least those around him should be granted that.
Soujirou stood up.
He was tired. Tired of everything Murasaki was trying to tell him. He was tired of hiding, tired of hiding anything from Himura-san's family, because they deserved to know, to know everything and anything to be related to Soujirou.
Despite knowing about his past, despite having once been at ends with each other, they accepted him into their home. No one had ever done that truly without obligation, and Soujirou knew...
... he had to show his gratitude.
"Come, Sagara-san." Soujirou smiled. "Let's explore this tunnel first, then I have something to tell you."
Sanosuke frowned, watching the receding figure of Soujirou. It seemed imperative that this boy never failed to surprise him. He seemed almost abnormal, to say the least.
But something about Soujirou just attracted everybody to him. Perhaps it was his radiance in innocence of the world, which was eventually true, anyway. Soujirou seemed unspotted, yet spotted at the same time. It was just the way with Kenshin, the rurouni everybody loved to love.
If anything, Soujirou had a bright future ahead...
... if he survived from the dark prescence right now...

At a little tavern by the side of the mountains, where business was never usually bustling unless at lunch-time, a figure sat down at the only table available at the moment and placed his order for refreshments.
It came quickly enough, and the boy started to tuck into his meal. The lady-boss smiled at him, being naturally curious and asked. "Do you live anywhere near here?"
The young boy stopped eating and smiled up at the lady boss, a kindly old lady making her living by the sidewalks with her cookery skills. "Not really. I live on the other side of Tokyo." The young boy replied, then returned to his eating. "You cook wonderful food, aunty." He commented further, after finishing whatever he had ordered.
"Don't mention it, please." The old lady nodded in agreement, endorsing in the fact that her food was indeed well cooked. She came over to start to clear away the dishes, noticing again, with curiousity that he carried something which had the shape of a sword. "Is that a sword?" She asked pleasantly, expecting quite a negative answer, since swords had been banned from since the ninth year of Meiji.
The young boy squirmed, but relaxed, knowing that the old lady was of no one dangerous. "Yes." He admitted, watching with glee as the lady gasped in slight surprise. "And thank you for the food, I shall take my leave now." He stood up, and turned away, without a second glance at the tiny roadstall.
"Aunty." He stopped after a few steps. "Out of goodness of my heart, I think you should move your stall as far away from here as possible." He started to pick up his pace once again.
The old lady's eyes widened in effect.
"Something rowdy is sure to happen within these few days." The last words of the young gentleman flowed through the rasping winds into the ears of the old lady-boss.
Whether due to fear or the wind, the old lady trembled. The dust started to whip up as the snow finally melted to reveal drier land, sand, and to allow the tossing winds to pick up grain after grain, to throw them around and whip them into a tornedo of destruction...
*Time to pack up.* The old lady only murmured in her mind to herself, carefully handling the broken wooden furniture. No point having business here when the rain was imminent in the area now.

In the distance, two more blurred figures could be seen threading through the winds bravely, now ala a desert storm in the making with all the sand and mud zooming around as if playing hide and seek with each other. Both the newcomers to the scene had their arms up to their faces in defence of whatever precious senses that were there. Very soon, however, the duo could be seen in their full colour.
The one dressed in the traditional blue gi and hakama had a slight ponytail tied to his back, which was now fluttering around in the strong wave of sudden barometric change. The other had a band tied around his forehead, red and slightly battered by the weather too, but flying around violently through the winds as well.
"Well." The shorter one spoke. "Do you think we should find some shelter, Sagara-san?"
The so-mentioned Sagara-san merely grunted. "Yeh. I think we'd better. I'm getting sand in my mouth."
The other one laughed, and they both dived into the deserted side shop which the old lady had long packed and left. There was a slightly battered leather roof atop the flimsy wooden stand, but enough for a short shelter anyway.

Immediately, Sanosuke started to spit out whatever foreign material had entered into his mouth. Soujirou merely laughed again, being one who had trained himself to find everything and anything funny. He dusted his gi with a smile and then leaned back against the shelter post to sigh.
Sanosuke finished with whatever he wanted to spit out, then allowed the layers of air in it's compression and de- to caress his face.
The brief summary of Soujirou's past from the person's own mouth, of course, was something elaborate enough, thought not very elaborate, to tell Sanosuke that, yes indeed, everybody had story of their own, and had their own dilemmas to face.
Except for Soujirou's case, he was sure Kenshin would not allow him to face it alone.
Neither would he, or any of the Kenshingumi, anyway.
"So." Sanosuke could only find these words in his vocabulary. "What are you going to do about it now?" He was inquiring the obvious. Almost wincing, he looked at the once ever-smiling Soujirou darken his face to an almost out of character stance, before facing him.
"I'm taking it one step at a time." Soujirou's lips tried to twitch into a convincing smile. "If he doesn't move, I'm not moving." He nodded, seemingly pleased with the way he had decided to handle the situation.
Sanosuke wasn't anywhere near pleased, however. "But have you ever wondered what he opened up the tunnel? Do you know how insane that action is? Come rain or high-tide, the whole tunnel will be flooded, when it gets too dangerous, the riverbank might collapse and Tokyo will be in danger..."
The other boy merely smiled again, playing with something in his hands. It was a greenish, lumpish, fleshy leaf, pricky at it's edges and having slight splotches of a lighter shade of green than the main one.
"What is that?" Sano was irritated that he wasn't getting the answers he wanted. He had always been the impatient one, something so deep set he knew he could not try to change.
"Aloe vera." Soujirou simply stated, still playing around with it.
"Some kindda plant weapon?" Sanosuke further inquired.
"Nope. Medical herb. Great for facials, too."
The older boy facefaulted for a while, wondering for a moment why Soujirou ever wanted to pluck that thing from off the tunnel entrance. He noticed with disinterest as Soujirou tucked the plant leaf away, then refocused his attention on the main point.
"Actually, Soujirou, what if... that guy doesn't intend to move after you've moved?"
Soujirou had closed his eyes, to feel and listen to the rushing winds outside the shelter. Not that they were very sheltered anyway, Soujirou's hair was still getting stuck in his face. At least, the sand had bothered them less.
He heaved.
"That's not quite possible, Sagara-san." The younger boy opened his eyes, which were suddenly flashing with a dangerous glint.
He looked almost like a parallel of Rurouni reverting to Hitokiri.
In yet another moment, he was staring out in mid-space, unfazed, but bothered by something. He narrowed his eyes, while Sanosuke stared on at the younger boy, somewhat fascinated, but puzzled.
"He will definitely strike first." Soujirou's voice had a dangerous edge to it now. He reached out his hand, ready to grasp seeming thin air, when suddenly, a whizzing sound caught Sano's ears hostage, snapping him into attention.
There was no need for worry.
Soujirou caught the arrow very cleanly.
It didn't stand a percentage of a chance.
In the next moment, the arrow was slammed sharp side first into the back of the shelter, and a weird looking Soujirou was already in stance, as if preparing for more arrows to stream in.
"From daggers, to arrows, to who knows what next." The boy in blue softly whispered. Sanosuke stood in stance too, knowing that this new foe seemed to always have the weather to his advantage. So either he knew how to bide by the time very well, or he was a weatherman.
Soujirou grimaced, thwacking with seeming anger, another arrow to the side. "This is Murasaki's way of telling me to keep on the edge of my nerves. It. Is. Driving. Me. INSANE."
The other one nodded. If he was the receipant of all these surprise attacks, he would have wanted the enemy to just show himself and be done with, not do all the silly things like throwing knives and daggers and now arrows and probably stones next, so that he could sleep in peace finally.
"DUCK!" He heard Soujirou shout.
They had a limited fighting arena, and just like the snow, the flying sand was a natural opponent they had to fight with.
But despite all these, the battle was on.

"The wind's blown all the snow away, but the sand's starting to come in. What a stupid way to start a day." Yahiko grumbled, swinging his wooden sword around experimentally. No chance of going out to help out in the restaurant today now.
He briefly wondered what Kenshin was doing, then remembered that Kaoru had ordered him to prepare a bath. He chuckled, knowing Kenshin was so the domestic male-servant, that he wouldn't refuse to do the job. Walking heavily on the wooden platformed, Yahiko finally reached the main hall. He strode confidentally inside, ready for whatever training Kaoru had in mind for him.
Except for... where was Kaoru?
What? The bath was so quickly readied? Yahiko sighed. Nevermind, a day without that ugly witch as a teacher wouldn't matter so much.
"HAh hah! I Myoujin Yahiko will defeat all the enemies that come in my way! Whither rain or shine, snow or sand!" The little boy indulged in a little self-praise, to swing around experimentally with his wooden sword in the stance of what he usually saw Kenshin in.
To his absolute surprise, his wooden sword did hit something. He glanced around the room. There was nothing, except for the sound of the occasional wind howling, there was nothing noteworthy. His eyes narrowed, in effect.
"WHO?" He demanded of whoever was there. There was a complacency in the air, but nothing else. Slowly, Yahiko dropped his guard to look at what exactly had he thwacked away.
It was a wooden arrow.
With a bit of cloth stuck to it's sharp side.
Curiously, but cautiously, Yahiko bent down to pick up the arrow. There was nothing weird about it, and the dojo had had so much of daggers and arrows recently that it was nothing surprising anymore.
But this man was after Soujirou this time, not Kenshin.
Whoever he was after, Yahiko knew that they would all face it together. It wouldn't be fair to let one person face it alone.
Especially not when their sole survival depended on the way their lives intertwined with each other.
A strange smell filled Yahiko's nostrils, suddenly, and he felt dizzy, confounded. What was that smell? It was clogging his brains, fogging his logic... he tried to stand up, but things were getting worse due to the effects of hyper-ventilation. He gacked, his mouth open in a silent cry, before collapsing to the ground with a pained expression.
Outside, deliberate footsteps approached the dojo.
Yahiko strained to see one last time, who was the one behind all these. He caught sight of a young boy, perhaps younger than Soujirou and near Kaoru's age, but in all effect his eyes spelt of something older and more dangerous. He tilted his head to one side in a maniacal attempt to look threatening. He succeeded, anyway.
Yahiko's consciousness bunked out, but not before finally hearing what the newcomer had to say for himself.
"For everything he's done to me, I want him to answer in double reason why."
Then there was a sound of paper rustling, and something slamming into the wooden walls of the dojo.
Then there was nothing.

A little while later, Sanosuke got brave enough to look out from his vantage point and squirmed. The winds still hadn't given up. Worse still, it had actually started to rain.
"I think the coast is clear." Soujirou sounded out from beside him, rising to full height. Sano followed, but was still wary. They scanned the terrain for a brief moment, and finally decided that it was safe enough, even with the natural barriers, to step out from the shelter.
"That guy sure had us anchored." Sanosuke grumbled, and meaning it. "I'd hate to be ambushed like that as and when it happened!"
"Me too..." Soujirou brushed away the sand that had gotten into his hair without him knowing.
"Then you're sure one guy with lots of patience." The other commented. "Tell me, are you going to kill him when you find him?"
Soujirou did not answer. His hands were hurting from catching too many arrows, and fortunately, none of them he caught head on.
Would he kill him?
Could he, was the question.
"How far is it to the dojo?" Soujirou suddenly perked up and asked. Sanosuke looked at him, as if searching for whether he suspected anything fishy to be happening there. He glanced at the surroundings. He never was good in finding directions.
"Probably just down the road, turn left at the corner, walk straight." He made a wild guess, and hoped he was right. Soujirou's eyes gleamed, and immediately he started to run.
"Come on!" He shouted at the flabbergasted Sanosuke still trapped in his own sea of thoughts. "No time, but I think... I think..."
Sanosuke ran, anyway. That's right, there wasn't any need to 'think'. This new enemy was getting from cunning, to irritating, to despicable.
There wasn't any honour in him at all.
Naught.

"Kaoru-dono!"
No answer.
"KAORU-DONO! YAHIKO!!"
Silence.
Now wasn't the time to joke. Kenshin tried to reassure himself. He could hardly hear himself over the sand and wind, less say a reply to what he was asking for. Carefully, he stepped out of the bathing room to test the surroundings. Immediately, he stepped back in.
Darn, and he thought snow was bad. Yes, true, snow was now bad memories, sand was the current baddie.
He sighed. Kaoru-dono wouldn't be needing her bath now. At least, if she had wanted one, she'd have to be prepared to take another one once she got out with all that sand attacking her...
Bravely, he heaved and stepped out into the winds, his small frame almost being blown away once his whole body came in range. He moved, slightly, in the direction of the wind, trying to get in friction with the grounds, but failing desperately.
Finally, he got so tired, he pulled out his sword and slammed it into the ground. That got him balanced, as he blinked to look at where the main dojo hall was.
Ten more steps to the right... he sighed, pulling his blade out and sliding it smoothly into the ground in that direction.
If he hadn't already thought things weren't bad enough...

Kenshin entered the dojo, hair, mouth, gi and hakama FULL of sand. He spat, something unlike of the usual rurouni, but then again, he wasn't feeling very 'usual' today. There was a rising fear of dread surrounding the area around his heart, as the door he practically slammed open with his sword. "Kaoru-dono! Yahiko!" He shouted, remembering that they had a training session right now.
Or rather, remembering that they SHOULD have been having a training session right now.
Again, other than the wild wind breezing through his hair, flipping it around like there was nothing else to, there was practically impregnable silence in the dojo halls.
Kenshin was puzzled. Startled and alarmed, more like it. He took a heavy step into the halls, and yet another, taking in what was around him with regenerated interest. It was as if everything about the dojo was new and alien, fresh to yet be firmly imprinted in his mind, but yet he knew this was the dojo he had managed to convince himself to stay as home, so how...
There was a noise without, and Kenshin whirled around just to catch a sand-filled couple stumble into the room.

Soujirou gasped for breath, realizing how good stagnant air was compared to one dancing around fierily, consisting of one mole of sand wherever one dm cube of air was.

...
Sorry, I think I need to go burn my chemistry textbook now.

"Himura-san." There was an urgency to the voice. "Glad you're all right. Kamiya-san and Myoujin-san?"
Soujirou's face further darkened when Kenshin shook his head. Sanosuke was, probably glad that for once he had gotten his directions right, keeping absolutely quiet. He was, however, the first one to notice the note stuck in the wall with an arrow.
Not long after, everybody turned around to look at where he was looking.
Kenshin was the first to be sprinting over, covering the distance in a time shorter than he expected. Glossed over with a new kind of expression, the scar-faced rurouni pulled the arrow out from the wall, and let the note flutter comfortably into his hands.
The other two gathered around to read over Kenshin's shoulders.
"This is a man to man thing, so I've gotten the women and children out of the way. See you tonight at you know where. You know who."
Kenshin's hands trembled, as did Soujirou's determination.
Murasaki was right. This *WAS* a man to man thing. The women and children should not be involved, and not involving them, meant not staining them with the feedback of this battle.
What have you become, Murasaki?
Why, have you become so... insensitive?
Didn't you once know? Didn't you once cared?
"YOU IDIOT!" Sanosuke started to punch into the walls. Kenshin's face was hidden from all expression, but he clutched the note tightly, unwilling, unable to let go, trembling at the effect of this decision.
Soujirou sank onto the floors, ready to bury his hands and cry if the need be. But he knew he couldn't cry. Not anymore in his entire lifetime if he could help it. Tightly, his fists balled up to be white at the knuckles, the veins so reined they were showing.
There was a sudden flare of movement. Kenshin shook all sand out from his hair and kept the note, turning quickly to exit the dojo halls. Before he did, he stopped at the rack where the wooden swords hung horizontally, and grabbed one to quickly fling it where Soujirou was.
The latter started, but reacted quickly enough to bring down the wooden sword with ease. Kenshin took one final step, his silouette now eerily eased against the frame of the door.
When he turned back, Sanosuke felt inclined to take a step back.
"Tonight." His cold voice stated, gesturing at Soujirou, who now stood up to receive instructions.
Kenshin blinked, and looked away.
"We fight." The final words drifted from through the doors into the other two's ears. The younger boy only widened his eyes, seemingly in protest.
He had always thought it was his own battle.
But no.
Soujirou now slitted his eyes as much as he knew he could afford to. He laid one hand firmly on the wooden sword to feel how good it would be against a real one.
"That's right." Sanosuke grunted from beside him, punching his fists together in motion.
Soujirou nodded.
"It's our battle now."
No more foolish games, Murasaki.
We're playing it for real now.

END PART 7

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1/9/98


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