A Turbulent Eye Between Two Hurricanes - Part 3
by Serizawa Kamo

SEVERAL NOTES : ^_^

1) This is my first fanfic, so please have mercy with me! ^_^
2) I am a terrible writer in English, so please overlook any mistakes. But please point out any weirdness you happen to come across!
3) This fanfic is set soon after the Kyoto arc and before the Revenge arc mayhem.
4) See note number 3 to understand there are some spoilers in this fanfic. People who's got allergy to spoilers, please go no further! ^_^
5) Hope these notes are a sufficient spoiler space... ^_^
6) As usual, comments & criticism are welcome.
7) This fanfic involves some actual history of Japan. Japanese history students, if you find any mistakes, please let me know!
8) And I intend to present here some actual kenjutsu styles. But I know nothing about them, so please don't flame me ! ^_^
9) All due credits to manga genius Watsuki Nobuhiro and Shuueisha. Rurouni Kenshin would not come to life without them.
10) You'll surely notice the change in the writing style. I intended to do (I don't know if I was successful or not, though) a somewhat gradual transition from the "translation style" (borrowed from Maigo-chan's style) and the "narrative style" (my poor and puny style... -_-# ).




"Friend ship wrecks"





"All right guys, Sagara Sanosuke is on his way!"

[Osaka port, 3:50 p.m.]

A bit too far a place, Sano thought. Although he was running as fast as he could, roughly 15 minutes were needed to get there. Once in the port, it wasn't a hard thing to figure out what was going on: a black column of smoke was rising and lots of people running for their lives. A ship could be seen gradually being swallowed by the sea. Still, there were plenty of people to land and Sano could take for granted that Kenshin was among them, given his character.

"Excuse me, excuse me!", the voice of Sano could barely be heard among the general shouting and screaming. People were desperately trying to escape from that deadly smoke and to extinguish the remainings of the fire. Chaos was reigning everywhere, it was a hard task to find a small group of a man, two women and a child. Eventually, Sano was able to board the sinking ship.

"Kenshin! Kenshin! Goddamn you, don't you even care to answer me, you bastard?!"

Obviously, it was a stupid thing to say. How could a man hear anybody in that situation? Furthermore, even if Kenshin could hear Sano, he'd be too much busy trying to save people than to bother to answer to him. But in a desperate situation like that, a confused rooster head couldn't have said much more than that.

Nevertheless, a faint answer could be heard. "Sano!" Sano doubted his ears. But that tone of voice, with mixed gentleness and harshness could belong to no other than his red haired friend of his. Instantly relieved, he started to do what he should've done since the very beginning: helping people getting out of that ship. Time was running out, and fast.

Thankfully, few of the people were injured, and was nothing worse than bruises. No casualties were recorded then at all. Hastily, Sano literally throwed people to the shore and after some minutes, the deck was completely clear. The jolts were getting stronger and it wasn't wise to stay in the ship any longer.

Sano couldn't find his friend yet. Kaoru, Megumi and Yahiko were also missing. But noises from underneath his feet gave him the answer. He hurried to the bosom of the ship and there he found them, along with many others who were trying to save some sailors buried under heavy sailing equipment. At first glance, he couldn't understand what Kenshin was doing: he was with his back on a wooden wall, his sakabatou plunged diagonally upwards into the same wall. There were two groups: one group was also with their backs on the same wall, while another was trying to lift the burden and save the sailors. Then Sano realised that Kenshin was trying to avoid a rupture of the wall and his sakabatou acted as a rudimentar nail that bound the wall to another. Megumi was tending the injured people while Kaoru and Yahiko were also trying to lift the heavy equipments.

"I bet you all were waiting for me, right?", grinned Sano.

"Where in the hell have you been, you stupid bastard rooster head?!", broke in a more than enraged Yahiko. "We were already leaving without you! And where were you all this time?!"

"Shut up, you... hey, Kenshin, what's that paper you're holding? A letter?", asked Sano.

"We'll discuss that later", said Kenshin. "We have to get out of here, NOW."

Suddenly, a big quiver that almost made the ship turn upside down. A second explosion, although weaker than the first one, was able to turn the ship 90 degrees, with its mast leveled with the sea.

A nasty situation, for sure, but that explosion freed the sailors, who fell down to the ground. Little time they had before the ship dragged them all to the depths of the sea so that unusual help was more than welcome.

Quickly, a ladder was made out of some wood plancks and boxes to reach the door. Two men climbed up to open the door, but unsuccessful attempts showed them that the lock was somehow broken. Anxiety took over everybody but Kenshin and Sano.

"Leave that to me", said a confident Sano. Kenshin smiled, as he was still with his back against the same wall, now so fragile that could break in no time.

But punches and pushes revealed themselves useless against the door. Salty water was alreay pouring into the ship, as a clear sign of the impatience of the sea, adding a dramatic color to the scene.

Sano sighed, "Well, looks like we've got no alternative left."

                 --- Futae no Kiwami (the Mastery of the Twofold ) ---

"Sano, NO!!!", a desperate cry of Kenshin tried to stop his friend.

Too late.

Anybody who has at least a little bit of mental sanity knows that is strongly recommended NOT to strike anything frail, if one wants to keep it sort of intact. The Futae no Kiwami reverberated and shook the whole ship, exploding the door with a thunder at the same time as the wooden walls could hold no more. Water gushed strongly from every direction, and fierce jets of sea water threatened to drown everyone.

"Now, QUICK!", yelled Kenshin, taking his sakabatou out of the wooden wall and pushing everybody upstairs, while Sano pulled them from the now open door. Some of the people could actually manage to reach the shore, but many of them, including Sano, Kenshin, Kaoru and Yahiko, sank in the sea along with the ship.

A whirlpool due to the shipwreck was dragging everybody down in mindbending velocity and brutal strength. Fortunately, these phenomena are known to be rather brief, so after few moments the sea was calm as ever. Kaoru, Megumi and Yahiko were among the people who have somehow got to the shore, where they passed out of exaustion, but many people were knocked out of their senses, unable to float or swim. Still, Kenshin and Sano outdid themselves and were able to rescue every man.

In the shore, there were already plenty of policemen and doctors. So, in a few hours, everybody was more or less well tended and -why not?- safe and sound.

The police started to investigate what happened, according to their usual procedures. Plenty of eyewitnesses were present, so it wasn't hard to figure out most of the bombing, but when it came to the rescue of the sailors, all of a sudden a tall man in his mid-thirties, with his hair combed in an exquisite way, pointed his finger to Sano and declared, "That guy. He's the man who sank the ship."

Sano was obviously startled at that. "What do you mean by that, you bastard?!"

The answer came cooly, "Arrest him, police officer. I saw him with my eyes trying to sink the ship and kill everybody."

"WHAT?!", cried an outraged Sano. "If I didn't blow up that door, you wouldn't be alive to say that nonsense, you sunuvabitch!"

"If you didn't blow up that door, the ship wouldn't sink so soon and everybody could get out of the ship harmlessly. But thanks to your stupid action, you endangered everybody who was still trying to escape. Just by luck you could rescue them all alive, but it doesn't change the FACT that you attemped a mass murder."

"Wait a minute, Sano is right.", intervened Kenshin. "Officer, this man indeed comitted some... reckless acts. But he intended to open the door as soon as possible to save the people trapped inside the bosom of the ship. That doesn't qualify as an attempt of murder at all, but rather a heroic act, in my humble opinion."

"None called you, woman,", was the dry, emotionless answer of the officer. "A woman, even though an eyewitness, can't --"

"With all due respect, officer, I am a MAN.", corrected Kenshin.

"Oh, I see. A homosexual swordsman", the officer grinned sarcastically. "Shuudou (as was called homosexualism in those days) shoud be sufficient to zanshu (death penalty where the criminal's neck is sliced from its body). But just that sword is a enough reason to arrest you, if I want to. Haitourei Ihan, you know", added.

"We are not talking about that."

"True. We're talking about attempts of murder. So, answer me, redhead, and be aware that what you say must be the truth: that man (pointing to Sano) blew up the door, right?"

"Right, but--"

"Shut up. Just answer what I ask you. So ..."



Meanwhile, Sano was already being arrested and carried by two officials. Of course he could, if he wanted, beat up the two and start wreaking havoc, but that would only make matters worse. After all, justice would be done in due time and this whole mess would eventually be cleared up.

"Sano!", a familiar voice called the young man. Kaoru, Megumi and Yahiko all showed signs of aprehension as they saw him handcuffed.

"Hey, don't worry.", smiled Sano. "Everything's gonna be all right."

Sano watched Kenshin discuss with the officer. They were a bit far, so he couldn't hear what were they talking, but he saw an annoyed Kenshin arguing with a prepotent official. But to his surprise, Kenshin suddenly nodded and pointed to Sano. Then the officer came to him and said, "So, it's all settled. That friend of yours have just confessed you tried to murder the people who were trapped in the bosom of the ship. Now come with us."

Sano gaped for air in disbelief.

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, shut up.", the officer smacked him with the sabre.

"Come here, Kenshin, you bastard!", yelled Sano. "What the heck have you just said to this pile of shit?!"

"More respect to the law, you petty criminal!", the officer smacked again.

"Tell me, Kenshin!", demanded Sano, ignoring completely the officer.

Kenshin said nothing, his head bowed. It was the best answer he could offer to Sano.

Sano was speechless, staring blankly into nothing.

(So, am I to be blamed for saving lives?)

--- It can't be possible! We, of Sekihoutai, a false army? ---

(In the end, everything I've done was worth nothing?)

--- Treason! The Meiji Government has betrayed us! ---

(Am I an idiot, trusting blindly a fake?)

--- You can't go with us, Sanosuke. You're still young. Don't worry ---

(Is this the crude reality I have to face?)

--- Sekihoutai, what a bunch of villains ---

To the general surprise, Sano started laughing out loudly. In a voice that blended dismay, rage and sarcasm at the same time, he cried,

"So, this five months weren't that useless, in the end. I should have known that Meiji Ishin Shishis are nothing but a bunch of worthless motherfuckers in the end! And I was a fool,  believing that you, Kenshin, was a different person! Ha! What a deceptive mask you wear!"

"What are you talking, Sano?! You know that Kenshin isn't that kind of man!", said an irritated, but also worried, Yahiko.

"Shut up, brat! You're a naive kid who takes all this farce as it was real! But I won't be deceived again. Never again!", said Sano, with a firm glare, facing Kenshin eye to eye, his head no more bowed.

Sano continued, "I gotta get going now. I've had enough of this. From now on, I'm Zanza once again."

With a swift movement, he broke the handcuffs with ease and turned his back to Kenshin, the "Evil" character clearly shown. One could almost tell a silent tear was rolling down the young man's cheek.

The officer grabbed Zanza and said,"Hey, you won't go! Come here, you son of a...". But he never completed the sentence, as Sano gazed him with a feral fierceness never seen before.

In the sunset, time stood still as Zanza started walking calmly among the people, as they watched him in awe...

There were about fifty armed policemen against one unarmed young man, enough to overwhelm him, twice as many officers as needed to stop a small rebellion... and yet they let him pass. Perhaps they felt the weight of fake charges falling as curses on the back of the young man. Or maybe just fear itself that froze them on their feet. Perhaps they saw even a resemblance to the heroes of Bakumatsu in those eyes, that harkened back to ancient memory: of sheer determination to reach his goal, of following the true path of man, of strength to change the world... but more than likely not, for he was kin to none.

"Kenshin...", said a worried Kaoru, in soft tones. "Let's get back to the Aoiya."

Kenshin remained silent.



[Elsewhere in Osaka]

A familiar voice stopped Zanza.

"I was looking for you,", said a long haired man with a paisley bandanna.

"Get off, Katsu", said Zanza, "Sano is dead. There's only Zanza now."

"Sano or Zanza, makes no difference for me. They have the same background."

"What do you want?"

"To do what we're meant to do. Fight for que equality of the four classes. Sanosuke, the Sekihoutai calls us."


Coming next: The builders of a new era?

On to Chap 4