It’s been a few days since the battle with Jin’eh. Kaoru, Yahiko, my brother, and I were at the Akabeko, our favorite restaurant. Our friend Tae greeted us warmly. Across from where we were sitting, there was a group of three guys that looked drunk. They were arguing about something. “Okubo is fine. Who wouldn’t want to die and become a legend like Saigo?” one of them said.
“Fool. There’s nothing to gain from the romance of becoming a legend. If master Itagaki dies, freedom will also die!” another yelled.
“Those guys. They always get like that when they’re drunk,” Tae told us.
“Activists of the democratic rights movement, it sounds like,” my brother said and I nodded in agreement.
“Sounds like gibberish to me. Just a bunch of drunks,” Kaoru commented.
“Well don’t mind them. For four, then, is it?” Tae asked and Kaoru nodded.
“Oh and four ‘coffee’ please. Yahiko have you ever had coffee?” she then asked.
“Miss Kaoru, you’re in a good moo…” Kenshin stopped mid sentence.
“Kenshin?” Kaoru asked with concern.
It was then that I noticed what he did. One of the drunk guys threw a bottle, and it was coming towards us, yet my brother didn’t dodge it, so it hit him in the back of the head.
“Kenshin!” my best friend exclaimed.
“What?! I dare you to say that again!”
“I’ll say it all I want!”
“You’re useless!”
“Maybe you didn’t notice, but you threw a bottle at somebody! Apologize first, then do whatever!” Yahiko yelled at the drunk men.
“Shut up! What right does a kid like you have to mouth off at the defenders of human rights?”
“Kid or not, I’m telling you drunks to apologize!”
“Woah, woah,” Kenshin tried to de-escalate the situation.
“How dare you call us drunks? We are defenders of…”
“If you drink, you are a drunk,” Yahiko interrupted. Then Tae came over.
“Sir...please don’t cause any trouble,” she said politely.
“What?! Now a female’s mouthing off!” one of the men yelled angrily and hit Tae.
“Tae-san!” Kaoru exclaimed. A guy with spiked black hair and a red bandanna around his head caught her.
“Well, now. Aren’t the defenders of human rights supposed to protect the weak? Or are the rights you speak of… the rights to get drunk and violent?” he asked the drunk men.
“What did you say!?”
“Are you alright?” he asked Tae.
“Um...yes.”
“Are you challenging us!?” one of the drunks demanded.
“Well, I suppose I will ‘sell’ for a change. I’m usually the one who ‘buys’ but I don’t like those who pick on the weak. Especially those who bark out pretty words like freedom, justice, and equality. Nothing sickens me like a hypocrite! Let’s take this outside,” the new stranger replied. We looked at each other before following them.
“What a weird situation…” Kaoru commented.
“Would it be best to stop them?” my brother asked.
“He wanted to do it, so maybe not,” I replied with a shrug.
“I’ll show no mercy, even if you cry,” the first drunk said as he cracked his knuckles.
“Let’s see what you’ve got. Come at me,” the challenger said, pointing to his head.
“Fool! You will not get away from Tohaku!”
The first drunk guy, apparently named Tohaku, attacked. I then noticed a suntetsu in his hand.
“Take this!”
“Coward! Hiding a suntetsu!” Kaoru exclaimed, noticing it too.
“Aw, shut it. A suntetsu is meant to be a concealed weapon!” one of the other drunks defended.
“A bad thing, indeed. However it makes no difference,” my brother said.
“Feh.. that’s it? Even with the suntetsu? You disappoint me,” the challenger said, completely unphased even after being hit in the head with a suntetsu. However, Tohaku was not so lucky. He cried out in pain, dropping his weapon and clutching his arm.
“I don’t want to seem like I’m picking on you weaklings. I’ll take you on with one finger.”
The challenger then flicked Tohaku in the forehead, and he went down. “I’ve sold a boring fight.”
“One flick…” Yahiko said in awe.
One of the other drunk guys then pulled out a blade. I put my hand on mine and my brother grabbed his, too.
“This is fine as a drunken brawl. But if you’re going to draw a concealed blade…” he started and the guy froze in fear. “Democratic rights deserve support. But you need to straighten yourselves out before you straighten out the government. Pay your check and go home,” Kenshin told him. The three men then ran off like the cowards they were.
“Thank you so much for helping,” Tae said to the challenger.
“Nothing to thank me for. I did this for my own reasons. I apologize for the commotion,” he replied. He then looked at Kenshin.
“Hey, swordsman. How’s the wound on your head?”
“Mm. Not so bad really.”
“Good. It’d be too bad if you got seriously wounded from getting hit on purpose.”
Kaoru looked at Kenshin.
“If you dodged it, the lady's face would be all bloody right now. So you didn’t move. You used your head as a shield. Am I wrong?” he asked. My brother smiled a little.
“You give me too much credit.”
“Such modesty.”
The guy then playfully hit Kenshin. “I like you. Might you want to buy a fight from me? I think it would be a good one,” he offered. Kenshin chuckled lightly.
“Thank you, but no,” he replied.
“Well, if you change your mind, buy one for me anytime. I’ll be at the Gorotsuki Nagaya in the outskirts of the city. Later.” He then turned and walked away. I noticed the symbol for “bad” on the back of his clothes.
Huh that’s interesting. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy yet he wears that symbol.
“What was that? Is he a good guy or a bad guy?” Kaoru asked.
“Or just a weird guy...” Yahiko said.
“He was odd…” my brother agreed and I nodded. Then suddenly Tae gasped.
“Wait!”
“You know him, Tae-san?” Kaoru asked.
“He didn’t pay his bill,” she replied.
*time skip brought to you by Kyoto*
The next day, Kenshin, Yahiko, Kaoru and I were sitting around, drinking tea together when suddenly I felt something. My brother and I looked at each other; I knew he felt it too. “We have a guest,” he said as we both stood.
“Huh? Wait, Kenshin. What’s going on?” Kaoru asked, following us outside.
“His chi is powerful,” Kenshin replied. He opened the door and before us stood the challenger who beat up the drunk guy from yesterday. “Unconcealed, blatantly honest fighting chi,” my brother said.
“I came to pick a fight,” the guy mentioned. He was carrying some large weapon this time.
“So it’s you. Sorry, I won’t fight you. That I won’t,” Kenshin replied.
“I can’t accept that. I’ve taken this fight as a merchant. I can’t back out. On top of that, my opponent is the revolutionary warrior Himura Battosai,” he said with a small smirk. The four of us were surprised that he knew who my brother was.
“The Chōshū revolutionary, Himura Battosai, whose way is the ancient sword school of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Active for five years, from ages 14 to 19, hired for the first half of his career as a hitokiri, a relentless assassin lurking in the darkness of the night. In the latter half, acting as a free swordsman to protect his comrades from the government’s killers, the Shinsengumi. Thus the killer who would never have seen the light of day became a legend, and in the deciding battle of the Boshin War, after victory in the first battle at Toba Fushimi, he disappears, then reappearing as a rurouni,” he explained my brother’s past.
“A real fight begins with knowing the opponent. Upon learning, I then choose the way to fight. I went to Kyoto, where the revolution had its center. I have it pretty much right, don’t I?” he then asked.
“And have you determined the way to fight me?”
“That’s the problem! My research only turned up a vague history, including information on your sister, who fought in the Bakumatsu too,” he replied, looking at me. “Nothing about what Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is like or why the relentless hitokiri turned into a rurouni who kills no one. I couldn’t figure it out. So here I am at the main gate, honorably asking for a face-to-face fight.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you, who can’t stand to see bullies or be one work as a professional fighter? And why do you wear the character Aku on your back? Your soul is straight and honest but right now, you’ve gone badly askew. What has turned you so out of line?” my brother asked.
“A sob story shouldn’t be told before a fight. If you really want to know, fight me and beat me! But I’ll say this, at least. I believe that all revolutionary warriors are hypocrites. In the name of justice changing the world in ways that benefit them and getting rid of those in the way. Even if that means twisting and hiding the truth. This equality they talk about is all a lie. I want to crush the hitokiri whom the songs call the greatest of the revolutionaries!”
There were a few moments of silence. Even though I fought in the Bakumatsu too, my brother fought a lot longer than I did, so he was able to do much more than I could. Even so, there are still those who know about me and have tried to take my life multiple times.
“Alright then. But tell me this. The ones who hired you are the Hiruma brothers, right?” Kenshin asked.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Not many people know my background in this city. Besides...some very dirty chi is coming in from that side of the fence.”
I had picked up on it too. “Show yourselves,” I demanded.
“Heh. You’re a great warrior, indeed. Come out, you two.”
However no one came out. I went around back silently and found them. “Ahem,” I said, making myself known. The two jumped up over the fence, startled. I smirked to myself proudly as I went back to my brother’s side.
“Good, good. There you go. Now hand it over,” the stranger demanded, holding out his hand.
“Huh?” the man I remembered as Kihei, who tried to take Kaoru’s dojo by force, replied.
“What do you mean ‘Huh?’ You know!”
Kihei nervously handed off a gun he had. “I thought so. I don’t have the ability to read chi but I know how you scum think. Listen, you’re paying for this fight, but this is my profession. Stupid stunts like this are absolutely not tolerated,” the stranger said as he crushed the gun between his fists.
Wow. Beating up a drunk with one flick and crushing a gun with his bare fists? This is no ordinary guy. Then again, neither is my brother.
“Kihei…” Kaoru said to her old friend.
“This property will be mine yet!” he said angrily. My best friend didn’t respond, but she had a sad look. I moved to Kaoru’s side.
“Not as long as I’m here,” I glared at him. I saw a slight hint of fear in his eyes.
“This place is too small. Let’s go to the river bank.” We followed the stranger through town. I noticed that almost everyone watched us as we passed by.
“Yahiko,” my brother started. Yahiko looked up at him. “Were you...surprised?” he asked.
“Kinda. But it’s funny, I don’t feel afraid knowing you were the Hitokiri Battosai. In fact, it makes more sense to me now why you’re as good as you are, and why both you and your sister fight with those swords,” he replied. Kenshin, Kaoru and I smiled a little. “Anyway, you think you’ll be okay? I mean, look at his weapon. That’s got to be a spear. I heard you need three times the strength to fight a spear with a sword,” he then said as we got to the riverbank.
“This isn’t a spear, kid. This is something better. Oh yeah, we haven’t introduced each other yet. My name is Sanosuke Sagara. I’m known in the darker alleys as Zanza,” he introduced himself as he took off the covering of his weapon. Everyone but Kenshin and me was surprised.
ns 18.68.41.146da2
