Legacy

 

An RK Fanfic: i.e. the author doesn't claim rights to the anime used.

 

 

 

Chapter 18-Windows of the Soul

 

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"Oh no, I see,

A spider web is tangled up with me."

 

                                                            Coldplay

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Once, when he was very young, he saw a stray cat catch a mouse at the Aioya. Instead of running away with its prize to enjoy its dinner in private, the cat remained in the yard, teasing the injured creature, giving it a few seconds to run away before pouncing on it again. Finally, the game must have become tiring, for the cat pounced on the mouse one last time and ripped its throat wide open.

 

Aoshi could sympathize with that mouse right then.

 

Hideki's sword style was entirely different from his own, different from anyone he had ever faced in battle. It was impossible for him to read into her moves and he ended up just barely defending himself by blocking her seemingly relentless attacks.

 

"Up," his senses screamed again as he brought his crossed swords protectively before his face. Just in time too, for a fraction of a second later, Hideki's ebony-clad figure flew out of the sky and brought her sword down with the full momentum of her body behind it. With a mighty push he managed to throw her off, but she simply used the force to back-flip away from him, landing on her feet as gracefully as any cat would.

 

Hideki regarded him with the same blank stare that she had employed ever since their match had begun. Then slowly, she stretched her feet wide apart with one knee bent so that her midsection was mere inches from the ground. Her sword was held over her head, sharp side out, by her right hand, while her left stretched out before her with the fingers curled in an almost unnatural way.

 

Aoshi's eyes widened slightly, the pose was not exactly the same but it's origin was clear. It was then he understood why he could not get the upper hand in their match.

 

Hideki charged again, but this time Aoshi did nothing as she approached him with increasing speed. When she was almost upon him the light suddenly returned to her eyes when her ears detected the clatter of metal falling to the ground. Thinking quickly, she grabbed hold of his right  hand with her outstretched left and lifting the sword higher above her head, pulled him towards her.

 

Aoshi could feel her hand on his, her grip as strong as any man's as she pulled him closer to her body. Then, there was the sensation of falling through the air and he instinctively put his arm around her waist to shield her from the ground.

 

Hideki let the sword go so it flew harmlessly above both their heads and through the air to land upright in the soil several yards away.

 

As for Aoshi and herself, the force of her attack brought them both tumbling down to the ground where they rolled over a few times. All the time Aoshi kept his arms around her, shielding her and by instinct she buried her face in his neck and braced herself until the momentum ran out.

 

For several minutes they lay there each utterly silent as if afraid of scaring the other away Finally, Hideki put it upon herself to break the quiet.

 

"You idiot."

 

Simple as the statement was, it summed up the current situation completely. Once she had started her line of attack it was unthinkable for her to stop, the move was designed so that even if her mind changed in mid-attack, the very momentum of her body would carry the act out to its completion. It was a miracle that he was her beside her now, still breathing. What he had just done mere moments ago could have only been categorized as a suicide attempt.

 

She removed her head from his shoulder so that he could see the anger dancing across her features as she stared straight up into his eyes, exposed to her now because his bangs had fallen forward as he leaned over her body.

 

Wait a minute…over her body?!!

 

What happened next Aoshi could only describe as the ass kicking of his life. Hideki's eyes flashed, literally, and he was suddenly thrown off of her with such a force that he could have sworn that Kenshin had used his secret move on him for the second time in his life. Up and away he sailed to land ungracefully on  the grass a good ten yards away.

 

 

Hideki got up quickly, trembling a little as she rose. Already she was berating herself for losing control of her power like an untrained infant at Shinomori's innocent attempt to shield her from their fall. "Baka, baka, baka," her mind chanted as she unsteadily made her way over to where her sparring partner lay. But even so, she could not deny that the sensation of his body pinning her down, his musky man-scent, it reminded her too much of the time she spent with him.

 

 

She shook her head visibly, "Get a grip Kusokube," she growled angrily at herself forcing her body to shake off the tremors as she quickened her pace to the place where Shinomori fell.

 

 

Aoshi sat up groggily, his head still reeling from the force of the blow. One hand clutched his temple while he used the other to prop himself up. Kami-sama, what a headache he was going to have once the ground stopped spinning. Whichever of his actions had pissed Hideki off more he swore to Buddha he would never do it again.

 

A dainty pair of feet appeared on the ground before him, "Are you alright?" Hideki asked as crisply as if he had done no more than stub his toe on some odd rock.

 

"Hai," he lied,  trying his best  to  appear unhurt.

 

"Good."

 

SLAP!!!

 

So unexpected was the blow that Aoshi actually fell backwards onto the grass once more under its force. An incensed Hideki, not caring that her victim was now lying helpless before her fell to her knees and proceeded to yell into Aoshi's face.

 

"Kisama!! Yoku mo, kono watashi o!!!"

 

Aoshi just blinked a couple of times while he let that sink in.

 

"Not only that!" Hideki continued without a stop, "But you make such an imbecilic move as to throw your weapons away while I was in mid-charge! You either must be one suicidal son of a bitch or I must have asked a retard to spar with me today!!!"

 

Aoshi quickly deciphered that flat out on the ground might not be the most dignified place to be, but it certainly was the safest. He had no doubt that if he even attempted to get up during her tantrum, Hideki might reconsider running him through with that blade of hers.

 

"Of all the harebrained ideas!" she continued to rant, now more so to cover her embarrassment than anything else, "What in the world were you thinking Shinomori? I really would like to know!"

 

The air was silent for several long moments as she awaited his answer.

 

When he finally did speak, his voice was even and quiet, without a trace of malice for her words or her actions.

 

"Your eyes were dead," he said simply, "I was just trying to bring you back from wherever your rage had taken you."

 

Slowly, he opened his eyes to look into her own, and for the first time she saw the one emotion she had been trying to avoid ever since she ran away from that mansion on the outskirts of Beijing.

 

Sympathy.

 

She stumbled to her feet, her eyes still locked with his. Only when their corners began to sting with the promise of angry tears did she tear her gaze away from those ice-blue pools and go to retrieve her sword.

 

Aoshi lay there, unable to get up. Not because he was injured, but because he would not know what to say once he did come face to face with her again. As he stared up at the sky above he could hear the rustle of fabric as she pulled her kimono back on. Soon the rustling became louder and as she passed by him on her way out of the clearing, she had only one venomous little word to say to him.

 

"Baka."

 

Aoshi closed his eyes again, his chest heaving a silent sigh. Ever since he had met this woman, he had only succeeded in hurting and offending her with his every word an action. But the way she was attacking him earlier, without the passion or wit that he knew she could express.

 

"What are you thinking Shinomori?"  he asked himself.

 

He sighed again and threw an arm over his eyes as if to shield them from the sun. The look in her eyes just before she threw him off was what disturbed him the most. There was no blush of embarrassment on her cheek, nothing that would have been expected of a woman caught in as…compromising a position as theirs.

 

All he saw in those eyes was fear.

 

She was terrified of….him.

 

He finally rolled over and sat up straight, running a hand over his face in frustration.

 

Kusokube Hideki was hiding something.

 

The question was…what?

 

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Hideki sat on the grass by the bridge leading into town. Her knees were drawn up to her chin and her eyebrows were knitted in thought as she stared out toward the river without really seeing it.

 

"The nerve of that Aoshi…" she muttered bitterly.

 

Hideki's eyes widened a little in surprise at herself for thinking of the oniwabanshu ninja with such familiarity. Ever since the first day she had met him, it was "Mr. Shinomori" never Aoshi, not once. She rubbed a hand over her temples in frustration as her mouth twisted into a grimace. What in the world was happening to her? She should be focusing on her duty, not some man. But yet her heart tore at the thought of him lying on top of her, somehow keeping the weight of his body off of hers while keeping his arms around her. It just felt so good, so right. She was wrong in blaming him now and she knew it . His flub was innocent, the only thing unbecoming of the situation was the twisted perversion of her thoughts.

 

"Am I so stained now that it is wrong for me to want love?" she thought sadly.

 

"Think fast!"

 

She did. Before she could consciously register what she was doing, her body was twisted around three quarters of the way and the object that was previously aimed at the back of her head was now nestled safely in her palm. Questioningly,  she looked at the object in her hand.

 

A…peach?

 

There was the rustle of fabric and a brief flash of red. When she turned around she found her cousin's husband sitting comfortably on the grass beside her as if he had been there all along. Kenshin leaned back on one arm with his legs stretched out in front of him as he thoughtfully munched on a peach of his own in his other hand.

 

"You look upset." He said nonchalantly without turning his eyes away from the water.

 

Hideki looked at him for a few moments as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment at his observation. Finally, she turned away and drew her knees up again.

 

"Am I that transperant?" she asked taking a thoughtful bite.

 

Kenshin cocked his head to the side without turning around to face her, "Actually, you're a pretty tough woman to figure out, that you are," he replied.

 

"What do you mean by that Kenshin-san?" she asked turning around to face him again.

 

Kenshin chewed in silence for a few moments as if choosing his answer carefully before he spoke.

 

"You are possibly the most intelligent woman I have ever met, and yet you choose to hide it. You are genuine and kind, but you pass it off as routine courtesy to others. But most impressive of all, you possessed a source of great power that was yours alone to control and you gave it up in a heartbeat in the name of sisterly love. Modesty has it's bounds Hideki-dono, that it does."

 

Hideki was gripping the peach so tightly that it's juice began to run between her fingers. Her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung slightly open as she stared at Kenshin's profile.

 

He turned to face her then, his violet eyes sparkling with random flecks of bright gold like Kero's. There was amusement there, as well as genuine curiosity and deep down within his soul, shades of past sorrow. Hideki could feel the blush of embarrassment prickling her skin as those eyes searched her own soul for their secrets. Forcing her mouth closed she tore her gaze away from his and stared at the horizon with a closed look on her face.

 

Seemingly unmoved by her shutting in, Kenshin took another bite and  turned toward the sky.

 

"Is she in danger Hideki-dono?" he asked quietly.

 

"Iie," she answered just as softly, "not while I am around."

 

Kenshin's smile was stiff, "You came here to protect her, didn't you?" he asked.

 

"I am the only one who can." she replied.

 

Kenshin nodded, "I see…" he said taking a thoughtful bite, "I must admit Hideki-dono, you are quite skilled at your art."

 

Somehow, Hideki caught on that Kenshin was not talking about magic.

 

"That was quite a slap you dealt Aoshi too," he observed with a hint of obvious amusement in his voice, "It will leave quite a mark, that it will."

 

 

"You followed me?" she whispered in disbelief.

 

"I was worried," he admitted, "for you as well as Kaoru."

 

"Is that so?" she whispered again, still not over the fact that he had witnessed the slap, "I see a bit of the Battousai still lives within you friend."

 

It was Kenshin's turn to look surprised, "I'm sorry that I was not honest with you." he apologized.

 

"It's alright," she said, "We both kept our secrets."

 

Kenshin smiled, "Aa, that we did," he admitted, "Kaoru doesn't know anything, does she?"

 

 

Hideki smiled painfully, "Before she died…obasan asked me to look out for Kaoru," she said softly, "When Tian comes to stake her claim, I will keep my word, this is not her fight."

 

"She would probably disagree with you on that."

 

Hideki's eyes turned dark and when she spoke again her voice was not her own.

 

"Sono fuin ga tokareru toki, kono yo ni wazawai ga..."

 

Kenshin stiffened in shock and his peach just rolled right out of his hand.

 

" I pray that that evil never befalls the world...Or Kaoru, for that matter…" she said sadly, "I will keep my word."

 

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Japan-Speak

 

 

Kisama!! Yoku mo, kono watashi o- Bastard!! How dare you (lie on top of me like that) :::note that some of the beauty is lost in the translation ^^:::::

 

 

Kodachi: Aoshi's twin blades

 

Obachan- auntie

 

 

Sono fuin ga tokareru toki, kono yo ni wazawai ga- When the seal is broken, EVIL will be unleashed on the world.

 

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