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gabriel-gabdiel · 19 days ago

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【Draft】 Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 61: Skeletons in the Closet

Yahiko has survived a close shave with the Brigands Guild, only for him to meet up with the Oniwabanshu (Misao and Aoshi Shinomori) in the middle of the forest where he was camping to train hi body.

As expected of the spies to somehow find him in Yokohama while keeping himself hidden. Such was the way of the ninja.

As the trio uncovers the skeletons in the Meiji Government's closet, so too will the different members of the Seiryu Clan go through a deep dive into their psyche.

Back in the middle of the woods near the Sakaguchi Dojo…

"KECHO GIRI (MONSTER BIRD KICK)!" shouted Misao Makimachi as she did a flying kick right behind the samurai kid as her way of saying "Hello!"

"Huh…? HADOME…! (SWORD HALT…!)" Yahiko Myojin moved by reflex, crossing his wrists unconsciously to block the kick while his hand gripped the handle of the sakabatou at the ready.

"…M-Misao!?" blurted out Yahiko. The ninja girl was the last person he expected seeing.

The kunoichi (female ninja spy) tumbled back after the samurai kid pushed back on her foot, with her landing deftly on the ground on her feet. Like a cat.

"Hehehe. Long time no see, Yahiko!" declared Misao Makimachi in all her ninjutsu regalia.

Decked in her full shinobi gear, her normally long braid that usually swung to knee length now curled behind the nape of her neck as a short pigtail.

Yahiko tried hiding his smile but he couldn't.

He had finally met up with more familiar faces. He at last came across someone he had met for more than a week.

For months—for what felt like 20 years—he had been traveling in his lonesome or with the company of the Sanbaka (Three Stooges)—Munenori Minoe and Gan—amidst other strangers.

"MISAO! What are you doing here?" blurted out Myojin, laughing at seeing a, uh, more familiar face than usual.

Faces, actually: There was more than one face. Aoshi Shinomori was traveling with Misao.

The most familiar faces Yahiko saw all throughout his Musha Shugyo (Warrior's Pilgrimage) were Shura the Pirate Queen (whom he barely met the first time) and his former crush Marimo Ebisu from the Ebisu Circus.

The latter reunion ended up bittersweet. Yahiko didn't even want to think about it.

"Right, we missed you back at Tokyo!" said Misao. "Listen, Yahiko. We're facing off against a common enemy here."

"A common enemy?” the Tokyo Samurai Descendant repeated. “Don't tell me the Battousai Group is involved with the Oniwabanshu too!”

"A different common enemy," said a grim Misao, which made Yahiko want to tickle her sides to test how serious she really was. "HEY! Cut that out! Don't tickle my sides! I’m serious, Yahiko!"

Meanwhile, a tall man sporting a trench coat loomed over the duo, like a humongous elephant in the metaphorical room that Yahiko and Misao occupied.

Myojin pretended to not see him, not knowing how to talk to him.

The looming shinobi was the opposite of the familiar strangers who accompanied him. He was instead an unfamiliar comrade. Someone who knew Yahiko as “The kid that hung around Battousai,” instead of “A street rat who pickpocketed for the yakuza”.

"Who’s is our common enemy then?" asked the teenaged samurai while waiting for the kunoichi (female ninja) to calm down from her laughter. "Is it Amakusa Shiro the Second? The Wokou Pirates? Or…?"

"…The Brigands Guild," a masculine voice answered from behind them with a deep baritone that demanded attention.

The Okashira (Leader) of the Oniwabanshu finally spoke.

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

While Yahiko recaps with the Oniwabanshu what has happened so far in 60 chapters, we’ll also cover the side stories that happened before that fateful night at Yokohama’s Chinatown.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 61: Skeletons in the Closet

***

Back to the present…

The samurai kid’s lower jaw practically dropped to the floor. Or at the very least seemingly unhinged from its socket, dangling by loose tendons and skin on his face.

Yahiko Myojin knew what was coming and yet he still ended up shocked to hear Aoshi Shinomori address him.

The same Shinomori who once fought Kenshin Himura-Kamiya to a standstill when all other previous enemies of his (that Yahiko knew of) couldn’t even touch him.

"…You're hunting down the Brigands Guild too? Why? What do those foreign invaders have to do with the Oniwabanshu?" Yahiko asked both Aoshi and Misao.

"We'll give you more details down the line, but on a need-to-know basis," said Misao with a wag of her finger. "Tell us what you know about the Brigands Guild first, then we'll share our info."

Myojin harrumphed. "And what if I barely know anything about them?"

“Oh.” Makimachi crossed her arms. Under her breath, she cursed, "Dammit. Why did we waste our time stalking you then?"

‘Hell if I know. Nobody told you to stalk me,’ Yahiko thought to himself. ‘She really thinks I can’t hear her say that?’

To Yahiko, she said, "Look, if you have no info available, you don't get any info from us! Equivalent exchange!"

"All right. Fine. I have info," conceded Yahiko. "Should I go first? I presume you know who the Brigands Guild is."

"How did you learn about them?" interjected Aoshi, and Yahiko immediately obliged. The Okashira’s patience was probably wearing thin.

"I didn’t look for them. I was chasing after another group of villains then found them," he said, eyeing the silent man. "They were hired to kill a rich family in Yokohama with ties to the old Shogunate and is currently one of many influential oligarchs funding the Meiji Government."

“Ha. ’Oligarchs’. That’s a big word for you,” teased Misao. Yahiko rolled his eyes, which made her giggle, apologizing, “Sorry! I’m not used to seeing you act so serious. You were such a butthead before!”

“And you haven’t changed at all,” he said with a wry smile. A strained smile. ‘We just had a summer reunion last year. What are you talking about by ‘back then’?! You already forgot about me?!’

“Both of you,” Yahiko added, acknowledging the presence of Aoshi, who didn’t even nod at him in turn. He just stared and stood still like the statue that he was.

‘What’s his problem?’ he thought in turn. The Big Boss of the Oniwaban was too important to address a peon like him directly, huh?

Misao then said something about Aoshi—Yahiko wasn’t listening at this point. He only responded when the scatterbrained girl asked, “You were saying?”

“Yeah. Oligarchs. Rich dudes. I’m here to rescue some rich dudes as part of my training,” he revealed.

“Right, that’s why we just missed you when we went straight to Himura’s—” said Misao.

“—Kamiya’s,” Yahiko corrected without thinking.

“—No, no. Himura is Himura. I know he’s Kamiya Kenshin now, but that’s confusing to me,” Misao waved the notion off. “We went to Himura’s to talk to you about the Black Book, the Brigands Guild, and the ninja you killed.”

“Wait, wait. Slow DOWN,” Yahiko interjected. “What Black Book? Also, I killed a ninja? If that happened, I think I’d remember it.”

“…Oh! Um, um… Didn’t you kill the guy?” Misao corrected herself. “Takae Masahiro, does that name ring a bell?”

“I DIDN’T KILL HIM!” shouted Yahiko uncalmly, which made Misao raise her hand in surrender. “…What?!”

She then grinned. “There he is. There’s the Li’l Yahiko I met from before! Welcome back.”

Flustered, the teenaged boy turned away and muttered, “I’m not ten anymore.”

By accident, his eyes met with Aoshi’s. To his surprise, the man stared at him with that serene look of his. Like from a buddha statue. It kind of creeped him out.

Yahiko turned his attention back to Misao in time to hear. “The Black Book is a library full of government secrets that could be used to dismantle the Meiji Government,” with deadpan seriousness worthy of Aoshi Shinomori himself.

It took a minute for Yahiko to reply. “Wait, what does this Black Book have to do with me? Why did you want to talk to me about it?”

Aoshi answered for Misao, talking at last. “Battousai was unavailable, so we went to you for assistance.”

This made Yahiko even more confused than before. “Beg your pardon?” He then felt Misao slap him hard from behind.

“…Don’t you feel special? You were praised by Aoshi-sama!” Misao said. “We’ll be each other’s informants from now on. Don’t worry, we won’t interfere with your training or anything.”

“That’s fine,” said Yahiko as it slowly dawned to him the implications behind their words.

They Oniwabanshu didn’t want to involve the Kamiyas—Kenshin, Kaoru, and Kenji—and the rest of the Kamiya Kasshin School with what was probably a national-level incident to protect them.

Kenshin Himura was the unsung hero of the Bakumatsu who already saved Japan. Twice. The Meiji Government owed him a happy ending, and he didn’t owe damn a thing from them.

He deserved to retire happily ever after, especially in light of his sacrifices and war disease. Also, as the inheritor of Kenshin’s sakabatou, Aoshi recognized Yahiko as Kenshin’s successor.

“Aw, you’re blushing! Oh my! Don’t be shy now, Yahiko-chan!” Misao teased some more.

“Shut up,” Yahiko grumbled, looking at the ground and avoiding the stares of the Oniwabanshu pair. He then looked up and asked, “What else do you want to know?”

***

Meanwhile, before the showdown at Yokohama’s Chinatown…

Adopting the name of Satsuki Sakaguchi, the partly amnesiac blonde beauty of the Sakaguchi Dojo wielding the naginata ended up in Japan as a child during a particularly tumultuous time in Japanese history.

She was a lost child in a foreign land, barely able to speak English much less Japanese, with her parents or guardians or whoever long gone.

Lost. Or killed. She couldn't remember. All she knew from her earliest memories was fire, smoke, debris, yelling men, violence, and unmoving bodies.

Her memories of home in home were clear back then, and she had longed to return to Britain, the United States, or Russia (her adoptive family suspected she might’ve been Russian using a stolen English name) or wherever she came from.

Those same memories had faded along with the rest of her past, the only remnants of which was her remembering her name. Or at least what she suspected was her name: May Brooks.

Nevertheless, she had a new present and future ahead of her though. That with her rescuer, Genzo Sakaguchi, and the rest his family—now, her found family—the Sakaguchis.

Satoru, Nonoko, and Kyoko Sakaguchi. Along with their family friend, Chizuru Raikouji.

She couldn't help but long for her Motherland from time to time, but her Motherland ended up a faded memory now.

Her forgotten past was more about feelings and emotions rather than actual recollections fresh in her mind.

The Sakaguchis were everything she had and she'd do everything to protect them.

So too were the Minakatas, even though she wasn't as close to the whole family save for their beloved grandson and heir apparent, Kinta Minakata.

But still...!

She wondered where she originally belonged.

May Brooks became an English teacher teaching English to Japanese children as well as a Language teacher so she could better translate English thoughts to Japanese words and back again.

All because she kept clinging to the hope that she would discover the other part of her that kept her at arm's length with the rest of Japanese society.

She conversed with strangers like her, who shared alabaster skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair—that looked like the hair on maize (sweet corn) imported to Japan from America—like her.

As golden as cereal grains prior to harvest, her Japanese neighbors would say. They kept comparing her to a doll or mannequin who was enchanted to become a human girl.

Like Galatea from the Ancient Greek Myths.

Even though many of the Japanese were enamored with her beauty, it also made them feel distant to her, like she couldn't even interact with them despite her reassuring them of her friendliness and openness.

May felt flattered with how they treated her like a golden-haired goddess or, as the locals claimed, like Kannon or Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva and Goddess of Mercy in Japanese Buddhism.

However, it also made her feel distant from them in turn.

She should count her blessings though. Although she felt like a stranger in a foreign land she did not belong to, her found family made her feel home.

Thank goodness for her Japanese adoptive family, or else she'd feel lonely even in a crowd here in Japan.

They treated her like just another girl, as part of their family even though she had paler skin, brighter hair, and different-colored eyes from them.

It was normalcy she longed for. But was it? Why did she feel differently at times if she wanted it all along? It was a complicated feeling.

Then she met him. That man that made her question her own motives. Her own desires, wants, and needs.

The man that made her question her womanhood after all this time when she acted nothing like a woman as people saw women in Japan.

He made her feel things that left her uncomfortable. Dirty. Wrong. Like she was breaking a taboo.

She questioned if she was supposed to feel what she felt, or if she was betraying people for feeling that way.

His name was Takuto.

Who was he? The man that made May think, 'Maybe’.

Maybe May wanted to go out of Japan and seek who she was in Europe, England, Russia, or wherever she came from even though she owed her whole existence to her grandfather and his family.

Without them, she’d be in the streets dying or dead. Or in her homeland with other depressed orphans in some horrid orphanage because her parents were themselves dead.

She owed the Sakaguchis everything.

However, Takuto was able to do it. Go to foreign lands outside of Japan while she was stuck there in the Far East, working hard to become an honorary Japanese citizen.

She was being a naughty ingrate of a grandchild and it made her feel things.

She had thoughts she felt were forbidden but she didn’t know why. She didn’t also want to deeply explore exactly why they were forbidden, her mind going blank.

Life wasn’t like the folktales in books or plays. Not everything could be resolved and tied neatly with a bow.

She risked having her happy ending turned into a horror story if she kept thinking the way she thought.

She pushed such ideas aside for now. She had a class to attend to, but not as an English teacher.

For the time being, she was a iaido and kendo class instructor at the Sakaguchi Dojo.

***

Back to the present…

In the past, the former government spy was adept enough to confirm Yahiko’s suspicions that Kaoru Kamiya wasn’t killed by Enishi Yukishiro as revenge against Kenshin Himura killing Enishi’s sister Tomoe.

Yahiko second-guessed himself because even Megumi Tani, a trained doctor, said that the corpse of Kaoru they found was real and was her.

However, it was Aoshi who listened to Yahiko and agreed there was something afoot. That the chance that Kaoru was alive was, “Not zero.”

They dug up Kaoru’s corpse and the heartless Aoshi cut through her skin while all of Kaoru’s loved ones watched and prepared their hearts to sink.

Instead, Shinomori pulled out cables and wires. The body was a decoy. A marionette.

Yahiko couldn’t see afterwards as his tears flowed and he felt Tsubame embrace him and cry with him.

He also felt someone’s huge hand over his head, petting him like a cat. He couldn’t see who it was, but he recognized his voice. “You were right.”

That same voice now asked him, “Did you face off against the Ten Ken?” and Yahiko heard Misao also ask, “Who’s that, Aoshi-sama?” as the samurai kid’s mind went back to the present.

On his part, Yahiko nodded and said, “I faced off against Seta Soujiro and lost,” in all honestly, believing the Okashira could detect when he was lying.

Meanwhile, a sarcastic Misao said, “Oooh, how humble. Who knew you could admit your losses, Yahiko?”

Aoshi observed, “You’re telling the truth. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to name the Ten Ken.”

“There’s no point in lying to you about him.” By reflex, Yahiko held himself as the scars Soujiro left on his body flared in pain, like they were cut anew. “He’s overwhelming. As expected of Shishio’s prodigy.”

Instead of Misao teasing Yahiko again, saying “Prodigy” was quite another “big word” for him to know, she blurted out, “Wait. Soujiro…? NO WAY! You fought THAT Soujiro?! The psycho kid who won’t stop smiling and is faster than Himura???”

This woke Yahiko from his stupor. He jolted up and stared at Misao’s face after she also called Soujiro, “Psycho-Kid”. “So you met him too!”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “Me and Himura came across him at Shingetsu Village. He was one of Shishio’s strongest lieutenants. Kenshin faced off against him and lost.”

That was news to Yahiko. “Kenshin lost? That’s impossible. Were you sure? You mean he had a draw, right? Like with Aoshi. Or else he’d be dead.”

“What I want to know is how you didn’t die when you lost!” said Misao. “That psycho is no joke! He cut Himura’s sword in half and everything.”

Now wait just a darned minute. “Kenshin’s sword isn’t broken. It’s perfectly fine. See?” Yahiko took Kenshin’s sakabatou out of his cloth belt and drew it out for Misao to see. “It’s in one piece. Did he use another sword?”

Misao took a quick glance at Yahiko’s sword. “No, that’s not the same sword that Soujiro cut in half. Himura lost that sword and went to Kyoto to get another sword. The sword you’re holding is his new sword. His second sakabatou.”

Huh. Yahiko stared at the blade he inherited from Kenshin and said to himself, “I thought this was the same blade he used against Sano. Kuroagasa. The Oniwabanshu. Aoshi. Raijuta. Saito.”

With awe in voice, Myojin realized, “Kenshin even broke apart Saito’s katana with his one-of-a-kind blade. No, it’s actually two-of-a-kind. There was another sword that Psycho-Kid sliced apart when they first met. Like the monster he is.”

“He is a monster,” Misao said with the same amount of awe as Yahiko.

The boy then realized something. “Had Himura Kenshin not shattered Seta Soujiro’s sword too, he would’ve died against Shishio’s prodigy.”

Yahiko blinked back his surprise. “Well, see? Then Kenshin didn’t lose. It was a draw. I was the one who lost and almost got killed had Kenshin’s second sakabatou not save my life.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” said Misao. “Did you get a draw against Himura when you faced off against him, Aoshi-sama?”

Aoshi stared at Misao for a second and confessed, “I lost to Battousai,” which made her face melt like sun-soaked wax effigy that both frightened and amused Yahiko at the same time.

The Tokyo Samurai thusly scream-laughed at Misao in agonized hilarity.

“…Did you know why the Ten Ken was there?” asked Aoshi, which made Yahiko halt his guffaws.

After he caught his breath, Myojin informed, “Nope. From what I understand, he’s the friend of the local soba cook’s daughter. Oh, and the bodyguard of some big-shot politician.”

Misao asked, “Why’d you fight him then? You know you’re no match, right?”

Yahiko answered, “I know. But I wanted to measure how good I am.”

“But I thought you already knew you’re no match,” Misao said, “Like that time when you faced off a giant and his sword, convinced that Himura will come to save us.”

Yahiko didn’t hear her and reiterated, “I know, I know. I just wanted to know how far I’d go against the Ten Ken.”

“…One second?” she joked, and Yahiko grunted. She was getting on his nerves. “I know I’m not as good as Kenshin, so maybe less than that.”

“Huh. Really? Himura lasted a second against that monster you faced,” Misao confessed.

“Is… what?” That couldn’t be right. “Kenshin must’ve underestimated him. He could read the intent of his opponents and counter, so he should’ve easily…! No?”

Misao shook her head. “Himura couldn’t read Soujiro. Neither could I. Saito was there too, and he couldn’t either.”

***

Meanwhile, before the showdown at Yokohama’s Chinatown…

At the Sakaguchi Dojo, the army of liaisons of the Minakatas were barking orders at the students of the Musou Madden School, much to the chagrin of the headmaster of the school, Genzo Sakaguchi.

The grandfather growled at them in return for bothering the training drills of the dojo.

When the rudest and most entitled of the liaisons insisted they were under Tatsuya Minakata’s orders to pick out bodyguards like Tatsuya owned the dojo, Grand Master cut him off mid-explanation and said to take it up to Kinta Minakata instead.

Incredulous, the man interposed, “—Minakata Kinta? The nephew? Surely sir, you must be joking…!”

“No. I’m not. Go take it up to the young master and I’ll follow his lead.”

“Minakata Tatsuya-sama will hear of this!” he threatened to the unperturbed senior citizen.

“He is your boss, not ours,” said the fearless Genzo, repeating, “Take it up to the young master then we’ll answer to him,” which left the sputtering liaison leader nonplussed.

Eventually, the posse of interlopers left, leaving the students abuzz and complaining about them under their breath, only for the grandmaster to boom:

“Don’t make noise! Return to your practice,” and move to his cushioned seat while hobbling on his sword-cane he used as a (deadly) walking stick.

Genzo’s doting granddaughter, Kyoko Sakaguchi, helped her intimidating grandpa to his seat, hearing him say,

“Thank you, Nonoko. Kokyo… Kyoko. It’s all so tiring,” the old man grumbled, accidentally calling her by her mother’s name. “Let me rest of a little while.”

“Of course, Grandfather. We’ll take good care of you.”

“Hmph. Then do as you’re told and be a good girl, Kyoko.”

The polite young maiden smiled at her grandfather’s scolding, knowing the affection behind the words, and nodded in acknowledgement of his complaints after he sat and rested.

In the periphery of her vision, she watched the whole dojo’s atmosphere calm down and their students line up to focus on their drills.

Her father Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi (formerly Satoru Kudo because he married into his wife’s family) assisted training as well.

Satoru performed his job of patrolling the streets of an unfamiliar new precinct while taking breaks to do his part in training himself and his set of students in kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship).

In the background, she observed the school’s new “recruit”—more of a traveling kendoist from Tokyo named Yahiko Myojin—quietly training his own share of students.

“Yahiko-kun” trained them on the basics of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu to show how Musou Madden Ryu could counter the traditional swords style.

Myojin figured out the moves of Musou Madden Ryu and how it neutralized his kendo school—such as using Musou’s wider engagement distance—because he once faced off against the Sakaguchis’ top student, Kyoko’s sister Satsuki. A close spar that he lost.

Thusly, the humbled Yahiko gave free lessons in exchange of doing rematches against Satsuki Sakaguchi (born May Brooks) to assist their training against the threat of the Brigands Guild.

Speaking of which, Satsuki trained a second set of students who’d just finished their training with Yahiko on defense and counters.

They learned the basics of Kamiya Kasshin Ryu kendo (way of the sword) to counter with their iaido (way of the quickdraw). Kamiya Kasshin style was generic enough to function like many other traditional Japanese sword schools.

In turn, Satsuki taught the same students all the possible Kamiya Kasshin style kendo counters to Musou Madden stylie iaido so they knew what to watch out for, inside and out.

This should help their students become prepared in case the foreign Brigands hired or gathered local jobless ronin or bandits to form an anti-government army against the Minakatas Oligarchs in some sort of Political Blood War.

Kyoko herself took responsibility for the beginner class to teach the youngblood the basics of the Musou Madden, because she trained in the school long enough to learn the school’s ougi (succession technique): The Mangetsu O Tsuku Nari (lit. “Full Moon Shape”, but in usage it meant “Full Moon Slash”).

Speaking of which, Kyoko had actually met Yahiko Myojin much earlier before in Shinshu, when the whole village was under siege by a so-called Battousai Group led by Keisuke, a former abuser and unwanted suitor of hers.

Led by Keisuke, the gang of ronin and bandits took over the provincial town with their weapons, camping outside of it and taking food and items like they owned the place, prompting Kyoko to act.

The shy Kyoko had steeled her nerves to confront the Battousai Group’s forest camp with the sword skills she learned for self-defense from her grandfather.

Soon after, the wandering Yahiko arrived in the scene of the crime to see Kyoko covered in Keisuke’s blood, prompting a misunderstanding between him and her that she couldn’t resolve in time.

***

Back to the present…

“What’s Saito…?” began Yahiko, then he muttered, “I thought I was the only one. So even Kenshin couldn’t read Psycho-Kid’s motives or kenki. He could probably do the job of the whole Juppon Gatana by himself. Is he stronger than Shishio? Or maybe even Aoshi…?”

“HEY! Aoshi-sama could’ve figured that brat out! He’s a Master of Maai (Engagement Distance).”

“Kenshin defeated Aoshi twice. Kaoru taught me Maai too.”

“THE FIRST FIGHT WAS A DRAW! You said it was a draw earlier!”

“Did I? I forgot.”

The two children turned towards the mature Shinomori, who silenced them with a glower like a parent, sitting like the most horrific Buddha Statue ever created.

They were about to bow and apologize in tandem to the Bodhisattva--a person who had already reached nirvana but delayed moving to the higher plane of existence to save those suffering before him—when Aoshi the Merciful said:

“We were hunting the same documents as Seta Soujiro when we learned of your involvement. He was also after the Black Book.”

There was that phrase again. “Black Book”.

Meanwhile, Yahiko told Aoshi, “I went off to Shinshu because I heard rumors of an imposter Battousai leading his own group.” And Sanosuke’s family lived there, but they didn’t need to know that.

“Figures. You’re a Battousai Fanboy!” Misao grinningly remarked.

”Right back at you, Aoshi Fangirl,” Yahiko scowlingly retorted. “Stop being mad that Kenshin defeated Aoshi the first time they met.”

“STOP LYING! Aoshi-sama told me their first fight was inconclusive and he promised to finish Himura off the next time they met! It was a continuing duel!”

Misao then realized Yahiko had already turned his back on her. “STOP IGNORING ME!”

Yahiko finally mustered the courage to tell the person who gave Kenshin some of his toughest battles a joke.

“Only you can take being around someone like her all day, Shinomori Aoshi. You must be a saint, sir.”

To Yahiko, Aoshi answered, “It looks like the Battousai has entrusted his blade to someone dependable.” Misao then cried out “Betrayal!?” after the Okashira nodded and smirked.

Yahiko Myojin brightened up like the rising sun at the praise.

It'd been nearly six years ago since the Kenshingumi (Kenshin Himura-Kamiya and friends, basically) went toe-to-toe against the Tokyo Oniwabanshu (the original gang led by Shinomori—R.I.P. to everyone who sacrificed themselves to save Aoshi from getting ripped apart by a Gatling Gun).

When they first met, they were enemies. Now they were comrades. Yahiko just pulled the same trick Kenshin did on him, Kaoru Kamiya, Sanosuke Sagara, and Megumi Tani.

He made strangers turn into his most powerful allies with his magnetic personality.

This made the already flabbergasted Misao almost-faint. The kind of faint where she could still keep talking.

She croaked weakly. “Why is Aoshi-sama talking to you more than me?!”

Yahiko answered, “You can talk for the both of you so he doesn’t bother.”

“GO BACK TO TOKYO! No one likes you!” she screamed back. “AAH! You made Aoshi-sama chuckle! No fair!”

Aoshi then revealed that the Black Book was a library full of national secrets that could plunge Japan back to the bloodshed of another revolution.

This could destroy the recently established Meiji Government with an insurrection from the likes of terrorists like Makoto Shishio or rebels like the Hidden Christians of cult leader Shiro Amakusa the Second.

“How were they able to hide all that information from the shogun?” Yahiko absently thought, not expecting an answer. So he was a bit thrown off when he got one.

“They hid it along with the rest of the gathered info of the shogun’s enemies. Any outsider who accidentally came across the info without context won’t give it a second glance,” Aoshi answered.

After a long pause to digest what was said, Yahiko remarked, “Huh. That’s pretty clever,” adding, “Only a handful of people know where it’s hidden and kept track of it, right?”

“Correct. The Clans of Four Seasons kept everything secret in a language only they could read. Even among their fellow spies, the Oniwabnashu.”

Misao pouted. “…You two sure are getting along well, huh?”

Yahiko raised an eyebrow at that. “Huh? We are?” which made Misao just look more annoyed. ‘What’s her problem?’

She wasn’t jealous of Yaniko talking to Aoshi, was she? Silly girl. Only she could really talk to Aoshi. She was the only one who truly understood him because she was the Aoshi Whisperer.

"How did you know I ended up taking on the Brigands?" Myojin asked, referring to the recent duel he had with The Faceless, which he survived by the skin of his teeth.

"You were among the first to take them on," Aoshi answered. "Takae Masahiro of the Sanada Clan is part of the Brigands."

Oh. Shinomori meant someone else. Takae. The man who was after Kenshin but dueled with Yahiko and ended up saving his life by taking a bullet meant for him. He was part of the Sanada Ninja Clan.

“His son, Takae Kaita, is also part of the Sanada Ninja Clan,” Yahiko said. “Their clan serves as bodyguards for the oligarch family I talked about. The Minakatas.”

“So it’s confirmed. The Seiryu Clan has the protection of the Sanada Clan.”

Seiryu Clan? Yahiko overheard the Prodigal Son with the Brigands Guild about taking down the Seiryu Clan. ‘So the Minakatas are the Seiryu Clan…?’

***

Meanwhile, before the showdown at Yokohama’s Chinatown…

Kyoko Sakaguchi did the kata (choreography) of martial arts movements at a much higher pace than the beginners she trained could handle, forgetting herself in the rhythm.

Her mind continued to wander to the past, remembering her haggard harasser Keisuke screaming at seeing her, growling like a cornered wild animal and lunging when he got cut into meat cubes.

Kyoko unthinkingly let her Grandpa Genzo’s sword-cane fly as her body moved on its own because of her training, her tears mixing with the shower of her stalker’s blood.

The unpleasant memory made her nauseous. She didn’t realize she had blocked it from her mind till that instant, inside the dojo.

She also learned too late that her beginner students had long stopped mimicking her movements and watched her display, mesmerized beyond words.

Kyoko fully awoke from her waking nightmare when she felt her father Satoru gently put a hand over her shoulder.

He then quietly told her he’d take over her class and that she should rest aloing with her grandpa for the time being.

She obliged and attended to her grumpy grandpa’s needs. She’d done so many times before she could do it in her sleep.

Her father wasn’t as adept at swordsmanship as Kinta Minakata, who trained directly under Genzo’s tutelage himself, but they also trained together as partners even though Kinta was younger than Satoru.

While Kinta trained in offensive iaido under the Waxing Moon Phase Stance (iaijutsu stance that directly faced the opponent), Kyoko’s father studied defensive iaido using the Waning Stance (back turned to the opponent) that made him work like a hair-trigger landmine.

Using this as the foundation of Kyoko’s style, she was sent to Yokohama to complete her training under her scary grandfather Genzo.

Kyoko originally could not stand Genzo until she got to know him better. She attended him in exchange for swordsmanship lessons.

She also trained with an older gorgeous foreigner orphan girl she treated like a cousin that her grandfather adopted after the war—Satsuki Sakugchi, originally an amnesiac child named May Brooks.

Kyoko’s policeman father normally worked at the Nagano Precinct instead of Yokohama, but he was put in the new precinct under special orders of Kinta’s hatamoto-class samurai family, the Minakatas.

Her father Satoru, her mother, Nonoko, and Kyoko herself were uprooted from their home in Shinshushin Village at Nagano Prefecture by orders of the Minakatas too.

They now live under the childhood home of Kyoko’s mother, her grandfather’s Sakaguchi Dojo.

They now follow the rules of Genzo Sakaguchi—originally a blacksmith by trade and current patriarch of the household—to the letter. His word was law.

Kyoko’s smile turned to a pout as her eyes met Yahiko Myojin’s eyes, prompting him to give her a curt nod of acknowledgement that she returned in kind.

She remembered the humble village of Shinshu getting sieged again, which was the first time she met the younger teenager kendoist.

Kyoko ended up witnessing the Battousai Group massacred before her very eyes instead by the time she got there.

Much later, Yahiko Myojin saw her in such a distressed state, and she could tell he jumped to conclusions when he also saw Soujiro Seta—another family friend of the Sakaguchis—accompany her amidst a massacred gang of thugs,

“Seta-kun” was the bodyguard of the local eccentric Nagano politician Tetsuo Akahori, who was Kinta Minakata’s uncle from his father’s side, the Akahori Family.

“Yahiko-kun”—not “Myojin-kun” because Kyoko only caught his first name when she met him—picked a fight he knew he’d lose against Soujiro even though he should’ve known better, demanding answers.

He also called him “Psycho-Kid” because of his polite smile that never wavered, treating his teeth like the bared fangs of a wild animal.

So Yahiko kept poking the bear while the bear kept warning him to back off with his permanent smile and escalating violence.

The kid kept coming, and Soujiro acknowledged the tenaciousness of “Yahiko-san.” The kendoist’s blunt sword that cut on the inside curve like a farmer’s sickle also enticed Seta to keep attacking for some curious reason.

Myojin himself was too self-righteous for his own good, knowing Soujiro had the license to kill in an extra-judicial capacity while he served under a politician’s care.

Rather than become discouraged by the valley of skill between them and his killing privileges, Myojin took it as a challenge to keep going.

Or maybe even wipe the smile off of Soujiro’s face, like it was personally mocking him.

To her horror, this also encouraged Seta to oblige Myojin, making him swing and miss while he picked him apart from a distance like a cat playing with its food.

This forced Kyoko to do something she didn’t want to do—cross blades with the only young man her age she could talk to before he accidentally killed an innocent interloper in cold blood.

She also instinctively knew that she was no match against the bodyguard who reminded her of Mister Kinta in skill. Like they were equals.

However, she could perhaps save Yahiko from himself while betting on the Kinta-level swordsman’s mercy, knowing the Sakaguchis’ connections with the Minakatas and the Akahoris.

Then the two felt Yahiko’s fighting spirit. Soujiro wasn’t using his full abilities yet this Tokyo swordsman lay everything on the line for him, which made him want to go all out.

She could tell because she wanted to fight Yahko too.

A tiny part of her wanted to test her skill against the kid herself, although she was mostly concerned about the two hurting themselves over a duel that meant nothing.

The savage part of her upbringing who heard tales from her grandfather about swordsmen given the killing privilege to cut down any peasant who dishonored them.

The samurai would not get jailed in cutting off the head of anyone below their level that insulted them, wasted their time, annoyed them, or otherwise dishonored them or their name.

The timid Kyoko certainly thought about that lost privilege of samurai families when Keisuke assaulted her and injured her father who protected her

This only made Satoru see red and almost kill her assaulter who stabbed his leg but couldn’t stop getting throttled until he went blue and passed out.

She never saw her gentle father ever get that angry at anyone in her life, even when she did something naughty as a child and her parents had to scold her. Usually, her mother acted angrier at her than he did.

His temperament was more like hers, actually.

Therefore, although she didn’t approve of their duel over nothing, she understood why they wanted to do it.

As expected, Yahiko and his Kamiya Kasshin Style of kendo failed at every turn even if he did everything right, unable to catch the much faster Soujiro and his Shukuchi.

What was unexpected was Yahiko surviving an exchange that should’ve killed him or ended his swordsmanship career.

Instead of having a limb lopped off as he turned around, Yahiko instead countered Soujiro’s deep-cut slash by doing well-timed hammering swings from his blunt sword that could shatter bone.

***

Back to the present…

By the time the Oniwabanshu said their goodbyes and left him, Yahiko Myojin realized he was about to go to sleep in his lonesomed.

The bad news was that he got followed without him realizing it, which really showed how untrained he remained because Kenshin would’ve sensed them somehow (like he did Masahiro Takae).

The good news was that he was followed by allies and friends instead of enemies deep into the woods, which made him a lucky guy and showcased that there were people who had his back.

Also, he had a lot to digest regarding the information they exchanged. He didn’t get much out from them that he didn’t already know, but they did empty his brain out.

What few puzzle pieces they did give recontextualized everything he knew though.

They shared a common enemy but not a common objective.

The members of the Brigands Guild were jailed, but Yahiko had actually encountered other members, such as that the Wokou Pirates being led by one of the Brigands.

Or Takae the Invisible Ninja himself being a retired warrior who worked for the Guild too.

The police might’ve jailed some of the Brigands, but not all of them.

The Faceless might have backup up his sleeve, which explained why that Lucas fellow, the Prodigal Son, was so confident confronting his brother, Kinta Minakata.

Hmmm. Kinta Minakata, huh? The so-called Mimawari Battousai and the Kagemusha (Body Double) of Shogo “Shiro” Amakusa. Yahiko only met the man once or twice but he immediately identified his demeanor.

Kinta reminded him of Aoshi Shinomori.

Yahiko wasn't able to bring the fact up to Aoshi (it never came up), but he definitely would’ve told Misao about Aoshi’s twin from another (richer) mother who might be equally skillful with the blade.

Myojin couldn’t tell for sure. He hadn’t crossed blades with either but he did witness both in action against different foes (Kinta against his bastard brother, Aoshi against Kenshin).

Kinta and Aoshi were both sullen and mysterious warriors with dark pasts and connections with ninjas. Their single-minded focus in battle would’ve made them difficult foes against anyone, including the Legendary Battousai.

They were also both connected to the Shogunate’s Oniwaban: The protectors of the castles and the keeper of government secrets. The same secrets that the Four Clans pilfered for their own self-interests.

So Yahiko wondered to himself, ‘How do I compare to Aoshi Shinomori?’

When forced to take the life of The Faceless after he caught him unawares with his knowledge of foreign martial arts, Yahiko dropped the ball.

Aoshi Shinomori was around the same age as Yahiko when he became the Oniwabna “Okashira”.

So was Kenshin when he became shadow assassin “Battousai” of the Ishin Shishi patriots.

Could Yahiko cross the same threshold that Kenshin, Saito, and Aoshi crossed to become monsters who could end the lives of others when push came to shove? Or was he just like the coward Isurugi Raijuta. who was all bark, no bite?

No, that couldn't be it. The Kenshin that Yahiko met and admired was the one who saved him from a life of yakuza servitude.

However, did Yahiko have to shed blood and take a life in order to give meaning to having a non-killing vow? Because with Makoto Shishio, Kenshin was willing to make an exception.

To save the lives of others, Myojin had to be prepared to kill like the devils he knew if he had no other choice.

***

To Be Continued...

It has been years, but we’re finally entering the Clans of Four Seasons or Four Clans Saga. The first chapter is the Seiryu Clan.

The Sanbaka will also be facing off against the Byakko Clan, Suzaku Clan, and Genbu Clan composed of Edo Era spy families.

Danke,Abdiel

#rurouni kenshin #rurouni yahiko #yahiko myojin #aoshi shinomori #misao makimachi #best girl

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