Tanuki To Ryuu
Notice how these chapters are just popping out? This is for the
FFMLers... C&C Please!
Chapter 3- The Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu
After a week of careful constructive thinking and planning,
Kenshin finally came up with a way to watch over Kaoru as she slept.
It was a rather simple plan, actually. Kenshin settled into his normal
slouching position next to the door to Kaoru's room and rested the
sakabato against his shoulder. Now he was able to ensure no one would
attack Kaoru in her sleep Of course, if such an attack did happen,
Kenshin hoped Kaoru would be far more concerned that he saved her life
than the fact that he slept right outside her room/
***
Kenshin woke up bright and early the next morning. He stood up
and slid Kaoru's bedroom door open a crack. He looked inside and saw
Kaoru was still asleep. He silently thanked whatever kami looked over
him that night, then picked up his sakabato and slid the Kaoru's door
shut. When the door was fully closed, Kenshin turned and saw Yahiko
standing there with a surprised look on his face.
"Orooo" Kenshin sighed, "Yahiko, its not what it looks like,"
Kenshin said in a quiet tone.
"Geez, Kenshin," Yahiko replied with an annoyed look on his
face, "Just because I'm 10 doesn't mean I'm stupid. As long as you
didn't hurt her or keep her up all night, its fine."
Kenshin's face turned as red as his hair at Yahiko's statement,
but he decided Yahiko already made his evaluation of the situation and
it was too late to correct him. As he sighed in defeat, Kenshin
quickly walked in the direction back towards his room to change out of
his sleeping attire. "Yahiko, please let Kaoru wake up on her own,
alright?" Kenshin said as he walked back into his room.
"Alright, Kenshin!" Yahiko shouted back in response, then
whispered to himself "figures buso needs her beauty sleep"
***
Kaoru woke up later that morning and felt rather well rested.
The first few days after seeing that note tacked onto her dojo's doors
gave her quite a fright, but she wasn't too worried because similar
tauntings occurred when she first took over the dojo from her father.
The notes and threatening glances stopped after the first few months
when Kaoru established her abilities and defeated a dojo destroyer who
thought a kendo dojo with a woman master would have been easy pickings.
With a yawn, Kaoru got up and started to dress in her kendo
outfit. It was her day to guest instruct at the recovering Maekawa
Dojo. Kaoru took off her sleeping clothes and got her wrapping tape
out to bind her breasts when Kenshin slid her door open and announced
"Kaoru, breakfast is ready!" Kenshin then saw Kaoru at a state of
undress and turned red in embarassment.
Kaoru stood there for a few moments shocked, then covered
herself and screamed, "KENSHIN!" Kenshin quickly turned his head and
drew the door shut, stammering apologies.
"Oh gods, I'm sorry, Kaoru, I thought you were still sleeping!"
Kenshin said as he sat down, embarassed and slightly terrified. Behind
the door, Kaoru quickly dressed as she tried to ignore the flushed
feeling she had.
"Its alright Kenshin, but..." Kaoru said as she slid the door
open, dressed in her dojo clothes, holding a bokken in her right hand,
"don't let that happen again, got that?" Kaoru emphasized her point by
waving her bokken in Kenshin's face.
Kenshin nodded swiftly and replied "Yes'm!" with a slight look
of terror in his eyes. Kaoru regarded Kenshin slightly then smiled.
"Ok, get up already or breakfast will get cold when you get
there" Kaoru smiled at Kenshin and held her hand out to him. Kenshin
took her and and helped himself up.
***
After a nice, yet nervous breakfast, Kaoru instructed Yahiko for
a good two hours, then prepared to set out to the Maekawa Dojo to make
her usual weekly guest instruction. Kenshin helped her wrap her bundle
and was about to walk out of the dojo's gates with her when Kaoru
stopped him.
"Kenshin, aren't you forgetting something?" Kaoru said as she
raised one eyebrow, looking at him oddly.
"Oro? What am I forgetting Kaoru? I repaired the holes in
the dojo, swept the yards, and dusted the house." Kenshin said, puzzled.
Kaoru sighed and pointed out in the yard at the large trenches
that were made by that spider-guy when Enishi attacked the dojo. "I
still think that looks slightly strange, don't you?" Kaoru said in a
sarcastic tone.
"Ahhhh." Kenshin said as he walked over to one of the trenches
and regarded it with his observant eye. 'It would take me a few hours
to fill these in, but even then, she would be by herself for that long'
Kenshin thought. "Don't worry, Kaoru," Kenshin said as he turned his
head to face her, "They will be filled in when you get home"
***
Kenshin walked over to the Akabeko as quickly as possible with
one intention on his mind. He was carrying a change purse filled with
some of the coins Kawaji gave him just last week. Tae saw Kenshin
enter her establishment and smiled.
"Hello, Ken-san!" Tae said as she greeted Kenshin. "How can I
help you today?"
"Hello, Tae-dono. I was wondering if you can deliver some food
for dinner at the dojo and let Yahiko have the day off today? There is
some yardwork the dojo needs done. I'm prepared to compensate you for
pulling Yahiko on short notice." Kenshin said as he reached in his
sleeve and retrieved his change purse.
"I think we can negociate something" Tae said as she regarded
the hefty look of Kenshin's change purse. "But, if Yahiko has to leave
work, I think it would be best if Tsubame went with him. She can make
sure he gets the work done."
***
Kenshin stood outside the Akabeko with Yahiko and Tsubame and
one almost empty change purse in hand. Yahiko seemed slightly miffed
at being taken out of work so suddenly. "What am I supposed to do
again, Kenshin?"
Kenshin sighed and explained, "Just fill in the trenches in the
ground, that's all. Tsubame, make sure Yahiko doesn't goof off,
alright?" Tsubame seemed extremely nervous but she nodded. Kenshin
smiled at the two of them then ran off towards the Maekawa Dojo.
***
Back at the dojo, Yahiko was busy shoveling in dirt to fill in
the trenches. Like anything strenuous in life, Yahiko treated it like
training. Tsubame sat on the porch and watched Yahiko work. She
blushed slightly as she noticed how some of his developing muscles
showed through his sweat-soaked shirt. Every so often, Tsubame brought
Yahiko some water to drink or a cold towel to wipe his forehead, her own
way of helping him.
After a good portion of the day, Yahiko finally finished with
filling the holes in the ground and sat down, exhausted. Tsubame sat
down next to him and observed him curiously.
"Are you alright, Yahiko-kun?"Tsubame asked as she handed him
some more water. Yahiko took the water and smiled. He gulped it down
and wiped what was dribbling off his chin with his sleeve. Tsubame
giggled slightly at Yahiko's sloppiness.
"What?" Yahiko asked, unabrashed by his behavior. "Thanks
Tsubame-chan." Tsubame then noticed Yahiko was looking at her oddly,
and it made her feel jumpy and giddy at the same time. "Tsubame, I was
wondering if you might want to learn kenjutsu from Kaoru?"
Tsubame's eyes went wide. "M..me? But I'll be no good at
it!" Tsubame cried nervously. She looked at Yahiko's startled face,
then apologized. "I'm sorry, Yahiko-kun, but kenjutsu isn't for me.
I still like you though." Yahiko smiled at her.
"Ahhh, alright Tsubame-chan. I guess everyone can't do
everything." Yahiko looked down at his dirty sweat soaked clothes.
"Hey Tsubame, I'll be in the bath, alright?"
***
Kenshin sat patiently on a treebranch overlooking the Maekawa
Dojo's gate and watched the students leave as the lessons for the day
ended. He saw Kaoru leave after the last of the students and followed
her from a discreet distance. In some ways, Kenshin enjoyed following
Kaoru. It had some of the cat and mouse elements of hunting,
especially when Kaoru occasionally looked over her shoulder and Kenshin
hid from her view.
Kenshin made sure the distance was at the point where he could
rush to her aide if something occurred yet far enough where she would
not notice he was following her. Kenshin hid behind a tree trunk when
he saw Kaoru glance in the direction behind her again. In a way, he
was glad she looked over her shoulder so often when walking alone. It
showed she had a natural instinct of survival. Kenshin's eyes
sharpened when he spotted some people hiding in the trees ahead of
Kaoru.
***
The leader of this small Yakuza laughed as he saw his quarry.
'What a joke,' he thought, 'a woman! This will be the easiest money I
ever made'. He signaled for his small group to spring out and attack
their target so they could collect their fee.
***
Six men ran out of the shrubbery infront of Kaoru and six men
appeared behind her. Kaoru set her bundle down and took out her bokken
when she figured these men wanted to fight her. She dropped into her
usual fighting stance and removed all emotion from her face.
"You should withdraw," she said. The men chuckled and one of
them moved to attack. Kaoru jabbed the first attacker in the pit of
the stomach, effectively removing him from the battle. She then spun
around and hit another one that tried to attack her from behind in the
knee. Kaoru didn't let the attacker's sudden shock go to waste and
swiftly smacked her bokken against two more men, knocking them back.
When the yakuza started to get over their shock, it was too late and
Kaoru incapacitated the six men that blocked her way infront of her.
The six remaining, however, still believed they had a chance to defeat
her and refused to back down.
Kaoru evaluated her situation for a moment. She was lucky they
chose to place their strongest fighters infront of her, and that they
panicked when she attacked. The remaining six didn't seem like much of
a problem and she did have an avenue of escape open. She could either
run back to the dojo and fight them off in a running battle or stay here
and try to finish them. Kaoru decided that it was best for her to
stand her ground instead of opening her back by running.
***
Kenshin sat in a tree and watched Kaoru fight off what he
assumed were yakuza thugs, most likely hired by whoever tacked the note
on the dojo. He did not act yet because he rightfully assumed she
could easily take care of her own attackers by herself. He watched
Kaoru catch one of the attacker's sword in her left hand then jabbed her
bokken into the man's armpit, dislocating his right arm. She then
eased within one of her opponent's reach and jabbed her bokken's hilt
right into the man's jaw. Kenshin saw Kaoru let out a breath of relief
and drop her guard upon seeing all her attackers were defeated. Then
Kenshin noticed one of the attackers on the ground behind Kaoru trying
to stand up.
***
The Yakuza boss couldn't believe that his men were defeated by a
woman. Her strike in his stomach still ached and he could still feel a
puking reaction surge again from his attempt at standing. He noticed
the woman had her back to him in a relaxed stance. He gripped his
weapon tightly and leapt in action, giving off a fierce battleyell.
The attack never made it. A reddish blur rammed him into a
wall before he even got close to the woman. The Yakuza boss felt
extreme pain, slumped against the wall, but got a good look at the man
who hit him. 'Reddish hair... crossed scar' he thought as he faded
into unconsciousness.
***
Kenshin slid to a stop from his ramming attack and looked at the
other yakuza thugs and ensured each one was unconscious before he turned
back to see Kaoru glaring at him. "I saw him!" she said angrily. "He
could barely stand and I would have easily dodged that strike, but you
had to jump out, didn't you?" Kenshin stammered slightly, but Kaoru
didn't give him a chance to answer yet. "If you were following me, you
could have helped me when they first attacked me. Either help me all
the way or not at all!" Kaoru started to walk away when Kenshin
hustled next to her and started to explain.
"Kaoru, its just that the note on the dojo really got me
worried. It seems my fears were warranted, though" Kenshin said as he
gestured to the beat-up yakuza. "Besides, you seemed to handle them
fine until that last one got up."
"I said I saw him!" Kaoru shouted back. "And what about the
trenches? Are they filled?" Kaoru said, getting in Kenshin's face.
"Yes yes, the yard's done." Kenshin answered nervously, then
added 'I hope' in his mind. "And even if you did see him, you
shouldn't have relaxed your stance like that. You should have kept on
guard until you got away from the battle."
Kaoru shot a glare at Kenshin. "Oh, don't even try to make it
about that. You're sleeping in the equipment shed tonight!" Kaoru
started walking back towards the dojo and Kenshin ran after her again.
"Kaoru, wait! Aren't you worried? Someone's attacking YOU."
Kenshin made his emphasis by grabbing Kaoru's shoulders and turning her
to face him. Kaoru's head drooped down a little and she softly
shrugged his hands off her shoulders, then she lifted her head and faced
Kenshin.
"Kenshin, thank you for being worried, but you are making too
much of it." Kaoru said as she started to walk back home at a much more
reasonable pace. "This isn't the first time someone attacked me and my
school before."
"What?!" Kenshin shouted, outraged. "Who did? Where do they
live?" Kaoru giggled slightly at Kenshin's outburst.
"No no, Kenshin, its alright. Its part of the risk of being a
female kenjutsu instructor." Kaoru said, trying to reassure Kenshin that
it was nothing.
"Alright, Kaoru, but something about this seems a bit more
sinister,"
***
Kaoru and Kenshin got home at the dojo and upon opening the
gates saw a startling scene. Tsubame laughing, holding Yahiko's shirt,
running from an irate Yahiko running around with only his pants on
trying to desperately get his shirt back. "Yahiko!" Kaoru scolded.
"How could you bring Tsubame here just to 'play around'? She's an
innocent girl! What would Tae say?"
Yahiko looked and saw how strange the situation seemed. It
began innocent enough, and it was still innocent. Tsubame was cleaning
his shirt when he was bathing, but refused to give it back to him when
he finished. It quickly became a fun game of keep-away, but with him
half-dressed it didn't seem as innocent to Kaoru. "Kaoru! Its not
what it seems!"
Tsubame quickly handed Yahiko his shirt and blushed furiously.
"Please forgive us, Kaoru-san!" Tsubame said, bowing. Yahiko's
eyebrows rose and he quickly grabbed Tsubame to make her stand up.
"Be quiet, Tsubame! If you apologize, they'll think something
happened!" Yahiko said nervously. "Heh, Kaoru, really, nothing
happened!" Kaoru looked sceptically at both Yahiko and Tsubame, then
sighed in defeat.
"Alright, you two can go" Kaoru said, resigned. Yahiko quickly
put his shirt and and the two youths left the dojo. "Kenshin, I'm
going to bed, alright? Oh, and you still have to sleep in the
equipment shed." Kaoru pointed at the small shed as she walked into the
house.
Kenshin went into his room, to get his bedding and prepared to
sleep in the equipment shed.
***
The Yakuza boss limped back to the place he was supposed to meet
his employer. He fell on his knees as soon as he saw the man who hired
him, not at all amused. "You couldn't defeat a woman?" the employer
said, annoyed.
"She's a lot better than you told us!" the yakuza boss
protested. "Not to mention she had a protector. Don't worry, my men
can take her, we just need more time." The employer seemed
uninterested in hiring the boss's services again.
"What did this protector look like?" the man asked as he
unsheathed his katana, as he emerged slowly into view from the shadows.
"He had red hair and a crossed scar on his left cheek, and he's
faster than I've ever seen!" the yakuza lord reported. The shadowy
employer suddenly got interested.
"Battousai? Possibly," the strange employer pondered as he
stroked his katana. The Yakuza boss got a look of pure fright in his
eyes. "That makes matters interesting"
"Wait a minute! You hired us to kill the BATTOUSAI'S WOMAN?
I've got to get out of Tokyo!" the Yakuza boss shrieked as he tried to
walk away.
"You should not have turned your back on me, swine." The
employer said as he thrusted his katana straight through the back of the
man's skull. "I guess discrediting her was not enough. Next time, I
will get rid of that woman who defiles kenjutsu. Akiro?" the man said
over his shoulder. "Your turn is next."
The man behind the shadowy boss smiled as he rubbed the hilt of
his katana. "Thank you, my lord"
***
That's Chapter 3!
What do you think of Kaoru's new nemesis? What diabolical plans does
she have to impliment against Kaoru? Will Kenshin ever sleep in the
house again?
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