[FFML] [yyh][ry][rewrite] Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 11: Over the Horizon (Part 5)

[Abdiel]

The ferry-girl's head swam. Disheveled blue hair clung to her face,
obscuring her pink eyes and confusing her vision as a hot, unseen wind
tugged at it in every which way. She looked up through the fog in front
of her and squinted at the blurry nothingness.

Botan floated in a dark emptiness somewhere beneath the reach of
consciousness, unaware of the passage of time. She was in a strange
nether zone between fantasy and reality, unwilling to move towards
awakening for fear of what she might find there. Loneliness threatened
to sweep her away, but she held firm, her expression unchanging, her
eyes fixed upon that... person. That strange, pony-tailed girl carrying
a wooden sword who suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

'Who is she, exactly? What's she doing? Have I gone insane?' Botan
wondered dazedly.

The ferry-girl stared, perhaps even ogled, at the strangely foggy
spectacle before her. The aforementioned girl she espied was currently
stalking a diminutive, red-haired swordsman coming their way. 

Botan soundly blinked as she spotted the cross-shaped scar on the
swordsman's left cheek. 'What in the world...? Kenshin! What's he doing
here? While we're at it, what am _I_ doing here? Where is 'here'?'

"Hitokiri Battousai!" the girl declared, startling both the wandering
swordsman and the shinigami. Kenshin stopped in mid-step and looked
behind him curiously, only to be greeted by a bokuto in front of his
face.

"At long last, I've found you! Your two months of bloodshed in the
streets ends tonight. Prepare yourself!" the young woman declared as
she went into a fighting stance. 

"Oro?" Kenshin exclaimed, his eyes bugging out.

"Kenshin? Killing people? Why, he wouldn't even hurt a fly!" Botan cried
out with the intention of telling the silly, stick-wielding teenager
off. But it seemed that the young woman hadn't even heard the
shinigami's proclamation of Kenshin's innocence. Thinking that the kendo
girl might be deaf, Botan raised her voice.

"I know Kenshin! He's a good, er, ghost! Sure, he was called the
Hitokiri Battousai once upon a time, but so what? He's a changed man!
From what I heard from a friend of mine, he's even willing to protect
_demons_ from harm! Heck, he saved _me_ from danger too!" Botan shouted
as she eyed Kenshin, waiting for him to back her up. To her chagrin, he
ignored her. 'What's with these people? Jeez!'

"Don't play innocent with me! Who else would ignore the edict and walk
around with a sword?" Kaoru all but shouted as she swung her bokuto at
Kenshin in full-force. The vagabond leapt away blindly, consequently
crashing into a fence and collapsing in a crumpled heap.

Botan started to sweat in exasperation. 'Always playing the goof; eh,
Kenshin?' The girl mirrored the angel of death's expression. "That
didn't take long... Hitokiri Battousai?"

Kenshin rubbed his head in sheepishness and pain. "I'm just a rurouni,
with no family or profession; a wandering swordsman. I just arrived in
town. I don't know anything about bloodshed in these streets--"

The girl looked flustered and confused. "Well then, how do you explain
this sword at your waist? Swordsmen aren't allowed to wear real swords!"

Botan let out a small squeal of surprise as the black-haired girl drew
the vagabond's sword from its sheathe and examined it. The strange
weapon's sharp edge was located at its back end--like a sickle--while
the blunt part was located at the front. 

'A reverse-edged sword?' Botan murmured. 'W-What's going on here?'


________________________________________________________________________


Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin fic
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/~abdiel

Iehik and Iehog continue their reign of terror on Botan and Kenshin.
Warning: Lots of flashback scenes.

________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 11: Over the Horizon (Part 5)
________________________________________________________________________



Time passed and Kenshin cast himself on the unruly currents of
reminiscence. That seemed natural enough. From what he gathered, this
was quite a common phenomenon during this sort of situation. 

There were so many events in his life that had helped mold him into the
person he was today, right at that moment. The massacre of his adoptive
siblings when he was just a child. His escape from death through nothing
but sheer luck. The first time he picked up a sword at Seijuro Hiko's
command. The first man he killed. The night he acquired the first half
of the cross scar on his cheek. Tomoe. The completion of his mark of
shame, etching permanently upon his face the price of love and life.

His forsaking of dealing out death as long as he was alive. Meeting
Kaoru Kamiya in Tokyo, and the slow return of his humanity under her
guidance and caring. Meeting Sanosuke, who was probably the truest
comrade he ever had. Meeting Yahiko, which gave him the chance to raise
someone the way he wished he was raised. Kyoto. Dying in Kyoto along
with Shishio. Being cursed for all eternity to be the guardian of a
demonic sword in order to make up for his past sins and his ultimate
failure. 

All throughout Kenshin's life, all he did was atone for the mistakes
that he did. Even after he died, he still kept on atoning for his sins.
In fact, even though his memories of his stint as a shinigami were a bit
blurry, he had an inkling feeling that the reason why he was exiled in
his sword was because he had made yet another blunder to atone for.
Nevertheless, he would not have it any other way. Indeed, there was no
life that was not full of errors. He was only human. 

He lay unmoving for quite some time until he heard what seemed to be
consecutive aftershocks of thunder rumbling in the distance. Upon
further deliberation, he realized that these strange sounds were less
like thunder, and more like the thudding hooves of a large animal, like
a horse or a bull. 'Strange.'

On the opposite direction from where Fujita went, a heavyset entity
approached the former rurouni. Kenshin raised his head--enough strength
had returned for that--roused from his reverie. He tore his eyes away
from the inane blanket of cold whiteness to look inquiringly at the
approaching figure.

The creature was barely perceptible because the darkness served as its
cloak of pitch-black robes. It appeared from the shadow's edge,
shambling towards Kenshin at a pace akin to a fast walk. It was hunched
over, making it hard to tell how large it really was, and the swordsman
could see none of its features. More importantly, it was headed straight
towards him.

Heedlessly, the hideous stalker pounced on Kenshin, smothering him with
a merciless barrage of swipes and slashes reminiscent of the redhead's
own feverish attack against Fujita awhile back. 

'It's not human. It's some kind of demon! A powerful one!' Kenshin's
hakama ripped as he barely dodged another one of its strikes. 

Kenshin bobbed down under one of the behemoth's swipes and executed a
blisteringly fast battou-jutsu strike--his specialty--not holding back
in the least despite his lack of energy. Unfortunately, his sword
clanged on something twisted and hard, like a bundle of steel coils or
chitinous armor. Fortunately, to the redhead's relief, it creaked under
the Youtou Shinnoken's edge and eventually gave. The monster took a step
back, paused for the briefest of moments, then resumed its tireless
assault.

'At least it's reacting to my attack,' Kenshin assessed, noting
balefully that his sword-ki was still at a minimum level. His strike was
immediately countered by a draconic claw that came out of nowhere,
catching him in the abdomen and emptying his lungs of air in a single
exhale. He was sent sprawling backwards by the sheer power of the blow.

Kenshin trembled as he stayed down on the ground, his belabored
breathing and heaving chest thankfully indicating that he... or rather,
Yusuke... was still alive and well.

The creature, for some unfathomable reason, picked that particular
moment to applaud Kenshin's efforts, its mocking, contemptuous claps
echoing in the empty, frosted cliff. It then ambled towards a nearby
mound of snow and picked up some sort of person-sized bundle on the
ground. 'What's he got there?' Kenshin absently wondered in between
ragged breaths.

A short and portly demon, resembling a mutant midget of some sort, soon
came into view just as the larger, more horrifying beast cradled the
bundle in its arms like a newborn infant. Thoroughly disturbed, Kenshin
found the whole scene strange, sick, and wrong.

The smaller youkai grinned maliciously at Kenshin, its eyes perfectly
round and seemingly drilling into the spirit guardian's mind as they
glinted a malevolent light.

Comprehension dawned in Kenshin's own eyes. "Y-You!" he mouthed, his
voice a mere whisper. 

"Yes, me." The diminutive one's simpering, fanged smile widened. "Me
and _him_." He turned to his hulking comrade-in-arms. "Do you still have
the girl?" he asked.

Kenshin clenched his fists. 'What girl?' To his surprise, he finally
heard the fearsome entity speak at last, its voice so low that its words
were almost garbled beyond recognition. "She's right here."

"Excellent, Iehog. It's always good to be prepared, and nothing says
'prepared' like a hostage or two." Iehik threw his head back and began
to cackle. It was a demented, chirruping laugh that went on for much
longer than should have been possible without needing breath. "Finally,
everything's falling into place. It's about time we took our fate into
our own hands." 

After catching sight of the duo's hostage and recognizing her for who
she really was, Kenshin suddenly didn't feel very tired at all.


***


The first coherent thought to enter Botan's mind as she came to was, 
'Wait, what was I doing again? Where am I? Sheesh, I'll be forgetting my
head next!' The ferry-girl blinked as she tried to remember what
happened to her.

While she was unconscious and dragged around like a sack of potatoes
care of the brusque Iehog, her astral projection separated from her body
and went straight for Keiko's ghost. How she managed to rescue Yusuke's
maybe-could-be girlfriend and the rest of her misadventures in the
Spirit World was a story for another time, though.

She made a clucking sound with her tongue. 'Well, so much for the rumor
about the fruit of knowledge's ability to cure forgetfulness! Heck, it
seems like I've become even _more_ forgetful than before. My mind's all
fuzzy.' She breathed a sigh of relief. She was perfectly glad that she
didn't have to open the Pandora's box that was her past life. She
rubbed her blurry eyes, focusing them on the ground where a smoldering,
bright-red fireball caught her attention. 'Great! A fire! That's just
what I need. It's so darn cold out here. Brrr.'

Her vision, as well as the haze in her psyche, soon cleared. 'Hey, wait
a minute. That's no fireball. That's... hair!' Her heart skipped a beat
at the sight. "K-Kenshin's hair! I mean, KENSHIN! What the heck are you
doing down there?" she exclaimed. She soon faced the opposite direction
and quirked an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Botan? Is that you?" Kenshin's wild, purple eyes widened in shock and
horror. "Botan!" 

But Botan wasn't paying attention to Kenshin's summons, her mind
temporarily lost in its own thoughts. 'Down _there_? Hey, if he's down
there, then what am I doing... up... here...?' Her gaze slowly drifted
upward, towards the most repulsive thing she had ever seen in her entire 
afterlife. She shrieked.

"Er, hi!" Iehog anticlimactically warbled as he waved idly at his cargo,
Botan, and ruined the horrifying effect he had going for him. Not at all
heeding her captor's friendly greeting, the ferry-girl began kicking and
screaming at the hideous beast, shouting, "Let go of me, you overgrown
mutant, scaly, furry, yucky, THINGY! I MEAN IT!"

"Pipe down, bitch. I'll bash your head in again if you don't," Iehog
suddenly raged, the air of his fearsome presence retuning as his deep,
rumbling voice went an octave lower. Botan fell silent instantly; even a
shinigami's fearless attitude towards death buckled under the aura of
primal fear that Iehog generated. She bit her lip; it was all she could
do to keep herself from screaming as feelings of terror and deja vu
engulfed her. 'Wait--Deja vu?'

A muffled scream that insisted to be freed rose from Botan's covered
mouth as she struggled to escape Iehog's grasp.


***


The ferry-girl had been following the misadventures of the still-alive
Kenshin, the strange kendo girl he seemed enamored with, an old
manservant that looked oddly familiar to the shinigami, and a supposed
fake Battousai for what felt like days. She figured out long ago that
she was viewing Kenshin's past life, but she had no idea why or how this
was happening at all.

The girl Botan currently espied was reading a newspaper as a warm cup of
tea simmered beside her. Without warning, the cup suddenly cracked: a 
recognizable sign of a bad omen.

Kaoru. Yes, Kaoru Kamiya was the girl's name, Botan wordlessly confirmed
to herself; though for some strange reason, an unexpected vision of
unbearably cute, shape-shifting raccoons filled her overactive
imagination. How peculiar. 

'Who is this girl anyway? Was she one of the countless lost souls I've
ferried across the Sanzu no Kawa while working as a novice ferry-girl a
century ago? Hmmm. No, that can't be right. I was still recovering in
the Elysian Fields during that time, and I'd only really started my
duties some fifty, at most sixty, years ago, so I couldn't have met her
before then! Still--'

Botan derailed her mental tirade as Kaoru looked down at the broken cup
in noticeable concern. "Uh-oh. The cup just cracked by itself," the
raven-haired girl affirmed the obvious while the blue-haired girl could 
only raise a blase eyebrow at her ancient counterpart's... unnerving
nonchalance. 

"Miss Kaoru," Kihei suddenly beckoned, startling both the visible Kaoru
and the invisible Botan into jumping in flabbergasted unison.

Just as Botan fruitlessly swung her wooden oar at Kihei's head in
reflexive fury, the paddle passing through the old man as if it weren't
there at all, Kaoru stuttered, "Y-You startled me, Kihei!" her mouth
agape as her trembling left hand went over her palpitating chest. "What
is it? What do you want?" 

Kihei chortled softly as he held up a piece of paper in front of the
kendo master. "Actually, it's about the sale of the dojo." Upon closer
inspection, Botan observed that the paper was actually a deed of sale. 

Kaoru exhaled laboriously; she'd already had this conversation with
Kihei before. Patiently, she clarified, "Kihei, I've said before that I
don't intend to sell the dojo--"

"Actually, the papers are already being settled," Kihei cut Kaoru off
brusquely as his artificially congenial and self-satisfied smirk nearly
split his face in half. 

The intense look in Kihei's eyes startled Kaoru, and she found herself 
taken aback by her manservant's unexpected forwardness and gumption. A
look of uncertainty and betrayal slowly marred on her lovely features as
she quietly queried, "Kihei?"

"I just need your seal," Kihei insisted as he continued waving the deed
in front of Kaoru's face. As if on cue, the large, beefy 'Battousai'
swordsman from before, as well as a group of other random thugs and
fighters, appeared outside the door behind him. "And then the property
will be ours!"

"You traitorous old FART! You sold her out!" Botan growled angrily at
the arrogant old-timer as she forgot herself, her albino-pink eyes
flaring in seething rage. "After everything she's done for you? Dammit,
you're no better than that big-headed Iehik snake--!" 

The shinigami stopped herself cold, feeling as if she were on the verge
of an epiphany of sorts. But she had no time to think; things were
happening way too fast for her to fully comprehend the reality behind
the dire turn of events.

"You...!" Kaoru shouted as she got up from her seating position,
immediately recognizing the humongous leader of the sword-wielding gang
of swarthy ruffians.

All eyes turned to see the humongous figure that had emerged from the
doorway. He was a huge man; six-seven in height and at least two hundred
pounds of muscle. He sported massive, tree-trunk arms and legs, as well
as a curtain-like beard of sorts that made him look as ugly and fearsome
as sin itself. He wasn't wearing any armor, but his muscular build was
so intimidating that it looked like it could shatter a sword's edge on
it like glass. On his shoulder lay an assassin's sword-cane blade twice
as thick and long as normal.

"Oh, my pardons! I haven't introduced this fine young gentleman yet. He
is the head of the Kiheikan, Hiruma Gohei; my younger brother," Kihei
stated with a hint of pride in his voice.

Kaoru turned and snatched up the wooden sword from the rack behind them
while Botan mused about the irony of not being able to put two and two
together earlier on in regards to Kihei and the Kiheikan. Hindsight
would do that to anyone, of course.

"Oh please. Let's be civilized about this," Iehik rationalized affably
to the now-armed Kaoru. "I really don't like this kind of thing. I'd
rather do it legally, but you were close to discovering my brother's
true identity. Playing the good-tempered old man to gain the trust of a
woman living alone all went according to plan, but even though you
turned out to be a good-natured sap, you were still stubborn about
kenjutsu."

"Kihei," Kaoru whispered, which prompted Botan to give the distressed
girl a weird look.

"So then I used my brother to stir up some trouble and dishonor the name
of the school. The fame of Hitokiri Battousai was just what we needed.
Although the presence, or even existence, of the legendary manslayer was 
unbelievable, stories of his incomparable strength have been told for
years. Thanks to him, we have the events of the past two months.
According to my calculations, the government policies of 'culture and 
enlightenment' and 'westernization' should have boosted the land value
by five or six times. A kendo dojo is simply a waste of space."

"Kihei..." Kaoru reiterated, which compelled Botan to scream, "Oh, for
the love of...! JUST WHAP THE OLD GUY WITH YOUR BOKUTO AND BE DONE WITH
IT, OKAY?"

An extensive, palpable silence hung across the dojo as Gohei lumbered
over Kaoru's direction until he was standing no more than three feet
away from her. "My brother says your motto is 'the sword that protects
life'." He looked down at the smaller girl with enough contempt shining
in his two eyes for any ten men. "Interesting. But here, the only one
who needs protection is yourself."

Botan shuddered for a moment, a sudden memory of the monstrous Iehog's
vacant and predatory eyes bubbling to the surface of her mind. This man
was like that, only perhaps worse. For a mere human, there wasn't the
faintest hint of compassion in his eyes. All they held was hunger and
rage. Still, regardless of the imminent danger, the emboldened Kaoru
remained where she was, her bokuto ready and waiting to strike.

"If you won't come to me, I'll go to you," Gohei avowed as he drew his
own blade out.

Kaoru lunged forward, but Gohei blocked her strike with his bare hand.
Leering at his hapless adversary, the large man bellowed, "Just as I
thought! A woman who believes this nonsense can't possibly fight." He
pushed Kaoru and the wooden sword away, took hold of his own steel
sword, and sliced downward.

Botan distraughtly attempted to impede Gohei and Kihei's invasive
rampage, but she knew deep down that her actions were all for nothing.
This vision before her was but a mere memory, a shade of the past that
was presently replaying itself inside her mind, and trying to interfere
with its proceedings was as pointless as attempting to change the result
of a videotaped event by the force of one's own will.

Kaoru instinctively blocked the strike with her bokuto, which was sliced
in half. Gohei then picked her up by the front of her shirt, snarling,
"My goal is VIOLENCE! My essence is KILLING! That's what kenjutsu is all
about!"

Like a sniveling rat, Kihei breathlessly took hold of Kaoru's thumb,
nicked it with a small knife, and pressed it to the deed. "That's it.
The land is ours. The Kamiya Kasshin School is _no more_!"


***


"Iehog. Release her." The unsaid threat behind the swordsman's voice was
readily obvious, a hint of golden fire slipping into his indigo eyes
after he saw the monster's aura of terror render the ferry-girl
completely paralyzed; or so he assumed, anyway. The person he had a
psychic bond with was _Yusuke_, not Botan, after all. 

"Long time, no see, Mister Guardian of the Demon Sword," Iehog remarked 
mockingly as he lifted the trembling Botan up on his bulging shoulders.
"Don't you think so, big brother?"

"Indeed, it's been a while, Himura Kenshin. Or should I say 'Himura
Battousai?'" Iehik asked as he cackled gleefully. "The time has come,
Iehog! The time has finally come! He shall now get his comeuppance!" 

"Yeah, and he'll get what's coming to him too!" Iehog proudly flexed 
both his scaly, reptilian arm and his furrier left arm. "Hot damn, big
brother! Just look at me now. I'm a STUD! That scrawny little runt
doesn't stand a chance!"

"Now, now, Iehog; we've already underestimated Battousai once before,
and we can easily see that, at this point, he's still very much capable
of handling Genbu-sama at the very least. Don't take him too lightly,
brother," Iehik lightly admonished his titanic sibling.

Kenshin gingerly got up to his feet, his eyebrows furrowed in slight
consternation. "You only witnessed a fraction of my power when I first
fought against you two. Don't get any funny ideas."

Iehik choked back another peal of trite, hackneyed, and megalomaniacal
laughter. "Ah, but of course. You have no idea just how intertwined our
fates truly are. Well, I really can't blame you; after being stuck in a
cave for several decades, even the sharp mind of a forever-earthbound
ghost such as yourself can start to play tricks on him."

"My memory is just fine, thank you. What I don't understand is why you
two have such a vendetta against me," Kenshin surmised as he kept his
eyes trained on Botan's lithe, shivering form while Iehog kept her
captive in a fireman's carry of sorts. "More to the point, I'm not
exactly sure what it is you intend to do with me in the first place. At
first, you came into the Sealing Cave to merely steal the Demon Sword
and increase your power, but now you're attempting some sort of pithy,
cockamamie scheme to... what? Kill me?" 

"Kill you? Please," Iehik snorted as he waved off Kenshin's assessment
with a chubby, clawed paw. The wizened demon's jaundiced eyes afterwards
lit up in comprehension and understanding. "Oh. I see. You haven't the
slightest idea what you really are, have you? You also don't know why
you've been awakened _now_ of all times, do you?"

The portly demon mockingly wiped off a crocodile tear beneath his left
eye. "You don't know who you really are, save for some vague memories
from your past life; oh, you poor thing! I bet you don't even know why
the Demon Sword had been put to 'sleep' in the Sealing Cave in the first
place!" 

For the first time in a long time... even when disregarding the fact
that he had technically been slumbering in a cave for the past few
decades or so... Kenshin had no ready answer, query, or pontification
to the allegations hurled at him. He was at a loss for words, more so
than when Genbu ridiculed him for being a mere ghost stuck in figurative
limbo, because he knew deep down inside that Iehik was telling the
truth.

Kenshin Himura was a man lost in time. To him, days had no meaning. He
would have wasted away if not for the fact that he was already dead yet
'living' inside some sort of magical artifact, pursued by man and demon
alike. Nevertheless, in partial disbelief of the supposed truth, the
swordsman challenged Iehik's contention by demanding, "How can you two
D-Level youkai possibly know who or what I am? Why should I trust you?"

"I admit, we mere _C_-Level demons have been leading a largely nomadic
existence throughout all our lives, straying to and fro from Makai to
Ningenkai in pointless abandon," Iehik snorted derisively as he made his
feelings known about Kenshin's purported use of 'D-Level' as a 'racial'
slur of sorts. "Still, one way or another, we somehow kept getting
sucked into this Youtou Shinnoken business over and over again, whether
we wanted to or not. Hell, if I didn't know any better, I'd say all this 
hullabaloo about that damned cursed weapon had something to do with...
our fates, or even our destinies, almost."

Iehik's eyes waned into thin slits of cunning, intelligence, and out-of-
place wistfulness as he resumed his lengthy, raspy diatribe, not caring
in the least that he was giving his injured quarry ample time to
recuperate while he rambled on and on; his soliloquy was something that
he felt he had to get out of his chest, as though by talking about it,
he'd somehow make sense of everything in his life. 

"It became our passion, Iehog and I, to find more and more about the
Legendary yet Infamous 'Demon Sword'; to the point where we actually
became experts on the subject. For example, did you know that once upon
a time, your sword actually had a nobler purpose than to simply increase
the power of any demon who gets a hold of it? It was supposed to be a
'zanpakuto', a demon-cutting sword reserved for the very best of the
Spirit World's Shinigami and Bouetai; that was, until it fell into the
wrong hands and earned an entirely different reputation altogether. And
thus the Demon Sword, from merely being a sword that slew demons, took
on a whole different purpose and became a sword used _by_ demons! Oh, if
you only knew about the countless, senseless massacres committed through
that sword of yours!"

Kenshin was definitely taken aback by _that_; he always had a slight
suspicion that the reason behind his sword's sealing was far less
righteous than Koenma would purport. Though the details surrounding the
events after his death were a bit blurry, he was fairly sure that the
Spirit World Prince had no intention of creating an artifact using his 
swordsman's soul for the sole purpose of mindless violence.

Iehik grinned a fanged, sinister smile. "Judging from your worried
expression, I gather that you now understand the gravity of your dire
situation. The Demon Sword is a corruptible loose canon of a Reikai
Artifact; even more so than the Legendary Orb of Baast, the Mirror of
Forlorn Hope, or the Shadow Sword of Demonic Transformation. That
ruthless side of yourself, the notorious Battousai, was the very thing
that made the sword grow to be so unpredictable; _he_ and his murderous
nature is the reason why the sword was sealed in a cave for Chojin-sama-
knows-how-long." 

Iehik started to walk in a manner eerily similar to how Koenma walked
during the trial for Kenshin's soul. "Can you still keep up, son? Iehog
and I, by now, have become renowned experts on all things regarding the
Demon Sword; which was why Chojin-sama specifically hired us to find and
retrieve it. We were supposed to steal the sword and do with it as we
pleased. I admit, the promise of increased power backed by the
Overfiend's unlimited resources was sorely tempting. Still, though that
plan didn't exactly 'pan out', we still managed to stay in the big
picture somehow."

Iehik gestured his chubby little hands in wide arcs to help demonstrate
his point. "Do you get it now, spirit? We're merely completing our
current mission for the Chojin--and our own life's mission as well--by
getting a hold of that damned sword of yours, by hook or by crook. We
don't need to kill you; all we really need to do is damn your pathetic
soul by corrupting your sword in every way possible. That is our sole
purpose in life, our ultimate DESTINY!"

Iehog frowned at Iehik apprehensively upon deciphering his older
brother's rants and raves. "WHAT? That's IT? That's our sole purpose in
life? To corrupt some wimpy-looking samurai to hell? That... that SUCKS,
big brother!"
 
"Now, now, little brother: there are worse fates than _this_. Ours is
but a lonely one shaped by revenge and unrequited anger, is all," Iehik
articulated, nodding sagely to himself as he waved a clawed finger at
his frustrated sibling. "Oh, by the way, Battousai-sama, we just saw
your policeman friend arrive a short while ago. Seeing your current
state right now, I'd say it's safe to assume that you two have already
met."

The demon sniggered heartily. "You've now been severely weakened by
fairly powerful beings, and your half-demon 'host' seems to have run out
of power to keep your corporeal form intact. All these little things
will make our job so much easier, and our revenge so much sweeter."

"Revenge? For what? For escaping your grasp and keeping the Demon
Sword away from your grubby little demon hands? Then it's Yusuke-dono
whom you should take revenge on, not me," Kenshin reasoned, thoroughly
confused by the shorter demon's constant edification and desultory
dialogue.

"Well, you're wrong about that," Iehik smirked as he shook his head and
sniffed arrogantly at the redheaded ghost, his tone like that of a man
speaking to a child who had totally missed the point. "You really don't 
understand a thing, Himura Kenshin. Aren't you wondering why I'm so
familiar with you now of all times, while during the time we met at the
Sealing Cave, I acted as if I didn't even know you at all? It's fate! I
remember you now! You are my closure, my loose end, my final frontier!
Ah, but you still don't understand, do you? Very well. It doesn't matter
whether you know the truth or not. What's important is that we finish
our mission, and fulfill our destiny. IEHOG!"

"YES, BIG BROTHER!" Iehog, under normal circumstances, was already
quite the terrifyingly hideous creature from the get go. Today, he had
somehow managed to surpass even that. While he wasn't as Brobdingnagian
as an mountain-like, super-sized Genbu, the transformed Iehog was
nonetheless intimidating in his own right--perhaps even more so.

With an inarticulate roar, Iehog threw Botan towards Kenshin and opened
his humongous maw, unleashing a steady stream of black jaki fire unto
his prey. The swordsman was blasted clear off of his feet just as he
desperately caught and shielded the ferry-girl from the destructive
wave of negative energy. 

'A-An energy blast...?' Kenshin dazedly pondered before he fell on the
ground in a muddy heap, shivering at the sheer intensity of the ebony
miasma that burned through his ethereal skin. Botan tumbled just a few
feet away from the simmering guardian spirit.

Despite her understandable fears and reservations for Kenshin's safety,
Botan's eyes sparkled in animated comprehension once she started putting
two and two together in regards to Iehog's newfound powers. "KENSHIN!
That was the Mei-Kou-Shou-Kai-Ha! That was Byakko's attack, remember?"
she eagerly called out to the prone swordsman.

"Wha--HEY! Shut up, you BITCH! You're ruining all our plans!" Iehik
sputtered, surprised that the shinigami was able to figure things out so 
quickly. He desperately tried to grab hold of the impertinent wench,
doing all that he could to silence her, but seeing that he was at least
a foot shorter than the ferry-girl, his awkward attempts at maintaining
the status quo were all for naught.

"I remember now! Before these creeps knocked me out cold, they were
scoping out the carcasses of Seiryu and Byakko. That coward Iehog is
simply borrowing those two dead Shisejyu's abilities while passing them
off as his own! HEY! You did NOT just TOUCH my BUTT, you PERVERT! BAD
TOUCH! BAD TOUCH! SUFFER AND DIE, YOU DARN, LECHEROUS MONKEY!" Botan
seethed before she started repeatedly whacking the troll-like Iehik with
the business end of her boat paddle in righteous indignation.

"Mei-Kou-Shou-Kai-Ha, hmmm? I see." Kenshin nodded to himself in mute
understanding. This time, he knew what to do. His only hope now, he
reckoned, was to go on the offensive and build up the pressure. He
roared a battle cry, his kenki independently flaring anew despite
Yusuke's lack of energy, and pressed his attack as Iehog worked his way
towards him again.

Without wasting his breath to broadcast the name of his technique,
Kenshin immediately launched into the Sou Ryu Sen, purposely pounding
his foe twice with the concussive battou-jutsu strikes. He fought on the
inside, pressuring Iehog with closed-quarter combat and not letting him
move in a comfortable enough distance to launch the Mei-Kou-Shou-Kai-Ha.
The behemoth staggered and howled amidst the assault, giving ground
under the might of the swordsman's superior skills. 

The ruthless brute lashed out defensively, cutting a deep gash in
Kenshin's right arm at mid-strike. He followed it up with a backhanded
blow that caught the swordsman on the head, breaking the rhythm of his
attack and sending him staggering backwards. Kenshin tried to counter
with a quick Ryu Kan Sen, but was met with another jarring blow on the
chest. He flew backwards like a rag doll, slamming into a tree and
shattering the wood with the force of his impact.

That was exactly what happened, except for the whole 'flung like a rag
doll whilst shattering wood' part: Kenshin had already faded like the
ghost that he was by the time the abomination started the rest of his
counterstrike. Taking advantage of Iehog's momentary confusion, Kenshin
crouched low and dove into the youkai's abdomen, cutting precise spots
on its exposed underbelly with surgical precision. 

Iehog shook his mane and roared a throaty bellow that caused even more
dirt to shake loose and tumble onto the former vagabond. His previously
unseeing eyes afterwards blinked back into painful self-awareness

Iehog knelt in the crater made by the impact of the explosive rupture of
his blood vessels, his body crumpled, his stolen arms outstretched. For
a seemingly never-ending moment, he was frozen in a world of
unbelievable shock and agony.

"YES! You did it, Kenshin! You beat Iehog!" Botan applauded the former
manslayer after dispatching the shorter Iehik with a quick swing of her
wooden oar. "BANZAI! We make such a great team, you and I. Say, weren't
you and the Demon Sword supposed to be a Reikai Artifact used by us
shinigami? Well, I'm a shinigami too, so maybe I can fool around with
your sword sometime! Uh, wait, that didn't come out quite right--"

Kenshin smiled, turned, and opened his mouth to say something in
response to Botan's good cheer when the air was split by a blood-
curdling shriek. It was a primal scream; a cry of pure torment that 
seemed to carry on for perpetuity before it was suddenly cut short.

"You've meddled in our affairs for the last time, _shinigami_," Iehik
gravely informed the shell-shocked Botan as he used his psychic powers
to simulate some sort of Kanashibari mind-breaking technique upon her
person. "It's about time you made yourself useful and served your true
purpose for being here; as _bait_." 

Botan's ki turned black. The air grew cold around her as her body
frantically tried to fill the void in her soul with warmth from her
surroundings. There were some voids that couldn't be filled, however;
some problems that kept returning after they were solved; second chances
to make a bad decision.

"BOTAN!"


***


Just then, amidst a proverbial, dramatic hymn that couldn't possibly be
heard by anyone present, a trembling thug appeared in the Kamiya dojo's
doorway; not exactly the person Botan was looking for. 'DAMMIT!' she
cursed.

"Huh? Nishiwaki? What're you doing here?" the slightly vexed Gohei
demanded, caught completely unaware by his subordinate's unexpected
visit. "Did something happen in Kiheikan? Hey, what's wrong with you?
Speak up, man!"

"...Strong! S-So strong...!" Nishiwaki mumbled before he shuddered and
collapsed like a shanty's flimsy roof, revealing the red-haired, cross-
scarred vagabond from behind him.

"It's the rurouni!" Kaoru and Botan both gasped in relieved chorus, as
though the weight of the world was suddenly lifted from their shoulders.

Kenshin turned towards the girls and scratched the back of his head
shamefacedly. "I'm sorry I'm late. I heard the whole story from him."

"You again," Gohei spat as he callously tossed Kaoru aside and leveled
his sword at the diminutive wanderer. "Seeing as how wimpy-looking you
are, you're probably with the girl on this 'sword that protects life'
thing."

"No," Kenshin declared austerely. "A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the
art of killing. Whatever pretty words you use to speak of it, this is
its true nature. What Kaoru-dono says are the words of one who has never
dirtied her hands; an idealistic joke."

"You..." Kaoru started, bristling with halfhearted displeasure as Botan
attempted to calm her down in trademark Kenshin fashion--right down to
the reassuring hand gestures--even though it was all probably in vain
anyway. The ferry-girl would go crazy if didn't at least _pretend_ that
the people around her could see her.

"But I like Kaoru-dono's idealism better than kenjutsu's true nature. If 
it's not too much to ask, I would want the world to accept this joke as
its true nature," Kenshin justified further, allaying Kaoru's hot temper
and making the harried Botan wistfully smile.

"Urk. How lame. You guys make me sick." Gohei rolled his eyes, turned,
then asked his older sibling for advice. "Brother, you don't care if I
kill him, do you?"

Kihei harrumphed. "No. He's in our way. Have your men turn him into
mulch."

"Well, you heard the man! Go on, get him!" Gohei more cooed than howled;
subsequently, his collection of thugs and gangsters did just that,
moving en masse towards Kenshin with conceited insouciance, feeling
completely secure in their superior numbers and perceived sword skills.

"Run for it! You have no chance against them all!" Kaoru worriedly
called out to Kenshin while Botan did the exact opposite and screeched,
"KICK THEIR BUTTS, Kenshin! Make 'em run back to their mommas!"

"I don't want to cause a lot of unnecessary injuries. All those who
don't like visiting the doctor should retreat now," Kenshin warned,
though it was completely understandable why the hooligans in front of
him didn't back down a single inch. A short, girlish-looking man with an
effeminate voice and disarmingly genial demeanor was currently claiming
that he could take them all down with his blunted little sword; a
yapping Chihuahua would probably look more dangerous than him. 

"There aren't going to be any injuries! Just one death!" one of the men
retorted, thus setting up another cosmic instance of irony.

Kenshin blurred and moved like a whirlwind through the group, taking
down everyone in his way. Like the steady flow of a river against rocks
that found themselves stranded in the middle of its torrential current,
the number of blows added up and wore the men down. Large purple bruises
formed on the part of their chests that were bared. Welts then appeared
on their arms from the number of times Kenshin had sneaked a blow in
when they tried to hit him with one of their own. Even their legs were
starting to go limp from the number of times Kenshin struck them.

What was even more amazing was that everything happened in the span of
a few seconds. "H-He's taking out four or five with each strike! Is...
is it sorcery?" Kihei hissed, acting as if he were experiencing a live
birth in reverse.

'No, it's not sorcery. It's speed!' Kaoru and Botan simultaneously
appraised, the latter more certain of Kenshin's mind-boggling abilities
than the former.

'The speed of the sword, the speed of his body, the speed of reading his 
opponent's moves--he's using them to bring down as many as he can with
the least possible movements! Who is this guy?' Gohei reflected ex post
facto; an eye blink later, and every last one of the Kiheikan's elite
fighters had been laid out on the floor.

"I forgot to say one thing," Kenshin remarked as he quietly replaced his
sword into its scabbard. "Hitokiri Battousai's style of fighting is not
that of the Kamiya Kasshin School. It's an old style of kenjutsu that
arose in the Sengoku era, designed to face many opponents at once. The
name is Hiten Mitsurugi. And without the reverse blade, it is slaughter
with deadly swiftness."

Kaoru's knees buckled underneath her as she whispered, "No. So you're
the Hitokiri Battousai. Wait, so I was right from the very start? Huh."

"Fascinating! You were hiding your strength the other night!" Gohei
salivated like a rabid dog, feeling strangely exhilarated by Kenshin's
revelation.

Kenshin flinched at Gohei's sordid display of enthusiasm, closed his
eyes, then shook his head sadly. "I'm not like you. I don't like
violence. But now I regret that I did not destroy you that night."

"You've got guts, but that's just plain arrogant." Gohei raised his
sword high. "The world doesn't need two Battousais! The name should
belong to ME!"

Just as Gohei was about to strike, his target seemed to disappear into
thin air. From on top of him, the younger Hiruma heard a voice say, "Up
here." The gigantic swordsman froze in terror--and then the world went
spinning as a heavy weight crashed into his back and onto the floor.
Before he could even exhale, much less scream, and in a lesser extent
look up, Battousai dealt him a powerful blow from above, smashing him
through the dojo's wooden boards in dramatic fashion.

"I have no fondness for the name of Battousai, but I will not pass it on
to a man like you." Kenshin turned his attentions towards Kihei. "You're
the only one left. As the mastermind of this plot, your punishment
should be more severe. The edge of the reverse blade--" He flipped the
sakabatou around. "Shall we try it?"

Kihei fainted; Kenshin then took the deed from the old man's grubby,
wrinkled hands and tore it up. "Like all tricksters, he seems to have a
coward's nature." The vagabond afterwards gulped, steeled himself, and
faced the bewildered Kaoru Kamiya. 


***


"BOTAN!" Kenshin screamed, his eyes turning amber as he withdrew his
Youtou Shinnoken from its enchanted sheath and jumped straight for
Iehik; in his mind's eye, a brief flashback of Jine Udou freezing Kaoru
Kamiya's lungs and making her slowly suffocate played itself over and
over again inside his psyche.

Even though he wasn't able to utilize the full power of the Battousai
for the sake of a duel with Goro Fujita, he'd damn well do so in order
to protect his loved ones. 'I will not fail. Just like in the past, I'd
die first before I let anyone hurt the ones I care about!'

Time seemed to slow to a halt for the swordsman as he lithely
somersaulted behind Iehik, catching the witless youkai completely off-
guard. The wizened old monster didn't even get a chance to look behind
him, much less flinch in terror, as the mighty Demon Sword descended
upon his exposed cranium, its blade custom-tailored to slice through all
sorts of demons with speedy precision that defied both logic and reason. 

"BIG BROTHER!" the paralyzed Iehog cried out in anguish a moment later,
not quite sure what exactly happened to his precious older sibling, but
panicking all the same once he noticed that something was wrong.

However, in the corner of Kenshin's eye, just as the kaleidoscope flash
of afterimages so typical of the guardian's speediest attacks started
to form, a cloaked figure covered in shadow suddenly appeared and stole
the sword-strike's thunder with a surge of black malevolence. 

'Who is that?' Kenshin asked himself in alarm.


***


"I'm sorry, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said softly in the hopes that it would
settle Kaoru down, his tone full of sincere regret and guilt. "I didn't
want to deceive or hide from you. My true identity was just something I
didn't want to talk about if I could." Hearing her lack of a response,
he turned and slid the door leading outside open. "Excuse me."

Kaoru waited for all of five seconds before she stammered, "Wait... w-
wait... WAIT ONE MINUTE!"

Kenshin did a hesitant double-take. "Oro?" 

Strangely enough, Kaoru's attention wasn't directed on Kenshin at all.
It was currently aimed at absolute nothingness, on something that wasn't 
supposed to exist in that plain of reality in the first place; i.e., the
self-proclaimed "Loveliest Death Angel of All the Spirit World", Botan.
"Hey! Blue-haired girl... Yeah, I'm talking to you, Pink Eyes!"

'Pink Eyes' blinked soundly, then sweatdropped. Trite and hackneyed as
these actions were, blinking and dropping sweat were exactly what Botan
did at the time. "Whaa?" she mouthed before she let out a panicked squeal
as Kaoru took hold of her wooden oar and pointed it at her neck. "Huh?
HUH? Y-You can SEE me, K-K-Kaoru... san?!"

"Oh-ho! So you thought you can hide from me, eh? Little Miss Pink and
Blue..." Kaoru accused as she slithered her way into Botan's personal
space with a disturbing cackle, wielding the awkward-looking boat paddle
like a long, wooden version of a naginata. "But you CAN'T! No, no, no,
no... No. Don't speak, _listen_," the relatively younger girl shushed
after spotting a flicker of resistance in the aged shinigami's eyes.
"I've been watching you, and I've seen some fairly disturbing stuff from
you and your 'exchanges' with the vagabond, you li'l harlot!"

"...Stuff? 'Exchanges'? _H-Harlot_?" Botan squeaked incredulously just
as Kenshin slid the dojo door shut and apprehensively made his way
towards the mentally 'unhinged' Kaoru. Of course, it was only natural
that it was now _his_ turn to sweatdrop; it just wouldn't be proper
otherwise. "Er, Kaoru-dono. Who are you talking to? And, um, maybe you
should get some rest. It's been a long day."

Kaoru took one look at Botan, then at Kenshin, then at Botan again, then
put a dainty hand over her mouth to hide her laugh. In a singsong voice,
she related, "I knew what you did during the time Kenshin first got to
see Modern-Day Tokyo; it was real cute, the whole 'Welcome back home,
Kenshin!' thing... but that shtick should have been mine, and _you_
totally ripped it off, you flirtatious TROLLOP!" She moved in closer,
which prompted Botan to move back a couple of more inches. "I've had
this funny feeling about you two from the get go, and let me just say
this outright; FORGET IT! Hands off _my_ KENSHIN!"

"Um, when did you find out about my name? I haven't given it to you
yet," Kenshin ventured curiously, going into full 'peacemaker' mode as
Kaoru continued to close in on the empty space in front of her; the
empty, embarrassed, and furiously blushing space, to be exact.

"Eh?" Botan reacted most interestingly to Kaoru's words, her pale face
shifting to variegating shades of red; from embarrassed pink, to fuming
scarlet, to indignant burgundy. "I-It's not like that at all! I mean,
Himura-san's a nice guy and stuff, b-but... I don't think of him _that_
way! NO! Nuh-uh. An affair between a ferry-girl and an earthbound spirit
simply won't cut it in Reikai!"

Kaoru stared at Botan with half-lidded eyes. "So he's 'Himura-san' now,
isn't he? Well, _Kenshin_ already has enough ex-girlfriend issues as is,
and I for one have no intention of becoming his Yukishiro Tomoe number
two!" she imparted as she tossed her pony-tailed hair to the side and
thrust her finger in front of the ferry-girl's nose.

"...." Kenshin elucidated, floored and nonplussed by the non-sequitur
mention of his former fiancee.

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Botan protested as she
did her best to keep her distance from the sword--well, paddle--wielding
madwoman. 'This isn't happening! I must be going crazy! Just who is this
girl anyway? What does she have to do with my life? Why am I remembering
her memories, and dreaming her dreams? She couldn't possibly be part of
my repressed past; she just couldn't!'

Kaoru flicked the tip of Botan's nose with the finger she used to
silence her. "Pay attention, sister. Listen and listen well: The only
way I can possibly forgive you for your trespasses and out-and-out
flirting with _my_ Kenshin is for you to--" And so Kaoru Kamiya
dispatched her final ultimatum on the cowed shinigami.

Botan couldn't believe her ears. "Huh? Come again? I didn't catch that
last part--Oh, and the first part too." And so Kaoru Kamiya leisurely
repeated what she just said syllable-per-syllable, leaving no room for 
doubt and confusion on Botan's part.

The ferry-girl tilted her head to the side as she clumsily shifted on
her sandaled feet. "Oh, is that all? I'd ask why, but... Eh. Whatever."
The death goddess shrugged, coughed primly, inhaled, then incessantly
chanted, "Iehikiehikiehikiehikiehikiehikiehikiehik...!" over and over
again.

"Now say the name of that other guy; the big, bulky demon that can merge
with other monsters." Not bothering to ask Kaoru how she knew of Iehog,
Botan merely complied to the girl's wishes, renewing her mantra with a
fresh peal of "Iehogiehogiehogiehogiehogiehogiehogiehogiehogiehog--"

"LOUDER! I can't _hear_ you!" Kaoru commanded, her arms crossed in
defiant audaciousness.

"IEHIKIEHIKIEHIKIEHIKIEHIKIEHIKIHEIKIHEIKIHEIKIHEIKIHEIKIHEIKIHEIKIHEI!"
Botan squeezed her eyes shut, screeched her throat ragged, hacked like a
cat, doubled back, and resumed, "IEHOGIEHOGIEHOGIEHOGOHEIGOHEIGOHEIGO... 
Goheiehog. G-Gohei... Iehog. Kihei... Iehik. Gohei. Kihei. Iehog. Iehik.
GOHEI. KIHEI. Oh my...!"

Botan's pinkish eyes widened in sublime, uplifting comprehension as her
long-awaited epiphany finally happened. "Those bumbling demons that
Kenshin fought _are_ Hiruma Gohei and Hiruma Kihei! GOHEI AND KIHEI ARE
IEHOG AND IEHIK!"


***


To be Continued...

Next: Iehog and Iehik.

First off, the thing Iehik was blabbering about in regards to the
Demon Sword being an instrument of destruction is purposely vague.
Was he citing a rumor about the sword? Did what he said happen
after Kenshin was first sealed by Koenma? You'll have to read on
to find out. Secondly, the flashback parts are obviously taken
wholesale from Maigo-chan's translation of the Ruroken manga, so
much props to her as well as to Watsuki-sensei.

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro
Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV and St. Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the
rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. 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.

Paalam!
Abdiel