Rurouni Kenshin and Buffy are not mine. Watsuki Nobuhiro and Joss Whedon would 
probably have a cow or four if they knew what I was doing with their respective 
intellectual properties. 

Edodale 
(or, like, whatever)
By wombat 

Chapter 5

Kaoru bolted out of bed to shut off her alarm clock. She had set it much earlier than 
usual, and daylight was still only a greyish sort of hope on the horizon. Forcing her 
sleepy legs step by step, she got herself to the shower and just stood under the hot water 
for a few minutes, waiting to really wake up. Her father's death. The sakabatou. 
Battousai's sword. Kenshin. They were all connected, but how?

She shook her head sharply, sending water flying against the wall tiles. Why couldn't this 
be a bad dream, she thought forlornly, something her parents could soothe away with hot 
cocoa or tea and a childhood lullaby? Those carefree days were gone forever, sinking 
under the weight of black and silver swords. As the heir to the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu 
school, she had a duty now to protect her family. She had to be strong for their sake, or 
she might lose her mother and Yahiko as well.

Exhaling a shaky sigh, she gathered her wet hair and reached for the shampoo. At least 
here in the shower, there was no one else to see the tears washing away from her face, 
lost in the foamy water and disappearing forever.

Afterward, she left a note on the kitchen counter about going to school early. It wasn't 
really that far a walk, despite the schoolbus zoning, and the easy, repetitive motion made 
her feel better. When she stepped from the sidewalks across the grassy medians, her 
footprints left tracks in the dew.

Birds were starting to stir and flutter, chirping in the neighborhood trees, and the eastern 
sky was now an indeterminate color between rose and violet. It seemed familiar 
somehow. After a moment, she grinned in recollection-- Kenshin's socks!-- and then 
immediately slumped her shoulders beneath her backpack straps. She wondered how 
badly he'd been hurt the night before. She wondered if she'd have to kill him.

---

The hallway door to Hiko's workshop was locked and the lights were dim, so Kaoru went 
around to the main library entrance. Hiko was at his desk, tending his katana with a bit of 
oil and a soft cloth. He looked tired. Unwound silver wire lay crumpled in a crinkly heap 
like instant ramen. Wiping the blade to a final satiny sheen, he slid it back into its saya 
and reached back to store it behind a bookcase.

"Hey there. The convenience store down the street was open, so I brought some hot tea. 
Take one, I already drank mine." She set down the little cardboard box they'd given her, 
with a cup anchored by a slot at each corner. "The stuff in the middle is green tea mochi. 
They're almost as much fun as chocolate-covered coffee beans, but not as crunchy. 
Thought they'd make you feel a little perkier, anyway. Were there any problems with...?" 
She jerked her chin at the workshop door, not wanting to attach a definite name to him.

Hiko sipped his tea gratefully, nodding his thanks. "Once we arrived, I cleaned him up a 
bit to check on his condition. He's still asleep on my worktable, or was when I last 
checked. No serious wounds, as I thought last night. Cuts at the scalp always bleed 
enough to look worse than they really are. The rest is surface lacerations and bruising; no 
broken bones or anything of that sort."

"Do you think this could be a setup?"

"I don't know what to think at this juncture. But I've put ofuda on both sides of the doors, 
just in case."

"You didn't leave anything dangerous in there with him, did you?"

"Sano's box is here under my desk. And then there's this." He stood, stretched up to the 
very top of the bookcase, and brought down the black sword.

It looked different in full light, its dark blade so reflective that it had a strange illusion of 
translucence. The kashira was set with a large ruby, as Hiko had said last night, and there 
were other jewels set into the round hand-guard, the tsuba. Kaoru touched them, one by 
one: sapphire, emerald, diamond, and topaz, all four gems' facets winking among smooth 
teardrops of black jade. Hiko had already taped several ofuda to it. "I suppose it has its 
own saya somewhere," he said, "but for now this will have to do."

They heard a stirring in the workshop, and Hiko quickly replaced the sword to its former 
place, well out of Kaoru's normal reach, or Kenshin's. The worktable creaked, and then 
there were soft footsteps and the sound of water running in the sink. They waited 
patiently through the splashing and squelching, until finally Kenshin came to the door on 
their side, tapped lightly, and opened it. The ofuda fastened across the jamb fluttered to 
the carpet. 

"I beg your pardon if I'm interrupting anything, but I can't seem to find a good place to 
hang up my clothes to dry." He had put on one of Hiko's cleaner smocks, with only a few 
smears of clay, and rolled the sleeves well up into wide cuffs . He had also evidently tied 
a string around his waist to keep the hem from trailing, as the top bloused down in a long 
overlap like a kimono's, and below that, he was still wearing his predawn-colored socks, 
only slightly spattered with blood. In the crook of one elbow, he held his wet jeans and 
shirt all twisted together to wring most of the water out, but they were still dripping 
slightly.

"They'll dry quickly enough in the kiln room. No, stay here with Kaoru and I'll take them 
there."

Kenshin's face had only the ghost of its usual courteous, slight smile. His eyes were dark 
with fatigue and a bruise was starting to bloom high on his forehead, around the jagged 
wound. Almost shyly, he bowed his head to peer into the smock pockets until he pulled 
out one of Sano's wooden fishbones. He untied his damp hair at the nape of his neck and 
began to comb it out, wincing from tangles and sore joints. Eyes still lowered, he said, 
"Miss Kamiya-Summers, I'm very grateful that all of you helped me last night. If there's 
any way I can repay your kindness--"

"Stop calling me that."

"I regret if I have given any offense." He returned the fishbone to his pocket and tied up 
his ponytail again. "Miss Kaoru, then?"

"What were you doing out there last night? Why were those things trying to kill you, and 
where did you get that sword?" With an effort, she kept her voice as low and steady.as 
his.

"I do not wish to tell the story twice, so I should prefer to wait until at least Mr. Hiko has 
returned before I answer. I am sorry to disappoint you for now."

The library door opened again, but it wasn't Hiko. As he came in, Sano ineffectually ran a 
hand upward through his hair, which immediately flopped back down over his forehead. 
"Free breakfast! Yes!" he crowed at Kaoru before noticing Kenshin's presence. He 
bristled. "Back from the dead already? Or should I say undead?"

Kaoru handed Sano a cup of tea and a mochi, which occupied him enough not to say 
anything else for a while. Kenshin also took a cup and sipped it until Hiko returned with 
his clothing, mostly dry and steaming gently. He took the jeans and shirt and disappeared 
into the workshop to change into them.

"Has he provided any explanations yet?" Hiko asked, returning to his desk.

"He wanted to wait until you got back. Evidently Kenshin Storytime doesn't repeat in 
syndication."

"I see." He sampled a mochi. "My word. These must have been made with nearly as 
much green tea powder as rice flour."

"Yeah, it's like Jolt in chewy dumpling form. Have another, you look like you need it."

Kenshin returned, evidently having given up his gore-soaked shoes as hopeless, but 
otherwise dressed as usual. "Is there anyone else for whom we're waiting?"

"Megumi's busy at her shrine. We'll fill her in later," Kaoru said.

Hiko leaned back in his chair. "Well, Kenshin, the address and phone number in your 
student file appear to be false. I'd venture to say that your family name isn't really 
'Wyndham-Pryce', either."

"No, I'm afraid it isn't," Kenshin said apolgetically. "I've been taking my meals and 
showers here at school and sleeping in the cemetery, which is how I was taken by 
surprise there last night. I was foolish enough to think it would take them longer to 
find me."

"So why was the zombie hoedown trying to recruit you?"

"Oro?" Kenshin blinked for a second until Sano's phrase made sense to him. "Oh, I see. I 
don't believe they were sent to kill me. If I am interpreting events correctly, then Enishi's 
pawns were ordered to capture me alive with the sword, which I hope is in safe-keeping."

"Who's Enishi?" Kaoru asked. "And how did you get Battousai's sword, anyway? Did 
you steal it from him and Enishi, or what?"

Kenshin set down his half-finished cup of tea and leaned against the wall, more for 
support than from nonchalance. "Enishi, you might say, is an old acquaintance who 
wishes to become reacquainted. He was raised to become a temple priest and received 
further religious training in China. But as you saw, he has turned his knowledge to darker 
ends. As for the sword..." He took a long breath. 

"I acquired the sword when I was your age, by lifting it from the snow and plunging it 
into the demon warrior's heart."

Deliberately, Kaoru walked around Hiko's desk to Kenshin and struck him hard in the 
face. In the reddening imprint from her hand, a pale mark became visible on his cheek, a 
scar shaped like a cross. "So you are Battousai after all, and my father's murderer."

Sano was already poised to throw a metal razorfish at him, but Kaoru was in the way. He 
sent it flying into the wall next to Kenshin's head anyway, just for emphasis. Kenshin 
looked at the fish, then slowly turned back toward her. 

"You have no reason to believe me, but I had nothing to do with your father's death. And 
once I was Battousai, but no longer. I have not been Battousai for more than one hundred 
years, and I came here in search of the sakabatou in hope that its wielder would kill me.

"Now that Enishi and the others have returned, they want my sword so they can be 
restored to their full powers. This is why they've taken the sakabatou, and why they 
marked the face of your father and the others as a challenge to me. If I die, the sword will 
die with me, and the curse will end at last."

--

Kenshin was obviously in no condition to attend classes, and retired back to the 
workshop for more rest. Hiko creditably forged the voice of a worried parent to call the 
school office and tell them he was sick, but refused to do the same for Sano, despite the 
plea, "But I think I have a hangover from that rice ball last night."

"Kami chow is for healthy growing kami. Maybe it disagreed with you because you're 
spiritually stunted or something," Kaoru helpfully suggested.

"Watch it, or Friedrich the Fish here will give you a fin to the head." Sano pulled it free 
from the wall, brushing it to remove crumbs of plaster from between the bones. "So what 
do we do with him? Any way we can tell if he's lying?"

Hiko shrugged, yawning mightily despite the green tea mochi. "Megumi's ofuda stopped 
those creatures well enough, but have no effect on him. So either he's powerful enough 
that only the ofuda of a fully-trained priestess can stop him, or he's not any danger of 
that sort after all. And I believe the school is adequately warded to prevent further 
attacks, so he'll be safe here."

"It has to beat sleeping in the cemetery." Kaoru shivered, then sniffed the air. "Hey, do 
you smell something burning? Not like the kiln room, more like paper?"

They craned around until Sano spotted the curl of smoke near the ceiling. "Up there," he 
said, and pointed to the top of the bookcase behind Hiko's desk.

Hiko jerked his hand back from initial contact, then clenched his jaw and brought the 
black sword back down again, limiting his grip to the hilt's braided wrapping instead of 
touching any of the metal. The ofuda he had wrapped around the blade were beginning to 
smolder, their dark, curling edges fluttering apart into bright orange crumbs. He held the 
sword straight above Kenshin's unfinished tea to catch the falling sparks, and plunged the 
tip into it with the sound of a serpent's breath.

---

"Enishi, I can't see him any more. He's gone, gone into a place with pretty little butterflies 
on fire, too bright to look at. Make it dark again."

"Hush, love, I'll make things right. Everything will be the way it was, even if Battousai 
isn't our leader anymore. Jineh can do the job just as well, better even." In the half-light 
of their crypt haven, Enishi tenderly reassured his sister. Her old-fashioned kimono was 
sashed high at the waist, nearly as pale as the silver spikes of his hair. 

By contrast, the other woman with them was dressed provocatively, her neckline pitched 
far down enough to loosely expose both shoulders. "Jineh's such a loser. If we could get 
Battousai back with us again, that'd be wicked cool."

Enishi shrugged. "Battousai, Jineh, it's all the same to me, as long as my sweetheart here 
is well again. And then we'll have some fine times in the city again, won't we, my pet?"

Tomoe smiled wanly. "Oh yes. I remember the dinners we had there, with pomegranates 
and camellias all covered in blood. It was lovely. They turned the color of his hair, but 
now I can't see where he is."

"Shut up, you two, Jineh's coming back."

Their erstwhile leader returned with a few more corpses. He was disgruntled and muddy. 
"We've tunneled under most of this cemetery, and we still haven't caught him with all of 
your puppets. This plan of yours had better work soon, Enishi."

"Or what? You're going to stab me with a katana just like you did Battousai? Oh, I forgot, 
that won't work now, because when you did that, it bloody sucked the power out of all of 
ours, and we got dusted the same night. What good's the sakabatou going to do us anyway 
without him?"

"Hear me and obey!" Jineh thundered, and stormed away.

Yumi watched him leave. "Five by five," she said sarcastically.

-----

(Another talky chapter. Unfortunately, I don't think I have a good notion of Jineh yet, 
other than Generic Big Bad; neither he nor the Master had particularly distinctive speech 
patterns as far as I can remember. Oh well, maybe I should actually have one pseudo-
original character in this. Other than that, can't think of anything useful to say this time 
except that this chapter didn't take as long to write as I'd thought. Woohoo.)