Written: 18 January 18, 2006
Posted: 18 January, 2006, rev. 0
Category: Drama.
Summary: Katsura returns Kenshin's swords, found after the battle of Toba-Fushimi, to Hiko. The master must deal with the unknown fate of his pupil.
Disclaimer: The characters and story of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shonen Jump, et al. Used without permission. This work is for entertainment only, and no profit is intended

A Slice of His Life: Adoption VIII

I hold his swords.

I feel as though Bishamonten himself has slammed both of the hilts into my gut, hard.

They found his swords. Sheathed. Planted tip-down in the bloody ground at Toba-Fushimi.

He is gone, whether to the afterlife or a new one, no one can say.

This is left: a stone cylinder, a feather, some strands of long red hair, and a set of daisho. These are the momentos of Himura Kenshin, my baka deshi, the delicate little child with the tender heart and the killing ki.

There are legends and hatreds, fears and bitterness, that commemorate the Hitokiri Battousai in the fearful hearts of a thousand men across Japan.

But only here, on our household altar, do the memories of a gentle, stubborn, sweet and deadly boy linger.

I turn the blades of the daisho so the live edges face outward from the shrine, hilts to my left. I will not offend the ancestors with the threat of weapons. I have failed to guard his spirit in life. I pray they will shelter it in the afterlife.

I lay them carefully across the altar cloth. I think I lay my guts out with them.

Katsura Kogoro, his commander and destroyer, remembered me from something Kenshin said. He returned the swords, by way of a solemn messenger. Katsura had the good sense to send only that it was impossible for him to express his feelings on receiving the report of the finding of these blades.

Which was wise, because any sympathy from the bastard who destroyed my deshi, heart, soul, and body, would have required that I slice him into very, very minute pieces. Slowly.

I wanted to hate the child. I thought I put him behind me.

But I hold his swords. I hold my memories.

Or his memories hold me.

Owari


Glossary
Baka—idiot, dummy, stupid, fool
Bishamonten—Japanese god of war and warriors. Also commands two classes of spiritual beings and demons, the Yasha (Yaksa) and the Rasetsu (Raksha).
Daisho—set of two swords, consisting of the wakizashi (short sword) and the katana (longsword, restricted by law to samurai only.
Deshi—pupil, apprentice, disciple
Ki—spirit, essence, presence
Owari—The end