Chapter 14

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Shinta couldn’t sleep that night. Something bad was going to happen he could feel it. He stood up and made his way through the house to the storage room. They had thought he hadn’t noticed them putting his past away in a box. Of course, it was no longer his past anymore; he had thrown it away willingly. It was better to live for the people around you than dwell in the past.

In that box was the object he wanted. A sword, he had a feeling he’d need it if he wanted to protect his family. He smiled narrowing his eyes as he pulled it out of the hilt slightly; the feeling of it in his hands was familiar. Good, he thought, how could he protect anyone if he didn’t know what he was doing? He frowned as he got a closer look at the sword. The blade was on the wrong side. He stared at it dumbfounded. What good would this do, he thought to himself. Anyone who attacked would just keep coming back if he didn’t kill them. He placed it back in the sheath with a click and placed it into the box once more, closing the lid without further ado.

Tomorrow he would stop by the weapon smith and have a blade made, with the edge on the right side.

Kaoru walked out on the deck with Enishi as the bustle of the crew was deafening. They had arrived at the port, and Enishi had said she could come out now. She smiled up at the morning sky. It had been months since she had seen the light of day, and the sea air was refreshing.

The seagulls cried with an annoying ring, but Kaoru enjoyed it to an extent, because seagulls were usually near land. Even though she could see the port town herself now, it was so close, she needed every affirmation that she could get. She could barely believe that they had finally arrived at their destination. Granted there would likely be more travel over the land itself, but even the air felt closer, it seemed to whisper the name that was most on her mind these last few days since they had first spotted land.

Enishi led her down the plank, his hand on her back, mostly to show that she was under his protection more than anything else. Kaoru glanced around hoping to spot that spiky bit of hair that lay atop her former student. She found him walking behind them a few feet and sighed in relief. She had been hard on him, but she really couldn’t have done anything else. He needed to know she didn’t approve… and also, he needed to spread his wings. In the state she was in recently, she could hardly help herself, much less her student. She looked ahead, hoping to find the future before her.

Enishi helped her up into the carriage, opening the door for him. When he turned around, Yahiko was standing there. Enishi had known the boy was following off the ship, had even expected it of course. He turned away from Yahiko abruptly, opening the door for himself and stepping up on the footstep.

“I don’t care what you do” He said simply “Just don’t get in my way.” He entered the carriage, closing the door behind him. Yahiko leapt up on top of the carriage, riding it as he had once seen Sanosuke do.

Kaoru stared past Enishi to the wall behind him. She had a ridiculous almost blissful expression on her face. Enishi looked at her in disgust, he knew exactly what she was thinking. Not as if it took any great thought to figure it out, it was written all over her face. He rested his chin on his hand and stared out the window at the passing scenery. It was going to be a long few days.

Shinta stopped in the middle of his chores to reach inside his clothing and finger his weapon. Something about it was comforting, and although he was hiding it from Sano and Wei Li, reluctant to make them worry, he couldn’t help but keep his hand on it whenever possible.

It had only been in his possession for a few days now, but he already couldn’t think of ever parting with it. This was something from his past that he was unwilling to let go, even though he had yet to discover the extent of his skill. He glanced over at Wei Li nervously as he withdrew his hand from the folds of his clothing. He sighed in relief and went back to cutting up vegetables for tonight’s dinner.

Yahiko’s mind drew a blank. He had been trying to conjure some idea of what would happen when Kenshin and Kaoru met once again, but it seemed to fail him. He shifted uncomfortably atop the carriage. This did not seem promising.

He could even recall that he had idea’s running through his head as to what might happen, less than a few days prior. He frowned, the closer they got, the less likely he felt that everything would be all right. And by the way that Kaoru had been floating about, she obviously thought the opposite. He sighed, he really shouldn’t be so apprehensive, and he was likely making all these misgivings up on shaky ground. He had no reason to believe that anything would go wrong. But still, that niggling doubt just wouldn’t go away.

They stopped at a hotel on the third day into land, only an hour or so from the house Kenshin had been staying at. Kaoru almost wanted to go right then, but she knew it would be better to sleep. She was about to retreat to her room when Enishi stopped her.

“I’ve got business to attend to elsewhere” he said lightly “I’ll be gone for the next month” he looked at her with his dead eyes, halfway concealed by his glasses. He hadn’t worn them most of the time on the ship, Kaoru just noticed then. He pushed them up with his two middle fingers and looked off to the side

“I trust that will be enough time for you to finish whatever it is you need to do here?” he asked, or rather more likely stated, as if it was in no doubt. Kaoru nodded, he was right, that would be plenty of time. She wondered vaguely why he was leaving when they had just arrived… Something didn’t compute, but she was positive he wouldn’t leave if he didn’t think everything wasn’t under control.

As she climbed the stairs to her room, she puzzled over his behavior. She didn’t like it one bit. She was sure that she would know the reasoning all too soon. Something must be wrong with Kenshin, she thought worriedly, but brushed the thought aside, Enishi had said that it wasn’t the case, and she believed him. All matters aside, she thought, entering her room, she needed some sleep. She would go see Kenshin in the morning… she remembered passing by an appealing looking restaurant just a block down the street. Well, maybe in the afternoon then, she revised as she settled down comfortably in her bed. Sleep came to her quickly.