Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters
by Akai Kitsune
79: Mura
~*~
Kenshin
spent nearly five full years of his life in the city of Kyoto, and decided
that his job, while unpleasant, had nothing to do with his dislike for them.
Well, perhaps it contributed
a little.
He felt compressed, trapped
in large cities, being far more comfortable in the isolation he had grown up
with in the village of his birth and his master's mountain. The labyrinth of
collective buildings and the people within them left him lost and confused.
He adapted, of course - there
was very little he could not get used to over time - but his first few days in
the vast metropolis set his head spinning and his comrades laughing at his
expense.
If pressed, he would be
forced to admit that he favored the open countryside, empty and free of the
confined quarters a city presented to him. To walk upon a lone, unrestricted
road, without walls or boundaries, was far preferable to his tastes.
Not to say he was picky; he
often took whatever life brought him, resigned and uncomplaining.
As such, Kaoru's offer to let
him remain at the dojo for as long as he pleased was a very great gift in his
eyes.
The city
of Tokyo was very different from the Kyoto he remembered of years ago. The
bustling capital of new Japan was a thriving land, full of vitality and hope
for the future. Everyone seemed to carry a bright smile on his or her face.
'Except, perhaps,'
he corrected himself with a long sigh, 'The poor, the sick, and the
criminally inclined.'
Every city had its flaws;
that much was undeniable. But there was something about Tokyo which drew him
to it, like a wandering moth helpless against the hypnotic power of a
flickering lantern.
Whether it was the wind, the
snaking road before him, or his own unfettered soul, he was eternally grateful
he made his way to the great city before an innocent girl could meet her death
in his name.
Whatever he had done to
discard the title, Kenshin knew only he had the right to claim responsibility
for the burden of the assassin's nickname. From the man committing murders in
the streets of Tokyo he took it gladly, obliged to save the life of a dreamer
who smiled at him despite knowing who he was.
His life in Tokyo was an
adventure - far more enjoyable than the bloody town of Kyoto long-past - and,
while he knew he would always prefer the freedom of the road to such a crowded
place, he could also acknowledge how lonely that road had become, and that he
would rather have the company of his friends than the silent companionship of
the aimless wanderer's path he once followed.
~*~
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