NOT MINE! *huff*
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None.
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Kendo no Go
In the Language of Kendo:
A Fanfic in 100 Chapters


by Akai Kitsune

92: Lessons

 

~*~

Kaoru learned a great deal about her new tenant in the first few weeks after Kenshin's arrival at the dojo. One thing she could remember was wondering why, exactly, he would trade in his katana for the reverse-blade sword.

An assassin shouldn't be afraid of killing. He shouldn't worry so much about the lives of the people around him, whether they seek his aid or his death. He shouldn't try so hard to prevent deadly injury to those screaming out for his blood.

But he did. Each and every day, every battle, the one who walked away bleeding - if he walked away at all - was him. And there was no blood on his sword.

'It's so strange,' she mused, 'But I can't imagine it any other way.'

 

She recalled that first month after their return from Kyoto, as Kenshin recovered from his injuries, when Yahiko had asked his mentor to spar with him. The boy had done it countless times before, given the same response each time: that Kenshin was no good with shinai - a feeble excuse, since he was competent with any weapon he touched, it seemed - and that sparring wouldn't really benefit them under those conditions. And they couldn't practice with real swords, since neither would ever dream of suggesting it.

'So what made this time different?' she wondered. 'Why did he say yes?'

She watched them, day after day, leaping and charging at each other, Kenshin smiling gently as Yahiko lashed out at the opposing shinai. The boy was usually breathing hard moments into the session, worn out by Kenshin's seemingly endless vitality, but he always managed to keep up the pace, and the rurouni was exceptionally good at matching Yahiko's abilities for a fairer spar. Whether or not Yahiko noticed or appreciated it, Kenshin treated each spar like a battle with an equal opponent.

He also taught the boy, which Kaoru wasn't quite certain she approved of. But it wasn't technique he taught - as Yahiko had foolishly assumed - but simply common forms that all swordsmen must know. He taught Yahiko how to take a blow from a stronger opponent, how to recover from an attack from all angles, how to turn a weakness into an asset. He commented on the young student's posture, the energy he exerted in each attack, gently chiding each fault and praising each success in the manner typical of a close friend.

He sometimes let them forget he was a master swordsman, Kaoru thought ruefully, but when he wanted to, he made it clear as day.

 

When Kenji was old enough - something that was quite a controversial topic to his parents for a long time - Yahiko decided he should learn the basics of kendo.

"He's going to be part of the dojo, isn't he?" the teenager raised an eyebrow, balancing the boy on his shoulders. "So he'll have to know how the place is run, and what goes on inside it. Might as well start early, because you never know what'll happen." He peered at the child above him. "You want to learn kendo, ne Kenji?"

Kenji nodded enthusiastically. 'He probably doesn't know what he's getting into,' Kaoru sighed silently, trying very hard not to think about how young he was.

Kenshin was quiet for a few moments, watching the two boys together. Finally he smiled. "Well Yahiko, if you want to train him, as assistant master, that's your right. If you don't mind, I'll sit in to watch while Kaoru-dono makes lunch for us." He glanced sidelong at his wife. "Right, Kaoru?"

Kaoru sniffed at the casual announcement, but she had already volunteered to cook, anyway. "Fine, do whatever you like," she shrugged. "But you'd all better be careful!"

Yahiko winced. "Kenshin, you know how she gets when she's cooking with that attitude..."

Kenshin chuckled as Kaoru disappeared down the hall. "Would you rather she watch you teach?"

The boy merely shivered at the thought. "Fine, fine..."

They made their way to the dojo, where Yahiko found a shinai that was only a little bigger than Kenji ought to have. Kenshin settled down at the side wall as Yahiko showed Kenji how to hold the weapon, and demonstrated the first few forms. He couldn't help but feel a little swell of pride as his child fumbled through his lessons. As much pain as his own school had brought him, this was what he fought for.

'The new generation of kendo... this play-fighting Kaoru has taught and developed for years...'

'This is it. This is how it should be.'

"No no, Kenji, like this!" Yahiko swung his bokutou down towards the floor with perfect grace, having done the basic exercises for years already. Kenji eyed him skeptically for a moment, then mimicked the move as best he could, tapping the end of the shinai on the floor as it fell.

Yahiko brushed a hand through his hair. "Man... this is gonna take some work, kid."

"Less energy, Kenji, otherwise you'll waste it all too quickly," Kenshin commented, tilting his head to one side as he watched. "This lesson is about control, not form."

"He should learn form first," Yahiko retorted.

Kenshin smiled again. "But without control, the form is flawed."

Yahiko scowled, unable to counter. ".... Who's teaching the kid, anyway?" he finally muttered.

The former rurouni wore a thin-lipped, perfectly innocent expression that never failed to grate Yahiko's nerves. He turned back to his student, who was staring at him expectantly. "Well, try it again."

The shinai banged loudly against the floor.

"Again."

Bang.

"Again..."

Bang.

"... once more..."

Bang.

Yahiko closed his eyes. "Oi..."

"Lead him through it, slowly," the voice called again from the side.

Yahiko sighed, fighting his initial reaction to snap at the source of the advice, but he forced himself to remember that this was Kenshin, and he was, as always, trying to help. He didn't speak, and stood behind Kenji, carefully placing his hands over the child's and showing him how the swing was done correctly. Kenji's eyes were wide, watching his arms move with Yahiko's, up and down until he was moving on his own.

Yahiko's hands dropped. "Good. Now try it by yourself."

The shinai fell again, and halted a scant inch away from the floor. Kenji looked up at his teacher expectantly.

The older boy's grin was wide. "Much better. Keep at it!"

Further away, Kenshin settled back into silence, violet eyes bright with pride.

They practiced until lunch, then afterwards, for the entire day until Yahiko finally returned home to Sano's old longhouse. He ruffled the boy's hair as he left, giving his little brother a gentle smirk.

"You're getting good, kid," he said without mockery, raising an eyebrow at Kenshin, as if he meant to speak but would not. Kenshin simply nodded.

"Thanks, Yahiko-niichan," Kenji's face was glowing with joy, still grasping the shinai in sore, reddened hands. "I had a lot of fun!"

"Enough fun for today, I'm afraid," Kaoru announced as Yahiko passed through the gate. "Early to bed for you."

"Noooo, kaasan-!"

"I'll take him, Kaoru," Kenshin suddenly volunteered, as Kaoru began to argue with Kenji's objection. With one sweep he picked up his son and placed him on his shoulders, much like Yahiko had done earlier. Kenji's cries transformed abruptly into a shriek of delight, and the two of them headed for his room.

"Tousan?" Kenji asked quietly as Kenshin helped him dress for bed, eyes wide in curiousity.

"Yes, Kenji?"

Kenji looked at his toes for a moment. "How come you don't teach me how to fight?"

Kenshin halted, surprised. "Don't you like Yahiko's lessons?"

The child nodded eagerly. "Yeah, but... don't you know more than Yahiko-niichan? You were telling him what to do today."

"Just helping," Kenshin corrected carefully, leading his son towards the bed. "Only suggesting a little. That's what an observer is there for, sometimes."

"Like when kaasan watches Yahiko-niichan teach other people?"

"Exactly," Kenshin smiled. "And she speaks up if he needs help, doesn't she."

"Yeah..." Kenji looked up as he cuddled into the blankets. "So you don't know more?"

Kenshin thought about this for a long time. Finally, he shrugged. "Yahiko still has much to learn, just like you, but he is a very good teacher. You're learning kaasan's style, the Kamiya Kasshin school. I don't know how to teach it, so I suppose you could say that yes, in the technique of Kamiya Kasshin, Yahiko knows much more than I do."

Kenji furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Oh."

His father watched him for a long time, then squeezed Kenji's hand, kissing his forehead. "Goodnight, Kenji."

"Night, tousan..."

Kenshin stood, moving towards the hall. He hesitated at the doorway, glancing back in at his small son. The boy smiled sleepily at him, waving one last time.

'Let him remember this,' he thought suddenly, his hand rising to wave in response. 'In the years to come, when life is harder, when he is older, if ever he finds a darkness in his heart that resembles anything that I felt when I was young...'

'Let him remember this moment. Let him remember how much I love my son.'

'... remember this...'

~*~

*melts* The ending was a little different than the original outline, but then again, the outline was too close to the source novel anyway, ^_^;; I prefer this.

You know, it's odd... originally this was going to be a fic focusing on Kaoru's point of view, but I've really changed it to focus on Kenshin and Kenji... oh well. Whatever fits the chapter, I guess.

The original title of this chapter was "Scissors". I had trouble with this title, since I had already done a chapter called "Sword", so it took a little more thought than usual, ^_^ The ending scene was inspired by a shot in "Yahiko's Sakabatou", where Yahiko is briefly shown teaching Kenji. I guessed his age to be a few years old then, so the timeline still fits.
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