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For This Dojo's Honor: Part 4

by DQBunny ::: 01.Nov.2003

The next morning, Kaoru chose to dress in her practice gi and hakama, even though she was going out. She slid out of the dojo while Kenshin was doing his chores, not wanting to make a big deal out of the entire thing. Even though they’d opened up the lines of communication the day before, she still felt awkward. Carrying on the dojo had been her burden for so long, it never crossed her mind that when she married Kenshin, he inherited her burdens as well. It just made her feel guilty.

What made her feel even worse though was where she was going. It was the second and most important reason why she didn’t tell Kenshin where she was headed. She was going to the Maekawa dojo.

She had not been there since Enishi’s henchman Inui attacked it as part of his jinchuu against Kenshin. Things had happened too fast, and she thought with some embarrassment, she’d been more concerned about the Akabeko and getting ready for Enishi’s attack 10 days later.

Unfortunately, the signup for the contest was there and she had to go in. It would had been all too easy to send Yahiko to register, but that defeated the entire purpose of what she wanted to accomplish.

She reached the newly-built gates of the dojo. A new roof loomed over the walls, another replacement from Inui’s attack. She lifted her hand to knock and hesitated for a moment. Then she firmly knocked.

After a moment, the door cracked and Maekawa’s shihondai appeared. Kaoru recognized him as the one who made such a fuss over Kenshin when they last visited the dojo. She bowed. “Good afternoon, Shinji-san. Is Maekawa-sensei here?”

“He is,” he replied. He glared at Kaoru. “However, you are not welcome here, Kamiya-san.”

Kamiya-san? Kaoru froze. None of the Maekawa students ever called her that. She ignored the panic churning in her stomach and gave a weak smile instead. “Himura now, Shinji-san. I married last month.”

“So the rumors were true. You did marry the Battousai.” Shinji started to shut the gate. “That does not excuse you. It only makes things worse. You are not welcome here.”

Kaoru grabbed her shinai and stuck it in the gate before it slammed shut. “Look, I’m sorry for what happened before, Shinji-san! We had no idea Enishi would attack the dojo and Sanosuke came over here as fast as he could. It’s because of him that the dojo wasn’t completely destroyed!

Shinji shoved the gate open, knocking Kaoru off balance. She crashed to the ground, her shinai landing a few feet away from her. She felt a twinge of pain in her wrist but before she could access the damage, Shinji loomed over her.

“Your ‘precious’ Battousai caused the dojo to be attacked. We are grateful to Sagara-san for what he did, but that does not excuse what happened! While you were off carousing with your precious Battousai, Maekawa-sensei suffered from his wounds. You didn’t visit, not even once! He died from those wounds just a week ago.”

Kaoru gasped. The panic mingled with guilt and nausea churned in her stomach. She slowly got to her feet. “Maekawa-sensei…”

“It’s all your fault, you hear me?” Shinji drew his own shinai and jabbed it in her chest. “It’s your fault for harboring Battousai! It’s your fault for bringing him here! Now you’ve gone and married the man. You’re no more than a slut, ‘Himura’ Kaoru.”

Kaoru grabbed the shinai and pulled as hard as she could, twisting her body as she did so. The move threw Shinji off balance and she managed to toss him a few feet away. She flipped the shinai around and planted a foot on his chest, pressed the shinai against one of the pressure points by his shoulder.

“Listen to me,” she seethed. “You can attack me all you want. You can attack my school if you want. But leave my husband out of this. He did the best he could to protect your school.” The shinai wobbled slightly. “I’m sorry Maekawa-sensei died of his wounds. I wouldn’t had wanted it to happen to anyone. But the same could happen even someone at random challenged the school.”

“Get off me, you bitch!” Shinji bucked, the movement causing Kaoru to jump back. He grabbed her own shinai and charged. A memory flashed into Kaoru’s mind - of her own father and Hiruma Gohei. A sudden calmness swept her and she was able to center her body and emotions. Shinji raised his shinai and swept down at her. Kaoru stepped to the side and brought her own shinai down, hard on Shinji’s wrist.

The shinai snapped out of his hands and he howled with pain, clutching at his right wrist. Kaoru felt an answering pain in her own wrist from where she landed on the ground earlier. She turned around and saw the remaining students of the dojo crowded around the entrance. I see now, she thought. Shinji-san came up with the contest in hopes that he would win and the money would reimburse the dojo damages and Maekawa-sensei’s medical care.

She walked over to one of the students and handed him the bag carrying 10 yen. “Here. This is for you.”

“Are you signing up for the contest?” The student asked, giving her a nervous glance.

“Yes, sign up for our contest,” Shinji taunted, stumbling over to them while clutching his wrist. “You’re nothing but a mere shihondai. You can’t even hold your own in a fight much less perform your ougi!”

Kaoru had been prepared to not enter the contest, just give them the yen as a donation. Shinji’s taunt changed that. She dropped his shinai, walked over and picked hers up. “I don’t know,” she commented. “I think I did a pretty good job in defeating you just now.” She pinned Shinji with a steely gaze. “I’m entering the contest. And I’ll defeat you too. Not as a shihondai, but as a master. It looks like you too haven’t reached the master level, Shihondai Shinji. Good day.” She walked off, feeling a little proud at the cheers that followed her.

But it couldn’t erase the guilt she felt over Maekawa-sensei’s death. Or the dread in having to tell Kenshin. Kaoru knew him too well. He would take the burden upon his own shoulders and blame himself. She knew it wasn’t his fault. Shinji was right. It was hers for sheltering Kenshin. She would never regret it though. Some say that was probably the worst decision she ever made in her life - pleading for the rurouni to stay with her.

In her mind, it was the best.

Kaoru pushed open the gates of her own dojo, wincing at the pain in her wrist. She would have to go see Gensai-sensei and get it wrapped. “I’m home!” she called out.

No “Welcome back” greeted her. Instead, she heard the sound of shinai crashing against each other coming from the dojo. She frowned and sprinted across the yard. Did someone come and challenge the dojo? Was Yahiko trying to defend it himself?

She ran in the dojo and skidded to a stop. Kenshin and Yahiko were facing each other, sparring with shinai. The sight was so unusual that her jaw fell. Yahiko was using basic Kamiya Kasshin Ryu techniques while Kenshin appeared to be attacking with Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. She noticed that he wasn’t putting as much power into the attacks as he did with his sakabatou. A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. Even so, he was still wiping the floor with Yahiko.

Yahiko crashed to the ground and Kenshin looked up, smiled at her. “Welcome back, Kaoru.”

“Took you long enough, busu,” Yahiko groaned.

Kaoru ignored him. “You’re practicing with shinai?”

“This?” Kenshin glanced at his shinai. “This one said he would spar with you, didn’t he? I just need to get used to a wooden sword again. It’s been a long time since I used one. Yahiko volunteered to help.”

“I’m regretting it now,” Yahiko moaned.

“Are you ready to practice, Kaoru?”

Kaoru saw the light in her husband’s eyes, felt like the lowest person on the planet because she knew her next words would extinguish that happiness. She swallowed and tears gathered in her eyes. “Kenshin…I have something to tell you.”