The Rurouni Years

A/N: Another pitiful entry into the RuroKen fandom…hopefully I'll do better this time. Newayz, the basic idea is that it is a little after the Bakumatsu ended. Watsuki-sama never told us what happens to Kenshin during his ten rurouni years.

So now the rabid plot bunnies (And I, their evil tool) will fantasize on what Kenshin did in those ten years!

Have fun!

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The Rurouni Years

Chapter One: Departure

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He sat in his room at the inn, things all packed up beside him. The room was silent save his even breathing, the twilight casting shadows on the worn tatami floor. His eyes were shut, brows relaxed for the first time in ten years.

The sound of footsteps in the hall outside disturbed the tranquility. The door opened to reveal his commissioner, Kogoro Katsura.

"Himura-san."

Kenshin Himura, formerly the feared Hitokiri Battousai, got to his feet, cinching his sword back onto his hakama. He shouldered his pack and without looking back into what had formerly been his peace room, followed Kogoro out to the street.

They walked silently, one uncomfortable in permeating silence and one that lived in it. Finally it was too much for Kogoro to bear.

"Himura-san…"

Kenshin never took his eyes off the path in front of him.

"Hai."

Kogoro looked up at the bright-blue sky overhead, taking a breath of the fresh morning air.

"Do you enjoy this peace?"

"Hai, Kogoro-sama."

Kogoro turned and smiled at his charge.

"Doesn't it feel good, knowing that you had a hand in bringing about this peace?"

Kenshin stopped in his tracks, eyes shadowed by a frame of red hair.

"Kogoro-sama…"

His eyes locked with those of his master.

"What we did to bring about this celebrated peace…what we did in the name of the emperor…is that to be celebrated?"

The boy's voice took on a more dangerous tone.

"Is her death to be celebrated in the name of peace?"

Kogoro looked at his charge with a look of shock. This was perhaps the largest amount of conversation he had gotten out of Himura-san since her death.

It had agonized Kenshin so much that her name was not to be spoken in his presence. His emotional state was, and had been, on the precipice of disaster after the incident.

"G-gomen, Himura-san, I didn't-didn't mean-"

The boy's response was to return his never-faltering gaze to the path before him and walk on.

Kogoro watched him go with a kind of resigning look on his face. He shook his head, looking down at his feet.

'Himura-san…what we have done to you…you have lost the years of your childhood…'

He closed his eyes.

'In the name of peace…'

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A short while later a very subdued Kogoro and an indifferent Kenshin stepped into an inn on the outskirts of Kyoto. They were the last of the Ishinshishi to arrive at the point of departure for the final meeting of the Emperor's group.

"Ah! Kogoro-san! Battousai-san!" bellowed one of the many important officials at the meeting. "Ohayo!"

Kogoro turned and gave a half-wave to the man, taking Kenshin by the shoulder and leading him into one of the rooms at the inn.

Inside, Takamori Saigo was waiting. He smiled and motioned for Kenshin to sit on a mat opposite to him.

"Himura-san, do have some tea." He poured some into a cup. "You don't look well at all! Now that the Bakumatsu is finally over with, you need to buck up a bit!"

"Arigato, Takamori-sama." Kenshin took the cup, but didn't drink.

"Well," sighed Takamori after draining his cup, "now it's down to business!"

He took a small black envelope out of his pack and handed it to Kenshin, but the boy didn't take it.

"I thought the Bakumatsu, and therefore my work as a hitokiri, was over."

Takamori looked questioningly at the boy. "Yes, Himura-san, but this is your pay! This envelope contains all the money you earned doing your hitokiri work!"

Kenshin stood up, reshouldering his pack. He turned from a stunned Takamori to the door.

"Is this what Kogoro-sama brought me here for?"

"Well, yes, of course!" replied a stupefied Takamori.

"What I did…the work I did deserves no compensation."

With that, Kenshin slid open the door and was about to leave, but Takamori stopped him.

"Wait, Himura-san!"

The boy stopped.

"What will you do now? What do you plan to do, now that the Bakumatsu is over, and our work complete?"

The room was silent for a minute. Then Kenshin turned and looked at Takamori with his penetrating stare.

"What is there left for a swordsman to do, now that his work is done, but to be a rurouni and spend his life repenting for those he has slain?"

With those parting words, Kenshin walked out of the inn and back into Kyoto. He had an appointment with a certain sword-maker by the name of Shakku Arai.

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A/N: Cold, hard Battousai-boy…- Remember Saigo, he's very important. I will try to stick to historical accuracy in this fic.

Ja ne,

Misao7