Born of a Broken Man

A bottle of Sake in one hand, a long package in the other, the young man drew many a glance as he walked through the streets of Karakura Town. Not that this bothered him the least bit, he was used to such behavior, had long ago learned to ignore it all. He knew just what they were thinking, Such a young man, drinking in the middle of the day, wasting his life. But the fact of the matter was that he was not really that young and he was not wasting his life or his time, he was here for a purpose and though it seemed like he was idly wondering around, he knew exactly where he was going.

A few minute later he found himself outside the Karakura High School, just as the bell rang signaling the end of classes for the day. He waited across the street, watching the kids as they stepped out in ones and twos. Finally he spotted the one he was looking for and began following the lone figure at a safe distance. After following his target around the streets of Karakura Town, steadily moving into more and more scarcely populated areas, he turned a corner to find himself in front of a wide field with his query lying unconscious on the ground. As he moved in take a closer look he suddenly felt a flare up of spiritual pressure behind him and drawing a blade from the package he was holding, brought it up just in time to block the attack that came from behind him. Floating in the air behind him, his clothing completely different from before, was the person he had been following, Kenshin Suzuki.

Their unsheathed blades were locked in between them, Kenshin glared at the stragner who had been following him. He didn't look particularly dangerous, in his suit and blue shirt, but then no harmless person carried a blade with him in the middle of the day. Jumping back a few feet, he landed on the ground, still facing the stranger, "Why are you following me?"

"My oh my, now is that the right way to treat family?"

"Fa...family? What kind of crap is that? My family's all dead, who the hell are you?"

"Come now," said the stranger, with a slight smile on his face, "there's no reason to be rude, and I do believe you have a sister, do you not?"

At the mention of his sister, and the tone in which the stranger spoke rattled something within Kenshin. Without even thinking about it he rushed in to attack the stranger, only to have his attack blocked and getting his sword blocked in between his and the stranger's body. "Now, now, don't be hasty my friend. I mean no harm to you, or to you sister. I simply wanted to talk a little." Releasing Kenshin's blade, he took a step back and dropping his blade, held his hands up in a gesture of peace, "How about I introduce myself first and then you can decide if you want to attack me or not?"

When Kenshin did not speak for a while the stranger lowered his hands and began speaking once more, "My name is Sōsuke Yūhi, though I was born under the name Sōsuke Suzuki. Your father was my grand-grand-nephew, which makes you my grand-gran....um lets just stick with nephew shall we?"

Kenshin was so stunned by what he heard that for a second he did not know how to respond. He has heard of this man, if he was indeed the man he claimed to be. Ryū had mentioned him once, while telling him about his father's family. But the Sōsuke Suzuki he had been told about hadn't been seen for a long time and should be much older, he could not possibly be this young man standing in front of him. He barely looked older than Kenshin himself. "Sōsuke Suzuki was a much older man, you can't possibly be him."

"Ah, yes. I can explain that. It's my gigai that is confusing you, but trust me, this is just cosmetic, I really and much older than this. I guess from your reaction that your father mentioned me to you?"

"No, it was one of his friends, my father never told me a word about you, or to be more exact the man you claim to be."

"My, my, that's rather disappointing. Makes things much more difficult for me. I guess there's no other way for me to get the answers I need." Saying so he raised his hand in front of him and the next thing Kenshin knew there was a huge pure white blast of energy rushing towards him. He barely had time to register the attack before it crashed into him, engulfing him in a torrent of energy as his entire being seemed to explode in agony all around him.

When the dust settled after the attack Kenshin was left on the ground, his body covered in blood, darkness threatening to creep in as he barely managed to remain conscious. Lying on the ground, he barely had enough energy left to be able to turn his head and face as Sōsuke slowly walked towards him.

"You're still awake, that's good. But you're still too weak, much too weak to face what awaits you. Maybe it would be better if I finished you here and saved you from all the pain that's to come." He flipped his blade in his hand so that he was now holding it in a reverse grip and plunged it down towards Kenshin's heart.

Kenshin himself could do nothing but look on as his death came speeding towards him. At the last moment he closed his eyes but instead of the pain he had been expecting he heard the distinctive ring of a sword clashing against another. As he opened his eyes he noticed a blade hovering over him, blocking Sōsuke's blade from piercing his heart. He slowly followed the blade up to the hand that was holding it and found himself looking at a face he had never seen before, that of a young man not much older than him. ''First a complete stranger almost kills him only for another to show up and save his life. What else was going to happen today?'' Almost as if hearing his thought Ryū suddenly appeared next to him and knelt next to Kenshin's head. "You alright?"

His pain forgotten in his shock, Kenshin completely ignored the question and instead replied with one of his own, "Wha..what are you doing here?" As far as he knew Ryū was supposed to be on the other side of the country, but here he was saving his life. Ryū's only reply was a smile and a slight shake of his head, "I guess you must be alright if you can still talk. Just hold in there for a little longer, we'll get you fixed up in a jiffy." He pushed a pill into his mouth and as soon as he swallowed it Kenshin started to feel drowsy. As sleep started to overcome him he thought of the "we" that Ryū used. So whoever this other guy was he was here with Ryū.

Once Kenshin had passed out Ryū slowly got to his feet and faced Sōsuke, all seriousness once more, the smile gone his face. It was good that he still had eyes and ears in Karakura Town who had informed him of Sōsuke's presence as soon as he started fighting Kenshin. Thanks god for Tarō's transport spheres, without them he would never have been able to return in time. His insides went cold just thinking about the possibility, he had vowed to protect these kids and he was never again letting something like this happen again. Squaring up against Sōsuke he couldn't help but wonder how far the man was willing to fall, going as far as trying to kill his own blood. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Uncle?"

Sōsuke smiled at him, sheathing his blade and taking a few steps back away from Sasuke. "That it has been, almost a century now? Or was it more? Hehe." Laughing softly he shook his head and looking Ryū straight in the eye asked, "I suppose you want to know why I just tried to kill your nephew?" Seeing the sudden look of surprise on Sasuke's face and the look of concealed rage on Ryū's face he burst out laughing once more, "Well, well, he didn't know either? You haven't told anyone who you really are, have you? But come now, he has a right to know. Just as you have a right to know why I tried to kill Kenshin."

It was all that Ryū could do to restrain himself, he wanted nothing more at that moment than chopping Sōsuke's head off. Pushing that urge down he instead settled for getting some answers, "Why?"

"Why?" said Sōsuke, "Well I had to know if he was ready. There's a storm coming, you know this, you've seen the signs, even't if the others haven't. And the boy needs to be ready, you know that. Tell me, has the madness already touched him?"

The words had barely left Sōsuke's mouth that Ryū was upon him, sword drawn and pressed against his ancestor's neck. "Leave him out of this." His voice a low whisper, Ryū's anger was apparent in his tone. "I promised, when Shinta died, when Misa died, no more. You should have left them alone, but you had to drag Shinta down with you, didn't you? Not Kenshin, not while I still have a say in this."