Handsome Swordsman
Bonifacia Cramm
Kamiya Kaoru, a kendo instructor living in Tokyo meets a wanderer while trying to defeat a legendary assassin that is murdering in the name of her Dōjō. Kaoru helps the wanderer and he helps her uncover the identity of the criminal. Can Kaoru and the wanderer defeat that assassin and clear the name of her kendo school? Who is really this mysterious wanderer?
The story begins with introducing the legendary Hitokiri Battōsai and how he was the most feared warrior in Japan during the Bakumatsu and disappeared afterwards. Kamiya Kaoru met Himura Kenshin on the nearby streets of Tokyo, whom she had mistakenly confused for a man running wild and killing people on the street, while claiming to be Battōsai. After realizing that Kenshin is a Rurouni or wanderer, who wields a Sakabatō, i.e. reverse blade sword that is specifically designed for users not intending to kill, she is convinced that he is not really the "Battōsai" she is trying to pursue.
The two of them then hear people screaming and Kaoru runs towards the action, in order to deal with the alleged Battōsai. Kaoru suffers a shoulder injury during the encounter and just as the killer is about to finish her off, Kenshin rescues her and takes her to the Dōjō, though she faints on the way. Kaoru wakes up in her room and sees Kenshin outside cooking breakfast, assisted by Oguni Ayame and Oguni Suzume, whom Kenshin mistakenly believes to be Kaoru's sisters. After having a taste of Kenshin's meal, Kaoru is surprised and says that his cooking is better than hers. Since Kenshin has nowhere to go, Kaoru requests that he stay with her at the Dōjō, as thanks for having saved her life, to which Kenshin agrees.
While locked up in a room by Kaoru for walking in on her while she was bathing, Kenshin asks Kaoru if any student at the Dōjō had a dislocated left thumb like the killer. Kaoru reprimands him for even considering the idea that a Kamiya Kasshin-ryū student could do such things and says that she will do whatever is in her power to protect her father's style. Kenshin tells Kaoru that her father would never want her to protect his style, if it meant giving her life away, to which Kaoru simply says: "What does a Rurouni like you know?" and then walks away angrily. She later comes to apologize to him for having been so rude, but by then Kenshin has left and she regrets not having asked his name at least.
While sleeping, she has a flashback dream of a Kamiya Kasshin-ryū student who was injured by her father, for violating the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū's core principle of Katsujinken, i.e. the sword that gives life. She specifically remembers her father striking the student's left thumb, thus dislocating it.
The next morning she checks the records of all the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū students and finds Hiruma Gohei, a student who was expelled from the Dōjō and realizes that he is the one behind the murders. At that moment Gohei breaks into her Dōjō with a bunch of his pupils in order to destroy the Dōjō and kill Kaoru, in revenge for what his father had done to him. Just as he is about to kill Kaoru, the latter tells him that swords should be used to protect and not murder others, to which Gohei and his students laugh, saying that she should start by protecting herself.
At this point Kenshin breaks in and says that Kaoru's ideals are play talk for those who have never stained their hands and the truth is that swords are weapons designed for murder. However, right afterwards, he says that he prefers Kaoru's play talk over the truth and desires a world where her play talk can become the truth, which lights a smile on Kaoru's face. Gohei asks his men to kill Kenshin and make him suffer. Kenshin warns them to stay back to avoid being hurt, but they mock him and attack, resulting in all of them being badly defeated.
He then tells Gohei that Battōsai practices neither the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū nor whatever style he uses, but practices Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū, a style that is sure to kill anyone unless used with a sword like his own, i.e. a Sakabatō. Gohei then tries to attack Kenshin, saying that he's the only one worthy of the name Battōsai, but Kenshin easily defeats him and dislocates his right fingers, rendering a complete end to his life as a swordsman, since now both his right and left hands are badly injured.
Kenshin then apologizes to Kaoru for hiding the fact that he is the Battōsai and proceeds to leave. Kaoru tells him not to leave, because she needs his help to fix up the Dōjō and bring in more students (since they'd all left, due to Gohei abusing the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū name for murder), to which he says that if the real Battōsai stayed, it would only bring her more trouble. She replies that she does not want the Battōsai to stay, but the Rurouni to stay (although she stops at Rurouni, being unable to finish her sentence). She then tells Kenshin that he can leave if he wants but should at least tell her his real name. Kenshin does so and decides to stay, saying that a little rest from wandering would do him good.
As another sun sets on the Murdower Hotel, a long, lonesome sigh echoes through its empty lobby. The receptionist flips through her copy of Astrogender XX: Ragnarok Stalkers Shinshō for the umpteenth time (from right to left, of course) as a pale-yet-handsome swordsman in a bathrobe strolls past.
Chronologically, both games hail from the early days of independent game development, when the term was synonymous with spike traps, power blocks, and apples that fall upwards. Things have come long way since then, and now the most high-profile indie games are crafted by dozens of industry veterans rather than a few high school kids in a school library.
Since the conclusion of All The Warriors on Fan Art Friday a few months back, the Katana ZERO community has continued to dream up fantastic OCs to expand the mythos, and some of them were simply too amazing not to feature. Here we go, a bonus Part 5 in the series!
Okita Soji is one of the most popular of the Shinsengumi members for his excellent swordsmanship and other skills. What was his life like as he ran through the end of the Edo period while suffering from an incurable illness?
Today I'm interviewing Jeffe Kennedy about her epic fantasy romance The Talon of the Hawk, the final volume in The Twelve Kingdoms trilogy, wrapping up the intertwining stories of the three sisters with plot twists and the hottest mercenary swordsman in the Twelve Kingdoms. I was thrilled to have a minor character named for me in the second book, and I'm lobbying for her to be assigned her own mercenary!
She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with two Maine coon cats, plentiful free-range lizards and a very handsome Doctor of Oriental Medicine. She writes fantasy romance, contemporary BDSM and erotic romance.
Three daughters were born to High King Uorsin, in place of the son he wanted. The youngest, lovely and sweet. The middle, pretty and subtle, with an air of magic. And the eldest, the Heir. A girl grudgingly honed to leadership, not beauty, to bear the sword and honor of the king.
Jeffe: I'm not sure ... At this point in the series, with this being the third book, in many ways the characters and world are their own thing now. They live and breathe on their own, rather than springing from another source of inspiration. So really the most profound influence is the previous two books and how they story arose from them. That said, I could point to the book By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey as being a longtime favorite and one of the few with a female, sword-swinging warrior heroine. I wanted to do something as delicious as that. I'd also say that T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral, about the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket. There's a lot of hearkening back to the blood of the ruler and the connection to the land. I can't say more without being spoilery!
Jeffe: Ah, delicious Harlan! For Ursula's hero, I knew she'd need someone who could both stand up to her, equal or best her physically and yet also bring softness into her life. I also knew, from when I first proposed the series, that he would be a foreign mercenary. I wanted someone who came in from totally outside her world, who she couldn't predict and who would also be able to challenge her ideas of loyalty. Harlan grew from there in amazing ways. He's a fascinating combination of a hardened warrior, accustomed to command and yet also a beta male in the ways he's nurturing and perfectly willing to follow Ursula's higher rank. It would be spoilery to give too much detail, but his training and the vows he's taken are also Taoist in some senses. He is able to yield, to take the lower path, without giving up any of himself.
Jeffe: Sure! You know a bit about this, Veronica, and I noted that in the acknowledgments. I think you shared the photo on Twitter of the suit of armor fashioned like a woman's gown. We were all fascinated by it. It lit up our imaginations, even as we agreed that it would be totally impractical to fight in. I commented that I really wanted to use it for Ursula somehow, but it was something she would *never* wear. You and Susan Doerr suggested using it in dream symbolism. Brilliant! And I think it really crystallizes the story in many ways.
A dozen overheard jokes and bawdy songs flew through my head. None that I cared to repeat, though surely he'd heard them. Harlan's hot mouth traveled up my index finger, pressing a kiss to the tip, and the words melted away.
Amazon best-seller Veronica Scott is a three-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award and has written a number of science-fiction and paranormal romances. Her latest is Ghost of the Nile. You can find out more about her and her books at veronicascott.wordpress.com. Please e-mail Veronica at scifien...@gmail.com about content related to this column. Due to the volume of mail, e-mails may not be answered personally, but all will be read.
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