Kenshin and Kaoru sat together on the dojo porch, enjoying the hush of a peaceful evening.   A light breeze stirred their hair, refreshing them, but otherwise the night was calm.  It was therefore all the more unsettling when a wiry man dressed in brown leather came charging through the dojo gates.  His lean frame seemed scarcely capable of containing the frenetic energy with which he moved, his very presence charging the atmosphere, dispelling the quiet.   He glanced warily around the dojo yard before fixing his gaze on Kenshin.  He straightened, tossing his curly brown hair over his shoulder, and began walking purposefully toward the pair seated on the porch.

Neither Kenshin nor Kaoru knew what to make of this strange foreigner -- for foreigner he was, judging by his dress and thin mustache -- but Kenshin didn't care for the way the man moved.  He rose to stand protectively in front of Kaoru.

When the man was no more than a few feet from Kenshin, he spoke.  "Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die."

"Oro?"  Kenshin couldn't have been more surprised.

"Eh?"  Kaoru's soft voice was surprised as well.  "Kenshin... I didn't know that the Spanish were involved in the revolution."

"They weren't."

"Then what's he talking about?"

"I have no idea."  Kenshin turned back to the self-proclaimed Inigo.  "Who are you again?"

Inigo had been watching the couple talk, and had begun to conclude he'd come to the wrong place.  "I'm Inigo Montoya.  I do not suppose you have six fingers on your right hand?"

"Ororo??"

"Of course he doesn't!  What kind of question is that?  How rude!"  Kaoru was fast getting over her surprise, and beginning to be just a tad annoyed.

"Forgive me for disturbing you."  At Kaoru's emphatic denial, all of the energy seemed to drain out of the strange swordsman.  "My mistake.  Wrong person.  I'd just heard about the Battousai and thought 'Well, why not?  You haven't had any luck searching elsewhere.'  Nevermind.  So sorry to have bothered you."  He bowed stiffly, and disappeared back the way he'd come.

"Kenshin?"

"Hai, Kaoru-dono?"

"What just happened?"

"Don't ask me de gozaru."

There was silence for the next few minutes, then, "Well, I hope he finds whoever he was looking for," Kaoru said.

"Mmmm.  How hard can it be to find a six-fingered-man?"

Sekihara Tae
tae@sekihara.dreamhost.com
October 25, 1998