Dicing with Death (or an angry Tanuki)
Sanosuke, in a (drunken admittedly) last-ditch effort to get some money to pay back his tab at the Akabeko, gambles a certain something he doesn't have and loses. Unfortunately, that certain 'something' is a someone. Or rather, a certain Tanuki assistant master. With Sanosuke sloshed, Yahiko in trying to avoid lunch and Kenshin visiting his Shishou, Kaoru is 'collected' by a koban of the Kazumi boryokudan and taken to Nagoya. She narrowly escapes being sold in a brothel when she defeats the ten best bodyguards of the oyabun, and so she is hired by him to be his guard...and companion to his spoilt son, Yekano. When a rival gang attacks their hideout, to who will her loyalties lie?
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Me; Disclaimer; This plot is mine-
Mayu; Damn straight!
Me; points this is my muse, Mayu. He's an annoying, ego-statistical, frustrating, sarcastic, sick-minded, lecherous pervert. Apart from that, he's okayish.
Mayu; glares You make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Me; Just telling the truth.
Mayu; Anywho, Kaju doesn't own R.K. Me neither. I do own a rather extensive collection of fluff-bunnys, however,-
Me; mutters Baka…
Mayu; shoots death glare-collected from inside the mind of our dear author.
Me; Oi!
'I choose evens!' yelled a loud voice, followed by an even louder thud. Heads turned briefly, and then attention snapped back to the respective occupations.
Sagara Sanosuke groaned as the cup was lifted, revealing a three and a four. Sitting back, he rummaged into his pockets for the last few coins that had been scrounged from Katsu. Slamming them into the palm of his opponent's hand, he took a long swig of sake from the jar by his side. Thumping it down again, it clinked loudly, knocking against several other jars. Empty jars. Sitting up straight again, he focused on his opponent, or at least tried to. There seemed to be several of him.
'Alright!' he roared. 'This time for sure!'
'What are you going to bet?' asked the stranger, seeming amused. That is, as far as Sanosuke could tell through the misty haze that had suddenly invaded the room.
'Hehe…look at all the pink frogies…' he muttered to himself.
'Eh?' asked the stranger, backing away slightly.
'Um…never mind. I'll bet…' Sanosuke rummaged in his pockets, bringing up a fishbone, a fluff-ball, and…
He stared at the drawing, grinning at the frozen portrait of his 'family' which Tsubame had drawn one spring afternoon. Then an idea penetrated his sake-soaked mind.
Leaning forward, he twisted the face of the picture around and showed it to the man, showing surprising accuracy for a drunk.
'What?' asked the man, absently taking the paper.
'See the girl there?' Sanosuke asked, smirking.
'You mean the redhead?'
Sanosuke sweatdropped. 'No! The black haired one.'
'Ummmm…yes?'
'She's my bet! I bet her!'
The man shrugged, handing back the drawing. 'Okay, if you're sure. Evens or odds?'
'Hmm…odds!'
The cup lifted again, and underneath….a pair of sixes. Sanosuke stared at the dice blearily, and in his first clear thought of the day, he realized; Oh crap! Kenshin's gonna KILL me!
Then he fainted.
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Kaoru bought the shinai down again one last time, and then wiped the perspiration off her forehead with a hot hand. Sighing, she stepped out of the dojo and called 'Kenshin! Is the bath ready?'
When no response came, she scowled momentarily, and then remembered that Kenshin had already left.
Oddly, he was going to see his Shishou, Sejiro Hiko, for a social visit. Plus bottle of sake, of course, and so Kaoru had been left alone with Sanosuke and Yahiko. Sano hadn't been seen yet, and after Kaoru offered to make lunch, Yahiko had babbled some excuse about helping Tsubame and rushed down to the Akabeko.
Dragging the shinai, she slumped onto the balcony, idly drawing in the dust on the tatami mats. She frowned. Another Kenshin-related matter. With him gone, there was no one to do the housework. Leaning back against the wooden pillar-supports, she brushed the hair out of her eyes, and then looked up, watching the clouds pass by.
'Excuse me.'
If only Kenshin was here…he was always so polite…
'Um…excuse me…?'
'Huh?' she focused on the man in front of her. 'OH! I'm really sorry. What can I do for you?' she asked, brushing herself down.
'I just wanted you to have a look at this...' The man came forward, holding something in his hand. Stepping towards him, she stretched out her hand to take the paper, and then someone moved behind her. Spinning around, she hit a second man who had been in the process of sneaking up on her with her outstretched shinai. The man doubled over, wheezing, and Kaoru started to spin around again when she felt something pressed against her face. It smelt like…
There was a thud, and the man she had hit straightened up again, rubbing his side.
'Damn she's sharp. That really hurt.'
'Stop complaining, you sound like a wuss.'
'Hmm…she's quite pretty, isn't she?' said the man, picking her up. He pried the shinai out of her fingers and snapped it in two, throwing it to the ground. 'I never liked those things. Too sissy.'
'C'mon then. the boss's prob'ly waiting.'
The two men bundled the limp form of Kaoru into the waiting carriage and drove off. About five minuets after they had left, Yahiko walked through the gate, whistling, and headed towards the kitchen.
'Hey, ugly! You there?' he yelled, dumping the package of onigiri that Tae had given him on the counter. 'Oi! Ugly?'
He frowned. 'Maybe she's visiting Maekawa dojo…damn woman, she could have waited for me…' grumbling, he made his way to his bedroom, intending to change into his training gi. Flopping down on the bed, he yawned, running his fingers through his hair. Within seconds, he was snoring loudly.
Meanwhile...
'You're going already, baka-deshi?' said Hiko, throwing a sake cup at him for no apparent reason.
'Yes, sessha is...' the reply came from the redheaded swordsman, who was now cleaning up the shattered bits of ceramic cup littered on the floor.
'Any reason why, or are you content enjoying annoying me?'
'Sessha has an uneasy feeling, Master. It's probably nothing, but...'
The older man sighed, swigging sake out of the huge jar in his hand, and then grumbled; 'Baka-Deshi.' before standing up again. 'If your going, at least take this.' he said, holding out something in his hand.
Kenshin looked at it. '...many thanks, Master, but...I don't think it will suit me...'
'Baka!' roared Hiko. 'It's not for you!'
'Who is it for, then?' asked Kenshin, mystified.
'That girl who came here, looking for you a little while back...I think her name was Kaoru. I like her. She has a strong spirit. Give that to her, from me.' he sat back and smirked at the confused rurouni. 'And I think it would suit you quite nicely.' he added, raising an eyebrow.
'Master!' growled Kenshin, flushing slightly. 'Sessha is not a woman; therefore it would not suit sessha!'
'Even if you're not a woman, you look like one. Remember that time that the innkeeper's son tried to chat you up?'
'Don't remind sessha, please...' mumbled Kenshin, hanging his head.
'Anyway, you'd better get going.' the dark-haired sword master said. He produced an unexpected smile. 'People are waiting for you, after all.'
Kenshin stared at him, slightly puzzled. Then he understood.
'Mas-ter!' he bleated. 'You've been drinking your homemade sake, haven't you!'
Hiko wobbled slightly, looking puzzled. 'How could you tell?' he asked, before passing out.
Kenshin glared exasperatedly at the snoring swordsman, and then his eyes softened as he looked down at the beautiful sapphire and onyx hair slide in his hand.
He smiled. That was kind of Shishou...he must really think highly of her...sessha thinks she will love it.
You'd better watch out otherwise Kaoru's gonna start liking Hiko instead of us! Why don't you get her a present too? The ever-present voice of the Battousai echoed in his head, making him cringe slightly at the thought of Kaoru with Hiko.
You might just have a point...
MIGHT? Hell, I KNOW I have a point, baka!
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A while later, as he reached a small town on the Hokkaido trail, he saw at least twenty small stands in the square, with large groups of people clustering around them. One stand in particular attracted his attention, and he made his was over to it, slipping easily through the crowd.
In little rows, earrings, necklaces and hair ribbons were arrayed neatly. One set of earrings caught his eye immediately; a small pair of sapphires shaped like teardrops inlayed with two tiny diamonds. He looked at them wistfully, wishing he could buy them for Kaoru, when a loud yell attracted his attention. Taking advantage of a sack of rice on the ground, he peered over the crowds heads in an effort to spot the source of the disturbance. Cursing his vertical-challangedness, he pushed his way to the front of the crowd, ignoring the mutters directed at his back.
Two men were standing in the middle of a rapidly emptying space, both glaring at one another. The smaller of the two men had a young woman just behind him, who was glowering at the other man.
'Don't you dare come near my girl, Harada!' yelled the smaller one.
'Riku, don't you think you'd be better of with me?' the bigger of the two men asked the girl, smirking.
'Get out of our way, Gangi, you pig!' yelled the girl fiercely, clenching her fists.
'I don't think I want to, Riku. I think that you should apologise for hurting my feelings.' said Gangi, cracking his knuckles.
'Stay away from her, Gangi.' the young man told him.
'Are you gonna fight me if I don't, Sata?'
'I don't want to fight you.'
The two circled, eyeing the other warily. Gangi was the first one to strike; charging forward like a wild pig, but Sata stepped smartly to one side and tripped him. As the other man sprawled in the dust, he turned to the girl and started to walk towards her.
Gangi pushed himself up, wiping away the small trickle of blood coming from his cut lip, and snarled 'You're not gonna get away with that, Sata!'
As he started to run towards the still turned back of the young man, he pulled a dagger out of the sheath in his belt.
Kenshin narrowed his eyes slightly, and, using his speed, planted himself in front of the charging man.
'Out of my way, midget!' Gangi yelled, drawing back his hand to take a swipe at him. Kenshin drew his sword and deflected the knife, and then knocked him out with one smooth swipe to the neck with his reversed-blade sword.
Too easy! jeered the Battousai.
Sata stared at him as he sheathed his sakabatto again. 'T-thanks…' he managed to stutter out.
Kenshin smiled at him. 'It's no problem.' he said, before turning and starting to make his way out of the market. Sata stared after him, and then, as an idea struck him, ran after him and tapped him on the shoulder.
'Could you come with me for a moment please?' he asked politely.
'Oro?'
The young man led him through the gawking crowd, right up to one of the stands.
The old man running it recognised Sata, and growled happily 'What have you been getting up to now, me boy?'
Sata grinned at him and then turned to Kenshin. 'Pick something and you can have it.'
Kenshin looked down at the table, and his eyes widened as he saw that it was the same one which he had been looking at before. 'Oh, no! Sessha really cannot accept something so expensive. Sessha did not wish for a reward.'
'It's alright, honestly! Dad won't mind!' the boy said, gesturing at the old man.
The old man, however, was scrutinising Kenshin closely. 'Young man…you were here just before, weren't you?'
'Um…yes, sessha was.' said Kenshin, surprised at the old man's memory.
'Here.' said the old man suddenly, catching up something from the table and pressing it into his hand. Kenshin looked down, and hiss eyes widened in surprise as he saw the teardrop earrings in the palm of his hand.
'But Sir!-' he started, and then was cut off by the old man.
'Give them to a special girl, lad. I can see you're a good man, so be off with you! I will not listen to any objections!' he said, waving Kenshin away.
What a strange man.
You said it. But…Kaoru-dono is really going to like this.
Kaoru's going to love it! Thank KAMI for strange old guys!
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lnjbuig kl.;;;;;;;;;;kkhuyy4AXSDCDB MK, K,..
This was just added by myself in my sleep. It adds depth to the story, ne?
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Sanosuke stared at the sake jug. It divided; them morphed back into one again. He grabbed it as soon as it stopped moving and skulled it. Slamming it down again, he raped the bar for another. Instead, he got a heavy whack on the head.
'SA-NO-SUKE!' yelled a feminine voice. He groggily raised his head and cringed as he encountered the fierce glare of a certain kitsune.
'What are you doing drunk at this time of day?' she yelled, grabbing him by the ear and hauling him of the stool.
'Megumi…I am in deep, deep, DEEP doggy do-do.' he said, raising his eyes guiltily. Megumi slowed down and turned to face him, eyes narrowing at the uncharacteristically gloomy and serious tone in the young man's voice.
'What did you do, Rooster-head?' she asked slowly.
'Well, you see, it like this…'
Several people on the street looked up as a loud screech was heard.
'YOU WHAT!'
'Do you have any idea how much danger you've put Kaoru in? What were you thinking?'
Sanosuke scratched his head sheepishly. 'Well, I thought I'd win for sure!'
THRWACK!
'OW! DAMMIT WOMAN THAT HURT!'
'I could kill you if I didn't want to deny Kenshin that pleasure!' yelled Megumi.
'Oh, shit! Kenshin!'
'Baka Sanosuke!'
'He's going to kill me!'
Megumi glared at him, then sighed. 'We'd better go and get Yahiko. He'll be wondering where the Tanuki is.'
'Yahiko's gonna kill me too!' moaned the ex-fighter-for-hire, cringing.
Megumi twitched at his behaviour, and then she seized him by the ear and began dragging him towards the Kamiya dojo.
'Meeeeee-guuuu-miiiiiiiiiiiii! wailed Sanosuke.
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Sessha has a bad feeling for some reason…
Me too. We're almost there though…
Kenshin had hitched a ride in a carriage that was travelling to Tokyo during the night, and the miles had passed away very quickly. As he jumped out of the carriage on the outskirts of the city and thanked the driver, he bit his lip, trying to quell the strangely ominous feeling that had intensified with every passing hour. Walking along the familiar streets, he picked up some daikon radishes, a jar of mirin and some red miso, the usual weekly supplies. Glancing along side streets at the bustling crowd, he couldn't detect any sort of panic or anything which suggested that something bad had happened. He increased his pace and sighed with noticeable relief as he saw the dojo's roofs, and as he walked in, he saw that the dojo itself was unchanged. As he slipped inside the kitchen and dumped the groceries on the counter, he heard 'YOU WHAT, ROOSTER HEAD?' coming from the living room. He walked towards it, curious as to what Sanosuke had done now, and entered through the open door.
'Hello everyone. What's wrong?' he asked, walking over to one of the cushions and flopping down on it.
He caught the stares from Yahiko, Sanosuke and Megumi. 'I just decided to come home early. Where is Kaoru-dono?'
Megumi was the first one to recover, and, looking disdainfully at Sanosuke, said 'Ken-san…we have a problem. You see, Rooster head here…'
Birds took flight from the trees all around Tokyo as a resounding bellow was heard echoing down streets.
'SANO!'
People in the main street looked up, and several of them made the sign to ward off the evil eye.
'The spirits are restless today.' one muttered, hurrying to the local shrine to pray.
On reflection, maybe evil spirits would have been better…
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Kaoru came to lying on a soft mattress in the middle of a barely furnished room. She squinted groggily, then, as her head cleared and her memory went back to the two men at the dojo, she sat up quickly, stifling a gasp of pain at the sudden throbbing pain in her head. Carefully, she walked to the door and tried the handle. It was locked, as she had suspected it would be. She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands, trying to get her mind clear of fuzz.
Where am I? she wondered. Why did those men kidnap me? Is this another get-back-at-the-Battousai-by-kidnapping-the-little-girl scheme? She lay back on the bed just as the door creaked open, and she shot up again.
A man in a plain black yukata came in, holding a bundle of material, which he threw on the bed.
'Get dressed.' he said curtly, then exited again. Kaoru heard the lock click, and she picked up the material, which revealed itself to be a black silk kimono, embroidered with silver, gold and crimson cherry-blossom petals which were scattered about the fabric, as if blown by an invisible wind. She looked down, and realised that she was only wearing a thin white yukata. She hurriedly put the kimono on, and even in her present situation couldn't help but admire the rich, smooth fabric as it slid across her skin. There was a crimson obi too, with golden spirals and lines twisting their way across the cloth in intricate designs. There was a knock at the door, and a new voice asked, 'Are you decent?'
'Y-yes…' she said, clenching her fists under the sleeves of her kimono. An old man made his way in, followed by several younger ones with drawn swords.
'Please come with me.' the old man instructed, and as she followed him, the armed men flanked her, eyeing her warily.
After they had travelled down several corridors and down some stairs, the passageway opened up into a large, richly ornamented room. The old man instructed her to stay, then hobbled off into a small antechamber. The guards around her retreated as well, and, with growing waves of panic, she wondered what the hell is going on!
Her attention was drawn back as the old man made another appearance, this time in the wake of a tall man with a flourishing moustache who was chatting to a shorter man, who could only be described as rat-like. The first man was also trailed by ten hulking men, all with swords, and at their appearance, the guards that had escorted her retreated.
The two men stopped in front of her, and the moustached man turned to the other.
'This is my latest acquisition. Will she do?' he asked.
The rat-like man looked at her carefully, then nodded in consent. 'How much?' he asked brusquely.
Kaoru stared at the two men, incensed. They're treating me…like PROPERTY! she growled inside of her mind.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a broomstick leaning against the wall a few feet away. Her hand twitched as she scowled at the men if front of her.
I won't go quietly! she grinned at the thought, then casually picked up the broomstick. Immediately, several of the guards started walking towards her, drawing their swords. She faced them, broom held steady. What she didn't notice was that the conversation between the two men had stopped, and the moustached man was regarding her shrewdly, with interest in his narrowed eyes.
'Put the broom down, little girl. Then no-one will get hurt.' one of the armed men told her, reaching for the broomstick. She let him come close, under the pretence that she was struggling with the weight of the wood in her hands. As he came within striking distance, she dashed forward under his arm and behind his back, and then dispatched him with a heavy chop to the neck. He fell instantly, and she broke the head off the broom, resulting in a sharp, satisfactorily dangerous-looking point.
'You bitch!' exclaimed one of the other men. Running forward, he swung his sword over his head at her, which she dodged. She then winded him with a well-placed strike, and, while he fell to the ground clutching his stomach, seized his discarded sword. The next man charged, and as she blocked his swipe with her own sword and then hit him in the temple with the hilt, she was entirely unconscious of the pair of sharp grey eyes scrutinising her every move. As she dispatched the last man with a hard whack into his side, she spun to face the two men. The rat-faced one backed away in fear, but the other stood his ground, and, to her surprise, started to laugh.
The next words she heard surprised her so much that she almost dropped the sword.
'Would you work for me?'
'Would I WHAT!' she screeched.
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So, got it all down! YAY! Sorry about the last bit, but it IS 1'o'clock in the morning! mutters the things I do for Fan Fiction…
Me; Okay, if I get…um…two reviews I'll update!
Mayu; squints I think you're setting your standards too high…
Me; sob I KNOW!
Mayu; T.T;
Me; WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Mayu; Um…please review…otherwise Kaju'll take it out on me…sweatdrops scary…gyui…
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