Chapter One: Swords and Teahouses
A/N/T: Hello hello all! I'm so sorry that we haven't uploaded new chapters in any of our stories recently, and I'm very sorry about that. Rest assured that there will be new chapters before too terribly long. But we were distracted with life, drama, and other stuff. And so, as an apology, I present you with our newest work and out first step out of the Naruto Verse to be posted here on Enjoy.
Warnings: This is, or rather will be, a KenshinXOC. If that's going to bother you, then please stop reading. I however recommend giving it a chance.
Kenshin sighed softly as he walked down the streets of the little town. He was glad to be out of Kyoto, but, if the truth be told, was not ready to return to the Kamiya Kashin dojo. Life was just more peaceful without Miss Kaoru and Miss Megumi fighting over him and thinking he wasn't aware and without Yahiko's constant pleas for training. He glanced up when he saw a little teashop and smiled. He would have a nice relaxing cup of tea and let troublesome thoughts slip out of his head. He entered the small building.
Eimin held a large tray over her head. Cups upon cups of tea and what not sat upon the large tray. It was a rather large crowd today. Most people would be annoyed and angry, but Eimin was happy, proud that the teahouse had gotten so many people today. The small girl walked around to tables handing out orders. The rather large smile disappeared once she heard a whistle coming from one of the other waiters. Her teahouse was like a large family for her, everyone had a way of signaling out something. Cloth covered arms placed the large tray at the serving counter before grabbing a long object. Being small had its advantages. Eimin began to move rather quickly to the front.
Kenshin was looking for an empty table to sit at, but there didn't seem to be any and the constant motion of the crowd was getting him dizzy. "Oro?" he muttered softly as he tried to move through the crowds, his reverse blade katana held against his body so that it wouldn't hit anyone.
Eimin quickly stopped in front of the man. He looked rather odd. " STOP!" Eimin had a rather loud voice; this made people stop and space away from the girl. She tapped on the floor with her katana. She never really used this weapon; it was only to chase away people. The girl arched a brow before speaking again. " You, Samurai. Get out now or find a place to leave your sword." Short and to the point. Eimin kept her house rules strict and up. She did not allow anyone under ANY circumstances to bring weapons in.
"Oro? This one is no samurai, Miss, only a wandering Ruroni." He smiled at her and lowered the Katana. "As for this one's sword," he paused to pull the blade partially out of its sheath, "it is simply a reverse blade, that it is."
Eimin took a step forward and flicked out her arm to whack the boy straight on the knee. The blade wasn't out, so it wouldn't cut, just hurt badly. That was about the worst she would probably do with the weapon. Eimin puffed her cheeks in an annoyed matter. Pale blue eyes stared straight at the boy. "Ruroni or not, I want that thing out. Now!" The girl slammed the weapon down on the floor hard, making a loud noise run through the teahouse. "I'll personally kick you out if you won't leave yourself."
Kenshin, doubled over and holding his knee with one of the most adorable yet odd faces nodded quickly and straightened to leave the tea house. "I am sorry, that I am. This one never meant to offend, that I did not. Farewell Miss." Surprisingly, he wasn't limping when he walked for the door.
Eimin let out a deep breath and turned around. People stared as she went to pick up the tray she had left. Turning around she blinked. " What? ... You want your order or not? I can close down the thing for today.." With that people began to move again. Eimin was used to it, there was always someone who would come in disobeying the house rules. The boy looked odd though, she had never seen him around, but then again, Eimin rarely left the teahouse.
Towards the end of the day, when the shadows started to lengthen, a group of four men walked into the teahouse and sat down at one of the empty tables. Each wore a katana and a wakizashi at his waist and all wore the garb of Samurai. They immediately started to call for service, not caring that there were others who had gotten there first.
Eimin had cleared most of the teahouse herself earlier, so she had sent most of the workers back homes. The few that stayed had gone out to collect payments, ingredients, and many other things from regulars of the place. Regulars were people she could talk to any time, like relatives outside of the teahouse. The small girl frowned and hurried over to the table, katana in hand. " Will you all keep it down?! We do not offer service to people who bring weapons and who are rude towards our workers as well as the atmosphere with in the teahouse. Now all of you, out!" Eimin pointed towards the front of the teahouse with her weapon, tapping her foot, showing her impatience with them.
One of the swordsmen grabbed her with an arm around her waist. "Wow, you're kinda pretty." One of his friends took the sword from her. "Pretty women should carry swords, they should serve tea like good wenches." He tried to force his mouth over hers to kiss her.
Eimin grew wide-eyed, being herself, she pulled up and arm and socked the boy in the eye. " WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME?? OUT! SHOO!" Eimin was scared easily when it came to situations like these. People would have thought that she could put up with a lot of things. Reality struck, Eimin couldn't put up with a lot of things.
The man growled and grabbed her wrists tightly. "Bitch! That's no way to treat paying customers!" He switched her wrists to one hand and pulled the other back to slap her. The blow was abruptly stopped by a sheathed katana.
"You should not treat a woman in such a way, that you should not." It was the red-haired Ruroni from earlier. His amethyst eyes were narrowed, however, and his tone decidedly less friendly and cheerful.
Eimin has closed her eyes when her wrists were caught. She opened one and stared at the man who spoke. " Ru-Ruroni?" Eimin blinked and snapped one of her wrists quickly out of the man's grip, the other one was tugged hard enough to be pulled away. The girl hid behind the Ruroni. Her pale hand came up and patted her chest, calming her self down. She hadn't been scared like that for a long time. Frankly, from the look on her face, it seemed like she would pass out from fright. Eimin was able to hold herself though.
Kenshin glanced over his shoulder at Eimin. "Are you alright, Miss?" He dropped the sheath from the raised position it was in. The four men rose and all reached for their swords. Kenshin paid them no mind.
Eimin looked up, and nodded before frowning. "Erm... Ruroni.." Eimin backed away slightly as she stared at the men. She didn't want anything to be damaged in her shop. " W-Will you all bastards cut the shit and leave! One man against four people is unfair! At least fight a decent battle if you are going to fight!"
Kenshin smiled at her. "You need not worry about this one, Miss, that you do not." he then turned and spoke in a much colder voice to the four samurai, "Any who wish to fight me will do so outside of this shop." He turned then and, gently taking the woman's hand to lead her out so that they couldn't hurt her while his back was turned. They four grumbled, but loosened their swords from their sheaths and followed him.
Eimin tugged her hand away and took hold of his sleeve. She felt uncomfortable with him holding his hand. "I still find this rather unfair, one against four? Unless you're some sort of legend or, god forbid it, massive killer, I don't think you'll win." The pale girl looked back towards the men and quickly looked ahead. She didn't want any sort of eye contact with them. ' Such an odd man... hopefully some one comes along to help this little lunatic and the four morons..' Eimin wasn't... exactly nice...
He just smiled at her and told her again not to worry. He was careful to hide just how close to the truth she was on both counts and lead her to a small area where she would be safe while he fought. He stepped forward and looked at those men approaching. "Any of you who do not wish to go to the hospital, I suggest leave now." He spread his feet into a fighting stance and held his hand hovering over the hilt of his katana.
Eimin narrowed her eyes as she sat at the small spot. Too bad, on Eimin opinion, the chances of some one coming along now were slim due to closing hours. 'Boy's gonna die because of me...'
One of the men smiled before grabbing his own katana and heading for the Ruroni, the other three followed. One of the followers moved quickly, wanting to harm Kenshin already.
Faster then the eye could follow, he had his blade out and he charged the men. His sword flashed four times, once for each of the men before he stopped and sheathed his sword.
The four men simply stood there for nothing more than a few moments before dropping to the ground. Not much was done to them; they just seemed to have passed out.
Eimin sat motionless, wide eyes fixed onto the Ruroni. She was surprised.. well more shocked by the way she looked. Standing up, she moved to the men, crouching next to the one who had grabbed her earlier. A slender finger poked the passed out man. Making sure he was out, Eimin stood up and smashed her foot down onto his face, a few cracks could be heard, nothing more though.
"He deserved that one, that he did, but it would be better if we left him here with his friends to awaken after we are well gone, that it would." Kenshin once again was the wide-eyed, innocent looking man he'd been in the teahouse.
Eimin looked up with a confused look, she understood but this was her normal expression. She walked over to Kenshin before taking his sleeve to pull him into the teahouse. "You came in with a weapon, took hold of my hand, beat four men with four swipes, could've killed your self, and disobeyed my rules again. I'll make an exception for you this time. What kind of tea do you like?"
"Jasmine tea, please, miss. May I ask you name?" Once in the teahouse, he sat down and leaned his sword against his shoulder.
"Getsuei, Eimin." she moved behind the serving counter and began to heat the water. Moving around, she grabbed ingredients. "If it's alright with you, I'd also like to know your name." Eimin's teahouse was special, not for the fancy items, but they way they made their tea. It was the freshest. Everything was done there, besides growing the ingredients though. Everything served was either just made, or saved for flavoring.
"This one is called Himura Kenshin. I am pleased to meet you, Miss Eimin, that I am."
Eimin chuckled to herself when he spoke. "You have an odd way of speaking, Himura." Eimin found it rather rude calling someone by their first name. She always stuck with the last name. "Would you like anything with the tea? Anything you ask, I am able to dish up." She looked over the side of the serving counter. She really was small for her age, but it served her well most of the time.
"Please, call me Kenshin, and do you have some dango, Miss Eimin?" He'd been watching her as she prepared the tea with a slight smile. She was completely efficient, no wasted movements, like a good swordsman.Eimin blinked and laughed as she went back behind and grabbed other ingredients. Her arms were full with spices, sweets, and powder, and anything else that could be used to make dango. Rolling up her sleeve, she began to separated everything, pulling out containers, spoons, and others.
" I haven't made dango in such a long time. Sorry if it turns out rather odd tasting." The girl began to work on making the sweet treat for the Ruroni. She was actually rather quick. Multi tasking with the tea and making the rare treat wasn't all that easy. "Thank you for .. saving me, Hi- Kenshin. Where were you headed off to anyways?"
"I have no destination, that I do not, I simply wander. And I'm certain that your Dango will taste wonderful, Miss Eimin, that I am." He gave her another one of his smiles. If it seemed slightly forced, it was only because he realized that he truly did not intend to end his wanders at the Kamiya Kashin dojo as he had before.
Eimin wiped her forehead and stared at Kenshin. She huffed a bit before looking back to the forming dango. "Just wandering? Well, I suppose you don't have a place to stay then, the teahouse has a room in the back. Usually it's for me, but I can let you stay for a while." Eimin turned around on the ball of her foot and grabbed the tea off the fire. She reached up and grabbed a simple teacup with small petal designs on it and pour the tea in. She moved around and handed it to Kenshin. "Here, the dango will be done in a few moments." Moving back, she took the small treats and set them in to cook.
"Thank you very much, Miss Eimin, but I couldn't take your room, that I could not." He sipped the tea with his eyes closed to savor the taste. The tea was really very good, and had not been allowed to steep too long.
Eimin shook her head. "It's alright, really. It's my way of saying sorry for smacking you one on the knee. Plus, it's not like I'm offering you to sleep with me." The teahouse owner grinned as she began to clean up a bit, leaving out a few things once the dango was done. "Take advantage of the things people offer, they might happen again."
"It's quite alright, Miss Eimin. I'll be fine, that I will." He usually slept under bridges and the like while wandering; it saved money for things like food. He enjoyed sleeping in the open, and had no fear of ambush, knowing he could easily fight his way out.
Eimin frowned and shrugged. "If that's what you want then fine. My teahouse is always open for the offer though." She pulled out the dango quickly and set them on a plate. She began to add toppings to the treat. A dash of this, a drop of that, Eimin loved to work at the teahouse. She held up the plate and blew slightly to cool it down before handing it to Kenshin. "Dango, on the house." She hoped up and sat on the counter, looking at the Ruroni to see if her dango came out well.
He set his teacup carefully down before lifting up a stick with three of the sweet dumplings on it. He popped the first one in his mouth and started chewing. His eyes fluttered shut and his mouth curved into a smile. This was positively the best Dango that he had ever had.Eimin blinked curiously. "I take it it's good?" She tilted her head and watched. The boy seemed to like it, but she wanted to know his full opinion. "Well?" The girl moved around on the counter so that her feet dangled out the front of the counter. Frankly, Eimin looked rather cute. Not only for her size, the curios expression on her face added on as well as a few spots of powered sugar. "Kenshin?"
"Hai, Miss Eimin. This is absolutely the best Dango I have ever eaten, that it is." His tone was even perkier then normal, and it was probably then that it became clear that the Ruroni had a sweet tooth. He took another bite of the dango and chewed slowly, thoroughly enjoying the sweet taste.
Eimin smiled ad laughed quietly, rather child like as well. She hopped off the counter and bowed. " I'm glad you like it. From now on, feel free to stop by and order any sweets. It'll be free." Eimin was being oddly nice to this Ruroni. She didn't hand out things like that unless they had done something spectacular. The girl moved back on the counter and poured some tea for her as well. She sipped a bit before poking Kenshin on the forehead to get his attention. " What caused you to be a Ruroni? Are you looking for some one?"
He looked up at her and blinked in surprise. "Oro? You wish to know about this one's past?"
Eimin nodded. She looked at him over the rim of her teacup. Her hands set down the cup on her lap as she kept her gave towards Kenshin. "If you don't mind. I'll tell my own past if you tell me yours."
He set the stick with the remaining dumpling down and he nodded. His eyes narrowed as he went serious. "I wander with an oath to never again take a human life, it is why I use a reverse blade. I fought in the revolution, and wish to repent for the men I killed." Why he was compelled to be so forward with her, he didn't know, but he felt that she could be trusted.
Eimin looked down at the cup of tea, her reflection showing slightly. "Revolution, eh? I can see why you'd take an oath for that. Did you loose anyone special back then? You don't have to answer that. It's just something that popped in my mind." The pale blue hair swayed lightly as she lifted her head to look at Kenshin.
"I lost many friends in that war, though they all died fighting for a good cause. It doesn't make their deaths any less painful, however, that it does not."
Eimin shook her head before setting her cup on the counter. "Lets see... I was raised in the teahouse since birth. It's my only home, good and bad memories float around it." The girl looked towards the ceiling as if she was actually watching something. " Amazing as this place seems, it used to be.. rather horrid. A regular teahouse, one for wenches, for men to pleasure them selves. This whole thing was rather horrid. Not as bad as your past, but pretty bad. I never knew my father, and my mother died at an early age. Heh, I was lucky to find out my mother had saved money for me to buy this place.." Eimin picked up her cup and took another sip. " I guess there's my reason to why I'm strict about my home.
"I understand." He took the last bite of the dango on the first stick before pushing the plate and the other dango towards her in offering. Whoever said that pain shared is pain lessened was wrong; though sharing the pain does make it easier to bear.
Eimin took the plate and hopped off the counter, being lazy at the moment, she simply set it in water to soak. "You're one of the few then. Thank you for saving me, again." Eimin rested her elbows on the counter as she looked at Kenshin. She held a rather small smile, nothing big, but a simple small smile. "You sure you rather not sleep here than go through the trouble of looking for a place to stay?"
"If you do not mind, I think I will take you up on that offer, that I will. I'm not taking your bed, however, I'll be quite fine on the floor." He lifted his cup and drank the last of the tea.
Eimin Blinked once again and clapped her hand together. "You're not sleeping on the floor, Kenshin." The small girl moved around and went to the back. Funny how she began to run around carrying blankets here and there, trying to set up a place for her self to sleep.
"Customers are treated the best they can be offered here. I'll simply sleep on something else. You take the bed." Her outfit trailed lightly on the floor, her long sleeves looking like something she could trip over if she had been shorter.
"No, really, it's fine, Miss Eimin. I don't want to take your bed." Now the red headed Ruroni was running around after her, trying to convince her that the floor was more then suitable for him.
Eimin only kept moving, patting a blanket here, placing a pillow there. "No, I refuse a customer to sleep on the floor. It's rude, and ... I just won't allow it." The small girl kept moving about, making herself a small area to sleep on. This girl was hard to move once she had made up her mind. "Where's that one cushion..."
"Really, Miss. Eimin. You needn't go through such trouble for this one, that you should not." He attempted yet again to take over making a little bed, but if he had to, he'd sleep against the wall, he's done it before.Eimin flailed her arms at him to stop. " No, You're going to sleep on my bed. I mean, a Ruroni must miss the soft comfort of a bed. You must travel a lot so you probably don't sleep in one too often." Eimin was on her knees, smoothing out the piled blankets and piled pillows for her to sleep in.
" My bed really doesn't matter to me, I'm always up fixing a few things here until some time in the morning. It's fine really." The girl patted the small bed she had laid out for herself and smiled. " That'll be alright for me." She stood up and shuffled over to the main area of the teahouse to clean a bit.
Kenshin sighed as he realized that this woman was even more stubborn then Miss Kaoru. He resigned himself to a night in a bed that he really didn't want. He went out to at least help her with the cleaning.