Chapter Two- The Trip
The next morning, Catherine awoke, got out of bed, and went downstairs to make breakfast, only to find her husband standing over the stove cooking. As she entered the kitchen, Michio turned to her and said, " Good morning koishii. I thought I'd let you sleep in this morning." Catherine gave him a confused look. " That's very thoughtful of you, but aren't you supposed to be at work?"
Michio grinned. "Well, I got a call before I headed out this morning from a very important person. in Japan."
Catherine's eyes widened. " You don't mean..."
" Yes, yes I do."
" They really found it?! It's still there?!" Catherine was so excited.
Michio chuckled at his wife's reaction. " Yes, they found the dojo. It took them a while, but they found it. It's in the outskirts of Tokyo. They had to do inspections to double check if it's the one or not."
" I can't believe it," Catherine breathed. " Wait, that still doesn't explain why you're not at work, mister!" Catherine said.
Michio just smiled even wider and said, " Well, after i found out the news, i called my boss and asked if I could take a vacation to visit my family roots."
" You mean,we're going to Japan?!" Catherine said.
"Yes, koishii. Our flight leaves at noon," Michio replied. Catherine squealed and ran straight at her husband, nearly toppling him over when she embraced him. Catherine suddenly let go. "I've got to pack!" she cried, went as fast as she could toward her room.
Michio chuckled as his wife made her way back to their bedroom. He knew she would be pleased. Ever since he met her, she loved digging into her family history. She discovered three months ago the real last name of her great-grandfather. It was Himura. Since that discovery, she had been trying to find all the information she could about her family background. With Michio's help, she found out that he was the grandson of the lengendary Hitokiri Battousai, Himura Kenshin and his wife, Kamiya Kaoru. They had learned all about his life, except from his childhood. They couldn't seem to gather any information from before he was seven. Michio had had some of his cousins who lived in Kyoto do some digging to help out. This morning's phone call was from his cousin, Jiro, telling him that they had finally found the dojo where Kenshin had resided. During his musings, Michio started to smell something burning. "oh no!" He cried. The bacon and eggs he had in the skillet was burnt to a crisp. " Maybe we'll just have pancakes this morning..."
Shinta and Aoshi had woken up to their mother's squeals of excitement. They walked into the kitchen rubbing thier eyes.
" Why is okaa-san so happy?" Aoshi asked sleepily.
"Well, boys," Michio said, squatting down to their level, "It's because we are all going on a trip."
"Where are we going?" asked Shinta,
"We're going...to Japan!" replied their father opening his arms wide as if showing a big surprise.
"Really?!" Both boys squealed and jumped on their father. Michio laughed as he fell to the ground with his sons on top of him.
"Yes, yes, we're leaving the house in about two hours, so I need you boys to get ready then come and eat breakfast."
"Hai otou-san!" they replied. Michio smiled as Shinta and Aoshi raced back to their room. 'I'll pack their suitcases after breakfast' he thought.
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Two hours later, they Shinomori family was on there way to the airport. Catherine was so excited she couldn't sit still. "Koishii, you're just as bad as the boys," Michio said, covering his wife's hand with his own, trying to settle her down. " I know I know, it's just...too exciting!" She said. " I knew I should've made you teach me to speak Japanese! Why did I learn French in high school! Oh, that's right, because they didn't offer Japanese!" Catherine was now rambling, trying to figure out how she was going to communicate with the people there. "Calm down, Koishii. They boys know enough from their grandmother and you know that if we had the time, I would've taught you. At least you know a few words and can sing in Japanese. You can entertain the people we meet instead of talking to them!" Catherine glared at her husband, " You're right,....I do know a few words,like.....MICHIO NO BAKA!" she yelled and hit him on the head. "Itai!" he replied rubbing the sore spot. Aoshi and Shinta laughed in the backseat.
"Hit him again, okaa-san!" they cried.
"You know, the boys have a good idea," Catherine said, glaring at her husband.
" Gomen, koishii! Gomen! I surrender!"
" Alright,anata. I forgive you."
"Awww...we wanted to see okaa-san beat otou-san!" Shinta and Aoshi whined.
" Maybe some other time," replied their mother.
"In the far, far future..." muttered Michio under his breath.
"What was that?" asked Catherine, glaring at her husband.
"Nothing Koishii! I was just saying to myself how much I love you and our children so much..." replied Michio, hoping his wife would buy it.
"Hmm...well I love you too, and I'm sure the boys do as well...don't you boys?"
"Hai!"
'Phew,' thought Michio. 'That was a close one.'
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The family of four finally reached the airport and had made it through security with no problems at all. After about twenty minutes of waiting, they boarded onto the plane.'This is it. I'm finally going to see how my ancestors lived.' Thought Catherine. Michio stood next to his wife, holding their carry-on bags.
"Are you ready, koishii?" he asked.
"Yes, let's go," she replied, holding her sons' hands and walking on the plane.
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a/n dun dun dun dun! (Super hero music) Chapter two is finished!!
