Pieces of Himura's Past
3. A New Change To Come
As Kenshin and his family try to regain what they lost three years ago, there were others around that they were unaware could change their arrangement. Far off back in Kyoto, Aoshi Shinomori had begun to make another Oniwabanshou group. He had finally made some of the last adjustments he wanted and was ready to go against the Battosai once again. They went through Shishio and Enishi together but he still wanted to prove that he was stronger. He wanted to still make his point to Kenshin that he wouldn't give up on winning against him. He wouldn't dare allow him to win anymore. He believed that by organizing another group than maybe something could benefit for him.
Kenshin had Kaoru, Sanoske, and that annoying Yahiko kid, as well as many others. He had finished the list as to who his main staff would be. As his personal assistant he had Misao Makimachi. He trusted her more than anyone else and since she was already so close to him he decided she would be the best to have that job. She was not just a kid anymore. She was growing up and now she could fulfill one of the biggest opportunities in her life. To assist him in being the best leader ever of the Oniwabanshou. Shinomori also had put a new comer, Takota Yamigumo as head of the soldiers and offensive mechanisms since they now had a place of their own to defend in a small region by Nagasaki. He was very charming in look but had a death stare with piercing dark eyes any woman could fall for. Takota was the same age as Shinomori with not much of a reputation but one strong enough to land him a top spot in the Oniwabanshou. Aoshi also had made a position for someone to be incharge of daily routines such as house chores since the place was so large. He gave the job to another new comer, Ritsu Hijuta. A man who once was a great soldier and had retired from the Oniwabanshou before the previous one had passed away. He was not a very tall man. About 5'4" and had gray hair all over his head. There was no denying he was over fifty years of age yet he had the best eye for detail and was very picky. He could also fend for the new home of the Oniwabanshou if Takota or himself could not for some reason.
That was it. Aoshi put his pen down and walked away from his desk. As he approached the door, Misao ran behind him to walk with him as he made an announcement. He got to the balcony where he cleared his throat. All the eyes of the men he had hired stared at him as he made his statement, "Listen. The highest of the Oniwabanshou ranks have been decided," he waited for the men to stop cheering, "If you have been chosen, approach me inorder to be seen by the others. So they know who it is they will have to take orders from if I am not there. My personal assistant shall be Misao Makimachi. The man who will be incharge of the new building's defense mechanisms will be going to soon is Ritsu Hijuta. And the man incharge of the offensive mechanisms and any other situations that deal strictly with threats of other groups of individuals will be Takota Yamigumo." Every man was excited for their new jobs yet at the same time upset that they didn't get a high roll in the group but it wasn't time for anger or hostility. It was time to get use to the rules of Aoshi Shinomori and to move to their new home in Nagasaki.
Although they were suppose to go to Nagasaki that night Aoshi had other plans. He and his new officials made plans to meet Kenshin Himura for the first time before the Oniwabanshou got to their headquarters. He wanted to make sure Kenshin Himura knew about his plan to become the strongest and maybe even see if anything has changed. Maybe Himura got a soft spot that if you hit it just right, he could maybe win.
That evening the new Oniwabanshou made it to Tokyo. They made their way in the city scattered around so people didn't know what they were going to do. Shinomori headed straight to the dojo without any resistance in himself. Misao next to him and the other two men not far behind, as well as the hundred or so men that he hired.
"Are you sure about this, Leader? What if Himura defeats you or something just goes wrong?" Misao's voice was in a whisper as she turned to see if they were still following behind.
"Don't look. You'll make us look suspicious of something. We're only here to talk. To make sure Himura understands I will not give up and if he wants to stand in my way, I have another Oniwabanshou group for him to take up with first." His pace was starting to go faster. He was anxious to get there.
*at the dojo*
Kenshin and the others were outside playing in the snow. Yahiko and the three girls played with snowballs while the adults sat down to chat. Kenshin watched his wife observe the children at their game.
"Kenshin! What do you want for lunch today?!" Kaoru snapped in his face.
"Oh...I'm sorry Miss Kaoru. What ever you feel like cooking....or maybe whatever my wife should cook. Since you either mess up the taste entirely or you just burn it..."
"Kenshin! I try at least!"
"Yes you do. I still think you should get lessons."
"Lessons? Cooking lessons!?! I'll show you!" she grabbed a shawl and walked out of the dojo. She knew Kenshin would never be with her now that his wife and daughter were in his life.
As Kaoru walked on the main road in town she started to buy meats and vegetables to put into her dish. She even found some sugar to make cookies for them as dessert. On her way home, she noticed that she was being followed. She saw they were a few people behind her. She tried to lose them in the crowd, but no use. They followed her to the road to the dojo. As she tried to step up her pace, she tripped on her kimono. She tried to get up but got help by the man who yanked her up by the hair.
"What do you want from me?" she asked the man who grabbed her, "Ouch! Let me go!"
"Give us your money, lady. Then I promise, we won't hurt you." He was now joined by five other men. All with knives.
"Here! Take it! That's all I have left! I used it all at the market today." One of the men picked it up. There wasn't much left at all.
"Boss, I think the lady's hiding it from us." He pointed his knife at her throat.
"Really? Well then I guess we can't let her go. She'll make a good slave to trade. She looks well enough."
"No! I refuse to have the likes of you make me a slave to trade!"
"Too bad, sweetie...." Kaoru spat in his face, "What!?! Never mind that. Now she's dead!" He raised his knife to her. Kaoru shut her eyes ready to feel the pain. The next thing she heard was the man who swore he was going to kill her scream. Her eyes opened. Aoshi Shinomori had knocked him out.
"Get lost," all the bandits ran off picking up their leader on the way, "Stupid bandits. Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine now. Thank you, Aoshi. What are you doing in Tokyo?"
"I came to see Kenshin again," he explained, "Is he at the dojo?"
"Yes. He's with his wife and daughter."
"He's married? And has a kid? Since when?" There was no excitement in Aoshi's voice. There wasn't much shock either.
"It was awhile back. He never told anyone."
"That must of hurt."
"Exscuse me?"
Misao finally came into the conversation, "What he means is it must of hurt you to find out that Kenshin had a family and then also kept it a secret from you. Not to mention the fact you like him."
"Oh. I guess you're right. But it wasn't all a secret. He didn't know he had a daughter."
"But he knew he had a wife. One that he was still loved enough to marry her again and that tears you all up inside. To think he might of actually had feelings for you and then dumps them all for his wife. Not that it's any of my business. That's not what we came for anyway as you know." Aoshi still had that cold voice. Inside of his mind though he was glad to know this.
"You should join us for dinner," Kaoru told them as she regained her groceries, "since you have to talk to Kenshin at least."
Misao and Aoshi locked in eye contact and read each others minds.
"No, but thanks. We have a lot to do and lots of ground to cover with our new Onibanshou..." She let it out too early. Aoshi had to cover it up.
"Yes...We have a new Onibanshou group. I brought some of my men with me to meet Kenshin since we were going to our new place in the mountains."
"Oh okay. That's good I guess. Let us get going before the sun goes down." She lead them on the road to the dojo.
When they reached the door, Kaoru asked as nicely as possible, "Where are your men by the way? You told me they were with you." Aoshi nodded and whistled. About ten men came out. Among them were Takota and Hijuta. They all made their way into the dojo.
Once inside, Aoshi noticed right away who Kenshin's wife was. To him, she was so beautiful. He understood why Kenshin would want a woman who looked like her. He didn't even look at anything else. Shinomori was unable to stop looking at the woman. He asked Kaoru, "Is that Himura's wife?"
"Yeah."
"She's beautiful." Kaoru had noticed how he was looking at her. What Aoshi didn't know was that Kaoru heard what he said about her.
"She's very beautiful."
Aoshi was in shock. He didn't know that she was still listening to him, "Don't you dare tell Himura."
"I promise."
Aoshi couldn't keep his mind off of her. This the first woman he actually fell for. He looked over at the men who came in with him. He noticed Takota looking at Himura's wife as well. Aoshi made sure to keep an eye on him. As he stood deep into thought an idea came to his mind. He approached Kenshin.
"Aoshi? How are you? It's been awhile."
Aoshi noticed that the woman of his dreams was coming to her husband, "Who is this, Kenshin? A friend? Hello. I'm Sakina...." She stuck her hand out to greet Aoshi but her husband knocked it down.
"We're not friends. We're more of aquaintences." He looked at Aoshi. He knew that Aoshi had been looking at her from the second he walked through the doors.
"Yes. It's true."
"Oh well then, um, please exscuse me. Miori! Come in it's getting dark! And the snow's coming down harder too!" A small girl ran up to her. She held her child in her arms and got her ready to eat.
Kenshin knew that something wasn't right. For Aoshi Shinomori to be here like this out of the blue. Was he still determined to bring Kenshin down? It didn't matter anymore. He would have to deal. He won't fight Aoshi or anyone inorder to keep Sakina and Miori safe as well as his friends. He noticed that there were other men that came. He also noticed Kaoru let them come in after her so he exscused himself to the kitchen to talk to her.
"Why did you let Shinomori in?"
"He just wanted to talk to you. I didn't see any harm to it."
"Okay then. Just be on your guard, Miss Kaoru. He isn't that great of a guy and he is a tough apponment. Be very careful of those others too. Misao's no big deal really as the men that followed." He left her alone to go back to Aoshi and his men.
Aoshi was trying not to look at Sakina as he waited for Kenshin. When he noticed Kenshin coming back he knew a private conversation was coming so he stood up.
"May we talk in private?" Kenshin asked politely.
"Yes of course." Aoshi followed Kenshin making Misao stay behind with the men.
"Now that we're alone, Aoshi tell me why you are here. It cannot be just to talk." Kenshin had a very serious look on his face now.
"Actually all I came here for is to talk. To inform you that I am still determined to defeat you. I assembled the best men I could find to make another Oniwabanshou group so just to let you know now before you hear anything else. You could hear a lot eventually," he took a deep breath and said, "I also found out another thing that I plan on doing."
"What would that be?" Kenshin asked.
"I've decided I want your wife." He snapped his fingers. As soon as he did, Takota grabbed Sakina. Miori watched as her mother struggled against him and lost easily. Miori started to cry and scream for her daddy.
Kenshin didn't know what to do. Go for his child or save his wife. No one else would go to Miori. They all think she just didn't get her way or something along those lines. He ran to the kitchen and yelled at Kaoru, "This is why you don't let someone like Aoshi Shinomori into the dojo! Go take care of my child. I have to save my wife!"
"What are you talking about? Save your wife?" She didn't understand what he could of meant.
"Just go! I will explain it to you later!" He ran straight for the entrance. He was hoping he could meet them there. Kenshin was right. They were just getting there. The few men that were with them tried to go against him but stood no chance. He defeated them in two swings. He ran for the man who was holding Sakina to only be stopped by Misao.
"I can't let you interfere, Kenshin." she told him holding one of her knives out towards him.
"Give her back!"
"No! My orders..." she was cut off by Sakina's screams for Kenshin. She had actually gotten away from both Shinomori and the man known as Takota. As she ran she slipped on the ice that was on the dojo's floor. When she fell, she hit her head on the ground and all eyes were on her body.
"Sakina!" Kenshin tried to get away from Misao to his wife, but she wouldn't allow him to pass her. Instead he watched as Takota once again picked her up and ran. The next thing Kenshin saw was Misao punch him and then black.
Sanoske and Megumi ran out to the commotion. Once Megumi saw Kenshin she ran to his side to see if there was anything she could do, "He's knocked out cold!" No one was listening. They were trying to calm the girls and get Sakina.
Sanoske ran for Takota and was stopped by Hijuta, "Okay, shorty. Let's get to it!" Sanoske was no match. Hijuta was much stronger than he appeared. He used his amazing speed to jump above Sanoske. When he came down Sanoske had just looked up. Hijuta hit him in the head with the back of his sword. Now Sanoske was out cold too.
Yahiko tried but his efforts were in vain as well. Hijuta took care of him even quicker. Kaoru, Megumi, Dr. Gensai, and the girls were all that was left and they just watched as the men led by Aoshi Shinomori took Sakina away.
Miori cried on Kaoru as she watched. She called, "Mommy! Mommy!" Her sobs were taking over her small body. Kaoru craddled her to calm her down, but it wasn't any use.
Kenshin finally awode hours later to see Yahiko and Sanoske is a bed like him. Both seriously knocked out. He walked in the living room area to see Megumi and Dr. Gensai talking.
"Sir Ken!" Megumi ran to check him out, "Are you okay? You took a good clean hit from Misao."
"And the others? What happened to Sano and Yahiko?"
"They were knocked out by one of the other men soon after you. There just simple black outs. They'll be fine."
"What about Miss Kaoru and the girls?"
"Iname and Suzumi are asleep. Kaoru's still trying to calm Miori down. Miori is scared her mother will never come back."
"I'll go take care of my baby. You both go sleep in one of the other guest rooms. I'll take over."
The two of them agreed to his offer. Kenshin went down the hall to Kaoru's room where she brought Miori. He gently opened the door to see Miori asleep in Kaoru's arms. Kaoru then noticed that he was there.
"Kensin!" she whispered, "You're okay? Don't worry she just fell asleep..." Kenshin wasn't listening. He took Miori from her and started to walk out of the room.
Before he left he stopped at the door to tell Kaoru, "That's why I told you to keep your guard up, Miss Kaoru," He walked out and went to lay Miori in her bed. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I promise to bring Mommy back." He covered her with a blanket and went into his room. Kenshin laid down to be alone in his bed again. Without Sakina. He thought of how she hit her head and wondered if she was alright. Kenshin was scared for his wife and tears came to his eyes as he thought of what was happening to her right this second. Was she okay? Did she....die from the fall? Or what? He didn't know what to think. His tears were so rapid he could barely sleep.
*meanwhile...with Aoshi*
He was nervous as could be. Aoshi didn't think she would be able to get away from the two of them. And then her fall. He couldn't believe that it had happened. Aoshi took her away from Takota now and she laid in his arms. She had a small cut on her head from the fall, and it was bleeding a lot. Because of her fall, he made everyone go as fast as possible to the new headquarters. The second they got there, the doctor he had on his staff took her to a room and examined her.
"How is she?" He asked in a worried voice.
"She seems to be fine now that I took care of her wound. It's nothing too serious as of now, but we won't know for sure until she wakes up."
Hours went by and the routines were already starting to lay out to them. Who would do what and when. They were actually get use to the life here. Aoshi wouldn't move though. He wanted to make sure that Sakina was alright. He wanted to be there when she woke up.
Finally, after all that time she started to move. She was waking up. When she finally became concious, Aoshi was thrilled. He wanted to see if she was okay thought first before anything else was to be done. He asked her, "Are you okay?"
She looked confused. Sakina asked, "I'm sorry, but who are you?" His heart sank. He didn't know what to say. The doctor came in when she had said that.
"I fear for the worst," he told Aoshi, "Ma'am? What is your name?"
Sakina replied, "I don't know. What is my name? Do you know?"
"Well ma'am your name is..." Aoshi interrupted him.
"Your name is Kaiya. Kaiya Shinomori. And I'm your husband Aoshi."
"Oh okay." She didn't really know how to react.
Once the doctor was done taking care of her, he had a serious talk with Aoshi, "Are you sure about this? What if her memory comes back?"
"Then I'll figure something else out. Don't worry about her. I will take very good care of her. Now that she's my wife at least."
The doctor wasn't happy about this but didn't argue. He wasn't about to get fired, because he getting fired meant death. He went on with his life you could say.
For Sakina......Kaiya now with her new "husband" was going to be hard to handle. Aoshi knew he had the batossai practically eating out of his hands.
