Something Suspicious

Disclaimer: If I owned Rk, I wouldn't be typing this. It would have appeared already as canon.

-oOo-

The flower seller on the intersection of two battered roads was doing considerably well in those turbulent times. In fact, you could say Genma's business was booming. Or blooming, as he liked to say.

The reason for such business growth was that flowers were high in demand.
Either they were for flower arranging, for people who wanted to take their minds of the bloodshed happening right under their noses, or for graves. Genma had such a customer who came every other week. The faithful customer was a rather shy and silent fellow, in Genma's opinion, not like anybody asked the opinion of a lowly flower vendor.

Genma looked up to see the weathered face of a farmer. He was a handsome man, with thick, black hair and a stubborn chin. But his eyes were what got him. They were the color of his prize irises, purple-blue. Just like Genma's customer.

"Can I help you?" said Genma, picking up a fairly pretty ajisai- a hydrangea.

"Yes. Do you know a Himura Kenshin? We're currently looking for him," the farmer asked. He was standing next to a knock-out of a woman. He better keep her close if he wanted to keep her untouched. Many unsavory men walked the streets of Kyoto. Three children stood next to them. One boy, who looked like his mother, was propping up his sister on his hip. The other boy was staring at all the people walking by.

"Himura… Hm, let me think…" Genma racked his brains. Then it dawned on him about the one time hi customer had been called on by another man. The man had called him Himura. "Yeah, I know a Himura! He's a regular here. Always picks up a few irises."

The little girl perked up at the word 'irises. "Just like my name, Hideaki-nii!" she told to the brother holding her up. The girl had bright purple eyes. Maybe that's where her name came from.

The farmer gripped the counter. "Do you have any idea where he's residing? I really must find him."

"Um… I have seen him walk off to the inns before. A guy came here once and said to come back to the Kohagi-ya. Might want to try there. Hey, are you in anyway related to him?" asked Genma. "You look a lot alike. You've got the same eyes and face. It's a bit uncanny."

The farmer grimaced. "Sort of. I haven't seen him in a while. Thanks for the help." Genma nodded, and before the family turned to go, he had the ajisai to the girl. He winked.

"A pretty flower for a pretty girl. It matches your eyes." The girl giggled, and showed off the flower to her brothers. The mother gave her thanks, and then they were swept up into the crowded streets.

"Nice family. Good-looking too." With that, Genma smiled, and started to whistle a happy tune.

-oOo-

Okami was not a very happy woman that day. She was getting too old to take after an inn bursting to the seams of Imperialists. She checked her register again. Most of the names were correct, with the exception of a few key names. The revolution was important, but at the sake of keeping men who constantly drank up all her sake and defaulted on bills was a bit too much. Okami would go out of business. At least Katsura and some of his men were considerate. Like that poor boy Himura.

Okami sighed and shook her head. Now there was an example of Katsura's bigger mistakes. Involving a boy that young in something like this! Okami had discovered the boy's secret when Himura's clothing kept coming in every other day in the laundry, covered with blood. He was too young to be an assassin, and now the work was catching up to him; not to mention that Tomoe's death was very difficult on him too.

Okami sighed once more. Tomoe didn't deserve to die so young. She was such a hard worker. She was beautiful as well. She and Himura made such a cute pair.

The front door of the inn opened. Okami looked up, annoyed and ready to bite the head off some samurai who most likely was tracking in mud. Her face softened when she saw a family of five, obviously poor and out of place. Okami checked her roster to see if there was enough room.

"Welcome to the Kohagi-ya! What can we do to help you?" asked Okami, putting on a bright face. She had discovered this was the best way to have paying customers.

"Excuse me, but do you have a Himura Kenshin staying here?" The man inquired. Okami scrutinized him and his family. He and the little girl had Himura's eyes, albeit their eyes still had a spark of life in them. Himura's were dead, cold, and vacant.

"I'm sorry, but that information is classified. It's against policy to give out names of people, here or not." Okami knew that this could be some sort of Shinsengumi trick, or maybe the Mimiwarigumi. All were enemies anyway.

"Please? I have to know. It's very important," the man pleaded. Okami peered closer. The man had the same facial structure as Himura. And again, those eyes! Purple as the flower the little girl was clutching in her hand.

Okami was about to ask him if he knew Himura, by any chance, when the door opened again. Himura stepped in, holding several parcels that a maid had bought in the market. It was common practice for the serving girls to have Himura carry their packages, because he was courteous, and listened to them blab on and on about the latest gossip. Okami was sure Himura tolerated this because Katsura had told him to go out every once and a while.

Himura spotted who Okami was talking to, and his face grew very pale. He tried to sneak upstairs quietly, but the maid grabbed his arm and asked, "Hey, Himura-san, where are you going? The kitchens are this way!" very loudly. Okami saw Himura curse under his breath.

The man whirled around, and took in the sight of bright amethyst eyes. His eyes grew very wide, and started to water when he made the connection of his face to Himura's. "Shinta…?" he whispered.

Himura gazed at the floor. "I don't go by that anymore, onii-san," he said quietly.

-oOo-

Author's Note: Ohohoho! It is true; I am mucho mal for any readers looking for a good place to ditch this story! I have not given up! This is the longest I've managed to write a story without getting tired of it. Yippee! I wasn't very proud of the last chapter (it being so short and all) but I need to clarify some things: one, Tomoe is constantly associated with white plums and irises in the OVA. That's why Kenshin reacted so negatively when he heard Ayame's name, which means 'Iris'. Second, I made Katsura look at Kenshin in a more fatherly-teacher sort of way.

I do like Genma in this story. And by the way, (my sister brought this up) when Genma says Ayame is pretty, he doesn't mean it in that sort of way! It's purely fact. Ayame is too cute for her own good. See you in the next chapter (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!)!