Disclaimer: I do not own Ikkitousen or its characters. My OC of course belongs to me, and like my other fics, I always say the same thing right at the beginning. This is my first attempt at writing an Ikkitousen fic, so please forgive me if I make any mistakes along the way, thank you. As with my stories, expect a non to semi-canon version of Ikki Tousen to be served up to you in my story. Cheers!

A Soldier's Loyalty

Chapter 3

Rouka and Houtoku soon arrived to the train station, and both of them paid their fares for the train that was headed to the first of Rouka's destinations, which was Yoshuu. On the way, Houtoku was beginning to wonder who Rouka's cousins were. The only clue that he had given to her after some coaxing was they were at Yoshuu and Gogun respectively.

Those facts got her to think, and try to eliminate the possibilities of who Rouka's cousins were. The only person at Gogun that was well known as a Toushi was Ukitsu, or 'Genius Ukitsu' as she is known around martial arts circles, since she has complete mastery of almost every martial arts in existence. Judging by how Rouka fights, it is safe to say that Ukitsu might be one of the cousins he is talking about.

The same could not be said for their other destination, Yoshuu Gakuen. The Leader for Yoshuu was Ensho Honsho, but it is unlikely that Rouka would have such high connections with the Leader of Yoshuu. That would leave three other known Toushi, Koshaji, Ganryo and Bunshuu as potential candidates of who Rouka's cousin was.

Rouka looked at Houtoku who looked like she was deep in thought, no doubt still trying to figure out the identities of his cousins. One is a no brainer, but the other one…. Well, she has to figure it out by herself, or find out herself when she gets there. Though he had to admit that she looked pretty cool when she was deep in thought like this.

After a while, Houtoku noticed that Rouka was looking intently at her face, and she blushed slightly, a slightly pink tinge appeared on her cheeks. She then said a little shyly. "Um, Rouka-san? Is there something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rouka blushed slightly at having been caught, but soon regained his composure and smiled at her, shaking his head slightly. "Nothing's wrong, Houtoku-san… it's just that I find you to be pretty cool when you are deep in thought, that's all."

Houtoku flushed slightly at his comment, but then calmed herself and said. "You are a flatterer, you know that? I bet that you say that to many girls, Rouka-san."

Rouka just chuckled and said. "That's what KanU said to me as well, Houtoku-san. But as I have said to her, I may have a silver tongue, and I do flirt sometimes, but I am no pervert or womanizer like that person in Nanyou. I think you might have heard of him. His name is Saji Genpou."

Houtoku nodded as she has heard of one of Nanyou's Four Devas, one Saji Genpou. His skill as a Toushi is widely recognized, though there is one bad thing about him that tarnished his name. Saji Genpou was very well known to be a pervert and womanizer, and often gropes women, sometime without their consent. Not many women could fight off such a skilful pervert, and rumor has it that the only one that keeps Saji in control was a fellow Deva, one Ryomou Shimei. "I see…." She said finally with a soft smile on her face.

She might not know what Rouka was like, since this is the first time she met him, but from the first impressions that he had given to her, he was an okay person to get along with. He had good manners, almost bordering on a gentleman like behavior, as well as having a sense of humor. He is also well skilled in the martial arts, and she knew that his rank was well earned.

The only thing that she was worried initially of course was about his loyalty, since he mentioned earlier that he was an old childhood friend of Seito's Kanu Unchou, and that he is also an unofficial member of Seito as well. But when he reassured her as well as her comrades that in the event that Ryoshuu is being matched up against Seito, he will still fight against Seito.

Their train soon arrived a few moments later, and they boarded the train. Unfortunately, the train was slightly packed at the moment, so they only managed to stand near the back of the train. During the journey, more passengers went aboard the train, so there was a slight jostle aboard. As a result, both of them were crushed towards each other, and they blushed at the rather intimate contact that had resulted from it.

Even after they exited the station, Rouka turned to Houtoku and said. "I'm… I'm sorry, Houtoku-san… even though it is just an accident, I still feel a little bad about it." His face was still blushing a bit when he recalled what happened on the train.

Houtoku also blushed as she recalled what happened, though she knew that she couldn't get angry at him for something that was not his fault to begin with. In fact, as he said, it was a mere accident that had crushed them together in such a manner on the train due to the volume of the passengers that had boarded the train along.

Still, she had to give it to him for apologizing, and while she knew that most boys or men would have loved to take advantage of the situation that happened to both of them for groping her, he did not, which shows that he is indeed a gentleman, and not like that womanizer she heard of that is in Nanyo Academy. Not that it mattered of course, because most chikan or perverts and molesters on the train wouldn't survive the beatings that they would receive in the hands of a toushi.

She then composed herself and shook her head, giving him a soft, friendly smile on her face. "It is alright, Rou'ka-san… after all, as you have said earlier… it is a mere accident, so I don't blame you for what happened." Not to mention, I like the way we were close to each other. She mentally added, though she quickly controlled her thoughts before they moved into… ecchi proportions. "So… shall we go, Rou'ka-san? I believe your intention to travel to Yoshuu was to meet one of your cousins, if I am not mistaken."

Rouka nodded and said. "Indeed, Houtoku-san… thanks for reminding me of it. Let us go…" He then started walking towards the direction of Yoshuu Gakuen, with Houtoku following closely behind.

A few moments later, they arrived at the vicinity of Yoshuu Gakuen. Of course the trip in itself wasn't without incident, since they met some opposition from the minor ranked toushi from Yoshuu that they defeated along the way.

"I must say Houtoku-san… with all the craziness that the magatama is wreaking across the Seven Schools in the Kanto region, one would think that this place would be enough to rival a few other hotspots of craziness in Tokyo, won't you agree?" Rouka said in a half joking manner.

Houtoku just smiled as she knew what he was talking about. "That it maybe, Rouka-san… but I do believe the craziness in our region is still unable to compare to what happens in Nerima, Juuban or Tomobiki. Even Toshi such as us would think twice in entering those chaotic hotspots."

Rouka nodded and said. "I would suppose so… with Nerima is those super powered martial artists that is better known as the Nerima Wrecking Crew, the Youma invasions and whatnot that happens in Juuban, and that Oni princess in Tomobiki… and the list goes on and so forth."

Houtoku just smiled and was about to reply when her danger senses began to alert her to something, and she tensed up and started to look around. She then looked at Rouka, and was surprised at how relaxed he was. "Rouka-san… why are you so relaxed? Can't you feel that we are in danger?"

Rouka nodded, and gave her a lopsided grin, which made her blush again, despite the danger that she felt they were in. "Don't worry about it, Houtoku-san… in normal circumstances, yes, I do believe we would be in danger. In this particular case, however…. I don't think we are. Just watch… this is going to be very interesting."

Houtoku just looked at him as if he has grown a second head, and was now feeling confused over his peculiar statement. She was about to ask him to explain things to her when the whistle of thrown projectiles were heard as they flew towards Rouka in deadly velocity. What surprised her was that he was openly grinning, as if he was expecting such a thing.

Rouka just grinned as he unstrapped his jian from his back and swung it around, deflecting the projectiles away from him with practiced ease, and Houtoku could see the kunai and shuriken that clattered onto the ground, which made her confirm the identity of the assailant would likely be a ninja, or someone trained in the ninja arts.

Before she could figure out who it was, she heard Rouka said with a grin. "Really... Sha-chan… you're just as bad as Tsu-chan when it comes to greeting family members. Can't you guys use the normal way of greeting people for a change?"

"That's true, Rou-kun…" A smooth, feminine voice caught Houtoku's attention as a silvery haired girl wearing the uniform of Yoshuu Gakuen walked towards them, her hips swaying slightly as she walked. "Than again… that way of greeting would be so mundane, don't you think? Not to mention I have to make sure you aren't getting weaker when you are away… but I see that your training since your departure two years ago has made you stronger… I like it." The last part was said in a rather husky tone, which was accompanied with a smoldery gaze directed at Rouka.

For some reason, Houtoku had a very strong urge to run to Rouka's side and glomp his arm and fix a withering glare at the woman who would dare try and seduce HER man. Though she controlled that part of her which she squashed rather reluctantly, and merely glared at the young woman, and said rather frostily. "Rouka-san… who is this? I assume that this is the cousin that you are talking about?"

Rouka just raised an eyebrow at Houtoku's sudden frosty tone. Now this is interesting… judging from her reaction, it would be logical to assume that Houtoku Reimei is beginning to develop a rather possessive attitude towards me. However, this is also quite impossible unless she has feelings for me… which I doubt, since we only met a while ago.

Filing this bit of information for further study, he nodded and said. "Indeed, Houtoku-san… may I introduce you to one of my distant cousins… Koshaji Enjo."

Koshaji just smirked and walked to their side. She already knew who this girl was. Houtoku Reimei… one of the top Toushi of Ryoshuu Gakuen, which incidentally was somewhere her cousin was studying, it seems.

"Mou, Rou-kun… am I just that to you?" Koshaji pouted slightly as she sauntered towards Rouka and pressed herself to his side, gently rubbing herself against him. "Don't you remember about that promise you made to me when we were kids. You know, the one where you promised to me that we will get married one day when we got older?"

That statement finally got a reaction out of Houtoku as she glomped Rouka's other arm, and glared at the silvery haired assassin, which led Rouka to sweatdrop at how possessive she suddenly was. His cousin he could understand, since she has been always like this around him. To put it simply, he knew that she had a minor stalker kind of crush on him since they were kids, and when they got older, before they got into the mess that had been dumped onto them right now, she would often do things like this to him.

What really surprised him was how Houtoku was acting. It was as if her personality had changed, and the situation that he was in right now, really reminded him of some of the things that happened to one guy in the Okayama Prefecture, or worse… in Nerima.

He then decided to nip this in the bud before a family reunion is turned into an all out catfight, which he didn't want. One of the reasons was that he would be at Ground Zero when the fight is going to break out… somewhere he didn't want to be for his own health.

"Sha-chan… as much as I find this entertaining… could you let go of me please? We need to talk." Rouka said in a rather neutral tone, which caused Koshaji to pout slightly in disappointment, but then she let him go a bit reluctantly.

"Hmmph, you're no fun, Rou-kun… but I suppose I can make do for now… though I didn't know you are such a ladies man… you already got an admirer after you came back. I don't know if I should be impressed or jealous." She sighed rather theatrically, making Rouka raise an eyebrow at her theatrics, and Houtoku blush slightly at her earlier behavior.

"That's much better… by the way, Sha-chan… how are things going on your end lately?" Rouka asked his cousin.

Koshaji just shrugged and said. "Nothing much here, Rou-chan… though I think that our Leader and his two cronies are too caught up in this Toushi business a bit too seriously. Ganryo and Bunshuu are bullies that somehow got even rowdier, and Ensho acts like he is some kind of big shot or something. I'm technically still under his command though, so I can't do anything about it. How about you then, Rou-kun?"

Rouka just grinned and said. "Nothing much, Sha-chan… just returned from China yesterday, and met up with Kan-san a while ago, before enrolling in Ryoshuu, and then I decided to pay you and Tsu-chan a visit."

"As thoughtful as ever I see…" Koshaji smiled rather wistfully. "But then again, you have always been like this since we were kids, and I'm glad that this toushi business hasn't changed you a bit."

Rouka nodded and said. "I said this to Kan-san before, and I think I will say it again. I wear the magatama, not the other way round. It's a pity that most toushi let their magatama to have a hold of them. I am not interested in re enacting a bloody history that occurred in China 1800 years ago. I prefer to stay alive and lead a somewhat normal life, thank you very much."

"Well said, Rou-kun…" Koshaji said with a serene smile on her face. "But there are fools that don't think the way you do, and I do believe there are quite a lot of them."

Rouka just shrugged and said. "Like I said, Sha-chan… and you mentioned as well, they are fools. But enough of this… I think we should go and grab a bite to eat, don't you think? It's almost lunchtime, and we should get something. Afterwards, I want to spar with you, just like old times."

Koshaji just smirked and said. "Sure thing…. I want to see what you learned in China anyway. I'll take you to the place I often eat, and then we can go to the local park and have our spar there."

She then grabbed his arm and said. "Follow me…." She then started leading him away and Houtoku glomped to his other arm once again, as they left the vicinity of Yoshuu, leaving some guys to glare weakly at their backs at seeing a guy being in the company of two beautiful and hot girls.

Rouka just sighed weakly as he felt the weak killer intents directed at him, and he pondered just how this family reunion had ended up becoming something that he had only heard happening in Nerima or Okayama.

End of Chapter 3

Author's note: Yay! Another chapter finished for me! Rouka visits one of his cousins, Koshaji, and if you guys have guessed, Ukitsu is his other cousin. Just to explain a little, Ukitsu is Rouka's maternal cousin, and Koshaji is his paternal cousin. On another note, I did make some more references to certain animes here, and I don't think you guys will have a hard time in figuring out what they are. That's if from me for now… do keep reading and reviewing you guys! Cheers!