Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but my own characters.
Kyoka awoke in the dark of night. The smell of alcohol instantly hit her nose and she flung herself out of the blankets that were wrapped tightly around her to find the villagers snoring away quietly around her. Sanosuke's sister was sleeping quietly with tears dripping silently down her face but her younger brother was nowhere to be seen. Sanosuke himself, along with his father, were both missing.
"That moron. Where did he go?" Kyoka made sure her blade was tightly strapped to her back as she rushed out of the shabby hut in search of Sanosuke.
On her way down the road, she spotted Kamishimoemon and his sleeping son casually walking down the dirt path with a content smile on his face. The man spotted her and smiled kindly, "My stupid son asked me to tell you that he's heading towards the house of that rotten politician. Meet him at the outskirts of town."
"Oh. Thank you." She patted the hilt of her blade to make sure it hadn't slipped in her rush before hurrying down the road.
"Take care of him for me, will you?"
She paused and answered before continuing on her way, "I'll try."
"Come visit again."
"Idiot." Kyoka slammed her fist down over Sanosuke's head, "You should've told me you were going."
"Ouch." He complained, rubbing the growing lump, "I already said I was sorry, didn't I? Jeez."
When she lifted her hand to hit him again, he scooped her up into his arms roughly. Naturally, she complained, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
"We're running all the way to Tokyo." He grinned childishly, "And then we can both get yelled at by the fox lady."
"Moron!" She squeaked as he took off in a mad dash towards the distant town, "Tokyo is 200 kilometers away!"
"Then I better pick up the pace." He laughed.
"Urk. I feel sick." She glared up at him, "Your terribly bumpy running is going to make me puke all over you."
"That would be the symptoms of a hangover." He grinned, "Welcome to my world."
"I'll kill you!"
Megumi glared at the young man drenched in sweat, disgusted by his stupidity, "I have no cure for idiots."
"Don't be that way." Sanosuke gasped out, "I ran here with luggage you know."
"Don't call me luggage!" Kyoka snapped, "I told you that it was too far to run!"
"And you, young lady!" Megumi jabbed her finger into the younger woman's chest, "Don't even get me started on you! How are your arms and legs supposed to heal if you run all over Japan with this idiot?! REST!"
"... Yes ma'am." She just agreed, abandoning Sanosuke to find Saito at the police station.
"She's what?" Kyoka stared dumbly at the policeman as he lit up a smoke nonchalantly.
"She's alive. Kamiya Kaoru is still alive. Don't you speak Japanese?" Saito snorted, taking a long drag of his cigarette, "If you're too stupid to do anything, we'll leave you out of our plans."
"Plans?"
"Our plans to go after Yukishiro Enishi tomorrow. We're going by boat so meet at the harbor or we'll leave without you."
"Boat?" Just the word was making Kyoka's stomach churn. It was strange. She had never been seasick or had any sort of motion sickness before but just sitting in Sanosuke's arms as he ran from Shinsuu to Tokyo made her stomach turn and flip like she had eaten something foul. She had never experienced a hangover but if this is what it felt like she was never going to drink again.
"Don't tell me you get seasick. Only idiots get seasick." Saito spat, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray on his desk.
Saito's insults died out as the girl went sheet white and ran for the bathroom with a hand over her mouth. He blinked at his wide open door for a moment before casually following after her, peering into the bathroom to find her hunched over the toilet bowl.
"I don't see how you can possibly enjoy drinking." She managed to spit, momentarily holding down her stomach contents, "The after effects are sickening."
"I thought you didn't drink." Saito smirked, lighting up another cigarette, "Have a smoke. It helps."
"I don't drink. It was one time and it'll be the last time." She glared at the carcinogenic white stick, "I don't want that either."
"Suit yourself." He shrugged.
"Are you going home today?" She mumbled, flushing the toilet timidly as she watched her stomach contents swirl float around in the bowl.
"Yeah. You can come too." He snorted, "It'll get the idiots at home to shut up."
The door swung open and a panicked officer came rushing into the room, "Lieutenant Fujita! There's a problem."
"Speaking of idiots." Saito sneered, "What is it now?"
"It's your wife, sir. She's ready to give birth any minute!"
Saito's face twisted into one of complete disgust, "That woman has impeccable timing as usual. I don't have time for this."
Despite his words, the police officer was already out of his chair with his sword in hand. Kyoka watched as he gathered the papers on his desk, obviously trying to juggle his work into his free time at the hospital, "Should I go too?"
"No. You sit there like the idiot you are." He snapped.
She flinched as he shoved his papers into her hands, "Uhh… That was sarcasm, right?"
His now free hand went for her ear and he pulled harshly, dragging her out the door in a hurry, "I swear, she always chooses the best of times for this."
"I'm guessing you were busy the first time too."
Saito's glare had her mouth shut for the duration of the carriage ride to his house. He was even harsher when the pair actually reached his house. He didn't bother to look back as he kicked the carriage door aside and marched into his house with a deadly glare on his face.
"S-Scary." The carriage driver muttered.
"Yeah? At least you don't have to live with him." The former ninja muttered, hurrying after the policeman.
The inside of the house was bustling with activity. Midwives hurried about with towels and bowls of warm water. Saito had long since disappeared into the room prepared specifically for these needs leaving Kyoka to curiously peek into the room from time to time. Watching Tokio give birth made the younger woman absolutely certain that she never wanted to give birth in her entire life. It looked too uncomfortable and much too painful .
But childbirth was not to be disrespected. It was the birth of a new life. The pain and time was the sacrifice of a loving mother to bring a child into the world. The one way she could tell it was something to be respected was that Saito had not insulted his wife after the process was complete. It was the opposite. He praised her for her hard work and that was something rare coming from a man like Saito.
His eyebrow went up when he noticed Kyoka standing in the doorway awkwardly and he smirked, "What? One day you'll have to do this too."
She shook her head vigorously, "No thanks."
Tokio gave a tired laugh and smile, "It does hurt quite a lot."
"Tch." Saito lit up a cigarette, his eyes narrowed on the midwives around the room that were rushing about with his newborn son, "Back to business. We'll begin moving tomorrow at dawn. The government has prepared two steamboats for our use. It'll be us, Battosai, Shinomori Aoshi, the weasel girl, Takani Megumi, and your brother. Oh. And the idiot. Any questions?"
"... Your expression doesn't leave any room for questions." Kyoka muttered, evenly glaring back at the swordsman.
"Good." He muttered, "Now make dinner."
"Huh?"
"Clean out your ears, moron. I said make dinner." Saito ordered, "I'm sure you can handle making plain soba."
Kyoka had never cooked before in her entire life, "That hurdle is too big…"
"Learn now." The man demanded.
And when she opened her mouth to complain, he had her silenced with a deadly glare. All that came out was, "Yes, sir."
Leaning back in a satisfied manner, the policeman noticed the look on his wife's face, "What?"
Tokio simply smiled at him, "You have her stumbling around like one of your subordinates at the stations. I certainly hope you aren't training our daughter to be one of your officers of law, Hajime."
A sly smirk came to the naturally hard and expressionless face, "You are too sharp for your own good, woman."
A disgusting hurk! echoed through the Fujita household at earlier hours of the morning. Tsutomu hovered curiously around the girl kneeling over the toilet bowl, "Onee-san sick?"
"What's wrong with you so early in the morning?" Saito snorted, walking past the bathroom on his way to find his wife.
Kyoka turned a glare on the man as he walked by, "You're not sick? It must've been my cooking."
"It tasted like any other food I've eaten." The policeman didn't stop or look back as he continued down the hall, "Hurry up or we'll take off without you."
"I've got a major headache." She groaned.
"Real unfortunate." Saito mumbled, rolling his eyes without a care in the world.
Tokio was up and beginning to walk around after giving birth. She held her newborn baby as her husband poked his head in to check on her, "Hajime is something the matter?"
"It's not me. The little idiot got food poisoning from her own cooking." The man snorted, taking his son from the arms of his wife.
"Food poisoning? We all ate that food." Tokio mumbled, "I haven't felt anything at all."
"Tsutomu looked fine too." Saito commented, "And I never get sick. She had a hangover yesterday and barfed in the bathroom at the stations too."
"She doesn't have food poisoning." The woman concluded, "Let me have a word with her."
"Suit yourself." He shrugged, watching the woman leave with a look of worry on her visage.
"Kyoka-chan? Are you alright, dear?" Tokio called out, making her way slowly down the hallway.
Tsutomu excitedly ran down the hallway to greet his mother, "Kaa-san! Onee-san sick?"
"I'm alright!" Kyoka called back, wiping at her mouth lightly.
"Maybe we should call a doctor." Tokio mused, standing in the doorway to their restroom, "You can't have food poisoning if we don't have it."
"A doctor is going to be on the ship." Saito appeared beside his wife with his newborn son in his arms and Tsutomu pulling at his leg, "Hurry it up."
"Hajime." Tokio warned him, "If she's not well you can't force her to go."
"I'll go." Kyoka hurried to wash her hands and face, "Give me a minute."
"I'll wait in the carriage." Saito told her indifferently, "If you're not out in five minutes, I'm leaving without you."
"Yes sir." She grumbled, hurrying back to her room to grab her blade.
On her way out the door, Tokio called out to her, "Kyoka-chan, I don't want you to be too surprised later and I don't know your circumstances with your lover quite yet but I just thought I might warn you. It seems to me that you're experiencing the symptoms of early pregnancy."
Kyoka froze with her hand on the door, about to leave, "Excuse me?"
"Hajime told me you seemed to have the same symptoms yesterday as well. I can only assume that you're pregnant." The woman warned her, "Please be careful and don't mention a word of this to Hajime. He could be quite upset."
The former ninja shook the thought from her head and nodded quickly to the older woman as she hurried, "I'll keep that in mind."
"Oh dear." Tokio held a hand to the side of her face, "Hmm. I'm too young to be a grandmother so soon."
"Obaa-san?" Tsutomu tilted his head to the side.
"That's right. You might be an uncle within the year."
"Ohh.. uncle! Uncle!"
"Load up the boats." Saito ordered, pushing the former assassin down the docks, "Make sure that idiot gets on the right boat."
"Zanza can get on a boat without my help." Kyoka grumbled, stumbling out towards the Kenshin-gumi.
"Right." Saito didn't really sound like he believed her but he was too busy with his subordinates that he didn't give her another look.
"Stupid Saito." She complained, wandering over to get the lecture of a lifetime from Megumi.
"You! You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?! I told you to rest but you just ran off!" Megumi snapped, "Come with me so I can have a look at you now!"
"Can we get on the boat first?" She gestured to the steamboat, "Saito said we're taking this one."
"Whoa! It's huge!" Yahiko stared up at it in wonder.
"Well don't just stare at it! Let's go!" Misao was the spitting image of a child with a new toy to play with, "Aoshi-sama, hurry!"
"Slow down." Sanosuke chuckled, climbing onto the boat more slowly than the group ahead of him, "You guys are always like this."
Megumi kept a glare on Kyoka at all time, making sure she wouldn't get out of being looked over this time around.
Kyoka felt the shiver go down her spine as Megumi stuck close to her, glaring at her the whole way up the stairs and onto the boat, "I'm not going to run away."
"Sit down!" The doctor ordered, still glaring, "I'll push you off the boat if you don't sit down right this instant."
The younger woman took a seat on the railing of the boat, shrinking down under the intense glare of the female doctor, "You really shouldn't threaten to push people off boats if you're a doctor."
"Be quiet." She hissed, hurrying to check over the evasive patient as the boat let out a loud horn to signal its departure.
"You know… I hate to spring this on you since we're about to go through some serious battles but is it possible for me to be pregnant?" Kyoka asked quietly, the boat's smooth movements over the water making her feel slightly nauseated.
The confusion was clear on Megumi's face as she asked, "Have you had sexual experience recently?"
Her fist flew up to cover the blush that exploded over her cheeks and she found herself unable to answer.
Megumi's eyes narrowed, "So which of them was it?"
"Huh?"
"The rooster head or Shinomori Aoshi?" The woman hissed.
Again, she threw up her hand to cover her face, "Zanza."
"Give me your hand." Megumi snatched up the younger girl's arm and put her fingers to the pulse on her wrist for a moment. After several more uncomfortable tests and long sighs, the doctor concluded, "I hate to tell you when I'm not a hundred percent certain but I have to say you really do seem pregnant. When this is all over, come by the clinic so I can tell you for sure."
"Okay." Kyoka muttered, "Thanks."
"So when are you going to tell him?" The female doctor's eyes twinkled mischievously, "I'd like to be around when you break it to him."
The former ninja's face twisted into a confused scowl, "Tell him? What if he doesn't want to know?"
"Well he's going to find out eventually." Megumi said sternly, "You can't just pretend it's not going to show. I really don't think he'd just abandon you after all this."
"I think he'd laugh in my face and tell me to forget it." She hissed, "Saito's going to kill me."
"No. Saito would kill him. You're such a child. Only a complete dirt bag would leave you after getting you pregnant. That rooster head might be a little stupid but he's definitely not just some jerk. Tell him now. You've got time."
"No way!"
"If you don't do it, I will." Megumi shrugged, getting up to inform the former fighter for hire, "He deserves to know."
"Not yet!" She cried, grabbing a hold of the woman's arm and pulling her back, "You'll distract him from the fight. After we go back, I'll tell him myself."
"You better."
"I will."
"One more thing. Stay out of the fight today. If you really are pregnant, taking on damage could be bad for the child." Megumi warned the younger woman, "Having a child at such a young age is going to be hard but please don't do stupid things."
"I'll keep that in mind." But Kyoka made no promises. If the time came, she would fight either way. It was something that couldn't be helped.
"You idiots need to stop babbling." Saito announced, "We're nearing the island, we'll be ready to land in a few moments."
Too bad that life never seems to give this group a break. The boat lurched forward and back as the second steamboat was torn in two from the mines floating in the water around the island. The policemen on the second ship were moved to the first while Saito prepared a lifeboat to move the small group of fighters to the island.
"Be useful." Saito ordered, shoving the oars into Sanosuke's hands, "Row."
"Don't you tell me what to do, you old grouch!" Sanosuke spat, "I'm always useful!"
"I can see that." The policeman said sarcastically, "Now row."
"Why you-?!"
Kyoka snatched the oar from his hands, "Useless idiot! I'll do it if you won't."
His mood took a 180 turn and he took up the oars again, "I'll do it. I never said I wouldn't."
"Good work, idiots." Saito lit up a cigarette like he had just done all the hard work.
"Hey! Don't we have to slow down?! If we hit one of those we're through!" Sanosuke snapped.
"If we slow down we'll get there too late." Misao jumped up to the front of the wooden lifeboat, "Leave this to me!"
Kyoka watched silently from the back, observing the ninja's form with a nod of her head. Misao's eyes were narrowed as she tried to zero in on the closest mine but the churning waves of the water made it difficult for her to aim straight.
"61.5 meters. 29.7 degrees to the right." Aoshi instructed.
"60.8 meters now. Anytime now, Misao." Kyoka said impatiently, "We're closing in. No pressure."
Misao gulped, "I'm doing it! I got it!"
"Kyoka." Aoshi warned her, his voice low with amusement despite the seriousness of the situation.
"Whatever you say, Okashira." She mumbled, feeling a sense of nostalgia from the light scolding of her former commander.
The first mine went off when Misao's kunai made contact with it, a spray of water coming up where it had blown up, "Alright! I got this! I'll be the first to lend you strength, Himura!"
Kenshin just smiled and nodded, "Please do."
"Alright! Full speed ahead!" Sanosuke cheered, rowing the oars with all his might.
"Quiet loverboy." Saito grumbled, "If you yell any louder I'll have to throw you off the boat."
"Loverboy?! You're a cockroach, Saito!" Sanosuke spat at the older man, "Stop distracting me!"
"You're the most distracting thing here!" Misao barked, "Let me focus!"
"70 meters and closing." Aoshi grumbled, "Hurry it up."
"Hypocrite." Kyoka grumbled, "At least I said no pressure."
Aoshi shot her a glare.
"Ohh. Scary." She rolled her eyes at him, "Why don't you glare at the next mine? It might blow up if you manage to shoot lasers out of those eyes of yours."
Displeased, Aoshi turned his eyes away and made no attempts at a comeback.
Despite all the distractions, Misao managed to get the group to the island in one piece. Not a single mine had come close to blowing them to bits and so, the group made a noisy entrance.
"Landing complete!" Sanosuke announced, "But… we're not being ambushed or anything."
"That doesn't mean that there isn't anyone here." Aoshi was always the smarter one of the two.
"What should we do? Do you want to just charge in?"
"Ken-san?" Megumi asked.
Kenshin took a deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs, "ENISHI! THIS ONE HAS COME TO TAKE BACK KAORU-DONO! LET US FINISH OUR FIGHT NOW!"
"Kenshin…" Sanosuke mumbled, "There's no one coming."
"Let's wait half an hour. This is a private fight between this one and Enishi. If possible, I don't want to involve anyone else."
"And if no one appears?" Saito already looked like he was ready to storm the island but he made no movements to do so.
"Then we'll go in and take Kaoru-dono back."
"Sounds good to me." Sanosuke grinned, "Half an hour it is."
"Yes. Moving around aimlessly will only waste Ken-san's strength." Megumi agreed.
"But will Kaoru-san be alright?" Misao asked worriedly.
"I doubt Kaoru has been harmed." Aoshi concluded expertly, "Now that his elaborate plan has failed, he shouldn't have any reason to harm her."
"So it's decided." Yahiko huffed, "We wait here."
Megumi leaned over to the girl beside her and whispered, "We have half an hour. Now's your chance."
Kyoka swatted the woman away, a blush coming to her cheeks, "I said after the fight is over. What if we have to fight?"
"That's even better." The doctor told her, "Then he'll be able to protect you and the child."
"Shh!" Kyoka hissed as Aoshi's eyes turned on her incredulously.
Megumi had spoken quietly but there was nothing that could escape Aoshi's ears at this distance. Fortunately, Aoshi was the only one who heard and he didn't make a big deal out of it. He just silently assessed the girl that once served under his command with a frown.
Kyoka shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny of the commander of the Oniwabanshu but didn't say anything. His eyes only left her when five new presences entered the area.
"Feh." Saito spat, his cigarette falling into the sand where it was put out, "As I thought, they're not the type of people to just accept our conditions."
True to his words, the men who stepped through the forest weren't with Yukishiro Enishi nor did they bring Kaoru with them. They weren't here to surrender or accept Kenshin's conditions, they were here to fight.
"Who's that guy?" Misao jumped to her feet, "Is that Enishi?"
"No. Not at all." Megumi shook her head.
"That's Wu Hei Shin." Saito explained, "He's the second in command of their organization."
Wu Hei Shin was a small man compared to the others he was with but it was clear that he had the most authority, "I free you from your duties. Wreak havoc here, Tzu Hsing."
"Alright. We're taking them down by force." Sanosuke was the first to step up, "Let's go four on four. We'll leave one of them to you, Saito."
"Hey!" Kyoka protested as Yahiko and Aoshi stepped up beside him, "Then when do I get to fight?"
"Never." Aoshi narrowed his eyes on her belly skeptically and then corrected himself, "In nine months."
That put Saito in a foul mood, "What?"
"Huh? Is something happening in nine months?" Sanosuke asked, highly confused.
"Another fight?" Yahiko guessed.
"Uhh…" Kyoka shrunk back beside Megumi, "Nothing. I'll tell you all later."
"Carry on." Megumi waved her hands at them in a shooing motion, "Hurry it up now. Ken-san is counting on all of you."
"Let's clean these guys up!"
Almost done, guys! I've got one or two more chapters and that'll be the end of this story. Thanks for sticking with me!
