--This story was co-written with my sister, Rosemary, whom you may contact at gohorses@yahoo.com.
--The story idea itself belongs to her, though I contributed to adding details to them. I was
--also the one who wrote the story, while she only made decisions. As a result, neither she nor
--I actually own Rurouni Kenshin. Heck, we don't even own Tsuyosa because we protray him along
--the elusive lines of Kaoru's father. We're not sure Tsuyosa is his real name even, but it's
--Japanese for strong and we thought it sounded pretty, so we decided to use it. Apoligies for
--any Out of Charactor you see, though we tried greatly to keep them out of that rut. Heck, we
--don't know how Tokio is supposed to act eithor, so we're not too sure about her . . .
--One final word: This story is slightly crossed over with Ranma 1/2. You don't need to be familar
--with it to be left in the dark, since I believe I explained everything in the story. However,
--it might be helpful for any inside jokes/puns I felt like tossing in. ^_^ C&C is ever so welcome.
--Please do not take and distribute this anywhere without my permission (dalimata@yahoo.com), or
--even run off with the idea. Thankyouverymuchos!
Saitou sighed with relief as he sat down at his desk. The chair creaked beneath his weight. He stared with distaste at the small pile of papers that were already beginning to pile up on his desk. This wasn't very much; if he didn't want to be sent home early, he would have to take of it. Well, he knew some people who had questionable pasts from the Meiji War he could dig up if he were desperate enough . . .
"Don't touch that," he told Yahiko even as the youth reached a hand out to touch the exquisite vase sitting on a table next to the desk.
"What would happen if I did?" Yahiko shot back. He wilted slightly under the cool golden gaze Saitou turned upon him.
"I don't believe you actually want me to answer that question," he said softly just as a loud crash was heard outside his office and a high-pitched Chinese-accented voice began to make demands on seeing 'her husband'. Yahiko watched in wonder as he saw Saitou's face turn a deadly white.
Outside the office, a young woman with lavender hair and her wrinkled prune of a mother were beating their way through the police station to Saitou's office.
"Son-in-law must be around here somewhere," the old lady said, hitting one person with her stick as he got in the way. He quickly scrambled out of their reach and hid behind a clothes racket. The young Amazon-Lo Zhun-skipped forward and aimed a kick at the door in front of her that knocked it off its hinges. She peeked her head through it.
"Where husband?" she demanded in her thick-accented Japanese. She was greeted by a tiny figure engulfed in a large blue coat and his face hidden by a cap that covered the hair and half the face, while the other half of the face was hidden by the collar on the coat.
"Can I help you, my dear madam?" 'he' asked with an obviously fake deep voice as he made gestures with his hands from behind the desk he was currently sitting (or standing?) behind. Lo Zhun leaned forward to take a closer look at the funny little man.
"You no look like husband?" she asked, scratching her head in puzzlement.
"What?" the voice exclaimed in a high-pitched youth's. It stopped, coughed, and was deep once more. "I have no idea what you're talking about! Why, if I had a wife as cute as you, I would never let her leave my side! (ouch, don't hit me)"
Lo Zhun huffed vainly and flipped a strand of hair over her shoulder even as her mother joined her. "Hmm! You be weak husband I know! Me have two husband!" She proudly held two fingers up. Impatient with her daughter, the old woman hit her with her staff.
"Come daughter! If your first husband is not here, then we shall look for your second husband!" She jumped onto her stick and hopped over to the window, which she promptly jumped out of. Lo Zhun huffed once more before following after her mother.
Yahiko stared after them for a brief moment before looking under the desk. "You owe me," he said in a normal voice as Saitou crawled out from beneath it. "You didn't have to kick me either." Saitou glared at him.
"Don't you dare tell a single soul of this!" he warned Yahiko. He stared up at him for a brief moment before breaking into a sneaky grin.
Sanosuke stared at the empty dojo yard. Ayame and Suzume tugged at his hands, moaning of their hunger. Earlier that day, Megumi had snatched Sanosuke off the street and forced him to watch the two younger girls so they wouldn't be pests as she looked her patients over. Sanosuke decided to go for the regular deal: Pawn them off to Jo-chan and, while he was at it, beg lunch for all three of them.
"I wonder if they all decided to go to Tae's without me," he thought jealously to himself. He picked Ayame up as she begged for a ride and settled her down upon a shoulder as Suzume tugged at his hand and tried to pull him towards the kitchen area. He allowed himself to be lead there. As he reached the kitchen area, he stepped in something slimy. He looked down to see green goop covering his shoe.
Both girls chimed, "Ewww!" as he made a face and tried to wipe it off onto the grass the best he could. He shuddered as he briefly thought what Kaoru must have concocted for breakfast, and then continued on to the kitchen. As he entered it, he suddenly realized that someone was banging on something somewhere in the dojo.
Jo-chan and a small woman with the same dark hair were sitting together in the middle of the kitchen on stools, peeling yams. The banging was slightly louder in the room. The woman looked up from her peeling. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.
Possessing fewer manners than Kenshin (and basic intelligence, for that matter), Sanosuke replied, "Who the hell are you?"
Perhaps it was from the crass language with the current audience, or perhaps it was because he had walked in with two small children as if he owned the place, but for whatever reason, the skin around Tokio's eyes tightened as it always did when she was struggling to control her temper. She turned to Kaoru and pointed her parrying knife at Sanosuke. "Who's the slob?" she asked.
Kaoru hunched her shoulders and began to peel more furiously. "He's a bum that likes to mooch off me!"
"Oi!" Sanosuke pulled Ayame off his shoulders and set her on the floor, glaring furiously at Kaoru. That was when Soujirou, almost ignorant of the visitors, entered the kitchen.
"Ka-chan, do you know where Yahiko placed the broom?" he asked. "Kenshin told me that I should-"
Sanosuke facefaulted when he saw who it was. "You!" he bellowed, pushing Sazume out the way.
"Eeep!" Soujirou ran around the room of the kitchen using his great speed to get the inevitable fight out of the house (Aunt Tokio would kill him much more painfully than what Sanosuke would ever be capable of doing). Suzume hit Ayame and the two little girls burst into tears as Sanosuke followed closely after Soujirou. As Soujirou ran past a startled Tsuyosa who was dipping a bucket into the well for water, the green goop finished eating its way through Sanosuke's shoe.
"Youch!" He stopped and began to stomp the foot before sitting down and trying to jerk the shoe off without getting the green goop onto his hands.
Inside the kitchen, Tokio calmly set her yams and knife aside and stood up and walked over to the two small girls. They stopped crying as they looked up at her. She smiled kindly as she scooped both girls into her arms. She walked back to the stool where she had been sitting on and sat down. She balanced both girls on her knees.
Kaoru gave them jealous glances, remembering such a time when she had been young enough to do that.
"So," Tokio began patiently, "where do you little sweeties come from?"
Ayame sniffed and rubbed at her eyes as her older sister jumped in with an answer. "Mommy."
"Daddy helped too," Ayame reminded. Tokio and Kaoru sweatdropped.
"They usually spend the day with Dr Gensai," Kaoru told her aunt.
"Ah."
Soujirou stared as he and his uncle watched Sanosuke attempt pulling his shoe off, cursing as if he believed that the words would make the green goop shrivel up and die of shame. Tsuyosa scratched his head in puzzlement.
"What happened to him?" he asked. "Did he upset Tokio and she brought her heel down upon his foot? That does hurt, you know," he said. Soujirou winced as he remembered Tokio doing exactly that to Tsuyosa many years ago when he told her that he wanted to cook, and nothing short of a broken limb would stop him. They were the wrong words to be uttered around the wife of Saitou Hajime.
"He's a friend of Himura's," Soujirou said. "I'm not really quite sure what happened." They looked up to see Kenshin standing at the corner of the dojo with his sakaba in hand, watching Sanosuke with wide eyes. Soujirou wandered off towards the rurouni. "Well, I couldn't find the broom and Kenshin asked me to sweep the front deck off. Maybe he might have an idea where Yahiko put it."
Tsuyosa watched the mad stomping and cursing a few more minutes before Sanosuke was finally able to take his shoe off. He was then able to see the green goop. He looked thoughtful. "Eh, so I was right! There was too much curry!"
"Where is he?" Sanosuke jumped to his feet and stormed past Tsuyosa to where he had seen Soujirou disappear with Kenshin.
Tsuyosa grabbed the back of his jacket, noticing the kanji for "evil" on the back of it. Kaoru has very strange friends, and do does that Kenshin fellow, he thought briefly to himself. "Hold it, where do you think you are going?" he asked just as Tokio and Kaoru stepped out of the kitchen area with the two little girls on tow, both of which were munching away on rice balls.
"Who are you?" Sanosuke demanded rudely, looking over his shoulder to see the hand holding onto his jacket.
"I am the owner of th-"
"Ahem." Tokio cleared her throat very loudly to gain Tsuyosa's attention. He looked over at her, and she glared at him, pointing at Kaoru and drawing a finger across her neck in a slicing motion. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end in response. He quickly looked back at Sanosuke again, mumbling under his breath. "What's that I hear?" Tokio yelled. Tsuyosa flinched. Her hearing was sharper than what he credited her for.
"I am the illegally alive owner of this dojo," Tsuyosa said in an attempt to avert attention. Sanosuke's ears perked as he blinked in astonishment.
"How is that possible?" he asked.
"I don't know. Ask the shrew over there," Tsuyosa snapped angrily, gesturing at Tokio.
"I HEARD THAT!!"
Thinking quickly in order to change the subject before Tokio came over to him and begin to smack him around, Tsuyosa attempted to start up a conversation. Sanosuke had his eyes on the living pot of bubbling fury. Megumi came immediately to mind. He began to edge away from her.
"So," Tsuyosa began, "why are you here, tromping about as if you think you own the place?" He asked in it a playful mood, more so to create a friendly atmosphere against the mood Tokio was setting. It came quite to everyone's surprise when Ayame spoke.
"He does!" she squealed delightfully. Tsuyosa shot a surprised looked over at Tokio and noticed the infamous tic going off in her forehead. He began to edge away from her as well, glad that her anger was now off him, but at the same time, slightly regretful that it had to be this slightly innocent stranger who had to feel Tokio's mighty wrath.
Kaoru, in a fairly bad mood because her pupil had run off before she could show her father what she been teaching him decided to help further Tokio's temper. "He's also the one responsible for the large hole in my dojo that Kenshin is currently trying to fix!"
Uh oh. Tsuyosa stumbled backwards and decided it was time to clear out as the tic in Tokio's forehead began to beat faster. He limped as quickly as he could over to hide behind the cheery tree. Far enough that he was out of the reach of Tokio's wrath, but close enough to observe her behavior.
As a rule, Tsuyosa very much enjoyed women. They truly fascinated him. Soft, sweet smelling and as smooth as silk with minds like lovely round circles; that was how Tsuyosa viewed women. The circles had gentle curves, locked up tightly against the harshness of the world and yet still soft enough to be kind to all.
Tsuyosa did not get along well with Tokio; it was partially his fault, he knew that. But dammit, the woman fascinated him with all the ways she reacted to what he did! Tsuyosa was fairly certain that Tokio had a mind like a diamond-lovely to look at, yet all planes and points. He was fairly convinced that, should Saitou's wife have fought in the Meiji War instead of Saitou, then there would have been a different outcome in the end.
As he stood hiding behind the cherry tree and waiting to see what Tokio would do, Murphy's Law (not yet discovered, but in motion nonetheless) decided to kick him where it counts. A lavender blur whizzed over the fence, pounced on Tsuyosa, and began to kiss the smidgens out of him!
"Wa no ai, airan!"
"ACH!"
Tokio's wrath redirected itself to her favorite target as she suddenly found him in a rather compromising situation. She pulled her trusty knitting needles out, and then decided against them. She went for the heavy arsenal, which was the ever-ready frying pan that had left a scar on Tsuyosa's hairline. She strode over to the target.
Feeling as if he had just escaped a persona worse than Saitou's, Sanosuke fled to the (he hoped) safety of Kenshin.
"Tsuyosa?" The subject froze in his struggles to be free even as the perceptibly soft voice spoke. He looked up and saw his worst nightmare . . . Correction, he woke up and saw his worst nightmare in her worst form.
"This isn't my fault!" he protested before she could accuse him of doing anything. Kaoru bent and scooped both Ayame and Suzame into her arms and carried them closer so all three of them could hear was what being said more clearly. From the other side of the dojo approached a nervous looking Kenshin, who Soujirou was hiding behind. Sanosuke trailed behind them with his pockets stuffed in his hands and a look of disgust on his face.
"Soujirou is a good boy and Kaoru's cousin. Be nice de gazaro," Kenshin had said before they went off to see what Tsuyosa was yelling about.
"You," began Tokio from where she was standing with a barely-hidden frying pan behind her back, "are a disgrace to Hana."
"Hana who? Er, I mean, that is-Wait just a minute!" Tsuyosa jumped to his feet with the Amazon still hanging around his neck. He tried to pry her loose from his body. "In case you haven't noticed, Hana has been dead for thirteen years! And besides that, it isn't my fault this girl thinks I am her husband!"
"Oh isn't it?" Tokio returned calmly. "Then why haven't you done anything about discouraging the girl?"
Lo Zhun jumped to her feet and squared off the tinier woman. To Tsuyosa's disappointment, he saw that he was shorter than the Amazon. That was when he realized that the Amazon was no older than Kaoru.
"Who you?" Lo Zhun demanded, glaring at Tokio. She wrapped a protective arm around Tsuyosa. "MY husband! You get own!" Tsuyosa warily eyed the frying pan Tokio held behind her back.
"I already have my own husband," she replied. "If you wish to keep this moron, then you are most certainly welcome to him."
"Wait just a minute here! You just said I should discourage her!"
"You are a different matter all together," Tokio snapped back. "You fail to remember you have a daughter who must be wed in order for both of you to keep the dojo!"
"Hang the wedding and hang the dojo! It's mine, you hear me? And when that law guy comes popping up around to see if Kaoru has married, I'm going to tell him exactly that too! Kaoru can marry who she wants when she wants and that's final!"
"And what about Soujirou?"
At the mention of her predicament, Kaoru dropped Ayame and Suzame to the ground and burst into tears. Both adults wore guilty looks as they watched her run away from them.
Sanosuke, from where the three men were standing together and watching the matter, nudged Kenshin. "This is your big chance! Jo-chan needs comfort and you have to do that!"
Kenshin's fingers curled nervously as he took a step forward, but he really did not go after her until Soujirou decided to help him along with a well-placed shove. He gave Kenshin an assuring smile as the little rurouni turned around to see what had happened. Kenshin nodded in reply and hurried after the retreating figure.
Soujirou then eyed Sanosuke nervously. Sanosuke shrugged. "When this is all over, I want an explanation as to what is going on and who that woman over there is." He shuddered. "She scares me." Soujirou cast a look over his shoulder at where Tokio and Tsuyosa were glaring at one another, having not quite picked up their argument yet. He turned back to Sanosuke and broke into a smile not unlike Yahiko who knew a piece of useful blackmail when he saw him.
"Yes, Aunt Tokio does seem to have that sort of effect on morons."
"Yeah, tell me about-hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Soujirou's face became serious. "Beware of what you call Aunt Tokio around people. While she is capable of defending her own honor and beliefs, her husband would gladly do it for her as well, and he's a bit more violent about it than Aunt Tokio."
"Oh? Who's he?"
This was where Soujirou broke into his cheerful, I'm-just-an-innocent-person-who-would-never-lie smile. "Saitou Hajime." Sanosuke stared at him with shock before his stomach growled.
"Ugh. I'm hungry," he said, placing a hand over his stomach.
Soujirou dropped the smile. "You're also alive, so don't be saying anything about food around my uncle!" Sanosuke blinked in reply.
Kenshin stared at Kaoru's shaking shoulders. "Kaoru-dono?" he began softly with concern as he stepped closer to her. She turned and glanced over her shoulder at him. She brightened up and began to make wild swipes at her eyes to wipe away the incriminating evidence that she had been crying.
Kenshin felt his heart wring at the sad sight. Karou stared across at him, and then dropped the brace façade she held. She burst into tears again.
"Oh Kenshin!" She shamelessly threw herself into his arms. "I don't want to marry Souji-chan! I love him and all, but just not like that! I can't imagine my life with him! Everything is just awful!"
Kenshin patted Kaoru's shoulder. "But in light of it all, isn't it nice that he is alive? Isn't it nice to have him and your father, your aunt and your, ah, uncle together here?"
Kaoru sniffed and reluctantly pulled away from Kenshin. After a few moments, her face resumed a dreamy look. "Yeah. All we need now is Soujirou's mother and the rest of the Delinquits here for it to be the same." She sighed and then tightly hugged Kenshin. "In fact, I believe I will invite them here for a party, and dad can even cook!"
Kenshin turned white as his thoughts flitted over to the horror of what had been breakfast. "B-but Kaoru-dono, do you really think . . . Oro!"
--The story idea itself belongs to her, though I contributed to adding details to them. I was
--also the one who wrote the story, while she only made decisions. As a result, neither she nor
--I actually own Rurouni Kenshin. Heck, we don't even own Tsuyosa because we protray him along
--the elusive lines of Kaoru's father. We're not sure Tsuyosa is his real name even, but it's
--Japanese for strong and we thought it sounded pretty, so we decided to use it. Apoligies for
--any Out of Charactor you see, though we tried greatly to keep them out of that rut. Heck, we
--don't know how Tokio is supposed to act eithor, so we're not too sure about her . . .
--One final word: This story is slightly crossed over with Ranma 1/2. You don't need to be familar
--with it to be left in the dark, since I believe I explained everything in the story. However,
--it might be helpful for any inside jokes/puns I felt like tossing in. ^_^ C&C is ever so welcome.
--Please do not take and distribute this anywhere without my permission (dalimata@yahoo.com), or
--even run off with the idea. Thankyouverymuchos!
Saitou sighed with relief as he sat down at his desk. The chair creaked beneath his weight. He stared with distaste at the small pile of papers that were already beginning to pile up on his desk. This wasn't very much; if he didn't want to be sent home early, he would have to take of it. Well, he knew some people who had questionable pasts from the Meiji War he could dig up if he were desperate enough . . .
"Don't touch that," he told Yahiko even as the youth reached a hand out to touch the exquisite vase sitting on a table next to the desk.
"What would happen if I did?" Yahiko shot back. He wilted slightly under the cool golden gaze Saitou turned upon him.
"I don't believe you actually want me to answer that question," he said softly just as a loud crash was heard outside his office and a high-pitched Chinese-accented voice began to make demands on seeing 'her husband'. Yahiko watched in wonder as he saw Saitou's face turn a deadly white.
Outside the office, a young woman with lavender hair and her wrinkled prune of a mother were beating their way through the police station to Saitou's office.
"Son-in-law must be around here somewhere," the old lady said, hitting one person with her stick as he got in the way. He quickly scrambled out of their reach and hid behind a clothes racket. The young Amazon-Lo Zhun-skipped forward and aimed a kick at the door in front of her that knocked it off its hinges. She peeked her head through it.
"Where husband?" she demanded in her thick-accented Japanese. She was greeted by a tiny figure engulfed in a large blue coat and his face hidden by a cap that covered the hair and half the face, while the other half of the face was hidden by the collar on the coat.
"Can I help you, my dear madam?" 'he' asked with an obviously fake deep voice as he made gestures with his hands from behind the desk he was currently sitting (or standing?) behind. Lo Zhun leaned forward to take a closer look at the funny little man.
"You no look like husband?" she asked, scratching her head in puzzlement.
"What?" the voice exclaimed in a high-pitched youth's. It stopped, coughed, and was deep once more. "I have no idea what you're talking about! Why, if I had a wife as cute as you, I would never let her leave my side! (ouch, don't hit me)"
Lo Zhun huffed vainly and flipped a strand of hair over her shoulder even as her mother joined her. "Hmm! You be weak husband I know! Me have two husband!" She proudly held two fingers up. Impatient with her daughter, the old woman hit her with her staff.
"Come daughter! If your first husband is not here, then we shall look for your second husband!" She jumped onto her stick and hopped over to the window, which she promptly jumped out of. Lo Zhun huffed once more before following after her mother.
Yahiko stared after them for a brief moment before looking under the desk. "You owe me," he said in a normal voice as Saitou crawled out from beneath it. "You didn't have to kick me either." Saitou glared at him.
"Don't you dare tell a single soul of this!" he warned Yahiko. He stared up at him for a brief moment before breaking into a sneaky grin.
Sanosuke stared at the empty dojo yard. Ayame and Suzume tugged at his hands, moaning of their hunger. Earlier that day, Megumi had snatched Sanosuke off the street and forced him to watch the two younger girls so they wouldn't be pests as she looked her patients over. Sanosuke decided to go for the regular deal: Pawn them off to Jo-chan and, while he was at it, beg lunch for all three of them.
"I wonder if they all decided to go to Tae's without me," he thought jealously to himself. He picked Ayame up as she begged for a ride and settled her down upon a shoulder as Suzume tugged at his hand and tried to pull him towards the kitchen area. He allowed himself to be lead there. As he reached the kitchen area, he stepped in something slimy. He looked down to see green goop covering his shoe.
Both girls chimed, "Ewww!" as he made a face and tried to wipe it off onto the grass the best he could. He shuddered as he briefly thought what Kaoru must have concocted for breakfast, and then continued on to the kitchen. As he entered it, he suddenly realized that someone was banging on something somewhere in the dojo.
Jo-chan and a small woman with the same dark hair were sitting together in the middle of the kitchen on stools, peeling yams. The banging was slightly louder in the room. The woman looked up from her peeling. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.
Possessing fewer manners than Kenshin (and basic intelligence, for that matter), Sanosuke replied, "Who the hell are you?"
Perhaps it was from the crass language with the current audience, or perhaps it was because he had walked in with two small children as if he owned the place, but for whatever reason, the skin around Tokio's eyes tightened as it always did when she was struggling to control her temper. She turned to Kaoru and pointed her parrying knife at Sanosuke. "Who's the slob?" she asked.
Kaoru hunched her shoulders and began to peel more furiously. "He's a bum that likes to mooch off me!"
"Oi!" Sanosuke pulled Ayame off his shoulders and set her on the floor, glaring furiously at Kaoru. That was when Soujirou, almost ignorant of the visitors, entered the kitchen.
"Ka-chan, do you know where Yahiko placed the broom?" he asked. "Kenshin told me that I should-"
Sanosuke facefaulted when he saw who it was. "You!" he bellowed, pushing Sazume out the way.
"Eeep!" Soujirou ran around the room of the kitchen using his great speed to get the inevitable fight out of the house (Aunt Tokio would kill him much more painfully than what Sanosuke would ever be capable of doing). Suzume hit Ayame and the two little girls burst into tears as Sanosuke followed closely after Soujirou. As Soujirou ran past a startled Tsuyosa who was dipping a bucket into the well for water, the green goop finished eating its way through Sanosuke's shoe.
"Youch!" He stopped and began to stomp the foot before sitting down and trying to jerk the shoe off without getting the green goop onto his hands.
Inside the kitchen, Tokio calmly set her yams and knife aside and stood up and walked over to the two small girls. They stopped crying as they looked up at her. She smiled kindly as she scooped both girls into her arms. She walked back to the stool where she had been sitting on and sat down. She balanced both girls on her knees.
Kaoru gave them jealous glances, remembering such a time when she had been young enough to do that.
"So," Tokio began patiently, "where do you little sweeties come from?"
Ayame sniffed and rubbed at her eyes as her older sister jumped in with an answer. "Mommy."
"Daddy helped too," Ayame reminded. Tokio and Kaoru sweatdropped.
"They usually spend the day with Dr Gensai," Kaoru told her aunt.
"Ah."
Soujirou stared as he and his uncle watched Sanosuke attempt pulling his shoe off, cursing as if he believed that the words would make the green goop shrivel up and die of shame. Tsuyosa scratched his head in puzzlement.
"What happened to him?" he asked. "Did he upset Tokio and she brought her heel down upon his foot? That does hurt, you know," he said. Soujirou winced as he remembered Tokio doing exactly that to Tsuyosa many years ago when he told her that he wanted to cook, and nothing short of a broken limb would stop him. They were the wrong words to be uttered around the wife of Saitou Hajime.
"He's a friend of Himura's," Soujirou said. "I'm not really quite sure what happened." They looked up to see Kenshin standing at the corner of the dojo with his sakaba in hand, watching Sanosuke with wide eyes. Soujirou wandered off towards the rurouni. "Well, I couldn't find the broom and Kenshin asked me to sweep the front deck off. Maybe he might have an idea where Yahiko put it."
Tsuyosa watched the mad stomping and cursing a few more minutes before Sanosuke was finally able to take his shoe off. He was then able to see the green goop. He looked thoughtful. "Eh, so I was right! There was too much curry!"
"Where is he?" Sanosuke jumped to his feet and stormed past Tsuyosa to where he had seen Soujirou disappear with Kenshin.
Tsuyosa grabbed the back of his jacket, noticing the kanji for "evil" on the back of it. Kaoru has very strange friends, and do does that Kenshin fellow, he thought briefly to himself. "Hold it, where do you think you are going?" he asked just as Tokio and Kaoru stepped out of the kitchen area with the two little girls on tow, both of which were munching away on rice balls.
"Who are you?" Sanosuke demanded rudely, looking over his shoulder to see the hand holding onto his jacket.
"I am the owner of th-"
"Ahem." Tokio cleared her throat very loudly to gain Tsuyosa's attention. He looked over at her, and she glared at him, pointing at Kaoru and drawing a finger across her neck in a slicing motion. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end in response. He quickly looked back at Sanosuke again, mumbling under his breath. "What's that I hear?" Tokio yelled. Tsuyosa flinched. Her hearing was sharper than what he credited her for.
"I am the illegally alive owner of this dojo," Tsuyosa said in an attempt to avert attention. Sanosuke's ears perked as he blinked in astonishment.
"How is that possible?" he asked.
"I don't know. Ask the shrew over there," Tsuyosa snapped angrily, gesturing at Tokio.
"I HEARD THAT!!"
Thinking quickly in order to change the subject before Tokio came over to him and begin to smack him around, Tsuyosa attempted to start up a conversation. Sanosuke had his eyes on the living pot of bubbling fury. Megumi came immediately to mind. He began to edge away from her.
"So," Tsuyosa began, "why are you here, tromping about as if you think you own the place?" He asked in it a playful mood, more so to create a friendly atmosphere against the mood Tokio was setting. It came quite to everyone's surprise when Ayame spoke.
"He does!" she squealed delightfully. Tsuyosa shot a surprised looked over at Tokio and noticed the infamous tic going off in her forehead. He began to edge away from her as well, glad that her anger was now off him, but at the same time, slightly regretful that it had to be this slightly innocent stranger who had to feel Tokio's mighty wrath.
Kaoru, in a fairly bad mood because her pupil had run off before she could show her father what she been teaching him decided to help further Tokio's temper. "He's also the one responsible for the large hole in my dojo that Kenshin is currently trying to fix!"
Uh oh. Tsuyosa stumbled backwards and decided it was time to clear out as the tic in Tokio's forehead began to beat faster. He limped as quickly as he could over to hide behind the cheery tree. Far enough that he was out of the reach of Tokio's wrath, but close enough to observe her behavior.
As a rule, Tsuyosa very much enjoyed women. They truly fascinated him. Soft, sweet smelling and as smooth as silk with minds like lovely round circles; that was how Tsuyosa viewed women. The circles had gentle curves, locked up tightly against the harshness of the world and yet still soft enough to be kind to all.
Tsuyosa did not get along well with Tokio; it was partially his fault, he knew that. But dammit, the woman fascinated him with all the ways she reacted to what he did! Tsuyosa was fairly certain that Tokio had a mind like a diamond-lovely to look at, yet all planes and points. He was fairly convinced that, should Saitou's wife have fought in the Meiji War instead of Saitou, then there would have been a different outcome in the end.
As he stood hiding behind the cherry tree and waiting to see what Tokio would do, Murphy's Law (not yet discovered, but in motion nonetheless) decided to kick him where it counts. A lavender blur whizzed over the fence, pounced on Tsuyosa, and began to kiss the smidgens out of him!
"Wa no ai, airan!"
"ACH!"
Tokio's wrath redirected itself to her favorite target as she suddenly found him in a rather compromising situation. She pulled her trusty knitting needles out, and then decided against them. She went for the heavy arsenal, which was the ever-ready frying pan that had left a scar on Tsuyosa's hairline. She strode over to the target.
Feeling as if he had just escaped a persona worse than Saitou's, Sanosuke fled to the (he hoped) safety of Kenshin.
"Tsuyosa?" The subject froze in his struggles to be free even as the perceptibly soft voice spoke. He looked up and saw his worst nightmare . . . Correction, he woke up and saw his worst nightmare in her worst form.
"This isn't my fault!" he protested before she could accuse him of doing anything. Kaoru bent and scooped both Ayame and Suzame into her arms and carried them closer so all three of them could hear was what being said more clearly. From the other side of the dojo approached a nervous looking Kenshin, who Soujirou was hiding behind. Sanosuke trailed behind them with his pockets stuffed in his hands and a look of disgust on his face.
"Soujirou is a good boy and Kaoru's cousin. Be nice de gazaro," Kenshin had said before they went off to see what Tsuyosa was yelling about.
"You," began Tokio from where she was standing with a barely-hidden frying pan behind her back, "are a disgrace to Hana."
"Hana who? Er, I mean, that is-Wait just a minute!" Tsuyosa jumped to his feet with the Amazon still hanging around his neck. He tried to pry her loose from his body. "In case you haven't noticed, Hana has been dead for thirteen years! And besides that, it isn't my fault this girl thinks I am her husband!"
"Oh isn't it?" Tokio returned calmly. "Then why haven't you done anything about discouraging the girl?"
Lo Zhun jumped to her feet and squared off the tinier woman. To Tsuyosa's disappointment, he saw that he was shorter than the Amazon. That was when he realized that the Amazon was no older than Kaoru.
"Who you?" Lo Zhun demanded, glaring at Tokio. She wrapped a protective arm around Tsuyosa. "MY husband! You get own!" Tsuyosa warily eyed the frying pan Tokio held behind her back.
"I already have my own husband," she replied. "If you wish to keep this moron, then you are most certainly welcome to him."
"Wait just a minute here! You just said I should discourage her!"
"You are a different matter all together," Tokio snapped back. "You fail to remember you have a daughter who must be wed in order for both of you to keep the dojo!"
"Hang the wedding and hang the dojo! It's mine, you hear me? And when that law guy comes popping up around to see if Kaoru has married, I'm going to tell him exactly that too! Kaoru can marry who she wants when she wants and that's final!"
"And what about Soujirou?"
At the mention of her predicament, Kaoru dropped Ayame and Suzame to the ground and burst into tears. Both adults wore guilty looks as they watched her run away from them.
Sanosuke, from where the three men were standing together and watching the matter, nudged Kenshin. "This is your big chance! Jo-chan needs comfort and you have to do that!"
Kenshin's fingers curled nervously as he took a step forward, but he really did not go after her until Soujirou decided to help him along with a well-placed shove. He gave Kenshin an assuring smile as the little rurouni turned around to see what had happened. Kenshin nodded in reply and hurried after the retreating figure.
Soujirou then eyed Sanosuke nervously. Sanosuke shrugged. "When this is all over, I want an explanation as to what is going on and who that woman over there is." He shuddered. "She scares me." Soujirou cast a look over his shoulder at where Tokio and Tsuyosa were glaring at one another, having not quite picked up their argument yet. He turned back to Sanosuke and broke into a smile not unlike Yahiko who knew a piece of useful blackmail when he saw him.
"Yes, Aunt Tokio does seem to have that sort of effect on morons."
"Yeah, tell me about-hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Soujirou's face became serious. "Beware of what you call Aunt Tokio around people. While she is capable of defending her own honor and beliefs, her husband would gladly do it for her as well, and he's a bit more violent about it than Aunt Tokio."
"Oh? Who's he?"
This was where Soujirou broke into his cheerful, I'm-just-an-innocent-person-who-would-never-lie smile. "Saitou Hajime." Sanosuke stared at him with shock before his stomach growled.
"Ugh. I'm hungry," he said, placing a hand over his stomach.
Soujirou dropped the smile. "You're also alive, so don't be saying anything about food around my uncle!" Sanosuke blinked in reply.
Kenshin stared at Kaoru's shaking shoulders. "Kaoru-dono?" he began softly with concern as he stepped closer to her. She turned and glanced over her shoulder at him. She brightened up and began to make wild swipes at her eyes to wipe away the incriminating evidence that she had been crying.
Kenshin felt his heart wring at the sad sight. Karou stared across at him, and then dropped the brace façade she held. She burst into tears again.
"Oh Kenshin!" She shamelessly threw herself into his arms. "I don't want to marry Souji-chan! I love him and all, but just not like that! I can't imagine my life with him! Everything is just awful!"
Kenshin patted Kaoru's shoulder. "But in light of it all, isn't it nice that he is alive? Isn't it nice to have him and your father, your aunt and your, ah, uncle together here?"
Kaoru sniffed and reluctantly pulled away from Kenshin. After a few moments, her face resumed a dreamy look. "Yeah. All we need now is Soujirou's mother and the rest of the Delinquits here for it to be the same." She sighed and then tightly hugged Kenshin. "In fact, I believe I will invite them here for a party, and dad can even cook!"
Kenshin turned white as his thoughts flitted over to the horror of what had been breakfast. "B-but Kaoru-dono, do you really think . . . Oro!"