Author: Arashi
Website: www.kenkaya.com
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor am I making any money off this story!
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It took Sano somewhere around an hour to mop up the floor of the bathhouse to Kaoru's satisfaction. She stood over him like a taskmaster watching the entire process with her bokken in hand. Outa got the biggest kick out of watching Kaoru boss Sanosuke around. Sanosuke grumbled the entire time.
"There, I'm finished."
"Nope, you missed a spot." Kaoru indicated a portion of the floor with her bokken. Sano sighed and crawled over with his rag. Outa giggled. Sano glared at him for the hundredth time.
"You wanna stop giggling sometime this year?" His voice was absolutely serious and carried with it a deadly tone, but somehow it just made the situation that much more amusing for Outa. He laughed again. Sano growled, clenched his teeth, and scrubbed the wet spot so hard the rag started to fall apart.
"Alright you're finished. Now I want you to apologize to Outa for eating his lunch." Sano stood, cracked his back, cracked his neck, and then glared at Outa for a moment. He looked positively menacing. He worked his jaw for a while, opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it.
"Well??" Kaoru was getting impatient. "Go ahead, tell him how sorry you are for eating and ruining his lunch."
"What if I'm not sorry?" Sanosuke looked at Kaoru defiantly. Yahiko was meditating in the dojo when he heard Sanosuke's cry of pain. He opened his eyes for a moment, shook his head, and resumed his meditation.
A little while later, Kaoru had resumed happy dojo life and was chatting cheerily with Kenshin and Kenji. Yahiko walked back onto the porch and dropped down beside them.
"Where'd Sano and Outa disappear to?" He asked curiously. Kaoru's eyes widened as she realized that she hadn't seen or heard either of them since she had triumphantly walked out of the bathhouse after forcing Sanosuke to apologize.
"Oh no, we better find them!" She jumped to her feet and ran off with Yahiko close behind. Kenshin just smiled and sighed. Yahiko and Kaoru didn't have to look too hard to find Sanosuke. He was just wandering around with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. He was wearing nothing but his pants and his headband. All his other usual wrappings were gone.
"It's a nice peaceful QUIET day isn't it?" He asked as they ran up to him. He was standing in front of a few of the trees and shrubs surrounding the dojo. Kaoru and Yahiko looked at each other, a common thought was exchanged, and they both walked back into the greenery. Sano stood watching them with a grin on his face.
Once they knew where to look, it didn't take any time to find Outa. He was tied to a tree with Sanosuke's waist wrapping and he was gagged with Sano's red arm bandage. He was trying to scream but the gag job was too efficient. He was squirming but it was obvious that he couldn't get free. They could hear Sano laughing as they untied Outa. The minute Outa was free of his bondage he ran off toward Sanosuke, an angry look on his young face. Outa charged him and nailed Sano's leg with a hard right. Sano just stood there with a stupid grin on his face while Outa proceeded to beat and pummel his leg with all his might.
"Try crawling up and biting him on the head! That works!" Yahiko called out encouragingly to Outa as he and Kaoru stood watching the two brothers. Sano met Yahiko's gaze with a slightly wistful expression. Outa immediately tried to find something to hold onto to pull himself up within biting distance of Sano's head. Apparently Sano's old jacket was a necessary component to Yahiko's former ability to climb up Sanosuke. Or maybe Yahiko was just more talented than Outa. Either way, Outa had absolutely no success in scaling his tall brother. Sano just laughed at his pathetic attempts. After a few minutes Yahiko couldn't take it anymore and charged in to give Outa a hand. It was all down hill from there.
Sano saw Yahiko come running in and he immediately picked up Outa and threw him in Yahiko's general direction. Yahiko gasped and braced himself to catch the airborne boy. He caught him and managed to keep his balance in the process. Yahiko then set Outa on his feet and the two of them advanced menacingly toward Sanosuke. Sano watched them for a moment with a cocky look on his face and then he turned tail and ran.
"After him!" Yahiko shouted as he and Outa took off running. Sanosuke careened around a corner and ran smack into Kenshin and the two slammed into the ground. Kenshin lay there with swirley eyes saying "Oroooooo" while Sano disentangled himself and ran off with a quick "Sorry Kenshin!" Yahiko and Outa ran around the corner and trampled over the former Hitokiri of the Ishin Shishi with barely an "oops, sorry Kenshin." Kaoru raced toward her fallen husband to see if he was all right and when his eyes snapped into normal focus she rolled up her sleeves and started chasing after Yahiko, Outa, and Sanosuke. Kenshin hopped to his feet and chased after his wife, trying to save the others from bodily harm. Meanwhile, Kenji stood on the porch clapping his hands as each one of the others ran past. Each time Kaoru ran by he yelled out in his little voice, "You're winning mommy!"
After a while everyone collapsed to the ground panting and laughing. Sano jumped to his feet first and rubbed his stomach.
"Che, now I'm hungry."
"You're ALWAYS hungry!" Kaoru and Yahiko yelled at him playfully.
"Well, I guess now's a good time to head to the Akabeko to celebrate my return!" He said happily. "My treat!" Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko's eyes went wide.
"Nani?? You're taking US out to dinner?" Kaoru asked in astonishment.
"Who are you and what did you do to Sanosuke?" Yahiko said with a grin.
"Ha ha.. Well, we'd better hurry before I change my mind." He winked at them. Kaoru, Kenshin, Yahiko, and Outa all jumped to their feet. Sanosuke just took long enough to wrap his waist and his wrist before they headed out to the Akabeko.
"Hey Sano, what happened to your shirt anyways?" Yahiko asked the shirtless man. Sano gave Yahiko a look that seemed to say, "you have to ask?"
"Um well I have been GONE for five
years. You think that shirt would stay together for five years
of world traveling? Or more specifically, five years of ME traveling
the world?" He indicated himself proudly with his thumb.
"Oh yeah, good point."
"Yeah, it held together for a few good years but it sort of fell apart after a while. I kept the character for evil and had it sewn onto my cloak. Speaking of which." He gave Yahiko a shove so that Yahiko was in front of him instead of beside him. "I thought so!" On Yahiko's back Sanosuke saw a small "Aku". Yahiko was about to yell at him after he got pushed and then he realized that Sano was looking at his tribute to him.
"Yeah, I decided to shoulder "Aku" for a bit." Yahiko echoed the last thing that Sanosuke had said to him before heading out into the world. A wistful smile came to the older man's lips as he remembered their parting all those years ago.
"Glad to hear it." He smiled, gave
Yahiko a little nod, and was silent for a moment in thought before
saying, "So you've got my 'character for evil' and Kenshin's
sakabatou I hope you've been putting them to good use."
Yahiko shrugged and simply said, "I try."
"Oh, he does more than try." Kaoru's tone carried her pride for the young swordsman as she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "He's gotten quite the name for himself by protecting people all over Tokyo." Sanosuke raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Oh stop Kaoru. I've hardly got a 'name for myself' or whatever. I just do what I can to help people out. People picking on others who are weaker than them makes me sick." Kenshin and Sanosuke exchanged a glance; the same look on both their faces the look of pride.
When they got to the Akabeko it was right around the dinner rush. Sano hadn't been to the Akabeko since they had rebuilt and he was happy to see that the new one was just like the old, only bigger and better. When the crew walked into the Akabeko, Tae and Tsubame almost dropped the trays of food they were carrying to rush over to see Sanosuke. They both responded about the same way, giggling and jumping up and down. (It was hard to tell which one of them was the teenager) The other patrons of the Akabeko watched with either amusement or disappointment if it was their waitress that was distracted.
"Oh Sanosuke-san, I can't believe you're really back!" Tae said happily and Tsubame also expressed her disbelief and joy. But Tsubame seemed equally excited to see Yahiko. Sano had to suffer through a couple of hugs in the middle of the Akabeko with everyone staring at them. He didn't mind that much. It was just good to see the Akabeko waitresses again. Tae hadn't changed much but Tsubame had blossomed into a young woman. Not just a young woman, but also a good-looking one. She was a little too young for him, of course, but just right for Yahiko. The two of them look good together.
"Yup, I'm back! So we came to celebrate!" His mind quickly got back to the task at hand.
"Follow us and we'll show you to the private room we use for special gatherings and parties, and then we'll whip up some delicious food for you all!"
"And plenty of sake!" Sano added excitedly.
"Sure thing!" Tae replied as she led them back to the private room. The back room was nice and spacious and had a few tables and one big one that easily seated the whole group. "I almost want to kick everyone else out of the Akabeko so we can celebrate with you." Tae commented while they were all seated. "I know what we'll do. I'm going to go put up a closed sign and not take any more customers, and that way when those that are already here are finished we'll have the whole place to ourselves!" Tsubame almost jumped for joy and Tae was beaming. The rest of the group cheered and agreed in their own way.
They all talked, laughed, and joked around while they waited for Tae to bring them their food and drink. "Before we get too carried away" Sano began but Yahiko interrupted.
"You mean before you get drunk?" There was no sense in denying it. Sano just grinned and continued.
"Before I get drunk, I think we should make some plans to get EVERYONE together so we can have a real party!"
Kenshin thought to himself, Same old Sanosuke. Aloud he said, "That sounds like a great idea Sano. We'll send word to Kyoto and Aizu first thing tomorrow."
"Well, you can send word to Kyoto but I was thinking that I'll probably head over to Aizu tomorrow and bring the fox lady myself." Several grins popped up on the faces of the group.
"Ok, that should work." Kenshin replied, but decided not to make any further comments on the matter. No sense in making Sano mad. Tae came in carrying a tray of soups and a couple jugs of Sake. Sano's eyes had a certain twinkle in them as he spotted the sake. Tae set the tray down and Sano immediately helped himself to an entire jug.
He took a few long swallows and let the sake slide down his throat and leave a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. He pulled the jug away from his lips just long enough to get a good gulp of air and say, "This is the first taste of sake I've had in five years!" He then downed the rest of the bottle in an impressive display of alcoholism. "Nothing like it in the world!" He said with a contented laugh as he slammed the empty jug on the wooden floor. "Tae, we're going to need, MORE sake!" Yahiko laughed, Kenshin and Kaoru smiled, Kenji wasn't paying attention, and Outa just shook his head in disappointment.
"You're just like dad." He said and rolled his eyes.
"Nothin' wrong with that!" Sano replied lightheartedly, Outa didn't look convinced. "Come on round cheeks, there's nothing wrong with a little sake. You'll like it when you get older. Trust me! If you're really my little brother, you'll love it." His last comment seemed to win Outa over and Kaoru wondered if she had just witnessed the birth of a future binge drinker.
"Oh, don't let this idiot try and convince you of anything you should decide for yourself." Kaoru advised Outa. He agreed with her, but Kaoru knew a certain part of Outa was still thinking about what Sanosuke had said. His desire to be accepted by his older brother would probably outweigh any clear thinking on the matter. Oh well, Sano was right about one thing. There was nothing wrong with a little Sake. Kaoru took one of the other jugs of sake and said, "Here you go Kenshin." Kenshin held his sake cup while Kaoru poured.
"Thank you Kaoru. Now allow me." He took the jug from her hand tenderly, holding her hand in his for a moment, and then poured for her. Their eyes were locked the entire time. Sanosuke watched the affectionate display of sake pouring with his usual grin.
"Chikusho Kenshin, that's not how you drink." He slammed a jug in front of Kenshin and grabbed another for himself. Kenshin eyed the jug a moment and then looked down at the nice small sake cup in his hand. "Come on, Kenshin Let's go. Man to man." It was only dinnertime and Sanosuke seemed quite ready to get absolutely blasted.
"Sure Sano, but can we wait until after we eat?" Kenshin asked. Sanosuke laughed at him.
"Ok ok, you have till after dinner to get prepared to lose our drinking contest." Yahiko reached across the table and took the jug from in front of Kenshin.
"You want some competition right now why don't you try me?" Sano's eyes lit up. Yahiko looked confident.
"Alright lightweight, but don't blame me when I'm carrying you home. Ready?" They both grabbed their bottles and eyed each other for a moment before chugging the sake. Kaoru and Kenshin cheered them on.
"Come on Yahiko put that rooster-head in his place!" They both finished their entire jug at the same time and slammed them down. Sano looked a little surprised that Yahiko could drink the whole jug without stopping once. They both reached up and wiped their mouths with their forearm at the same moment. Realizing they were doing the exact same thing they both started laughing.
They were still laughing when Tae and Tsubame came back in with the food. The Akabeko waitresses had prepared a feast worthy of the happy celebration. Yahiko and Sanosuke dug right in and seemed like they were competing to see who could eat the most food. They raced to clean their bowls and hand them to Tsubame saying, "more please" each time. Tsubame just giggled and refilled their rice bowls. Tae joined them a little later after the last of the patrons had left. As she sat down to enjoy the meal with her friends Sanosuke asked her. "Hey Tae, how much money do I owe you guys?" Tae looked surprised for a moment and then started doing a calculation in her head.
"Let's see, with interest for the past five years your total comes out to" Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko's jaws all dropped open when Tae rattled off an enormously high amount of money. Sanosuke didn't look surprised at all. He reached into his pocket and casually tossed a pouch to Tae.
"What's this?" She asked as she opened it up. The pouch was full of money.
"Sanosuke-san!" She cried out in surprise. "I can't take all this!" Sano looked smug.
"Keep it, it's what I owe you and it should be enough to pay for dinner tonight." Tae did a quick calculation.
"Well, actually you're still ten yen short of fully paying off your tab!" Sano's grin dropped off his face. "Oh don't worry, tonight will be my special treat!"
"Where'd you get all that money?" Yahiko and Kaoru asked at the same moment. Even if he hadn't fully paid off his tab it was still a substantial amount of cash.
"You think I traveled all over the world broke?" The rest of the group looked at each other and the general consensus on their faces seemed to say yes.
"Sano, you weren't beating people up for money again were you?" Kaoru asked finally. Sanosuke wasn't offended, in fact he laughed.
"Hehe, no I did THAT for free."
"So where did you get all this money from?" Yahiko asked. Sanosuke glared at him like didn't want to admit something.
"I worked! Geeze!" Everyone looked shocked. Sano didn't find it very funny. "You guys think for some reason I'm incapable of working a little?" There was no comment from his friends. Yahiko broke the silence after a long moment.
"So what kind of work did you DO?" His imagination was having a hard time fitting Sanosuke into the working class.
"All sorts of odd jobs. Mostly a lot of manual labor." Finally Yahiko's imagination kicked in and he could clearly picture Sanosuke taking a hammer to a big rock or hauling heavy objects. Similar pictures popped up in the minds of the rest of Sanosuke's friends. Sano gave them each a glare and grabbed at another jug of sake.
After the food was gone and everyone had had his or her fill, Sanosuke slammed down a jug of sake in front of Kenshin. By this point he was hammered but Kenshin had only been drinking a little with his meal.
"You're turn, Kenshin." Sano's cheeks were a little red and his eyes were a little bleary, but he looked just as happy and confident as ever.
"Yeah take him Kenshin." Yahiko called out. He was also more than a little intoxicated. Tsubame was sitting close by his side and she giggled. Kenshin turned to look at Kaoru who gave him the "go ahead". Kenshin looped his hand through the cord of the jug and waited for Sano. Sano took a minute to get his hand through the holding rope of the sake jug. When he finally figured it out he looked up at Kenshin and said, "Go!" Sake jugs raised to their lips as the two men began. Not wanting to look bad in front of his friend Kenshin finished the entire jug and slammed it down. Sanosuke seemed to be having a little trouble and ended up slamming his jug down a moment after Kenshin. He looked at Kenshin with a sloppy grin.
"Oh I see! You were just stalling so you could beat me." His speech was slurred and he was talking a little louder than usual. "I call rematch." He grabbed at another jug of sake and ended up knocking it over. Yahiko burst out laughing as Sanosuke swore and tried to catch it before all the sake drained out.
Kenshin was quick to say, "Well you figured me out Sanosuke. I cheated, you win!" But Sanosuke would have none of it. He insisted on a rematch and handed Kenshin another large jug of Sake. Kenshin humored him one more time but this time he let Sanosuke win to avoid another rematch. Sanosuke may have been drunk but he wasn't blind.
"Teme Kenshin! Now you let me win! REMATCH!"
The stupidity continued for another hour before Kenshin, Yahiko, and especially Sanosuke were too drunk to continue. It took the help of Tae and Tsubame to get the three men back to the dojo.
Once there, Kenshin promptly passed out in his bedroom while Yahiko and Sanosuke tried to refresh themselves by dunking their heads in the cold well water. By the time that they'd regained the ability to walk without falling over, it was only late evening.
"That was fun." Sano commented to Yahiko as he plopped down on the back porch of the dojo next to the young man.
"Aa." Yahiko smiled drunkenly.
"So what are we going to do tonight?" Sano's eyebrows rose questioningly. Yahiko blinked at him in disbelief but Sano was serious.
"Tonight? I think we're prolly gonna pass out and call it a day." Yahiko slurred. It was pretty hard to focus what with all the alcohol in his system. Sano continued as though he hadn't heard Yahiko at all.
"You like gambling?"
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For those of you who have read the manga you know that Yahiko was a little alcoholic. The idea that he likes to drink at the age of 15 made sense to me. And yeah, Sano and Yahiko have quite a few similarities don't they? I'm not making it up! Really! They're a lot alike in both the anime and the manga. :)
And now we get to see the two of them go out and... *gasp* ...gamble!! If you take a drunk Sano, a drunk Yahiko, an uncanny winning streak, and angry dudes at the gambling parlor, what do you get? Find out in the next chapter!!