Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki-san and Jump comics. I am just a whore for fanfiction.
This chapter is dedicated to Brett, because he makes me laugh and he's my number-one fan for all the poetry I write. He'll probably never read this story, but he's one of the few reasons why I can still get up in the morning. Yeah, Mitsubishi!
Warnings: Maybe some profanity on Sano's part, canon couples are K/K, S/T, slight hints at S/M and lots of hints at A/M.
A/N: I dunno how old Eiji is, so I'm putting him at about 15 or so, same as Yahiko. This story is set after the series, but I took creative liberty and made Kaoru pregnant with Kenji instead of him actually being in the story yet. I haven't seen the end of RK yet, so if I make any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out. I'm totally making up how Aoshi and Saitou and Tokio met, but this is MY fic, ne? I hope it doesn't screw the storyline terribly, but I honestly don't know where she fits in here. ^^
Enjoy the fic, minna…^_^
Chapter Three: Reinforcements
Sanosuke had never been a morning person. In fact, he had only seen the sunrise about twice in his life. Both times he had been awake quite involuntarily. So, it made sense that he would be extremely irritated when he was woken at dawn by loud rapping on the front gate of the dojo. He turned over on his futon, figuring Kenshin or Kaoru would answer it. When the obnoxious noise continued, he sat up and flung his pillow at the wall, muttering a stream of curses that would make an innocent bystander blush profusely. Most likely Kenshin, if he had heard some of the insults directed at him, as well.
"K'so! Alright, I'm up, I'm up! Kami-sama, who the hell is that?" Sano staggered to the hallway and out into the still-dark courtyard. A police officer in blue was waiting, his hand poised to knock once more. Sano scowled and rubbed his wayward brown hair, mentally running through his list of recent crimes. He couldn't remember anything that would warrant police involvement, so he assumed the message wasn't for him.
"Is this the Himura residence?"
With one eye opened and one closed, Sano grunted affirmative. The young officer looked uneasy as he handed a sealed envelope to the drowsy ex-gangster.
"I was directed by my superiors to deliver this to Chief Fujita Goro if he's on the premises. Could you see that it gets to him?" Sano looked down at the unmarked envelope, holding it up to the dim sunlight and squinting. The officer cleared his throat nervously.
"Eh? Oh, yeah, sure, I'll get it to him."
"The letter is of utmost importance-
"Hai, hai, go on and get out of here. I'll get it to him." The officer bowed stiffly and mounted his horse. Sano snorted and watched him gallop down the street.
"Kusoyaro, waking me up just for that nuthead. Like hell am I going into that asshole's room at this hour, he'll just have to read it when he gets up himself." The brown-haired youth tucked the envelope inside his shirt and yawned, reentering the dojo and hitting his futon with a satisfying smack.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Tokio-san? What are you doing up so early?" The petite black-haired woman turned around and smiled at Kenshin. Her hair was twisted up into a knot behind her head, and she was already fully dressed in a dark blue cloth kimono.
"Gomen ne, Himura-san, did I wake you?"
"Iie, I usually rise at this time." The rurouni returned her smile and finished tying his hakama. Tokio turned back around to her task, chopping green onions, while Kenshin began making a pot of tea. The two worked in companionable silence for twenty minutes, and soon the dojo was filled with the smell of miso soup and rice cooking. Tokio took her bowl to the table and sat down across from Kenshin, who handed her a cup of tea. She gave him his own bowl and ladled miso into it, which he accepted with a nod of thanks. They were silent for a few minutes until Kenshin spoke.
"So you've agreed to staying here until the trouble is past?"
Tokio nodded, sipping from her steaming cup. "Hajime says it is for the best, but I would hate to bring danger to you and your family."
Kenshin muttered a soft 'oro?' in surprise. Tokio merely smiled and set down her tea.
"Himura-san, when I was younger, I spent much time around older women, including my sisters. Kaoru is not yet showing very noticeably, but a trained eye can see that she is with child."
Kenshin ducked his head sheepishly and a faint blush spread across his cheeks. "You are very perceptive, de gozaru yo."
"Congratulations, Himura-san. I know your child will have Kaoru's beauty and your strength."
"Arigatou gozaimes, this is very kind of you to say so. Forgive my prying, but you and Saitou decided not to have children?"
Tokio's eyes took on a faraway look, and Kenshin was about to apologize for such a blunt question when she shook her head once, firmly.
"I was once expecting, about eight years ago, earlier in our marriage. When I was about three months pregnant, Hajime was away in Kyoto. A brother of a former Ishin Shishi member broke into the house, and would have killed me if a neighbor hadn't been passing by at the time. The man fled, but he had struck me," Tokio gestured towards her abdomen, "and I suffered heavy bleeding. When Hajime returned, I had to tell him that we had lost the child. Since then, we decided it was safer not to try again." She smiled, pushing the hints of sadness back, "Besides, we have Eiji to look after, and he is quite a handful at times. Very much like your young student, Yahiko-kun."
Kenshin was quiet and asked no more questions. He could see the memory of loss was difficult for Tokio, but she neither wept nor faltered in her narrative. Inwardly, the rurouni marveled at how such a kind, polite woman could be married to Saitou. Now he realized that there was a great deal more to Tokio than what met the eye. She had a quiet strength that balanced her husband's arrogant temper, and it was small wonder that the two got along so well.
A voice broke into his thoughts from the bedroom. "Kenshin?" Kaoru made her way to the kitchen, her husband standing up to help her sit. Tokio murmured a quiet greeting, spooning out soup for the young mother-to-be.
"Ohayo, Tokio-san. You two are up early this morning."
"I couldn't sleep very much," Tokio confessed.
Kaoru nodded sympathetically. "Probably because you slept in a strange place last night. You'll get used to the new surroundings," she promised with a bright smile.
"Thank you for letting us stay in your home, I know you're rather crowded as it is…"
Kenshin shook his head. "We have plenty of room. Aoshi is coming today, and we have room enough for him, as well."
Tokio stood up to clear away her bowl. "That's right, I had forgotten. He is onmitsu?"
"Hai. Very quiet, but very skilled."
Tokio handed Kaoru a bowl of rice, sitting back down absentmindedly. "His name is familiar, but I can't remember where…"
"Oi, Jou-chan!"
"Nanda, tori-atama? Don't go shouting so early in the morning!" Kaoru called, a vein popping out on her forehead. Sano flopped his lanky body down next to Kenshin, stealing some rice from his bowl.
"Got a letter for Okami-san, is he awake?"
"Gomen ne, he's still asleep," Tokio said, moving her half-empty bowl across to Sano. The ex-gangster, with total disregard for manners, began scooping up rice with two fingers while searching in his open shirt with the other hand.
"Here it is!" He waved the envelope, accidentally whacking a sleepy Yahiko.
"BAKA! Why don't you watch what you're doing??"
"Stop yelling, Yahiko-CHAN!"
"Urusai, BUSU!"
"What did you call me?"
"Busu! Busu!"
"Oro?"
Kenshin dropped his head in his hands as Kaoru sprang to her feet and began chasing Yahiko with her bokken. When Sanosuke laughed at the display, suddenly he was the one being attacked. Kaoru whacked him while Yahiko chewed on his head, and soon all three of them were running around the dojo.
"Call me busu again, and I'll make you do five hundred swings before breakfast!"
"Yah, you hafta catch me first, BUSU!"
"A free meal isn't worth this violence!"
"You miser, we shouldn't even be giving you a free meal! Be grateful!" WHACK!
"Itai!!"
Tokio turned to Kenshin. "Himura-san, Kaoru really shouldn't be chasing them in her condition…"
"Oroooo…"
SMACK! All three fell back in a heap, landing on top of one another. Yahiko rubbed his head, blinking at the solid figure he had run into.
"Oh good, you're here, Aoshi," Kenshin said from the table. Shinomori Aoshi, former Okashira of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu looked from the short, red-headed man and the attractive woman sitting at the table to the pile of bodies at his feet below. He nodded once to Kenshin before stepping over Sanosuke and joining the rurouni and the mystery lady. He took a seat next to the woman, ignoring the sense of deja-vu that tingled in the back of his brain. She stood up and placed two bowls in front of him, one filled with miso soup and the other with rice. Aoshi followed her with his eyes as she sat back down. Something about this woman was very familiar…
"Tokio-san, this is Shinomori Aoshi of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu." Tokio bowed stiffly from the pressure on her ribs and smiled. Aoshi nodded. Tokio…Saitou Tokio?
He had met Saitou Hajime's wife several months after returning to Kyoto, after returning to Misao and the other Oniwabanshuu. She had been called to Kyoto when her husband was assumed to be dying in a local hospital, close to the Aoiya. Aoshi had been walking back from the temple when she had passed by, her kimono soaked with blood and an equally dirty boy walking next to her. Thinking she had been assaulted, he stopped and brought her to the Aoiya, where she explained who she was and her business in Kyoto. Misao had recognized the boy, Eiji, and everyone present knew Saitou Hajime. When the former Mibu no Okami had fully recovered, he had picked up his wife at the Aoiya and that was the last he had heard of either of them, until this mess with the Ichihashinsei.
"I remember you now," Tokio said quietly. "The helpful onmitsu from the temple." Aoshi nodded for the third time, having resurfaced the memory. Kenshin looked from one to the other, cocking his head to the side in confusion. It was at this point in time that Saitou decided to enter the room. His gaze swept, like Aoshi's, from the groaning Yahiko, to the dazed Sanosuke sitting next to a flushed Kaoru. Kenshin was looking puzzled as he sat in between the tall Shinomori and his wife, who was sipping her tea.
"Ohayo, Saitou," Kenshin greeted the police chief. Saitou nodded towards Aoshi.
"So the gang's all here?"
"Aa. You know Shinomori Aoshi, ne, Saitou?"
"Right, the weasel girl's friend." A muscle clenched in Aoshi's jaw, visible to no one but Saitou. To break the sudden tension, Tokio set down her teacup and addressed Aoshi.
"How is Misao, Shinomori-san?"
"She broke her ankle last week, but she's healing now."
"Good, one less annoying itachi to have underfoot."
"Hajime…" Tokio frowned at her husband. He rolled his eyes in reply.
Coughing and standing before the situation could get any more tense, Kenshin brushed his hands on his hakama and said, "It's unfortunate that Misao could not join us, but we're grateful for your help, Aoshi. Saitou's as well. The police would like to have a word with all three of us, including Sano, after breakfast, so perhaps we should be moving on." Kenshin took the empty dishes and put them in the sink as Tokio set new ones in front of her husband. Sanosuke polished off the last of Tokio's rice and stood up to speak with Kenshin in the kitchen. Kaoru grabbed Yahiko by the ear and dragged him into the training hall, where they could hear the youth begin counting bokken swings. Saitou, Aoshi, and Tokio were left at the table. Aoshi was impassive, drinking his tea with both hands loosely curled around the sides of the cup. Saitou took out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth, searching for his matches. Silently, Tokio slipped the cigarette out and put it back in Saitou's pocket.
"Tokio…" he said warningly. She just smiled complacently and refilled his bowl. Aoshi said nothing, but there was amusement in his eyes. The three finished their breakfast in silence.
~*~*~*~*~*
Half an hour later, Kenshin had finished with the dishes and the laundry and was standing outside of the dojo. Aoshi stood beside him, kodachis tucked into his trenchcoat.
"Saitou wa doko?" Aoshi shook his head as if to say 'I don't know.' Kenshin was about to go back inside when Saitou appeared, shadowed by a grumbling Sanosuke.
"You were asleep! I wasn't about to wake you up for some letter…"
Saitou turned to face Sano, holding the aforementioned letter in his fist. "For police business like this, you wake me up! Ahou!"
"Maa maa, what's wrong?" Kenshin asked. Saitou thrust the letter into the shorter man's face, still glaring at Sano.
"Read this."
"Last evening, witnesses reported seeing five masked men break into the Yamasaki home in central Tokyo. The police arrived fifteen minutes after a witness' message to find Yamasaki Isamu, his wife Mai, his three sons, one daughter, and two relatives murdered. Each victim except for Isamu had the Kanji character for "mistake" painted on their left palm with black ink. Yamasaki Isamu was beheaded, his head found on a post outside the house." Kenshin's eyes were narrowed as he handed the letter back to Saitou. "This is getting serious."
Saitou snorted and flicked ash from his cigarette. "Too serious for the police to handle, apparently, which makes me wonder…"
Kenshin nodded and waved to Kaoru before setting off with Sano and Aoshi towards the Yamasaki residence. Saitou was headed in a different direction, but he didn't make any move to begin walking yet. He read the letter once more, leaning his back against the gate. Obviously he needed to do a little investigating himself…
Saitou turned his head, sensing a familiar presence. Tokio stood close to him, coffee eyes watching the departing backs of the three men. He exhaled a bit of smoke and looked down at her.
"I told you to stay inside, Tokio."
"Tokyo smells like death, Hajime. Be careful today," was all she said, her eyes still focused to the east. Saitou looked at the dojo, and, not seeing anyone else watching, drew her small frame to his hard-muscled body against the fence.
"You worry too much," he murmured, crushing his cigarette against the wood and tossing it away. Tokio looked up, finally, and traced his razor sharp cheekbones. Saitou captured her lips in a hard, fast kiss that left her panting as he pulled back and left her propped against the gate. He was already walking away from her, calling back over his shoulder,
"Stay inside, Tokio!" It took a minute to regain her composure, and then she stood watching him for a while until her brain registered his command. With a slight smile and a hand to her side, she walked back into the dojo.
A/N: Gomen ne, I know this chapter is very short, but finals are coming up, and Trikster-chan is on the verge of failing two very stupid and unnecessary classes…Honestly, who needs bio and geometry? Pas moi! On top of the studying and extra homework, I had something akin to a nervous breakdown on Monday, so please be patient with me!
Much love to Koji, who's hanging on for me cuz her best g-town tomodachi is hanging on for her…
And lots of prayers for Anna, who's stronger than I could ever hope to be. Votre beau-père est un abruti, mais Cale vous aime et ainsi faites moi et Kyle! Vous pouvez égrapper Stealth plus tard, juste le maintenez parti de mon frère.