Standing Alone In The Rain
by Ame-Hime
Authors Chitchat: Ok, I'd like to thank all of you for bearing with my horrible story writing skills. I also want to thank everyone who has reviewed for making me feel better and boosting my ego. I'll try to write longer chapters, but do to my lack of creativity and lack of knowledge, I might not be able to do that ^-^; Anywho, finals are coming up and I'm having a couple family difficulties (Gotta go to court... blah... but getting away from meh evil mother and evil step father is worth it!) so it might take a while to get knew chapters in. Sumimasen minna-san!
Disclaimer: If you don't know it, I pity you.
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Chapter 4: Girl Trapped!: Soujiro Caught In The Middle
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Soujiro made a mistake. A fatal mistake. As soon as Ayano met Aiko, all hell broke lose. Traveling with two people of the female species was a death wish. Between Aiko's glomping and Ayano's yelling, Soujiro was at a loss. A painful loss. He wished now that he would have let the police arrest him.
"SOU-KUN! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!"
"That's because he's to busy confessing his love for me!"
"AIKO! SOU-KUN DOES NOT LOVE YOU! GET IT THROUGH YOUR OVERLY THICK SKULL!"
"I am not the one with an overly thick skull, Ayano-chan."
Soujiro tried desperately to block both of them out.
~If I think about a far, far away place, maybe I'll forget about them~
"DAMN YOU AIKO!"
"You should watch your language! What will Seta-sama think?"
"Seta-sama?! Aiko, quit fawning over my friend or so help me kami-sama..."
~Nope. There is no place far enough from them.~
Aiko grew devil horns. She eyed the oblivious Soujiro who was obviously her unlucky prey. Within the blink of an eye, Aiko had both arms wrapped around Soujiro's waste and had her head nestled into the small of his back. Soujiro's eyes unwillingly widened.
"A-aiko-san...???!!!"
"Just say it, Seta-sama, there's no need to keep your profound love for me a secret."
"But I--"
"HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU! YOU'RE SCARING HIM AIKO!!!!!"
"Annoying little tomboys should learn to keep there mouths shut if they have nothing productive to say."
"KISAMA!"
Flames welled up behind Ayano and she had devil horns and aimed her pitchfork (hmmmm... how'd she get a pitchfork? I guess we'll never know...) at Aiko. And Aiko just stood there, unfazed, but she did let go of Soujiro.
"A-ayano-san, Aiko-san, is all this fighting... neccessary?"
"YES SOU-KUN! SHE CALLED ME AN ANNOYING LITTLE TOMBOY! I AM A SOPHISTICATED HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER WOMAN!"
"Ano... sure Ayano-san. I'm sure it's all true, but..."
"NO BUTS ABOUT IT!"
"Ayano-chan! Quit yelling at Seta-sama!"
Soujiro felt very small. Two very intimidating creatures were fighting right over his head. A large sweatdrop accumulated on his forhead. Then, he felt a very hard fist connect right under his cheekbone and the cold, hard ground rushed up to meet him.
"Sou-kun! Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai!!!! I was trying to hit Aiko and--"
"You immature brat! Look what you did to Seta-sama!!!"
Soujiro's head was spinning. He let them argue for a while more, then shakily rose to his feet. He smiled against the pain and idily wiped the blood that dripped out of his lip were his teeth ripped open the inside of his mouth when the fist connected. He dareingly placed a hand on both of their shoulders.
"Aiko-san, I'm fine. You don't have to yell at Ayano. Ayano-san, I forgive you. It was an accident, but if you didn't hit me, you would have hit Aiko-san and then she would be hurt. And that wouldn't be a nice thing to do, since she picked your kimono out for you."
"That reminds me, Sou-kun, you never gave me the kimono."
"Oh! Gomen nasai Ayano-san, it slipped my mind. I was going to, but you two immediately started fighting. Here it is."
Soujiro stuck his hand inside his gi and pulled out a brown paper package tied with a string. He handed it to Ayano. Ayano opened it, and was shocked. It was beautiful.
"Aiko... picked this for me?"
Soujiro nodded and Ayano hung her head in shame. Aiko was nice enough to pick this out for her and she repaid her with yelling and attempting to hurt her. Soujiro saw her silently shake and saw something fall to the ground. It was a tear.
"G-gomen nasai, Aiko-san... I had no idead..." Ayano said with a shaky voice. She reached a hand up and brushed away the oncoming tears.
"I forgive you, Ayano-chan."
Ayano looked up and saw Aiko smiling warmly. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She fell into the older girls arms and sobbed. Soujiro blinked. He saw Aiko stroke Ayano's hair back in a motherly way. Aiko didn't look much older than Ayano, but she was more mature and it showed. He felt himself smile at the two. They had not known each other for more than a half an hour and they had something Soujiro never had. They had friendship and love. (No, they are not in love. They are both very straight. I don't think there will be any unstraight people in my fic... but ya never know! *sings* I'm unpredictable!)
Ayano and Aiko stood up. Ayano wiped the tears from her face and hugged Soujiro who stood there stunned.
"Gomen ne Sou-kun... I shouldn't have acted like that."
Soujiro smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
"I forgive you Ayano-san."
And then he let her go. She also stopped embracing him and she grabbed his sleeve.
"C'mon! It's getting late! Let's go to that inn!"
"I agree with Ayano-chan. What do you say, Seta-sama?"
"I say let's go. All your fighting wore me out!"
They all laughed. Soujiro let himself be pulled by Ayano and pushed by Aiko. They were both so nice to him, albiet violent and scary, but they were the nicest people he had ever known. He didn't deserve to have friends like them. A killer didn't deserve to have friends.
"Sou-kun! You're to slow! Hyaku!"
"Hai, Seta-sama! Hyaku hyaku!!!"
"Hai hai!!!"
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Voice Over: At the inn...
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Soujiro looked at the two sleeping forms, each cuddled in their own futons. He smiled and leaned against the wall. He looked out the widow that he was sitting by and looked upon the empty streets. He closed his eyes and went over the events that happened that day. Aiko and Ayano showed him that there are many weak people living their lives happily. He wondered if he had a real family that loved him if he would be like Aiko and Ayano. His thoughts were disrupted when the shoji slid open. Soujiro quickly opened his eyes. Illuminated by the moonlight through the windows stood Saito Hajime.
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"Tenken no Soujiro I believe it was?" Saito put a ciggarette in his mouth and lit it. The smoke irritated Soujiro and he coughed in annoyance.
"Iie Saito-san, that is not my name."
"Hm? Care to fill me in?"
"I am Seta Soujiro. Tenken no Soujiro no longer exists."
Saito let out one of his coarse laughs.
"I can assure you he does, 'Seta Soujiro', he is just hidden behind the mask of a lies and impossible promises."
Soujiro glared at him; no smile attached. Saito was the one who did the smiling.
"Well then, may I ask you a question Soujiro?"
".....hai"
"Did you hear anything about an officer killed in a kimono shop?"
Soujiro froze. Saito took this opportunity to smile again before taking another puff of the ciggarette.
"I take that as a yes. My fellow officers told me that a smiling kid did it. And that his movement were to fast to see. If that isn't the Tenken at work here, then I'll be damned."
"Saito-san, he challenged me. If I didn't accept, then I would have been killed or arrested. I had people waiting for me so I could not let either of those happen. I'm sorry, I am not like Himura-san, who refuses to kill."
Saito smiled his wolf grin and dropped the ciggarette onto the floor and smashed it with his foot. Soujiro eyed him warily.
"I new you were still a killer at heart. Once a hitokiri, always a hitokiri. You, nor Battousai, nor I can escape that. But, I have not come to slay or arrest you. I have come to ask you a favor.
Soujiro lifted an eyebrow.
"A favor? What kind of favor, Saito-san?"
"You're not the only killer in town. A ring of assassins have been killing random citizens in the city. It seems they kill with no purpose whatsoever. And because of that, we never know who will die next. I need to ask you to find these men and kill them, we caught one and questioned him, but he wouldn't talk, no matter how much torture we put him through. He's dead now."
Saito's wolf grin reappeared. Soujiro merely looked at him.
"Why should I help you? I only plan to be in Kyoto for two more days at the most."
"And in those two days one of those men could kill one of your little concubines over there."
Saito motioned to Aiko and Ayano with a gloved hand. Soujiro followed his hand to the girls then turned to Saito with narrowed eyes.
"They are not concubines. They are my friends and if anyone poses a threat to them, they will be dead before they know what they did wrong."
"Well, I'd say those assassins pose a threat, ne?"
Saito lit a new ciggarette. A couple minutes passed before Soujiro spoke again; his voice cold and emotionless.
"I will kill your assassins, Saito-san. But not for you, the police, or this city, I'm doing it for Aiko-san and Ayano-san. Keep that in mind."
"Hmmm... I really don't care who you do it for as long as it gets done. When they are dead, you can stop by and pick up your reward, if you want to."
"Reward?"
"Aa, you don't think we pay people who help us? If you kill all of these guys, you'll get a handsome sum. I must be going now, stop by after the task is complete."
And with a trail of smoke he walked out and slide the shoji shut behind him.
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AC: Muaha. I'm think of giving the oniwabanshuu a camo shot and bring Misao and Aoshi into this story as main characters. Possibly the Kenshingumi too... Whadda think? And no, this will not turn into a Sou-sama and Misao fic. Maybe a little A/M, possibly K/K, but definately no S/M (Sou and Misao, not Sano and Megumi). Anywho, I'd like to thank ye all again for reviewing! Sayonara!
by Ame-Hime
Authors Chitchat: Ok, I'd like to thank all of you for bearing with my horrible story writing skills. I also want to thank everyone who has reviewed for making me feel better and boosting my ego. I'll try to write longer chapters, but do to my lack of creativity and lack of knowledge, I might not be able to do that ^-^; Anywho, finals are coming up and I'm having a couple family difficulties (Gotta go to court... blah... but getting away from meh evil mother and evil step father is worth it!) so it might take a while to get knew chapters in. Sumimasen minna-san!
Disclaimer: If you don't know it, I pity you.
*************************************************
Chapter 4: Girl Trapped!: Soujiro Caught In The Middle
*************************************************
Soujiro made a mistake. A fatal mistake. As soon as Ayano met Aiko, all hell broke lose. Traveling with two people of the female species was a death wish. Between Aiko's glomping and Ayano's yelling, Soujiro was at a loss. A painful loss. He wished now that he would have let the police arrest him.
"SOU-KUN! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!"
"That's because he's to busy confessing his love for me!"
"AIKO! SOU-KUN DOES NOT LOVE YOU! GET IT THROUGH YOUR OVERLY THICK SKULL!"
"I am not the one with an overly thick skull, Ayano-chan."
Soujiro tried desperately to block both of them out.
~If I think about a far, far away place, maybe I'll forget about them~
"DAMN YOU AIKO!"
"You should watch your language! What will Seta-sama think?"
"Seta-sama?! Aiko, quit fawning over my friend or so help me kami-sama..."
~Nope. There is no place far enough from them.~
Aiko grew devil horns. She eyed the oblivious Soujiro who was obviously her unlucky prey. Within the blink of an eye, Aiko had both arms wrapped around Soujiro's waste and had her head nestled into the small of his back. Soujiro's eyes unwillingly widened.
"A-aiko-san...???!!!"
"Just say it, Seta-sama, there's no need to keep your profound love for me a secret."
"But I--"
"HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU! YOU'RE SCARING HIM AIKO!!!!!"
"Annoying little tomboys should learn to keep there mouths shut if they have nothing productive to say."
"KISAMA!"
Flames welled up behind Ayano and she had devil horns and aimed her pitchfork (hmmmm... how'd she get a pitchfork? I guess we'll never know...) at Aiko. And Aiko just stood there, unfazed, but she did let go of Soujiro.
"A-ayano-san, Aiko-san, is all this fighting... neccessary?"
"YES SOU-KUN! SHE CALLED ME AN ANNOYING LITTLE TOMBOY! I AM A SOPHISTICATED HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER WOMAN!"
"Ano... sure Ayano-san. I'm sure it's all true, but..."
"NO BUTS ABOUT IT!"
"Ayano-chan! Quit yelling at Seta-sama!"
Soujiro felt very small. Two very intimidating creatures were fighting right over his head. A large sweatdrop accumulated on his forhead. Then, he felt a very hard fist connect right under his cheekbone and the cold, hard ground rushed up to meet him.
"Sou-kun! Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai!!!! I was trying to hit Aiko and--"
"You immature brat! Look what you did to Seta-sama!!!"
Soujiro's head was spinning. He let them argue for a while more, then shakily rose to his feet. He smiled against the pain and idily wiped the blood that dripped out of his lip were his teeth ripped open the inside of his mouth when the fist connected. He dareingly placed a hand on both of their shoulders.
"Aiko-san, I'm fine. You don't have to yell at Ayano. Ayano-san, I forgive you. It was an accident, but if you didn't hit me, you would have hit Aiko-san and then she would be hurt. And that wouldn't be a nice thing to do, since she picked your kimono out for you."
"That reminds me, Sou-kun, you never gave me the kimono."
"Oh! Gomen nasai Ayano-san, it slipped my mind. I was going to, but you two immediately started fighting. Here it is."
Soujiro stuck his hand inside his gi and pulled out a brown paper package tied with a string. He handed it to Ayano. Ayano opened it, and was shocked. It was beautiful.
"Aiko... picked this for me?"
Soujiro nodded and Ayano hung her head in shame. Aiko was nice enough to pick this out for her and she repaid her with yelling and attempting to hurt her. Soujiro saw her silently shake and saw something fall to the ground. It was a tear.
"G-gomen nasai, Aiko-san... I had no idead..." Ayano said with a shaky voice. She reached a hand up and brushed away the oncoming tears.
"I forgive you, Ayano-chan."
Ayano looked up and saw Aiko smiling warmly. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She fell into the older girls arms and sobbed. Soujiro blinked. He saw Aiko stroke Ayano's hair back in a motherly way. Aiko didn't look much older than Ayano, but she was more mature and it showed. He felt himself smile at the two. They had not known each other for more than a half an hour and they had something Soujiro never had. They had friendship and love. (No, they are not in love. They are both very straight. I don't think there will be any unstraight people in my fic... but ya never know! *sings* I'm unpredictable!)
Ayano and Aiko stood up. Ayano wiped the tears from her face and hugged Soujiro who stood there stunned.
"Gomen ne Sou-kun... I shouldn't have acted like that."
Soujiro smiled and wrapped his arms around her.
"I forgive you Ayano-san."
And then he let her go. She also stopped embracing him and she grabbed his sleeve.
"C'mon! It's getting late! Let's go to that inn!"
"I agree with Ayano-chan. What do you say, Seta-sama?"
"I say let's go. All your fighting wore me out!"
They all laughed. Soujiro let himself be pulled by Ayano and pushed by Aiko. They were both so nice to him, albiet violent and scary, but they were the nicest people he had ever known. He didn't deserve to have friends like them. A killer didn't deserve to have friends.
"Sou-kun! You're to slow! Hyaku!"
"Hai, Seta-sama! Hyaku hyaku!!!"
"Hai hai!!!"
*****************************************
Voice Over: At the inn...
*****************************************
Soujiro looked at the two sleeping forms, each cuddled in their own futons. He smiled and leaned against the wall. He looked out the widow that he was sitting by and looked upon the empty streets. He closed his eyes and went over the events that happened that day. Aiko and Ayano showed him that there are many weak people living their lives happily. He wondered if he had a real family that loved him if he would be like Aiko and Ayano. His thoughts were disrupted when the shoji slid open. Soujiro quickly opened his eyes. Illuminated by the moonlight through the windows stood Saito Hajime.
*****************************************
"Tenken no Soujiro I believe it was?" Saito put a ciggarette in his mouth and lit it. The smoke irritated Soujiro and he coughed in annoyance.
"Iie Saito-san, that is not my name."
"Hm? Care to fill me in?"
"I am Seta Soujiro. Tenken no Soujiro no longer exists."
Saito let out one of his coarse laughs.
"I can assure you he does, 'Seta Soujiro', he is just hidden behind the mask of a lies and impossible promises."
Soujiro glared at him; no smile attached. Saito was the one who did the smiling.
"Well then, may I ask you a question Soujiro?"
".....hai"
"Did you hear anything about an officer killed in a kimono shop?"
Soujiro froze. Saito took this opportunity to smile again before taking another puff of the ciggarette.
"I take that as a yes. My fellow officers told me that a smiling kid did it. And that his movement were to fast to see. If that isn't the Tenken at work here, then I'll be damned."
"Saito-san, he challenged me. If I didn't accept, then I would have been killed or arrested. I had people waiting for me so I could not let either of those happen. I'm sorry, I am not like Himura-san, who refuses to kill."
Saito smiled his wolf grin and dropped the ciggarette onto the floor and smashed it with his foot. Soujiro eyed him warily.
"I new you were still a killer at heart. Once a hitokiri, always a hitokiri. You, nor Battousai, nor I can escape that. But, I have not come to slay or arrest you. I have come to ask you a favor.
Soujiro lifted an eyebrow.
"A favor? What kind of favor, Saito-san?"
"You're not the only killer in town. A ring of assassins have been killing random citizens in the city. It seems they kill with no purpose whatsoever. And because of that, we never know who will die next. I need to ask you to find these men and kill them, we caught one and questioned him, but he wouldn't talk, no matter how much torture we put him through. He's dead now."
Saito's wolf grin reappeared. Soujiro merely looked at him.
"Why should I help you? I only plan to be in Kyoto for two more days at the most."
"And in those two days one of those men could kill one of your little concubines over there."
Saito motioned to Aiko and Ayano with a gloved hand. Soujiro followed his hand to the girls then turned to Saito with narrowed eyes.
"They are not concubines. They are my friends and if anyone poses a threat to them, they will be dead before they know what they did wrong."
"Well, I'd say those assassins pose a threat, ne?"
Saito lit a new ciggarette. A couple minutes passed before Soujiro spoke again; his voice cold and emotionless.
"I will kill your assassins, Saito-san. But not for you, the police, or this city, I'm doing it for Aiko-san and Ayano-san. Keep that in mind."
"Hmmm... I really don't care who you do it for as long as it gets done. When they are dead, you can stop by and pick up your reward, if you want to."
"Reward?"
"Aa, you don't think we pay people who help us? If you kill all of these guys, you'll get a handsome sum. I must be going now, stop by after the task is complete."
And with a trail of smoke he walked out and slide the shoji shut behind him.
************************************************************
AC: Muaha. I'm think of giving the oniwabanshuu a camo shot and bring Misao and Aoshi into this story as main characters. Possibly the Kenshingumi too... Whadda think? And no, this will not turn into a Sou-sama and Misao fic. Maybe a little A/M, possibly K/K, but definately no S/M (Sou and Misao, not Sano and Megumi). Anywho, I'd like to thank ye all again for reviewing! Sayonara!