Disclaimer: I t'nod own ti.

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Souken no Shibun

Brewing Storms

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Something must have happened between the two when she wasn't looking.

"Four thousand, nine hundred, and ninety seven," Yahiko sounded off.

The dono... He left off the dono. He never leaves off the dono.

"Four thousand, nine hundred, and ninety eight."

Whatever 'it' was, it must have happened last night when they were on the roof talking. Damn, knew I should have listened in. Aside from leaving the honorific off, he wasn't treating her any different and vice versa.

"Four thousand, nine hundred, and ninety nine."

I could ask her, Kaoru thought as she watched Yahiko swing the shinai back. She got the feeling that conversation between the girl and the rurouni had been private, though. Which meant prying into the subject would be inappropriate. It wasn't fair. How come he'd leave the -dono off for an almost perfect stranger and not her?

"Five thousand." Yahiko allowed the tip of the shinai to drop to the floor, sighing in exhaustion.

Kaoru watched him wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead. I have to think up some way of approaching the subject without sticking my nose into her private matters. She didn't hold it against Kyouki, but that the girl had managed something in two days what Kaoru hadn't been able to do in all her time with Kenshin was irritating. It made her want to... want to... "Five thousand more, Yahiko! Try to keep your back straight this time!" She growled at the child before he could protest. "And if I see you so much as twitch the wrong way, you'll be doing a thousand extra swings everyday from now on."

Yahiko paled considerably, meekly beginning the next designated set of katas as Kaoru watched him, fuming over dono's.

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"Do you think it would upset Chushin's plans overly if I visited the little sister?"

Jonah narrowed his eyes at the form he was working on. The whispers of the curtains as they were pushed aside told Jonah that his smaller-statured superior was now standing at the window. Jonah sighed and dropped his pen. Why do the supply forms have to be so damn confusing? He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off the oncoming headache.

The younger man attempted to stifle his chuckles. During his father's leadership, Masatake had been forced to shuffle the same papers. He easily remembered the many varied forms and how confusing they could be. That's why he didn't do them anymore. Jonah did. And now Jonah looked like he should take a breather. "You need a break."

Jonah sighed and leaned back. "Maybe." He dropped his hand and looked to the window. Masatake stood in front of the window watching the storm, as Jonah had suspected. What little light came from it seem to make Masatake's hair look a dull gray and blanketed the man in an aura of sadness.

He wasn't really sad, of course. Everything seemed to be a trick of the light with the Nentou. His coloring, his demeanor... Masatake could find the most favorable lighting so naturally that it made a person wonder about the man sometimes. Still, it was something Jonah found he had to get used to and see past.

Right now, while Masatake did miss his sister, the sense of sadness around him was simply a front to get Jonah to allow him to go. More than likely, he was scheming something. There was rumors that the Rei had lost her memories. If the rumors were true, then there might have to be some re-workings of their plans.

Then again, Masatake could simply be going to annoy Natsuo. Those two were funny like that. Not that you'd ever catch anyone laughing, for fear of getting their heart carved out. In Jonah's personal opinion, if the two weren't so hell-bent on killing each other, they'd probably be friends. Not good friends, but still friends. Still, it was rather amusing watching the two squabble. "In the end, you'll do what you want, with or without my permission."

"I suppose," Masatake replied, a smile tugging at his lips.

Jonah stood and stretched. Even after almost thirty years, he still couldn't get used to the Japanese lifestyle. Sitting on the floor was just so uncomfortable. Which was why he generally did his paperwork in the Nenotu's office unless Masatake needed it for something. "If you really want my opinion... Go, if only to refute those nasty rumors. Just be sure not to make it a lengthy visit."

"We wouldn't want me getting in trouble, now would we?" Masatake grinned, almost relishing the thought of some perverted buffoon coming on to him. Tearing morons like that limb from limb was such a nice way to relieve stress.

"It would be preferable, yes."

Rain was nice. It could wash away even the dirtiest of sins... And it kept most of those aesthetically challenged idiots indoors, meaning he could easily comply with Jonah's wishes. Yes, rain was nice. Rain was also wet. "I'm taking that cloak of yours."

Jonah frowned. "Why not just take an umbr-" Masatake gave him a pointed look and Jonah blinked, reminded of his superiors effeminate looks. "Oh yeah," he snickered, a grin stretching across his face.

"Don't you start, too."

Jonah sobered. "Just be careful. Enemy territory and all that, my friend." Masatake nodded and Jonah waved him away. "Now off with ya." Masatake quietly slipped through the shoji, leaving Jonah to his work. He glared down at the offending papers. "Maybe a break wouldn't be such a bad thing..."

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After Kaoru had gone to wake Yahiko for practice, Kyouki had left to change and to escape Kenshin's fussing. Since she'd been active last night, he insisted that she rest. Which meant in no uncertain terms to stay away from the training hall.

Needless to say, Kyouki wasn't happy. She was supposed to be leaving today. Even with having to wait on Saito's return, she still intended to leave, just later. Now, though, she was once again under house arrest. She had other people she wanted to get a hold of. Kenshin had insisted that they hand the list over to Saito, saying that he could do the same thing, but faster since he could send cops out to find these people. She'd agreed to the idea, but that still hadn't got her permission to leave.

Normally, she would have considered simply taking off after the meeting with Saito. However, this was the Battousai. He could quite easily keep her from leaving if he wanted to. So she'd simply given him a sour look and went to change into a kimono. With nothing else to do, she'd gone to sit out on the porch outside the kitchen and watch the rain. Soon after sitting down, Sano had somehow magically appeared beside her, trying to look unassuming and friendly.

So the two sat in silence, listening to Kenshin move around in the kitchen, while Kyouki waited on Sano to play twenty questions. He didn't disappoint her. "So you're Michika's sister?"

"Apparently."

"You're not what I expected."

"Me either."

Sano arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Kyouki shrugged. "I didn't even know I was her sister until yesterday."

Sano winced. "Talk about shock factor. It must be hard."

Kyouki grinned. "Finding out I'm related to that moron? Definitely." They heard Kenshin snickering in the kitchen, causing a very confused expression to appear Sano's face. Kyouki grinned as she jerked a thumb in the direction of the rurouni. "They didn't get a very good first impression of each other."

Sano blinked. "Really...?"

Kyouki nodded. "Kenshin politely insults Michika while she's taken to calling him Dog-boy."

Sano nearly choked. "You're kidding me!" He started laughing when she shook her head. He nearly fell off the porch when they caught the sound of Kenshin growling. "This I have to see!"

The sound of the gate opening caught their attention and Kyouki smiled. "You just might get the chance."

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Natsuo and the little girl sat, watching their quarry. The girl didn't talk much, on account she didn't appear to speak much of the Japanese language, but she did understand it well enough. Which was good considering she was his contact with the "others". From what he could gather, she'd been sent to watch him for a few days, just to make sure he wasn't going back on the deal he'd made.

That, and one couldn't exactly back-talk a seven year old foreign girl. Everything about her, including the fact that she was just so irresistibly cute, made it hard to be mean and nasty to her like he would any normal messenger. So after finding out her name was Drei (actually, it was something much longer, but Drei was all he could manage to say), he played with her. Games like "Paint the old lady's face" and "Poke strategic holes in the old lady's clothes" seem to amuse the girl greatly. Of course, both of them made sure to keep a watchful eye on the sleeping Michika so they could bolt for the door at the first sign of her waking.

After replacing Michika's perfumed soap with a very stinky herbal one, the two found they were rather bored with everything else the hotel had to offer. After a short discussion, filled with lots of hand signals and bad acting, the two decided it would be more entertaining to crash someone else's house. Or more specifically, the Nentou's.

With the rain and Natsuo's excellent spy skills, the two just knew they could get in and out without anyone's notice. Besides, he'd planned to sneak into the house today anyways, rain or no rain, child or no child. It didn't matter to him. Nothing was going to deter him from his schedule.

It was his self-appointed duty to save the world from evil. If he let something as insignificant as rain and a small child stop him, then his heart simply wasn't as just as he thought it was.

That was how the two ended up where they were now - hiding in a tree outside the manor's back door. Usually, it would have only taken Natsuo all of a minute to get from the outside wall into the house. The child had other ideas when they passed through the gate. She'd seen the pretty garden and taken off.

A short game of hide and seek ensued, but was ended rather abruptly when an guard caught sight of Drei. Natsuo had been forced to knock the man out and drag him off into the bushes. The child thought it was quite funny, watching the man's eyes roll back into his head. She thought it even funnier when Natsuo tried to carry the bigger man off.

They left the man in the some pitfall Natsuo had managed to find. He had then dragged the child up into the tree to get a better vantage point of the grounds. They weren't many guards thanks to the rain and Natsuo had just seen a cloaked Masatake heading off.

SCORE!! I mean... Thank the powers that - ah to hell with it. Point is, he's gone, right? And he's the only person that would even have a chance of catching me. Natsuo nodded to himself. This is so great! Now I can raid his safe and his fridge! This is so perfect. I couldn't have planned this better if I tried!

Natsuo looked down to see Drei frowning at him. He blinked. What? Her frown deepened and he realized what her problem was. I'm talking to myself again, aren't I? Damn... I thought I kicked that habit a year ago. He pointed towards the back door and made some faint hand signals. Due to their earlier games, she understood them perfectly. As soon as he'd shimmied down the tree, she jumped, allowing him to catch her, and the two took off towards the door as soon as the coast was clear. The two skidded through the door, quickly removing their wet shoes and carrying them as they passed further into the house.

They hit the kitchen first, as both deemed food more important than espionage at the moment. The little one seemed quite taken with the apples. It was no surprise, considering she was foreign, although Natsuo had absolutely no clue where she was from. Not that it matters. She's probably just some orphan that got kicked off the random ship she stowed away on.

He searched the cabinets a little longer before coming up with a couple other promising looking items. Both sat quietly on the floor, munching and listening for footsteps. Throwing the remains back in the cabinet, the two high-tailed it out of there and down the hall towards the Nentou's office. As soon as the door was open, both he and Drei stopped, feigned innocence plastered on their faces.

"Good morning, boys and girls. What can I do for you today?" Behind Masatake's desk, Jonah spun around in the chair and locked eyes with Natsuo.

Natsuo rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "Ah, not much. Just allow us access to Masa's safe and forget we were ever here." He laughed nervously and Drei, not knowing what else to do, mimicked him.

Jonah leaned back in his chair, his eyes alight with amusement. "I see. That's a rather tall order." He smiled at Drei, who stopped laughing and began cowering behind Natsuo's legs. "And who's the kid?"

Natsuo grinned. "Her? Why, she's the apple of my eye, the blossom of my heart, the core of my very being!"

Jonah arched an eyebrow. "You just picked her up on the street, didn't you?" Natsuo suddenly felt very uncomfortable. It's not that he thought Jonah knew who the child was, but that was still a little too close to the mark. Jonah sighed. "You always were such a bleeding heart." Natsuo hung his head and Jonah laughed.

"It's not my fault there so many people in need."

Jonah shook his head. "You simply can't help some things, child. Now as to the safe, as much as I've enjoyed seeing you again, I'm afraid I just can't let you open it."

Natsuo's shoulders slumped forward, making Drei comfortingly pat his leg. "I see..."

Jonah leaned forward, smiling. "However... this meeting never happened."

Natsuo waved pathetically in thanks and slowly turned to leave, taking Drei's hand to lead her out. He should have known Jonah would be in here. Jonah was always in here. Well, except when he was in the sitting room. Or on a mission. Or in the bath... or... ARGH! Why couldn't be in one those places!? Is a little good luck too much to ask for?!

"One thing before you go."

YES!!! Natsuo looked calmly over his shoulder, his demeanor quite the opposite of his thoughts. "Yes?" he asked cooly.

"Temporarius." Natsuo stood there and blinked in confusion as Jonah turned away, ignoring his presence. After a moment, realization clicked and Natsuo grinned. Nodding in thanks to Jonah, he gathered Drei and their shoes into his arms and took off.

Just you wait, Masatake! Good will prevail over your evil! Then I'll have cake! Mmm... cake...

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A/N: Oo, it's actually raining... whee...

To Cymberleah: Technically, you're the only one reading this right now. *nods*

And so you get to beta once again before... doing whatever it is you do.