Disclaimer: Ugh... disclaim... blargh... er... *sighs* Fingers hurt... hands swollen... die weeds...
Warning: Kuma-chan!! You've come back to me!! *blinks at the blank looks and smiles*
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Souken no Shibun
... And Pink Bunnies
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Sano passed down the nearly deserted road, picking his teeth with his trademark fishbone. The road from Chiba to Tokyo being deserted wasn't unusual. Unless there was something important going on, most people chose not to travel during the midnight hours. Sano was a special case, of course. He didn't have anything too terribly important going on with him right that moment, but unlike the average traveler, he was strong enough to protect himself from run-of-the-mill bandits.
Besides he really wanted to get home and traveling at night was a good way to avoid the usual crowds. And a crowd it would be considering that Chiba was a port town, although admittedly a small one. Still, it managed to stay busy and had its own share of underground workings which was why he'd been there in the first place.
Of course, there also the great perks of it being a coastal town... He could swindle the stupid foreigners like there was no tomorrow and leave a very rich man. Or at least, that had been his plan. After getting that information for Saito, he'd hit every gambling joint in town... and lost at every one. It made a person wonder if Lady Luck just didn't like him.
Ah, well. At least, Saito hadn't given him that promised payment for this little job yet. As much as Sano would have liked to chance to turn the tables on those poker players, at least now he would be coming back home with something to show for it. He might even treat them to- Shit. He'd just remembered yesterday was Kaoru's birthday. Maybe if he explained nicely what important business he'd been up to, she wouldn't waylay him. Hmm, she might even be proud of him. Maybe enough to cook his favorite dinner for him. Strike that. Enough to have Kenshin cook his favorite meal for him. Yeah, that sounded good.
Sano sighed. Who was he kidding? Even with the good excuse, he'd be lucky to keep his manhood intact. Hell, even Kenshin might have been worried by now. In fact, he was probably more worried than Kaoru and Yahiko put together. He did know more of what Sano might have to deal with out here on his own. The only difference was that Kenshin would bury his feelings in order to better comfort the other two. Which made Sano feel a little guilty. He was only adding to Kenshin's responsibilities.
However, Saito had convinced him it would be for the best. After all, the Souken had the Rei, an assassin who might be on equal footing with Kenshin if ever given the chance to battle. And while the info he'd gotten from Michika, the Karada, said that Rei had been missing for two years, Saito still thought it best to travel as secretly as possible. The Karada was a part of the Shibun and therefore, not terribly trustworthy. The Souken may have just been hiding the Rei for some reason. That, or sending her on less attention-getting missions.
The tales of the girl's supposed speed and strength were most likely embellishments, but nevertheless, they couldn't afford to take that chance. So Sano had left his family in the middle of the night with no notice whatsoever and disappeared. Of course, he hadn't actually disappeared. That was superstitious talk there. No, he'd just headed on to the first assignment Saito had given him. There had only been a few, but all three required Sano to get in, get out, and get to the next one before word of his appearance could be sent. Not a hard task if he went through knocking out every yakuza member he could find.
So he did. And it worked. It was just boring. Not a single person in either of the three locations had been even the slightest challenge to him. From first to last, they'd all gone the same way. Admittedly, he'd been a little more careless with that third one, but it was his final stop, so he didn't have to worry about them sending warning to anyone. As long as he got the job done, that was all that mattered. Saito got the information he wanted to catch his prey and Sano's little patchwork family got protected. A patchwork family he was very interested in getting back to right now, even if they were going to bite his head off.
Considering how long he'd been walking and the distance it was from Chiba to Tokyo, Sano estimated he'd be there within the next hour or so. In fact, if he felt up to running, he could be there a lot sooner. But simply running to get home would ruin his cool image if anyone happened to see him. So he'd continue to walk and take his time. It was the middle of the night; there wasn't going to be anything waiting for him this time of night whether or not he hurried.
Lost in his own musings, Sano almost failed the notice the quieting of his surroundings. Almost. The crickets and other night-life silenced. What was left were only the sounds of the breeze as it washed over the trees, creating an eerie sound that put Sano's nerves on edge. He continued walking, sure that someone was watching him but unable to spot the observer.
It was as he was passing over the last hill on that road to Tokyo that even the wind stopped. He paused, seeing the shadow waiting for him at the bottom. Short-statured with long hair, dressed in a dark gi and hakama, this waiting figure stood stock-still. As they remained in their relative positions, Sano was sure that just as he was observing this person, he too was being assessed.
It was too dark to be able to tell much of anything about the shadowy figure. There was something decidedly familiar about them, though, with their hair in that high ponytail and the sword at their side. It reminded him of someone or something, but his mind refused to bring the memory to the surface. In fact, his mind refused to do much of anything. Other than try and guess at the next note of that weird song.
Song..? That was strange... there hadn't been any music a second ago. Maybe it was the person at the bottom singing. It was pretty, whatever it was, weird or not. He couldn't understand a word of it though, like it was in some other language. It could be that he was just too far away to understand it. Too far... As the thought crossed his mind, he could feel his longs legs responding, moving him ever closer to the person. As he came within a half dozen feet though, the singing stopped.
"Sagara Sanosuke?"
Sano narrowed his eyes, not really liking the feel of the situation. Usually, a fight was something he looked forward to. In fact, he should have been looking forward to this one, considering his latest disappointments. Something was up, though. Sano could sense something different about this one, different from those yakuza amateurs. This one had an air of competence, one that Sano intended to heed. Much as Saito liked to call him a moron and as much as he sometimes acted like it, Sano knew when he was up against something serious. And this was. "Can I help you with something?"
The figure nodded slowly. The next moment, Sano tensed and shifted into a fighting stance as he heard the click of their sword. As the person swung their right arm out, releasing it from their sleeve, the gi tightened, revealing... A girl?! Aw hell no, I ain't fighting no girl. He didn't slacken his stance any though. Still, he ended up not having to fight anyways.
The girl had lifted her head and looking around frantically, her eyes a bit wide with shock. "P-pink rabbits?! Wha...?" She started backing away slowly, as if something were stalking towards her. "No! Not the pink bunnies!!" She started scrambling backwards, tripping over a stray rock and knocking herself unconscious.
Sano blinked and scooted over to peer down at her. "You know, I think she was drunk..."
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A/N: *sniffles* Even though the yard work was done yesterday, my hands still hurt... it's a bad, bad thing... *sighs* And I'm feeling a bit pissy that only three people reviewed the chapter I worked so hard on... *sniffles some more* I think I may cry... *stops* Or not. I feel more like being pissy about it. And ranting sounds good... yeah...
To Cymberleah: *falls over, laughing* You don't know how proud I am of myself right now, knowing that I managed to leave you nearly speechless... for whatever reason. *smiles*
To SaveTheTurkeys: It's ok! You can ask! I won't guarantee you'll get what you want, but you can still ask! You won't upset my mojo! *blinks* I didn't even know I had mojo... just rebellious fingers that want to confuse me with more characters. I still don't know about Hiko, but I'm pretty sure Misao and Aoshi are popping in. And again, that list just makes it possible to pop in more characters. *glares at fingers again* I'm very happy you reviewed though! *glomps you* I shall worship you for eternity for reviewing the chapters I worked so hard for two days to complete! *smiles* Ok?
To Hazu: I'm glad I could amuse you as well, Hazu. *smiles*
And now, to pass off to Author Lady... I'm sure she wants to go to bed...