DISCLAIMER: All Rurouni Kenshin characters belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro, Jump Comics, and all
concerned parties. No infringement intended! Please don't sue me, a poor person. Any other characters
created belong to me.
The Rants:
-Hey there again! ^^ Thanks for the reviews ;p
-Sakura just came by accident ^^x When I was doing my site and I did her profile, the sisters just jumped at
me since I don't see them being used in fics ^^ *blushes* Thank you for your comments!!^^
-Now, if I could just stop singing Saiyuki songs, I'll get on with this fic…!
-So sorry for the typo in the last chapter! It's *not* Kaori… It's *Kahori* ^^; Sumimasen!
Rebirth
Chapter Three: Operation Retrieve
*****
"Shinta! Shinta! Oh, for Pete's sake, where are you? Shinta!" a young woman in her mid-twenties cried out
as she searched the house thoroughly for her son. Her hurried steps increased in rhythm as she checked
door after door for any sign of a fast-moving bundle of red hair that represented her six-year-old son.
Finally, she made it to the living room only to find young Shinta asleep on the floor, cradling a toy truck in
his hands. Michi sighed ruefully before kneeling beside her slumbering child.
"There you are." Michi whispered as she automatically found her hand moving towards his hair. Shinta's
violet eyes opened sleepily to meet Michi's surprised brown ones. "Oops… Sorry to wake you up,
Honey…"
"Mama…?" Shinta muttered as he started to sit up, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Is everything all
right?"
"Hai." Michi smiled as she watched her son tenderly. "I was just worried where you were…"
Shinta came over and hugged her. Michi, surprised, could only hug her son in return. "I'm sorry to worry
you, mama. I just…"
"Shh…" Michi said as she found herself brushing her hand lightly on Shinta's hair. "It's all right, I found
you didn't I?"
Shinta just smiled at that and relaxed. After a while, he looked up at her, violet eyes suddenly dead serious
making Michi take an involuntary gulp.
"What's for dinner?" he asked innocently.
Michi laughed and stood up, helping her young son up as well. "Come to the kitchen and find out, ne?"
Smiling, she led her son back to the modest dining area their house had. In the circular table, Shinta found a
number of Japanese as well as foreign dishes, all to his liking. Shinta's eyes lit up as he scrambled over to
his chair and grabbed his chopsticks before declaring heartily, "Itadakimasu!"
*****
There were twelve men in all. All of them had worn similar dark suits much to the young woman's distaste.
'It's like they're always going to a funeral.' she thought quietly as she eyed the black coats each of her so-
called escorts donned over the rest of their clothing. She then looked at her own white doctor's smock and
attempted to straighten it from imaginary creases before she realized that she was being called.
"Sensei." came a quiet, yet urgent, voice behind her. Kahori looked at the tall man, surprised.
"Ah, sumimasen!" she said quickly, noting the man's irritation directed towards her.
Without hiding his impatience, the man continued. "Thank you." he stated patronizingly, making Kahori
irritated enough to want a chance to smack his face. However, she managed to hold her temper in check.
Her losing it will not bring them any closer to their goal anyway.
"I do hope you remember the role you are supposed to be playing here. The operation will start shortly so
please stay focused." He stressed the final word knowingly before turning around to head for his comrades.
"Jerk…" Kahori whispered under her breath before crossing her arms in front of her chest, a little defiant,
before turning her attention back to the so-called 'jerk'.
The man had just reached the rest of a group under his command. They exchanged some few words before
going over their gear one last time. The 'jerk' nodded and pressed his earpiece against his ear in order not
to miss the inevitable signal.
Kahori narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to block out the sudden feeling of nervousness that was invading
her system. 'Gomen ne, Hishikawa-san' she thought as she suddenly remembered why she was here in the
first place.
Flashback.
Matsuoka Akira, their boss, had called them in. The team was six in total, three males and three females all
of whom were top brass in the field of genetics research. Matsuoka, Kamiya Kahori, and Erizawa Sakura
were three of the group's members.
Kahori looked at the other three doctors/researchers who had just come in to join the meeting. She had met
and mingled with these individuals in the past and have become good acquaintances with them as she had
with Sakura. That is, everyone except Matsuoka himself.
"Well…?" the first, a man with long hair named Tsuioka Katsu, greeted Matsuoka. "Why have you called
us in here?"
Matsuoka just narrowed his eyes at Katsu for his lack of courtesy. A movement from the corner of his eye
caught his attention. He turned himself to face the other two members of the team who coincidentally are
siblings.
"Yes, Matsuoka, we're busy people so you might want to hussle it up?" the male sibling with spiky hair,
Myoujin Yasuhiko, announced with annoyance tainting his voice.
Matsuoka felt irritation building up and was about to snap at the two men for complaining when they were
late in the first place when the intention was muted by the other half of the sibling team.
"Mou, Yasu-chan…!" Tsubame said before hastily retreating behind the clipboard she was carrying. "Be
considerate."
"Quit calling me chan!" Yasuhiko admonished, irritated and amused at the same time. Tsubame just
giggled.
"Suits you." Kahori said deadpan, earning a glare from Yasuhiko.
"Why you…!" he began but was interrupted by his sister.
"Serves you right, Yasu-chan." she said quietly before turning her attention back to Matsuoka who cleared
his throat.
"Thank you." Matsuoka said sarcastically as he finally got the groups attention. "Now can we get back to
the matter at hand?" Seeing everyone's nod, he continued.
"Before anything else, Kamiya-san, please report on Dai-nijuuichi." Hearing this, the Tsubame gasped
while the two other men just gaped in their shock. Silence came immediately. Kahori sighed audibly before
facing the rest of the group.
"Dai-nijuuichi should be familiar to all of you so I need not explain anything." [note from author: I will be
explaining more of this character in later chapters so please treat this something akin to a hint/a
premonition/a what-not ^^;]
"Demo… I thought…" Yasuhiko was starting when Kahori sent him an irritated glare as if telling him
'Please wait 'coz I might be answering your question with my explanation so let me finish first!' Yasuhiko
took the hint and sulked but shut up.
Kahori, seeing this, continued. "Initial estimates during the start of the experimentation showed that full
maturation will take roughly a decade and that everything we have encoded into him will come out as
expected."
Katsu nodded his agreement and interrupted Kahori with a question. "Has anything gone wrong then?"
His question brought a slight smile to Kahori's lips when she replied. "Quite the contrary." she said simply
as she passed a couple of reports over to the rest of the team. They immediately scoured its contents and
surprise became evident on their faces.
Katsu spoke again, looking angry and befuddled at the same time. "Why didn't you tell us about this
immediately?!"
Matsuoka answered for Kahori. "Simple. You were needed elsewhere during this phase, if you will please
remember."
Kahori winced slightly. She knew exactly where the rest of the team was during the time Matsuoka and she
were playing spy on Dai-nijuuichi. They were in the main base of the client their group was working for,
developing systems that would test the skills of their creation. 'I don't envy them since they were, after all,
in the dragon's lair.' Kahori thought quietly.
She cleared her throat quite loudly and, when the small debates were done, continued. "As you have seen in
the reports I handed over to all of you, Dai-nijuuichi is showing signs that he is ready. His physical and
mental development has surpassed even our expectations a little more than half a decade ago." With this,
Kahori turned her attention back to Matsuoka to indicate the conclusion of her report.
"Arigato, Kamiya-san." Matsuoka said before turning his full attention to his command. "I had just spoken
with him." He paused and waited to see if anyone was thick enough not to know whom he was referring to.
Glad that nobody was that ignorant, he resumed. "He wants to retrieve him now."
Matsuoka let the statement hang and waited for everyone's reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"Nani?!" Kahori was the first to react. "But… But…!"
"How sure are we…?!" came Katsu next followed quickly by the siblings.
"We aren't ready…!"
"Please… Please calm down…" Matsuoka tried to calm everyone down to no avail. Everyone was just
ranting their heads off. Matsuoka sighed and felt hopeless and, at the same time, frustrated. Time was of the
essence here!
"QUIET!!" he shouted furiously and succeeded in making the room deathly still. Nobody moved a muscle
until a knock on the door made them all jump.
Matsuoka, regaining his senses first, said, "Come in!"
A nurse with a long and braided hair poked her head in and, surprised at the number of people inside the
room, almost forgot to ask her question. "Ano, is everything all right, Matsuoka-sensei?"
"Hm? Oh! Yes, everything is fine, uh, Misako-san." he replied with as much calm as he could muster.
"Sou ka?" Misako said a little doubtlfully. "Ja, shitsurei shimasu." with that, the nurse closed the door
quietly behind her.
Everyone let their breaths out at the close call. Matsuoka suddenly took on a stern appearance and berated
the group. "Quit squabbling will you? We don't have all the time in the world as it is and the lot of you
almost got us caught!
"Yes, there are unforeseeable consequences if we retrieve him now. However, you also know what it means
when he gets impatient."
Audible gulps could be heard. "Are we clear on this?" he queried sternly.
Yasuhiko sighed exasperatedly. "Hai hai." he replied dejectedly. Sakura and Tsubame just nodded while
Kahori just stood rooted into place. She was about to ask about something that was bothering her when
Katsu beat her to it.
"What about…?" he began but was interrupted by Matsuoka who had anticipated this question ahead of
time.
"We carry out the plan just as we had discussed six years ago. No more, no less." the head doctor said icily.
By now, Kahori could hardly breathe but didn't allow her face to exhibit her panic. Through her peripheral
vision, she noticed Sakura throw a worried look in her direction but chose to ignore it at the moment. 'Oh
gods, oh gods…' was all she could think of at the moment and felt her knees suddenly turn to jelly.
However, instead of showing her growing uneasiness, she somehow forced the bile rising in her throat back
down before asking a question.
"When?" she asked simply, surprising Matsuoka.
"Tomorrow midnight. A team has been called in for this particular assignment." Matsuoka replied curtly
and turned his attention to the group. "We are to assemble here early the next morning to go to the main
base as scheduled." Ignoring the resulting groans, Matsuoka plowed right on. "You have one day to
straighten up your respective affairs."
Matsuoka turned his attention to Kahori. "You will be going with the team to retrieve the subject." At
everyone's questioning look including Kahori herself, Matsuoka explained. "He picked you randomly.
Don't blame me!"
Kahori looked at him suspiciously before reluctantly accepting his explanation with a nod. With that, the
team adjourned the session and hurried out to make it to last minute appointments and the like. In their
haste, they almost bowled over each other when they reached the door. But, somehow, they all managed to
get through unscathed. Slightly panicked once reaching the deserted corridor, they did not notice a pair of
eyes gleaming in the shadows, carefully watching their retreating forms. Everyone, that is, except Kahori
who thought she saw Misako spying on them through her peripheral vision.
Kahori spun around in surprise only to find the corridor deserted. She shrugged thinking it was just because
of her jumbled emotions that she was hallucinating things. Willing her legs to hurry, she departed from
Matsuoka's office.
End of flashback.
'Why is it always me?' Kahori thought absently as another part of her mind tried to keep herself focused on
the task at hand. 'I seem to be always out of luck!'
Kahori snapped to attention she saw the leader straighten up and motion to his men that the signal to begin
the mission has been received. He looked at the young doctor and motioned her to take her place.
'Oh well… This is it.' Kahori sighed resignedly as she took her position behind the team. 'Might as well
get this over with and regret it later.'
Kahori took a deep breath and willed her feelings to become nonexistent… to become apathetic to what is
about to happen. 'Gomen nasai, Michi-san…' were her last thoughts before she followed the stealthy
movements of her companions. 'Honto ni gomen nasai…'
*****
Shinta hugged his pillow lightly as the sweetness of the night wind led him to sleep's peaceful embrace.
The tranquility of it all lulled him into a dreamless state that promised a fresh start in the morning. Sighing
quietly, Shinta shifted from his position and turned his body around to face the other way, positioning his
small body to a more comfortable position. After several more tiny movements, he felt contented enough to
settle in once more.
Suddenly, the wind changed direction and blew quietly through the open windowsill, carrying with it an
urgent message.
Shinta sat up abruptly and narrowed his violet eyes, making him appear so much older than his six years.
There was a dangerous gleam in the twin purple orbs as his young face took on a frighteningly dangerous
and alert look.
Shinta calmed down his racing heart and directed his senses outward, forcing his eyes and ears to perceive
the minute details in his surroundings. At first, he detected nothing and thought that he was just getting
paranoid. The young one started to relax himself once again when he caught it with his withdrawing senses.
'I was not mistaken then.' the young boy thought quietly as he slid quietly from his bed and crept towards
the opposite wall in a stealthy manner with grace not suited for a child his age.
The young redhead narrowed his eyes once again and directed his senses outward. This time the danger he
sensed earlier was confirmed more strongly when he felt the malicious presence of individuals nearby.
'There is danger.' he thought quickly. 'They are here.'
End of chapter three.
Translations:
1. Itadakimasu – what Japanese say right before eating. Translates literally to something like "We/I
am going to eat!"
2. Sou ka? Ja, shitsurei shimasu. – Is that so? Then, I'll be going now. (I really hope I used the
correct sentences here. Was in a hurry so I wasn't sure if what I said was correct to the Japanese
^^;;;)
3. Gomen nasai, Michi-san. Honto ni gomen nasai. – I'm sorry, Ms. (In this case Mrs.) Michi. I'm
really sorry.
Character Guide:
Just wanted to let you know who is who by now in case you're confused ^^
Kamiya Kahori – Kamiya Kaoru
Hishikawa Shinta – Shinta ;p Made up the surname
Erizawa Sakura – Made up the surname. Sakura is one of the 3 sisters that rescued Shinta from the bandits
when the group of slave traders they were with was attacked.
Myoujin Yasuhiko – Myoujin Yahiko
Myoujin Tsubame – Sanjou Tsubame - I have nothing against Yahiko/Tsubame ^^x I just thought it
would be fun if they were siblings in this story! ^^
(Makimachi) Misako – this is actually Makimachi Misao ^^
Other notes:
-Hishikawa Michi and Matsuoka Akira are my original characters.
-I'm literally mixing up the RK universe in this one so if you have any more questions about what is going
on, please feel free to ask ;p
-Sorry it took long with this chapter ^^; Was waaay busy with school and I got mixed up with my own plot!
T.T hehehe
-I'll keep you guys somehow guessing. Sorry for the runaround ^^;
concerned parties. No infringement intended! Please don't sue me, a poor person. Any other characters
created belong to me.
The Rants:
-Hey there again! ^^ Thanks for the reviews ;p
-Sakura just came by accident ^^x When I was doing my site and I did her profile, the sisters just jumped at
me since I don't see them being used in fics ^^ *blushes* Thank you for your comments!!^^
-Now, if I could just stop singing Saiyuki songs, I'll get on with this fic…!
-So sorry for the typo in the last chapter! It's *not* Kaori… It's *Kahori* ^^; Sumimasen!
Rebirth
Chapter Three: Operation Retrieve
*****
"Shinta! Shinta! Oh, for Pete's sake, where are you? Shinta!" a young woman in her mid-twenties cried out
as she searched the house thoroughly for her son. Her hurried steps increased in rhythm as she checked
door after door for any sign of a fast-moving bundle of red hair that represented her six-year-old son.
Finally, she made it to the living room only to find young Shinta asleep on the floor, cradling a toy truck in
his hands. Michi sighed ruefully before kneeling beside her slumbering child.
"There you are." Michi whispered as she automatically found her hand moving towards his hair. Shinta's
violet eyes opened sleepily to meet Michi's surprised brown ones. "Oops… Sorry to wake you up,
Honey…"
"Mama…?" Shinta muttered as he started to sit up, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Is everything all
right?"
"Hai." Michi smiled as she watched her son tenderly. "I was just worried where you were…"
Shinta came over and hugged her. Michi, surprised, could only hug her son in return. "I'm sorry to worry
you, mama. I just…"
"Shh…" Michi said as she found herself brushing her hand lightly on Shinta's hair. "It's all right, I found
you didn't I?"
Shinta just smiled at that and relaxed. After a while, he looked up at her, violet eyes suddenly dead serious
making Michi take an involuntary gulp.
"What's for dinner?" he asked innocently.
Michi laughed and stood up, helping her young son up as well. "Come to the kitchen and find out, ne?"
Smiling, she led her son back to the modest dining area their house had. In the circular table, Shinta found a
number of Japanese as well as foreign dishes, all to his liking. Shinta's eyes lit up as he scrambled over to
his chair and grabbed his chopsticks before declaring heartily, "Itadakimasu!"
*****
There were twelve men in all. All of them had worn similar dark suits much to the young woman's distaste.
'It's like they're always going to a funeral.' she thought quietly as she eyed the black coats each of her so-
called escorts donned over the rest of their clothing. She then looked at her own white doctor's smock and
attempted to straighten it from imaginary creases before she realized that she was being called.
"Sensei." came a quiet, yet urgent, voice behind her. Kahori looked at the tall man, surprised.
"Ah, sumimasen!" she said quickly, noting the man's irritation directed towards her.
Without hiding his impatience, the man continued. "Thank you." he stated patronizingly, making Kahori
irritated enough to want a chance to smack his face. However, she managed to hold her temper in check.
Her losing it will not bring them any closer to their goal anyway.
"I do hope you remember the role you are supposed to be playing here. The operation will start shortly so
please stay focused." He stressed the final word knowingly before turning around to head for his comrades.
"Jerk…" Kahori whispered under her breath before crossing her arms in front of her chest, a little defiant,
before turning her attention back to the so-called 'jerk'.
The man had just reached the rest of a group under his command. They exchanged some few words before
going over their gear one last time. The 'jerk' nodded and pressed his earpiece against his ear in order not
to miss the inevitable signal.
Kahori narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to block out the sudden feeling of nervousness that was invading
her system. 'Gomen ne, Hishikawa-san' she thought as she suddenly remembered why she was here in the
first place.
Flashback.
Matsuoka Akira, their boss, had called them in. The team was six in total, three males and three females all
of whom were top brass in the field of genetics research. Matsuoka, Kamiya Kahori, and Erizawa Sakura
were three of the group's members.
Kahori looked at the other three doctors/researchers who had just come in to join the meeting. She had met
and mingled with these individuals in the past and have become good acquaintances with them as she had
with Sakura. That is, everyone except Matsuoka himself.
"Well…?" the first, a man with long hair named Tsuioka Katsu, greeted Matsuoka. "Why have you called
us in here?"
Matsuoka just narrowed his eyes at Katsu for his lack of courtesy. A movement from the corner of his eye
caught his attention. He turned himself to face the other two members of the team who coincidentally are
siblings.
"Yes, Matsuoka, we're busy people so you might want to hussle it up?" the male sibling with spiky hair,
Myoujin Yasuhiko, announced with annoyance tainting his voice.
Matsuoka felt irritation building up and was about to snap at the two men for complaining when they were
late in the first place when the intention was muted by the other half of the sibling team.
"Mou, Yasu-chan…!" Tsubame said before hastily retreating behind the clipboard she was carrying. "Be
considerate."
"Quit calling me chan!" Yasuhiko admonished, irritated and amused at the same time. Tsubame just
giggled.
"Suits you." Kahori said deadpan, earning a glare from Yasuhiko.
"Why you…!" he began but was interrupted by his sister.
"Serves you right, Yasu-chan." she said quietly before turning her attention back to Matsuoka who cleared
his throat.
"Thank you." Matsuoka said sarcastically as he finally got the groups attention. "Now can we get back to
the matter at hand?" Seeing everyone's nod, he continued.
"Before anything else, Kamiya-san, please report on Dai-nijuuichi." Hearing this, the Tsubame gasped
while the two other men just gaped in their shock. Silence came immediately. Kahori sighed audibly before
facing the rest of the group.
"Dai-nijuuichi should be familiar to all of you so I need not explain anything." [note from author: I will be
explaining more of this character in later chapters so please treat this something akin to a hint/a
premonition/a what-not ^^;]
"Demo… I thought…" Yasuhiko was starting when Kahori sent him an irritated glare as if telling him
'Please wait 'coz I might be answering your question with my explanation so let me finish first!' Yasuhiko
took the hint and sulked but shut up.
Kahori, seeing this, continued. "Initial estimates during the start of the experimentation showed that full
maturation will take roughly a decade and that everything we have encoded into him will come out as
expected."
Katsu nodded his agreement and interrupted Kahori with a question. "Has anything gone wrong then?"
His question brought a slight smile to Kahori's lips when she replied. "Quite the contrary." she said simply
as she passed a couple of reports over to the rest of the team. They immediately scoured its contents and
surprise became evident on their faces.
Katsu spoke again, looking angry and befuddled at the same time. "Why didn't you tell us about this
immediately?!"
Matsuoka answered for Kahori. "Simple. You were needed elsewhere during this phase, if you will please
remember."
Kahori winced slightly. She knew exactly where the rest of the team was during the time Matsuoka and she
were playing spy on Dai-nijuuichi. They were in the main base of the client their group was working for,
developing systems that would test the skills of their creation. 'I don't envy them since they were, after all,
in the dragon's lair.' Kahori thought quietly.
She cleared her throat quite loudly and, when the small debates were done, continued. "As you have seen in
the reports I handed over to all of you, Dai-nijuuichi is showing signs that he is ready. His physical and
mental development has surpassed even our expectations a little more than half a decade ago." With this,
Kahori turned her attention back to Matsuoka to indicate the conclusion of her report.
"Arigato, Kamiya-san." Matsuoka said before turning his full attention to his command. "I had just spoken
with him." He paused and waited to see if anyone was thick enough not to know whom he was referring to.
Glad that nobody was that ignorant, he resumed. "He wants to retrieve him now."
Matsuoka let the statement hang and waited for everyone's reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"Nani?!" Kahori was the first to react. "But… But…!"
"How sure are we…?!" came Katsu next followed quickly by the siblings.
"We aren't ready…!"
"Please… Please calm down…" Matsuoka tried to calm everyone down to no avail. Everyone was just
ranting their heads off. Matsuoka sighed and felt hopeless and, at the same time, frustrated. Time was of the
essence here!
"QUIET!!" he shouted furiously and succeeded in making the room deathly still. Nobody moved a muscle
until a knock on the door made them all jump.
Matsuoka, regaining his senses first, said, "Come in!"
A nurse with a long and braided hair poked her head in and, surprised at the number of people inside the
room, almost forgot to ask her question. "Ano, is everything all right, Matsuoka-sensei?"
"Hm? Oh! Yes, everything is fine, uh, Misako-san." he replied with as much calm as he could muster.
"Sou ka?" Misako said a little doubtlfully. "Ja, shitsurei shimasu." with that, the nurse closed the door
quietly behind her.
Everyone let their breaths out at the close call. Matsuoka suddenly took on a stern appearance and berated
the group. "Quit squabbling will you? We don't have all the time in the world as it is and the lot of you
almost got us caught!
"Yes, there are unforeseeable consequences if we retrieve him now. However, you also know what it means
when he gets impatient."
Audible gulps could be heard. "Are we clear on this?" he queried sternly.
Yasuhiko sighed exasperatedly. "Hai hai." he replied dejectedly. Sakura and Tsubame just nodded while
Kahori just stood rooted into place. She was about to ask about something that was bothering her when
Katsu beat her to it.
"What about…?" he began but was interrupted by Matsuoka who had anticipated this question ahead of
time.
"We carry out the plan just as we had discussed six years ago. No more, no less." the head doctor said icily.
By now, Kahori could hardly breathe but didn't allow her face to exhibit her panic. Through her peripheral
vision, she noticed Sakura throw a worried look in her direction but chose to ignore it at the moment. 'Oh
gods, oh gods…' was all she could think of at the moment and felt her knees suddenly turn to jelly.
However, instead of showing her growing uneasiness, she somehow forced the bile rising in her throat back
down before asking a question.
"When?" she asked simply, surprising Matsuoka.
"Tomorrow midnight. A team has been called in for this particular assignment." Matsuoka replied curtly
and turned his attention to the group. "We are to assemble here early the next morning to go to the main
base as scheduled." Ignoring the resulting groans, Matsuoka plowed right on. "You have one day to
straighten up your respective affairs."
Matsuoka turned his attention to Kahori. "You will be going with the team to retrieve the subject." At
everyone's questioning look including Kahori herself, Matsuoka explained. "He picked you randomly.
Don't blame me!"
Kahori looked at him suspiciously before reluctantly accepting his explanation with a nod. With that, the
team adjourned the session and hurried out to make it to last minute appointments and the like. In their
haste, they almost bowled over each other when they reached the door. But, somehow, they all managed to
get through unscathed. Slightly panicked once reaching the deserted corridor, they did not notice a pair of
eyes gleaming in the shadows, carefully watching their retreating forms. Everyone, that is, except Kahori
who thought she saw Misako spying on them through her peripheral vision.
Kahori spun around in surprise only to find the corridor deserted. She shrugged thinking it was just because
of her jumbled emotions that she was hallucinating things. Willing her legs to hurry, she departed from
Matsuoka's office.
End of flashback.
'Why is it always me?' Kahori thought absently as another part of her mind tried to keep herself focused on
the task at hand. 'I seem to be always out of luck!'
Kahori snapped to attention she saw the leader straighten up and motion to his men that the signal to begin
the mission has been received. He looked at the young doctor and motioned her to take her place.
'Oh well… This is it.' Kahori sighed resignedly as she took her position behind the team. 'Might as well
get this over with and regret it later.'
Kahori took a deep breath and willed her feelings to become nonexistent… to become apathetic to what is
about to happen. 'Gomen nasai, Michi-san…' were her last thoughts before she followed the stealthy
movements of her companions. 'Honto ni gomen nasai…'
*****
Shinta hugged his pillow lightly as the sweetness of the night wind led him to sleep's peaceful embrace.
The tranquility of it all lulled him into a dreamless state that promised a fresh start in the morning. Sighing
quietly, Shinta shifted from his position and turned his body around to face the other way, positioning his
small body to a more comfortable position. After several more tiny movements, he felt contented enough to
settle in once more.
Suddenly, the wind changed direction and blew quietly through the open windowsill, carrying with it an
urgent message.
Shinta sat up abruptly and narrowed his violet eyes, making him appear so much older than his six years.
There was a dangerous gleam in the twin purple orbs as his young face took on a frighteningly dangerous
and alert look.
Shinta calmed down his racing heart and directed his senses outward, forcing his eyes and ears to perceive
the minute details in his surroundings. At first, he detected nothing and thought that he was just getting
paranoid. The young one started to relax himself once again when he caught it with his withdrawing senses.
'I was not mistaken then.' the young boy thought quietly as he slid quietly from his bed and crept towards
the opposite wall in a stealthy manner with grace not suited for a child his age.
The young redhead narrowed his eyes once again and directed his senses outward. This time the danger he
sensed earlier was confirmed more strongly when he felt the malicious presence of individuals nearby.
'There is danger.' he thought quickly. 'They are here.'
End of chapter three.
Translations:
1. Itadakimasu – what Japanese say right before eating. Translates literally to something like "We/I
am going to eat!"
2. Sou ka? Ja, shitsurei shimasu. – Is that so? Then, I'll be going now. (I really hope I used the
correct sentences here. Was in a hurry so I wasn't sure if what I said was correct to the Japanese
^^;;;)
3. Gomen nasai, Michi-san. Honto ni gomen nasai. – I'm sorry, Ms. (In this case Mrs.) Michi. I'm
really sorry.
Character Guide:
Just wanted to let you know who is who by now in case you're confused ^^
Kamiya Kahori – Kamiya Kaoru
Hishikawa Shinta – Shinta ;p Made up the surname
Erizawa Sakura – Made up the surname. Sakura is one of the 3 sisters that rescued Shinta from the bandits
when the group of slave traders they were with was attacked.
Myoujin Yasuhiko – Myoujin Yahiko
Myoujin Tsubame – Sanjou Tsubame - I have nothing against Yahiko/Tsubame ^^x I just thought it
would be fun if they were siblings in this story! ^^
(Makimachi) Misako – this is actually Makimachi Misao ^^
Other notes:
-Hishikawa Michi and Matsuoka Akira are my original characters.
-I'm literally mixing up the RK universe in this one so if you have any more questions about what is going
on, please feel free to ask ;p
-Sorry it took long with this chapter ^^; Was waaay busy with school and I got mixed up with my own plot!
T.T hehehe
-I'll keep you guys somehow guessing. Sorry for the runaround ^^;