Author: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I feel so loved when I see that my story has been reviewed. ^^

Arramon: She's also in a good mood when her issue of Shonen Jump arrives in the mail.

Author: True true! But I can't seem to find it………

Soujirou: *is hiding behind a couch and reading One Piece* This is pretty funny. *flips a page* Hmm, knowing Mandy, she will want to cosplay this Luffy guy. She always cosplays strange guys(1). ^^ Maybe I can cosplay as Shanks!

Author: Anyways, here are answers to the reviews:

Crystal: ^^ I am glad that you like Soujirou fics. FEEL THE LOVE PEOPLE! *jumps behind couch and tackles Soujirou*

Chiki: ha ha, I know what you mean. the same thing happened to me after economics class, and that only ended like 5 weeks ago. Philosophers are scary. *hides* *throws water balloons at the Philosophers* that'll teach 'em. Anyways, I'm glad you don't have anything against Americans. Like a famous green midget said, "Hate leads to suffering!" ^^ Yoda is fun to quote! *feels special cuz she was rooted for*

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Late December, 1878

Soujirou awoke to the sounds of Miyako-dono yelling. Again. Soujirou groaned and rolled over, wishing he could have just five more precious moments of sleep. But, of course, his wish wouldn't be granted. It never was. He and Yuki had been at the inn for a week now, and every morning Soujirou had been awoken early by something. A quick glance out the window showed that the sun was beginning to rise. At least she waited until sunrise to start yelling, Soujirou thought as he finally rolled out of bed and got dressed for the day, I still have yet to understand how she can yell so loud every morning. Oh well, at least it wakes me up early enough so that I am not late for work. And She is normal again by mid-morning. I guess Miyako-dono just isn't a morning person.

After he got dressed, Soujirou went across the hall and knocked on the door. That was the room that Yuki and Miyako shared. Soujirou said, "Yuki-chan, are you ready to start another day?"

The door opened, and Yuki walked out. She smiled and said, "Yup. I am ready."

The pair walked downstairs and got their aprons. As they put them on, Miyako said, "Alright, today is laundry day. We are to do the laundry, and help with the servers at the busy hours during lunchtime. Got that?"

Yuki and Soujirou nodded. Then, they helped Miyako carry the laundry out to the yard. Miyako washed, Yuki carried the wet laundry to Soujirou, and Soujirou hung them out to dry. Their system worked very well. As they worked, Miyako told Yuki a story. Miyako had taken a shining to Yuki, and she treated the young girl like a little sister. But she was still temperamental to Soujirou, though.

The story of the day was "Rapunzel." Soujirou had never heard that one, so he listened to Miyako's story carefully. "….and Rapunzel let her hair fall out the window and down the tower wall, so that the prince would climb up and see his lovely girl," Miyako said. Yuki interrupted and said, "But Miyako-chan, wouldn't that hurt Rapunzel's head?"

Miyako thought about it for a moment, then said, "Well, I guess it would, but Rapunzel didn't show the prince that it hurt."

"Oh," Yuki said while taking a clean sheet to Soujirou, "But what did Rapunzel and the prince do when he got up in the tower?"

Miyako struggled to find an appropriate answer. She finally said, "Well….er….they played chess."

"Chess," Yuki asked. Miyako nodded and said, "Yes, chess. It was a very popular game back then. Everybody in the world played it."

Soujirou chuckled as he hung up the sheet. Yuki said, "Do you know how to play chess?"

Miyako nodded and said, "I can teach you how to play, if you wish."

Yuki said, "Yay!"

Soujirou cast a glance at Miyako. She sure is a strange one, Soujirou thought, You never know what she is going to do. One minute she is harsh, the next she is kind and sweet. It's like she is very cautious as to who she shows her true self to. And even after she gets to know a person, she is still cautious around them.

Miyako was now washing another sheet, while Yuki was carrying another sheet to place in the basket at Soujirou's feet. Soujirou frowned slightly as he thought, She must have had a rough life growing up, to behave like that. Or, she might have been betrayed by someone she trusted. Either way, it must have been somewhat disdainful.

Miyako finished washing the last sheet and handed it to Soujirou. She said, "Whew! Glad that's done! Now," Miyako pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and looked at it, "Soujirou, You and Yuki have to go get some food items."

"Doesn't the food normally get shipped here," Soujirou asked as he hung up the sheet. Miyako said, "Yes, but that's only the stuff we order regularly. Izumi needs some special stuff for a new recipe he's trying tonight."

Soujirou pinned up the sheet and turned to face Miyako. She handed him a list and a small amount of money. "Make this last," she said, "There's a lot of stuff on the list, and Azuma-sama didn't give Izumi a lot of money to work with."

"I will make it last," Soujirou said. After all, he was pretty good at stretching money. For the six months before he met Yuki, he had lived on a small amount of money that he had gotten before he left the Ju Pon Gatana. Soujirou sighed at the memory of his friends, who had long since gotten new jobs……or died…..

"Hello! Soujirou!"

Soujirou left his world of memories and returned to the present. He said, "Sorry, Miyako-dono."

"Get going," Miyako said in a slightly rough-edged yet amused voice, "We don't have all day. I'll be inside waiting on tables of you need me."

Miyako went inside the inn, and Soujirou and Yuki walked off to find the items on the list.

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The market turned out to be interesting. Soujirou hadn't had much time to look at it before he and Yuki had gotten their job at the inn, and they hadn't been allowed out during working hours either. Stuff from all over the world seemed to be here. There were spices from Morocco, fancy glass works from France, and even some wooden toys from who-knows-where. Soujirou glanced at the list again. "Okay, we need a pineapple….whatever that is, some cherries, and some white flour. Hmm, wouldn't they have white flower at the inn?"

"They use wheat flour at the inn. Izuma-chan told me," Yuki said. She was looking at some dolls currently. She giggled and pointed at one. She said, "Look, Sou-chan! That one looks like you!"

Sure enough, the doll did look like him. It had dark brown hair that went to the base of it's neck and dark blue buttons for eyes. It even had a blue hakama and kimono Just like Soujirou! The only difference is that the doll had a small sword at it's side, and Soujirou didn't. Soujirou said, "You're right, Yuki-chan. It does look like me."

"Can we get it," Yuki asked. Soujirou shook his head and said, "The only money we have is for the food we are supposed to get for the inn."

Yuki put on a pouty face. Soujirou sighed and took Yuki away from the stand. Out of sight, out of mind. Soujirou was looking around at a fruit stand when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that made his heart skip. A couple of police swordsman were walking down the street, idly chattering away. They hadn't noticed Soujirou yet, but they were bound to soon. Damn, Soujirou thought, How could they have caught up to me already?

Soujirou grabbed Yuki's hand and dragged her towards an alley. Yuki looked up into Soujirou's worried face and said, "What's wrong, Sou-chan?"

"I just remembered something important," Soujirou said as he ducked into an alley. He made sure that Yuki and himself were out of sight. Then he held a finger up to his lips, which indicated to Yuki that she should be quiet. Soujirou then waited, hoping that the police swordsmen would pass quickly.

As luck would have it, they didn't pass quickly. They stopped at the mouth of the alley. The first one said, "Well, that's enough looking around. Now it's time to get to work."

A second said, "Yeah. We have to find that guy. Er, what was his name again?"

"Tenken no Soujirou," The first said as he took out a sheet of paper. Soujirou could see that his picture was on it. The first guy continued, "After that one anti-Meji guy died, the Tenken took off. We had reports that he was in this village a week ago."

"A whole week," the third said, "He could have left by now!"

"Well, we have to search the city first," the first guy said, "If we don't find him, then we will move on."

"I'm hungry," the second guy said, "Let's get some lunch first."

"Alright," the first said. The three guys walked off then, off to find a restaurant. Soujirou breathed a sigh of relief and walked cautiously out of the alley. I am glad that the inn is on the outskirts of town, Soujirou thought, They are less likely to find me there.

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Author: End Chapter three! I know it's shorter than a usual chapter of mine, but I have a great idea for this story that I don't want to start until the next chapter. So, you have to wait until I write a new chapter! ^^ That's the way things go sometimes. Well, bye for now!

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1: It's true! I have co splayed Duo, Soujirou, and Sakura. Ok, Sakura's not a guy, but she is kinda strange. And Soujirou is so strange that you have to love him! ^^