.:Author's Notes 1:. Oh, my... this chapter's developed quite... giganteous. But don't worry, for that's an exception. The following ones will come out much shorter. This exaggerated lenght is due to... erm... well... I won't spoil it right now OK? Further explanations in the end of this chapter. Enjoy it for the moment!
II-
The following day had brought the bright and nasty sun back to the sky. In the trees, eight o'clock, Kenshin raised himself from bed and started his chores: he worked on the patch for almost three hours, then picked up some vegetables for lunch, starting to prepare them afterwards. Megumi came to help him and tried to stablish some kind of conversation, since they talked very little since the night before. Kenshin wasn't paying much attention though.
"What's up Ken-san? Are you stepping on the moon?"
"Uh, oro?" he came back to consciousness.
"You're so far away! Tell me, where have you been?"
"Hm... Sessha thinks he's been here... but not now..."
"I caught you thinking about your past again, you nasty boy..." the woman friendly hugged the red-headed man.
"Sessha's affraid you are wrong, Megumi-dono. To be true, sessha was thinking about his future, de gozaru yo. A very close future..."
"Hm! Is there any woman in it? I bet so! I know this floating voice of yours! It can just mean 'woman'.", she winked at him.
"Hey, stop being so mischievous, Megumi-dono!"
"Ohohohohoho!"
"Eh, seriously talking..." Kenshin brushed his hand on the back of his neck "Megumi-dono is right, but not the way you are thinking. Sessha's met a girl that got him very startled."
"Hm... It's getting dense... I want to know what is it all about!"
"Yesterday... while Megumi-dono argued with that lad, sessha went to a walk. Then sessha got to a square, where he found girl crying so painfully that--"
"Hm, the helpful kind!" Megumi interrupted. "In this matter you are the best seducer I've ever known!"
"Megumi-dono! Sessha didn't seduce anyone!"
"...that sessha had realized... Soooo???" she rolled her eyes up ironically, imitating Kenshin's tune.
"Soooo... that's all."
"What do you mean by 'that's all'? Stop hiding the best part of the story!"
"Uh...?"
"I mean, you both got there, isn't it?"
"Oro?!", Kenshin buged his eyes.
"Aw, come on, Ken-san. Stop pretending you don't know what I'm talking about! You were married, you know exactely what it is and how to make it."
"Me-Megumi-dono, we had no sex!" Kenshin tried desperatly to clear up things, in a very particular chibi-mode way.
"You... didn't?"
"NO!"
"Aw, Ken-san... why didn't you tell me this from the very beggining? That's why you were so... let down... in all the meanings..."
"What are you talking about?" Kenshin cocked his head, affraid of that foxy friend of his's mistaken thoughts.
"THAT is what I mean: here." she said, drawing a small pack of herbs from her medicine chest and handing it to Kenshin, who just stared astonished. "Make a tea with this leaves and you realize... a-hem... a great upgrade on yourself..." she went on, making a bobbing movement with her open hand around her wrist.
Kenshin had nowhere else to bug his eyes to. His face went fuchsia.
^_^x
At the inn, Sanosuke got downstairs yawning, about ten o'clock. Tae, the owner of the place, came to him herself, with a heartful look in her eyes.
"Good morning, Sagara-san!" she greeted him, nodding ahead. "Will you have breakfast?"
"G' morning, fairy lady.", he nodded in response, hunching to get her hand and kiss its back. "If ya don't mind my saying so, I wouldn't brush aside such 'mazing breakfast. If ya can please wait me on..."
"Feel comfortable, sir.", she answered smily. "I'll bring you something to eat, alright?"
He winked and made a gentle movement with his hand, heading to an empty table, where he sat and chuckled to himself. Soon Tae brought his breakfast, and there he ate, asking himself when had been the last time he had such a delicious meal. Then, finished the food, he left, hands on his pockets. The owner hampered him softly.
"Hm, Sagara-san, here's your bill." she handed him a slip.
"Oh, 'm not checking out yet..." he slipped rapidly from her clutch. "If ya don't mind, please write down everything together and I'll pay it when I do, will ya?"
Tae agreed, but gazed him leave the inn with a very suspicious, yet heartful, look. "Ah, my friend... You are so handsome, but I'm not this easy-decieved..." she thought to herself.
This time, Sanosuke had already gone through the door, passed across the other waiter, Tsubame, on her rollerskates among the cars, and gotten out of sight, leisurely ambling along the street. "Hm, Sano... ya must whip up an excuse very quickly." He tought to himself. "Dunno till when yah skill will do..."
^_^x
At the other tip of the city, sitting in a corner of a dump almost on the road, Misao took a nap. She was waken up by the mess of the band crew, from one side to the other. Yet unsteadly, she staggered to the restroom, washed her face and brushed her teeth. She managed to steal some food from a costumer without being noticed and this way she got breakfast.
"I think there's enough for me and Yahiko... uh... where's Yahiko?", she finally took notice of the boy's absence since she woke up.
The girl looked quickly from side to side, not seeing her friend anywhere in the dive. Yet clinging the food she had sneakily stolen, she rushed to outside, where the truck and two vans belonging to The Door's support staff were parked. Scattered through the floor there were devices, packs, boxes and the band stuff, with many men carrying it from side to side and loading the vehicles: they looked more like ants than humans. Kind of desperate, Misao blocked many people's way, asking if they had seen a ten-year-old boy, with spiky hair and carrying a shinai, but nobody had any clue of her target.
"Yahiko!" she shouted from the top of her lungs, hands on the sides of her mouth, walking aimlessly among the people, trying to fight the hustle and bustle. "Yahiko, where are you?... Yahiko, please, stop the hide-and-seek game! Show up, please... Yahiko, you mocking brat! Come out, wherever you are! NOW!", but no answer came. "Yahiko-chan!" Then she halted and waited a few seconds. Again no answer. "Oh-oh... I named him 'Yahiko-chan' and he didn't come to hit me... That's bad!"
Misao started pacing back and forth, thinking to herself. "Oh, my, oh my, oh my... Ok, ok, calm down. No panic, Misao." Then she halted and said to herself. "Think... what can you do to find Yahiko before the band's departure?" She looked up to the sky, rubbing her chin with her hand, when she suddenly remembered the card she had found the night before. Shuddering, she she reached to her backpack and took it off, reading it cautiously. " 'Shinomori Aoshi -Lawyer.' Damn, how do I go about it? He will refuse to help me..." It was very hot that day, so she rocked the card, trying to refresh herself. Then she had a bright idea, while glimpsing accidentally the back of the card. "Hm... 'Aishiteru. Yumi'... He may refuse to help me... But he won't mind to help his... affair... Hihihihi!", she giggled, heading to a public phone.
She took the phone out and just then she remembered. "Oh-oh... I need a coin..." Looking from one side to the other at the dump, she saw a dummy-faced man sitting by the counter and she chose him as her victim. "That one will be easy to trick. Coins, here Misao goes.", she thought in silence, adjusting herself and trying to look appealing.
Languidly, the girl sat by the fool's side, crossing her legs sensually. "Uh, hello dear..." she said in a fake voice, sharper and softer than her true one. "Hmm... Could you lend me some coins?"
The dull drinker looked at her and approached, hentaily. "I can land you everything you want, cutie..."
"Hm... I just need some coins!" she dodged, smiling and trying to look natural.
"Well, I have none, but if you follow me, you can use my... telephone...", he ogled her.
"Uh... well, I really need to call, sir! Pleeeeeease..." she almost begged in a childish voice, then came closer, wishpering. "And afterwards, we may... eh... you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"Eh, eh, eh... yes, of course... You are overaged, aren't you?"
"Do I look as a sixteen-year-old child?", she pertended to be offended.
"Noooooo... on the contrary..." he answered, coming closer and trying to kiss her. She banged back and giggled, pretending to think it was arousing, laying her hand forth just afterwards.
"The coins... after the coins..."
The man seeked for some coins on his pocket and gave Misao a handful of them. She got up and led back to the phone, laughing inside. "It was easier than I thought."
The girl dialed the writen number. The phone ranged twice, then a husky and strong voice echoed from the other side. "Hello?"
"Uh... Please, is Shinomori-sama there?"
"It is me. Who is there?"
"Uh..." she faltered, thinking on what she could fix to convince him.
"Who is there?"
"Er..." she took a glimpse to the back of the card and said, instinctively. "It's Yumi"
"Yumi?" Aoshi frowned. "Your voice sounds quaint..."
"Uh... I think I got a cold, *cough, cough*." Misao smiled and started puting on act, surprised on how convincing she could be sometimes.
"Whatever...", Aoshi proped on the back of his chair and crossed his long legs under his desk. "What do you want?"
"Uh, I... I got lost!", she cried, a fake and unprotective voice.
"Lost?" he hunched forth, in amazement.
"Indeed... Can you please help me?"
"Alright..." the lawyer sighed, putting his elbow on the desk and holding his forehead. "Where are you?"
" Er... I'm lost... I don't know where I am...", she frowned, covered the phone with her hand and wishpered afterwards "Ow, he's a dummy!".
"Well, ask anybody! You are not alone in any desert alley, are you?"
"Ah! Of course. Wait a minute..." she covered once again the telephone with the palm of her hand.
While waiting on the phone, Aoshi was able to listen to a shrieking firm shout. "Hey, you! Yes, you hairy-bearded guy! Where the fuck am I? What?... Ah ok. Thanks, man!". The lawyer frowned, at the same time his fiancée's voice was back to him. "I'm in a restaurant named 'Mud Headquarter'."
"For Kami's sake, Yumi... But, why didn't you call your parents? Why me?"
"Ah, they... they weren't at home... Please, come and rescue me?"
"Ok, I will manage to find its way... Wait for me."
"Thanks, then." She sighed in relief.
"Uh, Yumi... How did you get there?"
"Oh, oh, dear! I'm running out of coins, the call's gonna-- doo, doo, doo, doo...", he was yet able to hear the would-be Yumi's desperate voice on the other side. A bit puzzled with that strange reaction of his fiancé's, Aoshi got up, wore his trenchcoat and walked out of his bureau, heading to the place where he thought he'd find her.
On the Mud Headquarters, Misao hanged back the phone and sighed, leading to outside and sitting on the floor, in front of the dump. By her side, the jerk she decieved inside the restaurant came to charge her promise.
"Hey, you depraved! Did you know it's a crime to suggest sexual desires in a public place, specially to an underaged girl?" Misao shouted, calling everybody's attention to her.
The man, retreated. "You said you were overaged..."
"'I said'? I've never seen you around, you perverted!" the girl shouted even louder, causing many people to glare the man. Head down, trying to scape from sight, the guy ran away.
Misao stood where she was, folded legs, crossed arms over her knees. The laywer's voice came to her mind. "Boy, that man asks a lot! He must be a forty-year-old guy, bald and pot-belied, looking more like an skealeton than a man..." Rapidly, at the voice's remains, she shook away this idea: it didn't match. "His voice is so appealing though..."
^_^x
"What do you mean by 'Sessha invited her come here'?" Megumi shouted angrily at Kenshin.
"Uh... Sessha just means that he invited her come here, Megumi-dono..." he raised his open hands till his shoulders's heigh and swayed them, trying to calm down the woman.
"For Kami's sake, are you crazy?" she blew out, then rocked her head, trying to calm down. "Ken-san! Can you see what you did, what you just submited the whole comunity to?"
"Megumi-dono, sessha can't see any threat on that girl..."
"Ken-san! The outters will enter! Today this girl comes in, but in little time it will be the other citzens to come and expell us from our place! We'll be forced to settle up!"
"Megumi-dono, sessha thinks you are overreacting..."
"Overreacting? Oh no, Ken-san! I'm not! I'm being realistic! This girl will surely tell a friend about her coming, the friend tells another friend, and so on! Within a two-week-time the mayor will think that all the teenagers in their city are coming here and being abduced by the 'strange humanoid creatures from the trees'."
Kenshin bowed his head and thought about his friend's words. In fact, he himself knew nothing about that girl. All he could get was an impression of hers, but he could not say whether he could trust her or not -he just did. He started feeling then a bit guilty. "Be relaxed, Megumi-dono. Sessha will fix this mess he made, he promisses." the ex-rurouni thought to himself while peeling some carrots.
^_^x
From the nun's school a great amount of young girls and boys left calmly, some in groups, chattering; others were alone, attached to their books and briefcases. Kaoru was one of them, in her knee-long dark blue plaited skirt, her white blouse and her berret. She left school normally and leaded home, as if nothing had happened. When she reached a spot where no schoolmate would see her, she took off her shoes and socks, rushing sneakly to the forest. "Yes, I'm comming, Kenshin."
^_^x
After striding a while around the city, Sanosuke decided that it was the time for him to slip out from Akabeko, or he'd be in great trouble when he finally would. He climbed quickly the two flights of satirs that led to the room he rented. Tae followed him quietly, leaving the restaurant for Tsubame to take care.
Getting at the top, she hid herself by the client's door and waited for him to leave the room, tiptoeing and carrying his backpack and his guitar. "Sagara-san!" she said in a loud voice, making him jump from his skin. He turned back slowly, his head burryed between his shoulders.
"Yeah?"
"Your bill is still there..."
"Uh, I'll pay it when I check out, Tae-san..."
"I see... Are you checking out yet?"
"Uh... not really..."
"So why are you carrying your stuff?"
"Hm... I was... loading my motorcycle..."
"Ah, don't worry! Leave it to Tsubame-chan."
"B-But -t's too heavy for'er to carry..."
"Oh, indeed. Washing dishes is also a heavy charge for her..."
"Eh... I imagine..." he seemed puzzled. Yet scarred.
"Nah... You can't imagine, Sagara-san... Hm... What do you think of paying your rent now?"
"Not a good idea...", he frowned.
"Hm... So why don't you land Tsubame-chan a hand on her dishes?"
"Well, I'd be glad to help, but--"
"Ah, you are such a kind man, Sagara-san!" she interrupted him with a wide smile, handing him an appron. "In retribution, I won't tell the police about your try to trick me! Thank you, Sagara-san!"
"Uh... eh... ok...", he said, grabbing the apron and sighing sadly.
^_^x
Aoshi's presence was strange. Tall and thin, in his suit and his long trenchcoat, his hair short and cautiously composed, among those long-haired and unshaved men moving back and forth, shouting and whistling. "Wayward youth...", he muttered to himself.
Misao watched from a hide-out for the approaching of someone odd on that place. When she could see the lanky figure of the lawyer among that crowd, looking from side to side, she barely believed that young and stalwart man could be the same one she talked on the phone to. "Well, it can't be but him. He looks like a lawyer... and he seems absolutely out of place here..." With this thought, she ran to meet that man and find out if he was the person she was searching for.
"Uh, are you Shinomori Aoshi?" she said, looking up to the man in front of her. He looked down and crossed his arms.
"Yes."
"I called you some time ago, maybe one hour."
"What?"
"It was no Yumi. It was me."
"You... Who are you?" he frowned, starting to ger mad.
"I'm Makimachi Misao."
"... who are you?"
"Are you calling me unimportant?" she balled her fist and jumped in front of him. Patiently, the lawyer put his hand flat over the girl's head and pushed her down to the floor again. She recomposed herself and went on. "I need your help."
"Calm down, elfin girl... I am the one to ask things. How--"
"No time now, guy! I found a card of yours on the floor, I saw a woman's name on it and I got it, that's all! Now can you please help me?" she gabbled aloud, shaking her arms. Up-browned, he crossed his arms once again and waited for her to say her say. "Well, I lost someone."
"My sincere condolences." he said flatly.
"No! I mean, I REALLY lost someone! He vanished! He was with me till this morning and when I woke up he wasn't there anymore!"
"Hm... then you pretended to be my fiancé, decieved me on the phone, made me come to this swamp and want me to find the person you lost?"
"Uh... I think you got it..."
"Hm..." he nodded. "Absolutely not." He turned and started moving away.
"Ah, please, sir! You can charge me as much honorarium as you want!" she followed him.
"I would surely do. And would you pay it?"
"I'd surely not... But, please be reasonable..." She had started spilling all the -few- reasons he had to help her, when she saw Yahiko showing up from among the crowd. She abandoned Aoshi and ran to the boy, causing the lawyer to follow her in curiosity.
"Yahiko, you little monster, where the hell were you?" she got red-faced and screamed at the boy.
"Uh... I was around. I'd slept enough then I decided to wander a little and--"
Misao jolted Yahiko's head, then hugged him, still talking angrily. "You brat! Don't you ever vanish like this again! Next time I'll wrap you like a gift and leave you at the most filthy restroom I'm able to find!"
She panted because of having screamed so much and so quickly. Also because of how nervous she was -but this she wouldn't ever state. In an unexpected reaction, she held him even tighter and rocked him a little. She remembered she would be all alone, if it weren't for Yahiko, and almost shed a tear. But, since she was in a public place, she pushed back the tears, swallowed the fear and released the boy from her clutch, boxing his ears afterwards. Then, she turned to Aoshi and said, smily. "Thanks for the patience, Shinomori-sama. And sorry for my decieving you. I meant no harm."
"Are you brother and sister?" he frowned, getting closer.
"Nah, we're just--" Yahiko started, but a slight hand blocked his mouth, making him moan and groan hoping mad.
"Yes, he's my younger brother, a very smart one, that's it!" Misao gave Aoshi a sickly smile, while the boy trashed about.
"Ok, then... I am going. Be careful next time..." the lawyer turned round and left, yet a bit suspicious.
When he had already left, Misao released Yahiko and told him off. "Hey! Are you crazy? How could you tell that man that we are no brothers? He's a lawyer, do you see? What if he wanted to investigate? He'd find out everything! Then, you know what? He'd tear us apart! He'd take me back to my parent's house. And you'd go to that orphan house again. Is that your wish?"
"The last thing I'd rather have is that place again... Ok, from now on I'll keep quiet..."
"You'd better do... And besides, what were you thinking? The band is about to leave! What if I hadn't found you?"
"The band won't leave today. And I bet they won't leave for a looong time..."
"Uh?"
"The government said they're not regularly travelling. So they'll be stuck here until the investigation about their situatuon is over. And I bet it will take at least one month."
"H-How do you know about it?"
"I heard people talking when I woke up. I think they were in the staff."
"Fuck!", Misao bellowed, making some people stop their affairs and look at her. She folded herself and wishpered to Yahiko. "We can't stay long here! Someone will take notice of us! They may tell somebody we're here! We can't be found!"
"Hey! We may hide on the trees! At the other corner of the city there's a forest. We may cover up in there till the band leaves!"
"Hm... Not a bad idea, Yahiko... So it's a deal, get your stuff under the truck and let's go!"
^_^x
Kaoru was exhausted of running and hiding from the city's eyes. She finally reached the border of the forest, where Kenshin had said she would find a path. There she was, there the path laid, but somehow, she felt quite affraid of getting in. She finally took a breath and stepped on the narrow way. "Now that I'm here I'll break into. There's nothing bad that may happen to me..."
The path was narrow, but it was also clear and light. It felt silent and fresh, the sunlight flowing as if it was liquid from the spaces between the leaves, designing the trees on the ground. She walked barefoot, feeling the earth beneath her feet and an unexpected sensation of freedom all around her.
After about ten minutes of walk, the girl got to a glade, where she could see a big crude building made by stone and wood, and some small fabric tents. Outside one of those tents she saw Kenshin's unmistakable red head, with his low and loose ponytail, a long black-haired tall woman by his side. She walked faster to meet him were he was, feeling easy for recognizing her friend amidst that unknow atmosphere. Realising there was someone standing by him, Kenshin turned his head to meet Kaoru's look.
"Ah, hello, Kaoru-dono!", he smiled, raising himself and bowing forth. "That's Megumi-dono, whom sessha talked about yesterday." He grabbed Megumi's wrist and pulled her closer to the newcomer. Kaoru smiled and bowed forth. Megumi retributed the reverence, a suspicious and annoyed look in her cinnamon eyes.
This very moment two little girls came running and held Kenshin's hands, pulling him outside with all their (little) strenght. "Ken-nii! Ken-nii! Come see our flowers! Please, come see, Ken-nii!"
"Ayame, Suzume, be calm!" Kenshin laughed, placing the later on his shoulders and raising the further on his folded arm. Chuckling at the girls' exasperation, he turned to the two women and smiled. "Sessha's going to see the girls's flowers. Why don't you talk a bit while sessha's away?"
Kaoru smiled and nodded excitingly. After Kenshin had left with the two girls, Megumi sat down and looked to Kaoru. "I'll tell at once. I was very mad when Ken-san told me he invited an outter in."
"I'm not an outter. I'm from this city..."
"I mean, not from the comunity."
"Well, I'm... I'm sorry to annoy you, I didn't--?"
"Did you tell anybody you were coming here?
"N-No..."
"Are you sure?" Megumi raised herself, kind of threateningly.
"I am! I didn't tell anybody! Besides, it costed me a lot of sweat not to be seen coming here."
"Were you asahmed of coming here?"
"No. I was affraid of what my dad's reaction would be. In fact, I know exactely what it would be..." Kaoru raised her eyebrowns, kind of cheerless.
"What do you mean?" Megumi looked sideways.
"I mean my father would get mad if he only knew I'm here... He would get mad if he knew I have a friend he doesn't know, a hippie friend. Someone free, just like I'd like to be..."
"Hm, I see." Megumi reflected still for a couple of minutes, then sat down, smiling sideways. "Well, I can't say I know what it's like, because I've been on the road with the hippies for long... But I kind of understand."
Kaoru faced Megumi, sheeply satisfied.
^_^x
His shirt was bundled on a chair, in the kitchen. A colossal pile of bowls, glasses, and knives was beside the sink. They had been washed for two hours by Sanosuke. There were still five or six dishes to be washed and the man did it with a great deal of fury and no patience. When finished with his chore, he took out the appron, dryed his hands and wore his blouse, heading to out of the Akabeko' kitchen. Outside, at the counter, Tae was giving attention to the clients. When Sanosuke broke out, she came to him, with her always smiling hearty-face.
"Are you through yet, Sagara-san?" she said, putting the palms of her hands together.
"Yeah..." he muttered.
"Ah, good, then! So, I'll ask you to...check out, if you don't want me to sue you, understood?"
"Don't tell it twice..."
He was already leaving when she shouted to him "Ah! You still owe me half the fee!"
Without turning round he sighed and went on. Outside, Tsubame followed him, keeping balance on her rollerskates. "Sagara-san... Did Tae-san make you wash the dishes?" she asked, almost pitifully.
"Yeah... Why do ya ask so? Does she do it very often?"
"Uh... Just when someone doesn't pay the fee... But please, don't get mad at her. She's a good person..." the girl hid her round face behind the empty tray she carried.
"But she's a businesswoman... I know, Tsubame-chan... -t's my fault... 'get going, 'must find a place to stay." he said, petting the girl's head and walking away.
Tsubame dared her eyes upon the tray and watched the leaving man. "He's not bad..."
^_^x
Kenshin had put the two little and hyperactive girls in bed and leaded to the tent where he had left Kaoru and Megumi, about two hours before. When he got back there, they were missing. Just Kaoru's shoes were there, near Megumi's medicine chest. "Oro?"
The red-haired man got out once again and asked a man in the comunity for Megumi. He said she had gone to the riverside with another girl he had never seen. Kenshin thanked and ran to meet them, fearing Megumi would say something she shouldn't.
Getting to the riverside, he saw Megumi chatting amusingly with Kaoru. They were sitting on the ground at the river shore, side by side
"Kaoru-dono?"
"Ken-san! Where were you?" Megumi asked. "It's not polite to leave the guests waiting for you! We live in the trees but we're not monkeys!"
"Sessha was taking care of Ayame and Suzumi..."
"Right... Well, I think I'm going back to the glade." Megumi raised herself and vanished, leaving Kenshin and Kaoru alone. On purpose, of course.
"Sessha apologizes, Kaoru-dono... Sessha didn't mean to take so long to come back..."
"It's OK, Kenshin... Megumi brought me here."
"Did you and Megumi-dono chat all this time?" Kenshin was still affraid Megumi had been harsh to Kaoru, even if he saw them chatting so amused.
"Yes, she's very cool..." Kaoru giggled, then paused, hugging her legs. "The girls... Are they... Your daughters?"
"Ah, no! Sessha had no kids!" he laughed and grew a bit gloomy-faced. Then sat down by the girl's side, banging his body back and propping on his own arm.
"Had?"
"Forget about it..."
"Euh... Ok, then..." she agreed, kind of suspicious. "If you don't mind my asking so... What did you use to do... I mean, before becoming a hippie? I mean, you weren't born a hippie, were you?"
"No, sessha was an auctioner at the stock market."
"Hm... And why did you give up this other life?"
"Because of stress. It was a hell... Sessha started getting aware of how much time he was spending when he had to go to the army, to keep down the civil war on the north."
Kaoru got wide-eyed, looking to the x-shaped scar on Kenshin's face. Remembering the news from ten years before -the adults used to hide from the children, but that she read on her father's papers without him knowing-, she got dumfounded, only able to let it slip from her mouth. "Battousai?"
"Yes... Sessha thinks Kaoru-dono remembered this alias. This is what the newspapers and all the media used to call sessha..." his violet eyes grew darker. "When sessha could leave the army, he realised he killed many people he shouldn't. In fact, sessha's mistake was fight in the army for something he didn't agree with. When sessha finally took notice of how much evil he had done, he decided to live his life in peace, denying all that life had been to him until that moment, giving himself to people who needed him."
"Ow, I see..." Kaoru couldn't hide her fright.
"Sessha knew Kaoru-dono would get scared. But believe: sessha wants no harm anymore. Yet, if you feel threatened, sessha doesn't blame you. Sessha even understands. Sessha's past is an eternal crest."
"N-No. I'm not scared. I trust your word." Kaoru tried to fix the situation, while cursing herself innerly for "being so silly!". "And what about that 'being a rurouni stuff?"
" Sessha got regretful for having killed people, that's why he became a rurouni. But last year sessha ran into this comunity and decided to stay and live a useful life, feel once again part of a society."
"And... do you feel good this way?"
"Sessha found his place." A shaddow placed on Kaoru's face. Kenshin got closer. "Why did Kaoru-dono get sad?"
"It reminds me I hadn't found my place yet... And maybe I will never find..."
"Don't you say such things, Kaoru-dono. You are young, you have nothing to erase from your story. You can start freely."
"Not freely... There are a lot of things censuring my story, Kenshin..."
"You can't get freedom for free."
"What can I do? How can I swim against a stream that's much stronger than me?"
"Sessha's sure Kaoru-dono is not weaker than any stream. Even if you were, every river has its hinderings for you to hold on." The red-haired man smiled and placed his hand on Kaoru's shoulder. The girl blushed very deep and quickly.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I'm going to have a heart attack!!!!" Megumi's shrieking voice riped the air and broke Kaoru and Kenshin's touch. She came stomping and making the birds flee. "You just can't imagine who DARED to come and ask us lodging!"
Sanosuke's mischievous face peeped up from among the trees and showed up, smiling. "H'lo, ya there! I'll be staying heah for some time..."
"Just after my death!" Megumi got in front of him and bowed her body forth, threateningly.
"Huh, calm down, kitsune-onna!" he smiled, amused by the woman's rage. Kenshin and Kaoru could see Megumi's foxy aura raising from her body, as well as Sanosuke's rooster aura, facing each other just like their owners.
"Hey you guys... Calm down!" Kaoru tried to meddle.
"Eh... Peace and love!" Kenshin buged his eyes and got between the challengers, avoiding a physical attack.
"Love! That's it!" Kaoru asserted, pulling Kenshin to her side, while Megumi and Sanosuke stood glaring each other. The two of the further hugged each other and sang in a choir, swinging from side to side. "'All you need is love... All you need is love... All you need is love, love...'"
"Love is just bullshit..." Megumi completed the song her way, turning her back to Sanosuke and crossing her arms.
"Euh... Megumi, can you please show me the things around?" Kaoru pulled her, trying to tear her apart from the guy. And so did Kenshin.
"Come, Sanosuke! Sessha is going to show you where to go, what to do..."
"Please, show me where I can run into foxes, so that I'll avoid this kinda places." Sanosuke teased.
"Do it, Kenshin. Tell him what to do. But I doubt that a lazy and dummy rooster can carry out with any chore..." Megumi answered.
Kaoru and Kenshin faced each other. It looked as if they shared the same thought. "It will be hard to handle with..."
^_^x
Kaoru managed to take Megumi away from Sanosuke, so as to avoid troubles concerning them both, and so did Kenshin, who took the rooster-headed lad far. While the red-haired man showed the motorcycle rider the comunity, the two girls had decided to take a stride in the forest, profiting the cool weather and umidity among the trees, warmed up by some intruding rays of the sun. They looked rather alike, despite their physical disagreement. Megumi was tall and had a womanish body, with well-designed curves, glowing lips and a straight heavy hair, that fell over her back like a waterfall. Kaoru was quite shorter, with soft pitch-black hair and, in spite of her developed body, she looked in some ways kind of boyish, maybe due to her kendo trainning.
"Ken-san told me how you met yesterday. He said you were crying..."
"In fact I was... He was very kind to me..."
"He's always a kind guy! This only makes him ever more a seducer!" Megumi placed her hand in front of her mouth and laughed foxily.
Kaoru laughed sickily, then took a deep breath and asked faltering. "A-are you and Kenshin... I mean, is he... Are you his..."
"You wanna know if we're married?"
"Euh... Yes..."
"Not really." Megumi laughed. "In fact, I did want it to be true when he first came to the comunity, but we became good friends with time and I realized he needed someone fragile, careless... Not me, of course, since I'm not included in any of this characters!"
Kaoru sighed in relief. She had to manage to hide this from Megumi -"Am I jealous of him?"- , but the hippie woman was really smart: she obviously realised. She didn't say a word, nevertheless she watched amusedly the growing glow on Kaoru's face. "Yes! Jackpot, Megumi!", the foxy woman thought in silence, as she stared smiling at the girl's embarassment. "Kenshin, I'm finally gonna whip you a girl up!"
On the other corner of the comunity, at the glade, Kenshin and Sanosuke were wakling side by side. The sun was coming down and a cool fresh breeze shook their hair.
"The foxy girl's ill-tempered!" Sanosuke stated. "How do ya keep up?"
"Megumi-dono is a good person." Kenshin smiled. "She just has short patience. And sessha must say you blew up all the limits she could reach in meditation, de gozaru yo."
"She's proud, that's it. A bombshell, though..."
"Hehehehe, don't you dare to make her even more angry than she already is!"
"What? Do ya think 'm gonna flirt with'er?" the spiky-haired guy gazed Kenshin skeptically. "Aw, c'mon! 'm not a suicidal! Besides, she's not that much. I'd never waste my time with a fussy girl like that one..."
Kenshin smiled and touched the back of his neck. Sanosuke kept on talking.
"She's so stormy tha' she interrupted ya and the jou-chan. Tell me, who's that cutie?"
"Euh... Sessha knew her yesterday, at a square, while you and Megumi-dono were arguing, de gozaru yo."
"Uh, but she's a cutie..." Sanosuke squinted, designing a female body on the air with his hands. "Phew! Did you see those breasts?"
"Well, sessha didn't--" Kenshin blushed and shook his hands, as he tried to clear up things, though Sanosuke interupted him.
"'kay, 'must say the fox's are better, perfectly round and--"
"Sanosuke, please!" Kesnhin finished the conversation.
^_^x
Yahiko was sitting beneath a tree's shade, Misao's head proped on his leg. She was sleeping heavily, her face had a neutral expression. Yahiko, on the other hand, was awake: in reality, he wasn't able to doze off. He had turned on his inner "red alert", so he wouldn't sleep while his companion was that vulnerable.
His tinny head was full of thoughts. On the eve, Misao reminded him that the only things they had were each other and their mad adventures. That day he almost caused their tearing apart. Even being a strong and stubborn boy as he was, Yahiko was just ten years old, orphan and, as his companion -who he took as an older sister- said, all they had was their own and each other. "I don't want to get back to that orphan house, sis. I wanna stay with you, I wanna follow my future. I don't want to be stuck there as a rice pack, being told what to do until someone says me 'Get lost and become a man'. You are my family now, Misao." He looked down to his legs, where the girl slept uneasy.
"Hmp..." Misao groaned asleep, then slowly opened her eyes, waking up. The sun wasn't high, but it hurt her eyes anyway, so she placed her hand over her head. "Hpmf, Ya... Yahiko-kun? Are you awake?"
"Yeah. I didn't sleep."
She raised herself, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Didn't you? Aren't you sleepy?" Yahiko opened his mouth and meant to answer something, but Misao interrupted him. "By the way, I'm starving! You must be too, 'cuz we haven't eaten anything since morning. May you find us something to eat?"
"Why don't you do it?" Yahiko yelled.
"You're not sleepy but I am, and I gotta find a way to stay awake as well. I heard a gurgling from the east, so I'm gonna check if it's a creek or something like this."
"Okay, okay... I'm gonna whip us something up..." Yahiko raised himself and took the path.
As the boy walked further, Misao followed the sound till its source: it was a small stream hid by the trees, a pathway close to one shore and many rocks near to the other one. She was thirsty and the hot weather was making her almost faint, so she took her clothes off and entered the creek naked. "Hm! It's fresh!" she giggled, drawing into the water.
She bathed for some more minutes, when she heard two female voices coming closer. The girl hid herself behind a kind of bush so as to pay attention to their conversation, looking sneakly from among the leaves. Soon, a couple of girls came and sat down near to where she was.
"I'm telling you, Kaoru! That Sanosuke guy is a savage! A barbarian! Can you imagine he ran me over yesterday, riding a motorcycle like a wildman, running so fast downtown? He's not a piece of mankind, he's an asinine!"
"Well, he doesn't look a bad man..."
"BAD MAN? He's a daft! A beserk! That's what he is."
Misao blinked twice. "Hey! It's the girl I though was going to be raped yesterday!"
Kaoru giggled, while Megumi kept on cursing. Then, in a sudden glimpse, she saw some clothes scattered, near to a backpack. She reached for them, asking Megumi. "Whose clothes are those?"
In an unexpected and impulsive movement, Misao got from her hide-out and stood on her foot the way she was -naked. "Hey, you there! Leave my stuff away!"
Megumi and Kaoru buged their eyes to the flat-chested girl that exhibited her nudity with no shame, hands on her waist, protecting her belongings. As if it was a normal situation, Misao walked from the water, shivered her body so as to dry herself a little, took her stuff from the floor and, yet nude, she headed back to among the trees. "It's not allowed to a girl to bath anymore!"
^_^x
Back to the glade, Kaoru said farewell to the people and headed to her home. Kenshin went with her till the end of the path, finally having some time to talk to her peacefully.
"Well, I think I have to go now." Kaoru smiled at Kenshin, the both of them standing at the borders of the forest.
"Come back tomorrow if you can, Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin smiled as well. "And sessha apologizes for all the mess! Thank you very much, de gozaru yo."
Kaoru giggled, wearing back her shoes she kept away from her feet, then left. Kenshin came back to the glade. The girl looked back yet some times to see the rurouni's red head getting far, far... till it vanished from sight.
Everything seemed new that day to her: she had new friends and contact with a life she had never dreamed about knowing how it was. On her way back home, she wondered about how she could convince her father to let her act for herself without causing any argues. She loved her father, she didn't want to finish their relationship; she just wanted to be free, to have the right to be herself, without having to act or pretend or satisfy anybody's wishes about her.
When she got home, neatly composed as a good student should be, closing the door silently while grabbing her books, her father was sitting. "Hello, Kaoru-chan." He said, not moving his sight from the newspaper. "Where have you been?"
"At the library, Otousan. I was studying." She answered, heading upstairs to her room.
"Hm, really? Good then..."
She rushed to her bedroom, locked the door and turned on the phonoghraph, heaving herself on her bed without taking off her clothes or even her beret.
^_^x
"What an odd day..."
Standing by his studio's door, Aoshi fumbled on his trenchcoat's pockets, trying to find his key: it was obviously at the exact pocket it was supposed to be, for he never misplaced his stuff and it wouldn't be different with his key or his trenchcoat's pocket.
The day had been quite bizarre: it seemed that all odd and crazy clients had made up their minds to show up at Shinomori's office with their absurd cases that very day. Not to mention the young female crook, that one who tried to decieve him.... Makimachi Misao. And also that strange sun-haired brother of hers, Yahiko... Yahiko what? "What an absurd doubt, Aoshi." he thought to himself. "If they are brother and sister, it is obvious that his name is Makimachi Yahiko. But after all... what does it care?", he shook his head.
Finding the object he looked for, he entered silently and closed the door, as if he was in an effort not to wake up the stove or the refrigerator, for there was nobody living with him but his appliances. He locked the door again and his hands seeked for the switch at the wall, for it was eight and a half in the night and it was really dark; lighting the lamp, he had an enormous yet frightening...
"Surprise, koishii!"
The weak light make him think for a while that there was the crazy elfin girl that attracted him to the Mud Headquarters in the morning, but squinting a little he saw it was the real and unmistakable Yumi, his fiancé herself. She was there, on his kitchen, sitting onto his table, wearing a red heavy gown.
"Mi... Yumi... What are you doing here?" he asked skeptically.
"I decided to drop by, koishii... I had to show you something..."
"Uh, could not you wait until tomorrow?" he said, entering the kitchen and passing by his fiancé's side, his head down, loosening his tie and getting insido of his room. She untied the knot on her gown and let it slip, revealing a diaphane white sleeping dress, and said aloud so as to make him hear.
"This is one of the sleeping dresses I'll wear with you." She folded her legs still sitting on the table at his kitchen. "I'd like to know if you like it..."
"What are you talking ab--" he halted when he saw her.
Aoshi got dumfounded. He meant to reaction to his fiancée's amazing attitude, just crossing his arms and looking her from head to toe. The lawyer's acting this way caused her to think he had in mind the same thing she did. Languidly she approached to him, pushed his coat -for his trenchcoat he had taken off at his room- and embraced him. He had no reaction.
"So, koishii..." she stood on the tip of her toes, trying to reach his ear and whisper on it. "Did you like it?"
"The gown is very beautiful..." he said, placing his hands on her elbows. Now it was her turn to get surprised -he pushed her away, delicate yet firmly. "But I want you to go home right now."
"Why?" she cried out.
"Because we are not married--"
"Yet." she emphacized.
"May that be. But the fact is that people will speak ill of you. And your parents will also be very disapointed. Now, go home."
She meant to say something else, but he turned away and got to his room, leaving her alone. She sniffed, wore back the gown and left, slamming noisily the door behind her.
^_^x
A pair of bright-red eyes flamed among the trees while the city fell asleep. A sound of sandpaper being scratched and an evil light flashed in the darkness, laying lazily on a root that protuded from earth, dancing freely and expansive through the dry leaves.
^_^x
.:It's Me Again:. Hey, there. Once again I apologize for the lengh (ow, c'mon! I needed it!), for some of the characters had quite a... "strange" gathering. By the way, I also apologize for the time it took to be posted (last week I got sick. So, no PC). And I apologize for apologizing so much!
Ah, I'd like to clear up a couple of lines, for some doubts peeped up by last chapter's posting, about Sanosuke's motorcycle. Harley-Davidson Motors started producing its first motorcycle models on 1961, as an option for replacing the scooters and they were merely -believe me!- one-cylinder potent. In 1966 they became quite popular, but obviously those were the very beginners, and the models weren't as modern and potent as we know them today. The stereotype we have of Harley-Davidson's riders (as well as their vehicles' outbreaking designs) became popular in the end of the 70's and first years of the 1980' decade. (if anyone's interested in motorcycles, I STRONGLY suggest Harley-Davidson's website, they have great stuff in there!)
Hope you're enjoying all the fic. On next chapter, find out who owns this creepy red pair of eyes!