Kero-chan: Your review made me have this big stupid smile on my face..Teehee, thank you. About your question, well I would like to believe that Aoshi's not pushing his grades up, but I don't know. Anyway, he still has lots of subjects he has to work hard on with teachers, which are really teachers (you know what I mean).
Leigh: Your question (actually the wondering thing) totally caught me off guard. I'm still thinking about it.
Special thanks to Shin-chan, Enigma, dementedchris, Cherie, omochi, Chibigreenwizardmon, selene, Nim, Lady Lightningblade, rebecca, and Gypsy-chan. Most of you got excited with last chapter's twist. Glad to know you liked it. Thank you so much for your great reviews!
Disclaimer: This fic is entirely fictional and Japan did not have a Project Messiah or a Mission Messiah as far as I know.
Other Side of the Moon
Fathom
Chapter 9
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. Sano, Kenshin and Misao decided that this would be a good day to start their investigation. The three of them were gathered at Kenshin's home, having a small meeting on what each decided to do for the day.
"What have you found out Misao?" Kenshin started.
"Well, I decided to start with Ryo's school files, his previous schools, towns, etc."
"I see. So, you're going to check them out?" Kenshin assumed.
Misao nodded in approval.
"Why don't you go with Misao, Sano? I browsed through Ryo's files and it looked like some places will take a few hours drive. I think it would be safer if both of you shall go," advised Kenshin.
"Kenshin! I'm not a damsel in distress who needs protection! I'm an equal member of this group," protested Misao.
"I'm sorry Misao. I didn't mean it that way. I just thought that you'd accomplish more if the two of you work on it," explained Kenshin.
"Sounds good to me," Sano replied then, asked, "How about you Kenshin, where are you going?"
"An old friend who might have some information."
Sano raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Kenshin's vague reply, but decided to drop the subject since Kenshin doesn't seem to be in the mood to share today. "I see. Well we better get going weasel," Sano spoke as he stood up from his chair.
"Don't call me weasel!" screeched Misao. "I can't believe I'm stuck with you for a day," she complained as she followed the taller guy walk towards the door.
"I'm sure we'll have a great time!" taunted Sano. "Bye Kenshin. See ya."
"Bye Sano. Bye Misao. Talk to you later," Kenshin bid as the two figures walked out the door.
Once the two were out, Kenshin flipped open the folder he had in hand and browsed through the papers inside. He had done a little research on Ogata Ume, the girl which Akiko's cousin remarked as Ryo's potential sister. Kenshin decided that the best place to start his investigation was Ogata Ume's old school, Morimoto High.
It was a two-hour trip from Kenshin's place to the high school. He arrived at around noon. He hopped out of his car a little tired, not because of the drive, but because of the hot weather. He noticed that not-so-few cars and buses parked at the school. He continued walking out of the parking lot and found that, surprisingly, the school was packed with students although it was a Saturday.
Kenshin heard one of the girls' complaint, as he made his way across the grounds, "Saturday classes suck! I was looking forward to spend my weekend at the beach since Monday!"
"Well, we're doing this for the play, which may I remind you will be 20% of our final grade," replied the girl with brown hair.
"I know, I know. Gosh, I wish Ume was here, she could probably excuse us from this stupid play!" replied the other girl with glasses.
Kenshin took advantage of this opportunity to ask about the girl mentioned, "Excuse me."
The girls stopped their talk and turned their heads toward the voice. Upon seeing the owner of the voice, the girl with short brown hair acknowledged his presence. She smiled and answered, "Yes?"
"Hi! I'm looking for an old friend. Her name's Ogata Ume, do you know her by any chance?"
"Hai, we do, but we can't really help you find her," the girl with glasses answered.
"Oh," Kenshin acted dumbfounded.
"She's not studying here anymore. My name's Mieko," the girl, who spoke about going to the beach, explained.
"Is that so? I was really looking forward to see her again. We haven't seen each other for years. Last time she wrote me, she said she was studying here," Kenshin added as he continued his innocent act. "Oh, and excuse me for being rude, my name's Kenshin, Himura Kenshin. Are you Ume's friends?"
"Yes, we met in the squad. She was head cheerleader last year. My name's Yuriko," she said.
"And we would have been excused from this play if we only had Ume to talk to the principal for us!" released a very frustrated Mieko.
'Mieko is certainly acting weird today. Himura-san's going to think were a group of weirdoes. I hope not, he's kinda cute.' thought Yuriko.
"Don't you know anyone who might have an idea about Ume's whereabouts? I'm only in town for a couple of days. I'd really like to see her before I go," Kenshin tried to dig up some more.
'He's certainly persistent. Is this Ume's boyfriend?' Mieko thought before suggesting, "Maybe you can go ask Koji."
"Koji?" he asked curiously.
"Yes, Koji. He's sort of Ume's number one fan, and maybe her unofficial photographer. If you ask me, he's pretty creepy, following Ume around and taking pictures all the time. But Ume never made a big fuss over it; in fact he even treated Koji as a friend. You can always find him at the library, the one with the big round glasses, which sort of has a permanent spiral pattern on the lens," she said.
"Thanks. I'll go look for him now. Nice meeting you all," Kenshin thanked before he proceeded to the school library.
"He was pretty cute, wasn't he?" Yuriko shared.
"Yeah, but forget about him he's only in town for days right? You'll probably never see him again," Mieko casually replied before going inside the building.
**
'Glasses with swirls? That was what she said right?' Kenshin thought as he walked around the library looking for the man named Koji. He already strolled inside the whole place twice, but he couldn't seem to find the guy he was looking for. 'Maybe he's not here.' Just when he was about to give up, a guy with glasses stepped inside the library. 'There's swirly-eyes,' Kenshin said to himself as he subtly followed the newcomer.
The guy named Koji chose to sit at the table located at the far end of the hall. He routinely brought out his book and pen from his bag and started scribbling stuff on his book.
"Hey there, are you Koji?" Kenshin asked.
The guy turned his head around and found a man with red hair. He nodded.
"I'm Himura Kenshin, Ogata Ume's friend. A girl I just met, I believe Mieko's her name, told me you may have information on how I could contact Ume," introduced Kenshin.
"You're her friend? Funny she never mentioned you," he replied.
'Shit. What's my excuse?'
"But it doesn't surprise me though," the young man continued, "She rarely mentions names of personal acquaintances."
"Yup that's Ume, I see she haven't changed since we were kids," Kenshin agreed and laughed lightly as an idea formulated in his mind, "I bet she's still this freckled girl who always wears her hair on pigtails," he continued.
"That's where you're wrong, she's grown up into a beautiful lady!" he disagreed then added sadly, "But I have no idea where she is right now." Pause. The short silence was ended when the young man spoke again. "Wanna see a recent picture of her?" Koji offered thoughtfully.
'Bingo.' "Yes, I'd like that," Kenshin replied.
"So when did you last see her?" Koji tried a casual talk as he looked for the picture in his bag.
"I think we were 10, but we remained in contact through letters and calls. But I was really busy for the past couple of years, so the last time we actually talked was almost two years ago," invented Kenshin.
"Too bad. Here it is! And a good picture too!" Koji said as he handed Kenshin the picture.
The imaged captured was that of a girl with long brown hair, with big green eyes. Her hair was tied up high with a purple ribbon, which seems to be part of the cheerleader uniform, she had on. And then there was her smile, not a huge overly happy smile, but a lopsided, sweet kind of smile, curved up towards the left side of her face.
'This smile. I've seen this before,' Kenshin recognized. 'Ryo,' he confirmed, then Makoto's words rang in his head. '::Your eyes just reminded me of Ume. What's even weird is that she doesn't have the same color of eyes as yours.:: Ryo has blue eyes.'
Kenshin decided to test his luck once more, and asked Koji, "I remember Ume wearing eyeglasses. Is she wearing contacts now?"
"I'm not sure, though she may have. I remember her blinking a lot whenever the wind blows," Koji inferred.
'Tough luck,' a disappointed Kenshin thought. "I see. She certainly changed over the years," Kenshin kid. "I'd better get going now. Thanks for your help."
"No problem. If you find her, can you please tell her to drop by the school some time," Koji requested.
"Sure, I will," Kenshin promised, then left the library.
**
Later that night ---
Kenshin arrived at his place at around seven. His shishou answered the door and asked how the investigation went.
"The girl has striking similarities with Ryo. She left the school right before Ryo transferred to ours. Although their looks and interests differ a lot," reported Kenshin.
"Think you wasted your time or not?" Hiko asked.
"I don't think so. Is Sano and Misao here already?" Kenshin replied and as if on cue, the doorbell rang.
"Get it baka deshi," Hiko commanded.
Kenshin hesitantly stood from his chair and got the door.
"Hey, how did it go?" Kenshin asked as he let the two in.
"Bad. We found nothing," Misao answered as she plopped on the couch.
"What do you mean nothing?" Hiko inquired.
"We just wasted our day," Sano vaguely expanded. "We went to all the places listed in Ryo's file. Everything seemed real, his files were kept at the schools listed and all that, but nobody remembers him."
"What do you mean? Care to elaborate?" Hiko said sarcastically.
"The records we gathered matched every record we found stored at each institution, but when we tried to interview possible acquaintances, nobody remembers him," Misao explained.
"How can it match their files if no one can identify him?" Kenshin asked.
"Some of the teachers say that they must have forgotten him because of the tons of students they had," Misao reported with much frustration.
"It's like he doesn't exist," Sano spoke his mind aloud.
"Maybe that's just it," Hiko spoke.
"What?" answered a clueless Sano.
"Maybe we're searching for the wrong information. Try checking out what the Takeda Enterprise wants with Hirameshi, or what they're currently busy with and see if it concerns the boy. Forget about Hirameshi's background if it's getting you nowhere," Hiko said.
Misao nodded, while Sano asked Kenshin, "What about you?"
"Pretty good for day one, I guess," he replied.
"Another way of telling "nothing"," Sano falsely interpreted, which Kenshin did not contradict. Then he said, "We'd better go, I'm tired with all the driving. Let's go Misao, I'll bring you home."
"Ok. Goodbye Hiko-san, bye Kenshin," Misao said.
"Bye Misao, Sano," Kenshin replied.
"Bye," Hiko answered shortly.
Sano walked towards the door and waved his right hand briskly just before he completely stepped out of the house.
**
Misao spent her Sunday afternoon gathering information on the activities of the Takeda Enterprise, as Hiko suggested. She had spent hours gaining access into restricted files, but gained no relevant information, which may have any connection with Ryo.
"Aahh!" 'All these files contain are their profits and revenues for all their legal business!' released a pent-up Misao.
"Hey what's up weasel?" Sano greeted as he stepped inside her room. "Your gramps let me in and told me to just go straight to your room," he said and noticed the veins ready to pop out of Misao's forehead. "You all right?" he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, but I'm just wasting my time and effort. I have nothing," she released.
"Don't worry you'll get something soon. Maybe you should stop for a while. It's Sunday after all," Sano suggested.
"I guess you're right," Misao agreed while she stretched her back and fingers. The she asked, "How's your investigation doing? What's your plan anyway?"
"I'll start tomorrow at school," Sano replied cockily.
"You don't seemed worried or worked out at all! Are you sure you're working on it?" Misao inquired. "What's your plan?"
"Simple, fishing," Sano beamed.
**
"You are not allowed in the kitchen, Kaoru-chan! The birthday girl is not supposed to do anything other than to have fun!" Tokio exclaimed.
The whole Mission Messiah plus Tokio were gathered at Kaoru's apartment. Since it was Kaoru's 18th birthday, they decided to have a little party. Tae, Megumi and Tokio were in charge with the kitchen while the men were just lounging around the living room. Of course, an elite military unit, that Saito loaned for the night, guarded the house, since the Mission members are not on their posts.
"That's right tanuki, besides you wouldn't want to burn the house down on your birthday, wouldn't you?" Megumi said.
"Mou. I just wanted to help. You didn't have to stress out how bad of a cook I am," muttered Kaoru.
"Don't worry Kaoru-chan. Why don't you sit for a while or go and open the radio," suggested Tae.
"I'll do that for you," volunteered Soujiro who was sitting adjacent to the sound system.
An upbeat music filled the house in an instant. Kaoru quickly pulled Aoshi to dance since he was the one sitting closest to her.
"Come on Aoshi, can you be my dance partner for a while?" pleaded Kaoru.
Aoshi merely raised his eyebrows, then closed his eyes slowly and then turned his face away from her before replying, "You must be joking."
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Kaoru sarcastically answered as she stopped pulling on the officer's arm and placed her hands on her hips. "Come on!" she said again.
"No," he said as icily as ever.
"Fine," spat Kaoru. "How about you Sou-chan? Would you mind if I ask you to dance with me?" requested the girl.
"Sure thing, Kaoru-chan. Though, I should warn you, I am not a very good dancer, I may in fact have two left feet," he warned.
"Nonsense, I'm sure you'll do fine!" she said gaily as they started to dance.
After a half an hour of nonstop dancing and laughing, Kaoru crashed on the couch feeling the muscles on her legs feel a little sore. "That was fun! Thanks Soujiro!" Kaoru said.
"You're welcome. You sure skipped a great dance Aoshi!" Soujiro said.
Aoshi looked at him blankly and was probably going to say something when Tokio called.
"The food is ready! Come inside anata," she called.
Saito, who was smoking in the patio, threw his cigarette in the ashtray and stepped inside the house.
"Wow, everything looks good! And..Mmmm.. Smells terrific too!" Kaoru said as she stared at the table with sparkly blue eyes.
"What are you waiting for? Grab a chair and let's start eating!" Tae signaled.
Dinner finished pretty fast. A small chat here and there but most of the time was just spent eating. After eating the cake, Kaoru started opening her presents.
"This one's from me and Tae," Megumi said as she a handed Kaoru a pink package with a peach bow on top.
Kaoru thanked the two women whole-heartedly before she anxiously opened the gift.
Inside was red, lacy lingerie.
"Megumi! Tae! What were you thinking?!!?" Kaoru exclaimed as her entire face instantly turned scarlet. Saito smirked as he saw the content, while Soujiro had a faint pink hue on his cheek for a second, before he returned to smiling mode.
"Since you're now eighteen, we figured it'll come in handy soon," Megumi said with fox ears, which have appeared as Kaoru was opening the package.
Tae nodded in total agreement, and continued to smile.
Kaoru gave out an audible sigh and thanked the two again, this time out of mere politeness. She neatly refolded the garment and placed it inside the box. Now, it was Soujiro's turn to give his gift.
"I hope you like it," he said as he handed a small box wrapped in yellow paper, bound with a gold ribbon.
"Thanks!" Kaoru said as she was simultaneously thinking, 'This better be not a lingerie.'
Fortunately for Kaoru it wasn't. The box contained a small musical jewelry box. She thanked Soujiro again before she transferred her attention to the blue wrapped box with silver ribbon, the gift given by Aoshi. Inside was a new set of bow and arrow. Kaoru thanked her Archery moderator. Lastly, she received Tokio and Saito's present. It was simply an envelope sealed with a pink ribbon. Kaoru again, thanked the couple and then hastily opened the envelope. Inside was a bunch of gift cards and certificates from different stores --- a clothes shop, a record store, a bookstore and a video shop.
"This is great! Thank you so much!" Kaoru addressed the two older couple before addressing the whole group. "This must be one of the best birthdays ever, thanks for spending it with me. I appreciate all your gifts! Ahem..Even the totally unexpected ones," she added. "I'm really happy. Thank you!!!" Kaoru repeated as her eyes started to feel watery.
"Well then, I guess it's time to clean the place up," Megumi suggested. All of them, except Saito, motioned to tidy the place up. Saito headed towards the patio again.
"I need to talk to you," he said to Aoshi before stepping out. Aoshi stopped arranging the couch and followed the captain.
"There are rumors that Takeda is now after a boy," Saito said once Aoshi had closed the sliding door behind him. He continued, "We both know which boy he's after in case the rumors are true. Confirm if they are or not."
"I will work on it immediately," Aoshi said.
"I heard he contracted a group to do the job for him. Don't tell Kaoru about this," Saito added.
"Do the others know about this?" Aoshi asked.
"I will tell them later tonight. Megumi and Tae will help you work on this one. I want the confirmation as soon as possible. You may return inside now," he said.
"Yes sir."
A/n: I just want people to know that Kaoru and Ryo's birthdays are not the same so Ryo's friends weren't invited. I thought I should reintroduce the entire Mission Messiah since they've been MIA (missing in action) for quite sometime. They'll be active in the story in the next chapters so I just wanted to make sure people know or remember who they are.
Sorry if this chapter was boring, but it's necessary.
Thanks! Reviews are greatly appreciated!
