Author's Notes: Meep! It's been a while since I updated, again! *apologizes profusely* I got totally blocked on this and couldn't get out of it. I also got a temporary job recently, so I don't know how much time I'll have for writing... This chapter is pretty long, though! In this episode, I felt that very little would actually change from the original series -- this chapter is all just silly fluff, anyway.
Thanks to those who reviewed!
amanda, here's the circus chapter! read and see how the madness unfolds...
ice-archangel, yes, I know Saitou has a wife. However, this is fanfiction,
which means as the writer I can mess around with the characters' lives as much
as I want. Besides, how do you know I don't have plans for the infamous Saitou
Tokio later on? *evil grin*
Disclaimer: The characters actually belong to N. Watsuki/Shueisha, etc. I am just borrowing them to amuse myself.
Italics indicate thoughts or emphasized words.
Alternate Tale of the Meiji Era, Chapter 11
by Fujimiya Maru
The road was full of people, browsing the vendors and taking in the sights. Children laughed and pulled their parents towards the various attractions, like the Haunted House.
"Aoshi-sama, can we go in here?" Misao asked brightly, pointing to the creepy tent. Instead of her usual ninja outfit she was wearing a light green kimono patterned with bamboo and a purple obi. Aoshi followed close behind her, dressed in a nondescript gray gi and navy hakama. Behind him was Hyottoko, the enormous man also dressed casually, but without his signature barrel of oil. He tried his best to look inconspicuous.
"No. We're to head to the Ebisu Cannon Circus immediately." he stated, and continued walking in an attempt to ignore her pouting.
Misao just followed; her Aoshi-sama had already denied her some rice skewers and the odd trinkets from the west that could be bought, but she figured after they did the circus-thing she'd be able to coerce him into buying her something. He's just as I remember him, always all business!
The three spies came upon the tent, finding a large crowd already gathering. The pretty painted sign read "Ebisu Cannon Circus" and showed a young girl, dressed strangely, flying through the air. A pleasant-looking middle aged man was at the entrance, announcing the attraction.
"Wow, it must be really amazing to draw all these people here!" Misao said excitedly. Aoshi said nothing, and bought three tickets.
*************
Sumidaya Soubei was very unhappy. He had some very skilled performers, but since the damn cannon-girl and her father had left, he had no customers.
"It's been like this ever since that circus opened up across the way," whined his son. Sumidaya seethed in anger even more.
His performers were either sitting around or practicing. The three best were doing the later; the strongman faced a charging bull and stopped it, the samurai swiftly cut an apple in two, and the ninja woman threw razor-sharp kunai at a straw target. They were certainly his most useful assets, and not just for performances.
Yes, that cannon-girl and her father will pay for leaving the Sumidaya Circus.
*************
The tent had filled with people, waiting to see the amazing "Cannon Girl". The girl's father warmly announced the show, and introduced the girl, Marimo. She was eleven, maybe twelve years old, wearing an elaborate pink western dress which she shed to reveal her goofy getting-shot-out-of-a-cannon outfit. The crowd cheered for her as she waved and got into the mouth of the cannon.
"Nothing shady about this so far, okashira." mumbled Hyottoko.
"Hn. Keep your eyes open, regardless." Aoshi kept scanning the crowd for suspicious characters, but found none. Misao kept grabbing his arm, which made if very hard to concentrate.
"Isn't it dangerous for her to do that? Will she be allright?" Misao asked the stoic man by her side.
"As long as they mixed the right amount of gunpowder, she will be fine, Misao." he replied as Marimo's father moved to light the cannon.
*Boom!* The cannon went off, and the girl flew in a graceful arc towards the red paper target. After going through it, she executed a somersault and landed on her feet. The crowd's cheers were deafening.
"Sugoi!" yelled Misao, jumping up from her seat. "Aoshi-sama, I want to learn how to do that!"
"W-what?" was all he could get out, before voices from the side of the stage interrupted.
Sumidaya and his son made their way into the tent, drawing attention to themselves. Marimo hid behind her father, who faced the two men with a serious look on his face.
"Sumidaya-san, what do you mean by this?"
"Well," he replied, "I was worried whether or not your business was doing well. Although you went independent, you used to work for us, you know."
"You don't have to worry about that." the ringmaster defended, "I became independent through a perfectly legal contract."
"Yes, but I don't want you to forget..." Sumidaya sneered, "You still owe us the money that you borrowed when you went independent."
The younger Sumidaya struck a match. Aoshi narrowed his eyes, but continued to listen.
"I will return the money. Half of it before the end of the day, and the rest tomorrow!"
"I see, I see." said Sumidaya, as his son lit his pipe casually. "Then it is allright. The promise was that you'd return the money before tomorrow night. I'm sure you know, but if you can't pay up you will return to our circus without complaints."
Marimo and her father glared at the men. Sumidaya called to his son to leave, but on his way out, the son tapped the burning contents of his pipe onto the straw lining the circus floor.
The ringmaster shouted at the retreating men, but they only laughed. He rushed to stamp out the fire, his daughter at his side.
"We should help -" Hyottoko started to say to Misao, but when he looked, the seat between him and Aoshi was already empty. "Where'd she go?"
Misao was stamping out the burning straw, doing her best to keep her kimono out of the way. Fire extinguished, Marimo looked up at the older girl who appeared out of nowhere.
"Um, I'm Makimachi Misao! Nice to meet you! That was really cool, flying out of the cannon like that!" Misao said quickly, and the girl smiled.
"I'm Marimo. Thanks for helping, Misao-neechan!"
*************
Later that night, the Oniwaban discussed the case over dinner. Sanosuke had actually done the laundry, but didn't do a particularly good job. Aoshi felt the proper punishment would be to deny him any sake with dinner. Annoyed, Sano focused his energy on pestering Misao.
"So, you made a new friend, Weasel-girl?" teased Sanosuke, then stole a bite off her plate. Misao tried to ignore him and eat her food.
"Anyway, Aoshi-sama," she said, "What are we going to do about those guys? They nearly burned down the Ebisu Circus down today!"
"Hn. It really is a case for the regular police."
"But, they haven't done anything! I wouldn't be surprised if those guys tried something dirty, too!" she snatched her food back from Sano's grasp, her ninja skills providing her with pinpoint accuracy.
"C'mon, okashira, she has a point." said Sano, "Besides, we're all just sitting here getting rusty, so why not?"
Aoshi felt another headache coming on. He saw why Saitou was so chagrined by this case; sure, the Sumidaya guys were bad news, but not enough to warrant the attention of the Oniwaban group.
Sano continued to steal Misao's food and get in her face until she finally blew up. Braking a plate over the older boy's spiky head, she stood up and left the room in a huff.
"Leave me alone, Roosterhead! I'm going for some fresh air!"
The rest of them just stared after her, with Sano rubbing his head in pain. "Should one of us go after her? She's not that familiar with the streets of Tokyo yet." said Hannya, setting his chopsticks down.
"No," said Aoshi, "I'll go get her."
*************
Marimo and her father were walking home, exhausted after a long day of performing. The moonlit street was empty and quiet except for their footsteps.
Suddenly, a man ran from the shadows, knocking into the ringmaster and stealing his wallet in the process. The ringmaster panicked and immediately took after the thief. After turning into an alley, several other men pushed some stacks of lumber that were leaning against the houses so that they fell into the street.
The ringmaster saw the wood falling, but couldn't get away fast enough. Marimo screamed for her trapped father, and then for someone to help her. Misao had heard the crash of the wood and Marimo's screams, and turned into the alley just as Marimo was accusing the men of harming her father on purpose. One held the wallet of money, while the other two were about to put their hands on the Marimo.
"Temee! Get your hands off of her!" yelled Misao, suddenly very glad she had changed into her ninja uniform.
"Misao-neechan!" said Marimo with tears in her eyes.
Misao charged, kicking one man swiftly in the head. His friend sent sprawling, the man still hanging onto Marimo released her and charged at the newcomer. His charge was met with her fist against his nose, which broke with a satisfying crack. The men looked at Misao with awe and rage.
"Shit," the one with the broken nose said, "I'll get you back for this!" The men ran, leaving the girls alone in the alley. Misao was about to take after them, but Marimo's frantic cries to her father stopped her. That, and suddenly Aoshi appeared and grabbed her arm.
"Misao-neechan, my father! He's under all this!"
"We'll take care of it," said Aoshi, already lifting the lumber out of the way.
*************
The ringmaster was finally wrapped up and settled at the Kokuni Clinic, run by an old doctor, Gensai-sensei. Aoshi and Misao stood back and let Marimo fuss over her father, who kept trying to get out of bed.
"I have to get the money back!" he said, clutching his broken ribs.
"It's no use, Sumidaya will just deny everything! I'll file a police report later, so please lie still!" Marimo pleaded urgently.
"Those dirty- rotten-" Misao ground out, "How can we just let them get away with this?"
Aoshi was about to reply when Saitou abruptly stepped into the room. He tipped his hat and looked at the injured man.
"Pardon me, I'm Officer Fujita. I hear you were robbed this evening?"
"Yes, Officer!" Marimo cut her father off. "I would like to file a complaint!"
Saitou chuckled. "Very well, in a moment. Shinomori-san, what a coincidence. May I have a word with you?"
Aoshi nodded and followed the policeman into the hallway.
"What is it?" he said, after they were out of earshot of the others.
"Ah, just wondering how the investigation was going..."
"Well," Aoshi said, "The bad guys are nothing special, but have proved to be dangerous. I was going to suggest that the regular police try and actually do their jobs, but honestly, I think my people could use the exercise."
"I'll leave you to it, then. I trust you will wrap the case up nice and neat." Saitou lit a cigarette and continued. "I did stop by for a reason, not relating to this case. I'll be out of town for a while."
"Oh? Where are you going?"
"Izu. Some morons are trying to take over, start a revolution. You know, the usual." he smirked, flicking an ash onto the clinic floor.
"Hn. I trust you will wrap that up nice and neat." Aoshi also smirked. Saitou turned to leave, but the other man stopped him. "Don't you have to take that girl's report before you leave?"
Saitou glared at the spy, but went back into the room.
The ringmaster was trying to get out of bed, saying there was no way they'd miss a performance tomorrow. Gensai-sensei tried gently to keep him down, saying that it was impossible.
"Dad," said Marimo, "I'll do it by myself. Teach me how to make the gunpowder."
"It's impossible for an ordinary person!" he insisted. "It's too dangerous! If you make a mistake mixing, you could blow your feet off!"
"I'll help, too!" said Misao.
"It's allright." he replied in a defeated tone. "All we have to do is go back to Sumidaya."
"I have a man that is skilled with mixing chemicals." Aoshi spoke up from the doorway. The all looked at him, surprised. "If you can give me the formula, he should be able to do it."
*************
"Come one, come all! It's not something you can see just anywhere! It's a human cannonball, where a cute girl goes flying with a boom!" Misao riled up the waiting crowd from her podium by the tent entrance. The crowd was even bigger than the day before, and she did not see Sumidaya skulking in the shadows nearby.
"Just as I thought," he muttered, "But this is it!"
Aoshi and Sanosuke, with Beshimi and Hyottoko close behind, approached Misao's platform.
"Hey, look at Jou-chan! You sure are working hard." grinned Sano.
"Just wait and see!" beamed Misao, "This is going to be perfect! ... Why are you here?"
"To see the cannon-girl, of course!"
"So you're here to make fun of me." she said, glaring at the tall boy.
"Do I look like someone who would do that?" When everyone looked at him with that look, he cringed. "Sheesh, whatever..."
"Something's wrong!" Marimo said as she ran up to Misao. "We have a problem, Misao-neechan!"
"What's wrong, Marimo?"
"The gunpowder... The gunpowder is missing!" she cried. "Someone stole it!"
"What should we do?" Misao jumped off the platform. "We already have customers inside!"
Aoshi stepped up, putting a hand on Marimo's shoulder. "There are fireworks factories in this neighborhood. Go see if they will give you the gunpowder." Marimo nodded, wiping away her tears. "Hyottoko, go with her."
The large man nodded and tried to keep up with the running girl as she made her way down the street.
"Will they make it in time?" said Sanosuke, watching them go. "If it takes too long, the crowd will get rowdy."
"Until then, we will entertain the audience!" said Misao, a determined expression on her face. Aoshi, Sano, and Beshimi looked a bit clueless.
*************
"Why me?" said Sanosuke, as Aoshi secured him to the wooden board.
"Better you than me," muttered Aoshi, who quickly backed away from the target. Some of the crowd were yelling for the show to start, and Misao stepped out onto the stage wearing a borrowed costume.
"Thank you for waiting! Thank you very much for coming to see the Ebisu Cannon Circus today!" Misao bowed to the audience. "Now, before the human cannonball, we will have a special presentation!"
"Better them than me," muttered Beshimi from his spot by the cannon, waiting to get the gunpowder mixed.
"First, a knife-throwing event!" Misao offered, "Yours truly will throw super-sharp knives at the target, where Sanosuke is bound!"
"Are you confident about this, Jou-chan?" Sano asked feebly.
She smirked. "I don't know. Maybe." Sano's eyes widened and he began to struggle a bit.
"Okay, if my lovely assistant would hand me my knives, please!" Aoshi blinked, and realized she was talking about him. Handing the daggers to her, he backed away to laugh silently at Sanosuke's distress.
"Allright, here we go!" Misao yelled, letting loose one of the knives. It struck the board less than an inch from Sano's ear, and the crowd cheered. She threw several more, which landed near his shoulder, leg, and other ear. He started to yell when he saw that some of his hair had gotten cut off.
Misao let one more fly, and it landed with a *thunk* in between Sano's bound legs, mere inches from his groin.
"That's it! I don't have to take this!" he bellowed, and using his strength, uprooted the board and started to hop away.
The crowd laughed as Misao yelled at Aoshi to catch him, and the stoic man gave a halfhearted chase to the irate roosterhead.
Some of the men in the audience, obviously under the employ of Sumidaya, started to yell.
"Is it time for the human cannonball yet?"
"Yeah, yeah! Hurry up and start!"
"If you're not going to do it, give us our money back!"
"I guess this is it..." Sano said, after Aoshi freed him from the target board.
"But I thought we were doing so well..." Misao replied, watching the crowd.
"Aoshi-sama!" Hyottoko yelled, entering the tent carrying Marimo and several small bags of gunpowder in his arms. Close behind was Sumidaya, his son, and three of this performers.
"Leave it to us. Get the cannon ready!" Aoshi said, drawing his kodachi from under his trenchcoat. Misao likewise armed herself with kunai, and Sanosuke assumed a battle-ready stance.
"It would have been better if you surrendered to us... If you're going to be this persistent, I don't care anymore! I'll make sure you can't perform ever again!" threatened Sumidaya. He turned to his people and said, "Show them what happens when you defy me, Sumidaya Soubei!"
The pale samurai stepped forward, and with a fluid movement, sliced through one of the poles supporting the tent.
"Hn, he sure is up to no good." said Sanosuke, "I guess I have no choice!" Charging forward, he grabbed the pole before it could slip and cause the tent to collapse.
The samurai got his sword ready again, looking towards Aoshi. "I can slay a man for the first time in a while..."
"I'll skewer him!" added the middle-aged ninja woman.
"Let me break his bones," asked the strongman.
"Don't take these three too lightly!" screeched Sumidaya's son from the edge of the stage. "You know that Imperialist corpse that was floating down the Sumida River? The guys responsible for that--"
"Keep quiet!" Sumidaya quickly interrupted. Aoshi raised an eyebrow, taking in the information to tell the police later.
"You guys are the worst! Let's get them, Aoshi-sama!" Misao said, ready to charge. Aoshi merely nodded, and all parties jumped into battle.
The middle-aged ninja woman yelled loudly as she let loose a flurry of kunai, which Aoshi deflected easily with his kodachi. Before she could do anything else, he rushed forward and with a few quick punches, knocked her out and off the stage.
The crowd, except for Sumidaya's men, cheered Aoshi, Misao, and Sano on.
The bear-like strongman ran towards Misao, who simply stepped out of the way. He continued to run, and didn't realize he missed until too late. His head got comically stuck in the mouth of the cannon. Struggling, he ripped it right off its wheels trying to remove it.
"Why did he just run straight forward like that?" asked Misao.
"Is he a boar or something?" muttered Sanosuke from his spot supporting the tent.
Free of the cannon, the strongman charged again, but Misao sidestepped again and managed to kick him in the gut, hard.
"Sano! Grab him, and I'll get the rope!" she yelled.
"Yeah!" grinned Sano, elbowing the strongman in the head for good measure.
The samurai faced Aoshi, eyeing the kodachi.
"Is that all you have? Are you not man enough for a real sword?" he smirked.
"I don't even need this to defeat you," Aoshi said, sheathing his weapon. He ran forward, evading the samurai's sword with a jump. Landing behind him, he performed a roundhouse kick to the swordsman's skull.
Both Sumidaya and his son quaked with both fear and anger, and nearly fell over themselves trying to escape.
"Oh no, you don't!" said Misao, throwing a handful of kunai which neatly pinned the son to one of the poles. The elder Sumidaya continued to run away.
With the strongman now supporting the cut pole, Sanosuke picked up the cannon with Marimo ready inside. Beshimi had mixed the gunpowder from the ringmaster's instructions, and Hyottoko stood ready with a match.
*Boom!*
All eyes followed as Marimo flew towards Sumidaya, flipping to land feet-first on the scumbag's head.
The crowd went wild, cheering for Marimo. Some even yelled compliments to Misao, Aoshi, and Sanosuke.
"This is so embarrassing..." mumbled Aoshi to no one in particular.
"The crowd loves us!" smiled Misao, waving cheerfully.
"My popularity is something else!" boasted Sanosuke.
Some uniformed police officers picked up Sumidaya, saying one of his henchmen had confessed. Marimo and the Oniwaban watched as the criminals were led away.
"Well, that's over with." said Hyottoko.
"Say," said Marimo, turning to Misao. "The crowd was very pleased. Would you guys like to continue performing with us?"
"But of course!" said Misao. "Sanosuke and Aoshi-sama don't have anything better to do, and I'm great at throwing knives! Right?"
Misao turned to face them, but Sano had already run away, and Aoshi had a look on his face that said Not if my life depended on it.
More Author's Notes: The way I saw this chapter was that very little changed from the original episode. It's just that Misao takes on Yahiko's role, Beshimi takes Megumi's place (he has poison darts, so why can't he mix gunpowder?), and Aoshi is Kenshin in the scene. I felt Aoshi would think a lot like Kenshin did (like knowing that gunpowder could be borrowed from fireworks places), he'd just do it with less wackiness, so that's why I didn't change too much.
I really just needed to get this chapter out of the way so I could actually get on with this fic. Sorry if it sucks!
Next chapter: Sanosuke meets up with an old friend. Can Aoshi keep him from doing anything stupid?
