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They Say Cameras Are Only Good For Pictures... 16
By: Karina Kineshi (coronaflare@mail.com)

Meanwhile... on the road to the Fujita's...

"Sano-chan! Can you hear me?"

The man known as Sanosuke didn't stop walking or even acknowledge the voice. Hajime grit her teeth in frustration. She'd been trying in vain to contact Sano-chan for what seemed like hours. Either he was ignoring her, or he just couldn't hear her. "What do I have to do to get you to notice me? Dance a jig?"

He kept walking.

"Why won't you pay attention to me, dammit!"

A clear voice interrupted her ranting. Hajime! Stop screaming... Hiko put her finger in front of her lips in a gesture of silence. Shinomori said that it was okay to leave him.

"He did?"

Hiko shrugged. I guess that means it's a part of the plan now.

Hajime quirked her eyebrow and set down the stick with which she was trying to hit Sano-chan with. "All right. I told you it would work out..."

"Señorita Hiko..." a voice interrupted.

"Ah, I see Soujirou has finally decided to grace us with her presence." Hajime said wryly.

The old woman shot Hajime with a decidedly withering look. "Battousai fue dos días anticipado. Señor Shinomori acordó."

Hiko didn't look fazed. He's gone, you say?

"Sí."

Well, if Shinomori let him go in, then I guess he does know what he's doing.

The landscape around them changed, and suddenly they were sitting back in their gilded chairs, talking as if it were a social function. "What do we do now?" Hajime flung her legs onto a side table and took out a cigarette. She didn't miss a beat as she lit it and started talking. "We have nothing to do."

"La cosa mejor a hacer nada."

Hiko couldn't help herself from following Hajime's lead. While she got into a more comfortable position, she didn't take out a cigarette. Soujirou sat up, prim and proper as always. The best thing that we can do is just monitor. We have to make sure everything is going to plan.

"We don't even know what the damn plan is."

True... Hiko couldn't think of a comeback to that one. Hajime was always one step above her when it came to wit. She laughed and sat up. We'll amuse ourselves with their antics then.

Hajime grinned and took a long drag of her cigarette. "Now that's what I'm talking about! If we can't do anything, then let's have fun!" She glanced at the old woman with hands perfectly folded in her lap. "What about you, Soujirou. Do you know what fun is?"

"Sabe."

Hajime clapped her hands together while Soujirou smiled mischievously. Who would have known that the uptight Fate of the Future knew how to have fun? Hiko didn't think that such a word existed in Soujirou's vocabulary. "Well then, I'll give you the honor of choosing the person that we watch first."

Soujirou paused, and then stated: "Shinomori."

As if the name was a command, another black cauldron fell from the sky and landed with a harmless thud on the ground. The three scurried over to it and saw in the liquid a complete view of the Aoiya. Before any of them could say anything, it cut to the tearoom where Shinomori and Misao stood.

Rather, a rather short girl was standing and pointing a finger while Shinomori sat with a teacup in his hands.

"Don't you ever, ever, do that to me again Aoshi!" the girl screamed.

"Do what?" Shinomori was dumbstruck.

It was apparent by the look on his face that he didn't know what he couldn't do. Hajime snickered.

"That... that thing you did with your eyes!" she explained, as if it should have made perfect sense to him.

"What thing?" The man with the teacup asked.

Yeah, what thing?

Soujirou shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "Yo hizo."

"You did what?"

"De nada." Soujirou waved them off. When she went to talk to Shinomori about letting Battousai in early, she made Shinomori go into a temporary trance. One where he couldn't see and couldn't hear anything except what was going on in his mind. Mortals classified it as "going into space", but they were far from it. Soujirou wasn't about to explain this to the two Fates beside her. It was her business alone. "Mire," she commanded.

The three Fates turned their attention back to the cauldron. The girl seemed placated now and knelt down on her knees. She said, "Were you being serious when you asked?"

Shinomori cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, I was being serious." He looked around the room as if suspecting that someone else was there. His eyes darted to all corners of the room and finally stared straight at the three Fates.

Hiko flinched. He can see us...

Hajime snorted. "There's no way!"

"What is it, Aoshi?" the girl asked.

"Nothing." He kept his eyes riveted on the Fates. Soujirou shifted, and even Hajime was starting to grow uncomfortable. "I just thought I saw someone eavesdropping on us."

That was a clear enough sign to Hiko. Let's watch someone else, now.

The girl cocked her head. "Eavesdropping? I didn't hear anyone..."

Hajime shuddered at the intensity of the stare that Shinomori was giving them. She'd never seen anything like it before. Maybe it was just the body that he was in currently. She knew that the real Shinomori would only be slightly annoyed, but the annoyance seemed to be magnified in this new mortal skin.

"Oh well, I thought I heard someone. I hope they'll mind their own business. We should be going now." He waved his hand in their direction, and there was a crack of thunder followed by the liquid going black. The cauldron fell silent.

Hiko scrambled for an explanation. What did... what just happened?

"Porque él está el Divinity." Soujirou said calmly.

Hajime was dumbstruck. "He can do that?"

Obviously. She turned to the two standing next to her. I guess watching Shinomori is out of the question. Any other suggestions? What about Sano-chan?

Hajime waved her hand flippantly. "Nah, the interesting stuff won't happen until sundown. He hasn't arrived at the house yet. Let's save him for later."

"¿Señor Battousai?" suggested Soujirou. "Gustaría a vigilar."

Hiko smiled. So would I. I'm sure Battousai wouldn't mind at all.

"And even if he does, he can't do anything about it." Hajime stated matter of factly. Soujirou glared at her, and then she quickly added, "This is just for fun. Besides, if we get annoying, then we can always watch something else. It's no problem."

The trick is to keep out of sight, Hiko said. And let's just watch this time, no talking.

The liquid blazed back to life again, and the three were confronted with the vile and depraved sight of—

*****

"Kenshin! Why did you stop!" Kamiya Kaoru towered over her husband like a queen addressing a lowly servant. "You've still got to cook us dinner! Yahiko and Tsubame are coming over, and I don't want to be late for them."

Battousai grit his teeth. If there was anything he hated more than a bossy man, it was a bossy woman. How in the world did he expect to survive these two days? "Sorry," he mumbled. "I wanted to take a little break."

Kaoru's voice instantly changed to that sickeningly sweet tone again. "You can take a break after you do all your chores."

He felt ill.

Why would Shinta marry a woman who couldn't do such mundane things like the laundry? Did Japan change so much that a wife who couldn't cook was held in high regard? At least Tomoe could cook, and she did it well. Had Battousai taught Shinta nothing?

"Fine. Sessha be inside soon." He looked up at her and plastered the biggest fake smile on his face, just as he'd seen his alter ego do many times. It hurt to smile. "De gozaru."

Luckily, the woman had already turned around before she could see her husband gag. "Thank you, Kenshin. Don't forget about dinner!"

"I won't, de goza... ru..." Battousai shuddered. Not only did he act henpecked, he was henpecked. To the point of being submissive to everyone's demands. Where was the raging hitokiri inside?

No wonder people think I'm odd, we're total opposites.

It wasn't that he hated Kaoru: that was far from it. A part of him loved her, and Battousai could feel that part protesting that he was deceiving her like this. But the other part, himself, could only stand a mild tolerance of her. Shinta kept trying to convince him that Kaoru wasn't very bad "once you get to know her".

I have two days to find out.

Battousai scrubbed the last obi in Kaoru's collection and set it up to dry. His knees screamed in protest to the quick movement, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to act submissive anymore. A woman doesn't respect a man who doesn't stand up for what he believes in. He guessed that Shinta might be happy with this arrangement, but Battousai certainly wasn't.

He'd show Kamiya Kaoru the fires of amber and what really lay underneath the serene exterior of Himura Kenshin.

Battousai smiled. She'd be very happy with it, he was sure. For one, he was not as passive a love maker as Shinta was, and Battousai knew what it was that women wanted. Tomoe wanted him to be gentle, and that he could do. If a gentle woman wanted gentle love, then a fiery one would want...

These two days didn't seem so long anymore.

As he hung up the last article of clothing, his stomach fell. He was supposed to cook dinner.

The problem was that he didn't know how.

*****

Hajime slapped her knee. "I told you Battousai wouldn't disappoint!" Hiko was holding her stomach with laughter and Soujirou was snickering a little bit too. "Woo! Remind me to keep an eye on him!"

The three laughed, and the sound carried all through Gehenna.

You know, did anyone else notice the color of his eyes? Hiko asked.

Soujirou tried to remember. "Son ámbar. ¿Por qué?"

This sent Hajime into another fit of laughter. "Shinta's eyes are lavender! I want to see the reaction on Kamiya's face when she sees the color of her husband's eyes changed!"

"Espere un minuto, asustará?" Soujirou voice was lined with concern.

Well, I don't think she'll be scared, but anything can happen. All we can hope is that Battousai knows what he is doing. She smiled. He'll just have to keep his eyes closed all the time!

Hajime stopped laughing. "What is it that Battousai is supposed to be doing, anyways? I didn't hear why he had to go to the mortal realm as well." Soujirou explained to her that Battousai was to talk to Takani Megumi and cheer her up. It was obvious that Megumi held Kenshin in high regard, so therefore she would listen to him.

At the end of the story, Hiko said, Why don't we check on her while we're here? I am especially curious about the soul merger.

"That's a good idea." Hajime snapped her fingers. The liquid shifted from the Kamiya dojo to the Oguni clinic. All of them fully expected that she wouldn't be there and would be at her house instead. Imagine their surprise when they saw the lady doctor was there, fixing someone's leg!

She didn't seem depressed at all. It appeared that the dreams that Soujirou gave her were helping. She had a smile on her face and was calm, although the owner of the broken bone was wincing in pain. "All you need is just a little bit of rest, and make sure you don't move this, okay?" Megumi slid a splint into the bandages carefully. "You should be fine."

Hiko narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She seems fine.

"No veo ni cosas malos."

Hajime crossed her arms and appeared deep in thought. "Yeah, I haven't been able to pick up any unhappiness either. It looks like she's perfectly balanced." Hajime said that she knew this young woman somewhat well, and that she had never seen her act this balanced before.

You've got to look underneath all that though. Hiko stopped and looked over her shoulder. Do you think that this was Zanza's plan for her?

Both the Fates nodded.

"He must have really loved her." Hajime said quietly. "He was going to give himself up for her."

I see that now. Hiko said. This was the best thing for her.

When the man limped out of the clinic, he waved his thanks to the lady doctor. She smiled back at him and waved until her was out of sight. Then she turned in her chair and gave her attention to rolling up the bandages. She started to hum.

"Now here's where you find the melonchaly. Everyone acts this way when they are alone."

The three Fates snapped back in shock when they realized the tune that she was singing was the one that Megumi-sensei always sung. This confirmed it, the souls were one and the same. Despite the depressing lyrics, she seemed happy.

"Well hell..." Hajime leaned back and shook her head in disbelief. "If I had almost gotten raped the night before I wouldn't be that calm."

Megumi-sensei keeps her in check and taught her to be patient. Hiko explained. She's almost another woman.

Soujirou interrupted their conversation and pointed at the water. "¡Venga a su dedo!" Hajime and Hiko looked at Megumi's fingers. On her left hand, they caught a faint outline of red. "¿Está sangrado?"

Hiko bent in for a closer look. No, it's not bleeding. It's the ring that Zanza gave her when he proposed to her.

"She's still gonna marry him?" Hajime voice was one of disbelief. It echoed all the other Fates thoughts perfectly. Even after all that mess, she was still considering the possibility of marriage? "What the hell's going on?"

I don't want to ask. As long as it's still on, there's still a chance of reconciliation.

"Quizás, ella olvidaba a eliminarlo."

"Yeah, she could just be forgetting to take it off." Hajime tried to find a logical explanation. "Or maybe—"

Or maybe she just loves him. Hajime and Soujirou looked wistfully at Hiko. I like to think that underneath all that, she really does still love him and wants to forgive him.

There was a silence. Hajime spoke, "Why would she though?"

Hiko shook her head. She may be younger than the Fate of the Present, but at times she felt a lot older. Love makes you do that, Hajime. It has the power to make sense of things that don't. And it's always right.

Soujirou nodded in agreement.

We've seen what we needed to know. Let's watch someone else.

Nobody moved, not wanting to break the spell of Hiko words. Love was certainly a funny thing.

"What about Sano-chan?"

Hajime snapped her fingers again, and the sound seemed foreign and out of place in the silence. They were still awestruck by the amazing power of love. The first sight that greeted them was the picture of Sagara Sanosuke, sprawled out and unconcious on the dirt.

*****

Fujita Tokio stepped out of the bath and grabbed two towels. The first she used to wrap up her hair, and the other one was to dry the rest of herself.

Besides the light inside the house, the outside was very dark. Judging by this, she had stayed far too long, and Eiji was certain to be very dirty. He probably wanted to get in. She didn't even remember falling asleep in the water, but who could blame her?

I had the most fantastic dream...

She couldn't explain it, but she was in a beautiful place that she could only find one word for. Heaven. Tokio came face to face with someone she knew was of great importance, as she couldn't see his face. The voice said "thank you", and thousands of beings in white with glittering wings clapped.

Tokio was so swept away by the multitude and the spectacular beauty of it all that she cried. The voice comforted her and said that everything was going to be fine now. She had never felt so safe and loved. It was then she woke up.

I could have sworn it was real.

A knock at the door alerted her attention. Thinking it was Eiji, she called, "Yes? What is it?"

"Is someone in there?" a deep voice asked.

Tokio's blood ran cold. That voice wasn't Hajime's or Eiji's. Whose could it be then? And who would have the gall to knock on a bathhouse door? Where was Eiji? "Who are you?" she demanded.

"I'm someone you know."

The familiarity of the voice chilled her, but she was still scared. What did this man want? She was sure she'd never heard him before in her life, yet he sounded like someone she did know. A feeling of deja vu washed over her. The man started knocking again. She didn't answer, and the knocking became more insistent.

It's a burglar. Or maybe a murderer. Someone who wants Hajime dead maybe? A kidnapper, using me as bait? Her mind raced with all the possibilities.

"Let me in now! It's an emergency!" the voice boomed. "Tokio! Let me in!"

She quickly scanned the batthouse. There was a single window on the other side that she could use to escape from. Without bothering to put on her slippers, she raced to this window. Before she could reach it, she heard a splintering of wood followed by a thud.

Oh God! He broke it!

Tokio's eyes shot over to the door. It was strangely intact. Outside, the man had fallen silent. For what seemed like an eternity, Tokio's breathing raged in her head. Then, finally, "You keep your filthy hands off my mother!"

"Eiji!" Ignoring the danger and letting maternal instinct take over, she raced to the door and flung it open. Eiji was standing there, unharmed, gripping a broken broomstick in both hands. He was in the standard rest stance for samurai.

He was breathing heavily. "Are you all right?"

Tokio immediately saw what happened. The man who was pounding on the door was lying facedown on the ground, some pieces of wood scattered about his head. He was not moving. "You... you..."

"I didn't kill him. I... I just saw him and I came over here as fast as I could." The boy was brave despite the fear it must have caused in him. He started shaking, the adrenaline in his nerves finally losing control and hysteria taking over. "I thought that he would..."

Tokio gave him a hug and said soothingly, "It's all right now... you saved us both... it's all right..." She looked again at the man. The aku on the back of his jacket was utterly gaudy. His hair was ridiculously spiked in all directions and he smelled dirty. Tokio thought quickly. She was certain she had never seen this man before, so he must have been a burglar. But how did he know her name?

And why did he sound so familiar?

She released herself from the boy and commanded him, "Stay here and do whatever it takes to keep him from waking up, but don't kill him. I'm going to get some handcuffs and we can wait until Hajime gets home. He knows what to do with people like this, right Eiji?"

"Right."