"Ugly!"
"Yahiko!" Kaoru screamed and began to chase her student around the dojo. She yelled again, "I mean Yahiko-CHAN!!!"
"Don't call my CHAN!" Yahiko called back.
At his place beside the washing tub, Kenshin laughed at the scene, which has almost, no it has, become a ritual on a daily basis. Kenshin welcomed the sounds of their bickering. Of Yahiko, the son he never had and the generation he had fought for, and Kaoru. He was so happy living with her and Yahiko. His little family along with Sanosuke, Megumi, Dr. Genazi and his two granddaughters. Most of them were orphans, just like him, all of them were alone but now everyone is happy. *Nice little family we have, Kenshin.* The Battousai half of Kenshin spoke in his mind. Kenshin cringed at the sound of his darker half, but sighed and Kenshin agreed with the Battousai and returned to the laundry, with the sounds of Kaoru and Yahiko in the distance and the sound Megumi walking up to the dojo.
"Ken-san, have you heard?" Megumi asked him, sitting down on the porch to the dojo next to Sanosuke.
"Heard what, Megumi?" Sanosuke asked.
"Something killed over fifty samurai last night. A woman who clams to have seen the fight said it was a black haired woman with golden eyes." Megumi explained what she had heard. "The killings were just outside Tokyo." But Kenshin hadn`t heard were they were taken place, busy talking to the Battousai to see if he knew anything about this 'golden eyed woman' Megumi spoke of.
"A woman kill over fifty samurai? You`ve got to be kidding!"
Megumi shook her head. "They say the woman who killed them was Sarkia."
"Sarkia the Man Hunter?" Sanosuke asked.
"No, the Man Hunter never killed. The witness says that the last man to die said the words 'the hunter hunts no long, but slays her prey' or something to that affect. The poor woman was traumatized, she was twitching like crazy and begged to be helped. She fears Sarkia will come after her next, because she seen and lived to tell. The stories coming from the west say that Sarkia may have killed a thousand men, but only one of the men could tell it was her, the others he had only told about her. But, she didn`t because the one person she cared about stepped in her way."
****Lunch time at the Akabeko****
Kenshin and his family sat in their normal spots, behind Kenshin though, were the spot was normally empty, a black haired woman sat eating everything she could get her hands on. It was like she hadn`t eaten in days, and she must of been from out of town, no one ever sat behind Kenshin anymore, not with his protective instincts screaming a warning at even the slightest threat. Right now though, Kenshin was asleep. He was still sitting straight up, his head bowed and his hands still curled around his cup of tea. His hair hid most of his face but one might could tell he had nodded off by the way he breathed. It was a miracle he didn't fall over. The black haired woman absentmindedly tossed a empty boll over her back, which hit Kenshin in the back of his head. Kenshin woke up, and Yahiko started to yell at the woman about hitting Kenshin, but the woman just looked up at Yahiko, chop sticks halfway to her mouth. "Ara?" It was evident the woman`s Japanese was poor, because she didn`t seem to understand everything Yahiko was yelling at her, since he was yelling in Japanese. She notice the bump on Kenshin`s head and looked very guilty when she realised she`d done it. "O genki desu ka, Senshi-san?" She asked, noticing the sword at Kenshin`s side.
"Watashi desu, doomo arigatoo." Kenshin replied, rubbing his head where her boll had hit.
"Watashi desu gomen nasei." She spoke quietly, her dark green eyes clearly showing her slight confusion with Kenshin`s Japanese words.
"We speak English." Sanosuke said bluntly, the woman smiled.
"I thought you only spoke Japanese, that I did." She said with a nod. She then turned to Kenshin again, speaking in Japanese once more. "Watashi desu Gozaimasu Kallan- Kaya Starlight. Anata desu?"
Kenshin smiled at her, her English tongue favored to the Japanese she spoke. "Watashi desu Himura Kenshin." He replied, her name striking up old memories of his days as the Battousai. Wait, she looks like that Sarkia woman who`s storys are spreading like wild fire. What is the meaning of this? He asked his darker half, who in the back of his mind was smiling at the name and the confusion it brought Kenshin.
*You used to train with her, before I came along, you thought of the name only little, though. Its been twelve long years since you`ve seen her. I`ve always wondered why you keep that door locked.* The Battousai spoke, pretending not to hear Kenshin asking about Sarkia.
"Watashi desu Kamiya Kaoru." Kaoru told her next, followed by the others.
"Watashi desu Myojin Yahiko." Yahiko beamed happily.
"Watashi desu Sagara Sanosuke." The man spoke flatly, not even looking at her.
"Watashi desu Takani Megumi." The blue haired woman smiled at the black haired woman at the other table.
"Why do you have two names?" Yahiko asked the other woman suddenly.
"One, child, is my real name, the other is the one I go by." The woman told him softly.
"Which is which?" Yahiko prodded, he wanted to find out more about her, she seemed nice, but then again, Kenshin was nice and he had a darker half. He wanted to make sure she didn`t have one, since she was acting like Kenshin.
"I go by Gozaimasu Kallan, though as you can tell, half of its Japanese."
"What does Gozaimasu Kallan mean?"
"Gozaimasu is actually the last part of the name, and I`m sure you already know it means Morning. Kal is short for Kaljustis, a art of sword fighting my clan created. Lan is short for my rank in the clan, Lansorito. (AN: Kaljustis and Lansorito are not really words to you guys, but they are real things in my clan, the sword style and the title do not belong to be, they belong to the Elders of my clan. I do, however, own Starlight and the name of Kallan, I also carry my Kaljustis sword and my title with pride, though I stink when it comes to saying what little Japanese I know. Anyone got a Japanese word charts they can send me to use in the story later on?) I was the first to master the art of Kaljustis so they called me Kal, I was also the first to move into the rank of Lansorito where they taught me Kaljustis."
"You think you could teach me Kaljustis?" Yahiko asked, this time not because he wanted to know about her or if she had a darker half, but because it was a art of sword fighting.
Kaoru saw the woman cringe when Yahiko had asked, everyone but Yahiko had noticed it. "Is something the matter, miss?" Kenshin asked, she was seemed to be upset, he could see it in her eyes.
"Watashi desu kowai watashi-"
"Cannot do that?" Sanosuke asked, cutting her off.
"Hai, I cannot." She licked her lower lip, licking the small amount of blood away from a small hole that had been made sometime last night, before she woke up in the tree she called bed while she rested.
"Why?" Kaoru asked.
"The Kaljustis style is a style of death." The woman whispered, standing up and placing a thousand yen on her table. She started to walk, but stopped for just a moment when she was just behind Kaoru. "All who have mastered it, have become Man Hunters, and will become Man Slayers as well." The words were murmured to Kaoru just before the other woman walked out of the Akabeko.
One thought lay on Kaoru`s mind. "How can Man Hunters turn into Man Slayers just by learning a style of death?" She spoke her thought.
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"Yahiko!" Kaoru screamed and began to chase her student around the dojo. She yelled again, "I mean Yahiko-CHAN!!!"
"Don't call my CHAN!" Yahiko called back.
At his place beside the washing tub, Kenshin laughed at the scene, which has almost, no it has, become a ritual on a daily basis. Kenshin welcomed the sounds of their bickering. Of Yahiko, the son he never had and the generation he had fought for, and Kaoru. He was so happy living with her and Yahiko. His little family along with Sanosuke, Megumi, Dr. Genazi and his two granddaughters. Most of them were orphans, just like him, all of them were alone but now everyone is happy. *Nice little family we have, Kenshin.* The Battousai half of Kenshin spoke in his mind. Kenshin cringed at the sound of his darker half, but sighed and Kenshin agreed with the Battousai and returned to the laundry, with the sounds of Kaoru and Yahiko in the distance and the sound Megumi walking up to the dojo.
"Ken-san, have you heard?" Megumi asked him, sitting down on the porch to the dojo next to Sanosuke.
"Heard what, Megumi?" Sanosuke asked.
"Something killed over fifty samurai last night. A woman who clams to have seen the fight said it was a black haired woman with golden eyes." Megumi explained what she had heard. "The killings were just outside Tokyo." But Kenshin hadn`t heard were they were taken place, busy talking to the Battousai to see if he knew anything about this 'golden eyed woman' Megumi spoke of.
"A woman kill over fifty samurai? You`ve got to be kidding!"
Megumi shook her head. "They say the woman who killed them was Sarkia."
"Sarkia the Man Hunter?" Sanosuke asked.
"No, the Man Hunter never killed. The witness says that the last man to die said the words 'the hunter hunts no long, but slays her prey' or something to that affect. The poor woman was traumatized, she was twitching like crazy and begged to be helped. She fears Sarkia will come after her next, because she seen and lived to tell. The stories coming from the west say that Sarkia may have killed a thousand men, but only one of the men could tell it was her, the others he had only told about her. But, she didn`t because the one person she cared about stepped in her way."
****Lunch time at the Akabeko****
Kenshin and his family sat in their normal spots, behind Kenshin though, were the spot was normally empty, a black haired woman sat eating everything she could get her hands on. It was like she hadn`t eaten in days, and she must of been from out of town, no one ever sat behind Kenshin anymore, not with his protective instincts screaming a warning at even the slightest threat. Right now though, Kenshin was asleep. He was still sitting straight up, his head bowed and his hands still curled around his cup of tea. His hair hid most of his face but one might could tell he had nodded off by the way he breathed. It was a miracle he didn't fall over. The black haired woman absentmindedly tossed a empty boll over her back, which hit Kenshin in the back of his head. Kenshin woke up, and Yahiko started to yell at the woman about hitting Kenshin, but the woman just looked up at Yahiko, chop sticks halfway to her mouth. "Ara?" It was evident the woman`s Japanese was poor, because she didn`t seem to understand everything Yahiko was yelling at her, since he was yelling in Japanese. She notice the bump on Kenshin`s head and looked very guilty when she realised she`d done it. "O genki desu ka, Senshi-san?" She asked, noticing the sword at Kenshin`s side.
"Watashi desu, doomo arigatoo." Kenshin replied, rubbing his head where her boll had hit.
"Watashi desu gomen nasei." She spoke quietly, her dark green eyes clearly showing her slight confusion with Kenshin`s Japanese words.
"We speak English." Sanosuke said bluntly, the woman smiled.
"I thought you only spoke Japanese, that I did." She said with a nod. She then turned to Kenshin again, speaking in Japanese once more. "Watashi desu Gozaimasu Kallan- Kaya Starlight. Anata desu?"
Kenshin smiled at her, her English tongue favored to the Japanese she spoke. "Watashi desu Himura Kenshin." He replied, her name striking up old memories of his days as the Battousai. Wait, she looks like that Sarkia woman who`s storys are spreading like wild fire. What is the meaning of this? He asked his darker half, who in the back of his mind was smiling at the name and the confusion it brought Kenshin.
*You used to train with her, before I came along, you thought of the name only little, though. Its been twelve long years since you`ve seen her. I`ve always wondered why you keep that door locked.* The Battousai spoke, pretending not to hear Kenshin asking about Sarkia.
"Watashi desu Kamiya Kaoru." Kaoru told her next, followed by the others.
"Watashi desu Myojin Yahiko." Yahiko beamed happily.
"Watashi desu Sagara Sanosuke." The man spoke flatly, not even looking at her.
"Watashi desu Takani Megumi." The blue haired woman smiled at the black haired woman at the other table.
"Why do you have two names?" Yahiko asked the other woman suddenly.
"One, child, is my real name, the other is the one I go by." The woman told him softly.
"Which is which?" Yahiko prodded, he wanted to find out more about her, she seemed nice, but then again, Kenshin was nice and he had a darker half. He wanted to make sure she didn`t have one, since she was acting like Kenshin.
"I go by Gozaimasu Kallan, though as you can tell, half of its Japanese."
"What does Gozaimasu Kallan mean?"
"Gozaimasu is actually the last part of the name, and I`m sure you already know it means Morning. Kal is short for Kaljustis, a art of sword fighting my clan created. Lan is short for my rank in the clan, Lansorito. (AN: Kaljustis and Lansorito are not really words to you guys, but they are real things in my clan, the sword style and the title do not belong to be, they belong to the Elders of my clan. I do, however, own Starlight and the name of Kallan, I also carry my Kaljustis sword and my title with pride, though I stink when it comes to saying what little Japanese I know. Anyone got a Japanese word charts they can send me to use in the story later on?) I was the first to master the art of Kaljustis so they called me Kal, I was also the first to move into the rank of Lansorito where they taught me Kaljustis."
"You think you could teach me Kaljustis?" Yahiko asked, this time not because he wanted to know about her or if she had a darker half, but because it was a art of sword fighting.
Kaoru saw the woman cringe when Yahiko had asked, everyone but Yahiko had noticed it. "Is something the matter, miss?" Kenshin asked, she was seemed to be upset, he could see it in her eyes.
"Watashi desu kowai watashi-"
"Cannot do that?" Sanosuke asked, cutting her off.
"Hai, I cannot." She licked her lower lip, licking the small amount of blood away from a small hole that had been made sometime last night, before she woke up in the tree she called bed while she rested.
"Why?" Kaoru asked.
"The Kaljustis style is a style of death." The woman whispered, standing up and placing a thousand yen on her table. She started to walk, but stopped for just a moment when she was just behind Kaoru. "All who have mastered it, have become Man Hunters, and will become Man Slayers as well." The words were murmured to Kaoru just before the other woman walked out of the Akabeko.
One thought lay on Kaoru`s mind. "How can Man Hunters turn into Man Slayers just by learning a style of death?" She spoke her thought.
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