Act 7: Trouble in Tokyo- Part Two
Disclaimer: At last check, hell is still nice and toasty and pigs aren't flying. Guess I still don't own Rurouni Kenshin.
Notes: *bangs her head on the computer desk a time or two* I can't believe
myself. This is a comedy, and chapter 6 just turned out so SERIOUS. Blarg.
By the way, in chapter 6, I imagine that when Shinta was yelling Kenji's
name, he probably was using that totally cool yell he has. You know the
yell I'm talking about, right? The slightly elongated, high-volume shout?
Yeah, that ^o^.
Still no idea what the hell brushed up my spine
the other night. I intend to drag my imoutosan onto the Ouija board with
me sometime soon and investigate. J.Liha-san, you aren't the only person
who suggested it being the very two ghosts I'm writing about. =p
We'll just have to see if anything happens while I'm working on THIS chapter!
Megumi yawned and opened her eyes, staring blankly
at the ceiling. She had yet to return to Aizu, and, in all honesty, she
didn't feel terribly inclined to yet. She, like Yahiko, could only wonder
at whatever had happened to Kenji to suddenly cause his depression to vanish,
but the redhead was doing much better.
A knock at the door caught the lady doctor's attention.
"Ne, Megumi-san, breakfast is ready!" Kenji said through the door.
"I'll be right there." Megumi yawned back, stretching
and getting up.
Meanwhile, two ghosts surveyed the food that Tsubame
had carefully prepared.
"I know the perfect way to let them know we're here."
Kaoru grinned, idly... ur... adding... to the soup. Shinta sweatdropped
and watched as the food, which had likely tasted quite good before, was
reduced instead to something Kaoru would have cooked.
"Oro..."
"I'm sure Yahiko at least will catch the hint."
Kaoru smiled, watching as the young man in question entered the kitchen
with Tsubame and helped carry the meal out to the others. Yahiko fidgeted
and looked around, wondering why the kitchen felt crowded.
"Yahiko-kun, is something wrong?" Tsubame looked
over.
"Nah." Yahiko shook his head and glanced around
again. "It just feels like we're being watched."
The two ghosts watched from the kitchen as everyone
sat down to breakfast and took their first bites.
Megumi turned an interesting shade of green, Tsubame
nearly choked, Yahiko outright spat out his mouthful, and Kenji looked
at them all oddly.
"This... is..." Megumi squeaked, quickly gulping
down some tea to try and wash the taste from her mouth.
"It was fine when I checked it before setting the
table..." Tsubame blushed, embarrassed.
"Geez, it's as bad as Kaoru's cooking!" Yahiko gagged.
Kenji sweatdropped and took another bite of his
meal. The other three stared at the redhead in open-mouthed astonishment.
"I didn't know you were into self-torture, Kenji-"
Yahiko sweatdropped.
"Ano... Yahiko-san..." Kenji indicated the food.
"It tastes fine to me."
Everyone else fell over at the declaration.
"I can't believe it!" Yahiko sat back up. "Only
Kenshin could stomach something like this and say it was fine!"
"Well, I AM his son." Kenji shot a violet glare
at Yahiko.
Kaoru snickered at the scene, in spite of the jabs
at her cooking.
A few hours later, Yahiko and Kenji were squaring
off in the dojo, while Tsubame was working at the Akabeko and Megumi was
visiting the clinic.
"I still can't figure out how the heck you learned
Ryu Tsui Sen." Yahiko grumbled while drilling Kenji in Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu.
"I mean, I kinda got the hang of it after having seen a lot of Kenshin's
battles, but even then... And Hiko told me he wasn't going to teach anybody
else Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. You can't have seen it performed often enough
to have learned the move like I did. And I know I didn't show you."
Kenji grinned at Yahiko's obvious frustration with
the mystery. "I told you already that you wouldn't believe me."
Yahiko grunted in response and told Kenji to continue
with his drills while he got started on the day's chores. Kenji continued
his practice for a few moments after Yahiko had left the room, before looking
straight at one corner of the room.
"Otousan, I see you." The redhead stated flatly.
"Oro!" Shinta fell over, surprised that not only
had Kenji sensed him, but he'd spotted him, too.
"And I know you and Okaasan were watching at breakfast."
Kenji continued with a crafty grin. "Okaasan messed with Tsubame-san's
cooking, didn't she?"
Shinta sweatdropped. He had figured it was likely
that Kenji would be aware of his presence, but he certainly didn't expect
to be spotted.
Kenji grinned. "I can usually tell when Okaasan
is nearby, but I can't see her very easily. But since that fight when I
met Mieko-chan, I've been able to see you, Otousan." Actually, it had been
rather weird and disconcerting to be walking around the dojo or something,
and see his dead father watching him. He had quickly figured out that Yahiko
and the others weren't similarly able to see the spirit. "I haven't told
anybody though. I doubt they'd believe me."
Shinta sweatdropped. Maybe Kenji's heightened ability
to detect his father's spirit was due in part to the rurouni temporarily
possessing his son to help him fight off those street thugs.
Meanwhile, Yahiko was scrubbing the floors, still
trying to figure out where and how Kenji had picked up the one Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryuu technique. Kaoru, meanwhile, was watching her student, a wicked grin
on her face.
"Yahiko-chan!" She called out, watching with a certain
smug satisfaction at the cringe and reaction.
"DON'T CALL ME 'CHAN', BU-" Yahiko shouted, freezing
mid-insult as the color drained from his face. He spun around, nearly falling
on his cute little bum in the process. "Kaoru-?! But it can't be... am
I hearing things??"
"Baka! And here I thought you'd outgrown calling
me ugly!" Kaoru focused and thwacked Yahiko over the head. She had to work
at not busting up laughing as Yahiko's eyes widened and he faceplanted
from the thwack. He quickly rebounded and looked around, trying to figure
out where the attack had come from. He was relatively certain he had simply
just lost it.
Yahiko slowly resumed his chore, color gradually
returning to his face. "I'm just imagining things. After all, Kaoru hasn't
even been gone two months. I'm just imagining things..." He chanted in
time to his scrubbing.
You keep telling yourself that, Yahiko. Kaoru
thought to herself as she watched, beaming with pride. In spite of all
their bickering, Yahiko had learned well, and she was proud of HER 'baka
desshi'. Kenji would certainly excel under Yahiko's training.
Megumi thought she head voices from the training
hall, and approached the closed door. She had just returned from town,
and wondered who Kenji was talking to. She gasped quietly as she overheard
part of the conversation. It sounded like... Kenji was talking to Kenshin?!
Now THAT didn't add up. Megumi continued to listen in on the impossible
father-son conversation.
Kenji glanced toward the door, as did Shinta. "Megumi-san?"
Kenji called out.
The door slid slowly open and a pale-faced Megumi
peered inside sheepishly, almost fainting at the sight of Kenji, sakabatou
propped up against one shoulder, and a transparent Kenshin sitting nearby,
both apparently involved in some sort of conversation.
"K-k-k-" She stammered. Shinta smiled and waved
sheepishly at the doctor.
"Ohayo, Megumi-dono." The older redhead grinned,
wondering if Megumi was going to faint. She certainly looked about ready
to.
Kenji moved to the doctor's side and offered a shoulder
to lean on, since it was apparent to him that her own legs weren't up to
the task of holding her up at the moment.
"How-?" Megumi managed to squeak out.
"Ano.. Megumi-san..." Kenji sweatdropped. "Do you
believe in ghosts?" When Megumi failed to form an intelligible answer,
he continued. "Because... well... Otousan and Okaasan's have been hanging
around for the past few days."
Shinta smiled and nodded.
"I..." Megumi started to say, still gaping at the
rurouni spirit, sitting there grinning that goofy smile at her. Before
she could finish, the shock of the discovery got to her and she fell limp
to the floor.
"Oro..." Shinta sweatdropped. "Ano... I guess that
was rather sudden, that it was."
Kenji nodded slightly in agreement, "Otousan, I'll
go take Megumi-san to her room, then I better get back to training before
Yahiko-kun catches me slacking off."
Shinta nodded and was about to leave the room when
a loud crash, followed by shouts of "BAKA!" and "BUSU!" reverberated throughout
the dojo.
"Ororororo..." Shinta's eyes widened slightly. "I
think Yahiko just found Kaoru-dono..."
Kenji's eyes widened as well and he nodded silent
agreement.
Author's notes: Evil me! A cliffhanger of sorts! Well, nothing ghostly occurred while I was writing this, but I do feel like I'm being watched. But that just might the big K'nex dragon thingie I built today to kill time. Or not. *shrugs* Don't you hate it when you just KNOW something's watching you? It's so incredibly frustrating, that it is *goofy grin*. Anyways, I think our ghosties are going to hang around the dojo and annoy everyone there for another chapter or two before we head back to Kyoto. I imagine the rest of the Kenji-gumi's reaction to the ghosts ought to be pretty fun. And yes, Kenji-gumi. He's the central figure of the new grouping at the dojo, which currently includes himself, Yahiko, Tsubame, Megumi, and Mieko-chan (even though she didn't appear in this chapter). 'Sides, they can't really be the Kenshin-gumi anymore, given that Kenshin's very much dead. Until next time, minna-san! Reviews are appreciated!