Twisted Paradise
Act 17: Run-In on the Road

Disclaimer: Well, since my birthday has long since come and gone, and I didn't get a card from Watsuki-sensei giving me the rights to Kenshin, I'd have to say that I still don't own that redhead or his cohorts. Rats.

Notes: Wheehee! Writing to cure my own SDS today!... And geez, I haven't even watched Seissouhen since like, March 2002. But I did just get the soundtrack, and man, even the music just oozes with angsty stuff. Actually, a lot of my depressiveness today is due to my boyfriend having to head back to New York after three weeks of him being out here in California ;_; Once I got back from the airport, I popped in my Seissouhen soundtrack, and that's just worked wonders on my mood, note sarcasm. So I sat down, flushed out the worst of my current angst with the poem With All Your Heart, and now I'm gonna do something productive de gozaru yo! Helps I've also had a serious overdose of RK this past week ^_~ Wanted the boyfriend in question to see some of the series, and in like, a week, we watched the 62 episodes that are the first season and the Kyoto arc. So... yes, on with the fic!

The day had dawned cool and cloudy, with the promise of rain. Four people were walking the forest path, two of them hoping to find cover before the storm broke, and the other two beyond the reach of mere weather conditions.
"Hurry up, Seta-kun! Unless you want to be stuck walking in the rain!" A young woman, clad in dark blue hakama and white kimono exclaimed over her shoulder to her traveling companion.
"Hai, hai, Ayame-san! But I don't think we're going to beat the rain." Soujiro smiled and caught up with his female companion.
"We won't if you don't get moving!" Ayame shot back with a grin.

"It looks like it's going to rain, that it does." Shinta squinted at the clouds overhead. Kaoru nodded agreement, studying the foliage lining the path.
"Ne, Shinta, when we were in Tokyo last, did you see Ayame-chan anywhere? Suzume-chan should be in Aizu still where Megumi had set up her clinic, but..." Kaoru inquired distractedly.
"Oro?" Shinta glanced at his wife. "No, I didn't see her anywhere, come to think of it. Why?"
"About a year ago she left, wanting to find out for herself what her Ken-niichan saw in traveling." Kaoru looked over at the rurouni. "I wonder how she's doing right now?"
The pair continued in thoughtful silence until a pair of voices raised in laughter caught their attention.
"Seta-kun! I TOLD you to watch out for that tree root! Now you've got mud all over yourself, baka!" A female voice nearby was saying between peals of laughter.
"Oro-?" Shinta glanced in the direction of the sound.
"That sounded like-!" Kaoru also looked in that direction.
"I suppose I did, didn't I? I got careless while trying to outrun the rain, Ayame-san."
"Hey! Don't peg your clumsiness on me!" Ayame retorted. "For a guy who supposedly nearly beat Ken-niichan, you're such a klutz, Seta-kun!" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Come to think of it, Ken-niichan was pretty clumsy sometimes, too."
The two ghosts exchanged boggled looks before heading for the source of the sound.
The scene that greeted them was bizarre, to say the least. Ayame, all grown, was kneeling next to a rather large mud puddle, and a young man was sitting in the middle of it, looking suitably abashed, his face and clothing caked with the wet dirt.
"Ayame-chan and-!" Kaoru gasped.
"-And Soujiro?!" Shinta was floored.
The young man's eyes narrowed suddenly and his smile vanished.
"Ayame-san, we're being watched." He announced, all mirth gone from his tone.
"Watched? By who?" Ayame glanced around, not seeing anything, but reaching for the bokken she was carrying.
"I'm not sure." Soujiro stood up, looking around, one hand on the hilt of the sword he was carrying. While he was trying to do the serious bishounen-looking-around-for-danger thing, the mud covering his face and frontside was really ruining the effect.
"Shinta, should we show ourselves?" Kaoru whispered to the redhead.
"Let's wait a bit first." Shinta responded quietly.
So they waited. Birds chirped, the sun ducked behind a cloud, and the rain finally hit.
"Ne, Seta-kun, even if we are being watched, let's just go." Ayame muttered. "Before we both get completely soaked!"
"Uh... hai." Soujiro gave the area one more confused look before he followed after Ayame, who had ducked out of the rain as best she could underneath a large tree. The two ghosts followed at a discreet distance and watched the unlikely pair get a fire going.
"Who would have thought those two would ever hook up?" Kaoru shook her head in confusion. She'd heard the story from Sano about the so-called Tenken and his psychotic episode. "Do you think Ayame-chan is safe with him?"
Shinta didn't respond immediately, his gaze locked onto the somewhat more matured countenance of the boy who had nearly kicked his cute little rurouni butt way back in the Kyoto arc. Soujiro still looked 'as wussy as he did', though his hair, while still kept neat, had been allowed to grow longer over the years. Actually, the redhead was surprised that Soujiro was still keeping his hair groomed, knowing from experience that it was a near-impossible task to do while traveling.
"I think so." Shinta finally responded when he noticed Kaoru's increasing annoyance at his lack of a response. "Soujiro wasn't really a bad person. Just badly misguided."
Kaoru nodded slightly. Even more than a decade later, Soujiro didn't look particularly threatening, she found it hard to believe that he was one of the best swordsmen in Japan. But then again, she had to remind herself, neither did Kenshin when she'd first met him.
"Mou, Seta-kun, how do you plan to get all that mud off yourself?" Ayame surveyed the Tenken with a critical eye.
"Shouldn't it just flake off once it dries?" Soujiro sweatdropped at the critique.
"... Yes." Ayame looked annoyed. "And it'll probably stain your clothing beyond belief."
Soujiro found himself again wishing he had some amazingly adorable little all-purpose noise like Himura-san's 'oro'. Instead, he changed the subject.
"Ayame-san, somebody's still watching us. Isn't that a bit more important than the state of my clothing?" He glanced around again, trying to peg down the location and intent of whomever was watching them.
Ayame glances at their surroundings thoughtfully for a moment. "I don't think whoever's there means any harm, Seta-kun."
The mud-clad swordsman looked at her in surprise. "How do you know that?"
"It doesn't feel like there's any danger." Ayame responded after a thoughtful moment of silence. Surprising the muddied Soujiro, she stood up by the little fire. "Ne, whoever's out there, why don't you show yourself? You've got to be soaked and freezing hiding in the bushes!"
Shinta responded almost out of reflex, while Kaoru gawked in surprise.
"I'm all right, Ayame-chan. Not even cold." The redhead grinned before he got clocked with a bokken.
"Baka!" Kaoru fumed, earning surprised expressions from Soujiro and Ayame, who both heard the commotion clearly.
"Oro!"
Ayame was staring in shocked surprise in the direction the sound had come from. "Ken-niichan-?"
"What happened to 'Let's wait a bit first'?!"
"Kaoru-dono, calm down, that you should-!"
"I am calm!"
"Oro!"
Soujiro frowned, trying to figure out where the hell Himura-san and whoever else it was were. The voices sounded almost right on top of their tiny camp. Ayame looked suitably confused/upset, too.
"Himura-san-?" Soujiro inquired in confusion.
The two ghosts contemplated their situation (once Kaoru let the poor rurouni get back up). Ayame looked about ready to burst into tears, having not seen her redheaded niichan in like, forever, and Soujiro just looked... confused. Totally and completely lost. Boggled, weirded out, et cetera you get the point.
"Way to go, Shinta." Kaoru eyed the redhead. "You blew our cover, you get to explain it."
"Oro..." Shinta sweatdropped.
Much to Soujiro and Ayame's surprise, the embarrassed redhead came out of the bushes with a comical lump on his head, presumably from a bokken being introduced to his skull.
"Himura-san?" Soujiro hadn't expected to see the Battousai ever again. But then, he also wasn't expecting the ecstatic squeal from behind him, or to suddenly be knocked over by Ayame, who was moving at a rate of speed that would put his own to absolute shame.
"Ken-niichan!!" Ayame squealed, throwing herself at the poor redhead, who barely had time to catch her. "You came back!"
Kaoru peeked out of the bushes as well and decided to come out of hiding as well. Partly out of curiosity about Soujiro. She'd heard plenty about the kid, but had never actually met him.
"Oro-! Ayame-chan, your Ken-niichan needs air." Shinta squeaked between the young woman's hugs.
Meanwhile, Soujiro picked himself up out of the mud for the second time that day. Himura and the woman with him appeared real enough, but something just didn't feel quite right. He couldn't pin down what, exactly, so he just smiled while Ayame finished greeting the pair.
The group gathered around the makeshift campfire to catch up on things, take care of introductions, and dry out. Kaoru took particular delight in pestering Soujiro about his relationship with Ayame.
"So... just how did you two meet?" Kaoru inquired.
Ayame laughed, apparently glad the question had come up. "I was in Aizu visiting Megumi-san and Suzume, and Seta-kun came wandering in to get treatment for a cut on his neck."
"You were injured?" The redhead turned a questioning look on the younger swordsman, who looked positively embarrassed. "What have you been doing all this time?"
"Mostly wandering, Himura-san" Soujiro responded with an embarrassed grin.
"Then how did you get so badly hurt you sought help-?" Shinta eyed the embarrassed Soujiro in confusion. Before he could reply, Ayame beat him to the punch.
"Seta-kun wasn't hurt badly, but it was an injury that merited some treatment." She grinned. "He was fishing at a nearby river and messed up pretty badly!"
The two ghosts exchanged confused glances and awaited an explanation.
"Ano..." Soujiro looked profoundly embarrassed. "The hook went the wrong way and the only thing I caught that day was myself." He admitted sheepishly.
Shinta sweatdropped and tried to picture the scene in his mind. Soujiro, smiling, preparing to cast a fishing line, and somehow bungling it up so badly that he injured himself in the process. And I thought I had lousy luck fishing. The redhead thought while sweatdropping.
"When he introduced himself to Megumi-san, she must have recognized Seta-kun's name, because she froze and called Suzume to take care of him instead." Ayame recounted. "He said he was traveling, and since I was also traveling alone at the time, I asked where he was headed, and if he minded a little company."
"It wasn't until later in the day that we found out we both knew you, Himura-san, and she wouldn't leave me alone after that." Soujiro smiled sheepishly, earning a whack across the head from Ayame.
"You wouldn't leave me alone about Ken-niichan either, Seta-kun!" She scolded.
"So... where were you headed?" Kaoru finally entered the conversation.
"Nowhere in particular." Soujiro replied after a thoughtful moment. "I was thinking of visiting Tokyo, but Ayame-san told me that Himura-san wasn't there anymore, so we put it off for awhile."
"What about you guys?" Ayame eyed Kaoru suspiciously. "You were really sick when I left, Kaoru-neesan."
The two ghosts exchanged brief glances, wondering if they'd been found out, before Kaoru responded.
"I'm all better now, Ayame-chan. Your Ken-niichan and I were headed back for Tokyo when we found you two." Kaoru grinned. "And speaking of Tokyo, Kenji-chan's back."
Ayame's face lit up at mention of the younger redhead. "Really? That's great! I really missed the little guy!"
Soujiro looked rather lost in the conversation until Ayame briefly reminded him that Kenji-chan was Ken-niichan and Kaoru-neesan's child, and that she'd told him all about the chibi redhead already and how much she'd enjoyed babysitting him.
The conversation continued long after the rain had stopped, before Ayame had yawned and declared she was going to sleep.
"Ne, Himura-san." Soujiro spoke softly so as not to rouse the softly snoring young woman who had found him a handy leaning post. "Thank you."
Kaoru had also gotten drowsy, and was leaning on her rurouni, though not asleep. "What?"
The redhead also looked suitably lost. "For what-?"
"For making me see reality back then." Soujiro frowned slightly, recalling his battle against the Battousai. "If not for that, I wouldn't have found my answer." He glanced down at Ayame's sleeping face and smiled again.
Kaoru sat up and regarded the pair. If Soujiro had indeed been a very dangerous swordsman in his teens, you'd hardly know it looking at him after years of travel. "You two are more than just traveling companions, aren't you?" She asked. "I saw the way you and Ayame-chan were looking at each other all evening."
"We haven't done anything indecent, Kaoru-san!" Soujiro's eyes widened in surprised as he completely missed what she was getting at. He then got to experience a brief moment in the life of one Himura Kenshin, as a vein stood out on Kaoru's forehead and she introduced his head to her bokken, with a whispered war cry of "Hentai!" The poor guy cringed but didn't fall over, since he didn't want to disturb Ayame.
"Ano, Kaoru-dono, was that really called for?" Shinta sweatdropped.
"It's all right, Himura-san." Soujiro grinned, despite the comedic lump on his head. "But yes, Kaoru-san. Ayame-san and I are very good friends now, because of her I've learned a lot more than I did under Shishio-san."
Soujiro then looked very seriously at the two ghosts. "And speaking of Shishio-san, you two haven't seen him, by any chance?"
"Isn't he dead?" Kaoru looked confused. Soujiro eyed the pair in front of him with a slightly knowing grin.
"Aren't the two of you?" He asked, smiling innocently.
The two ghosts fell over, Shinta with an "Oro!"
"You knew all along?!" Shinta stared at the younger swordsman, who smiled.
"Not all along, Himura-san, but when Ayame-san asked about Kaoru-san's illness." Soujiro didn't seem too terribly fazed by the prospect of chatting socially with a pair of dead people. "You two should probably be going, shouldn't you? I'm certain ghosts shouldn't hang around for too long."
The two ghosts nodded to each other slightly. Shinta stood up and eyed the sleeping Ayame. "Take good care of her, Soujiro." He told the younger swordsman softly. "When she finds out, she'll need comfort."
"And Yahiko's absolutely useless in the that department!" Kaoru added. "So you'd better take good care of her, Seta Soujiro, or you'll never hear the end of it!"
Soujiro sweatdropped and raised his hands in a placating manner. "Hai, hai, Himura-san, Kaoru-san. I promise to take very good care of Ayame-san!" He smiled softly. "Even if you hadn't told me to, I would."
The two ghosts quietly bid Soujiro farewell and disappeared into the night.
Or, rather, they would have, except that no sooner had they left the makeshift camp, a silky female voice interrupted them.
"The boy hasn't done too bad for himself after all this time, has he?"
Shinta spun around so fast he nearly fell over. Kaoru turned to see what had startled the rurouni so bad.
A woman with dark hair and wearing an almost indecent off the shoulder kimono stood on the path, eyeing the two ghosts.
"Y-Yumi-dono-?!" Shinta stared. Of all the dead people he'd expected to see, Shishio's woman was about as far from the top of that list as possible. Kaoru also eyed the woman warily. She recalled Kamatari mentioning Yumi, when the crossdresser was awaiting arrest after she and Misao had beaten him. So what was Shishio's right-hand woman doing there?
"I'm flattered you still remember me, Himura." Yumi smiled, obviously knowing something.
"And what the heck are you doing here?" Kaoru demanded, ready to break out some leet Matrix-style bokken whacking if necessary. She doubted it would be required however- the woman was unarmed, and it was probably near impossible to maneuver beyond walking or running without that outfit falling open.
"Yumi-dono, if you're here, that would mean Shishio is also around?" Shinta's tone had dropped several degrees.
"No, not here." Yumi eyed the redhead. "He sent me to act as a guide for you once again."
"Guide-?" Shinta's eyes narrowed.
"Oh, don't get so worked up, Himura." Yumi waved a finger at the former hitokiri. "Shishio-sama sent me to extend an invitation to you, and your wife if she wants to come. He would like to speak with you about some things."
Shinta was know thoroughly confused, but Kaoru spared him having to reply immediately.
"What's that guy want with Shinta? Does he still want to fight, even though he's been beaten and is dead?" The raccoon girl glowered at Yumi.
"Oh, Shishio-sama always enjoys fighting, but no, he's been over that for awhile now." Yumi leaned over to the pair and whispered conspiratorially. "Actually, I think Shishio-sama's gotten a little more insane since then, but it's a good sort of madness."
"Oro-?"
"What-?"
Yumi smiled again and turned to leave, beckoning the pair. "Are you coming? Shishio-sama would most like to speak with you, Himura."
The two ghosts exchanged glances before they warily began to follow Yumi.
"Where is Shishio?" Shinta decided to break the uneasy silence.
"Oh, Shishio-sama's been very busy." Yumi replied easily. "It's not easy ruling Hell, after all, especially with all the chaos there."
THAT stopped Shinta and Kaoru both in their tracks.
"Hell-?!"
"What kinda trick are you trying to pull on Shinta and I?!" Kaoru demanded, about 0.5 seconds away from bokkening this crazy woman into the next era.
"No trick." Yumi eyed Kaoru, wary of the girl's wrath. "Hell's nothing like the stories claim. You can come and go as you please, and sometimes things can be quite fun there."
The trio resumed in silence, Shinta and Kaoru both thoroughly confused and worried now.

But oh boy, they had no idea just what they were going to discover.

Author's notes: Okay, so the chapter took a bit longer to actually get out than I thought it would. But, blah. I'm sure you can all guess what's coming up next, ne? >=D I apologize very much in advance to everyone who's volunteered, because I highly suspect I'll not portray your personas quite the way you see them and all that. I'll try really hard though! As for Ayame and Soujiro, I wanted to do something a little bit different, so that's what happened =p In short, in my version of things, Suzume went to study medicine in Aizu with Megumi. Ayame also studied, but found it really didn't suit her, and she learned Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu under Kaoru and then Yahiko's direction. Then she got sick of waiting for her Ken-niichan to come back, so she went looking. Instead, she found Sou-chan, and the two hit it off ^_~
I really want to thank everyone who's been reading and reviewing and putting up rather well with my madness.
So... last order of business. Recommended reading!
Firstly! GO READ "KAORU'S FANFICTION REMIX"! It has to do with the Rurouni Kenshin Reader's Choice fanfic awards ^_~ (Hint, hint!)
And I also recommend Colleen's "A Meeting of Minds", which just recently updated! And I also recommend Calger459's "Prism", which has also recently updated with a chapter full of WAFFy goodness. (And a very light bit of citrus scenting =) I'd say some more stuff, but I'm currently sleep deprived and I think catching a cold, so I'm gonna stop while I'm still coherent ^_^;;; See you all next time, minna-san!