I'm glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter!
Here's the second one for you!
Disclaimer: I own not Rurouni Kenshin (although I did just see the Samurai X movie), but the plot is mine!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yahoo! Catch me Sano!"
"Not catching!"
Sanosuke laughed at the pouting Yahiko. The river was a great idea. Further upstream, a lot of people were swimming around the bridge but downstream there was a nice place with cool water, big rocks to jump off, and a small bank to lay towels on. Everyone was wearing their 'swimming outfits', which was pants for the three boys and a short dress for Kaoru.
"I haven't let my hair down in a while. Oh boy does that feel good!"
Kaoru floated until she hit something. Turning, she saw a lot of red hair floating. Then a face popped out of the middle of it.
"Kenshin! You startled me!"
Kenshin almost apologized but then heard Kaoru laughing and did the same. He'd run into her by accident, of course. Swimming underwater was swimming with eyes closed whether they were open or not. At least as far as he was concerned.
"Look out below!"
Both of them looked up to see Sanosuke jumping into the river. They swam furiously to get out of the way, then got hit by the massive splash.
"Ouch. That _had_ to hurt!"
Sanosuke had landed face-first in the water, stunned by his own belly-flop. Kaoru and Kenshin winced. Yahiko laughed, then dived in and poked Sanosuke until the man recovered enough to dunk Yahiko under the water. Kenshin felt a tug and looked to see Kaoru examining some of his hair.
"Kaoru-dono?"
"You know, I think your hair is longer then mine. I don't like it when a man's hair is longer then mine is…"
Kenshin sweat-dropped.
"I think we should bring Dr. Genzai, Ayami, and Suzume with us next time. They'd love a good swim."
Kaoru was speaking as they headed back late that evening. It was much cooler, and thankfully no one had to be carried this time.
"Why didn't we think of this sooner? Swimming was a great idea! And it was so much fun seeing Sano kissing the water like that!"
Yahiko laughed until Sanosuke started pinching him. The pinching had escalated into a full-scale pinching war by the time they reached the gate to the dojo. Sanosuke had left to go home and the other three were walking up to the inside door when something whizzed by just overhead.
"What the heck!"
"That was just a warning shot! The next one won't miss!"
They turned to see a figure sitting on the top of the gate to the dojo. He was hidden by shadows and a black cloak that covered his entire body. Even so, they could see he was huge.
"Who are you? What do you want!"
The man laughed at Kaoru's demands.
"I think I've made my intentions perfectly clear already, little girl. Oh, but then again you haven't read my note yet!"
The man laughed, even as Kenshin leapt onto the outer wall and tried taking the man by surprise with his high speed. The stranger didn't stop laughing, even as Kenshin got within arm's reach of him. But he did leap into the air, flipping neatly over Kenshin before the Rurouni could stop him. A pair of feet planted themselves firmly into Kenshin's back before he was unceremoniously kicked off the wall, landing in a surprised heap on the ground below.
"Better luck next time! And there will be a next time, I can assure you! So until then…"
The man didn't finish the sentence, but ran off and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, vanishing swiftly into the night. Kaoru ran to Kenshin's side, where Kenshin was slowly pulling himself off the dirt.
"Kenshin are you alright?"
"…Whoever that was, he is very fast. I wasn't expecting it."
Kenshin sat up and leaned his head back with a puff of exhaled breath.
"But what was that guy after?"
"You guys, you gotta check this out!"
Yahiko ran up waving a piece of paper. It had been folded and tied to the small dart the stranger had thrown. They all gathered around and read it.
"The game has begun. Your first clue is here: 'I was the biggest before I was cut down to size. But now I'm unused, but still right before your eyes'."
"What does that mean?"
"Kenshin, do you think that this could be -"
"No, it's not the same person that attacked me, if that's what you were about to ask Miss Kaoru. Somehow, this feels strangely familiar though, that it does…"
Here's the second one for you!
Disclaimer: I own not Rurouni Kenshin (although I did just see the Samurai X movie), but the plot is mine!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yahoo! Catch me Sano!"
"Not catching!"
Sanosuke laughed at the pouting Yahiko. The river was a great idea. Further upstream, a lot of people were swimming around the bridge but downstream there was a nice place with cool water, big rocks to jump off, and a small bank to lay towels on. Everyone was wearing their 'swimming outfits', which was pants for the three boys and a short dress for Kaoru.
"I haven't let my hair down in a while. Oh boy does that feel good!"
Kaoru floated until she hit something. Turning, she saw a lot of red hair floating. Then a face popped out of the middle of it.
"Kenshin! You startled me!"
Kenshin almost apologized but then heard Kaoru laughing and did the same. He'd run into her by accident, of course. Swimming underwater was swimming with eyes closed whether they were open or not. At least as far as he was concerned.
"Look out below!"
Both of them looked up to see Sanosuke jumping into the river. They swam furiously to get out of the way, then got hit by the massive splash.
"Ouch. That _had_ to hurt!"
Sanosuke had landed face-first in the water, stunned by his own belly-flop. Kaoru and Kenshin winced. Yahiko laughed, then dived in and poked Sanosuke until the man recovered enough to dunk Yahiko under the water. Kenshin felt a tug and looked to see Kaoru examining some of his hair.
"Kaoru-dono?"
"You know, I think your hair is longer then mine. I don't like it when a man's hair is longer then mine is…"
Kenshin sweat-dropped.
"I think we should bring Dr. Genzai, Ayami, and Suzume with us next time. They'd love a good swim."
Kaoru was speaking as they headed back late that evening. It was much cooler, and thankfully no one had to be carried this time.
"Why didn't we think of this sooner? Swimming was a great idea! And it was so much fun seeing Sano kissing the water like that!"
Yahiko laughed until Sanosuke started pinching him. The pinching had escalated into a full-scale pinching war by the time they reached the gate to the dojo. Sanosuke had left to go home and the other three were walking up to the inside door when something whizzed by just overhead.
"What the heck!"
"That was just a warning shot! The next one won't miss!"
They turned to see a figure sitting on the top of the gate to the dojo. He was hidden by shadows and a black cloak that covered his entire body. Even so, they could see he was huge.
"Who are you? What do you want!"
The man laughed at Kaoru's demands.
"I think I've made my intentions perfectly clear already, little girl. Oh, but then again you haven't read my note yet!"
The man laughed, even as Kenshin leapt onto the outer wall and tried taking the man by surprise with his high speed. The stranger didn't stop laughing, even as Kenshin got within arm's reach of him. But he did leap into the air, flipping neatly over Kenshin before the Rurouni could stop him. A pair of feet planted themselves firmly into Kenshin's back before he was unceremoniously kicked off the wall, landing in a surprised heap on the ground below.
"Better luck next time! And there will be a next time, I can assure you! So until then…"
The man didn't finish the sentence, but ran off and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, vanishing swiftly into the night. Kaoru ran to Kenshin's side, where Kenshin was slowly pulling himself off the dirt.
"Kenshin are you alright?"
"…Whoever that was, he is very fast. I wasn't expecting it."
Kenshin sat up and leaned his head back with a puff of exhaled breath.
"But what was that guy after?"
"You guys, you gotta check this out!"
Yahiko ran up waving a piece of paper. It had been folded and tied to the small dart the stranger had thrown. They all gathered around and read it.
"The game has begun. Your first clue is here: 'I was the biggest before I was cut down to size. But now I'm unused, but still right before your eyes'."
"What does that mean?"
"Kenshin, do you think that this could be -"
"No, it's not the same person that attacked me, if that's what you were about to ask Miss Kaoru. Somehow, this feels strangely familiar though, that it does…"