Disclaimer: does anyone even read any these anyway?

A/N: For the translation of the * words, see the bottom of the story

~ Hora, abunai yo ~ Boku ni ima fureta nara kireru kara ~ Kimi wa mada ~ Boku yori mo tsuyoku nai ~ Wakaru yo ne ~ *

As I walked down the streets of Tokyo, the sun was setting and a light drizzle hung in the air. My legs were starting to get tired around I was starving. I haven't eaten for an hour when Himura-san gave me some onigiri*. I wanted to ask if we were getting closer to the Dojo, but something inside me said I shouldn't, so I just kept my mouth shut. As I walked through Tokyo, I looked at the different houses, I didn't even know what I was looking for. I just………looked.

As we approached one house, I could smell fire and yelling inside.

"Oh great, what did bufu* do know?" Yahiko-chan rolled his eyes.

"Yahiko, you shouldn't tease Kaoru-dono's cooking, she tries very hard." Scolded Himura-san.

'Yea, she tries hard to poison us all with her cooking!" laughed Sano-san.

"Now Sano, Yahiko, Kaoru-dono is a very good cook and I happen to like her cooking a lot." Himura-san said in protest. I watched them fight, keeping my mouth shut.

Just then, a young woman with long dark hair burst through the house with a concerned look on her face.

"Ken-san!' the woman said as she ran over and glomped Himura-san. Was this the Kaoru-san that Himura-san talked about?

"Oro!?" said a shocked Himura-san.

"Oh Ken-san it was awful! I tried to talk her out of it but she went ahead with it in anyway! And then before I knew it, the whole house was filled with smoke and I had put out the fire all by my self!" said the dark-haired woman still clutching Himura-san's neck. Just then, another woman with her hair tied back wearing a yellow kimono burst through the door and walked over to Himura-san and the dark-haired woman.

"Megumi, just what do you think you're doing!?" she angrily yelled.

"What do you think your doing, trying to burn the house down like that with your horrible cooking! It's a good thing Ken-san came to rescue me." Megumi-san said rubbing her face against Himura-san's shoulder.

"Horrible……..cooking!? How dare you insult me like that Megumi!!!" The second girl screamed as she rolled the sleeves of her kimono up.

"Megumi-dono, Kaoru-dono, please stop fighting!" begged Himura-san but it was no use, they were already going at it.

"Kaoru, I've had enough of your awful cooking! You should just quit all together!" Hollered Megumi-san

"Please Kaoru-dono!" Himura-san tried to beg again, but it didn't work.

"Who says you should be able to decide who should cook or not! You don't even live here!" Kaoru-san yelled fiercely.

"Please stop fighting! We have a guest!" Himura-san said making a last attempt to try to brake up there fight. And hey, what do you know, it worked.

"A guest? Ken-san, why didn't you say so?" Megumi-san said as she looked around.

Himura-san sighed a sigh of relief. "Yes a guest. His name is Seta Soujirou and he-" Kaoru-san interrupted Himura-san in the middle of his sentence.

"Seta Soujirou as in Tenken no Soujirou*?! The right hand man of Shishio Makoto?!" Kaoru-san asked in a shaky voice. There was a silence after she asked her question that hung around for an annoyingly long time. I stared at the ground, feeling unwanted. The shadows were starting to grow longer and the wind was cooler. I could feel a sneeze coming on, but I immediately stopped with my hand. A took a deep breath, we had already been standing here for about a minute and no one had said a thing. That's when Himura-san broke in.

"Hai*, he is Tenken no Soujirou, and he is ill and will be staying with us until he recovers." He just had to say I was ill. I felt another sneeze coming on, and this time couldn't stop.

"Achoo!" what would Shishio-san say if he saw me sneezing in front of the enemy? I sneezed again. And again, I must of sneezed about eight times. Gee, and I thought I felt stupid before, but sneezing in front everyone, I feel dying.

"Oh my you are sick." Megumi-san said feeling my temperature.

"Now, you have nothing to worry about, Soujirou. Megumi-dono is a very talented doctor. A woman doctor? Himura-san sure does have a variety of friends. Megumi-san grabbed me by the shoulder but drew her hand away quickly away.

"Your soaking wet!" Megumi-san said as she drew her hand away from my gi. Gee, you think?

"He has been sitting in a water logged cave for the past three days during the storm." Informed Himura-san.

"You poor thing!" Megumi-san said to comfort me. But I didn't feel comforted, I didn't want her to pity me. "Come inside and we'll get you all fixed up." She said motioning for me to follow her. I followed her to the house and walked inside.

"You'll have ignore the smoky smell. Kaoru doesn't know how to cook." Megumi-san said as we walked through the house. It was a medium sized house with a Dojo the read "Kamiya Kasshin Kendo School" Kamiya? So Himura-san doesn't own a Dojo. I shrugged and followed Megumi-san.

"Ken-san, would you please get Soujirou-san one of your nemaki* so he can get into some dry clothes." Asked Megumi-san as we walked into one of the bedrooms.

"Soujirou-san, this will be your room. Wait here until Ken-san brings you one of his nemaki* to change into so you could out those wet. I'll be back in a few minutes with some food." Megumi-san stated and then she left the room, shutting the door, leaving all alone.

I looked around the room from where I was standing. The room was empty except for futon of to the side. I could hear the rain through the walls, we had made it just in time. It was warm inside the room so at the moment I didn't mind being soaked down to my tabi*, but I was really, really hungry. When Megumi-san mentioned food, I wonder what kind of food. I really wanted some yakitori and shabu-shabu with onigiri and some ocha*. My stomach growled. Just thinking about food made my mouth start watering.

"Soujirou?" It was Himura-san. He slowly opened the door and stepped in. he smiled at me.

"Here Soujirou, you can use one of my nemaki." He said smiling as he handed me the nemaki. I could here the soft pitter patter of the rain outside it was dark outside and the light of the full moon shown in from the window.

"Domo arigatou gozimasu*, Himura-san." I finally managed to get out, but somehow I wanted to say more. I took the nemaki from him.

"There is a towel too to dry yourself of with." Himura-san informed me.

"Domo*" I replied, but somehow……I wanted to say more.

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do." Smiled Himura-san. Least? Was he feeling……sorry for me?

"I'll leave you to change." Himura-san said and then he left, leaving me alone once more. I stared at the nemaki for a few seconds. I could hear the rain outside. The moonlight illuminated the nemaki making it seem brighter in the

(A/N: since I'm using it a lot, a nemaki is a sleeping kimono.) I untied my hakama

and slipped it off and tossed it in the corner. I took of my gi and under shirt and set them neatly in the same corner. (A/N: I won't go into much detail with the rest of this ~_^)

After I was finished, I wiped off my body with the towel Himura-san gave me and put on the nemaki. It was a little big, but it fit me pretty good. I walked over to the futon and lied down in it, covering the blanket up to my chin. It was so soft and comfy, it's been a while since I slept in a real bed. I listened to the rain outside, which had cleared up a bit. I yawned and turned over to my side, and closed my eyes, and fell asleep immediately.

~ Soujirou's dream ~

When I awoke, I was in a place filled with bones. There was a foul smell that hung around and a damp fog clouded my eyes. As I stood up, I heard a crunch beneath my feet and looked down. I was standing on human bones!!! I immediately jumped, hoping to fly up in the air and get away from the bones, but I only fell back. I was up to my ankles and wrist in human bones now, and I immediately stood up.

"Where am I?!" I said looking around. There were human bones as far as I could see. A thick cloud of fog covered my eyes, and I couldn't see a thing.

"Tasukete*!" I yelled out, but I got no reply. I could feel my pulse rising and I stated to panic.

"Someone, anyone, help me!" I screamed again, but I still got no reply. I franticly looked around. That's when I saw it. A somewhat large shadow coming towards me. I wanted to run, but my body was frozen.

"W-who a-are you!?" I yelled out, as I reached out for my sword, but it wasn't there! They started to come closer, and sweat started to pour down my face. I couldn't remember ever being this scared. As it drew closer to me the fog started to let up, revealing the shadows true form.

"Konnichiwa*, Soujirou." It was Shishio-san and Yumi-san!

"Shishio-san, Yumi-san is that really you!?" I said staring in disbelief. No, Shishio-san and Yumi-san were dead! They couldn't be……unless this was where I thought it was……which I hoped it wasn't were I thought it wasn't, I really hoped it was the place I thought it was.

"Irasshaimase*, Soujirou." Yumi-san said to me.

"W-welcome to where?" I said in a somewhat shaky voice.

"To Hell." Shishio-san said pointing to the bone-lined floor. I knew it. I must be dreaming or something, or I died in my sleep, I didn't think my fever was that bad.

"Shishio-san……" Did Shishio-san somehow know how I let Himura-san help me? No. he couldn't have, it was impossible.

"Hmm…..what's all this?" said another voice from the fog. It was Houji-san.

"Houji-san, is that really you?" I asked, but somehow I didn't feel so surprised to see him.

"Ah, Soujirou, I haven't seen you for I while." Stated Houji-san. Well, you obviously haven't seen me, your dead.

"Oh? Where's Usui-san?" I asked curiously. Just then, I heard another voice.

" Sumi masen*, but did someone say my name?" Asked Usui-san, this time, I wasn't surprised at all.

"What is every one doing here? What am I doing here?" I asked finally, every one moved closer to me.

"Well, Soujirou, I've been a little concerned about you lately." Shishio-san informed me. Did he know about Himura-san?

"I swear, I didn't mean it!" I said trying to force out a smile, but it one didn't surface.

"Oh, Soujirou, you seem to have read my mind." Shishio-san smiled sarcastically.

"I didn't mean to! I was sick and I needed help!" I said as I tried to back away, but my feet stood frozen to the ground.

"Don't you know that you should never get help from the enemy?" Shishio-san said stepping closer to me. "I think you to be taught a lesson." I wanted to run away, but I was still frozen. I could feel as the sweat started to pour down my face, not only because I was getting nervous, it was getting hotter. Shishio-san started walking closer to me. Then something really crazy started to happen, every thing was fading away into blackness, soon, even Yumi-san, Usui-san, and Houji-san disappeared, and all that was left was me and Shishio-san in a world engulfed by darkness. There was no wind, no smells, just pure darkness, but somehow, Shishio-san and I were illuminated by some unseen light.

"Draw your sword, Soujirou." Shishio-san said as reached for his Mugenjin. My hand fell to my side and to my surprise I found a sword, but not my sword, a shinai* was in it's place instead.

"What did I tell you about using shinai and bokken* Soujirou?" Shishio-san said charging at me, and I swerved to the right, I barley evaded that attack.

"In this world, only the fittest survive. If your strong you live if your weak you die." Shishio-san said as he prepared to charge at me again. I got into the battojutsu stance, and feeling really silly doing it with a shinai.

"You think you can beat me with that shinai Soujirou?!" Shishio-san said swiping upwards. I blocked the slash with the shinai, causing it to shatter to a thousand pieces, flying in every way, and then sinking in to the shadows below me. Shishio-san took a step back and looked at me.

"You may be strong, but you'll always be second to me!" Shishio-san yelled as he swiped his sword on the shadowy floor causing it to ignite. I had nothing to protect me this time, this was the end. I wave of fear swam through my body, but I just closed my eyes, took a deep breath and shook it of with a smile.

~ Back to reality ~

I woke up with a sudden stir, and looked around. I was back at the Dojo, in my warm bed. It was gray outside, but there was no rain, but Kami-sama* was I cold. I looked to the corner to where I had set my close and to my surprise they had been hung up! I walked over to my close and picked them up. They were washed and every thing! I took off the nemaki that Himura-san had lent me and hung it up in place of my clothes and quickly got dressed. I looked around the room for my sword and I couldn't see it, so picked up the futon to see if somehow it had gotten under there, but it wasn't. I stood in the center of the room letting my eyes stray around the room, but I didn't see it. My stomach growled and all of a sudden I got really hungry. I walked towards the room, lightly opening and gently stepped outside I into the hall gently and then I quietly shut the door. I walked through the hall, and then heard a battle cry and heard the whoosh sound a sword makes when it is swiped through the air and doesn't hit anything.

I looked inside the room finding a Dojo and Kaoru-san practicing her sword skills with a bokken. So she was the one who ran this Dojo, very interesting. I stood there, watching her practicing, she was pretty good, but she would be as strong as me.

********************************************************************************************

Here are the translations of the words I used in my fic:

Hora, abunai yo…..: A part of one of Soujirou's image song "Innocence". It translates to "Hey, watch out, touch me and I'll cut you, your not yet stronger than I am, you probably know."

Onigiri: The rice balls that Kenshin always makes

Bufu: Ugly

Tenken no Soujirou: Soujirou the Heaven Sword

Hai: Yes

Nemaki: Sleeping kimono

Tabi: The traditional split-toed "socks" that everyone wears in RK

Yakitori: something like fried chicken. (also my favorite food!)

Shabu-shabu: a quickly cooked beef

Ocha: Green tea

Domo arigatou gozimas: Thank you very much

Domo: Thanks

Tasukete: Help

Konnichiwa: Good day or sort of like "hello"

Irasshaimase: Welcome

Sumi masen: Excuse me (to get attention)

Shiani: A bamboo sword, the type that Yahiko uses

Bokken: A wooden sword, the type that Kaoru uses (or if you've seen Real Bout High School the type that Ryoko uses)