Author's Note-Well, vacation time is over and I'm posting again. I don't
own Rurouni Kenshin and Animorphs. Well, read and review.
~Sanosuke~
I ran down the path towards Tokyo. Jake had told me to stay at the dojo, but I couldn't just sit there and do nothing. "Sanosuke! Wait up! Slow down!" I heard Yahiko call behind me.
I slowed my pace slightly and let Yahiko and Kenshin catch up. "You realize that Jake told us to stay at the dojo, right?" Yahiko demanded.
"Yeah, but do /you/ want to just sit there and do nothing?" I demanded. That shut the kid up.
"But how do you suggest we go about finding him, de gozaru ka?" Kenshin asked.
I grinned and looked over at him. "Remember how you said that the Animorphs have an odd ki? I'm hoping that it will stand out from everyone else's." I said.
"Good idea."
We crossed the bridge. "Now, I think we should split up." I said.
"Sessha doesn't recommend it." Kenshin said.
"Why?"
Kenshin pointed to a group of people silently.
"Peop-" I started, but Kenshin put a finger to his lips. "People?" I whispered.
"No, Sano. Not just people. Can you feel it? There's twice as many kis as there are people." Kenshin replied.
I blinked. Now that he mentioned it, there /were/ twice as many. Half of the kis felt normal, but the other half was week. "Yeerks?" I whispered.
"Controllers."
I hesitated, but then I said confidently, "Yeah, but we can handle them if they give us any trouble, right?"
"Perhaps, but weigh out the odds. They have guns from the future. You have a broken hand and Yahiko is only a student."
"Hey, I'm tough! And what about you?" Yahiko demanded.
"Sessha may not be fast enough, de gozaru yo. Those guns have advanced technology; who knows what they can do."
". . .Fire bullets like the guns now?" I suggested. Kenshin merely shrugged.
"Sessha believes that stealth would be the best thing to use at the moment." Kenshin recommended.
"Alright then. Let's go." Yahiko said. We nodded and slipped into the shadows, silently following Kenshin's lead. The controllers didn't even see or notice us as we quietly crept by. I grinned. This was going to be even easier than I thought. Then again, Tobias may not even be in the city. That kind of killed my grin a little bit.
"Where are we going? Do you guys even know?" Yahiko demanded.
"We. . .kind of have a good idea." I said lamely.
". . .You don't even know, do you?"
"He-"
"Shhh. . ." Kenshin said, silencing our bickering before it could advance into persistent arguing. Some controllers walked by. When they had finally turned the corner, I whispered, "Geez, the city is swarmed with controllers!"
Kenshin nodded. "And it will probably get worse in the daytime. Sessha suggests you be very wary from this point on, de gozaru yo." He said. He motioned with his hand and we started down the street again.
We continued in silence for five minutes like this. Finally Kenshin spoke up, "I sense him."
He darted across the street and into the police station. Yahiko and I followed. "He was arrested? How'd they manage to do that?" I whispered incredulously.
"Yeah. Why would they arrest a bird?" Yahiko asked. Kenshin opened the door and I saw a boy inside. At the desk though was someone that I really did not like: Hajime Saitou.
~Tobias~
I looked up to see Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sano, and sighed in relief. Good. Now I could leave. If they knew who I was.
Kenshin seemed to understand immediately. Sano and Yahiko on the other hand, were totally and utterly clueless. Goro-whom I had recognized to be Hajime Saitou, the captain of the third Shinsengumi group-continued to wait for an explanation, as had been since we arrived here.
"Saitou." Kenshin said.
"Himura." Saitou greeted curtly. Okay. Apparently they seemed to know each other. Unfortunately, I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. To Sano, he said, "You shouldn't let your brother wander around in these conditions."
"Brother?!" Sano demanded. Behind Saitou, I stood up and nodded frantically. Thankfully, it seemed to click. "What did you do to be arrested by the police?!" he scolded.
"Nothing. . ." I said, staring at the floor and playing the part of an ashamed younger brother.
Yahiko looked from me, to Sano, to me again. "Brother? Sanosuke-" he started. Sano covered his mouth.
"We're here to pick him up." Kenshin stated.
"Well apparently, Toru's made quite a few people angry. Calling him an 'Andalite Bandit', whatever that means." Saitou said. Surprisingly, it was Yahiko that helped me out with that.
"Andalite Bandit? It's some kind of foreign insult. I've been called that a few times by tourists before." He said airily.
Saitou stared at Sano and Yahiko doubtingly. Finally, to me he said, "Kid. You're free to go."
I looked up and walked over to my three friends. "Well, we'll be seeing you later, sessha supposes." Kenshin said cheerfully. We started out the door.
"Himura." Saitou said before we left.
"Hm?" Kenshin asked, looking over his shoulder and blinking.
"I am not a fool. I'll be dropping by the dojo tomorrow for the truth."
Sano, Yahiko, and I exchanged glances, but Kenshin calmly said, "If you want to. But sessha believes that you will only find it a waste of your time, de gozaru yo."
"Perhaps." Saitou said as he shut the door.
~Kenshin~
I sighed as we walked back to the dojo in silence. The controllers seemed to be giving up their search and slowly leaving the city, group by group. Only when we crossed the bridge did we begin to speak.
Sano grinned. "Brother, huh? Why did you tell him that I was your brother?"
Tobias shrugged. "I had to make up something." He merely said.
"So you're Tobias." Yahiko said. It was more of a statement than a question. "You look a lot different as a bird. In fact, I can see why some people would kind of think that you're Sanosuke's brother. You /do/ kind of look like him."
I looked at the two. The similarities were slight. Tobias wasn't nearly as tall as Sano, but they did both have tousled brown hair and brown eyes. But Tobias's build wasn't quite fighter's, like Sano's.
"Um. . .yeah. . . So, is Jake mad?" Tobias asked.
"Well, the others are looking for you. Ax saw that dracon flash in the woods and alarmed the others that something was going on. They went to check it out, but I don't think they're mad." Sano explained.
"Oh." Tobias said.
"So, what are we gonna do about Saitou?" Yahiko queried.
"Dunno. We're gonna have to bring that up at a meeting." Tobias said. "Well, I'm gonna demorph now and meet you guys back at the dojo. See ya." He began to demorph to his bird from. It was very bizarre, nearly horrifying, yet fascinating at the same time to see morphing and demorphing.
He began to shrink, his legs becoming scaly. His eyes turned sharp, and feathers covered his flesh. Finally, he was finished, and flew up into the night sky. {I'll tell Jake and the others that I'm all right. You guys just get to the dojo without running into any trouble. Bye.} And with that, he flew off into the distance.
~Jake~
We returned to the dojo okay. We were notified by Tobias that he was okay.
Unfortunately, we were also notified about our new problem: Saitou.
Demorphing, I walked back into the dojo and sighed, collapsing. I was followed by the other Animorphs. Immediately, a bunch of arguing began.
Finally, Ax, in human morph, turned to me. "Prince Jake. Prrrince- ccce Jaaake. What do you recommend? Re-co-mend. Reee-cooo-meeend?" He was in the corner, his brow furrowed as he fiddled with the blue box.
I sighed. "Ax, don't call me prince. Second, don't sound out words."
"Yesss, Princce-sorry."
I felt tired. It had been a long night for everyone. I turned to Kenshin. "Kenshin, when is he going to be here?" I asked.
"He did not give a certain time. But sessha believes that he will arrive around noon, de gozaru yo." Kenshin replied.
"Alright. We'll have a meeting in the morning. Right now, I think everyone should get some sleep." I said.
"Thank you." Marco said, lying back.
"You do realize that you don't even have a futon, right? Follow me and I'll take you guys to a room." Kaoru said.
I nodded. "Thanks. And sorry for dragging you guys into this mess-"
"This? Oh, no trouble at all. We get our fair share of strange characters around here all the time." Kaoru said nonchalantly, dismissing it with the wave of her hand. She stood up and walked down the hall. Marco, Rachel, Cassie, and I stood up and followed. Ax walked outside to demorph and get some sleep himself.
"Okay, you guys can stay in here," Kaoru said to Marco and I, opening one door, "and you two can stay in here." She said to the girls, opening the door on the other side of the hall. Marco walked into our room and looked around, blinking, then walked out.
"There's no beds in there." He stated. Kaoru blinked.
"Oh! Right! I'll be right back." She said, walking down the hall. "Yahiko, get some bed sets." She called.
"But busu-" Yahiko started.
"Don't even start, Yahiko."
Yahiko and Kaoru came back with some mats, some blankets, and some small pillows. They handed them to us and walked off. "Goodnight." They said before leaving.
I walked into the dark room with Marco. Marco unfolded his mat-or futon, it was called, and looked at it with distaste. "This is a bed? Man, these people really need to learn comfort. Oh well." He shrugged. "When in Rome, do what the Romans do. Night, Jake." He said, flopping down on his futon.
"Night. . ." I said, settling down on my futon and closing my eyes. I thought I would never get to sleep that night, but weariness took over and eventually, I fell fast asleep.
Author's Note-Okay! Question, cause I'm taking a vote on this: To tell the truth, or not to tell the truth. If the Animorphs tell Saitou the truth tomorrow, then he's gonna become an Animorph. If not, then Saitou is gonna get really suspicious and probably gonna find out sooner or later anyway. Well, that's all I'm asking for now. Now, please review! And going back to the regular schedule, I'll post the next chapter at the same time as usual. Ja ne! ^_^
~Sanosuke~
I ran down the path towards Tokyo. Jake had told me to stay at the dojo, but I couldn't just sit there and do nothing. "Sanosuke! Wait up! Slow down!" I heard Yahiko call behind me.
I slowed my pace slightly and let Yahiko and Kenshin catch up. "You realize that Jake told us to stay at the dojo, right?" Yahiko demanded.
"Yeah, but do /you/ want to just sit there and do nothing?" I demanded. That shut the kid up.
"But how do you suggest we go about finding him, de gozaru ka?" Kenshin asked.
I grinned and looked over at him. "Remember how you said that the Animorphs have an odd ki? I'm hoping that it will stand out from everyone else's." I said.
"Good idea."
We crossed the bridge. "Now, I think we should split up." I said.
"Sessha doesn't recommend it." Kenshin said.
"Why?"
Kenshin pointed to a group of people silently.
"Peop-" I started, but Kenshin put a finger to his lips. "People?" I whispered.
"No, Sano. Not just people. Can you feel it? There's twice as many kis as there are people." Kenshin replied.
I blinked. Now that he mentioned it, there /were/ twice as many. Half of the kis felt normal, but the other half was week. "Yeerks?" I whispered.
"Controllers."
I hesitated, but then I said confidently, "Yeah, but we can handle them if they give us any trouble, right?"
"Perhaps, but weigh out the odds. They have guns from the future. You have a broken hand and Yahiko is only a student."
"Hey, I'm tough! And what about you?" Yahiko demanded.
"Sessha may not be fast enough, de gozaru yo. Those guns have advanced technology; who knows what they can do."
". . .Fire bullets like the guns now?" I suggested. Kenshin merely shrugged.
"Sessha believes that stealth would be the best thing to use at the moment." Kenshin recommended.
"Alright then. Let's go." Yahiko said. We nodded and slipped into the shadows, silently following Kenshin's lead. The controllers didn't even see or notice us as we quietly crept by. I grinned. This was going to be even easier than I thought. Then again, Tobias may not even be in the city. That kind of killed my grin a little bit.
"Where are we going? Do you guys even know?" Yahiko demanded.
"We. . .kind of have a good idea." I said lamely.
". . .You don't even know, do you?"
"He-"
"Shhh. . ." Kenshin said, silencing our bickering before it could advance into persistent arguing. Some controllers walked by. When they had finally turned the corner, I whispered, "Geez, the city is swarmed with controllers!"
Kenshin nodded. "And it will probably get worse in the daytime. Sessha suggests you be very wary from this point on, de gozaru yo." He said. He motioned with his hand and we started down the street again.
We continued in silence for five minutes like this. Finally Kenshin spoke up, "I sense him."
He darted across the street and into the police station. Yahiko and I followed. "He was arrested? How'd they manage to do that?" I whispered incredulously.
"Yeah. Why would they arrest a bird?" Yahiko asked. Kenshin opened the door and I saw a boy inside. At the desk though was someone that I really did not like: Hajime Saitou.
~Tobias~
I looked up to see Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sano, and sighed in relief. Good. Now I could leave. If they knew who I was.
Kenshin seemed to understand immediately. Sano and Yahiko on the other hand, were totally and utterly clueless. Goro-whom I had recognized to be Hajime Saitou, the captain of the third Shinsengumi group-continued to wait for an explanation, as had been since we arrived here.
"Saitou." Kenshin said.
"Himura." Saitou greeted curtly. Okay. Apparently they seemed to know each other. Unfortunately, I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. To Sano, he said, "You shouldn't let your brother wander around in these conditions."
"Brother?!" Sano demanded. Behind Saitou, I stood up and nodded frantically. Thankfully, it seemed to click. "What did you do to be arrested by the police?!" he scolded.
"Nothing. . ." I said, staring at the floor and playing the part of an ashamed younger brother.
Yahiko looked from me, to Sano, to me again. "Brother? Sanosuke-" he started. Sano covered his mouth.
"We're here to pick him up." Kenshin stated.
"Well apparently, Toru's made quite a few people angry. Calling him an 'Andalite Bandit', whatever that means." Saitou said. Surprisingly, it was Yahiko that helped me out with that.
"Andalite Bandit? It's some kind of foreign insult. I've been called that a few times by tourists before." He said airily.
Saitou stared at Sano and Yahiko doubtingly. Finally, to me he said, "Kid. You're free to go."
I looked up and walked over to my three friends. "Well, we'll be seeing you later, sessha supposes." Kenshin said cheerfully. We started out the door.
"Himura." Saitou said before we left.
"Hm?" Kenshin asked, looking over his shoulder and blinking.
"I am not a fool. I'll be dropping by the dojo tomorrow for the truth."
Sano, Yahiko, and I exchanged glances, but Kenshin calmly said, "If you want to. But sessha believes that you will only find it a waste of your time, de gozaru yo."
"Perhaps." Saitou said as he shut the door.
~Kenshin~
I sighed as we walked back to the dojo in silence. The controllers seemed to be giving up their search and slowly leaving the city, group by group. Only when we crossed the bridge did we begin to speak.
Sano grinned. "Brother, huh? Why did you tell him that I was your brother?"
Tobias shrugged. "I had to make up something." He merely said.
"So you're Tobias." Yahiko said. It was more of a statement than a question. "You look a lot different as a bird. In fact, I can see why some people would kind of think that you're Sanosuke's brother. You /do/ kind of look like him."
I looked at the two. The similarities were slight. Tobias wasn't nearly as tall as Sano, but they did both have tousled brown hair and brown eyes. But Tobias's build wasn't quite fighter's, like Sano's.
"Um. . .yeah. . . So, is Jake mad?" Tobias asked.
"Well, the others are looking for you. Ax saw that dracon flash in the woods and alarmed the others that something was going on. They went to check it out, but I don't think they're mad." Sano explained.
"Oh." Tobias said.
"So, what are we gonna do about Saitou?" Yahiko queried.
"Dunno. We're gonna have to bring that up at a meeting." Tobias said. "Well, I'm gonna demorph now and meet you guys back at the dojo. See ya." He began to demorph to his bird from. It was very bizarre, nearly horrifying, yet fascinating at the same time to see morphing and demorphing.
He began to shrink, his legs becoming scaly. His eyes turned sharp, and feathers covered his flesh. Finally, he was finished, and flew up into the night sky. {I'll tell Jake and the others that I'm all right. You guys just get to the dojo without running into any trouble. Bye.} And with that, he flew off into the distance.
~Jake~
We returned to the dojo okay. We were notified by Tobias that he was okay.
Unfortunately, we were also notified about our new problem: Saitou.
Demorphing, I walked back into the dojo and sighed, collapsing. I was followed by the other Animorphs. Immediately, a bunch of arguing began.
Finally, Ax, in human morph, turned to me. "Prince Jake. Prrrince- ccce Jaaake. What do you recommend? Re-co-mend. Reee-cooo-meeend?" He was in the corner, his brow furrowed as he fiddled with the blue box.
I sighed. "Ax, don't call me prince. Second, don't sound out words."
"Yesss, Princce-sorry."
I felt tired. It had been a long night for everyone. I turned to Kenshin. "Kenshin, when is he going to be here?" I asked.
"He did not give a certain time. But sessha believes that he will arrive around noon, de gozaru yo." Kenshin replied.
"Alright. We'll have a meeting in the morning. Right now, I think everyone should get some sleep." I said.
"Thank you." Marco said, lying back.
"You do realize that you don't even have a futon, right? Follow me and I'll take you guys to a room." Kaoru said.
I nodded. "Thanks. And sorry for dragging you guys into this mess-"
"This? Oh, no trouble at all. We get our fair share of strange characters around here all the time." Kaoru said nonchalantly, dismissing it with the wave of her hand. She stood up and walked down the hall. Marco, Rachel, Cassie, and I stood up and followed. Ax walked outside to demorph and get some sleep himself.
"Okay, you guys can stay in here," Kaoru said to Marco and I, opening one door, "and you two can stay in here." She said to the girls, opening the door on the other side of the hall. Marco walked into our room and looked around, blinking, then walked out.
"There's no beds in there." He stated. Kaoru blinked.
"Oh! Right! I'll be right back." She said, walking down the hall. "Yahiko, get some bed sets." She called.
"But busu-" Yahiko started.
"Don't even start, Yahiko."
Yahiko and Kaoru came back with some mats, some blankets, and some small pillows. They handed them to us and walked off. "Goodnight." They said before leaving.
I walked into the dark room with Marco. Marco unfolded his mat-or futon, it was called, and looked at it with distaste. "This is a bed? Man, these people really need to learn comfort. Oh well." He shrugged. "When in Rome, do what the Romans do. Night, Jake." He said, flopping down on his futon.
"Night. . ." I said, settling down on my futon and closing my eyes. I thought I would never get to sleep that night, but weariness took over and eventually, I fell fast asleep.
Author's Note-Okay! Question, cause I'm taking a vote on this: To tell the truth, or not to tell the truth. If the Animorphs tell Saitou the truth tomorrow, then he's gonna become an Animorph. If not, then Saitou is gonna get really suspicious and probably gonna find out sooner or later anyway. Well, that's all I'm asking for now. Now, please review! And going back to the regular schedule, I'll post the next chapter at the same time as usual. Ja ne! ^_^