Another Chance: Enter the Rooster
A fanfic set in the Rurouni Kenshin universe
standard disclaimers apply
As the ship drew into the bay that served as Tokyo's harbor, Sanosuke Sagara
gave a low whistle. Five years had changed the somewhat quiet town into something
else entirely.
"Amazing isn't it?" One of the crewmen stepped alongside him. "Since
the opening of Japan to the West, a lot of folks have come through here. It's
no Yokohama, but this government is determined to build this port up as well."
This government -- the Meiji government he so despised -- was bringing Japan
into the modern world whether he liked it or not. Perhaps that was why he had
run off to the American Wild West and then off to Mongolia. The world had been
changing too quickly for him.
As he disembarked the ship, he wryly noted that amongst the many Westerners
and Japanese his gi rather stuck out. It did not bother him that much - in the
last five years he had rather stuck out everywhere he had ventured. But thankfully,
most people took a look at his rather intimidating presence and left him alone.
In addition to the changes in dress, the streets of Tokyo had changed. Gone
were the quiet streets, to be replaced by much busier ones. In a way, Tokyo
now reminded him of Kyoto of years past -- exciting but noisy.
His feet were automatically taking him along the path of familiar places. The
sight of a particular shop made him stop for a moment. He stepped inside into
and gladly inhaled the smells of traditional Japanese food and quickly found
one of the servers. "Excuse me."
"Yes?" The young girl's eyes widened at the sight of the man who nearly
filled the door frame with his height. "Is Tae around?"
"No, sir. She'll be back later," she answered and then hesitated as
if recalling a distant memory. "Sagara-san?"
"Yeah?"
"Sagara-san!" The girl laughed, "Yahiko had just been talking
about you the other day."
He squinted and looked at the girl more closely. "Tsubame?"
"Yes," she nodded enthusiastically. "You remembered!"
"Oi!" Sanosuke laughed, "I didn't recognize you." Tsubame
had definitely changed into a taller and prettier girl -- definitely no longer
the 12 year old child he had last remembered. "If you've changed this much,
then Yahiko must be nearly a man now." He smiled, "So Yahiko is still
here in Tokyo, huh?"
"Of course," Tsubame blushed. "He's the apprentice master at
the Kamiya dojo now. He should be there right now."
"Wouldn't miss the chance to spar with that one." Sanosuke drawled.
Poor Tsubame looked horrified at his choice of words. "I won't hurt him
too much if he's as good as he should be."
He couldn't help but enjoy himself as he teased the girl. If she really was
still that stuck on Yahiko, she had better get used to Yahiko's fighting ways.
"Don't worry too much, kid." He patted her head and handed her a bag.
"Give this to Tae if you will and tell her I managed to keep my promise
after all."
Sanosuke gave a wave and stepped out of the Akebeko whistling a little tune.
He knew he should have waited; in fact, he would have liked to see Tae's expression
when she opened that bag and realized that he had paid back all his debts, with
interest. But he dare not risk receiving a lecture. Anyways, he was anxious
to pay a visit to the dojo.
As he walked away from the Akebeko, he nearly took several wrong turns. Various
landmarks had disappeared, but as he drew near the dojo, he became more certain
of his directions. Things were still familiar here or perhaps it was just better
etched into his memory. As he stopped in front of the gate clearly marked with
the family name Kamiya, he wondered if it truly had been that long since he
was last here.
He opened the wooden gate and stepped inside. It was quiet, quiet like it had
been then on some of the better days. Laundry hung on lines, fluttering gently
in the breeze. Toys were strewn on one of the porches, just like when Ayame
and Suzume used to play here. It was like stepping back in time.
After a moment though, he heard chants from the main room. A smile crossed his
face as he realized that in fact, time had moved forward. These chants were
certainly those of students. From the sound of it - nearly a dozen were in there
practicing their drills. So it seemed that Kaoru had found many to pass on the
Kamiya-kashin style to after all.
His appearance on the grounds did not go unnoticed for long. Within a few minutes,
several young boys around Yahiko's age (or rather Yahiko as he last remembered
him) came out and looked at him suspiciously. "Are you looking for someone?"
one of the bolder ones called out.
"I'm looking for the master and her husband," Sano called back.
"They're not here," the boy answered somewhat defiantly.
Sano raised his eyebrow.
"Shiro," a stern voice called out from inside the training room."That
is no way to talk to visitors."
"Myojin-san," the boy bowed apologetically and none too politely whispered
loudly, "The man out there is kind of disreputable looking. He's wearing
some kind of funny gi. What Japanese men except gangsters still wear gi?"
"Gi?" Yahiko Myojin stepped out to see this for himself. He blinked
as if he were seeing a ghost. "Sanosuke?"
"Of course," Sano drawled as he recognized the tall teenager. "Who
the hell else would it be?"
"Sano!!" Yahiko pounced on him and was already beating him with his
wooden stick. "You can't just show up like this scaring the students. Kaoru
would have your head for that you big stupid oaf!"
Sano grinned as he evaded Yahiko's wooden weapon. Good old Yahiko -- always
ready for a fight. The kid was certainly stronger, but his temper still needed
some work. After a few of the hits connected, Sano decided he had enough. He
flicked Yahiko off like a little bug, who ended up on the ground with a mouthful
of dust. "Funny way of welcoming back an old friend, Yahiko."
A gasp from the students reminded him they had an audience. "Sensei!"
they cried out as they rushed over to him.
"Man!" Yahiko waved them off and stood up, brushing off the dust on
his clothes. He was glaring at Sano now. "After all this time, I still
can't beat you."
Sano rubbed his head, "Well, it's not like I haven't been training hard
either. But you should feel good that you connected a few times. And your hits
do hurt." Yahiko's students looked pretty ticked at this point. Sano grinned,
"I think you should get back to your class. They look like they're ready
to kill something. Plus Kaoru will be pretty annoyed that I interrupted your
class."
"You're not going to take off again are you?" Yahiko looked a bit
anxious. "Kenshin and Kaoru will be back soon. and there is no reason to
go, your warrant was dismissed."
"Really?" Sano looked a little pleased. "Well then, I'll just
wander around a bit and come back for dinner."
"Great!" Yahiko answered, and then paused when the students behind
him groaned. "I mean -- are you sure about that? Kaoru is cooking, and
she's well . . ."
"Still terrible huh?" Sano smirked."Well, I wouldn't have it
any other way. Later!"
"Later!" Yahiko beamed and turned back to his students. As the gate
shut behind Sanosuke, Yahiko whispered loudly to his students. "That's
the guy Kaoru-sensei always refers to as the Rooster head."
Sano's face ticked as he heard the kids ooh and ahh.
Roosterhead.
It was a name that he had hadn't heard in a long time. Most people he had run
into on his travels would have thought twice before calling him a name like
that. He only allowed his friends or people who knew him well enough to get
away with that. Anyone who else dared try would have felt one of his trademark
punches.
Not that many earned that right. The truth was -- his skills in fighting and
the martial arts kept him moving. Stories about his fist of destruction kept
drawing young punks out of the woodwork who wanted to challenge him. It was
a tiring affair. He didn't particularly enjoy beating up these kids and then
all the other riff-raff who wanted to test their strength, so he would pick
up every so often and move on.
In between taking on the odd requests for help he received from locals wherever
he happened to be, he sought out masters of various disciplines. In the West
he had learned a few things about the street brawl, and traveled with both the
Natives and the cowboys, as the Americans referred to themselves as. But there
wasn't much discipline in the fight and he found himself bored quickly. After
a chance encounter with several masters of karate and kung-fu in California,
he decided to seek out additional training in China and Mongolia.
He was a quick student - and even though the masters insisted that he would
needed a lifetime to train with them - he found himself mastering these styles
within an impossibly short span of time. Honestly, it did not surprise him,
for he had similar experiences during the Juppingatina battles.
At some point he realized that quite a bit of time had in fact passed. It was
when the fighting no longer was as much fun. Without Kenshin and the others
around, the novelty of learning new things wore off. It wasn't quite the same.
And slowly he realized how much he wanted to see them -- the people who he called
friends. Even if it meant that it was time to face the music, as the Westerners
liked to say, and face reality.
He found it highly ironic to come back to Japan and find there was no warrant
for his arrest. That and to be treated this way again, just like an ordinary
man - - of course, an ordinary man with a reputation and a few things to still
settle. He almost looked forward to it now -- settling scores, even if simply
for fun. He could think of a few people on that list -- those who had beaten
him in the past. He was far stronger now, and ready to show it.
His smile faded slightly as he considered that many of these men were now older
and probably had given up their fighting ways. (Kenshin and Saitou had to definitely
be pushing middle age at this point, especially since they were both settled
men.)
"Can I help you?"
Startled, Sanosuke looked up. A middle aged man with glasses peered at him from
the gate of a small building. Just where had he walked himself off to?
"Are you hurt, sir?" The man asked kindly as he took in Sano's scruffy
appearance." Are you looking for a doctor?"
Doctor? Of course. He recognized the building; he had wandered over to Gensai-sama's
old clinic. "Is Gensai-sama still here?"
"Gensai?" The man gave him a curious look. "He's retired now
and living with his granddaughters on the other side of town. Are you an old
patient of his?"
"You could say that." He paused, "A friend, and very frequent
patient. His assistant used to have to patch me up from time to time."
"Ah yes," the man smiled."--The pretty young doctor. She's not
here either. She's up in Aizu-Wakamatsu last I heard."
The slight look of disappointment on Sano's face did not go unnoticed by the
kindly man. "Gensai-sama offered her this clinic when he decided to retire,
but well, she has her reasons for staying up there. So I came instead. Gensai-sama
said she's doing well though up there by herself."
"By herself."
"Yes. Yes, it's amazing when you consider it. A woman doctor practicing
on her own. I tell you these are modern times indeed. Of course, my information
could be outdated now. Gensai-sama hasn't stopped by in a month or so, so you
should go see him. I don't remember if I have the woman doctor's town right,
but I think that is correct. It was her family home, I believe. If you'll wait
here, I'll go write down his address for you."
The man gave Sano a rather amused smile before disappearing inside to look for
paper. He reemerged a few seconds later with a slip of paper in hand. As Sano
took it, he suddenly got annoyed. "Look doctor, I don't mean to be rude,
but you shouldn't be giving out her address just like that. You don't know what
kind of weirdos out there might be trying to harass the doctor-"
The man shook his head. "No, no. I don't give it out to just everyone.
My goodness-" he stared at Sano, "I'm not that gullible. Tons of men
have asked after that doctor, and I just pretend to be my senile self and tell
them I don't know. But you-" he chuckled to himself , "--Gensai-sama
told me to keep an out for a guy with a gi and give him both his address and
Takani-san's address if he needed to be patched up. You're the only guy to come
by with a gi in the time I've been here, so I figured you had to be the guy
that was constantly getting hurt."
"Oh," Sano wasn't sure whether to be pleased, outraged, or embarrassed.
Just what did Gensei mean by his instructions? "I'm sorry, sensei. Thank
you." Sano bowed politely and made a proper farewell before walking back
the way he had come from, staring at the paper in his hand.
His hand was feeling a bit sore from all that fighting. Perhaps he would go
see the doctor after all and settle an old promise.
A/N: In the contest of the Ice man vs. Roosterhead fans, Ice man is ahead thanks
to a few persistent reviewers. (Too many Sano/Meg fics I guess breed apathy.)
Anyways - the reasons for this fic. Well, Watsuki himself puzzled over this
relationship question in one of his interviews. Some fans liked Aoshi and Megumi
because they looked good together. Others like Sano and Meg because of their
interactions. There are always problems with either pairing. But both seem to
make sense to me for different reasons. So it comes down to the issue of Sense
vs. Sensibility as typified in the book of the same name. ^_^ Anyways , discuss
away in your reviews.
