Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu [By: Tenken86]
Disclaimer: Watsuki's characters don't belong to me. Only 1 character in this does, so nobody steal him! (like anyone would want to. -_-) I also don't own Naruto or its character, I only borrowed his name!!
Rating : PG (language, violence) this chapter is not on the RK storyline.. so I'm not sure how this is gonna turn out. and I try to rate before ritin lah. so not sure wat's gonna happen.. maybe flashback..-_-
Wow. this is the shortest title I've had so far.. ^_^ well.. u can use my character if u ask.. :P wait.. why would anyone want to.. they haven't heard of him yet.
Chapter 3 "Devoted"
The young man wandered down the streets of Tokyo, his metal staff leaning against his shoulder. His black eyes flicked over the stalls and the objects within.
'I bet Yumi-nechan would like that.' He thought, pausing. 'On the other hand, if I get it now. it may get broken.' Shrugging, he continued on his journey, which ended at the Kamiya Dojo.
Giving a half smile at a small boy who held his sister's hand like a vice, he looked up at the sky and sighed. 'I won't be able to get there before nightfall. And there's no rush.' Looking for an inn, he found one, paid for a room, and allowed himself to be guided there.
'This looks.a lot like the room I had as a kid.'
Flashback:
"Yumi-nechan! Nechan!!" he shouted, running at his sister, who turned to him.
"Neji-chan," Yumi began, holding up her hands slightly in protest, but the boy jumped at her.
"Your kimono's so pretty nechan!" he said, in midair.
"NEJI!!!" The siblings landed hard in a pile, on the hard wooden floor in their shared room. "Neji-chan no baka!" Yumi said, bonking him on the head. "You messed up my kimono! Mom will be angry! She bought it for the New Years festival!"
"Huh? But that's in a few weeks!" Neji said, jumping off of Yumi. "Dad hasn't said anything to me about it."
In the other room, Komagata and his wife, Natsu listened to their children's conversation. Smiling to one another, Natsu left the room to cook dinner, while Komagata stayed, shuffling through some papers.
'New Years is in only a short time. two.two and a half weeks.' Komagata thought, pulling out one paper that caused him much distress. 'Tani-san is expecting me to. no, I am expecting myself to, I have to pay back the debt I owe him before New Years day. Or else.'
"Dad!!" Neji shouted, from behind the paper door. "Tani-san's here to see you!" Komagata stood up quickly, taking the papers and putting them in a closet, closing the screen, he went outside. His little, ten year old son guided him to the guest.
"Komagata." Tani said, kneeling on the floor and accepting tea from Natsu. "Arigatou." Natsu bowed and left the room. "Komagata, I know that I've come quite late."
"Don't worry about it Tani-san." Komagata said, kneeling on the floor across from the other man. "What did you come here to talk to me about?" Tani inhaled as if to prepare himself for something.
"I know how you feel about the debt." He said, placing his hands on his brown pants, which matched his jacket. "But I feel that.you have a family to feed, to clothe, you have two children."
Neji poked his head around the still open door and listened, unnoticed by either adult.
"You should...forget about the debt you owe me." Tani finished what he had planned to say, after being said with great difficulty. Komagata kept his head down and his eyes were not able to be seen. "Komagata?"
'Dad.you owe this man money? What for?' Neji thought, leaning into the room a bit further. "Uh oh." he said, falling into the room. "Itai!!"
"Neji," Komagata said, "what are you doing? Please, we are talking about important matters." Neji nodded his head, bowed, and left, closing the door behind him.
"Tani-san...I am a man of honor. I said that I would repay you when I asked to borrow money. I gave you my word," Komagata looked up and gazed at Tani with calm, clear brown eyes, "and I intend to keep it."
*Two weeks later*
Neji and Yumi lay in their futons across the room from each other. "Nechan."
"What?"
"I can't sleep." Neji said, turning over to face his sister. She turned to face him also. He grinned widely. "New Years is coming up in." He counted on his fingers. "Four days!" She smiled back at him softly.
"Just try to sleep, you wouldn't want to pass out while cleaning the house or decorating it, would you, Neji-chan?" He shook his head and flopped over onto his other side.
"Nechan, oyasumi"
"Oyasumi." Yumi said, watching the form of her little brother fall into the realm of dreams. 'How can that boy fall asleep so fast. His head touches the pillow and he's off and.asleep.'
Komagata sat in his room, a lantern burning on his desk, casting a faint light on him and the desk at which he sat. Natsu lay already asleep in the futon, while he burned the midnight oil, poring through his papers.
'It should have arrived by now.' He growled to himself. 'This shipment, from Tokyo, it was supposed to come four days ago.' He held the order form for various items that would have been sold in his store. 'Damn.damn.damn!!'
He slammed his fist against the desk, waking his wife up with a shock.
"Dear." Natsu said, wiping her eyes. "What's wrong? You're still awake?" He turned to her and apologized for waking her. Natsu got out of the futon and walked over to the desk.
"You're still worrying over the debt, aren't you." She said, making it sound more like a statement than a question. "I'm sure your shipment will come in, and we'll be able to pay off the debt before New Years." Komagata sighed loudly.
"I guess you're right."
*The Day Before New Years*
"Dear please, Tani-san said that he would forget the debt!"
"No.I gave my word. and I couldn't get the money. It's all my fault." Komagata said, kneeling in his room. His wife hovered over him.
"It's not your fault.It's also mine!" Natsu said, holding onto him. "We both were at fault. Now.what will we do.?" Komagata looked up, with guilt in his eyes.
"There's only one thing we can do." he said, taking his father's sword out from a cabinet. Not thinking about the consequences, he drew the sword out.
Neji ran through the house, despite his sister's warnings about falling, wearing his new kimono and hakama.
"Neji-chan! Matte!!" Yumi shouted, taking off her shoes and jogging after him, also in her new kimono. A thump echoed through the house. Yumi walked up to Neji, who was sprawled out on the floor.
"Itai." Yumi helped her brother up and they continued to their parents' room. "Mom, Dad! It's day before New Years! Time to clean up the house with this!" Yumi said, holding up a broom bound in red and white string.
'Neji's enthusiasm is catching. I sound like a little kid.' There was no response from the room. Neji looked at his sister uncertainly.
"Nechan, are they still sleeping? It's nine in the morning.they're usually up before then." She shrugged, and knocked on the paper door.
"Dad, Mom!" Yumi said. She saw the filmy view of two people laying on the floor. "It looks like they're still asleep. Neji-chan, we should wait for them to wake up." She put a hand on his shoulder to lead him away.
"Iie." Neji said shortly, grabbing his sister's wrist. "There's something...wrong." His ten-year old features were serious. "We should.go check on them." Yumi looked down at her brother, then sighed.
"You'll be the one to get the blame," she said, letting Neji take a hold on the door. He nodded then slid it open slowly. Brown eyes widened with shock. Neji walked into the room slowly.
His teeth were bared in a animal like fashion and his eyes were angry, or sad, it was hard to tell.
"No.way." Yumi mumbled, her black eyes wide and tears forming rapidly. Komagata laid face-down on the floor, the mats soaked in blood. The sword that he had taken his life with, was impaled in his wife's chest.
To stay with her husband, to be with him. she had also taken her own life. She half knelt, propped up by the sword, used by her father in law to fight, now used in suicide. The whole room stank of blood, the mats were soaked in it, the crimson flow still ran from the wounds in the parents' bodies.
"Dad!!!" Neji screamed. "Mom!!" He ran to their sides and tried to shake them. "Dad! Mom! Wake up!!" He turned his father over and saw his glassy, brown eyes. He shook the still form.
'They can't be. no way!!!'
"Please!!! Please wake up.." His legs gave way and he fell into a kneeling position, his arms on his father's chest.
'Wake up.'
Tears dropped from his wide eyes, and leaked down his face, onto his father's chest, mixing with the blood. Yumi's legs gave way, still in the doorway, she fell into a half kneeling, half sitting position.
Tears leaked from her eyes, her whole body quivered. "No.no way." she mumbled from a quivering mouth. Her hands hit the floor and her head hung, hair falling out of the clip that held it. "MOM!! DAD!!"
*~*~*~*
Upon hearing the screams, the neighbors dropped their sealed brooms and ran to see what happened. The first man who reached the door was a family friend, who took off his shoes and came in cautiously.
"Komagata? What's happening? I heard screams?" he said, walking around the house, noting the visible lack of decorations for New Years. The house seemed dead quiet except for the faint sound of inhaling.
'Inhaling? The man thought. No...it's...crying! They're crying! It sounds like Neji and Yumi!!' He ran through the house towards the sound, hearing others following him. "Yumi! Neji!" he shouted.
He came to a halt outside Komagata's room. He saw Yumi kneeling there, her head hung and her sobs racking through her. He looked over her and into an unthinkable scene. "No way."
'What...Why. Who did this?!' He thought, clenching a fist and walking around Yumi rapidly. 'Maybe.' His treacherous mind thought desperately. 'Maybe they're still alive! No hope of that.with all this blood.'
"Neji."
"Dad." Neji moaned. "Mom.."
The police came, with sabers at their side, and cleared the way. They came upon the room with the neighbor, the dead corpses, and the two children.
"Suicide?" One said, looking at the sword impaled in the woman. Another policeman walked into the room and checked to see if the adults were alive. Shaking his head he attempted to pull the boy away from the dead man.
"Kid, c'mon!" the man said, grabbing hold of Neji's shoulders. "Let's get you outside and out of this room!" Yumi had already been taken outside and Neji was dragged along too.
Neji looked at his bloodstained hands, dyed red with his father's blood. The sun was bright in his eyes, and he heard a voice calling him, asking him.
"Excuse me, sir!" a voice called from outside the room. Neji jumped, shocked, and realized he was standing in the middle of his room, and there was a lady outside. He shook his head rapidly, and slid open the door.
"What is it?" he said, looking down at her. She held out a tray. He nodded, thanked her, and took the tray into the room, closing the door behind him. Putting down the tray and kneeling in front of it, he began to eat.
The food tasted like ashes. Was the first thought that came to Neji's mind, as he ate the food provided generously by a neighbor. It was a few days after the end of the celebrations, and the generosity was ebbing.
"We'll have to sell the house." Yumi said, putting down her chopsticks, attempting to sound grownup. 'I'm the oldest.I have to try to take care of Neji.'
"And I'll find somewhere to work. You should also find something to do." Her younger brother hung his head while eating, his eyes shadowed by his bangs that escaped being tied back by a blue band of fabric.
"Not here." Neji said shortly. "Not in this town. I can't live here." He looked up, his brown eyes unreadable. Brown eyes met black. Yumi nodded.
"We'll leave, as soon as possible."
*~*~*~*
"You want to work here girl?" The lady in charge asked, looking at Yumi with a strange look. An even glare was directed at Neji, who was standing behind his sister. Yumi looked up and met the older woman's stare.
"Hai, Yuki-san." Yumi said.
"How old are you?" Yuki asked, looking the girl up and down. 'Must have run away from home, from the looks of it.' She glanced at Neji again. 'Younger brother?'
"17, Yuki-san." Yumi replied, still looking clearly at Yuki, who was in charge of the geisha house. 'We have to get this...iie...I have to get this job. Maybe.Neji will be allowed to help around also.'
Yuki, seeing the determination in the girl's eyes, sighed. "Fine, come in. You can't do anything in your state, we have to get you fed up." Yuki said, walking inside.
"In the meanwhile, you can help out in the kitchen. We also have to get you some nice kimonos...no man would enjoy being served by someone with clothes in that condition."
Yumi looked down at her kimono, which was torn and dirty beyond repair. 'Well. I have been traveling with Neji-chan for a long time. And haven't hand enough money to repair anything.'
"Yuki-san. about my little brother."
"What's his name?" Yuki asked, looking over her shoulder at the boy dressed in a dirty white kimono and ragged black hakama. Slung over his shoulder were two traveling bags, which appeared to be quite heavy.
The boy stood evenly on his feet, seemingly not noticing the weight. "Komagata Neji." He said, looking up. "And I'll do anything to help Yumi- nechan out! I'll~"
"He can help out with the cooking also. Maybe go to the market and get food for us, he looks like he can carry heavy things." Yuki said, eyeing the boy again, before continuing her walk.
"I'll give you two a room to share. Small, mind you. You eat with the rest of the girls." Yumi opened her mouth. "Neji also. After you learn some manners and the etiquette of being a geisha, maybe you'll go higher than kitchen duty."
'Yumi-nechan looked so angry that day.' Neji thought, munching on the food given to him by the lady. 'Once Yuki-san turned around.her face was all scrunched up and angry. I remember...how sad she was...I don't want her to feel like that again.' Neji frowned at an image of Himura Kenshin, which was suspended in his vision.
'Feh.. if Battousai tries to interrupt anything. that Shishio-sama is involved in. I'll kill him.' Finishing off the food, Neji stood up and stretched. 'Yumi-nechan loves Shishio-sama.If Battousai wants to kill Shishio-sama. He's.trying to hurt Yumi-nechan. I'll protect her.'
Neji sighed and shook his head. Picking up his staff, he leant against the wall, with the staff against his left shoulder, and promptly fell asleep.
End
For all the Chinese readers (if there are any Chinese.wait. if there are any readers.) GONG XI FA CAI! XIN NIEN KUAI LE! Aggg!! I can't believe I wrote that!! (so violent lah. hits self on head).. there u go, u finally know the name of the mysterious person, who I kept on calling 'young man' cause I wanted to give him a chapter for himself.. Um, if ur wondering why the parents would kill themselves over somethin like a debt, and why in the new year. Its cause (I read dis in a book) that "Debts are paid-a moral, not a legal, obligation, but a custom so strongly rooted that people unable to meet their financial obligations at this time have been known to commit suicide." Ay ya.. sounds weird but. I didn't know anythin about yumi's past but. I made it all up! :P ohh.. about the name of the mom.. I took it from the name of the princess in watsuki's extra story #3. and since I said none of his characters belong to me. I used dat. and yuki who owns the geisha house was from. yuki miaka.. fushigi yuugi cause I was desperately thinking of a name.... (reading naruto): ohh!! Its neji-san!! Its komagata neji- san!! No wait! (bonks self on head) idiot! That's in my fic!!! This is neji and hinata!!!! Thanks people who actually read my fic.. :P and wrote reviews! Happy happy. hehe.. oh well.. not sure where this is going now but.. I'll try to write faster for the people who (are not. probably. *sniff sniff*) reading this!! (I am being sarcastic.. I hope people are readin this..) arigatou!!
Disclaimer: Watsuki's characters don't belong to me. Only 1 character in this does, so nobody steal him! (like anyone would want to. -_-) I also don't own Naruto or its character, I only borrowed his name!!
Rating : PG (language, violence) this chapter is not on the RK storyline.. so I'm not sure how this is gonna turn out. and I try to rate before ritin lah. so not sure wat's gonna happen.. maybe flashback..-_-
Wow. this is the shortest title I've had so far.. ^_^ well.. u can use my character if u ask.. :P wait.. why would anyone want to.. they haven't heard of him yet.
Chapter 3 "Devoted"
The young man wandered down the streets of Tokyo, his metal staff leaning against his shoulder. His black eyes flicked over the stalls and the objects within.
'I bet Yumi-nechan would like that.' He thought, pausing. 'On the other hand, if I get it now. it may get broken.' Shrugging, he continued on his journey, which ended at the Kamiya Dojo.
Giving a half smile at a small boy who held his sister's hand like a vice, he looked up at the sky and sighed. 'I won't be able to get there before nightfall. And there's no rush.' Looking for an inn, he found one, paid for a room, and allowed himself to be guided there.
'This looks.a lot like the room I had as a kid.'
Flashback:
"Yumi-nechan! Nechan!!" he shouted, running at his sister, who turned to him.
"Neji-chan," Yumi began, holding up her hands slightly in protest, but the boy jumped at her.
"Your kimono's so pretty nechan!" he said, in midair.
"NEJI!!!" The siblings landed hard in a pile, on the hard wooden floor in their shared room. "Neji-chan no baka!" Yumi said, bonking him on the head. "You messed up my kimono! Mom will be angry! She bought it for the New Years festival!"
"Huh? But that's in a few weeks!" Neji said, jumping off of Yumi. "Dad hasn't said anything to me about it."
In the other room, Komagata and his wife, Natsu listened to their children's conversation. Smiling to one another, Natsu left the room to cook dinner, while Komagata stayed, shuffling through some papers.
'New Years is in only a short time. two.two and a half weeks.' Komagata thought, pulling out one paper that caused him much distress. 'Tani-san is expecting me to. no, I am expecting myself to, I have to pay back the debt I owe him before New Years day. Or else.'
"Dad!!" Neji shouted, from behind the paper door. "Tani-san's here to see you!" Komagata stood up quickly, taking the papers and putting them in a closet, closing the screen, he went outside. His little, ten year old son guided him to the guest.
"Komagata." Tani said, kneeling on the floor and accepting tea from Natsu. "Arigatou." Natsu bowed and left the room. "Komagata, I know that I've come quite late."
"Don't worry about it Tani-san." Komagata said, kneeling on the floor across from the other man. "What did you come here to talk to me about?" Tani inhaled as if to prepare himself for something.
"I know how you feel about the debt." He said, placing his hands on his brown pants, which matched his jacket. "But I feel that.you have a family to feed, to clothe, you have two children."
Neji poked his head around the still open door and listened, unnoticed by either adult.
"You should...forget about the debt you owe me." Tani finished what he had planned to say, after being said with great difficulty. Komagata kept his head down and his eyes were not able to be seen. "Komagata?"
'Dad.you owe this man money? What for?' Neji thought, leaning into the room a bit further. "Uh oh." he said, falling into the room. "Itai!!"
"Neji," Komagata said, "what are you doing? Please, we are talking about important matters." Neji nodded his head, bowed, and left, closing the door behind him.
"Tani-san...I am a man of honor. I said that I would repay you when I asked to borrow money. I gave you my word," Komagata looked up and gazed at Tani with calm, clear brown eyes, "and I intend to keep it."
*Two weeks later*
Neji and Yumi lay in their futons across the room from each other. "Nechan."
"What?"
"I can't sleep." Neji said, turning over to face his sister. She turned to face him also. He grinned widely. "New Years is coming up in." He counted on his fingers. "Four days!" She smiled back at him softly.
"Just try to sleep, you wouldn't want to pass out while cleaning the house or decorating it, would you, Neji-chan?" He shook his head and flopped over onto his other side.
"Nechan, oyasumi"
"Oyasumi." Yumi said, watching the form of her little brother fall into the realm of dreams. 'How can that boy fall asleep so fast. His head touches the pillow and he's off and.asleep.'
Komagata sat in his room, a lantern burning on his desk, casting a faint light on him and the desk at which he sat. Natsu lay already asleep in the futon, while he burned the midnight oil, poring through his papers.
'It should have arrived by now.' He growled to himself. 'This shipment, from Tokyo, it was supposed to come four days ago.' He held the order form for various items that would have been sold in his store. 'Damn.damn.damn!!'
He slammed his fist against the desk, waking his wife up with a shock.
"Dear." Natsu said, wiping her eyes. "What's wrong? You're still awake?" He turned to her and apologized for waking her. Natsu got out of the futon and walked over to the desk.
"You're still worrying over the debt, aren't you." She said, making it sound more like a statement than a question. "I'm sure your shipment will come in, and we'll be able to pay off the debt before New Years." Komagata sighed loudly.
"I guess you're right."
*The Day Before New Years*
"Dear please, Tani-san said that he would forget the debt!"
"No.I gave my word. and I couldn't get the money. It's all my fault." Komagata said, kneeling in his room. His wife hovered over him.
"It's not your fault.It's also mine!" Natsu said, holding onto him. "We both were at fault. Now.what will we do.?" Komagata looked up, with guilt in his eyes.
"There's only one thing we can do." he said, taking his father's sword out from a cabinet. Not thinking about the consequences, he drew the sword out.
Neji ran through the house, despite his sister's warnings about falling, wearing his new kimono and hakama.
"Neji-chan! Matte!!" Yumi shouted, taking off her shoes and jogging after him, also in her new kimono. A thump echoed through the house. Yumi walked up to Neji, who was sprawled out on the floor.
"Itai." Yumi helped her brother up and they continued to their parents' room. "Mom, Dad! It's day before New Years! Time to clean up the house with this!" Yumi said, holding up a broom bound in red and white string.
'Neji's enthusiasm is catching. I sound like a little kid.' There was no response from the room. Neji looked at his sister uncertainly.
"Nechan, are they still sleeping? It's nine in the morning.they're usually up before then." She shrugged, and knocked on the paper door.
"Dad, Mom!" Yumi said. She saw the filmy view of two people laying on the floor. "It looks like they're still asleep. Neji-chan, we should wait for them to wake up." She put a hand on his shoulder to lead him away.
"Iie." Neji said shortly, grabbing his sister's wrist. "There's something...wrong." His ten-year old features were serious. "We should.go check on them." Yumi looked down at her brother, then sighed.
"You'll be the one to get the blame," she said, letting Neji take a hold on the door. He nodded then slid it open slowly. Brown eyes widened with shock. Neji walked into the room slowly.
His teeth were bared in a animal like fashion and his eyes were angry, or sad, it was hard to tell.
"No.way." Yumi mumbled, her black eyes wide and tears forming rapidly. Komagata laid face-down on the floor, the mats soaked in blood. The sword that he had taken his life with, was impaled in his wife's chest.
To stay with her husband, to be with him. she had also taken her own life. She half knelt, propped up by the sword, used by her father in law to fight, now used in suicide. The whole room stank of blood, the mats were soaked in it, the crimson flow still ran from the wounds in the parents' bodies.
"Dad!!!" Neji screamed. "Mom!!" He ran to their sides and tried to shake them. "Dad! Mom! Wake up!!" He turned his father over and saw his glassy, brown eyes. He shook the still form.
'They can't be. no way!!!'
"Please!!! Please wake up.." His legs gave way and he fell into a kneeling position, his arms on his father's chest.
'Wake up.'
Tears dropped from his wide eyes, and leaked down his face, onto his father's chest, mixing with the blood. Yumi's legs gave way, still in the doorway, she fell into a half kneeling, half sitting position.
Tears leaked from her eyes, her whole body quivered. "No.no way." she mumbled from a quivering mouth. Her hands hit the floor and her head hung, hair falling out of the clip that held it. "MOM!! DAD!!"
*~*~*~*
Upon hearing the screams, the neighbors dropped their sealed brooms and ran to see what happened. The first man who reached the door was a family friend, who took off his shoes and came in cautiously.
"Komagata? What's happening? I heard screams?" he said, walking around the house, noting the visible lack of decorations for New Years. The house seemed dead quiet except for the faint sound of inhaling.
'Inhaling? The man thought. No...it's...crying! They're crying! It sounds like Neji and Yumi!!' He ran through the house towards the sound, hearing others following him. "Yumi! Neji!" he shouted.
He came to a halt outside Komagata's room. He saw Yumi kneeling there, her head hung and her sobs racking through her. He looked over her and into an unthinkable scene. "No way."
'What...Why. Who did this?!' He thought, clenching a fist and walking around Yumi rapidly. 'Maybe.' His treacherous mind thought desperately. 'Maybe they're still alive! No hope of that.with all this blood.'
"Neji."
"Dad." Neji moaned. "Mom.."
The police came, with sabers at their side, and cleared the way. They came upon the room with the neighbor, the dead corpses, and the two children.
"Suicide?" One said, looking at the sword impaled in the woman. Another policeman walked into the room and checked to see if the adults were alive. Shaking his head he attempted to pull the boy away from the dead man.
"Kid, c'mon!" the man said, grabbing hold of Neji's shoulders. "Let's get you outside and out of this room!" Yumi had already been taken outside and Neji was dragged along too.
Neji looked at his bloodstained hands, dyed red with his father's blood. The sun was bright in his eyes, and he heard a voice calling him, asking him.
"Excuse me, sir!" a voice called from outside the room. Neji jumped, shocked, and realized he was standing in the middle of his room, and there was a lady outside. He shook his head rapidly, and slid open the door.
"What is it?" he said, looking down at her. She held out a tray. He nodded, thanked her, and took the tray into the room, closing the door behind him. Putting down the tray and kneeling in front of it, he began to eat.
The food tasted like ashes. Was the first thought that came to Neji's mind, as he ate the food provided generously by a neighbor. It was a few days after the end of the celebrations, and the generosity was ebbing.
"We'll have to sell the house." Yumi said, putting down her chopsticks, attempting to sound grownup. 'I'm the oldest.I have to try to take care of Neji.'
"And I'll find somewhere to work. You should also find something to do." Her younger brother hung his head while eating, his eyes shadowed by his bangs that escaped being tied back by a blue band of fabric.
"Not here." Neji said shortly. "Not in this town. I can't live here." He looked up, his brown eyes unreadable. Brown eyes met black. Yumi nodded.
"We'll leave, as soon as possible."
*~*~*~*
"You want to work here girl?" The lady in charge asked, looking at Yumi with a strange look. An even glare was directed at Neji, who was standing behind his sister. Yumi looked up and met the older woman's stare.
"Hai, Yuki-san." Yumi said.
"How old are you?" Yuki asked, looking the girl up and down. 'Must have run away from home, from the looks of it.' She glanced at Neji again. 'Younger brother?'
"17, Yuki-san." Yumi replied, still looking clearly at Yuki, who was in charge of the geisha house. 'We have to get this...iie...I have to get this job. Maybe.Neji will be allowed to help around also.'
Yuki, seeing the determination in the girl's eyes, sighed. "Fine, come in. You can't do anything in your state, we have to get you fed up." Yuki said, walking inside.
"In the meanwhile, you can help out in the kitchen. We also have to get you some nice kimonos...no man would enjoy being served by someone with clothes in that condition."
Yumi looked down at her kimono, which was torn and dirty beyond repair. 'Well. I have been traveling with Neji-chan for a long time. And haven't hand enough money to repair anything.'
"Yuki-san. about my little brother."
"What's his name?" Yuki asked, looking over her shoulder at the boy dressed in a dirty white kimono and ragged black hakama. Slung over his shoulder were two traveling bags, which appeared to be quite heavy.
The boy stood evenly on his feet, seemingly not noticing the weight. "Komagata Neji." He said, looking up. "And I'll do anything to help Yumi- nechan out! I'll~"
"He can help out with the cooking also. Maybe go to the market and get food for us, he looks like he can carry heavy things." Yuki said, eyeing the boy again, before continuing her walk.
"I'll give you two a room to share. Small, mind you. You eat with the rest of the girls." Yumi opened her mouth. "Neji also. After you learn some manners and the etiquette of being a geisha, maybe you'll go higher than kitchen duty."
'Yumi-nechan looked so angry that day.' Neji thought, munching on the food given to him by the lady. 'Once Yuki-san turned around.her face was all scrunched up and angry. I remember...how sad she was...I don't want her to feel like that again.' Neji frowned at an image of Himura Kenshin, which was suspended in his vision.
'Feh.. if Battousai tries to interrupt anything. that Shishio-sama is involved in. I'll kill him.' Finishing off the food, Neji stood up and stretched. 'Yumi-nechan loves Shishio-sama.If Battousai wants to kill Shishio-sama. He's.trying to hurt Yumi-nechan. I'll protect her.'
Neji sighed and shook his head. Picking up his staff, he leant against the wall, with the staff against his left shoulder, and promptly fell asleep.
End
For all the Chinese readers (if there are any Chinese.wait. if there are any readers.) GONG XI FA CAI! XIN NIEN KUAI LE! Aggg!! I can't believe I wrote that!! (so violent lah. hits self on head).. there u go, u finally know the name of the mysterious person, who I kept on calling 'young man' cause I wanted to give him a chapter for himself.. Um, if ur wondering why the parents would kill themselves over somethin like a debt, and why in the new year. Its cause (I read dis in a book) that "Debts are paid-a moral, not a legal, obligation, but a custom so strongly rooted that people unable to meet their financial obligations at this time have been known to commit suicide." Ay ya.. sounds weird but. I didn't know anythin about yumi's past but. I made it all up! :P ohh.. about the name of the mom.. I took it from the name of the princess in watsuki's extra story #3. and since I said none of his characters belong to me. I used dat. and yuki who owns the geisha house was from. yuki miaka.. fushigi yuugi cause I was desperately thinking of a name.... (reading naruto): ohh!! Its neji-san!! Its komagata neji- san!! No wait! (bonks self on head) idiot! That's in my fic!!! This is neji and hinata!!!! Thanks people who actually read my fic.. :P and wrote reviews! Happy happy. hehe.. oh well.. not sure where this is going now but.. I'll try to write faster for the people who (are not. probably. *sniff sniff*) reading this!! (I am being sarcastic.. I hope people are readin this..) arigatou!!
