The 12th Street Apartment
11/18/2003
Hey everyone. As an author reading my own story, I've realized many of my characters are one sided... like you only see one side of them. I think Kenshin is the ONLY one of my characters who I truly show another side to him.
Not everyone one if completely bad, like Jin and Grandmother... and I'm going to try and show my readers how they can be well... um... nice(?) It's hard when even as an author I despised these characters... but as an author I feel I need to do a little something nice for these characters...
Not everyone is completely "good", like Gina, Aoshi, Kaoru, and Misao... etc. but I like these characters... (and Kenshin of course) and it's really hard for me to write about their bad point... but we are human... and I as a writer see this...
Everything is balanced... yin and yang...
And this story is lacking that... I'm trying though... I'll try.
In many of the storied I have read, many of them have the main character as a pillar, always doing the right thing or fighting for a good cause. That's not possible, and I have come to realize this... and hope to impart that message on my readers...
********
Recap: Kaoru makes her decision. Kenshin goes crazy... Saitou yelled as his mother-in-law and leaves the house.
*********
+Review Responses+
Unique-starfish- As always... thank you for reading and reviewing.
MissBehavin- I'm probably putting Okita and Soujirou in this story in a few chapters I think... if everything goes as planned. Yumi probably won't meet Shishio until after the Christmas Special... Gina on a date... I never thought of that... I'll try to write one sometime soon... I don't really see Gina as a
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hajime Saitou was bored. He wasn't usually bored, if it wasn't work that consumed his time it was his family.
He wandered aimlessly around Tokyo. It was dark now, and late. He did not want to go back to the apartment, he dislike his mother-in-law as much as (my readers like this story...j/k) a dog loved a cat.
He decided to visit Megumi and Sano; Tokio had not told him anything about them. He had an idea were Sano lived, being the man Saitou was.
It was a bad neighborhood, not with a hooded figure on every street corner, but it was certainly eerie. One could never be sure who was going to pop out in the next turn one made, perhaps one would run into a man with a dagger, or a woman selling flowers. One could never be sure until one made that turn. The rattle of leaves in the wind could shake a man to his knees.
Saitou just walked along, deep in thought; for the cigarettes he had given up when Aoshi was born. He had promised his wife to quit smoking when their first child was born; Aoshi and amazingly he had. Maybe it was the pressures of a new child, but pressure caused him to smoke more... he didn't know. But he had stopped, and watched through clearer lungs his next son born; Kenshin and then his only daughter, Gina.
Gina seemed like a gift out of heaven. The couple had been pleased with their two sons already. Kenshin was eight, and Aoshi was nine when Gina was born. She seemed like a child who grew up with love, but turned aloof to it.
Gina was friendly, not as sociable as Kenshin, but not so reserved as Aoshi, but she was remote in feeling... towards herself; too selfless, never thinking for her own good. She would defend her friends and family, but never herself. She was impassive to those who thought ill of her, and even those who thought well of her; she simply shrugged them off.
Perhaps she was worse than Kenshin. He gave his heart to the person he loved, and even as the heart was shattered, he never gave up hope. She closed up like a clamshell; allow little to penetrate her mask.
Perhaps she was worse than Aoshi. He was not emotionless, but he did not express it with his face, he did it in his actions, and eyes, if you were observant enough. She was too slippery for anyone to truly read her emotions even through her eyes. Saitou wasn't even certain she had distracted Kenshin from Kaoru out of the goodness of her heart, or if she did it to pick a fight with Kenshin.
That was Gina, the onion, with too many hidden layers.
Now onto Kenshin. Kenshin had an unpredictable temper. He was an overly forthcoming, one thing he had inherited from his mother. Kenshin was also very forgiving, and tended to forget the offenses. His eyes danced when happy, but could turn cold instantly. Kenshin wasn't a bad kid; he just never listened to what his parents told him.
Kenshin set his own curfew, coming home late, and keeping Tokio and Saitou up and worried. He had his many girlfriends; Anna, Elizabeth, Kristen, Tara, Susie, and all the other girls that he had brought home. Saitou scared most of them away.
That was Kenshin, a gun; one was never going to know when it was going to go off.
Now onto Aoshi. Aoshi, as the oldest son, always tried to earn the approval of his parents- his father especially. Tokio's smile was for the family; Saitou's was reserved for those restricted moments.
As Kenshin burned hot, Aoshi blazed cold. He did not go into a rage when anger, he simply walked away, but one could tell he was not a man to forget easy. His anger could last days, months, even years, but slowly it was dissipate. Perhaps Aoshi would not forget, but he might consider the situation from the other side. Aoshi was discerning, very much so.
That was Aoshi, an icicle; cold and clear, with a distorted perception.
They were his children, and as he would probably die than admit it, he was proud of them, for just being them. No one was perfect; and who was he to judge?
He reached the home of Megumi and Sano. The house was run down, with its wooden boards rotting away, and its once bright red paint faded. Its door was crooked, and windows soot covered. The alley leading to the house was dumped with trash.
Saitou rapped on the door. A light flickered above his head then went out. Saitou gave it a few taps; it was dead. Sano's sloppy grin yanked the door open, "PIZZA!" He yelled.
Saitou raised an eyebrow. How amusing, so it was true Megumi did not know how to cook.
"What happened to the pizza boy? HEY! Did you kill him or something?" Sano asked.
Megumi appeared beside her husband, "Uncle Hajime... please come in."
"Not until he tell me what he did with the pizza boy!! And that PIZZA!"
"Hn. Idiot." Saitou stepped forward.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Sano's face turned red.
"Idiot. He's right there." Saitou pointed down the alley and sure enough, a boy carrying a box of pizza arrived.
"I left my wallet... could you..." Sano began.
Saitou groaned and paid the boy. He turned to see the door slam in his face, "Children these days... stealing the money..." He muttered as he walked away. He then stopped in shock; he was turning into his mother-in- law!
Maybe he was getting old, and old people saw the world as a place where they could be respect; like the olden days. He hated to admit, but times were changing, and the old were tossed away. Seniority did not have to do with work anymore; it was replaced by someone who could do it faster and more efficient than you could.
Saitou realized all his mother-in-law wanted was a little respect, to show that someone did appreciate the old woman for her years of labor. She perchance thought she would be forgotten by her children and grandchildren and left as the rocks on the earth, trampled by the flow of life. Until time say it fit for her to wither away and die, and leaving no mark on those was walked the path she had set.
He pasted a river, flowing and tripping over pebbles in its path. He saw his own reflection. What was it he saw in his own eyes, what kind of man did his children see, or his mother-in-law or even his wife?
Tokio- a woman who has stood by his side since the beginning of their marriage. WRONG. They had separated, three times since their marriage. Once since Aoshi and Kenshin were born. The boys were too young to remember.
Tokio had a temper like Kenshin, or she DID have one. Maybe he was the one who had tamed it, or it might have been herself, growing older, seeing the world in different eyes.
Tokio hated her husband's job as a police officer. She did not see the bigger picture, or maybe she chose to ignore it. He was loyal to his country; true. He wanted to preserve Japan's honor; true. He was strict in his resolve for his brand of justice, Aku soku zan; true. But there was another reason he become a cop; one no one ever knew about.
To protect and defend; he had been the New York City, to see their police cars written all over the sides these words. To protect from what? To defend who? For him, it was to protect the innocent, and defend them. No one was innocent; that phrase was not true. To grown men it applied, but to the little children were they guilty of anything? Where they guilty of a life given to them? Where they guilty of surviving, of living? They who were innocent and naïve could not defend themselves from those seeking power; those were whom HE defended.
He chuckled as he continued his route, watching the leaves drift into the water. Who knew Hajime Saitou, the Wolf who powered the streets, was fighting for the children who did not even reach up to his waist?
He banged on a solid door. His brother opened it, "YOU." He boomed.
Saitou rolled his eyes, "Yeah... it's me. You free tonight?"
Hiko smirked, "TOKIO KICKED YOU OUT?"
"No... Mrs. Tamba did." Saitou had never been SO respectful towards his mother-in-law. Behind her back he was often calling her witch or hag.
Hiko raised an eyebrow... then slammed the door. What was wrong about his young brother? Hajime looked, old. Hiko glanced at the mirror in the hallway. He hated the admit it, but he was getting old; old and tired, but trying hard not to change. Was change that difficult for him? His brother seemed the embrace the stream of time, what was stopping him? What was missing that he did not have, that his brother had?
Saitou groaned, kicking over his brother's plant that was place neatly beside the door. It shattered, sending smears of dirt across the polished floor. Saitou ran.
***
Gina checked her watch. Who was knocking at eleven thirty o'clock at night? She slowly got out of her warm bed, leaving the book she was reading on her bedspread.
She was surprised to see her father, "Dad?" He shoved past her. "Dad? You okay?"
"I've had ten doors total shut in my face this past three hours..."
"Huh?"
"Can I sleep her tonight?" He did not want to explain the whole story to her that he had been looking for a place to sleep these past hours. He tried Aya's, then a couple friends, then a hotel, then on and on, until he ended up back in front of the apartment building.
"Um... sure... you and mom fight?"
"Grandmother and I... I don't feel like talking... where can I sleep?" Saitou glanced around the room. Hopefully not the couch, he thought.
"Aoshi's not home yet... he went to the movies..."
"Good." Saitou marched into his son's room and closed the door. Gina shrugged her shoulder, and returned to her bedroom.
***
"GINA." A hissing voice jerked Gina from her sleep.
She picked up her pillow and hurled it at the shadow, "Go away."
"GINA!" It moved closer.
Gina threw a couple stuffed animals, "AOSHI! Get out of my room!"
"Gina! What is Dad doing here?"
"The same thing I'm trying to do: SLEEP!" She pulled her covers over her head.
Aoshi sighed; it was time to attempt to reclaim his room.
***
Gina heard a loud groan, then a couple thumps. Aoshi returned, rubbing his head, "What's wrong with Dad?"
Gina shrugged, "Dunno..."
"Can you sleep on the couch?"
"No."
"GINA!" Aoshi was whining now.
"No!"
"Come on!"
"NO!"
"Please!"
"No!"
"Be nice!"
"NO!"
"Please!"
"I said no!"
"Come on Gina!"
"NO!"
"Please!"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Why should I?"
"Why not?"
"Give me a good reason!"
"KEEP IT DOWN!" The room across the hall yelled. The door opened as Saitou stepped out, "What's wrong now?" He ended up with three pillows in his face, along with a couple of shoes.
He grabbed the pillows off the bed, hurling them at his children. Gina shrieked as she was hit in the face. Aoshi hurled the sofa pillows at his sister, who threw two pillows; one hitting her father and the other missed her older brother.
The pillow fight ensured. Gina glanced around the living room and hallway as her father plopped tiredly on the wooden floor. Aoshi was slumped over a flat pillow.
"You do realize we'll have to clean this up?" She glanced at the mounds of cotton and feathers.
"Umph." Her brother replied.
"Have fun." Saitou closed the door to Aoshi bedroom quickly, just as two shoes smack against the door. He smirked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay... well... that chapter wasn't planned... it was suppose to be Saitou crashing people's houses... instead it turned out to be a reflection chapter...
Hm... this chapter might need a little changed... I'll see...
Anyways...
Thanks for reading... I hope you begin to understand these characters more... not just one sided...
I'm trying...
I liked Saitou's perceptions on the grandmother and his children...
Please review!! Thank you!!!!!
11/18/2003
Hey everyone. As an author reading my own story, I've realized many of my characters are one sided... like you only see one side of them. I think Kenshin is the ONLY one of my characters who I truly show another side to him.
Not everyone one if completely bad, like Jin and Grandmother... and I'm going to try and show my readers how they can be well... um... nice(?) It's hard when even as an author I despised these characters... but as an author I feel I need to do a little something nice for these characters...
Not everyone is completely "good", like Gina, Aoshi, Kaoru, and Misao... etc. but I like these characters... (and Kenshin of course) and it's really hard for me to write about their bad point... but we are human... and I as a writer see this...
Everything is balanced... yin and yang...
And this story is lacking that... I'm trying though... I'll try.
In many of the storied I have read, many of them have the main character as a pillar, always doing the right thing or fighting for a good cause. That's not possible, and I have come to realize this... and hope to impart that message on my readers...
********
Recap: Kaoru makes her decision. Kenshin goes crazy... Saitou yelled as his mother-in-law and leaves the house.
*********
+Review Responses+
Unique-starfish- As always... thank you for reading and reviewing.
MissBehavin- I'm probably putting Okita and Soujirou in this story in a few chapters I think... if everything goes as planned. Yumi probably won't meet Shishio until after the Christmas Special... Gina on a date... I never thought of that... I'll try to write one sometime soon... I don't really see Gina as a
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hajime Saitou was bored. He wasn't usually bored, if it wasn't work that consumed his time it was his family.
He wandered aimlessly around Tokyo. It was dark now, and late. He did not want to go back to the apartment, he dislike his mother-in-law as much as (my readers like this story...j/k) a dog loved a cat.
He decided to visit Megumi and Sano; Tokio had not told him anything about them. He had an idea were Sano lived, being the man Saitou was.
It was a bad neighborhood, not with a hooded figure on every street corner, but it was certainly eerie. One could never be sure who was going to pop out in the next turn one made, perhaps one would run into a man with a dagger, or a woman selling flowers. One could never be sure until one made that turn. The rattle of leaves in the wind could shake a man to his knees.
Saitou just walked along, deep in thought; for the cigarettes he had given up when Aoshi was born. He had promised his wife to quit smoking when their first child was born; Aoshi and amazingly he had. Maybe it was the pressures of a new child, but pressure caused him to smoke more... he didn't know. But he had stopped, and watched through clearer lungs his next son born; Kenshin and then his only daughter, Gina.
Gina seemed like a gift out of heaven. The couple had been pleased with their two sons already. Kenshin was eight, and Aoshi was nine when Gina was born. She seemed like a child who grew up with love, but turned aloof to it.
Gina was friendly, not as sociable as Kenshin, but not so reserved as Aoshi, but she was remote in feeling... towards herself; too selfless, never thinking for her own good. She would defend her friends and family, but never herself. She was impassive to those who thought ill of her, and even those who thought well of her; she simply shrugged them off.
Perhaps she was worse than Kenshin. He gave his heart to the person he loved, and even as the heart was shattered, he never gave up hope. She closed up like a clamshell; allow little to penetrate her mask.
Perhaps she was worse than Aoshi. He was not emotionless, but he did not express it with his face, he did it in his actions, and eyes, if you were observant enough. She was too slippery for anyone to truly read her emotions even through her eyes. Saitou wasn't even certain she had distracted Kenshin from Kaoru out of the goodness of her heart, or if she did it to pick a fight with Kenshin.
That was Gina, the onion, with too many hidden layers.
Now onto Kenshin. Kenshin had an unpredictable temper. He was an overly forthcoming, one thing he had inherited from his mother. Kenshin was also very forgiving, and tended to forget the offenses. His eyes danced when happy, but could turn cold instantly. Kenshin wasn't a bad kid; he just never listened to what his parents told him.
Kenshin set his own curfew, coming home late, and keeping Tokio and Saitou up and worried. He had his many girlfriends; Anna, Elizabeth, Kristen, Tara, Susie, and all the other girls that he had brought home. Saitou scared most of them away.
That was Kenshin, a gun; one was never going to know when it was going to go off.
Now onto Aoshi. Aoshi, as the oldest son, always tried to earn the approval of his parents- his father especially. Tokio's smile was for the family; Saitou's was reserved for those restricted moments.
As Kenshin burned hot, Aoshi blazed cold. He did not go into a rage when anger, he simply walked away, but one could tell he was not a man to forget easy. His anger could last days, months, even years, but slowly it was dissipate. Perhaps Aoshi would not forget, but he might consider the situation from the other side. Aoshi was discerning, very much so.
That was Aoshi, an icicle; cold and clear, with a distorted perception.
They were his children, and as he would probably die than admit it, he was proud of them, for just being them. No one was perfect; and who was he to judge?
He reached the home of Megumi and Sano. The house was run down, with its wooden boards rotting away, and its once bright red paint faded. Its door was crooked, and windows soot covered. The alley leading to the house was dumped with trash.
Saitou rapped on the door. A light flickered above his head then went out. Saitou gave it a few taps; it was dead. Sano's sloppy grin yanked the door open, "PIZZA!" He yelled.
Saitou raised an eyebrow. How amusing, so it was true Megumi did not know how to cook.
"What happened to the pizza boy? HEY! Did you kill him or something?" Sano asked.
Megumi appeared beside her husband, "Uncle Hajime... please come in."
"Not until he tell me what he did with the pizza boy!! And that PIZZA!"
"Hn. Idiot." Saitou stepped forward.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Sano's face turned red.
"Idiot. He's right there." Saitou pointed down the alley and sure enough, a boy carrying a box of pizza arrived.
"I left my wallet... could you..." Sano began.
Saitou groaned and paid the boy. He turned to see the door slam in his face, "Children these days... stealing the money..." He muttered as he walked away. He then stopped in shock; he was turning into his mother-in- law!
Maybe he was getting old, and old people saw the world as a place where they could be respect; like the olden days. He hated to admit, but times were changing, and the old were tossed away. Seniority did not have to do with work anymore; it was replaced by someone who could do it faster and more efficient than you could.
Saitou realized all his mother-in-law wanted was a little respect, to show that someone did appreciate the old woman for her years of labor. She perchance thought she would be forgotten by her children and grandchildren and left as the rocks on the earth, trampled by the flow of life. Until time say it fit for her to wither away and die, and leaving no mark on those was walked the path she had set.
He pasted a river, flowing and tripping over pebbles in its path. He saw his own reflection. What was it he saw in his own eyes, what kind of man did his children see, or his mother-in-law or even his wife?
Tokio- a woman who has stood by his side since the beginning of their marriage. WRONG. They had separated, three times since their marriage. Once since Aoshi and Kenshin were born. The boys were too young to remember.
Tokio had a temper like Kenshin, or she DID have one. Maybe he was the one who had tamed it, or it might have been herself, growing older, seeing the world in different eyes.
Tokio hated her husband's job as a police officer. She did not see the bigger picture, or maybe she chose to ignore it. He was loyal to his country; true. He wanted to preserve Japan's honor; true. He was strict in his resolve for his brand of justice, Aku soku zan; true. But there was another reason he become a cop; one no one ever knew about.
To protect and defend; he had been the New York City, to see their police cars written all over the sides these words. To protect from what? To defend who? For him, it was to protect the innocent, and defend them. No one was innocent; that phrase was not true. To grown men it applied, but to the little children were they guilty of anything? Where they guilty of a life given to them? Where they guilty of surviving, of living? They who were innocent and naïve could not defend themselves from those seeking power; those were whom HE defended.
He chuckled as he continued his route, watching the leaves drift into the water. Who knew Hajime Saitou, the Wolf who powered the streets, was fighting for the children who did not even reach up to his waist?
He banged on a solid door. His brother opened it, "YOU." He boomed.
Saitou rolled his eyes, "Yeah... it's me. You free tonight?"
Hiko smirked, "TOKIO KICKED YOU OUT?"
"No... Mrs. Tamba did." Saitou had never been SO respectful towards his mother-in-law. Behind her back he was often calling her witch or hag.
Hiko raised an eyebrow... then slammed the door. What was wrong about his young brother? Hajime looked, old. Hiko glanced at the mirror in the hallway. He hated the admit it, but he was getting old; old and tired, but trying hard not to change. Was change that difficult for him? His brother seemed the embrace the stream of time, what was stopping him? What was missing that he did not have, that his brother had?
Saitou groaned, kicking over his brother's plant that was place neatly beside the door. It shattered, sending smears of dirt across the polished floor. Saitou ran.
***
Gina checked her watch. Who was knocking at eleven thirty o'clock at night? She slowly got out of her warm bed, leaving the book she was reading on her bedspread.
She was surprised to see her father, "Dad?" He shoved past her. "Dad? You okay?"
"I've had ten doors total shut in my face this past three hours..."
"Huh?"
"Can I sleep her tonight?" He did not want to explain the whole story to her that he had been looking for a place to sleep these past hours. He tried Aya's, then a couple friends, then a hotel, then on and on, until he ended up back in front of the apartment building.
"Um... sure... you and mom fight?"
"Grandmother and I... I don't feel like talking... where can I sleep?" Saitou glanced around the room. Hopefully not the couch, he thought.
"Aoshi's not home yet... he went to the movies..."
"Good." Saitou marched into his son's room and closed the door. Gina shrugged her shoulder, and returned to her bedroom.
***
"GINA." A hissing voice jerked Gina from her sleep.
She picked up her pillow and hurled it at the shadow, "Go away."
"GINA!" It moved closer.
Gina threw a couple stuffed animals, "AOSHI! Get out of my room!"
"Gina! What is Dad doing here?"
"The same thing I'm trying to do: SLEEP!" She pulled her covers over her head.
Aoshi sighed; it was time to attempt to reclaim his room.
***
Gina heard a loud groan, then a couple thumps. Aoshi returned, rubbing his head, "What's wrong with Dad?"
Gina shrugged, "Dunno..."
"Can you sleep on the couch?"
"No."
"GINA!" Aoshi was whining now.
"No!"
"Come on!"
"NO!"
"Please!"
"No!"
"Be nice!"
"NO!"
"Please!"
"I said no!"
"Come on Gina!"
"NO!"
"Please!"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Why should I?"
"Why not?"
"Give me a good reason!"
"KEEP IT DOWN!" The room across the hall yelled. The door opened as Saitou stepped out, "What's wrong now?" He ended up with three pillows in his face, along with a couple of shoes.
He grabbed the pillows off the bed, hurling them at his children. Gina shrieked as she was hit in the face. Aoshi hurled the sofa pillows at his sister, who threw two pillows; one hitting her father and the other missed her older brother.
The pillow fight ensured. Gina glanced around the living room and hallway as her father plopped tiredly on the wooden floor. Aoshi was slumped over a flat pillow.
"You do realize we'll have to clean this up?" She glanced at the mounds of cotton and feathers.
"Umph." Her brother replied.
"Have fun." Saitou closed the door to Aoshi bedroom quickly, just as two shoes smack against the door. He smirked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay... well... that chapter wasn't planned... it was suppose to be Saitou crashing people's houses... instead it turned out to be a reflection chapter...
Hm... this chapter might need a little changed... I'll see...
Anyways...
Thanks for reading... I hope you begin to understand these characters more... not just one sided...
I'm trying...
I liked Saitou's perceptions on the grandmother and his children...
Please review!! Thank you!!!!!