Disclaimer:
Shishio: "Join me and we shall conquer the entire RK series! We'll overthrow Nobuhiro Watsuki!"
Hoji: "Shishio-sama is the BEST!" His eyes gleam with pure rapture at Shishio's statement.
Yumi stands next to Shishio possessively and smiles at him.
Soujiro with a smile: "Hai, Shishio-sama."
"Sou--jiii--rooou. . ." a threatening female voice breaks into the crowd from the corner of the room.
Soujiro hears the threatening tone and sweatdrops and starts to look over to where the familiar voice came from in a very careful manner. "Eto . . Kao-chan?" (He knew she was upset because she called him Soujiro instead of Sou-chan.)
Kaoru glares at him with her hands on her hips.
Soujiro is intimidated and smiles weakly at her. He begins to fumble with his fingers and looks down on the ground. He notices Shishio's menacing stare. He looks back and forth between Shishio and Kaoru . . and takes a step towards Kaoru.
Shishio: "Tenken . . . how dare you betray me?"
Hoji interjects: "Shishio-sama is UNBEATABLE!!!" Throws his fist into the air gesturing emphatically.
Soujiro: "Gomen, Shishio-sama. . . But . . you're not as pretty as Kao-chan!" He smiles sheepishly with his hand scratching the back of his head. He gives a slight bow to his former leader and approaches Kaoru with a bright smile. He puts an arm around her shoulder and they walk off.
Shishio glares at the boy once more and then looks at the rest of the Juppongatana: "Disgusting. . Ikuso."
Hoji: "Yes! Shishio-sama!!! We'll defeat Nobuhiro Watsuki!!!" His fist pumps into the air once more.
Shishio: "Shut up."
Hoji: "ANYTHING for the great Shishio-sama!"
Author's Notes: Gomen for not updating for so long. School has already started and homework is beginning to pile up. Ack!
Special Thanks to Starlyn, gracianeko, cleoclaudia, and Lullaby-Sarahi for adding me to your favorite authors' list! You don't know how flattering that is for me ^_^ ..
~ A Memory Forgotten ~
Chapter 16
Soujiro lessened the grip on the katana and with a thrust of his palm knocked the man unconscious. He then proceeded to re-sheathe his sword.
"Arigato," he whispered as he stepped over the man's limp body.
The boy left the site and swiftly walked in the direction back to the house. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of yellow eyes appeared from behind the shadows, witnessing the man clad in blue leave the scene.
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Soujiro approached home with a lightness in his footsteps. I've gotten the information I needed! Now we can go find Kao-chan's father. He opened the door and announced his presence, "Tadaima Kao-chan!"
"Okaeri nasai, Sou-chan!" Kaoru said with a bright smile as she walked out to greet him.
"Kao-chan, I've found out where your father is at!"
"Honto ni?"
"Hai. Demo we need to leave by tomorrow."
"H- - hai." Kaoru looks down sadly. Already? She takes a look around the house and looks back at Soujiro. Her frown began to become a smile as she saw his smiling face. There's no reason to be sad, Sou-chan is going to be by my side. . . and that's all I need.
Soujiro looked back at her and noticed her change in emotions. I'm glad that she's still smiling, I'd hate to see her sad. His stomach let out a low growl and his face started to heat up from embarrassment.
Kaoru laughed. "You must be hungry, ne Sou-chan?"
Soujiro replied with a nod of the head.
"I'll go prepare dinner then!" she said with a swift turn on her heel.
It was good thing that Kaoru had turned around or she would have noticed how pale Soujiro's face had become. She was about to make her way to the kitchen when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around with a confused look on her visage. "Nani?"
"Ano . . why don't you rest, Kao-chan? We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and I want you to be as much rested as possible." At least that's half the truth, Soujiro thought.
Kaoru's confused look became softened as his words registered in her mind. Sou-chan is so sweet! He just wants me to rest. . but he just came back . . he must be tired also. "Don't worry Sou-chan. It's just dinner."
That's what I'm afraid of, Soujiro thought as he grimaced mentally at the memory of last night's so-called dinner. That night after a couple of bites of rice and miso, his stomach couldn't handle it anymore. Ugh .. and now his stomach was still recovering. He noticed the long silence and searched for Kaoru. He groggily went into the kitchen and to his utter dread found Kaoru cutting up the vegetables. How am I going to get myself out of this?
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Saitou walked out from the shadows of the night sky. He stood beneath the haze of the smoke from his cigarette as he gazed at the sight before him. With long, quick strides he tried to follow the figure leaving the scene. But since the fog was so dense, he had lost him by the time they turned the corner. The police officer let out a grunt of dissatisfaction as he turned back towards the man on the ground. He kicked the lump of body before him and he saw it twitch. Che! It's still alive.
He grabbed at the man's collar none too gently and dragged him down the street towards the police station. Where are those ahous when I need them? (A/N : He is referring to the other police officer underlings.)
One of the men from Fujimoto's clan saw the man coming out of the alleyway and attacked with a katana clenched tightly within his palms. Shiksho! I have to get him back, he has the information about Higurashi's whereabouts!
Saitou felt the intense ki behind him and turned around just in time to avoid the blade. He threw the body off to the side as he unsheathed his own sword.
"Who are you?" Saitou snarled through his teeth as he threw the cigarette down.
"None of your business, old man. If you want to live, I suggest you pass the body over to me," the other replied defiantly. He got in position to attack him again.
Saitou gave a smirk. Fujimoto's old stance, that bastard. (A/N : Remember in the beginning in Chapter 3 or so, when Kaoru was attacked by one of the dart throwers, Fuji, had the same stance. The stance is similar to that of the Gatotsu.) Saitou responded by crouching down and getting into his own reliable Gatotsu stance.
"Ikuso!" the other said as he charged ready to stab at Saitou's chest.
"Incompetent fool," Saitou mumbled under his breath as he saw the man coming toward him. As the blade was thrusted towards his chest, the police officer side-stepped and stabbed the poor man in the side. Too slow, he thought. Saitou twisted the sword as he took it out, causing a bigger gash in the skin, then flicked the blood off of his katana. A smooth metallic sound was made as the wolf sheathed his sword.
He made his way towards the body that he had thrown down during the battle and again started his trek back to the police station, leaving another body swimming in a pool of blood. (A/N: It's really bloody because Saitou had punctured the man's spleen also.)
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A few hours later in the confines of the Tokyo jail
Everything was in a haze as the man woke up. Where the fuck am I?, he thought disgruntled, adjusting to the bright light around him. Actually, there was only one light and it was shining right down on him. His mind was groggy and he tried to stand up, but found that his wrists and ankles were bound tightly to the chair that he was sitting upon. What the fuck is going on here? He blinked his eyes once more and found him staring at four other bodies.
As the four approached him, he felt a fierce chill in the air and shrunk back further in his seat.
The tall one with the cigarette calmly walked closer to him. "Do you know where you are?"
"N- -n- no," he stammered totally confused and scared about what was going on around him.
"You're in jail," the same man replied.
"H-how the hell did I end up here? What the fuck happened to me?" the man started to yell out. He struggled to get out of his seat once more, but couldn't.
"We're the one asking questions here. We know that you work for Fujimoto Akane and we know who you're after. Now tell us what's the last thing you remember," Saitou said with a snarl.
"I'm not fucking telling you assholes anything!! You hear me?!" His mind had finally cleared up and he finally understood what was going on.
"Just let me at him! I swear!" another voice growled emphatically. The bodyguard noticed that another taller man stood out among the group clad in a white jacket and pants, a red bandanna on his forehead. A shorter boy stood next to him, a furious expression playing on his face also.
"Sano . ." another voice came. This time the sound came from a red-head with a cross scar on his left cheek.
He looked with widened eyes as recognition set in. Shit! "Ba- battousai?" he murmured under his breath. The red-haired man glared at him with two amber-tinted eyes. It sent a shiver down his spine.
"It's best to cooperate with us now, or may just regret it," Kenshin stated with his hand unconsciously over the hilt of his sword.
The man's throat felt completely dry and he took a gulp. Shit! "Eh . . eto . ."
"Stop your stammering," Saitou said with annoyance.
The man in question took another gulp. "Uhn . . well . . this morning I went to look for information about a man named Higurashi Miroku. And . . uh . .he's the man our boss wants."
"On with it," Kenshin said icily.
"Umm . . what is going to happen to me?" he asked shakily as his eyes wandered across the four looming figures around the room.
"Tell us what you know and we'll go on from there," Saitou responded.
The man was in a fit of cold sweat and tried to keep steady the shaking in his legs as he continued with what he knew. "H-hai. I went . . went . .to the bar near the pier. I heard that the man there knew information about Higurashi. He - - he - - said his friends saw him last some fifteen years ago. He fled the country during the Bakumatsu after our boss found out that he had betrayed him."
"Where did he go?"
"Eh . . he went . .to"
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"China." Soujiro firmly stated.
"China!?!?! You're not serious are you, Sou-chan?" Kaoru asked incredulously. Leave the country?
"I'm serious, Kao-chan. Now I think you should change out of your kimono into something more suitable for the trip. You need to be comfortable," he replied. "We've got to leave now, the boat is set to leave in two hours."
"Hai," she responded as she quickly got up and left the room. Soujiro had woken her up that morning when before the crack of dawn. At the time, he had been wearing western-style clothing. She had laughed at the first sight, but stopped herself when she saw that he had a serious expression on his visage. He held out a similar pair of western clothes in front of her, telling her to change into them.
Soujiro watched as the girl made her way to the room that she had been using the past week. I'll make sure you're safe, Kao-chan and I'll get you to Higurashi.
A few minutes later, Kaoru burst out from her room with an excited yelp.
"How do I look Sou-chan? Do I look manly enough?" Kaoru asked while twirling around, modeling the man's clothing for him.
Soujiro blushed a deep red. "Ano . . . Kao-chan . . . you . . . your . . ." Then he looked down at his own chest and quickly gestured to it in embarrassment.
The woman was confused at his gestures and later finally understood what the boy was referring to. Kaoru looked down and blushed a deeper red than her counterpart's while rushing back into the room again. I can't believe I had forgotten to put on my bandages! The girl noticed that the outfit she was wearing was actually a bit revealing. The front of the brown suit clung suggestively to her chest and the brown pant legs were a little tight around her hips. She thought back to Soujiro's expression and started to feel the heat on her cheeks once again.
A few moments later, Kaoru came out again, this time having bandaged herself. Soujiro nodded his head in approval as she walked out. To finish the ensemble, the boy placed a western-style brown hat on top of her head to hide her long, raven black hair. The both of them took one last look at the house that they had called "home" for the past week and sighed sadly. They took what little they had with them, as they walked out into the city.
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Kenshin and the other two had panicked when they had heard that Kaoru may be going to China, if she hadn't yet already gone. The three of them ran out of the police station and towards the Tokyo harbor in hopes that she had not left yet. And if she had, some crew members would have been able to recognize her and tell them where she went and if anyone had accompanied her along the trip.
When they finally reached the ports, the three of them split up asking around which ships were going to China. In the end, they found only one ship which was departing to that destination and it was not leaving port for another hour.
Kenshin was in despair as he asked the people around the port. None of them had seen any woman with her description. Maybe she's still in Tokyo then. But why do I feel so uneasy about this? . . . Saito said some man had questioned and attacked Fujimoto's bodyguard to find out where Higurashi was located. That guy . . I can think of no other person other than the one that had saved Kaoru-dono earlier. Soujiro . . .
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Kaoru was very excited about finally being able to set foot into the busy streets of Tokyo once more. I haven't seen any other person other than Soujiro since forever!, she thought happily as they approached the marketplace. Her eyes lit up at the products that were being vended.
"Hey sir! Come look at my goods!"
She hadn't realized that the vendors were referring to her. For a moment, she had forgotten that she had dressed up as a man to go outside. Kaoru continued to walk along and as she looked at the people around her, she started to feel uneasy. Many of the women were batting their eyelashes at him and smiling alluringly.
A husky female voice called out, "Hi good-looking. I haven't seen you before. Would you like to accompany me for a drink or two?" Kaoru gasped and looked up to Soujiro in desperation.
Soujiro was smiling . . smiling widely at her.
Grr! Can't he do something about this? Kaoru just decided to ignore her. More catcalls were made as they continued their trip down to the docks. Ugh!!, thought Kaoru as she groaned miserably inside as she saw another woman looking at her suggestively.
Soujiro was laughing inside. He loved seeing that expression on Kaoru whenever the other women would look over at her interest. However . .if she was dressed in woman's clothing and the men had been looking at her like that…… The boy started to seethe with anger at the thought and unconsciously started to walk closer towards her.
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30 Minutes to Departure
The crowds were starting to become unsettled as they began to wave their good-byes to their family and friends on the ship. Kenshin, Sano, and Yahiko had continued pushing themselves through the sea of people as they searched for Kaoru's presence. To their disappointment, they had found nothing.
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10 Minutes to Departure
Kaoru and Soujiro were a bit out of breath as they had finally reached the harbor. The women had constantly stopped the two along the way asking them to accompany them for drinks. Kaoru's face had been a constant red the entire way. The boy chuckled at the memory.
Kaoru looked over at her companion as she heard him chuckle beneath his breath. She gave him a questioning look. Soujiro just shrugged. She gave a grunt of disappointment as they began to push themselves through the crowd.
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Kenshin and the other two had finally decided that they she was not there and began to make their way back against the push of the crowds.
As they reached the entrance of the harbor, Kenshin smelled a familiar scent and stopped.
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The two western dressed men had been pushing themselves through the humongous crowd of people. Kaoru looked around as she made her way towards the ship. Then she saw it.
A flash of flaming red.
She squinted her eyes as she got a better look.
Crimson red hair.
There is something so . . so familiar about it. She was about to walk towards that direction until she felt Soujiro grab her hand.
"Kao-chan, we have to hurry. We don't want to miss the ship!"
Kaoru nodded and the red hair was forgotten.
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It was jasmine. It had to be her, he thought desperately as his eyes scanned through the crowd once more.
"Kenshin, what's the matter?" Yahiko asked seeing that the rurouni had stopped in his tracks.
Kenshin didn't reply as he made his way back towards the harbor. Sano and Yahiko followed along. Maybe he saw Jou-chan, Sano thought as his hopes began to rise. Following Kenshin's lead, Sano also began to search more frantically for the girl's figure.
After a few minutes of searching, they had come up with nothing. Kenshin let his eyes wander off in the direction of the ship one last time. He saw two masculine figures donned in western clothing boarding the ship. He gave a sigh of disappointment.
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The ship finally left the dock. Soujiro left Kaoru's side as he went to find out where the both of them would be sleeping. The girl went towards the balcony of the ship and looked out once more into the crowd. She wanted to catch the man with the red hair one last time. Why does it affect me so much?, she thought as her eyes darted from person to person back at the docks.
A big gust of wind blew, knocking Kaoru's brown hat off of her head. Her arms stretched out in an attempt to grab it, but without luck. The hat was gone.
She let her eyes gaze back down at the deep blue ocean and she felt her heart ache ever so little. I feel as if I'm leaving something important behind…but what is it? As she thought this, she felt a feeling of warmth on her hand. She looked up and saw that another hand was placed upon hers, she let her eyes travel from his hand, up the length of his arm, past the neck, and found herself gazing into a pair of startling bluish-gray eyes.
She smiled.
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Kenshin sighed dejectedly one more time as he saw the crowd departing. She's not here . . He turned once more towards the ocean and caught sight of a brown object drifting gracefully down onto the wooden docks. The rurouni made his way over to the object and picked it up.
A hat..
Another soft wind blew and Kenshin noticed the scent. He turned the hat around and examined it. The smell, it was fresh. Jasmine. His mind began to race as he remembered the image of the two figures dressed in western clothing boarding the ship.
Kaoru.
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- To be continued
Author's Notes (Extended Version) hehe:
I think this has been my longest chapter so far to date. Please read and review! Expect to see some new RK characters coming up in the next chapter! ^_^ like . . .
A few comments about the chapter:
Saitou knew the guy worked for Fujimoto because the other man that attacked him that night wanted the guy. The attacker used a style similar to Gatotsu that Saitou identifies as the sword style that Fujimoto Akane uses.
Soujiro borrowed the western style clothes from the people in the house that they were living in at the time. He thought that they would repay the owners back later.
Reader Responses:
Princess of Darkness and Me – I'm glad you like the Sou/Kao pairing so much =D Hehe . . Umm. .about the kiss .. we'll see.
Gracianeko – I used Saito cuz it's too early for Kenshin right now. I want to build it up to that point.
Kyoznekozukigirl – Thanks for reviewing those chapters! Kenshin, Sou, Kaoru will meet in time. =D I have a few working ideas right now, but the details aren't done yet..
Nicky – Yay! Thanks for reviewing! I was wondering where you were .. hehe =) Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I hope you had a great vacation.
Ame Kurayami – Yup! You were right .. it was Saito.
Briar – yeah . .that's a good idea ..Soujiro could teach Kaoru how to cook some different foods. . Hehe ..
Kitty12perfecto – Thnx for the comments!
Poppy2 – Hehe .. yep it was the wolf ..
Yuki-chan – Aww. . thanks for all the support! =D I'm really glad you like this fic =) . .I know what you mean about the Sou/Kao pairing. They are so cute together…but maybe I'll do an S/K fic later.
Tiaravball15 – Well, expect to see more Kenshin in the later chapters ^_^ Hehe .. lol .. was the ending what you meant when you said that they don't miss something right when they meet or something or other. .lol .. I'm not making sense .. =x
Angie – Hello! Thanks for reviewing many of the chapters! The comments were really encouraging and helpful. I hope you continue to enjoy it as much.
Boomerang-chan – hi again .I'm glad to read your reviews once more. Thnx again =D
Doris – Hmm . .about the kissing scene .. I guess we'll see what happens .. hehe
Kenshinfan – Lol . .thnx for your comments! They were fun to read =) lol . .. anna is funny.. don't worry there will be more violence ahead…even though I have some bit of difficulty writing those action scenes since they don't come as easily as the others. But I think they are the most fun to read ..
Sweetmyst – Thanks for your comments! They're really sweet.
Ymir-chan – Sorry for taking so long. I hope you liked this chapter.
Shermaine – Gomen this isn't a Sou/Kao fic even though they look absolutely adorable together also ..