Thank you everyone for being so encouraging! =) Ok, well on with the fic...
Standard Disclaimers apply. (why is it necessary for me to keep on repeating this?)
* * *
A couple days passed since Sonami walked through the doors of the dojo. Now, everyone adored her. Misao and Kaoru followed her everywhere, asking about this and that, Kaoru asking mostly about cooking, and Misao mostly asking about her adventures.
"Please, Sonami, you just have to let me in on the secret of how to make dumplings crispier."
"Before that, finish telling me about the railroad that they are building that goes through the whole country."
"Hey Sonami, why don't you ditch those two and I'll show you around Tokyo some more." Sano would come in, trying to get her attention. By the time he walked out of the door, he would have two big bruises on his head.
Soujiro would have random discussions with her while walking around the dojo a few times, and although no one else really knew what they were talking about, it seemed as if they were enjoying themselves. Even Saitou, *gasp* didn't exactly dislike her. "She doesn't seem to be too ignorant for her age." He commented to Kenshin after having a lengthy conversation about the history of Japanese swordsmanship with her. Kenshin smiled. Coming from Saitou, that was a compliment. Kenshin of course, thought nothing but highly of her, and truly hoped that the sweet girl had no ulterior motives. She had charmed them all.
* * *
Aoshi was at the temple as usual, sipping tea given to him by Omasu, who had filled in due to Misao's absence. Okina suddenly stepped in. Aoshi didn't even quirk an eyebrow.
"Aoshi, Misao has been gone for quite awhile, and I'm getting worried."
Aoshi turned around to face Okina. "Misao is quite capable of taking care of herself."
"But aren't you worried?"
He merely shrugged. "I'm sure she'll eventually be back. She had done this a couple of times before."
"Yes I know that." Okina answered a bit bitterly. "But one does have concern over those that one cares about." With that he exited.
Aoshi sat there for a couple more minutes. Then with a sigh, he stood up and walked out.
* * *
Sonami and Soujiro walked side-by-side around the edges of the dojo. Sakura petals fell gently on them as they passed, some getting stuck in Sonami's hair. Unconsciously, Soujiro lifted his hand and brushed the petals off of her hair. When she realized what he just did, she blushed and edged a bit away from him. Soujiro wasn't exactly in a comfortable situation either.
"I always loved flowers." She started, breaking the awkward silence. "Especially orchids and sakura."
"I never had much time to enjoy such things when I was young." Soujiro replied sadly. "But," he said with a brighter note, "I could do so now."
"And that's all that matters." Sonami added, smiling. They stayed silent for a while until Sonami started speaking again, this time though her voice a bit wavering. "Long time ago, I still remember, my friend...he used to bring flowers into my room almost everyday. I used to look at those flowers, and I would be so happy, that at least someone thought about me. Even when I had nothing to look forward to, I was still able to console myself." She turned around. "Am I being too sentimental?"
"No, you're not." He assured her.
She smiled. "Thank you."
* * *
"What are they doing over there?" Sano quipped. "Don't they get sick and tired of walking around the dojo for such a long time?"
"Why?" Yahiko started to tease, "You jealous?"
"No."
"Liar."
"Hey!" The two of them started growling at each other.
"She's too young for you, you know." Yahiko mocked Sano.
"Well, she's too old for you, and besides, the last time I checked you were with Tsubame." Sano retorted back. The two gave each other evil eyes until...
"Hey, what's that kid doing?" Yahiko suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Sano turned around. There was a boy, about fourteen years of age, that seemed to be snooping around the place. He didn't seem particularly dangerous, but nevertheless he was acting suspicious.
"Hey kid!" Sano shouted. "What are you doing there?" Realizing that he had been caught, the kid started to back away slowly. "Hey, you're not going anywhere until you tell us what you were doing!" Sano demanded. With that he made a grab for the kid. Unsuccessfully, that is. The kid dogged his grab easily, and quickly jumped up the wall, and went to the other side. Yahiko ran around to catch him, but unfortunately, by the time he turned the corner, the kid was gone. "Whoa, that kid is fast!" Sano commented.
"Actually he wasn't that fast." Yahiko panted, "it was just that he had incredible maneuver abilities."
"What are you two muttering about?" Yahiko and Sano turned around, and found a snickering Saitou, and a curious Kenshin.
"There was a suspicious kid that was snooping around the dojo." Yahiko blurted out.
"A suspicious looking kid?" Saitou quirked an eyebrow.
"Did you manage to catch him?" Kenshin asked, concerned.
"No." They both replied dejectedly.
"What more did you expect Battousai?" Saitou commented, while lighting a cigarette. "Those two idiots never do anything right." Ignoring dagger eyes from Sano and Yahiko, he continued, "If you want anything done, you have to do it yourself."
"Well, at least they spotted him." Kenshin remarked trying to at least give the two some credit. Saitou just stood there. "We'll figure something out." Kenshin said determined. "However..." he suddenly had a worried expression on his face. "Don't mention any of this to the others. I don't want them to get worried."
"You can count on us!" Sano and Yahiko exclaimed in unison. Saitou snorted in disbelief.
* * *
It was dark. Koji sat on the roof of the dojo, waiting for the right time to get down. It had been very close this morning, a bit too close. He only hoped that he didn't mess up enough to disappoint her. This time he had to be even more careful. The residents of the dojo knew something was amiss, and were more cautious. He looked down carefully, to detect any movement below that he didn't recognize. Nothing. After taking a deep breath, he jumped. Next thing he knew, he had a cold katana pressed to his neck. Looking up, he saw a pair of amber eyes glaring at him.
"All right boy, you're going to tell us exactly what you are doing here." Koji looked around frantically—the only one else he saw was a man with red hair and cross-shaped scars. He didn't exactly look friendly either, but not as scary as the other man.
"Leave him alone." Koji almost jumped with joy when he heard that voice.
"Sonami?" Kenshin said, surprised.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Everyone had his or her head popped out of the doors, woken up by the commotion.
"Yes, Sonami, what is going on?" Saitou glared, basically ordering her to speak.
"First let go of him." Saitou released the boy. As soon as he did so, the kid ran up to Sonami with a letter in hand. "Thank you Koji. You can run off now." The boy didn't move. She smiled. "Don't worry about me, everything is going to be fine." With one final worried look, Koji disappeared.
"I'm not sure letting him go was a good idea." Kenshin remarked.
"Don't worry. He wouldn't have been useful to you anyways. He can't talk." Sonami explained to them. Noticing that Saitou was still glaring at her, and that the others were looking at her curiously, she continued. "I'm not the only one that keeps secrets, Saitou Hajime, captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi." Then glaring at Kenshin, "and of course, you too, infamous Hitokiri Battousai." Everyone stood there in shock. How did she know...
Having made her point, that she had every reason to keep things to herself, she stated, "Perhaps I should reveal my given name: Sumi Yutamuro." She smirked. "I'm sure for some of you the name sounds familiar." Saitou flinched. Even Kenshin seemed to be a bit nervous. Yutamuro. Sonami continued on, "Having told you this, I'll vaguely reveal my two objectives—one, I'm merely checking up on my former interests in Japan, which should not be a concern to any of you, and two..." Her voice suddenly became haunting, "this I'm not quite sure of yet. I'm still debating within myself whether to carry it out. But regardless of what I decide to do," she acknowledged them, particularly Saitou, "either way it will benefit Japan." Looking into their eyes, Sonami saw that it was going to take some time for all of this to register into their heads. With a slight bow, she retired back into her room.
"Kenshin?" Everyone asked.
"I don't think her intentions are necessarily evil, would you agree, Saitou?"
Saitou stood there silently for a couple more minutes before answering. "I'll agree with you, that is, for now. But there are things I need to be certain of before I could trust her completely."
"Ugh...I have no idea what's going on!" Sano suddenly commented. "I'm going back to bed."
* * *
Saitou walked into his office. It was still a bit dark, the sun barely rising above the horizon. He looked through his desk drawers, throwing every file and papers that got in his way. Eventually he stopped. He smirked, taking out an old, wrinkled file that was at the bottom of everything else. The only case that Saitou Hajime had closed without solving. Even if there were other possible cases that he couldn't solve, (which was not the case, by the way), he wouldn't have gave them a thought. However, this one was different. Yes, Yutamuro, the ancient family name. Saitou didn't quite know what the girl was up to, but regardless of that, he knew that she was the only link that was left. She was a lot more clever than he gave her credit for. Yes, no matter what, she would be of use.
* * *
Sonami woke up, thanks to the sunlight that penetrated through the rice paper doors and beaming at her face. She slowly sat up, reviewing the contents of the letter in her mind. Suki managed to do one thing, but not the other. Oh well, one out of two was better than nothing. Besides the other request she made was unexpected. Then suddenly she felt a bit awkward. Some other presence had been in her room a short while ago. She tensed, until her eyes spotted an object near the corner of the room. Orchids. "Soujiro..." She smiled. Yet within that smile, there was a tint of sadness lingering.
* * *
"If you don't mind me asking, Miss Sonami, where are you going?" Sonami spun around, and found Kenshin smiling at her.
"I...well," she stammered, still feeling a bit awkward about yesterday's incident. "The letter I received yesterday told me that one of my old friends is residing in Tokyo. I was quite surprised actually, that finding her was so elusive, yet she was right here the whole time."
"Well then could we come with you?" Misao and Kaoru joined in.
"Um...you don't mind?" Sonami asked, a bit uncertain.
"You don't need to worry." Kenshin reassured her. "We understand. I'm sure you have your reasons, and we don't mind if you don't tell us the whole story. Besides, we weren't exactly honest with you either in the first place."
"Hey, count us in!" Sano came running, followed by Yahiko and Soujiro.
Sonami smiled. "Thank you everyone." Perhaps this would work out after all.
* * *
"So what exactly are we doing?" Sano asked. Almost everyone gave him a "you're an idiot" look. "What?"
"We're here." Sonami informed them.
Inside, a young woman was kneeling down, watering and fixing her garden. When she realized that someone was at the door, she looked up slightly. She gasped. "Sumi!" Instantly, everything in her hands dropped to the ground as she ran towards them. "Is, is it really you?" She stammered, still in disbelief. Sonami nodded her head.
"What are all of you doing here?" Instantly, everyone's head turned to see a confused, yet irritated Saitou.
"We would like to ask you the same thing." Kenshin replied.
"You're in my house."
* * *
Yay! End of chapter. I know...this one's a bit shorter than the other ones, but I really wanted to cut it off right there.
So ok, comments...isn't the whole flower thing adorable? They are so cute together! Oh, and I filled in a few holes about Sonami's past. Some are pretty obvious while others are more subtle. Hee...hee...good luck trying to figure them out! =) But that doesn't mean over-analyze. (Oh, and yes, the whole thing is still a bit of a mystery, but everything will be clear eventually).
Sano and Yahiko-more comedy from them...
Aoshi-yes, I finally introduced him...more on him and Misao later on...I just hope I didn't make him seem too cold in this chapter.
Kenshin, Kaoru, Misao-I'm sorry that there's not much on them this time...although there's going to be a little more Misao in the next chapter.
Saitou-he makes things interesting, eh? And what was he exactly referring to? =)
Tokio-you know by now that the woman was Tokio, right? Well, if you didn't, now you know. So how does Tokio play into all of this? =)
Soujiro-isn't the whole situation cute? He's so sweet! =) (I just hope I'm not making him too sentimental, and overplaying the scene...but I can't help myself!)
Sonami-obviously more of her in this chapter. We see a bit more of her dangerous side in this one. Who is she really? But still the whole innocence thing is somehow mingled into it all. Oh, and her and Soujiro...they are so cute together...but are they going to be together? Hee...hee...I'm playing with your mind now aren't I? =)
Thanks for reading! And please REVIEW! =)
Standard Disclaimers apply. (why is it necessary for me to keep on repeating this?)
* * *
A couple days passed since Sonami walked through the doors of the dojo. Now, everyone adored her. Misao and Kaoru followed her everywhere, asking about this and that, Kaoru asking mostly about cooking, and Misao mostly asking about her adventures.
"Please, Sonami, you just have to let me in on the secret of how to make dumplings crispier."
"Before that, finish telling me about the railroad that they are building that goes through the whole country."
"Hey Sonami, why don't you ditch those two and I'll show you around Tokyo some more." Sano would come in, trying to get her attention. By the time he walked out of the door, he would have two big bruises on his head.
Soujiro would have random discussions with her while walking around the dojo a few times, and although no one else really knew what they were talking about, it seemed as if they were enjoying themselves. Even Saitou, *gasp* didn't exactly dislike her. "She doesn't seem to be too ignorant for her age." He commented to Kenshin after having a lengthy conversation about the history of Japanese swordsmanship with her. Kenshin smiled. Coming from Saitou, that was a compliment. Kenshin of course, thought nothing but highly of her, and truly hoped that the sweet girl had no ulterior motives. She had charmed them all.
* * *
Aoshi was at the temple as usual, sipping tea given to him by Omasu, who had filled in due to Misao's absence. Okina suddenly stepped in. Aoshi didn't even quirk an eyebrow.
"Aoshi, Misao has been gone for quite awhile, and I'm getting worried."
Aoshi turned around to face Okina. "Misao is quite capable of taking care of herself."
"But aren't you worried?"
He merely shrugged. "I'm sure she'll eventually be back. She had done this a couple of times before."
"Yes I know that." Okina answered a bit bitterly. "But one does have concern over those that one cares about." With that he exited.
Aoshi sat there for a couple more minutes. Then with a sigh, he stood up and walked out.
* * *
Sonami and Soujiro walked side-by-side around the edges of the dojo. Sakura petals fell gently on them as they passed, some getting stuck in Sonami's hair. Unconsciously, Soujiro lifted his hand and brushed the petals off of her hair. When she realized what he just did, she blushed and edged a bit away from him. Soujiro wasn't exactly in a comfortable situation either.
"I always loved flowers." She started, breaking the awkward silence. "Especially orchids and sakura."
"I never had much time to enjoy such things when I was young." Soujiro replied sadly. "But," he said with a brighter note, "I could do so now."
"And that's all that matters." Sonami added, smiling. They stayed silent for a while until Sonami started speaking again, this time though her voice a bit wavering. "Long time ago, I still remember, my friend...he used to bring flowers into my room almost everyday. I used to look at those flowers, and I would be so happy, that at least someone thought about me. Even when I had nothing to look forward to, I was still able to console myself." She turned around. "Am I being too sentimental?"
"No, you're not." He assured her.
She smiled. "Thank you."
* * *
"What are they doing over there?" Sano quipped. "Don't they get sick and tired of walking around the dojo for such a long time?"
"Why?" Yahiko started to tease, "You jealous?"
"No."
"Liar."
"Hey!" The two of them started growling at each other.
"She's too young for you, you know." Yahiko mocked Sano.
"Well, she's too old for you, and besides, the last time I checked you were with Tsubame." Sano retorted back. The two gave each other evil eyes until...
"Hey, what's that kid doing?" Yahiko suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Sano turned around. There was a boy, about fourteen years of age, that seemed to be snooping around the place. He didn't seem particularly dangerous, but nevertheless he was acting suspicious.
"Hey kid!" Sano shouted. "What are you doing there?" Realizing that he had been caught, the kid started to back away slowly. "Hey, you're not going anywhere until you tell us what you were doing!" Sano demanded. With that he made a grab for the kid. Unsuccessfully, that is. The kid dogged his grab easily, and quickly jumped up the wall, and went to the other side. Yahiko ran around to catch him, but unfortunately, by the time he turned the corner, the kid was gone. "Whoa, that kid is fast!" Sano commented.
"Actually he wasn't that fast." Yahiko panted, "it was just that he had incredible maneuver abilities."
"What are you two muttering about?" Yahiko and Sano turned around, and found a snickering Saitou, and a curious Kenshin.
"There was a suspicious kid that was snooping around the dojo." Yahiko blurted out.
"A suspicious looking kid?" Saitou quirked an eyebrow.
"Did you manage to catch him?" Kenshin asked, concerned.
"No." They both replied dejectedly.
"What more did you expect Battousai?" Saitou commented, while lighting a cigarette. "Those two idiots never do anything right." Ignoring dagger eyes from Sano and Yahiko, he continued, "If you want anything done, you have to do it yourself."
"Well, at least they spotted him." Kenshin remarked trying to at least give the two some credit. Saitou just stood there. "We'll figure something out." Kenshin said determined. "However..." he suddenly had a worried expression on his face. "Don't mention any of this to the others. I don't want them to get worried."
"You can count on us!" Sano and Yahiko exclaimed in unison. Saitou snorted in disbelief.
* * *
It was dark. Koji sat on the roof of the dojo, waiting for the right time to get down. It had been very close this morning, a bit too close. He only hoped that he didn't mess up enough to disappoint her. This time he had to be even more careful. The residents of the dojo knew something was amiss, and were more cautious. He looked down carefully, to detect any movement below that he didn't recognize. Nothing. After taking a deep breath, he jumped. Next thing he knew, he had a cold katana pressed to his neck. Looking up, he saw a pair of amber eyes glaring at him.
"All right boy, you're going to tell us exactly what you are doing here." Koji looked around frantically—the only one else he saw was a man with red hair and cross-shaped scars. He didn't exactly look friendly either, but not as scary as the other man.
"Leave him alone." Koji almost jumped with joy when he heard that voice.
"Sonami?" Kenshin said, surprised.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Everyone had his or her head popped out of the doors, woken up by the commotion.
"Yes, Sonami, what is going on?" Saitou glared, basically ordering her to speak.
"First let go of him." Saitou released the boy. As soon as he did so, the kid ran up to Sonami with a letter in hand. "Thank you Koji. You can run off now." The boy didn't move. She smiled. "Don't worry about me, everything is going to be fine." With one final worried look, Koji disappeared.
"I'm not sure letting him go was a good idea." Kenshin remarked.
"Don't worry. He wouldn't have been useful to you anyways. He can't talk." Sonami explained to them. Noticing that Saitou was still glaring at her, and that the others were looking at her curiously, she continued. "I'm not the only one that keeps secrets, Saitou Hajime, captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi." Then glaring at Kenshin, "and of course, you too, infamous Hitokiri Battousai." Everyone stood there in shock. How did she know...
Having made her point, that she had every reason to keep things to herself, she stated, "Perhaps I should reveal my given name: Sumi Yutamuro." She smirked. "I'm sure for some of you the name sounds familiar." Saitou flinched. Even Kenshin seemed to be a bit nervous. Yutamuro. Sonami continued on, "Having told you this, I'll vaguely reveal my two objectives—one, I'm merely checking up on my former interests in Japan, which should not be a concern to any of you, and two..." Her voice suddenly became haunting, "this I'm not quite sure of yet. I'm still debating within myself whether to carry it out. But regardless of what I decide to do," she acknowledged them, particularly Saitou, "either way it will benefit Japan." Looking into their eyes, Sonami saw that it was going to take some time for all of this to register into their heads. With a slight bow, she retired back into her room.
"Kenshin?" Everyone asked.
"I don't think her intentions are necessarily evil, would you agree, Saitou?"
Saitou stood there silently for a couple more minutes before answering. "I'll agree with you, that is, for now. But there are things I need to be certain of before I could trust her completely."
"Ugh...I have no idea what's going on!" Sano suddenly commented. "I'm going back to bed."
* * *
Saitou walked into his office. It was still a bit dark, the sun barely rising above the horizon. He looked through his desk drawers, throwing every file and papers that got in his way. Eventually he stopped. He smirked, taking out an old, wrinkled file that was at the bottom of everything else. The only case that Saitou Hajime had closed without solving. Even if there were other possible cases that he couldn't solve, (which was not the case, by the way), he wouldn't have gave them a thought. However, this one was different. Yes, Yutamuro, the ancient family name. Saitou didn't quite know what the girl was up to, but regardless of that, he knew that she was the only link that was left. She was a lot more clever than he gave her credit for. Yes, no matter what, she would be of use.
* * *
Sonami woke up, thanks to the sunlight that penetrated through the rice paper doors and beaming at her face. She slowly sat up, reviewing the contents of the letter in her mind. Suki managed to do one thing, but not the other. Oh well, one out of two was better than nothing. Besides the other request she made was unexpected. Then suddenly she felt a bit awkward. Some other presence had been in her room a short while ago. She tensed, until her eyes spotted an object near the corner of the room. Orchids. "Soujiro..." She smiled. Yet within that smile, there was a tint of sadness lingering.
* * *
"If you don't mind me asking, Miss Sonami, where are you going?" Sonami spun around, and found Kenshin smiling at her.
"I...well," she stammered, still feeling a bit awkward about yesterday's incident. "The letter I received yesterday told me that one of my old friends is residing in Tokyo. I was quite surprised actually, that finding her was so elusive, yet she was right here the whole time."
"Well then could we come with you?" Misao and Kaoru joined in.
"Um...you don't mind?" Sonami asked, a bit uncertain.
"You don't need to worry." Kenshin reassured her. "We understand. I'm sure you have your reasons, and we don't mind if you don't tell us the whole story. Besides, we weren't exactly honest with you either in the first place."
"Hey, count us in!" Sano came running, followed by Yahiko and Soujiro.
Sonami smiled. "Thank you everyone." Perhaps this would work out after all.
* * *
"So what exactly are we doing?" Sano asked. Almost everyone gave him a "you're an idiot" look. "What?"
"We're here." Sonami informed them.
Inside, a young woman was kneeling down, watering and fixing her garden. When she realized that someone was at the door, she looked up slightly. She gasped. "Sumi!" Instantly, everything in her hands dropped to the ground as she ran towards them. "Is, is it really you?" She stammered, still in disbelief. Sonami nodded her head.
"What are all of you doing here?" Instantly, everyone's head turned to see a confused, yet irritated Saitou.
"We would like to ask you the same thing." Kenshin replied.
"You're in my house."
* * *
Yay! End of chapter. I know...this one's a bit shorter than the other ones, but I really wanted to cut it off right there.
So ok, comments...isn't the whole flower thing adorable? They are so cute together! Oh, and I filled in a few holes about Sonami's past. Some are pretty obvious while others are more subtle. Hee...hee...good luck trying to figure them out! =) But that doesn't mean over-analyze. (Oh, and yes, the whole thing is still a bit of a mystery, but everything will be clear eventually).
Sano and Yahiko-more comedy from them...
Aoshi-yes, I finally introduced him...more on him and Misao later on...I just hope I didn't make him seem too cold in this chapter.
Kenshin, Kaoru, Misao-I'm sorry that there's not much on them this time...although there's going to be a little more Misao in the next chapter.
Saitou-he makes things interesting, eh? And what was he exactly referring to? =)
Tokio-you know by now that the woman was Tokio, right? Well, if you didn't, now you know. So how does Tokio play into all of this? =)
Soujiro-isn't the whole situation cute? He's so sweet! =) (I just hope I'm not making him too sentimental, and overplaying the scene...but I can't help myself!)
Sonami-obviously more of her in this chapter. We see a bit more of her dangerous side in this one. Who is she really? But still the whole innocence thing is somehow mingled into it all. Oh, and her and Soujiro...they are so cute together...but are they going to be together? Hee...hee...I'm playing with your mind now aren't I? =)
Thanks for reading! And please REVIEW! =)