NOTES:
FIRST! I don't own Rurouni Kenshin nor Saitou Hajime (although I wish)... RK is owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki.
It's time for me to write again! Yey! This time, it'll be a fic about Saitou's life before Kyoto and the Shinsengumi. This will be a romanticized tale of what he was before joining the Shinsengumi and why he left Tokyo (Edo). There will be times when Saitou will be OOC, I intend to keep most of his personality just twisting it now and then. But the OOC will be very apparent when it comes to his fighting abilities, I don't think Saitou became a great swordsman overnight. Agree? :O)
italics - denotes thoughts
asterisks - denotes sound/thoughts/misc
"Yuuta! Yuuta! Wake up already your Sensei is here!"
Midori vigorously shook the young man curled on the futon.
Yuuta peeked from under the covers, his eyes half open... "Onee-chan... Tell sensei I'm sick.."
"Nani? (What?) You're not getting off that easily. Remember you promised Saitou-kun that you will diligently work on your swordsmanship! Now get out of bed!", she commanded. Midori with one strong tug took the covers off the sleeping lad forcing him to acknowledge the presence of the other.
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"Ohayo gozaimasu (Good morning) Saitou-kun. May I offer you some cha (tea)?" said a woman in her upper mid-thirties.
"Domo (Please). Arigatou (Thanks)." Saitou leaned on the shoji door, his thoughts centered on the household that he's been visiting for more than a week now. The Nisan family seemed to be of middle class just like his own. He noticed though that unlike his family, the Nisan's were frivolous and prone to live beyond their means. This was ironic as they were a quiet bunch with only the loud mouth inu-face girl messing up the silence. He sighed, in a couple more minutes he'll have to endure another hour of her shouting to Yuuta, it was almost as annoying as Yuuta's poor kendo's skills. Really she acts more like she's the MAN and Yuuta sure could use more backbone. His thoughts were interrupted when a man about half a foot shorter than he was handed him the tea from earlier.
"Saitou-kun, I'm really glad you're helping Yuuta with this." The man smiled. "If you ever need anything just let me know."
Saitou bowed slightly to the head of the household. Saitou thought that Nisan Kyoda was an agreeable man, although as a father Saitou thought he failed miserably since he could not control his children. It was no wonder though Saitou that both siblings were not disciplined and did not act within the norms. To his surprise the siblings did not mind though, actually it seemed that the family was closer because of the non-traditional way Nisan Kyoda raised his children.
Forget about that. It's none of my business.
As he was finishing his tea, the siblings came out to greet him. He looked Yuuta from head to toe.
He's in no shape to practice.
"Yuuta-kun, why don't you start with the morning stretches. I will come back once you are fully awake."
With that Saitou left unbeknownst to him Midori was right at his heel. Once outside the gate he pulled out a pack of unopened cigarettes. Gingerly passing his hands through the packaging as if it was something dear to him, he took one out and lighted it.
"And WHAT is THIS?" a voice came from behind.
Saitou sighed It's the inu-faced girl. and continued to walk further away.
"Hey! I had a hard time waking Yuuta up today and you let him off THAT easy so you can ENJOY THAT thing?" pointing to the stick in Saitou's lips.
"This thing is called a cigarette, it's made out of tobacco and calms my nerves whenever I'm faced with SOMETHING like YOU.", he smirked at her.
Midori got really red and steam seemed to come out from her ears, she blurted "Why you STUPID, USELESS, RUDE, POOR EXCUSE FOR A MAN!"
Whether it was because Saitou was so fed up with Midori's constant taunting or whether because Midori hit his male ego, Saitou quickly turned around and grabbed the young woman by the shoulders and pinned her to the wall. For a moment Midori was put in shock by the smoldering look in Saitou's amber eyes.
"NEVER EVER CALL ME USELESS." He shoved again slightly to the wall and as realization took hold of him, of what he has done, he slowly let go of Midori and hurriedly left.
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Later that evening...
"Onee-chan.. That's so unlike Saitou-kun err.. Sensei I mean.. to not come and finish our session today. What do you think happened?"
"Why are you asking such useless things Yuuta?" Midori replied crossly. "It's much better he doesn't show his face here again anyway."
"Huh? But I thought you two were starting to get along.", Yuuta puzzled kept looking at his sister. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but she was acting rather oddly.
"Whatever. I'm going inside to practice, so don't disturb me."
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Whenever she was feeling disturbed or lonely, music has always comforted her. It was only recently that she ever got to practice the piano. It was a beautiful black upright piano that costed a fortune. A western wonder they could never afford had it not been for Akio.
She sighed. When is he coming back?
It has been almost two years now that they were separated. Once in a while she would receive a letter from Akio detailing his trips in Europe, once in a while he would send her little trinkets like a chocolates and music boxes. Recently it was the piano.
It is the reflection of my love for you. You are my song, let me be your instrument.., she sighed again recalling the letter she received a few months ago.
She gingerly lifted the covers and seated herself on the soft cushion. Her body instinctively relaxing with the familiar comfort that she found with the instrument.
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Knock Knock
Yuuta's smiling face greeted Saitou. Once he saw the young lad Saitou immediately wondered if his coming to the Nisan's was a mistake.
"Sensei! Where have you been?", Yuuta grabbed Saitou's arm and unconciously leaned against it. Seeing Saitou flinch, Yuuta at once corrected himself.
"Sensei.. Don't you think it's a little late for our session?"
"Baka! I didn't come for that, however now that you've mentioned it, make sure you are ready for tomorrow." Saitou scowled at the young man.
Yuuta cocked his head, "Well Sensei, what DID you come here for?"
"Where is your sister?"
"She's at the room at the very end. She doesn't want..."
In a blink of an eye, Yuuta found himself alone at the gate. "Huh? He left already?", he scratched his head and proceeded to lock the entrance to the house.
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What is this? Saitou moved closer to the shoji door of the room farthest from the main house. He couldn't put his finger on what was making the sweet and melancholy melody that was coming from inside. I'm sure it's not a koto.
He quietly slid open the shoji door, taking care not to disturb the young lady lest she stop playing. The sight of her left him perplexed. He wondered if this was the same Midori early that morning, the one who was always shaking her head and speaking loudly.
This woman in front of him was moving in a very elegant way, almost as if she was being lifted by the music. Her hair was not tied to a bun this time, it was gracefully flowing behind her back. Her lips caught his attention as they were open slightly in a curve, he was convinced she was smiling. If only he could move closer. If only he could move in front of her, to study her, to examine in wanton effort the changes in her persona as she played on those white and ebony keys. He did not stop looking at her, worried that he might miss a single moment. This was a sight he never thought of possible with Midori-san. At that instant his lips started to curve up, his amber eyes started to lighten. He almost smiled that instant but caught himself and with a grunt stopped the almost fatal facial reaction.
The music stopped quite abruptly. Midori turned her attention to the door. Her face bright red, "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough.", Saitou replied immediately regaining back his composure.
Midori frowned. She did not want to see him again.