Authors Note: Standard disclaimers apply. Warm fuzzies to my beta, Hikari Tsuki Chi, who is the absolute best beta in the world.
Chapter Five: Pranksters Run Wild
Tokio had already decided that it would be a bad day when she opened the door to her room, looked out, and saw a wet, struggling, and cursing Aoshi and Misao in an extremely compromising situation. But when she took a single step in their direction and suddenly found herself sliding past her door and into their room, then fell down onto her hands and knees, she knew it was going to be a horrible day.
Aoshi and Misao looked up at her. They were both wet, the bed was wet, the room was dry. All three of them noticed this at the same time.
"I can explain-" Misao started but Tokio held up her hand to cut Misao off. She looked to Aoshi before nodding and getting up.
"I suggest that you both start preparing for a wedding. And don't think you can get out of it, I have, moves that you ninja's have never seen." With that she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. "I suppose you thought that was fun?" she asked the two pranksters who were at the end of the hall, sitting in chairs and munching on snacks.
"It was quite amusing." Okita said, the smile never leaving his face.
"So," Yue questioned, "are we aiming for a June wedding, or do you want to wait 'til August?"
"They have ten days."
Two gasps were her only answer as she went to help Kenshin make breakfast. They knew their time was coming.
Kaoru was the last to wake up, as usual. She dressed quickly in her training clothes and readied herself for a day of abuse from the Namis Brothers. She knew that if she told Kenshin about it he would stop the abuse immediately, but then they would have no income. The Namis were a powerful family, and could make sure that she never again got work anywhere, and it wouldn't be hard, it was already difficult for a woman to get a job in Japan.
And then if Kenshin did do something, the police might decide to do something about him, like putting him in jail, or worse.
So she said nothing and that was the way it was going to stay.
She walked out of her room and into the kitchen where Kenshin and Tokio were making breakfast. Aoshi, Misao, and Saito were sitting patiently at the table she could hear sounds outside that suggested Yahiko was training.
"Good morning everyone," she said cheerfully, and then turned to smile at Kenshin as she sat down at the table beside Aoshi. He handed her a cup and poured her some tea. "Thank you, Aoshi."
"Where do you plan on going today, Miss Kaoru?" Kenshin inquired as he used his favorite kitchen knife to chop some miso.
"Today I have my appointment with the Namis Brothers. After that I will come back and train Yahiko." As she talked, she tried to keep the quivering out of her voice.
"Miss Kaoru, I was meaning to talk to you about your students. Now that Aoshi is going to be opening a kempo school, we were thinking that you should bring your students back to the dojo. That way you have more time for yourself."
Kaoru thought it was a great idea, but she couldn't do it, the Namis Brothers would never behave like normal students. But she would figure it out. "That sounds like a great idea Kenshin. It would give me more time with Yahiko."
Kenshin smiled, nodded, and went back to making breakfast. "By the way, Miss Kaoru, Yahiko said that he would come eat later, so it will just be us this morning."
Kaoru thought that it was a good idea that Yahiko was training harder, but she worried about him. Since returning from Kyoto he had been quieter, sometimes so much that she wouldn't be able to tell if he was behind her unless he said her name. He hadn't been performing any of his usual antics like sneaking up behind her and scaring her. She hoped he would be okay. But she felt guilty for worrying more that he might have found out about the Namis Brothers.
After breakfast was made they all sat down quietly and began to eat. The food was delicious, but the riceballs that Tokio had made were the best she'd ever tasted and she told Tokio such. Tokio thanked her and Saito smirked at his wife's blush.
They continued their meal in silence for about ten minutes until Kaoru noticed Misao squirming in her seat and looking expectedly at Aoshi. He looked annoyed for a moment, and then stood.
"I have an announcement to make. Misao and I," he briefly glanced over at Tokio and Saito looked suspiciously at her, "have decided to marry."
Crash. Bang. Boom.
"I can't believe you're marrying her, is there something wrong with you Aoshi?" Yahiko screamed from the doorway where he had been eavesdropping. Aoshi looked as if he was about to skewer Yahiko on his kodachi's before Kaoru spoke up.
"Yahiko, don't you know it's not polite to eavesdrop?" Kaoru ranted while running around chasing Yahiko and trying to hit him. It became a melee when Misao decided to join in and avenge herself upon Yahiko.
Kenshin stood up, threw one hand out, lightning fast, and caught Yahiko, threw the other one out and caught Kaoru. Aoshi likewise threw out his left arm and brought Misao into his arms with her back against his front in a restraining hug. Kaoru saw it and wished Kenshin would hold her like that.
Saito sat up, "You two should be embarrassed," he exclaimed, addressing Kenshin and Aoshi. "At least my wife knows how to behave in a public setting." At this Tokio shot him a look hat said clearly that she didn't like being regarded to as merely his wife.
"Hello, is anyone home? Miss Kaoru, I've come to visit!" Kaoru looked up from where Kenshin's hand was wrapped up in her robes. She recognized that voice, from somewhere recent….Kamatari! That's who it was, Kaoru frowned, why was Kamatari visiting?
Kaoru rushed out of the house with everyone else close behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight awaiting her in the front yard. She stopped so abruptly that Yahiko crashed into her from behind. She stood there, wide-eyed, open-mouthed, absolutely shocked.
Kamatari stood there, yes, and he wasn't alone. Chou the Swordhunter was there, winking at her. Behind them were about ten police officers, five on each side of their prisoner, Soujiro Seta. But that wasn't the shocking part. , Kamatari was wearing pants. In fact he was dressed a lot like Aoshi, except for he didn't have a trench coat and his short hair was in a tie. He looked like a guy, he looked good for a guy.
"Ka-Kamatari, what are you wearing?" Kaoru stuttered.
"Oh, this," Kamatari glanced down at himself, "what with no Master Shishio, I figured I didn't want to be a girl anymore. Plus, since you had such a big impact on that decision I figured I should come thank you. So, thank you."
"And you," Kenshin asked, "what are you doing here, Chou the Swordhunter?"
"Oh, I ain't no sword hunter no more, got me a job with the government. Now I escort these her manslayers to their safe houses. Just so happens that Soujiro here is you people's problem now."
Soujiro smiled from where he was and waved at them all. "Hello, Mr. Himura, Mr. Shinamori, Mr. Saito, it's a pleasure to see you again. I don't believe I've met you," he said to Kaoru, "but I'm guessing that you are Miss Kamiya. I am Soujiro Seta, pleased to meet you.
Kaoru mentally shook herself. She had never met the Tenken before but had heard of him from Sanosuke. Supposedly, he was an emotionless killer who had been mentally conditioned by Makoto Shishio. He reminded her of Okita and Yue, whom she had hear Yahiko saying, were the "smiling slayers". Soujiro definitely fit in with that description.
"Yes, I am Kaoru Kamiya. This is my home and I guess you'll be living here for a while."
"Thank you for allowing me to stay," he said politely and bowed, then he turned to the police officers. "You can leave now." It seemed, from the fact that they all left rather quickly, that they couldn't wait to get away from the manslayer.
Kamatari glanced at their retreating backs and looked curious as to why they would turn so fast. He then turned back to Kaoru and smiled cheerfully. "Why don't we go get settled? Now Kaoru, I know that you don't have much space here so I wanted you to know that I am fully prepared to sleep in your room, and even in your bed if necessary." As he talked he moved closer to Kaoru until he was talking right beside her ear in a very low voice.
His voice was so low and so close to her ear that Kaoru shivered. She didn't mind though, she knew he was just fooling around; besides, it felt nice to be wanted that way.
Kenshin, however, did not see it that way, in fact, Kenshin didn't see it at all, but the Battousai did, and he didn't like it at all. In fact, at the moment, he was wondering what Kamatari's guts would look like on his sword. But he wouldn't make a move like that in front of Kaoru. He would talk to Kamatari later, when the house was quiet and Kamatari was gone.
Chou noticed the look on the Battousai's face and decided that Kamatari's display was getting too out of hand, so he decided to put a stop to it by asking Kamatari to help him with the luggage that the police had left on the ground. But the look on the Battousai's face said that he was not finished with Kamatari, and the old flirt didn't even have a clue as to what was going on around him.
Soujiro had also seen the display that Kamatari had put on. Though Soujiro didn't blame him, Miss Kaoru was very lovely indeed, but Kamatari knew that he was poaching. But the Battousai was wrong if he thought he could easily defeat Kamatari, or intimidate him. True, Kaoru had defeated him, but only because, at the time, Kamatari had been a female, and created limitations for himself, as a man, he had no such limitations, and was far more dangerous, especially in pursuit of a woman. The Battousai would be wise not to underestimate him. They would all do well not to underestimate him.
Kaoru was on her way to the Namis estate, and with every step she took the cold weight of dread settled further into her belly. She went through this once a week, but today felt different. The Namis brothers had been getting worse and worse. They had gone from simply sparing with her to practically beating her within weeks. She was afraid of how much further they would go. Shinzo, the younger of the twins, had been looking at her the way she had seen some of the men in town looking at the working ladies. And she had heard rumors about Kage's wild perversions.
She hated to admit it, but she was scared to death. She wished she could tell Kenshin, but she had had that argument with herself before. She walked on, never noticing the shadow that followed her.
Kenshin had seen Kaoru leave for her weekly session with the Namis brothers. She thought that he hadn't noticed how scared she was. With so many of his former rivals now living with him, he had, without really thinking, roused the instincts of ten years ago. For a while, he had felt in his gut that she wasn't all right, but now it was even greater. Just as he was at the gate, Yahiko called, "Oi, Kenshin! Mrs. Saitou wants you to get more tofu for dinner tonight!"
Sliding open the gate, Kenshin smiled and said, "I'm sorry Yahiko, but I have something to do in town. I may be gone a while, okay?" He walked out the gate, sliding the door closed.
Looking down at the bucket he had been waving at Kenshin, Yahiko started and said, "Hey…does this mean that I hafta go get it?"
Saito couldn't believe he'd let Tokio talk him into babysitting the ninja all day. One thing was for sure, he sure as hell better be getting a reward for having to listen to the ninja go on and on about his new school, Misao, and the complaints about Tokio, which he didn't appreciate. And now the ninja was asking if he wanted to teach the Shinsengumi swordfighting technique at Aoshi's new school. That idea actually had merit. But he wouldn't tell the ninja that. But it would be beneficial to both him and Okita, maybe even Yue, if she didn't wind up killing her student. Buy, that brought back memories.
Yue was about thirteen at the time and already a master of the sais and the bow staff. She had been home from he travels to Niigata with Okita and had been training harder than ever, to the point where he got tired just looking at her. During that time he hadn't been working full time for the government and had had a few students who trained with him twice a week. One such student, Kenta, who was the strongest of his students, so strong Saito sometimes wished the boy had been born before the war ended, had taken a strong interest in Yue. Not that she noticed, she was completely oblivious to boys, concentrating her life on fighting, but Okita noticed. Saito knew that Okita had been in love with his daughter for some time, but he hadn't realized how dangerous that love could be until that day. Okita hadn't even killed him.
Okita had been talking to Saito, and, knowing that Kenta was passing by at exactly that moment, had commented that he believed Yue to be the greatest swordfighter to come from the Shinsengumi training program since himself. This of course caused Kenta to puff up with outrage saying that he was better, being the man, Okita cheerfully said that he would set up a battle to see once and for all, who was the best.
But Okita had taught Yue more than how to kill, he had taught her to play with her prey, given the time, and play she did. She slashed at him until he was exhausted and his skin was nearly flayed off the bone. And only then, with a smile on her face and a swift kiss on his lips, his last kiss, she plunged her sword into his heart and through his body. After all, it's what she had been taught to do.
After that, he had never underestimated Okita's love for Yue again, not that she would ever notice, after all, Okita had also taught her to never become distracted. Thus he had doomed himself. Saito felt sorry for him for a moment, but only for a moment.
Kaoru took another hit to her back and quickly scampered up to try to run away. But she had forgotten how swift Kage could be. So while she was avoiding Shinzo's boken in her attempt to get to the door, Kage cut her off and effectively cut her off from the only exit.
"Let me go, the lessen is over, I need to go home," Kaoru screamed, trying to wiggle out of Kage's crushing hold.
"Did you really think that we would allow you to leave? We have waited for you to accept this fate, but it appears that you need to be showed. You are not leaving, get used to it."
With that said, he put a hand over her mouth and carried her over to a corner where Shinzo was waiting to tie her up.
Soujiro could not believe that the Battousai would allow it. Soujiro had gone through it when he was a child and he wasn't about to let it happen to someone who was so kind to him. He walked quickly into town, moving so fast that none could see him. He would find them and warn them, and that was all. After all, he had a reputation to protect.
Aoshi felt Soujiro's chi before he saw him. The Tenken was coming at them with speed no eye could detect. For a second, he even wondered if Soujiro was going to attack. But he that Soujiro wouldn't risk fighting both him and Saito.
Soujiro rushed up to them and stopped suddenly. So suddenly that it looked as if the movement had simply been taken from his body. He embodied stillness. But the look in his eyes was all movement, his eyes were like fire they burned so bright, burned straight through Aoshi. Something was wrong. Aoshi knew it, knew that Soujiro knew it, knew that Soujiro was going to tell him.
"What do you want Soujiro?" Saito said on a sigh. It had been a long day and he wasn't in the mood for games. When he got back to the dojo, he was going to grab his wife and go straight to bed. It was all her fault too.
Soujiro smirked and leaned against one of the stands that were always set up in the market. He looked like the cat that ate the canary, and at the same time, he managed to appear angelic.
"It's interesting, the relationship that Miss Kaoru and the Battousai have." He said, and there was that smirk again, a smirk that told you he knew more than he was letting on.
Aoshi sniffed and looked superior. "I do not concern myself in the relationships of others, especially that of the Battousai."
Saito took a few seconds to give Aoshi a look, and it was not a friendly look. "Continue Soujiro."
"Miss Kamiya went to the Namis estate today. Someone should walk her home, you never know what could happen." Then he disappeared, with not even the sound of footprints left behind.
Aoshi turned to look at Saito, "What did he just tell us Saito?"
Saito smiled, So the Tenken does have a heart. "I believe we should go to the Namis estate, Miss Kaoru may need help walking home," he started to move and said in an undertone, " or being carried."
Kenshin could literally feel his eyes melt to gold as he watched them. His hand rested mere centimeters from the hilt of his sword; waiting for the moment he could enter the fray. He felt, in his mind, the Rurouni's control waver, and the Battousai's grow stronger. After all, they had touched her.