Tofu of Change
Chapter 2: Picnic of suspicions
Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I don't own anything 'cept for my OC, now you can't sue me, blah blah blah, and so forth.
Lexi: Thank you LOADS to those who reviewed last chapter (Jasmine Reinier, GreenEyedFloozy, samuraiduck27, and cleo…so few, it's sad T.T. But you guys rock!), ::death glare:: to those that didn't! BUT IT'S NOT TOO LATE! At the end of this chapter, we have a UNIQUE and ONE CHAPTER ONLY opportunity to review THIS chapter!
Sano: ::Blinks:: Wow…someone's getting desperate…
Lexi: ::Still on sales pitch:: And for anyone who DOES review, you'll receive an EXCLUSIVE, DISTINCT, LIMITED EDITION…er…um…scratch that…if I get over TEN REVIEWS (count 'em, ten, not that many!) my buddy SANOSUKE here will do a TAP DANCE (complete with SONG!) for YOU!!!
Sano: ::Pales:: Now calm down, Lexi, try to be reasonable…
Lexi: Shut up and go practice. Now ON WITH THE FIC!!
"Good morning, Hajime darling…OW!! YOUR HAIR IS SHARP!"
Kenshin sat up quickly. "Are you alright, Tokio love?"
Trying to regain her composure, Tokio wiped a few drops of blood off a cut next to her lip. "Yes, I'm fine, I just tried to kiss you on the forehead when one of those monstrous spikes attacked me!"
"I'm so sorry Tokio…one minute."
Turning his back to her, he mussed and fiddled with his hair before turning back around.
"Do you like it, my love?"
She nodded appreciatively. "Much better than what you had before."
Kenshin had somehow managed to get rid of every last speck of hair gel (I do NOT use hair gel!) (Shut up and go back to your part of the fic.), and the hair fell loosely into bangs somewhat like Aoshi's, but longer and more to the side.
Tokio leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "Now I can kiss you without getting impaled!"
He smiled, and then remembered something. "Today's Saturday! We have the whole day to do whatever we want!"
She laughed and sat up next to him, idly playing with his hair. "Then what shall we do today?"
An idea began to form in his head. "How about a picnic by the river? We can invite our friends from the Kamiya dojo."
"What about from the Aoi-ya?"
Remember…you are Saito… "Shinomori and the itachi? Can we just leave them out?"
She sighed. "I forgot how much you dislike them. Ah well, the Kamiya dojo it is, then. You can run over and invite them, I'll make the food."
"Oh, sweetheart, don't trouble yourself. I'll cook the food."
Shocked, amazed, and even a little pleased by this, she smiled. "Alright. They might be slightly more receptive to me than you, anyway. I'll see you in a few minutes!"
Humming, Kenshin set off for the kitchen.
Looking back in the morning, Saito decided that, overall, it had been a very unsatisfactory night. First off, dinner had finally caused him to snap and run outside with his body screaming at him to get that stuff OUT. Next, he said goodnight to Kaoru and went to bed early. Unfortunately, this did not mean early sleep—the Battosai came and ranted at him for not going out gambling and drinking, or at the very least not going to bed early ALONE. He finally managed to tune out the annoying whine enough to fall into a light and fitful sleep, punctuated by dreams of Kaoru. NC-17 rated dreams of Kaoru. Needless to say, he got very little rest.
"Good morning, Kenshin!" Kaoru said in a singsong voice, sticking her head in.
Saito groaned and rolled over. Morning people should burn in hell…except not Kaoru…although there was that one dream…NO! Bad thoughts!
"Still tired? All right then…breakfast in a few minutes! I made something SPECIAL today, so hurry to get it while it's hot!"
Saito inwardly shuddered. This did not sound good. He hauled himself out of bed and rubbed his head. There had to be some way to not only get out of eating the food, but also getting Kaoru. Hmm…he needed a time-waster, and he needed it fast.
It took him a minute or two, but he got it. Unfortunately, it only took him about ten minutes to carry out, but by then he figured it was safe to go in search of edible food.
Poking his head cautiously out the door, he padded noiselessly down the hallway to the kitchen. Sadly, he was spotted.
"KENSHIN!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR?!" Kaoru all but screamed.
Saito's big time waster had been to change the rurouni's idiotic hairstyle. Instead of the shapeless mop of hair, it was in a high Battosai-style ponytail and the bangs were thinned, so that they almost resembled his own. But not as sharp. Kaoru continued to stare at it.
"This one thought that it was time for a change, that he did." He said, grinning smugly.
Kaoru blinked several times, then her face lit up with a giant grin. "Well I LIKE it!"
Mission accomplished…
"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?"
"I'll go see who that is…" Kaoru walked off towards the front gate.
"Hello, I'm Tokio, Saito's wife."
"Oh, hello, come on in…"
Saito audibly groaned. Great, just when things were starting to go well, TOKIO comes along.
"I hate to bother you, but I came here to ask all of you to join Saito and myself for a picnic lunch by the river."
"Thank you so much, that would be wonderful! When do you want to meet us?"
"Oh, we'll stop by the dojo around noon and we can all walk down together."
Kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, and mega kuso. With kuso on top.
"It was very nice meeting you, Tokio."
"Likewise…I'll see you in a few hours!"
Kaoru reappeared. "Did you hear all that?"
Sadly, yes. "Yes Miss Kaoru, this one did." He said, with a futile attempt at cheerfulness. It didn't work too well, but apparently Kaoru bought it.
She beamed at him. "Doesn't it sound like so much fun? I can't wait! And Saito's making the food…" She frowned. "I didn't know he could cook…"
Kuso again…and again…and again…Kenshin's making me out to be some kind of cooking housewife! Oro…GAH! NO!! I will NOT say that word!!! "Er…this one is sure that it will taste fine, that it will."
She shrugged. "Oh well. Just in case, I'll make some rice balls…"
He visibly sweat-dropped. "Miss Kaoru, this one does not think that you'll need to, that he does not."
Sighing, she shrugged yet again. "Alright Kenshin, if you really think so…"
Kenshin hummed as he sampled a piece of rice. Mmm, perfect. And the beauty of this was, he could make good food, avoid eating Tokio or Kaoru's…er…bad…food, AND piss Saito off that he was COOKING in this body! Oh, it was a lovely day for a picnic. The birds were singing; the sun was shining; an enemy was yelling challenges from the yard…oro?
"Come on out, we know you're in there…"
"Too chicken to fight us? Or just lazy?"
"Coward!! Coward!!"
Sighing, Kenshin headed outside. Never again was he fighting Saito's fights for him. Never again.
Two minutes and fourteen seconds later, he walked back into the kitchen. They had taken slightly longer to beat than he had expected…it had taken him thirty seconds to get outside, fourteen seconds to scare them off, and one minute and thirty seconds to clean up the mess so that Tokio wouldn't bite his head off. He returned to his humming, slightly put out that the rice was a tad overcooked, but happy nonetheless.
"Hajime, darling, I'm back!"
His face brightened. "I'm in the kitchen, Tokio."
She slipped through into the room. "Mmm, Hajime, that smells delicious! I can't wait to taste it!"
He chuckled. "Well, you're just going to have to wait another half hour then, won't you?"
She playfully pouted. "Oh, alright, have it your way…" She smiled brightly at him and left the room.
Kenshin happily resumed cooking, preparing for what he thought might be the most amusing picnic of his life.
"THEY'RE HERE!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! Ow, what was that for, busu?!"
Kaoru glared. "Tokio is very nice, and Saito isn't ALL bad. At LEAST give it a chance, Yahiko!"
Megumi walked in, foxy as ever, Sanosuke in tow. "Yahiko-chan, maybe if you're there, we can get Tsubame-chan to go! Uh-huhuhuhu!"
Sano ruffled his hair. "Whaddya say, squirt? Would you go if your little missy came?"
Yahiko glared at both of them. "She's not MY missy, I don't even like her!" But he turned red as he said it. This caused everyone, even Saito, to laugh.
"Now go greet our guests, Yahiko! We'll follow you."
Yahiko, grumbling, set off for the gate. The others came behind, Megumi and Sano shamelessly flirting. Kaoru laughed.
"Those two," She said to Saito, "They never stop, do they?"
"They love each other, that they do." He replied. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Just as I love you."
Kaoru turned a unique shade of cranberry and walked ahead a little.
When they reached the gate (which took far too long for the distance that they actually had to travel…) Tokio greeted them with a smiling face. Even "Saito" appeared to be grinning slightly. The real Saito tried to keep from blinking. What has Kenshin done to my HAIR?!
Kenshin was having similar thoughts. What has he done to this one's hair?!
"Hello, are we ready to go?"
They chorused 'yes's, except for Megumi, who fox-grinned slightly.
"Oh, but don't we need to pick up Yahiko-chan's little friend from the Akabeko?"
Kaoru grinned evilly. "Oh yes, we almost forgot Tsubame!"
Yahiko colored a brighter red than Kaoru's earlier blush, and mumbled some kind of excuse before hurrying away.
"I think the little guy want to ask her himself." Sano observed, fishbone leisurely hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
"Don't blame him…it's almost like he's asking her on a date or something…" Kenshin said, speaking for the first time. He was having trouble remembering Saito's mannerisms, and so was trying to talk as little as possible.
Kaoru giggled. "Well I think it's sweet. If I were that age again…"
Megumi looked down, trying hard not to think about what her life had been like at that age. Sano noticed her gloom and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Don't think about it, Kitsune. You're not the only one who doesn't want to remember those times…"
Turning bright red, Kaoru stammered out an apology. "Oh, I didn't mean to…that is, well, you know that I…" She stopped when "Kenshin" put a hand on her arm.
"It's alright, Miss Kaoru, I'm sure they forgive you."
Tokio was confused. "Could someone please explain to me what's going on?"
Megumi did a feeble laugh. "Oh, it's just that Sanosuke and I each have things that we don't really want to remember about when we were Yahiko's age…although Kaoru might."
Tokio nodded. Kenshin resisted the urge to oro at the authoress' lack of inspiration (er…dead end in the conversation). Fortunately, Yahiko ran up pulling Tsubame behind him, thus ending the awkward silence.
"Yahiko…I…can't…keep…up…" Tsubame panted. When they reached the group, she stopped dead in her tracks and dropped a western-style curtsy, still breathing heavily. "He(hff)llo(hff)."
"Hello, so you're little Yahiko's friend, Tsubame?" Tokio asked sweetly. "I'm Tokio."
"Nice to meet you, Tokio-san." She said politely.
"I'm…not…little…" Yahiko hissed out between clenched teeth, trying not to make a scene in front of guests.
"Well, shall we?" Kenshin said, gesturing to the river ahead.
They all smiled and nodded, Yahiko and Tsubame breaking into a run. When they got down onto the grassy slope, Tokio placed the wicker basket that she had been carrying on the ground; then opening it to release a multitude of savory fumes.
"Hey! That smells good! Much better than anything busu could make!"
"Why you little…"
The remaining six laughed at the antics of Yahiko trying to escape the punishing shinai. Finally, Kaoru got in a few good whacks, which appeared to sate her thirst for revenge, at least temporarily.
"Dig in!" Tokio said, beaming. They cheerfully complied.
"Mmm…this is good, almost like YOUR cooking, Kenshin!" Kaoru said, smiling.
Tokio grinned. "Yes, Hajime can be quite a cook…I guess we all have our hidden talents!"
Yahiko spit out part of the rice ball he was devouring. "SAITO made this?!"
"This one is quite impressed, that he is." Saito said, trying to conceal the venom in his voice.
Kenshin grinned smugly. "Thank you, Battosai, but I don't need to impress anyone. I just enjoy cooking, that's all."
GAH! You'd think this guy was TRYING to make me look bad!! He saw the expression on Kenshin's face. Kami, I was RIGHT!! He IS trying to make me look bad!!!
- ::Smug grin:: With just a little influence from me… -
Grr…what are YOU doing back here, Battosai?!
-It gets boring, hanging out without speaking…-
::Twitch:: GO BOTHER KENSHIN!! You're HIS other half, after all.
- ::Whining:: But he's no fun! And YOU'RE the one that needs the help!-
::Twitches again:: I DON'T CARE! Just…leave me alone! ::Sulks:: -
-Fine then…but I'd try to act a little more like Kenshin if I were you… "Miss" Kaoru is starting to get suspicious…-
He felt his stomach drop. Glancing over at Kaoru, he saw that she did indeed have a puzzled expression on her face as she studied the merry "Saito".
I never thought I'd say this…but…I need your help.
- ::Blinks:: What?-
Go tell Kenshin to pipe down on the happiness, slap on a smirk, and put a little sarcasm into it…HE'S the one acting out of character.
-You're not doing too well either…normally, Kenshin would be talking and laughing. You're just…SITTING here.-
::Twitch:: FINE!
Saito smiled happily. "Miss Tokio, the picnic was a very good idea, that it was."
She beamed. "Actually, it was Hajime's idea. I think that he's gotten sick of the feud between you two."
When I get back into my body and have a REAL sword again…good Kami-sama I swear to you… "Oh, it seems that once again this one underestimates Saito." Good, good…slip in a little of self-flattery without them noticing…heh heh heh…
Kenshin smirked. Guess the Battosai got to him in time… "What Tokio said…I felt that this silly argument should end today." …Or not.
All present except for Kenshin and Saito blinked for a good ten minutes.
"Saito…that was very…NOBLE of you." Kaoru said.
Had Megumi still been there, she would have laughed, but she had gone off some time ago. So (interestingly enough) had Sano. One did not need to contemplate long on the reasons for THAT "coincidence".
And none did. They were too busy trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with Saito and Kenshin.
Walking home, Tokio decided to voice something that had been bothering her all day.
"Hajime…it's odd, but today it was almost like KENSHIN was more like you than YOU were."
His heart skipped a beat. "Well, my, umm, attitude change, well, it was a…really big change." He finished lamely.
Fortunately for him, she seemed to buy it. "Oh. Well, that makes sense then." I wonder what's REALLY going on that he's not telling me…
Something similar was going on on the way back to the Kamiya dojo.
"Kenshin…I just don't understand it. Saito seems like he's acting more like you than YOU are." Kaoru said worriedly.
"For once I agree with busu. You DID seem weird, Kenshin." Yahiko added.
Saito nervously rubbed the back of his head. "This one was having trouble with the Battosai, that he was." Well, it IS the truth…just missing a not-so-insignificant detail.
Fortunately for him, they seemed to buy it.
"Oh." They both said, obviously disappointed. Yahiko shoved the thoughts aside and chose instead to think of Tsubame (as per usual), but Kaoru couldn't fully get rid of her suspicions. I wonder what's REALLY going on that he's not telling us…
Lexi: Phew! Well there ya have it, chappie two.
Sano: Please tell me that what you said at the beginning was a joke. Or a dream. A horribly awful going-to-end-soon dream.
Lexi: ::Crossly:: Well no one's going to review anyway, but I was serious. ::Evil grin::
Sano: ::Giant sweat drop:: Oh Kami-sama do not desert me now!
Lexi: ::Puppy dog eyes:: Pwease weview! I do love it so when you do! It makes me SO happy, and gets me through the next chapter. Again, ideas are more than welcome…I'll try to remember to give credit where credit's due. And asking for ideas isn't admitting I get WRITER'S BLOCK or anything…::Shifty eyes::
Sano: ::Raises eyebrow:: Su-ure…
Lexi: Just review please! Ja! See ya next chapter!